Be Careful What You Hear (10 page)

‘No.’ Emma raked her fingers through her shoulder-length,
brown, glitter-sparkled hair. Richard, Dan’s brother, had been due
to rendezvous with the group in the centre of town later that
evening.
Why would they both be out of
contact?
‘Last I saw of Dan was when I
left to go out, about two hours ago. You sure you didn’t miss him
in Covent Garden?’

‘Positive. We
stuck around there for over an hour. All we needed was a tambourine
and collection basket and we’d have made a fortune.’

‘I don’t
understand,’ she said, beginning to pace up and down outside the
pub, suddenly forgetting the party going on inside. ‘He was about
to go out when I left to come here. He wouldn’t have been more than
a few minutes behind me.’

‘It’s a bloody
mystery, then.’ Will paused. ‘You don’t suppose he got cold feet,
decided to head off to LA with Cameron Diaz?’

‘Screw you,
William.’

‘Just joking,’
he said with a laugh, breaking the tension. ‘The man would be mad
to turn down the chance to marry my little sister.’

‘That’s
better.’

‘Seriously
though, Em. What if he’s had an accident or something?’

‘An
accident?’

‘He could have
been in a road accident.’

‘Aren’t you
being a bit melodramatic?’

‘Probably, but
these things can happen.’

‘Do you have
to be such a pessimist?’ said Emma, watching as two police officers
attempted to cajole a homeless man from a shop doorway opposite: a
sad but familiar London sight. ‘He’s probably stuck on the tube –
that’s why he can’t answer his phone. You know what the
Underground’s been like this week. I was stuck on the Northern Line
for half an hour on Wednesday. Signal failure or something.’

‘Maybe,’ he
replied. ‘I was thinking of breaking your door down, though, just
in case.’

‘Don’t you
dare! You’d hurt yourself. Anyway, I’m the black belt, not
you.’

‘Okay, Bruce
Lee.’ Will feigned disappointment. ‘I’m just looking out for my
little sister.’

‘I know. And
you always have done.’

‘
Hey, that’s why older brothers were invented. Tell you what,
I’ll wait here and see if he turns up.’

‘No,’ Emma said, moving away from the pub door as what
appeared to be another hen party pushed inside; this group was
dressed as cheerleaders, with ultra-tight tops and mini-skirts. At
least Lizzy hadn’t gone for
that
idea. ‘Go back to Covent Garden in case he turns
up there. I’ll try and call him myself.’

‘The others
can go back, but I’d rather stick around here,’ insisted Will.
‘This is all pretty strange, Em. You don’t think—’

‘Don’t even
say it,’ Emma interrupted. ‘Just don’t.’

‘You’re right.
This is totally different from last time.’

Once Will had
rung off, Emma tried several times to contact both Dan and Richard.
But it was no good – neither was answering their phones. She
returned inside, the party spirit in her having been completely
wiped out.

‘
Hey, there you are!’ said Lizzy, throwing a semi-drunken arm
around her as she returned to the group. ‘Wondered where you’d got
to. Thought you might have sneaked off for a crafty last snog with
some hunky stockbroker before it’s too late. After all, you’re
still twenty-eight, free and single – for the moment.’

Emma didn’t
meet Lizzy’s smile. Instead, she looked down at her mobile phone,
still grasped tightly in her hand, hardly hearing what her best
friend was saying. All she wanted to do was get out of there as
quickly as possible and find out what was going on.

‘Get this down
you,’ Lizzy ordered, forcing a cocktail into Emma’s free hand.
‘You’re far too sober for my liking. I’m in charge tonight, and
whatever I say, goes. And I say drink! Cheers!’

‘Cheers,’ Emma
said half-heartedly, clinking glasses.

She watched as a beaming Lizzy took a swig of her drink.
She’d met the ever-cheerful Lizzy, a pretty strawberry blonde with
a big heart and even bigger voice, at an audition three years ago.
Since that initial meeting the two had become good friends and had
flat-shared for a time, until eighteen months ago when Emma had
moved in with Dan. A classically trained singer, Lizzy was now
plying her trade on the West End stage, where she had a role
in
Like We Did Last Summer,
a new romantic musical based around popular tunes
from the Swinging Sixties.

‘You okay?’
Lizzy finally noticed that Emma seemed distracted.

