‘Humour me.’
‘Scorpio,’ said sulkily.
‘Ah, the power sign. Passion. Desire. Once Scorpions find real love, they can be the most faithful partners of all. Cross them and they have a sting. And they never forget. Their great test in life is choosing between the power of love and the love of power.’
‘You’re just winding me up. You know I don’t buy any of that bull.’
Solomon said, ‘Lower your tone.’ A pause. ‘I’m being generous. You have twelve months to complete the job. Get to work. It’s time you earned some money.’
Solomon cut the call and found another number and pressed call.
‘Hey!’
‘Charlie – it’s time for phase two. Your job is to ensure that other people do their job. You are my eyes and ears, understand?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’m trusting you not to trust anyone else, right? Because I trust no one.’
There was a short wait and some shallow breathing at the other end of the phone. ‘Do you trust me?’
‘Of course not. You’re human, which means you’re frail and stupid. But you’re a key player and I’m forced to delegate. Watch the Stone brothers carefully. They’ve been given their instructions and I don’t trust either one of them to comply. This is a crucial time. I don’t like surprises. Stay invisible. Don’t let anyone know you’re tailing them.’
‘I can’t be everywhere at once. Geography is an issue.’
Solomon closed his eyes. ‘Find a way. Keep a finger on the pulse at all times. I don’t want to bring any of The Muscles in on this.’ An instruction and a warning. ‘This is personal now.’
‘I understand.’
Solomon extended his forefinger to end the call.
<><><>
Joel Martin arrived on Good Friday. Annabel was still getting ready, so Naomi opened the door to the cheekiest grin she’d ever seen, which brightened a dull afternoon. He had a blue rucksack slung casually over one shoulder and a thumb trapped under the strap. First impressions: pleasant face and a riot of thick fair hair and white teeth.
‘Hey, Naomi,’ he said in his Geordie accent, pointing one finger at her as if she was an old friend. He hugged her with his free arm and Naomi laughed and hugged him back.
‘Finally,’ she said.
‘I need to be careful who I grab these next few days. I can hardly tell you two apart.’
Naomi laughed again and took him into the kitchen and yelled up the stairs to Annabel. Camilla was whisking egg whites and stopped to stare over her glasses.
‘Mum, this is Joel.’
He lunged forward, hand outstretched. ‘Pleasure to meet you.’
‘And you,’ Camilla said without a smile.
‘Where’s Dad?’
‘He’ll be on his blessed computer where he’s been all week, looking at holidays. I wish he’d give up.’
‘Are you making meringue there?’ Joel asked.
‘A pavlova, yes.’ Camilla sounded marginally impressed, but guarded. Naomi thought that her dad wouldn’t have the first clue what a meringue was made from.
‘Do you need a hand with anything? I’m fairly useful in the kitchen.’
Camilla weighed him suspiciously. The crease between her brow said, a man useful in the kitchen? ‘I can manage, thank you.’
Naomi said, ‘Can I get you a drink?’
‘Aye. Coffee. White, one sugar please.’
Naomi switched the kettle on just as Annabel came thundering down the stairs. She rushed into the kitchen with still-wet hair and hurled herself at Joel who picked her up and spun her around. Annabel’s eyes sparkled and she laughed.
‘Why don’t you show Joel to his room,’ Camilla said, to make a point that he had a room. Of his own! But Annabel chattered over her and didn’t take the hint. When they were still in each other’s arms and the doorbell rang a minute later, Camilla seemed relieved to leave the kitchen.
Naomi mindlessly stirred Joel’s coffee and left it beside him on the work-counter. He muttered his thanks and flashed her a smile.
‘Annie, can I borrow your car please?’
Annabel couldn’t stop smiling. ‘Yeah, course,’ she said, without taking her eyes off Joel. ‘Keys are in my bag on my bed.’
Naomi slipped away. In the same room as Annabel and Joel, she’d felt like a fish bone – small, and unwanted; a nuisance. Besides, watching them only made her feel heavy and mildly nauseous and steered her thoughts towards Dan, which then brought a thick throat and the possibility of tears.
