Strangers (45 page)

He’d had to go to the police with his solicitor.
He stuck to his story.
For some reason India hadn’t said that he’d given her drugs but she had said he’d fucked her.
Though she’d admitted she’d lied about her age.
Charlie had been scared.
His solicitor kept answering for him most of the time, which was just as well, because he felt like asking them to stick him in a cell and throw away the key.

He could ride out what the papers had printed, apart from one thing—the attempted suicide.
That so fucked him up.
He still hadn’t called his mum and dad, but he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the phone.
He’d seen their names four times on his caller ID, but he never picked up.
He didn’t know what to say.

It was Monday evening before he managed to pluck up enough courage to speak to them.

“Mum.”

It was all he said, all he could say and she burst into tears and then Charlie cried too, for all the hurt he’d caused and for what he’d lost.
His dad came on the line and Charlie had to fight hard not to break out into a fresh round of sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie said.

“You changed your mind, son.
That’s all that matters.”

Charlie promised to go and see them and felt better when he finished the call.
He was so exhausted, he slept well for the first time since Kate disappeared.

* * * * *

When Jake turned up the following morning to take him to the Tate Modern for an interview with the director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jody sat in the back of the car.

“You don’t mind me sharing your ride, do you?” she asked.
“Ethan’s fixed for me to see them too.”

“No, that’s fine,” Charlie muttered.
Ethan had already rung and told him Jody would be going with him and he had to be nice to her.
Or else.

“How are you feeling?” she asked but didn’t wait for an answer.
“God, sorry.
You must be sick of people asking you that.
It’s awful, isn’t it?
As if you’re suddenly naked on stage and everyone is pointing and laughing.”

Charlie hadn’t quite thought of it like that.

“I can’t watch
Lord of the Rings
without wanting to vomit.” Jody put her hand over her mouth for a moment.
“Breaking up is so hard.”

“I thought you dumped him?” Charlie said.

“We weren’t right for each other, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t know how nice it is to have you as a friend, Charlie.
I hardly know anyone in London.
Will you have time to show me round the museum afterwards?”

He hoped not.

“I’m not sure how long this will take.
Have you done any Shakespeare before?” he asked.

“Only at school.
How about you?”

“Same here.”

“It sounds like real fun,” Jody said with a smile.

Charlie thought it sounded like a lot of hard work, but Ethan had insisted.
The RSC wanted to organize a celebrity fortnight featuring ten different plays and a host of stars.
Raising money for some charity or other.

“So what are you trying out for?” Jody asked.

“Hamlet.”

“Want to practice?”

Charlie sighed.
“Why not?”

It was not the fun-filled day Jody hoped for.
Forced to sound enthusiastic about playing Regan in King Lear, she’d plastered a smile on her face that cracked her makeup.
She’d hoped to wrangle her way into playing alongside Charlie, but they’d already cast Ophelia and there was no way she’d play his mother, Gertrude.
Jody was still seething they dared to ask.

She managed to persuade Charlie to walk round the museum with her afterwards, but it was full of crap.
Pieces of garish pink plastic dangling from the ceiling on metal chains, the contents of a bathroom cabinet strewn in a circle, a big black square with a bell in the middle.
Plain weird.
The only time Charlie’s eyes lit up, was when he saw the giant slide.
But there was no way she was going on that.
She’d wreck her new Donna Karan pants.
Jody waited for him at the bottom, but then hadn’t actually seen him emerge because three cute guys had asked for her autograph.

Jody decided she’d waited long enough to make a move on Charlie.
He was depressed after the exposé in the press and she wanted to cheer him up.
He was still furious with the woman he’d been fucking.
Charlie needed someone to take his mind off things.
A good meal, a bottle of wine and her in his bed.
Perfect.

“I need cheering up,” Jody said.
“I want to buy a dress.
Wanna come and help me choose one?”

Charlie shrugged.
She’d take that as a yes.
She’d never found any man enthusiastic about shopping.

Four hours later, she’d lost patience with him.
He’d been uncommunicative while she tried on dresses, sullen over a coffee in Harrods and sulky when she tried to buy him a tie.
She’d managed to wangle an invite back to his house but he wanted to stay in.

