The Charmer

by Mandasue Heller

  Dalton stood up. ‘I’m sure you’ll be fine, but I’d try to think of somebody to keep you company – just for peace of mind’s sake. We’ll have a patrol car drive round on the hour, so you’ll be quite safe. And don’t hesitate to call in the meantime.’

  Showing the two policemen out, Maria locked the door and put the chain on. Crazily, she actually felt more nervous now, because they had been too considerate – as if they knew something she didn’t.

  Scolding herself again for being ridiculous, she put the alarm on and ran upstairs. Locking herself in the bedroom, she kept the light off for a few minutes so that she could peer out along the quiet road. Squinting, she scanned every hedge, every bush, every driveway – anywhere someone could possibly be hiding. There didn’t seem to be anybody about.

  One of the neighbours came out of his drive with a large Alsatian dog on a leash. Watching as they strolled towards the fields at the rear of the houses at the far end of the road, Maria saw the dog sniffing at every gateway it passed. If there was anybody hiding, it would bark, or react in some way, she thought, relaxing a little when it trotted happily past each one.

  Closing the curtains, she switched the lamp on and changed into her PJs. Climbing into bed, she used the remote to turn the TV back on, lowering the volume so that she would hear any noises.

  Maria couldn’t settle. As the night dragged by, every sound outside seemed to be magnified a thousandfold. Hearing a car, she switched the lamp off and peered through a crack in the curtains. It was a police car. As it passed by her gate, moving at a walking pace, she saw that one of the two men inside had a torch in his hand, and he was shining it up the path, checking the porch and the bushes.

  Going back to bed, she pulled the quilt up around her shivering shoulders. This was the worst night of her life – barring when her mum had died. She no longer felt safe in the house. Now it felt like a huge box, and she was locked inside, and somebody could come along at any time, tear the lid off, and squash her like a bug.

  Maria wanted to ring Joel, to tell him to come home. But she couldn’t. He was in London, and it would take him four hours of solid driving to get back. And what could he do, anyway? Come and hold her hand, like the big baby she was being?

  No, she had to learn to stop freaking out about every little thing and stand on her own two feet.

  Across town, Joel was lying on his back, with Honey under his left arm and Francine under his right. They’d had the mother of parties since coming back from the theatre on Friday night. Francine was a session singer, but she’d obviously been picking up more than singing tips from her late-night studio sessions because she was a very dirty girl – and even more of a coke fiend than Honey was turning into.

  After two full nights and a day in bed, Joel was utterly wiped and his dick was begging for mercy, so he was more than a little relieved that Francine had finally zonked out.

  Honey was still horny, and she had her arm across his chest, playing with Francine’s pierced nipples.

  ‘Don’t think you’ll have any problem convincing anyone that it’s true when you start doing your gay scenes,’ Joel said, chuckling softly. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were a lesbian.’

  ‘I might be,’ Honey said thoughtfully. ‘I’ll have to try it a few more times and see how I feel. But I don’t want to be one of those butchy ones, with a crew-cut and Doc Martens. I think I’ll be a lippy lessy. D’y’ reckon there’s many gorgeous gay girls in Manchester? I don’t want to commit myself to it then run out of options.’

  ‘I’m sure there’s loads,’ Joel said, amused by her logic. Her youth really shone through sometimes. Unlike Francine, who probably wasn’t too much more than twenty but had the air of a debauched older woman about her.

  ‘Is that your phone ringing?’ Honey said, lifting her head and looking around. ‘It’s not mine, ’cos I’ve got our theme tune on that. And Francine’s got herself singing – poser that she is.’

  ‘Sounds like mine,’ Joel said, easing himself out of the sandwich to look for his jacket. ‘Shit,’ he muttered when he saw the display on the bedside clock. ‘It’s five in the morning. Who the hell’s calling me at this time?’

  It was Lance Gallagher.

  ‘Just checking up on you, Jay boy,’ he said. ‘Heard a whisper that some Scottish guys have been hanging about looking a bit dodgy.’

