One Night (5 page)

My mouth dropped open. Shock
mingled with a kind of –
I knew it all along –
feeling. A brush with
prison was the one thing missing in Brent’s history. But how could I believe
this man?

‘Well, there’s an old story.’

He looked at me patiently. ‘I’m Jake
Adler. We shared a flat. He knew it was going to be searched. He put the drugs
in my stuff and scarpered.’

I felt as though an icy wind had
just blown about my ears. ‘Brent deals in drugs?’

He offered a humorless smile. ‘Amongst
other things.’ He glanced round the tiny room. ‘Probably that’s why he’s got
this place. Nice little hidey hole.’

Oh, Mona!

This was worse than anything I
could have imagined. I said weakly, ‘Brent deals in antiques and artwork.’

Now he gave a little grunt of
laughter. ‘Indeed he does! He traffics stolen goods!’ He added, ‘And anything
else for that matter.’

I wanted to shout,
how dare you
say things like that!
But I couldn’t. Everything he said matched my secret
assessment of the man my best friend adored to distraction.

Jake asked, ‘What’s your reason for
being here?’

I told him about Sticky.

He grinned. It was disarming.

‘Why Sticky?’

‘A tub of syrup fell on him when he
was a puppy.’

He laughed again, this time more
genuinely. It seemed to emerge with difficulty, as though he hadn’t laughed in
a long time. One eye-tooth protruded slightly, with a lining of gold.

Every hair on my body was sensed,
nerves jangling. Could I trust this man? Had Alice Petting got her facts wrong?
Was this wild stranger in my bedroom the fugitive I had been warned about? Was
I foolish – or should I feel glad to have him here? I wanted to believe him,
but what if…

I said, a little awkwardly, as if
words were all that was needed to solve the matter, ‘You haven’t just escaped
from custody, have you?’

He looked surprised, amused even. ‘No.
I was released more than a year ago. It’s taken me awhile to find Brent.’

‘What were you planning?’

‘Well, first, I’ll knock his teeth
out. Then I’m taking him to the police so we can get the real story down on
paper.’

‘So you’re after justice?’

He took a moment. There was a dead
look in his eyes that was unsettling. Betrayal could drive people to all sorts
of excess. Madness perhaps.

The moment stretched.

‘An attempt at it,’ he admitted
finally.

‘So now…’ I waved a hand to encompass
the cottage. ‘You want to wait for him.’

He evinced embarrassment. ‘I don’t
want to put you to any trouble.’

This was laughable. ‘Bit more won’t
hurt me.’

‘I can hang around outside. Just
for the night.’

‘How did you get here?’

‘Train and bus. Then I walked.’

‘But that’s miles!’

He just looked at me. His eyes were
that dark brown that sucked in the light. Difficult to read. A little bleak. I
had the feeling he was trying to make a difficult decision. And he’d spent a
long time doing just that.

I heard myself saying, ‘It’s up to
you. There’s a bedroom downstairs. Won’t go down too well with Mona but it’s
the only option.’

This was crazy. While I might
assume any enemy of Brent’s was a friend of mine, his presence was a dilemma. I
didn’t know if I could I trust him – and yet company for the night was exactly
what I’d been contemplating before he arrived.

He stared. ‘You’re being very
kind.’

‘What else must I do? You’ve taken
my phone away. I can’t remove you physically. And my conscience won’t let me see
someone shivering all night in the woods.’

He seemed genuinely touched. ‘You
don’t know me.’

That was the point. What was I
doing?

But he had my phone. I was pretty
much at his mercy. Kindness was a weapon in its own right.

I slid to the edge of the bed. ‘My
next suggestion is even worse.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s an extra pie in the fridge.
How about supper?’

Part 2

Night

8 PM

Jake Adler queried neither the soup nor the pie. He wolfed both down in a
matter of seconds. And then the chocolate I had in my bag, followed by two cups
of coffee. I watched him. He obviously hadn’t had a decent meal in a while.

‘Thank you, Casey Blaydon.’

He mouthed my name slowly, his eyes
sleepy. There was a rank odour coming off him – a mixture of sweat and mud. I
was taken by the smooth whiteness of his face, lined by that dark beard. He sat
away from me, relaxed, the big, strong-knuckled hands folded in his lap. His
pale, medieval face didn’t fit his clothing or his recent history.

