‘Will you visit Eve tomorrow if she’s better?’ he asked.
‘Not sure. Now, I am exhausted. Please go. Go now.’
He rose from his chair, opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it and went upstairs to collect some of his things. When he came down, he stood for a few seconds in the hall, but the whole place was silent and dark. Whilst every instinct prompted him to stay, he realized that he had to go. This was her house, and she didn’t want him here at present.
In the kitchen, Lily sat in complete silence. The happy evening seemed to have taken place months ago, perhaps in some parallel universe she might never visit again. But he had gone, at least. She couldn’t have packed with him there, would have been incapable of accepting comfort or love. After what had happened to Eve, she didn’t want anyone coming close, because she was perilously near to tears.
The front door opened – he must have left it on the latch. ‘Lily?’
‘Who is it?’
‘Paul.’ He ran in. ‘What the hell’s been happening while we were in Manchester? Thrilled to bits to see you and Mike in the audience at Sisters, but— What’s the matter, love? Oh, bugger, I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘It should have been me,’ she said, her defences suddenly flattened. Emotion came crashing in. Oh God, poor Eve. Lily had held herself together in the company of Mike, but she was too tired, too bone-weary, to keep up the act. ‘Eve might die, and it should have happened to someone else . . .’
‘What should?’
‘They got Eve.’ In a voice that was on the brink of cracking, Lily gave an account of what had befallen her friend. ‘That’s all I know,’ she said. ‘Because I wasn’t here, either. They were looking for me, those murderers.’
‘What makes you believe that?’
She sniffed back a disobedient tear. ‘There was a load of folk in the pub. Chas was messing about, and Eve was sitting at the table with Babs and Pete. She went home, and the attack happened then. Not a burglary, you see. Burglars like an empty house. They were looking for me, Paul.’
‘Never!’
‘I’m sure of it. Babs and I are going away for a while tomorrow. We’re on a hit list. Oh, I know it sounds a bit Chicago, but it’s true – all connected with stuff that happened before we came up here. No one knows about this – except for Babs, of course.’ And Eve . . . ‘We have to keep Cassie safe, Paul.’ These were the words she ought to have said to the man she loved.
‘God, yes, that lovely little girl. I’ll tell Mo that Babs’s absence couldn’t be avoided. I’ll say she’s sorry to let him down. I’ll have to do more hours.’
In spite of everything, Lily found herself almost smiling, because Paul had failed to remove all his make-up. ‘You look like a doll in a shop window,’ she said. ‘Thanks, Paul. I don’t know why I’ve allowed you to come near to the truth, but . . . oh, you look ridiculous, man.’
‘We were good, though – weren’t we?’
‘Brilliant.’
He sat and held both her hands. ‘Look, keep in touch with me and only me. I’ll give you a card with my mobile number. I’ll try to take full notice of what’s happening round here, and—’
‘Thanks, Paul—’
‘And it should be in the newspapers, so you’ll get the bigger picture wherever you go. You know what? I’m so glad that you told me some of it. Makes me feel a bit special. How do you know you can trust me? Is it the gay thing?’
She shrugged. ‘Not entirely sure, but it could be. Because you treat us like people, you see. It’s easier for a woman with a gay man, because she doesn’t have to dress up and pretend to be anything she isn’t. But the other thing is that you’re a family sort of person, Paul. Like a brother? Oh, I’m not sure why I’m sure, but I trust you.’ Why hadn’t she been able to tell Mike? Paul was a long way from perfect, yet her instinct was to lean on him.
‘I’ll leave you to do what needs doing,’ Paul said. He kissed her on the cheek and left the house.
Mike loved her, and the truth would hurt and anger him. Telling Eve all of it and Paul some of it had been easy, because she had no plans that included either of them. But she could imagine Mike’s reaction, and she wasn’t ready for it, not yet. She was going to miss him. Apart from her family, she had never missed anyone as badly as she was going to miss Mike. He was so . . . unusual, so gentle and understanding, funny, different, uninhibited. ‘I love him,’ she told a very old mirror.
