The One You Trust (18 page)

All through the journey he questioned his actions and, at one point, nearly turned back. But he held his nerve, and eventually arrived at Brownstone Academy, the former comprehensive school where Sally worked.

He knew from the school website that the lunchtime break ended in half an hour, so it would give him plenty of time to talk to Sally before her classes resumed. He had no idea what he was going to say, or whether it would make any difference, but he didn’t want their relationship to end on a phone call. Even if the outcome didn’t change, to say goodbye in person would feel so much better.
At least, I hope it does
.

Will made his way through the entrance gate and headed for reception. ‘Hello. I’m looking for Sally Thompson. I need to speak to her, quite urgently.’ He didn’t know what the protocol was for allowing visitors, but the receptionist, a lady in her late sixties with a kindly face and glasses perched on the end of her nose, nodded without question and picked up a phone. ‘And your name is—?’

‘Will. Will Holden.’

She spoke to someone on the other end of the line. ‘Sally is out on the training pitch at the moment, with the girls’ hockey team. But her colleague said she’ll be finished in the next ten minutes. You’re welcome to wait in the sports centre office.’

The directions were easy to follow, and within a couple of minutes he reached the sports centre. Dodging his way across a crowded playground, he’d noticed some glances from pupils, distracted from their play by his presence – possibly wondering whether he was a new member of staff.

Will had once flirted with the idea of a career in teaching, maybe in business studies or English, but had been put off by his aunt, who had retired from the profession and warned him to steer clear: ‘If you want a lifetime of stress, by all means go for it. But otherwise, I’d go for a nice office job,’ she had said.

But the office job he had was dull and undemanding. Teaching would have been difficult, but it might have challenged and improved him as a person. There were days, especially recently, when he wondered why he had been swayed by the opinion of one, world-weary person.

Will looked out across the training pitch. He could see Sally in the middle of the girls, as they twisted and turned, hacking and lunging at the ball. She was in a dark tracksuit, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He could see a whistle bouncing around her neck. She looked really good.

Instead of waiting inside the sports centre, he decided to stay where he was and watch the rest of the game. In fact, they finished after only five minutes or so, and the girls trooped off to get changed while Sally hung back with a couple of the players, chatting, as they left the playing area. She was still talking to them when she spotted Will.

Her reaction was immediate. She let the two girls go and jogged towards him; she didn’t look happy. ‘Will, what are you doing here?’

Will reddened. ‘I . . . I wanted to come and see you.’ He knew it sounded pathetic, but it was the truth.

‘But I’m at work, Will. Couldn’t this have waited?’

Will hung his head, his previous conviction of certainty disintegrating in the face of her disapproval. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry, I’ll just go.’ He turned, reluctantly, and started to head back the way he’d come, across the now deserted playground.

‘Wait!’ Sally called. ‘Come back.’

Will turned around, and Sally closed the gap between them. ‘It’s my fault,’ she said, her face softening. ‘I called you from work, so I shouldn’t be angry about you coming here now.’

‘It’s okay,’ Will said. ‘I can go, really. You don’t want to be discussing your private life in school.’

‘There’s a place we can go,’ she said. ‘We’ve got an office in the sports centre. There won’t be anyone there at the moment.’ She turned and he followed her.

The office was indeed empty. It was a small space, with just enough room for a desk, two chairs and a filing cabinet. Shelves high up on the wall were full to bursting with ring binders, and the atmosphere was dusty. ‘This isn’t your staff room, is it?’

‘God, no. We’ve got a bigger room down the corridor. This place is reserved for one-to-one meetings between staff. Although it’s not the most welcoming of places, as you can see.’

Sally offered Will a seat, but he declined. He didn’t want to have this conversation sitting down and, anyway, he wasn’t sure it was going to last that long.

‘So,’ Sally said, remaining standing herself. ‘What did you come here for, Will?’

‘I wanted to know why you don’t want to see me again.’

Sally shrugged. ‘I don’t know what I can add from what I said on the phone. I just think it’s for the best, Will. I’m really sorry.’

‘But that’s not what you said before, on the London Eye. You agreed that we could be friends.’

‘I know, but I’ve changed my mind. There’s too much history’ – she shrugged with exasperation – ‘too much has happened between us. I thought we could get past it, but now I don’t think we can. It would be too difficult to make it work.’

Will shook his head. ‘There must be a reason why you’ve changed your mind.’

Sally’s silence provided Will with his answer.

‘So what is it?’ he pressed.

It was Sally’s turn to shake her head.

‘Please, tell me. And then I’ll go, and you’ll never have to see me again, if that’s what you want.’

‘Just leave it, Will.’

But Will was in no mood to back down. He didn’t want to leave the stuffy office with questions unanswered, even if he wasn’t going to like the answer. ‘Tell me, please.’

Sally placed her hands on the desk, staring down at them. Then, raising her head slowly, she fixed her stare on Will. ‘Okay. If you really want to know, I’ll tell you.’

Now that she had relented, Will almost regretted pushing her into telling the truth. Maybe he should have just left it and remained ignorant, rather than face the painful facts.

‘You might like me, Will. Or even love me. But I don’t think you trust me.’

‘I do trust you. I said I did, and I mean it.’

‘But I planned to kill you.’

‘I know, but you didn’t do it!’ Will almost laughed. ‘We’ve been through all of this, haven’t we? We’ve discussed it. I thought it was all sorted out. It doesn’t make sense, what you’re saying.’

Sally hesitated for a couple of seconds. ‘Your father came to see me last night.’

‘What? My dad came to see you? Why?’

‘I thought you’d know,’ she said, blinking. ‘After all, you gave him my address.’

‘I didn’t!’ Will was perplexed. ‘I swear I didn’t.’

