He went back to his tools to collect the carrier bag. He took out a small bottle and a wet cloth. With the cloth, he cleaned the gunky makeup from her face. He admired natural beauty and couldn’t give a shit about the slap women threw on their faces these days. Then he unscrewed the cap from the bottle and waved it under her nose.
The girl instantly woke up. She thrashed about like a basking shark caught on a deep-sea fisherman’s line. “Please, where am I? What do you want from me?”
The man put his finger to her lips. “Sshhh… Feisty, aren’t you? The less noise you make, the better it will be for both of us. Understand?”
Her head sank to her chest and rose back up again. “I’ll be good. I promise. Please don’t hurt me.”
He stood up, gazed down at her, and smiled at her lovingly as he loosened the belt to his jeans. “Oh, I have a feeling you are going to be good. The best yet, I reckon. We’re going to be so good together.”
Her puffy eyes widened as his trousers dropped around his ankles, and she stared at his proud erection as if willing it to go limp. He knelt down and ripped open the skimpy top she was wearing to reveal a cerise-pink padded bra.
“Now let’s see if you like to coordinate your underwear like the others.” He lifted her hips and pulled down her thigh-high skirt to expose a matching cerise-pink G-string, stockings, and suspenders. “Hmm… nice touch.”
His hand gently teased the flesh on her inner thigh, and the girl’s eyes clamped tightly shut. His erection hardened further. He loved it when they pretended they didn’t want him—that they didn’t want it—but their resistance never lasted long. Come the end, they found him totally irresistible.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ellen rolled into work ten minutes late the next morning. Brian looked up from his computer screen and smirked.
“What?” she asked, unsure what his expression meant.
“Nothing. I’ve just never seen you wearing mummsy clothes before. I’m not sure it suits you, to be totally honest.”
She looked down at the leggings and long T-shirt Suzie had insisted she wear that morning and found herself agreeing with Brian’s assessment. The outfit was indeed more suited to a mum doing the school run rather than a professional dealing with the general public. But she hadn’t had the time to go home to change before work.
“I didn’t go home last night. What? Don’t look at me like that. I stayed at Jim and Suzie’s house.” She spread her arms out to the side. “Hence the clothes. Christ, if I had come to work wearing what I had on yesterday, you would have thought I’d been up to no good, too.” She walked over to her desk and slumped into her chair. “I can’t bloody win. Why can’t you be like any other bloke, non-observant and uninterested in what goes on around you, huh?”
His white teeth glistened as he grinned at her. “But then I’d be out of a job, wouldn’t I? How come you’re so tetchy this morning? And why didn’t you make it home last night?”
“I’m not tetchy. Is the kettle on? I’m parched.”
“Stop it!”
“Stop what?” She frowned, feigning her ignorance, but the way he was shaking his head as he walked out of the room told her that she had a long way to go before she’d be able to do that.
Brian returned and placed the steaming mug of black coffee in front of her. “There’s no point avoiding my question. You know I’ll be hounding you until I get an answer. So come on, why didn’t you go home last night?”
She lifted the mug and blew on the black liquid. “I’ve decided to leave home.”
“Hallelujah! Is your mum all right about that?”
She shook her head and avoided his eyes. “She doesn’t know yet.” That was all she was prepared to say at that point. Brian had no idea of the trouble she’d had with her stepfather, and she didn’t really want to burden him with the facts, either.
“It’ll be hard on her to see you go. However, come the day, I bet she’ll be rubbing her hands when you walk out the door.”
“I’m not that bad to live with,” she replied, offended.
“Don’t go flying off the handle at me. I’m merely stating facts. People treasure their own space. It can’t be much fun living in a two-bedroomed flat above a pub. I know I couldn’t share a place that small with two other adults.”
She hadn’t really thought about her dilemma in those terms before. Maybe she was doing her stepdad an injustice. She thought about that for a moment as she sipped her coffee, but then quickly came to the conclusion that no reasonable human being would have treated her the way he’d been treating her over the last few years. His tolerance levels were at a minimum when she was around him.
Brian broke into her reverie. “How did it go last night?”
“With Donna’s sister?”
He nodded, and she told him how her evening had panned out, that her visit to Donna’s sister’s house had led her to the taxi driver.
“Hmm… Interesting. Well, at least we’ve got something to go on. If the guy lingering in the shadows at the nightclub was caught on the in-house security cameras, that’ll make our lives so much easier. I’ll get on to the manager of Gypsy’s today. If nothing comes of that, maybe we should start delving into the driver’s background. What do you think?”
“That’s great. Although, I think we should look at the driver’s background as a matter of course, anyway. You do that, and I’ll continue to trawl through the address book. I want to go and see Donna’s mum later, too, if I can.”
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”
They put their heads down and didn’t really speak to each other again until midday.
“I’m nipping out for a Subway. What do you fancy?”
Ellen rubbed her tummy and thought over the question. “Chicken tikka and the works for me.”
