Chapter 108.
The knock at the door was just audible above the film. Red hit the pause button on the remote, stopping Batman in mid-air above Gotham City. She scowled at the clock on the DVD player. Eleven thirty. She looked wearily at Pippa, spread-eagled across the sofa. “Who the…”
Pippa shrugged indifferently. “One of your minions, obviously.”
Red instinctively reached for her phone. “I don’t think so, lover. They would have called me first. Must be for you.” She smiled expectantly at her partner.
Pippa made a show of making herself more comfortable. “You’re nearest.”
“In your dreams. Look, your foot is almost touching the door.”
Pippa pulled her legs up beneath her.
“I’ll go then, shall I?” Red muttered. “I’ll be the one to get chopped to pieces if it’s a mad axe-man on the loose from the asylum.”
“You’re the tough cop, Chief Inspector. I’m sure you can handle him.”
“Yeah, I could lock him up, but you just know someone, not a million miles away, would end up defending him and get him off on a technicality.” Red reluctantly struggled to her knees. “It’s probably a pizza delivery to the wrong address.”
Pippa’s eyes lit up. “Pizza? Mmm. Now there’s a thought.”
Red playfully threw the remote at her partner. “It wasn’t so long ago you wouldn’t let fast-food in the house.”
“Just answer the door, Cass, before he takes it away. I’m famished. Pretend you’re whoever the order is for.”
“Counsellor, really!”
Pip looked defensive. “It’s not theft if we pay for it. The other party won’t have paid for it either, so they’re no worse off than before.”
“Of course they are! They’ll be sat at home waiting for a delivery that isn’t going to happen.”
The doorbell rang again. Twice.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” To Pippa, “If he wakes up Rubes he’ll be spending the night in the cells.”
“I think you’ll find that’s an abuse of –” Pippa’s legal observation was cut short by further urgent raps on the door.
“Jesus!” Red jumped to her feet. “That’s no pizza delivery, babe. Someone’s in trouble.” She grabbed her badge and phone from the coffee table, hurrying past Pippa. Pulled the lounge door closed as she focussed on the main entrance. More urgent knocks. Red took a deep breath, adopted a firm stance and pulled the door open.
Stopped and stared.
“Deimante?”
The missing au pair fell into Red’s arms, body shaking, tears flooding.Red pulled the girl across the threshold, positioning herself defensively in the doorway. She scanned the drive. Nothing.
“Miss Cass. Miss Cass. Thank God you are here.”
Red held Deimante at arms length, checking the drive again. “Is someone following you?”
Deimante struggled to get the words out. “Not me. They have my sister.”
Red stared in bewilderment. “Sister? They?”
Deimante fell against Red, sobbing hysterically. Red took a final glance down the drive and pulled the door closed. She hugged Deimante tight. “Come on. Let’s get you some hot coffee. Then you’ve got some explaining to do.”
Red pulled the girl even tighter to her. “But right now, Dei’, I’m just so glad to see you. We thought you’d…” She stopped herself. Whatever they’d thought was obviously wrong.
Pippa was pouring two fresh glasses of wine as Red eased Deimante through the lounge door.
“I hope it’s a spicy one, Cass. I could do with…” Pippa’s voice trailed, the smile vanishing, bottle tilted in hand. Red wine poured over the rim of the glass onto the table.
“Pip! For Christ’s sake!”
The shout brought Pippa out of her trance. She slammed the bottle upright, her eyes never leaving Deimante. Deimante stared back, not daring to speak first.
“Pippa, meet Deimante. Deimante, Pippa,” Red said in an attempt to defuse the tension.
Pippa finally broke the silent stand-off. “You’ve got a nerve, showing up here now. Come back to see what else you can steal, have you?”
Deimante’s bewildered features turned from Pippa to Red, looking for some explanation. “Steal?” she managed to gasp before bursting into tears again.
Red pulled Deimante to her, a comforting arm around the au-pair’s shoulder, the other arm aimed at Pippa. “Just cool it, Counsellor. I don’t know what’s going on, but I guarantee it’s not what you’re thinking.”
