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TWENTY-NINE

SUNDAY 2 FEbrUARY

‘I shouldn’t be here,’ Ellis says, shuffling from one foot to the other. He hovers in the hallway, his eyes darting around the house.

‘It’s fine,’ Harper assures him. ‘Dexter’s asleep.’

Ellis still doesn’t move further into the house. ‘What’s this about? We said we wouldn’t have contact unless it’s to do with our sons.’

‘That’s rich. You didn’t exactly keep your distance when you turned up here with those cameras. I think you were intending to plant them for Kate, and you only changed your mind at the last minute. And don’t forget you’re the one who came over to me at football earlier in the day.’

‘All part of the act.’ Ellis closes his eyes and exhales. ‘I don’t want any part of this any more, Harper. It’s over, it has to be.’

‘Just come in the kitchen. I don’t want Dexter waking up and hearing us.’

Reluctantly, Ellis follows.

‘You make it sound like we’re having a relationship,’ Harper says, closing the door.

‘No, this is worse than an affair. An affair people might understand. But this deception?—’

‘Is necessary. Your wife’s a murderer, Ellis.’

‘Soon to be ex-wife.’

Harper rolls her eyes. ‘That’s irrelevant. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll rephrase – the mother of your child is a murderer.’

‘All you’ve got is that photo of them together. That doesn’t mean she was the one who killed him. How do I know it wasn’t you ?’ Ellis shoves his hands in his pockets and stares at her.

‘Don’t you think the police have looked into me? Harper asks. ‘And that photo was taken on the night he was killed. Which means Kate was the last person to see him.’ Harper walks to the door and listens out for Dexter. ‘There’s got to be something in Kate’s house,’ she says.

Ellis ignores her. ‘That photo was taken from a camera that you were watching from. Highly illegal.’

‘Yes, but I had to do that. I had to know what Jamie was doing. Because Kate didn’t fit his normal mould. I just wish the camera hadn’t stopped working. Otherwise it might have shown Kate coming back in the bedroom. She could have had Jamie’s blood all over her.’

Ellis shakes his head. ‘This is crazy. What more do you want from me? I told you that was the end of it. I’m not doing this any more.’

Harper needs to get through to Ellis, and so far it’s not working. She steps closer to him. ‘Remember Maddy? Surely you haven’t forgotten her already? Love really is fickle, isn’t it?’

‘What’s Maddy got to do with this? Leave her out of it.’

‘It wasn’t Kate who warned her off you.’

Ellis’s eyes narrow to slits as he digests this new information. ‘So Kate was right. It was you. What did you do? Why bring Maddy into it? She had nothing to do with it.’

‘I needed to prove to you how easy it is to mess with someone’s life. Jamie was having an affair with your wife – that gives you every reason to want him dead. What would the police think about that?’ Harper forces a smile. She’s not enjoying this – Ellis hasn’t done anything to her – but she’s doing what needs to be done.

‘I was with my son that night,’ Ellis says. ‘What do you want from me, Harper?’

‘It’s time you got Thomas away from Kate,’ Harper says, her voice softer now.

‘On what grounds? Kate’s a good mum. She’d never hurt our son.’

‘How do you think Thomas would feel if he knew you and Kate had been lying to him his whole life? Keeping it a secret that his mother killed someone. Make that two people.’

Ellis moves towards her. ‘He’s not old enough to understand. It would destroy him. We made a decision together to spare him from it. At least until he’s an adult.’

‘Then it would probably destroy him if he found out now. Wouldn’t it?’

‘Are you threatening me?’ he snaps.

‘Thomas must have seen that Kate has a temper, even if it’s never directed at him. He’s a smart boy – he’d quickly piece it all together.’

‘What the hell do you want from me, Harper?’

What she wants is to mess up Kate’s life, like Kate has done to her by taking Dexter’s father away from him. ‘Tell Kate you want full custody of Thomas. You don’t think she’s fit to be a mum and if she doesn’t let you have him, then you’ll be going to the police to tell them she was with Jamie Archer the night he was murdered.’ She could tell him about Jamie’s wedding ring, how Dexter found it in Kate’s house, but she can’t prove that’s where it came from, and she doesn’t want to drag her son into this.

