by Menon, David
‘Please don’t do this to us!’ Ann cried out. ‘It’s not too late.’
‘Why don’t you save your breath until you really need it you duplicitous bitch!’
They both turned their attentions to Bill when they heard him gasping for breath.
‘I thought he’d been a bit quiet’ said Evans, ‘looks to me like he’s having a heart attack. Must be all the stress, eh?’
Ann moved towards him but Evans stopped her. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head round so that she could see her husband. She was sobbing but it was doing no good.
‘Shall we put him out of his misery?’ he asked as they watched Bill collapse in excruciating pain. ‘I mean, that’s what they do with animals so why not?’ He then shot Bill right in the chest, killing him instantly. Ann screamed and was inconsolable when Evans swung her round again to look at Brendan whose horrified eyes mirrored her own. ‘Now when they used to hang people in gaol they’d put a bag over their head out of dignity for the prisoner and to save the distress of anyone watching. But I’m not going to do that. I remember having to watch Andy Cook killing Mummy and that was all part of a line of evil that you started, Grandma. So you’re going to have to watch now as I settle the score.’
Evans then pulled the stool from underneath Brendan. His body dropped and his face began to lose its colour when a shot rang out from the back of the church that broke the rope and sent Brendan crashing to the floor. Evans released his grip on Ann and turned to see where the shot had come from. Then two more shots were fired and Evans was dead.
Andy Cook stepped forward, his gun still smoking, and asked Ann if she was okay. She was shaking so badly that she couldn’t properly reply before the doors of the church burst open and armed police came rushing in, followed by Sara and Joe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Adrian went round to see Penny’s parents to tell them that he’d made all the funeral arrangements. He’d had to wait for the body to be released after the post mortem which was standard in a murder case and now that the DNA on her body had been matched with that of Phillip Evans they could now conclude that he murdered her.
‘What time on Friday?’ Penny’s mother, Sylvia, asked.
‘Eleven o’clock,’ said Adrian who still felt wretched. He didn’t know how he was keeping it all together but he was managing somehow. Thank God for his own family. His mother, his brothers and his sister had rallied round him and without them he didn’t know what he would have done.
‘Oh no, we can’t do eleven’ said Sylvia.
Adrian breathed in deep to quell his mounting irritation. ‘I’m not talking about a hairdressers appointment here, Sylvia. This is your daughter’s funeral for God’s sake.’
‘But Friday is the morning we do the shopping.’
‘Damn the bloody shopping!’
‘We like our routines in this house, Adrian’ Sylvia emphasised. ‘I’ve nothing against you, Adrian. I think you deserve a medal to have put up with Penny for all these years.’
Adrian was astonished at the woman’s insensitivity. ‘Sylvia, your daughter was murdered! And you’re still laying into her?’
‘Like I said, I’ve nothing against you,’ said Sylvia. ‘Despite the fact that your friend wrecked my poor Natasha’s life. She’s in bits because of it. She’s gone to Barbados to recuperate. Well you know, they get cheap staff tickets when they work on the airline and she needed to get away after what had happened.’
‘What had happened? She got dumped, Sylvia. Your other daughter got murdered! It’s not quite the same thing, wouldn’t you say? So are you telling me that Penny’s sister won’t be at the funeral either?’
‘Well no because, like I told you, she’s gone to Barbados to try and mend her broken heart. Me and her Dad gave her some money to spend whilst she’s there because I understand it can be a bit expensive. Well, exclusive places like that often can be, can’t they.’
‘Are you interested in how your grandchildren are doing at all?’
‘Well I expect you’re taking care of them.’
‘Sylvia, they’re your flesh and blood and they’ve just lost their mother in horrific circumstances.’
‘Well that’s it, you see,’ said Sylvia, ‘they’re not my flesh and blood.’
‘What are you talking about?.’
‘Sit down, Adrian,’ said Sylvia, who gestured for Adrian to sit in the armchair that was facing her own. ‘You may as well know. Penny was adopted. We thought we could never have any children but just after we adopted her I fell pregnant with our Natasha. We couldn’t love Penny like we loved Natasha, you see. We always felt like she’d got in the way if you see what I mean.’