  ‘When?’ Joel said quietly, sliding the glass door open and stepping out onto the tiny balcony. The wind gusting up through the railings snatched at his dick and slapped it against his thigh.

  ‘Earlier tonight,’ Lance said. ‘One of my blokes clocked them in Brannigan’s. No one else has seen them since, though, and I’ve had eyes out looking. But there’s no sweat as far as I’m concerned, ’cos we’re well and truly ready for the cunts if they turn up here. Thought I’d best word you up, though, ’cos I don’t wanna be losing my best customer, do I? Probably best if you keep out of sight while I sniff about, yeah?’

  ‘Yeah, I will. And thanks for the warning, man,’ Joel said, his teeth chattering wildly.

  Honey had her face buried between Francine’s legs when he came back in. Looking up, she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. ‘Trouble?’

  ‘Er, no, nothing to worry about,’ he said, picking his clothes up off the floor and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

  ‘Must be urgent if this hasn’t given you a stonker,’ Francine drawled sleepily, pushing Honey’s head back down. ‘Any normal man would be riding that lovely little arse of hers like a stallion right about now.’

  ‘It’s just family stuff,’ Joel lied, pulling his pants on.

  Sex was the last thing on his mind with Psycho back in town. It had been almost a year since his erstwhile neighbours had been assaulted and he’d genuinely thought the gang had given up on him. But then, maybe they had. Maybe it wasn’t them that Lance’s bloke had seen. They weren’t the only Scottish guys that had ever visited Manchester.

  But whether it was them or not, he couldn’t afford to ignore the warning.

  ‘I’ll give you a ring,’ Honey called as he made his way to the door. ‘Let you know if I’m still into dick, or I just need a score.’

  ‘Do that,’ he called back distractedly.

  Collar up, head down, Joel ran to the side road where he’d left the car. Glad to see that it was still there, he hopped in and set off for home, keeping his eyes peeled in case he was being followed.

  23

  The chain was on when Joel got home, and the alarm went into its delayed beeping because the door had been cracked open. Maria never put the chain on. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d told her to, but she wouldn’t – in case he came home in the middle of the night and couldn’t wake her to let him in. So why now?

  A surge of panic welled up in his throat.

  Oh, God, no . . . please don’t let Psycho have got to her.

  ‘Maria!’ he yelled, banging his fist on the wood. ‘MARIA!’

  Running into the garden, fighting his way through the shrubs, he grabbed a handful of stones and tossed them up at the bedroom window.

  ‘MARIIAAA . . .’

  Maria had fallen into a fitful sleep. Waking with a start when she heard Joel’s voice, she jumped when something hard hit the window. Rolling off the bed when Joel called her name again, she lurched across to the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the light made her squint. She just about made Joel out, standing in the garden below with an anguished look on his face.

  The alarm went off now, its clanging bells sending shock waves through her. Rushing downstairs, she tapped in the number to deactivate it, then tugged the chain off the door. Pulling it open, she stumbled over the step and fell into Joel’s arms.

  ‘Oh, thank God you’re all right!’ he said, holding her tight.

  ‘How did you know?’ she asked, clinging to him. ‘Did the police contact you? I don’t remember giving them your number, but I must have. I was so freaked out when they c
ame, I don’t know what I said.’

  ‘The police?’ Joel eased her back and frowned down at her. ‘Why were the police here?’

  ‘Don’t you know?’ Maria gazed up at him confusedly. ‘I called them last night, because of the men in the car.’

  ‘What men?’ Joel asked. Then, glancing quickly around, he took her arm and pulled her inside. ‘Right, tell me what’s going on,’ he said, sitting her down at the kitchen table while he filled the kettle.

  Maria explained about the car that she’d seen when she came back from Vicky’s the other night, and how she’d seen the same one again the next morning.

  ‘I got so scared when it started following the bus,’ she said, her hands shaking as she lit two cigarettes and passed one to him. ‘I ran to the solicitor’s, but no one came after me so I thought I must have imagined it. I didn’t see it again when I was coming home, but a couple of hours later I was getting a towel out of the cupboard and I saw it driving past. The man in the back was the same one that had been looking at me at the bus stop, and he looked right up at the bedroom window. All I could think about were those people who got attacked last year, so I called the police.’

