The Hating Game (40 page)

Seventy per cent of people believe their perfect soul mate exists.

In reality, fifteen percent find him or her.

NATE PRAYED THE AMBULANCE
would come soon. He’d finally got a firm hold on Baz but he could only hang on for so long – it was like trying to grip a squirmy ferret.

‘
What the fuck, mate?’ Baz said as he
attempted to twist out of Nate’s grasp again. ‘We have to get this on film or Silver will kill us!’ He lowered his voice. ‘Remember our bonus.’

‘
Fuck Silver!’ Nat
e said. It felt good to finally say that. ‘And fuck this show!’

‘
I’d be careful what you say, Nate.’ Silver’s voice drifted into the clearing. Surprised, Nate relaxed his
hold on Baz who scurried over towards the approaching production boss.

‘
You got it all, right?’ she said to Baz. ‘You got it all on camera?’

Baz nodded. ‘Most of it. Before Nate grabbed me.’

‘
Well, well.
’ Silver looked up at the platform where Adam was lying curled on his side, then over to Mattie and Kyle. ‘On behalf of SiniStar Productions and X-ACT TV, I’d like to thank you all for participating in the show. With today’s unfortunate incident, I’m afraid we’ll have to end here. But we will arrange for your free transport back to London and a certificate of participation.’ She flashed a big grin around the clearing.

‘
Cut the crap, Silver,’ Nate said, unable to keep his thoughts to himself. He couldn’t believe Silver would spew such lies to people she’d manipulated and drugged – all for ratings. ‘You
made
this happen. It might not have gone according to your original plan, but you got what you wanted out of Adam, didn’t you?’

Silver
shot him a look. ‘If I were you, I’d stop talking, Nate.
Right now.
Remember, you signed a non-disclosure agreement. I’ll sue if you reveal anything else, you can bet on that.’

Nate shrugged. He was beyond caring now. ‘So if I’ve already broken the NDA, who cares? I might as well keep talking.’ He turned to Mattie. ‘There was never going to be any prize money, you know. They were trying to push you out before you could get to the end. Baz even tampered with your harness.’

Mattie still didn’t look convinced.

‘
If you don’t believe me, check your harness.’ He held up a hand as Mattie started protesting. ‘Yours might be fine. But have a look at Kyle’s.’

Mattie ran her hands over Kyle’s harness,
noticing the neat cut in the nylon loop attaching his harness to a metal clip. She looked up at Nate. ‘Oh my God. You were telling the truth!’

Nate nodded. ‘Yeah. I can kind of understand why you wouldn’t believe me, though.’

‘
No one will believe you, Nate,’ Silver said, striding over to where he was standing. ‘I’ll just say you were a disgruntled employee trying to get back at the company for firing you. In fact,
you
were the one who fiddled with those harnesses. The rest of the production crew knew nothing about it.’

The woods rustled, and
someone stumbled out from the thick branches. A woman, dark and attractive, was brushing off her tightly fitting jeans and dark blazer in disgust, making tutting noises as if the forest was at fault for the dishevelment.

Nate squinted.
Who was that? Not a member of the crew. He’d definitely never seen her before.

The woman
raised a mobile phone high in the air. ‘They might not believe him,’ she said. ‘But they’ll sure as hell believe me. I’ve got the whole thing right here, on video.’

‘
Deniz?’ Baz said, staring a
t her. ‘How did you know we were here?’

Deniz
snorted. ‘You told me, you idiot. Remember? Right after you cried because you couldn’t get it up?’ She shook her head.

‘
Who the hell are you?’ Silver asked, shooting Baz a furious look. He took a step away from her.

‘
I’m a reporter from the
Daily News
,’ Deniz said, chomping on her gum. ‘And I can’t wait to break this story!’

Nate looked over at Si
lver, delighted to see fear mixed with anger flash across her face. Finally, the sausage bitch was caught in a web of her own making.

‘
Baz,
get that phone from her!’ Silver commanded.

Baz shuffled his feet
and looked over at Deniz. ‘Um, I’m not sure . . .’

‘
Now!’ Silver shrieked.

Deniz starting backing away into the woods as Baz advanced on her. Just as the slick producer reached her side, arms outstretched, a loud rumbling noise filled the air and the ground started shaking.

‘
What the hell?’ Nate said as the noise got louder.

*

‘
Can’t this go any faster?’ Jess said to Gordie as they powered up the path towards a clearing in the woods. It felt like they’d been on the tractor for hours, and she didn’t even know if they were heading in the right direction.

They’d got to the holiday park only
to find it deserted. No sign of life anywhere; just row upon row of identical-looking caravans. With no clue where to go, Gordie had done a loop around the compound. Then Jess spotted Deniz’s car, parked off the side of the road, at the start of a narrow dirt track. Gordie had swung the tractor around fast.

‘
Oh my God!’ Jess said as the clearing came into view. She brought her hand to her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing. Mattie was kneeling over Kyle, who was stretched out on the ground, motionless. Adam was curled up on a tree-top platform, two men keeping watch. Deniz and a bloke with spiky hair were squaring off like they were about to start wrestling.

Gordie cut the engine.
Jess jumped off the tractor and ran over to Mattie.

‘
Is he okay
?’ she said. Kyle’s face was pale and a massive gash on his cheek oozed thick blood.

‘
I hope so. Adam pushed him off the platform.’ Mattie sounded more scared than Jess had ever heard her, but she managed to lean over to give Jess a quick hug.

‘
Thank God you’re here!’ Mattie
said, as Jess tried to hide her surprise at the unexpected show of affection.

To the
right of the clearing, Deniz edged away from Baz and backed up against the tractor. Baz faced the group, scanning the clearing. ‘Where’s Silver?’

