exact spot where he could best keep guard, and Ellie was pleased to see that Ruby’s body had uncurled a bit. ‘Budge over, baby. I’m going to have a little lie down with you. I’ll watch Spiffy, and check if he’s doing a good job.’
Ellie lay down with her lips next to her daughter’s head and cuddled her close. She gave her a kiss and stroked her hair. She could feel that Ruby’s warm body - tired from all the trauma - was gradually relaxing. She lay there until Ruby’s breathing became regular, then slowly uncurled herself from the bed. After the horrors of everything that had been revealed about Abbie Campbell in the last couple of days, she thanked God that Ruby was safe. She kissed her soft cheek, bent over Jake to stroke his hair, and made her way quietly out of the door.
As she passed the top of the stairs on the way to their bedroom, she heard Max talking in the hall. He wasn’t exactly whispering, but he was keeping his voice low.
‘I agree. We do need a deadline, and I’m doing my best. Everything’s pretty much sorted from this end. I told you that I’d transferred the money, so it should be in the bank now. Everything’s in place.’
There was a pause.
‘Okay, let’s make the deadline Saturday. We can’t back out then, so that’s when I’ll tell Ellie - when there’s no going back.’
Another pause.
‘Okay. We’ll talk tomorrow when she’s at work. It’s best not to use the house phone again. I’ll ring you from my mobile, or you call me. I’ll try to remember to keep it switched on. I’ve got to go - speak tomorrow. Bye.’
Max replaced the receiver quietly, and sauntered back down the hall towards the kitchen, whistling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. But Ellie knew better. When Max whistled like this, with his tongue behind his top teeth instead of through pursed lips, it was always a sign of stress.
Saturday, Ellie thought. No matter what Georgia had said, Saturday was going to be the day - the day when all would be revealed. And today was Wednesday. Just two more days of pretending they were a happy couple. She wanted to fly downstairs and ask him – beg him to stay. Her chest felt tight with despair, but she knew she had to stick to her plan if she was to keep him.
And what was this about money? She had given him total control of their finances and she never checked because there was so much it was accumulating more than they were spending.
She crept downstairs, but could hear that Max had put his favourite Elbow CD on and wouldn’t be able to hear her. She made her way into the study. The computer was switched on, so all she had to do was log into their various accounts. The hunt didn’t take long. There it was. Max had transferred three hundred thousand pounds out of their account, and paid it to a company called Cheshire Fields Developments. Holding her breath, she did a quick search on the name, but it came up with nothing - at least, nothing useful. She didn’t have time to do more now, or Max would come looking for her.
She quickly closed the window on the bank file and her Google search, and made her way softly back upstairs. It was only when she had reached the top, away from the chance of being discovered, that the enormity of it all hit her. Three hundred thousand pounds – paid to a development company of some description. What was Max doing?
From nowhere, a dreadful though leapt into her head. Max had bought another house. One for him and Alannah.
In a daze, she walked into their bathroom and shut the door. Sitting on the side of the bath, she dropped her chin and started to cry quietly. There was no rage or anger in her, just a deep, deep hurt. How had it happened? The pain was so fierce that she slowly slid from the side of the bath to the floor, pulling her knees as close to her chest as she could. She grabbed a towel to stem her tears.
From beyond the bathroom door, she heard a sound in their bedroom.
‘Ellie?’ It was Leo. ‘Are you coming down for something to eat? You’ll be amazed at my culinary skills - I can promise you that.’