Thief of Hearts
Page 61
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Had she found out what Stu was doing today? The fact that she was a policewoman only made matters worse. Alfie eyed me curiously as I took a deep breath and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hi Andie,” Karla replied. She sounded stressed. “I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch, but Stu and Lee had a massive fight this morning, and we’re really worried about him.”
“Oh. What sort of fight?” I put my hand to my chest and anxiously rubbed.
“It actually happened out of nowhere. Lee asked him if he wanted to go play a game of football with a few of their mates and Stu said no. When Lee pushed him to come he literally just snapped and lost his temper. He stormed out of the house angry, so Lee and I followed him to try and make amends. He won’t answer our calls, either. We thought he was going to go see you but then he stopped into a car rental company and drove off in a transit van.”
Oh, God. This was bad. This was so, so bad.
“Um, well, he never came by my place,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Yes, we know that. We followed him to a really fancy residential area in Hampstead Heath. He just went inside one of the houses.”
This wasn’t just bad. It was catastrophic. Lee and Karla couldn’t be at Renfield’s. They were going to ruin everything. Before Alfie could ask what was going on I ran to my bedroom and shoved some makeup and Jamie’s blonde wig into my handbag. A second later I was out of the flat, the door slamming shut behind me as I hurried to my car.
“Do you have any idea what he’s up to?” Karla went on. “Because this has dodgy written all over it.”
I coughed and tried to think of an explanation. Make something up, my brain urged, anything. Why was I so bad at lying? “Oh yes, actually, that’s my uncle’s place. He’s moving and Stu offered to help him with his furniture.”
“Are you sure?” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Yes. I’m on my way there right now, because I, uh, I offered to help, too.” God, could I sound any more nervous? The way my voice echoed back to me told me I was on speakerphone.
“I’m going over,” I heard Lee mutter. “Something doesn’t add up. Look at all the security cameras.”
“Don’t go over,” I blurted, my pulse racing as I put my foot on the gas. “My uncle, he’s well, he’s very paranoid. That’s why there are so many cameras. If you just wait a few minutes until I get there, I’ll go inside and get Stu for you. But I promise, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Karla let out a long sigh, and I couldn’t tell if she was buying my story. I hated that I had to lie to them, but today was the worst day they could’ve picked to follow Stu. We needed everything to run as smoothly as possible, and if Renfield saw them he was liable to get suspicious and call the whole thing off.
“Okay, we’ll wait for you,” said Karla. “But we’re not leaving until we talk to Stu. Lee wants to make sure he’s okay.”
“All right, see you in a bit,” I replied and hung up. I chewed on my bottom lip and put my phone on hands-free to dial Stu. I’d been so stressed by Karla’s call that I hadn’t even realised I’d been talking and driving at the same time. Frustratingly, all I got was Stu’s voicemail. His phone was off. Wonderful.
I got stuck in traffic halfway there, though at least it gave me enough time to throw on some makeup. When I finally arrived, Lee and Karla were parked just across the street. I cut my engine and hurried over to them. Lee rolled down his window and I bent to speak, trying to keep a calm façade. “Hi you two. I’m just going to run over and get Stu. My uncle’s a little, um, eccentric. He doesn’t like strangers in his house so it’s probably for the best if you stay out here.”
Lee eyed me like he was trying to figure out why I was acting weird. “That’s some rich uncle you’ve got.”
I nodded and plastered on a smile. “Yes, it’s too bad he’s not big into sharing the wealth.”
Karla was quiet, which only made my nerves worse. She was too shrewd not to notice something was up, especially considering what she did for a living. I just hoped my false breeziness was convincing.
I cleared my throat. “Right, well, I’ll be back in a minute.”
I walked across the street to Renfield’s, first stopping just shy of the security cameras and out of sight of Lee and Karla so that I could pull on the wig and slip on some sunglasses to cover my eyes. My hair had been up in a bun so the wig slid on easily enough. I just hoped it looked okay because I didn’t have a mirror on me to check.
This was officially the most surreal day of my life.
When I pressed the button to be let in, I was immediately answered by the butler. I told him I needed to see ‘Mr. Kennedy’ and that it was urgent. He quickly buzzed me through and I entered the walled garden and driveway. Stu was busy loading carefully packed boxes into the transit van. Several questions flashed across his face when he saw me, and his accusing expression spoke volumes.
What the hell are you doing here?
I swallowed and calmly approached him, wary of a few other members of Renfield’s household staff puttering about. Keeping my voice as quiet as I could, I said, “Lee and Karla are outside. After your fight with Lee, they followed you here. Was today really the best day for your temper to be let loose?”
Stu’s features hardened as he took in what I said. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak Renfield stepped out of his house. He looked delighted to see me.
“Miss Jordan, or should I say Mrs Jordan? What a pleasant surprise,” he greeted and stepped forward to take my hand in his. He lifted it to his mouth for a kiss then lowered it. “What brings you here?”
After he asked the question I noticed the steel behind his smile. He was suspicious, and he had every right to be. Come on, brain, don’t fail me now.
“I just found out that there’s a police check on the original route I planned for Mr Kennedy to take to the port,” I said. It was the first excuse that sprung to mind. “I tried calling him to advise on a different direction to take, but I couldn’t get through. I apologise for just turning up at your home like this, but it was the only way to warn him.”
“Ah,” said Renfield, rubbing at his jaw as his suspicion subsided. “Well, I’m very lucky you took the initiative to come in person, otherwise we might’ve found ourselves in a terrible spot of bother. Please, come inside and have a drink with me. I’d like to thank you for saving our bacon.”
