“Judy, wait. Hang on a second. I need to talk to you Judy.” The girl glanced across the road, a flash of puzzlement on her face was replaced in short order by a moment of recognition and then, as Mary whipped the hat from her head, a look of unrestrained horror.
“Shit Mary, what happened to you?” Standing now close beside the other woman Mary didn’t know how to word the answer and so she said nothing, she waited a few moments before Judy’s hand encumbered by the heavy bag raised to her mouth. “Jacob?” It was little above a whisper.
Mary nodded, tears had flooded her eyes and she searched in her pocket for a tissue. “I need to speak to you Judy. Can you come? My car is round the corner, I need help.”
“Oh God, Mary. I, well I don’t know, erm.” She held up the bags that she was carrying; her eyes were fixed on Mary’s poor face. “Look I need to drop the shopping off. Can you give me a minute? Where are you parked?”
“Just round the corner, the red Fiesta. It’s just by the house with the big blue gate.”
“Yeah, yeah I know it. Look, I’ll drop these bags off, say hello to everyone – otherwise they’ll wonder what’s going on – and then I’ll come and find you. Are you alright? Have you seen a doctor? God Mary have you called the police? I’ll come with you if that’s what you want. I’ll come no danger, shit I tried to warn you. I should have told you straight out shouldn’t I? I feel so bad.”
“No, no for heaven’s sake this isn’t your fault. I haven’t been to the police, I’m not going to,” she held up a hand as the other woman began to interrupt. “No, I have a plan though but it needs your help. Will you help me, do you think you can?”
“I will if I can Mary, of course. What a pig he is. When did he do this?”
“Look I can’t talk about it now, not in the street. Will you come home with me? I don’t like being out right now, looking like this, you know. Will you come back and let me tell you what I think I’d like to do?”
“Give me five minutes and then I’ll come and find you.”
She flopped back into the car and heaved a great sigh of relief. She had done it, she had taken the first step. Her heart was lighter and her spirits soared. She was doing something and it seemed she now had an ally.
Chapter 44
As soon as the slight figure in the denim shorts and pink T shirt came around the corner Mary started the engine. She was desperate to take herself away from this place where at any moment Jacob could appear. Her heart was thundering and her hands slick with nervous sweat. Judy gave her a little wave and trotted up to the passenger door. She slid into the car and they were driving off before she had even had the time to fasten her belt and tuck her shoulder bag into the foot well.
“Thanks Judy, thanks so much.” Mary turned and smiled at the young woman who was peering at her bruised and battered face.
“That looks really sore, and your poor eye is all swollen. Did he really do that, what did he do? Oh, look if you don’t want to talk about it I understand but – well I’ve just never seen this,” she flicked a hand towards Mary, “anything like this before.”
“He hit me, it’s quite simple really. No, no it’s not.” Mary’s brow creased as she corrected the statement. “It’s not simple, that’s not what I mean. I mean that there is no doubt, no confusion, he raised his hand and he struck me hard and knocked me to the floor. I have a huge bruise on my side where I collided with the worktop and, well, you can see what else.”
“Have you been to the doctor?” Mary gave a short shake of her head. “Don’t you think you should?”
“I can’t, could you? I think I’m going to be okay. It looks worse than it is,” again she stopped and thought for a moment before altering her statement. “By that I mean that I don’t think there is any permanent physical damage. Once the bruises go I feel sure it’ll be fine. On the other hand, in a way you know, it’s worse than it looks, isn’t it? Do you know what I mean?”
Judy nodded, she understood.
Mary laid a hand on top of the girl’s where they were crossed on her lap. “Thanks Judy, for coming with me, for believing me.”
“I feel so guilty though. I should have been braver. I should have come right out and told you what he did to Chloe. That’s my friend you know. When I came to your house I should have just told you, I’m so sorry Mary, I feel as though some of this is my fault.”
“Don’t be silly, you didn’t make me go out with him, did you? But you did try to tell me. Oh yes, and just so that we’re clear, we were lovers. I don’t want you wondering and imagining. I don’t know how you feel about that, but there you have it. Look, will you come back to my house and let me talk to you, do you mind, have you time?”
“Yes, of course I will.”
They settled in the tidy living room and Mary switched on the table lamp; though it was still bright outside she had dragged the heavy drapes across the window. She was terrified that he would come back and so was wrapping the house around herself, making a place of safety.
“Will you have a drink with me? A glass of wine, some beer, a cup of tea?”
“What are you having?”
“If you’ll have one with me I could really do with a drink. It’s a bit early but I’ve had a hard day and a glass of wine right now would be lovely.”
“Okay, that’d be nice, have you got white?”
“I have, just hold on there.”
Once the wine had been poured and a dish of nuts sat on the table between them, Mary settled in the armchair from where she could look straight into the face of her visitor.
“Okay, Judy I need to ask you something straight out is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“Your friend, Chloe was it?” Judy nodded, “Did she run away from Uni because Jacob hit her?”
The response was a firm nod of affirmation. “Yes, he hit her and stalked her and in the end she couldn’t take it anymore and so she went back to her mum and dad’s place.”
“Are you still in touch with her?” Another nod.
