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Later that afternoon, when she returned to Treetops, Laura found a gaunt and sad-faced Dick Morgan sitting at Ellie’s kitchen table.

‘Laura, let’s go upstairs. I’ll help you pack,’ Ellie told her gently. ‘You’re going to live with your grandfather.’

Laura was bereft. ‘But I don’t want to leave here!’ she sobbed. ‘Oh, please, don’t make me go!’

Ellie tried to shush her as they climbed the stairs, not wanting her grandfather below to hear her cries. ‘Come on, love – you can’t stay at Greygates on your own. You’ll have a lovely time at your grandfather’s place, and you’ll be going to a new school. Won’t that be exciting?’

‘No, it won’t, and I don’t want to go!’ Laura howled, resisting Ellie’s efforts to keep her quiet. ‘And I don’t want to leave Kerry – she’s my best friend!’

‘You and Kerry can phone and write to each other,’ Ellie told her soothingly. ‘And you can see each other during the school holidays. That’ll be something to look forward to, won’t it?’

But Laura wouldn’t be mollified. ‘I’ve lost everybody, and now I’m losing Kerry, too!’ she cried.

Upstairs, Laura watched tearfully as Ellie packed her few possessions into a holdall. She wondered vaguely how her T-shirts, socks and shorts had got there, but clearly someone must have brought them back from Greygates the day before.

‘Why isn’t Kerry here?’ Laura whispered plaintively. ‘Does she know I’m going? She won’t want me to leave either!’

‘By the time Kerry woke up, you’d already left for Greygates. She’s gone for a walk into the village – she’s very upset about what happened yesterday,’ Ellie said softly, her own eyes filled with tears. ‘We’re all devastated.’

‘Well, I can’t go until she gets back,’ Laura said firmly, trying to gain a modicum of power over a situation that was already spiralling out of her control.

But at the bottom of the stairs, Dick Morgan was waiting, car keys in hand, as Ellie and Laura descended the stairs.

‘I won’t go without seeing Kerry!’ Laura screamed, clinging to Ellie and refusing to follow her grandfather, who was now walking out to his car.

‘Believe me, it’s better this way,’ Ellie whispered, gently propelling her out of the front door, her own eyes now red from crying. ‘I’ll tell her you said goodbye.’

As Ellie pushed her firmly towards Dick Morgan’s Mercedes, Laura looked around herself wildly. Where was her best friend when she needed her most? Now that her family had died, Kerry was the only person left who truly cared for her. Rage filled her heart. She’d just lost her entire family, and now they were dismantling the only support system she had left.

But there was no sign of her friend and, numbly, Laura allowed herself to be guided into the front passenger seat, beside her grandfather.

Fastening Laura’s seatbelt, Ellie gave her a quick hug. Then the car door was closed, and her grandfather instantly applied the central locking system. Laura felt as though she was suffocating in a prison from which there was now no escape.

As they drove out of the Treetops’s driveway and onto the main road, Laura spotted Kerry walking home dejectedly, her face sad and tear-stained. Even though Laura screamed for her grandfather to stop the car, he didn’t seem to hear her and, despite banging loudly on the window and gesticulating wildly to Kerry, her friend seemed lost in a private world of her own.

C
HAPTER
72

A
week later, Laura had an afternoon free of tutorials, so she’d decided to visit an antiquarian bookshop in Dorrington. The bookshop, tucked away in a little side street in the city centre, was renowned for its range.

As she headed for the bookshop, she made a point of walking through the pedestrian area as much as possible. She didn’t want to give Jeff any chance to make another attempt on her life. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any further texts from him, so she had to hope he just intended to unnerve her from time to time.

Suddenly, she had an uneasy feeling that she was being followed again. Her heart in her mouth, she spun around, and her jaw dropped in surprise. Was that Darren? Before she had a chance to offer a surprised and delighted greeting, he’d disappeared down a side street.

Hurrying back the way she came, Laura stared down the side street where he’d turned off, but it was completely empty. Had she imagined it? She must have, since Darren would never avoid her like that.

