by Rennie Airth
What she hadn’t said – and felt guilty over – was that she didn’t want Molly deciding once they got there that she might just as well stay and have a drink with them. Addy wanted Mike to herself.
Walking up the snow-covered sidewalk towards Sloane Square, looking for the street where the pub he’d suggested was located, she’d wondered how the evening would play out. Would he make a pass at her? And did it matter that he was so much older. What did a guy like that see in a girl her age? Apart from the obvious, of course, but maybe that was it – the obvious – and why did she have to complicate everything by picking it to pieces? Come to think of it, couldn’t she have worn something a little sexier under her coat than jeans and a sweater? If life was some sort of race, then she was falling behind. Addy was convinced of it. Two! Wasn’t it about time she hit three? And didn’t they say you could learn a lot from older guys?
It hadn’t taken long for her to get the answers to these questions and she was still kicking herself as a result: her and her big mouth. Mike had been waiting when she got to the pub, and it gave her a lift to see him sitting at a table in the corner checking his phone. There was something about him – poise, she decided. He was one cool commodity broker, but tough looking at the same time. You could see it in his face, and that scar on his temple only served to underline the impression. It didn’t do any harm either that he was also the best-looking guy in the room, or so Addy told herself as she made her way through the noisy crowd of drinkers to where he was sitting. He had surprised her by getting to his feet. Men didn’t do that any more.
‘Addy …’ He pulled up a chair for her.
So how had she handled things? Flirted a little maybe? Given him the kind of come-on that suggested she was just waiting for him to make his move? She was an actor after all. She knew how to play a part. Had she handed him his cue?
Not even close: the fact was she’d blown it. Dived straight in and given him a breathtaking account of last night; told him about the man she’d thought was a woman breaking into her aunt’s house and smacking her around, dragging her up the stairs, the cops, everything.
And, of course, he’d reacted. Who wouldn’t?
‘Were you hurt? Have they caught the man? Addy, this is terrible.’
He’d been the very soul of concern. You would have thought he was her big brother. No, worse than that: her fucking father. He’d told her he had a daughter her age in her sophomore year at Bryn Mawr, and if anything like what had happened to Addy had happened to her … And then he’d patted her hand.
Actually patted it.
And he hadn’t quit there. Before she could stop him he’d begun telling her his problems … the ex-wife he was still scrapping with who tried to keep them apart, him and his daughter. Would Addy like to see a picture of this lovely child of his? Would she hell.
‘Look, we’ll have to make this brief, Mike. I’ve got to go and pick up my bags from my aunt’s house. I’m staying with this friend until Rose gets back from Paris, or wherever she is.’
It had been a ploy to get away from him, to put an end to the evening. She hadn’t really intended going back to Rutland Mews, not till tomorrow, and she wasn’t planning to collect her bags, just get a few things out of them that she needed. She was sure Rose would turn up sooner or later and she could move back in with her. But Mike wouldn’t hear of it. There was no way he was going to let her go on her own, especially after what had happened to her, and nothing Addy could say would make him change his mind. Besides, he had a car – it belonged to the old roommate who had lent him his flat. He could drive her there and then drop her off later at her friend’s place. Having dug herself into a hole, Addy had been forced to go along with the plan and as soon as they’d finished their drinks they had set off. She’d wondered if he’d be able to find his way to Rutland Mews – whether he knew his way round the city – but it turned out he had satnav in his car and it wasn’t long before they were sitting in the car outside the mews entrance with the engine running.
‘Look, I’ll just slip down to the house and get what I need,’ Addy said. ‘I won’t be long.’
‘There’s no hurry.’ Mike had been looking for a parking space. ‘I’ll find somewhere.’ It was clear he didn’t want to leave her on her own.
‘No, really.’ Addy had settled the question by opening the door and climbing out. ‘I’ll only be a few minutes.’
