Natalie stood over him, feeling helpless.
‘Please, Natalie, my back. You… need to… apply pressure… to the base of… my spine.’
‘I… I’m not sure…’
‘Please!’ he pleaded, his face full of pain. ‘If you don’t do it now, it will be hell.’
She moved back in. ‘Where do I press?’
‘Either side of my back, the base. With both hands. Use your thumbs.’
She made contact with skin again. Here it was wetter, and it just felt wrong. Her hands brushed against the fabric of his underwear.
‘Press!’
She pushed hard.
‘Natalie, it’s not hard enough.’
She pushed harder. ‘I can’t push any harder.’
‘You’ll have to use your body weight,’ he instructed. ‘Climb on top of me and use your weight to really push down hard.’
He stared at her as she tried to process the request.
‘Climb on top of me, Natalie,’ he said slowly.
She found herself shaking her head.
His eyes flared. ‘Do it!’
She took a faltering step back, nearly tripping up over the bedroom rug.
‘Natalie, please!’ he softened. ‘Please, just do this one more thing for me.’
Another shake of the head. ‘I can’t. I’ve got to go.’
‘Natalie!’ he screamed, as she retreated into the hallway. ‘Come back this instant!’
She almost got to the front door.
‘Look here!’ he said, catching up with her and wheeling her around by the shoulder. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘I… I’ve got to go.’
He looked frustrated and angry. ‘What’s the matter, Natalie? I thought we were getting along well?’
‘We were, we are, I just…’
‘What?’ he snapped.
‘I…’
She felt the weight of his intense stare again. ‘Oh!’ he said, finally. ‘I see what this is all about.’ In an instant the anger was gone, extinguished. ‘You think I was coming onto you?’
‘It’s not t…’
‘You think all this was part of some elaborate set-up, to get you into my bed?’
‘No…’
He shook his head sadly. ‘Natalie, I thought you knew me better than that.’
‘I…’
His face was all disappointment – disappointment with her. ‘I think you’d better go, don’t you?’
Natalie didn’t need asking twice. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, exiting.
But as the door closed behind her, a rapid reappraisal of what had just happened left her shaking, and regretting her instinctive apology.
He had moved very quickly for a man who just seconds earlier had been in agony on a bed.
In fact, there had been no sign of pain then at all.
She hurried to her room.
It was time to get out of this place, and fast.
NATALIE PACKED QUICKLY, throwing clothes into her case and rushing to the bathroom to collect her toothbrush and toothpaste. All the time she was on edge, waiting for the knock on the door.
Please, don’t let him have followed me…
The room cleared, she grabbed her case and headed for the door, her breathing fast and shallow.
Tabitha was waiting for her on the other side.
‘Natalie, is everything okay?’ she asked, her face full of concern. But underneath, Natalie could tell that she knew.
‘I have to go,’ Natalie replied, moving past her towards the staircase.
‘Natalie,’ Tabitha said, side-stepping into her path. ‘I think we need to sit down and talk.’
‘I just want to go.’
‘I think it would help to talk about things,’ she insisted. ‘Just so there are no misunderstandings.’
And there was the confirmation. She had already been told about what had happened. She had come here to talk her round, as an envoy, to make the case for Sir Kenneth.
Natalie moved to go around her, but Tabitha moved in step.
‘I think you misunderstood Sir Kenneth’s intentions. He’s really upset about it, and wants to explain. He doesn’t want you to get the wrong impression.’
‘I didn’t,’ Natalie replied. ‘I know what he did.’
Tabitha shook her head sadly. ‘Don’t ruin things, Natalie.’
‘Ruin things?’
‘Don’t ruin your big opportunity over a simple misunderstanding.’
‘I know about him,’ Natalie responded.
‘Excuse me?’
‘I was warned about him.’
Tabitha gripped her clipboard tighter. ‘I’m afraid, Natalie, that you appear to have been got at by somebody, who has obviously turned your mind against Sir Kenneth.’
‘You don’t care about me at all, do you?’
Tabitha blinked several times. ‘Of course I do.’
‘No you don’t. You haven’t asked me what happened in his apartment just then, what he did.’
‘I… Sir Kenneth explained.’
‘You aren’t interested in my side of the story. You’re here to try and persuade me that it was all a simple mistake, or just my imagination.’
‘Natalie…’
‘I’m going,’ she insisted. ‘Now get out of my way, Tabitha.’
Tabitha’s face hardened into a cruel smile. ‘If it’s money you’re after, then forget it. You’ll get nothing from him or the company. It’s your word against his, and history has shown that Sir Kenneth’s word is worth more than people like you.’
‘You know, Tabitha. I’ve just escaped from one controlling man, someone who treated me like an object. I’m not about to fall into that situation again. I don’t want money. All I want is to get out of this messed-up place and never see Sir Kenneth New, or you, again.’
Tabitha opened her mouth, but the shock of Natalie’s strong reaction prevented any words coming out.
Natalie took her chance, brushing past her and heading for the stairs. Her heart was thudding in her ears as she reached the reception desk.
Tabitha was in pursuit.