Harper catches the fear in Ellis’s eyes as he turns away from her, walking over to the patio doors. Then, with a jolt he spins around to face her. ‘No. Go to hell.’

Harper doesn’t sleep after Ellis storms out, and by the time dawn approaches, she’s sure of what she needs to do. It took a horrific act of violence to start this, and that’s what it will take to end it.

Dexter walks into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

‘Morning,’ she says, forcing her voice to be breezy. ‘Did you sleep okay?’

Dexter ignores her, and marches to the cupboard, pulling out a box of Cheerios.

‘What’s the matter? Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream again?’ Since Jamie’s death, Dexter’s often been forced awake by nightmares.

‘No, just stop!’

Shocked at the sharp tone he’s never used towards her before, Harper grabs the milk from the fridge and places it next to his bowl. She reaches for his arm but he pulls away.

‘Leave me alone!’

‘What’s going on, Dexter? You’re really worrying me. Please talk to me.’

He shakes his head, but Harper persists and eventually he gives in. ‘I saw Thomas’s dad here last night. I was coming downstairs for water and heard voices. Then he came out and ran out of the house. Why was he here in the middle of the night? Is this about Dad?’

Harper takes his hand and leads him to the table to sit down. She places his bowl in front of him. ‘No, sweetheart. This is nothing for you to worry about – I promise you.’

‘It’s happening again, isn’t it?’

‘What?’

‘It’s just like you and Dad. Whispering all the time. Stopping talking when I walk in. Lying to me. You think I don’t know but I do.’

‘Dexter, that’s not what your dad and I were doing. I’m so sorry you felt that way. We had some difficulties – I know that might be hard to understand, but sometimes relationships can be challenging. I love you, Dexter. And so did Dad. Everything we’ve done is for you.’ As Harper says this, she wonders how much of it is true on Jamie’s part. What he did was for himself more than their son.

‘You’re lying!’ Dexter shouts, swiping his bowl aside. It smashes to the floor, landing in a pool of milk and cereal. Dexter rushes upstairs and Harper begins picking up the broken pieces, the sharp edge of a shard piercing her skin and leaving a bright red bubble of blood on her finger.

They walk to school in silence, and bump into Aleena and Theo on the way.

‘Are you okay?’ Aleena asks. ‘You don’t look so good.’

‘I didn’t sleep last night,’ Harper explains, glancing at Dexter.

Aleena places her hand on Harper’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. I can’t say I understand what it’s like to lose a husband but I’ll listen if you need to talk.’

‘Thanks,’ Harper says, her voice cracking. She’s touched by Aleena’s kindness, but this has nothing to do with grieving for Jamie.

‘Can Thomas and Dex come over after school?’ Theo asks.

‘Not today,’ Aleena says. ‘You’ve got Rugby. And Thomas is staying at his dad’s tonight. I just ran into Ellis.’

‘Oh, how is Ellis?’ Harper asks. ‘I got to know him a bit at football last week. He wasn’t doing so well after his break-up with Maddy.’

‘Well, I’m not sure why I’m defending Kate but Ellis deserves this after having an affair. What goes around comes around,’ Aleena says.

‘True. But things are rarely black and white.’

‘I suppose so,’ Aleena says. ‘Maybe I’m just so used to hearing Kate’s side of it that I never stopped to question the truth of what happened. Before that, I always thought Ellis was a good man.’

‘How well do we ever really know anyone?’ Harper says, as they reach the gates. ‘Well, at least I won’t bump into Kate at pick-up.’

Aleena frowns.

‘You said Ellis was having Thomas tonight.’

‘Yeah,’ Aleena says, but her attention is caught by a mum waving at her from the gates.

The boys walk in together and Harper watches them for a moment before turning back to Aleena. ‘Well, might see you later. Have a good day.’

Aleena smiles. ‘Yeah, you too.’

Harper rushes home. Talking with Aleena has helped cement a plan in her head, and there’s a lot she needs to get organised before tonight if she’s going to pull it off.