by Owen Mullen
Mackenzie laughed an unnatural laugh. Her reply to no one was harsh.
‘No, I can’t and I never will.’
She tore the sandwich open and started to eat.
* * *
Calling each other wasn’t something Adele and her brother did very often. As soon as he heard her voice on the other end of the line, Gavin knew it wasn’t good news. He was still pissed-off with her for being so critical of Mackenzie at the party. Their sister was obviously unhappy, maybe even unwell. She deserved support. Adele sensed his mood and began cautiously.
‘Hope I didn’t wake the baby.’
‘No, you’re all right. They’re both sound. What’s up?’
‘It’s Mackenzie, as if you hadn’t guessed.’
‘What about her?’
‘She’s only gone and run away.’
‘You’re joking. When?’
‘Wish I was, brother. Derek came home two days ago and she wasn’t there. I went to see him yesterday.’
‘How is he?’
‘Confused. Distraught. Just what you’d expect. Doesn’t understand it. She threatened to leave him, we all heard her.’
‘Yeah, but that was the booze talking.’
‘Gavin, open your eyes, will you? How would we know the difference? It’s always the booze talking with Mackenzie. She certainly has the men fooled.’
He snapped back. ‘And she brings out the claws in the women.’
Adele wasn’t looking for an argument; it wasn’t why she’d called. ‘Listen, I apologise for the other night.’
He said, ‘No problem’ and almost meant it.
‘As you probably noticed I was a bit on edge. Blair and I haven’t been getting along. Still aren’t as a matter of fact.’
Gavin remembered his own relationship and threw out the standard line. ‘Wouldn’t worry. Marriages go through bad patches. It’ll settle down again.’
Adele was unconvinced. ‘Not sure that’s how I’d describe it. Anything about Mackenzie sets him off. If I ask him where he’s been he gets defensive. The rest of the time he’s distracted, like his mind is somewhere else thinking things he doesn’t want to share. Even when he’s with me he isn’t.’ She laughed, embarrassed. ‘Considered hiring a private detective to follow him. How crazy is that?’
Her brother didn’t comment. She noted his silence and continued. ‘Derek said something he didn’t mention before: the car he saw Mackenzie getting into was the same as Blair’s.’
‘And you’ve put two and two together and come up with five?’
She paused, irritated to have her concern described so flippantly. ‘Something like that, yes.’
‘Blair’s always had a soft spot for Mackenzie, he wouldn’t deny it. But what you’re suggesting is hard to believe. You’re letting your paranoia get the better of you. Blair’s a good guy. He’s been a friend to our sister from the beginning. End of story.’
Adele gave ground. ‘I expect you’re right.’
‘I know I am. So where’s she gone? Any idea?’
‘None.’
‘Then there must’ve been more going on than we guessed.’
She disagreed. ‘About what exactly? Derek adores her. She’s lucky to have him. Who else would put up with her carry-on?’
‘You’re assuming it’s all Mackenzie’s fault. Maybe it isn’t. Nobody knows what goes on in a marriage. Any marriage. And to tell the truth, Derek does try to be the boss.’
‘You sound just like Blair. You’ve never fancied him, admit it.’
‘Not true. I think he’s too old for her, always have.’
‘She’s thirty-one.’
‘And he’s fifty-one. Could be her father, for Christ’s sake. What do they have in common?’
‘You’re forgetting how mixed-up she was. Derek’s helped her. He’s the only one who has.’
‘No I haven’t forgotten, but what kind of a life do they have? They don’t go anywhere, don’t do anything. I mean, when’s the last time they went out for something other than a meal? Any friends she had, she’s lost. That isn’t healthy.’
‘Friends? You mean those losers she used to hang around with?’
He didn’t get into it with her. Mackenzie’s crowd had been kids, doing the crazy shit everybody did at that age. The lady he’d married would have been the first to appreciate their energy – where had that girl gone?