Leaving him there, she had hurried down the snow-covered cobbles, noting when she got to Rose’s house that the lights were out at Sarah and Bill’s house opposite. She remembered what Sarah had told her – they’d be away for Christmas. Unlocking Rose’s door, she had gone straight upstairs to the guest room where her stuff was and, having emptied one of her two bags, she put the stuff she wanted in it, leaving the rest to lie there on the bed.
Ready to leave now, she paused at the head of the stairs. Better check on Rose’s room first. The cops would have been in there too. Dumping her bag, she went to the door and peered in, switching on the light as she did so. Nothing had changed: nothing was disturbed. The photograph of the two of them still stood where Rose had left it on the bedside table. She was reaching for the light switch when her cell phone rang and she plucked it out of her pocket.
‘Hullo?’
‘Addy?’
‘Rose!’ She couldn’t believe it. ‘Is that you?’
‘Who did you think it was?’ Rose’s laugh didn’t sound right. ‘I just wanted to hear your voice, Bear. Tell me what you’re doing for Christmas. I may have a surprise for you.’
‘Where are you?’ It was all Addy could think of to say. She just knew something was wrong.
‘Here in London … where else?’ Now Rose was trying to sound casual, but Addy wasn’t fooled. ‘We’ve had all this snow. How are things in New York?’
‘New York! Rose, I’m standing in your goddam bedroom. You invited me over, remember?’
There was silence the other end … just the sound of Rose’s breathing. Then a terrible cry.
‘Oh, no!’
The terror in her aunt’s voice was like a blow. Addy was struck dumb. When she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out.
‘What do you mean, I invited you?’
‘I got a letter from you, and an air ticket. People here said you’d gone to Paris for a few days. We thought the snow had stopped you coming back.’
‘What people?’
‘Sarah from across the road, and Molly. She came round to the house, Molly did. That was yesterday. She thought you’d be here.’
‘Oh, Christ!’
Should she tell Rose about the man who’d broken in? Would it make things worse?
‘Tell me where you are.’ She tried again.
But Rose wasn’t listening. ‘So it was you who switched the lights on. Have you been staying here, in the house?’
‘I told you – Molly looked in. When she found you weren’t here she took me off to stay with her. I just came by to …’
‘Listen to me.’ Rose’s voice had risen to a shriek. ‘Do exactly what I say. Turn the lights out, all of them. Wait for me.’
Before Addy could reply, she hung up.
Paralysed, for a moment Addy could only stare at her phone in her hand. Then, springing into action, she flipped the light switch in Rose’s room and then the one in the passage leading to the stairs. The lights in the sitting room downstairs were still on. The switch was by the front door. Stumbling down the stairs, almost tripping on the bag she had left there, she made it in seconds flat. The room was plunged into darkness. Hardly daring to breathe, she waited.
A faint noise reached her ears. It was coming from outside, sounded like running footsteps. Then a key turned in the door which opened and a dark figure slipped inside.
‘Addy?’
‘I’m here …’
Addy found herself caught in a fierce embrace. Rose’s cheek was pressed to hers. She got a whiff of her so-familiar perfume, but only for a second. Then Rose drew
back and Addy caught a glimpse of her aunt’s face in the faint light from the window. Her eyes were wide and staring. This wasn’t the Rose she knew: she looked more like a madwoman.
‘Rose, I …’
‘Not now.’ The words were hissed in her ear. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’
Rose had left the door open. She put her head out, checking the mews, looking first one way, then the other. Addy could feel her heart pounding in her chest. What was this? What was going on, for fuck’s sake?
‘Can’t you tell me anything?’ she whispered.
‘Later.’
Rose stepped outside into the mews. Addy followed. The narrow street was empty, but there were lights on in most of the houses. Rose had already begun walking towards the entrance at the head of the mews and Addy saw she was toting a small travel bag.
‘Where were you?’
‘Across the way.’ She spoke in the same urgent whisper. ‘Sarah and I have keys to each other’s houses. I came here to pick up some things. When I went out I saw you come into the mews. I didn’t know who you were so I went in there and watched. I saw you go into my house, but your back was to me.’
