Girl Targeted

by Val Collins

  ‘Why did the police want to speak to you?’

  ‘They had this daft idea that I must know a lot about poisons ’cos I gave Karen alcohol. It’s no wonder my cousins think all guards are thick. What kind of an eejit would poison someone and then try to help them?’

  ‘How did you know about the antidote?’

  ‘A few years back, some guy who used to hang around with my cousins was questioned about poisoning his wife. She died of antifreeze poisoning, so I googled it. There was a story about some doctors, in Australia, I think, who gave a patient a vodka drip and it saved him.’

  ‘Did you tell the police that?’

  ‘I said I read it somewhere.’

  ‘Why not tell them the full story?’

  ‘If there’s one thing I learned from my family, it’s never volunteer anything to the police. I keep trying to remember if I did the search on my home computer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guards check my internet history. They’ll have a field day if they find that.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s enough to build a case against you.’

  ‘Oh, there’s more. They said my phone records show I was in the city centre until around six p.m. the night Delia died and then I went home, so why had I lied about being in the pub?’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘After my first interview with the police I told my cousins the whole story. They said the guards were bound to come after me and one of the first things they’d do was check my phone records.’

  ‘I never thought of that.’

  ‘Me neither, but me cousins are used to that sort of thing. They have a guy who works for them who’s not known to the police. He agreed to say he met me after work ’cos we were going to go back to my place. When I decided to go to the pub, he went back to my place on his own and because he didn’t have a phone, he borrowed mine.’

  ‘Did the police believe that?’

  ‘Not very likely, is it? But the other guy will swear to it, so the guards had to let me go.’

  ‘Wouldn’t it have been easier to destroy the SIM card and say your phone was stolen?’

  ‘Yep, but all four of us can’t say that. Laura and Rachel are planning to say their bags were stolen that night and their phones taken and, if he’s questioned, Gavin will say one of the kids knocked his phone into the bath. I had to come up with something different.’

  *

  That afternoon, Aoife was alone in the office. She jumped when Dan barged in the door and charged straight into Laura’s office. Aoife followed.

  ‘Hi, Dan. Laura’s gone out for a few minutes. Was she expecting you?’

  Turning his back on her, Dan walked to the window and stared out. ‘I’ll wait.’

  ‘He’s in a foul mood. He didn’t even do his normal “I’m such a nice guy” act. You’d better hurry back,’ Aoife whispered into the phone.

  Laura raised her eyebrows as she rushed past Aoife and carefully closed the door behind her. Aoife heard “your job to keep costs under control” and “this is not a discussion”, then Dan charged out of the office without glancing in her direction.

  Laura was pale and her lip trembled.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Aoife asked.

  ‘He said I have to let you go today.’

  ‘Today! Why?’

  ‘He said I was deliberately delaying finding a replacement for you and he’d had enough. If I couldn’t be bothered to replace you, I could do without.’

  ‘Do you have to get rid of all the agency staff?’

  ‘Just you.’

  ‘What’s he got against me?’

  ‘I don’t know. I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘So that’s it. Tomorrow I’m out of work?’

  ‘I’m sorry. Really I am.’

  ‘At least Jason will be happy. He might even start talking to me again.’

  *

  ‘I didn’t tell him.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I know, Maura. I was going to but I changed my mind.’

  ‘Aoife!’

  ‘It’s not like I lied to him. He hasn’t spoken to me in weeks. Why should I tell him anything?’

  ‘This is the perfect chance for you two to sort everything out. Jason will be so thrilled you’re not working, he’ll forget all about another baby.’

  ‘For how long? I’m hoping to be back at work in a few weeks. If you’re right about Jason’s problem adapting to change, a new job will only make everything worse.’

  ‘So you’re going to get another job and let him think you’re still in DCA?’

  ‘What choice do I have?’

  ‘You can’t go on with this lying, Aoife. You two have to be straight with each other.’

  ‘I told you I haven’t lied. He’s not speaking to me, so how could I?’

  *

  After two days of ringing agencies and getting nowhere, Aoife decided on a different approach.

