‘This is damn good,’ he said as he started eating, mouth full, fork ready to shovel in more. Eyes down at the plate, nothing wrong with his appetite.
Maya, on the other hand, felt nauseous at whether her idea was even going to stand a chance. But she forced out the words, ‘It’s all lovely, thank you.’
‘I’ll get this again.’ He was eating as though his food might disappear if he didn’t get it down his neck quicksmart. ‘What do you think, Maya? Good, isn’t it?’
She murmured agreement. ‘Perhaps you could make it for Isaac when he’s home. You could talk about his course, find out what it’s really about.’
‘Yeah.’ Which really meant no. Conrad was selfish, he liked it to all be about him, and having Maya here would be all he could focus on now. She expected he was thinking of ways to help her relax, hence the wine, and get her into bed if she let her guard down.
By the time dinner and a dessert of tiramisu was over and Maya had got Conrad several top-ups of his drink, she could tell he was beginning to head towards the sleepy state she needed.
In the lounge, he flopped onto the sofa.
‘I’m not sure how long I can stay,’ she said, hoping he wasn’t so sleepy he didn’t mind whether she left or not. ‘Why don’t I clear up the kitchen for you?’
‘No way.’ He patted the sofa. ‘Sit down, you’re a guest.’
The last thing she wanted was to sit with him and have him start mauling her if she was in easy reach.
‘You’ve only got the use of one arm. I’ll clear up then I’ll come sit down.’
He swigged the last of his drink.
She didn’t ask if he wanted another, just took the glass, refilled it and brought it back before she went out to clear the kitchen.
By the time the dishwasher began its cycle, Conrad was fast asleep in front of the television.
And now it was time to sneak upstairs to do what needed to be done.
When Noah had mentioned the brown folder Conrad had waved at him as his little bargaining chip, Maya hadn’t taken long to think back to the similar folders she’d spotted at Conrad’s previously when he told her he was doing paperwork. The folders were nowhere to be seen now but her first port of call was the study upstairs, the most likely place for their relocation.
She cursed when she opened the door and saw the desk with a whole stack of brown folders like the one Noah had described, none of them labelled, at least not with wording that meant anything to her. She supposed it would have been too much to ask for one to have ‘Evidence Noah needs’emblazoned on the front.
She went through one folder, a second, a third, a fourth. She was about to go through a fifth when she spotted a brown file wedged up on the bookshelf next to a few years’ worth of theGuinness Book of Records. He’d always liked those for some reason.
She pulled it down. It had to be this one, separate from the others, there to grab when he got what he wanted and he felt Noah had stayed away long enough for Maya to lose any interest in him, or for Conrad to worm his way back into her life. The man was seriously deluded.
She knew she’d found what she was looking for when she opened the file and skimmed the information and the photographs. The man profiled in these reports had to be the infamous Paul.
She swiftly took pictures on her phone of each document, including photographs and witness statements. She took in some of the unbelievable information she was reading alongthe way, her heart thumping at the enormity of it all. She was aware she could be committing a crime here but Noah, and more importantly Eva, was what mattered. And Conrad was well and truly on the wrong side of the law taunting Noah with this in the first place.
She slotted the file back where she’d found it and made her way down the stairs, but in the dark, she hadn’t seen Conrad waiting at the bottom.
‘What the hell are you doing up there?’
‘Bathroom,’ she stammered.
‘I didn’t hear the toilet flush,’ he slurred, leaning casually against the front door, obstructing her exit.
‘I was checking my make-up.’
‘There’s a mirror down here.’
‘Didn’t want to put the light on and wake you.’
‘Why are you checking your make-up? I’ve seen you without it plenty of times.’
He was quick even though he’d been drinking. He was a good detective, took no shit from anyone and knew how to drill for answers. He’d done it to her enough times during their marriage.
