Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set

by Paul J. Teague

‘Hello, Pete,’ came a woman’s voice to my side.

  ‘Hannah?’

  I turned around, trying to find her in the darkness.

  She laughed.

  ‘What a lovely little reunion. Hello, Mr Black. Remember me?’

  Russell Black looked frantically into the darkness, but was unable to get a good look at her face.

  She switched on a torch and shone it towards her face.

  ‘Hannah, what’s going on?’

  ‘She’s not called Hannah,’ Russell Black said slowly, a terrible fear in his voice. ‘That’s Debbie Simmonds. Older, much slimmer now and with a different hair colour as far as I can tell. And you’ve finally got rid of that terrible complexion.’

  I looked towards her, trying to see who it was that Russell was looking at. We were looking at the same person.

  ‘So that must mean I also know that man over there who’s making all the noise?’ he said, looking at her. ‘That’ll be Gary Maxwell.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘If you want to see that bitch of yours, you’d better head over to Gary.’

  He’d been alerted now and was watching us walk over to him.

  ‘But hang on. You’re Hannah, aren’t you?’ I asked. I couldn’t get my head around it.

  ‘I’m Debbie Simmonds, as Mr Black said. Actually, I’m Debbie Maxwell. Gary and I got married after they released him from prison.’

  ‘For child sexual abuse if I remember rightly?’ Russell Black said.

  Debbie raised her arm and struck him over the back of the head with what looked like a wrench. He sank to his knees and fell on the floor of the woodland clearing where the den was located. It was a small brick building with a crumbling chimney and covered in ivy. The fire was lit inside and they’d made a bonfire in the clearing. I couldn’t see Meg, although I could hear her trying to shout through the gag.

  ‘Russell Black, you scheming little bastard!’ Gary said. His face was lit by the fire. I struggled to match him with the old photos that I’d seen in the faded newspapers that I’d looked at with Alex.

  He’d lost a lot of his hair and his head was fully shaven now. He was leaner than he’d been when younger, and he looked fit and strong. He was angry too.

  ‘Did you know, Mr Bailey, that Mr Black here used me as his fall guy? I took the rap for everything that went on in that home, when it was these bastards that started it all. Me and Debbie, we were always in love. It was always the real thing for us.’

  I didn’t know what to say. How had I been so stupid as to miss this? I thought back to how Hannah – Debbie – had contacted me via Skype. She’d read the papers, she’d said – seen the terrible things that had happened, claimed to be Meg’s sister. I’d thought that Meg’s family were dead, but I’d met her mother. I wanted to scream.

  ‘I was raped over one hundred times during my prison sentence, Mr Bailey. They said I was a sex offender and therefore I was fair game. If I ever told, they’d get to Debbie on the outside. I had to take it. And do you know why, Mr Bailey? Because I love that woman. I always have done.’

  ‘My hand was resting on my stick and I realised that Gary was close enough for me to strike him with it. Debbie must have seen my hand tense because she came up from behind and hit my arm with her wrench. I cried out with the pain and she struck me around the head. I fell to the ground, still conscious, very close to the fire.

  ‘You’re a nice guy, Pete, and I’m sorry we have to end it this way. You shouldn’t have married that bitch. You’re the only person who can identify me, so I’m sorry, you have to follow Russell Black and Meg too.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘You told me that Meg and I could walk away from this. You don’t need to hurt us. We’ll stay quiet.’

  What was DCI Summers doing? We should be surrounded by police now.

  Gary Maxwell switched on his torch and shone it towards a tree. It took me a moment to realise what I was seeing: three ropes all fastened to a long, strong branch, two rotting chairs and a plastic chair, no doubt recovered from the den. They were going to hang us. Jesus Christ, they were going to hang all three of us.

  I tensed and tried to stand up. Debbie struck me again. I stayed down.

  Gary came over to me and expertly secured my hands with a nylon tie. He did the same to Russell Black, who was beginning to come round now. I began to shout. The police had to be nearby. Why weren’t they coming to help us? Gary struck me with his fist. I fell down to the leafy floor once again. He was strong. He came out of the den with a reel of gaffer tape. He tore off a strip and placed it across my mouth. I tried to cry out again, I could barely breathe, let alone speak.

