Little Pink Taxi

by Marie Laval

  The blood drained from her face and she took a step back. ‘You know his name?’

  Marc nodded. His eyes softened, he took a deep breath and rose to his feet. ‘Actually, it’s not the only thing I know. Rosalie, there is something I must tell you … about him, and your mother. I’m sorry.’

  So Marc knew everything! Shame burnt like acid inside her, and she feared she might be sick. ‘I don’t want to talk about it – about him,’ she mumbled, stepping towards the door. ‘I need to go … to the bathroom.’

  ‘Rosalie—’

  ‘Tell the police about the others, too – his two associates, and Rupert and Cheryl,’ she added. ‘They are all at the holiday lodge where they were staying the night of the accident.’

  At the mention of Geoff’s cousin, Marc’s face hardened. He touched the wound on the side of his head. ‘Rupert tried to kill me.’

  ‘He also sabotaged the Porsche’s brakes, because he was so desperate to inherit Raventhorn.’

  ‘I suppose he was under the influence of his girlfriend, who by the way is also Jake Tyler’s niece.’

  She nodded. ‘I know.’ It was true that she was related to Cheryl too.

  Upstairs in the bathroom, she splashed water on her face, and tried to calm her nerves. When she no longer felt like she was going to be sick, she went back downstairs to the kitchen.

  She heard Tyler’s raspy voice as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘I’ll make it worth your while,’ he was saying. ‘I know you’re loaded but I have contacts that could prove interesting for you.’

  ‘Shut up,’ Marc answered. ‘Don’t make things worse for yourself. The police are on their way.’

  ‘I hope they lock him away forever,’ Rosalie said as she walked into the kitchen. Tyler was sitting against the wall, with Marc standing in front of him.

  ‘Tut, tut … that’s not a very nice thing to say about your daddy, is it, princess?’ Tyler looked at Marc. ‘Now you know about me, son, perhaps I should tell you about Rosalie’s mummy too so that you get the full family picture.’

  ‘Stop it!’ Rosalie hissed.

  ‘Come on, princess,’ he sniggered, ‘you have to be honest in a relationship. You should tell your rich boyfriend that your mummy was a glamour model. A bloody good one, I must say, although I often had to give her something to loosen her up at first. She was quite partial to a few shots of vodka before a session. It made her more … compliant.’

  ‘Enough,’ Marc snapped. The man must have heard the steel in his voice because he snorted but didn’t utter another word.

  Marc cast a worried glance towards Rosalie. If only he could take her in his arms again, shelter her from the ugliness and the pain, and kiss away the shame and the hurt he could see in her eyes. But there was nothing he could do or say right now, not with Tyler watching and goading them.

  ‘You should go back upstairs and have a rest while we wait for the police,’ he told Rosalie.

  She nodded, and went out of the kitchen again. As soon as he was sure she couldn’t hear him, he stared hard at Tyler and said, ‘Now listen, you scumbag. I’ll make sure you are put away for the rest of your miserable life. It shouldn’t be hard to prove that you were involved in Rosalie’s accident in the forest, and that you asked your associates to make hoax calls to Rosalie’s taxi company and wreck Duncan’s cab.’

  Tyler snorted. ‘Not guilty on those accounts, mate. I wasn’t involved in any prank calls, car chase or taxi vandalising.’

  The man was lying, of course. ‘There won’t be any parole this time,’ Marc carried on. ‘And don’t even think about getting in touch with Rosalie or sending one of your mates to make trouble for her when you’re back inside, because from now on I’ll be watching over her like a hawk.’

  Muscles twitched at the side of Tyler’s mouth.

  ‘I won’t let you hurt her ever again,’ Marc added. ‘You’re finished.’

  ‘We’ll see about that, mate.’ Tyler leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes. He looked deflated, vanquished, as if all his bravado had left him.

  Turning his back on him, Marc walked to the window to look out for the police. His head wound pounded and made him feel dizzy. He turned the cold tap on, bent down and splashed water on his face. The cool water numbed the pain and revived him, so he splashed some more.

  A bird crowed on the other side of the window. He opened his eyes, just in time to see Tyler’s reflection as he stood behind him. The man was going to knock him out.

