The pressure eased. Nathan released her. Kerry Marshall was standing about five metres away. She was wearing jeans and a dark jumper. Her hair was tied back. She was wearing no makeup. Her face was pale and serious.
‘What are you doing here?’ Nathan asked.
‘I was about to ask you the same question, Nathan. Your message to me was clear – you wouldn’t be coming.’
‘She blackmailed me.’
Kerry Marshall took a couple of steps forward. ‘How?’
Naomi looked at Nathan. His eyes were creepy. As impossible as it was, they looked a shade darker. He glanced over his shoulder at his car, roughly ten metres away. ‘There was no doctors’ letter. She lied to get me here.’
‘If you’re innocent, you didn’t need to worry about that letter.’
‘Of course I’m innocent, Kerry!’ Nathan yelled. ‘You said so yourself. You didn’t understand how my wife and my brother walked free.’
‘I’ve never been your wife,’ Naomi said.
‘You’re still my wife.’
‘You’ve just signed for an annulment. It’s all but over, Nathan.’
Nathan swung round to face Naomi. ‘Like hell it is. I want my money. Now. See, that’s why it’s blackmail, Kerry.’ Nathan was still looking at Naomi and spraying her face with saliva. ‘She promised me money for doing this even though she has no right to that annulment.’
‘That isn’t blackmail,’ Kerry Marshall said. ‘You could have held out for your divorce settlement. Isn’t that what you wanted?’
‘I need money. I’m broke because of her. I couldn’t wait any longer.’
‘Nathan, listen to me,’ Kerry said. She was a metre closer now. ‘I’ve had a call today. Simon Wilde’s car has been found. There was a body in the boot that’s still waiting for identification.’
Naomi gasped.
Nathan yelled, ‘I’m innocent, Kerry. Do you understand me?’
Kerry said, quietly, ‘Game’s up, Nathan. Give yourself up. Know when to stop.’
Kerry Marshall took another pace forward and Nathan seized Naomi by locking an arm around her neck from behind. She gasped and struggled. He produced a penknife and flicked the blade up and Naomi stiffened.
Kerry Marshall raised her palms. ‘Easy, Nathan. Put the knife away.’
Nathan started to walk backwards, dragging Naomi with him. The point of the blade was against her ribcage. ‘I’m very disappointed in you, Kerry. All I asked you to do was to trust me, and you let me down. You’re responsible for what happens next.’
Kerry’s tone was calm, her words slow and deliberate. ‘Put the knife away.’
Nathan was still pacing backwards. Kerry hadn’t moved forward since he produced the knife. ‘You women are all the same. You clan together like wolves. You’re making me do this, Kerry.’
Her palms were still raised. ‘Nathan, calm down. No one’s ganging up on you. No one’s accusing you of anything. Just put the knife away and let’s sort this out.’
Naomi was still stumbling backwards, with the point of the blade between her ribs. ‘I’ve got his money in my bag, Kerry,’ she said in a strangled tone. ‘I’ve told him to take it.’
Kerry took a few careful steps forward. ‘See, Nathan? The money’s yours, no problem. Put the weapon away.’
‘It’s not enough.’ Nathan stopped moving. A car door opened. ‘You two should stop patronising me. You’re wasting your breath and you’re really starting to wind me up.’ Naomi was roughly pushed into the back of Nathan’s car, behind the passenger seat. ‘Stay right there. Belt up.’
The door slammed shut. Naomi tried the handle. The door was locked. Her hands had started to shake. She slid to the other side and tried the opposite door. She couldn’t get out. Nathan had planned for this. He’d set the child locks. She was about to climb into the front when Nathan banged on the window with the palm of his hand. He held the knife to the glass and pointed to the space behind the passenger seat with it.
‘Belt up.’
From behind Nathan, Kerry was coming up fast. Time stood still a second. Naomi could only watch, helpless. There was no time to find her phone and make a call; no time to beg Kerry Marshall not to risk her life. She was conscious of watching without giving Kerry away.
