WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (73 page)

Her mouth twisted a little like she was choosing her
words.  “I took the day off for your birthday.”

I opened the text message from Brian.  I really hoped
he was okay.  It read:

‘I’m sure by now you’ve heard about John.  It’s
awful.  I’m sorry.  Hope u & Sarah r ok.  Please know that I
care about you deeply.  You’ve had it rough lately and I never intended to
hurt you.  But it’s not wise for us to be together now.  You and
me...  I think we should rewind.’

“Whoa! Wha-t?  No, no.”  Rewind?  I stumbled
against the door frame.  “He... he’s...”   Those few little
words were enough to finally crush me.  There was now nothing left of me
to break.

“You okay?  Christa?”

“It’s from Brian.  He’s sorry for John, sorry for...” I
reread the text then glanced up, choking down emotion.  “I was a
mistake.  Basically.  He felt sorry for me.  Perhaps he just
wanted to be more involved in Sarah’s life or...  anyway, he wants us to
rewind
.”

“No way!”

“God, I feel so stupid.  He still wants Claire.”
 I waved the envelope.  “And this supposed contract is a blow
cushion.”  But wait...
not wise for us to be together now.
 
Now?  As in because of John?  Oh, crap.  If the police saw this
text...

“Are you sure that’s what the message says?”

I waved the phone.  Tears sprung to my eyes.  “Why
would he do this to me today?”  The path I’d veered off on in my dreamy
head didn’t exist anymore.  Desire, it...
I
meant nothing to him at
all for him to baulk at first base.  “Can’t argue with black ‘n’
white.  His words.  Sent from his phone.”    
Hmmm... 
what on earth is going on?

“If that’s true, then... oh, what an arse!”

So, Claire hadn’t lied in her earlier message.  At least
she’d had the guts to be honest straight away.  How was I going to deal
with this?

“He’s stressed, confused.  I mean, just think about
what he’s dealt with today.”

I gave her a wide-eyed stare, not liking what swam in my
brain.  “Exactly.  He’s probably just left the police station, with
Claire, and sending me this is the first thing he does...?  It’s obviously
been eating away at him.”

“I guess.”

“Why would Brian hurt me this way?  How could he do a
one-eighty on me in a text?”  I bowed my head and more tears flowed. 
For Christ’s sake, we’d told Sarah about us being together over
breakfast. 

“Call him,” Nicola suggested.  “Tell him you want some
answers.  Then give him a piece of your mind, or I will!  Jeez,
you’re worried about him, and all that’s on his mind is breaking up with
you.  I’ve changed my mind about him.  He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Chickens probably have more successful love lives than I
do,” I mumbled, trying to keep from dropping into full-blown doom and
gloom. 

“Men.  I hate them.”

“No.  I can’t face speaking to him.  Not
yet.”  This needed further thought.  But not right now because my
head reeled too must to delve into anything objectively.

Nicola fumbled with something on my desk.

Wiping tears from my cheeks, I stared at my computer which
was to her right.  “Why are you using
that
laptop?  It’s a
customer’s.  You should use mine.”

Nicola’s face coloured pillar box red.  “I-I... well,
the thing is...”  She whipped a flash drive out of the USB connection and
clenched her fist around it.

Perplexed, I marched further into the room, pointing. 
“What’s on that?”

Nicola’s lips twitched around a gaping mouth.

“Don’t mess with me.  I’ve had enough crap for one
day.”  I stepped up to my desk and opened my palm.  “Hand it over.”

Nicola shook her head and leaned back in her chair. 
“It’s nothing.  Just paying bills.  I’m done now.”

I blinked tears from my eyes and my mind hopped
backwards.  The phone line!  Paying bills my ass!  I slid my
phone into my pocket, clasped the envelope under my arm.  Reaching
forward, I made a snatch for the flash drive from her hand.  “Why are you
lying to me?  How can you pay bills all day when the phone line is knocked
out, huh?  I might be upset but I’m not brain dead.  What’s going
on?”

She wrestled with my fingers, trying to prise them off her
own.

I pushed my fingers inside Nicola’s clenched fist, forced
her thumb up and whipped the drive out.  “Gotcha!” 

She exploded out of the chair and stretched forward. 
“Give it back.”

“Maybe I’ll open it myself and find out what your dark
secrets are, huh?”  Most likely it was something creative for my
birthday.  Nicola often enjoyed playing around with photos, turning them
into cartoons or arty black ‘n’ white popart with speech bubbles.  Christ!
We could all do with something to cheer us up, even for just one moment, but
why not use my computer?  And why the guilty face?

