The Attic Room: A psychological thriller (16 page)

Four men stood silent and motionless in the kitchen when she
returned, various pieces of electronic equipment in their arms. David Mallony
switched the radio on, and loud pop music blared out.

‘We’ll check the place hasn’t been bugged,’ he murmured,
bending close to her ear.

Nina started to put her shopping away, banging cupboard
doors. Surely the place wasn’t bugged? A few minutes later one of the men gave
David Mallony a thumbs up sign.

‘All clear, boss.’

‘Did you really think I’d been bugged?’ said Nina, turning
to David Mallony.

‘Almost certainly not, but with the technology available
today it’s better to be safe than sorry. Okay. There didn’t seem to be anyone
following you. Nina - ‘ His face became tight. ‘Tell me what your cousin said
about the abuse he remembers you both being subjected to.’

Nina sank into a chair, leaning over the kitchen table while
she related everything Paul had told her. Telling David Mallony was easier than
telling Beth. He noted down the details.

‘I’ll pass this on,’ he said. ‘Okay, we have new information
about George Wright. It now seems more possible that this blackmailing business
could be down to him. He was involved in a very similar scam several years ago,
pretending to be a victim.’

Nina remembered Paul’s face when he’d talked about his
father. Her poor cousin. ‘That’s what Paul said. I should tell him about this.
And Sam.’

‘Yes. Unfortunately we don’t know where George Wright is. He’s
spent a lot of time abroad in the past ten years, but he’s also been back in
the UK for spells in between.’

He was silent for a moment, his face neutral, then he leaned
towards her. ‘Here’s the plan. It’s too dangerous for you to walk to the crazy
golf hut with the cash, so we’re going to turn Sabine Jameson into your double
and she’ll do it. She’ll be wearing a wire so we’ll hear everything that’s
going on. Then we’ll be able to detain whoever picks up the bag.’

‘Right,’ said Nina. Thank God they didn’t want her to stroll
through the park personally, a bagful of money in one hand. In the dark. Alone.
Knowing there was a weirdo lying in wait for her. Hell, no.

‘What if the blackmailer notices it isn’t me?’ she said.

‘I don’t think he will. You and Sabine are the same build,
and you both have blonde hair. Plus it’ll be dark, and we can arrange to have
some of the lights in the park switched off. She’ll be wearing jeans and your
sweatshirt or jacket. I’ll get onto her now to see when she’ll be here.’

He strode into the hallway to make his call. Nina sat with
her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands. Not two weeks ago she had been
grieving about the senselessness of Claire’s death. Now she was a victim of
blackmail and threats – not to mention childhood abuse. Talk about changed
days.

David Mallony came back while she was trying to work up the
energy to phone Paul and Sam.

‘Sabine’s on her way and she’ll stay with you for the rest
of the day. She’ll appear at the front door in about half an hour and you’ll
greet each other like long-lost friends. And if anyone at all asks, Nina –
friends, family, anyone – you say that she’s a friend from university.’

‘Okay,’ said Nina. ‘I did secretarial studies in Glasgow.’

‘Fine,’ said David. ‘Now, when she arrives the two of you
should hang about in front of the house for a minute to give the rest of us
time to go out the back. Be noisy, move about so that anyone watching will keep
right on watching. Sabine will stay with you till she leaves to go to the park.’

‘What about the money?’ asked Nina.

‘The two of you will take a bag to the bank this afternoon.
You have to do that in case he’s watching you. You’ll be shown into a small
room and the bag will be filled with money. Then you bring it back here.’

‘Real money?’

‘Fake money.’

Nina almost gasped. It sounded too incredible to be true. ‘I
don’t think I’m cut out to be James Bond,’ she said, and David laughed.

‘You won’t need to leap across the rooftops. We’ll get him,
don’t worry.’

He nodded reassuringly and left her still clutching her
phone. Nina glanced at the time. Twelve fifteen. The number she had for Paul
was a landline, but there was maybe a slight chance he went home for lunch.

