The Stranger in Our Bed

by Samantha Lee Howe

  Becki revealed she had collected the keys from the letting agent and met the removals company the next day.

  ‘I had the movers put up his bed and I found the bedding box and made it for him. I even cleaned the kitchen. I didn’t want him to have to worry when he arrived home. When he did arrive, he was carrying a large bunch of flowers and a bottle of champagne, which he put in the fridge.

  ‘Then he laughed at me. “You cleaned in here, didn’t you?” he asked. I said, “Of course I did! I couldn’t have my little brother living anywhere dirty.”

  ‘We went into the living room. Daniel moved the sofas around to where he wanted them and pushed back a stack of boxes. He mentioned that he didn’t have time to unpack before tomorrow morning, and so it would all have to do. When I asked him what was happening tomorrow, he just laughed. I asked if he had a girlfriend and he messed around a bit, but then admitted that he’d met a “wonderful woman” and she was the best thing that had happened to him. He said he was in love.’

  My cheeks flushed on hearing this. Becky didn’t notice.

  ‘I was surprised. I didn’t think he wanted to have a relationship again after all he’d been through. But I was really pleased for him as well. Then he said, “Anyway, this place is just a stop gap. She deserves better.”

  ‘Dan promised that I’d meet her in the next few days. Then he opened a bottle of wine and we sat down in his new lounge to celebrate. When he received a text a few minutes later, his whole face lit up. I’d never seen him so happy. I guess that must have been his girl and Dan told me all was well for the next day. He then said he had planned to meet her at Harrods in the morning and he’d be bringing her straight to this apartment.

  ‘I was so pleased for him,’ Becki continued. ‘We drank wine and he told me bits and pieces about how he met her at Harrods and that she was married. I queried him on this. I’m a bit of a prude, I suppose, but it didn’t seem right that he was having an affair with another man’s wife, no matter how he felt about her. “Believe me, he really doesn’t deserve her,” he said.

  ‘We drank our wine and then Daniel received a phone call. I think I heard a woman’s voice on the other end, and so I assumed it was this woman. Then he went into the kitchen to talk in private.’

  ‘What happened then,’ I asked.

  ‘Daniel was flustered when he came back in the room,’ Becki said. ‘I asked what was wrong, but he brushed off my questions and said he had to leave. I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me but refused to talk about it. He promised he’d tell me everything the next day. When he didn’t phone, I thought it was because he was busy with his new girl. Then after a few days I rang him, but he didn’t answer. I had a spare set of keys still and so I went over to the flat. I found it just as he’d left it. Our two empty wine glasses were still on his kitchen worktop next to his mobile phone. That’s when I went to the police.’

  ‘What did they say?’ I asked.

  ‘They weren’t very helpful at first. They said he had to be missing for twenty-four hours; I had to insist they took it seriously. By then I hadn’t seen him for several days. But I didn’t have anything I could tell them. Dan never told me his lover’s name, but … it’s you, isn’t it?’

  I crumpled in my seat, tears filling my eyes.

  ‘If he had given me your name, I’d have tried to find you,’ Becki said. ‘But he was very reluctant to tell me much after I reacted about the affair. I wish I’d been more open-minded.’

  ‘He was supposed to meet me and bring me to the new flat, but he never showed,’ I said.

  ‘And the email you sent? You thought he’d played you. But why wait so long to email him and ask?’

  I didn’t know what to say without revealing that somehow I believed Tom had hired Daniel.

  ‘I didn’t have his email address until recently. We always texted or spoke on the phone. Besides I only just learnt his real name.’

  ‘What else?’ Becki said astutely.

  ‘I don’t know. I’m thinking it through. Daniel’s phone was disconnected the day he disappeared. I rang it and it was cut off. I thought it was deliberate because he got a kick out of destroying my life.’

  ‘No,’ Becki said. ‘Dan would never do that. Besides, his phone wasn’t disconnected. It’s still working. It was the number I gave you. When I noticed he’d left it behind in his flat, I thought he must have been back at some point, even though he hadn’t stayed the night. I kept paying the contract, just in case someone rang who could help me find him.’

