dating, of course. But there were so many Patrick Kilgours that she’d immediately given up. She googles his name again now. She has to go through several pages before she finds this news report again.
She looks once more at the photo of her husband. That expression, that grainy black-and-white image will haunt her now, for the rest of her life.
She can’t help herself, she looks for more. She finds other stories, with the same pictures of the car, of her husband. But in some articles there’s a picture of his first wife, too, smiling into the camera. And what strikes Stephanie about this photo is that she looks so happy.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
NIALL KNOWS THERE’S something going on. Something is bothering his partner, Patrick, and he thinks it’s more than just colicky twins. He remembers their recent conversation.
Patrick had slumped in the chair in front of Niall’s desk, looking both nervous and deeply exhausted at the same time. He’d apologized for his recent poor performance, particularly the lacklustre client meeting earlier in the week. He’d blamed it on lack of sleep, said he felt like he was walking in a fog half the time from sheer tiredness.
‘Can’t Stephanie take care of the babies?’ Niall asked. ‘I mean, she gave up her job and she’s home with them, right?’
Patrick had given him a sharp look, which Niall didn’t care to interpret. Okay, maybe he was being harsh, and his own wife would have kicked him in the shins for that one, but they couldn’t afford mistakes. Patrick’s performance was making Niall worried these days. They’d built up quite a good business in the last four years, and he doesn’t want to lose it all now.
‘You don’t know what twins are like,’ Patrick said. ‘Your kid never had colic either.’
This was true. Niall had a four-year-old and they weren’t planning to have another. Henry had not been a difficult baby. Nancy had stayed home and dealt with it all so that he could focus on the business. Obviously things were a bit different in Patrick’s household. But it was frustrating that there was nothing Niall could do about it.
Niall decided to take a gentler approach. ‘You know how important you are to this enterprise, Patrick,’ he said. ‘We both need you at the top of your game.’
‘I know,’ Patrick admitted. ‘I’ll – I’ll try to figure something out.’
And they’d left it at that, with no concrete plan to deal with the problem.
Now Niall stands perfectly still over his draughting table. He’d just heard Patrick on the phone, talking loudly, as if he were arguing with someone. He’d distinctly heard him say, ‘What’s going on?’ Niall froze, listening. But then Patrick lowered his voice and he wasn’t able to hear any more.
Now, he pops his head into Patrick’s office and asks, ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Yeah, fine,’ Patrick says. But he looks distraught, and as if he’s trying not to show it.
‘I thought I heard you arguing with someone on the phone,’ Niall says.
‘Oh, that,’ Patrick answers, giving a little laugh. ‘Just talking to Stephanie. The twins were both crying and she couldn’t hear me. It can be a little frustrating sometimes.’
‘Okay,’ Niall says, and returns to his own office. He wonders again if there’s something else going on, something that Patrick is keeping from him.
Patrick isn’t the only one around here keeping secrets, he thinks, his mind turning to Erica, and how she looks lying on her back, naked against the sheets. He wants to see her again. She knows he’s married, and she’s fine with it. He just has to make sure Nancy doesn’t find out.
She’d only found out about Anne because he’d been careless. He won’t make that mistake again.
Patrick grabs his suit jacket and leaves the office. He feels like Niall is breathing down his neck – the last thing he needs right now.
Patrick is anxious and unfocused, unable to concentrate on anything but his immediate problem. He needs to check on his family. Suddenly the urge to see them, to know that they’re all right, is overwhelming. He walks quickly to the lot where he parks his Audi.
I really think your wife and I could be friends. The idea makes his blood run cold. She was sitting within feet of Stephanie and the twins when she texted him to call her. She’d guessed that he might refuse to pay her, and she was applying pressure. She could lie to Stephanie, tell her that they’d been having sex in a hotel room