In the hall, Joel’s bag was slouched at the side of the stairs. Camilla was at the door speaking to some woman with shiny, dark hair.
‘I don’t recall getting an invitation,’ Camilla was saying. ‘When did you say it was?’
‘Tomorrow night from about seven. No obligation, but you’re very welcome.’
Naomi started to climb the stairs. Camilla said, ‘We have a guest staying with us at the moment.’
If that was Camilla’s attempt to wriggle out, it didn’t work. In a musical kind of voice, the woman said, ‘It’s just an informal hour. Everyone’s welcome. I just thought it’d be good to break the ice with me being the newcomer.’
‘Well, that’s very nice . . . ?’
‘Amber.’
Naomi was at the top of the stairs. ‘Well, maybe we’ll see you there.’ It was Camilla’s thank-you-but-no-thank-you voice. She hated socialising.
Naomi tuned out and went into Annabel’s room to dig her car keys out of a large bag of junk. Then she found a coat, moistened her lips with a stick of lip balm, and slipped down the stairs. Phone in pocket, she left the house without a word to anyone. By the time Naomi had shuffled the car into a u-turn at the front of the house – narrowly avoiding Joel’s car by the trees – Amber Musical-Voice had vanished.
<><><>
Naomi drove all the way to Gatley with Beethoven’s seventh symphony – a lucky find on Classic FM – threatening to blast a hole through the car roof. She didn’t want to face her own questions: what was she doing? What would she say? Was she in danger? She’d ask those questions later.
Good Friday should have meant quiet roads, but the weather was fine and dry and the roads were full of people on the move. She switched the radio off when she turned into Solomon’s street. The house had two cars on the drive, but the drive continued out of view down the full length of the house. A garage was at the end of it. She parked on the street in the shade of a woody tree bursting with buds. The house was a few metres away on the right. She noticed a small camera above the front door that she hadn’t noticed last time.
As she cut the engine, the sudden quiet made her wonder about turning back. Spring sunshine pointed fingers of white light in her eyes. The car was warm and airless. The clock in the car told her that lunch time was long gone. She wished Annabel was with her and at the same time, didn’t want Vincent Solomon to see Annabel. Leaving Annie out of things was best. She’d probably never talk about this visit, which was completely insane from any point of view but her own.
With that thought, she checked her phone was securely in her pocket, buttoned her coat to the neck even though it was warm outside, and got out of the car. She’d dressed in heels deliberately. She didn’t want to appear short. With an extra three inches, she was about five- eight. Solomon was only a couple of inches taller than that. She wouldn’t creep up to the house. She intended to mark her footsteps loudly on the path and have him wondering who was calling. She wanted to be tall enough to look him directly in the eye.
The road was very peaceful; her mind was not. The short walk to the house brought a surge of energy and a tide of anger. Let’s see how you like being surprised. Dan had told her that Solomon couldn’t stand noise. So she clattered up the path and rang the bell twice. When nothing happened after ten seconds, she rang it again and banged on the door.
She detected some vibrations from inside and took a step back and lifted her chin. Bolts were being unf
astened and a key was being inserted into a lock. The door handle started to move, followed by the door itself.
Solomon stood behind the door, smartly dressed in a dark shirt and trousers, straight-faced. If there was the least degree of shock or surprise, it didn’t show.
‘Naomi,’ he said. ‘This is a pleasant surprise.’
Unnerved by his expression, or lack of it, Naomi stood tall. ‘Are you alone or is your house crawling with your guard dogs?’
‘I’ve never been a lover of dogs. They’re too needy and willing to please for my taste.’
‘You know exactly what I mean,’ she said, striding forward.
Solomon stepped to one side and held his palm out. ‘I’m not alone anymore,’ he said. ‘Because you’re here.’
Naomi brushed past him as she marched into the hall and loosely ran her eyes over the paintings. She couldn’t take anything in except a confusion of bold colours. Solomon was closing the door and locking it when she turned around.
‘Why are you locking the door?’
