Dead of Winter, page 10
‘Sounds riveting,’ Jimmy joked, necking the rest of his glass of wine and immediately reaching for another bottle.
Lola didn’t miss the warning look Rose gave her brother, that he chose to ignore. She didn’t seem happy with the amount he was drinking.
Did he have an alcohol problem?
Lola picked up her own glass and took a sip, hoping that the wine might ease some of her tension. Her intention was only to have the one drink, though, as she was keen to keep her wits about her.
‘So you do their marketing for them?’ Daniel pushed, keen to stay on this new topic.
‘Yes. Their CEO wanted a meeting to discuss our 2026 approach.’
‘This close to Christmas?’ He sounded surprised. Incredulous even.
‘What can I say? He’s a demanding client,’ Lola told him, keeping her tone firm.
‘So it’s a case of he says jump and you say how high.’
‘Not exactly.’ She refused to let him press her buttons. ‘He is one of my biggest accounts, so I try my best to keep him happy. My schedule was free, so it wasn’t an issue to head down to see him.’
‘No plans for Christmas then?’
The temptation to down the rest of her wine, as Jimmy had done, was overwhelming, but she wouldn’t give in. Still, familiar tension crept back into her shoulders.
She gave him a tight smile. ‘I’m meant to catch the train back from Ely tomorrow, if they’re running, but no, I don’t have any plans.’
Daniel nodded, studying her. ‘I suppose without a husband or family waiting back home for you, there’s no one for you to celebrate with.’
His words stung and Lola flinched, but it was Rose who gasped, seeming appalled at what her husband had said.
‘Daniel, stop being so personal,’ she chided.
‘I don’t see what the problem is,’ he challenged. ‘We’re family. Lola came here to ask me questions, so what is the harm in me doing the same?’
It was not the same, but Lola sensed he wanted a reaction, that he was hoping she would bite. Tempting as it was to give him what he wanted, she didn’t care for him to know that the family she had lost – the adoptive mother and stillborn son that she grieved – were her Achilles’ heel. She suspected that if Daniel knew her vulnerability he would use it against her, which was why she took a measured breath before responding.
‘Sure. Ask me anything,’ she challenged. ‘But I expect the same courtesy.’
‘Very well.’ She could tell that her response had amused him. ‘Don’t you ever get lonely being all by yourself?’ he asked, jumping straight in.
‘I’m not alone. I have plenty of friends and a good social life. And I recently adopted two cats. They’re still kittens,’ she told him, thinking of Casper and Tilly, and how less empty her flat was since they had moved in with her. She had left a key with her neighbour, who was popping in to feed them, and hoped they weren’t missing her too much.
‘Cats are vicious little bastards,’ Jimmy piped up from across the table. ‘One nearly took my eye out once.’
Yes. He was definitely slurring his words.
‘Because you were tormenting it,’ Rose pointed out. ‘It was our neighbour’s cat,’ she explained to Lola. ‘Poor creature wanted to be left alone to sleep, but my brother here thought it would be fun to keep picking him up and holding him in the air.’
Lola knew she shouldn’t judge, as she had only met Jimmy a short while ago, and she knew very little about him, but Rose’s words didn’t surprise her. Although Jimmy didn’t strike her as cruel, there was something in his demeanour, perhaps a carelessness, that suggested he was a little self-absorbed and didn’t have much empathy for others. Physically, he shared Rose’s sharp features and blue eyes, but while Rose had a quiet elegance about her, Jimmy seemed to be more of a buffoon.
She didn’t react to his comment about cats, instead turning the tables back on her brother.
‘How about you, Daniel? Don’t you ever get lonely living out here in the middle of nowhere?’
‘I’m not alone, am I?’ he told her mildly, indicating to Rose and Jimmy.
‘No, but you are limited with that chair. You can’t just nip out to the shops or to see people. You’re completely dependent on your wife and brother-in-law to get anywhere. That must be quite emasculating.’
