‘Well, she wasn’t, and she’s not coming back, so shut up about it,’ Jake said, unlocking the door and pushing it open.
‘Bloody hell, that’s rank,’ Ben complained, holding his nose when a foul odour hit him in the face. ‘Are you sure the body isn’t still here?’
‘It’s a blocked drain,’ said Jake, stepping into the dark hallway and feeling his way along the wall for a light switch.
Ben felt uneasy as he followed his friend inside. It was too quiet, and it felt wrong to be going into someone else’s home when they weren’t around.
Jake had found the switch, but it didn’t work, so he blindly started slotting keys into the lock on Maggie’s door.
Ben winced when the door popped open after a few attempts and daylight hit his eyes. When he glanced inside the room and saw that it was crammed full of rubbish, he murmured, ‘Wow! Talk about a hoarder’s paradise.’
‘Leanne reckons the old girl is off her nut,’ Jake said, forcing his way past several stacks of ancient, yellowed newspapers that were almost as tall as he was.
A glass-fronted cabinet full of china figurines caught his eye, and he kicked a path through the clothes that were strewn all over the floor to get to it.
‘These are all Royal Doulton,’ he said when he’d checked them out. ‘Bet they’re worth a fortune.’
‘You can’t steal the woman’s belongings,’ Ben chided from the doorway. ‘She’s already lost her home – unless you’re planning to let her move back in after you’ve done it up?’
‘No chance!’ Jake straightened up and wiped his hands on his trousers. ‘Benefit tenants are too much hassle; I’m only taking professionals.’
After looking around the other rooms, each of which was as cluttered as the first, Jake moved on up to the first floor.
Speedy’s door was standing open, and a sickly taste flooded Ben’s mouth when he spotted a pool of dried blood on the lino in the hallway.
‘Don’t worry, that’ll be gone by the time you start working on it,’ Jake assured him as he stepped over it and walked into the flat.
Staying put on the landing, Ben jumped when he heard a bang coming from the floor above. ‘Jake . . .’ he called through the door in a loud whisper. ‘I think someone’s upstairs! JAKE!’
‘What’s up?’ Jake asked distractedly, his gaze fixed on the bundle of letters he was sifting through as he came out into the hall. ‘Have you seen this lot? There’s a ton of final demands here, and loads of court summons. Cheeky fucker!’ he spluttered when he saw a familiar name on one of the letters. ‘Look at this’ – he held it out to show Ben – ‘it’s addressed to Leanne. And so’s this one. He must have been nicking her post.’
‘Just shut up about the bloody post and listen, will you?’ Ben hissed. ‘I think somebody’s up there.’
‘They’d better not be,’ Jake said gruffly. ‘That’s Leanne’s place, and her stuff’s still in there.’
‘What are you doing?’ Ben squawked when Jake set off up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Groaning when he got no answer, he pulled his keys out of his pocket to use as a weapon and reluctantly followed. He had never had a fight in his life, and would rather be anywhere else than here right now. But Jake was his best mate, and he wasn’t about to run out on him.
Jake was in the tiny kitchenette when Ben joined him. ‘There’s your killer,’ he chuckled, pointing to a pigeon perched on top of the ancient boiler. ‘It must have got in through the hole in the roof.’
Ducking when the bird suddenly took flight, narrowly missing his head as it flew into the bedroom, Ben said, ‘It’s trying to get out, poor thing.’
‘Here . . .’ Jake snatched a tea towel off the ledge and tossed it to him. Pulling a face when Ben put it over his head, he said, ‘What are you doing?’
‘Covering my head so it can’t crap on me.’
‘Get it off, you idiot! It’s to throw over the bird, so you can hold it down while I whack its brains out.’
‘Don’t be so cruel!’ Ben protested. ‘I’ll catch it and let it out.’
‘Go on, then, Doctor Doolittle,’ Jake challenged. ‘Let’s see you.’
‘Okay, but make sure it doesn’t fly out again.’ Ben held the tea towel out in front of himself and tiptoed into the front room, where the bird was now perched on the back of the armchair.
‘Don’t break anything,’ Jake warned when Ben knocked his knee against the coffee table. ‘I don’t want Leanne to know we’ve been here.’
