Frozen Grave

Chapter 49

Ellerman was on his way home. He left his date in bed; she was someone he’d met in a bar the night before. He’d already thrown up in the middle of the night. He wasn’t even sure whether they’d had sex or not – all he knew was that it probably wasn’t protected. Now, he couldn’t wait to go – he dressed and got into his car before the sun was up. He had delayed going home since the letter arrived but now was the time to deal with it all. He arrived at eleven. Dee’s green Mini Cooper wasn’t in the driveway; he was relieved. It would give him time to settle in before she got back. He needed a shower and a shave. He was still sweating from the hangover. Sitting in the car, he splashed himself with aftershave and washed down an Alka-Seltzer with some bottled water.

After he got out of the car he stood looking at the garden and the clearing that had been going on and he remembered he hadn’t paid Mike. He can wait. He slammed his door shut and went round to the boot to get his bag out.

Once inside the house, he put his bag down in the hallway and stood listening to the silence in the house. It killed him. It wasn’t peace, it was oppression. It was not a home, it was a fancy obelisk erected to his failings. A white elephant. He picked up his bag and took it into the utility room and put on the first wash. He zipped the bag back up and went into the kitchen. He sat at the kitchen table and opened his laptop, logged on to the home network. He heard the key in the lock.

‘Dee?’

‘Yes.’

He heard her moving around the hallway. She didn’t immediately come in. He closed his laptop.

‘Where have you been?’ He kept his voice light and breezy and completely opposite to the way he felt.

She stood in the doorway.

‘Class.’

‘Oh, yes? Which one?’

‘Spanish.’ She held his gaze; he returned it and then smiled. He surreptitiously wiped the bead of sweat that had formed at his temple.

‘How are things?’

‘Okay.’

She turned and went out into the lounge. He was relieved that she hadn’t mentioned the letter but at the same time he was worried. There was no way he was going to bring it up. If she wanted to bury it under the floorboards, or sweep it under the carpet, then that suited him just fine.

Ellerman moved into his office to work. There were some calls to make regarding the yacht order. By lunchtime he was ready for a break. He’d been feeling better all the time as he forced himself to settle back into the house, to own it. He heard Dee periodically but she was otherwise quiet. He realized, the last time he came home, that she was using Craig’s room as an office. Her whole life seemed to be wrapped up in Craig’s. He looked at the history on the printer. She’d printed out articles about Spanish building companies and about property for sale.

Ellerman walked up the stairs. He found her where he knew he would – in Craig’s room.

‘What are you up to?’ he asked.

She hadn’t glanced his way when he entered the room but her fingers froze on the keyboard. She sat at Craig’s desk, overlooking the front garden.

‘Anything interesting?’

‘My car-maintenance course.’

‘Is it time for lunch?’

‘I don’t want anything. You go ahead.’

‘What is there to eat?’

‘Not a lot.’

‘You know I expect a bit more than that. You could at least have some bread in the house.’

‘I wasn’t expecting you home.’

‘No… well, change of plan.’

‘The letter, you mean. The women, the lies, the money?’ She kept looking down at the garden.

He stood in the doorway. ‘I explained that to you.’

‘No you didn’t. You told me your version of the truth. That’s not the same thing.’

‘It has nothing to do with you, Dee. I will handle it like I always do. Don’t worry, it will all go away soon; it’s all a pack of lies.’ She turned and looked at him with loathing. ‘Okay, I admit to having the odd affair but we don’t have a sex life any more. We hardly even rub shoulders, let alone anything else! I have needs. I am a man, after all.’ She held him with her gaze and he felt her contempt. ‘Bottom line, Dee – everything I do is for you, for us… Every decision I take, it’s for the best for us. I want you to be happy again. I am very close to clinching this yacht deal with the Middle Eastern men. They’ve jerked me around for long enough but they want these boats. Once that happens, I’ll pay off these whingeing women and you and I will relocate. Put everything behind us – start again.’

Downstairs, the house phone started ringing. Dee walked past him into the bedroom to answer it.

‘It’s the bank.’

Ellerman was seething as he took the phone from her. He listened to the bank manager telling him how much trouble he was in, as if he didn’t know. Then he spent twenty minutes pointing out the history that he had with the bank. Pointing out the good times that had once been very good indeed. Where was the loyalty? He concluded by saying that the deal for five yachts was almost in the bag but the manager on the other end of the phone wasn’t interested in promises. By the time Ellerman came off the phone, his face was blanched and he didn’t want to talk to Dee. He went into his office, closed the door, and pulled out the list of women from his laptop bag where he kept it. He sat in his chair and went through them. The bank were about to call in the loans. If they did that then Mermaid Yachts would go bankrupt and be forced to close. All he needed was to hang on for the deal with the Arabs. If they smelt an opportunity to pick up the yachts at cost price they would take it. He had to keep up the appearance that he was a buoyant moneymaking company director.

He felt his stomach start churning again. He rested his head back on the chair and took some deep breaths. The bile was rising in his mouth. He was forced to keep swallowing, breathing deeply to try to stave off the nausea.

He called out to Dee in the other room: ‘You know if I go down – you do too. We are a fine fucking pair, we two. I may have conned women out of money, Dee, but you were always the reason in my mind. If I am to blame so are you. You have persecuted me ever since Craig died in the accident. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you, to make amends. All I’ve ever wanted was to make you happy. This house, this precious shrine to Craig, all goes if I go under and then reality hits. You have to face things, just like me. You can’t keep blaming me, Dee. Are you listening?’ He heard nothing but silence but he knew she’d heard.