“Hello?”
“Hi Andie,” Karla replied. She sounded stressed. “I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch, but Stu and Lee had a massive fight this morning, and we’re really worried about him.”
“Oh. What sort of fight?” I put my hand to my chest and anxiously rubbed.
“It actually happened out of nowhere. Lee asked him if he wanted to go play a game of football with a few of their mates and Stu said no. When Lee pushed him to come he literally just snapped and lost his temper. He stormed out of the house angry, so Lee and I followed him to try and make amends. He won’t answer our calls, either. We thought he was going to go see you but then he stopped into a car rental company and drove off in a transit van.”
Oh, God. This was bad. This was so, so bad.
“Um, well, he never came by my place,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Yes, we know that. We followed him to a really fancy residential area in Hampstead Heath. He just went inside one of the houses.”
This wasn’t just bad. It was catastrophic. Lee and Karla couldn’t be at Renfield’s. They were going to ruin everything. Before Alfie could ask what was going on I ran to my bedroom and shoved some makeup and Jamie’s blonde wig into my handbag. A second later I was out of the flat, the door slamming shut behind me as I hurried to my car.
“Do you have any idea what he’s up to?” Karla went on. “Because this has dodgy written all over it.”
I coughed and tried to think of an explanation. Make something up, my brain urged, anything. Why was I so bad at lying? “Oh yes, actually, that’s my uncle’s place. He’s moving and Stu offered to help him with his furniture.”
“Are you sure?” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Yes. I’m on my way there right now, because I, uh, I offered to help, too.” God, could I sound any more nervous? The way my voice echoed back to me told me I was on speakerphone.
“I’m going over,” I heard Lee mutter. “Something doesn’t add up. Look at all the security cameras.”
“Don’t go over,” I blurted, my pulse racing as I put my foot on the gas. “My uncle, he’s well, he’s very paranoid. That’s why there are so many cameras. If you just wait a few minutes until I get there, I’ll go inside and get Stu for you. But I promise, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Karla let out a long sigh, and I couldn’t tell if she was buying my story. I hated that I had to lie to them, but today was the worst day they could’ve picked to follow Stu. We needed everything to run as smoothly as possible, and if Renfield saw them he was liable to get suspicious and call the whole thing off.
“Okay, we’ll wait for you,” said Karla. “But we’re not leaving until we talk to Stu. Lee wants to make sure he’s okay.”
“All right, see you in a bit,” I replied and hung up. I chewed on my bottom lip and put my phone on hands-free to dial Stu. I’d been so stressed by Karla’s call that I hadn’t even realised I’d been talking and driving at the same time. Frustratingly, all I got was Stu’s voicemail. His phone was off. Wonderful.
I got stuck in traffic halfway there, though at least it gave me enough time to throw on some makeup. When I finally arrived, Lee and Karla were parked just across the street. I cut my engine and hurried over to them. Lee rolled down his window and I bent to speak, trying to keep a calm façade. “Hi you two. I’m just going to run over and get Stu. My uncle’s a little, um, eccentric. He doesn’t like strangers in his house so it’s probably for the best if you stay out here.”
Lee eyed me like he was trying to figure out why I was acting weird. “That’s some rich uncle you’ve got.”
I nodded and plastered on a smile. “Yes, it’s too bad he’s not big into sharing the wealth.”
Karla was quiet, which only made my nerves worse. She was too shrewd not to notice something was up, especially considering what she did for a living. I just hoped my false breeziness was convincing.
I cleared my throat. “Right, well, I’ll be back in a minute.”
I walked across the street to Renfield’s, first stopping just shy of the security cameras and out of sight of Lee and Karla so that I could pull on the wig and slip on some sunglasses to cover my eyes. My hair had been up in a bun so the wig slid on easily enough. I just hoped it looked okay because I didn’t have a mirror on me to check.
This was officially the most surreal day of my life.
When I pressed the button to be let in, I was immediately answered by the butler. I told him I needed to see ‘Mr. Kennedy’ and that it was urgent. He quickly buzzed me through and I entered the walled garden and driveway. Stu was busy loading carefully packed boxes into the transit van. Several questions flashed across his face when he saw me, and his accusing expression spoke volumes.
What the hell are you doing here?
I swallowed and calmly approached him, wary of a few other members of Renfield’s household staff puttering about. Keeping my voice as quiet as I could, I said, “Lee and Karla are outside. After your fight with Lee, they followed you here. Was today really the best day for your temper to be let loose?”
Stu’s features hardened as he took in what I said. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak Renfield stepped out of his house. He looked delighted to see me.
“Miss Jordan, or should I say Mrs Jordan? What a pleasant surprise,” he greeted and stepped forward to take my hand in his. He lifted it to his mouth for a kiss then lowered it. “What brings you here?”
After he asked the question I noticed the steel behind his smile. He was suspicious, and he had every right to be. Come on, brain, don’t fail me now.
“I just found out that there’s a police check on the original route I planned for Mr Kennedy to take to the port,” I said. It was the first excuse that sprung to mind. “I tried calling him to advise on a different direction to take, but I couldn’t get through. I apologise for just turning up at your home like this, but it was the only way to warn him.”
“Ah,” said Renfield, rubbing at his jaw as his suspicion subsided. “Well, I’m very lucky you took the initiative to come in person, otherwise we might’ve found ourselves in a terrible spot of bother. Please, come inside and have a drink with me. I’d like to thank you for saving our bacon.”
