by Lisa Stone
Over and over again she beat the floor, shouting and crying, venting her anger. He would be able to hear her for sure, assuming he was in. Leila had said she had heard her when he’d held her hostage there. She had heard her crying out for help when the pig had beaten her. Bang, bang! The noise would drive him mad. Good.
When he couldn’t stand it any longer he’d come up and then she’d have him.
The doorbell rang. Weaver? Perfect. Dropping the pan, Kelsey yanked open a kitchen drawer and took out the carving knife. With no thought for her future – she didn’t have one without Leila – but blind with hatred and revenge, she continued towards the door. Her opportunity to get her own back and make him pay for what he’d done had arrived. She raised the knife and opened the front door. It wasn’t Weaver, but her neighbour, Brooke.
‘Kelsey, what the hell is going on? Put that knife down. You’re upsetting my kids with all your noise.’
Embarrassed, Kelsey lowered the knife.
‘You’re still in your party clothes so I’m guessing you had a rough night,’ Brooke said. ‘Shall I come in and you can tell me what happened? The kids’ dad is with them.’
Kelsey nodded dumbly and stood aside to let Brooke in.
‘I’ll make us a coffee,’ Brooke suggested.
‘Yes, please.’
A few minutes later, Brooke set two mugs of instant coffee on the table in the living room and drew up a chair to sit opposite Kelsey, ready to listen. ‘I know we’ve had our differences, love, but you look like you need to share what’s going on.’
‘I do,’ Kelsey admitted quietly. She took a few sips of her coffee and began. ‘Leila is living with my sister, Sharon. I’m supposed to be staying clean and making improvements to my life so I stand a chance of regaining custody of Leila. But no matter how hard I try, I fail.’ Kelsey then told Brooke her life story. How she’d been sexually abused by her stepfather, had married young to escape him, but her husband had beaten her and cleared off, leaving her with two kids, Shane and Rory. How she’d got into drink and drugs to blot out the pain and had ended up having another two kids, Poppy and Mia, by different men who’d treated her no better. She found that, once she’d begun, it was easy to continue, as Brooke listened non-judgementally without interrupting. She finished with last night’s New Year’s Eve party when she’d passed out from the gin Sharon had brought. It was a relief to tell someone everything.
‘OK, girl, so you messed up again, but it’s not the end of the world,’ Brooke said. ‘Phone Leila and apologize. But whose side is that sister of yours really on?’
‘What do you mean?’ Kelsey asked.
‘She should have known better than to give a recovering alcoholic even one drink.’
‘So you think it wasn’t all my fault?’
‘I know so. With friends like your sister, who needs enemies? It sounds like she’s working to a different agenda.’
Brooke left twenty minutes later, after giving Kelsey a good talking to. Feeling more positive, Kelsey phoned Sharon’s landline as Brooke had suggested. It rang and rang, so she assumed she and Leila must be having a lie-in after their late night. She tried Sharon’s mobile and it went through to voicemail, so she left a message. ‘It’s me, Kelsey. Sorry about last night. I feel really bad. We were having so much fun and then I blew it. My fault, but it would really help me if in future you didn’t give me alcohol. I need to apologize to Leila, too, so please phone as soon as you can. Thank you. Oh yes, and Happy New Year.’
Satisfied she’d pitched the message right, Kelsey made herself another coffee and then checked the kitchen cupboards for something to eat. Next to the cereal she’d bought for Leila’s breakfast was an open bottle of gin. Sharon must have left it. Brooke’s words came back to her as Kelsey realized she must have drunk a whole bottle of gin by herself and then started on the second. Little wonder she’d passed out! Well, never again. She’d learnt her lesson. Unscrewing the cap, she tipped the contents of the bottle down the sink and threw it into the bin.
She swallowed two paracetamol for her headache and took the coffee she’d made to the sofa where she switched on the television and waited for Sharon to return her call. Since Leila had gone to live with her, it seemed Kelsey had spent most of her time waiting for Sharon to return her calls.