Luck was on her side, for Paul’s phone was lifted on the
fourth ring. Nina explained what was going on, omitting the detail that it
would be Sabine who went to the park. Unsurprisingly, Paul sounded weary and
upset.

‘Oh God, Nina, I don’t think it was a good idea, telling the
police. They’ll never prove anything and it’s my word against my father’s now.
It all sounds very dangerous to me.’

Nina swallowed hard. She was lying by omission here and it
was so not what she wanted. She’d only just found Paul and here she was
endangering their relationship by telling him fibs. But what else could she do?
David’s instructions had been clear.

‘The police’ll be watching all the time. I don’t like it
either, but we need to catch him.’

‘Right. I’ll come by again after work if that’s all right,’ said
Paul, breaking the connection without saying goodbye.

Nina pursed her lips. It was clear he wasn’t happy, and who
could blame him? And now she would have to explain what she was doing to
Cassie.

Rather to her surprise Cassie took the news in her stride. ‘Make
sure you do exactly what the police tell you, Nina. I’ll tell Naomi you can’t
come till tomorrow because of business, will I? Oh, and is it all right if we
take her to the pool this afternoon? We would both be in the water with her.’

‘She’ll love that,’ said Nina. ‘Thanks a million, Cassie.
Tell Naomi I’ll call her later, and I’ll phone you tomorrow morning.’

Was she being too casual with her daughter, leaving her with
Sam’s folks for such a long time? But it would be impossible to have Naomi here
in the middle of all this, and the Harrisons were lovely people. As was their
son, who was next on her list to call, and something was telling her Sam might
not be quite as cool about what was going on as his mother was. And rats, his
phone was taking messages.

‘Sam, it’s me. I’ll catch you later,’ she said. It was
horrible having all this going on and Sam unaware of it. They’d parted on bad
terms after yesterday’s call, and she didn’t want to be on bad terms with Sam.
Either as a friend or her lawyer.

When the doorbell rang David Mallony gave her a little push.

‘On you go. It’s going to be fine. Remember this is your old
friend, now – shrieks of joy, big hugs,’ he said.

Nina had never felt less like shrieking joyfully, but Sabine
had obviously missed her vocation in the police force. She threw herself into
her role with such enthusiasm that Nina responded almost as if she
was
meeting an old friend for the first time in years. They
hugged fondly on the doorstep, then Sabine stepped back and pointed up to the
top of the house, walking up and down the gravel, asking about the rooms. They
remained outside, pointing and talking, for several minutes.

‘Okay. Shall we go in?’ said Sabine at last, grinning at
Nina.

Inside, Nina watched as the young woman pulled a package
from her bag and placed it on the living room table beside the photographs.

‘My wire,’ she said. ‘You’re doing really well here, you
know. Let’s make coffee and then we’ll get off to the bank. The boss’ll have
the fake money there by that time.’

Nina breathed out shakily. How normal it all sounded. Coffee
and then the bank. There must be hundreds of people doing something very
similar right this minute.

If only she was one of them.

Nina’s feeling of unreality persisted throughout the
afternoon. It was difficult to drive the short distance into town and park
behind the library, impossible to walk into the bank as if this was any old
shopping trip, her and her old friend and everything hunky dory. She felt
conspicuous with the empty sports bag – not something she usually carried for
an afternoon in town – but at least they wouldn’t meet anyone she knew; she
didn’t have to pretend this was normal. At the bank she and Sabine were shown
into a small room with ‘Manager’ on a blue sign on the door. Nina’s sports bag
was taken away and returned considerably heavier.

‘What’s to stop the blackmailer accosting us and stealing
it?’ said Nina, hugging the bag to her chest as they left the bank. She should
try to act normally here – but how impossible was that when her gut was
performing somersaults like something from the Moscow State Circus.

