The Intimidation Game (Game Series Book 1)

by C. L Stewart

“Okay, I’m going to move you to a cell right now, for your own safety, while I run this information by the custody sergeant. We take domestic abuse very seriously so believe me when I say we will do all we can to help you.”

  I can say I have never felt relief like this in my whole life. I don’t know what I was thinking letting Mike talk me into going back to South Africa with him. He managed to find me at my most vulnerable and used it as he always has. As I sit down on the bed in the cool cell, I’m struck by the realisation that I may just be able to start living a normal life. If I end up getting prosecuted for hitting that officer, it’s a small price to pay for my freedom.

  I feel like I’ve been lying on my back staring at the same piece of peeling paint on the ceiling for hours when I hear the lock of the cell door turn. I sit up as the female officer from earlier enters the cell with a plastic cup and a pre-packed sandwich.

  “Hi Nikki, would you like something to eat and drink? I have tea and a chicken sandwich here if you want them.”

  “I’ll take the tea, but I’m not hungry. Thanks,” I reply taking the cup from her.

  “Okay, I’ll take this away and I’ll be back to take you through to the interview room so that we can talk to you about your allegations.”

  “Do you believe me?” I ask as she heads back to the door, my voice shaking. “Will anyone believe me?”

  The officer stops and turns to me, her eyes full of compassion. “Believe me, people will believe you. Domestic abuse is never okay and that goes for women who attack men too. Please don’t worry, we’ll do everything we can to help you. Are you sure there’s no one we can call for you? You’d probably feel better if there was someone here with you.”

  I sigh and close my eyes. There are only three people I know of who can help me here. Two of them will go absolutely ballistic when they find out what happened. The other already knows and has already gone ballistic over it. I’m not ready for my dad or my sister to know about this.

  “Damien Shaw,” I tell her. “But I don’t know his number, it’s in my phone.”

  “Who is he to you?” She asks.

  “My friend,” I reply. God what a sad, sorry situation this is.

  “And you’re sure that’s who you want us to call? What about your family?”

  “No. Please I don’t want my parents involved. They live in London anyway so it wouldn’t be feasible for them to be here. There’s no point worrying them. My sister has just had a baby and she’s in Edinburgh.” I shake my head. “No, Damien is who I’d like you to try and call if you can.” I know he’s going to panic but I really need a friend right now. Someone who won’t judge me.

  She nods. “I understand,” she says as she closes the door behind her.

  I stare at the back of the door as the realisation of what has happened finally hits me. It also occurs to me that Mike may have been here for a while. The roses, the balloon, the constant feeling that someone was watching me. I shake my head. How did I let this happen?

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  My whole body is a whirl of emotions right now as I sit in the waiting area of the police station. I’ve finished recounting my traumatic relationship with Mike to two police officers from the Domestic Abuse Unit. I’ve been here for hours and fatigue is taking over. The officers told me that although they can’t take any action on the offences that took place in South Africa, they sure as hell can for what he did to me today. Their take on the situation I found myself in this afternoon was that it was coercion, which is now considered an offence in this country. Also, because he put his hands on me, he is now wanted for assault. As much as I thought I was free from him because I had left him, he still had a hold on me because he had worn me down for over a year. It appears I couldn’t say no to him even if I’d wanted to and he knew it.

  The police officers were very nice to me and what’s more they believed me. That was the one thing I was so worried about and it was nice to know that people didn’t treat me as though I was stupid or made it feel like it was my own fault. Mike did that a lot. Every time he would hit me, he’d apologise by first of all saying something like if you hadn’t or if you’d just. It was always me, always my fault that he’d done those terrible things to me. Now, having spoken at length to these specialist officers, I realise that is classic behaviour of an abuser. They will never admit that anything is their fault. They always blame their victim to justify what they’ve done.

  Now as I sit in this police station with my belongings in a plastic bag, waiting on Damo to turn up, I’m starting to think it wasn’t such a good idea to get him involved. I don’t know what he can really do to help me. He doesn’t even drive so we’ll need to get a bus or a taxi back home.

  “Nikki,” Dan’s voice envelopes me like silk and I turn to see him standing at the door.

  As soon as I lock eyes with his, I break down in uncontrollable floods of tears. “Dan wh… what are you doing here?” Tearing my eyes away from him I look down at my pathetic little bag. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper as my body shakes on a sob.

  “Oh Nikki,” he says as he comes to me and pulls me up into his arms, “you have nothing to apologise for. Damien called me.”

  As I stand against him with my head on his chest, I feel safe again. I love Damo to bits; he did the right thing. I can’t believe Dan actually came to get me. I can feel his heart beating in his chest as it rises and falls against my head.

  “Miss Olsson,” the male desk sergeant says from behind us.

  I reluctantly pull away from Dan and acknowledge the man. “Yes,” I reply swiping tears from my cheek.

  “You are free to leave but I’d like to inform you of a few things first. Take a wee seat and we can talk.”

  Both Dan and I sit next to each other and he takes my hand, a gesture that is neither forced nor expected. A rush of sensation runs up my arm and my breath catches. He squeezes my hand and rubs my knuckles.

