A Time for Hope

by Anna Jacobs

  She couldn’t hold back a shudder at the thought of him coming near her in bed. He’d looked positively gleeful as he made this threat, she thought. Like a naughty boy enjoying tormenting a creature smaller than him. ‘I’ll get you a key cut.’

  ‘You’ll have been given a spare. I want it now.’

  She hated the thought of him being able to get into the house and decided to put a bolt on the inside of the front and back doors, so that she’d feel safe from him at night, at least.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘Wait there.’ She started to go upstairs. As he tried to follow, she stopped and folded her arms. ‘I won’t get it out if you spy on me.’

  He rolled his eyes and backed down the stairs. ‘Well, hurry up then.’

  She pulled the chest of drawers behind the bedroom door before she opened her hiding place. There was a loose bit of skirting board, but it didn’t show unless you knew exactly where to push it. She’d found it by sheer accident when she was cleaning the room.

  She’d refused to give the agent a key but she’d bet Stu would give him one now.

  Stu had never been this bad before. She was shocked by the way he was bullying her openly. He’d carry out his threat to break down the door of the house if she didn’t give him this key, she was sure.

  She stole a glance at him when she took the key downstairs and handed it over. He had a restless, glittery air to him today, as if he was on drugs. Was he?

  What had she ever seen in him? Whatever it was, it’d gone completely now.

  A couple of days later, Gabi picked up the post from behind the front door as she came home from the shops. There was an envelope from the divorce court. She ripped it open before she even moved a step. Yes, there it was in black and white: the decree absolute, the official statement that her marriage to Stu was completely and irrevocably over.

  She’d vowed never to shed another tear over the end of her marriage, but, before she knew it, she was sobbing, unable to hold back loud, raw sounds of grief and pain. She had expected so much from this relationship and it had lasted less than two years.

  Her only other serious relationship had been so wonderful that she’d been shocked rigid when this one began going wrong. She still didn’t understand why Stu had changed so radically.

  Annoyed with herself for giving way like that, she blew her nose and dried her eyes, then looked quickly through the rest of the post: an electricity bill and an offer to sell her house. Ha! Hadn’t they noticed the ‘For Sale’ sign already outside?

  When she was coming home from the shops the next day, Gabrielle took a minor road which had wonderful views of the countryside. It was one of her favourite drives and she often stopped at a lookout to soak up the peace.

  Was any country in the world as beautiful as rural England?

  It had been raining overnight and there had been another light shower a few minutes previously. Drops of water were sparkling on the branches, catching the sunlight and showering down as branches were blown about.

  But before she reached the lookout, another car drove up behind her, accelerating till it bumped into her.

  She yelled, ‘Get back, you idiot!’ As if the driver could hear her!

  The man at the wheel sounded his horn and bumped into her car again. She couldn’t see his face, or his passenger’s, because they were wearing knitted hats pulled down and scarves round their mouths.

  He was doing it on purpose, she realized in horror as he bumped her car again. That was why he was hiding his face. What was he trying to do? Kill her? Why?

  She memorized the number of the other car and tried to accelerate just as it was about to bump her again, but it accelerated too, blasting its horn in a long blare of sound. The thump from the much bigger vehicle made her skid on the wet road and she lost control for a few seconds.

  She braked hard and was coming to a halt by the side of the road, thinking to lock up the car and stay there until he’d moved on. But the other car braked hard, too, and then accelerated towards her so that it nudged her right into the ditch before she had come to a halt.

  Then it sped off, sounding its horn triumphantly.

  She screamed as she was jolted about badly. An airbag exploded in front of her, sending white dust all over the interior.

  When the car came to a halt, she heard her breath rasping and couldn’t hold back a moan. It was a few moments before she thought to switch off her engine, afraid of something catching fire.

  The silence that followed was just as overwhelming as the noise of the crash had been. She didn’t move – couldn’t, just sat there for a few moments, covering her face with her hands, as if that would hold in the panic. Her heart was thudding so hard that it felt as if it’d jump out of her chest.

  She couldn’t think straight, let alone move, but as she calmed a little, she realized she ought to get out of her car and phone the police.

  Someone spoke to her, but it was a moment or two before she looked up in the direction of the voice.

  A young woman was standing beside her car. ‘Are you all right?’ she repeated.

  ‘I … think so.’

  ‘Can you open the door?’

  Gabrielle tried, but the door refused to budge. Panic made her whimper in her throat.

  The young woman ran round to the other side and opened the passenger door. ‘Here you are. You can get out this way. But check that no bones are broken before you move.’

  Gabrielle wiggled her feet obediently, then her hands and arms. ‘I’m all right. Just bruised and battered.’

  ‘Can you get out now? I don’t think you ought to stay inside. I can smell petrol leaking.’

  ‘I think I can manage.’ Gabrielle edged slowly across the middle of the car, catching her skirt on the handbrake.

  The stranger leaned in to help her out. ‘I’m Sarah, by the way. I’ve called the police. They’ll be here in a minute or two.’

  ‘Right. Thank you.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

  ‘Yes. A bit shocked.’

  ‘Did you skid?’

