Page 65 of One Step Behind
‘Jenna,’ Stuart takes my arm and turns me towards him. ‘I was sitting right there and you lied.’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘You just told DS Church that you didn’t leave the hospital at all on Thursday, but you did. You went into town to get Beth’s ribbon, remember? I wasn’t supposed to know about it, but Beth begged me to remind you on Wednesday night and I saw you give it to her on Thursday when you came home.’
‘Oh … I forgot, that’s all.’ It’s the truth, I did forget, but it feels like a lie on my lips, and from the expression on Stuart’s face he thinks so too.
‘And what was that comment about his phone? How are you so convinced there’s evidence on it?’
I sigh and slump on to the stool. I don’t have the energy to lie. ‘I took his phone.’
‘What?’ Stuart stares at me, his face incredulous.
‘I didn’t mean to. I found it in his bag when I went to visit him, then I left in a hurry and I must’ve put it into my bag by accident. I looked through it, that’s all. I saw photos of me on it and so I know it’s him, and the police will too once they look at it properly. I can’t understand why they’ve not seen it yet. I put it back on Monday.’
‘But they’re saying he was working—’
‘This guy’ – I shake my head, trying to slow down my words – ‘is not an idiot. He’s smart. He never leaves fingerprints. We’ve never seen his face on any CCTV footage. He never stays long enough for me to take a photo of him. He’s had us and the police chasing our own shadows for months now. Is it really so hard to believe that he might have duped his boss somehow too?’
Stuart considers my comment, sweeping a hand through his hair and tugging at the tangles before pushing it behind his ears. ‘You’re right. Of course. But why didn’t you tell DS Church this?’
‘Because if she finds out then the phone will be inadmissible as evidence. They’ll say I tampered with it or loaded the photos on myself. She can’t know, Stuart. We just have to hope she finds it soon. I know he’s got it because he emailed me yesterday.’
‘Bloody hell, Jenna. I can’t believe all this. You have to let the police handle it from now on, OK?’
I nod, swallowing back the rest of my confession. It’s my fault the police didn’t take your phone as evidence when they first visited you on Monday. And if they find it now, they’ll surely be suspicious that it wasn’t there to start with.
The fluttering bird in my chest returns. I can feel my grip on the situation slipping away. It feels like only a matter of time before DS Church discovers the full extent of my interfering, or realizes I was in town at the time Matthew was hit by the bus, but even that isn’t as bad as the knowledge that you are worming your way out of what you’ve done to me. And if you think I’m going to let that happen, you’re very, very wrong.
Stuart slips on to the stool beside me and, even though we’re the only ones in the house, he lowers his voice before he asks: ‘Did you do it?’
‘Do what?’
He raises his eyebrows. ‘Did you push him?’
I laugh. It’s not funny. Nothing is funny any more, but still I laugh. ‘I wish I had.’
‘I’d have done it,’ Stuart says and now it’s my turn to raise my eyebrows. ‘I mean it. If I’d been with you and you’d pointed him out to me, I’d have pushed him under that bus in a heartbeat if it meant I’d get my wife back and all of this would be over, but I’m not sure it will be, will it?’
Tears prod behind my eyes.
Stuart reaches his arms around me. ‘I need you back, Jenna. The kids do too. We can’t carry on like this. I think … I think everything that has happened over the last year has damaged you. I’m glad the hospital have made you take time off. You need it.’
Stuart’s lips find mine and I let myself fall into his embrace.
Chapter 36
Sophie
I step outside the hospital entrance, away from the smokers wearing patient gowns that flap around their bare thighs, and tip my head to the sun. I stand with my eyes closed like that until all I can see is a dazzling white behind my eyelids and the tops of my cheeks burn. I wish I could erase the last fifteen minutes. Hell, I’d go for the last twelve years while I’m at it.
A shiver travels over my body, despite the thirty-three-degree heat. Matthew was angry today. Every question, every word, was snapped. He asked about the fire, and the truth lodged in my throat.
‘What do you remember?’ I asked instead.
‘I’m trying so hard,’ he said, rubbing his head. ‘All I know is that there was one and it was bad.’
I could feel the colour drain from my face and a tremor take hold of my legs, and even though his memories were coming back and I knew he’d remember soon, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. ‘That’s pretty much it.’
