by Joanna Neil
It seemed strange to be going home to an empty flat. This last week, looking after Kayla, she had grown used to having somebody about the place. It had made up in part for not having Lindsey next door, but now she felt strangely isolated.
Someone walked by the alleyway at the back of the house as she approached her front door. It was a man wearing a jacket very much like the one that Rhys sometimes wore, and she called out, ‘Rhys…is that you?’ But no one came in answer to her query. Sighing, she put the key in her lock and went inside. Perhaps she was beginning to imagine things.
More than anything, she would have liked Rhys to be somewhere near by. It was one thing to work with him, but she missed the closeness, the way he had comforted her, put his arms around her and drawn her against his chest. She had grown to love him, she recognised that all too clearly now, and it hurt that he couldn’t love her in return.
She went through the motions of cleaning the flat, of tidying up and putting everything in its place. It was still a warm day, although it was drawing to a close, and she pushed open the French doors so that she could go out into the courtyard to water the plants and let some fresh air into the house.
Going back inside, she put the watering-can away in the cupboard and thought about preparing some supper. A noise disturbed her, a crunching sound, like gravel being trampled underfoot, and she frowned and went to peer out of the window at the front of the house. No one was there, and she went back to the kitchen to get on with collecting together the ingredients for a light salad. She was hyped up, that was the problem. Everything was a let down after the tension of being at work.
She lost herself in daydreams. Would Rhys invite her back to his apartment some day? There had been something special about the meal they prepared together. They had laughed and teased one another about the ingredients, and when they had at last sat down to eat, the sun had been warm on her skin, and his smile had lit her up inside.
Another sound broke into her reverie. This time it was a dull thud, and it seemed to be coming from next door, which was odd because Lindsey wasn’t there. Her flat was empty.
Her pulse quickened. Was she getting worked up over nothing? Even so, she reached for her phone and dialled Rhys’s number, just for the comfort of hearing him speak.
There was no answer, and disappointment washed over her as the call switched to voicemail. She started to leave a message for him.
‘Rhys…I just wanted to say…’ She broke off. It was too difficult to tell him that she needed him and wanted him to be there with her. ‘I hope Amy’s feeling better. I’m sure things will work out for her if she gives Elliot a chance.’
She cut the call. Going back to her salad, she washed lettuce under the tap, and then put it into a shaker to dry it out.
‘Well, isn’t that a familiar scene?’ a man’s voice droned. ‘Here you are preparing a meal…a few lettuce leaves here, radish, a sprinkling of onion, some nuts and peppers, a light salad dressing. It’s something you do every day, isn’t it, without giving it much thought?’
Emma turned around. She didn’t recognise the voice, and when she looked at the man who was standing there, just a few yards away from her, in her kitchen, she wasn’t at all sure whether she had ever seen him before. She felt cold all over.
‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’ She stared at him. He was of medium build, with dark straggly hair that flopped down across his forehead and lay in unkempt strands over his collar. ‘How did you get in?’ she asked.
He didn’t answer her, and her throat started to dry up, her heart beginning to thud heavily against her rib cage. Was this the person who had tried to poison Lindsey’s dog? What was he doing there, in her kitchen?
She glanced towards the end of the room, and saw that the French windows had been pulled together. They weren’t closed, just drawn inwards, as though to keep out any noise.
‘You came in through the courtyard, didn’t you?’ she said. ‘Why are you here? What is it that you want with me?’
‘Well, now, there’s the thing…what is it that I want?’ His mouth pursed as though he was thinking, and his eyes closed to small dark slits. He came towards her. ‘I suppose I want my life back.’ He scowled at her. ‘You took it from me.’
She frowned. ‘How did I do that?’
His lips made an ugly shape. ‘You don’t remember, do you? You and your family—you walk all over everyone. You think you can have it all, and you don’t care who gets in your way.’ He looked at the food that she was preparing, and she wondered if she ought to stand in front of the knife that she had been using to cut the vegetables. Perhaps it would be best to keep temptation out of his way. She moved a little to one side.
‘I used to prepare food every day,’ he said. ‘It was good food, people used to say how tasty it was.’
Emma stared at him. This man had never worked in her father’s kitchens, that she knew for sure, but she was beginning to feel that she had seen him somewhere before. Another restaurant, was that it?
Recognition dawned at last. She said slowly, ‘You had the restaurant on the other side of the square, didn’t you? I remember you did good business over there.’
‘Until you and your father came along.’ His lips twisted in an ugly sneer. ‘It was bad enough that he started up in opposition to me, but then you had to come along with your big ideas. Barbecues and themed events…You had it all worked out, didn’t you? Anything to draw in a crowd and take the customers away from me. I lost my livelihood because of you and your father.’
She frowned, trying to take it all in. He hated her so much, but surely she hadn’t done anything to hurt him? ‘You had lots of customers,’ she said. ‘We didn’t take anything away from you.’
‘They closed me down…the environmental people. Food poisoning, they said. It was all your fault. You sent them.’ He made a grimace that was meant to be a smile. ‘I got my own back. I poisoned your dog. He was very partial to a bit of meat, wasn’t he?’