  ‘Thanks for meeting me for lunch, Eilis. I’m at a loose end now I’m not working.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Aoife. I can’t believe they let you go. I’ve never seen Robert speak to anyone the way he spoke to you.’

  Aoife shrugged. ‘How’re things in DCA?’

  ‘Tense. Robert barely speaks and Dan wanders around roaring at everyone. Tom’s sulking over the way Robert spoke to him. I thought Barbara would cheer up after winning the voucher, but it’s just made her worse. She keeps muttering that I only win because of “my relationship” with Robert. Any idiot can see Robert barely knows I’m alive but there’s no reasoning with her. I’d leave only I’d never get the same money somewhere else.’

  ‘I’ve been ringing every agency I can think of but nobody has work right now. Could you give me a list of all the agencies DCA use? I’d never heard of Advanced Recruitment. There might be other agencies I don’t know.’

  ‘I’ll try, but I don’t usually watch the screen when I’m doing data entry. It might take a while.’

  ‘Can’t you run a report?’

  ‘Robert’s the only one who has access to the report facility. Did you try Advanced?’

  ‘Yes, but nobody ever answers the phone.’

  ‘I’ll have the list for you as soon as I can.’

  *

  Days passed with no word from Eilis. Aoife was feeling quite lonely. Work, Jason and Amy had occupied most of her time, but now Jason wasn’t speaking to her and she was pining for adult company. If only she hadn’t lost contact with her friends. She’d grown up with Ciara and Orla and had assumed they’d always be in her life. Everything had changed when her parents had died. They had all been so great at first but at eighteen they’d had no idea what she was going through. Once the funeral was over they’d expected her to return to normal. She didn’t want to hear about their boyfriends or what they should wear on a night out. She didn’t give a damn. The life she knew was over, and nothing seemed important any more. She’d tried explaining this to Orla. When Orla had said, ‘But you weren’t living with them any more. It’s not like they were part of your everyday life,’ she’d realised she was speaking to her in a language Orla was lucky enough not to have learned yet.

  It was different with Jason. He was the only thing that had stopped her from feeling completely alone. Having lost his father, he’d had some understanding of what she was going through and was happy to sit in silence when she didn’t have the energy to speak. He had taken care of everything. At nineteen years old, he’d notified her relatives—all of whom lived abroad—and made the funeral arrangements. She wouldn’t have survived those first two years without him.

  Her phone rang, and Aoife was thrilled when Laura suggested they meet after work. They had occasionally taken the kids to a small park near Aoife, and Laura suggested meeting there. It was a relief to have someone to talk to about her problems with Jason.

  ‘Do you think he might be having an affair?’ Laura asked.

  Aoife laughed ‘No! Well, I don’t think so.’ He wouldn’t,
would he? ‘No, I’m sure he wouldn’t cheat on me.’

  ‘It’s just it sounds like he deliberately picked a fight over the number of kids you would have. Had it ever been an issue before?’

  ‘No, but if he was seeing someone else, surely the last thing he’d want is another child?’

  ‘He could be justifying the affair by telling himself it’s all your fault because you’re so unreasonable about having other children.’

  ‘I’m sure he’s not the cheating type.’

  ‘Every wife thinks that.’ There was something in her voice that made Aoife look at her closely.

  ‘Gavin?’

  Laura’s eyes welled with tears.

  ‘Was it Delia?’

  *

  Laura drew a hand across her eyes. ‘How did you know?’

  ‘I wondered how Ellen knew him but not you or Cora.’

  ‘I didn’t want a scene in front of Cora, so I pretended to know Ellen. I recognised her from the photo Delia kept on her desk.’

  ‘How did they meet?’