  Instinct took over. Marc swung round, stepped aside to avoid Tyler’s fist then lunged forward to grab hold of his collar.

  ‘Haven’t you had enough?’ he growled as anger surged inside him, swamping any rational thought. He lifted Tyler off the floor and slammed him hard against the kitchen cupboard. Tyler went limp and slid to the floor, as floppy as a rag doll. He looked too weak to even blink. Marc glanced out of the window again. The raven had flown away. It had warned him just in time to dodge Tyler’s blow.

  It took another half an hour for a police car and an ambulance to pull up into the courtyard, sirens flashing and blazing in the night.

  Tyler was checked by paramedics and interviewed by the police then bundled into an ambulance. Rosalie and Marc each gave a brief statement. Rosalie gave one of the police officers a blue metal box and a key, said something about a diary and a list of dates and names inside. Then they climbed in the back of the police car and were driven to the hospital in Inverness. During the journey Rosalie kept her eyes closed. She wasn’t asleep because when he touched her hand, she snatched it away. Even though all he wanted was to take her in his arms and comfort her, he didn’t insist, didn’t even talk.

  Once at the hospital, they were taken to two different treatment rooms. Marc’s wound was cleaned and dressed, and he was told he needed to stay the night to make sure he wasn’t suffering from concussion. When he enquired about Rosalie, he was told that she too would be spending the night at the hospital.

  He was given a private room and a couple of painkillers, and just about managed to take his shoes off before collapsing on the bed, and falling asleep.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ‘Thanks for coming.’

  ‘That’s the least Niall and I could do, after what happened. He’s waiting in the truck.’ Alice gave Rosalie a hug and stepped back to look at her. ‘Poor Roz. You look like hell.’

  Rosalie sighed. She was only too aware of the cuts and bruises on her forehead, and her stained anorak and jeans. She slipped her arm under Alice’s and the two women walked out of the hospital.

  ‘I’m fine, really. I didn’t sleep much, that’s all.’

  She hadn’t slept at all. It wasn’t her aching shoulder that had kept her awake, nor the uncomfortable hospital bed, but memories from her early childhood that kept playing in her mind, like a broken film. She must have buried them deep inside her, and they had resurfaced, vivid and disjointed, after her being face-to-face with Tyler.

  She could recall her mother’s voice, hushed and scared, as she urged her to hide and make herself small; her cheeks wet with tears as she kissed her goodnight. The sobbing, the cries, and Tyler’s cold, raspy voice … A few hazy, less scary, memories had come back too – of a small, red brick bungalow, perhaps her grandparents’ house, with sunshine streaming through neat white net curtains, the smell of cakes baking, and the feel of a teddy bear she cuddled to fall asleep.

  Alice stopped and stared at Rosalie. ‘You’re not fooling me, you know, and you don’t have to be so brave. What happened last night was bloody awful. It’s lucky both Marc and you made it without being seriously injured.’ She frowned. ‘Where is he, by the way, your knight in shining armour? We could give him a lift back to Raventhorn too.’

  ‘He was discharged this morning. The nurse told me that he left with a very glamorous blonde woman. Kirsty, no doubt.’ Rosalie let out a bitter laugh. ‘She must be tending to his wounds at the Four Winds Hotel as we speak.’
Heavens, how she hated the sound of her voice. She sounded like a sad, bitter and jealous woman.

  She forced a smile. ‘At least Geoff is getting better.’

  ‘Does he know what happened?’ Alice asked.

  Rosalie nodded. ‘I gave him the edited version.’

  ‘It’s wonderful that he has pulled through. You must be so relieved, so happy – I mean, under the circumstances. At least there’s something to be happy about. What did he say … you know … about Tyler being your dad?’

  ‘What do you think he said? He’s sorry I had to find out about him, but he’s glad the man is back in jail where he belongs.’ Rosalie halted and cast a suspicious glance towards her friend.

  ‘Hang on a minute. How do you know Tyler is my father?’

  Alice had the grace to look embarrassed. She lifted her shoulders in a dismissive shrug then fiddled with the handle of her handbag. ‘You know Eddie, the young policeman who’s just been transferred from Inverness – the blond one who has breakfast at the café every morning. He kind of let it slip.’

  ‘Did he now?’

