Strangers (48 page)

“If you give me your number, I’ll let you know once her solicitor gets back to me.”

The guy looked at him as though he were some sort of pervert.
Charlie wondered if an article on him pillow sniffing was going to be in the paper next week.

He gave the estate agent his phone number and went to knock on Dan’s door.
When there was no answer, he ran down to Rachel’s.

“Do you know where she is?” Charlie asked, the moment the door opened.

Dan shook his head and Charlie’s shoulders slumped.

“Come in,” Dan said.
“We were just talking about her.”

“When did you last see her?” Charlie sat down and then got up again.
He was working himself into a panic.

“She went to see you with Nick’s letter.”

“A letter?” Charlie asked and watched the two exchange looks.

“Nick was the one who told
24/7
you tried to kill yourself,” Dan said.

Charlie felt everything falling away around him, as though he stood in the middle of an earthquake while the building disintegrated under his feet.

“I found Kate’s suicide note,” Rachel explained.
“It had fallen out of the wheelie bin.
Because Kate told us she met you in the sea, we put two and two together.”

“I could have dived in to save her,” Charlie snapped.

“But you didn’t, did you?” Dan said.

Charlie’s head slumped.

“Lucy told Nick and he told the Sunday paper,” Rachel said.
“Kate was upset because you thought she’d spoken to the press.
Lucy persuaded Nick to admit it in writing.
Kate took the proof to show you and we haven’t seen her since.
She was supposed to ring and let us know what happened, but she didn’t.
We hoped you were together, but looks like we were wrong.”

“Shit.” Charlie’s legs gave way and he dropped onto the couch.

“She isn’t answering her phone,” Dan said.
“I’ve texted her but she hasn’t replied.”

Rachel clutched Dan’s hand.
“We’re worried about her, but we have no idea where she’d go.
She dumped everything she had.
Her computer, sewing machine, even her plates and cutlery.
It’s all in the bin room.
Then we found out the apartment was on the market.”

Her sewing machine?
Charlie didn’t want to hear this, he wanted to put his hands over his ears and make a noise so he couldn’t listen.

“Where would she go?
Do you know where she went before?” Rachel asked.

Charlie perked up.
Ethan’s detectives found her in Brighton.
She must have friends there.
He jumped to his feet.

“Maybe Brighton.
I can find out.”

“Hey, Charlie,” Dan said.
“The stuff it said in the paper about Kate?
Mate, when she moved in, she was pretty battered.
She had a broken arm and a black eye.
This guy, this Dex, they reckon is a hero, I think he hit Kate.
The papers have twisted it.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said in a bleak voice.
“They have a habit of doing that.”

* * * * *

When Ethan opened the door, Charlie elbowed his way inside.

“I was about to ring you.
I’ve had a call from the RSC.
You must have impressed them, Charlie.
They want you to play Hamlet for a complete run, not just for the charity event.
Well done.
It’s going to be tight to fit it in, but filming—” Ethan broke off.

Charlie glared at him.

“Aren’t you pleased?” Ethan asked.

Charlie gave a short laugh.
“I wonder why they picked me.”

“Because you’re a talented actor?”

“Do you know the fucking play, Ethan?
It’s about a young guy who has everything and throws it away.
He fucks up his life.
The most famous speech in the world, ‘To be or not to be’, do you know what it’s about?
Whether he should fucking kill himself.
He couldn’t even get that right.
Great publicity stunt, picking a weak actor whose life has gone down the pan, to play a weak prince, whose life has gone the same way.”

Charlie stalked in circles, unable to keep still.

“What’s wrong with you now?” Ethan asked.

“I need the name of the place Kate stayed in Brighton.”

“Why?”

“Because I have to find her.
I was wrong.
She didn’t tell the papers about the suicide attempt.
She came to the Dorchester to prove it only I didn’t give her the chance.”

“A piece of paper doesn’t prove anything,” Ethan said.
“Forget her, Charlie.
You’re on the way up, not down.”

Charlie stopped moving.
There was a long silence before he spoke.
“What piece of paper?”

