Till Death Do Us Part

by Stephen Edger

  Alice still felt like she might be sick, but having eaten nothing since lunch, there would be little to come up.

  ‘It looks like she’s out for the night,’ Hazelton added, keeping her voice low. ‘I’ll go and speak to the SIO for her case before I return to Bournemouth. Can I give you a lift home?’

  ‘Thanks, but Ben’s here. He’ll drive me.’

  Hazelton nodded and departed the room, whispering something to the two officers still stationed outside the private room. Inevitably, Faye would be moved out of the Emergency Department at some point, but Alice was determined to stay by her side wherever they moved her to. She wouldn’t sit back idly any longer.

  FORTY-SIX

  Alice’s eyes shot open as the arm that had been propping up her head slipped off the armrest and jolted her awake. The room was still dark, the slat blinds doing a good job of blocking out the morning light. It took her a moment to realize where she was, and why the room looked so unfamiliar. Faye stirred in the hospital bed ahead of her.

  ‘Alice? Is that you?’

  Alice stood and stretched, unable to supress a huge yawn. ‘Morning.’

  ‘What time is it?’

  Alice reached for her phone and checked the display. ‘Nearly eight. How are you feeling?’

  There was no response, but Alice heard her whimpering a moment later.

  ‘Shall I see if I can find us a cup of tea?’ Alice asked, but Faye didn’t reply.

  Opening the door, Alice stepped out into the brightly lit ward. Faye had been moved up here sometime after midnight – still sedated, which had probably been for the best. Had she seen the two uniformed officers who’d insisted on escorting her up she would have been even more fearful of her future.

  There was only one officer stationed in the chair outside the room now. He shuddered as her attempts to remain quiet awoke him.

  ‘Sorry,’ she whispered with a nervous smile. ‘I was just going to get us a tea. Do you want anything?’

  She regretted the question instantly. Who did she think she was speaking to? She didn’t even know this man’s name, yet she was offering him a drink like he was an old family friend. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice, smiling back and shaking his head as he stifled a yawn. He didn’t look like either of the two who’d been here when they’d come up, but their faces were a bit of a memory blur now. Maybe he was one of them, or maybe he looked nothing like them. She had no idea.

  Excusing herself, Alice made her way along the corridor, hunting left and right for anything resembling a drinks machine. There was a great deal of chatter as nurses dispensed medication and breakfast, moving from room to room efficiently.

  ‘Tea?’ Alice asked when one looked at her suspiciously.

  ‘You have to go down to the main entrance. There are a couple of coffee shops there or the hospital restaurant is one level below ground.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Alice interrupted as the nurse was about to return to her duties, ‘do you know what time the doctor will be doing the rounds? I’m just wondering when my friend will be released.’

  The nurse sighed, clearly torn between wanting to finish her task and being helpful. ‘Who’s your friend?’

  ‘Faye Baxter? She’s the one with the police officer outside the door.’

  The nurse’s eyes widened – she clearly knew who Alice was talking about.

  ‘The morning rounds should start at nine, but it all depends which ward the duty doctor visits first. Rounds are finished by eleven, so sometime between then.’

  Alice thanked her and made her way out to the lifts, but decided to use the stairs down to the ground level instead. The chair had done little to aid restful sleep, and a burst of exercise was what she needed to kick-start her brain and energy levels.

  Alice drained the last of her tea as the nurse finished checking Faye’s readings: blood pressure, pulse, vision.

  ‘Do you still feel off balance?’ the nurse asked.

  Faye shook her head.

  ‘Good, then the concussion is probably passing. How many fingers am I holding up?’

  ‘Three.’

  The nurse checked the plaster wasn’t too tight before jotting her notes on Faye’s record documents and leaving the room.

  ‘Would you help me get dressed?’ Faye asked Alice when they were alone.

