This Girl, That Girl, page 20
Trevor Cooper just laughed. He started impersonating her. ‘We don’t care what you say. You can’t do this to us.’
Then his voice changed back. He glowered at her. ‘Forget Gabe’s mum,’ he said. ‘We just want some fun now.’ He winked at her. ‘That’s what you want too, innit, darlin’? That’s why you’re here. I don’t normally go for dykey types, but I might make an exception in your case. When I’ve finished with your mate.’
Acne Guy had regained his balance. He lunged forward, taking hold of the neck of Dee’s jumper and pulling her towards him. Dee could smell his sweat. She struggled to get out of his grasp, but he wouldn’t let go.
‘Try something like that again and you’ll regret it,’ he said, spittle flying out of his mouth.
Without thinking, Dee brought her right knee up and jammed it with all her force into his crotch. He howled in pain and staggered back, his hands on his balls, folding in on himself.
Just then, the room was filled with an agonized roar like nothing Dee had ever heard. She turned to see Lindsay rocking back on her heels, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth, Trevor now doubled up on the floor, screaming in agony.
Acne Guy staggered towards Dee, fury distorting his face. Dee clenched her hand into a fist and, with all the strength she could muster, punched him, hard and fast, feeling her knuckles connect with his cheekbone and sending him reeling back.
‘Dee, let’s go. Now!’ Lindsay yanked the door open and shoved Dee ahead of her. The two of them tore out of the room and down the stairs.
‘Back door!’ Dee yelled. At least she knew for certain that was unlocked and, as far as she could remember, she’d left the gate open.
The last thing they heard as they ran out of the kitchen was Trevor Cooper bellowing, ‘Don’t just stand there, call me a fucking ambulance, you twat!’
47
Scarlett was about to phone the police, when the ringing of the doorbell made her flinch. She dropped her phone on to the sofa and went to the window, peered out through the slats in the blind. It was Mickey. He was pacing up and down the path and biting his nails. When he caught sight of her looking out at him he rushed over to the window, saying something she couldn’t hear through the double glazing. She’d never seen him look so frantic. So desperate. The only word she could make out was ‘Ollie’. Had something happened to her brother?
She went out to the hall and opened the door, eyes wide with concern. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I think he’s having some kind of breakdown,’ Mickey said. He sounded hoarse. Breathless. ‘I’ve never seen him like that. Not in all the years I’ve known him.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘I’ve just driven him home. Told him to get his head down for a few hours. That’s if he’ll take any notice.’ He put his hand in his pocket and drew out Ollie’s car keys, handed them to her. ‘I took these off him. He’s in no fit state to drive. I don’t think he’s slept in days.’
Scarlett took the keys from him. All this just reinforced her decision to call the police.
‘I feel so disloyal,’ Mickey said, shaking his head. ‘He’s going to kill me when he finds out I’ve taken them.’
‘I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry. You’ve done the right thing.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know so.’
He bent forward over his knees and exhaled noisily. ‘I hope you’re right.’
‘You okay?’
‘No. Feeling a bit Tom and Dick after all that rushing around. I’ll be all right in a sec. I’ve got a drink in the van.’
‘Wait here. I’ll go and get you some water.’ She hesitated. ‘Sorry I can’t ask you in, but … I’m expecting a call from a client any minute.’
‘No worries. I’ve got to get back to the office anyway. Poor Shaz’ll be wondering what the hell’s going on.’
By the time she came back with a glass of water Mickey was sitting on the front step, his head between his knees.
‘Here,’ she said. ‘Drink this.’
She watched as he gulped back the water. ‘Gimme a minute and I’ll be right as rain.’
‘Take your time, it’s okay. I’m going to call Dad, let him know what’s going on.’
Mickey stood up and handed her the empty glass. He was sweating. ‘I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. I told you they’ve been at loggerheads lately. Fuck knows what’s going on with those two.’
From upstairs came the sound of a loud bump, as if something had fallen on to the floor. Mickey’s head jerked up.
