Thank God Vanessa’s staying at Sara’s, she thought as she swallowed a couple of Aspirin. She could hear David knocking about upstairs in the bedroom, and summoning up some courage, she decided to go and speak to him. She mounted the stairs with trepidation; she had no idea how this whole thing was going to pan out.
She paused in the doorway, eyes widening when she saw that he was tossing clothes on the bed—he was obviously preparing to pack an overnight bag. “David, can we talk about this?”
He ignored her as he continued to withdraw items of clothing from the wardrobe and throw them down on the bed. Then he went into their en suite bathroom and came out with his toiletry bag, which he also tossed on the bed before reaching up to retrieve a large duffle bag from the top shelf in the wardrobe.
“David, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Fear rose up inside her. He was leaving home! Jesus, what would she say to Vanessa? Or even worse, what would he say to her? She felt panic overcome her. But no. David would never hurt Vanessa, not even to get back at her. There’s no way that he would tell their daughter about her mother’s indiscretion.
“David!”
He looked briefly at her. “I need some space, some time to think. I can’t talk to you now.” He zipped up the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“When will you be back? What will I tell Vanessa?”
“You should have thought about that before, shouldn’t you? But I’m sure you’ll think of something. After all, deceit comes easy to you, doesn’t it?”
He pushed past her and ran down the stairs, eager to get away from her. A moment later, she heard the front door bang shut, and looking out of the bedroom window, she saw the cloud of dust that his wheels had kicked up as he sped down the gravel driveway towards the gate.
***
How long Laura paced up and down in the living room she didn’t know, but it felt like forever. The Aspirin had started to work its magic on her headache, but her insides felt like they had been twisted into a knot with a white-hot poker.
Every so often she’d look out of the window and cock her head, hoping to see or hear David’s car coming back up the driveway. Then she’d check the cell phone in her hand to see whether by any chance she’d missed a text message notification.
She needn’t have bothered.
Damn it! Of all the rotten luck they’d had to go and run into Hugo and spoil a perfectly nice day. Hell, a perfectly nice life! She shouldn’t have gone to speak to him. She should just have pretended that she hadn’t understood his discrete gesture signalling her to meet him in the side corridor. But she’d been afraid that he’d accost them there and then if she ignored him.
It was unfortunate that Hugo was truly in love with her. She couldn’t believe how persistent he was, nearly obsessive. It was rather annoying, and yes, scary, too. It was almost like having a stalker. How could she get the message through to him for once and for all? It was over between them. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that he would react this way.
She did feel a little guilty, though, like a home-wrecker, but then again, that had been Hugo’s decision. After all, he had admitted his separation had been in the works all along, and that their little fling had been the nudge he had required to actually take that final step. Of course it wasn’t only Hugo’s home she had wrecked; she’d probably done the same to her own. Poor David. He hadn’t seen it coming at all. And the thought of telling Vanessa that her parents were splitting up made her feel hollow inside.
Suddenly, she had to hear her daughter’s voice; the one thing that remained rock solid in her life, that anchored her firmly to the ground and enabled her to keep putting one foot before the other, no matter what. But talking to Vanessa entailed talking to Sara first, and much as she loved her friend, she wasn’t up to talking about what had happened. Not yet, at any rate. So, time to put on an act and see if she could get away with it.
“Hi, Laura! How was your day in the big city?”
“Hello, Sara. It was great. We got all our shopping done. What about you? Did the girls behave themselves?” Laura hoped that she sounded cheerful, but even to her own ears, her voice sounded strained.
“They did indeed. We spent the day exploring the arts and crafts shops in Óbidos, and the girls bought a couple of beautiful rag dolls. The citadel was crawling with tourists as usual, but even so we all had a lovely time.”
“That’s nice.”
A beat. “Would I be correct in assuming that your day was perhaps not quite as nice as ours? You sound a little strange.”
“No, not at...,” Laura began but then she stopped and sighed. “Actually, yes, Sara, you’re right. But please don’t ask me about it right now. I promise I’ll talk to you about it on Monday when the girls are back at school.”
“Laura! You’re scaring me! That sounds ominous. Is there anything I can do?” she asked anxiously.
“Yes, just keep Vanessa with you till tomorrow evening. I’ll pick her up at seven, if that’s all right.”
“Honey, of course it’s all right. Don’t you worry about her.” A pause. “Where’s David?”
An even longer pause. “He’s gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’”? Sara demanded. “When is he coming back?”
“I don’t know, Sara,” Laura replied forlornly. “We had a pretty serious argument and he packed a bag and left...” Her voice trailed off.
“Oh my Lord! I can’t believe it! Laura, do you want me to come over?”
“No, Sara. Really. Please just look after Vanessa for me and I’ll explain everything later. Make sure she doesn’t forget to use her inhaler before she goes to bed. She knows how to do it by herself now. ”
“Of course, my dear. Don’t you worry yourself about that. I just wish there was something I could do for you.”
“Thank you, Sara. You’re a good friend. And please don’t forget her midnight pit stop, will you? I’d hate for her to have an accident on her first sleepover.”
“It’s OK, Laura. It’s all under control. Just focus on sorting out this issue with David.”