There was a quick pulse at my throat.
This man was very attractive. Instinct was overriding caution. My voice came a
little too huskily, ‘That’s me. The good Samaritan.’

But at the back of my mind I was
wondering if I should try and grab my phone and run into the woods. But that
would be stupid. He would be in the warm cottage and I would be out in the cold
phoning the police – about what? He had made no threat towards me. He had
stayed at my invitation. But the fact he had my phone rankled. Maybe he thought
I would phone Brent and warn him that he was here…

Jake said, ‘Obviously Mona knew she
could depend on you coming up here to look after Sticky.’

‘She did sort of bulldoze me into
it.’

He nodded. ‘What would she see in
Brent, do you think?’

‘His protection,’ I said without
thinking.

‘Protection from what?’

‘Nothing. I meant attention.’

‘Ah…’

I shook my head. ‘Beats me what she
sees in him actually. They’re completely incompatible. What you’re saying about
him doesn’t really surprise me. Always thought there was something missing with
that guy.’ I turned my head. ‘Didn’t you report him to the police?’

‘Of course I told the police. But I
couldn’t prove his existence. The job he said he had, was a lie. The family he alluded
to, was non-existent. His car was registered in the name of someone called
Allie Moosa. And worst of all, there was no record of him having a bank
account. At least not under his name.’

I felt I’d been dipped in ice
water. Brent’s reputation had slipped way beyond a dislikeable smile and smarmy
manner.

‘How did you find out about this
cottage?’

His look was sardonic. ‘Prison is an
information highway. There are people out there who don’t like Sedgeworth any
more than I do.’

He looked away, his expression
settling into well-rehearsed anger. He went on almost to himself, ‘He had laid
a line to me so carefully, and erased himself so thoroughly, I had no defense.
There were even people lined up to testify against me.’

There was a little silence. The
words had a sense of rote. They had been spoken and mulled over a hundred
times.

‘Why were you friends with him?’

‘It was a place to stay. I’m a
database programmer and I was between jobs. My company had closed and I’d just
come back from a trip around Africa. Brent put himself out to be helpful, and to
begin with, I didn’t know what he was up to. In fact, I only really found out
who Brent Sedgeworth really was, when I was in prison.’

‘He set you up.’

Jake turned to look at me. ‘It’s
his trademark.’

I felt sick – and it was nothing to
do with the food. I remembered that uncertain note in Mona’s voice on the
phone. Did she know something? Suspect? Where had they gone? And in such a
hurry?

‘I need to find Mona. Give me my phone!’

He paused. Then pulled it out of
his pocket and gave it to me. ‘Provided you return it.’

I took it and began dialing. ‘You
don’t trust me.’

His glance was dismissive. ‘From my
perspective, I trust nobody.’

I held the phone to my ear. It rang
interminably – then offered an impersonal messaging option. I said, ‘Mona, it’s
Casey. Sticky is fine. I just wondered if you were all right. Give me a call
when you can. Thanks, Casey.’

I handed the phone back to Jake. I
felt as though I’d swallowed something nasty. I said, ‘I think Brent may have
set up Mona.’

Jake looked at me intently. ‘Why
would you think that?’

‘They’re totally incompatible.
Utterly wrong. And he always struck me as insincere. But Mona was so enamoured,
she couldn’t see it. Except – ’

‘What?’

‘On the phone this morning she
sounded – well, hard to say –
rattled.
There’s a word.’

‘Perhaps she found him out.’

‘Well, if that’s the case then it’s
taken her long enough. They’ve been together for some time. And – ’ I paused.
My mind was connecting loose dots in my head. ‘And that’s odd.’

Jake was stacking our empty plates
on one tray. ‘What?’

‘Mona is an accountant. Works in an
auditing department at Franklin and Dowe. If there was anything funny going on,
she of all people should have picked it up.’

The plates clattered as he almost
dropped the tray. ‘An
accountant?
’

‘Mona worked like a dog and
qualified two years ago.’

Jake was looking at me in a sort of
reluctant wonder. ‘Then she would have been perfect for Brent. She could have
helped him with a whole lot of money laundering and god knows what.’