Jess shook her head. ‘Silver? Who’s that?’

‘
You’re on your own now, Baz,’ a chunky man with large specs called. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to fill everyone in on what you’ve done.’

‘
And I got the video – with sound!’ Deniz crowed, holding up the phone again.

Baz
looked around the clearing like a hunted animal hiding out in a gun factory. ‘Good luck waiting for that ambulance,’ he spat. ‘I never called one, you know.’ Then he turned and ran away from them down the track.

Jess’
s mouth dropped open. How could someone play around with people’s lives like that? She looked down at Kyle. If possible, his face was even paler than before.

‘
We need to get that lad to the hospital,’ Gordie said from the tractor, nodding towards Kyle. ‘If we call an ambulance now, it’ll probably take longer than if we just head there on the tractor, given the state of that track.’ He looked up at the two men on the platform and over at the chunky man. ‘Come on. Help me get him on here.’

The
two men made their way down the platform, each gripping onto a glassy-eyed Adam. Jess swallowed hard.

‘
Will he be all right
?’ she asked. Adam’s eyes stared blankly ahead and tears made tracks through the smudge of dirt on his cheeks. He didn’t even remotely resemble the man she’d known. It was like the old Adam had totally disappeared. So sad.

The chunky m
an with the specs let out a big sigh. ’I hope so.’

Jess
shook her head as they manoeuvred Adam into a sitting position against a tree, then attended to Kyle. Adam had still managed to hurt Kyle, but at least she’d done as much possible to stop it. This time, Jess hadn’t sat back and let someone else take the lead.

*

Mattie squeezed Kyle’s h
and as they loaded him carefully into the cab of the tractor. His eyes were closed but the up and down movement of his chest let her know he was still breathing, at least.

‘
He’ll be fine,’ Gordie said, patting her hand. ‘I’ll get him there as fast as I can.’

‘
Thanks, Gordie,’ Mattie said, unable to t
ake her eyes off Kyle’s ashen face. Gordie slammed the tractor doors closed and rumbled down the path, the noise gradually subsiding. Finally all they could hear was the sound of the wind in the tree-tops overhead and the occasional birdsong.

Mattie sa
nk back down to the ground, trying to take it all in. Adam’s hand shooting out. Kyle falling hard to the ground.

And then . . .
there was never going to be any prize money. She’d sacrificed her dignity, her privacy – for
nothing
. But even if there had been money, her business and her ambition weren’t enough to keep her happy. She wanted Kyle.

It wasn’t too late, was it?
Kyle would be fine; he had to be. And he’d want to be with her again – she hoped. The alternative was unthinkable.

Mattie
got to her feet. She wasn’t going to give up this time; not until Kyle rejected her outright. He’d have to push her away to get rid of her!

She turned to Jess. ‘Come to the hospital with me?’
It was so good to see Jess. Mattie hadn’t realised how much she’d missed her. There were a million questions that needed to be answered – like how on Earth Jess had turned up here – but right now, all Mattie could do was focus on Kyle.

Jess nodded and put an arm around Mattie’s shoulder. ‘Of course.’ She looked around the clearing. ‘But how are we going to get there? Wherever there is.’

Mattie
glanced over to where Nate and Ram were sitting beside Adam. ‘Have you called an ambulance for him?’ She nodded towards Adam, who was staring blankly into space. He needed more than an ambulance. The memory of him pushing Kyle made her shiver.

Nate nodded. ‘I’ve just rung one. It’s on its way. About forty minutes or so, they said.’ He lowered his voice. ‘And I called the police, too. They’ll meet us at the hospital, to file a report on Adam’s actions.’

Mattie nodded and took a deep breath.
Forty minutes. Forty minutes to find out if Kyle was all right. And forty minutes to the continuation of the biggest – and most important – fight of her life.

CHAPTER T
HIRTY

One in ten of all broken relationships
reunite;

one in five of these end
s within two months.

MATTIE STRODE THROUGH THE CORRIDORS
of St Mary’s Hospital, Jess following in her wake. Every step made her more determined to convince Kyle to give their relationship another try.

‘
I’m here to see Kyle Cook,’ Mattie announced to the nurse behind the reception desk.

The nurse
didn’t lift her double chin from the
Heat
magazine she was reading. ‘Sorry, visiting hours are over for the day.’

‘
Right.’ Mattie backed away.

‘
You’re not going to give up that easily?’ Jess asked, looking incredulous.

Mattie shook her head. ‘No way. Wait here,’ she said in a low voice. She walked a few paces then raced down the corridor in what she hoped was the right direction. No silly nurse would stop her! Heart thumping, she glanced back to see if anyone was following. The corridor was empty.

Her heart sank as she passed
a million identical doors with miniscule windows. How was she ever going to find him here? Feeling like a peeping Tom, she peered through one glass slot, getting an eyeful of an ancient man having a sponge bath. Jerking away, Mattie glanced through another small window, then another, resolve flooding through her. She’d happily encounter a whole colony of wizened sponge-bathing men if it meant finding Kyle!

Finally she spotted
him through the narrow window. Tucked under a white hospital sheet, his face was drained of colour and his eyes were closed. Slowly, Mattie opened the door to the room and tiptoed over to the cracked plastic chair beside the bed.

Reaching over, s
he took his hand, holding her breath as his eyes slowly opened. Her heart beat faster as he blinked, focusing in on her. She tightened her grip, afraid to let go.

‘
Hey,’ she whispered.

‘
Hey.’ His voice was hoarse and scratchy. ‘What are you doing here? Thought you hated me.’

She
shrugged, moving her eyes away and staring down at the sheet. ‘How are you feeling?’