An hour later, with no text or call from Sharon, Kelsey tried both phones again, and then showered, dressed in jeans and a jumper and put her party dress in the wash. At midday, losing patience, she phoned Sharon’s mobile and left a message asking her to call ASAP. She could have kicked herself for not remembering to give Leila the phone she’d bought for her while she’d been sober enough to slip it to her – then there wouldn’t have been all this waiting for Sharon to return her calls. It was really getting to her now. Peter Harris had said she could have phone contact on the days she didn’t see Leila, so for once she was in the right.
At one o’clock Kelsey had had enough and phoned Sharon’s mobile again. It went through to voicemail and this time the message she left was demanding and assertive. ‘It’s Kelsey. If you don’t return my call so I can speak to Leila, I will get in a taxi and come straight over. I need to speak to my daughter to apologize to her. It’s important.’
As she ended the call she wondered if she’d sounded rude, and was thinking about calling again and apologizing when her phone rang, making her start. The caller display showed Sharon’s mobile number. ‘Hi, Kelsey, sorry I missed your call,’ she began brightly, unfazed. ‘We went for a country walk to clear away the cobwebs from last night. I left my phone in the car. Happy New Year.’
Kelsey cringed and felt awful. Of course – lots of people went for a walk on New Year’s Day. ‘Sorry if my message sounded a bit off,’ she said. ‘I feel bad about last night.’
‘OK. I thought it best to bring Leila home. I knew you wouldn’t want her seeing you in that state.’ Which made Kelsey feel a whole lot worse.
‘I need to apologize to Leila,’ Kelsey said, subdued and chastened. ‘Can you put her on, please?’
‘Sure, here she is.’
‘Hi, love,’ Kelsey said. ‘I am so sorry about last night. Can you forgive me?’
She was expecting Leila to be angry with her, as she’d been in the past for drinking, but instead she said, ‘It’s OK, Mum. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘It was, love, and I’m so sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.’ How many times had she said that! ‘I had your phone all ready to give to you, too, but I forgot.’
‘When will I next see you?’
‘I’ll have to arrange it with Aunty Sharon.’
‘We’re not doing anything this afternoon.’
‘OK. Put her back on.’
‘Can you come over here today?’ Kelsey asked. ‘I’ll make up for last night.’
‘I’m afraid not,’ Sharon said, her voice controlled and business-like. ‘Peter Harris was most specific that contact should only take place three times a week so that Leila has a chance to settle with me.’
‘But he needn’t know,’ Kelsey said.
‘If he found out I was deceiving him and collaborating with you, he’d take Leila from me. We can’t allow that to happen, can we?’
‘I suppose not. So when can I see her?’
‘Tomorrow – that seems fair as you saw her yesterday.’
‘OK,’ Kelsey agreed.
‘I’ll text you the time. And Kelsey, please try to stay sober. It’s not nice for Leila to see you like that, and she’s bound to tell Peter. Goodbye.’ The line went dead.
Kelsey sat for a moment, stunned. Her instinct was to phone her sister straight back and ask her whose side she was on, as Brooke had. But deep down she knew Sharon was right, just as she always was. If Leila was to be allowed to stay with her and not taken into foster care then they needed to abide by the rules. And when all was said and done, while Sharon had brought the gin, Kelsey was the one who’d drunk it.
FORTY-TWO
The following
afternoon, Kelsey found herself once again standing at her living-room window, watching out for Sharon’s car. It was a grey, overcast day and the persistent drizzle cast the estate in its worse light, but that didn’t diminish Kelsey’s feelings of joy and positivity. After the disappointment of New Year, Kelsey felt tentatively in control again. Sharon had texted saying she’d bring Leila to see her around two o’clock and it was exactly that now. This time nothing would go wrong.
There was no alcohol in the flat and Kelsey had gone shopping that morning and bought cheese and ham to make sandwiches, and some cupcakes too. Leila’s phone was ready in her bedroom and Kelsey would take her in there on the pretext of her trying on some of her old clothes to see if they still fitted. Quite why it was so important Sharon didn’t know Leila had a phone Kelsey couldn’t say. It just felt better that way; her and Leila having the means to communicate whenever they wished without being overheard. With mounting excitement, Kelsey looked through her living-room window, willing Sharon’s car to arrive.