“Shut up.  Don’t make a scene,” she suddenly hissed,
crushing my theory. 

“A scene?”

“Before they see us.”  As soon as the words passed her
lips, Nicola‘s face morphed like the devil himself had whacked her cheek. 
She glanced nervously over my head.  “Oh.  Fuck.”

Her peculiar behaviour chewed at me.  A birthday
surprise would not warrant such a large reaction from her.  “I was only
messing around.  Who’ll see us?  And why are you lying about using
the internet?”

“Forget it.  I need that flash drive.  Give it
back.”

Confused, I said, “N-no.”

Her eyes drifted half closed, and she swayed a little on the
chair.  She looked decidedly weary, drunk even. 
Is she going
to... faint?
 

“Nicola.  Have you eaten today?”

She massaged her temple and placed her other palm on the
desk to steady herself.  “I’m fine.  Now please, give me the drive.”

Unease hung stiffly in the air.  “No,” I said
pointedly.  “What’s going on?  You’re acting weird, using a computer
that you shouldn’t, you look faint, jumpy...”  I grabbed the laptop she’d
been using, spun it around and opened the lid.

Nicola reached forward to grab it, and her elbow slipped on
the desk.  Papers shot off and fanned across the carpet. 

“Oh, great,” I moaned.  “Now you’ve done it. 
Those are my notes for work.”

A tear slid down her red cheek.  “Stop.  Just
stop.  I can’t take anymore.”  She dropped to her knees behind the
desk, melted and wept. 

Worried, I dashed over and touched her back.  “Why are
you acting this way?”

Nicola raised her head.  As her tear-thick eyes locked
onto mine, she attempted to smile.  But then, in a nanosecond, all changed
again, her dark mood palpable; upset morphed into...fear. 

Fear? 
“What’s wrong with you?”
 
I
squatted to her level, felt an emotional shift deep in my chest.  “Nicola,
love, please.  Why are you crying?”

She remained on her knees behind my desk. 
“Please.  Just... don’t.”  She wiped her streaming nose and dropped
her voice frighteningly lower.  “Leave me alone.  Drop it, will ya?”

“Tell me what’s upsetting you.”  I pointed to the
laptop above her head and raised my voice in frustration.  “And tell me
what you’ve been doing on that.”

Her expression dropped like she’d been caught
stealing.  “Not here.”

I stood firm.  “Yes, here.  There’s enough bad
stuff happened today without you acting all secretive.”

“Christa, please!” she begged, but I stood my ground. 
Within a second, she jumped up and moved out from the desk, tugging me with
her. 

“Nicola!  You’re hurting me.” I tried to shake free but
she dragged me across the room.  Worry crawled over my skin.  She’d
been acting out of character all day, but this was way off piste for a
hangover.

Nicola ragged me around until we came face to face, one
shoulder pressed to the wall behind the door.  

“What’s going on here?  Why are...”  I stared into
her watery eyes, shocked and now speechless from her utter weirdness and the
deep panic creasing her face.  “Do you know something about what happened
today?”

“Don’t move, don’t speak, and don’t bloody scream.“

“Scream?”  Chills rippled across my scalp.  “Why
would I scream?“

She released my arm and brought a trembling hand up to her
head.  “Oh, God.  This wasn’t meant to happen.”  She took a deep
breath and stared into my eyes.  “Someone’s setting Brian up.  As a
warning.  Maybe.”

I tried to wriggle away.  “What?  Who?  How
do you know?  Nicola, you’re scaring me.” 

Her eyes narrowed to flickering slits casting paranoid
stares in every direction.  “We’re gonna be in so much trouble.” 

Her tension was infectious.  Whatever few sparkles
remained in my soul... well, her words flushed them away.

“I’m not moving until you start talking.”

More tears came.  Her bottom lip quivered.

I put steel into my voice.  “Well?”

After a really deep breath, she cupped her hand around her
mouth, leaned into me and poured sickening words into my ear.  “Brian did
not kill John.  Some men did it.”

I gasped and jerked away.

She clasped my arm tight and forced us cheek to cheek. 
“And they’re watching every move we make.”

A shivery darkness coiled itself around me.  I leaned
away to read her face. 
Is she being serious? 
“Who’s
watching?  What men?” 

