Page 103 of The Dead Ex

My heart falls. It’s a shopping list.

Buy cheese. Milk. Msomething. That was it!Mascara.

That won’t get me anywhere. Then I flick back to the previous page.

There it is!

I’ve half-expected David’s office to be locked, but it’s not. Everything is very neat. Just like his apartment. Swiftly I key in the password.Nicole84.Very touching. I scan the Inbox. Everythingrelates to various property deals.

Shit. I freeze at the sound of footsteps. Terrified I duck down – as if that will stop me from being noticed – but they go past. I didn’t think anyone was still here. I can’t risk this any more.

Then my eye falls on something else. Trash files. And there it is. Fingers shaking, I scribble down the words.

Footsteps sound again. Quick. Switch off the computer.Shutting down …

The footsteps come closer. They’re at the door.

‘Helen? What are you doing here?’

It’s David. His eyes are hard and narrow.

I make an attempt at a half-laugh. ‘You’ve caught me. I admit it.’

His voice is steel. ‘What?’

I shake my head. ‘I’m sorry. It was meant to be a surprise.’

‘What was?’

‘This.’

I indicate one of his desk drawers, which is still openfrom my foraging.Then I hold up the little package which I’d just taken out of my bag. Thank goodness I’d thought of that.

‘I wanted to plant a little birthday present for you as a surprise for tomorrow. It’s nothing very special, I’m afraid. Just …’

‘How the hell did you know it was my birthday?’

I can hardly tell him I had to go into considerable research on the internet to find out. It would look too stalkerish.

‘I heard one of the girls say something.’

‘But no one knows when my birthday is.’

He’s drawing closer. Suspicion written all over his face. Suddenly I am scared, thinking of the stories he’d told me about his spell in the forces. He could break my neck. Make it look as though it was an accident. No one is here. Anything could happen to me, and no one would know.

‘Someone must have told them,’I suggest, trying not to shake. ‘Perdita, perhaps? She’s good at research, isn’t she? Maybe she found out somehow.’

I can see his face struggling to work out if I’m telling the truth.

‘Would you like it?’ I ask, holding the package out towards him.

‘No thanks. My wife is waiting in the car outside. I only came in to get some papers.’

He is examining me now just like he did when we were inbed. Except that this time, although I am fully clothed, I feel more naked than I have ever been.

His voice is still firm but less angry. ‘I suggest you leave now.’

Then, as I pass, he reaches out and grabs my arm. ‘I’d like to see you. Tomorrow. At my place.’