Rohan put his phone on the counter as Emma walked into the kitchen and clicked her tongue to Farrell. “School time,” she called to him and he rushed towards her, his tail wagging furiously. Rohan bit his lip and stared at her, his eyes unseeing.
“I’m leaving now. I don’t know how long this will take. Emma, I need to be straight with you about some stuff, so just listen. It might not go well for me and I can’t back out now. Hack is missing and I don’t have the information I need to stay safe. If anything should happen to me, all this,” he waved his hand around to indicate the house, “it’s all yours. My will is with a solicitor in town and his name’s on the computer under a file called ‘Emma.’ You remember the password for the computer don’t you? I wanted you to sign stuff the other night but...”
“Rohan, you’re scaring me! I don’t understand any of this. You crunch numbers so how is this relevant and who or what the hell is Hack?”
“I need you to be scared, Em! It’s important. Don’t talk to anyone you don’t know, ok? None of the guys I work with know where I live. I’ve registered everything at a dummy address. But they can find me easily if they want to, so until I find out what’s going on, be careful, dorogaya.”
An image of Christopher’s handsome face halted Emma’s denials and she blushed a deep red. Rohan was all over her guilt in seconds. “What is it?”
Emma gulped. “A man called Christopher came looking for you a few days ago. He was waiting outside. I let him in for a coffee because it was cold...”
“Shit!” Rohan’s hands clamped around her upper arms with painful force. “What did he say? What did he look like?”
“He said he was waiting for you and we chatted a bit. He was tall and dark with brown eyes.” Emma paused, terrified by the intensity in Rohan’s face. “He was from Belfast and spoke with a strong Irish accent...what?”
Rohan dropped her arms and took a step back. “Are you serious?”
Emma’s jaw dropped like a goldfish and she gaped unattractively. “Er...yes and the other thing is...”
“He was Irish?” Rohan interrupted her, fixating on Christopher’s nationality.
“Yes and...”
“Definitely from Belfast? He didn’t say he was from Ballysillan?”
“No! Belfast. But the thing is...”
“Ok, right. Keep the dog with you at night, Em. Take him upstairs with you and stay with Nicky. Don’t separate. Take your mobile phone and keep it charged at all times. Don’t mess around if you feel unsafe, just dial the police and tell them it’s an emergency.”
“But the guy outside, was his name not Christopher then?” Emma’s shoulders slumped as foolishness overcame her. “Did he lie about that too?”
Rohan shrugged. “How would I know? I never knew his real name. Guy’s a computer genius called Hack. I didn’t need to know his real name. He was my back up and he went missing a week ago.”
“He’s Hack?” Emma’s voice sounded small and frightened, even to herself. This was way bigger than a deviant trying to rape her with strangers. He wouldn’t have needed to hurt her if it was just him. Emma felt a flush of shame at the knowledge she would have given herself to him willingly, in exchange for a night of freedom. “I don’t understand.”
“I know, devotchka. Come here.” Rohan’s arms were strong around Emma and she pressed herself into his chest, smelling his clean linen scent and the aftershave he always favoured. She sighed, all enmity forgotten as she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.
“Please don’t go, Ro. Please don’t leave me? I’ll behave, I’ll do whatever you want but don’t go?”
Rohan closed his eyes and exhaled. “I should have seen this coming but I didn’t. I got distracted by my personal life and I’ve walked into something really bad.”
“I know about you and Felicity getting married and...”
Rohan placed his finger over Emma’s pink lips. “I’m not marrying Felicity, sweetheart. I’ve told her that a million times. We started as friends and it led to more on her side. I don’t fancy her and I’m really not interested. She’s going to a lot of effort to force me down a road I don’t want to go with her and I’ll put her straight as soon as I get back. But I need to go now. The car’s on its way. I’ll leave you the Mercedes. The key to the back gate is in the glove box. Don’t park there in the dark because you have to get out and unlock the gate. It’s unlit down there and overgrown. Park on the street if it’s dark. Don’t walk to school anymore, Em. Use the car.”
Rohan’s lips pressed down on Emma’s with a naked hunger and his eyes were pained. They were both consumed by a bitter memory. Rohan’s army uniform cut through the years as Emma cried in his arms and bewailed his desertion of their fledgling marriage, to go to a war which had nothing to do with either of them. “Be here when I get back this time?” Rohan’s words shocked her back into the present and Emma inhaled and let out a sob of misery.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, tears springing from her brown eyes. “I’m so sorry, Ro. I loved you so much. I couldn’t tell you, I needed you and...”
“Sshhh.” His arms made Emma feel secure and she cried loudly into Rohan’s shirt. “I know, devotchka. I know.”
“I was pregnant with your son,” Emma gulped, sobbing and hiccoughing in misery. “I was so scared.”
“Dorogaya, I know. Do you think my heart didn’t recognise my own son? I know. Ya lyublyu tebya, I love you, Em, I love you.”
Rohan smoothed his fingers across Emma’s wet cheek and kissed her there. “I’ve been paid a lot of money to eliminate a risk, sweetheart. I can’t back out now, it’s not how it’s done. But when I get home, we’ll sit and talk. Really talk. I’ll tell you what I do for a living and we’ll tell Nicky I’m his father; together, you and me telling him together.”
A loud hammering came on the door and Emma caught at Rohan’s clothing as he gave her one last kiss and reached down for his bag by the door. “There’s a thousand pounds cash in the safe under the stairs,” he said over his shoulder, heels clicking monotonously against the wooden floor in the huge hallway. “I showed Nicky how to get into it last night, just in case we didn’t have time. Take care, Emma. Be here when I get back. Promise?”
“Promise,” she said, her brown eyes terrified and sincere.
Then Rohan was gone, closing the front door behind him with a dull click.