Her chest heaved and her crinkled eyes darted up to a spot on
the wall above our heads.  “The men who murdered John.  That’s who.”

CHRISTA

N
icola’s
story rocked me to the core; men busting into the house, attacking her,
murdering my husband, and the cameras... 

The shutters, on what I thought was my private world, flew
open.  “Oh, Jesus!” my voice belted up into the rafters.  I stood
shaking against the wall. 

Nicola squeezed my shoulder.  “Keep your voice
down!  Don’t move from this spot, or they’ll see us.  And don’t look
up!  I think most camera’s are in the air vents, but the one in here’s
above our heads.  Maybe inside the clock.”

My heart pounded.  Shock squeezed out tears.
 “This is bullshit.  It can’t be real,” I said, praying that the
stars exploding in my head would die off.   “Seriously? People
pay
to watch us?”

“Yes.  It’s real.”  Nicola’s demeanor
hardened.  “So deal with it.”

My life, however good or bad it was, had not been my
own.  And Sarah!  I raised my head.  “The bastards!”  I
wanted to grab my daughter and run screaming from my home.  Filming
adults,
us,
was bad enough, but a child!

Nicola smothered my mouth with her hand while tears oozed
from her eyes.  “Shush.  Please.  You have to be quiet.”

I trembled, slid down the wall and nudged her hand
away.  “D-do you think they’re watching us... right now?” 

“Possibly.  Probably.  But we’re beneath the
camera here.”  She looked down at me, clearly on edge in case I yelled
again.

“This can’t be true.”

“It is.”

Numbness descended while I pictured sleazy men fixed on us
from the privacy of sweaty leather swivel seats, hungry eyes glued to the
screen.  Privacy! What a joke!  Where was mine?  “I feel so
betrayed.”  I did.  I felt betrayed and sickened on so many levels it
was outrageous; Brian casting me aside would have been bad enough for any
normal day.  But learning of cameras... and a murder... here!  My
husband’s blood pooled on the kitchen floor where we stand to cook our meals
and chat, putting the world to rights.  Oh, my...

“My fingerprints are on the knife they used to stab him,”
Nicola said.  “They’ve kept it.”

“Oh, Jesus.”  I hugged my knees.  Nicola’s story
was one blast of dynamite after the next.  My chest heaved.  I
struggled for air.

“Breathe, Christa,” Nicola whispered.  She started
rubbing my back.  “I wanted to tell you, but I’ve been so scared.  I
really thought they were gonna kill me.”

I gasped.  This totally explained Nicola’s strange
behaviour.

“It makes me feel sick, but apparently I have a big fan.”

“A fan?” I asked, confused.

“Yes.  Some guy named Henry enjoys... watching me in
the bathtub apparently.  Yeah, yeah.”  She scowled in disgust. 
“Sick.  I know.  But he’s the reason they kept me alive.  That,
plus the fact that their life would be easier with an insider uploading the
software.”

I squirmed.  “Those fucking monsters!”  I glanced
up into the eyes staring back at me, large and unblinking, paralysed by fear.

“Please, Christa.  Keep your voice down.”  Nicola
glanced around.  “Maybe we should move.  I’m trying to remember where
the blind spots are.”

“Why do they need you to upload that software?  I mean,
it would only film people when their computers are switched on.”

“It gives them a glimpse into a household.  If they
like what they see, I reckon they break in and install more reliable cameras.”

Tears came to my eyes.  Oh, hell.  Poor
girl.  Touching her... well, I couldn’t help but mentally flick through
her pain, it was almost palpable.  She’d been brutally attacked, scared
witless and tight-lipped about it through fear. 

I wished I had known. 

A voyeur website.  Masked men.  Nicola
attacked.  John stabbed and even tortured in death.  Jeez.

“You’re shocked,” she said, squeezing my shoulder.

“You think?”

“I understand.  You should have seen the state I was in
last night falling asleep in a corner.  But you have to be silent and
contain it.”  Her voice dropped.  “For the cameras.”

Contain it?  Is she mad?  How could I hide my
feelings about this?

I wanted to take her in my arms and soak up some of her
torture, but there was no time.  This had to end.  Now. 

I pushed up off the floor, legs weak, body still
quivering.  The fresh, immediate horror pounded like a hammer on my
head. 

“Where are you going?”

“Stuff silence,” I told Nicola, wiping my tears as rage at
those men took over me.  “I’m phoning the police.  Why the fuck have
you left it this long?” 