Solomon smiled. ‘Habit,’ he said. ‘I’m very safety conscious. If people don’t protect what’s theirs, they’re in danger of losing it. I recommend you do the same.’
Naomi locked eyes with him, recalling the colour – ice-blue, piercing, intense. Her heart rate increased and thudded relentlessly in her ears. ‘What do you need to protect?’
‘At the moment? You.’
‘From who?’
‘Who knows? I don’t take chances.’
‘I thought you were a gambler.’
‘I only gamble when I know I’ll win, which isn’t gambling.’ Solomon held out the key. ‘Why don’t you look after this until you leave? It might help you to relax a little.’
She shook her head and refused the key. ‘I’m not here to relax.’
‘Pity,’ he said, dropping the key inside his pocket and leaving his hand buried. He slowly walked behind her, making the hairs on the back of her neck bristle. ‘Because you seem a little tense.’
She spun around. He was very close. She stepped back and he smiled, but his eyes remained cold.
‘I want to make this as brief as possible,’ she said.
He took a step forward. ‘I want to make you an offer.’
Naomi was stunned into silence. It took time and effort to manage, ‘You don’t even know why I’m here.’
‘To thank me for keeping you out of prison?’
‘I’m innocent,’ she hissed. ‘Why would I need to thank you?’
‘Don’t be naïve, Naomi, it could land you in trouble.’ He waited. Naomi could find nothing to say. ‘If it wasn’t for me, Nathan would have slammed you behind bars, and that’s a fact. You had one foot in a cell before I stepped in.’
‘OK,’ she said. ‘If you came swooping in to save me, why couldn’t you have allowed justice to be done. How come Nathan and Lorie are free?’
He took a step forward and Naomi allowed it. ‘Now you’re in bargaining territory and like I said, I want to make you a simple offer. You sit and have one drink with me right now, and I’ll answer your questions. What do you say?’
Naomi swallowed. She wished she’d accepted the key. Stupid really, when she’d had the chance. She didn’t like where it was, resting in the depth of his pocket beneath the guard of his hand. She could ask to leave and maybe he’d unlock the door and let her go. Or maybe he’d refuse and then what? The anger was slinking away like a disloyal friend at a time of need as she stood there under the unbearable heat of his stare. He rarely blinked, she noticed, which only made her want to blink for both of them. She had to respond.
‘I don’t trust what you might put in a drink.’
He laughed and she tensed. He moved towards her and she stepped back and ran into the wall. With nowhere to go she stood tall and looked him directly in the eye.
‘Don’t touch me.’
‘I don’t intend to. I just want to read your eyes.’
‘You’re not psychic.’
‘You’ve nothing to fear then.’
Naomi looked down and broke eye contact. He stopped right in front of her, a few centimetres between them at the most. His leg brushed the tip of her coat, which was enough to generate a shiver. She covered it by fidgeting.
‘What are you doing here, Naomi?
She looked at him again. ‘I’d like to know why one of your guard dogs is sniffing around my student house. You told me I wouldn’t have to watch out for you, and I took you at your word.’
‘Have a drink with me and I’ll explain.’ He inched back. ‘That, or you’re free to leave.’ He took the key out of his pocket and offered it to her again. This time she took it. It carried the warmth of his body. ‘Two choices then. Let yourself out and don’t come here again, or follow me and let’s take this to the next level.’
His footsteps echoed through the hall as he walked away and disappeared around a corner and she heard a door open and his footsteps continue through it. The next level. She looked down at a key which would only unlock the front door and would never take her to the next level. It offered freedom, but for how long? Vincent Solomon knew where she lived. If he wanted her dead, she wouldn’t be standing in his hall.
A part of her was urging herself to get out and run. Another part stubbornly refused to budge. She heard the clinking of glasses. Some music started up – a slow, low-pitched pulse. Vincent Solomon never gambled unless he was certain he’d win. He was expecting her. This was her thought as she found her feet pacing forward, her heels announcing her decision, as if he ever doubted it. She moved towards the music, her footsteps dead in time to the beat.