Had she pushed things too far?
Normally, Lola would never speak so cruelly, but she wanted to make it clear to Daniel that she would give as good as she got. If he pushed, she would shove right back.
He regarded her for a moment as he considered her words, the shadows of dancing flames flickering across his face, his lips carving into a snide smile, before he looked to Rose.
‘So she has some spark, this little sister of mine. Thank God for that.’
‘Daniel,’ Rose urged again. She seemed uncomfortable with the conversation.
‘At least I can believe now that you’re a Whitlock,’ he said, ignoring his wife as he addressed Lola.
‘Well, half a Whitlock,’ Jimmy sniggered.
‘What?’ Lola thought she had misheard him. ‘What do you mean by half?’
Even as she asked the question, she saw the panic on Rose and Daniel’s faces and understood that Jimmy had slipped up.
‘He doesn’t mean anything,’ Daniel said angrily. ‘Ignore my idiot brother-in-law. That’s his poor attempt at humour.’
Lola looked at the faces around the table. Rose was glaring at Jimmy, who was shrugging his shoulders and mouthing ‘sorry’ to her, while Daniel was stony-faced.
The comment ‘half a Whitlock’ could only mean one thing. She and Daniel only shared one parent.
‘Explain the joke, please,’ Lola asked, keeping her tone diplomatic, even though deep down she was fuming. She had come here in the bad weather to get answers about her family and they had lied to her. But for what reason?
‘There is no joke.’ Rose was flustered. ‘Jimmy says things to get a reaction when he is drunk. He meant no harm.’
‘So you just made it up?’ Lola glared across the table at Jimmy.
Even though his eyes were glazed, his gaze flicked from side to side as he answered. A sure sign he was lying. ‘Yes, I’m sorry.’
‘And Annie and Nigel are definitely my parents?’ she demanded of Daniel.
‘Of course.’ Daniel sounded belligerent. ‘Why would I have told you otherwise?’
Lola had no idea why he would do such a thing, but she didn’t believe he was being honest with her. And Jimmy’s admission – because she was certain his remark hadn’t been a joke – would make more sense in terms of why she had been given up for adoption.
When she had first learnt that that she had a brother, Lola had struggled to reconcile why her parents would have given her up. It had never been easy, knowing she had been unwanted, but finding out her parents had been married with an older brother when they fell pregnant with her had stung. Why had they not wanted Lola – or whatever they had named her. Had they even named her? – when she was born? Had they been set on having only one child or was it some old-fashioned sexist reason that she was a girl and they only wanted boys? Or had they simply looked at her and decided she didn’t fit into their family?
The questions had plagued her, but if her mother – she was going to assume Annie was her birth mother – had been having an affair, it would explain that perhaps Nigel hadn’t wanted to keep her.
But why would Daniel and Rose not be upfront about it?
It made no sense and Lola couldn’t understand what they would have to gain.
Part of her was tempted to continue to push the point, but they were boldly lying to her face and Lola was unable to prove otherwise.
She couldn’t shake the conversation she had overheard. Was this the secret they wanted to keep from her?
This could end very badly.
If she finds out, she’ll wish she had never come here.
Daniel’s words still disturbed her and it was for that reason she decided to drop the subject – for now.
‘Just forget it. Like you say, it was a poor joke.’
Let him think she believed him, then once she was back home, she would try to do more digging.
After a few more moments of awkwardness, the subject changed to safer topics, though Jimmy’s words continued to play on Lola’s mind as, appetite gone, she discreetly fed bits of the food left on her plate to Monty. The subject was still on Rose’s and Daniel’s minds too, she guessed, from the furtive looks they continued to exchange, while Jimmy remained conspicuously quiet throughout the rest of the meal.
After they had eaten, Daniel and Jimmy headed through to the living room, while Lola helped Rose clear the table and load the dishwasher. Then, when they were finished, Rose invited her to join them for a nightcap.
