The Pact: A dark and compulsive thriller about secrets, privilege and revenge

by S J Bolton

  Whereas a strong wind would blow Megan over. ‘Who then?’ he asked. ‘Seems a bit of a coincidence.’

  ‘Oh, I’m not saying it’s coincidence. I’m saying I don’t think it was Megan.’

  ‘Who then?’ Dan repeated.

  For a moment, the line was silent, then, ‘This is between us, right?’

  ‘Of course.’

  Another pause, then Talitha said, ‘I think it was Xav.’

  44

  Work was impossible. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to chair a meeting again, never mind stand in front of twenty sixth-formers, some of whom spoke Greek and Latin better than he did. Daniel cleared his diary for the afternoon and jumped on his bike again to ride to Xav’s. He was damp with sweat by the time he arrived, and his heart was doing something weird. Not racing exactly, although the short ride had exhausted him, but almost dancing in his chest. It would beat hard and fast, then appear to stop, before flopping about lazily like a fish on a beach. He’d have to get it checked out if this crisis was ever over.

  As he waited for someone to answer the bell – he’d already spotted Xav’s BMW up the road – he wondered if having a heart condition would make him ineligible to be an organ donor. Christ, that he’d got to the stage where having a weak heart would be good news. He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face; it sprang back almost immediately.

  The door was opened by Ella, Xav’s wife. Daniel could never see anything particularly attractive in Ella when he met her in the flesh: her angular cheekbones, eyes so large they were almost cartoonish and her androgynous hairstyle lacked all appeal for him. As for her body, if she wore revealing clothes, he almost felt as though he were back in anatomy lessons. The photographs though, in magazines and online, were stunning.

  That day, her hair showed a centimetre of dark roots and he could see two pimples on her chin. She wore a loose, long-sleeved shirt and black leggings, showing off legs and a bottom that could belong to a nine-year-old girl.

  ‘Sorry to arrive unannounced. Is Xav in?’

  Ella liked him, he knew. Most women did. Talitha had told him once it was because they thought he was gay.

  ‘He’s not himself,’ Ella said, as she led the way into the house. ‘He insists he’s not ill, but he’s never missed work before. Can I get you a coffee?’

  Coffee was the last thing Daniel needed, but he sensed Ella wanted to talk.

  ‘Has he had bad news?’ He kept his voice low; Xav was in the house somewhere.

  ‘Not that he’s told me. But he’s spending ages on the phone. He’s getting calls from all sorts of people, his solicitor, his financial adviser, but he won’t tell me what’s going on. I think he’s moving money around. And look . . .’

  Agile as a monkey, she climbed onto the worktop. Reaching up to the top shelf, she pulled down a jar and held it out to reveal rolls of cash.

  ‘There’s nearly a thousand quid in here.’ As she spoke, she kept darting nervous glances towards the stairs. ‘I think he’s in financial trouble and he’s afraid to tell me. Dan, what if he’s been sacked?’

  Dan was sweating again. ‘OK, where is he? I’ll see what I can find out.’

  ‘He won’t tell me a thing; I’ve given up asking him because I’m just stressing him out more. And there’s another thing. He’s cleared out the freezer.’

  He turned back in the doorway. ‘He’s done what?’

  ‘All the meat, chicken, fish; all the stuff he eats and I don’t. I found it all in the outside bin. It’s like he’s planning to leave me.’

  Tears were running down Ella’s face by this stage. Daniel reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. It was the closest to a hug he felt comfortable with.

  ‘Xav adores you,’ he said truthfully. ‘I’m sure you’re wrong,’ he lied. ‘Let me go and have a word.’

  Ella watched, anxiously, as Daniel climbed the stairs. Xav met him on the landing. ‘What’s up?’ he said.

  Xav looked like shit, as though he hadn’t shaved in days, and his T-shirt had stains on the front and beneath the armpits. He wore jogging bottoms that were baggy at the knee and his feet were bare.

  ‘A question more properly directed at you, I’d say.’ Daniel followed the other man into a small sitting room. The snug, Ella called it, where she curled up to drink mint tea and watch soap operas.