Laura’s bottom lip trembled and she struggled to keep her composure. “Sara, she hasn’t been listening to our conversation, has she?”
“No, of course not. The girls are playing in Mariana’s bedroom. Would you like to talk to her?”
“Yes, please.” Laura dug her nails hard into the palm of her hand, hoping the physical pain would supplant the emotional one.
“Hang on a moment, I’ll call her.”
Laura pressed her lips tightly together, and willed herself to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.
“Hello, Mommy!”
That sweet, familiar and much loved voice in her ear demolished the last of her self-control like a wrecking ball.
The tears flowed freely.
Chapter 24
The sound of excited barking roused Laura from her stupor. It was time to feed the girls. Rising from the sofa, she rolled her shoulders in an effort to ease her tight muscles. She cast another anxious look at the cell phone lying on the coffee table, but it remained mute, as it had all afternoon. Nor had she had any luck in getting him to answer her calls; clearly he was still trying to get his head round what had happened.
While she changed into something more suitable, Laura thought about the scare she had given her daughter. Vanessa had picked up on her tearful voice and had expressed her alarm. Why on earth was her mommy crying? Moms never cried; they were the ones that kissed tears away. Laura had tried to put it down to a head cold and blocked nose, but Vanessa was no fool. She had clearly been anxious, and Laura hoped that her stupidity wouldn’t be the cause of an episode that night. Would Sara and Miguel cope? And it would certainly be very distressing for Mariana if she were to see her friend in that state.
Nerves fuelled the fire in her stomach as she went to feed the dogs. She filled the six bowls with kibble and headed for the dog run. It was such a nuisance having them locke
d up most of the time, but she certainly didn’t want to incur David’s wrath, especially not now.
The dogs finished off their food in next to no time and Laura decided to take them for a walk round the perimeter of the grounds. She headed for the gate as they ran on ahead excitedly, happy to be free to roam around and sniff every inch of the property.
Laura broke into a light jog in order to catch up with them. By the sound of things, they were already at the gate, barking furiously at something or someone. As she neared the entrance, she heard the sound of a car pulling away. The big dogs pranced around on their hind legs, jumping up against the fence as they expressed their indignation at the unknown vehicle that had stopped outside their gate.
“Come on, girls. Enough already, they’ve gone.” She shooed them on along the hedgerow as she picked her way over the uneven terrain. She realized that she’d have to pick up her pace if she wanted to walk all the way round the property. It would start to get dark soon and she hadn’t brought her torch.
She hoped that a brisk walk would put troublesome thoughts out of her mind for a while, but her body had gone into autopilot mode, leaving her recalcitrant mind free to run wild. She wondered where David was and what he was thinking. It saddened her to think that she had let him down so badly, but then again, so had he.
The girls ran back into the dog run, their energy levels lower, but nowhere near depleted. Laura, however, felt ready to drop. Both physically and mentally. It didn’t help that she hadn’t eaten anything since the ice cream cone that morning. She’d check if she had any broth in the fridge when she got back to the house.
“In you go! Come on, you too, Tara. Enough for today.”
The dogs headed for the water bowls as Laura pressed the remote control to shut the gate. “See you tomorrow, girls.”
***
Back at the villa, Laura headed for the kitchen, feeling ravenous now. She heated up some leftover spinach soup and buttered a slice of brown bread. She sat down at the kitchen table and switched on the TV to watch the evening news as she ate. More dire news. She sighed and zapped for a while before switching the set off. She wasn’t really in the mood to watch anything at all.
After stacking the dishes in the dishwasher, Laura made herself a cup of tea and curled up on the living room sofa in the dark. The curtains were still open and she could see the solar powered garden lights shining dimly along the path that led to the pool. Beyond that it was pitch black. Rain clouds were undoubtedly gathering.
Feeling restless, Laura padded barefoot to the entrance hall, flicked on the flood light above the front door and stepped outside. Cupping her mug in her hands, she crossed the courtyard and stood staring down the dimly lit driveway, hoping to see David’s headlights coming towards her.
But all that greeted her was darkness and silence. If the moon and the stars had put up a fight, it hadn’t done them any good; they had clearly lost to the clouds that had come in from the coast. The world beyond seemed to have been swallowed up by Pac Man-like critters, she being the sole survivor. Like something from a Stephen King novel.
She shivered. Normally she enjoyed the feeling of solitude and isolation, and the dark certainly didn’t scare her. But today it was a menacing shroud and not a tantalizing veil. She turned to go back to the house, which shone like a welcoming beacon.
The dogs suddenly raised a ruckus. Wondering what had upset them, Laura whistled and called out to them, hoping to calm them down. Instead, their barking just grew more frantic. She looked over towards the dog run but couldn’t see a thing; the path was in total darkness. The solar powered lights hadn’t been fitted there yet. Perhaps she should just take matters into her own hands, otherwise it would never get done.
The dogs’ earnestness was making Laura apprehensive. Contrary to her earlier resolution, she decided to let the dogs out, give them the run of the grounds so that they could do their jobs properly.
David was probably not coming home that night, anyway.
