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Beth could scarcely hear her over the noise of the rain. She screwed up her face.
“I shouldn’t be calling you, and must ask for your complete confidence. Maryse explained why you wanted to contact me. I was at the roadside with your husband. He spoke to me. I couldn’t understand a lot of what he said, but one thing I definitely did.” She paused. “Allegro.” She whispered and then hung up.
Beth pulled the car over and stared at the phone as the weather continued to batter the car. She tried to call the number but it had been withheld. She was about to put the phone back onto the dash when it rang.
“Beth Jordan?” It was the same voice.
She was talking to a dead woman. A response stalled.
“You’re not the police?”
“No. Sorry, but Maryse told me...why did she tell me you were dead?”
“Officially, I am. And I insist it remains that way or this conversation has to end. Do I have your word?”
“Of course.” But Beth was already sceptical.
“I was sorry to hear about the loss of your husband.”
“Maryse showed you the clip?”
“She didn’t need to. I’ve seen them all. It was how they located me.”
“Who?”
“I moved from Luxembourg to live with my aunt in Touffreville three years ago to escape a bad scene. I got involved with the wrong man. Knew too much about his operation for him to feel secure about us breaking up.”
“Operation?”
“The less you know the better. He was a people trafficker. He sees me as property as well.” Her voice tapered dryly and she seemed to collect herself. “I thought I’d escaped him and took a job, but I didn’t realise I’d end up in a viral clip. I knew my time was running out when it started circulating.”
“You faked suicide?”
“I had to persuade them to stop looking for me for good.”
“How do I know this is really you? Can we meet?”
“Out of the question.” She said flatly. “I’m risking my safety even contacting you.”
“Do you have a camera on your phone?”
There was a pause. “No.”
“Please, if you do, could you just snap a picture of yourself and send it to me.”
“I said I don’t have a camera.”
“I promise to delete it immediately.”
“Please don’t ask that of me again.”
“OK. Can you at least tell me if you’re still a smoker?” Beth recalled the aroma of cigarettes and mint on her breath as she’d stood over her at the roadside.
A beat. “No.” She said suspiciously. “I’ve just given up.”
She’d covered herself with that response. But why would she be trying to deceive Beth, anyway? She tried to think of a specific detail from the crash site, that couldn’t have been gleaned from looking at the clips on the Internet. But Beth’s own recollection was sketchy. “You remember only one word my husband said. Are you sure it was Allegro?”
There was a long pause.
“Are you still there?”
“Yes. That is all I remember. Allegro.”
“Allegro?” The word had no significance for Beth. “And you don’t remember anything else he said?”
Another long pause. “No. Look, this is a personal security risk I could really do without. I hope this has eased your mind. I have to hang up now.” She did.
Beth stared through the water sliding down the windscreen. Allegro. What relevance could the word possibly have to Luc while he lay dying?
She pulled back into the driving rain. A few moments later her phone buzzed. She picked it up and found an image had been sent. It was a close-up of Rae. It was definitely her.
A couple of minutes passed and then the phone rang again. Beth snatched it up and took her foot off the accelerator. “Hello?” Nobody responded, but she could hear someone breathing on the other end. “Rae?” But she got the feeling it wasn’t.
Whoever it was hung up.