‘I’m not
sure.’ Emma played with the straw and ice cubes in her drink. ‘It’s
Dan. He’s gone missing.’

‘What?’

‘That was Will
on the phone. He said Dan didn’t turn up for the stag party. And
now no one can get hold of him. I just tried to call him now. His
mobile sounds like it’s turned off, and there’s no answer on the
home phone.’

‘But wasn’t he
about to leave when I arrived at yours?’ Lizzy said.

‘Yeah. That’s
what worries me.’

‘Maybe he’s
stuck on the tube?’ Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

‘That’s what I
thought. But it’s been two hours, Lizzy.’

‘I’m sure he’s
fine,’ Lizzy offered, lightly touching Emma’s arm.

‘You don’t
think he’s had second thoughts, do you?’ Emma’s hitherto buried
insecurities found a voice. ‘You know I said he’s been acting weird
over the past few weeks. Maybe he’s decided that I’m not what he
wants.’

‘Don’t be
silly. Dan’s a great guy, and he’s crazy about you, Em. Anyone can
see that.’ Now Lizzy squeezed her arm. ‘Men act weird now and again
– it’s genetic. He’s probably just sitting on a park bench
somewhere, feeding the ducks and contemplating his final days of
bachelorhood. Trust me, my brother was the same before his wedding
– had some kind of crisis and thought about travelling around
Australia for a year instead. And this is the guy who can’t stand
insects or heat.’

‘I sound
hysterical, don’t I?’ Emma smiled, taking a nervous sip from her
drink. It wasn’t like her to get worked up – she was usually calm
and controlled. But tonight was different. The thought had been
weighing on her mind for months – whether this wedding was really
the start of something much better, or the point where everything
fell apart at the seams.

Just like last
time.

‘You’re under
a lot of pressure,’ Lizzy said. ‘You’re getting married a week on
Sunday, for heaven’s sake. Plus, you’ve got the biggest audition of
your life coming up next week. Big things are happening, girl!’

Lizzy was
right. An up-coming wedding would be enough to unsettle anyone, but
adding a potentially career-making movie role audition into the
equation really cranked up the tension. Emma was desperate to get
the part in the new British romantic comedy – it would be a major
step up from the daytime soap she’d spent two years on and her
recent appearances in a variety of London stage plays. It was the
break she’d been working so hard for, and had never dared hope one
day might arise.

‘I know it’ll
turn out to be nothing,’ she said, ‘but why disappear tonight, of
all nights?’

‘You want to
go back to the flat, check if everything’s all right?’

‘Would you
mind?’

‘Not at all.’
Lizzy took Emma’s drink off her and handed it to Sarah, another one
of the hen party, who was sporting not just a cowgirl outfit but
also a holster complete with water pistol, that she was using to
fire vodka into the other hens’ drinks. ‘We can leave this lot
here. We’ll catch up with them once we’ve found that fiancé of
yours. Bloody men, eh?’ She wrapped an arm around Emma’s shoulders
and gave her a motherly hug. ‘Always want to be the centre of
attention.’

‘Yeah,’ Emma
said, trying her best to smile. ‘Bloody men.’

***

During the
taxi ride to Marylebone, Emma tried Dan’s mobile another three
times. Each time the phone went straight through to voicemail. She
also called Will, who confirmed that Dan still hadn’t appeared or
answered the intercom.

As the taxi
twisted and turned through the bustling streets of the capital, a
sickening feeling of loneliness swelled inside her, refusing to go
away. ‘Please, God,’ she whispered to herself, resting her forehead
against the taxi window, trying to stop her mind from racing.
‘Please don’t let it happen again.’

2

‘
Still nothing?’ Emma asked, as she climbed out of the taxi
and approached Will.

Will was
sitting on the apartment block steps with his arms folded. He was
wearing black Calvin Klein trousers and a bright, white shirt that
contrasted dramatically with his thick, dark hair. He shook his
head. Although he was only a few months short of thirty, he looked
like a little boy waiting for Mummy to come home.

‘I’m sure
there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, Em,’ Lizzy said,
joining them as the taxi drove off.

