Written in Red

by Annie Dalton

  The kind of man who was kind to his dog, Anna thought.

  ‘I’d been working there a few months when I saw James Lowell sauntering across the quad like some saintly old professor in a book – and this – choking rage just welled up. You know when people say they saw red? I’d always assumed that meant you still saw the world normally but coloured red.’ His voice became tight. ‘You can’t see anything. You go blind. There’s nothing left but red. I had to make him pay. I didn’t have a choice.’

  ‘Professor Lowell didn’t recognize you?’

  ‘Of course he didn’t bloody recognize me!’ Alec almost spat out the words. ‘College gardeners are just part of the scenery, didn’t you know!’

  ‘And Isadora?’ she said. ‘How did you know who she was? I thought she didn’t usually go to the town meetings?’

  ‘I’d seen her from a distance out and about with Hetty,’ he said. ‘Hetty wasn’t always very discreet. She didn’t really fancy me, but sometimes I think she forgot we weren’t really lovers and told me things I wasn’t supposed to know. I knew all their names and little bits and pieces about their lives. Obviously, once I knew I was in trouble I made it my business to ferret out everything I could about the Six or whatever they called themselves. Then after my sighting of James, I did some research online.’

  He saw her surprised expression.

  ‘I can use a computer, you know! Gardeners do have opposable thumbs. I couldn’t seem to find Catherine, but I found out that Isadora was still in Oxford. Then the day of James’s funeral I saw her outside smoking, all dressed up in her funeral finery – and it was the same as when I saw James. Those people destroyed me. They destroyed everything that made up my life. They had no fucking right to be still walking around as if I was just nothing, just some piece of dirt they could step over!’

  Alec was talking himself into a rage. His confessions hadn’t purged him of his demons. They had simply psyched him up so he could carry out his threat. ‘I’m glad you’re coming with me.’ Anna saw Alec’s eyes glitter in the dark. ‘I’m so sick and tired of being alone, I’m sick of being trapped inside Roop. Nobody sees me. You didn’t see me. Those fuckers coming out of the pub didn’t see me, I’m no one now!’

  Anna heard a church clock start to strike. Others followed in a cacophony of chiming. At the same moment, celebratory fireworks exploded over their heads. Anna heard cheers and a ragged chorus of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ from a nearby bar, and a faint persistent barking as someone’s dog protested at the noise.

  ‘It’s time.’ Alec’s voice was softly menacing now as he slowly closed the space between them. Anna would never see Bonnie again, would never kiss Jake, her grandfather would lose his last living relation. Please don’t let me die, she begged the god she didn’t believe in.

  Explosions of gold, silver and violet stars filled the sky; each starburst falling back to reveal thousands of new and brighter stars. It was beautiful, like some kind of cosmic unfolding. Even Alec glanced up, just for a moment but a moment was all that Anna needed.

  She dived for his gun but he hung on, cursing. He was far stronger than she’d realized and despite her martial arts training, she couldn’t break his hold. They struggled for possession of his weapon, as the bangs and multicoloured flashes continued over their heads. As they fought, Anna felt her scarf slip from around her neck. She saw it go floating over the edge of the roof like a banner and disappear into the dark. The scarf made her think of Tansy and she redoubled her efforts to wrestle the gun from Alec’s hands. She was terrified of falling, terrified the gun would go off in her face. She tried to bring up her knee, but Alec got in a vicious kick before she could finish the move.

  Scared to loosen her grip on the gun, Anna hooked her foot around his ankle to unbalance him. Alec staggered backwards. The gun fell from his hand as he flailed, attempting to regain his footing. But their fight had moved him too close to the railings. To Anna’s horror his back foot slipped through the gap and he went over the edge.

  She dropped to her knees, grabbing on to his hands. ‘Hold on!’ she told him. ‘I can pull you back up.’ She was trying to convince herself as much as Alec. He was a heavy muscular man, and she could feel herself gradually being dragged over with him.

  ‘Just let go,’ he begged her. ‘Can’t you see I want to die?’

