I held my breath. With the lightest of touches, I used my index finger to trace his unlock pattern: a ‘J’.

‘J’ for Jennifer, maybe?

The display shook from side to side, the words ‘NO MATCH’ appearing. I tried again. NO MATCH.

Shit.

He had changed it, probably after our row yesterday. Telling him about the messages had been stupid, I realised – I had tipped him off and now there was no way I could guess the new pattern. No way. There would be thousands of different combinations – or he could have changed it to a four-digit pin.

Unless . . . unless it wasn’t either of those. Perhaps he’d changed it to something quick and altogether more personal than a pattern or a number. Something unique that I couldn’t get past again. Why not? It was worth a try. I picked his phone up off the sunlounger, heart thudding in my chest.

His right hand was hanging over the edge of the lounger. Gently, oh so gently, I touched the mobile’s home button to his thumb.

The phone recognised his thumbprint instantly and came to life.

Chapter 43

43

With the phone unlocked, I quickly selected the little blue-and-white Messenger icon. The menu screen came up, with a list of conversations:

CoralGirl

Kate

Paul

Brendan

Ma

Footie boys

Cross Keys

There she was. Right there at the top, the most recent conversation: CoralGirl.

With a quick glance at Sean – who still seemed to be asleep – I selected the conversation with CoralGirl, seeing the same string of messages I had found five days ago.

Can’t stop thinking about what you said

I meant every word

Bile burned in my throat, as if I might be sick.

What did I do now? You weren’t imagining it before. His affair is still going on and it seems it’s been Jennifer all along. She’s CoralGirl.

But how could I be sure?

Sean’s head turned slightly towards me but his chest continued to rise and fall, rise and fall, in its steady rhythm. He was still dozing.

Now I had found the messages, I realised I wasn’t sure what to do next. Take a screenshot and send to my phone? Wake him up and confront him? Hold the phone up in front of his face and tell him to explain it?

How do you explain this, Sean? Who is she? What does she give you that I can’t?

Was I ready to take that step? Cross a line that I had never wanted to cross?

Maybe soon. But not yet.

I had a better idea.

In the text box I typed a new message:

Need to talk to you URGENTLY. Meet me in clearing at top of gorge in 15 minutes

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of movement as Daniel launched himself into the pool, cannonball-style. A splash of water landed on Sean’s foot.