Ethan didn’t say anything, but Charlie saw his jaw tighten.

“You fucking knew!
You fucking knew, and you still let her come up and see me about to shag Jody Morton.” Charlie shook with fury.

“We—” Ethan began.

“You and Jody set it up.
I wondered why she didn’t rip my clothes off the moment we got in the room.
You’re unbelievable, the pair of you.” Charlie shook his head in bewilderment.
“You let me think Kate betrayed me.
Don’t you fucking want me to be happy?”

“You were happy with Jody Morton.”

“No,
you
were happy I was with Jody.
What did you get out of it, Ethan?
She going to sign with you if you got her into my bed?”

“You’re acting crazy.
You need to calm down, Charlie.
Maybe all this is for the best.
Kate’s obviously unstable, she—”

“Where did she stay in Brighton?” Charlie demanded.

“I’m not sure.”

“Give me the number of the private detective.”

“Look, if she doesn’t want to be found, she’s not going to go back to the same place.”

Charlie stepped forward and Ethan backed away.

“Give me the fucking number.”

“I didn’t hire anyone.”

“What?” Charlie’s stomach dropped to his feet.

“There was no point,” Ethan explained.
“She—”

Charlie clenched his fists.
Ethan had no idea how close he was to needing new teeth.

“You lied to me.
You fucking charged me for a PI company you never hired?
Right.
That’s it.
We’re finished.” Charlie stalked off and then surged back.
“You know what the really crazy thing is?
I thought you were my friend.
I thought at least I could rely on my agent.”

“I’ve always acted in your best interests,” Ethan insisted.

“Come off it.
You act in
your
best interests.
You always will.
You’re as much of a monster as I am.” Charlie stepped up so his face was inches from Ethan’s.
“Only I don’t get off on wearing women’s underwear.
I guess your other clients will wonder about that too.”

Then he stormed off.

But once Charlie stood outside Ethan’s house, he didn’t know where to go.
He’d been so certain Ethan would give him an address, he hadn’t thought beyond that.
He got back in his car, sat for a moment and then rang Kate’s father.

“Jim?
It’s Charlie.
I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Kate?”

“Not since that night at your house, no.”

“Do you have any idea where she might be?”

“What’s the point asking me?
I haven’t been in her life for years and she made it clear that’s the way she likes it.”

“She’s disappeared,” Charlie said.

“She’ll turn up again.”

He heard no concern in Jim’s voice.

“Aren’t you worried?”

“No.
This is what she does.
Runs away from life.”

“She’s selling her apartment and giving you back the money,” Charlie said.

There was a short laugh at the other end of the phone.
“Is she now?
So what’s wrong, Charlie?
Don’t you like being run away from either?”

“I love her,” Charlie whispered.

“You probably say that to every woman you sleep with.
Seems to me that Kate’s incapable of accepting love.
You’ll never make her believe you mean it.”

Charlie couldn’t bear talking to the guy any longer.
He cut the connection.
He lowered his head onto the steering wheel and started to cry.
This was his fault.
He knew what Kate was like.
She ran away from problems.
She didn’t want to confront them and yet despite all that, she’d tried to speak to him, twice.
The first time he’d thrown her bag at her, marked her lovely face and told her to fuck off and finish what she started.
She still hadn’t given up on him.
But the next time, she’d walked into the hotel room and seen him about to fuck Jody.

God, what would he have done if that had been the other way round, if he’d seen Kate with another guy?
Charlie couldn’t stand to think of anyone but him holding her, loving her.
He’d destroyed the one good thing he had.
I love her.
He thought about the times he held her in his arms and tried to relive the moments, but they slipped through his fingers like silken rope.
He was pathetic.
It should be him finishing what he’d started.

Charlie sat up straight and stared ahead.
Is that what Kate would do?
Go back to the beach where they’d begun?
His mobile rang and he dragged it from his pocket.
Not Kate.

“Hello,” he muttered.

“How are you, Charlie?” his father asked.

“I’ve been better.”

“I’ve just had a call from the police.”

Charlie’s overworked heart lurched.

