Public Property (41 page)

‘
It’s
true,
we’re going to be parents. We were trying to keep it under wraps but that seems impossible in our lives
.’ She let out a sigh and grabbed another two chocolate bars.

‘
Well
,
I think
it’s
wonderful news
.
You two are going to make great parents
.’ She moved from behind the counter to put her arms around Freya and hug her.

‘
I
’l
l
be needing
all the advice I can get
.
P
articularly on the whole getting it out of my body stuff
,
because I’m really no good with pain
.’

‘
You
’
ll be fine
.’

‘
I was fine wit
h the getting it in there thing.
I enjoyed that, a lot
.
I suppose what goes up must come down, one way or another. Perhaps I should abuse my privileged status and demand a C
-
section
.’

‘
I think you
’
ll find they
’
re not all they
’re cracked up to be.
M
y sister could tell you a thing or t
w
o about them
.’

‘
Please don’t give me her numbe
r.’ Her mobile phone began to ring.

‘It’s Nick…hello.’

‘Hey
, could you pick up some bottled water
?
W
e’re all out
.’

‘
I will
.
I’m nearly done here
.’ She smiled at Josie and picked up the brown grocery bag.

‘
OK
, well everything’s ready to go.
Roger
’
s going to take us to the ai
rport and I’ve arranged flights.
We leave in a couple
hours
.’

‘
I can
’
t wait to be on that island
.
I can
’
t wait to be away from alarm systems
.’ She waved at Josie
,
left the store and headed for her car.

‘
No, me neither
.
I
t
’
ll be good
to see Emma and
Yiannis
again. O
h
,
I forgot to tell you
.
Sasha
called around earlier.
S
he bought some baby clothes
. She
wanted to drop them off t
o surprise you.
I put them in the guest room for now
.’

‘
Sasha
?
Well
,
what was she doing out of the office? She was supposed to be mee
ting with someone at two. W
hat time was this?
’ She opened the car door and put the groceries on the passenger seat before hopping up into the driver’s side.

‘
Come on
, Freya.
G
et out of Boss Lady
mode
.
I
t was a nice thing for her to do. She said after you finding the wreath and stuff she wanted to do something to cheer you up
.’

‘
She said what?
’ She exhaled and felt a chill run up her.

‘
She said
after a shock like getting sent a wreath with your name on
,
you needed something to take your mind off of it
.’

‘
Nick
,
I didn’t tell
Sasha
about the wreath
.’

‘
Well
,
she knew about it
. I bet you,
despite what Harry
promised us
,
he
’
s been spreading that information around
.’

‘
Have you heard it reported? Did any of the press at our gate ask you about it? Have the police released any details about it?
Because no one
’
s said a word to me about it
.
B
ut they
’
ve all been more than keen to ask me about the baby
.’ Her mind was working overtime. She was certain she hadn’t mentioned the wreath to
Sasha
. It could only mean one thing but that couldn’t be true.

‘
What are you saying?
’
Nicholas asked her.

‘
I think you’ve said enough to him
,
don’t you?
’
Sasha
spat.

Freya felt something press in to the back of her head
and she held her breath
.
She flicked her eyes up to the rear view mirror
and saw
Sasha
sat in the back seat of the car.
The
hard
object
at
the back of her head was the barrel of a gun.

‘
Nick
,
i
t’s her
!
I
t’s
Sasha
!
’
Freya shrieked at the top of her voice.

‘
Freya? Freya
,
are you there?
’

Sasha
snatched the phone from Freya’s hand and ended the call.

‘
Stupid
,
stupid Freya!
Always
such
a big mouth and never knows when to keep it shut!
’
Sasha
yelle
d.

The gun pressed harder into Freya’s head and she winced.

‘
Now, are we going to be adult about this or not? Are you going to behave or am I going to have to make thi
s even more unpleasant for you?’
Sasha
hissed,
her mouth close to Freya’s ear.

Freya
’s heart was racing
and her head began to swim
. She
couldn’t faint now.
S
he had to remain in control.

‘
Didn’t you hear me?! I
said
,
are you going to behave?’
The gun stabbed into her skull.

‘Yes. Y
es,
please
don’t hurt me
.’ She held in a whimper that was threatening to slip from her lips.

‘
Ooo
please
Sasha
, don’t hurt me!
You sound so pathetic
.’
Sasha
climbed over into the passenger seat, dropping the grocery bag to the floor.

F
reya made a grab for the handle of the door
.
Sasha
immediately
locked all the doors.

‘
Did
n’t
you hear what I said
,
b
itch? Anymore stupid moves and I
’
ll finish this here and now
.’
Sasha
grabbed Freya’s arm and squeezed it hard.

Freya fought
back
the tears and just stared at
Sasha
. The woman’s face was a picture of rage and hate and almost
unrecognisable
from that of the
helpful, dutiful assistant she
worked with every day.

‘
Right, I want you to drive
.
I’ll give directions
. S
tart the car
,’
Sasha
ordered,
keeping
the gun
trained
on Freya.

‘
Where are we going?
’ With shaking hands she turned the key in the ignition.

‘
You’ll know when we get there
.
T
ake a right at the junction
.’

Suddenly there was a knock on the driver’s side window
. Freya jumped
as she saw Brian’s face looking in at her.

‘
Wind down th
e window and
talk to him
. Tell him everything
’
s fine,
then
get rid of him
.’
Sasha
concealed her weapon.

Freya did as she was told and fixed a smile on her face as she greeted her
neighbour
.
She turned the ignition off.

‘
Hi
,
Brian
.’

‘
Hello
,
Freya
.
I saw you parked here and I thought I
’
d take this opportunity to ask you about a merchandising idea I have
.’

‘Merchandising?
Well…
I
…
perhaps you
’
d
better talk to Nick about that.
H
e’s more into that sort of area. He’s at the house if you wanted to go there and see him
. Tell him I sent you.’ She winked heavily, hoping he would
realise
something was wrong.

‘
Well
,
you know
Mayleaf
has a baseball team - t
he
Mayleaf
Maulers
-
well I thought to drum up support and in recognition of the team reaching the quarter finals of the county league
,
I could print some t-shirts
.’

‘
T
-
shirts
.’
She looked past Brian towards the store, in the hope Sam or Jolie would come out.

‘
Yes, I was hoping you
’
d agree to
the slogan “
Baby
Kaden
says
Go Maulers Go”
. I mean obviously he/she/it wouldn’t actually say that
,
but I
’d like to think
one day he/she/it might join the team and
…’ Brian carried on.

‘
You know what
,
Brian,
I think it’s a great idea
.
I
really think you should speak to Nick about it
and…’ Her eyes pleaded for Brian to come out of his world and join hers. It wasn’t happening.

‘
Hey
,
Freya
,
hadn’t we better get going
? We don’t want to
be late for that appointment
,’
Sasha
spoke loudly, leani
ng over Freya and smiling at Brian.

‘Yes.
Y
es
,
we
’
d better get going
.
Brian, why d
on’t you go up to the house and
…’
Freya began again.

‘
Bye
,
Brian
,’
Sasha
interrupted
. She closed the window up.

Brian smiled and waved
.

‘
Simpleton.
How unlucky are you
,
Freya?
S
omeone comes right up to the car when you
’
re being held at gunpoint and of all the people it has to be him
. A
nd he asks you about t
-
shirts
,’
Sasha laughed
.

‘
Look, what the
h
ell is all this
about? Why are you doing this?’

‘
Shut the fuck up and drive
!
No more small talk
.’ S
asha
poked the gun into Freya’s cheek.