The Escort (10 page)

Robin shook her head. “I guess that’s why he told you his name was Dan.”

“It doesn’t make sense. He took me to his house, we made love in his bed.”

“OK. None of this makes sense. How do you know he’s married? Did he tell you?”

“No. But there was a picture of him and his family next to his bed.”

“And you presumed it was his wife?”

“Why else would he keep it beside his bed. They had their arms around each other,” she said defensively, feeling stupid now.

“And you didn’t ask him for an explanation?” Robin asked gently.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Come on. Bed. We’ll sort it out in the morning. I’ll get hold of Drake somehow, or go and visit this Dan’s house, if you can remember which one it is. But right now, you need to sleep.”

She hauled Max out of the chair and took her to her bedroom.

“You know what? I think I need a shower first.” She wanted to wash herself clean, in the hope that it would symbolically wash Dan out of her life. Although, deep inside her, there was a real reluctance for that to happen.

“Go on, I’ll wait for you,” Robin said.

Max chucked her purse down on the bed, and grabbed her robe, heading for the shower. “Thanks for being here.”

“Any time, you know that. You’re my best friend.” Robin smiled. “At least there’s one thing.” She held a brown envelope up. “He didn’t take your money.”

Max stood staring at the envelope, her hand shaking when she reached out for it. “I gave it to him,” she said, flicking through the notes. It was all there. “I don’t understand. If he didn’t do it for the money. Then why?”

She sat down heavily on the bed, feeling faint. “Oh God, Robin. What have I done? He met my boss, and everything. What if he is going to use this against me for something?”

“You mean blackmail?”

She turned to Robin, no colour in her face. Numbly she nodded. “Why else would he put the money back into my bag? Why else would he sleep with me?”

Max finally gave in, and got out of bed, there was no way she was going to sleep, her head insisted in going over what had happened, trying to piece together the puzzle that was Dan.

She wanted to believe in him, but the relationship between her and her parents had left her unable to simply trust in someone. So her mind kept coming to rest in a bad place, where he had slept with her to get some kind of leverage over her professionally.

Maybe he thought he could blackmail her into giving him money from the bank. A big loan that would never be paid back, information about one of her clients. If that was true then he must be thinking of fairly substantial amounts, or he would simply have taken her money last night.

Or this morning.

It was hard to believe that only a few hours ago she had been wrapped in his arms, feeling safe and happy.

What a fool she’d been.

Groaning at her stupidity, she hid her face in her hands. This was not going to end well. At work on Monday she would be bombarded by questions about a man she had told them was her boyfriend. A man she knew absolutely nothing about.

Once again all the different scenarios played through her head. Dan demanding money, threatening to tell her boss what she had done, Dan wanting confidential files, but the worst one, the impossible one, was Dan coming to see her with an explanation. That seemed the most unlikely, but her heart ached for him to prove himself to her, to stop her feeling so unsure about herself. If her judgement was so off with him, what did that mean about the huge decisions she made every day. Decisions that involved the bank’s, and her client’s money. She was a fraud.

“Max.” Robin came into the kitchen, and switched the kettle on before sitting down next to her.” How long have you been awake?”

“I don’t think I’ve slept.”

“Oh honey, it’ll be OK.”

“I don’t see how? If he’d kept the money, I’d put it all down to experience, although I’d still feel bad. But why put the money back in my purse, I think he was sending me a message.”

“Have you thought that the message might simply be that he felt bad taking it? If he isn’t Drake, then maybe it didn’t sit well with him.”

“Then why not tell me. And why the photograph?”

“OK. So what are we going to do about it? It’s Saturday, the chances are he’s going to be home on the weekend, so let’s go pay him a visit.”

“I couldn’t.”

“Then I’ll go, you wait along the road, once you’ve pointed out which house it is.”

“What if I can’t remember?”

“Then we’ll hang around, stake the place out.”

Max gave a hollow laugh. “You’ll have us wearing fake moustaches and glasses next.”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“I love you Robin, but that is a crazy idea.”

“Well, if you don’t come with me I’m going door to door until I find the bastard.”

“He might not be a bastard yet,” Max said defensively.

“I suggest you come along to make sure I don’t do something stupid then.”

“Robin, I don’t think I can face him.”

“Max, you can’t hide away from this and pretend it never happened.”

“I’m starting to think that might be the best plan.”

“And if you do... Does that mean you’ll never risk dating again? Because I’m not going to let that happen.”

“You know, maybe I’m meant to be alone. This was a sign or something.”

“Don’t do that to yourself. We’re going to have breakfast, and then I’m heading for a shower, to try to wake myself up, then we’re going to find Dan. The first thing I’ll do is try to get hold of Drake again, he might be able to shed some light on the whole thing.”

But Drake was still unavailable. Robin managed to get a mobile number for him, but it simply went to voice mail. “So we go back to the original plan. A stake out.”

Once she had made her mind up, there was no stopping Robin from setting her plan in motion. Max had to admire the way she had championed Max’s honour, when she would prefer to forget the whole thing. Instead, a reluctant Max, clothed in her usual smart business suit, as though it would protect her like steel armour, waited in the living room for Robin’s inspection.

“You planning on looking like a lawyer? Because that will sure put people off talking to us.”

“Are we going or not?” It wouldn’t have taken much for Max to change her mind.

Sighing, Robin grabbed her purse, and they went out to Max’s car.

