Dark Memories
Page 6
‘Don’t worry about that, Isaac boy. We’ll sort it out for you – see, we like to help our friends.’ Calum leaned over and hefted Isaac to his feet, brushing him down as if they were besties. ‘So, you’ll sell the house and give us the money and we’ll leave you alone. Is that a deal?’
Isaac nodded.
‘Oh, one more thing. You don’t tell a soul about our deal – yeah?’
Again he nodded.
Calum looked at him for a long time then. ‘You gotta promise properly. You gotta make it mean summat. Your mum’s dead in’t she?’
‘Yes.’ Fresh tears flowed down Isaac’s cheeks. He didn’t want to think about his mum, not here, not with them about.
‘Okay, so we can trust you. You’ll need to promise on her grave.’
Isaac frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Because if you don’t, your mum will go to hell – you know what hell is, don’t you? It’s where all the fires are. She’ll go to hell and all her flesh will melt off her bones and her eyes will fall out and she’ll be in pain forever and ever. You gotta swear on her grave and then you gotta keep your promise or that’s what’ll happen to her.’
Isaac couldn’t let that happen to his mum. She was the best. He didn’t want her in pain again. She’d been in so much pain before she died, he couldn’t let that happen to her. He held out his little finger and Calum looked at it. ‘What’s this?’
‘Pinkie promise on my mum’s grave. I won’t tell anyone.’
Calum grinned and looked at his friends, raising one finger to his head and twirling it round and round, before linking his pinkie with Isaac’s. ‘Say it again now.’
Isaac repeated his promise.
Soon as he’d finished, Calum shoved him on the ground once more and began kicking him. ‘That’s just so’s you’ll remember.’
‘Hey, you boys – leave him alone – leave that poor boy alone, you monsters. I’ll get the police on you.’
Laughing and whooping, Calum and his mates ran off, and seconds later Isaac was helped to his feet by an old man who had his phone out ready to phone the police. Isaac shook his head. If he phoned the police, then Nikki would know – and Nikki had a way of getting him to say stuff even if he didn’t want to. ‘No, no police.’
Isaac retraced his steps back into the room that he’d just moved into and packed all his precious belongings into his rucksack. He couldn’t stay there anymore.
Chapter 13
Nikki pulled into her street and scoured the road for a parking place. Unfortunately, with none close to her house, she was forced to park a good five blocks away. Before leaving Trafalgar House she’d brought Sajid up to speed with the three anonymous letters and after the customary sulk because she hadn’t told him when the first one arrived, Saj had been mollified to learn he was the first one she’d shared them with. They’d batted the reason for the letters around and guessed at the possible identity of the sender, but Saj agreed that other than the coincidence of the postmarks there was little to report to DCI Hegley that couldn’t wait till the next day. After warning her to be vigilant – ‘you never know what folk who send this anonymous stuff are really thinking, Nik,’ he had rushed off to meet his partner Langley for a meal.
With her earlier unease, combined with Sajid’s warning, Nikki wished she’d been able to park closer to her house. Not that it was far and, although the nights “were fair drawing in” as Archie would say, it was still light. Yet, for some reason she was antsy. Probably just the pent-up emotions of thinking she was going to have Springer as her boss, followed by the release of said emotions when she realised she wasn’t. Nikki got out of her car, glad that it was Marcus’s turn to cook, and rolled her shoulders back a couple of times to relieve the tension before locking her car with a smart chirrup and heading down the path.
She’d only passed about five of the ten houses she needed to, when she heard hurried footsteps approach from a gate behind her and before she had a chance to turn round to see who it was, a gun was poked into her right kidney. Her heart sped up, pumping adrenaline through her and in an instant she rose onto the balls of her feet, her hand gripping her car keys inside her pocket, the ignition one between her middle and index fingers, her body tensed. Almost simultaneously, she lifted her right leg and spun to her left ready to kick her assailant where it hurt, only to be faced by a familiar figure whose first words spoken in a robotic tone were: ‘You are a Dalek, Parekh.’