‘She was a human being, Sylvia.’
‘Yes, and she was someone else’s daughter,’ said Sylvia, ‘she wasn’t mine.’
‘You never told her.’
‘No’ said Sylvia, ‘we couldn’t have coped with all the upset it would’ve caused.’
‘So you made her feel worthless instead’ said Adrian.
‘We bought her and we couldn’t send her back.’
‘What do you mean you bought her?’ Adrian demanded. ‘Haven’t you pissed on her memory enough?’
‘We bought her from the church’ said Sylvia, ignoring Adrian’s obvious anger. ‘We had to scrape it all together but we were desperate for a child because we didn’t think we could have one normally. It was a priest called Brendan O’Farrell, the one who nearly died in that incident with the other priest this week. He said that he knew her birth mother personally and that she’d grow up to be a good person.’
‘And she did’ said Adrian. ‘The best.’
‘Alright, I’ll give you that,’ Sylvia admitted, ‘but I just couldn’t bond with her once I’d had my own daughter.’
‘But Sylvia, you were so rotten to her. You said some evil things that I know hurt her very deeply.’
‘Look, enough of the lecturing from you’ said Sylvia, fighting back. ‘You’re the one who’s got to live with the fact that you were sleeping with another man behind Penny’s back. I’d say that was more than just pissing on her memory as you put it.’
*
Adrian called Matt and went round to the Malmaison hotel to see him.
‘I’m so pleased you called’ said Matt after he’d led Adrian into his room and closed the door. ‘I’ve been worried about you, Adrian.’
‘I’m going through a living hell’ said Adrian, looking round the room.
‘I know the feeling.’
‘I’m sorry about your father.’
‘Yeah, well,’ said Matt, ‘it’s complicated. Do you want something to drink? I’ve got a bottle of red open.’
‘Okay’ said Adrian who then looked through to the room next door. ‘Who’s through there?’
‘My sister’ said Matt. ‘We wanted to be able to keep an eye on each other whilst certain killers were at large. She’s downstairs in the hotel restaurant having something to eat with a friend. We won’t be disturbed.’
‘I haven’t come round here for sex, Matt.’
‘I didn’t mean that,’ said Matt who then handed Adrian his glass of wine. ‘And if you had then you’d have gone away disappointed. I’m not exactly in the mood.’
‘I usually only have to click my fingers to get you in the mood.’
‘These aren’t usual times.’
‘You’re not kidding there,’ said Adrian, ‘I’ve found out that Penny was adopted.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah’ said Adrian. ‘Her parents bought her off your man Brendan O’Farrell.’
‘You’re joking’
‘No, I’m not,’ said Adrian who then took a gulp of his wine. ‘That’s why they were so rotten with her all her life because she got in the way when their natural daughter came along.’
‘Poor Penny.’
‘Yeah. Matt, tell me what she was like in those final moments?’
‘What she was like?’
‘Well she’d come round because Natasha had spilled the beans about me and you. Was she angry? Upset? What was she like? I mean, did the two of you compare notes on my performance? Did you tell her that you give better head than she did?’
‘Alright’ said Matt, putting his glass of wine down. ‘If you want to have a go at me then be my guest. If you want to use me as a whipping boy then do it.’
‘You should’ve left me alone’ said Adrian. ‘You shouldn’t have come on to me that night. My wife died knowing what had been going on between us. I’m finding that hard to cope with.’
‘Your wife was a highly dignified, intelligent woman.’ said Matt. ‘Yes, we talked about you and yes, she asked me how I felt about you. But you would’ve worked it all out, Adrian. She was all set to do that with you.’
‘But she never got a chance, did she! Because she got what was meant for you!’
‘Adrian, I think you’d better leave’
Adrian put his glass down and lunged at Matt, pinning him up against the wall with his hands round his throat.