‘Mona would never have done that.
She’s as honest as the day is long.’

‘She might not even have known.’

The sick feeling settled in my
stomach. I thought about her ability to always see the best in people, her
trusting nature. I recalled Brent’s ingratiating smile, his quiet way of
moving, those wide blue eyes which could lock on you with such apparent interest
and attention. He had every accoutrement for deceit and manipulation. And I remembered
Mona spotlighted by those eyes, utterly beguiled. Brent Sedgeworth had caught
her like a fly in a honey trap.

I found my voice. ‘What would have
happened if she’d found out?’

Jake didn’t answer.

I leaned forward on the couch and
repeated, ‘
What if she had found out?
’

His eyes didn’t meet mine. ‘Not
good if she confronted him.’

I felt cold. ‘Mona was a very
honest person. She would have told him she knew.’

‘Not good,’ repeated Jake.

‘What do you mean? Will he harm
her?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You knew him. What would he do?’

He didn’t answer me.

I jumped up. ‘Where could they have
gone for one night?’

‘Is that what she told you? Just
one night?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then that’s what he must have told
her.’

‘You think – ’ The room seemed to
shrink towards me. ‘You think they’re not coming back? And Mona doesn’t know?’

‘If something’s happened, then that
could well be his plan.’ He shifted restlessly. ‘And if that’s the case then I’ve
wasted my time here.’

I jumped up and began to pace.
‘What could he have told her? What would have been his excuse to get her to
leave for one night?’

Jake shrugged. ‘Some people are too
honest to see dishonesty even when it’s right in front of them.’

This was a perfect description of
Mona. Reluctantly, I admitted, ‘Mona liked to help.’

‘And Brent would have played on
that.’

‘But something’s wrong. Something
doesn’t fit.’ I stopped my pacing. ‘What if he was running away from you? You
said yourself criminals have their own information highway. What if he knew you
were coming for him?’

His eyes narrowed.

I pressed, ‘And he would have told
Mona they were only going for one night. Nobody would have known they’d gone. And
he would have made sure they didn’t come back.’

Our eyes turned simultaneously
towards Sticky who was now stretched on the carpet like a small, messy version
of an Afghan rug.

‘Except – ’ I said slowly ‘Sticky
broke his leg.’

‘And Mona didn’t want to move him.’
Jake finished my train of thought. ‘And Brent had no option but to let Mona
phone you, knowing all the while it wasn’t just for one night at all.’

‘Mona will phone and explain when
she realizes what’s happening.’ My tone lacked conviction.

Jake shook his head. ‘If Brent lets
her.’

I had a horrible sinking feeling of
dread. ‘Somehow I think she knew something wasn’t right.’

‘You think she lied to you?’

‘No. But she sounded off-centre. As
though she wasn’t quite happy with the arrangement. And she really didn’t want
to leave Sticky.’

‘Brent must have been put out that she
made that call to you. They probably had a row. Your turning up wasn’t on
Brent’s agenda.’

I looked at him. ‘What shall we
do?’

The ‘we’ was automatic. Mona and
her predicament had nothing to do with Jake.

He pulled a face. ‘Sedgeworth has ruined
my life. I’m determined to find him.’

I looked at Sticky. ‘I’ll have to
take the dog home.’

Jake nodded, eyes heavy-lidded. He
seemed to lose interest. We both moved to lift the tray at the same time.

‘Leave it, I’ll do it. You need to
get some sleep.’

‘Casey – ’ he said.

‘What?’

‘Thank you.’

‘Just give me my phone back.’

‘Not just yet.’

‘How do I know you won’t disappear
in the night with it?’

‘I’ll give it back to you tomorrow
morning. Scout’s honour.’ But his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

He didn’t trust me not to call Brent
– or warn him by making calls to Mona. I didn’t trust him not to steal it and
disappear. In fact, how could I trust him about anything? I thought about the
smashed lock on the door upstairs, the loneliness of this place – and for a
moment a treacherous mix of vulnerability and stupidity overwhelmed me. I
stared at him steadily.

‘There are blankets in the
cupboard,’ I said. ‘And hopefully clean towels in the bathroom.’