Emma’s head was reeling. Her fears had been right all along, and that meant this man was capable of anything. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ she said in a strained voice. ‘I certainly didn’t send the health inspectors your way.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Was it you who was responsible for blowing up the kitchen?’
He laughed, a harsh, cracking sound that echoed through the room. ‘Good, wasn’t it? I thought that would close things down, and it did.’
Emma felt faint all of a sudden. This man was dangerous, and she was trapped in her own home with him, with no one to call on for help. Did he have a concealed weapon somewhere about him? How was she going to protect herself?
She said heavily, ‘Didn’t you care that you might have killed innocent people?’
‘Most of them were outside near the barbecue, and the kitchen was empty. I knew if I destroyed the kitchen I would put an end to the business. It wasn’t difficult. I knew where the gas cylinders were kept.’
She wanted to be sick. He started towards her and her body tensed. She couldn’t think what to do, but as he came within touching distance of her she reached for the water filter and tipped it over him, drenching him with cold water. He spluttered, shocked by her unexpected action, but it gave her the seconds she needed to head for the French doors.
They were wide open, and as she took that fact in she realised that she was not alone with the man. Rhys was sprinting towards him, and while her would-be attacker was still recovering from the effects of his cold shower, Rhys grappled him face down on to the ground and held him in an arm lock.
‘I need a belt, or something to tie him with,’ Rhys muttered, and she whipped the thin leather belt from around the waist of her jeans and handed it to him. Her hands were shaking.
‘I can’t believe that you’re here,’ she said, her breath coming in short spurts. ‘I’ve never been so relieved to see anyone in my life.’
He managed a wry smile. ‘Me, too. I wouldn’t like to think what might have happened if I had
n’t decided to come over here.’ He was holding the man down with his body, his knees pressed into his back, and it came to Emma that she ought to be helping out.
‘I’ll call the police,’ she said, but he stopped her with a shake of his head.
‘There’s no need. I already called them and they’re on their way.’
‘They are?’
‘That’s right.’ He looked at her and smiled, and it was as though the sun had come out. ‘I didn’t want to leave you here on your own for another night, not after what you told me about hearing somebody prowling around. I knew that you would be all right last night, because you said that you were going to stay with your sister. I felt I had to come and make sure that you were safe.’
A little glow started up inside her. She went and knelt down beside him, needing to be close to him all at once. ‘I rang you, but I thought you were busy. I just wanted to talk to you—to hear your voice.’
‘Did you? I haven’t checked my phone yet, so I didn’t know that. I phoned Amy earlier, to see how she was doing, and it looks as though she and Elliot have managed to patch things up, but apart from that I haven’t checked any of my messages. I came straight over here once I had finished at the hospital. I was a little late because I went to check on the child with pneumonia. She’s showing signs of responding to the antibiotics…nothing too spectacular as yet, but enough to give us hope.’
‘I’m glad about that.’ She gazed up at him. ‘So you came here especially to make sure that I was all right?’
He nodded. ‘As soon as I got here, I thought I saw someone hanging around. He was acting suspiciously, so I followed him.’
Emma frowned. ‘Are you saying that you’ve been here for some time—why didn’t you intervene before this?’
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, flipping it open. ‘Because I was trying to capture it on the videophone. The police will want some evidence, and I think we have him pretty well tied up…not just for today’s events but for everything that has gone before…don’t you agree?’
He played back some of the footage of the trespasser in her kitchen, and the voice on it told its own tale. ‘Oh, yes, I see what you mean.’ She smiled at him. ‘I’m so glad that you’re here.’
It wasn’t long after that before the police were knocking at the door, and Rhys handed over both the man and the phone into their custody. ‘I think perhaps he should see not just the police surgeon but a psychiatrist,’ he told the officers. ‘I believe he has some serious mental problems.’
‘We’ll mention it to the doctor on duty,’ the arresting officer said.
Emma saw them out, and then went back into her living room. She pulled in a deep breath. ‘I’m so relieved that’s all over.’
‘So am I.’ Rhys put his arms around her, gathering her up, and she went into his embrace, feeling that for once the world was spinning properly on its axis.
‘I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,’ she murmured, her words muffled against his chest. ‘I was so afraid, and I kept thinking, How am I going to get him out of here? Knowing what he was capable of was terrifying.’
‘I thought you managed the situation really well, by keeping him talking,’ Rhys said, leading her over to the settee and drawing her down beside him onto the soft cushions. ‘I was getting ready to step in at any moment, but it occurred to me that I ought to record what he was saying. It’s the only proof we have…unless they search his place and find rat poison, of course. Even then, they have to associate his actions with what happened to Samson. I’m not sure what evidence they could find to connect him with the gas cylinder, but now that we have a suspect, it might serve to jog someone’s memory. Someone might recall seeing him at the restaurant.’
Emma shuddered. ‘It feels as though I’ve been working my way through one long nightmare,’ she said. ‘Is it finally over?’