‘Is this going to make you feel better, Adrian?’ Matt gasped, ‘Is killing me going to clear away all those ghosts inside? Do you think you’ll be cleansed if I’m not around anymore to remind you of what you enjoyed every second of?’
‘Shut up!’
‘I’m sorry about Penny,’ said Matt as he tried to push Adrian away but he was too strong for him. He could feel Adrian’s fingers tighten around his throat but he wasn’t going to give in that easily.
‘Sorry, are you? Well if I’d never have got together with you then she would still be alive! Can you live with that? Can you?’
‘It’s not my fault that she’s dead.’
‘Oh yes it is! You’ve destroyed my life.’
‘Alright, think that if it makes you feel any better about your gutless self! What am I looking at? I’m looking at a man who can’t be honest with himself let alone his wife!’
Adrian stared into Matt’s eyes and suddenly realised what he was doing. He loosened his grip around Matt’s neck and stepped back.
‘I’m sorry about everything, Adrian’ said Matt whose own hand was now on his neck rubbing it. ‘It’s hard for you to believe that, I know, but I’m not to blame.’
Adrian took Matt in his arms and held him tight without saying a word. Matt could feel Adrian’s tears drip onto the back of his neck and he wanted to say something but he couldn’t.
Then Adrian left.
A MONTH LATER
‘It’s so beautiful here’ said Susie who was standing arm in arm with Matt on the Northern beaches of Sydney, Australia looking out at the Pacific.
‘I’d never tire of looking at that view’ said Matt.
‘You could move out here?’ said Susie. ‘We both could.’
‘No, I couldn’t, Susie.’
‘Oh yeah’ said Susie. ‘I’d forgotten you’ve got unfinished business back home. That’s what a place like this does to you. It makes you forget.’
Matt squeezed his sister’s arm as she rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I know, mate. But you know what I promised Wendy before she died. I promised I’d take care of the boys and make sure they were happy. I can’t walk out on that promise, Susie, and I wouldn’t want to.’
‘The boys aren’t the problem.’
‘Not today, Susie.’
‘What time did Gary and Ollie say they were picking us up?’
‘They said to be outside the hotel at twelve.’
Susie looked at her watch. ‘It’s after eleven. We’d best get a move on.’
In all the mess that had been left by the actions of their parents, Matt and Susie had grown even closer than they ever were before. They leaned on each other to get through the days when the pain seemed unbearable but one thing they’d decided to do was to come out to Australia and arrange for a plaque to be put on the cliff edge where Andy Cook said he’d thrown their brother Sean Patrick into the sea. Whilst they’d been there they’d looked into their brother’s tragic history from his arrival in Australia to his placement in the boys’ home and his year on the run that led to his entanglement with the paedophile monster. They also focused on when he was with Jolene and on how happy he’d been during that time, especially when their little boy had come along. What a tragic waste it had been for that little boy to have been so badly abused himself that he’d grown up to be so full of anger and resentment that he sought revenge on the family who’d started it all. Phillip Evans had killed and then he’d ended up dead himself. Neither Matt nor Susie had been able to get over the enormous sadness of what had been inflicted on their family, especially with the knowledge that their own parents were ultimately responsible for everything that had happened.
Matt’s friends Gary and Ollie, who lived in Sydney, had arranged for the plaque to be made and placed along with others dedicated to loved ones lost over the same piece of cliff edge. They drove Matt and Susie to the spot and Susie broke down when she saw the plaque. Matt held her tight and Gary and Ollie stood back to let them have their private moment.
‘… TO SEAN PATRICK, THE BROTHER WE NEVER KNEW BUT WHO WILL REMAIN IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER. WITH LOVE ALWAYS FROM MATT AND SUSIE …’
‘He wasn’t perfect.’ said Matt.
‘He never got the chance to be.’ said Susie.
‘And none of us are anyway.’
‘He just needed someone to care about him’ said Susie. ‘If that had happened then we wouldn’t be here now.’