  ‘That’s not the number I had … he must have had two phones,’ I said.

  She was quiet and thoughtful for a moment. I think she was processing everything and didn’t know what to respond.

  ‘Maybe he had a third one?’ I said. ‘And he’s hiding from us both.’

  ‘I’d probably think that, except there is still all this money in his bank account. He hasn’t touched it in the last eighteen months, or his credit cards. Remember I have access to his account. If he voluntarily disappeared, he couldn’t live on fresh air.’

  ‘I agree,’ I said. My heart sank. Was Daniel dead? And if so, how had he died?

  ‘Did you try the hospitals?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes. No one was brought in fitting his description. Alive or … dead.’

  ‘I loved him. You’ve no idea how awful it was. Thinking he’d abandoned me.’

  And then there was the Facebook page about the catfish that Tom had shown me. I didn’t mention this to Becki then. I intended to search it out again and perhaps send her the link at a later date. But it seemed unlikely that this was Daniel these women were talking about – probably an unpleasant coincidence that had played into Tom’s hands when he wanted to poison my memory of Daniel.

  Becki was quiet and I felt bad because she must be hurting too. Her brother was missing and from her description of him he appeared to be the caring man I once thought he was.

  ‘Did Daniel ever mention trips away to you?’ I asked breaking the silence.

  ‘He was always going somewhere …’

  ‘Reykjavik? Milan?’

  ‘He went to Milan a lot. Lots of modelling work there I think.’

  I told her about how we’d met and all that followed afterwards. Including our dinner in Reykjavik and the trip I’d taken to Milan with him.

  ‘He went out every day looking like a businessman. You see, despite what you’ve told me I’m still trying to reconcile the lies with the truth.’

  ‘He hadn’t told me about any of this. I just don’t know what to say.’

  ‘You have access to his emails,’ I said. ‘Can I search through them?’

  ‘I’ve searched for clues but haven’t found anything. But I don’t see any harm in you looking. His laptop is at my place. I had to get removals into his new flat when the lease was up, and he didn’t show. I put his stuff back in storage, but not his personal things like phone and computer. I have been checking them both almost every day in the hope I’d find something out.’

  ‘Is there anything else you can tell me?’ I said.

  ‘You were married when you guys met, right?’

  I nodded. I didn’t tell her I was still with Tom.

  ‘I remember an odd comment Dan made. It was about six months before he vanished. He said some men didn’t realize when they had a good thing. I didn’t ask him to explain because I thought he was referring to some rich guy we saw getting out of a black limo. I thought it was just a throwaway comment.’

  ‘Where was that?’

  ‘Here. At this coffee shop actually. Dan was looking out the window and then we saw this limo. A man got out and he had a beautiful woman with him. You know the sort. Blonde, skinny.’

  ‘Yes. I do.’

  ‘I think he was talking about you, even then.’

  ‘We never met before that day in Harrods,’ I said.

  ‘No? But did you come in this coffee shop before then?’

  ‘A few times. It’s close.
I like to shop here.’

  ‘Maybe you didn’t know him, but it’s possible he knew you. Or had seen you here. This place was one of his haunts,’ Becki said.

  I wondered if this was any different to being spied on by Tom’s private detectives, and decided it was. Had Daniel seen me before Tom hired him? And if so, was this a contributing factor as to why he took the job? Without Daniel to explain, I knew I may never know the answer.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  I had to leave Becki because I wanted to be back in time for Tom. I didn’t want him to know Tina had been with Melody all day as it would lead to all sorts of questions.

  I agreed to meet Becki the next day to check out Daniel’s computer.

  My head was reeling as I caught the tube home and rushed back to the flat.

  ‘Melody is bathed and ready for bed after her last feed and change,’ Tina said. ‘Are you okay? You seem … upset.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘The tube was packed and that always has me flustered. You go now. Oh, and the removal company is all arranged for tomorrow.’