“I want to go out,” she whined.

What the fuck had been the point of buying the dress if he wanted to order a pizza?

“I don’t feel like it,” Charlie said.

“Let’s go to Gordon Ramsey’s place in Chelsea.” Jody put her hand on Charlie’s arm.
So far, she’d been careful not to overdo the touching, but she was frustrated.
After that handbag throwing scene, she’d thought he’d take her up on the offer of the hot tub but he’d bolted off to his music room and locked himself in.
Jody stroked his biceps.

“Please?” She tried her puppy-dog look.

“It’s always booked solid.”

Jody bit back her annoyance.
He could get in anywhere he wanted.

“Let me try.” She pressed a few buttons on her phone.
Minutes later, she’d secured a table and a cab was on order.

“Now go and put on something nice,” she said.
“And have a shave.
I don’t want your chin scratching my face.
I’ve got a photo shoot tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to go out.”

“Well, I do.
I want to wear my new dress.
I need to show I’m strong and brave and well over that prick.
You should do the same.
You can’t hide in here forever.
Let the press see that you’re above all this.
We’ll smile and show them a united front.”

Charlie did as he was told.
Jody thought about joining him in the shower, but she’d just done her hair so she decided not to bother.
His naked body was something to look forward to.
As she reached for her magazine at the far side of the coffee table, Charlie’s mobile rang.
Jody leapt at it.

“Hallo,” she chirped.

“Is Charlie there?”

Suspicious of any female she didn’t recognize, Jody was on guard.
“Who’s calling?” She deserved an Olympic Gold for repelling rivals, though she hadn’t had to do anything to get rid of the lanky waitress.
The stupid cow had managed that all on her own.

“I’m Charlie’s mother.
Is he there?”

Oops, thank God she’d not said anything nasty.
“Oh hello, Mrs.
Storm.
This is Jody Morton.
I’m a very close friend of Charlie’s.
I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment.”

“Will you ask him to ring me?”

“Of course.
Is it important?
Could I give him a message?”

“It’s about Kate.
Please ask him to call me.”

“Certainly.” Not, Jody thought.
There was no way she was bringing up Kate’s name.
After tonight, she didn’t think Charlie would even think of her again.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kate had finished the jigsaw puzzle.
Well, almost finished it.
One piece missing.
She stared at the picture for a moment, admiring the shapes of the jungle cats, remembering how Charlie lounged like a leopard, how they’d worked on the puzzle together.
Then she scooped the whole thing up and put it in the bin.
If she wanted a new life, she had to get rid of the old.
She filled black bags with all her sewing materials and took them down to the bin room along with the sewing machine and the computer.
The latter had seized up and died while she’d been away and Kate couldn’t afford to get it mended.
She’d lost heart for the sewing.
No point anymore.

Before Kate knew it, she’d tossed out almost everything she owned, except for a small quantity of clothes, her mobile and the Post-It notes Charlie had stuck to her wall.
It didn’t hurt as much as she thought.
They were just things.
Even the bed.
It could go with the apartment.
How could she sleep in it again and feel happy?
Kate laid her silver star under the pillow.
It was all part of her dreams now.

As she made her fourth trip downstairs, dumping another two bags in the bin room, her mobile rang.

“Kate?
It’s Simon.”

She was so shocked he’d rung, for a moment she didn’t speak.

“Kate?
Are you there?”

“Yes.
Sorry.”

“Richard said you wanted to talk to me.”

Kate sat out of sight on the gravel at the rear of her car and leaned back against the wall.

“I wanted to ask you about the article you wrote on Charlie,” she said.

“And here I thought you were going to ask me on a date.” He chuckled.

Kate wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

“Charlie thinks I’m the source.”

“Well, maybe you should tell your side of the story.
Like to explain how you got that mark on your face?
I’ve already got the headline—
Snow-storm
.”

Kate’s fingers rose to her cheek and trailed down the scratch.
Someone must have taken her picture as she left Charlie’s house.

“Did he hit you?”

“No.
I caught it on a branch.
Simon, I need to know who told you he’d tried to kill himself.”

