Beyond the Dark Waters Trilogy

by Graham West

  Rob caught her eye. “So you and your mum fell out?”

  “It was never the same, but that suited him. He liked to be in control. Mum started snorting coke. I was heartbroken. She always hated drugs. I’d come home and she’d be stoned out of her skull. It was horrible.”

  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you,” Jenny said.

  Kayla shook her head. “I could have lived with the drug thing,” she replied, “but when I was sixteen… That’s when it started.”

  Rob looked at Jenny and then back at Kayla, who began to cry.

  “What started? What was it, sweetheart?” Josie whispered.

  Kayla choked back the tears. “He said I had to earn my keep.”

  Rob frowned. “He made you sell drugs?”

  “I wish!” she snapped. “I had to sell my body.”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped. Rob looked at Josie, who stared at Kayla in horror. “Oh my god!”

  “See? I told you! You don’t want to know me,” Kayla howled. “I’m a slag, A cheap, nasty little slag,”

  “Sweetheart, no! No, you’re not,” Josie retorted, fighting back her own tears. “Just tell us what happened.”

  Kayla began to rock, staring down at the floor. “I came home one day to find my bedroom had been decorated. Cream walls and a wooden floor. There was a leather backless stool kind of thing. When I asked them why they’d done it, Mum sat me down on the edge of the bed. She told me Kaplan had plans and I should just go along with them. Then she handed me a shot of whisky and told me it would help me feel better about things. I drank it. I didn’t think. When I woke up, I was naked and…”

  Tears streamed down her face as she wiped the mucus from her nose. “They had shaved me—they shaved my pubic hair—and I had a tattoo—a rose—growing out of my…” She looked up with that do I really need to spell it out look in her eyes.

  Rob shook his head. Was she for real? Had this really happened or was his daughter spinning some kind of sick yarn?

  “Kaplan had contacts,” Kayla continued. “Every night there was some guy. Some of them were solicitors, and there was a judge once. A couple of women, too. All paying for sex with a sixteen-year-old girl.” Kayla wiped her eyes. “Some of them were gross. Big fat sweaty men all wanting blow jobs. And I found out why they’d bought the leather stool.”

  Rob looked at Jenny. She was crying too. Josie was managing to hold it together, but only just.

  “That went on for over a year,” she continued. “Then Mum found a lump. I hated Mum for what she’d done to me—what she let him do!”

  Josie couldn’t hide her disgust. “Did Kaplan ever have sex with you?”

  Kayla nodded. “Plenty of times, but Mum never knew. He said if I told her, he’d kill me. I thought things might change when Mum got cancer, but it didn’t. He had sex with me on the day of her funeral.”

  Jenny gasped.

  “I met Caden a few weeks later.”

  “At the pub, wasn’t it?” Rob asked.

  Kayla nodded. “He knew about Kaplan. Like I told you, he had a reputation. I told him everything I’ve told you, and two weeks later, Kaplan was dead.”

  “Did you know that Caden had killed him?” Josie asked.

  Kayla shook her head. “I never thought he was capable—not even for a minute.”

  “And that’s when you came to see me?” Rob questioned.

  “Yes. Caden was really good at researching stuff. It didn’t take him long to find out where you lived. He seemed to take it personally when it didn’t work out for me.”

  Jenny frowned. “But you were going out with him for two years, and there were never any signs?”

  Kayla shook her head. “He would go missing sometimes. And he’d have mood swings.” She thought for a moment. “He liked hoaxes. You know, those TV programmes where they set people up? When he was a teenager, his mum was trying to lose weight. She bought this dress for a party—a size twelve. She was dead chuffed when it fitted. Caden went out and bought an identical dress a size smaller and swapped them just to freak her out.”

  “That’s just mean!” Jenny snapped.

  Kayla didn’t even smile. “Yeah. He went to a lot of trouble, and some of the tricks he played on people… Well, they were a bit cruel.”

  Rob shook his head. “I guess he enjoyed trashing the graves, then.”