  Tina left and I was alone with my thoughts. Something kept nagging in the back of my mind. I recalled a particular day a couple of years ago when I had been to Harrods with Tom to meet Isadora. I wasn’t sure if my mind was just making connections where there weren’t any. But I wondered if it was Tom and me that Becki had seen arriving in a black limo. I was sure that a few days after that trip to the store I’d met Daniel – as Ewan – for the first time. I tried to recall if I’d ever noticed him before then, perhaps in the coffee shop.

  With only my memory to rely on I wasn’t convinced that the picture I’d seen in Tom’s office was of that first meeting.

  What played through my head over and over was how Daniel had told his sister he was in love with me. That he had lost a wife, and that the flat – our potential new home – was all genuine and had happened. I was sure too that Daniel had been originally engaged to tempt me. It was probably a test: Tom had shown he was capable of that sort of thing.

  I hadn’t seen Daniel after Reykjavik for over a month. Then he appeared again as I returned the purple satin sheets that had upset Tom so much. At least, with Tom’s revelations about Isadora, I understood why that was now. I put my hand to my cheek with the memory. He had never hit me before or since and there was no reason I could think of that would suggest he’d do it again. Even so, sick fear came into my stomach at the memory of Tom’s enraged expression. I pushed the thought away and thought back to Daniel Evans.

  He had told Tom I was faithful, but this didn’t explain why I saw Daniel at Harrods again. At that time, Tom knew I was pregnant, and he was ecstatic. Why would he put Daniel under my nose when my pregnancy would ensure that I wouldn’t stray?

  If my memory served me, Daniel had been surprised to see me again. The meeting must have been accidental. I looked back over every detail of my relationship with him, remembering that it was a couple more months before he randomly texted to see how I was. That was after the miscarriage and I was annoyed with Isadora. Was that a coincidence? Or had it been planned to test me once more?

  But none of that mattered: Daniel had been planning to start a new life with me. That much I knew from Becki. The pain of his failure to meet me was still raw, even after all those months. Knowing he had planned to be there eased it a little, making me feel I wasn’t foolish after all: he had loved me.

  But what had happened to him that prevented our meeting? Where was Daniel now?

  I heard the keypad at the front door beep and a minute later Tom was in the corridor. He placed his briefcase by the door as usual and then he came into the kitchen where I was prepping dinner.

  Melody was in her bouncy chair where I could watch her. She was growing rapidly and beginning to show signs of having a personality. As Tom came in she kicked her legs and waved her arms.

  ‘Daddy’s home!’ he said, and he kneeled down before her. I watched him smiling and chatting to her – the normal behaviour of a loving father. I didn’t find it uplifting. There was a knot in my stomach, and I couldn’t stop thinking of Daniel.

  Missing.

  The only connection with him I could think of was the man who shared my bed every night and now looked lovingly at our baby. For surely Tom knew something.

  Then I remembered: Tom hadn’t been home the night before I had planned to leave him. He had said he’d gone to see Isadora. It never occurred to me to ask her if this was true. Without her confirmation Tom had no alibi. The thought struck a dark terror in my heart. I’d never know for certain, but what if Tom had met with Daniel that night?

  Chapter Forty

  The investigation into Daniel’s life continued the next day when I travelled with Melody to Becki’s apartment. She lived over in Hammersmith, and I thought about the time I spent with Daniel at his flat during our affair. The taxi passed the building and I discovered that Becki didn’t live far from there.

  Becki opened the door, and I went inside carrying Melody in the carry car seat.

  ‘You’ve had a baby?’

  ‘When Ewan … Daniel … didn’t show, my husband came and found me.’

  Becki took this in. I felt the need to explain.

  ‘I thought … Daniel had abandoned me. That he’d deliberately ruined my life. You’ve got to understand, I was distraught. I had nowhere to go. I guess I just went back to what felt safe.’

  ‘I understand. This way,’ Becki said.

  I followed her through the apartment and into a small living room. The apartment was clean but not salubriously decorated like mine was.