  ‘He mentioned the trouble at Raventhorn and at the holiday village at Geal Charn this morning, and I was understandably worried about you.’ She bit her lip, and looked so sheepish Rosalie felt embarrassed for being so grumpy. Alice was her best friend, and she would have been the first person she told about Tyler anyway.

  ‘Go on,’ she said.

  Alice sighed. ‘I gave him an extra large coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs on the house, and he told me about Tyler.’

  ‘Was there anybody else in the café?’

  ‘The usual suspects, and Marion and Fergus who were having a pot of tea and a couple of toasted teacakes.’

  ‘Did Marion hear what Eddie said?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Alice paused and pressed her hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, Roz, I’m so sorry. If Marion heard him, then the whole of Irlwick knows that Tyler is your dad by now, and possibly the whole of Aberdeenshire too.’

  Rosalie’s heart sank. Soon everybody would know her father was a criminal and her mother had a shady past. She forced a smile. ‘Let’s look on the bright side. This way I won’t have to explain the story time and time again, or write a family announcement for the Gazette.’

  They resumed their walk across the car park.

  ‘Tyler isn’t exactly the father you had in mind, is he?’ Alice asked.

  ‘You can say that again.’ How could she explain to her friend how tainted she felt by her connection to him, how much she hated herself for being his daughter, and for any trace of him there was inside her?

  They arrived at Niall’s pick-up truck. He climbed out, kissed her cheek, and held the passenger door for her and Alice. ‘Sorry to hear about your … hmm … problems last night,’ he said as he helped her climb in.

  ‘Thanks.’ Rosalie slid onto the bench. It was nice and warm inside the truck. She closed her eyes as soon as Niall started the engine, and dozed on and off all the way to Irlwick.

  ‘Looks like someone’s home,’ Niall remarked as they approached Raventhorn.

  ‘Really?’ Rosalie opened her eyes and stared at the castle. The lights were on downstairs, and Marc’s hire car was parked in the courtyard. So he was there.

  She had been so sure Marc would be at the Four Winds Hotel with Kirsty that she hadn’t prepared herself for a confrontation, and had no idea what she would say to him.

  ‘Would you like us to stay?’ Alice asked as Niall stopped in the courtyard.

  ‘No, thanks. All I want is to go to my flat and sleep.’

  Niall and Alice exchanged a glance.

  ‘Actually, there was something I needed to tell you.’ Niall coughed to clear his throat. He looked worried suddenly, and Alice gave him an encouraging nod. ‘It’s very awkward.’ His face was pale and strained, and his fingers shook as he spread them on the steering wheel.

  ‘Niall, you’re scaring me. What’s up with you?’ Rosalie asked, but he only hung his head down and let out a deep sigh.

  ‘What Niall is afraid to tell you,’ Alice said then, ‘is that he was the one who made the hoax calls.’

  ‘What?’ Shock made Rosalie’s voice hoarse.

  Niall closed his eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, so ashamed. I don’t know what came over me.’

  ‘You mean you made me and Duncan drive around, wait in empty car parks and waste our time for nothing? But why?’

  ‘Because I wanted your business to fail so you would close up shop and be with me. I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight.’

  Rosalie turned to Alice. ‘And you knew about this?’

  Alice shook her head. ‘I only found out this morning. Niall told me after we heard about all the commotion here.’ She pulled a face. ‘He also told the police.’

  ‘Now I understand why you were always turning up in your tow truck whenever I was stranded somewhere,’ Rosalie said.

  ‘I am sorry. I behaved like a total eejit. I know that.’

  ‘Aye, you did.’ She frowned, anger twisting her stomach in a knot. ‘The threatening note on my windscreen the other day … the one that said, “I am watching you.” Was that you too?’

  He sighed. ‘No. That was Julia. She was annoyed when she saw you having lunch with Petersen. She only told me what she’d done today. She was afraid she would get in trouble with the police.’

  Alice sighed in disbelief. ‘I hope she does. Who would have thought your sister would be so nasty and want to scare Rosalie like that?’

  ‘It’s a lot to take in,’ Rosalie said. ‘Hang on a minute. What about Duncan’s windscreen getting smashed in the Duke’s car park? Did you do that too?’

