Page 41 of The Secret
“Would you have a forwarding address or anything for him? Perhaps a home address?”
“Yes, we usually do,” she says, and my heart leaps as she clicks through tabs on the screen.
“Hmm, that’s interesting.” She pauses, eyes narrowed.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got no other address for him on here … Oh, you’re in luck. I’ve got an email and a telephone number.”
A small part of me dies as I lean forward and examine her computer, pulling out my phone to compare the details. Damn. They’re the same ones I’ve already got.
“I’m sure if you email, he’ll respond …” she starts to say, but I shake my head.
“The emails started bouncing back around three days ago saying it was no longer a valid address,” I say, blowing out a long breath. “There’s nothing else on his record?”
She flicks through screens, but it’s all stuff about his PhD. Surely, this can’t be a dead end? I was so convinced this would lead me to Dan. Surely, surely, there must besomeway, some other information on him.
“Why wouldn’t you have a home address?” I ask, hand fluttering as I place it on the desk.
He told me once his mother had died, but nothing about where he grew up. Despite the heat of the day, I feel cold all over. I press my hand to my chest. Where is home for him? He never mentioned his father, never even alluded to him, and we hadfour, five monthstogether.
Jaya sighs, eyeing the screen and clicking through the records.
“It’s unusual, but not unknown. Sometimes we find out the information is wrong and we take it off their record, but don’t have an alternative to put in.”
I sigh. What else can I do? “Do you have his bank account details, for paying rent?”
She eyes me dubiously. “Well, it’s possible, but finance isn’t my responsibility. I couldn’t access that part of the system, and to be honest the university couldn’t give you those details. Someone would be fired.”
I smooth down the cotton of my pants. “Could I at least talk to somebody in finance?”
She purses her lips, sympathy morphing into a frown.
“I’m really worried about him,” I mumble at her, feeling my throat tighten as disappointment begins to bite. “I keep thinking of him lying in a ditch somewhere. This wasn’t some flash-in-the-pan affair and I’m not some obsessed woman, I swear. It’s so odd he’s disappeared like this. He’s not that kind of guy.” I blink off toward the corridor out the door, swallowing as tears gather in my eyes. “He said he’d always be waiting for me.” The confession slips out in a faint whisper.
Her whole face changes, and she presses her hand to her chest, before patting my hand and picking up the phone, holding up a hand. I can hear it ringing as she holds the receiver to her ear.
“Lucinda, I’ve got this American woman with me …” she starts. There follows a long detailed explanation of my story with lots of “uh-huhs” and “I knows” and a “yeah, terrible right.” She twirls the phone cord around her index finger. “He said he’d be waiting for her, Luce.” And a raised voice echoes down the line.
She grins, placing her hand over the mouthpiece. “She’s going to have a look.”
“Thank you so much,” I gulp out. “This is so kind of you.”
She shakes her head at me. “I’m worried about him too now,” she murmurs.
Her mouth goes back to the phone. “Yeah?” She raises her eyebrows. “What’s the name of the company?” She scribbles something down on a pad. “Spell it for me? Okay, uh-huh, un hunh. I get you. Thanks, doll. We need to do another Tuesday-night cocktails.”
The chat on the other end of the call sounds like distant squawking, and Jaya laughs. “I hear you. Thanks, hon.” She hangs up and purses her lips.
“I’m not sure this is going to be much help,” she says, and my stomach sinks. “All she could tell me was the rent was paid by a business. She gave me the name of it, but that’s all she had.”
And the piece of paper she’s turned toward me reads “HORIZON HOLDINGS” in neat block capitals.
It might be a small something, but it’s something. This company was paying his rent, ergo he must havesomelink with them.
“What do you think would be the best way to find out about this company? Would there be some sort of register?”
“Yeah, sure. If it’s a limited company, it’ll be registered. The library has an online database.”
