‘I was frightened,’ she says. ‘The power cut, the security blinds… I thought Jake might know what was going on with the apartment. The electrics. He was always good at fixing things on the boat.’
The faintest sniff of derision. She’s rarely heard Rob like this. He’s usually so sure of himself, of them. It’s what attracted her to him in the first place: his quiet self-confidence, the lack of jealousy, his never passing judgement on the modest life that she led with Jake on the boat.
‘And I didn’t know when you were coming back,’ she continues. ‘You sounded so busy. And then the phone died and the blinds came down and this bloody drone…’ She can’t hold it together any longer.
‘Come here,’ he says, his voice kinder now, softer. A moment later, his arms are around her and she’s sobbing on his shoulder.
‘I’m sorry,’ she says. ‘For calling Jake.’
This is so strange. They’ve never had a scene about their exes before. And now here they are, in the middle of a power cut, having their first row.
‘I’m the one who’s sorry,’ he says. ‘For what happened here tonight.’
She can cope like this, when she’s in his arms and cannot see his face. The world is back on its axis, free from all thoughts of doubles. It’s how it used to be when they first met and moved down to Cornwall, thrilled by each other’s bodies.
She finds his mouth and kisses him. Darkness is her friend.
73
Jake
‘Apologies for calling so late,’ Jake says, sitting in the heated leather passenger seat of Rob’s Tesla. Bex is driving and Stretch is asleep on his lap.
‘No doubt it’s still daylight in Lapland,’ DI Hart replies.
‘Ouch,’ Bex whispers, looking ahead.
Hart never misses the chance to remind Jake that his books are only published in Finland.
‘Kate just called us,’ Jake continues, ignoring the barb. They’re heading into London. Neither of them knows exactly where Rob lives, only that it’s somewhere in Shoreditch. ‘She sounded distressed.’
‘Us?’ Hart says.
‘I’m with Bex,’ Jake says. ‘Her friend.’
He’s not used to talking into the air like this. Kate’s Morris Minor didn’t exactly stretch to a built-in car audio system.
‘Hello, Bex,’ Hart says drily.
‘You alright?’ she asks.
Jake has noticed it before. Bex’s Lancashire accent becomes more pronounced when she’s nervous. Alright becomes alreet.
‘We met down in Cornwall,’ she adds for Jake’s benefit.
‘Where was Kate calling from?’ Hart asks.
‘We think from Rob’s flat in London,’ Jake says.
‘Shoreditch,’ Bex adds.
‘If she’s with him, she’s fine,’ Hart says, almost matter-of-factly.
Jake glances at Bex, who looks equally confused by Hart’s relaxed response. ‘How can you be so sure?’ he asks.
‘Trust me,’ Hart says.
‘OK,’ Jake says, failing to hide his irritation. Kate used to adopt a similar tone when he’d asked one too many questions about her police work. ‘She didn’t exactly sound happy, that’s all. I know it wouldn’t normally be a police matter, but given what happened in Cornwall, I just thought…’
‘How long ago did she call?’
Jake looks across at Bex.
‘Ten minutes?’ she offers.
After Kate tried to ring them, Jake and Bex immediately agreed that they should drive up to London, even if they didn’t know precisely where Rob lived. The call had distressed them both.
‘And what exactly did she say?’ Hart asks.
‘The line was terrible…’ Jake turns to Bex again for support.
‘We think she mentioned Rob’s flat,’ Bex says, ‘where she was heading tonight.’
‘She hasn’t been picking up all evening,’ Jake adds. He knows how it must sound to Hart. Bitter ex unable to get over break-up.
‘Kate’s undoubtedly been a target in recent months,’ Hart says. ‘A result, I’m afraid to say, of the work she did for us.’
It’s the first time Jake’s heard Hart admit that. He wishes he’d said something earlier – like before the car crash.
‘But we think that threat has now passed,’ Hart continues. ‘And, as I say, if she’s with Rob, I’m not worried. If anything, I’m reassured.’
Why’s Hart sounding so damn relaxed about Rob all of a sudden?
‘I don’t think Rob met Kate by chance,’ Jake says. He doesn’t like the way Kate has dropped off the radar, as if everything’s now fine. ‘In the hospital, that first time.’ Again, Jake is worried how he’s coming across, as if he’s obsessed with Kate’s new partner. But Hart’s tone changes.
‘Tell me,’ he says, more interest in his voice.
Jake explains about seeing Rob in the car park at Gablecross when he came in to ask Hart some questions about police procedure for his latest book.
‘Remind me when that was?’
‘A day before Kate’s accident. We ended up talking about Bewick’s swans.’
‘I remember,’ Hart says.
‘Rob’s also involved with facial-recognition software,’ Jake adds, now that he’s got Hart’s attention. ‘Some new hush-hush outfit, possibly based in France, according to an investigative website over there. He’s known for all his medtech stuff, but I think he engineered a meeting with Kate at the hospital because he was professionally interested in the recognition work she was doing for you.’
This is met by a silence so long that Jake wonders if Hart has hung up. Even Stretch raises his head to see what’s going on. Bex glances across at Jake, who dials up the volume on the in-car audio system.
‘And you think Rob was visiting Gablecross police station?’ Hart asks eventually.
‘I assume so.’
‘Leave it with me,’ Hart says. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow, first thing.’
‘What about Kate?’ Jake says, worried that Hart will hang up. ‘We just want to check that she’s OK. If you’ve got his address, we could—’
‘We don’t have Rob’s exact London details at the moment,’ Hart says, sounding embarrassed. So it’s not just Jake who can’t find his address. ‘I’m sure she’s fine.’
74
Kate
It’s like a switch has been flicked – in Rob and in Kate. The old Rob is back, the handsome Irish boy who has cared for her unquestioningly these last five months. The Rob she loves. Her fears of a few minutes ago are already fading, like the receding tide. She can’t see him, thanks to the power cut, but the voice is definitely Rob’s. She can cope like this. She must be suffering from Capgras syndrome. Why else would he appear different but sound so familiar? She just hopes it’s temporary, as Ajay suggested. She can’t spend the rest of her life with Rob in the dark.
‘We’re trying to establish what’s caused the outage,’ he continues, his arms still wrapped around her as they stand together in the inky blackness of his apartment, their bodies pressed together. ‘The whole system went into lockdown and then there was a local power failure.’