‘Do you mind if I don’t?’ Lola asked, feigning a yawn. ‘It’s been a crazy day and I’m exhausted.’
‘No, not at all.’ Rose seemed glad with her decision. ‘Is there anything you need?’
The things Lola needed were not to be found in this house, but she smiled graciously, said no and thanked Rose for letting her stay. But the relief at being away from the Whitlocks was weighed down by her sense of foreboding as she ascended the stairs, her lantern cutting a pathway through the darkness. It was deathly silent as she crossed the first-floor landing, the wind outside having stilled, and her nerves jangled waiting for any sound to come from the room at the end of the corridor.
There was nothing, except the sound of her own footsteps, and she wasted no time climbing the narrow staircase up to the second floor. This house might be grand, but there was something unnerving about it, and she had felt it before the blackout.
It was bitterly cold in the bedroom, the temperature having dipped considerably since she was last upstairs, and part of her regretted her decision to come to bed early. She wouldn’t go back down and join the Whitlocks, though. They made her too uncomfortable.
Briefly, she used the creepy Shining bathroom, peeing and brushing her teeth, then hurried back to the bedroom, closing the door and reaching for the key, her fingers instead finding the lock empty.
As her heart thumped, she shone the lantern on the door. What the hell had happened to the key? It had definitely been there earlier. She knew she hadn’t imagined it.
The brave part of her wanted to go downstairs and challenge Daniel, Rose and Jimmy. Demand to know who had taken it. She already knew, though, that she would be wasting her time. Her accusation would be denied, and, realistically, it couldn’t have been her brother. The lift didn’t serve this floor. Given that Daniel had been the hostile one up to now, it made her wary of Rose and Jimmy. It had to have been one of them who had taken the key. But why?
Lola was certain now that she wouldn’t get any sleep, but she might as well get under the covers. Leaving the lantern burning and deciding to stay dressed, she kicked off her boots, then threw the extra blankets on the bed and huddled under the heavy feather duvet, trying to get warm.
She was too cold, though, and the tension in her body wasn’t helping. As she lay in bed shivering, wishing to hell she had heeded Quinn’s advice and not come to Norfolk – at least not alone – she heard the distinct creak of a floorboard out on the landing.
For a moment, she froze, catching her breath, every part of her stiffening, except her heart, which was pumping overtime.
Someone was outside her room.
Was it Jimmy or Rose?
As she eased out a long, trembling breath, she forced herself to push back the duvet, snatching up the lantern and briskly crossing the room, determined to catch the culprit.
Twisting the knob, she pulled the door open, blinking into the empty shadows.
No one was there.
She raised the lantern and cast its light in both directions, but the corridor was empty.
Her fraught mind replayed the sound she had heard. Had she imagined it? Or was it simply the groans and creaks of an old building?
If only she could leave, but the blizzard had trapped her here. She had no choice but to wait things out till morning.
As she stepped back into the room and closed the door, she shone the lantern around, looking for anything she might be able to use to protect herself. Other than the furniture and the heavy drape curtains, there was very little else. Only a few decorative pieces that looked like antiques. One of them was a tall candlestick and after setting down the lantern next to her useless phone, she tested its weight.
It was a lot heavier than she expected and could definitely do some damage if needed.
After moving it to the table beside the bed, she climbed back under the covers, telling herself she was overreacting. She didn’t need a weapon and wouldn’t be forced to defend herself. She was simply getting spooked by an old house and the hostile welcome she had received from her brother.
It was all going to be okay and in the morning she would get to the village, sort the car and find a way to contact Quinn. This time tomorrow, they would be laughing about what had happened.
But as she continued to shiver under the duvet, wide awake and listening for any tiny sound in the silence, she suspected it was going to be the longest night of her life.
22
Quinn had never even considered becoming a dad before Lola had fallen pregnant.