Three miles away, Colin Weaver was entering Coleshaw Police Station with his solicitor, Deborah Harold. Wednesday, 2 January, was the first day back at work for many after Christmas and New Year, and Colin had telephoned his solicitor that morning as soon as the firm had opened. He said he had something very important to tell her: he was going to the police station to change his statement, and what he had to say would help his defence, even clear his name.
‘What is it?’ Deborah Harold had asked, concerned. ‘You need to come to my office first to discuss it.’
‘No. I’m going straight to the police,’ he persisted. ‘This has gone on for long enough. I can’t leave my flat for fear of being attacked by yobs on the estate who think I’m a paedophile. Someone pushed shit through my letter box last night and I’ve had death threats. I need to clear my name.’
‘Very well, I’ll meet you at Coleshaw Police Station at one-thirty,’ Deborah Harold said. ‘I’ll tell them to expect us, but if you arrive early, don’t talk to anyone until I’m there.’
‘All right. But you won’t change my mind. I’m not carrying the can for this any longer.’
Now, Colin and his solicitor were waiting for an interview room to become free so he could tell the police what he’d just told her. From Deborah Harold’s expression, it was obvious she thought her client was making a huge error of judgement. She sat upright on the bench and was writing furiously, using her briefcase to rest on.
DC Matt Davis came through the security door into reception.
‘Sorry to keep you waiting,’ he said. ‘We have a room free now. Come this way, please.’ He glanced at Weaver as he and his solicitor stood. He looked even rougher than the last time Matt had seen him, on his release from prison. There were dark rings around his eyes, as though he hadn’t slept, and his forehead had broken out in acne.
‘Did you have a good Christmas?’ Matt asked Ms Harold politely, holding the security door open for her and Weaver to go through.
‘Yes, thank you,’ she replied crisply.
Matt showed them into Interview Room 3, where Beth was already seated at the table, a folder of printed papers and a notepad and pen in front of her. DS Scrivener had given them the job of hearing what Weaver had to say since they’d interviewed him before and taken his previous statement.
‘Good afternoon,’ Beth said.
‘Good afternoon,’ Ms Harold said stiffly.
Beth waited until everyone was seated, with Colin Weaver sitting opposite her, and then went through the formalities, stating the date, time, those present and the reason for the interview.
Beth concentrated on Colin Weaver. He was staring at his hands, clasped together on the table in front of him. ‘Mr Weaver,’ she began. ‘We understand from your solicitor you wish to change your statement?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he said, looking up sharply. ‘I should have told you the truth at the beginning instead of covering up for her. It wasn’t my idea to take Leila Smith. I just went along with it.’ He stopped and Beth glanced at his solicitor, who was writing. This wasn’t anything new.
‘I think you said something similar the last time we interviewed you,’ Beth said. ‘That you had an accomplice, but you couldn’t give us their details, so I’m afraid we weren’t able to progress with that.’
‘Well, I’m willing to give you the details now,’ he said, determination on his face. ‘I’ve thought long and hard about it and I think I’ve been duped.’
‘OK,’ Beth said, pen ready. ‘Who is this person?’
Matt and his solicitor were also looking carefully at Weaver.
‘Sharon Kern,’ Weaver said.
Beth made a note of the name. ‘And what’s her relationship to you?’
‘She’s my friend – or was, you know, my girlfriend, or I thought so.’
Beth saw Matt shift beside her and knew what he was thinking. Weaver was going to have to do a lot better than this.
‘Do you have the contact details for this Sharon Kern?’ Beth asked.
‘Yes, of course, and so do you.’
Beth looked at him carefully. ‘She has a criminal record?’ It seemed the most likely explanation.
‘No. Well, not as far as I know, although anything is possible. You’ve met her. Sharon is Kelsey Smith’s sister. She never married, so she has her maiden name still.’
‘You know Sharon?’ Beth asked, amazed.
‘Yes. I have done for about nine months. I thought I could trust her, but I now realize I made a big mistake.’
‘In what way?’
‘We had plans for a future together, but she’s let me down badly and now my life is in ruins.’