  ‘No. Another car deliberately bumped into me and pushed me off the road.’

  The other woman’s face was a series of O shapes – eyes and mouth wide open in shock.

  They turned to look at Gabrielle’s car and, sure enough, there were dents and scratches of red paint on the rear bumper.

  ‘The driver must have been drunk,’ Sarah said.

  ‘I suppose so.’ Or had someone paid him to frighten her? She was suddenly sure it hadn’t been an accident that the driver had chosen to harass her, not after the other things that had happened.

  A police car drew up and a young female officer got out, followed by her male companion.

  Their questions seemed to go on for ever, and they even breathalyzed Gabrielle. Of course, that only proved she hadn’t been drinking at all.

  ‘Are you sure you couldn’t tell what they looked like? No details at all?’ the female officer asked again.

  ‘I’ve told you. I think they were men, but they had hats pulled down and scarves round their faces. It’s hard to see inside a car at night.’

  ‘Well, if you do think of anything else, get back to us.’

  ‘You won’t be able to drive this car home,’ the male officer said. ‘We’ll have to get it towed away and the paint of the other car checked before you can have it repaired. It doesn’t look like a write-off, but I’d get it checked out by a good mechanic. You seem to have had a lucky escape.’

  Sarah gave her particulars and drove off, but the police officers stayed with Gabrielle till the tow truck arrived, and then took her and her shopping home.

  When they’d gone, she sat slumped at the kitchen table, not knowing what to do next.

  The phone rang and it took her a minute or two to pick it up.

  ‘What took you so long to answer?’ Stu demanded.

  ‘I’ve been in a car accident. Someone deliberately drove me off the road.’

&n
bsp; ‘Don’t be stupid. Why would anyone do that? You always were a timid driver. You probably swerved to avoid him and skidded.’

  No word of sympathy. No belief in what she’d told him. She put the phone down and didn’t answer when it rang again.

  It took her a while to realize what she needed and then she phoned Dan.

  In jerky half-sentences she explained what had happened.

  ‘But you’re all right?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m in one piece, yes. Couple of bruises but that’s nothing. I’m upset, though, as you can imagine. I can’t seem to think clearly.’

  ‘Don’t try to do anything till you feel better. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.’

  ‘But your job!’

  ‘I can spend tonight with you and drive back early tomorrow morning. I’d stay longer but I’m at a crucial point in an investigation. It’ll take me two hours to get to you, Gabrielle. Can you hang on till then?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘If you’re worried about being in the house on your own, call your friend Tania.’

  ‘No. I’ll be all right. Really.’

  But as it grew darker, she wasn’t so sure. She jumped at every noise and started to listen for Dan’s car long before he could have got there.

  Five

  Dan set off immediately and drove as fast as he felt was safe. He didn’t like the way problems were escalating in Worton. Someone had moved from trying to frighten Gabrielle to what could have been a life-threatening attack on her.

  He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her now, when he was just starting to feel … With a wry smile, he admitted to himself that the word he was reluctant to use was ‘involved’. A car accident could end in more than a few bruises, as he knew only too well, but this time, thank goodness, Gabrielle had escaped without injury.

  He’d do his best to ensure there wasn’t another incident, but he couldn’t quit this job in the middle.

  Seriously worried about her safety, he didn’t bother to stop and book in at the B and B, even though it was getting late and the ‘Vacancies’ sign was switched off. He drove straight up the street to her house, which was brightly lit, with all the downstairs lights on and the curtains open, as well as the porch light shining along the front path.

  She must have been watching for him, because by the time he’d parked his car and run to the front door, she was there to fling the door open. When he reached out to pull her into his arms, she came willingly, huddling against him with a long sigh of relief.

  ‘Are you all right, Gabrielle?’

  ‘I am now that you’re here, Dan.’

  He turned to aim the remote and lock his car, then walked with her into the house. ‘Let’s draw the curtains, shall we? You should have done that before you lit up.’

  ‘I wasn’t sitting downstairs. I was upstairs, moving to and fro, looking out of the windows. I wanted to be able to see if anyone approached. I suppose that was silly, but it made me feel better.’

  ‘Then it was worth doing.’ He studied her face. ‘You look pale. Are you sure you’re not hurt?’

  ‘I’m all right. A bit bruised is all. I was lucky.’

  ‘Well, now that I’m here, we need to keep inquisitive eyes away.’

  ‘Who is there to be inquisitive?’ she asked bitterly. ‘There aren’t any close neighbours who’d wonder about me, as I told you before.’

  ‘Someone attacked you. They might still be watching out for another opportunity.’

  She shivered and went with him round the house drawing the curtains, till they were enclosed in a brighter, cosier world. ‘Are you hungry?’

  Dan shook his head. ‘Not yet. Look, I want you to tell me exactly what happened today. Would you mind if I recorded it?’

  ‘Why do that?’

  ‘You never know when a piece of evidence will come in useful. It’ll still be fresh in your mind if we do it now.’

  She shrugged. ‘Whatever.’

  He went through it with her, switched off the tiny recording device, then switched it on again. ‘It’s my bet they’ll have stolen the car and burnt it after they’d attacked you. Do you think this is down to your husband?’