He stroked her hair, his other arm circling her and keeping her close to him. Her whole body warmed at his touch. It felt so good to be near to him, to have him fold her against him this way. ‘It’s over,’ he said. ‘Only perhaps another dream is just beginning…’
She looked up at him. ‘Is it? What do you mean?’
‘I mean that I want to be able to keep you safe from now on. I can’t go through this again. I need to know that you aren’t going to come to any harm, and the only way that I can do that is to keep a very close eye on you. I think I need to make you part of my life…a very essential, precious part of my life.’
Her eyes widened. ‘That sounds like…almost like a proposal of some kind. I’m not sure that I understand what you’re saying.’ Did he really want to keep her close by him? Dared she hope that his feelings for her were something extra-special?
His mouth made a rueful slant. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been able to express myself properly where you’re concerned, Emma. You mean so much to me, and I’ve always had to hold back, to try to keep my feelings to myself.’
‘You have?’ Her brows drew together. ‘Why?’
He ran a finger lightly along her hairline, pausing to trace a path along her cheekbone. He said softly, ‘Because it wouldn’t have been fair of me to tell you how I felt about you. You were so young when we first met, and you were full of life, ready to go out into the world and full of plans to become a doctor. I couldn’t hold you back, but I was jealous of everyone who came into your life. You had no experience of men at all, and I knew I had to let you go free to spread your wings.’
His voice rasped in his throat. ‘It tore me apart to do that. I was so afraid that you would take up with some man who would whisk you away and then I would never have the chance to tell you how much I love you, and that I want you only for myself.’
‘You love me?’ she said. ‘Did you just say that you love me?’
He looked into her eyes. ‘I did. I said it. I love you.’ He bent his head and kissed her, trailing fire along her lips, as though he would seal his love for her with the imprint of his mouth on hers.
Her world tilted as the blood rushed to her head and her mind started to spin. Was he really saying what she had yearned to hear for so long? Had that kiss been a signal that all her dreams were about to come true?
She said huskily, ‘Why did you wait so long to tell me? Didn’t you know that was what I wanted to hear?’
‘Did you?’ He smiled into her eyes and kissed her again, tugging her close to him, his hands stroking her, smoothing along the length of her spine and coming to settle on the rounded curve of her hip. ‘You were always so wary of me, so guarded in the way you approached me. I thought perhaps you were still striving for your independence, that you didn’t want to work with me, let alone be landed with me as your boss.’
She shook her head. ‘It wasn’t like that at all. I wanted you so much, but I thought your family was against me…against my father…and I felt helpless. No one would listen when I tried to defend him. Your parents seemed to shut me out…they wanted to stop my father from starting up again. There were so many reasons why our relationship wouldn’t work.’
Her eyes clouded. ‘You went along with them. You blamed my father for what happened to Amy and you even believed that I would try to steal her husband. How could you even think like that?’
‘I didn’t know then what the truth was regarding your father, but I certainly didn’t blame you for any sins that might be his. My parents weren’t sure about his role, but they felt they had to do what was right and above all they had to be loyal to Amy. She was their priority. They were worried to death when they found her in the restaurant yesterday, and they know that they were short with you and offhand. They told me that they’re sorry for that. After they had time to think things through, they realised that they were being unfair.’
Rhys pressed his lips together in a thoughtful manner. ‘Amy and Elliot talked things through earlier today. Apparently, ever since the accident, she felt that she was unattractive, especially because of the limp—which is actually
hardly noticeable. She convinced herself that Elliot didn’t want her any more.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s strange how the mind can delude itself, isn’t it?’
His gaze meshed with hers. ‘None of this was ever your fault. We all know that you did whatever you could to help her. In the end, you were the one who found her, back at the restaurant, and we owe you a debt of gratitude for that.’
Emma tugged at her lower lip with her teeth. ‘I’m glad they managed to see things from my point of view after all. It doesn’t alter the fact that you were cool towards me, though. I was friendly with Elliot, but you treated me as though I was betraying your sister. I could understand Amy feeling that way, because she was depressed and obviously not thinking straight, but how could you do that?’
He gave a ragged sigh. ‘I told myself that Elliot was the problem, but he wasn’t. It was just that I was desperate to be with you, to have you all to myself. More than anything, I needed to hold you and kiss you and show you exactly how I felt about you. Perhaps I grasped at the chance to use Elliot as an excuse…’
He cupped her face with his hand, his thumb stroking the softness of her cheek. ‘It was so hard for me to be around you, feeling the way I do, and to have to keep my distance. I was struggling to stay in control of myself. We had to work together and it was unbelievably difficult for me to act as though we were simply colleagues, when all I wanted to do was to hold you close and show you how much I care.’
Emma lifted a hand to cover his. She snuggled her cheek against his palm, loving the way he was touching her. It made her feel cherished, as though she was the most precious thing in the world to him. ‘Didn’t you know how much I wanted you, too?’
The breath caught in his throat. ‘That makes me feel so good. All I wanted was to show you that I could make you happy if only you would give me the chance. I hoped that you would choose me—no one else just me.’