‘I want my phone back,’ Natalie demanded from the surprised receptionist, who had been tapping away at the computer. ‘I’m leaving.’
The receptionist looked across at Tabitha, who had caught up.
‘Give it to her,’ she stated.
The receptionist nodded, and fetched the mobile from under the desk, handing it to her without question.
Natalie snatched it from her and made for the door and freedom.
43
Amy was in the room, but she wasn’t hearing what the lecturer was saying. Her mind was full of worries about her friend. There had been no messages, and each call had rung through. It seemed likely that Natalie’s phone had been turned off, or had run out of battery. But that told her nothing about Natalie’s welfare.
She still felt sure that Natalie was in great danger.
But she wasn’t ready to accept that it was too late.
Amy’s vision came back into focus just as the lecturer was summarising the key learning points from the one-hour session on digital marketing. She would have to read up about it later, in case it was in the exam, as she had zoned out after the first couple of slides.
She gathered together her laptop and notebook, slipped out of the seat and headed for the door, trailing behind the other students.
Even though it was still early afternoon, lectures were over for the day. She didn’t want to go back to the flat yet; it just felt so weird and empty with Natalie gone. But she also wasn’t in the right frame of mind to hit the books in the library. So instead she took a walk, heading for what had been styled as a ‘mindfulness garden’ around the back of the lecture theatre. The small space, designed to be a refuge of peace and calm amongst the hustle and bustle of the university campus, had a couple of benches around a water feature and was encircled by a low hedge.
Amy took a seat and closed her eyes against
the warming afternoon sun. It did feel calming here, with the sound of the water feature and birdsong in the background.
Suddenly she had the feeling that someone was sitting next to her. Her eyes snapped open.
‘Hello, Amy.’
It was Jack Morton. He was sitting too close to her on the bench, wearing his trademark skinny jeans and American branded t-shirt. ‘I thought it was you when I saw you leaving the building.’ He shuffled up some more, smiling at her apparent discomfort. ‘Just had a lecture?’
‘Yes,’ she said tightly. ‘I’d better get back.’
She made to stand, but he placed a hand on her shoulder. It was a gentle touch, but aggressive nevertheless, and Amy stiffened in place. She glanced around, but there was no one passing by.
‘I’d just like a quick chat,’ he said, moving his hand away once he was satisfied that she was going to remain where she was. ‘I think we need to clear some things up, Amy. Don’t you?’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said. To her annoyance, her voice was shredded with nerves, betraying her inner emotions.
‘Oh, I think you do,’ he stated. ‘I think you know exactly what I mean. Would you like me to remind you how you brought the police to my door, into my home, into my bedroom.’
Amy didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.
‘But it wasn’t just any police officer, was it, Amy? It was your father. Tell me, do you always call in Daddy to help you out when things aren’t going your way?’
‘Leave me alone, Jack.’
‘What? Or you’ll call Daddy again to come and threaten me?’
‘He didn’t threaten you.’
‘Oh didn’t he? I beg to differ on that point. He tried to intimidate me, and he upset my girlfriend.’
Amy found herself shaking her head at that word.
He just smiled. ‘And before you ask, our relationship started after Natalie and I broke up.’
‘You certainly don’t waste any time,’ she quipped.
‘What’s the matter, Amy? Jealous?’
‘What?’
‘Jealous that I chose Natalie instead of you?’
‘You’re a real piece of work, Jack.’
‘I’ve seen the way you look at me. Don’t think I didn’t notice you checking me out, that first time I came around to the house. I saw the spark in your eyes.’ He smiled.
Amy fumed silently. Because he was right. He had known. That first time Natalie had brought him back, she had been attracted to him, had felt that pang of envy as Natalie later retreated upstairs with the good-looking, good-smelling confident older man while she watched the news and ate the rest of the Pringles from the night before.
But that was before she had found out what he was like – his controlling nature, his need for dominance, tightening his grip slowly but deliberately, a boa-constrictor in human form.
‘You’re really in love with yourself, aren’t you?’ she managed to say, in spite of her nerves at being alone with this man.
‘You don’t like me, I understand that,’ he replied, avoiding her question. ‘And I know that deep down it stems from jealousy, and from the fact that I don’t want you. But you’ve got to understand, I do have standards.’
She just shook her head at that, taken aback by his arrogance and attitude. The guy was poison.
‘Anyway,’ he continued, ‘back to my original point. We need to clarify some things about Natalie. And how you called Daddy down to put the squeeze on me.’
‘I just want to find my friend.’
He nodded. ‘I know you do. And so do I.’ He gauged Amy’s disbelieving reaction, half laughing. ‘You really think I have something to do with Natalie’s disappearance?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Actually,’ he said, putting up his palms in mock surrender, ‘you got me. I killed Natalie and buried her in a shallow grave just outside the city boundary. You know that rural road down towards the coast? I hired a van, and transported her body in a rolled-up piece of carpet. It was late at night, no one saw me. The digging was difficult, just to get the grave deep enough…’
‘Stop,’ Amy pleaded. ‘Just stop.’
