True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) (2 page)

Hanging her jacket on the rack in the hall she followed him through to the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. He’d obviously gone to a huge amount of effort. Candles were flickering on just about every available surface and the functional kitchen table now bore a thick red tablecloth at the centre of which was a vase containing long-stemmed red roses.

“Wow,” was all she could manage.

“Do you like it?”

She nodded. She did like it, but she couldn’t help but wonder why he’d never made such an effort when they were still together. “It looks lovely.”

“Take a seat, Madame, your waiter will be with you shortly.” Michael gestured to the chair he was holding out for her, smiling.

Jennifer sat down and watched as he went into the main kitchen area to put the finishing touches to their dinner. It was very obvious that he wasn’t at all at home in the kitchen from the mess he’d made whilst cooking, but that just made it all the nicer that he’d gone to such a lot of effort.

“You made this yourself?” she asked as he placed a steaming bowl of pasta in front of her.

“From scratch” He grinned as he took his place across the table from her. “Wine?”

She nodded. “Just a small one, I’m driving. So, how are things? How’s that job going?” She knew he was still working on a new apartment block that was being built just outside town.

He shrugged. “Okay, we’ve had a lot of down time because of the shitty weather so I’ve had quite a bit of spare time. What about you? Did your boss get that contract he was going after?”

Jennifer worked as a receptionist for a gym equipment supplies company. Her boss had been chasing a contract from a national chain of gyms which could quadruple the company’s turnover overnight. On more than one occasion she’d accompanied him to dinners and drinks in an attempt to charm the owners.

“He got word last week actually that he’d got it.”

“Pay raise?”

Jennifer laughed. “I don’t know about that but once all the excitement has died down I might well ask!” She took a bite of the pasta. “This is really good. You know, you should cook more often.” She was starting to relax a bit now. Things had been incredibly tense between them since she’d left and it was nice that they were now able to laugh in each other’s company again.

“If I did, would you come and eat it with me?”

“Sure,” she had to be careful how she answered. Though it was nice that they were starting to be friends again, she had no idea if there was any hope for them and she didn’t want to be unfair. “That’s what friends do isn’t it?”

He frowned and didn’t reply, looking down at his food instead of at her.

“Sarah’s doing well, picking up a lot of freelance work,” Jennifer offered in an attempt to change the subject. “I don’t understand all that computer stuff she does, but she seems to be good at it.”

“That’s great, but do we have to talk about your sister? Just once can we have a conversation without ending up talking about her?” he snapped.

She should have known better. Michael and her sister didn’t get along, which had added to strain on their marriage recently as Sarah and she were incredibly close. More like best friends really.

“I didn’t realize that it bothered you that much.”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “It’s just I’ve been looking forward to tonight so much and I really want it to be just about us.”

Sarah was right
, Jennifer thought,
I shouldn’t have come
. He clearly had very different ideas about what tonight was all about than she did.

“Mike, listen, it’s great that we can do this, really, but nothing’s changed.” She tried to find the words that would explain without hurting him. “I love you, always will, but things are different now. We’ve both changed such a lot since high school, we want different things now.”

His face darkened and he picked up his plate before sending it crashing to the floor. She jumped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“No,
you
want different things. I never wanted it to change, I was happy.” He glared at her, breathing heavily. “You had to go and spoil it all.”

“Okay, I think it’s time I left.” She didn’t want to get into another row with him, wouldn’t get into another row with him. She didn’t have to any more. She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m sorry Mike but it’s obviously too soon.”

“No.” he grabbed her arm. “Please, Jennifer, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper.” He looked at the mess on the floor. “It’ll only take a minute to clear this up and then we can start again. Please.”

She didn’t want to stay though, she wanted to get out of there and never come back. If she’d had doubts before, he’d chased them away. They were done.

“I’m sorry Michael.” She looked at his hand pointedly before shaking it off. Without another word she left the kitchen, retrieved her coat and walked out of the house. And it felt good.

Michael spent another sleepless night lying in bed just staring at the ceiling. It had been a few days since the disastrous dinner with Jennifer and he’d barely slept since. He just kept replaying it over and over in his mind almost as if he was expecting a different outcome. The sun climbing higher in the sky outside his bedroom window finally forced him to get out of bed. It was the first time in a while that he hadn’t woken to the sound of rain lashing against glass and it lifted his mood.

Get up. Go to work.
His boss had been quite understanding over the last few weeks since Jennifer had left, putting up with his sporadic attendance and lack of focus on his work, but he couldn’t count on it for much longer. If he didn’t get his shit together he was going to be unemployed on top of everything else.

He got in the shower and ran the water hot as he could bear. The needles of water stung as they hit his skin, driving away the weariness in his body, leaving him refreshed. It didn’t take him long to get dressed and he was soon making his way downstairs. Checking his watch he saw that he still had a little time to have breakfast before he needed to leave.

The post hit the mat before he reached the kitchen. He turned back and scooped it up, flicking through it quickly. It was mostly bills and junk mail, but one envelope stood out from the others. It was cream coloured, thicker than usual and obviously not a bill. Leaving the rest on the hall table, he took the envelope to the kitchen and sat at the table to open it.

He forgot about work as he read the words. He had to read the letter twice, sure that he must have got it wrong the first time, but he hadn’t. Jennifer had filed for a divorce. Angrily he balled up the letter and threw it in the trash. No way. No way was he letting his marriage end without a fight.

As suddenly as it had appeared, his anger dissipated. He slumped over and rested his forehead on his arms. He couldn’t believe it. It was over.

