SIXTEEN

Heather

It’s Good Friday evening, and I’m in Spinelli’s, an Italian wine bar in Chiswick. There’s a large glass of cold Sauvignon Blanc on the table in front of me, and Felicity is sitting opposite me. She chose this place because it’s tiny, tucked out of the way down a side street and – crucially, she said when she suggested we meet up – doesn’t have any CCTV cameras, something she’s again somehow checked out ahead of time. In fact, she told me, the entire street is ‘secure’. This obsession with avoiding cameras still seems ludicrously over-the-top to me – OK, so Jack’s home may be full of the things, but somehow I don’t think he has access to the footage from cafés and bars across London. I pointed this out to Felicity when we were arranging this meet-up, then immediately felt bad when she told me that yes, she knew she was being a little ridiculous, but she just couldn’t help it.

‘It’s just what I’m like, Heather. I was a worrier as a kid and I’m still a big worrier now, and it’s got worse with all this stuff about Nathan and Lacey’s lives being threatened. They’re all I’ve got, family-wise, and I just don’t want anything to jeopardise what we’re trying to do here, you know? I’m just so bloody nervous all the time. I know it’s stupid, but it makes me feel so much better if I know we’re not being watched or recorded.’

I apologised and told her I understood, but now and again when I think about it, I get a prickle of unease about this whole Nathan and Felicity situation. What risks are they taking, after all? None, because they’ve somehow managed to persuade me to do all the dirty work, while they stay safe and anonymous. But I’m involved now, and I do get that Felicity’s seriously anxious and scared, so if it makes her feel better to hang out in places where she won’t be filmed, fine.

‘Thanks for coming,’ she says. She’s ordered a gin and tonic, and she picks up her glass and takes a sip, then puts it down again and glances over her shoulder. There’s only one other couple in the bar, a man and a woman over by the window, and they’re holding hands across the table, clearly engrossed in one another. Felicity stares at them for a moment, then turns back to me and smiles. She’s wearing a pink wool coat and her hair is loose for a change. I’ve only ever seen it pulled tightly back, and it’s longer than I assumed it was. It flows past her shoulders and gentle waves frame her fine-boned face.

‘I don’t know how wise it’ll be to meet up in person too often, but it seems so impersonal just talking on the phone and on Zoom, and as Nathan’s out of the country… We’re both so grateful, Heather, for what you’re doing,’ she says earnestly. ‘I just wanted to tell you that again, and buy you a drink, and also, I have some more information for you. Nathan’s tracked down the guy he mentioned, the one he suspects might have worked on the email hacking? But first, are you hungry? It’s not really a restaurant but they do nibbly stuff – bruschetta and crostini, things like that? Gosh, it’s warm in here, isn’t it? I need another gin.’

She wriggles out of the pink coat and drapes it over the back of her chair. She smiles at me again, and I smile back.

‘Great,’ I say. ‘To be honest, I had a big lunch at work. Kwee and Milly shut the shop early because it’s a bank holiday and they got some sandwiches and cakes in to thank us all for working the shift. But nibbles sounds good.’

We spend a couple of minutes perusing the menu and ordering from the pleasant barman, then chat easily while we wait for the food. Despite the way her endless worrying is starting to grate on me, I’ve warmed to her a lot recently; we’ve spoken on the phone numerous times now, and I’ve realised she has a deliciously dry sense of humour, very like mine, and a slightly cynical attitude to life which again I recognise as being similar to my own. She’s single, having come out of a two-year relationship six months ago, and she’s a scientist, currently working in Twickenham as a lab technician for a company called ProPowder Global. It’s a ‘coatings’ company, which apparently means things like paints, lacquers, and sealants. I find this strangely fascinating, and she laughs as I bombard her with questions about what she actually does.

‘It’s not very exciting really,’ she says. ‘It’s just lots of testing and analysis. Checking all the coatings meet environmental standards, doing things like salt spray and humidity testing. I mean, I love it, but I’m a bit of a nerd.’

‘I too am a nerd, so I totally get it,’ I reply. I pick up my glass and clink it against hers.

‘Ahh, but being a book nerd is much more exciting,’ she says. ‘All those glamorous launches and world-famous authors—’

‘Bruschetta for two?’

She’s interrupted by the arrival of our food, and we decide to order another round of drinks to accompany it. As we eat and drink, I forget for a few minutes that I’m actually here to discuss this strange undercover mission I’ve somehow found myself embroiled in. Instead, it’s just like being out for a fun evening with a friend, and I’m enjoying myself.

Once the plates are empty though, Felicity dabs her mouth with her napkin and clears her throat.

‘Right, well, I suppose we should get down to business,’ she says. ‘What’s your plan for the weekend? You said you’re staying two nights? Tomorrow and Sunday? That should give you a decent amount of time on your own?’

‘I hope so,’ I reply. ‘Sunday is Rhona’s day off this week, so hopefully she won’t be lurking around. Her days off vary according to Jack’s work schedule, but her not being there on a Sunday is good. I’m going to try and get hold of his keys when he’s asleep and get into that meat freezer I told you about. Then I’ll carry on searching the house.’

She nods.