It was time to start packing. In the hall, she noticed that the answering machine showed a green light, so she clicked to hear her messages. There was just one, but it was enough to prove that she was doing the right thing. A clerk from the Taunton solicitor’s office had disappeared. He had broken every confidentiality rule in the book, and it was not her bank’s fault. The clerk had managed to crack a cipher and had contacted a junior executive at her branch in Bolton, whom he had persuaded to ‘confirm’ her name and business address. He had probably sold the details to someone connected with her ex-husband. ‘I thought I should let you know, because there could be something sinister behind all this. I’m sorry, Miss Latimer,’ said the disembodied lawyerly voice. ‘The manager of your bank is mortified, but the damage has been done.’
So. There it was. Clive was at the back of everything again, and was controlling her life just as he had since the day of her wedding. She picked up her mobile phone and sent a text to Babs. Solicitor proved me right. Should have been me, not Eve. It’s Clive. See you in the morning.
In her special room with the beautiful circular window, Lily packed a suitcase. She couldn’t take much, because she needed to leave space in the boot for Babs’s stuff. And Cassie’s. She looked down at the pair of sensible shoes she was taking with her. Cassie. ‘If anything happens to her, I’ll find a way of killing him myself,’ she announced to the suddenly lifeless room. Street lighting illuminated the coloured glass, but it needed sun to make it truly effective. She didn’t want to go. Mike’s reaction to her disappearance would give him away – the whole village could guess the truth.
At a table, she penned a note to him.
My darling Mike,
Please try not to be too upset by my sudden disappearance. Babs and Cassie will be with me, and there is a very good reason for running away. Don’t look for us. I shall find you when I feel strong enough to come back.
Please know that I am falling in love with you and I want to see you again as soon as possible. Suffice to say that I now have proof that Eve was mistaken for me. I am taking the only action that seems possible at the moment. Cassie is in danger, too.
I didn’t mean the nasty things I said tonight. Sometimes, we hurt so badly that we turn on those we love. Please carry on praying for Eve and for Chas. Talk to God about yourself, too. He loves you. So do I.
Lily x
She re-read it several times, then lay on her bed. She had always believed that she could never love again, but he had wandered into her life with a rabbit and some foxes . . . The foxes. She jumped up and added a PS that advised Mike to watch out for her pets, as they were becoming too tame. They liked Pedigree Chum, though she didn’t know whether it was good for them, and the babies loved eggs.
Sleep proved elusive. She tossed and turned, finally dropping into a restless doze after three in the morning. Clive was in the dream again. There was the knife, and she saw those black-handled scissors, blood soaking through the material in her lap. Twenty pounds a metre, she remembered. Good value, heavy fabric with years of wear in it. She stood, he staggered, she screamed and the neighbour came.
Lily’s eyes opened. It was dark, almost as dark as those weeks had been. Coming out of the coma had been frightening . . . She switched on a lamp. It was a quarter past three. The dream that had lasted for ever had, in reality, spanned just a few minutes. Would she be fit to drive? More to the point, would Eve Boswell ever be well again?
By seven o’clock, Lily was sitting in her vehicle near the telephone kiosk on Ashford Road. There was v
ery little traffic, as the road led only to a few farms, so she was reasonably sure that no one would spot her. Time crawled. Babs and Cassie arrived at ten minutes to eight. ‘Sorry,’ said Babs. ‘Pete stayed the night and didn’t leave till gone seven.’
The taxi driver transferred luggage and child seat from his cab to Lily’s estate car. Lily paid him, and he drove off. ‘We’re doing the right thing,’ she advised Babs. ‘The solicitor said his clerk had disappeared because he knew he had been found out. He provided the information for Clive. Whoever hit Eve thought she was me.’
Babs fastened Cassie into her seat, then placed herself next to the driver. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Not far today. I’ve had too little sleep.’
‘Blackpool?’ suggested Babs.
‘It’ll be busy.’
‘Exactly. We’ll be just three more tourists looking for a good time on the Golden Mile.’
Blackpool wasn’t too far. Lily switched on her satnav and turned the vehicle round. ‘We’re going for a holiday, Cassie. We’ll get you a bucket and spade, then you can bury Mummy up to her neck in Blackpool sand.’