Nathan saw her anyway. The focus in his eyes switched to close-range. He saw her reflection in the glass and reacted immediately, just as she lunged at him to try to pin him to the car. She only succeeded in knocking the knife from his hand. It skidded across the car park floor. Nathan had already begun to spin around. The momentum sent Kerry thundering to the ground.
Naomi was watching, frozen. She needed to do something; needed to react. It all happened too fast. Next thing she knew, Nathan was getting behind the wheel of the car and crashing the door shut. Kerry was peeling herself off the ground, dazed. That was Naomi’s last view of her. Nathan fired the engine and crunched into first and turned the car in Kerry Marshall’s direction.
Naomi banged against the glass. ‘No. No!’
Kerry reacted just in time, hurling herself out of the way. Nathan whacked the steering wheel with his hand and screeched towards the exit and Naomi looked out of the back window to see Kerry dragging herself off the ground.
‘Where are we going?’
‘Shut up.’
Nathan turned right out of the car park. There were traffic lights ahead, on red. Naomi wondered if he’d stop, but orange burned, then green. He overtook the car in front and Naomi fastened her belt. Nathan was madly searching his rear-view mirror.
When he slammed a hand on the wheel again and spewed a dozen curses, Naomi looked behind and realised they were being followed. Kerry wasn’t in a police car, but was in a black Ford Fiesta.
Nathan sharply took the first turning. Naomi crashed against the door.
‘Stop the car. Nathan! You’re going to kill us both.’
‘Shut up and put the money on the front seat. Do it now.’
‘Stop the car.’
‘Dump the money,’ he screamed. A vein on his neck stood out. ‘NOW!’
Naomi opened her bag and saw her phone. She’d missed two calls from Dan. Tears stung her eyes at the sight of his name. She thought about sending a text. What was the point? Dan couldn’t save her this time. What was there to say except I love you? He knew that anyway. All this flashed through her head as she quickly lifted five bundles of notes from her bag. Each were bound by a rubber band. All were twenties. She dropped them on the passenger seat while Nathan flew along a street lined with houses and parked cars.
Naomi checked the back window. Kerry was still following. Had she called for help? Nathan skidded around three more corners, barely keeping control of the car. He wasn’t in control of his tongue. He kept yelling and crunching through the gears and telling Kerry Marshall – as if she could hear him – that she was going to get what was coming to her.
Naomi tried the button for the electric window. She pressed it frantically. The windows were locked too. She started to panic now. Her chest was tightening. Her lungs couldn’t draw much air.
‘You’re trapped, Naomi. It’s just us now.’ He screamed around another corner and narrowly missed a man and a dog. ‘No Lorie. No Dan. No Solomon or his crew. Me and you. Till death. Like we said.’
‘Stop the car.’
‘I can’t, Naomi.’ She glanced over her shoulder again. Kerry was lagging further behind. ‘If Kerry gets her mates to round me up, I want you to know that you’re not leaving this car alive. Your only hope of survival is getting us out of this. So start to think.’
She tried to draw a deeper breath, but there wasn’t much air and she felt very sick. ‘I don’t . . . even know where . . . we are.’
Nathan took another bend and her head crashed against the window. She glanced over her shoulder and couldn’t see Kerry at all. Nathan was still talking, rambling out of control. She tuned out until she couldn’t hear him. Her heart was echoing in her ears. Her stomach wanted to empty.
Nathan had found a straight road. He picked up one of the wads of money and pulled the band off and spread the notes across the seat. He picked one up and held it to his face. Suddenly, she could hear him again.
‘Beautiful, money. Isn’t it?’ Air was beautiful. She could hardly breathe. ‘The colour. The smell of it. The feel of an old note. Do you ever wonder how many hands have softened an old note, Naomi? I have.’
Nathan was in a 30 mph zone. He was overtaking everything in his path. If Kerry was still following, she had some catching up to do. There was a twenty pound note under his hand against the steering wheel.
Then colour caught her eye right ahead. Red. Flashing. Not traffic lights, but a level crossing. Nathan wasn’t slowing.
‘Nathan. Stop!’
‘Can’t stop!’
The barrier was starting to twitch.
‘You won’t make it. Stop!’