They’d met in high school. He’d been on the football team; handsome, popular and in great demand. He’d been dating the prettiest girl in school. Eventually she’d taken him home to meet her family, including her older sister, Jennifer. As soon as he’d seen her, he’d known that he wanted her. Not in the way that he wanted Sarah; theirs was a relationship based purely on lust and mutual satisfaction. No, he’d known then that he wanted her to be his wife.

It started slowly. He found ways of spending more time with the family just so he could see her, spend time with her. At first she barely noticed him but then she started holding his gaze for a few seconds longer than was necessary, brushing her hand against his whenever she was close.

Then one day Jennifer called her parents asking to be picked up from a party. They’d been in the middle of a discussion with Sarah about her falling grades. Feeling that he was in the way anyway, he volunteered to go and pick her up. When he arrived she obviously had been crying; her smudged mascara tearing at his heartstrings.

He hadn’t been able to resist. He stopped at the first quiet place he found and took her in his arms, intending only to comfort her. Once she was in his arms, he found he couldn’t let go, and one thing led to another.

She’d been ashamed afterwards, lying naked under him on the back seat. She made him promise that he would break up with her sister immediately. She told him that she had tried to fight it, that she didn’t want to hurt her sister, but her feelings for him wouldn’t be denied.

The uproar their relationship caused threatened to tear the family apart. Jennifer’s guilt ate away at her, but eventually they came through the storm. Her family realized that they were serious about each other and Sarah forgave her; but as for him, he wasn’t completely sure.

And now it was over.

Jennifer hated driving along this road at night, especially in the rain. What had been a light drizzle when she left the office gradually got worse and the rain was now coming down in sheets. She put her wipers on as fast as they would go but they were barely keeping up. Thankfully the road was quiet so she could slow down. She wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere and she’d rather get home later and in one piece, than not at all.

A glint in her rear view mirror drew her eye and she saw a set of headlights coming up from behind. Those lights hadn’t been there a minute ago so she knew they must be travelling fast.
Idiot
she muttered under her breath before turning her steering wheel slightly, moving to the side of the road to let them pass. She was tempted to give the finger as they pulled alongside her but decided against it, concentrating instead on the road. She waited for them to pull past but the driver seemed to have slowed down, now travelling parallel to her.

What the hell is wrong with this guy?
At first annoyed, she was starting to feel uncomfortable. Glancing through the passenger window, she tried to make out who was driving the other vehicle but the rain made it impossible for her to see anything other than the outline of a figure.

Well if you won’t speed up, I’ll slow down.
She didn’t want to stop on the dark road but if she slowed down a bit the other car might pass her and go on its way. Pressing on the brake she slowed slightly as the other car started to inch forward.

She was not prepared for what happened next. The other car swerved to the left, smashing its side into the front of her car. Frantically, she gripped the steering wheel trying to keep the car on the road, but it was no use. The other car was bigger and much heavier than her car. Some kind of SUV. She felt the wheel slip from her grasp as it the car spun around and left the road.

Screaming, she held her arms across her face as the car crashed into the trees on the side of the road. The impact of the branches shattered the windscreen, the glass striking her in the face.

And then there was silence, broken only by the groaning of the car as it settled and the tinkle of glass as it came to rest. Feeling something warm on her face she reached up and touched it with her fingers,

“Good job, Dan.”

The voice came from just outside her car window. Scrabbling frantically at her seatbelt she managed to click it free and climb over to the passenger seat, away from the voice.

“Oh no you don’t.”

She paused with her hand on the door handle and looked up. A man was smiling at her through the shattered glass. Before she had a chance to speak, he reached in with a syringe in his hand and pressed it into her neck. She felt a sharp pain, like a bee sting, before the world started to swim and went black.

Michael dropped the phone down onto the kitchen table. He’d been trying to get hold of Jennifer since Friday and it was now Tuesday. He tried her at home but it just went to answerphone and her cell was switched off. He didn’t want to ring her at work if he could help it, but he needed to talk to her about the divorce.

There was only one thing for it, if she wouldn’t answer her phone he would have to go round to her house. He checked his watch. She should be home from work in about an hour so he could sit outside until she arrived. His mind made up, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the kitchen chair and was just slipping it on when there was a knock at the door.

“What do you want?” he snapped when he saw who it was.

“Where is she?” Sarah pushed past him and into the house.

“Jennifer? Well she’s not going to be here, is she?” he told her as he followed her into the living room and watched as she had a good look around before heading for the kitchen.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

She spun round to face him.

“Where is she, Michael? Have you done something to her? I haven’t been able to get hold of her for days and she didn’t turn up for work on Monday, or today.”

Michael held up his hands. “Whoa, Sarah, I haven’t done anything to her, I can’t believe you think I would. I’ve been trying to get hold of her, too.” He watched the anger drain from her face leaving in its place a worried frown.

“Look, come and sit down,” He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. “When’s the last time you spoke to her?”

“Friday, before she left work,” Her face hardened. “She was still upset about the row you guys had.”

Michael tried hard not to let his concern show on his face. It was one thing for Jennifer to avoid him, but wouldn’t let Sarah know if she was going to be incommunicado for any length of time.

“Look, try not to worry. I’m sure there’s a good explanation,” he said, though he couldn’t think of one. “Have you called the police?”

Sarah shook her head. “Not yet. Do you think we should?”

“Yes, I do,” he carried on quickly as she started crying. “Just as a precaution, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Can you do it? I don’t think I can.”

“Sure.”

He picked up the phone and called the number for the local police department. When they answered he quickly explained the situation before they put him on hold, telling him they’d be right back. “We’ll probably have to go down there in person.” He told Sarah, putting his hand over the mouthpiece.

“Mr Trent? I’m Detective Mitchell,” suddenly said a deep male voice.

“Yes, hello. I would like to report my wife missing; are you the person who handles these cases?”