  ‘And what did they say?’ Joel brought the coffees back to the table and sat down.

  ‘That it was probably nothing.’ Maria shrugged. ‘They were really good, though. They could see I was scared, so they checked all the doors and windows. Then the sergeant said he’d send a patrol car round. I saw it going past after I locked myself in the bedroom, so that was all right, and I heard it a couple more times before I fell asleep.’

  ‘Christ, why didn’t you ring me? You should have let me know.’

  ‘You were too far away to do anything about it. Anyway, I didn’t want to disturb you. How did it go, by the way?’

  ‘What?’ Joel frowned, wondering what she was talking about. ‘Oh, SouthSyde. Yeah, fine. But never mind that. This is more important. Did anything else happen?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ Maria said, embarrassed because she’d obviously made it sound as if her life had been in danger, and now Joel was worried. ‘I fell asleep, and you woke me up just now. How come you were so freaked out when I came to the door if you didn’t know what had happened?’

  ‘Instinct, I guess,’ Joel lied. ‘With the chain being on, I thought . . . Well, I don’t know what I thought. You don’t usually use it, that’s all. Then the way you ran down.’

  ‘Like an idiot.’ She smiled self-effacingly.

  ‘You had a shock.’ Joel patted her hand. ‘So, about these men . . . Did you get a good look at them?’

  ‘Only the one who was staring at me. They all looked pretty big, though, because they were really squashed up in the back.’

  ‘No descriptions?’

  ‘Now you sound like the police,’ Maria laughed. ‘And as I told them – no. Just that they were all big, with short hair. Oh, and the one who looked at me had a broken nose, like a boxer, or something. And I think he had a scar here.’ She traced a line from her right eyebrow to her cheekbone.

  Joel felt the blood leave his face. She had just described Psycho to a T. Somebody must have told him that Joel was living round here. But who? He hadn’t told a soul. And no one knew about Maria, so how had Psycho connected her to him?

  Unless somebody had seen them together walking to the shops.

  Yeah, that must be it . . . Somebody had seen them, but not where they went, which was why Psycho was driving around. And if the same person had described Maria, Psycho would have recognised her as soon as he saw her at the bus stop. There weren’t too many natural blondes with model-girl looks and figure around here. He’d probably guessed that it was her and followed her in the hope that she would lead him to Joel.

  Shit!

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Maria asked, seeing the panic in his eyes. ‘Joel – what’s the matter? You don’t know them, do you?’

  Looking back at her, Joel chewed his lip. He needed to get away from the house before they came back for him. But where could he go? He didn’t have enough money to start again somewhere else. He’d been partying too hard lately – eating into his profits as fast as he made them.

  ‘Joel, will you please tell me what’s going on?’ Maria persisted, scared now.

  ‘I can’t,’ Joel said after a moment. Sighing deeply, he looked at her and shook his head. ‘I’m really sorry, sweetheart, but this is too heavy. I’ve got to go.’

  ‘Where?’ Maria followed when he got up and walked out of the room. ‘How long for? Joel, talk to me.’

  ‘It’s complicated,’ he said, striding into the bedroom and taking one of his cases out of the wardrobe. ‘Take it from me, you don’t want to get involved. You’re better off without me at the moment. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘Whatever it is, I’m already involved,’ Maria told him, feeling desperate when he started packing his clothes. ‘It’s me they were following, don’t forget. And if you know why, then I think you owe it to me to tell me. What if they come back while you’re away? What am I going to do – fight them off by myself?’

  Looking at her, Joel felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn’t thought of that, and she was right. This was nothing to do with her, and it wasn’t fair to leave her to suffer what Mack and the neighbours had already suffered because of him. She didn’t deserve that, and he’d never be able to live with himself if something happened to her. He did actually care about her – in his own way. As much as a man who didn’t trust women could, anyway. What he felt for Maria was probably the closest he’d ever come to loving anybody.

