‘It’s me. How are things going back home?’ Her lodger, Nicole, sounded so fresh and happy in Tenerife.
Her eyes watered up as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her panicked breaths turned into laughter.
‘Aimee, hun, are you okay?’
‘Yes, I’m being stupid. I just got creeped out by Barney next door.’ Maybe that’s all it was. The rustling of leaves could be nothing more than someone passing the back of her fence. It led to a bus stop and to the rest of the estate. Jade’s murder was sending her reactions into overdrive.
‘Easy done. Anyway, I’ll be home soon to show you my embarrassing pics.’ She paused. ‘Aimee, I can always tell when there’s something wrong. What’s up?’
‘Now’s not a good time, I’ll have to call you back. I’ll text you later. Sending love and hugs.’ She ended the call before Nicole had the chance to say another word. She loved Nicole dearly, they were best friends, but now wasn’t the time to chat, especially when she had no idea what to say.
Loosening her grip on the knife, she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead as she tried to call Rhys once again, this time his phone was actually ringing.
‘What?’ he snapped.
‘Where are you? We need to talk.’ The kitchen door flew open, Aimee’s heart threatened to explode in her tiny chest. As her vision focused on the face standing in front of her, she stared back, wondering if he was capable of killing Jade. ‘Don’t come near me,’ she whimpered as she held the knife in front of her chest, hands shaking and tears streaming down her face. ‘What did you do to her?’
‘Aimee, I didn’t do anything. She left me in the summerhouse, I finished getting dressed and then I left. She was fine when I saw her last, I swear.’
He took a step towards her and she poked the knife into the air. ‘You haven’t been home since. The police have left messages and keep trying to call. I didn’t know where you were and it’s all over the news. If you didn’t kill her, why didn’t you come home after? I waited and waited in the dark, hiding when the police knocked. They came for you and you weren’t here. I waited for you to call. That’s when I saw what had happened. Someone on Jade’s street posted an RIP on Twitter before the sun even came up. All this happened and not a word from you—’
‘I didn’t do it, but hey, you’ve already sentenced me in your head!’ He clenched his jaw and took another step forward.
‘Were you rough with her? I know you Rhys.’
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘You’ve already convicted me in your stupid little head, and I expected more from you.’
‘You forget how well I know you. Stay away from me. I’ll use it.’ Face wet with tears, she began to sob. She knew he didn’t believe her.
He snatched the knife from her hand and threw it on the floor behind him. ‘Look at you, holding a knife up at me then making out I’m the dangerous one. You would have, wouldn’t you? Maybe you killed her.’
With only the moon and the glow of a street lamp filling the room, she shook her head as she sobbed. ‘As if. Why didn’t you come home?’ She slammed through the kitchen door and ran up to the bedroom, slamming the door and burying her head in her pillow.
Rhys burst in and began rummaging through his drawers. Snatching a handful of clothing, he made a huffing noise as he stuffed the pile into a bag. ‘No one’s pinning this on me, least of all you! I’ll be back for the rest of my stuff soon.’ He crept up and lay beside her. ‘I’ll prove to you that I had nothing to do with Jade’s murder.’ She didn’t believe him. He couldn’t give her one good reason why he didn’t come home and he’d even had the nerve to accuse her.
‘I wish we’d never gone to that party,’ she whispered as her body stiffened at his touch; warm breath tickling her neck as he kissed her. She closed her eyes hoping he’d leave.
As soon as the door slammed, she burst into uncontrollable sobs, sobbing for the life of a woman she barely knew and for the man she loved but no longer trusted.
Twelve
Tuesday, 7 May 2019
Gina flicked between her screens and the report on Jade that sat on her desk. As she delved deeper into Jade’s life, more things to consider ended up in herto dopile. Jacob knocked and gently pushed her office door open. ‘You’re here early?’
‘I can’t stay away from the place, guv. I love it so much.’ He placed a coffee on her desk. ‘Here, O’Connor sent you this. Made by his wife’s fair hand. Apparently it’s healthy, it’s got nuts in it.’ He dropped a serviette containing a cereal bar next to the coffee.
Gina took a bite. Given that it tasted of butter, just like all of Mrs O’s bakes, she doubted it was healthy. ‘Ooh, thank you.’
‘Any updates on the Ashmores?’ He took the seat opposite and slurped his drink.
‘There were a few reports of noise on file, coming from their house. It seems that they argued a fair bit.’
‘Did she work?’
‘A little at home. She was a graphic designer but had given up her job to work from home since they had their child, four years ago. She must have felt so isolated.’ Gina nibbled another piece of the cereal bar. When her daughter Hannah was a baby, she’d felt all alone, trapped in her house with Terry holding the invisible key. She coughed as she swallowed a few crumbs down the wrong way.
‘Have a swig of your coffee, guv. I’m finding them a bit crumby too.’ She nodded and slid the report across the desk where he began reading it.