  Ben had agreed to collect some clothing for Faye when he’d left the hospital, and had dropped it back before heading home. He’d offered to spend the night at the hospital with Alice, but the room wasn’t big enough for them and Faye. He hadn’t complained when she’d told him she wanted to stay the night, and he’d told her to phone as soon as she needed collecting.

  Alice untied the hospital gown and helped Faye slip it down and over the plaster cast, then pulled the bra strap over in its place and fastened it at the back. As she then reached for the carrier bag of clothes, Faye grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

  ‘I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.’ Her eyes watered. ‘Anyone else would have run for the hills when they found out what I did to Johnny. I really appreciate you staying with me overnight.’

  Alice choked down her own emotion and scraped as big a reassuring smile as she could muster. ‘Everything will be okay. I spoke to DC Hazelton and she understands what has happened and that you’re just as much a victim in this – if not more so – than Johnny, and she was going to try and speak to the lead detective on your behalf. I’m sure once you explain what he was like, they’ll see you had no choice but to defend yourself.’

  Faye suddenly pulled Alice in to an embrace, wrapping her arms around her neck. ‘How do I tell Isabella that I killed her dad? She’ll never forgive me.’

  In that moment Alice suddenly realized why Faye had been so upset since she’d arrived. Yes, some of those tears were for a man she’d once loved, but the majority were for a daughter who had lost her hero.

  Alice broke free of her grip, the skin beneath her eyes wet, fixing her stare on Faye. ‘You listen to me, Faye Baxter. You are one of the strongest women I know. You are a role model to Isabella and she will learn that you are not responsible for what happened to her dad. You cannot blame yourself for his drunken and abusive behaviour. Right now, she doesn’t need to know how he died. There will be time for that when she’s older. Right now you need to remain strong for her. You’re two parents now, and I will not allow you to jeopardize that.’

  The women embraced again, both giving in to their emotions, and both realizing that once the moment was gone, their public displays of emotion would be no more.

  DC Hazelton arrived at half past ten and led in the young male officer who Alice had spoken with earlier.

  ‘The doctor has cleared you to leave,’ Hazelton said calmly, her glance flitting between Faye and Alice. ‘As I explained earlier, we need to bring you in to discuss what happened yesterday and matters leading up to that event. Okay? The SIO has agreed to me sitting in on the interview with you. Okay? The best thing you can do is to be honest.’

  ‘Am I all right to come in with her?’ Alice asked, but Faye reached for her arm.

  ‘I don’t want you to come in with me,’ she said quietly.

  Alice frowned in confusion. ‘It’s okay, Faye. I really don’t mind. I want to be there for you.’

  Faye forced a smile, but kept her tears in check. ‘I know you do, but I’ll be okay. There’s something more important I need you to do for me. My mum is watching Isabella, but she’ll need help. Can you look after Isabella for me until all this is … resolved?’

  ‘Of course I can, but I don’t think you should be at the police station unaccompanied.’

  ‘I have nothing to hide. That little girl is my whole world, and she’ll be confused about what’s happening. I want to be the one to tell her about her dad, but she needs a familiar face to tell her it will all be okay. Can you do that for me, Alice? You’re her godmother, and I’d feel a lot happier knowing that she’s with you.’

  Faye didn’t wait for
a response, giving Alice’s arm a final squeeze before heading over to Hazelton and holding her wrists forward.

  ‘I don’t think there’s any need for cuffs,’ Hazelton said. ‘It looks like your wrist is in enough trouble without us adding to it.’

  Alice watched them leave. As soon as the door closed, she dropped to her knees and let the emotion flow through her.

  FORTY-SEVEN

  Alice picked at the pastry of the croissant on her plate, not really wanting it, but knowing she should eat something. She checked her phone’s display again. Ben wouldn’t be much longer. Once she’d composed herself after Faye’s arrest, she’d called and asked him to collect her.

