Into the Light
Page 23
I push myself up and follow them through the inside of the house, watching from each window as Kane determinedly escorts him around to the front and then throws him onto the drive.
Charles tries to scramble up and away and Kane plants a heavy foot on the middle of his back, forcing him back down to the ground.
I go to the front hallway and pick up the landline phone, but it looks as if Poppy has already managed to find a way to get through to the emergency services. Two police cars screech up to the gates, stopping behind my car. Three policemen take over from Kane and the other moves him away from Charles.
I scrabble to open the front door and run out to him. I have to climb over the front of Charles’ car and launch myself into Kane’s arms.
He holds me tight to him.
One of the policeman is the same one that came to see me all those months ago, when my car was taken away and I can tell by the look in his eye that he is concerned. Concerned about how this has all come about and how there had been warning signs, that he ignored, all those months ago.
“Are you okay Kane?” I cry up to him.
“Yeah, just bruised elbows and knees. Nothing broken.”
I start sobbing and can feel myself collapsing with the combination of relief and shock.
Kane sweeps me up into his arms and walks back towards the house. The policeman following.
The policeman asks if we can come to the station to make a statement. Kane’s look leads him to suggest an alternative of taking one now.
The house is full for the next four hours. The doctor, a crime scene officer, a tow truck for Charles car, Kane’s uncle, Mr Ford to repair the door. Even my solicitor makes an emergency call.
We’re reassured that Charles will be kept in overnight and medically assessed and that we will be the first to know if he is being released.
We finally shut the door on everyone.
“We will have to press charges Rosa.”
“I know.”
“There is a place for karma and this is not it. He’s broken the law this time and tried to kill us both. He needs to face the consequences square on for that.”
“I know.”
I’m tired. Exhausted. I’ve never suffered a shock of such gravity before and I’m reeling from it.
The thought of Kane lying dead at the bottom of those stairs was the worse feeling I’ve ever had to experience. Even worse than the thought of Charles killing me.
“I love you Kane.”
He holds me safe.
“I love you too Rosa Belle.”
“I don’t think I can stay here tonight. In fact, I don’t think I can stay here ever again.”
“Don’t worry you don’t have to. Come on let’s grab some stuff and get out of here.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Rosa
We wake up in the hotel, still holding each other tight.
The bruises on Kane’s arms and legs are black with a tinge of yellow and he says there are actual finger marks around my neck. He lays kisses on them in the hope he can melt them away.
Even though we both know it won’t work, I love him for trying.
“We’ve probably got another shitty day ahead.” He apologises to me.
“Hey. It’s not your fault. Far from it. If it wasn’t for you, today would be a hell of a lot shittier.”
“Well I’ll try my best to shield you from as much of it as I can. Let’s have a look at that list.”
I open up the notes I made on my phone, struggling to see the first few lines through the cracks on the screen.
“I’ll send them to you. I can’t read them on here.”
“Okay, I’ll make coffee while you do.”
He gingerly steps onto the floor, hobbling towards the kettle.
“Kane, I’m worried about you. I think you should get checked out. You can hardly walk.”
“It’s fine, it just needs a bit of rubbing, I’m a bit stiff.”
I laugh. At the horrendous situation we are in and how such an innuendo like that from Kane, up until now, would have been truly comical.
He also sees the funny side of it and shakes his head at me.
“I hope you’ve got a roll neck sweater in your bag to hide those marks. I don’t want everyone thinking it was me, some kinky bedroom antics gone a bit far.”
I throw my head back on the pillow.
At least we can still laugh together.
My phone rings with an unknown number.
“Mrs Cockburn-Holt?”
“Lawtey, but go on.”
“We’ve transferred Mr Cockburn-Holt into a psychiatric unit for further analysis.”
“Is it a secure unit?”
“It’s not a prison, no, but he will be under constant supervision until a proper diagnosis has been made.”
Kane comes over and takes the phone from me.
“This is Dr. Kane Sullivan. I’m Rosa’s partner and I was also assaulted by Mr Cockburn-Holt. Can you explain what is going on? I need to make sure Rosa is safe. Even if you don’t.”
I only hear one side of the conversation from thereon, but it quite clearly goes Kane’s way.
“I didn’t know your surname. I just left it at Kane Crane.”
He shakes his head at me. “I think lack of oxygen has affected your brain.”