The words Dalek and Parekh were rhymed together and Nikki grinned and launched herself at the lad who still pointed his finger at her. ‘Where the hell have you been, Isaac? So much for keeping in touch, yeah? We’ve not seen you for over a year.’
Laughing, Isaac’s eyes crinkled. ‘Got you, Nik Nik, didn’t I?’ The lad returned Nikki’s hug with a huge one of his own, which left her breathless. ‘Been in Bradford Five with my foster carers. But, I’m 18 now, so I left. I’m moving home now. We’ll be neighbours again.’ He puffed up his chest. ‘Got a job and everything.’
Nikki frowned. Isaac and his mum had lived next door to Nikki’s mum for as long as they’d lived in this street. Isaac was just a little older than Nikki’s eldest daughter, Charlie and, when his mum died two years ago, Nikki’s mum hadn’t thought twice about taking the young lad in. However, social services reared their ugly heads and because no will had been left registering Lalita Parekh as the proposed carer for Isaac if anything happened to his mum, they’d decided to put him in the care of foster parents and Nikki hadn’t seen him since.
She linked arms with him and together they started to walk towards Nikki’s home, him lugging an overfilled rucksack. ‘Thought you had a room in one of the new flats over near where I work?’
Isaac’s eyes flitted towards her and then he shrugged, his head bowed. Nikki was familiar with that look. It was his “I don’t want to talk about this” look.
‘Marcus at home, Nik? And Charlie and Ruby and Sunni? Has Sunni been watching the new Dr Who? Love Jodie Whittaker, do you?’
Nikki stopped walking. ‘Isaac, why are you not living in your flat? Are you being bullied? Is that it?’
Isaac shook his head rapidly from side to side as if the ferociousness of his denial would stop Nikki asking any more awkward questions.
But Nikki wasn’t to be put off. ‘You come clean to me, Isaac. Why do you want to move into your old house?’
‘It’s mine, Nik. Lally Mum told me so. I can do what I like, now I’m 18.’
‘But what about all the bills and stuff, Isaac? You thought about that?’
For the first time since they’d started discussing his moving back home, Isaac’s frown disappeared and his usual smile was back in place. ‘Got a job, Nik. Doing a prentice ship at Lazy Bites. I’m gonna be Gordon Ramsay.’
His enthusiasm was irresistible and Nikki, despite her concern, grinned widely. ‘As long as you don’t start all that swearing. I prefer Gino D’Acampo – he’s my favourite.’ The change of subject seemed to have reassured Isaac as the furtive expression she’d noticed earlier had gone, replaced by a flushed grin that told her he was excited by the prospect of cooking all day long. He’d always loved working in the kitchen. ‘You know the Lazy Bites café is opposite where I work at Trafalgar House. I was in there today. I think you’ll be a cracking chef, Isaac.’
As they walked on, Nikki sighed. Getting to the bottom of his desire to move home wasn’t a conversation they could have out on the street. Clearly Isaac had his reasons, but Nikki was aware that she’d have to tease them from him and probably with her mum’s help, which of course brought with it its own problems. Now, she’d be forced to invite her mum over, but they wouldn’t have the space to talk in private. Not with her house full of kids. Besides, she still hadn’t worked out what she wanted to say to her mum or how she wanted to handle things. She decided to put that problem to the back of her mind for now and, re-linking her arm in Isaac’s, they started walking again. Hope Marcus has made enough tea to feed a few extra mouths.
Again, the closed-off look spread over his face as they walked through the gate leading to her front door. ‘Yeah. I’m fine, Nik Nik.’
Nikki thrust the door open and, stepping inside, she raised her voice so she would be heard at all corners of her spacious terraced home. ‘Hey, guys, get yourselves downstairs; I’ve got a surprise visitor who’s dying to see you all.’
She turned to help Isaac off with his rucksack and found him peering up and down the street before pulling his head back inside, closing the door, turning the lock and fastening the safety chain. Nikki’s partner Marcus, a large bloke with broad shoulders, and an all-year tan that came courtesy of his job as a landscape gardener, strolled out from the kitchen and having witnessed Isaac’s strange behaviour, exchanged a raised eyebrow with Nikki before stepping forward to pull the lad into a one-armed hug.