‘But Rose, why?’
Addy broke off. She had just spotted Mike coming through the arched entrance to the mews. He was hurrying towards them, hands buried in his coat pockets. Rose had seen him too and she stopped.
‘Who’s that?’
‘It’s all right,’ Addy assured her. ‘That’s Mike. He brought me here.’
‘Who is he? Where did you meet him?’ The questions were fired at her like bullets.
‘On the plane coming over. We sat next to each other.’
‘On the plane—? Oh, Addy!’ Rose sounded as though she were in pain. She stared at the approaching figure.
‘Rose, please tell me what’s wrong?’
At that moment Addy caught sight of another figure, a man. He had materialized from the shadows at the side of the narrow alley and was following in Mike’s footsteps walking even quicker than he was, covering the ground with long loping strides, his footfalls deadened by the mantle of snow covering the cobbles. Even at a distance and even in the uncertain light coming from the houses on either side, which was the only illumination in the narrow alley, she recognized him. She saw who it was.
‘Look out!’
Her shouted warning brought Mike to an abrupt halt. He was only a few paces away.
‘Behind you!’
He turned, but too late. The bat was on him. They came together face to face, body to body, and as Addy watched in horror she saw Mike suddenly buckle and sink to his knees in the snow. For seconds that seemed to stretch into an age he knelt there, and then slowly fell forward landing face down in the snow.
‘You bastard—!’
Without thinking Addy dropped her bag and ran towards him ignoring Rose’s cry behind her: ‘Stop – come back.’
Before she even reached Mike, however, the bat had a stepped around his body and was facing her. Addy saw he had a knife in his hand, the blade dark with blood. The sight brought her to a halt and they stood facing each other, neither of them moving for an agonizing second or two. Addy could see from the look on his face what he meant to do next, but as he moved towards her, Mike came to life. Still prone, he managed to lash out with his foot, catching the bat on the ankle, making him stumble, and as he turned, knife raised, to stab again, Addy hurled herself at him, grabbing him round the neck with one hand, clawing at his eyes with the other. It was no use. With an abrupt twist of his body he threw her off and without pausing drove his knife straight down into Mike’s back.
Lips drawn back in a snarl, he turned to deal with Addy, who had scrambled to her feet. But before he’d taken a step towards her he was struck from behind and lurched forward, losing his footing in the slippery snow and tumbling to his knees. Addy saw it was Rose who had charged into him. Her face stark white in the snowy light, she kicked him in the back, knocking him flat on his stomach, meanwhile screaming: ‘Run, Addy, run!’
Before Addy had time to react – she wasn’t about to run anywhere, she was going to help Rose – she saw the bat scrabble for the knife that had fallen from his fingers and roll over on to his back. At the same moment Rose flung herself on to him, and like a dreadful scene from a movie – there was no stopping it – Addy saw her aunt land full on the upturned knife.
‘No!’ she screamed.
The two of them lay there unmoving for what seemed an eternity. Then the bat thrust Rose’s body off his and got to his feet. He fixed his gaze on Addy, who had been turned to stone. What he meant to do then she never knew because while all that was happening the mews had burst into life. There was a man standing in an open doorway two houses up. He was shouting.
‘I’m calling the police now, do you hear me?’
He turned and disappeared inside.
Then a second man followed by a woman came running up the mews from beyond Rose’s house. He was wielding what looked like a golf club.
‘You … you!’ he shouted.
The bat hesitated. He had his knife pointed at Addy, but now he was looking over his shoulder at the man who was approaching. Then a woman called from an upper window nearby. ‘I see you, I see you!’ she cried.
The blade of his knife retracted. Addy heard the faint click. Without a word, he turned and ran, heading for the entrance to the mews, long legs pumping, his black coat flapping on either side of his body so that for a moment he looked like he might suddenly take flight, a giant bat. Addy didn’t wait for him to disappear. Before he had reached the entrance to the mews she was down on her knees beside Rose. The snow around her aunt’s body was turning black with the blood that continued to spread. She was moaning faintly.