This wasn’t getting them anywhere. She said, ‘He’s depressed and drinking. His wife’s gone off with her lover. It must hurt like hell.’
Gavin mellowed. ‘I feel for the guy. Though how much of a surprise can it be to him? They live quieter than we do, and we’ve got a baby.’
‘Will you speak to him, he’d appreciate it.’
Gavin very much doubted it. ‘I’ll give it a day or two. He’ll be feeling rough, who wouldn’t be? Mackenzie might have contacted one of us by then. We’ll know a bit more about what’s going on.’ He tried to encourage her. ‘And don’t fret too much about Blair. You two will be fine.’
* * *
Adele hung the phone up and stared at the wall. Far from reassuring her, the conversation had stirred old resentments she’d thought were dead. Just like Blair, Gavin had always had blinkers on when it came to Mackenzie. She was his favourite, understandable given she was the youngest by ten years. All her life Adele had been the sensible one, the responsible one: a girl who’d never given her parents a moment’s worry. Mackenzie had been a tomboy at twelve, a tearaway at sixteen, and the black sheep of the family until she met Derek Crawford and straightened out. But she was loved. Adele didn’t feel loved, or even appreciated.
This latest drama had come at the wrong time for her. Describing her husband as distracted wasn’t accurate, he was more than distracted, he was distant. In recent weeks evasive and secretive. They hadn’t had sex in two months. Neither had complained which said a lot about where the relationship was.
She glanced at the clock above the fireplace: seven-thirty and Blair still wasn’t home. If someone asked where her husband was, she wouldn’t have an answer for them because she didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. She was tired of making up lies about their father for the boys although they were in a world of their own and didn’t notice.
What kind of marriage was that?
* * *
Monica was standing in the doorway, pale and drawn, dark smudges at the corners of her eyes. She yawned, pulled her dressing-gown round her shoulders and came into the room.
‘You woke me. Who was on the phone?’
He paused on the point of telling a lie – the news wouldn’t go down well with his wife – and changed his mind. She’d have to know sooner or later.
‘It was Adele.’
‘What did she want?’
He cleared his throat. ‘To tell me about Mackenzie.’
‘Mackenzie?’
‘Yes, she’s left Derek. He believes she’s with another man.’
Monica almost laughed and stopped herself. ‘Why am I not surprised? Poor Derek.’
The women had never been friends and it was the reaction he expected. But the smug certainty that the fault must lie on his sister’s side annoyed him.
‘Who is he, do we know?’
‘No. Derek came home and she wasn’t there. He hasn’t heard from her.’
Monica settled into the armchair opposite. ‘Well, he’s better off without her if you ask me.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘You didn’t…what, Gavin?’
‘I didn’t ask you. I guessed what your reaction would be.’
‘Can you blame me? Mackenzie was a selfish brat when I met her. She hasn’t changed. You all thought an older man would have a good influence on her.’
‘Me and Blair didn’t, though I admit for a while it looked as if he’d helped her find herself.’
Monica snorted. ‘How do the rest of us find ourselves, I wonder? As for changing her, I was never convinced.’
‘Because you
don’t like her. You don’t understand her and don’t want to understand her.’
Monica pushed herself out of the chair and headed back to bed; she was too tired to quarrel.
‘Understanding her has nothing to do with it. And it isn’t a question of liking her. Your sister doesn’t care about anybody other than herself. Derek Crawford’s only the latest in a long line to find that out.’
* * *
Gavin put his jacket on and headed for the door; Byres Road was a fair old hike but the walk would do him good and he needed to think.
His wife wasn’t the woman he’d married. She was sad, at times suddenly overwhelmed, and – despite what she’d said at Adele’s party about motherhood being the most fulfilling thing she’d ever done – Monica wasn’t bonding with Alice in the way she’d expected. Mackenzie had been an easy target to help her overcome the feelings of inadequacy she was drowning in. Some of the guys at work had told him it could last as long as a year. Christ Almighty!
