they do with a mobile phone?’
Tom laughed.
‘Ellie - you have no idea. There are apps you can buy online to put on somebody’s phone that let you track all sorts of activity. Don’t get me onto that or I could be here all day.’
‘I’m not sure I want to know,’ Max said
‘Actually, Max, all this talk of people knowing where you are and what you’re doing reminds me. I was talking to Ellie earlier about this visitor you appear to have had on Sunday. What’s your take on it?’ Tom asked.
Ellie looked nervously at Max. His response to Tom’s question was to look at Ellie and give her a smile, which to her mind had a hint of irritating condescension.
‘I think that Ellie perhaps thought somebody had been in, but maybe the kids had messed things up a bit. I’m positive I locked the door, and there were no signs of a break-in, so I don’t see how. Sorry, Ellie. I don’t want to doubt you, but…’
Ellie was quick to agree with Max. She was positive she knew who it was, and she wanted this conversation to stop before Max worked it out.
‘It’s nothing, Tom. Like Max says, I probably imagined it.’
‘What about keys. Could anybody have had keys to the house?’
Although she was sure it was irrelevant, Ellie suddenly realised that there was one thing that might put everybody off the trail.
‘Sean brought round the spare set of keys that he had - do you remember Max? I asked you about them on Sunday morning, and you said you didn’t know what you’d done with them. Maybe somebody took them?’
Max turned to face Ellie with a look of total incredulity.
‘Who, for God’s sake? Those people are all our friends. Who on earth was going to take a set of keys so that they could come in and root around in your knicker drawer? Come on, Ellie. That’s a bit far fetched, don’t you think?’
Ellie knew that Max was right - but it was the best story that she could come up with.
* * *
As soon as she possibly could without appearing rude, Ellie escaped to the bedroom leaving Max to show their guest out. She had intentionally left her phone switched off since the previous night, and although she was anxious about what she would find when she turned it on, she couldn’t put it off forever. And anyway, there was something that she was going to have to say. Once more she went into the bathroom. Ridiculous as it was, there was little choice if she wanted to avoid being interrupted. Leaning her back against the closed door, she switched the phone on.
As expected, the minute it sprang to life the phone beeped to signal that there were messages and missed calls. Five text messages last night, and two missed calls, plus more this morning. All from the same person. What did he think he was doing?
The messages were all along the same lines.
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT, ELLIE? WHY WERE YOU BEHAVING LIKE THAT WITH MAX? I DIDN’T LIKE IT. REMEMBER THAT I’M WATCHING YOU. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ME, BUT I’M ALWAYS HERE. ALWAYS WATCHING.
She knew he was telling the truth. She permanently felt as if hot eyes were boring into the back of her neck, and was constantly looking over her shoulder.
There were other messages, demanding that she call him. She truly didn’t know what to do. Dropping her hands to her sides, she leant her head against the soft comfort of her dressing gown, hanging on the back of the door. Thinking there was nothing that she would like better than to wrap herself in its warmth and curl up on the bed, she thought about her options.
‘Sod it,’ she muttered, bringing the phone back to her ear and pressing the screen once. He answered immediately, as she’d known he would.
‘About time,’ he said. His voice sounded harsh, and Ellie felt a hard knot of fear. She had always thought that she could control the situation, but suddenly she wasn’t so sure.
‘What’s going on, Ellie? I thought we were just waiting for the right time for you to tell Max that you’re leaving him - and then you behave like that. Dancing with him, holding your body against him. What am I supposed to think?’
She took a deep breath, and tried to speak with a calm she wasn’t feeling.
‘I have never said that I’m leaving Max. Not once, and you know that.