Public Property (36 page)

‘
Freya
,
you didn’t know any of th
at
at the time you were dating
.
H
e didn’t know either. Now
,
I
’
m not the guy’s greatest fan
,
but I
’
m guessing he must be feeling this too
.’

‘
Don’t have any sympathy for
him
! He
’
s had over ten ye
ars to come to terms with this.
I
’
ve had about ten hours! I don’t think you can begin to understand how I feel
.’

‘
Of course I can’t
.
B
ut I can tell you
now
,
you can stop trying to take some of the blame. Like I told you last night
,
none of this is your fault
.
H
ow could it be?
’

‘
I don’t want to see him ever again
.’

‘
I think you two have issues
you
need to b
e discuss
.’

‘
I think there are issues
you and I
have to discuss.
Like how the h
ell are we going to stop people breaking
into our home
without ge
tting one of those hideous twenty foot high
fences
.
I
mean,
so much for motio
n sensors and security lighting.
And
if this isn’t my father’s work
,
then who
’
s behind it
?’ She started to pace.

‘
Freya
,
sit down
.
S
tress isn’t good for the baby
.
Dr
.
Stone said…
’

‘
Oh no, don’t do this
.
I cannot put up with
Dr
.
Stone said this
and
Dr
.
Stone said that
for the next six months. And you can forget about wrapping me up in cotton wool because the over protective act doesn’t do
anyth
ing for me at the best of times.
I
t certainly isn’t going to cut it now
.’

‘
Come on
,
Freya
.
I
t isn’t wrong to want to protect you and our baby. I
realise
you
’
re more than capable of looking after yourself but at least let me feel I’m needed
.’ He gave her a smile.
One of his best ones.
One of the ones that made her weak at the knees.

‘
I’ll have a large pot of
tea and some of the
Jell-O
stuff
.’

‘
Fine, I’ll go
organise
it
.’ He pulled back the covers and got out of bed.

Freya watched his naked form as he pulled on
his underwear. She crossed the room
fast
and put her arms around his waist, holding his body close to her.

‘
Do you still think I’m sexy even now
I’m
incubating something
?’ she asked.

‘
Um, let me see
.
I think I
’
ll have to remove that robe
to really give an honest answer
.’ His fingers were at the knot, deftly unfastening it.

‘
I was kind of hoping you were going to say that
.’

Freya and Nicholas finally got up
just after eight thirty
.
Unable to wait any longer for breakfast,
Willis
had leapt
up
on the bed and paraded up and down the duvet until the
y
had no choice but to give in.

While Nicholas made breakfast, Freya called Emma.

‘
Hello
,’
Emma answered.

‘
I’m ten weeks pregnant
.’

‘
Oh my God!
Freya! Ten weeks!
O
h congratulations!
’

‘
She’s pleased
,’ Freya conveyed to Nicholas as Emma let out another shriek of excitement.

‘
What happened? Did you have the scan? What does Nick say?
’

‘
Yes, I had the scan
. I wasn’t
given
any
choice in the matter really. Dick Van Dyke was going on at me and then I kind of lost it in the car park about Jonny
. Then I told
Nick the doctor’s suspicions and
he took it
all out of my hands
.
I think
it
was probably what I needed
.’

‘
W
h
o
a!
S
low down
,
Freya
.
Jonny?
Losing it in the car park? What
’
s happened over
night?
’

‘
More than you
really want to
know,
believe me. It was
definitely more than
I
wanted to know. I don’t know where to start
.’

‘
Just tell me
,’
Emma begged.

‘Are you sitting down?’

She wasn’t sure how she managed to get the words out. She’d rattled the news out as fast as she could to try and lessen the shock for her best friend. By the time Freya had stopped for breath both she and Emma were crying. Nicholas took the phone from her.

‘
Hi
,
Em
,’ he greeted, putting an arm around Freya and drawing her close.

‘After what Freya’s just told me,
I feel like I need to come over and see her
.’

‘T
here won’t be any need for that
.
W
e
’
re planning on coming to Corfu straight after Freya’s photography exhibition
.’

‘
For a wedding?
’

‘
We hope so
.’

‘
Let me have her back
,’ Freya asked, reaching for the phone. Nicholas passed it to her.

‘
Sorry about that
.
I don’t know
what’s the matter with me
lately
.’ She wiped at her eyes.

‘
I can tell you exactly
what’s the matter with you
,
Fr
eya
.
Y
ou have too much on your mind and you need a break. I don’t know what to say about Jonny
.
I really don’t, I mean…’

‘
I can’t talk about him
.
N
ot yet, maybe not ever
. I
t’s too creepy and it turns my stomach and
…’ She felt nauseous again.

The buzz of the intercom interrupted their conversation
.
Freya paused to hear Nicholas answer and establish who it was.

‘
Hello
,’
Nicholas
greeted
.

‘Nick? This is Harry, from
The Hollywood Chronicle
,
’ the voice replied.

‘
Harry,
neither Freya or
I have any comment to make on anything right now. I thought we had an arrangement with you
.
I thought that was one of the trade offs of Freya bringing you cups of tea in the morning for the last six months
.’

‘Oh I know.
I don
’t want any comment on anything.
I’ve just arrived here and someone
’
s tied something to your gate
.
I just wanted to make you aware of it
.’

‘
Emma, I
’
m going to have to call you back
,’ Freya said, ending the call.

‘
What is it
,
Harry?
’

‘
Well, it’s a wreath
.
And i
t’s got Freya’s name on it
.’

‘
I’m coming down to the gate
.
W
ait there and don’t touch it
.’ He ended the conversation.

‘A wreath with my name on.
W
ell, fancy that
.’ She laughed but it came out weak.

‘
I’m going to call the police first and then I
’
m going to call Roger and we are getting CCTV out there today
.’ He pulled on a pair of sneakers.

‘Wait, don’t go yet.
I want to see this for myself
.’ She picked up her jacket from the back of the chair and followed Nicholas down the hall.

The wreath was in the shape of a cross
and it was
made up of white carnations
.
A
cross it was a black ribbon with Freya’s name printed on it and R
.
I
.
P written underneath.

‘
You haven’t touched this have you
,
Harry?
’ Nicholas asked as he looked at the tribute.

‘No.
I called you as soon as I saw what it was
.’

‘
And where are the others today? Has anyone been here before you? Has anyone photographed this?
’
Nicholas continued to question.

‘
I don’t know
.
I think everyone
’
s over at
George Cloo
ney’s today.
T
here were
rumours
he was making a big announcement this morning
.’

Freya star
ed at the wreath. She
read
her name, looked
at the perfectly white flowers and the contrast between
the pretty blooms
and the black ribbon.

‘
Just cut it down and put it in the bin
,’ she stated.

‘
I think we ought to let the police see it
.
T
hey can check for fingerprints
,’
Nicholas told her.

‘
There won’t be fingerprints. There were no fingerprints on the sma
shed windows, the crows or the “
bitch
”
letter
.
T
his person
’
s too clever to go handling things now
.’

‘
You’ve been having people smash your windows
?!
I mean
,
I saw the police
coming and going but…’ Harry began.

‘
That
’
s confidential
,
Harry
.
I
f it gets out I
’
ll know who made
the information public property.
Y
ou get me?
’ Nicholas asked.

‘
Sure
thing,’
Harry replied
.

Freya started to untie the wreath.

‘
Come on, let’s go back inside
.’
He took the wreath from her and put an arm around her shoulders.