“And she didn’t go to the police, didn’t take any action?”
“No she didn’t, she was too scared of him.”
“Do you know why he did it, did she tell you?”
“She said that he just lost his temper and changed in an instant. That was one of the things that she found most frightening, one minute he was perfectly nice and then BAM he was a monster.”
“Yes, that’s what happened here, it was so very sudden. Do you know what caused it?”
“Not in great detail but it was something very small. Something about a text from a friend that referred to a conversation. Oh you know it was one of those daft girly things, just a laugh and he took offence at it.”
“And you’re still in touch with her?”
“Yes, I am. We’ve known each other for a long time. I see her at weekends if I go home and we email each other all the time.”
“Do you think she’ll talk to me?”
“I don’t know. I can ask her but I think she really just wants to put it behind her, you know.”
“Yes, but she hasn’t has she? She has changed her whole life because of it and how do you think that will make her feel when she looks back? Don’t get me wrong I do understand.” As she said this Mary unconsciously raised a hand to her damaged face. “Yes, I understand but I have an idea.
“You see I can’t go home, this is my home and I can’t leave it and just go away but what I also can’t do is to live in fear. He’s already caused me to change my locks and turn off my phone and I can’t go on from day to day scared that I’m going to meet him or he’s going to turn up here or at the surgery. You do see don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So, the only answer is for me to drive him away. I can’t go anywhere so he must. I have an idea how I might be able to do that. Will you help me?”
“I will. I’ll get in touch with Chloe and see if we can meet up.”
Mary gave a great sigh and rai
sed her glass in a silent salute.
Chapter 45
It was difficult to settle. Once Judy had left with a promise to phone as soon as she had spoken to Chloe, Mary made a sandwich and poured a second glass of wine. Her nerves were in turmoil. She gave herself a mental kick after Judy had gone. One thing she did need was her opinion about whether or not it would be possible to access the college social network pages in the way she wanted. The whole thing actually hinged on whether or not this girl, who she had only spoken to a couple of time would be willing to take a huge risk on her behalf.
For the plan to work she would need access to Jacob’s computer and possibly the memory card from his camera. The only way that she would be able to achieve that would be with help from Judy who could visit the shared house. Fear had stilled her tongue though in case the answer had been no and had dashed all her hopes before anything had even begun. If they arranged a meeting, all of them together, she may be able to use the emotion that would be stirred up to drive things along. It was a cynical manipulation and she felt a pang of guilt, but anyway if they decided this plan was fated from the start, as was very possible given the number of things that would need to come together, then perhaps the three of them would be able to come up with something else.
The idea that she could meet another of Jacob’s victims was strangely comforting. Judy had been lovely, though she had returned over and over to the idea she was in part responsible, and Mary hoped that if she did indeed help to drive Jacob away then she would let that unnecessary feeling of guilt go.
She turned on the television but switched it off again after a few minutes. There was nothing on it to hold her attention. She flipped through a couple of magazines without seeing anything except the blur of shiny, coloured pages. For a while she paced back and forth in the lounge, a cup of tea didn’t hit the spot and she missed her friend Jane badly. In this situation it would have been perfect to have her there to share the wait and to have her support. It was impossible though, on the one hand it would be simply too embarrassing to admit the other woman had been correct in her assessment all along, though the bitterness of her attack still brought a lump to Mary’s throat. Aside from that was the knowledge she had phoned Mary’s mum and involved her in things that were in truth not really her concern. If she hadn’t done that then the fateful phone call would never have happened. What then? How long would it have continued and at what stage would she have discovered the truth about this man who she had truly thought she could love?
Maybe he would never have hit her. Perhaps if their relationship had developed and deepened none of this would have happened. Maybe all he needed was genuine affection and that would help him to overcome the demon that made him lash out in this dreadful way. Mary was sitting on the stairs, she was heading for the bathroom and a shower when these thoughts swirled into her mind. Whatever made him violent must be something in the past and perhaps with the right handling he could overcome it. He had looked so very sad standing on the step with the huge bunch of roses, desperation in his eyes. She imagined the feel of his hands on her body and the whisper of his loving words in her ears. Perhaps she was going at this all the wrong way, of course she could never have a love affair with him now, that thought was ridiculous but maybe she could help him. Rather than drive him away should she be reaching out and offering kindness. She stood and as she did so the mirror caught the reflection of her ruined face, the soreness had reduced now until she hardly felt it but seeing it again, the darkening bruises and the horrible blood-shot eye she gasped. No, nobody could be allowed to do this to another person and be offered sympathy, if he cared he would search out help himself, it wasn’t her job.
As she turned back to the stairs with her resolve to act newly strengthened she heard tapping on the front door. Surely the bell was still working. She froze, her head tipped to one side listening. The faint, rapid knocking restarted and then the cover on the letter box moved.
“Hello, Mary, Mary will you not let me in? Come on lovely lady, come on you know I didn’t mean to hurt you. You must know that. Come on now, let me in I want to apologise and then we can make up and be friends.”
She stared in horror as his fingers crawled and reached through the tiny space and his voice, whispering in the growing darkness filled her ears.