  Gary did the same to Russell Black who’d also seen the nooses and worked out what was about to happen.

  ‘Debbie, let’s do this bastard first!’ Gary said. They helped Russell Black to his feet and led him towards the tree. It was difficult to see what was going on. The flames flickered in their direction one minute and then away from them the next. I began to inch away from the fire to where I could see Meg. I had to see Meg.

  I heard a thud and a guttural sound. The flames lit up a body hanging from the tree. It was Russell Black, his feet thrashing wildly, the plastic chair kicked to the side.

  I panicked. I began to kick my own feet furiously, trying to move towards where Meg was, attempting to stand up. I had to do what I could to escape. Where were the police? Where the hell was DCI Summers?

  It ended quickly for me. As I managed to get enough balance to stand up, I felt a crashing blow to my head. As I thudded to the floor, struggling to stay conscious, I heard three gunshots. Surely not gunshots? Gary and Debbie hadn’t got a gun. I heard Meg’s voice. The gag must have been removed. Two names: Phil and then Pete. I heard a helicopter overhead. At last, the bloody police. As I finally faded, urgent shouts.

  ‘Is he dead? Is he dead?’

  I’m not proud of what I did. In fact, I’m ashamed of it. I will never forgive myself. If I had never slept with Ellie on that fateful night, none of it would have happened. But I did make that mistake, that single mistake, and it set off the events that would haunt us all for years.

  Once again, I woke up in hospital. I was confused. I couldn’t remember what it was I’d woken from. Then it came back to me. We’d been in the woods. Who had fired a gun?

  I jumped up in bed. A needle tugged painfully out of my arm at my movement.

  ‘Jesus, Pete. I almost shat myself!’

  It was Alex. Waiting for me, sitting in high-backed hospital chair, reading some trashy magazine.

  ‘It’s over, Pete,’ she said, kissing me on the forehead. ‘It’s finally over.’

  I put my hand up to where she’d kissed me. I had a bandage on my head. I’d been on some sort of drip, and my sudden movement had pulled it out of my arm which was now bleeding. I was more interested in finding out what had happened.

  ‘I’ll get a nurse,’ Alex said. ‘Do you want some water?’

  My mouth was dry. I nodded.

  A nurse came in, replaced the needle, and patched up the minor wound. I was grateful to have a few moments. My mind was clouded and struggling to access what had happened in those final moments.

  ‘Is Meg okay, Alex?’ I asked.

  ‘She’s fine, Pete. She’s unhurt. She had a few bruises, but they let her go home to the baby the same night.’

  ‘How long have I been out?’ I asked.

  ‘A couple of days,’ she smiled. ‘Concussion. You’re not cut out to be an action man.’

  ‘Who fired the gunshots? Was it the police?’

  ‘DCI Summers filled me in on the details. No, it wasn’t the police. It was Charlie Lucas. Some old gun he had that he’d hung on to since the nineties. Unbelievable!’

  ‘Charlie Lucas? I left him at the hotel. Did the bastard follow us up to the woods?’

  ‘He did. He’d blackmailed Russell Black and Tony Dodds years ago. When Tony Dodds got killed, he’d panicked about his retirement fund. He got jittery a
bout what you were up to with Russell Black, so he followed you.’

  ‘Did anyone get hurt? Is Jan okay?’

  ‘He fired four shots in all. One hit Gary Maxwell in the leg. He was trying to hit the rope that was holding Russell Black but he missed and hit Russell instead. The first shot missed altogether. The final shot was a misfire.’

  ‘Is Russell Black dead?’

  ‘Oh God, Pete. It’s such a mess. It’s touch and go. He may have sustained brain damage from the loss of oxygen when he was hanging. He’s had to have a liver resection from the gunshot wound. But after everything I’ve learned, it sounds like he deserved it.’

  ‘What about Hannah – or Debbie? Is she alive? What was going on?’

