Page 162 of Perfect Strangers

Brrring-riiing.

Fox’s mobile was vibrating angrily on the breakfast bar.

‘Are you going to answer that?’ said Ruth. ‘Or do you need me to show you how to do that too?’

‘Ruth, I—’

‘Oh, answer the damn phone!’

He snatched it up and walked away from her, over to the window.

‘Fox,’ he said, putting the phone to his ear. He listened for a long moment, then glanced back at Ruth. His whole demeanour had changed; Ruth was instantly on alert. Who was he talking to?

‘Where are you?’ said Fox, striding back over to the breakfast bar, urgently mouthing the word ‘pen’ to her. She pulled one out of her handbag and Fox began scribbling on the back of one of her printouts. ‘What time?’ he said; he paused, then, ‘We’ll be there.’ Ruth could see him thinking, his face serious, as he put his phone down.

‘Who was that?’

Fox looked at her.

‘I’ll tell you on the way,’ he said, grabbing his jacket from the back of a chair. ‘The pasta will have to wait.’

‘On the way to where?’ she said, quickly stuffing her papers into her bag.

‘Scotland. We’ve got until sunrise to get there, and if you want your story, I suggest you come with me.’

45

Sophie woke with a start, her hands clutching at the covers. She looked around the room, disorientated and lost. The hunting lodge, of course, she thought, focusing in the grey light. I’m in Scotland. I’m safe.

She had been dreaming, a vivid, disturbing dream where she’d been back in Miami, at Sergei’s house. But instead of watching Josh plunge into the pool, in her dream they had switched places and Sophie herself had been the victim, feeling the terror and impotence as her head was pushed into the frothing water again and again.

‘Only a dream, Sophie,’ she whispered to herself. ‘Only a dream.’

It was then that she noticed she was alone. When she had slipped in beside him, Josh had be

en sleeping against the wall, but now he was gone. She looked at the armchair in the corner of the room; his clothes were gone too. Panicking, Sophie grabbed her watch: 4.55 a.m.

She got out of bed and, pulling on a towelling robe she found hanging behind the door, tiptoed to the landing. The house was in silence and the purple light of the fading night seeped in through the windows.

Where the hell was he? As quietly as she could, she padded up the stairs to Lana’s room and peeped inside, where she could just make out the shape of Lana’s slumbering body in the bed. That was something at least.

Sophie crept back down to the ground floor – as empty and still as the rest of the house – her mind searching for explanations of where Josh could be.

He had given a copy of I Capture the Castle, complete with its front-page annotations, to the Russians. She had no idea if Sergei would ever work out that the scribbled numbers were map co-ordinates, but perhaps Josh had been worried they might get there first. Sophie pushed a curtain back and peered outside. The rain had stopped and there was a vague glow around the surrounding mountains: dawn was almost upon them. Perhaps Josh had decided to get a head start; or – and she could barely bring herself to admit this notion to herself – or he had decided to get the money for himself. She shook her head, ashamed to even entertain the idea. No, she thought fiercely, no, he wouldn’t do that. Not Josh.

Well, there was one way to find out. She moved towards the front door, her bare feet chilly against the stone floor. If he’d gone to find the loot, he’d have taken the car. The key was in the door and she turned it, stepping out into the cold.

And then she saw him. Sitting on the top of the porch steps, oblivious to the bitter wind blowing in from the mountains. Her shoulders sagged with relief.

‘Here you are,’ she hissed. ‘You scared the hell out of me.’

‘Did you think I’d gone to get the money?’ he asked without bothering to turn round.

‘No, of course not,’ she said, sitting down next to him, wrapping the robe around her knees.

‘You don’t trust me, do you?’ he said, glancing across at her. ‘Not really.’ He looked tired and disappointed.

‘I was just panicking,’ she said truthfully. ‘I thought maybe you’d decided Sergei could have worked out the co-ordinates and wanted to get ahead of him.’