She nods again, then tenses and screams in his ear. John turns and feels something hit his face. His head whips round and blood trickles down his nose. Bonnie slips from his arms and he falls against the mess of clothes, chin cracking against the floor.
She screams again, nudging him in the ribs. ‘Daddy! DAAADDDYYY!’
He pulls himself up and pushes Bonnie behind his leg, pain streaking through his face. His stomach lurches when he sees Him, a small part of him having been hoping he was wrong.
John wipes the blood from his nose and puts a hand out to stop Bonnie from moving out of his protection. ‘Why?’ he says simply.
He smiles, opening His arms like a man offering affection. His eyes peer at John from behind a masquerade mask, grotesquely distorted into a strange face, a face that would scare a child. John looks from Bonnie to Him and wonders if she even knows who this is. When He speaks, his voice is a deep, cutting sound that shreds John’s memories of him like a knife. This isn’t his voice.
‘Because I wanted to see you cry, John.’
John grits his teeth. ‘I don’t understand. Why would you want that?’
‘I want what’s yours, John. Your life. But first I have to have all of you. I’ve been by your side for years. I’ve carried you through everything. I’ve seen you afraid, I’ve seen you in pain, I’ve seen you happy. I had your love, now I want your hatred too. Then I’ll have all of you, every bit of you.’
John shakes his head. ‘I thought… I thought you were my friend. You can’t… you can’t be this way. You’re a good person. You would never hurt anyone.’
He smiles. ‘I’m touched, John, really I am. But I’m not who you think I am. It’s all been an act, Johnny Boy. The day we met was the day I knew I wanted you for the rest of my life. And I got what I wanted. I kept you close, tricked you into thinking I was a good person because, when I was a little boy, I realised that was all I had to be to get what I wanted. And I wanted you, Johnny. You’re special. There have been others before but none of them were like you. I’ve loved you for decades but recently something happened and I realised you weren’t enough anymore. I found someone even better than you, John. But you see, I couldn’t give you up before I got what I wanted from you. Now I have it. Not just the love, not just the good times. I have everything.’
John stares at him in disbelief. ‘Why Bonnie?’
‘You already figured that out, Johnny: because it would hurt most.’ He walks up to him and rests a hand on his shoulder. ‘I know you’re scared, I know you’re hurting, mourning the boy I gave you when you were little, the neighbour. But that person didn’t exist. It was only ever me with a mask, a little bit like this one, I suppose.’ He gestures to his face, where only his lips and eyes are visible. ‘I want you to know how proud I am of you. You grew up to be such a wonderful man. I have to kill you now. We can’t both have your life, Johnny. This was always how it was meant to end. I was always going to kill you. I want you to follow you sister into heaven knowing how much you meant to me.’ He rubs his cheek tenderly – a lover’s touch. ‘How did you know it was me?’
‘The disc. The way you touched her face. I’ve seen it before, with Jules.’
‘Ah. Clever. Very clever.’
‘I don’t understand. You… you were in the bathroom. You… you weren’t even there.’
‘I jumped out of the window, Johnny. I ran round to the front door, let myself in and knocked her out before carrying her out to my car. It was a lot easier with you both so distracted. She was in the boot while you and Jules searched the house. Then, you thought I was scouting the neighbourhood, but I was really driving her here. Do you understand now, my darling?’
John feels his legs begin to tremble as he takes it in. How had he not known? How had he missed it? ‘I… I…’
‘It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it…?’ His eyes flick to John’s lips, growing wider, desire flitting in and out like a bird in a cage. ‘I’ve wanted to do this for so long. And now, I finally can…’ His hand burrows through John’s hair, pulling him closer, lips parting. John gasps as He opens his mouth – as if to breathe in the very essence of him – and John pulls away, sickness bubbling in his stomach. He leans forward and kisses him, lips wet with saliva, searching, savouring. John feels his throat contract as He slips his tongue along his teeth. Bonnie whimpers, horrified.
John squeezes her hand, sending a silent message to her: don’t be afraid.
Then John bites down.
He stumbles back and screams, fingers cradling His mouth. John drops Bonnie’s hand and lunges. The coffee table breaks and knives scuttle across the floor. He squirms, eyes wide with fury. ‘YOU’RE NEVER TOUCHING MY DAUGHTER AGAIN!’
Bonnie screams behind him but he can’t hear her. By the time John realises what she is saying and heeds the warning, he feels hands in his hair and is thrown back onto the floor. His eyes roll back as his head cracks against the concrete. Again and again and again. Pain burns through his body, tears and fear rolling through him in waves. He doesn’t even realise he is crying.
He straddles John, gritting His teeth. Leaning forward, He brushes His lips against John’s ear. ‘I loved you so much, John. You will always be special. Just not as special as her.’
John gasps for breath, darkness spotting his vision. He brings his hand to his head and feels blood flood across his fingers
‘Look at me, Blue-Eyes. Look at me.’ But he doesn’t.
He locks his eyes on Bonnie and he smiles. ‘I… I love… love yo… you. Don… don’t for… forget.’