  ‘You were conned, Pete. It was Debbie Simmonds all the time. She read those magazine articles in Spain. That’s where she and Gary settled after he was released from prison, out of the public eye. She read your story in the magazine and realised that you didn’t know anything about Meg’s family. She and Gary had always spoken about getting revenge and when they finally saw a way of getting to Meg again, that’s when they hatched their plan. They’re a right couple of spiteful shits from what I hear. But you – we – were conned, Pete.’

  ‘Is Hannah still alive then? Does she even exist?’

  My head was hurting but I wanted this information. I needed to know.

  ‘She died, Pete. Years ago. Meg can tell you. There are a lots of things that Meg will have to tell you herself.’

  On my insistence, I was released from hospital sooner than I should have been. I was on a cocktail of painkillers and I had to promise to report to my doctor every morning for the next week. I said whatever had to be said to get out of there.

  Meg wanted to meet me at the graveyard of all places. Alex told me she wanted it to be there to help her to explain things. Jan drove us in her taxi on a sunny winter’s afternoon.

  Jan had my phone. Alex had taken care of all of the unpaid taxi bills, smoothed things over with the taxi driver who’d got hurt and managed to set things straight with the police. Nobody was pressing charges. Alex had laid on the charm and sorted it all out while I was fast asleep.

  I gave Jan a hug when she came to collect me from my flat.

  ‘Thanks for your help that night,’ I said. ‘And thanks for guiding the police to us. I think Charlie might have caused even more damage if you hadn’t been there to help us.’

  ‘It was me and Phil,’ she replied. ‘We did it together.’

  Oh yes, Phil. Alex wouldn’t tell me about Phil. It was Phil who’d overcome Charlie Lucas before the police got to us. He’d rushed straight over to Meg to release her. The thing that I’d wanted to do. Save my wife.

  Jan stopped outside the cemetery.

  ‘You do this alone,’ Alex said. ‘Meg needs to explain this to you. Alone.’

  I walked into the cemetery. I could see a woman standing in front of a grave ahead of me. She had the pram. Tom’s pram. The cemetery was almost empty. I could see a man sitting on a bench, a few elderly people and a guy walking his terrier.

  I walked towards Meg. She was crying, but she looked up, happy to see that I’d arrived. She embraced me. It was the embrace of a woman who still cared for me. It was not the embrace of a lover.

  ‘Still having to use the stick then?’ she said.

  ‘It’s getting better, but yes. I’ll be like this for a few weeks yet, I think.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Pete. For everything. For not telling you about all this. I could never … the time was never right.’

  I looked at the graves that were in front of her. Both had fresh flowers: Tom Yates and Hannah Yates (also known as Young). Hannah had died in the late nineties. A car crash.

  ‘It was an accident, Pete. A ridiculous accident. A pheasant ran out into the road. She swerved, hit an ice spot, ran into a tree and died. I honestly thought my life was over. I didn’t think it could get any worse.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I understand. You know you could have talked to me. Anytime you could have talked to me.’

  ‘They were abusing us in that home, Pete. How could I have told you? I was so happy when I met you. I didn’t want to spoil it. And when I couldn’t get pregnant, I thought I was being punished for giving away my baby. It hurt me so much.’

  I squeezed her hand.

  ‘It was Russell Black, Tony Dodds, Ray Matiz, they were all in on it. They used to have parties. Gary Maxwell would line us up for that bus. It was horrible, Pete. I can barely even think about it still. With you … I trusted you. You were the first man I could trust after David. We had a lovely life together Pete. Until ...’

  ‘Until I cheated on you. With Ellie. I’m so sorry, Meg. I hate myself. I don’t know why I did it. I’m to blame for all of this. I should have been there for you. I’m so sorry.’

  I felt my eyes begin to well up with tears.

  ‘Walk along here with me,’ Meg said, turning the pram.

  We walked a little way and came to stop at another grave.

  The name read David Marshall.

  ‘He was my boyfriend. Before you, he was the only man I ever loved. He made me feel safe like you did. He made me happy when I was in hell.’

  I could see that he’d been young when he died.

  ‘He hanged himself. From the tree outside the home. Along with Hannah’s boyfriend, Jacob. David was the father of my child.’

  She began to cry. I took her hand.

  ‘I’m not sad those men are dead,’ she said. ‘I’d like to have killed them myself, but you have to let it go eventually. You have to let it go to move on.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Meg. For everything.’

