Public Property (29 page)

‘
Everyone’s fine. Why do I get the impression you
’
re hiding something from me?
’

‘
What? No, I’m not
.
I just want to try and focus on something else other than what’s going on here. Tell me about the building work with your house
.
A
re
those Greek builders
still on schedule?
’

Emma wouldn’t give up until she’d confessed everything. She couldn’t tell her about Nicholas meeting her father. The less people knew about that the better.

‘
Freya
.’

‘
Alright, alright, I
’ve been in hospital. I passed out at the casino
when I found out about Mike
.’

She took another bite of cheese.

‘I knew it. It’s those dizzy spells you used to get because of your father wasn’t it?’

‘I guess.
I think it freaked Nick out a bit
. Apparently I did
the whole roll
ing
eye
s
, white sweaty face, collapsing on the floor thing
.’

‘
What did the doctor say?
’

‘He said
I
’m
pregnant
.’ She laughed.

‘
What?!
’

‘
Oh apparently they did some obviously flawed blood test and it showed up something or other. I told him, there is no way I can be pregnant
.’

‘
Freya, what are you saying? The doctor told you you
’
re pregnant and you don’t believe him?
’

‘
Of course I don’t believe him. What I think happened is that they mixed up my results with some other poor woman
.
She
could be going out and getting drunk right now with no knowledge of her unborn child
.’

‘
Well
,
what did the d
octor say when you told him
you didn’t think you were pregnant?
’

‘
Oh he said something about a scan to check
,
but I wasn’t having that
.
I mean
,
I’d just woken up from some horrible debilitating sedative they
’
d given me and I just wanted to get out of there
.’

‘
Freya
,
I think you have to go back to the hospital and have a scan. Doctors don’t tell you you
’
re pregnant for no reason and
hospitals mixing up results doesn’t
happen very often. You’re pregnant
.’

‘
I’m
not
pregnant
! Me! Pregnant! Don’t be stupid!
T
he whole idea of it is just completely mad! Nick and I are careful you know
. And although the hospital says he can have children, he hasn’t got the full kit has he? The chances have to be slimmer.’

‘
What
’
s so mad about
the idea of you being pregnant?’

‘
Em
, the first couple of weeks we had Willis I forgot to feed him three times. When Nick wasn’t here he had to leave Post-Its on the fridge to remind me
,
’
Freya told her.

‘
And you think you
’
d do the same with a baby? Well
,
let me tell you, the noise they make you wouldn’t be able to forget it’s there
,’
Emma assured her.

‘
Well
,
that’s another thing
.
I mean
,
I like my sleep and I don’t function very well without it. From what I know about babies that isn’t a good combination
.’

‘
Have you done a test
yourself
?
’

‘
No!
’

‘
Well
,
why not? If you
’
re so sure you aren’t pregnant
,
do a test
.’

‘
It would be a waste of money
.
I mean I could probably buy about five or six large bars of chocolate for the price of a test
.’

‘
It sounds to me like you
’
re in denial. Buy a test, pee on the stick and then you
’
ll know. But if you don’t want to waste chocolate money go and see the doctor again, get a scan
.’

‘
You know me and hospitals
.’

‘
Y
ou can’t just do
nothing
. What does Nick say about it?
’

‘
Got to go
,
Em
, that’s the intercom buzzing.
I
t
’
ll
be
Jo
l
ie
.’ She stood up and marched up and down to replicate movement.

‘
Freya! Don’
t you dare go! You haven’t spoken to Nick about it
,
have you?! Freya!
Don’t you hang up on
me!
’

‘
Sorry
,
Em
, Jo
l
ie’s here
.
I’ll call you tomorrow
.’

Freya looked at
the lump of cheese in her hand and saw she had consumed half of it.
She couldn’t be pregnant, not now, possibly not ever. She hadn’t
ever thought about it properly.
I
t had never been high on her priority list. She suspected it had something to do with her childhood. She had nothing good to take from her life as a child to pass on to anyone else.

Suddenly there was a loud bang from the kitchen and the alarm system began going off
. The
deafening
wail
had Freya leaping up and covering her ears, not knowing what to do.

Her heart was racing and she just stood still frozen to the spot.

The phone began to ring
and she just looked at it, not knowing whether to pick up
. With the alarm blaring, she took a deep breath and answered the call.

‘
Hello
.’

‘
Please identify yourself. This is the police
.
W
e
’ve
been alerted to the alarm activation
.’ The voice barked at her, sharp and commanding.

‘
Um, I’m Freya Johnson
.
T
here was a noise from the kitchen and then the alarm went off and
…’

The lightheadedness was there again. Her eyes couldn’t focus.

‘
Password!
’
the voice barked again.

‘
Um, I,
er
, just give me a minute
…’

She felt like she was going to vomit. She couldn’t remember what her password was.

‘
You have twenty seconds then
I
’
ll radio for a
n immediate armed response.’

‘
Um,
er
, it’s
“
John
McClane
”.
D
id you hear that
? John
McClane
!
’

As soon
as
the words
were out of her mouth,
the noise of the alarm
ceased.

‘
Hello
,
Miss Johnson, my name is Vanessa
.
I
’ve
deactivated the alarm
here
,
but you will need to reset the control panel. Now, are you sure everything
’
s OK?
’
the woman’s voice spoke.

‘
I think so
.
I don’t know, I think I’m
d
eaf
.
L
et me go and check the kitchen
.’

Gingerly she left the lounge and made her way up the hallway towards the kitchen.

She flipped on the light and saw Willis in the middle of the kitchen, stood next to a black crow
, feathers around his lips. Freya looked up from the floor and saw the kitchen window was broken and glass was all over the work top.

‘
I think you
’
d better get the police to co
me
.’ She called Willis to her and picked him up.

‘
OK
,
Miss Johnson
,
I
’
ll have a unit come straight over
.
D
o you want to keep t
alking to me until they arrive?’

The intercom buzz
ed loudly and it startled her.
Her breath caught in her throat and she almost let go of
Willis and the
phone.
Willis jumped from her arms.

‘
Miss Johnson
, is everything OK?’

‘
Yes, yes it’s fine
.
H
ang on
,
just one second
. H
ello
?’ she said into the intercom system.

‘
Hi
,
Freya
,
it’s Jo
l
ie
,
’
her
neighb
our’s
voice called through the speaker.

‘
Hi
,
Jol
ie
.
C
ome on up to the house
.
E
r
,
hello? Vaness
a? It’s fine, it’s my
neighbo
u
r
.
S
he
’
ll
be here until the police arrive.
T
hank you for your help
.’

She ended the call and
rushed through the hallway to the front door to meet Jolie. She could see her friend marching up the driveway laden down with grocery bags.

‘
Sorry I’m late
,
Freya
.
Adrian decided to paint the kitchen with ketchup and
…
well look at your hair!
’
Jolie
said
.

‘
I
…
well
…
I’ve got the
police coming in a second and…’

‘
You haven’t had another break in! Oh my God
,
when?!
With you here in the house?’
She went up the steps to the house.

‘
Well
,
it wasn’t really a break
in,
it was
…l
ook co
me in and make yourself at home.
I’ve got some wine open and there’s beer in the fridge or there
’
s soda
or…
I’ve just got to call someone about the broken window
.’

‘I’ll do that.
’ Jolie put her arm around Freya. ‘I’ll also make some tea.’

The President’s Lounge was a well
-
known
members
only club in California. It was frequented by the rich and famous and was very exclusive. Nicholas had been a member for some years
,
but he
’
d only been in the establishment once when he
’
d met with a director.
It wasn
’
t his scene.