It wasn’t that he never wanted kids. It was just that he hadn’t ever thought about parenthood in depth. He liked children fine, and adored his nieces, but he and Lola had only recently moved in together. It was far too early to go down that path and he had assumed they would get married first and concentrate on their careers for a bit before having that discussion.
But then she had become pregnant, something that had shocked both of them, and after coming to terms with the news, they had decided they wanted to keep it and he had fallen in love with the idea of having a baby with her.
No, it wasn’t what they had planned for their immediate future, but priorities shifted.
Nights out with friends turned into evenings in their flat, as they saved and prepared for their impending arrival.
While Lola shopped for baby clothes and nappies, Quinn, along with his best mate, Dino, had decorated the spare room a neutral sunny yellow and beige with a safari theme.
Names were picked – Milo for a boy, Ella for a girl. And the soft toy elephant they had bought, that they hoped would become a childhood favourite, sat in the cream cot awaiting his owner’s arrival.
A week later, everything had changed, Lola freaking out because she couldn’t feel the baby kicking. The three days that followed were the worst of Quinn’s life, as they learnt that placental problems had led to insufficient oxygen and nutrient delivery. Their baby boy dying in Lola’s womb.
Quinn didn’t consider himself to be an overly emotional man, and he had dealt with loss before, but this grief was on a different scale, and holding the body of his perfectly formed tiny son, knowing that Milo would never get to feel his touch or hear his voice, was devastating.
It was worse for Lola, who had been forced to give birth, and she blamed herself for not keeping their son safe and alive, despite everyone telling her otherwise.
Back home in their flat, the door to the baby’s room stayed shut, neither of them able to face going inside, but as Quinn openly mourned, Lola refused to acknowledge what had happened.
It was shock that had made her close down, that was what the counsellors told him, and he knew it was true, having seen a similar reaction in some of the crime victims he dealt with.
Trying to look after Lola while coping with his own emotions almost broke him too. Still, he hadn’t given up on her. At least not until he realised that he had to let her go if he wanted to help her.
It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
Although he had tried his best to move forward, he still carried the grief of his loss with him, along with guilt that he had let Lola down by leaving, even though deep down he knew she had never given him a choice.
They had been so tight together, such a good fit, but in the presence of tragedy, they had slowly unravelled.
He still loved her and after they had reconnected on the train yesterday, he was confident the feeling was mutual. Time apart had allowed them to deal with their loss and both of them were aware they were being offered a second chance. That was why it was bothering the hell out of him that Lola hadn’t made contact.
It hadn’t been some simple bumping into an ex and exchanging pleasantries. It was more than that and he knew she realised the significance too.
Was it the weather? Had her car come off the road somewhere?
What if she was lying in a ditch, unconscious – or worse?
He had promised himself he would relax and have a drink with Chloe while they wrapped presents, but now he was regretting it, the alcohol making him paranoid and now, fearing for Lola’s safety.
He couldn’t lose her again, not when he was on the cusp of getting her back, and he had given into the urge to try to contact her again, not liking that his phone calls went straight to voicemail. He had called the hotel where he knew she was staying. Although he understood they couldn’t confirm if she was there, he left a message with the reception team asking them to pass it along.
Chloe knew he was on edge and she was doing her best to calm his fears, but Quinn knew the only thing stopping him from borrowing his sister’s car was the alcohol in his bloodstream.
His job as a detective required a certain amount of intuition and he didn’t like any of this situation. But it was Lola he was worrying about. Was it possible that their personal connection was clouding his normally reliable judgement?
He kept checking both his phone and the local news, relieved when it eventually stopped snowing, and he decided that if he hadn’t heard from her in the morning, he would head out to find her.
23
‘You’re both overreacting.’
Jimmy had known he was going to pay for opening his big mouth at dinner. It had been a complete shitshow, Rose had angrily told him, her tone furious, but her voice low, just in case Lola made a surprise reappearance.