28
‘We’ve been invited for drinks at the new neighbour’s house tonight. Apparently, an invitation came through the door. I never saw it, did you?’
‘No.’ Henry looked up from his laptop without making eye contact. His face was pale. ‘We’re not going,’ was all he added sharply.
Camilla walked towards him and Henry snapped the laptop shut and looked at her now. ‘I don’t want to go either, but having gone to all the trouble of knocking on the door, I’d feel quite rude –’
‘I don’t care what trouble she’s gone to. We’re not going.’
‘How do you know it’s a she?’
‘You said so,’ Henry said firmly.
‘No I didn’t.’
A pause. ‘Well, I heard you talking to her.’
‘Have you met her?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Henry said, looking down wearily again.
‘You’d know if you had. She was wearing a short fluorescent top and was showing her midriff. Her nails were bright pink. You know – the type who likes to make an entrance.’
There was a short silence. ‘She doesn’t sound familiar,’ Henry said uncertainly. He seemed distracted.
‘Well, anyway,’ Camilla continued, ‘I think we’d better show up briefly.’
Henry slammed a flat hand down on the desk in front of him. ‘Joel’s here. We can’t just trot off out and leave the two of them alone in the house. They’ll be up to all sorts.’
‘Well, where’s Naomi?’
‘Out, I suppose. Annabel’s car has vanished.’
‘Well, when she gets back, we’ll all go together.’ Camilla concluded. ‘Show our faces for half an hour or so.’
‘No.’ Henry stood now, almost toppling a glass of water. ‘We’re not going, Camilla, and that’s final.’
‘I’ll go alone then,’ she retorted, irritably. ‘How does that suit you?’
‘Not at all,’ he shouted, and Camilla was shocked. She scrutinised Henry. His trousers were dropping away from his waist. There were bags shadowing his eyes and his shoulders tensed as he folded his arms and stood up straight. ‘Have you forgotten what’s happened to our family recently, Camilla?’
‘No, of course –’
‘We thought our daughter had died. We moved here to escape the public glare and find some peace. We bought a house with a h
igh wall and tall trees because the girls didn’t want to live in Jed’s place in the middle of a field in the back of beyond. I will not compromise a fraction, Camilla, just because things have settled. I don’t want to mix with the neighbours and have cosy little chats. I don’t want to get to know them and I’m damned sure they’re learning nothing about us either. Now, if that makes us look rude and obnoxious, so be it – do we understand each other?’
Henry’s cheeks shuddered as he spoke. She couldn’t remember a more passionate speech from him. Ever.
Camilla was oddly moved by it. ‘You’re right,’ she said quietly, dropping her head. ‘What was I thinking even considering it?’
Henry walked towards her now and put his arms around her and breathed loudly through his nose. He wasn’t sleeping well, which was why he was so stressed. And he was worried and distracted. Camilla recognised the signs only too well, but until now, she hadn’t been able to fathom why.
‘I’ll be more guarded,’ Camilla promised. ‘You’re right – we can’t afford to be friendly and let outside influences in. For a while at least, we stay aloof from everyone. Definitely.’ Despite Henry’s low mood, it was a comfort to know that he was putting the safety of the family first.
‘It’s OK,’ Henry said, softly now. ‘We all make mistakes.’
And as Camilla shuffled into Henry’s chest and put her head against him, she wondered why he sighed over and over.
<><><>
There were bottles of juice lying flat in the bottom of a small square fridge behind the bar. The fridge door was all glass. Naomi accepted a bottle of still apple and mango and, to make a point, Solomon handed it to her unopened, then provided a bottle opener and glass and got a drink for himself.
‘Ice?’
Naomi shook her head and fumbled with the bottle top until it bent and lost its grip. She ignored the glass and picked up the bottle, guarding it to her chest.
Solomon strode casually out from behind the bar holding a glass of orange juice. ‘When in Rome,’ he said, lifting the glass. ‘Although strictly, you’re the one in Rome. So tell me, why don’t you drink?’
The Darkness Visible Page 28
