find out what’s going on. And what if Ruth calls?’
‘One of us will answer the phone.’
I really didn’t want to. But my body had other ideas. Mona moved aside and let me lie down. I closed my eyes and heard her say something about a glass of water.
I didn’t wake up till lunchtime.
As soon as I opened my eyes, seeing Jack sitting at the table in the window with his laptop in front of him, I said, ‘Is she back? Is Ruth back?’
‘Afraid not. Mona’s upstairs, taking a nap. I said I’d keep watch till you woke up.’
I sat up. My headache was back and I took a long drink from the glass Mona had left beside me on the coffee table.
Jack studied me. ‘You need some Advil?’
‘Yes. Please.’
He went into the kitchen and came back with a couple of pills, which he handed to me. He sat back down at the table and watched as I swallowed the tablets.
‘This is a messed-up situation, huh?’ he said.
‘That’s one way of putting it.’
‘I’ve been racking my brains, trying to remember if I ever met anyone called Eden. Apparently it can be a girl or boy’s name, but I’m sure I’ve never met anyone called that. It just seems so crazy. Someone turning up and saying they know us. I’m hoping it’s all a mix-up or misunderstanding. That we do know her but can’t remember her.’
‘Except she deleted the photos I took of her.’
‘Yeah. Although Mona often deletes photos I take of her if she thinks they make her look old or fat or whatever. Hell, I do it too.’
I frowned. ‘You sound like you’re trying to make excuses for her. For Eden, I mean.’
‘I’m trying to come up with a scenario that makes sense. One in which Ruth comes walking through that door with some girl in tow who Mona and I suddenly remember.’ He shrugged. ‘There’s usually a simple explanation for everything. Did you and Ruth have a fight while you were drunk?’
‘No. I don’t think so.’
‘But maybe you forgot. Maybe you said something that upset her. Perhaps you flirted with this Eden chick and Ruth got jealous.’
I remembered the three of us hugging. The warmth that had spread through me. But it hadn’t been sexual; not that I recalled anyway. It was like trying to remember a dream, or something that had happened twenty years ago. Everything beyond that point was blank.
‘I bet you fought, maybe one of you said something when you were drunk, something you can’t remember, and she’s gone off to stay somewhere else. That totally makes sense, doesn’t it?’
I had to admit that it did. But even when we had fought badly in the past, Ruth had never avoided talking to me. She’d certainly never gone missing. And in the three years we’d been a couple, I could count the number of major arguments on one hand.
‘What did your friend say?’ I asked. ‘The detective. Did you tell him about Ruth being missing?’
‘Missing? That’s a strong word. But yeah, I told him everything you said about Eden and of course I told him that you – we – are concerned about Ruth’s whereabouts. He’s busy today but he said he’ll call round tomorrow afternoon. He’ll want to talk to you.’
‘Of course.’
Jack yawned, showing off his perfect, filling-free teeth.
‘Try not to worry,’ he said. ‘Has Ruth got a rehearsal tomorrow morning?’
‘She has.’
‘Well, there you go. Assuming she doesn’t come home tonight, that’s where you’ll find her.’ He smiled. ‘Just don’t cause a scene, okay?’
Chapter 11
I travelled into Manhattan with the Monday-morning commuters and waited outside the rehearsal studios on Eighth Street. This was where Ruth had spent most of her days since arriving in New York. Rehearsals usually didn’t start till mid-morning but I wanted to ensure I didn’t miss Sally when she arrived – or that I didn’t miss Ruth. I was praying that Jack was right. That we’d had some kind of argument I couldn’t remember and she was either too upset to see me or was punishing me by staying away. At least that would be a problem I could understand and attempt to fix.
But was she with Eden? And did she know that Eden had been lying about her friendship with Jack and Mona?
I was trying not to think about the next, obvious, questions. Like, who the hell was Eden? And what did she want?
Had she done something to Ruth?
Ever since Jack and Mona had told me they didn’t know Eden, I