  Kayla nodded. “When you told me about the graves, I panicked. I thought that was typical of the kind of stuff he does, but I didn’t think he was capable of hurting anyone.”

  “And you had a physical relationship?” Josie asked.

  Kayla looked uncomfortable. “Yes, but he was gentle. Not like all the other men. I thought he loved me.” She suddenly broke into loud sobs. “I can’t believe he did those things. That poor girl. It’s like—”

  “Jekyll and Hyde?” Jenny interrupted.

  Kayla nodded. “Yeah, exactly like Jekyll and Hyde.”

  Josie walked over and perched herself on the arm of the chair and placed a reassuring arm around Kayla’s shoulder.

  “So now you all know,” Kayla said, her voice cracking with emotion. “I’m just a whore. I’m not even twenty-one yet and I’ve probably had more sex than all of you lot put together.”

  Rob lowered his eyes. If Reece hadn’t had set Kaplan on fire, he would have done the job himself.

  “You had no choice,” Josie said softly, “and it must be difficult reliving it all.”

  Kayla nodded. “Well, I’m going back down south. My auntie knows nothing about all that’s gone on. It would kill her if she found out what her sister did.”

  “You’re still living with your aunt?” Rob asked.

  “Yeah. I can’t afford a place of my own.”

  Jenny and Josie both looked in his direction, and Rob knew they were waiting for him to find his courage. “Kayla,” he began. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I should have kept in touch.”

  “It’s okay. I understand,” she said bleakly.

  “No, it’s not okay. So I want you to go back to your auntie’s tonight—”

  Jenny gasped, shooting her father a look that was intended to kill. Kayla looked up, her eyes red and sore.

  Rob smiled. “I want you to pack up your stuff and come back here. This is your home now.”

  Kayla stared in disbelief. “You mean…to live?”

  Rob nodded. It had been easier than he’d thought. “Yes, to live.”

  Kayla looked up at Josie, who nodded enthusiastically.

  Jenny smiled too. “Hey, we can go shopping for some new stuff, if you want.”

  Kayla began to cry, laughing at the same time.

  “Come here!” Rob ordered.

  Kayla stood obediently and walked over to her father, falling into his arms. He held her the way he remembered holding Jenny in her times of deepest distress. He held her until the tears dried. Jenny sat watching, and he caught that look in her eyes. The look that told him that this wasn’t going to be easy—there were going to be difficult times. But this, he knew, was the right thing to do.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Dennis Blakely breathed a sigh of relief. The police had gone at last. The woodland was open again, and Penny was looking for an apartment on the outskirts of Tabwell. Some bloke had been arrested for Kim’s murder, which meant the cops wouldn’t be around asking any more questions, and although a dead body made big news locally, the national press had not shown as much interest.

  He thought about contacting Robert Adams but killed the call before the first ring. Had Kim’s killer caught up with Jenny? They hadn’t released the name of the man they’d arrested—not yet. But the name hardly mattered, anyway; as long as they had the right guy.

  Penny was making an effort, but he knew it had been hard to forget the images she’d found on his phone. Each night, she had replaced those deleted photographs with explicit pictures of her own. She was struggling to come to terms with his infidelity, and there were days when he arrived
back at the hotel to find her crying. Other times, she just parked herself in the bar with a bottle of wine.

  But his wife was a fighter. She would get through this in her own way, in her own time. When the park opened, she was going to work in the reception. Blakely hoped that there would be a manager’s post for her, but Penny wanted to take things slowly, checking that she could get through a day without slapping a stroppy customer or pouring a strawberry milkshake over the head of a screaming kid.

  He glanced at the photos on his phone—the ones he’d sent his father. The woods, the lake and the house, which was looking more like a hotel every day. But there were the ones of Penny playing the role of a porn star. He felt a heaviness in his chest. This wasn’t right. He flicked through the images, his thumb hovering over the delete button. This was his wife, not some prostitute he’d picked up for an hour of meaningless sex.

  Where’re the photos? Don’t I turn you on? Aren’t I as good as Kim?