Puzzled, Laura walked on, still uncertain as to whether she’d seen him or not. Common sense told her to accept what her eyes had seen, yet she couldn’t think of any reason why her former boss would be in Dorrington. Then it crossed her mind that he could be there to see Bill Maddison. Of course,
that made perfect sense. But she was still puzzled as to why he’d hurried away when she’d spotted him. She and Darren got on really well, and had always been really good friends. Why wouldn’t he want to say hello? Then a horrible thought struck her. Was Bill unhappy with her work, and had sent for Darren to discuss getting rid of her?

Confused and bewildered, Laura no longer felt like browsing. Her whole world seemed to be disintegrating around her. Despite all of Jeff’s antics, she’d still had her career, and it had given her an identity and security. Was she now about to lose that, too?

Laura found it impossible to deal with all this uncertainty, so she vowed to tackle Bill straight away. She couldn’t bear the thought of Bill and Darren discussing her, and of her being unable to defend herself. If they’d something to say to her, she wanted it said to her directly. Abandoning her trip to the bookshop, Laura hurried back to the university.

When Laura entered Bill’s office, he smiled warmly at her, and she was suddenly filled with misgivings. He didn’t look like a man who was about to sack her.

‘Bill, has Darren been to visit you?’

Bill looked surprised. ‘Darren? No, why do you ask?’

‘I’m sure I saw him in Dorrington town centre today.’

Looking puzzled, Bill shrugged his shoulders. ‘I can’t imagine why he’d be here – we talk on the phone from time to time, but rarely in person. Are you sure it was him?’

‘Well, I thought it was,’ Laura said, now wondering if her imagination had gone into overdrive. Since she was clearly still stressed over Jeff’s last text, perhaps in an effort to comfort herself, she’d conjured up an image of someone she knew would always be there for her. But if it
was
Darren she’d seen, why would he hide from her? Surely he’d say hello? But the person she’d spotted earlier had clearly been trying to avoid her.

Suddenly, Laura felt overwhelmed by loneliness and sadness. She didn’t think she could stand it if Darren turned against her. He was someone very special to her, someone she’d always been able to count on in the past … What did other people know that she didn’t?

‘You okay, Laura?’

Waking from her reverie, Laura smiled. ‘Yes, of course, Bill. Obviously, I made a mistake about seeing Darren.’

Bill grinned. ‘Darren on your mind a lot?’

Laura blushed. Darren had been on her mind a lot more than she cared to admit …

‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist teasing you,’ Bill said, chuckling. Then his expression turned to one of concern. ‘But you look worried – is there anything wrong?’

Laura nodded, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by everything and deciding to tell him the truth. ‘I’m not sure how long I can stay here, Bill …’

Pulling up a chair, Laura told him all about Jeff, and about everything that had happened since she’d moved to Dorrington.

Bill said nothing while she talked but, when she’d finished, he let out a long, low whistle. ‘Wow! I’d no idea things were so bad. Is there anything we can do here at the university?’

Laura shook her head.

‘Then I think you need to go to the police – I’ve always found the Dorrington police to be very helpful. I’ll come with you, if you like.’

Laura shook her head. ‘The trouble is, I’ve nothing concrete to show them,’ she explained. ‘To an outsider, Jeff’s text would just read like a message from an admirer. He’s too clever – only I know the menace behind the message. As for the out-of-control car, and the man who seemed to be following me – it’s all rather tenuous, isn’t it?’

‘Well, we’ll bump up security around the campus – make sure no outsiders can gain access to the lecture theatres,’ Bill told her kindly. ‘I’ll have a word with our security team straight away. Don’t worry, Laura, we won’t let this guy get near you.’ He looked at her sympathetically. ‘Promise me you’ll go to the police?’

Laura nodded.

Thanking him, she left his office. But, as she made her way down the deserted corridor, she couldn’t help shivering. It was all very well to be protected while doing her job, but what about at other times? Was she going to have to stay on full alert for the rest of her life? And now that Jeff had managed to track her down again, was there any point in staying in Dorrington? There seemed to be eyes watching her everywhere, and she wondered if she really was losing her mind.