‘He won’t,’ said Sabine cheerfully. ‘He’s made his
arrangements for his own good reasons, and he’ll stick to them.’

Her heart in her mouth, Nina cradled the bag in both arms
till they were back in the safety of the hired car. Stupid, she thought. It
wasn’t as if it was real money, and even if it had been, money didn’t matter.
Naomi was the only important thing and it was unbearable that circumstances had
split them up like this. The lump in her throat, never far away since she’d
left Naomi with the Harrisons, swelled painfully.

Back at the house, Nina shut herself into the study to try
Sam’s number again. This probably wasn’t the best time to phone him, bang in
the middle of the afternoon, but she could try. She listened as the tone pinged
out then broke off immediately as he took the call.

‘Nina? How weird, I had the phone in my hand to call you!’

‘Sam, hi. I’m not disturbing you, then?’

‘Nope. We’re having a short break before the final
settlement. Nina, I’m sorry about yesterday. Is everything all right?’

‘I’m afraid not.’ It was a struggle not to break down and
howl as she told him about Paul’s visit and what she now knew about her father’s
treatment of her, and about the latest blackmail letter and the police in the
house. Like Bethany, he was silent while she spoke.

‘That’s all,’ she said at last.

‘All! Dear God, Nina – are you coping with this – should I
get Dad to come and be with you – I’ll come straight back now, I – shit, this
is awful.’

Nina closed her eyes. His concern was like Beth’s – warming.
‘Sam, it’s okay. The police are being great; Sabine Jameson’s here with me all
the time,’ she said, realising as she spoke how very alone she felt in spite of
Sabine’s presence. This assignment was simply another job to the young
detective, who was whistling cheerfully as she washed coffee mugs in the
kitchen. Sabine would do her work here and at the end of her shift she would go
home and take up her own life.

Sam’s voice sounded miserable too. ‘It’s not okay. I’m sure
they’ll do their best to keep you safe and catch this person, but shit, Nina, I
wish I was there to help.’

Nina forced herself to sound upbeat. ‘You’ll be home soon. I’m
absolutely fine.’

‘You are not. And I know you don’t want to be involved with
me but as your
friend
, Nina, I want to be involved
with you. If that’s okay.’

It was a struggle to keep her voice steady. He was her
friend, in spite of her telling him to get lost, basically. This horrible
situation would be so much more bearable if Sam was there with her.

‘You know that’s okay. And you’re right, I’m not fine, but I’m
holding it together.’

‘My business here needs another hour, tops. I’ll go and
chivvy them all into this last meeting, and as soon as it’s over I’ll start
back. I’ll be in Bedford about nine.’

At five o’clock the doorbell shrilled into silence in the
house, and Nina, huddled in a corner of the sofa texting Beth, jumped in
fright. Hell, her nerves were all over the place. And she’d forgotten all about
Paul’s promise to come by that afternoon.

‘It’ll be Paul Wright, my cousin,’ she said to Sabine, who
was in the armchair leafing through a magazine.

‘Don’t forget I’m your old college friend,’ she said, and
misery flooded through Nina. It felt all wrong that she couldn’t tell Paul what
was going on. He was much more of a victim than she was.

She introduced her cousin to Sabine, feeling more and more
awkward as they all sat down and looked at each other. She was going to have to
lie to Paul almost every time she opened her mouth now, and how horrible was
that?

‘Is your plan still on for tonight?’ said Paul. His eyes
were dark-rimmed and his face even paler than that morning. Nina tried to sound
reassuring.

‘Yes. It’s scary, but if the police catch this guy it’ll get
things over with. I’m glad Sabine’s here to keep me company. Paul, are you
okay?’

His hands were picking restlessly at the hem of his pullover
as he sat slumped in the armchair. Nina found it impossible to imagine what he
might be thinking. After all, the blackmailer could well turn out to be Paul’s
father.

His expression was bleak. ‘I’ll be fine. I’d like to stay
for a bit though, if I may. I don’t want to be alone today. And maybe you could
do with family around.’