She crawls to his side through the puddle of blood spreading from his head. He lifts his shaking hand and touches her fingers, then points to the door. She shakes her head. ‘Daddy? Daddy?’
‘Go.’ He tries to push her away but she remains where she is. John chokes back the blood in his mouth and points again, urging her to leave.
He caresses John’s face, fingertips pattering across his cheeks like the wings of a butterfly flicking across the ground. ‘If you’re going to die, I want to feel you go. Don’t worry, Blue-Eyes. I’ll always be with you.’
John takes a last ragged breath and closes his eyes, realising that this is where it ends for him. He prays that Bonnie will be saved from a man he thought he knew, a man he has loved nearly all his life.
When he opens his eyes, Don has vanished and Bonnie is all he sees. She is crying, crying for him. John closes his eyes, thinking he is already in heaven, and opens them again for the last time. But she is still sitting before him, cradling his hand and smiling the smile of a girl he used to know.
As the last slivers of life fade and wither…
…as blood pools across the floor and time surrenders…
…John looks at his daughter and sends out one last prayer…
She leans forward and, with lips soft against his skin, whispers, ‘Daddy, I love you…’
Chapter 60
Maisie
Tuesday 2 February, 2016
…And in room 217 Tim wakes to the sound…
…of a syringe clattering to the floor…
…A scream penetrates the walls, tearing from Watson’s throat, rattling the glass and jarring the minds of those present…
…Maisie watches DCI Alice Munroe and three doctors grapple his hands away from Tim and pull him to the door, fists flying and words scraping through his lips…
‘You should have died! You should have died there!’
…As they drag and heave him down the corridor, Watson’s shirtsleeve rides up his skin to reveal a scar that curls into the shape of a question mark…
*
She was told they found him just in time. Any later and he would have died. Watson would have injected him before he could even open his eyes. The syringe held a lethal dose of morphine and it would have killed him instantly. She doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to forget the look of fury on Watson’s face as they pulled him away. Or the look of confusion on Tim’s.
; The doctors assessed him and went through a flurry of tests. She stood by Heidi’s side as they gave her his prognosis. It would take time for him to recover the use of all his faculties but, with a new team of specialists and nurses to support him, they expected him to recover. They held their breath when Heidi walked up to him, Maisie clutching Lailah’s hand hard enough for the blood to drain out of it. But their concerns proved futile because, although he couldn’t speak as well as he once had – his speech was something they needed to work on – a smile lit his face and it was one of recognition and love.
She later learnt Watson was a paediatrician who grew up in Saltford, Bath. When he was sentenced in court, muttering about a blue-eyed boy and the death of a girl called Bessie, his mother refused to attend. He was sentenced to life in prison. He told the judge he attacked Tim because he was in love with Heidi and wanted his life for his own. When he heard Tim was recovering, he knew he needed to take away the risk of losing all he had worked for.
Maisie had known something was bothering Heidi but she never could have guessed, with all news of it kept out of the press, that it was because, a few weeks ago, her daughter had been taken from her and abused in ways she couldn’t bear to imagine. Maisie smiles as she recalls Heidi sitting her down and explaining how they had reached this point. How relieved she was when they finally found her daughter. How afraid when she thought she might lose Tim. How heartbroken to realise their oldest friend was responsible for it all. Maisie sat and listened quietly, wondering how she had coped with so much for so long.
In court, Watson proclaimed he did it all for love. But one man’s love is another man’s obsession. And the judge said it wasn’t a love he was familiar with.
Saturday 6 February, 2016
Maisie opens the door and takes in the scene before her.
Tim, holding his daughter and his wife in his arms, smiling, tears of happiness falling down his cheeks. The man in the Armani suit, Miller Anderson, stands by the bed, arms crossed, laughing.
‘Ah, I see you’ve found him then. I forgot to tell you we moved him.’ She is talking to Heidi but her eyes are glued to Tim.
Heidi nods, kissing his cheek. ‘Yep. We found him.’
She smiles and sighs. ‘Hi, Tim. Lovely to meet you. I’m Maisie. I’ve been taking care of you.’
He nods, a noise that sounds vaguely like a laugh rumbling in his throat. His daughter curls up against his chest, wary of the tubes in his skin, her feet tucked beneath his leg. Maisie points and smiles. ‘I love your shoes.’
She grins and says, ‘They’re my Dorothy shoes. Daddy got them for me.’
‘You like The Wizard of Oz?’
‘Yes!’
Maisie smiles and turns to leave. ‘I do too. I’ll give you some space. Shout if you need me.’ She takes one last glance at Tim and knows he and his family will come through the hardship of the coming months and find their way in life again. A new way.
Standing outside room 217, Maisie watches life on the ward play out around her and smiles. She lovingly touches her stomach and sends a silent message to her baby, a baby she knows will be a girl.
A girl called Polly.
Chapter 61
Sunday 14 August, 2016
Six Months Later
He and his family stand together by the water, sweet smiles sticking to their lips. Around them birds swoop and dodge through the trees as if they are bullets, the sun’s spotlight drawing out the colours in the pond like freckles on a face. On this bright August day, life in Florence Park swarms across the grass and around the water, where children shrug off the worries of their young lives and embrace the sun and the water and the world.