  Last night’s events had certainly put things in perspective. She’d never wanted to see and hold Ben as much as she did right now. She just wanted to put her hands on his cheeks and kiss him like it was the last time. Too often, couples take one another for granted. We all have an end, but when you’re in a relationship it’s easy to ignore that ticking clock.

  Alice vowed she’d never allow herself to take Ben for granted again. Their marriage had got off to a rocky start, but they’d survived it, and it would make them stronger as a result.

  A couple were arguing at the next table over. The man was wearing button-up pyjamas and must have been roasting given the warm climate inside the café, and presumably the woman was his wife or sister, who’d stopped by to visit him. He was emptying a fourth sachet of sugar into his mug, and she was slapping his free hand away from reaching for a fifth.

  ‘It’s this much sugar that’s made you diabetic to begin with,’ the woman chastised.

  Alice was pretty sure that was an inaccurate statement, but the woman’s aggressive neck tattoo dissuaded Alice from confronting her on it.

  The man looked older, his hair a shade of mid-grey, uncombed, and hanging down over his ears. The skin hung from his face but the paunch beneath his pyjamas suggested he had been overweight for some considerable time. He stirred the sugar around the mug and grimaced as he sipped from it.

  Alice’s phone vibrated on the table. Dropping the croissant, she answered it when she saw her mum’s profile picture.

  ‘Morning, Mum. How are you? Did Scott get off to the airport okay?’

  There was a huff on the other end. ‘You haven’t heard then?’

  Alice’s eyebrows dipped. ‘Heard what?’

  ‘It’s all over the news; have you had your head buried in the sand today?’

  Alice didn’t know how to begin to explain where she was or why. ‘I’ve been busy. What’s going on?’

  ‘Scott’s been arrested. At the airport of all places. Why on earth didn’t you tell me he had a drug problem?’

  Alice’s eyes fluttered, certain she hadn’t heard right. ‘What? Is this some kind of joke?’

  ‘Do I sound like I’m joking?’ her mum said shrilly.

  ‘I’ll call you back,’ Alice said quickly, hanging up the phone and opening the Internet.

  Sure enough, typing in Scott’s name, the first half dozen results alluded to an arrest at the airport. She skimmed the first two articles. Apparently, his bag had caused the dogs at Geneva airport to go crazy and after he’d been escorted to a back room, a block of cocaine had been discovered in his hand luggage. The article didn’t say where he was being held or what actions the Swiss authorities were planning to take, but the news was barely two hours old.

  Scott had told her he was flying out to prepare for his race, but she hadn’t realized he’d meant so soon. And he’d certainly given her no reason to suspect he was taking drugs to enhance his performance.

  He just wasn’t the type. He’d worked so hard to recover his fitness after the accident which had almost ended his career prematurely. That had been three years ago and he had done everything the doctors had told him: physiotherapy, muscle strengthening exercises, a carefully controlled high-protein diet. She’d seen the work he’d put in and it had looked like all his effort would be worth it, with a crack at the Tour de France a very realistic possibility.

  All that would be wasted now.

  Alice called her mum back. ‘I swear I had no idea.’

  Her mum huffed again. ‘It’s bad enough having a son-in-law arrested and questioned by the police, but now a stepson too! What is happening to this family?’

  Alice couldn’t miss the accusatory tone in her mother’s voice. Although she wouldn’t utter the words, Alice knew exactly what her mother was thinking.

  ‘You’re the one he was living with,’ Alice wanted to say. ‘If anyone’s to blame, it’s you for all the pressure you put on him.’ She bit her tongue instead. Now was not the time for blame and recrimination.

  ‘Have you spoken to him yet?’ Alice asked, after a moment.

  ‘No, he hasn’t called,’ she sighed. ‘Do you think I should try and phone them? What if they’re speaking to him in French? You know he wasn’t good at foreign languages in school.’ Her mother paused. ‘You need to go out there. Today. I’ll pay for your flight if necessary. He needs someone who can speak to the locals. You’re a French teacher, you’d be perfect.’