  She took a deep breath.

  ‘I lied to you about my family. I told you the lie once, when we were driving that day, and it was easier to stick with it. I went to see my mum whenever I could. It kills me to see her like that. We couldn’t help her. I hate myself for not being to help them. And you know what? It was me who killed them. I had a fall out with my dad. I threw something at the heater when we were arguing. They never knew I did it, but it was a slow gas leak that started the fire from damage to the pipework. Me, Pete. I did it!’

  ‘It’s done, Meg. It’s all done. We can’t bring them back. You couldn’t have known. It was an accident.’

  ‘When I killed Tony Miller, Pete, that’s when I realised. When he put his hand into my pants, it brought it all back. Those horrible parties. Those drunk men. What they did to us. When he touched me like that, I went mad. I kept on stabbing him until I was sure he was dead. I killed him, Pete. I don’t know what came over me. I knew I had to go and sort it out then. I had to deal with it. I’m sorry I went away, Pete. I’m sorry I left you to deal with everything. But I had to ... I had to put my life straight.’

  We stood in silence for a moment. I wish to God that Meg had told me, but I understood why she didn’t. And I understood why she’d done what she did to Tony Miller. She must have been petrified. At least as an adult she could fight back. Each one of those stabs must have felt like retribution for what had happened to her as a child.

  ‘I need to tell you about Tom,’ she said, touching the baby’s cheek. He was asleep in the pram.

  ‘I was going to get tests done, but I decided not to. I don’t care. He might be yours, he might be Jem’s. I don’t care. I wanted to have my baby. It’s not his fault. But I don’t want to know, Pete. After giving my baby away all those years ago I couldn’t get rid of another child. I hope you understand. I just couldn’t do it.’

  I understood. When I’d held Tom in Ivy’s house, it hadn’t mattered to me either. I hated Jem for what he’d done, but he was a child. He deserved to be loved, however he had come into the world.

  ‘There’s one more thing I have to tell you, Pete. This is the most difficult thing of all.’

  I knew what was coming. This was the bit where she told me about Phil. This is where she told me we were over.

  ‘You see that
man sitting on that bench over there? That’s Phil.’

  ‘I’m pleased you’ve found someone new, Meg.’

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend, Pete. He’s my son. He’s the son I had to give away when I was fifteen. I tracked him down. I knew when I was pregnant with Tom that I had to find my first child. It turned out he’d been looking for me. We live together now: me, Tom, Phil and his girlfriend. We’re a family. It’s the family I always wanted, Pete. I love it.’

  ‘Do I fit into that family?’

  ‘I love you, Pete, but I think we’ve gone too far. This is my family now. I don’t think we can pick up what we had. I think our moment has gone. You must feel that too?’

  ‘I do. There’s so much I need to tell you about Alex too.’

  ‘She told me, Pete. She’s lovely. I don’t know why I hated her so much. I always thought she’d take you away from me. She explained everything. I don’t know why we struggled to make a baby, Pete. Maybe we did make Tom together after all. But I think this is the right thing to do. Don’t you?’

  ‘I love you, Meg. I really do. And I will be sorry for what I did to my last breath. But you’re right. You deserve this happiness. I won’t take it away from you. You have a happy life.’

  I held her in my arms, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  I leant over to look into the pram and held Tom’s tiny, clenched hand.

  ‘I’ll see you again, Tom. I’ll be in touch, Meg, when things have had time to settle. In a few weeks. Let’s get things sorted. It’s time to move on. Take care. I’ll see you again soon.’

  Slowly and painfully, I walked through the cemetery towards Jan’s taxi. I stopped off at Hannah and Thomas’s graves to pay my respects.

  It took me a few minutes to get back to the car. I saw Meg wheeling the pram over towards Phil. They embraced in the distance. I was pleased for Meg. I’d meet Phil later, but I wasn’t ready for it just then.

  I got into the car, my eyes streaming with tears. They were tears of regret and sadness, but relief too that it was finally over.

  ‘I’ve got two plane tickets for Spain,’ Alex said, taking my hand and placing it on her lap. ‘I fly at the weekend. Are you coming?’