  He rubbed his face. ‘No! That was that idiot Kian. I swear I had no idea he was going to do that.’

  ‘What does Kian Armitage have to do with it?’

  Alice reached out and put a calming hand on Rosalie’s forearm. ‘Apparently Kian was outside the Duke’s that evening, completely drunk. He saw that the cab was empty, and decided to teach you a lesson.’

  ‘A lesson? Why?’

  ‘Because he’s an Armitage and you’re a McBride by association,’ Niall said, ‘and because I asked him to make a few prank calls so that Fergus or Fiona wouldn’t recognise me, and he thought wrecking the cab would scare you more.’

  ‘I see. Who else knew about this?’

  ‘Stacey, his girlfriend. He asked her to make a fake call once.’

  The so-called woman stuck in the car park at Loch Armathiel …

  Her heart grew heavy. ‘I can’t believe you did this to me, Niall, and you drew Kian and Stacey into this stupid scheme of yours.’

  Niall hung his head down. ‘Kian told me about Duncan’s cab this morning. He told me something else too – and it’s a lot more serious.’

  For some reason, Rosalie already knew what Niall was about to say. ‘He was the one chasing after me on the forest road in his father’s car the night of the ceilidh, wasn’t he? He probably wanted to teach me another lesson for spilling his beer all over him.’

  Both Alice and Niall nodded. ‘Stacey confessed everything to Kian’s dad. She felt awful about lying about the so-called crash Kian made up to explain the dents and scratches on his father’s four-by-four. His dad gave him a right good bollocking, then dragged him to the police station to tell the cops. After that he came to the garage to tell me everything and to grovel for me to keep him on.’

  He looked at Rosalie, worry in his eyes. ‘Now it’s my turn to grovel. Do you think you can ever forgive me? Do you think we can still be friends?’

  Rosalie swallowed hard. ‘I’ll have to think about it. For now, I just want to go home. Thanks for the lift.’

  Alice let her out, pecked a kiss on her cheek, and Rosalie stood shivering in the courtyard to watch her friends leave. A cold wind blew her hair around her face, sneaked into her anorak. She felt as frozen inside as outside. The kitchen door creaked open behind her. She stiffened, and slowly turned roun
d.

  Marc stood in the doorway, projecting a large shadow on the snowy cobbles. He wore his green jumper and jeans. There was a small dressing on the side of his head, and cuts and bruises on his nose and cheekbones.

  ‘I phoned the hospital,’ he started, ‘and they told me you were on your way. Please come in. It’s freezing.’

  She shook her head. ‘No. I … I want to go to my flat.’

  He frowned and took a step in her direction. ‘Rosalie. We need to talk.’

  She heaved a deep sigh. She wasn’t sure she could bear listening as he explained why he had changed his mind about everything he promised her, or told her their night together had been a mistake, and he wanted to go back to his life, his work, and his glamorous girlfriend.

  So she took the coward’s way out. ‘I’m tired, and I want to be on my own.’

  ‘Of course. I understand. Why don’t you stay here tonight? I have made something to eat.’ He smiled. ‘I bought a chocolate cake too. Flo recommended a brand she said you’d like. I even got whipping cream to go with it.’

  Surprise almost made her speechless. ‘You saw Flo?’ she asked at last.

  He nodded. ‘I popped over this morning after being discharged. I was one day late for her supermarket trip, so she had run out of crackers and Battenberg cake.’

  Anger now tightened inside her. Why was he being so nice? What was he playing at?

  ‘Do you really think chocolate cake and cream would make me forget you’re a liar and a coward who sends his girlfriend to do his dirty work?’

  She took a deep breath. ‘I understand now why your secretary always said you were too busy to take my calls. You didn’t have the guts to tell me you’d changed your mind about Love Taxis and the bus company. Well, you may regret sleeping with me,’ her voice hitched in her throat, ‘but believe me, I wish it hadn’t happened either. You’re not the man I thought you were.’

  She wasn’t sure but in the glare of the security lights, he seemed to have become paler. She wasn’t feeling any better at all, but desperately sad and horrible and mean.

  ‘Let me walk you up to your flat and make sure you’re all right,’ he said in a quiet voice. ‘It’s the least I can do.’