‘Don’t you think she’ll guess when you tell her you’ve bought the place?’ Ben pointed out as he edged around the table to creep up on the bird.
‘I’m not going to tell her just yet,’ said Jake. ‘I want to surprise her when it’s ready.’
‘Quick!’ Ben chucked the tea towel over the bird and grasped his struggling captive with both hands. ‘Get the window!’
Jake rushed over to the window and pushed it open. Tutting when the handle came off in his hand, he tossed it on to the chair.
‘And you still want to buy this dump?’ Ben asked, wiping his hands on the tea towel after releasing the bird. ‘No wonder that bloke was so keen to get rid; it’s going to need an absolute fortune spending on it.’
‘Don’t you worry about that,’ Jake said unconcernedly as he walked out on to the landing and set off down the stairs. ‘It’ll be worth a bomb by the time I’ve finished with it.’
Relieved to be getting out of there, Ben followed Jake down to the first floor and, pressing himself up against the banister rail as they passed Speedy’s door, rushed down the rest of the stairs and out on to the pavement.
‘Right, I’d best get moving,’ Jake said, glancing at his watch as he headed to the car. ‘Do you want dropping at yours, or would you rather go to Chrissie’s?’
‘Why would I want to go there?’ Ben frowned to cover his blushes. ‘She’s yours and Leanne’s friend, not mine.’
‘Whatever you say,’ Jake drawled, smiling to himself as he climbed behind the wheel. It was obvious that Ben had the hots for Chrissie, but the wuss was too shy to admit it, much less do anything about it.
15
Chrissie had been furious with Tina for doing a runner the morning after their mum was taken into hospital, but her anger had slowly changed to concern when several weeks went by with no word from her sister. As inconsiderate as Tina was, she had always let their mum know if she planned to stay out for the night, so it worried Chrissie that she hadn’t phoned or messaged to say that she was okay, or even to check on Dylan. Scared that she might have had an accident or been arrested, Chrissie rang the police and the hospitals, but there was no record of Tina being taken in by either.
Unlike Leanne, who had talked about trying for a baby with Dean before she’d realized he was a worthless, lying cheat, Chrissie had never harboured the desire to have children of her own, so it hadn’t come naturally to look after Dylan. And it was particularly hard since she was also looking after her mum, who had been pretty much bedridden since coming home from the hospital after suffering a series of mini-strokes. But as difficult as it had been, she and Dylan had gradually begun to get used to each other, and she’d known she had it cracked when he stopped crying over every little thing and started coming to her for cuddles.
Within the space of a month, Chrissie had weaned Dylan off the bottle, taught him how to use a potty, and got him sleeping right through the night. And she’d now enrolled him in a nursery, which had freed her up to go back to work – for which she would be eternally grateful to her boss, Lisa, who had been amazingly supportive once she knew the situation and had told Chrissie to take as much time off as she needed.
Now that everything was stable, Chrissie wasn’t about to let Tina walk in and mess it all up again. So when the bell rang one morning as she was getting ready to go to work, and she opened the door to find her sister on the step, she wasn’t impressed.
‘Sorry for coming round so early,’ Tina muttered, rubbing her nose on
her sleeve. ‘I tried my key, but it didn’t work.’
‘That’s because I changed the locks,’ Chrissie informed her. ‘What do you want?’
‘Where’s mum?’ Tina ducked her head to peer into the hall. ‘I need to see her.’
‘She’s dead,’ Chrissie said bluntly.
‘What . . . ?’ Tina looked as if she’d been whacked in the face with a shovel. ‘How? She was all right last time I saw her.’
Unmoved by the tears that had sprung into her sister’s eyes, Chrissie said, ‘Don’t pretend you care. If you gave a shit, you’d have come home ages ago. In fact, you wouldn’t have gone in the first place.’
‘I didn’t know she was that ill or I would never have left,’ Tina snivelled. ‘I only went ’cos I knew you didn’t want me here.’
‘Don’t you dare try and blame this on me!’ Chrissie retorted furiously. ‘All I did was tell you to look after your own son, and you took that as a—’
‘Who is it, Chrissie?’ Their mum’s voice floated down from the top of the stairs. ‘If it’s them Jovies again, tell ’em to piss off.’