‘You okay, mate? Staying for tea, are you?’
Before Isaac had a chance to respond, there came the sounds of feet hurtling down stairs followed by squeals of delight by Sunni: ‘It’s Isaac! Yeah. Come and see my new TARDIS.’
Not long after followed by a ‘Hey, Isaac, long time no see, how’s it going?’ from Ruby and a quieter but more heartfelt:
‘God, I’ve missed you, Isaac. You stopping for tea?’ from Charlie.
‘Yeah, Nik says I can. I’m a chef now, Marcus.’
Marcus grinned. ‘Well maybe you can come and make us all a meal one day.’
Isaac put his head to one side. ‘I can make buns. Chocolate ones.’
Sunni, never one to say no to a baking activity, wrapped himself round Isaac’s stomach and looked at Marcus. ‘Can we, Dad? Can Isaac and me make buns?’
Charlie, stepping back into her usual role as Isaac’s wingman, jumped in. ‘Yeah, you and Dad have a sit-down before tea. I’ll help with the bun making.’
Nikki mouthed a “thank you” to her daughter and went into the living room, pulling her phone out to call Isaac’s social worker, whilst Marcus said, ‘I’ll get the wine.’
Nikki stared into space wondering just what had spooked Isaac so much. Whatever it was, she’d have to get to the bottom of it, but with Isaac, she’d have to tread very carefully.
Chapter 14
Lalita wished she could shake off the malaise that had settled on her like a dark malignant cover since she’d discovered the note beneath her windscreen wiper at the library car park. She should have shown it to Nikita, but her daughter was always so busy juggling her kids and her job. Besides, they hadn’t really spoken since their tiff and Lalita didn’t want to burden her with this. For once she would be the responsible adult. For once she’d deal with it on her own. Anyway, it hadn’t been overtly threatening or anything – I Am Watching You – scrawled on a scratty bit of paper. Not very imaginative as threatening notes went; still, she didn’t like to think that someone was watching them from the shadows. It had probably just been kids messing around, but it had unsettled her.
Peggy’s death had raked up old memories. Memories that she had managed to suppress for a long time now. If she didn’t feel so guilty about how their childhood must have affected her kids, she could have shared her concerns with Nikita. She’d never seen such disgust on her eldest daughter’s face and she was really scared that by refusing to talk about their past, she might have irreparably damaged their relationship.
Maybe she’d have a word with Marcus. He was always so sensible – so calm and reassuring. She was happy that he’d come into their lives. He made Nikita happy and for such a long time, Lalita had wondered if that would ever be possible – especially after Charlie’s dad had disappeared. She sighed and wished her younger daughter was as happy as Nikita. Anika was going through the mill at the moment and there was no way Lalita could add to her burden. She let out a puff of air. Who was she kidding? Anika didn’t take on anyone else’s burden unless it directly affected her. Besides, she suspected that for Nikita’s sake she’d have to examine their past and try to undo some of the damage; however, Anika would want to keep the past firmly buried.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have friends. Lalita had plenty of friends. People at her book club, people at her Pilates class, co-workers – but there was no way she could ever share the secrets from her past with them. As for her family – well, her brothers and sisters just wanted to pretend that none of it had ever happened. With both her parents dead now, she didn’t want to rock the boat. She loved being part of the extended family, yet wondered how precarious her position in the family would be if any of her past life became more public. No, she’d just have to deal with this on her own.
When she got home, rather than sit in the patch of garden at the front of the house as she’d planned, Lalita had locked her doors and secured the safety chain, feeling a little bit silly as she did so. However, as the evening progressed, she found she still couldn’t settle. Startled by the sound of kids yelling on the street outside and rattled by the sound of bottles being tipped into a recycling bin at the back of the house, she flicked off the TV and for the umpteenth time, peeked through her kitchen blinds into her backyard. Was that movement, over by Mr Mahmood’s wheelie bin?