Pippa’s surly eyes wandered from Red to Deimante and back to Red.
“I suggest you put some fresh coffee on,” Red said. “I think it’s going to be a long night.”
Chapter 109.
Red came up behind Pippa in the kitchen, a hand on her partner’s arm.“Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
Pippa spun round angrily. “You’ve left her on her own? Don’t blame me if she steals the television.”
“It’s fixed to the wall, for Christ’s sake. Besides, she’s using the bathroom.”
“Upstairs?”
“That was where the bathroom was last time I checked.”
“But the children…”
“She knows not to wake them. That’s why she’s using the en-suite.”
Pippa started for the door. “My bedroom!”
“Our bedroom.” Red grabbed Pippa’s arm. “She’s used it plenty of times in the past. And it’s not as if she’s going to leave the seat up.”
“But my jewellery…”
“Is fine. For God’s sake, Pip, cool it. Can’t you see the poor girl’s worried sick about something?”
“About me calling the Police, you mean, and letting her face the full force of the law.” Pippa narrowed her eyes at Red. “Present company excluded, since you seem to have fallen hook, line and sinker for her sob-story.”
“I haven’t heard her story yet. And nor have you.”
“She’s probably throwing my jewellery out of the window to a waiting accomplice as we speak.”
“You mean like the necklace she stole when she first left, that somehow turned up on Ruby’s doll?”
“That was different,” Pippa shrugged. “Anyway, what about my car?”
“It’s not your car, lover. We gave it to her, remember?”
“To use for her job, working for us. Not to sell on the black market for a handful of beans.”
We don’t know that’s what happened. All I’ve managed to get out of her so far is that her sister is in some sort of trouble.”
Pippa turned back to Red, crossing her arms in hostile pose. “Explain to me when that became my problem? One coffee and she’s out, Cass. I don’t want her going anywhere near the childr…”
Red followed Pippa’s gaze to the doorway, where Deimante stood with an uncertain smile on her lips and a beaming Ruby in her arms.
“Mummy! Cassie! Deimante is comed back!”
Chapter 110.
The aroma of fried bacon tugged at Pippa’s nostrils. Red paused her e-reader to watch as first one eye cautiously opened, then the other. As the dark orbs focussed on Red a smile spread across Pippa’s face.
“Cass, I’ve just had the most wonderful dream.” Pippa eased herself upright against the headboard. “I was a Roman empress, being fed grapes by this strawberry blonde slave while a boar roasted on the spit. Honestly, it was so real I can still smell it cooking.”
“That’s Deimante making breakfast, you daft bat.”
Pippa’s smile vanished instantly. “So now she’s helping herself in our kitchen.”
“Just cool it, Counsellor.” Red leaned across and planted a light kiss on Pippa’s lips. “Has anyone told you how beautiful you are when you get worked up?”
“I am not worked up, Cassandra. I’m damned annoyed.”
“That Deimante is making breakfast?”
“That she’s here. In my… In our house, making herself breakfast.”
“Actuall
y she’s making us breakfast.”
“If she thinks she can worm her way back into our affections with a cheap stunt like that she can think again. Besides, she should have asked first.”
“She did. You were too busy being Cleopatra to notice.” Red rubbed her hands together gleefully. “Breakfast in bed. I could get used to this.”
“Cass! Only slobs and chavs eat in bed. It’s unhygienic.”
“Just relax and slum it a little, will ya!”
Pippa shook her hair loose around her shoulders. “No. No food upstairs. House rules. Besides, I’ll be late for work.”
“It’s Saturday, Counsellor. Keep up. I’m the one who’s supposed to be working.”
“Supposed to be?”
“I called in and said I’d be late. Police business.”
“Police business?” Pippa ventured a hopeful smile. “You’re going to arrest Deimante for stealing my car?”
Red’s expletive was interrupted as Ella and Jack burst in to the bedroom, shouting in unison. “Deimante’s back! Deimante’s back!”
Pippa’s moody features broke into a reluctant smile at the children’s delight. “Yes, she does appear to be, doesn’t she?”