“Hmm,” I murmur, laying back down.
“Well he is going to be out of our hair for a little while. Long enough, hopefully, for us to sort the house out and get out of Dodge.”
“Good. I wonder what’s happened to Crimson.”
“Do you?”
“Well, a little bit.”
“Trust me, we need to focus on us. You and me. Whatever he is doing with the rest of his life is his business and we need to leave him to it.”
I drink the awful instant coffee, shower and dress. I don’t have a roll neck sweater, but I do have the lovely cashmere scarf Poppy bought me and I tie that in a loose high knot to cover the marks.
The solicitor agrees to an emergency appointment and we decide on a way forward that will conclude the divorce without further complication from his current incarceration.
Charles’ parents have agreed to sign on his behalf, something they can do, with enough evidence and support from his solicitor, who is quite happy to swear that it was what he intended to do anyway.
His parents are embarrassed enough by his misdemeanour and antics over the last year to give me my fair share of equity and promise to sort it with him when he recovers.
I agree to take it, I know they can afford it.
The estate agents and solicitors combine efforts to push the Coots on an early exchange and same day completion, leaving us with just three days to clear the house.
When faced with such urgency, decisions are easier to make. There’s nothing I want, I pretty much feel the same way as Kane did when he cleared his house.
I box up the photos and remaining artwork and take them to Kane’s aunt’s. She has kindly offered to store them in her attic, along with his mementoes.
I sift through my remaining clothes and fill two large suitcases; the rest goes to the Charity Shop on the high street. A house clearance company comes for everything else.
The last thing to do is to drive to the cemetery to lay some flowers at my parents’ graves. I’m not sentimental or religious but I don’t know when I will be back, and it feels appropriate to spend a moment or two at their graveside telling them what’s happening with my life.
I think if they are up there looking down on me they might have cause to be worried and I need to allay any such fear.
Kane comes with me.
At the cemetery gates, he touches my arm. “I’ll meet you back here,” he says, and walks off to the newer side of the cemetery.
My heart leaps into my mouth.
Michelle.
I didn’t think.
Her grave must be here too. I shed a tear for him.
Through bleary eyes I go to the oth
er side and kneel down to replace the wilted flowers in the vase with the fresh ones I brought.
“I’m going to be okay,” I tell them. “You’ll be glad to know that I’ve found a good man at last. He’s over there.”
I wipe away a tear from my cheek as I look over at him.
“I think you would approve.”
Epilogue
Rosa
We only stayed in America six weeks, but it was enough for us to realise that we enjoyed each other’s company enough to make a go of it in the real world.
The real world, that’s where Kane and I need to be.
America was great, but a holiday. A holiday full of laughter and warmth, excitement and adventure.
We had a few exciting weeks, touring in an open top car around some of the southern states but decided not to venture any further, and certainly not to a more foreign land, where we might feel uncomfortable or challenged. We knew what we wanted and didn’t need to go half away around the world to find it.
We’re back home, in Yorkshire. Far enough away to feel safe from Charles, who we learned got his shit back together and has since married Crimson, finding another post in another practice. Although he’s not allowed to hold a Company Director’s position any longer. I occasionally see his name on a competitive bidding sheet, and stay well away from the potential custom when I do.
I can do that in my own practice. That’s what I have now, my own small-town practice. For some strange reason, I only have female architects working for me and we seem to have hit a lucrative niche. Our view on what constitutes a home seems to hit the mark, more than our male competitors, and we can pretty much pick and choose the residential contracts we take on.
I’m working from home today, and so is Kane. He says our garden is looking a bit neglected, the veg patch is completely over-run after all the spring rain this year.
I look out of my office window onto the garden, absentmindedly running my thumb over the small rose tattoo I have on my inner wrist, and laugh with pure joy when I see Belle bounding over the box hedge to Kane and the lightning reaction he has when he lifts our daughter high in the air, away from Belle’s clumsy paws.
There. You see I have my vision now, and it isn’t a dream like before. It’s my reality and I love it. I love every goddamn minute of it.
I’ve even agreed to marry him.
Like it was ever an option?
I’d have been happy if he had never asked me because we don’t need to be married to show our love and devotion to each other. That just comes naturally.
Kane and Rosa.
THE END
Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed Kane and Rosa’s story.
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