Adele’s call came back to him and Gavin had to admit Monica was right. Mackenzie had always been hard to handle. The spirited little girl adored by her parents became a rebellious teenager then a troubled adult, who crashed through their lives like a whirlwind, so different from their other children. They blamed themselves and wondered where they’d gone wrong.
The affair with the married man was the low-point and, like so many of these things, doomed from the start. After six months, inevitably, he’d gone back to his wife, leaving Mackenzie confused and rejected. That was when her drinking took off in earnest. And if it had been a worry before, it quickly grew to be a serious concern. An anxiety that evaporated when Derek Crawford arrived on the scene.
The first time Mackenzie introduced the man in his late forties as her boyfriend, Gavin had found him uncomfortably self-assured. The meeting only lasted minutes. All through it, Mackenzie held on to his arm, clearly happy. He didn’t want to spoil it for her and kept his reservation about the twenty-year age difference to himself for the time being. His sister was still fragile, the last thing she needed was disapproval. Especially from him.
Obviously things had changed.
Gavin recalled the drunken scene at the party. Guilt rolled over him: he should’ve stepped in. Adele wasn’t the only one to let her down that night.
Day Seven
The Baxter House
Lowther Hills
How long had she been here? Was it a day, two days; two days and two nights? The dusty light was always on and she’d slept some of the time, so it wasn’t possible to tell. Mackenzie guessed he’d check on her probably every twenty-four hours while he waited for the ransom to be paid. He’d been twice, the second time bringing the tracksuit, the food and the other stuff.
She looked down at the tracksuit, a relic from a charity shop, and bit her lip; the dress had been so pretty. Derek would ask for proof she was still alive. Maybe they’d sent it to him to persuade him not to call the police. The kidnappers – for some reason she assumed there was more than one – would’ve warned him not to involve them. Didn’t they always do that? But what if he had? What if he’d called the police? Her husband was a man used to giving orders, not taking them. Then the kidnappers would know and abandon her? Maybe they already had?
She muttered questions without answers, her frantic voice echoing in the basement, searching for reassurance and finding only confusion.
‘Derek’s smart, he wouldn’t do anything stupid.’
Her mind raced backwards and forwards over the same ground.
‘But he’s stubborn. He might.’
Mackenzie felt as if her brain was about to explode. She put her hands to her head and shouted. ‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’
The sound of a car door slamming snapped her out of it. She crawled onto the bed and waited, watching clouds of dust fall from the rafters. The door opened and the man in the black coat came down the stairs. He placed a coffee, a carton of soup and more sandwiches on the floor near her and turned to go. She scrambled towards him. ‘Wait. Please wait. Has my husband given you the money? He’s getting it for you, isn’t he?’
Her jailer eyed her coldly.
‘When will he come for me? When can I go home?’
For the first time the stalker spoke. And behind the balaclava Mackenzie Crawford knew he was smiling. ‘You crazy bitch. What the fuck are you talking about?’
* * *
The bedside clock showed two-fifteen when the baby cried out. Her father wasn’t asleep. The conversation with Adele had left him tossing and turning and worrying.
Gavin went to his daughter and held her against his shoulder, feeling the warmth of her tiny body through the Babygro, sensing her big eyes watching him in the dark while her mother snored gently. He padded through to the kitchen and put on the light. The feed was in the fridge. He reheated it and sat on the couch cradling Alice in the crook of his arm, holding the bottle to her mouth with the other.
His thoughts returned to his sisters. They may have come from the same gene pool but the girls were very different. Mackenzie had been a late baby, a ‘surprise’ his mother called her. And from the day she’d brought her home, Adele had been jealous of the new addition to the family. Of course she wouldn’t admit it, probably wasn’t even aware of it.
Marrying a man with a soft spot for the young teenager Mackenzie had been when Blair first met her hadn’t helped and Derek’s claim to have seen Mackenzie getting into a blue Vectra like her husband’s had driven her over the edge. But they’d be fine, he didn’t doubt it. Blair Gardiner was one of the good guys.