  “Okay,” the officer starts, “we have to send a report to the Procurator Fiscal, our prosecuting authority here in Scotland. It’s only a formality because you were charged with assaulting a police officer. PC Sharp is okay by the way, and he completely understands why you hit him. He’s already given a statement to that effect. As it stands right now, we plan to take this case against you no further than that.”

  I take a huge shaky breath in and nod my head at him. “Thank you,” I say, my voice croaky.

  “You’ll receive written confirmation from the PF’s office stating that there will be no further action taken. Now on the matter of Mr Hunter. We have officers on their way to arrest him at his hotel and I have to inform you that you will be called as a witness, obviously you being the victim in this, that is a given.”

  “I understand,” I reply. “I honestly am just glad that he won’t be able to do this to me again, or to anyone else.

  “We will be sending a report to the authorities in South Africa and if he is convicted here, he will be deported so he won’t be able to return here.”

  That makes me feel so happy and I look at Dan who is regarding me with a frown on his face.

  “Okay so you get yourself home and we will keep you informed of any developments.”

  We say our goodbyes and I thank the sergeant again before we make our way out to the car park. Its dark outside now and the older style sodium streetlamps bathe the cars in a dull orange glow. Dan has obviously driven himself here as he directs me to his car. He opens the passenger door for me, and I get in, sighing as I sit back in the plush leather seat. Dan gets into the driver’s seat and doesn’t immediately start up the car. I can feel him looking at me, but I can’t face him.

  “Nikki?”

  I close my eyes and will myself not to cry.

  “Nikki, he says again.”

  I turn to face him, the orange glow of the car park lighting casting angular shadows over his face. “Why did you come here Dan? I was under the impression you wanted nothing more to do with me.”

  “Damo call
ed me; he was absolutely hysterical. After I’d managed to get the story out of him, I thought it best that he didn’t come. I didn’t think it’d do you any good to have to deal with his meltdown as well as your own problems.”

  “I’m glad it was you that came. You’re the only one who really knows what happened to me. My sister would have hit the roof and I couldn’t tell my dad. In fact, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to tell my parents. I feel so stupid.”

  “You’re not stupid Nikki. He manipulated you, got inside your head and he twisted until you broke. No, you’re far from stupid. You were in a vulnerable place and I was to blame for that. I was expecting you to turn me away me after what I did?”

  I should have sent him packing given how humiliated I was, but the truth is, I miss him. I sound utterly pathetic, I know that, but a week ago I thought I was finally getting on with my life and by Sunday I was happier than I have been in so long.

  “Dan why did you do that to me?”

  He shakes his head and stares out the window. “I have a lot to explain to you Nikki, a hell of a lot and I don’t know what you’re going to think when I’ve finished.”

  When he looks back at me, he has tears in his eyes, and I can’t help myself but reach out and touch his cheek. He closes his eyes and nuzzles into my hand as a tear runs over my thumb.

  “Oh, Dan what happened?”

  “Can I take you home with me?”

  Looking down at my hands I sigh. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “I understand why you don’t want anything to do with me…”

  I cut him off. “You had someone else tell me we were finished. That my services were no longer required. Do you have any idea how used I felt? When I saw Astrid being escorted from the building on Monday, I was so happy that we could finally put all that rubbish behind us. But to be spoken to like that… well it was like someone had punched me right in the gut. And you know what made it a million times worse was that you couldn’t even do it yourself.”

  “I’m so sorry Nikki. I promise you I never meant to hurt you but there’s…” He sighs. “This is what I need to explain to you. Will you hear me out? If, after I’ve explained everything, you still feel the same, I’ll let you go, and I’ll make sure you’re looked after financially until you get another job.”

  “Dan, I don’t want to work at SecuriSoft anymore regardless of what happens here tonight,” I say solemnly and wince at the hurt look on his face.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I just know that I can’t be around you anymore. If we were still together, I couldn’t handle the whispers and if not, well I couldn’t handle seeing you every day and not be able to touch you, hug you, kiss you. It’s just too hard. My head is seriously messed up right now. It has been for a long time and I know it was a mistake to even become involved with you. It wasn’t fair on either of us.”

  “I don’t want to lose you Nikki.”

  “I don’t know what to do. You made me fall in love with you Dan and then you squashed me as though I was a fly bugging you. You crushed what was left of me.”

  “Nikki, I can’t begin to imagine what this has been like for you but, believe me I understand how hurt you are. Please let me explain. I promise, you’ll see things differently.”

  I turn and look out the window, focusing on the reflection of an overhead light on the car next to us. My heart and mind are at war with each other. I can’t take anymore hurt, I’m so emotionally drained and I don’t know if I have room in my head for anyone else’s problems. But what if I don’t give him a chance to explain? Would I end up regretting it for ever?

  “Ok,” I whisper, relenting and hoping I haven’t just made my life a whole lot more complicated.

  “Nikki.”

  I turn to face him and feel my bottom lip tremble as a wave of emotion hits me like a ton of bricks.

  “Let’s get out of here. Come home with me and we can talk for as long as need be so that I can explain everything to you.”

  I nod at him. It’s all I can do right now. He takes my hand and rubs my knuckles and his eyes say a silent thank you.