‘What’s the matter? You want to know the truth about what happened, don’t you?’
‘I want to know what really happened to my friend. And if you cared for her at all, you wouldn’t be doing this. You’d be helping, not playing games.’
He shook his head. ‘It isn’t a game, bringing the police to my door, threatening me and my girlfriend.’
‘You’re so self-centred.’
‘And?’
‘If I find out you’ve done anything to Natalie, then I swear you’re going to regret it.’
He laughed at that. ‘Please, Amy, don’t play the strong one, it really doesn’t suit you. I know what you’re really like. Natalie told me all about you.’
She said nothing, but she knew that her face was betraying her emotions.
‘Oh, yes, Natalie told me all about the problems you’ve had, Amy. How you flunked your exams because of your condition. I mean, you being a headcase with esteem problems, it does explain a lot.’
‘Go to hell.’
He smiled tightly. ‘Natalie was worried about you. She thought you might not be strong enough to see university through. She told me one time that she wasn’t sure you would last the pace.’
She wasn’t going to take his bait. ‘Why are you here, Jack?’
‘Like I said, just to set things straight.’
‘You didn’t just happen to see me leave the lecture, did you? You were waiting for me.’
This time it was his turn to remain silent.
‘You knew my timetable, and you were waiting for me. You were stalking me.’
‘Oh, that’s a little strong, Amy. I’m not a stalker. And if I were, believe me, I would aim higher.’
Amy ignored the jibe. ‘You might not be a stalker, but you are a manipulator, Jack. You’re controlling and possessive. You’re everything I hate in people.’
To Amy’s surprise, this actually did seem to land a blow. Jack pushed his tongue against the inside of his mouth as he looked away. But then he turned, slowly and with menace. Like a wounded predator, caught out by a blow from their prey, his eyes were set on going in for the kill.
Amy summoned up all her strength to face down her aggressor. ‘What are you going to do, Jack, rough me up like you roughed up Natalie?’
Suddenly he thrust a hand towards her, grabbing her chin and digging in his nails. Amy flinched but was held in place; their faces remained inches apart. She couldn’t look anywhere but deep into his blue-grey eyes. ‘Don’t ever say that again about me. Do you understand?’
At first she was too scared to move.
‘Do you understand?’
Finally she nodded.
‘Say it!’
‘I… understand.’ Her mouth was twisted with the force of his grip, and she could hardly get the words out.
He released her, pushing her face away with disdain. She sat there in shock, looking at the floor, her chin stinging and her jaw aching.
‘Hey!’ she heard someone call out. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
Amy was still looking down, but from the corner of her eye she saw Jack get to his feet. She lifted her head and watched as he hurried off around the pond and dashed out of sight.
‘Are you okay?’
She turned to see a well-built guy with messy blond hair crouching to her right. He was wearing a university rugby top.
‘I’m okay,’ she managed.
‘Is he your boyfriend?’
She shook her head.
‘But you know him?’
‘Yes. He’s an acquaintance.’
‘Well, it looked really nasty, what he was doing to you. Would you like me to take you somewhere, to report it? The campus security office is just over there.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘How about the medical centre? Maybe you ne
ed to get yourself checked over?’
She realised she was still holding her chin with the pain.
‘I’m okay, really. I’ll just get off home.’
He didn’t look convinced but seemed to realise there was little else he could do. ‘As long as you’re okay.’
‘I am.’
‘Look,’ he said. ‘You can tell me to mind my own business, but any man who can do what I just saw him doing to you – well, I’d be very, very careful of him.’
Amy nodded.
‘Trust me, my dad used to beat up my mum when I was young. Men like that, who physically assault women, they’re capable of anything, absolutely anything.’
Amy watched her good Samaritan leave. He turned one last time to check on her, his face still full of concern and consternation, before he disappeared from view. His words resonated in her head.
They’re capable of anything.
Absolutely anything.
She felt a rising panic about the situation she was in. What might happen if Jack came after her again? What if he door-stepped her at the flat?
There would be no one to come to her rescue then.
And then she had another awful thought: his monologue about how he had supposedly killed Natalie and buried her…
Maybe it wasn’t what she had instinctively thought – a way for him to wind her up.
Maybe it had been a confession.
PART IV
44
Previous Sunday morning
NATALIE HURRIED ALONG THE PAVEMENT, her breath ragged, as she sought to put as much distance between her and New House as she possibly could. The tube station was only five minutes down the road, but it felt like a long way away. A London bus drifted past on her right, pulling up at the stop just ahead of her. Without thinking, she jogged up to the vehicle and boarded. She didn’t even know where it was going, she just had a desperate desire to get away, and it didn’t really matter at this moment in time where ‘away’ was.
‘Do you go anywhere near Paddington station?’ she asked, as the driver looked on expectantly.
‘Hyde Park is the closest we get,’ he said. ‘You can pick up the Number 60 from there, it’ll take you straight to the entrance.’
Natalie nodded with relief, bringing out her debit card to make the contactless payment. She’d walked to Paddington from Hyde Park before. It wasn’t far. No more than ten minutes or so.
Long Gone Page 24
