‘Can you answer that?’ she yelled to Owen as she removed them. ‘It’ll be the courier picking up the products that were sent last week.’ She hadn’t bothered to open the boxes; it would hurt too much knowing there was nothing she could do with whatever gems were inside.
A moment later Owen called back, urging her to join him downstairs. His tone unnerved her and she hoped to God that Adrian hadn’t returned. It was only when she saw the figures huddled by the front door that she understood Owen’s edginess. Half a dozen men and women, some uniformed and others without, had her in their eyeline. For a split second, she treasured the attention. And then, from the window directly above the door, she noticed three marked vehicles lined up along the road outside.
‘It’s the police,’ Owen said, his voice taut. ‘They have a warrant to search the house.’
87
Corrine
Corrine had last visited Oxford’s Magdalen College earlyin the year to drop her daughter Freya off for the start of a new semester. Today, mother and daughter were making their way through the historic university grounds for a very different reason.
Corrine’s eyes fell upon a yoga group making the most of the lush green lawns and a late summer afternoon. Elsewhere others sat under shady trees chatting or with their heads buried in textbooks. If only her life was this uncomplicated, she thought.
It was Freya who’d appeared out of the blue in the warehouse where her mother, Yan and Nathan were catching up. Corrine later discovered it followed weeks of suspicion on Freya’s behalf, convinced that her increasingly preoccupied mother was keeping something important from her. She’d approached Corrine on several occasions, concerned about her well-being. Each time, she received a contrived smile and reassurances that all was well. On a whim, she had followed Corrine after spotting her climbing into a vehicle with a woman she didn’t recognize. And, at the warehouse door, she had listened to their conversation and suddenly her mother’s secrets made sense. She was both astonished and proud of Corrine’s double life. And, most of all, she wanted to help.
‘It’s through here,’ Freya said, leading the way under a brick archway and through a set of double doors. A brass plate on a wall read Longwall Library. ‘Lizzy says she saw him in here an hour ago.’
Corrine followed her daughter up a staircase until they reached an arched window and a desk piled high with reference books and a laptop. She immediately recognized the young man sitting there.
‘Will,’ Freya began.
Eleanor Harrison’s son looked up from his work and smiled. ‘Oh, hey, Freya, how are things?’
‘Probably like you, drowning in essays, but it’s all good. This is my mum Corrine.’
‘Hi Will,’ Corrine said as a swarm of butterflies gathered in her stomach. He shared the same prominent cheekbones as his mother and her smile. She hoped that was the end of their similarities.
‘Listen, I’m sorry to bother you,’ Freya continued, ‘but have you got a few minutes?’
‘Sure, what’s up?’
Freya glanced around the room, checking they weren’t being overheard. ‘I need to talk to you about something sensitive. It’s regarding your mum.’
Will’s body language altered immediately. He moved back in his seat and folded his arms. ‘If you want me to ask her to lobby for you, I’m afraid you’ll have to go through official channels. I have no influence on her . . .’
‘No, it’s nothing like that. It’s more of a . . . personal . . . nature. Do you mind if we sit?’
Will nodded.
‘I need your help with something.’
‘Again, I can’t help. She and I are busy people so we don’t see each other very often. You know how it is.’
Corrine lowered her voice. ‘I understand, Will, but I think there’s more to your estrangement than that. I watched you in that interview she gave after claiming she’d been attacked. You knew she wasn’t telling the truth.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I think you do. And I think you’ve discovered certain . . . behaviours . . . that have upset and disturbed you. And that’s why the two of you no longer have a relationship.’ Corrine had no evidence to suggest whether her theory might be factually accurate, or if she just wanted it to be.
Will opened his mouth as if to argue, then stopped himself. And Corrine knew her hunch was correct. But now came the difficult part.
88
Anthony
The two vehicles parked side by side in Anthony’s garagehad not been used in weeks. Anthony had barely left the house. There had been no more project meetings in London, no unauthorized visits to Freedom for All gatherings nor runs to clear his head.
But, today, there was somewhere Anthony needed to be. His estrangement from Jada and Matthew was coming to an end once their flight from Orlando landed later that afternoon. And nothing was going to stop him from greeting them as the doors to arrivals opened. The idea of it flooded him with joy until he caught his reflection in the car’s wing mirror. He turned away before he could completely take in this shadow of his former self. God only knew what Jada would think when she saw his hollow cheeks, red eyes and flashes of cobweb greys that seemed to have appeared in his hair overnight.