She held her breath, peering through the dusk, annoyed with herself for being so foolish. When a fox sleeked out, bushy tail at half mast, hungry eyes seemingly catching hers mockingly, she exhaled in relief. A fox – only a damn fox. Not a monster, or a stalker or a serial killer. Perhaps Nikki was right: maybe she did need to extend her reading repertoire – maybe she should read a good old chick lit novel. Maybe she could borrow the copy of Fifty Shades of Grey that Nikita had confiscated from Charlie. That would get them all talking. Maybe she could even suggest it as next month’s read for the book club. Smiling, a little more relaxed now, she opened the fridge and contemplated pouring a glass from the half-full bottle of white wine.
Her phone rang and she rushed through to the living room and found it slipped down the side of the couch. Grabbing it as if it was a lifeline, she saw it was Nikita and her heart sped up. This was the first time Nikita had phoned her since the funeral. Maybe she was ready to talk. Calming herself so her daughter wouldn’t realise how tightly wound she was, Lalita answered.
‘Mum, can you come round? We’ve got a surprise visitor you might like to see.’
Pleased to have a distraction, despite the blandness of her daughter’s tone, Lalita ran out the door, locked it behind her and scurried along to her eldest daughter’s house. She had nothing to worry about – not with her daughters living nearby. Her past was behind her and she was an idiot to let a stupid note upset her so much. She was safe and happy; her daughters were safe and happy, as were her beautiful grandchildren. Life was good for Lalita Parekh.
Chapter 15
Downey had expected more of a reaction from her when she found the note and had been disappointed when she hadn’t freaked out. Seemed like she’d developed a bit more spine since he’d last seen her. He couldn’t wait to reacquaint himself with her, but that was a secondary aim. He’d other, more important things to sort out here in Bradford. Putting the note on her windscreen had been juvenile – he could have been caught and that would have scuppered everything. He hadn’t been able to resist though.
Still, he needed to dial things back a notch. He shouldn’t even be here. It was too risky. She hadn’t been one to keep herself out of the limelight over the years and now he was going to use her for his own ends.
Bradford wasn’t the safe haven it used to be for him and yet, for now, his presence in this godforsaken city was essential. He needed her to do the deed. Sort it out. She had her father’s brains, that one, so she should be able to work it all out. By the time she’d got to the bottom of it, he’d be on a flight to Thailand under an assumed name – no way was he goin
g back inside, and he’d heard that the law wasn’t so strict in Thailand about the sorts of things he wanted to get up to.
Flicking the butt of his cigarette down a nearby drain, he dug his hands in his pockets and walked off down the road. Good job Freddie Downey had friends in Bradford. Loads of places to lie low till things were a bit safer for him. But for now, he had other things to do. Things to sort out, people to see, places to go, scores to settle. Oh, it was good to be back in his old stomping ground.
Then, one last detail to deal with, before he headed off to where the sun always shone. Payback. He could almost smell it and he grinned and sang under his breath, changing the lyrics to suit himself as he walked. ‘I got you on your knees … dah dah dah dah dah … all you gotta do is please, please, please, please … me. Dah dah dah dah da. Get on your knees. Laylaaaaa!’ You gotta love Derek and the Dominos.
Chapter 16
Nikita had hugged her mum when she arrived at her house and Lalita had never needed a hug more. Yes, their embrace had been a little awkward – not as tight, a bit fleeting compared to their usual hugs – but it marked a slight thaw between her and her daughter. There was still a long way to go, but the promise of things turning out all right was strong. Tonight had been all about Isaac. Lalita had been so pleased to see the boy that she’d hugged him and kissed his cheeks until he’d finally pushed her away giggling. ‘Stop it, Lalita mum. You’re breaking my bones.’
She, Nikki and Marcus had discussed the situation. Isaac’s social worker had told them he hadn’t returned to his flat in the shared accommodation and that they would need to work out what was best for Isaac. Isaac was unaware that the house he considered his home in actual fact belonged to the father who had deserted him and his mother when he’d been born. According to the social worker, although he’d been letting it out for the past few months, Sharukh Khan was putting it on the market now and had refused to make any provision for his son. Thankfully Isaac had agreed to stay at Lalita’s for now.