‘Oh, stop it. I know he doesn’t like to share his toys. I hope you aren’t getting in too deep, though. It won’t last. It never does.’
‘Go away,’ I said, but my resolve was weaker, shot down by his wounding words. I both did and didn’t want to know what he had to say about Jasper’s track record.
‘He’s a collector, love. You know that. And he isn’t about to stop collecting. You’re just another entry on the list.’ He paused for a moment while I tried to ignore all the implications of this statement. Not listening. Don’t want to know. Then he spoke again. ‘Then again, you could just be the last. His style might just be cramped, pretty soon.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Never mind. Look, Sarah, I appreciate your not telling him you’d seen me before. You could have got me in all kinds of trouble. Thanks.’
‘I’ll tell him about this.’
‘Please … why don’t I untie you and you can come with me? You should get away from him. Things are going to get sticky around here and there’s no reason you should be involved.’
‘Tell me what you mean.’
Rustling bracken foretold the reappearance of Jasper.
‘Screw it,’ muttered Will, taking to his heels. ‘Screw you. And him.’
‘Who were you talking to?’
Jasper appeared to my left, a curious, not altogether comfortable, smile on his face.
I took a deep breath.
‘Will.’
‘Will? The groundsman?’
I nodded.
‘Please … could you untie me.’ A sudden gush of tears surprised me.
Jasper leaped up behind me and unknotted the rope, then he stood with his arms around me, tight and encompassing. My sore bottom rubbed against his jeans in a rather wince-inducing manner, but that wasn’t why I was crying.
‘What were you doing with Will?’ he asked, the severity of his tone implying that he had gleaned completely the wrong idea. ‘You know what I said when we got together.’
‘No, not like that,’ I sobbed. ‘You can’t think I’d cheat on you. I never would.’
‘OK, OK.’ He turned me round and let me water his chest, his hands in my hair. ‘I’m sorry. I trust you. What was he doing here?’
‘I don’t know. He … he seems to think something bad’s about to happen. But I don’t know what. He was warning me.’
‘What sort of something bad?’
I shook my head. ‘He seemed to think he could tell me things about you that I wouldn’t like to hear.’
‘But he didn’t say what they were?’
‘No.’
Jasper held me at arm’s length, frowning.
‘Get the camera,’ he said, fishing out his mobile from his pocket and jabbing at it.
I picked up all the equipment and trotted after him, clutching all the cold hardware to my bare chest. Walking wasn’t easy – my legs were stiff, my bum still full of plug – but I barely noticed. I was too interested in Jasper’s phone conversations.
The first one was obviously to Will.