“About Kate,” Paul said.

“What?” Ice water surged through Charlie’s veins.

“They found her car, Charlie.”

“No.” He didn’t want to hear this.

“Abandoned outside a Burger King on the Flyton by-pass.”

“Kate?” Charlie managed to force out her name.

“They don’t know where she is.”

Relief and fear surged together.
“Why did the police contact you?”

“They found a scrunched up piece of paper in the car; our address and the route to our house scribbled on it.
She came here, Charlie.”

“When?”

“A few days ago.
Your mum has only just told me.”

“What did she want?”

Charlie heard the hesitation in his father’s voice.

“She wanted to speak to me.
She brought us a painting.
Left it by the door.
It’s of you and Michael.
It’s lovely.
Your mum can’t stop looking at it.
Someone called Dan Stevens painted it.”

Charlie wondered if he could feel any worse.

“Charlie?
There’s something else I need to tell you.
When you both came here that day, and you slammed off in a temper, you remember Kate came back into the house?
Well, she told me you tried to kill yourself.
I think that’s what she came here to ask me, if I’d told the papers.”

Charlie didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t tell anyone, son.
Not even your mother.
I don’t think Kate did either.”

“Oh God.”

“Were things that bad?”

“Yes.”

He heard the shake in his father’s breathing.
“Come home, Charlie.”

“I have to find Kate.
What do the police think?
Are they doing anything?”

“No.
She’s an adult and abandoned her car, that’s all.
There was an incident involving a child outside the restaurant.
Kate nearly ran her over.
The child wasn’t hurt but no one’s seen Kate since.”

“I need to find her.”

“Is there anything we can do?” his father asked.

“No, but if she comes back, don’t let her go.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kate sat on the sand, staring at a sludgy green sea.
The weather was miserable, the sky a thousand shades of gray.
She wished she could sweep the cloud away and find a patch of blue.
Was that something her mother used to say?
Find enough blue sky to make a pair of sailor’s trousers and the weather would clear by evening.
Maybe it wasn’t her mother.
Maybe it was one of her many social workers.
Kate wasn’t sure.
She wasn’t sure of anything.

It started to drizzle and the few families on the beach began to pack up and leave.
Even the seagulls flew away.
Kate pulled her cold fingers inside the sleeves of her blue sweater.
Had she tried hard enough to put things right?
She thought so.
She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the wedge of Post-It notes Charlie had left.
A few deft folds and Kate turned one into a little boat.
She threw it toward the sea.

Fifteen minutes later, there was flotilla of yellow boats lying on the sand.
The water had reached a couple and swamped them.
She watched the waves rolling in and wondered if it was the same water continually throwing itself onto the sand, trying to crawl up the beach before falling away.
Soon, it would reach all the little boats and then it would reach her.
Maybe she should let the sea swallow her and all that was wrong with her.

There was a strange comfort in having nothing left, no possessions.
The bag with the remains of her clothes sat in the boot of the car.
She’d lost her purse somewhere.
Probably in the cab of the truck in which she’d hitched a lift.
She still had her mobile.
Kate took it out of her pocket.
She hadn’t switched it on for days.
She pressed the little button on the top and cleared the missed calls and messages without looking at them.
She was no longer interested in what anyone had to say.

She tapped one text message into her phone, but didn’t send it.

To Hippo

Sorry we lost each other

Mermaid XX

She erased the kisses.

Then put them back.

Kate set the phone upright in the sand between her and the waves.
After a moment, the light went off on the screen.
A few more paper boats struggled in the waves.

Even with her back to him, Charlie knew it was her.
He didn’t know what he’d have done if she hadn’t been there.
The thought of arriving too late almost disabled him.
He walked across the top of the beach until he was directly behind her looking down from a dune.
She wouldn’t have heard him above the noise of the sea.
She was surrounded by yellow paper triangles and her mobile stuck up in the sand in front of her.
He took his from his pocket and tapped out a message.

Kate jerked when the phone blipped.
For a moment, she just sat there, and then Charlie watched her reach out very slowly and pick it up.

Run away with me