  The flat surface of the roof didn’t allow her any purchase. She needed to dig in her toes so she could brace herself against his weight, but her stupid shoes kept slipping. The pain in her hands and wrists was agonising. ‘Nobody needs to die,’ she told him angrily. ‘What’s so wrong with your life? Robert gave you a fresh start. How many people get that? Plus, if you die, who’s going to look after that poor dog?’

  ‘I am not fucking Roop!’ he hissed at her.

  ‘You are to me!’ she yelled. Common sense told her she only had two choices: to let Alec Faber fall or be pulled over the edge with him. But how could you just let someone fall to his death if there was even the slightest chance you could save him?

  Her arms felt as if they were being torn out of their sockets. The sheer muscular strain involved in holding on to him was causing Anna’s vision to blur. Her heart thundered in her ears, and somewhere in the distance, there was a sound like a dog’s distressed keening. Tiny lights started flashing behind her eyes. The adrenaline was making her light-headed, making her feel like she was hallucinating.

  Suddenly she breathed in the smell of soap and clean linen. A heartbeat later she felt strong arms grasping her from behind. She almost sobbed with grief and longing. That’s what happened in the moments before you died. You saw and heard and felt all the things you were going to miss the most.

  Her strength had already given out yet she must be summoning reserves from somewhere because she was still somehow grimly hanging on to Alec even as he was frantically trying to loosen her grip. Anna couldn’t see any trace of Roop or anything human now in those cold baleful eyes, yet deep within her, she still felt it was her responsibility to keep him alive. Perhaps he realized that, because he gave her a sudden chilling smile. ‘I lied to you Anna,’ he told her through gritted teeth. ‘I always knew who you were.’

  She felt her heart stop.

  ‘Dominic Scott-Neville is my brother’s godchild,’ Alec ground out. ‘And if you think I’m a monster, then Dominic is the fucking devil!’ With the last of his strength, he prised his fingers loose and fell backwards into the blackness below.

  Anna was still staring numbly at the empty space where Alec Faber had been when she felt herself being pulled back from the edge of the roof. Someone tried to help her to her feet, but she collapsed back on to her knees. Her would-be rescuer crouched down beside her. She heard a voice say, ‘It’s OK, kid. You’re OK.’

  Dizzy and disorientated, she peered at him through tiny pulsars of light. ‘Jake?’ she said disbelievingly. ‘Are you really—?’ He didn’t let her finish her sentence. Gathering her into his arms, Jake kissed her with so much determination that Anna had no choice but to believe that he was real. If she had still harboured any doubts, the arrival of a rapturous White Shepherd was final proof. ‘Oh, my God, Bonnie!’ Uttering little moans and whimpers of relief, Anna’s dog immediately set about squeezing herself in between her two beloved humans, managing to get in a couple of licks at Anna’s cheek.

  For a timeless moment, the two humans and their dog clung to each other as a last few sporadic fireworks lit up the city skyline.

  ‘Jesus,’ Jake said fervently when he finally released Anna from his embrace. ‘I’m never doing that again! Not the kissing part,’ he added hastily. He was holding her against his chest as if he would never let her go.

  ‘I thought I was going to die,’ she managed through her shivers. ‘But you found me.’

  She could hear police sirens wailing up the High.

  ‘To be fair, it was Bonnie who found you,’ Jake admitted. ‘You should seriously consider changing her name to “Lassie”. Honey, you’re freezing.’ He
took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  A moment later, Liam clambered out to join them on the roof, obviously out of breath. ‘Oh, thank Christ, you found her!’ His voice was sharp with relief. ‘She’s OK?’

  Jake just nodded. ‘She’s OK!’ He didn’t seem able to take his eyes off Anna. ‘First, we’ll get you off this roof,’ he told her. ‘Then, I’ll tell you how we found you, me and Bonnie.’

  TWENTY-ONE

  A week later

  The first soft flakes began drifting down as Anna drove her grandfather and his artist friend Desmond to the Orangery, Isadora’s friend’s bistro on the Woodstock Road. By the time everyone had ordered their starters, it was snowing in earnest.

  There were ten of them seated at the long table; Anna and Jake, Tansy and Liam, Tim and his pregnant wife Anjali, Anna’s grandfather and Desmond, and Hetty Vallier’s granddaughter, Sabina. Isadora had been persuaded to sit at the head of the table (not that she’d needed too much persuading, Anna had noticed), since they were all here at her invitation.