She went back inside the villa to get a torch to light the way to the dog run. In the kitchen, she checked her cell phone once more and, in disgust, tossed it onto the counter while she fished around in a drawer for a torch and the gate opener. Then she took out a pair of Timberland boots from the hallway cupboard, put them on and stepped outside.
The dogs hadn’t let up. They sounded beside themselves with anger, and she could picture them jumping up against the gate, demanding to be let out. The proverbial shiver of fear ran down her back; suddenly she felt defenceless and alone. She needed the dogs with her, but the thought of walking all the way to the dog run in the darkness made her queasy. She resolved to walk only as far as it was necessary for the zapper to work. She took a deep breath, steeled herself and walked out of the circle of light and into the darkness.
***
Afterwards, she would never really know what alerted her to his presence. Perhaps it was the rustling of the jasmine vines that were trained along the garage wall, or perhaps it was simply intuition. Either way, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle, but before she was able to turn around, strong arms grabbed her roughly from behind and pinned her arms to her side. Laura let out a terrified scream, but there was no one to hear her except for the dogs who barked even louder, enraged that their mistress was in distress and that they were powerless to act.
Her assailant clamped a rough hand over her mouth and ordered her to shut up. Laura started to struggle, trying to break free from his hold but she was no match for him. In desperation, she stomped down as hard as she could on his foot. The man cursed in a foreign tongue, whipped her round and slapped her hard across the face. Laura dropped the torch and fell to the ground with a cry. She held her hand against her stinging face and cowered as he stood over her. He was a burly blonde man with lifeless blue eyes and the telltale red face of alcohol abuse. Laura guessed he was from eastern Europe.
“Get up!” he ordered in accented Portuguese. “Now!” He grabbed her by the hair and drew her to her feet.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded, “just take what you want.”
“I intend to,” he laughed, ripping her shirt open.
“No!” she wailed. “No, please!” She shuddered as she felt his hands groping her breasts. Her knee-jerk reaction was to punch him in the jaw and quickly twist away from him, pulling her shirt back over her breasts.
The man cursed loudly again and grabbed her by the neck from behind. His large hands encircled her throat easily and squeezed until Laura started to gag, her eyes bulging; she couldn’t breathe.
That’s it, thought Laura desperately. He’s going to kill me. I’m going to die! But then the thought of what the shock of her death would do to her daughter turned her fear into outrage. Adrenalin surged through her blood and the instinct to survive kicked in. She feigned unconsciousness and let her body go limp, supporting her weight on her left leg. When she felt the pressure round her throat ease slightly, she lifted her right knee high and thrust backwards as hard as she could so that her buttocks crashed into the man’s groin and her foot cracked down on his shin. Taken by surprise, he let out a cry and doubled up in pain. Taking advantage of his momentary vulnerability, Laura brought the heel of her hand up as hard as she could under his nose. Blood promptly spurted everywhere and he howled in agony, clutching his face with his hands. Blood flowed freely between his fingers and into his mouth as he hurled what must have been obscenities at her. Instinctively, Laura adopted a fighting stance; left foot forward, knees bent, fists up. She twisted slightly at the waist, bringing her right knee up and then shooting out her leg with all her might and striking him between the legs. He groaned and crumpled to the ground.
Laura’s first thought was to run and lock herself in the villa. But then she realized just how easy it would be for him to break in and catch her. Even if the police were quick to respond, they’d never make it in time to save her. She hesitated, panic-stricken. Perhaps she could escape in her car. No, she’d hav
e to get the keys from the villa first, wait for the garage door to open...
Seeing the man struggling to his feet, she made a snap decision. She’d take refuge in the dog run. Surely he wouldn’t try to jump over the fence when three large dogs were baring their teeth at him? She turned and made a run for the kennels, cursing the electrician for not having fitted the motion sensor lighting yet. She could barely see where she was going every time the moon hid behind a cloud. When she got to the fork in the path, she looked back over her shoulder and, to her horror, saw that the intruder was gaining on her.
Breathing hard, she hurtled forwards in the dark and then, as if in a low-budget horror movie, she tripped and went sprawling along the path. The sharp gravel cut into her hands and face but she barely registered the pain in her haste to scramble to her feet. Before she could run any further, a hand grabbed the back of her shirt and threw her back down on the ground. Laura let out a shrill scream of terror and frustration. She had almost made it.
By now, her assailant’s face and shirt were covered in blood and his expression clearly mirrored what he was feeling—fury that a woman had inflicted these injuries upon him. A woman! Well, he’d show her who the boss was. As she lay sobbing on the ground, he straddled her, pinning her arms to her side. Again he placed his powerful hands round her throat. She bucked and kicked out but to no avail, he just squeezed harder.
Black spots started to dance in front of Laura’s eyes; nothing quite registered anymore, not even the dogs’ furious growling. The dogs. It was becoming difficult to think, but through her haze, she remembered the gate remote control in her pocket. In a last desperate attempt to save herself, her fingers inched inside her trouser leg pocket and, feeling the cool touch of the metal, they groped about until they found the rubber button that would open the gate to the dog run. She managed to press it with her thumb just as everything went black.
The Blame Page 12