  ‘Felt lousy all weekend. Couldn’t be arsed going in.’ Xav dropped into an armchair. Daniel caught a whiff of unwashed male body that reminded him of the sixth-form boys’ changing rooms.

  ‘Ella’s in a real state about you,’ he said. ‘What’s going on, mate?’

  ‘Never hurts to put your affairs in order.’ Xav’s eyes were flat and cold, but at least he didn’t pretend he didn’t know what Dan was talking about. ‘So, what do you want, Dan? Tal send you on another errand?’

  With a growing sense of unease, Daniel too sat down. ‘It’s about our mutual friend,’ he said.

  ‘What else? Well, we can’t talk about it here. My wife listens at doors.’

  Dan had never heard Xav criticise Ella before. He got up again and walked to the top of the stairs. A moment later, he returned. ‘She’s on the phone in the kitchen,’ he told Xav, who’d let his head fall back and his eyes close. ‘Megan has gone. Do you know where she is?’

  Those deep blue eyes flicked open. ‘Gone where?’

  It was possible, thought Daniel, that Xav was drunk. He couldn’t smell alcohol, stale or otherwise, but this slob wasn’t the Xav he knew.

  Daniel said, ‘I don’t know, that’s why I asked. She booked a week’s leave without telling Felix, and she’s gone. I thought she might have said something to you, seeing how the two of you are to be married.’

  For a second Dan thought he’d gone too far, then Xav got up and left the room, brushing clumsily against the doorframe on his way out. He came back a few seconds later, his wallet in one hand, a business card in the other.

  Dan took the card. ‘Travelodge,’ he read. ‘The one on the Abingdon Road. When did she move in there?’

  ‘Haven’t a clue,’ Xav replied. ‘She put that through the door on Saturday. I was bloody lucky Ella didn’t open it.’

  ‘So, she’s still there?’

  Xav’s eyes fell. ‘How should I know?’

  ‘I think we should go round. Can you drive?’

  Xav looked up. ‘And what? What would we say to her? She has a right to take time off work.’

  He had to tell him. There was no way around it. ‘Mate, there’s something else,’ he said. ‘If you don’t know already.’

  Xav’s eyes narrowed. ‘What?’ he said.

  ‘Something happened to Megan’s dad,’ Dan told him, thinking, Watch him closely now, watch for the flicker of the eyes.

  ‘What?’ Xav said again.

  ‘He was attacked in the early hours. Beaten up quite badly.’

  Eye contact remained steady. ‘Where? In Oxford?’

  ‘In his caravan. Someone broke in.’

  Xav’s face registered puzzlement, then shock. ‘Shit.’

  ‘Exactly.’ Daniel could see nothing, nothing at all, to suggest that Xav wasn’t as surprised as he’d been. ‘It’s been on the local news all morning,’ he said. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard.’

  Xav had become very still; he hardly seemed to be blinking any more.

  ‘I don’t listen to it much myself,’ Daniel admitted. ‘Talitha told me.’

  Xav dropped his head into his hands. When he spoke, his voice was muffled. ‘That reckless, irresponsible cow. How the fuck did she get it organised so fast?’

  OK, this wasn’t following the script.

  ‘You think Tal did it?’ Dan tried. ‘Had someone do it, I mean?’

  Xav’s head snapped up to face him; his hands had clenched into fists. ‘Of course, she f
ucking well did. She’s ruthless.’

  ‘I don’t know—’ Daniel began.

  ‘She had Megan attacked in prison, for God’s sake, she conspired to keep her in there for twice her sentence. She’s an evil cunt, Dan, and she’ll throw us all under the bus if she needs to.’

  ‘She thinks you did it.’

  Xav’s face screwed up in disbelief.

  Daniel braced himself. ‘That’s what she said, she thinks you did it. She thinks it was your knight-in-shining-armour party piece.’

  Xav sneered at him. ‘She’s talking bollocks.’

  Fair play, he was convincing.

  Xav breaking into the salvage yard and beating Megan’s dad to a pulp? Dan had never suspected Xav of having a violent streak. Felix, well, that was different, you watched yourself when Felix had had a few drinks, even when they’d been teenagers, but not Xav.

