Catch Your Death. Mark Edwards
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knew he couldn’t really be Stephen, he didn’t only look like her long lost boyfriend – he sounded the same too. His voice was identical: well-spoken English, a soft voice, intelligent. Sexy.
She realised that Jack was looking up at her with wide eyes, scared of the strange man. She put her hand on Jack’s head and smiled. The man must have seen the boy’s fear too. He winked at him.
‘I’m really sorry,’ Kate said, in a rush. ‘I’ve made a stupid mistake. You look exactly like someone I used to know, this guy I used to be close to, and I had to try and find out if you . . . it’s stupid because . . .’
‘He’s dead.’
She stopped her babble and stared at him.
‘I assume you’re talking about Stephen Wilson?’
She nodded dumbly.
The man smiled with one corner of his mouth. ‘He was my brother.’
Ania, the hotel babysitter, was well-used to neurotic parents who felt pinned between anxiety and eagerness – the eagerness to get out and see the city, not spend their vacation tied down by the kids. But this woman, with her little boy, seemed more worried than average. Her voice trembled as she spoke and she dropped her handbag on her way to the door. Her purse, her keycard and tissues all tumbled onto the carpet and she bent quickly to scoop them up. Highly-strung. Or up to something. She had that air about her. She was doing something that made her ill at ease; something secret.
If she had to bet on it, Ania would wager that it involved a man.
The boy, on the other hand, was relaxed, leaning back in his chair clutching a toy robot to his chest, his free hand expertly handling the remote control, flicking from cartoon to pop video to wildlife programme. He giggled at the sight of meerkats playing on screen. Perhaps he didn’t realise that his mother was about to go out. Or perhaps he was secure enough in her love to know that she’d be coming back – it was the ones who were insecure who usually freaked out the most.
Ania finally managed to get the nervous woman out into the corridor. The boy had an American accent but the mother was English. It was intriguing. Where was the father? Not that Ania was really all that interested. As long as she got paid, who cared? She liked the boy, though. He seemed like a nice kid.
The woman said, ‘Here’s my mobile number, and the name and number of the restaurant, just in case. I’m Kate, by the way. And you’ve already met Jack.’
‘Okay.’
‘Bye Jack, sweetie,’ she called. ‘See you later.’
‘Bye.’ He didn’t look up. The meerkats were more interesting. Ania was relieved – no tantrums to deal with. Good. She felt a sudden tickle in her nose, and sneezed.
Kate turned back. ‘Have you got a cold?’
She shook her head. ‘Maybe I am getting one.’
‘Hmm. Well, it depends if your body has encountered this virus before. If so, your antibodies will fight off the cold and it’ll go away.’
Ania nodded, not knowing what to say. She was pleased when the anxious mother finally left.
Kate emerged from the tube station and checked her watch. As so often happened, she had rushed out in a hurry and arrived early. Vernon was always going on about her obsessive need to be punctual and reliable. In the early days, he found it endearing; a positive character trait. Later, it became another sign of her uptightness.
She walked up Charing Cross Road and stopped outside a bookshop full of medical and scientific books. She recognised some of them. There was a famous book called The Plague on the Horizon, which contained several quotes from Kate. She had a signed copy back in Boston. The author had interviewed Kate because of her involvement in the investigation of the West Nile Virus, a potentially lethal illness that had first been seen in the US, in New York, in 1999. WNV, as virologists called it, caused muscle weakness and confusion in some people, and could lead to meningitis, paralysis and death in others. It was a particularly interesting virus (and when Kate said this to non-scientists they would raise their eyebrows, wondering how anyone could find such a horrible thing so interesting) because of the way it was transmitted. Mosquitoes became infected after feeding on virus-carrying birds, such as crows. One of those mosquitoes could then infect a human. Kate’s team were trying to develop a vaccine for WNV. So far, they had not been successful.
Kate caught sight of her reflection in the dark glass. Her face was pale, her eyes wide. She hadn’t been able to decide whether or not to wear make-up. This certainly wasn’t a date, but sometimes make-up made her feel more confident, less exposed to the world, so she’d put on a slick of lip-gloss, a touch of mascara. Still, she wasn’t looking her best. A large part of her wanted to be locked up safely behind the door of her hotel room with the TV on and Jack beside her. She hoped he’d be okay. That babysitter had seemed capable enough, but – she let her imagination reach out – what if she was a child-killer, a front for an international child-slave racket, or just plain irresponsible?
She castigated herself. Don’t be ridiculous, Kate. Relax. It’s a reputable chain hotel, the woman had references.
She pushed her hair behind her ears and stood up straight. All you’re doing, she reminded herself, is meeting the brother of an old boyfriend.
His name was Paul.
‘We were twins,’ he had said, a second after they’d met in the street and he had told her he was Stephen’s brother. Stephen had never mentioned he had a twin, which seemed very odd in retrospect. Maybe he did tell her, but she’d forgotten. So much of that summer was obscured behind thick fog. When she tried to remember those days, it was like trying to read a road sign without her contact lenses in. No matter how hard she strained, she couldn’t make out the details through the haze and, in the end, the effort became painful and she gave up.
When she played back that meeting with Paul in her mind, it made her cringe. She had felt so awkward, standing there with Jack, having to talk loudly over the roar of the London traffic. Paul seemed uneasy too. She couldn’t blame him – being confronted by a woman who is staring at you like you’re a phantom would do that to anyone.
‘How did you know Stephen?’ he had asked.
Kate had been aware of Jack looking up at her. Part of her wanted to turn and run. But she was hypnotised by the face of this stranger who looked so much like the man she’d loved long ago. Alongside unease, his face showed kindness, just as Stephen’s had. She had the sudden urge to launch herself at him, wrap her arms around him and kiss him. For years she had dreamt of a moment like this – of bumping into Stephen and him telling her, ‘It was all a mistake. Reports of my demise were exaggerated.’ And they’d embrace, and the years would disappear.
Except this wasn’t Stephen.
‘We were friends,’ she said.
‘At university?’
She almost told a second lie, but said, ‘No. I met him at the Cold Research Unit in Salisbury.’
‘Oh.’
She said, ‘I was there.’
He spoke softly. ‘There . . . when he . . .?’
‘Yes.’
Jack had spoken up then. ‘Mummy, what are you talking about? Billy’s bored. And he needs to pee.’
Jack’s words broke the tension and the adults laughed.
Kate said, ‘Look, I’m really sorry. I don’t normally follow strangers through the streets.’
Paul smiled. ‘It’s okay. It’s understandable.’
‘Maybe. But I’d better go and get Billy and his master back to the hotel.’
‘Hotel? You