I flinch back instinctively.
He raises his hands as though I’m pointing a gun at him. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says.
I nod. ‘I just have to sit for a minute. My legs, they’re a bit shaky.’
In the gloom, I see him stand and shuffle off, looking around for something. He soon spots what he’s been searching for, and heaves up a huge fallen log before placing it on the ground next to me with a rustle and a thud. ‘Here, sit on that,’ he says. ‘The ground’s cold.’
I do as he asks. This time, tentatively accepting his hand as he helps me off the ground. He squats opposite me and sighs.
‘I’ve wanted to talk to you for ages,’ he says, ‘but I wasn’t sure if she was doing it to you, too. I had to be sure. I had to wait and see.’
‘Doing what?’ I ask.
‘Destroying your life,’ he says. ‘Like she destroyed mine.’ His gaze lifts from the ground to my face. We stare at one another in the gathering darkness. Is he telling the truth?
I wipe my muddy, tear-streaked face with the sleeve of my coat. My feet are like ice blocks and my whole body throbs in pain, but I can’t be side-tracked by encroaching thoughts of central heating and warm baths. I need to hear what this man knows about Darcy.
‘Tell me,’ I say.
‘My name’s Max Allerton,’ he begins, ‘and I used to be rich and successful, happily married with children.’ He pauses and takes a breath. ‘But I was stupid. Tempted.’
‘By Darcy?’
‘Yes.’
‘When?’
‘It was about ten years ago. Just before she met Michael Lane.’
‘You had an affair with her?’ I ask.
‘A one-night-stand. Worst decision of my life,’ he says. ‘She knew I still loved my wife and kids. So she blackmailed me. Ripped me off for every penny I had.’
I find it hard to feel sorry for a man who cheated on his wife, but his voice is filled with so much pain, it’s clear he knows he made a terrible mistake. And I know how Darcy can manipulate people into doing things – things they don’t want to do. How she can get under your skin and make you question everything. She almost fooled me, and she’s already fooled Jared, the school mums, the police…
‘She worked for me,’ he says. ‘She was my book keeper – knew exactly how much money I made. She destroyed my business, which I guess some might say I deserved after what I did. But she didn’t stop there. She also made sure my wife knew what had happened between us. She taunted Sarah with our affair, even though she’d promised me she wouldn’t. And then, the final blow – she set me up for tax evasion. Got me put away for eight years.’
I gasp, although I don’t know why I’m so surprised. ‘She did all that?’
‘She did.’
‘And you were actually sent to prison?’
‘They released me last year. Let out early for good behaviour.’
Something occurs to me. ‘That time outside Flora’s café,’ I say, ‘when she told you to stay away from me. Surely, she must have recognised you. Is that why she warned you off?’
He shakes his head. ‘No. She didn’t recognise me. I look different now to how I looked back then. I was a rich young man with a beautiful family…’ He breaks off and digs into his jeans’ pocket, pulling out a mobile phone, its screen illuminating his worn face. He presses a few buttons and swipes the screen several times. ‘Here.’ He holds it out in front of me and I see a photograph of a handsome, clean-shaven, fair-haired man dressed in a suit – nothing like the man who’s crouched before me now – with a pretty, dark-haired woman and three laughing children.
‘Is that…?’
‘Me. Yeah. I know, hard to believe isn’t it?’ He gives a dry laugh. ‘Me, before Darcy shredded my life. Like she’s trying to do with yours.’
I take his phone and stare hard at the photo, looking from it to Max and back again. I can see a faint resemblance – the same eyes and nose. I hand him back his phone.
‘Why has she even made a move on me?’ I say. ‘I’m not rich.’
‘You must have something she wants.’