  ‘Why?’ Daniel said. ‘Why would Tal do it? We’d agreed to slow everything down, to stall Megan, make a counteroffer.’

  ‘Yeah, while I was in the room. Who knows what you agreed after I left. Maybe you decided Megan’s dad should be roughed up a bit so you could tell Megan it was a down payment on what was to come later.’

  Daniel blew out a heavy sigh. Xav was a good liar; on the other hand, so was Tal. He honestly had no clue. Worse than that, the solidarity of the group, that he’d have bet everything he owned on a matter of days ago, was falling apart.

  And without the group, what did he have? Nothing.

  ‘It’d be good to know for certain where Megan is,’ he said at last. ‘Even if we don’t talk to her. And if we do, we can tell her about her dad.’

  ‘I’ll get some shoes on.’ Xav got to his feet, as though making a huge effort, and made for the door.

  ‘Mate,’ Daniel called. ‘Have a shower.’

  It took a little over thirty minutes to drive to the Travelodge on Abingdon Road, and Daniel spent most of the time trying to decide who he believed was behind the attack on Megan’s dad, and what Xav was really up to.

  He’d felt no surprise when, after both Megan and Xav had left the pool house on Friday night, the others had confided a suspected attachment between the two of them.

  ‘He always liked Megan,’ Amber had said. ‘I could tell. And she obviously feels the same about him.’

  Xav had known where Megan was staying – were the two of them colluding now? Was Xav planning to leave Ella and run away with Megan?

  The car park outside the Travelodge was about a quarter full.

  ‘Megan’s car.’ Daniel pointed over to a small blue hatchback. ‘She’s here. What are we going to say?’ he asked, as he and Xav walked towards reception.

  ‘Good question,’ Xav replied. ‘Can’t say anything springs to mind.’

  Watching Xav pull open the door to the Travelodge, Daniel realised he’d made a big mistake. Xav wasn’t thinking rationally any more. The two of them had no plan and things, already bad enough, might be about to get a whole lot worse.

  The woman behind reception looked up and smiled.

  ‘We’ve come to see a guest of yours,’ Xav announced. ‘Megan Macdonald. Would you mind calling her room?’

  Cleaned up a bit, Xav was back to his normal handsome self and the receptionist’s smile widened.

  ‘Of course, sir. Bear with me.’

  The receptionist picked up the phone. ‘Who shall I say is calling?’ she asked after several seconds.

  ‘Xav.’ Another exchange of smiles. Daniel took himself away to wait by the window. This was a big mistake. He picked up his phone; he had to call Tal, even Felix. This wasn’t something he could deal with alone.

  ‘I’m not getting any response,’ the receptionist said. ‘Do you have a mobile you can try?’

  Xav turned to Daniel. ‘Do we have a mobile we can try?’

  Of course, they had Megan’s mobile number. Xav wasn’t asking him that, he was asking whether they should dial it. No, they bloody well shouldn’t; as far as Dan was concerned, coming here had been stupid, maybe even dangerous.

  Without waiting for him to reply, Xav made up his mind, pulled out his own phone and dialled a number, presumably Megan’s. He held it up so Daniel could hear the ringing tone. It went to voicemail.

  The receptionist had put the phone down. ‘Would you like to leave a message?’ she said.

  ‘Her car’s in the car park,’ Xav said. ‘The blue Nissan. I’m a bit worried she’s not answering. Can you send someone to her room?’

  ‘I don’t have anyone to send, but I can ask the cleaners when they finish. They’ll have noticed any problem.’

  It was the best they could do. Xav thanked the girl and the two of them left the building. As Xav walked back to his own car, Daniel strode ahead to where Megan’s was parked. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for or planning. Maybe leave a note tucked behind the windscreen wiper?

  The small blue Nissan was entirely unremarkable: clean, completely tidy on the inside, no hint of the woman who drove it. Daniel peered in, shielding his eyes from the sun to see into the dark interior, then looked back up at the Travelodge. He had no idea which was Megan’s room, but he felt her eyes watching him. She was here, not at the hospital, not helping police with their enquiries, but here, yards away. He scanned the windows, looking for a pair of eyes.