Maisie watches the family from her bench under the brow of a willow tree, fingers tracing small lines across her bump, Ben’s arm draped around her shoulders. At first she wonders if she is imagining those four figures but she can’t be because Ben glances at them too. They are real. And they are here.
With a heave, Maisie rises from the bench and picks a nervous path through the dropped ice creams and red-faced parents to the family. Why she is nervous, she can’t quite put her finger on. Perhaps it is because it has been so long. Perhaps it is because they began to feel as if they were more than what they were. Perhaps it’s because it now feels as if they are meeting anew.
Maisie raises a hand and gently touches the man’s shoulder where his blond hair curls against his collar in tiny fists. He turns and, as he does, Maisie catches the scent of soap and apple clinging to his skin. His eyes roam across her nose, her eyes, her lips, as if he is looking for someone in her face. Maisie’s heart is an anchor that sinks in her chest. There is no recognition. He does not know her.
Just as she takes a step back, he takes one forward, and it is a dance that taps a sudden, frantic rhythm in her chest. She holds her breath, then lets it go in one thick exhalation as he wraps his arms around her. ‘It’s good to see you again, Maisie.’
Heidi turns, thick curls streaking through the air, eyes widening into bright discs. ‘Oh my…’ Their daughter peers round her mother’s waist and beams at Maisie. Strapped to Heidi’s chest is a little boy with his father’s blue eyes.
Tim’s voice, no longer raspy and jolting, surprises her, drawing her back in his arms. He smiles, holding her hands tight in his own as if this is the only way they can communicate. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m good. I’m great. I’m pregnant!’ Maisie gestures to her bump as if it isn’t already obvious and throws Heidi a smile she hopes she catches. Heidi’s reply is a kiss blown on her fingertips.
Tim laughs. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Never mind me. How are all of you? How have you been? I haven’t see you for months. You look fantastic, Tim.’
He smiles, and Maisie feels herself relax in the glow of his warmth. ‘Thanks! We’ve been good. We’ve had our little boy, as you can see. My recovery has been a slow process – I still stumble and drop things and sometimes I struggle with my speech, but it’s been good. If feels like just yesterday we were in the ICU, doesn’t it?’
‘Sure does. I can still remember when you came round. Just in time too.’ Maisie lowers herself to the grass and stretches her legs out. They sit in a small circle, the sun slipping its warm hand along their backs, childish laughter filling their ears.
Tim scoops his daughter into his arms and kisses her head as her eyelids droop to a close. ‘Me too. It was a tad too close for my liking but at least it’s over now. At least he’s gone…’
‘I can’t imagine how you both must have felt – must still feel. You knew him for years. He was your closest friend.’
Tim dips his head, a veil of anger settling like mist across his face. ‘I should have known. I should have seen it. Some of the things he did when we were kids made me feel a little uneasy. Some of the things he said, how he reacted… I just should have known. But I think he was a master at hiding himself. Hiding that part of himself. Miller – you’ve met Miller – told us about something he did to him when he was young, the reason he left our town.’ He pauses here and looks at Heidi, as if he needs her help to corral the words into a sentence. ‘It’s almost too much to take in… He could have died in the river that day… I’m so thankful he didn’t. So thankful he found us again.’
Maisie nods, resting a hand on his and smiling at this small family who have felt the brush of something terrible yet still manage to be the good people they started out as. ‘You know, I didn’t think you’d recover. I thought that was it. It was over.’
‘It very nearly could have been.’
She glances at Heidi. ‘I knew something was wrong. I never could have guessed it was this, though. How did you cope?’ She gestures to the sleeping girl curled up in Tim’s arms. ‘Everything she went through, everything you went through… how did you cope with it all?’
‘I took one day at a time. I had my daughter back but I’d lost my husband. Some days I felt like I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Other
days, I wondered how I’d ever make life good again.’
‘You did it, though.’
She smiles and looks across the pond. ‘I’m just glad it’s all over.’
Maisie nods, following her gaze and watching a band of children skip through the water, hands clenched around their rolled-up trousers and pitched-up shirts. Their laughter permeates the air, and it feels as if it has the power to drive every shadow from every dark corner. She glances down at her bump – at Polly – and smiles, visualising the times she will bring her to this park, the times Polly will fill it with laughter of her own, the hot days when she will dance and dip through the water, and the times her parents will hold her and tell her about a little boy called Billy. The days stretching out before her send a shiver down her spine. She is excited and terrified. But she knows, just as she knows the baby inside her is a little girl, that better days are on their way.
Turning on the grass, Maisie sees Ben sinking down beside her, a spark of something bright filling her chest. He shakes their hands and waves at the sleepy baby boy curled into his mother’s chest.
‘Lovely to meet you, Ben. Maisie told me so much about you,’ Heidi says, squeezing his hand.
‘All good, I hope. It’s lovely to finally meet you too.’
Lies Between Us Page 23