  Isadora waited until everyone had a glass of whatever they were drinking, then gave an imperious ding on her own glass to get their attention. ‘I’ll admit that I organized this belated New Year’s celebration with a distinct sense that we might be tempting fate! As all of you know by now, Christmas Day didn’t quite work out how we’d expected.’ She gave a rueful glance at her wrist which was still in plaster. ‘And New Year’s Eve – well, I’m sure we’d all prefer not to dwell on how that might have ended.’ Her gaze went to rest on Anna. ‘It’s almost impossible for me to believe now that just a few months ago I didn’t know Anna or Tansy. We were drawn together in dreadful circumstances, and we’ve gone through more dramatic times since then and I owe them both, and Liam and Jake, an immense debt.’

  ‘No, you don’t,’ Tansy said at once.

  ‘But I do, my darling!’ Isadora insisted. ‘I never could have survived it without you all and it’s also partly through you that another wonderful girl has come into my life.’ She bestowed a fond smile on Hetty’s granddaughter. Sabina, looking fresh as a flower in the dress her adopted grandmother had bought her, did her best to appear cool and enigmatic but couldn’t hide her pleasure.

  Isadora took a breath. ‘I learned, painfully young, that this world can be a dark and terrifying place. My father once told me that all we ever really have are moments, and that moments like these with the people we care about’ – at this point her voice developed a distinct wobble – ‘are precious and to be treasured.’

  ‘This woman is determined to make me cry!’ Tansy protested.

  ‘There is nothing wrong with tears!’ Isadora said, swiftly brushing away her own. ‘So here’s my toast for us all. May the Fates allow us to enjoy this small celebration without any taint of murder, mayhem or last-minute roof-top rescues!’

  ‘Amen!’ Jake and Desmond said simultaneously and everyone raised their glasses.

  ‘You heard the lady!’ Liam called to Anna. ‘No roof-top rescues until after dessert!’

  ‘I’ll try my best,’ she promised.

  Outside snow continued to fall. Maybe she was having some kind of delayed reaction to her New Year’s Eve brush with death, but Anna felt cocooned in a state of near bliss. As a small girl she’d once been the proud owner of a snow globe and had secret fantasies of being able to go into the tiny perfect world inside. Just now, with the sparkling cold outside the windows and the warmth and companionship inside, she felt as if she was coming close to achieving her wish.

  Towards the end of their meal, the table, with its burned-down candles, half-empty bottles and smeared and sticky dessert plates, looked like one of George Ottaway’s paintings brought to life. Desmond was the only one who hadn’t finished eating. ‘Because I talk so much!’ he explained unapologetically. Anna guessed he was in his late fifties, but his long dreadlocks and the wicked twinkle in his eyes made him seem ageless.

  Bonnie and Hero lay companionably by the French doors, watching the softly tumbling snowflakes. Since Isadora’s lunch was being held in a private room, the Orangery’s owners had agreed to her request that the dogs should be allowed to join the celebrations.

  At last Desmond laid down his spoon and carefully wiped his mouth on his linen napkin. ‘That was a wonderful meal,’ he told Isadora. ‘I feel blessed that Anna and George asked me to be part of your special occasion.’ Anna was pleased she’d thought to ask Isadora to include him. He’d been a lively lunch companion, sparring humorously with the younger men, as well as keeping her grandfather company, and flirting light-heartedly with Isadora as if they’d known each other all their lives.

  In a lull between courses, Anna had overheard her grandfather talking to Tim. ‘It’s wonderful to see you two together again. It feels almost like old times. I remember one of my first sketches was of you and Anna on the beach at Holkham.’ During this exchange, Tim’s wife, Anjali, had concentrated especially hard on her dessert. Anjali knew the truth, of course, as did all Anna’s friends.

  It wasn’t just simple cowardice that had prevented her from telling her grandfather. Anna thought he needed – they both needed – some time to recover before she dropped yet another bombshell.