***

“OK. So this is the place the taxi picked you up from. Right?”

“Yes, and I walked down the road, from the right.”

“Shall we get out and retrace your steps?”

“I really don’t want to Robin, I feel like such a fool.”

“If you can’t remember the house number, I’ll go alone.”

“It was dark, and I had other more pressing things on my mind.” She leaned forward, peering at the houses. It all looked so different in daylight. “Nothing looks familiar. I’m going to drive along the road first, and I’ll look for anything familiar.”

“OK.”

Max pulled forward, trying not to go so slow it would draw attention to them. “I walked further than I thought. I remember that tree, I leaned against it because my shoes were killing my feet.”

“That’s good, keep going.”

They crawled along the road, more than once having to pull over to let cars pass. Max took in the gardens, neatly kept, shrubs and flowers in bloom. These were family houses, and the sense of dread returned.

What should she do, confront him, or leave it?

If his wife didn’t know what he got up to behind her back, did she really want to be the one to break up a family, a home. When you had grown up without a family, it gave you more respect for what other people had. It appeared she might want his family to stay together more than he perhaps did.

“Anything?”

They were nearly at the end of the street, and Max realised she had slipped off into a daydream instead of watching the houses. Perhaps she should just tell Robin she didn’t know, and take them home.

“No, nothing. All the houses look the same,” Max said.

“Turn around, and head back. If there’s still nothing I’ll get out and start knocking on doors.”

“Robin, please, let’s just go home.”

“Look Max, I know you’d rather forget about all this, but I know you, it’ll worm it’s way deep into your brain, and never let go.” She looked exasperated. “Come on, if this was a client of yours you’d do whatever it took to get to the bottom of it.”

“I know.” She turned the car, and began to drive back along the street. Suddenly she pulled over, sinking down into her seat. “There he is.”

Across the street, about a hundred yards away, Dan stood by a truck. Out spilled the two children from the photograph, and the young blond. The picture had not done her any justice. She was stunning, and smiling broadly at Dan.

Dan lifted one of the children up, a little girl wearing a pretty summer dress, and kissed her on the cheek, a happy giggling filled the air. The woman came around to him, and hugged Dan warmly, before they all went into the house.

Robin looked dumbstruck. “What a cheating bastard.”

“Now do you believe me?”

“I don’t have a choice, but still, it’s hard to understand what kind of man sleeps with a woman, and then welcomes his wife and kids home like that.”

“Can we go now?”

“No. I think we should knock on the door and see what he says.”

“No.” Max’s voice was firm. “I am not going to be responsible for breaking that family up.”

“But they’re living a lie.”

“I don’t care. They look happy, I don’t know, perhaps she’s in on it. Maybe they need the money.”

“But he didn’t take your money.”

“I don’t know, Robin,” Max said, putting her face in her hands and trying not to cry. “I wish none of this had ever happened.”

It was partly true, but the other part of her ached to be the woman he loved, the mother of his children, pulled into that loving embrace.

“Shall we wait until he goes out, and then confront him?”

“No. I’m going home, I am going to bed, and when I wake up I’ll be able to think about things more clearly.”

Robin pulled out a pen and paper. “OK. While you do that, I am going to find out who he is, and what he’s up to.” She wrote the address down, when she had finished they drove home.

Max desperately wanted to know what was going on behind the door of number 17. Did his wife know him well enough to guess something had happened last night? Had he changed the sheets on their bed?

She wanted to scream, and tell him what a bastard he was. But more than anything she wanted to be with him again, to be the special person in his life.

Trying to function normally, Dan held a wriggling Laura in his arms, and kissed Helen on the cheek. He couldn't have felt more awful if he'd tried. His plan had totally backfired, and now he figured he'd let everyone down, in the worst way. His family always looked up to him and admired him, and he had felt so sure he could deliver what Helen needed, but instead he had screwed up even more lives.

"Dan. You look as if you're a million miles away. Are you OK?"

"Sorry, Helen. Yeah. I'm fine. How are things with you?"

Her face crumpled, but she quickly glanced at the two children by her side, and straightened up, pushing the unshed tears away. "Not good. I still can't stop the foreclosure. There's no way I can find that kind of money."

Dan winced, dragging his hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Helen. I thought I would have it for you, but things didn't turn out the way I planned."

"Hey. It's not your fault. You've done so much for us already. I'm the one who married a loser."

"I have some money stashed away, you can have that, and I'll take as many extra shifts as I can."

She came to him and gave him a hug. "No you won't big brother. You've done enough. I'm not going to have you work yourself into the ground for me."

"It's be fine. It's not as if I have anything else to do with my time."

"Thought you had a hot date, when you asked about the suit yesterday I was convinced you had a woman in mind."

He sighed. "I did. But I blew it big time."

"That bad? She must have been something special for you to ask out in the first place. I can't remember the last time you dated."

"It's complicated." He didn't want to talk about the way he had screwed up with Max. Or think about why she had run out on him. Was he that bad in bed, or had she realised what a loser he was compared to the other men in her life. Big bosses, clever money men, and a father who was probably a billionaire. What would she want with a man who put out fires for a living? He could never compete on his salary.

"Wow, you are cut up about it. Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"

"I don’t know if she’ll accept my apology."

She laughed. "If she’s worth your time, and your trust, she’ll accept it. If not, then there are other women out there looking for a good man like you."