Laura angrily brushed away a tear. On the other hand, if she’d really spotted Darren and he’d avoided speaking to her, it didn’t augur well for returning to her job in London, either. But more than that, she couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing or working with him again. What was happening, and why did she feel that everything in her life was spiralling out of control? Bill was right – it was time to talk to the Dorrington police. And she’d do it right away.

C
HAPTER
73

E
llie lay alone in her room, the blinds drawn. This was the only place where she could cry in peace. But how could she go on, without her beloved Alan? Her heart was breaking, and she pressed her pillow to her mouth to prevent Kerry from hearing her crying. She wished she could die and be with Alan, but young Kerry still needed her mother.

Ellie stifled a sob. With Alan’s death, they’d become penniless. While he’d been alive, she’d been assured of her monthly stipend and could pay her mortgage comfortably. Now she and her daughter only had the miniscule pension John had left her – she’d already had to apply for social security.

Of course, Kerry didn’t know why their financial situation had deteriorated so rapidly. Ellie had made up a story about investments that had taken a nosedive, but Kerry had developed a bitterness that surprised and worried Ellie. Undoubtedly, the child was traumatised at losing her best friend so suddenly and at having to leave her expensive private school and start attending the local comprehensive.

They’d also have to sell their beloved Treetops, and move to a much smaller house or flat. Ellie was heartbroken at the thought – all the memories of her beloved Alan were tied up in the house’s bricks and mortar. By leaving, she’d be abandoning the place where their love had been nurtured. It would almost be like losing him all over again. Ellie dreaded telling Kerry, but there was no alternative. Alan’s tragic death had altered their lives on so many different levels.

Now, she fingered the gold and diamond ring that Alan had given her all those years ago. She’d loved Alan too much to blame him for leaving them unprotected. He hadn’t expected to die, had he? And she’d never given a thought to suddenly finding herself without him.

She’d loved him more than life itself and, despite all her blustering, she’d been content to be the woman he loved in secret. In fact, being his secret wife had given her a special joy that had appealed to her sense of the dramatic, and had always kept their passion on the boil. Now, there was no one with whom she could share her special brand of pain.

‘Oh, Alan,’ she whispered. ‘My heart is broken, and it’s so hard to live without you …’

Idly, she wondered if Alan and Sylvia were together in the next life. She doubted that there was an afterlife anyway, or that she’d ever see Alan again. But, right then, the pain of loss was so great that she longed for the oblivion of death so that she didn’t need to feel this gut-wrenching pain ever again.

She wiped away her tears. Now, at least, her secret didn’t matter any more. And it could no longer hurt Alan. His death had freed her from the guilt at last, although she’d have borne it willingly just to have him back again.

She’d never told anyone what had happened on that awful night all those years ago, and she’d done her utmost to block it from her mind. That way, she hadn’t needed to face a possible, unpalatable truth. Because once she did, everything would change, and she refused to let it. But, sometimes, as she’d watched her sturdily built young daughter, her dark head bent over some toy she was dismantling, feelings of guilt and regret overwhelmed her. But now that her beloved Alan was dead, it didn’t matter any more. She’d managed to keep everyone happy, while doing the best she could for her daughter.

A tear ran down Ellie’s cheek. Try as she might, she’d never managed to totally obliterate that night from her memory, even though she’d made a decision then and there to deny it space in her head. But, sometimes, the memories invaded her dreams at night, or caught her unprepared during the day. Then she’d feel physically sick as she tried to quell the tide of revulsion that rose up inside her.

It seemed that the more she longed to forget something, the more her mind wanted to remind her of it.

‘Oh, Alan,’ she whispered tearfully into her pillow. ‘I hope you knew how much I loved you – and it was only a small deception, anyway …’

C
HAPTER
74

H
aving visited the local Dorrington police station that very afternoon, Laura wasn’t quite sure how she felt. While the police officer had been courteous, he obviously didn’t hold out much hope of nailing Jeff.