Page 68 of The Soulmate

I waited a few minutes then I got out his boss’s business card. I’d thought many times about calling him. I’d had the card for years now. Sometimes I got it out and just looked at it. In the past I’d worried that by calling I might get Gabe into trouble. But his behaviour at home had been so erratic, it felt likely that he’d been the same at work. I reasoned that if his boss knew he was unwell, he might be more forgiving of Gabe’s behaviour. More than that, I hoped that his boss might be able to convince him to seek help when I couldn’t.

‘Max? It’s Pippa Gerard. Gabriel Gerard’s wife.’

I was worried he wouldn’t remember me, but he did.

‘Where is he now?’ Max asked when I told him briefly what was going on.

‘He said he was going to the office. Who knows if he is?’

‘Why don’t we start there?’

There was something about the word ‘we’ that undid me. I agreed to meet Max at the office and called Mum to come and look after the girls.

She came straight over. I didn’t give her much by way of explanation, and she didn’t ask, which proved that she had a much better understanding of our situation than I’d realised. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. Mum was a nurse. She’d been there for the ADHD diagnosis, the surprise grandchild. Of course, she’d notice the erratic behaviour!

And so I drove to the NewZ headquarters.

But Gabe never showed up.

65

PIPPA

NOW

‘Gabe? Can you give me a hand with the shopping bags in the car?’

We’re in the kitchen, and I’ve just set two bags on the counter. The girls are in the living room, playing with Lego, but they’re being unusually quiet, and after Asha’s recent comments we can’t be too careful of little ears.

‘Sure.’

Gabe follows me back to the car. I wait until we’re in the garage, standing in front of the open boot, before I say, ‘A man approached me in the supermarket car park.’

The colour drains from Gabe’s face. ‘What?’

‘I was putting the bags in the car, and he came up and insisted on helping. He was enormous. Clearly some kind of thug. He had a tattoo on his neck.’

Gabe frowned. ‘What kind of tattoo?’

‘A snake. Why? What difference does that make?’

He shakes his head. ‘What did he say?’

I stare at him for a second. ‘When he’d put all the grocery bags in the boot, he gave me my handbag and told me he needed to return it because it’s important to return things to their rightful owner.’

Gabe closes his eyes.

‘Then’ – I clear my throat, which is suddenly dry – ‘he said something about strawberries being Asha’s favourite.’

‘Fuck,’ Gabe says.

‘I’m worried that he’ll send that man to our house. What if the girls are here? You need to call Max, Gabe. Tell him we don’t have the USB.’

He hesitates. ‘I’m not sure that’s the right move.’

‘The right move,’ I say, my voice rising, ‘is whatever protects our children from danger, Gabe!’

‘All right,’ he says. ‘I’ll take care of it.’