  He could almost hear her voice. Perhaps he should just leave them until she tired of playing games. The old Penny would resurface, and then he might wish he had some pictures of her in the throes of passion. Sometimes he wondered what the hell was wrong with her. Penny was a head-turner. She could have any man she wanted. But she wanted him. Why? He smiled to himself, slid the phone into his jacket pocket, and made his way across the site towards the house.

  ***

  It was Sunday dinner at the Huxley cottage. Jake bought three bottles of champagne, and Jenny made lasagne, the signature dish she liked to serve instead of the traditional British roast.

  Kayla wandered through the cottage, her eyes wide. “This is awesome!” she said over and over again. “Oh my god, I would love a place like this. Imagine—a whore in a cottage!”

  Jenny turned. “Listen, girl, if you’re going to be part of this family then you have to stop talking bullshit, okay?”

  Kayla was taken aback by the anger in Jenny’s eyes. “I’m—I’m sorry. I was joking!”

  “No, you weren’t. You’re not a whore, you were abused. It’s totally different.”

  Kayla nodded. “I know,” she said in a whisper.

  Rob was standing behind her. “She’s right, sweetheart.” He paused, placing a hand on Kayla’s shoulder. “How about you get cleaned up before dinner.”

  Kayla’s face lit up. “What? Here?”

  Jenny laughed. “Yeah, we have running water here in the wild. There’s fresh towels in the cupboard, and I’ll throw those clothes in the wash. You can use my dressing gown while you wait.”

  Kayla looked as if she was about to cry again but managed to hold back the tears. “Thank you,” she said, leaning forward and kissing Jenny on the cheek.

  Jake put on some music while Josie popped the cork on the second bottle of champagne. Rob listened to the sound of the spray hitting the glass panels. His daughter. The seed of his loins. His real daughter. He felt guilty, looking at Jenny, wishing he had never stumbled upon the truth. They all needed this time. Time together. Time to get just a little drunk and try to put the past few days behind them.

  “Jenny?” Kayla was calling from the bathroom.

  Jake turned down the music, and Rob stood. “Should I go?”

  Josie shook her head. “I wouldn’t. It’s obviously a girl thing.”

  ***

  Jenny arrived upstairs to find Kayla standing outside the bathroom door in a white robe.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Kayla nodded. “I need to show you something.”

  Jenny beckoned her through to the bedroom.

  “Those things I told you,” she began. “I hope you believe me.”

  “I do!” Jenny said. “Of course I do.”

  Kayla smiled. “But I need you to know.”

  Jenny frowned as Kayla closed the door behind her, slowly peeling the robe from her shoulders and allowing it to drop. She stood, naked, her skin as pale as marble. “You see the scars?”

  Jenny caressed every curve with her eyes, the tiny red blotches on Kayla’s breasts and stomach, the traces of the rose tattoo still visible beneath the wisps of pubic hair. “Oh my god,” she gasped. “Who did that to you?”

  “One of the clients paid extra to smoke after sex—as long as he was allowed to stub his cigarettes out on my body.”

  Tears welled in Jenny’s eyes. She suddenly understood why Kayla had needed to do this. The burns, the tattoo. It was all so painfully real.

  “You’ll tell them, won’t you? If anyone ever doubts me, I want you to tell them what you’ve seen.”

  Jenny was transfixed. “I’m glad you’ve shown me,” she said softly.

  Kayla smiled. “I feel like I can trust you.” She sighed. “I think we’re going to get on.”

  Jenny nodded. They were a similar size, she thought. Most of her clothes would fit, and it wasn’t the time to get possessive of her best denims or expensive tops. Besides, that was what sisters did, wasn’t it? Shared clothes?

  “Have a look through my wardrobe,” she told Kayla. “You can borrow anything you want.”

  Kayla let out a gasp and sprang forward, wrapping her arms around Jenny’s neck. “Really? Honestly? You really mean it?”

  “Of course I do! You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever known,” Jenny said, recalling the first time Jake had held her. She remembered the excitement, the way her heart had begun to pound—the way it was pounding now. Her hand remained, resting on the small of Kayla’s back. This can’t be happening! It isn’t right. Kayla would know. She would feel the rhythm, the tension.