Chapter 111.
Pippa escorted the children halfway down the drive, Red and Deimante waving vigorously from the doorway. Steve waved back from the waiting car. As they sped off, Pippa’s smile vanished. She turned to Deimante.
“As for you, young lady, don’t go jumping to any conclusions. I’ve put on a brave face for the children’s sake, but you’ve got until their film finishes to explain yourself. The truth, mind.”
Red nudged Pippa. “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, M’Lud? You make it sound like Deimante’s on trial.”
Pippa’s eyes never leaving the au pair. “That’s exactly what you are, Deimante. You’re on trial for the right to ever come near my children again. And I am judge, jury and executioner.”
Chapter 112.
Red brought the tray of coffee mugs to the dining table. She looked askance at Pippa and Deimante seated opposite one another. “Wouldn’t it be more comfortable in the lounge?”
“This is fine,” Pippa said curtly.
Red sat herself next to Deimante. “I’ll be Dei’s defence counsel, shall I, seeing as you seem to have joined the CPS.”
Pippa glared. “You may find this amusing, Cassandra. I most certainly do not.”
“Just lighten up, Counsellor, will you? As I recall a fair trial means not judging the defendant before the evidence has been presented.”
“Are you questioning my impartiality?”
“Yes.”
“Over-ruled.”
“Objection. The judge has already decided the accused is guilty.”
Pippa dismissed the argument with a wave of her hand. “The facts are irrefutable, Cassandra. Deimante stole our car.”
Deimante’s bewildered expression changed to one of jaw-dropping surprise. “I stole your car?”
Pippa looked at Red. “See, she admits it.”
Deimante looked from Pippa to Red and back to Pippa. “We saw your car on the driveway not ten minutes ago. The children had to walk around it to go with their uncle.”
“That was not the children’s uncle,” Pippa said smugly. “That was your replacement.”
Deimante’s face flushed. “You’ve replaced me?”
Red reached a comforting hand to Deimante. “We had no idea when you’d be back, Dei. You didn’t leave us with a lot of choice.”
“So how much did you get for it?” Pippa demanded.
“Miss Pippa?”
Anger flashed in Pippa’s eyes. “Don’t play games with me, Deimante. You know perfectly well what I mean. The car we gave you, in good faith, as a trusted employee, that you then sold for your own ends when you deserted us.”
“But Miss Pippa...”
Pippa ignored her. “I dread to think what paltry sum you got for it on the black-market in Latvia, but–”
“Lithuania,” Deimante corrected.
“Don’t be obtuse, Deimante. Latvia, Lithuania, Lichtenstein, Liberia. They’re all the same.”
Red choked on her coffee. “Liberia’s not even in Europe, Counsellor. As for all being the same... You need to go on one of our cultural awareness courses, alongside Barry Taylor.”
Pippa forced a tight-lipped smile. “Thank you for the geography lesson, Cassandra. Now can we return to the small matter of the stolen car?” Pippa turned back to Deimante. “Okay, so legally the car was yours. We foolishly signed it over to you. Our mistake. But that didn’t give you the right to just disappear back to Lat... to wherever it is you come from, and sell it for a handful of beans.”
“Beans?”
Red put a reassuring hand on Deimante’s arm. “Another crazy English expression. Jack and the Beanstalk?”
Deimante nodded cautiously. “But what has Jack and the Beanstalk got to do with the car?”
Pippa palmed her forehead theatrically. “This is hopeless.” The prosecuting judge leaned back in her chair. “It’s not just about the money, Deimante. It’s about trust. We trusted you. I trusted you. We invited you into our home. Left you alone with the children... And this is how you repay us.”
“Miss Pippa, I am so sorry about Ruby Tuesday. I didn’t mean to leave her at nursery school without calling you but –”
“But you had a cash-in-hand buyer for the car so you left my daughter stranded at nursery school, took the money and ran.”
“Money? Cash in hand?” Deimante turned to Red for an explanation. “I don’t understand.”