The barrier was lowering. Warning lights were blinking. Nathan gripped the steering wheel with both hands and sat up straighter. The barrier was fully down now, barring access and Nathan was heading for it at speed.
‘Stop,’ she yelled. Her right foot was squeezing invisible breaks. They covered the last few metres in a heartbeat. It was surreal. If Nathan said anything, Naomi didn’t hear him. She’d shrunk inside her own world. She covered her head with her hands and lowered her head onto her knees.
Then the impact. Her belt locked. Her head and arms slammed into the seat in front. The rest was confusion. She looked up. Out of the front windscreen, the world was spinning. A couple of bumps from underneath the car and then a brick wall was coming at them. Smash. The sickening crunch of metal and the car came to a stop.
Naomi felt dizzy. Sick. She’d taken a bash to the head. The side of her head was throbbing. Her fingers stumbled upon the padding guarding her injury. The front of the car had bounced off a brick wall and it took time to calculate that the back end was jutting onto the track. The barrier had detached and was strewn across the line a few metres away. Her best guess was that Nathan had hit the barrier and then spun the steering wheel or lost control of it.
Next thing she knew, there was a hissing sound which filled her with dread. It was growing every second. A word sped into her head. Train. What followed was the clickerty-clack of the approach. Nathan was groaning from behind the wheel.
Naomi unlocked her belt and tried the door again. She wildly looked around her and then instinct kicked in. In a burst of strength, she leapt out of the back seat. Nathan turned and threw a punch at her chest that knocked the air out of her and had her back in the same place.
She caught her breath and ignored the pain. ‘Get out of the car,’ she yelled. ‘NATHAN!’
The train came around the corner, headed by two lights which looked dim against the morning sunshine. The sound was growing feverishly.
‘Get out,’ she yelled, making another lunge for the space between the front two seats. Nathan landed another punch which hit her in the face. A bolt of pain sliced through her head. Her mouth flooded with the metallic taste of blood and Nathan’s features were duplicated. She couldn’t give up.
‘Get out.’
Nathan was laughing. His body was twisted towards her, ready to block her if she lunged again. He was still holding a twenty pound note. ‘I’d rather watch you die.’
The train was deafening now and was growing in the side window and blasting a haunting horn. In a final effort, she lunged herself at the passenger window, feet first. Nothing at first impact, but she thrashed her legs again and the window shattered. At the same time, Nathan’s fist was coming towards her again in slow motion. No time to react. The blow was strangely painless as it thundered into the side of her head on top of the padding. Everything stopped. The sound dimmed. Her vision was clouded. The colours of a day which had promised everything, began to fail. The life slunk out of her and she used her last bit of energy to wrap her fingers around her cross. It bothered her that she couldn’t grip it properly. And then the world became dark, and folded away.
43
A point of light, too distant to touch. The blackness was diluting gradually. And a voice. Far away. It was the sound of an underwater voice speaking undecipherable words. The odd word sounded familiar. She strained to latch on, to understand.
‘Naomi.’
At last, clarity. Certainty. It was her name.
‘Naomi.’
Desperate to respond, she tried to open her mouth, but it was glued together. Her tongue was thick and useless. Her eyelids were too heavy to lift. She stopped fighting and allowed the light to come to her instead of trying to reach it. Seconds passed.
‘Can you hear me?’
Yes. Yes! She managed a small nod of her head. Her head was exploding with pain and her mouth was hurting. Her tongue searched around. Her teeth were still there, but her gums were shredded on one side.
Then the train hit her.
‘No,’ she yelled. ‘Get out.’
Someone was holding her head. ‘Shh. It’s OK, Naomi. It’s over now.’
The weight on her eyelids eased. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but the person holding her told her to stay still.
A face came into focus. Kerry Marshall’s face, stained with tears. Her eyes were red and blotchy. Naomi watched her – the way her hand shook as she mindlessly touched her hair and wiped her eyes. Naomi’s fingers reached for her throat, which was bare and gripped her with panic.
‘Kerry?’ Naomi’s voice was weak.
‘Yeah.’
‘My necklace. Where is it?’
Kerry shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
‘What happened?’
‘Don’t worry.’
