Page 54 of My Husband’s Wife

Fifty-Three

Madison turns around and hurries back to her car.

Her phone rings again. It’s Theo. She turns it onto silent.

Eventually the two PCs walk away from the house and drive away.

She steps out of the car again, and a shiver runs through her as a few drops of rain dot her face.

As she reaches for the gate catch, her hands start to tremble.

She enters the beautifully landscaped drive and garden.

Eva’s West Highland terrier yaps as it charges at her.

She reaches down and pats its head. Zach opens the door, curiosity written all over his face.

The man in front of her is definitely the man who came to see Theo.

There’s no doubt in her mind. She makes a promise to herself that after she’s spoken to Eva about Theo, she will tell Eva about Zach and the brown-haired woman.

‘Hi, is Eva around?’

His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and his eyes are dark underneath as if he’s been rubbing them. ‘Who are you?’ His brows furrow as he waits for her to answer.

She wonders if he recognises her, but he barely looked at her when he came to see Theo all those months ago. With no make-up, and wearing Camille’s clothes, she doubts that anyone would recognise her today, but his gaze lingers on her face.

‘Do I know you?’

‘Err, no. I cut Eva’s hair. We’re friends.’

The dog darts through his legs into the house. She pulls her damp frizzy curls around her face to further disguise who she is.

‘Come in.’

He didn’t say if Eva was in and she doesn’t want to be alone in the house with Zach. As she steps into the hallway, she’s reassured to see Eva’s son sitting in the snug with a woman who looks like she could be Eva’s mother. She spots the back of another boy’s head.

‘Come through to the kitchen.’ He leads her into a huge family room. She pauses to take in the spectacular view of the sea. She could only dream of owning a house like this; spacious, modern and clutter free. ‘Can I get you a drink?’

She shakes her head. He gestures for her to take a seat on one of the couches then he sits opposite her. ‘So, is Eva here?’ she asks.

‘We can’t get hold of Eva and we’re worried.

We’ve been calling her all afternoon. She said she was working today.

’ He pauses and rubs his stubbly chin. ‘We’ve called the hotel she works at and they haven’t seen her all day.

They said it was her day off, but she told us she was working.

You just missed the police, though a fat lot of good they were.

’ He sits back and blows out a breath. ‘I don’t know what to do.

I don’t know where to look. We haven’t lived here long.

She doesn’t have many friends and one thing she doesn’t do is vanish for hours on end.

She’d never leave us worrying like this.

People talk to hairdressers. Did she say anything to you? ’

Her whole body is now jittery. Eva is missing. Madison thinks of Zach having an affair and wonders if her being missing is down to him. He looks upset but then again, people are good at lying; she has first-hand experience of how good people are at lying. She’d fallen deeply in love with two liars.

One of the boys starts to cry. ‘Do you need to see to him?’

‘It’s okay. Eva’s mum can handle it. He’s worried about Eva.’

She listens as Eva’s mum comforts the boy, saying that his mother will be home soon.

All Zach can do is nervously tap his fingers on the coffee table.

Eva’s mum tells the boys they can have the chocolate milk from the fridge.

The boys run into the kitchen, and the one Madison recognises as Caiden pours two drinks as he wipes his teary face with his other hand.

The other boy turns to smile at them, and Madison recognises him instantly.

It’s the boy she thought was Zach and the brown-haired woman’s son.

He must be her son. The boys leave the room as quickly as they arrived.

A prickle forms at the nape of Madison’s neck and it’s not just from the cold rain that has soaked through her clothes.

Confused, Madison goes to make her excuses to leave, but Zach interjects.

‘Well did she?’

‘Did she what?’

‘Did Eva say anything to you?’

‘I, err.’ She looks at Zach and she can’t trust him. She doesn’t know who to trust. ‘No, she didn’t say much.’ She remembers Eva’s Instagram posts. ‘She has some friends she meets for coffee, I think they might be other mums from the school. Do you know them?’

He shakes his head. ‘Had you and Eva planned to do something tonight? She didn’t mention that anyone was coming over.’

She pulls the hairpiece out of her bag. She’d tried her hardest to clean the blood off it for Eva.

‘She accidentally left this. I just wanted to give it back to her.’ She thinks back to where she found it: the Clifton House Hotel car park.

She needs to go back to see if Eva’s car is still there.

Maybe she’s drinking in the bar because she knows her husband is a cheat and because she’s certain Theo is Hugo.

‘What is it?’

‘A clip-in hairpiece.’

He takes it and places it on the coffee table. ‘Can I give you my number? If you see her, can you tell her to call me or drop me a message to let me know that she’s okay? I just want to know she’s safe.’

‘Of course.’ She hands her phone to him so he can pop his number in her contacts. As he’s about to pass her phone back, it silently buzzes and Theo’s name pops up on the screen. Zach stares at her.

She snatches her phone from his hands and walks towards the door.

‘I need to go. I have to get back to my baby.’ What she really needs to do is head straight to the Clifton House Hotel and look for Eva, then she has to speak to Theo.

Camille will be upset with her for going to the cottage but it can’t wait until tomorrow.

‘Wait,’ Zach shouts as she runs out of the house and gets into her car. Before she can start the car, he’s trying to open the door. ‘I know who you are. I came to your house to speak to your husband,’ he yells. ‘Theo has her, doesn’t he? You know where she is, don’t you?’

‘No,’ Madison replies, but she can tell he doesn’t believe her.

‘Where is she? Where’s my wife?’

Madison wants to know where Eva is too. She goes to reply, but he interrupts.

‘You don’t know him at all, do you?’

He stares through the glass, and Madison is trembling so hard; she needs to get away. He’s scaring her.

‘Where is she?’ He slams both hands on the window.

She needs to get away now. Zach seems to think she has something to do with Eva being missing and she doesn’t know what he’ll do. All she can see is rage in his face.

As she pulls away, he bangs on the side doors and the rear window but she doesn’t stop.

Her throat feels like it’s closing up as she processes what he said.

Theo has her. No, it can’t be true. Eva is at the hotel, and Madison is going to prove it and bring her home to Zach.

Maybe then he’ll stop accusing her. Eva has to be at the hotel.

Theo is a liar, not a monster…or is he?