Red put her cup down. Calmly, “The car we gave you, Deimante. What happened to it?”
Deimante looked from Red to Pippa, bewilderment etched on her face, then suddenly she burst into tears. “You think I sold the car you gave me?”
“Deimante, I deal with your type every working day,” Pippa said. “It’s my job to see through the falsehoods and the crocodile tears.”
Deimante gratefully took the Kleenex box from Red. “But Miss Pippa, I promise you I have never sold your car.”
Pippa leaned in for the kill. “In that case, Deimante, where is it?”
Deimante wiped away tears with a tissue. She looked from Pippa to Red, then back to Pippa. “On the road, opposite. I didn’t want to block the drive because I know Miss Cass has to leave for work in a hurry if they call her.”
“Outside?” Pippa’s jaw dropped. “On the road outside?”
Pippa crossed to the window, hesitantly pulling the curtain aside. She peered through the hedgerow at the parked vehicles.
“Oh.”
Pippa slowly turned to see Red triumphantly holding up Deimante’s key ring.
“You were saying, Counsellor?”
“I need to go to the bathroom. Please excuse me.”
Chapter 113.
A contrite Pippa emerged fifteen minutes later, eyes still red. She made straight for Deimante, hand outstretched.
“I’m so, so sorry, Deimante. So embarrassed. So...” She searched the air for a further example. “But you just disappeared, along with the car. No explanation. No contact. Not even a goodbye to the children. They were devastated. Especially Ruby.”
“I must apologize also, Miss Pippa. It was never intended. I had first one problem, then another, and another.”
Red organised fresh coffee. “Deimante has given me a five-minute summary, Pip, but time to hear the full-story, before Steve and the children get back. From what little I’ve pieced together this isn’t something the kids need to know about. Okay, Deimante? Take it from the beginning.” Red looked sternly at Pippa. “And you need to just listen. I’ll ask the questions.”
Pippa nodded dutifully, acknowledging her relegation to the public gallery. Lesson learned. She took the coffee, grateful for something to hide her face behind.
“I received a telephone call,” Deimante began. “I was so worried, I didn’t think straight. But noth
ing was planned, Miss Pippa, I promise you.”
Red settled next to Deimante, a gentle hand on the girl’s arm. “Take your time, Dei’. This phone call. Who was it from? When did it come? This was the same day you left us, right?”
“My mother. It was just after I had dropped Ruby Tuesday at nursery school and –”
“Just Ruby will do, Deimante,” Pippa cut in. “Please don’t call her Tuesday.”
“One more word from you. Counsellor, and you’ll be in contempt of court.” Red’s harsh glare making clear she meant it. “Just shut it and bloody listen. Go on, Deimante.”
Deimante suppressed an ill-disguised smile at Pippa’s admonishment. “As I said, I dropped Ruby – is that okay, Miss Pippa? – at nursery as usual and went back to my flat for a few hours. I had just arrived there when Mama phoned.”
“From Lat...” Red corrected herself. “From Lithuania?”
Deimante nodded. “Mama was worried sick. Aurelija had not returned home from Vilnius.”
“Aurelija is Deimante’s younger sister,” Red explained to Pippa. “Seventeen, did you say?”
Deimante confirmed with a worried smile. “Two years younger than me, and not very... How do you say it, world wise?”
“Exactly how we say it, Dei.” A glare warned Pippa not to correct her. “Go on.”
Deimante turned to Pippa. “We think my sister has been kidnapped.”
Pippa almost choked on her coffee, a smirk threatening to break across her lips. “Oh, come on. Kidnapped?”
“Last warning, Counsellor. Just hear what Deimante has to say, will you?” To Deimante, “What happened next?”
“Well of course, I had to go back. To Lithuania, I mean. But there were no flights. It would be many days, perhaps a week, before I could fly. My family needed me. I had the car keys in my hand. I knew there were no speed limits outside the UK, so such a fast car could get me home very quickly. I could drive there.”
“Rather you than me, Deimante,” Red said. “Just driving to the Lakes is exhausting. But why didn’t you tell us first?”
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