Izzy gasped at the sight of Adam. His eyes were pink-rimmed and dark, his face sickly pale. She only caught a glimpse of him before a group of elderly people appeared on the footpath outside. Izzy lost sight of Adam in the sea of bodies.
She waited for them to pass, but they stopped outside the café. Izzy heard French accents, saw a street map in one lady’s hand. Her eyes darted around. Where was Adam?
Her breakfast churned in her stomach. One of the tourists pushed open the door and came into the café.
Putting Elaine’s diary in her handbag, and flinging the bag over her shoulder, Izzy hurried to the counter.
“Excuse me?”
Izzy’s waitress came over. “Was everything okay? If you’d like dessert, we have fresh—”
“Is there a back exit?” Izzy interrupted.
“No, only the front. Is everything alright?”
“I’ll pay now,” Izzy said quickly.
“Sure.”
The girl tapped a few buttons on a card machine, then held it out. Izzy tapped her card, then hurried to the door. The rest of the tourists were spilling in, looking cheerful and carefree. None of them seemed to notice that they were blocking the way, even as Izzy pushed her way through them, feeling more suffocated with each passing second.
She stepped out onto the street, scanned the area to the left. No sign of Adam. But he couldn’t have gone far. She was turning to the right when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
“Izzy?”
Suddenly Adam was in her face. He held a huge bouquet of roses and was smiling as if nothing was wrong.
Izzy stepped back. “Get away from me.”
“Whoa, take it easy, Izzy. I got you some—”
“No.” She turned and launched herself down the footpath, narrowly avoiding a collision with one of the tourists.
“Izzy? Don’t be silly. What are you doing?”
He wanted to charm her, to get her to go home. There’d be no escape then.
On legs as wobbly as jelly, she ran down the path.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Adam let the roses fall from his hand as he broke into a jog.
Izzy urged herself on. Faster. Dodging pedestrians.
Adam shouted her name.
She glanced back, saw him running at full speed now, arms and legs pumping like crazy, his taut, lean body ready for violence.
Izzy couldn’t outrun him. He was in excellent shape and she was suffering from a chronic illness.
A taxi came up the road. Her only chance to get away. The light on top of the car’s roof was on, showing that the cab was free.
She ran towards it.
Izzy didn’t look back when Adam called her name. Didn’t slow down. She threw herself in front of the car, forcing the driver to slam on the breaks.
She jumped in the back seat.
“You crazy?” the driver said. “You want to get knocked down?”
“Lock the doors.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere. Just lock the damn doors!”
A car horn beeped behind them. Through the front windscreen Izzy saw Adam moving swiftly towards them. He reached for the door handle.
The driver touched a button on the steering wheel. Izzy heard a click as the doors locked, a fraction of a second before Adam tried the handle.
“Hey,” Adam snarled. “Open up or, I swear, you’ll be sorry.”
The driver hit the accelerator. Adam ran after them for a while, but he fell behind as the car sped up.
“You alright, yeah?” the driver said.
“Yeah,” Izzy said, though she felt lightheaded. She took a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself.
I’m okay.
Her first thought was to go straight home, lock the door and never come out again. But she had her appointment at Melanie’s salon. Once she’d calmed down a little, she told the driver the address.
He turned towards the sea, then down Crofton Road, driving parallel to the train tracks, before reaching County Hall. The train station and bus stop were on her left, the Queen Victoria Fountain just past it. The fountain was surrounded by a circular structure consisting of elaborate ironwork arches covered in a dome. It had been built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s visit in 1900.
Izzy thought of Elaine’s stalker standing there, looking across the junction at County Hall. At Elaine’s office window.
The driver continued to the salon and stopped right outside the door.
Izzy got out and stood on the footpath for a moment to compose herself. There was no need for Melanie to see her in her panicked state. A few long breaths helped ease her racing pulse to some extent. She checked her phone.
There were new messages on the WhatsApp book club group.
Dee: Girls, Kate is DEAD!!!!!
Louise: Are you serious?
Melanie: What?!
Tess: Are you kidding me? What happened?
Dee: She was pulled out of the sea this morning.
Louise: Oh my god.
Tess: I don’t ducking believe this spit.
Tess: Stupid autocorrect.