‘Good idea,’ said Nina, exchanging glances with Sabine. The
younger woman’s face was pleasantly neutral and Nina could take no comfort from
it. It was kind of Paul to come; it showed he cared, and she wanted to help him
too if he needed support, but… it did make things awkward.

He was visibly nervous, giving very short answers to
everything that was said to him, and Nina began to wonder if involving the
police had been the right thing to do. Maybe if she’d ignored the anonymous
letter thing from the start it would all have died down and disappeared by
itself. Paul had spent all his life avoiding what happened to him as a child,
and then she arrived and within five minutes she had raked everything up and
was rubbing his nose in it. What kind of a cousin did that make her? But there
was no way she could start a heart to heart with him when Sabine was here. Nina
searched around for something to say.

‘Do you know where the secretaire in the study came from? It’s
so different to all the other furniture here.’

He gave a half-smile. ‘I think it belonged to Emily
originally, but I’m not sure.’

‘I’m going to take it home to Arran,’ said Nina. Typical.
Another lovely thing that hadn’t been John Moore’s. She would turn Claire’s
room in the farmhouse into a study, she thought suddenly. The secretaire could
go there, and it would be good to have something of Emily’s as well. A real
family room.

Sabine started a conversation about supposed old friends,
and Nina joined in reluctantly. It was hellish, sitting there trying to chat
about things the two of them might remember, and a huge relief when the other
woman suggested catching the news on TV. As soon as the weather forecast was
finished Nina went through to the kitchen and made a pot of spaghetti, opening
a jar of pesto to go with it.

Paul picked at his food but made no move to leave when the
meal was over. Nina sat at the kitchen table massaging her temples and watching
Sabine wash the spaghetti pan. Dear God, she was exhausted. And she was going
to be up for hours yet; no way would she be able to sleep until she knew what
happened during Sabine’s late-night trip through the park. Plus, and the
thought hadn’t struck her until now – would she be all alone here when Sabine
left? At least Sam would be back by that time… But the odds were that David
wouldn’t allow Sam anywhere near this place, because if the blackmailer was
watching, the arrival of a fit young lawyer would make things even more
complicated. Maybe they’d send someone to guard the house when Sabine was gone;
after all, there was no guarantee the letter-writer wouldn’t break in and torch
the place before he went to the park. Bloody hell.

‘Nina, we’ll talk about holidays,’ said Sabine in a low
voice, when Paul went into the downstairs toilet. ‘If he’s still here at eight
suggest he goes home and comes back tomorrow.’

When they’d exhausted the subject of holidays Sabine started
asking about the photos, encouraging Paul to tell them about his childhood.
Nina found it hard to listen as he revealed further details about his mother’s
increasing dependence on alcohol, and how she’d left Paul to organise his own
meals and often wash his own clothes too. She died when Paul was thirteen.

‘So you were in care?’ said Sabine, and to Nina’s dismay
Paul glowered at her.

‘I don’t talk about that time,’ he said shortly. ‘It’s best
forgotten.’

Tears were bright in his eyes, and Nina ached for him.
Puberty was a difficult time for any child, and Paul must have had it worse
than most. She would sit him down for a long talk before she went home, see if
she could change his mind about going to some kind of therapy.

She squinted at the clock on the back wall, trying to do it
unobtrusively. She was unsuccessful. Paul jumped up from his chair at the
photos table and flung himself down on the sofa.

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ he said, his voice shaking. ‘I’ll be gone
soon. I have to pick my girlfriend up after her French class.’

‘Paul, don’t. We’re all edgy and scared. It’s all right.’
Nina sat on the arm of the sofa beside him.

‘I know. Sorry.’

He gave her a brief smile then went to the window, where he
stood jiggling from one foot to the other, staring outside. Dark clouds was
gathering overhead; by the looks of things it was going to rain soon.