‘Rose … Rose … can you hear me?’
She was in despair. She didn’t know what to do. Should she try and turn her over? Leave her as she was?
‘Can someone call an ambulance?’ Desperate, she cried out for help.
‘I’ll do that.’ It was the woman who had shouted from the window.
‘Is she badly hurt?’ The man with the golf club had come running up to them. His wife, if that was who she was, knelt in the snow beside Addy.
‘It’s Rose,’ she told the man.
‘What about him?’ His words made Addy look up for a second. The man was pointing at Mike who hadn’t moved from the spot where he lay.
‘Someone bring a towel, please.’ The woman kneeling beside her called out the request. She seemed to know what she was doing. ‘We should turn her over.’
Together they gently rolled Rose on to her back and the woman undid her coat, drawing it back to expose the widening stain in the white cable-knit sweater Rose was wearing, the scene now lit by a flashlight which someone in the small crowd that had gathered around them was holding. A towel was thrust into the woman’s hands. Pulling Rose’s sweater up, exposing the wound beneath, she pressed it to her stomach. ‘We must try and stop the bleeding,’ she said.
‘Oh, Rose!’ Addy had never felt more helpless in her life. As she murmured the words she saw her aunt’s eyelids flutter.
‘Addy … my darling …’
‘Why did you do it, Rose?’ She held the loved head in her lap. ‘Why?’
Rose’s lips moved. Addy bent closer.
‘Don’t … don’t …’ Her panting breath all but drowned the words out.
‘What is it, Rose? What are you saying?’
Somewhere in the night, far away but drawing closer all the time, a siren sounded.
EIGHTEEN
‘Miss Banks … Miss Banks?’
Addy looked up. She’d been sitting there she didn’t know for how long – head bowed, staring at the floor in front of her, her mind a blank. All she could see was Rose’s face and the blood on the snow.
The woman standing in front of her was Asian; she wore a blue hospital smock stretching down to her ankles and a cap of the same colour on her head.
‘My nam
e is Dr Ranjit. You are Mrs Carmody’s niece, yes?’
Addy nodded.
‘I am sorry to have to tell you, but your aunt’s condition is giving us cause for concern.’ Her brown eyes offered sympathy. ‘She lost a lot of blood before they got her to the hospital and we’ve been unable to stop the bleeding. She has internal injuries and we are about to operate on her to try to repair the damage. Unfortunately she is in a very weak state.’
‘Can I talk to her?’ Addy pleaded.
‘I’m afraid not.’ The brown eyes grew sadder. ‘The operation will start in a few minutes. I must get back.’ She hesitated. ‘Even when it’s over your aunt will not be able to speak to you for some time. It might be best if you went home to rest and then returned in the morning.’
Addy shook her head. ‘I’m staying.’
They had given her a room to sit in, glass-walled on one side so that she could see people passing in the corridor outside, doctors and nurses and occasionally a uniformed constable. One of them was sitting in the passage outside the intensive care unit a little further down, which was where Rose would be placed after the surgeons were done with her. There was a desk in the room and Addy was sitting in the chair facing it, but turned round so that she could observe the comings and goings in the passageway outside.
She had wanted to go with the medics after they had loaded Rose into the ambulance at the mews but the older of the pair, the one in charge, had told her it wouldn’t be possible.
‘We’ve tried to stabilize her,’ he said, ‘but she’s very weak and we’ll have to keep working on her in the ambulance. Sorry, luv, but you’ll be in the way.’
They had briefly checked Mike’s body, which lay where he had fallen a few yards away, and after pronouncing him dead had got on with attending to Rose.
‘The police will see to it you get to the hospital,’ the medic had assured Addy before the ambulance took off, siren wailing.
She had stood for a while after that, gazing down at Mike’s body, unsure what it was exactly that she felt. Shock, she supposed. She had never seen a dead person before and it struck her, bizarrely then, that on stage people died all the time and just lay there until it was time to get up and go to the dressing-rooms.