  ‘It’s company policy that your boss has to take you and your team to lunch before you go on maternity leave. The guys bought me three enormous teddy bears and I asked Gavin to come by when his shift was over and help me get them home. I was in the ladies’ when he arrived and then I had to say goodbye to everyone, so he ended up speaking to Delia.’ Laura pushed her hair out of her face. ‘I wasn’t lying when I said Delia came to the house. She always waited until Gavin was there. I suppose she recognised his car. She came by every week for about two months. I had three screaming babies to look after, so she spent most of the time talking to Gavin. The second time she asked Gavin for a lift to the train station and that became the norm. At first he was back within fifteen minutes, then it stretched to half an hour, then forty-five minutes. He said Delia insisted on buying him a coffee to thank him for the lift. Then she stopped calling. I was so relieved to see the back of her, it never even occurred to me to wonder why she didn’t come by any more.’

  ‘She’d got what she wanted?’

  Laura nodded. ‘It was a bad time for us. Gavin was furious about the triplets. He was sleeping in the spare room. I was too tired to even care. Delia offered him an escape. A life without children or res—’

  ‘A life without children? What about Ellen?’

  ‘Ellen spent most of her time with Irene. Gavin could have arranged his shifts so he rarely saw her. He was angry at me and felt trapped. She was his escape and his revenge. He knew how I felt about her.’

  ‘How did you find out?’

  ‘It was just before Christmas. Gavin sent Delia a Christmas card. She brought it to work and left the envelope on her desk. She knew I’d recognise his writing. The card said, “I’ll be thinking of you and Ellen on Christmas Day. Wish I could be with you. Love, G.” She wanted me to know she’d introduced Gavin to Ellen. She wouldn’t have done that if it was just a fling.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Nothing. I was working overtime. She’d wanted me to find the envelope when I was alone so I’d have plenty of time to read it. When I calmed down I decided I wasn’t letting Delia decide when my marriage ended. If I’d confronted Gavin, I’m sure he’d have moved out. I figured they were going through the honeymoon phase. It couldn’t last. Sooner or later he’d see her for what she really was and then he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. He was losing interest around the time she died. I could tell because his take-home pay increased. His overtime had dropped to almost nothing at one stage.’

  ‘How could you live with him every day and not say anything?’

  ‘It wasn’t difficult. By then we rarely ran into each other. He slept in the spare bedroom, and when he wasn’t working he was with her.’

  ‘Does he know you found out?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you forgave him?’

  ‘It’s not as black and white as you might think. We both learned the only really important thing in our lives is our kids, and I realised in many ways he’s a much better parent than me.’

  ‘Now I understand why he didn’t want the police to know he was in the building the night Delia died.’

  ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘Joe told me. Did you know Delia threatened to fire Joe and Rachel? She taped both conversations. I found the tape when I was clearing out her things.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘I wasn’t going to mention it to anyone, but it came up in conversation with Joe.’

  ‘That explains why they were both anxious to have an alibi. I wondered about that. I didn’t want to lie to you but I had to protect Gavin.’

  ‘Are you and Gavin okay now?’

  ‘More or less. It will take a while for us to get back to normal, but he’s a good man. I know you find that hard to believe, but he really is. He’s a much better person than me.’

  Aoife couldn’t think of any response to that. ‘How’s work?’

  ‘A pain as usual, but at least Dan’s taken a break from hassling me. His latest plan is to get rid of Eilis.’

  ‘No! Why? She’s been there for years and she gets on really well with Robert.’

  ‘Not any more, apparently. Robert came back to the office late last week and found her fiddling around with the accounts system.’

  ‘Isn’t that her job?’

  ‘He said she has no business looking at company accounts.’

  ‘Oh hell! I’ll bet she was trying to help me, Laura. I asked her for the name of any agencies DCA use.’

  ‘Couldn’t you look them up online?’

  ‘I did, but you use agencies I haven’t heard of before. I thought one of them might be able to get me a job.’

  ‘Poor Eilis! I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help her. If Dan and Robert have turned against her, she’s finished in DCA.’

  ‘Oh God! I would never have asked for help if I thought Eilis could lose her job. What’s so terrible about checking to see what agencies you use?’

  ‘I don’t know. Something weird is going on with Dan lately. He flies into rages over the smallest thing.’ Laura checked her watch. ‘I’ve been gone almost an hour. I better get home.’