Tears dripped from Kerry’s eyes and she mopped her face with her sleeve. Naomi was lying flat on her back with her head on Kerry’s knee. The sky was a startling blue, but she was in the shadow of a wall on one side and was shielded by a row of parked cars on the other. Sirens were approaching.
‘What happened, Kerry? Tell me the truth.’
‘He’s dead,’ she blurted out. Her lips trembled. ‘Nathan’s dead.’
Her eyes filled and emptied again. Naomi felt oddly calm. There was nothing to say for a while.
‘I pulled you from the car and then the train hit. I don’t know where I found the energy. I lifted you like you weighed nothing, and then . . .’
‘How do you know he’s dead?’
‘No one could have survived that impact.’ She shook her head. ‘Your marriage is over, Naomi. You’re free,’ she sobbed.
A pair of birds soared overhead. Nathan, dead? She couldn’t grasp it. Her mind raced with the recent past and the troubles. ‘I don’t want to be in the papers again, Kerry. Don’t tell anyone I was in that car. Please. I don’t want to be followed and hounded, not with my family in ruins. We’ve had enough.’
‘Shh,’ Kerry closed her eyes, as if she was trying to block out a painful image. ‘We’ll talk about it later, OK?’ She looked down on Naomi now. ‘Do you think you can stand? My strength has gone. I’m like jelly.’
‘You’re in shock,’ Naomi said.
‘Probably.’ Kerry wiped her eyes and pushed wispy strands of hair away. Her hands were still trembling. ‘Look, we need to get out of here. I carried you out of view so no one would see us. Do you want to come to my house or something? I don’t think either of us should be alone at the moment.’
Naomi nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Stay here. I’ll go and find my car and bring it round.’
Tangled around Naomi’s body was her bag. She looked down and touched it.
Kerry said, ‘It was attached to you.’
Naomi’s mind filled with Dan. ‘I need to call Dan. He’s been trying to reach me.’
‘Let me call him for you.’
Naomi thought for a moment and reached inside her bag and found her phone and handed it over.
‘What do you want me to tell him?’
Naomi considered the unthin
kable news waiting for Dan and his parents, and of his poor mother going about her day, not knowing that her life was about to capsize. She sighed. ‘Nothing. Just tell him where you live. Tell him I’ll be there. Ask him to come right away.’
Kerry Marshall nodded and disappeared around the nearest corner. And the sirens wailed on.
There was still no call from Naomi as Dan pulled into the busy car park, the one where Naomi had promised she’d park. He’d tried to call her on the journey, but she hadn’t picked up and as time went by, the pit of Dan’s stomach churned ceaselessly. He spotted her car after a short search, in the corner by the ticket machine. He drove right up to it. But where was she? Then suddenly, his phone rang. Dan snatched it up from the passenger seat and stared at the screen. His muscles unlocked. Naomi, at last. He swiped the screen to answer.
‘Where’ve you been? I’ve been worried to the point of insanity.’
‘Is that Dan Stone?’
Dan’s world darkened beyond the windscreen. He was silent. Fearful. Still.
‘Dan?’
His voice would barely carry. ‘Who is this?’
‘My name is Kerry Marshall. For the last few months, I’ve been seeing Nathan.’
‘I know who you are.’ He also knew she was a policewoman. His muscles had tensed again. He sat stiffly, not daring to move. He’d forgotten how to breathe. He wondered if he’d ever move again.
‘Look, Dan, I’m with Naomi at the moment and she’s agreed to come to my house to talk. She wants you to be there.’
Dan sunk into easier breathing. Naomi was OK.
‘Is Nathan going to be there? because if –’
‘Nathan won’t be there.’
‘OK, good. Put Naomi on the phone please.’
‘Can’t do that right now, Dan.’
‘I thought you said you were with her.’
‘Look, it’s a bit complicated. I’ll explain when I see you. Just come immediately could you? I’ll text you the address.’
‘Is that a siren –’
But Kerry Marshall had gone and Dan was in a daze. And a few seconds later, an address flashed up on the screen and the rotten feeling had begun to invade him all over again. Something was very wrong.
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