Derek and Mackenzie were another story; their troubles had deeper roots. What was going on with them was more complicated. Adele liked Derek and came down firmly on his side. Maybe she was right, though from what Gavin had seen there was more to it than that. Mackenzie’s outburst at the party was revealing, as if she’d wanted to humiliate her husband in front of them.
And something more, beyond the booze talking – despair.
Alice had stopped taking the milk and gone back to sleep. Her father kissed her forehead noticing the long blonde eyelashes she’d got from him. He didn’t have Derek Crawford’s cash. Then again, he didn’t have his problems either. Swings and roundabouts, although not exactly. Money couldn’t buy what he was holding in his hands.
He lay Alice in her cot and pulled the single sheet over her. She kicked it off and her father smiled. Gratitude washed through him. Unlike his brother-in-law, he was a lucky man. Derek had to be feeling low right now. He’d visit him after work and try to find out what was at the heart of it. Maybe he could help.
* * *
Gavin joined the motorway at Charing Cross. From the Kingston Bridge the silver skin of the Armadillo sparkled in the afternoon sunshine like the giant ant-eater it resembled. In the distance, a jet was making its descent into Glasgow Airport.
He’d called his brother-in-law late-morning and got the impression he’d caught him off guard; there was a wariness which could be embarrassment. After all, his wife had just left him for another man. From what Adele said, he’d half-expected Derek to be maudlin drunk. He wasn’t. Perhaps he’d have been more friendly if he had.
‘Derek? It’s Gavin. How’re you doing?’
The reply was thick with resentment. ‘How do you think I’m doing? What do you want?’
He ignored the hostility in Crawford’s voice and went on. ‘To tell you how sorry Monica and I are about what’s happened.’
‘Really? Thought you’d be pleased.’
‘Of course I’m not pleased. Why would I be pleased?’
‘Because you were against her marrying me in the first place?’
‘I wasn’t against it.’
‘You tried to talk her out of it. She told me.’
‘Not true. I’m her brother. I was concerned about the age difference. This is something else. Everybody thinks she’s made a terrible mistake.’
Derek spoke in a monotone. ‘Nice to hear
.’
‘Look, why don’t I come over, say around six? We can talk.’
‘Don’t see what it’ll achieve. You’re Mackenzie’s brother. When the chips are down you’ll side with her. That’s how it works, isn’t it?’
‘Not with me. It isn’t a question of sides. You’re part of the family.’
The response was tinged with impatience and disbelief. ‘I appreciate what you’re doing but I prefer to work through this my own way, if you don’t mind. No need to put yourself out.’
‘I won’t be putting myself out.’
Derek breathed heavily on the other end of the line. Reluctantly, he agreed.
‘So six it is. See you then.’
Derek and Mackenzie never entertained. Gavin had only been to the house once before, shortly after the new Mr and Mrs Crawford returned from honeymoon, three years ago. Seeing where they lived again took him by surprise; it had to be on the far side of a couple of million. By all accounts Derek Crawford had been a rough diamond. Success had smoothed the edges; he’d worked hard: this was the reward.
The Audi A5 he’d confessed at Adele’s birthday party to not being able to see past, sat in the drive. Gavin pulled alongside it, got out and walked up a wide path bordering a perfect lawn with gravel crunching underneath his feet. Before he reached the front door it opened. Derek wore a cardigan over a shirt and tie and grey trousers. Even in the few days since the party, he’d aged: his eyes were bloodshot and there were bags under them; his skin was dry and flaking and his breath was sour. Without offering to shake hands they went inside. Derek stood in the middle of the lounge. Judging by the number of empty beer cans lying around, Crawford wasn’t holding it together very well. Gavin saw the cut on his cheek. He didn’t ask – he could guess how he’d come by it.