Matt was staring at Weaver, trying to hide his scepticism, as Ms Harold continued writing.
‘Perhaps we could go back a bit,’ Beth said. ‘Can you tell us how you met Sharon?’ It was highly likely Weaver was making all this up, she thought, and being asked for details would catch him out. Beth was sure Sharon would have told them if she’d had anything to do with Weaver.
‘I first met Sharon in March last year,’ Colin began. ‘I bumped into her as she was coming out of the flats and I was going in. I recognized her because I’d seen her before visiting Kelsey and Leila. I introduced myself and said I was very worried about Leila. That I heard a lot living in the flat below and I knew Leila was often left there alone. I told her Kelsey was on the game and brought clients back to the flat. I said I’d seen Leila hanging around the estate after dark and had sometimes taken her back to my flat and given her food. Sharon thanked me for my concern. She said she too was very worried about Leila and was gathering evidence to take to the social services. She felt the social worker wasn’t doing enough, just monitoring Kelsey and Leila. We swapped numbers and she asked me to call her if I had any more evidence of Kelsey’s neglect of her daughter.’ Colin paused, took a sip of water from the polystyrene cup and carefully set it down again before continuing.
‘It wasn’t long before I had reason to call Sharon with more details of Kelsey’s neglect of her daughter, and she suggested we meet in a coffee shop near where we both worked in town. I told her that Doris Goodman had had to give Leila dinner twice that week or she’d have gone hungry. Sharon was appalled by her sister’s neglect of Leila. Then we began chatting about other things. After that we started meeting regularly, a couple of times a week, and got on really well. As well as discussing Leila, we talked about ourselves and the conversations became more personal. Sharon was an intelligent and attractive woman, not at all like her sister, and as the weeks passed, I realized I was falling in love with her.’
Colin Weaver stopped and took a deep breath while his solicitor continued writing, turning the page in her notebook as she went. Beth and Matt looked at Weaver, intrigued by his story.
‘Our meetings grew longer and more regular,’ he continued. ‘And became more like dates. Then one evening I asked her why she’d never married – a lovely woman like her – and she said she was st
ill looking for Mr Right. She said if she’d met someone like me, she was sure she would have married by now. It was what I needed to hear to be able to tell her how I felt. I told her I loved her, and to my astonishment she said she felt the same about me. I was elated, over the moon – I couldn’t believe it. I’d never had a proper girlfriend before, and Sharon seemed right out of my league. We went to restaurants and the cinema and eventually to bed.’
‘Where? At her place or yours?’ Beth asked as she wrote.
‘Hotels. She never invited me to her house and didn’t want to come to my flat in case she bumped into Kelsey. She thought it was better she didn’t know we were seeing each other. As we talked and got to know each other better, we found out we were both fed up with our jobs and would love a new start, a new life abroad. Sharon said the only thing stopping her was Leila. I thought that was admirable. I mean, not many people would put their own life on hold for the sake of their niece. I said it was a pity she couldn’t achieve her dreams, but if she ever decided she could go abroad to live I’d certainly go with her. I was planning to ask her to marry me.’
Colin paused and rubbed his hand over his forehead in anguish.
‘Do you want to take a break?’ his solicitor asked.
‘No.’ He took another sip of water and continued. ‘One day when we met, at the beginning of June, she was very animated and excited about something. We went to a restaurant and she ordered a half-bottle of champagne, to celebrate, she said. I had no idea what we were celebrating, but it crossed my mind that perhaps she was going to propose to me – women do that now.’ He threw them a small, sad smile. ‘But she began talking about Leila and said she’d thought of a way we could go abroad to live without abandoning Leila. She said Kelsey would never give Leila up and would continue to selfishly ruin her life, just as she had her other children’s. She said she’d stood by long enough waiting for social services to act and wasn’t prepared to wait any longer. Her plan was that we’d take Leila with us to live abroad. But she needed my help. I was so in love with her, I would have done anything. She said if Leila just vanished, one of the first places the police would look would be in her house, so she wanted me to take Leila to my flat as I’d done before, but to keep her there. Then to hide out in Doris Goodman’s cottage until the fuss died down and we could all go abroad to live.’