“Okay, be back in twenty minutes.”
Ellen went out back to put the kettle on, and when she returned to her desk, a woman in her late-fifties to early-sixties was standing by the front door.
“I’m sorry. Can I help you?” Ellen asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about her attire.
“I hope so, dear. You went to see my daughter last night.”
“Ah… you must be Mrs. Shaw, Donna and Cheryl’s mum?”
The woman nodded, and her gaze dropped to the floor. “That’s right. And I wanted to come and make myself known to you. The family have agreed that I should be the one you contact when Will isn’t around. He has several competitions coming up over the next couple of weeks.”
“Won’t you take a seat? I was planning on coming out to see you this afternoon. I’m sorry to hear about Donna’s disappearance. I want to assure you that my partner and I will throw everything we have to hopefully bring your daughter back home.”
She sat in the chair in front of Ellen’s desk, upright, not looking relaxed at all. “Where do you start searching for her? I’d like to know how you begin such an investigation. Will tells me that you and your partner used to be in the police force.”
“We did. That’s right. We still have some contacts in the force who we can call on when we get stuck on a case.”
She let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good to know. I wasn’t sure how a private firm would be able to track individuals and look into their backgrounds, if someone has taken her, that is. Do you think that is what happened?”
“It’s hard to say at this moment in time, Mrs. Shaw. Our enquiries are still in their infancy. Cheryl and the taxi driver are the only people we have spoken to up till now.”
“Why didn’t the driver see her to her door? Don’t they do that these days? You hear all sorts of terrible things happening to young girls, especially when they’re drunk… Why on earth Donna felt it necessary to get that drunk, I’ll never know. She’s not the type.”
“What do you mean? She doesn’t usually drink to excess or doesn’t drink full stop?”
“Oh, she likes the odd drink, but I personally haven’t seen her drunk. Mind you, I�
�ve never really been out socialising with her that much.”
Ellen studied the woman carefully. Mrs. Shaw seemed as though she had a wealthy background and was used to money. Her tailored suit and well-coiffed hair told Ellen as much. “I asked Cheryl the same question, but I’d like to hear your response, if I may. Is there any reason you can think of that would drive Donna from her home, her friends, and family?”
The question appeared to puzzle the woman. “Not that I can think of, no. Are you saying that you think Donna has just taken off?”
“It’s something that we have to seriously consider. You’d be surprised the number of people who do that. Rather than handle their problems, they run or hide from them. You can’t think of anything that has occurred in recent months that might have upset Donna?”
“No, nothing.”
“What about her marriage? Do Will and Donna get along okay?”
Her hand shot up and held on to her pearl necklace. “You think Will is behind this?”
Ellen shook her head. “No, I’m adamant about that.”
“Then why ask the question?”
“I need to get some form of background, a starting point to try and find clues. At the moment, I’ve got very little to go on. Which leads me to believe that Donna isn’t a person who would just up and leave.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
“My partner is going to be delving into the man your daughters spotted at the nightclub.”
“What man?” Mrs. Shaw seemed surprised by the news.
Hadn’t Cheryl told her? If not, what was the reasoning behind her decision? Ellen deliberated how to proceed without causing the woman any further unnecessary worry. “It was just something Cheryl told me in passing. I’m sure nothing will come of it.”
“I insist that you tell me. I repeat, what man?”
“It’s just something Cheryl intimated that I should be looking into. She caught a man watching them at the nightclub.”
Mrs. Shaw laughed off the suggestion. “Of course men are going to stare at them. Both my daughters are beautiful and have, no doubt, had many, many admirers over the years.”
Ellen decided to leave the matter there. “I’m sure that’s the case. To be honest, when I questioned the driver, all he said he was guilty of was not seeing Donna to her door. He can’t be held responsible for that in the eyes of the law. So that leaves us back at square one.”
“Well, I can assure you that Will and Donna’s marriage is as rock solid as you can get.”
“No affairs on either side during the course of their marriage?”
“Certainly not. I brought my daughters up to love their husbands fully. My girls are totally different from the girls out their flinging themselves at every Tom, Dick, or Harry. I taught my girls to respect themselves and their other halves. I’m shocked that you should suggest such a thing.”
“No offence intended. These are all questions I should be asking, Mrs. Shaw. Maybe you should reconsider your involvement, your being the go-between. Someone going missing without a trace is a serious scenario. Things often come to light that prove to be appalling for the relatives left behind. Maybe you need to be aware of that before we continue.”
“Of course. I’m sorry. Just ignore me.”
The woman did genuinely seem sorry for her overreaction. “This enquiry will get tougher before it gets any easier. I’m going to do everything I can to bring your daughter home…”
Ellen trailed off as Brian entered the front door.
“Ah, here’s my partner now. Brian, this is Mrs. Shaw, Donna Endersbe’s mother.”