*
It’s a long flight back from Australia but Matt and Susie felt strangely perky as they waited for their connecting flight to Manchester at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
‘I’m sure jet lag is going to hit me like a train anytime’ said Susie.
‘I know’ said Matt. ‘We should feel more tired than we do seeing as we spent most of the flight enjoying the wines and the movies.’
‘And you were flirting with that steward, Calum, on the Singapore to London leg of our Qantas fight,’ Susie teased.
‘Well he was easy on the eye,’ said Matt, ‘easy on my eye anyway.’
‘I still can’t get over the size of that plane’ said Susie. ‘A double-decker Airbus that stays in the sky all that time with all those people on board. I think the whole science of flying is amazing. I used to talk about it a lot with Angus. He would’ve been flying those big jets eventually.’
‘Did being on the plane make you think about him a lot?’
‘Sometimes’ Susie admitted. ‘Like when the pilot made his announcements. He’ll always be there, Matt. Deep down in my heart he’ll always be there.’
‘I know’ said Matt, squeezing his sister’s hand. ‘And I’m always there for when it gets unbearable.’
Susie smiled affectionately at her brother who’d been a rock for her lately.
‘And did you know that the wings of that Airbus 380 are built in Chester?.’
‘Are they?’
‘And the engines are made in Derby.’
‘But I thought it was a European aircraft?’
‘It is, Susie’ said Matt. ‘And Britain is part of Europe in case you’d forgotten. That’s why all those jobs are in Chester and Derby and not some other part of the world.’
‘Point taken.’ said Susie, ‘You know, it’s not fair. I could’ve had two big brothers to boss around.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s where Sean Patrick got off lightly.’
*
Matt and Susie had rented a house together in Swinton whilst they sold their respective properties. Neither of them could imagine living in their own houses again after what had happened inside them and Susie hadn’t even been able to go back to her house. Susie planned to get some kind of penthouse apartment in Manchester city centre and Matt hadn’t yet decided what he was going to do. Susie was keen to get back to running the business. She had thought of selling up but she didn’t know what else she would do. And she wasn’t the sort to sit around idly counting her money.
‘Well nothing personal, Charlie,’ said Susie, ‘but I’m going up to bed to try and get this jet lag licked. I want to go into the office tomorrow and pick up the reins again. Besides, you boys probably need to talk about stuff so I’ll leave you to it.’
‘She’s back to her old self’ said Charlie after Susie had gone upstairs and he sat with Matt at the kitchen table, each with a mug of tea.
Matt smiled. ‘Some of the time, yes, but don’t be fooled. She’s still hurting badly and she’ll miss Angus forever.’
‘I don’t know how I’d deal with my loved one being murdered.’
‘Well, we’ve lost our father in the midst of it all of course but Susie and I have become incredibly close these past few weeks.’
‘You and Susie against the world?’
‘More or less, yeah… we’ve needed each other.’
‘You really have’
‘How are you bearing up? You sounded cheerful enough in your emails. On the surface at least.’
‘Ah well that’s the point,’ said Charlie, ‘underneath it’s not quite such a pretty picture.’
‘I didn’t think so.’ said Matt. ‘It’s only been a few weeks though, Charlie. That’s not very long.’
‘No’ said Charlie, looking down at the table.
‘What is it?’
‘Matt, I’ve always known that I’ve been in love with two people in my life. Wendy and you. I’ve denied it. I’ve run away from it emotionally but it’s true and I don’t see any point in denying it any longer.’
‘What are you saying, Charlie?’
‘Look, can we go and sit down in the living room? Just to be more comfortable.’
They moved into the living room and sat down beside each other on the sofa. Matt could feel his heart beating as he waited for Charlie to continue.
‘Matt, I want you to move in with me and the boys.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes, I do, and I know they’d love it,’ said Charlie who could feel himself shaking as he formed his next words in his head. ‘But when I say I want you to move in, I mean I want you to move into my bedroom too. When we kissed the other day… well I haven’t been able to forget about it. It was as if I’d finally let go and then I got to thinking how bad could it be if we got together? We both want it.’