  Her mother was being as impractical as ever.

  ‘I’m sure they’ll provide a translator if necessary,’ Alice replied quietly. ‘Besides, I can’t just up and fly to Switzerland. We don’t know where they’re holding him, or even if they’re holding him. They might have extradited him back to the UK for all we know.’

  ‘He’ll be terrified. You know what he’s like when he’s on his own. He needs family around him at a time like this. Someone who can help him through.’

  The fact that her mum was more concerned about Scott than her hadn’t been lost on Alice. Scott had been the golden boy since the remarriage. Her mother apparently didn’t want to acknowledge that Scott was responsible for his current predicament. After all, it was he who had packed the cocaine in his luggage.

  ‘I think we need to sit tight for now,’ Alice said calmly. ‘When Scott makes contact we’ll deal with the situation, but in the meantime I have more important things on my plate.’

  ‘What could possibly be more important than your brother?’ Her mother’s tone cut Alice to the core. She hung up the call without a second’s thought, dropping the phone to the table. The clatter caused those closest to turn and stare.

  Alice shoved what remained of the croissant into her mouth and fumed silently. It was true what they said: you could pick friends, but family you got lumbered with.

  The woman at the other table had gone back to the counter to buy a cake, and Alice watched as the older man emptied another sachet of sugar into his mug. He caught her watching him and put a finger to his lips cheekily.

  Maybe it was human nature for people to lie to those closest to them. She wasn’t surprised that Scott had kept his drug use a secret, nor that Ben had tried to keep his marriage to Mary from her. Had she found herself in Faye’s situation, would she have been brave enough to tell her friends that her husband was abusing her? She couldn’t say for certain that she would have.

  Yet each of these secrets had led to irreparable damage. She had forgiven Ben for omitting Mary from his life, but it would always hang in the air between them; forgiven but not forgotten.

  Then there was Kerry Valentine’s secret double life. She was a mum to Finn by day, but at night she became an exotic figure of lust. Her secret had borne the ultimate cost.

  So many secrets, was it possible that one could ever really know another person fully? It was with this thought in her head that she pressed redial and decided to console her mother, rather than judge.

  FORTY-EIGHT

  ‘You sure you don’t want me to come in?’ Ben asked, keeping the engine on so the air conditioning continued to shut out the stifling heat.

  Alice looked over to him and smiled, feeling exhausted after last night’s uncomfortable sleep in the hospital armchair. ‘It’s probably best if I go in and bring Isabella out. It’s going to be weird for her as it is, with
out us making it more overwhelming.’

  Ben reached for her hand and put it to his lips. ‘How did I get so lucky as to land someone as caring as you? I don’t deserve you.’

  She moved her hand to his face and gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

  They were parked on the pavement outside a three-storey block of flats. The brickwork was yet to be faded by the extremities of weather and time; it couldn’t be much older than Alice herself. The block was one of three situated around a communal square, but nobody was using the park benches in the area, each stained with graffiti and bird muck. It seemed such a shame. Once upon a time a developer would have envisioned this small community coming together to share food and drink on a day as beautiful as this. They’d have had such high hopes, but the problem with optimism is that human nature is the biggest obstacle to it.

  Alice pushed the door of the 4x4 open and stepped down onto the road surface, the wave of heat hitting her like a hard slap to the face. Crossing the road and entering the courtyard, she couldn’t help but wonder how Faye was coping. Would they have interviewed her yet? She could only hope DC Hazelton was remaining true to her word and taking care of Faye. It was more than one woman’s life on the line; Isabella’s would be permanently affected by whatever outcome the police reached. Their duty was to assess what had happened, why and whether the law had been broken. A man was dead, but that didn’t mean anyone else had to suffer.

  Pressing the button next to number two, Alice waited for the communal door to buzz, before heading inside. It was just as warm, if not a fraction warmer, inside the building, where the sun’s rays had been magnified by the large glass panels either side of the door.