Tina’s jaw dropped, and she gaped at Chrissie in disbelief. ‘You said she was dead! How could you be so wicked?’
‘Me wicked?’ Chrissie shot back indignantly. ‘I’ve been looking after your son for a month and you haven’t so much as called to ask how he’s doing. What kind of monster does that make you?’
‘I’ve called loads of times,’ Tina lied. ‘But you never answer.’
‘Don’t even try it,’ Chrissie sneered. ‘And don’t think you’re walking in here like you’ve done nothing wrong, ’cos it’s not happening.’
‘MUUUUM . . .’ Tina yelled. ‘Tell her to let me in. I need to see you and Dylan.’
‘Get lost!’ Chrissie pushed Tina away when she tried to force her way in. ‘You made your choice when you took off, so go back to wherever you’ve been staying and leave us in peace!’
‘I can’t,’ Tina whined. ‘The house got raided this morning and I’ll get nicked if I go back.’
‘Good!’ Chrissie said coldly. ‘Prison’s the best place for a scumbag like you. Look at the bloody state of you . . . You’re filthy, and you’re obviously on drugs.’
‘It’s not my fault I’m in a bad way. They stopped my benefits.’
‘Yeah, because I told them to.’
‘Why would you do that?’ Tina gasped.
‘Because it was meant for Dylan, not you,’ said Chrissie. ‘How else was I supposed to feed him and buy nappies while you were gone?’
‘You’re working, you can afford it,’ Tina argued.
Their mum had made her way down the stairs by now. Still under the weather, and too tired for a scene, she touched Chrissie’s arm. ‘Let her in, love.’
‘Are you kidding?’ Chrissie spluttered. ‘Why would you let her step one foot in here after everything she’s done?’
‘She’s my daughter,’ Joan said wearily. ‘And Dylan’s her son, so she’s got a right to see him.’
‘I’m sorry, Mum.’ Tina squeezed past Chrissie and threw herself into Joan’s arms. ‘I didn’t mean to stay away for so long. I’ve been dying to come home, but I couldn’t face her.’
‘Don’t start slagging our Chrissie off, ’cos that boy would be in care now if it wasn’t for her,’ Joan said clippily. ‘And get off me – you stink.’
‘It’s not my fault,’ Tina sniffled. ‘I’ve been sleeping rough.’
‘Go and have a bath.’ Joan flapped a hand towards the stairs. ‘We’ll talk when you come down.’
Disgusted that her sister had wormed her way back in so easily, Chrissie threw up her hands in despair and snatched her coat off the hook.
‘Where are you going?’ Joan asked.
‘Work,’ said Chrissie. ‘She can take Dylan to nursery – if she sticks around long enough. And you’d best hide your purse before she robs you blind,’ she added as she yanked the door open. ‘She’s obviously rattling for a fix.’
She marched out, slamming the door behind her. Ringing Leanne as she headed for the bus stop, she said, ‘Guess who’s just turned up? Yeah, I know, a month! Cheeky bitch! And you should see the state of her! Talk about dirty. The house reeks and she’s only been back five minutes. I can’t believe my mum’s willing to take her in after everything she’s done.’
‘You knew she’d come home sooner or later, so there’s no point letting it get to you,’ Leanne said sleepily.
‘I know,’ Chrissie muttered, quickening her pace when her bus came into view. ‘But it pisses me off that she always gets her own way. Anyhow, I wanted to ask if it’d be all right if I stop at yours tonight? I’ll be up for murder if I have to see that bitch’s face again today.’
‘Course you can,’ Leanne agreed. ‘Jake went out first thing and I’m not sure when he’ll be back, but I’m sure he won’t mind.’
‘Thanks,’ Chrissie said gratefully, sticking her hand out for the bus. ‘I’ll pick up a bottle of wine after work.’
‘No need,’ said Leanne. ‘We stocked up the other day.’
‘Get you, Lady Muck.’ Chrissie chuckled as she boarded the bus and flashed her pass at the driver. ‘Wish I could find a rich man to keep me in the lap of luxury.’
‘Hey, I do my share,’ Leanne protested.
‘Oh, I know,’ Chrissie drawled. ‘It must be so tiring following the cleaner round to make sure she hasn’t missed a bit. I pity you, I really do.’