‘Well, he said that you did.’

‘Then he’s lying. He didn’t ask me for your address, and I didn’t give it to him.’

‘Well, he must have got it from someone,’ Sally replied.

Will sought an explanation. Nothing came to mind, apart from the unpalatable possibility that his father had been through his address book. But when?
Could he have used the spare key to get into my flat while I was out?
It was certainly plausible. ‘Why did he come to see you?’

‘He wanted to warn me off from blackmailing you.’

Will felt nauseous. He didn’t know what to say. Would his father ever learn to stop trying to control everything about their lives? He hadn’t changed at all.

‘Well, don’t you want to ask me yourself?’ Sally said, remaining calm, her arms now crossed. ‘Don’t you want to ask me whether I’m a blackmailer?’

Will kept quiet, still struggling for a reply.

‘You
do
think that, don’t you? You think that I’m blackmailing you.’ She shook her head. ‘You see, Will, you
don’t
trust me. And, to be honest, if I were you, I would probably think the same. That’s why we can’t be friends.’

‘We did think it might be you,’ he admitted.

‘We?’

‘Yes, Emma and the others.’

Sally seemed to find that amusing. ‘You see, Will, even if you did trust me, your friends and family never will.’

‘That doesn’t matter.’

‘It does matter. I don’t want you to have to choose between me and them. It just wouldn’t be fair.’

Will put his arms up and gripped the back of his neck. ‘Did he tell you what I’m being blackmailed about?’

‘No.’

Well, at least that was something. The way his father was behaving, throwing wild accusations around, he risked letting the truth out in the most damaging way.

‘And I don’t want to know,’ Sally continued. ‘Unless you want to tell me. But whether you tell me or not, it sounds like you should go to the police, rather than let your family and friends try to sort things out.’

Now Will did sit down. ‘I can’t go to the police.’ He looked up. ‘That’s the whole problem. Years ago I did something terrible. It wasn’t planned, and I’ve regretted it ever since. But if the police find out, then I will go to jail, I’m sure I will.’

Sally sat down too. ‘You don’t have to tell me, Will, really.’

Will took a few deep breaths, cupping his hands over his face.
Am I really going to tell her the truth?
He remembered how the woman on the plane coming back from Canada had reacted, those few months ago, when he had bared his soul. She had been repulsed, her desperation to move seats underlining the strength of her reaction. To that woman Will was a murderer, with blood on his hands. And not just that, but a danger from whom she had to escape.
What’s to say that Sally won’t react in the same way?

But, despite his misgivings, the words were already making their way out: ‘I helped Stuart to dispose of a body.’

The statement hung in the air like a spectre.

Sally’s face twisted in disbelief. ‘
What?
’

It was too late to go back now. Will closed his eyes and continued along the path rolling out before him. ‘I helped Stuart to dispose of Stephen Myers’ body, after he killed him.’

‘You’re lying,’ Sally said, shaking her head numbly. ‘You’re a liar. Stuart wouldn’t have done something like that.’

‘I’m really sorry,’ Will said, ‘but I’m telling you the truth.’

Sally was still shaking her head. ‘I think you’d better leave now, don’t you?’

‘I wanted to tell you the truth,’ Will said. ‘I didn’t want to upset you.’

Her face was contorted in anguish. ‘Didn’t want to
upset
me?’ she spat, her voice rising. ‘You’ve just told me that my fiancé was a murderer, and you
didn’t
want to upset me?’

‘I’d better go.’ He made to stand.

‘Why are you doing this, Will? Do you think that by saying these things, it will make me run into your arms and forget about Stuart?’ She was crying now. ‘Or are you just trying to get revenge, by destroying the good memories I have left of my time with Stuart?’

‘I’m so sorry.’ Will reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

‘Get off me!’

Too late, Will remembered what Sally had said about her vulnerability after Stuart’s death, and how she had wanted to take her own life. His actions had now surely put her at risk once again. He should never have said anything. ‘I’m really sorry.’

Her head was now on the desk, her voice muffled. ‘Just go, please. Leave me alone.’

Will didn’t want to leave her like this. He would never forgive himself if she did something terrible as a result of what he had said. ‘You shouldn’t be on your own.’

‘Just go!’ she shouted.

Will nodded and reluctantly rose from his chair. But before he could turn to the door, there was a knock on it from outside.

‘Sally, are you okay in there?’ A man’s voice. And he was coming in.

Chapter 27

Lizzy emerged from the meeting with the producer, along with her fellow cast members and the crew. The news had been important, unexpected and disappointing. It had been announced that the show, although still drawing in the crowds and receiving critical acclaim, would not continue beyond May of next year.

Although no one had expected the sixties musical,
Like We Did Last Summer
, to last forever, there had been high hopes that this one might last longer than some: making it past the first few weeks had been an immense achievement, as bigger and much most costly shows had floundered within a month of opening. Lizzy had assumed that this initial success would drive it forward for at least a year or so, but it wasn’t to be.

‘I’m really sorry to have to break this news,’ the producer, Jason Conway, had said. He had evidently been keen to soften the blow. ‘But there is a bright spot to lift the gloom. We all know how great this show is, and how you are the people who make it so great. So we will be taking it on tour around the UK, to all the major cities. We’ll have to scale things down, of course, but we’d like as many of you as possible to join us.’

If the producer had expected moods to brighten when presented with this opportunity, he was mistaken. Yes, it was better than nothing, but most of the performers had spent years, sometimes over a decade, touring around the country, with the single goal of making it to the West End. They were already where they wanted to be. The thought of performing in Bristol, Newcastle, Birmingham – an endless blur of cities – wasn’t really that appealing. It would certainly feel like a step back for most of the cast, including Lizzy.