  I know it’s risky, but I think it’s our best choice. It’s not like he’s come up with any better solution.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Aoife crossed the road, her mind on Laura’s revelation. Why was Laura so sympathetic to Gavin? It was one thing to forgive an affair, but to say the husband who cheated on you was a better person than you—that was bizarre. Aoife’s thoughts were interrupted by loud honking. She looked up to find a dark, unlit car careering straight for her.

  *

  She jumped back on the footpath. There was a loud screech of brakes and the car followed her. What the hell? Its wheels mounted the pavement. Too late, Aoife realised she should have run in the opposite direction. She would have gained time while the car reversed. Could she turn back? She glanced over her shoulder. There were now two cars following her—one with its lights off, the other flashing its lights and honking continuously. She heard a loud thump as the car dismounted the pavement, another screech of brakes and the car was gone. When Aoife looked behind, all that remained was a thick cloud of exhaust fumes. Aoife sank down on the pavement.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Laura cried, jumping out of her car and running towards her. ‘Aoife? Aoife, are you okay? Come on, I’ll drive you home.’ Laura almost carried her to the car and helped her inside. Aoife sat rigid in the seat. Laura waited a moment, then reached across, fastened Aoife’s seat belt and closed the passenger door. They drove to Aoife’s house in silence.

  ‘Aoife?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘We’re here. Can you get out? I’ll help you to the door.’

  ‘I’m okay.’

  ‘You’re not. I think you’re in shock.’ Laura helped her up the driveway. When Aoife stood staring at the door, Laura rang the doorbell several times.
Jason answered. Laura pushed past him.

  ‘Aoife’s had a shock. She was nearly killed. Put the kettle on. She needs tea with lots of sugar.’

  Jason stared at her.

  ‘Could you make the tea now, please?’

  Jason strolled towards the kitchen. Laura helped Aoife to the couch and covered her with a rug.

  ‘I’m okay, really, Laura.’

  ‘You need to stay warm. You’ll be fine when you have some tea.’

  ‘I can’t believe that happened.’

  ‘You have to be more careful, Aoife.’

  ‘I was miles away and his lights were switched off.’

  ‘I know. I didn’t see him either. I was pulling onto the road when he flew past. I blew my horn to warn you.’

  ‘I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there.’

  ‘You’d be flattened on the road, that’s what. There was no way that guy had any intention of stopping. I wish I got his licence number. He must have been drunk out of his skull to drive like that.’

  ‘He was trying to kill me.’

  *

  ‘Of course he wasn’t trying to kill you, Aoife. He was probably so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing.’

  ‘He was trying to kill me.’

  Laura frowned. ‘I wish Jason would hurry up with that tea. Why would anyone want to kill you?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Jason entered the room and Laura practically grabbed the mug from his hand. ‘Drink this.’ She waited until Aoife drank every drop. ‘Do you feel better now?’

  Aoife nodded.

  ‘Okay, I have to go. You need to go straight to bed and get a good night’s sleep. Jason, make sure she goes to bed.’

  Jason didn’t reply. He stood looking down on Aoife, a slight smirk on his face. Laura glanced from one to the other, then shrugged. ‘I’ll phone you tomorrow. Go to bed now, okay?’

  Aoife nodded again.

  Jason didn’t move, so Laura let herself out.

  *

  The alarm sounded at 7 a.m. Out of habit Aoife reached across and felt for Jason. The other side of the bed was cold. Jason hadn’t spoken one word to her last night. What kind of husband didn’t react when his wife was almost killed? Almost killed! Who would want to murder her? Last night wasn’t the act of some random drunk. It was a very specific plan to kill her. She walked in the park most nights. It was a quiet area, and if Laura hadn’t been with her, nobody would have witnessed her death. All night something had been nagging at Aoife, and in the early hours of the morning she realised what it was. Karen had drunk from her mug the day she was poisoned. Aoife’s mug had a big A on the side. Everybody knew it was hers. Was yesterday a second attempt on her life?