‘Great. And you’re getting on with him OK, generally? You don’t get any sense he suspects you have an ulterior motive?’

I shrug.

‘I don’t think so. He’s still a bit… reserved with me. Maybe I’m just hyper aware though, because of the “unfinished business” thing. I can’t help worrying he’s plotting some grim punishment, and then other times, I think maybe not. He did say on our first date that what happened before was all water under the bridge. And we do get on, in a strange way. We both like books, and… um… physically, it’s…’

I can feel myself blushing. I stop talking and take a gulp of wine as Felicity gives me a meaningful look.

‘OK, OK, I don’t need to know. Whatever it takes, eh?’

‘Yes, indeed,’ I say, trying to be business-like again, and to stop thinking about Jack’s naked body. I can’t bear it, sometimes, the mixed emotions that man arouses in me.

‘Oh, and I’m going to email Jack’s PA, Naomie Anderson, too. I forgot to tell you about her. Amber mentioned her. I’m wondering if she might be a potential female accomplice?’ I say.

Felicity nods.

‘Strangely, I was going to mention her too. Nathan told me about her. He’s struggling to come up with any other options at the moment, but he did say she might be worth chatting to.’

‘I think so. Amber says she’s pretty devoted to Jack and she’s about his only female friend. It’s his birthday soon; I thought I might make some excuse about wanting to get him a present but not being sure what to get. I was going to ask if I could pop in for a quick coffee to pick her brains – what do you think? I feel like I need to see her face to face. I thought I’d try asking a few questions and see what her reaction is.’

‘You’ll need to be so careful though.’

Felicity’s face creases into a frown.

‘If Jack finds out you’ve been meeting up with his staff and asking weird questions, that could blow everything.’

‘I know, I know. Don’t stress,’ I say quickly. ‘But I need to get on with this, you know? It’s already getting to me a bit.’

Felicity nods and reaches across the table to rest her slender hand on mine.

‘You are flipping amazing,’ she says. ‘I still can’t believe you’re doing this at all. So fine, do what you have to do. Oh, and before I forget, the hacker thing…’

She whispers the last few words, looking furtively over her shoulder again, then reaches for the bag she’d tucked under the table when we sat down.

‘Not the same as mine tonight, thank goodness. Got any apples in it?’ I say, raising an eyebrow, and she snorts with laughter.

‘Not tonight. Hell, where is it?’

She roots around in the depths of the big leather bag then pulls out a sheet of paper with a triumphant, ‘Aha! Here it is. This guy worked at Shannon Medical on and off, on a freelance basis, while he was a student. His name’s Yiannis. Look.’

She pushes the page across the table to me.

‘He was there in the IT department for a while when Nathan worked there, but apparently he’d also worked for them the previous year, which was the summer Rose and Jack were dating. He’s super bright, Nathan says. A real tech-head. But the thing that struck Nathan as a bit odd, in retrospect, was that twice when he was over at Jack’s for movie nights, Yiannis was around too. This was at a time when he wasn’t actually working at the company, and Nathan particularly remembers one little exchange. Yiannis apparently burst into the lounge yelling something about having cracked it, and then sort of stopped dead when he realised Jack wasn’t alone. Jack hurried him out of the room and muttered something about Yiannis helping him with some computer program that was playing up, but now Nathan’s wondering if it might have been something else. There’d been rumours about the guy having some sort of major family problem while he worked at the company. Maybe he needed extra cash to sort that, whatever it was? Nathan’s trying to find out where he’s working now, and he said he’ll email you. He just thought he might be worth talking to. What do you think?’

I nod, slowly, reading the neatly written details Felicity’s given me.

Yiannis Pappas

Was studying IT at Middlesex University

Lived in Brentford

‘Maybe,’ I say. ‘How to approach him, though? Leave it with me.’

We sit and chat for another hour, and again I find myself relaxing, taking pleasure in the wine and the company and the quiet ambience of the bar. When Felicity and I part just after 10pm, we hug, and I’m smiling as I walk home. The evening is mild, the streets busy with good-natured Friday night drinkers and clubbers. As I close my front door behind me though, I think about tomorrow night, and my return to Barnes and to Jack, and my shoulders stiffen. Moments later, my phone pings and there, already, is the email Felicity promised Nathan would send. Yiannis Pappas is now working in cyber security for a company based in north London.

He’s essentially an ethical hacker, from what I can make out. They basically assess IT systems and databases for vulnerabilities and advise companies on how to make them safe. And, as far as I know, they do that by doing what a malicious hacker would do: they try to gain access to places they shouldn’t in order to expose their weaknesses. Obviously, the companies they’re working for give them permission to do that as part of the process. But if Yiannis has the skills to do that with permission, he also has the know-how to do it without permission. I think he could be our man, I really do!

I can almost hear the excitement bubbling from Nathan’s written words, and my temples begin to throb. That’s two people I need to contact now, and I have so much of Jack’s house yet to search…

Suddenly, it all feels overwhelming. I crawl under my duvet and turn off my bedside light. The darkness of my bedroom envelops me, but a few seconds later I spring up again and reach for the switch.

Too much darkness.

I can’t, not tonight. I leave the light on and fall into an uneasy sleep.