62. Now

My brother is doing everything he can to find my daughter. This should make me happy, shouldn't it? But he's not doing it for me or Jenna. And he isn't sure what he'll do when he finds her. The hair on my arms stands as a chill runs through me.

Does Mina understand what she's saying to me? Is she really done with my brother? I thought they were happy. I thought everyone was happy. Including myself.

Did Tristan rape Miss Smith? Did he try to kill her? She said those words. Those questions came out of her mouth, about my brother, about her own husband.

What does she mean she thinks he could have done any number of terrible things? He did one – might havedone – one thing wrong.

I dig my thumbnails into my fingers and try not to show my fear. ‘Where does he think Jenna is?'

‘He doesn't know. But he's sending someone to talk to Georgia.'

Sending someone?Who? Who's conducting this secret search for my daughter? Where are they searching?

‘Not Glastonbury, then?'

She rolls her eyes. ‘He offered to get her a ticket. If she'd wanted to go that badly, she'd have taken the offer.'

‘He was going to buy her a ticket?'

‘Sure, why not? What does it matter to him?'

‘Why wouldn't he have discussed it with me?'

‘Why do you think?' She starts crying again. ‘I deleted that email,' she says.

‘What email?'

‘About Georgia coming back. I deleted it for Tristan too.'

My eyebrows shoot up. ‘Why?'

She rubs her eyes and sighs and takes a sip of coffee. ‘I thought you'd put a stop to it, but if she could get in without you knowing, once Tristan found out she was teaching here, we'd just move away.'

Who would have thought she had her own little plan? ‘Tristan would never move away. He'd just have had her fired.'

‘Except he would move, to London, for his career. That's the next step. It just isn't happening quickly enough. And why would he risk getting her fired when he could just move a bit sooner than planned? And out of this house… maybe we could be happy again.'

‘She's been here for half a year. When were you going to tell him?'

She looks at the ceiling and drags a finger under her eyes. ‘I… I was going to tell him. But… her being here made me think about things I haven't thought about in a long time. And then I thought that maybe I didn't want to be happy again, with him. And then I wondered if there was a way to split up, without losing everything.'

She pulls something out of her pocket, a folded piece of paper. She opens it on the table. It's a picture of Tristan in a crowd, maybe a stadium, with his arm around another woman. She's leaning into him, her blonde hair covering her face.

‘Then I got this, and I felt jealous, and I just…' She throws her hands up. ‘He's the man I've always wanted. I think, if we could get away from this place, things might be different.'

‘Where did you get this?' I ask, grabbing the photo.

‘Someone sent it, or put it through the door.'

‘Did you tell the police?'

‘No, I-I didn't think.'

‘You didn't think?'

‘You think it's connected?'

‘Georgia's back and you've received a photo of Tristan cheating and Jenna's missing.'

I try but I can't think of a reason why she'd make all this up.

‘Georgia did this, didn't she?' I almost tell her about my matching photo, but I just can't figure out whether to trust her or not. And then I realise it's still in the bin in the office; I could've taken it to the police. I bring her photo up to my face, and then I see something. ‘I don't think this is real,' I say.

‘What?' She sits up and holds her hand out for the photo.

‘He's not wearing his watch.' Our grandfather's antique Omega. ‘And it looks… It doesn't look right.'

She peers closer. ‘I don't know,' she says.

‘I think someone cut his head out and put it on someone else.'

‘Maybe.'

I take it back and this time I'm convinced. ‘His head is too big for that arm.' Which could mean mine is also a fake, couldn't it? What would be the odds of both of our husbands cheating at the same time? I want to go and get it, but I don't want her to know about it.

Mina sighs. ‘It would be easier though, wouldn't it? If Tristan were cheating? Then the kids… They wouldn't blame me for leaving.'

‘Mina, do you want to leave, or not?'

‘I just don't know.' She narrows her eyes at me. ‘Can you just tell me, Fran? What was on the tape?'

My heart goes cold. ‘I don't know,' I say, making sure not to admit I didn't destroy it. ‘But I can imagine.'

She nods, tearing up again.

‘But you always knew, didn't you?' I say.

She shakes her head, shrugs, looks down at her hands and takes off her ring. ‘Why did you drag me into all of this? Why did you let me marry him?'

‘I dragged you in?'

‘That day. You asked me to lie for him – for you. I was never going to say no.'

Tears prick and I wipe them away. ‘My mother, and Tristan, they thought it would be more convincing if someone other than me had seen something.'

‘But why did you go along with it?'

‘He's my brother.'

‘After what he'd done to Miss Smith?'

‘I didn't know.'

She laughs.

‘I didn't, not till tonight, not really.' I shake my head. ‘Although I did. I just didn't admit it to myself.'

‘We're pathetic,' she says. She's right.

‘Mina, does Tristan know where Jenna is?'

‘I don't think so.'

‘But he could?'

She holds her face in her hands. ‘I don't know any more, Fran. With Tristan, I think anything's possible.'