‘Piss off!’ Leanne laughed.
Chrissie felt a lot lighter of heart after saying goodbye to Leanne, and she sighed as she sank on to a seat and gazed out of the window. When the bus passed the end of Ben’s road a few minutes later, she twisted her head around when she saw him walking to his car in a pair of paint-splattered overalls. She hadn’t seen him since he’d called round the morning after her mum was taken into hospital, and she was sure he’d lost weight. It suited him, she thought, smiling as the bus continued on its way. Now all he had to do was get a decent haircut and learn how to dress properly, and he might actually be presentable.
*
After chucking his work bag into the boot of his car, Ben went back into the house to get the tins of paint he’d left in the hall. He’d started working on Leanne’s old house a couple of days earlier, and it wasn’t as hard as he’d thought it would be. He was actually quite enjoying the work, although he still thought that Jake was insane for buying the place; in his opinion, it was an absolute money pit. Still, it was Jake’s house and he seemed happy enough to throw cash at it, so who was Ben to complain?
There had been no one around when Ben had gone inside, so he was surprised to find Sally Walker on the step when he came out again.
‘Are you Ben?’ she asked.
‘Er, yeah,’ he replied warily, wondering how she knew, given that she had flat out ignored him in school and, apart from that one time when he’d picked Jake up outside hers, they hadn’t clapped eyes on each other since. ‘Can I help you?’
‘I’m trying to get hold of Jake, but he never answers his phone,’ she said. ‘I know you’re his friend, so I was hoping you might know where I can find him.’
Aware that Jake regretted the night he’d spent with her and would not welcome her turning up out of the blue, Ben said, ‘He’s probably at home. With his girlfriend,’ he added pointedly.
Guessing that he’d added that last bit to warn her off, Sally raised her chin. ‘I really need to speak to him, but if you won’t tell me where he is, will you at least call him for me?’
‘I’m actually on my way out.’ Ben reached back to pull the door shut. ‘But I’ll let him know you’re looking for him when I see him.’
‘I’m pregnant, and he’s the father,’ Sally blurted out. ‘So now will you ring him?’
Ben gazed down at her for several long moments. Then, sighing, pushed the door open again and waved her inside.
16
Jake had just arrived at a property auction in Oldham w
hen his phone rang. He’d meant what he said about Leanne’s old house being the first in a string of properties he intended to invest in, and he’d added a one-bed terraced house and a run-down flat above a Chinese takeaway to his portfolio since then. Today, he was after a three-bedroom ex-council semi that he’d seen listed on the auction website. It had been repossessed, so the guide price was well below the average for its size and location. And it was in fairly good repair, from what he had seen in the pictures, so he was confident that he’d be able to put tenants straight in.
Eager to get inside, he answered the call as he parked up.
‘Where are you?’ Ben blurted out.
‘Oldham,’ Jake told him. ‘Why, what’s up?’
‘You need to get over here ASAP,’ Ben said quietly. ‘We’ve got a problem.’
Jake glanced at the dashboard clock. ‘It’ll have to wait, mate. The auction starts in fifteen.’
‘This can’t wait,’ Ben insisted. ‘Sally’s here.’
‘You what?’ Jake frowned. ‘What does she want?’
There was a pause, and Jake heard muffled voices before Sally came on the line.
‘Jake, it’s me. Don’t hang up, we need to talk.’
‘I’ve already told you, I’m not interested,’ he said coldly.
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she replied scornfully. ‘I’m not trying to get back with you. I just thought you should know that I’m pregnant, and you’re the father.’
‘Bullshit!’
‘It’s the truth. But if you’re not willing to discuss it with me, maybe I should talk to your girlfriend?’
‘Put Ben on,’ Jake ordered.
‘Sorry, mate,’ Ben apologized when Sally passed the phone back to him. ‘She snatched it off me.’
‘Never mind that. Is she for real?’
‘Sounds like it.’
‘Shit!’ Jake slammed his hand down on the steering wheel. ‘Right, keep her there till I get back,’ he said, restarting the engine and reversing quickly out of the parking space. ‘And don’t tell her anything. If she finds out where I live and goes looking for Leanne, I’m fucked!’
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