  I saw a laptop on the coffee table. I put Melody’s carrier down and took a seat in the chair next to it.

  ‘It’s already open in his emails. What you looking for?’

  I took a deep breath, ‘Emails from my husband engaging Daniel to seduce me.’

  ‘What?’

  Becki sat down on the sofa opposite.

  ‘That’s how I found his email address. I found an email in Tom’s deleted box. It was from Daniel saying he’d had dinner with me in Reykjavik but nothing happened and so he should leave well alone.’

  ‘What kind of man tries to entrap his wife like that?’

  I met her eyes. Then shook my head. ‘I need the whole facts. One email isn’t enough to prove anything.’

  ‘What will you do if you find the evidence?’

  ‘Leave him,’ I said.

  Becki watched me as I began to search Daniel’s emails. I searched first for Tom’s email and it showed up as a contact. There were no other emails though.

  ‘There’s no other communication to Tom. But I’m going to do another search for my name.’

  I did and three emails came up with my name in the subject line.

  I opened the first one and found an introductory letter from a private detective called Jake Abbott. Abbott was based in Soho and it was a contract to engage Daniel’s services. He was to contrive a meeting with me. They would tell him when and where. The contract also had an NDA attached for Daniel to sign.

  ‘What’s that mean?’ asked Becki.

  ‘Non-disclosure Agreement. Whatever happened between him and me, and during his dealings with them, he couldn’t discuss it with anyone. They’d sue if he did.’

  The email quite clearly outlined that Daniel was to ‘befriend’ me and see if it led to ‘more’.

  The second email was a reply from Daniel accepting the job. He didn’t ask many questions but said that he wanted to ‘discuss’ some of the terms.

  The third email confirmed a payment had been sent to Daniel’s bank. It also had the details of my trip to Reykjavik. Including where I was staying and that Tom wouldn’t be there the first two days.

  ‘That’s your evidence,’ Becki said.

  ‘It’s not enough,’ I said. ‘There was no mention that Tom was directly involved. This third-party company acted as a buffer. They would no doubt be working under their own NDA with Tom to keep it secr
et.’

  ‘But surely the email you found previously does link him,’ Becki said.

  ‘Not if Tom didn’t reply. He could have been set up.’

  ‘Maybe you just don’t want to accept that he’s behind this,’ Becki said.

  ‘Believe me, I do. Things have been so wrong. All in ways I couldn’t put my finger on. Daniel not showing up has never sat right with me. I knew him, Becki. Yes, maybe not enough because he had lied to me for certain. The last conversation we had in person he said something that jarred with me, and I’ve replayed it over and over in my head ever since. He said no matter what happened he really loved me. He also said he had lots to tell me, but at the time I’d thought it all ordinary stuff about the flat or our plans for the future. I didn’t think it was some huge conspiracy that had been going on behind my back. I sort of forgot this, or thought it was part of the deceit. Especially when Tom showed me a Facebook page.’

  I told her about CATFISHED.

  ‘I know Dan wouldn’t have hurt you deliberately. That has to be a coincidence. It couldn’t be him.’

  ‘I want to believe that too. But I need proof. I studied as a lawyer and I understand the law well enough to know that we don’t have enough evidence that he was directly involved based on one email from Daniel. Someone could have been setting Tom up. That’s how his people will play it.’

  ‘You said, “protect” yourself. Are you worried about your safety?’

  I didn’t say anything but my cheeks burned.

  ‘I’ll take that as a “yes”,’ she said.

  ‘This is a dead end at the moment,’ I said. ‘Let’s flag these emails though. It will make them easier to find for the future. I think I have a lot more investigating to do.’

  We went through Daniel’s history and found that he had at some point googled the detective agency that had contacted him. From the search I learnt a bit about Jake Abbott, the main proprietor. He was a former police officer, as these people often are, and he had a team of people working for him. There were no faces of his crew online. I suspected this was because he wanted to keep their identities secret. There was, however, a short video of Abbott talking to camera and I was sure I recognized his voice.