The Mistress - Jill Childs Page 0,81

was trouble. You know she was. If she’d gone bleating to Sarah Baldini about all her crazy theories, they’d have come after me. They’d have to make a show of taking it seriously. Suspending me. Launching an investigation. Who knows? I might’ve ended up behind bars.’

‘In prison?’ I stared at him, suddenly chilled. What was he talking about? He’d been a fool to pursue Laura Dixon and if she’d carried out her threat and told the governors about their affair, maybe they’d have disciplined him. But prison? ‘What crazy theories?’

‘She’s delusional. That’s all.’ He got to his feet and strode over to the windows, suddenly hiding his face. ‘Anyway, we’re shot of her now. Thank God.’

I scrutinised him as he stood, hands on hips, looking out towards the valley.

‘What crazy theories, Ralph? What do you mean?’

He didn’t answer. I sat in silence, my eyes on his back. Something was bothering me. This wasn’t just about his fling with Laura Dixon. There was something else.

‘Can I really not stay the night?’ he said, turning suddenly to face me. ‘I’m sick of camping.’

‘I know. You must be.’ I managed to smile. ‘But we said we’d wait one more week. Let’s not blow it now.’

He sighed. ‘Tell Anna tomorrow. Get it over with.’

I shook my head. ‘She’s only just got here. Give her a chance to settle in.’

He took a deep breath and blew out his cheeks, deciding whether to make a fuss.

I looked at my watch. ‘It’s getting late. I should get to bed.’

He said, ‘Maybe I could come up too? Just for a while. I’ll make sure I’m gone before Anna’s up.’

‘It’s too risky. What if she wakes up in the night and comes looking for me?’

‘Spoilsport.’ He knelt down in front of me and kissed my hands, lying there in my lap, then worked his way up my blouse to my lips. I shivered.

He pulled away and kissed me lightly on the tip of my nose.

‘You’re right.’ He got to his feet. ‘One more week.’ He ducked to me again and whispered, ‘You know what’s keeping me strong? The thought of all that lovely money. Ours for the taking.’

He chuckled to himself as he headed to the downstairs cloakroom.

I listened to the door click shut behind him, then jumped up and went to his jacket. I rifled through the pockets until I found his new phone, bought with cash. Pay-as-you-go, clean and untraceable.

I slipped it into my pocket just as the toilet flushed.

When he emerged, his stubbly hair looked raked through, as if he’d been examining it in the mirror, admiring himself.

He stepped forward and put his hands on my waist. ‘So, Mrs Mack, can I come calling again tomorrow? After dark, of course.’

I kissed him. ‘I’ll cook properly, if you like. Steak? You bring the wine.’

He winked. ‘It’s a date.’

He pulled his jacket on and turned to open the front door. I saw his hand go into his pocket, feel around the emptiness. He stopped, turned suddenly back to me.

I froze, trying to think of an excuse, a plausible reason why his phone was suddenly in my pocket instead of his.

‘I can’t get used to walking everywhere,’ he said. ‘I keep searching for car keys.’ He laughed at himself. ‘Soon as this is over, I’m getting a four-wheel drive. Don’t argue. We can afford it, now.’

He set off on foot, crunching and cracking his way to the footpath down the side of the house. I stood at the picture windows, watching. When he rounded the house, he paused and twisted to peer back at me through the darkness. It was the same searching look I’d seen last night when he came snooping round the hotel car park in the darkness, checking for the hire car to make sure we’d really arrived.

Then he turned again to the track and was gone, heading down towards the neighbouring valley and the sleepy campsite waiting for him there.

I stood for some moments, looking after him, thinking. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t shake the feeling. There was something important that he still wasn’t telling me.

I swallowed. What did Laura Dixon know that frightened him so much? Something that could put him in prison.

I felt a wave of nausea and my legs trembled. He’d promised me there’d be no more secrets from now on. We were supposed to start again with a clean sheet. That was how he’d persuaded me to go along with his fraud. So we could emerge afterwards as Mr and Mrs