“If you wanna get us all killed, then go ahead.  Call
the cops, or pack a bag and rush out the door so they can see you’re doing a
runner.  I guarantee you they’ll storm straight round here.”  She
clenched her teeth.  “They’re watching every move we make.  No
police.  That’s what they said.”

“Of course that’s what they said.”  I looked into her
eyes.  We were sharing the same air, touching skin, but we were planets
apart in the head.  “No.  We need to ring the police.”  I
bustled past her.

Nicola grabbed my arm and stopped me leaving the
office.  “You have to calm down.  They’ll pick up on your body
language.”  She glanced around.  “We’re off camera here, I
think.  But listen, think hard, Christa.  We can’t afford to piss
them off again.  That stunt with John on the sledge, it was a
warning.  They must have seen the note, or–”

“What note?”

“The one I chickened out of giving to you.”

“What have you been doing all day?” 

“Well, once I got myself together, I started doing what they
asked.  Uploading the spy software to computers in your office.”

“Jesus!”  I couldn’t keep the frost out of my
voice. 

“And-“  She tightened her fingers around my arm. 
“-and blocking a few of the upstairs cameras to protect Sarah.  I had to
upload the software, Christa.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

Her activities were straining our relationship.  “Let
go of me.  You’ve put everyone at risk by... by...”

She pulled me closer and spoke against my ear.  “Believe
me.  I’ve wanted to pick up the phone many times to cry for help, but
these men have eyes all over the place.  God knows how many homes are
being filmed.  But it’s a lot.  It’s not just us they could have
threatened.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve killed before.” 

“You should have told me!” 

Her expression took a nosedive.  “Shout at me if you
have to, but all I’ve tried to do is stop those perverts from seeing you and
Sarah naked on camera, uploading spy software from the memory stick they gave
me to your customers’ computers like they told me to do so that–”

“So they can spy on even more people.  Jeez.”

“No.  So that they don’t hurt our families like they
threatened to do!  I’ve been driving myself nuts working out how to screw
them over.  Is it so terrible to want to protect the people I care about?”

Why was I losing my cool with her?  She’d been through
so much.  It was those men who deserved to suffer.  I locked my
stormy eyes onto hers, realised my anger was seriously misdirected.  “Oh, Nicola. 
Of course it’s not terrible.  Poor thing.  I’m sorry.  You’ve
been through hell.  I’m just shocked.”  I pulled her into a hug,
wrapping my arms around her like ivy.  “I’m sorry.”  I held her,
squeezed her, kissed her cheek then leaned away.  “Show me the website,
will you?”

“I can’t.”  She frowned.  “For one, it was those
men who cut the phone line, so we have no internet.”

“It was them?  Okay, I’ll search on my mobile, don’t
need the phone line to use 3G.  What’s the site called?”

She shrugged.  “And secondly, I didn’t look at the web
address.  We just wanted to escape.”  She touched my shoulder. 
“Listen, I know John’s given you a rough time lately, but he really was a hero
last night.  I just thought you ought to know that.” 

A tear came to my eye for him.  All John’s threats to
spill the truth to Sarah, his breaking into my home to frighten me into
leaving...  In the end, he’d come good and died saving Nicola.  “I’m
glad he saved you.”  I had to light a mental candle for him, for that
selfless, brave act.

“We can’t stand here,” she whispered.  “They might get
suspicious.”  She gestured to the hall and motioned for me to follow.
“Don’t look around for the cameras, and try to act normal.”

I followed her, trying not to let my eyes dart to every wall
in search. 

“I was trying to protect us by doing what they asked. 
Trying to save our lives.  I still am!” She looked at me for a response.

I pressed my lips into a half smile.

She kept her voice at a whisper.  “Find me a way out of
this mess without anyone else getting hurt, Christa, and I’ll grab it by the
balls.”  Along the way, she picked up two jackets and handed me one. 
“They know about the cove at the back of this cupboard so we can’t sneak in
there.”

“How could we not have realised this was going on?  We
have to shut them down.”

“Shush.  Keep your voice down.  They must earn a
shit load of cash from their website.  They’ll not let us wreck it without
a fight.” 

I tugged her to a stop.  “So what do we do?”

Her fearful look intensified.  “Hush.  Let’s move
outside so we can talk.”

“But Sarah!”

“That’s why we’re going outside.  If Sarah overhears
she’ll be hysterical.”