  And then there was the money. It would make life a damn sight easier if he stayed in touch with that.

  Sitting down, he ran his hands through his hair, then reached for her and pulled her down beside him.

  ‘All right, I’m going to tell you the truth,’ he said, gazing seriously into her eyes. ‘If you don’t want to be with me when you’ve heard what I’ve got to say, then I’ll totally understand, and I’ll get out of your life. I genuinely hope you do still want to be with me, but either way I’ll have to get out of here.’

  ‘What is it?’ Maria asked quietly, afraid that she was about to hear something really awful – like he’d been seeing someone else, and the woman’s husband had found out and was coming after him, or something.

  Joel decided that the truth probably was his best option – with a little adjustment as to his part in the matter, of course.

  ‘These men that you’ve seen,’ he said, choosing his words carefully. ‘I do know them; they’re from where I grew up. Thing is, one of them was involved in some really dodgy stuff and he tried to bring me in on it. I was only young, but I knew better than to get associated with people like that, so I said I didn’t want to know. Anyway, in brief, he ended up getting into trouble with the police, and everyone thought I’d grassed him up. He went to prison, and I had to leave the area, because everybody was gunning for me. I came to Manchester so nobody could find me, but I kept in touch with one old friend, and a while back he told me this other guy was out and looking for revenge. That’s why I had my hair cut and grew the beard – so they wouldn’t recognise me.’

  ‘Is that why you had to leave your flat?’ Maria asked perceptively.

  ‘God, no. You don’t think that’s why I came here, do you? You and me, we’re nothing to do with all that.’

  ‘So, what now?’

  ‘I’ve got to get out of here,’ Joel said, shrugging. ‘I really don’t want to leave you – I hope you know that. But I’ve got no choice. These men are dangerous.’

  ‘So, where are we going?’

  ‘We?’ Joel looked at her questioningly. ‘You mean you still want to be with me?’

  ‘Course I do,’ she murmured. ‘What did you think I’d do?’

  ‘I don’t really know,’ Joel admitted. ‘I thought you loved it here.’

  Maria wrinkled her nose. ‘I kind of did,’ she said, looking around. ‘But last night I realised that it’s
not the house that makes me feel safe – it’s you. I think I’d go crazy if you weren’t here.’ Biting her lip now as her heart began to beat faster, she dipped her gaze and said, ‘It’s you I love, not the house.’ It was the first time she had ever said the words – to anyone. And she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

  Reaching out, Joel gently tilted her head towards him and gazed into her eyes. ‘Did you mean that?’

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I really did.’

  ‘Well, it’s mutual,’ he told her softly. ‘I’ve loved you for a long time. And I’ve wanted to say it so many times, but it never felt right. This house . . . all this.’ He waved his hand. ‘It’s yours, not ours. And your friend was so suspicious of me when I first came, like she thought I was only after you for your money, or something. I couldn’t come out and tell you I loved you after that. You might have thought that was why I’d said it.’

  Maria felt tears stinging the back of her eyes. ‘I never knew you felt like that.’

  ‘Yeah, well, now you do.’ Joel smiled wistfully. ‘And so do I – and I couldn’t be more happy about it. But right now, we really need to get moving. You definitely want to come with me?’

  ‘Definitely.’ Maria nodded adamantly. There was no way she was staying here without him. Wherever he wanted to go, she would be right beside him.

  ‘Great.’ Leaning towards her, Joel kissed her. Then, getting up, he started packing. ‘Use my other case.’ He nodded towards the wardrobe. ‘Just take what you need for now. We’ll sort the rest out when we know what we’re doing.’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘Probably best if we book into a hotel in your name for the time being,’ Joel said, checking that there was nothing stuck at the back of his document drawer. ‘We can decide what to do from there.’ Turning to look at her then, he said, ‘But I would like to discuss selling up here and starting again. If we’re in this for the long haul – and I guess we are, given that we feel the same way about each other – then we need a place that’s ours.’