  Xav called over, ‘Do you want a lift back to school?’

  Xav looked ready to leave and it was a long walk back. Daniel joined him and they pulled out of the car park and onto the Abingdon Road. Xav drove as though on autopilot, his jaw clenched, saying nothing.

  ‘What now?’ Dan asked after the silence was making him uncomfortable. ‘Do we contact the hospital, find out how he is?’

  Xav kept his eyes on the road. ‘Do you give a shit?’

  Daniel thought about it. ‘Not really.’ Gary Macdonald’s state of health felt like the least of his worries.

  They pulled up at the school gates. Xav sat silently, without even looking his way, waiting for him to leave the car.

  ‘Xav,’ Daniel said. ‘What are you going to do?’

  His friend didn’t look at him. ‘What I have to. I suggest you do the same.’

  45

  ‘Amber? Amber, is it you? I have to say . . . I mean . . . some very disappointing news in my inbox this evening.’

  The distinctive voice boomed out from the car’s speaker as Amber sped down the A34.

  ‘I’m sad about it too,’ she said, ‘but I think it’s for the best.’

  ‘But, but, I mean, you were managing so well. You’re the – what’s the word – the pin-up girl for working mums on the green benches.’

  ‘You know that’s disgustingly sexist, don’t you?’

  It was nice to hear, all the same. She’d taken pride in being exactly that.

  ‘Oh, blast it, I’m upset. I don’t mind telling you, I mean to say, I’d never have normally made this public – and it’s not to become public, not in a million years – but we had our eye on you for a top job at the next reshuffle.’

  She’d known that, of course; half of Westminster had known that. She’d wanted education, would have settled for environment.

  ‘I’m grateful. But the truth is, I may be experiencing some problems in the next few weeks. Personal ones. And I really don’t want to embarrass the government. Better if I stand down now.’

  The pause lasted three seconds. ‘I see. Well, in that case . . . Umm, maybe you’re right. I trust your judgement, Amber. Good luck. And thank you for all you’ve done.’

  ‘It’s been an honour, Prime Minister.’

  The call ended, and so did her career. Even if she kept her seat, she’d never have the nerve to clamber over the green benches towards ministerial positions again. Amber felt a sob forming at the back of her throat. Two things she’d wanted, since s
he’d been sixteen years old: to become prime minister, and to marry Xav. And Megan had stolen both from her.

  Turning off the A34, she drove the short distance along the Godstow Road to reach the Trout Inn as Talitha was climbing out of her own car. The car park was already filling up and the gardens of the pub on the river were full of people enjoying the evening sunshine.

  Talitha joined Amber without offering a greeting, not even breaking a smile. Sometime in the last few weeks, they’d ceased to be friends.

  ‘I said we’d meet at the abbey.’ Talitha walked ahead towards the bridge and Port Meadow.

  No; she’d stopped being friends with Talitha a long time ago.

  Amber followed, keeping her head turned away from the crowds on the pub deck; this hadn’t been the wisest place to meet on a warm evening. She crossed the weir, its churning waters sparkling silver in the sunshine, and then the navigable part of the river. Boats were moored on the banks and the smell of barbecues filled the air. She could hear the squeals of children in the distance. Port Meadow sucked in the families of Oxford like a magnet.

  On the opposite bank, the two women – Talitha had let Amber catch up – dropped down onto the towpath. From there, a short walk across ancient grazing land took them to the ruins of Godstow Abbey.

  Dating back to the twelfth century, once the home of Henry II’s mistress, Rosamond Clifford, the abbey had crumbled to little more than a surrounding stone wall and the shell of a chapel. The women walked to where once the entrance gates would have stood. Felix’s height and fair hair made him easy to spot by the old chapel, but there was no sign of either Xav or Daniel.

  ‘Shit,’ Talitha muttered, but when Amber looked a question at her, she shook her head.

  ‘There’s Xav.’ Felix was looking over their shoulders as they reached him.

  A hundred yards behind them Xav was a mess: unshaven, wearing clothes that needed washing.

  ‘I thought you might bring Dan,’ Felix said when Xav was close enough.

  Xav shook his head. ‘Can’t get hold of him.’