I chewed my lip in thought.  What if the men burst in
and grabbed her while I was outside?  I moved to the front door to ensure
it was locked, then followed Nicola to the patio doors in the kitchen.
 “Let’s be quick.  I daren’t leave Sarah for long.  Not now.”
 

Nicola unlocked the door and led me outdoors into the biting
chill of winter twilight where our breath made white plumes on hitting the
air.  “We have to change this lock.  They have a key.” 

A key?  I was meant to change it yesterday, and boy,
did I wish I had. 

She dashed to a corner in the garden and returned with two
garden shovels in hand.  “Shift the snow off the patio.  For
cover.  Just in case.”

I took a shovel from her.

Nicola stared at my hands, prompting me into action. 
“Come on.  Please.  Look busy.”

“Okay, okay.”  I scraped a patch of snow into the
bushes.

As I worked, I glanced at Nicola’s increasingly paranoid expression;
watery, flickering eyes, flushed cheeks.  She was barely holding it
together.  Why hadn’t I picked up on that?  I thought she was just
suffering from a hangover.

“We can’t do anything that rouses suspicion,” she whispered,
her head bowed.  “One wrong move and they could... Just keep shovelling in
case they’re watching, or it could be one of us on that... that sledge.”

We were under surveillance outdoors, too?  Oh,
crap.  “Is there a camera in the garden?”

She gave me a subtle nod.  “The man who attacked me
left a tablet computer in the kitchen.  When John arrived, he found it,
and saw the other men approaching the house on the web feed before I actually
saw them through the patio doors.” 

My heart softened for her again.  “I love you and I’m sorry
for shouting,” I said in a hushed voice.  The thought of people watching
Sarah bathing and dressing was almost paralyzing.  “What’s up with your
cheek?  Did they hit your face?”

“Got a tooth knocked out last night.”

“No way.  Which?”

“A back one.  I can’t show you or they’ll definitely
know I’ve told you what’s going on.” 

“Does it hurt?”

“Like a bitch.  I can barely eat.”  Hell-bent on
maintaining our cover, Nicola shovelled snow off the ground until she got to
bare concrete.  “Anyway, we need to discuss what to...”  She paused
and bent to pick something up from the piled up snow. 

“What have you found?” I asked.

“A receipt.”  She pursed her lips, unfolding the soggy
slip of paper.  “It’s from Sally’s diner, soggy and not all of it’s
readable.  Ink’s run a bit but...”

“The diner where Amanda works?  The one on the
outskirts of town?”

“Yes.”  She glanced at me.  “This receipt is from
a couple of days ago.  You been there recently?”

“Not for ages.  You?”

“Two weeks ago - keep shovelling the snow - that’s where I
met Dave.  You know, the guy I went on a date with last weekend.  I
was on the phone with him when they attacked me.”

“Really?  And he didn’t phone the police?”

She shrugged.  “I lied about where I was.  Didn’t
want him to think I was...  Never mind.  I feel so stupid now.”

“So why is this receipt here?”

“More importantly,
who
dropped it?”

“John?”  I shivered as my murdered husband’s name left
my throat.  “He grabs lunch there sometimes if he’s over on that side of
town.”

“Possibly.  Or one of my attackers.  It’s a large
order.  Four flat whites, one... tea or...?  I can’t read the next
bit, it’s too smudged.  Oh, and chicken sandwiches, and a BLT, extra
crispy I think it says.”

“We should ask Amanda,” I suggested.  “If it was John’s
order, she’d remember.  Knowing her, she’d have spit into his
drink.” 

Nicola stuffed the receipt into her pocket.  She
glanced around, then signalled deeper into the back garden, into
darkness.  “Quick.  Over here.”

She leaned the garden tools against the wall, then corralled
me across the lawn to a large leaf-less tree situated amid a tangle of frosted
foliage.  We were safely away from the light spilling from the
kitchen. 

“I’m sorry, but I really need one.” Nicola pulled a
cigarette out and patted her pockets.  “Damn.  Where’s my lighter?”

Bundled together under the tree, with this news ripe in my
head, I stared up at my home.  It looked so different now, had an ominous
slant to it. 

Even if a camera was pointed at us here, the shadows would
conceal us.  I was glad to be away from the house, the horror.  It
gave a moment of respite.  But I’d have to go back.  Soon. 
Sarah was inside.  I gasped.  Sweet Jesus.  I hoped she hadn’t
got out of bed to undress.