  Her memory of the moments immediately following her rescue mostly consisted of disconnected snapshots. She had a blurry recollection of being checked over by paramedics in the back of the ambulance while a concerned Jake waited, crouching beside Bonnie. She remembered Liam driving them all back to Isadora’s. She remembered Tansy solicitously piling on quilts, cracking jokes about the Princess and the Pea as Anna shivered and shook. She must have slept at some point though because she remembered waking herself up with a great gasp of fear and hearing someone say quietly, ‘You’re OK, kid. You’re going to be OK.’ She’d opened her eyes to see a dog-tired Jake sitting beside her bed. Isadora told her later that he’d kept watch over her through what remained of the night. ‘Rationally, he knew Alec Faber was dead. But he wasn’t taking any chances.’

  It wasn’t until the following day that Anna began properly piecing together the sequence of events that had led to her miraculous rescue.

  Jake had got her call. He’d heard everything and immediately tried to call the police. ‘But of course it was New Year’s Eve. We didn’t have a prayer of getting through. It was obvious there was no time to lose, so Liam said he’d drive us. We were just leaving the house and Bonnie came hurtling out after us like she’d been fired from a cannon. We tried to make her stay, but she just started barking like crazy.’

  ‘Bonnie barked?’ Anna had said in awe. Bonnie almost never barked, except very occasionally in one of her more action-packed dreams.

  ‘Barking that rapidly escalated to ear-splitting howls,’ he’d said ruefully. ‘We didn’t have time to take her back inside and we couldn’t leave her yowling on Isadora’s drive so we were pretty much forced to take her along. It wasn’t like we’d planned to use her as our search-and-rescue dog!’ Jake had given Anna his lopsided grin. ‘Then off we went. Man, I thought I could drive but Liam is something else! Went streaking down the Banbury Road and into the city centre, drove us right up to the porter’s lodge and flashed his Thames Valley ID at some sleepy young guy.’

  ‘That was probably Tate,’ Anna had told him.

  ‘Used to be a soldier right?’ Jake had asked. ‘Thought so. Guy was on his feet in a heartbeat. All we knew was that Faber was taking you up on some roof somewhere. Tate helped us narrow down the possibilities. He couldn’t leave the lodge because they still had some big party going on, so Liam went one way, Bonnie and I went the other. Then all at once Bonnie got this look, exactly how she’d looked in Afghanistan that time; like, beyond focused! Running around, nose glued to the ground, nostrils working overtime. And I’m thinking, Is she genuinely on to something, or is she just picking up on my terror pheromones, you know? Then, all at once, she pounced.’ Jake had shaken his head. ‘I wish you’d seen her! It was beautiful how
she did it, so fast and precise, and when I looked she had your scarf hanging out of her jaws and you could see she was so damn pleased with herself! I stuffed your scarf into my pocket and she took me straight to that tower with the nightmare stairs.’ He’d passed his hand across his eyes trying to banish the memory. ‘Like I said, we should seriously think about changing that dog’s name.’

  ‘Not a chance,’ Anna had told him. ‘Bonnie is Bonnie.’

  Someone touched her lightly on the shoulder, pulling her back to the Orangery’s dining room. She glanced up and saw Tim. ‘We’re taking off in a few minutes,’ he told her. ‘Anjali’s getting tired.’ He dropped his voice as he added, ‘Plus, I thought I’d come and check how my big sister’s doing.’

  She smiled up at him. ‘I’m fine. I’m ridiculously excited about being an aunt.’ They’d agreed to wait a while before talking to Chris. (Anna still found it hard to think of him as her father and wondered if she ever would.) Tim was about to become a dad and Anna was contemplating a possible life change of her own. She slid a glance at Jake, who was smiling at something her grandfather had said.

  ‘Have you found anything out about Dominic?’ she asked Tim, lowering her voice. She’d called Tim to tell him about her terrifying New Year’s Eve adventure and reported what Alec Faber had told her just before he fell. ‘I’ve pretty much exhausted all my abilities.’

  Tim shook his head. ‘I haven’t come up with anything yet. But I’ll get there, Anna, and that’s a promise.’

  ‘I feel like I haven’t really talked to Anjali properly,’ she said.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Tim told her. ‘You’re both a bit shy of each other, that’s all. We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us to sort that out.’