‘I’ll make more coffee before you go,’ said Sabine,
retreating to the kitchen. Nina heaved a sigh. It was easier when Sabine wasn’t
in the room; all the pretending was more than draining. She joined Paul at the
window and patted his shoulder, feeling almost maternal, then remembered she
had promised to call Naomi. Shit. Right this minute she simply didn’t trust
herself to talk to her daughter as if everything was normal. Maybe a text
message would be better. She pulled out her phone and flopped down on the sofa
to text in comfort.

She was in the middle of her message when the phone rang in
the study, and her heart leapt into her mouth.

‘Oh God, Paul – suppose that’s the blackmailer?’

Sabine was in the doorway. ‘I’ll get it. If it’s him he
might stay on the line longer if he thinks I’m going to fetch you.’

She left her coffee tray on the table and strode through to
the study. Paul wandered out to the hallway, and Nina finished adding smilies
to her text and sent the message, hoping Naomi wouldn’t call right back. Not
that this was likely. Naomi had only had her own phone since her father’s
departure to South Africa, and sending text messages was still a novelty. Sure
enough, just moments later the answering text came in.

‘luv u 2. cu 2morrow. xoxo’

Nina grinned. Nothing to worry about there.

She was standing up to see what was happening with the phone
when a door slammed shut in the passage and Paul careered into the living room,
his face deathly pale and a sheen of sweat on his brow. Nina jumped back.

‘Paul! What’s happ- ?’

He grabbed her arm. ‘Quick! We have to go, now, bring the
bag! That was the police on the phone – there’s a bomb hidden here!’

Nina’s legs began to shake. ‘Shit – no – what – ’

‘Come on, Nina!’

He was pulling her towards the door, and Nina grabbed the
sports bag and her handbag and ran with him out to his car.

‘Sabine!’ she yelled over her shoulder.

‘She’s still on the phone. It was her police-boss who
called. I knew she wasn’t really your friend, by the way. I wish you’d trusted
me with the truth.’

Nina’s stomach lurched as she saw the hurt expression on his
face. He propelled her into his car and she flung both bags on the back seat.

‘Paul, I’m sorry. They said not to tell anyone, not even
family. Shouldn’t we wait for Sabine?’

He shook his head, pulling away from the kerb and gunning the
car towards the main road. ‘She has to join her boss.’

Nina scrabbled for the seat belt. Would this affect the plan
for tonight? And what would the police do about the bomb? ‘Where are we going?’

Paul’s voice was shaking. ‘He said to get well away for a
while. They’ll be in touch. We’ll go to mine.’

They stopped at the traffic lights and Nina sat consciously
relaxing her clenched fists. Thank God they’d got away safely. Paul turned into
the High Street, and Nina looked out at people wandering along the pavement, on
the way to the pub, maybe, or the cinema. Lucky ordinary people. She couldn’t
hear anything, but the police must be blue-lighting to the house right this
minute. Was there a bomb disposal unit on standby in a small place like
Bedford? And actually, going to Paul’s might not be the best idea.

‘Paul, let’s go to Cassie Harrison’s,’ she suggested. It
would be so great to be with Naomi again at last.

Paul pushed the car into gear as the lights changed and
swung round the corner away from the High Street.

‘You don’t want to lead anyone who might be following us
straight to Naomi, do you?’

 His voice was grim, and Nina winced. He was right, they
didn’t know what kind of people they were dealing with here. David Mallony
thought only one person was involved – possibly George Wright – but of course
there was no certainty about that.

Nina shivered. George Wright and bombs didn’t seem to go
together, in fact it was difficult to understand why anyone would want to bomb
John Moore’s house. Or – was she the target, not the house? Her and the money?
Bloody hell, how improbable that sounded… and the blackmailer wouldn’t risk
blowing up the money… Of course he might have counted on her leaving and taking
it with her – and that was exactly what she’d done. Shit, maybe he was trailing
the car. She turned in her seat to see out the back window, but everything
looked quite normal.