‘Thanks, Lee,’ said Babs. ‘I always knew you were on my side.’
Got the signal that it’s all going ahead. The golden makeover girl will be finished, and I can sit out my sentence at Her Majesty’s pleasure, no stress, ignore the useless screws, get what I need out of the others.
Sit back and wait now. Lofty’ll let me know as soon as he can. Patience is a virtue I’m trying to develop, because I’ve a long sentence. All kinds of fights in here, but I try to stay out of that sort of stuff. Reformed character. Never lose my temper any more, don’t get into arguments, become a model prisoner.
Models. We make a lot of those in here with matchsticks. You can buy matchsticks, but they don’t strike, because they’re made just for us. Some soft swine are making the Titanic and Concorde – just as well they’re serving life, otherwise they’d never finish.
I read a lot. She used to read a lot, thought she was a cut above. It’s not a bad life if you keep your head down, though the food is gross. When we get salad, it sometimes walks off the plate. Prison cats can’t keep the rat population down. If they could, we’d have a few loose screws, ha-ha.
Yes, I’m keeping my head down. I wonder how Leanne’s getting on? I hope they do her slowly. I hope she realizes I’m at the back of it . . .
Ten
While Lily and Babs were making their escape from Eagleton, Chas, Derek and Mike remained prisoners in the hospital. Mike, who had arrived shortly after midnight, telephoned Monsignor Davies and arranged for another priest to attend a recently bereaved family in Harwood. There was no chance that he would leave the Boswell clan in their current state. Chas, who was speechless for the most part, was the more worrisome of the pair. Derek, once the initial shock had begun to evaporate, was agitated but talkative; Chas, however, seemed to be existing in a state of trauma far too deep to be reached.
‘I’m worried about my dad,’ Derek said.
‘So am I. Has he said anything at all?’
Derek took the priest into the next corridor. ‘Something about Lofty. Lofty’s under five feet tall and he comes from Liverpool – Dad knows him. But then he said it wasn’t Lofty, it was his twin – there’s about an inch difference in their heights if I remember rightly. Mam and Dad used to joke about Lofty and Titch when we lived in Liverpool. They’re Scallies. Lofty would have recognized Dad if he was near enough, but whoever it was just walked away. I don’t think Dad’s ever met Titch. He’d know him by sight, but—’
‘What’s a Scally?’
‘Scouser gone bad. The twins get used a lot, because they can fit through small windows when there’s a robbery. I don’t know what Dad was on about. I asked him when and where he’d seen Lofty’s twin, and he just said the man had walked away. Then he started that terrible staring into thin air again. I might as well not have been there. He’s sitting and waiting, but I’m not sure he knows what he’s waiting for. It’s as if he’s gone missing, but his body’s still warm and with us.’ Derek swallowed hard. ‘He won’t manage if she . . . He can’t manage without Mam.’
‘Let’s pray for the best, Derek.’
They returned and sat with Chas, who had refused all sustenance since arriving at the hospital. Cups of tea had been left to cool, a ham sandwich was curling on a paper plate, while the man for whom these items had been purchased sat with his head bowed.
Mike tried again. ‘You should eat and drink, Chas. You’ll be no use to anyone if you don’t make an effort.’
Chas raised his head. ‘I think it was Titch,’ he said clearly. ‘Not Lofty. They couldn’t use Lofty as a look-out, because he’s as blind as a bat when it comes to distance. I thought he hadn’t seen me properly with his eyes being buggered, but I’m sure now it wasn’t him. Lofty can read the phone book without specs, but he’d mix up a double-decker with an elephant unless they were parked under his nose. I was close enough to be recognized, though. It was Titch, deffo.’
‘Deffo’ was Liverpool-speak for definitely, Mike guessed. He glanced at Derek. All this time, Chas had been concentrating, it seemed. ‘Titch?’ he asked.
‘Twins. Titch is shorter than Lofty. I know Lofty. He’s visited me in Eagleton, but I’ve never seen his brother round there. Till I was on my way to the pub. I nearly shouted out to him, then I saw the ciggy. Lofty doesn’t smoke. Titch is a chain smoker. I realize now he was keeping watch for whoever did this to Eve. Never gave it a second thought at the time.’
