Josh had a sick feeling in his gut. She’d grilled him about Adam, said he sounded like her sort of guy. He pictured again the figure standing outside his house. Would an opportunist thief really have just stood there, knowing they’d been seen? She’d witnessed his meeting with Jemma. She’d denied it, but… The hairs rose on his skin as he recalled her tearful apology after falling down the station steps: My ex accused me of all sorts of things. He said it was me stalking him, when it was the other way around. He told my friends I was obsessed with him…
How was it she’d always been on the same train he was on? That he’d seen her outside his school, somewhere else she claimed not to have been? Jesus Christ, had she been stalking him? It seemed incomprehensible, but what if it wasn’t? What if she had moved on and was targeting someone else now? He might be way off the mark here, suffering from delusions himself, but was it possible she’d made up her mind to extract from Adam what Josh plainly couldn’t offer her? Not just support, but security for the foreseeable future. He needed to talk to his stepfather. At least to make him aware.
Forty-Three
Kimberley
Noting the absence of Cassie’s car on the drive, Kim approached the house. Adam had been frantic when he’d rung, telling her that Cassie had gone off somewhere after the awful scene on the patio and he had no idea where. He’d wondered whether she might have been in contact with Kim. Kim imagined that she was the last person Cassie would contact when she believed she was having an affair with her husband. Poor Adam. He would be distraught with his mentally unbalanced wife gone missing. He hadn’t asked her to come over, but she guessed he would need a shoulder.
Taking a fortifying breath, she knocked on the door.
‘Hi.’ She offered him a tentative smile when he opened it, his expression distracted. He looked worryingly pale, with dark circles under his eyes. Kim was sure there was another worry line etched into his brow. He would be better off if Cassie stayed away. He needed someone to look after him for a change, not someone who heaped endless worry on his shoulders.
‘Hey.’ He mustered up a smile and stepped back to allow her in. ‘Sorry, my mind’s all over the place.’
‘I’m not surprised.’ She gave him a sympathetic smile back. ‘Has she been in touch?’
He nodded. ‘She’s safe,’ he said, heaving out a sigh. Kim couldn’t tell whether it was one of relief or despair. The latter, probably. He must be at his wits’ end with his wife becoming progressively more unstable.
On which subject, she braced herself to broach something that was bound to have been troubling him since Cassie had made a big point of it. ‘I need to mention something, Adam.’ She glanced warily at him.
Adam nodded apprehensively. ‘Go on,’ he said.
‘What Cassie said about Josh’s allergy… I knew about it, obviously. I could hardly not when we ate together most evenings, but…’ She paused, making sure to convey that she was reluctant to bring it up. ‘She never mentioned it to me. As far as I can remember, we’ve never had a conversation about cake.’
Adam looked troubled, scrutinising her carefully.
‘I’m not that bothered. I know Josh’s death will have derailed Cassie, emotionally and mentally. She was obviously confused,’ she pushed on, ‘but when she hinted that she thought I was making him miserable…’
She paused again, her eyes fixed down, communicating how miserable Cassie had made her feel.
‘I’m sure she didn’t mean it,’ Adam said, after an interminably long pause, during which Kim began to panic. ‘She said a lot of things she’s probably regretting. I’m hoping she is anyway, that once she’s had time to think…’ He stopped and tugged in a breath.
Kim answered with a small nod. ‘I did make him a dairy-free chocolate mousse once,’ she said, looking up with a cautious smile. ‘He didn’t like it. Mind you, it was awful.’
Adam laughed at that, albeit sadly. ‘He was probably too polite to tell you he wasn’t much into chocolate,’ he said, nodding towards the lounge.
‘I gathered.’ Kim rolled her eyes good-naturedly and followed. ‘So you know where she is then?’ she asked.
‘In Herefordshire. We have a holiday place there.’
‘That must be nice,’ Kim said, her gaze going to the photograph albums scattered on the coffee table and sofa. He must really be feeling down