  “There’s somewhere we need to go first. I have someone you need to meet so that I can start to explain.”

  “Okay,” I manage to say and I’m all at once intrigued and apprehensive about where this night may lead my life. I hope against hope that this will finally be the day I start to live again.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Dan and I have more or less sat in silence on our drive to what looks like an old country estate house. The red sandstone brick and, from what I can see in the dark, beautiful gardens reminds me of National trust houses my parents took us to whenever we visited family in the UK on the rare occasions my dad wasn’t working. Dan brings the car to a stop outside the front entrance and turns off the ignition. I turn to him and watch as he takes a few steadying breaths before he turns to face me.

  “What is this place Dan?”

  “It’s a care home.”

  “Who lives here?”

  “My mother,” he says as his voice cracks.

  I feel the colour drain from my face as I try to process what he’s just said. “I thought you said your mum was…” I’m about to say dead, but then I remember that he’s never actually said the word dead when talking about his mum.

  “She survived the shooting Nikki.”

  “But the report I found on the internet said she was dead,” I say, and I can’t hide the confusion in my voice.

  He nods. “I know it did and there’s a reason for that. This is what I need to explain to you but first I want you to meet her. I don’t know if she’ll understand who you are. I’ve talked about you though, so she might. Her brain was severely damaged by the shooting. Her cognitive functions don’t work as they should, and she can’t speak.”

  This is a lot to take in. It must be heart-breaking for him to see his once vibrant and active mother as ruined as she must be now. I feel so terribly sad for him.

  “Come, let’s go in.”

  We get out of the car and make our way into the building and stop at a set of closed glass doors. Dan presses a button on a panel at the side and within less than a minute a young woman in a carers outfit comes to greet us.

  “Oh, hi Dan,” she says as she opens the door. The waft of warm air that escapes is scented with some sort of disinfectant.

  “Hi Amy. This is my friend Nikki. I’m bringing her to meet mum. How has she been today?” His friend. His words strike a pain in my chest.

  Amy nods. “She’s doing okay today Dan. We weren’t expecting you this late. I thought you’d scheduled for this afternoon.”

  “I did but something came up,” says Dan as he looks at me.

  He put off seeing his mum to come and rescue me. I all at once feel special and utterly wretched. I can’t believe he did that.

  “Not to worry. You’ll have to make do with half an hour now though, it’s almost bed prep time.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll make it up to her on Sunday’s visit.”

  “Okay then, she’s in her room so you just make your way in. It’s nice to meet you Nikki.”

  “And you Amy,” I say as we move past her and head down a long hallway, past a communal sitting room, dining room and a couple of offices.

  Dan stops as we reach a bedroom door. “Thank you for doing this Nikki, for letting me explain. As I said, Mum can’t speak, and she has limited movement. If you feel uncomfortable in here at any point please just say and we’ll leave.”

  “I’ll be okay,” I reassure him, and I can see that it helps to put him at ease.

  In the short time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him look so vulnerable. It’s a sobering sight and I know this can’t be easy for him. He opens the door and we step into a beautifully furnished room. It is decorated in grey and white and has all sorts of little blingy accessories dotted all over. In fact,
it reminds me slightly of Dan’s bedroom at his big house and I wonder for a second if that’s so that he can feel a sense of attachment to her. The juxtaposition of all the beautiful décor and the mechanical hospital style bed is striking. On one hand you could mistake this room for that of a boutique hotel but when you look a little closer you realise what the purpose of it actually is.

  “Hi mum,” says Dan and the frail face of the woman sitting in the chair by the window twitches slightly when her eyes fall on him. It’s the tiniest of movements but it is a smile. “This is Nikki. She’s the one I was telling you about last week.” She smiles again, obviously remembering something he said.

  “Hi,” I smile and give a tiny wave to her.

  “This is a short wee visit today mum, but I promise I’ll come back on Sunday and we’ll have a picnic in the garden. The weather’s getting much nicer now.”

  I watch as he sits on the seat facing her and takes her pale, fragile hand in his. It’s tiny compared to his and it makes her frailty seem all the more pronounced. Her once beautifully thick dark hair hangs limply over her shoulders, greyed with age. The right side of her face is sunken and scarred and her mouth is distorted on that side too. Her gunshot wound. By the look of it, she’s lucky to be alive. “So, Jase,” Dan starts, and I watch Anna’s eye twitch. “Sorry, Jason.”

  I laugh. “Ah Anna you want your boy called by his given name, don’t you?” Her lip rises on the left side in answer.

  “She doesn’t like me being called Dan either.” He says smiling. “She’s never called me Dan, have you mum?” Her lip lifts again.

  “Quite right.”

  “So anyway,” Dan continues, “Jason wanted me to tell you he was bringing his own friend to meet you next week. He keeps telling me this guy is ‘just a friend’ but I can see a wee romance starting there with them. He’s a nice guy. It’s good to see my wee brother happy.”

  I watch as Dan talks to his mother and every now and then he lifts her hand, placing a soft kiss on her bony knuckles. He tells her about his work, Olivia, what Jason has been up to and generally filling her in on all the small, normal aspects of his life.