“Oh come on now, Mary, let me in. Won’t you just let me in and we can kiss and make up?”
Chapter 46
If he lowered his eyes to the letter box Jacob would be able to see her where she sat, tense and silent on the lower steps. Should she drop to her knees and crawl to the safety of the living room or make a bid for the upstairs? His long fingers had pulled back from the narrow strip and a pink envelope had been pushed through to flop with a quiet wheeze onto the carpet. It was obviously some sort of card. There was no way she would either want to retrieve the thing or be brave enough to venture so close to where she knew he stood, even though he was safely excluded by the solid wooden door and the newly fitted locks.
Crablike, she made her way up the stairs until, upon reaching the half landing, she stood and ran the last few yards. She went to her own bedroom, the light was out and the curtains hadn’t yet been drawn across the windows. By the light of the streetlamp she could peer out and see the top of his head as he shuffled back and forth on the front step.
Frustration was apparent from the way he paced in the small space, spinning to look out at the street and then back to tap yet again on the door. She wondered why he didn’t use the bell but thanked her lucky stars he didn’t, for this small noise was so much easier to cope with than the intrusive ringing would be. As she watched from the darkness he glanced upward and with a gasp she jumped away from her vantage point. Her breath stilled as she waited to find whether or not he had seen her or discerned the slight movement of the curtains.
Again he called out to her, “Mary, Mary can you hear me? The bell doesn’t work.” Of course. She now realised that the locksmith must have disconnected it and with the mad flurry of action when they had locked Jacob out they hadn’t thought to check that all was back to working order. She would have to get him back to reconnect it, he was coming anyway to check all was well and she had a bottle of whisky waiting as a thank you for his help. If only he was here now, a bulwark against this latest assault.
“Mary, for heaven’s sake this is silly now. I’m sorry right, I lost my temper, look I admit it and I want to show you just how sorry I am.” He was keeping his voice low, no doubt aware that the neighbours would be tempted to interfere if they thought Mary was in trouble but the low hiss of his words through the evening hush was chilling. As she stood in the middle of her room, hands clasped in front of her mouth, she was as frightened as she could ever remember being in the whole of her life.
A sudden loud thud reverberated through the space between them; witnessing a change in his mood, she gasped. “Right, you are being stupid now aren’t you? Really, there is no need for any of this; you can’t stay in there forever you know. I see you changed the locks, well that was unnecessary to start with and what, you think I’ll just go away now? Don’t be ridiculous, we’ve got a thing going on here, a good thing. I’m not going to give up on you. I’ll come back tomorrow. We can have a cup of coffee and a chat and you’ll see how silly you are being.” She raised herself on tiptoe to allow a glimpse of the drive as he strode through the gateway and, leaving the metal gate swinging behind him he thundered away down the road.
She flopped onto the bed and let the tears of relief and tension flood her cheeks, she drew in a deep breath and desperately tried to hold herself together.
Perhaps it was time to call the police. The jumbled thoughts fighting for supremacy in her fear-numbed mind swirled back time and again now to this. Was it time to bring in an outside authority? What would they do? They would no doubt interview her at length and in great detail, they would lay bare the things that she was embarrassed by and they would probably want to know why she had waited two days before
contacting them. They would interview him of course and, though the evidence of brutality was all too obvious, then what could they do?
If it were possible she could go the whole way, take him to court, stand in the witness box and reveal, for the benefit of strangers, private and deeply personal issues. Then what? The chances that he would be incarcerated were slim, so very slim. He would possibly be given some sort of “punishment” litter picking on the streets or cleaning up graffiti. The judge would no doubt insist that he attend an anger management course and he would be told to keep away from her. What of her? She would then spend a miserable time knowing that he may be just around the next corner, in the supermarket, innocently shopping or on the bus as he had been the first time that they had met. It wasn’t any sort of future that she could contemplate and so, for better or worse, she would stick to her plan and if it failed then so be it.
Chapter 47
During the long night, tossing and turning under the covers Mary by turn replayed all the events of the last few dreadful days and tried to clearly formulate the ideas she had. Hopefully Judy would call soon with arrangements to meet Chloe, phase one accomplished and safely tucked away.
She dragged herself from bed in the early hours and booted up the computer. Once on the college website she clicked around following links and perusing the pages of information. As she worked a conviction that they could make this happen soothed her battered nerves. The only sound was the keyboard and mouse as she made notes and bookmarked pages and by the time the birds greeted the daylight she was smiling, genuinely hopeful for the first time. She was an intelligent, strong woman and would damned well succeed in ridding her life of this blight.
The pink envelope sat beside the front door and on her way through to the kitchen Mary scooped it up. With not a moment of hesitation and not even looking at the writing on the front she stamped on the lever of the pedal bin and with a flourish she threw the thing away. She felt strong and decisive; this was the new start. A cup of strong coffee and a piece of toast further brightened the morning and she stepped out into the back garden. Ignoring the light dampness of the dew she sat at the little metal table and allowed herself to look forward to a time when her life would be pleasant and peaceful again. It would come, it had to…
PICTURES OF YOU: a gripping psychological suspense thriller Page 12