Emma looked up
at the top window of their rented flat, which overlooked Marylebone
High Street. For a second she thought she saw a figure looking back
at her, but decided it was just a trick of the light. She’d calmed
down a lot during the taxi ride – the circular breathing taught to
her by her karate instructor when she was a youngster had helped
her refocus away from those overly negative thoughts. Okay, it was
weird, Dan not turning up. But, as Lizzy said, the likeliest thing
was that there would be a perfectly reasonable explanation.

‘She’s right.’
Will got up from the steps and dusted himself down. ‘I was thinking
about it while you were on your way over here. I’m over-reacting.
And if it wasn’t for that bloody intercom security system, I’d have
been able to go up there and check for myself.’

‘Couldn’t you
have sneaked in when someone came out?’ Lizzy suggested.

‘That was the
plan,’ he replied. ‘But no one’s come in or out since I got here.
Bloody annoying. I also pressed all those buttons’ – he pointed at
the intercom on the wall – ‘but nobody answered.’

‘It’s deserted
in there at the moment,’ Emma explained, searching in her bag for
her keys. ‘A lot of people are on holiday, I think – I’ve hardly
seen anyone on the stairs in the last couple of days, and the post
is building up.’

‘Someone’s in
there, though,’ Will countered. ‘You can hear music when you open
the letterbox.’

‘Really?’ Emma
found the keys. ‘We’d better get inside and take a look.’ She
pulled out her keys but as she did so, they slipped from her grasp
and fell into the gutter, narrowly missing a drain.

Will picked
them up. ‘That was lucky. Hey, Em, your hands are shaking – are you
okay?’

‘I’m fine,’
Emma lied, taking the keys. Although mentally she had recovered her
composure, her body was still in overdrive. ‘I’m just a bit on
edge, that’s all.’

‘Come on,’
Lizzy said briskly. ‘Let’s get up there and sort this out. He’s
probably flat out on the bed and has slept through the calls.’

They could
hear the music as soon as they entered the foyer to the building.
It seemed to be coming from one of the upper floors, travelling
down the wooden staircase. Judging from the bass vibration, it
sounded like it was set on maximum.

‘U2, if I’m
not mistaken,’ Will said. ‘Sounds like the band is actually up
there rehearsing.’

‘Dan was
playing that album when I left,’ Emma said, beginning to hurry up
the stairs, with Will and Lizzy following close behind.

She took the
steps two at a time; with each step the swirling music from above
got louder. Something definitely didn’t feel right about this. Her
imaginings flooded back, but now they weren’t about whether Dan had
got cold feet – they were of something more sinister, more tragic.
Maybe Dan had fallen and hit his head, and he’d been lying on the
floor while she’d been out partying?

As she reached
the middle floor, Mr Henderson, her elderly downstairs neighbour,
blocked her path. Judging by his expression, it seemed he had been
waiting for her. ‘What do you think you’re playing at?’ he asked,
poking a wrinkled, liver-spotted finger in Emma’s direction.

‘Excuse me?’
Emma was taken aback by his unusually aggressive tone: normally he
was so placid. He and his wife had been living in the flat below
theirs for over twenty years, and had welcomed them with offers of
help when Dan and Emma had first moved in. Emma hadn’t seen much of
Mrs Henderson in recent months: some time ago, while looking out of
the window, she had seen her being helped into an ambulance, but
she didn’t know what had been wrong and felt it might seem overly
nosey to ask.

‘That music,’
Mr Henderson said angrily, gesturing upstairs. His face was blood
red and his eyes burned in a way that Emma had never seen before.
‘Your boyfriend’s had that on full blast ever since I got back from
the shops. Edna’s trying to get to sleep in here; she’s not well,
you know. She gets distressed easily. She was crying when I got
back home, sitting in the corner of the room, covering her ears.
People think just because you’ve got dementia that you don’t
matter. But she matters to me. I love her.’

Tears welled
up in his eyes as his anger faded. ‘Doctor says she’s dying,’ he
added. ‘Please let her rest. Please get your boyfriend to turn the
music down. He won’t even answer the door for me. I’ve been up
there three times, but it hasn’t done any good.’

Emma looked at
Will and Lizzy, who returned anxious glances.

‘Sorry,’ she
said, feeling desperately bad for the old man but also wanting to
get to the top floor without delay. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said again,
side-stepping him and heading for the next set of stairs, almost
launching herself at the first step.