‘So it was deliberate?’
‘Oh, yes. But I think they got the wrong house.’
‘Why?’
‘I just know it. Eve . . .’ Chas gulped hard. ‘Eve told me there’s somebody nearby in a lot of bother. She spilled it all out before I went to the pub.’ He swallowed again. ‘I was messing about with the arrows when she came, doing my blindfold tricks, the upside-down darts, arsing around as bloody usual. Never even spoke to my old woman. She went. Next time I saw her, she was . . . a mess.’
Mike asked Chas for the identity of the person in ‘bother’, but Chas closed down as suddenly as he had come to life just minutes earlier. ‘Derek?’
‘What, Father?’
‘What’s he on about?’
Derek had no idea. ‘First thing I knew, Philly Gallagher came running into the shop and told me to get home quick. She didn’t give me any details, because she hadn’t seen Mam. I don’t know what happened, but I do know my dad. He’s working something out, and when he does work it out, God help whoever clobbered my mam. I thought he’d gone into shock, but he’s thinking hard. Nobody gets away with hurting my mother.’
A door opened and a tall figure entered the corridor: Mr Hislop, Eve’s surgeon. ‘How’s the husband doing?’ he asked Mike.
‘Strangely lucid, then back to square one. He’s concentrating his energy on working out what happened and why – still not completely with us.’
Chas stood up. ‘I can talk for myself, thanks. What’s going on with my wife?’
‘Sit down, Mr Boswell.’ The surgeon dragged a chair into position and sat opposite his patient’s husband. ‘We’ve done the scan. Strange to say, but the person who hit your wife did her a favour. As long as there’s no damage we’ve missed, that is, and we’re ever hopeful in my job. What’s your first name?’
‘Chas.’
‘I’m Richard, but that’s a heavy name to carry – Richard the Third and all that – so I’m Rick to my friends. The bleeding has stopped, and we have managed to release blood that had collected in her skull. She’s had transfusions, so we’ve topped up her tank. There’s a growth, Chas. Knowing Eve’s history – now that we’ve read her notes – we looked for malignancy, but the path lab’s initial findings point to a benign tumour.’
‘In her head?’
‘Yes. We’ve exposed the bugger right down to its roots. Benign it may be, but it could have grown to a size that might have precl
uded surgical intervention. It could have affected her life in many ways, so we’ve stopped it in its tracks.’ He smiled reassuringly. ‘There’ll be a steel plate in her head. That is one tough little lady, Chas. She’ll need a wig when she gets home.’
A lone tear tracked its way down Chas’s right cheek. ‘She will come home, then?’
‘Let’s take one step at a time, shall we? I have to go and do my work on Eve, but I’m pretty confident about the operation. There’s no denying the brain is something we still don’t fully understand, but she shows every sign of coming out in one piece. You cross your fingers, and get your priest to pray. She’ll be in intensive care for a while, but she’s steady for now.’ He patted Chas’s shoulder, and left the scene.
Chas seemed to have come back to life. ‘I’m going outside,’ he said. ‘I want to use my mobile. This means war, Derek. I’ll get the bastard who did this if it takes me what’s left of my days.’
Mike shook his head. ‘Revenge isn’t worth the price you pay, Chas.’
‘Oh yes? I’ll play the game with my rules, thanks, Father. And the less you know about that, the better. Go home. Me and our Derek can manage now. Thanks for coming.’ Chas picked up the stale sandwich and bit into it. After ordering his son to find him something more palatable, he went outside.
Mike sighed heavily. ‘Law of the jungle?’
‘Law of the Dingle,’ replied Derek. ‘That’s where he was born – the Dingle in Liverpool. Keep out of it, please. My dad’s a tank with no brakes now, so don’t be thinking you can stand in his way and stop him, because he’ll run you down as soon as look at you. It’s a matter of honour. Read your Old Testament – the Israelites knew a lot about justice. Our faith concentrates on the New Testament. But remember, the Commandments were given to Moses, and the Red Sea was parted for him and it drowned his enemies. Plagues and all sorts came down on Egypt – it was bloody rough.’
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