  ‘I’ve been wondering that, but I didn’t think even Stu would try to kill me.’

  ‘He isn’t … mentally ill, is he?’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘I don’t know. From what you’ve told me about him, it doesn’t sound like the sort of thing he’d do. But you never know. People continue to amaze me.’

  ‘Who else is there but Stu? I’ve no family to care whether I’m alive or not. I think he’s been trying to upset me so that I’ll sell the house for a lower price.’

  ‘And will all this stuff do that?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’m longing to be rid of him once and for all.’

  ‘I can’t understand the urgency. One modest house in a residential street doesn’t attract developers and cause cut-throat land grab wars, or give the buyers huge profits.’

  ‘But selling this house will give Stu some money and he sounds desperate for it.’

  There was a knock on the door and Gabrielle sprang to her feet, looking at Dan in alarm.

  ‘I’ll answer it,’ he said.

  ‘There’s a peephole.’

  A quick glance outside made him fling the door open and call over his shoulder, ‘It’s the police, Gabrielle. All right if I bring them in?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  The same two officers who’d attended the accident, looking weary now, stood in the doorway of the living room.

  ‘We won’t stay long,’ the woman said. ‘We just wanted to inform you that a red car, which is probably the one that attacked you, has been found burnt out fifty miles away. Luckily, a passing motorist put the fire out before it destroyed the vehicle completely and it was identified as one which had been reported stolen.’

  ‘Probably joyriders,’ the male officer added. ‘But burning it will have destroyed any fingerprints or other biological evidence.’

  ‘I don’t think they were joyriders,’ Gabrielle said. ‘I think they were sent to hurt me.’ She hadn’t made that clear at the scene of the incident; she had been too upset to think clearly.

  They looked surprised. ‘Why would they do that? Is there something you haven’t told us?’

  ‘Not that I can prove, but there have been other incidents.’ She listed them.

  The man had been scribbling notes. ‘We’ll bear in mind what you’ve said, Ms Newman. Please take every precaution from now on when you move about the village and stick to the main roads when you’re out driving.’

  She nodded.

  ‘If you sell your house and move away, please let us know where to contact you.’

  While Dan showed them out, she sat down, feeling drained. When he came back, she asked, ‘They think I’m imagining things, don’t they?’

  ‘They’re not sure. Trouble is, they’re so busy they can’t deal with everything that gets piled on them. But I’m quite sure you’re not imagining this.’

  ‘Are you?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Now, it’s getting late and I think you won’t want to be left alone.’

  ‘You’re right. I’d not sleep a wink.’

  ‘I’m happy to stay with you. Can I beg the loan of your couch for the night?’

  ‘I can do better than that. I have a spare bedroom. It won’t take me a minute to put the sheets on the bed.’

  ‘Let’s do it together.’

  ‘OK. Afterwards I’ll find us something to eat. I didn’t have any tea and I’m starting to feel hungry. Thank you for coming, Dan.’

  He pulled her close and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. ‘I was worried about you. We’ll get up early tomorrow and have a quick look at security here. If I make a phone call, I don’t have to get back till the afternoon, so, if necessary, I can nip out and buy a few bolts. Old-fashioned but cheap and still good at deterring casual break-ins. I hope you can sell the house quickl
y and then drop off your ex’s radar.’

  ‘That’s what I plan to do.’

  They sat chatting over a scratch meal of tinned soup and sandwiches. Then she yawned and he followed suit, laughing at the way yawns always seemed infectious.

  He covered her hand with his. ‘Let’s go to bed. I don’t think anyone will attack you tonight.’

  Radka was waiting for Stu when he came back from a meeting.

  ‘You went too far, you idiot!’

  He gaped at her. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

  ‘Did you intend those youths to kill your ex-wife? Do you want to face a charge of murder?’

  ‘I don’t know what—’

  ‘Your tame vandals sideswiped her car deliberately, made her crash and gave the police something to bite on.’

  ‘How did you know about them?’

  ‘I have friends in the UK.’

  ‘I only told the lads to annoy her a bit if she went out for a drive.’

  ‘Even that was stupid. Next time, you will take more care who you employ. Contact them only by phone – no names, no faces that way. And tell them exactly how far to go. Because if you show your hand so clearly again, you’re on your own and I will find someone else to work with. And sleep with. You’re good in bed, but you’re not the only man in the world.’

  ‘All right. But I still don’t see why you’re making such a fuss.’

  ‘The whole point of bringing you into our operation was that you have no police record and have good business connections in the UK.’

  He considered that and nodded. Then something occurred to him. ‘Is Gabi badly hurt?’

  ‘They didn’t take her to hospital, so I doubt it.’

  ‘Damn! I wasn’t trying to have her killed, Radka. I wouldn’t. She’s a fool, but I wouldn’t kill her, or anyone else for that matter.’ He went and poured himself a whisky with hands that shook.

  ‘Get one for me, too.’ She studied him through narrowed eyes. ‘Anyone would think you still cared for her.’

  ‘Me? Care for her? It’s you I care for. You know it is. And I thought you cared for me, yet you talk of getting rid of me so casually.’