  “Get dressed.” Jenny pushed her away.

  Kayla stumbled backwards, confusion in her eyes. “What? What’s wrong? What have I done?”

  Jenny’s face was burning. “Nothing. You haven’t done anything. Just get dressed.”

  It’s the stress, she thought, running down the stairs. That’s all it is. Jenny stood motionless and waited at the lounge door for a moment, taking several deep breaths. The conversation stopped when she walked back in the room. They sat, staring at her, suspended like mannequins.

  “What did she want?” Rob whispered.

  “Just wanted to borrow some clothes,” Jenny said, “while hers are in the wash.”

  She walked over to Jake, placing her arms around his waist.

  “Hey, what’s this for?”

  Jenny rested her head against his chest. “Because you’re my man, and I love you.” Her heart had slowed, but in her mind she could still see Kayla. “I’m going to have a husband and a sister! What more could I ask for?”

  Josie let out a loud whooping sound, raising her glass. “To sisters!” she cried.

  “To sisters!” Rob replied, downing the last mouthful. He smiled uneasily.

  Does he know? Has he seen something in my eyes? Jenny planted a kiss on Jake’s cheek, as if the simple display of affection might reassure the man who had been at her side since the day she was born. The man who believed he really knew her, but didn’t.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  They had run out of champagne before Jenny got around to serving the lasagne. Kayla had appeared in a white top and black denims and everyone told her how good she looked.

  Jake tucked into his plate of pasta like a man who hadn’t eaten for a week, while Josie picked and pecked the way she always did. Jenny watched her father, who appeared to have engaged with Jake in a race to clear their plates.

  Kayla watched everyone, her eyes shifting from one to the next. “Is it okay if I drive back tomorrow?” she asked suddenly, addressing the table rather than her father. They answered in unison that of course it was. Josie said she’d put fresh bedding in the room which was to be hers from now on, and Kayla couldn’t hide her delight.

  “Thank you! Thank you so much!” she said, looking as if she was about to punch the air.

  Jake disappeared, returning with two bottles of red wine. “Sorry it’s not champagne,” he said with a chuckle, “but it all goes down the same way.”
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  Kayla had hardly touched her glass, and Jenny wondered if maybe she wasn’t a drinker. “Would you rather have an orange juice or something?”

  Kayla shook her head. “I’m okay with this. I just drink kind of slow.”

  “I wish I did,” Jenny laughed, looking at her empty glass.

  Kayla grinned. “I’m hardly going to be the boozy sister you have to carry home from the pub, am I!”

  Jenny giggled, holding up her flute as Jake leaned across and filled it to the brim. “No, it might be the other way round,” she replied and raised her glass. “Hope you’ve got strong arms.”

  Kayla finally took a sip of her champagne. “Not really. You’ll need a brother for that job,” she replied. “Would you have liked a brother?”

  Jenny looked up. “I have a brother,” she said curtly.

  Jake and her father both stopped dead and were looking at each other.

  “Well, that’s a story for another day,” Josie added, looking as if she wanted to crawl under the table.

  “Why?” Jenny replied, trying to hide the feeling of resentment rising inside her. “Darren’s my brother.” She looked over at her father. “Just as Kayla is your daughter and my sister.”

  “Okay, babe,” Jake said. “Can we just discuss this another time?”

  “Discuss what? Kayla asked if I’d like a brother. I just told her the truth. What did you want me to say?”

  “Look, I’m so sorry,” Kayla said, her eyes filling. “I’ve caused trouble. I didn’t mean to—”

  “Don’t apologise,” Jenny grunted. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

  Jake shot Jenny a look to kill. “Yeah, it’s not your fault.”

  Jenny held up her hands. “Okay, Kayla’s part of our family now. She should know.”

  Kayla looked perplexed.

  The room fell into silence as Jenny related the whole story. How they had uncovered the truth about their mother’s affair with Benjamin Pascoe. How his son had come looking for the woman who had destroyed his family, and the tragedy that followed.