Public Property (40 page)

‘
Ye
a
h
,
you
.
I haven’t seen you before
.
A
nd
,
by the way,
you’re holding that camera all wrong
.’

With that comment made, Freya drove through the gate and up to the house.

She
hurried up the steps
and up to the front door, her key ready
for
the lock.
Sh
e stopped. She stared at the door and saw the lock
was
gone and in its place was a keypad.
She
let out a frustrated sig
h and just stared at the buttons,
not knowing what to do.

Before she had a chance to take any further action Nicholas opened the door
.

‘
Nick, what the
h
ell is going on? There
’
s a key pad where the lock used to be
and the whole world knows
I’m pregnant!
’

‘
What?!
’

‘
There are a dozen reporters, if not more, at the damn gate bombarding me with questions about the baby
. I want
to know how they know, because I
’
ve only told two people about this. One of them I trust implicitly and the other has her job to lose if I find out she’s blabbed
,’
Freya blurted out as she moved past Nicholas into the house.

He
stepped out onto the porch and looked down the driveway at the journalists congregated outside. Seeing enough
,
he stepped back into the house and shut the front door.

‘
What’s going on? Oh my God
,
someone
’
s erected a prison wall in the back of the garden
.’

L
ook
ing
through the patio doors
leading
from the kitchen into the garden, she could see
a large metal fence surrounding the
entire
boundary.

‘
It isn’t as bad as it seems
.
Y
ou’ll get used to it
.
I
t’s for our protection
. And our protection is
the most important thing
.’

‘
I can’t live like this
.’

‘
I know
.’

‘
I mean I really can’t live like this. We
discussed it, when I moved here.
W
e said we were going to have a normal life, doing normal things, just
being
normal and you promised
. You promised
no electric fences, no cameras,
no
motion sensors
.’

‘
I know
.’

‘
Well what the
h
ell happened? Look at this place! You can’t move for security paraphernalia! I’m scared to breathe too heavy in case I set off an alarm and Willis hates it. Have you noticed he
’
s spending more and more time outdoors?
In
this
weather! They’re expecting snow
,
you know!’

‘
I know all this
,
Freya
.
D’y
ou
think
I
’
m enjoying living under lock and key? But
you heard what the police said.
W
e have to take every precaution, we
’
d be stupid not to
.
A
nd now it’s more important than ever
.
W
e have a baby to consider
.’

‘
Oh my God, that’s it! That is it! Enough! I
’ve had enough!’
Freya yelled, waving her hands in the air.

She turned on her heel, left the kitchen and headed for the stairs.

‘
Freya, come back
.’ He followed her.

‘
No
.
T
his last week has been just about the worst time of my entire life
.
A
nd here was I thinking nothing could possible top my prison stay or my life in the Lawson-Peck household
,’
Freya
spat
as she marched up the stairs and into their bedroom.

‘It hasn’t been all bad.
We’ve made plans for our wedding and
we’ve found out we’re going to have a baby
.’

‘
I’ve been sent a
“
b
itch
”
letter and a wreath
. W
e’ve had to open an account at the
glaziers and the security firm.
Our driver has been assaulted.
W
e’ve been beating off dead crows on an almost daily basis
.
A
nd
,
if that wasn’t enough
,
I’ve just found out my ex-fiancé is actua
lly my half-
brother!
Tell me those aren’t
good
, strong, valid
reason
s
to be pissed off?
!’ She tugged her suitcase off the top of the wardrobe.

‘
Of course
they are.
A
nd I can’t say I’m too thrilled about any of it either but
…
what are you doing with that suitca
se?’

‘
What does it look like I’m doing? I’m packing
.’ She put the case down on the bed and opened it up. Then she pulled open a drawer and chucked in some tops.

‘
Oh no
.
N
o, you’re not running away
.’

‘
I need to get out of this completely crazy messed up life I have right now
.
I need to be somewhere else
.’ She opened another drawer and pulled out some trousers.

‘
You can’t just leave
.
W
e’ve made plans and
…’
Nicholas started.

‘
I don’t care
.
I can’t stay here
,
Nick
.
I
t’s making me ill. I can
’
t look at another reporter
.
I don’t want to see my face and news about our baby on the front of another magazine and I don’t want to wait and see what my warped admirer has in store for me next
.’

‘
Freya
,
this is stupid
.
W
here are you going to go?
’

‘
Where I always go
.’
She slammed the case shut and let out a sigh.

‘
Corfu
.’

‘
Right on the money
.’
She picked the case off the bed.

‘
Fine
.
W
ell
,
give me two minutes
.
I’ll pack some things and come with you
,’
Nicholas said
. He went
to the wardrobe and
took
down another suitcase.

‘
You want to come with me
?’

‘
Well
, you can’t
think I
’
m going to sit in this secure compound on my own
.’ He smiled at her.

‘
Fine
.
B
ut you
’
d better hurry up because I want to be gone before the reporters out front start guessing the
baby’s
weight already
.’

‘
Understood
.
Packing only the essentials.
P
assport and underwear
.’

‘
You’ve not run away before
.
U
nderwear is never an essential. Don’t pack anything you wouldn’t be able to sell, eat or turn into a lifejacket
.’ She walked towards the bedroom door.

‘
Fine.
Hey! We’ll need someone to feed Willis while we’re gone
.’

‘
I’ll go and ask Jolie right now. Anything you want from the store while I’m there?
’

‘
Something I can turn into a lifejacket?
’

‘
Stop this! I’m the funny one
.
You’re the straight guy
,’
Freya called back
.

With the paparazzi unable to enter the Town Circle
,
Freya
could
walk around
Mayleaf
without fear of being followed and photograp
hed.
Despite the freezing conditions it was still a picture
-
perfect place. The trees were bare, there was frost on the branches and everyone she passed was bundled up in hats and gloves.
She loved the town.
I
t made her feel warm
inside just walking the streets.
I
t felt like home. She only hoped the security they were living under wouldn
’
t last forever.

Sam and Jolie’s sto
re was quiet when Freya entered.
That gave her
unriva
lled access to what she called “travelling food”
. It wasn’t unusual for Freya to pack few clothes when escaping at the spur of the moment
.
But
s
he rarely left without a family-
sized bag of crisps and
a
huge
chocolate bar.

‘
Look after Willis? I
’
d be delighted.
O
h
,
I wouldn’t have to set any difficult alar
ms or anything would I? I mean…’
Jolie
began.

‘
To be honest
,
Jolie
,
right now I couldn’t care less if the place burnt down
.’ She picked up half a dozen chocolate bars from the counter.

‘
Oh no, you don’t mean that do you? You love that house
.’

‘
I
did
love it.
W
hen it didn’t resemble Fort Knox
.’

‘
Things no better?
Haven’t the police found who’s responsible yet?
’
Jolie inquired.

‘
No
,
but then I
’
m sure they have far more important things to do
, don’t you?’

‘
So
,
how long are you going to be away for?
’

‘I don’t know yet.
A
week?
Maybe two?
Don’t worry
,
Willis has stacks of food
.
A
nd if he does go through it
all
,
just get whatever he needs and charge it to our tab
.’

‘
No problem
.
A
nd don’t you worry about anything. You both deserve a break
.
M
ake sure you enjoy it
. By the way,
have I heard right
? Are you two h
earing
the patter of tiny feet?’
Jolie
asked
,
a broad smile
on her face
.

‘
What?
’

‘
Are you having a baby? I don’t usually believe what I hear on some of those news channels
,
but I
’
ve had five or six customers asking me
about it this afternoon and…’
Jolie began.