Brian hurriedly threw their lunch on the desk and shook the woman’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Brian. Well, if there is nothing else we can do for each other at this point, I have a luncheon appointment myself down at the golf club.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Please believe us when we say we’ll do everything we can to bring you a happy outcome to this case.”
Ellen had to stifle a grin at the way Brian was overplaying his role. She rose from her desk, as did their visitor. The two women shook hands, and Brian opened the front door to let Mrs. Shaw out.
As soon as the door shut behind their visitor, Ellen went out back to make the coffee. “Boy, do I need this.”
Brian joined her and handed Ellen her roll. “Tough, was it?”
“Mrs. Shaw is now going to be our go-between.”
“How come? She seemed all right to me.” Brian took a huge bite of his roll and dabbed the mayo dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“You pig! Only time will tell if the mother is going to be trouble or not. Only time will tell.” She poured the water over the coffee granules and then took a dainty bite—daintier than Brian’s bite had been, anyway—out of her own roll and moaned. “Yum, love my chicken tikka.”
At the end of another frustrating day in the life of a missing-person hunter, Ellen drove home. Her intestines felt as though they were tied up in gigantic knots as she entered the road where the pub—her home—was situated. No sooner had she walked through the private door at the rear, than she was thrust into the midst of an almighty argument.
“I’ve told you nigh on a hundred times now. I want her out of here.”
“But, Colin, I can’t just throw my daughter out like that.”
The voices were coming from the living room. Ellen was undecided about whether to interrupt her mother and stepfather or just stand in the hallway, eavesdropping. She chose to stay where she was and listened as her stepfather proceeded to slag her off, and her mother continued to defend her, sort of.
“She’s a grown woman, Irene. What is she now? Thirty?”
“Yes, dear. But where will she go?”
“You know what? I really don’t give a damn. You make her life so bloody easy. You still do all her washing and ironing and cooking, for that matter. I’ve heard of blokes staying at home too long with their mums, but not many girls.”
“Be fair, Colin. She did leave home before. It’s not her fault it didn’t work out with whatshisname.”
“Plenty of other kids break up with their partners and go on to find other flats, by themselves. Why can’t she?”
“She will. Just give her time. Her work is full on. She doesn’t have the time to go flat hunting.”
“She’s got a month. One month before I throw her out onto the streets. I can’t stand her sulky moods any longer.”
“Yes, dear.”
Ellen tiptoed into her bedroom and started to pack her bags. The next thing she knew, her mother was standing in the doorway, tears misting her eyes, staring at her.
“No need to say anything, Mum. I heard what he said, every word of it.”
“Oh, Ellen, I never wanted it to come to this. This is your home.”
She sighed heavily. “It used to be my home, once upon a time, when dad was alive… before you met him.”
“Now, Ellen, we’ve been through this so many times before. Colin loves you as if you were his own.”
Ellen had to smirk. Her mother really didn’t have a clue about men. Her father had controlled her, not as heavy-handedly as Colin, but he’d controlled her, all the same. Thank God, Jim hadn’t been influenced by the men in their mother’s life. “Of course he does. Why else would he be throwing me out?”
“He’s not. You’re leaving of your own free will.” Her mother walked into the room and held out her arms.
Ellen shook her head and took a step back. That was her mother’s answer to everything—have a cuddle to put the world to rights. “Not this time, Mum. One of these days, it’ll dawn on you what a bastard he is.”
Her mother gasped. “Ellen, take that back immediately.”
“I will not. It’s not my fault that you’re too blind to notice what he’s up to. Ever since he stepped into this pub, it’s been his intention to rule the roost. Jim and I will never get any inheritance due to us, from dad’s side of things, I mean, while he’s putting his
oar in.”
“We discussed this when your father died. Both you and Jim were happy to leave your inheritance tied up in the pub.”
“We were back then, yes. That was before he came along. Now all he does all day is drink the profits. You tell me what his input has been in the business over the past two years?”
Her mother looked saddened and shocked by Ellen’s words. They needed saying, though. She’d held her tongue still for far too long where that wastrel was concerned.
“Umm…well, I like to run the business. It’s hard for him to contribute.”
“And why is that, Mum? I’ll tell you why. He’s a lazy bastard.”
“That’s enough! I will not allow you to talk about the man I love like that.”
“And that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? He can say what he effing likes about me, but I’ve got to keep my mouth shut. That’s fine, Mum. You’ve made your choice. I’ll be out of your hair in ten minutes.”
Her mother shook her head and turned with her shoulders slumped. Then she walked out of Ellen’s bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her. An unexpected lump formed in Ellen’s throat. She coughed it away and continued to throw her clothes into the suitcase lying on the bed.
When she’d finished packing all her clothes and collected her toiletries from the bathroom, she sat on the bed and rang her brother.
“Hi, Jim, is that offer still open?”
“What offer?”
“To stay with you for a while.”
“Of course it is. Come on over.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
She hung up, heaved her case off the bed, grabbed the holdall she had also packed, and headed back downstairs. Her mother was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.
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