There was a deep sigh from the other end of the phone.
“You know I can’t tell you that.
I have to protect my sources.
You hadn’t got the mark when you went into Charlie’s house.
You had when you came out.
Forest in his lounge, is there?
Maybe Jody Morton hit you.
She’s got a temper.”

“Was it his mother who told you?” Kate persisted.

“I can’t say.”

“His father?”

“Kate, I can’t tell you.”

“But he thinks it was me.”

“Then why don’t you let me interview you?
You can set the record straight.
We’ll pay.
I could come round now.
You can tell me how you got that mark and maybe I could drop a hint about what you want to know.”

“No.”

She switched off the phone.
That wouldn’t make things right.
Tears fell from Kate’s eyes.
She’d trained herself not to cry, a defense mechanism borne out of necessity.
If you shed tears in a children’s home, you were doomed to a life of name calling—cry baby, pissy pants, leaky girl.
But now Kate let the tears fall.
A silent flood, because no sound came from her lips.
She sat and cried until not one tear remained inside her.

* * * * *

“Kate?
What are you doing out here?” Lucy demanded.

“Looking at the stars,” Kate said.
Wanting just one.

Fax stood at Lucy’s shoulder, his arm around her waist.

“Come inside,” Lucy said.
“It’s after midnight and it’s cold.”

Kate got to her feet too fast.
Her head swam and she leaned back against the wall.

“We’ve been worried about you.
We wondered where you were.
You keep disappearing.”

“I’ve been away for a few days.”

“You’re not back with Charlie, then?” Lucy asked.

“No.
That’s over.
Charlie thinks I sold him out to the papers.
I didn’t.
I don’t understand where they got their information.” She looked at Fax.
“I talked to your friend, Simon Baxter.
He won’t tell me his source.”

“He’s not my friend,” Fax said.

“Let’s go inside.” Lucy tapped in the code and pushed open the door of the building.

Kate had a sudden hope that Fax might be able to help.
“Simon thinks I should give him my side of the story.”

“Don’t,” Fax said.
“Keep quiet.
It’ll all blow over.”

“But Charlie thinks I betrayed him.” The band tightened around Kate’s heart and she bit back a whimper.

“It could have been any of the people he’s messed up,” Lucy said.
“Bloody hell, I bet there’s a long enough list.”

“Why is Charlie so sure it’s you?” Fax asked.

“Because one thing the paper printed was only known by the two of us.”

“Perhaps you said it by accident to someone?” Fax suggested.

“No.
I’ve never told anyone.
I wouldn’t.” Apart from his father.
Kate swallowed hard.

Lucy stood by her door, the key in her hand, but she made no attempt to put it into the lock.
“What was the thing that only you and he knew?”

What did it matter now?
The whole world knew.
“About him trying to commit suicide.”

“Oh God.
The bastard.” Lucy put her hand to her mouth.
“I think it was Nick who told them.
Your note, Kate, the one you wrote, telling us not to worry about you and to contact your solicitor.
Remember?”

“But I didn’t give it to you.
I threw it away.”

“Rachel found it.
I told Nick.
I’m so sorry.”

“What note?” Fax asked.

Kate thought Lucy looked ready to throw up.
Fax slid his arm around her and hugged her.
Lucy clung to him.
Kate felt a moment’s bitterness that she wasn’t the one getting the sympathy.

“Who saw it?” Kate asked.

“Rachel showed me and Dan.
Then I told Nick.”

Oh Christ.
Kate let out a shaky breath.

“What note?” Fax asked again.

Lucy looked at him and then at Kate.

“I wrote a…a goodbye letter,” Kate said.
“The day after I was supposed to marry Richard, I swam out to sea.
I thought I’d never come back, only I bumped into Charlie who happened to be doing the same thing.
Since I said I’d met Charlie in the sea, I guess Nick must have put two and two together.
He can’t
know
Charlie was trying to kill himself, but he could have guessed.”

“Can you find out?” Lucy asked Fax.
“You could pull a few strings.
If I ask Nick, he’ll deny it.
We’re barely speaking, anyway.”

“I’ll try.”

* * * * *

The following evening, when Lucy rang Kate and asked her to come downstairs, Kate could tell by the tone of her voice something was wrong.
Fax was there too.