Michelle smiled and bit her lip. She looked sweet and innocent, but I knew her well enough to know that was just an act as well. At least around me it was.
Michelle held my hand as we walked down my drive and then headed to the park nearby. We’d picked a rare night where it was warm enough to walk around without a jacket or jumper even after dark.
Whenever we walked past another couple or someone overtook us on the path, Michelle would clutch my hand a little tighter and move slightly closer to me. Even after eight years, she was still nervous about people coming out of the dark, and I couldn’t blame her. If only I had been with her that night, holding her hand like I was now, I would have been able to stop the attackers before they threw acid at Maisie and Michelle.
Michelle’s nervousness wasn’t entirely unwarranted. Not tonight. Tonight we had company. I’d noticed him as soon as we entered the park. He didn’t even try to be subtle these days. Superintendent Winston had been following us through the park for the last ten minutes.
“Let’s sit down for a bit,” I said, as we finally found an empty bench to sit on. I pulled out my phone and pretended to send a message while using the camera to zoom in and see if Winston was still following. The image quality was pretty bad, but I could make him out a hundred yards back. He’d stopped walking when we sat down and was now just hanging around looking conspicuous. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath.
“Everything okay?” Michelle asked.
Right now I wanted nothing more than to hang out with Michelle, but I couldn’t even do that without Winston getting in the way.
“Winston’s over there,” I said, pointing in his direction. “He’s following us tonight.”
“Why would he be following us? Have you done something wrong?”
“No, nothing like that.” At least, not this time. “He’s had it in for me for a while, but he hasn’t followed me for some time. I guess he’s decided to take a more personal interest in me again. Or maybe he just likes staring at that perfect little arse of yours. Can’t say I blame him.”
“Ew, I really hope not. That guy creeps me out.”
“So he should. Winston can’t be trusted.”
“I’m sure he thinks he’s doing the right thing.”
“No,” I said firmly. “He doesn’t. I can’t prove this, but I’m fairly certain he’s corrupt. Bought and paid for. Listen, if he ever approaches you or Maisie, you must not speak to him. Don’t say a thing.”
“Oliver, you’re kind of scaring me now. What’s going on? If you’ve done something, you can tell me about it.”
“It’s not like that. If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Maisie? I don’t want it getting back to Shaun.”
“As long as it doesn’t put her in any danger, sure.”
“I think Superintendent Winston was involved in the death of Shaun’s dad.”
“Holy shit,” Michelle exclaimed, just as an old couple walked past, causing them to glare at us. “That would explain why Shaun told us he was a bad man the other day at the police station. I thought that was weird.”
“I haven’t told Shaun about Winston, but he might have picked up on some of the details. I’ve been trying to keep it a secret from him, but he’s a bright kid.”
“So what happened?”
“Shaun’s dad was involved in something illegal. I won’t say what, but it wasn’t his fault. Anyway, he decided to go to the police. He told his story to Winston and immediately after he died in a car accident.”
“Oh,” Michelle said, as she looked over towards Winston. “That’s awful, but it could just be a coincidence. If Shaun’s dad had just made a big confession, then it would make sense that he might be a little agitated. That could have caused the accident.”
I shook my head. “It just doesn’t feel right.” I couldn’t tell her why I was so certain the car ‘accident’ wasn’t an accident. Do you know how easy it is sabotage a car so that it breaks down at high speed? Scary stuff.
“Just promise me you won’t talk to him. If he follows you or tries to talk to you, go and speak to Chief Superintendent Hodgson immediately. She’ll look after you.”
Michelle nodded and suggested that maybe it was a good time to go home. I’d probably freaked her out with the talk of Winston, but I had to warn her. Winston disappeared as we walked back towards him the way we had come and I didn’t see him again. He wouldn’t dare come onto my land, but that didn’t entirely calm my nerves.
Why was he back on my case again now? I could understand it when he was following me before. I was involved in the same gambling ring as Gary had been, so it made sense that he would have picked up my trail back then. But what about now?
I still thought Winston was involved with Carl. Maybe Carl had paid him to keep the police off his back. Not that it did Carl much good; he was locked up now and would be for some time. The accident that killed Shaun’s dad happened just hours after Gary confessed to Winston. What if Winston had called Carl to tell him what Gary did? I knew I sounded paranoid, but that explanation made as much sense as any other.
We made a suitable amount of noise as we walked in so as not to sneak up on the young couple. The two of them were sat apart on the couch when we walked in, but they had the guilty look of two young people who had just moved apart because their parents had come home.
Michelle went and plonked herself straight between the middle of them and asked what they were up to.
“Just streaming some shows on Netflix,” Maisie replied casually.
We sat there and watched television with them, but the show was mind numbingly tedious and I soon started yawning. Michelle did little better at hiding her disinterest, so after half an hour she told Maisie it was time to leave and I called my driver.
I hated this part of the evening. I understood why Michelle didn’t think it appropriate to stay over and leave Maisie alone in a hotel, but it was frustrating as hell. The whole point of telling Maisie and Shaun about our relationship had been to avoid the need to sneak around, but we still had to disappear during the day while Maisie and Shaun were training.
My house was huge, but I’d never seen the need for more than two bedrooms. As a result, all the rooms had been converted into recreation rooms and places to hang out. Maisie could sleep on the sofa a few nights, but she couldn’t do that all summer. Not when she needed all her energy for rugby training.
“Isn’t it silly to go back to the hotel?” Maisie asked. “You clearly would rather stay here and I can crash on the couch.”
“You need a good night’s sleep on a proper bed,” Michelle explained. “Anyway, you shouldn’t be staying over with someone you’re dating at your age.”
Maisie rolled her eyes. “You were both gone for over an hour. We could have done so much sex in that time.”
“Come on,” Michelle said. “Let’s get a move on.”
Shaun and Maisie walked to the door, not quite holding hands, but certainly standing closer than they usually did. I tugged Michelle back gently to give the two young lovebirds a chance to say goodbye.
“Don’t watch them,” I said. “Why don’t you say a proper goodbye to me instead?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to feel neglected.” Michelle wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me softly on the lips. I briefly forgot how close we were to the kids when my hand reached down and firmly squeezed her ass. She must have forgotten as well, because she didn’t bat my hand away.
This couldn’t go on all summer. Hooking up for a few hours of sex each afternoon was nowhere near enough for me. It always felt like we’d barely gotten started when we had to stop again.
Suddenly Shaun came running past me saying, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” before flying up the stairs. Michelle frowned and we both looked round the corner to see Maisie standing there in tears, before she fled outside to the waiting car.