Scarlett gasped. ‘What the hell was that? It sounds like someone’s …’ It was only then that she noticed that the door to Rebecca’s apartment was ajar.
‘What the …’
Mickey’s face changed then. He looked … ashamed all of a sudden. Apologetic.
She stared at him in disbelief. It felt like all the air had left her body in one go.
‘Sorry, Scar,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t say no, could I? He’s my boss, and it’s his gaff now, after all.’
Scarlett’s legs began to shake. This whole thing had been a set-up. Mickey had deliberately distracted her so that Ollie could get in while she wasn’t looking. He must have known she wouldn’t let him go back up there on his own. Must have realized she suspected him of something, so he’d resorted to a cheap trick, and she’d been stupid enough to fall for it.
She went to shut the door on Mickey, to stop him coming in, but he was too strong for her. He pushed it back open and stepped into the hall. He looked wretched.
‘Like I said, Scar. Ollie’s my boss and my best mate. He just wants time to find something up there. I didn’t want to trick you, I promise. Please don’t be difficult.’
Her mind spun. She turned to go back into her flat and lock herself in. She would phone the police right now, before this went any further. Even if she’d made a stupid mistake and got completely the wrong end of the stick, she couldn’t put up with being manipulated like this in her own home, and by her own brother. But before she knew what was happening Mickey had got past her and was blocking her way.
‘Sorry, Scar. I really am. But I can’t leave you down here on your own. Not until he’s finished. I promised.’
She stared at him in disbelief.
He couldn’t meet her eyes. ‘Just until he’s found what he’s looking for.’
‘What is he looking for?’
He shook his head.
‘What’s he done, Mickey? You have to tell me.’
Mickey closed his eyes. ‘It’s just business, Scar.’
Scarlett glared at him. ‘What kind of business involves rifling through your dead aunt’s possessions?’
‘You’ll have to ask him that, not me.’
It was no use. Mickey was too loyal a friend. He and Ollie went back a long way. He knew her brother better than anyone. Better than she did.
‘I will ask him,’ she said. ‘I’ll ask him right now.’ She turned to go upstairs.
‘I don’t think you should do that.’ Mickey put his arm out and touched her wrist.
She shrugged him off. ‘I don’t care what you think. You’ve caused enough problems as it is.’
He inhaled deeply. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘But I’m coming up there with you. He’s in a right state. I wasn’t lying about that. We don’t want to aggravate him.’
Scarlett pursed her lips. ‘I think I know how to handle my own brother, thank you very much.’
She turned and climbed the stairs to Rebecca’s apartment, Mickey so close behind her she could feel his breath on her neck.
They’d reached the small landing at the top now. Scarlett’s heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. Why hadn’t she phoned the police when Dee was still here? Why had she opened the door to Mickey in the first place? She should have kept it bolted fast until the police arrived.
Ollie was in Rebecca’s sitting room just off to the left, turfing things out of the drawers in the bureau like a man possessed. He was looking for her diaries. He must be. What else could it be?
‘Ollie?’ she said.
He froze at the sound of her voice. He’d been so intent on his search he hadn’t even heard them come up. When he turned around, she saw that his eyes seemed to have sunk into his head. He looked shattered. Mentally and physically exhausted.
‘For God’s sake, Ollie! You’ve got to tell me what’s going on. Why are you doing this? You can talk to me. You know you can.’
Ollie stared at her in fury. ‘You’ve been up here too. All that shit you gave me about the sodding probate, and you’ve been up here on your own. I know you have. Rebecca would never have left those box files open.’
Scarlett stared at him. Had she really not closed them? She felt sure that she had.
‘I haven’t,’ she said. ‘I was going to come up, but I changed my mind.’
‘Liar!’
She winced at the venom in his voice. ‘Ollie, what’s going on? Why are you acting like this? You’re freaking me out.’
Mickey took a step towards him. ‘Yeah, mate, you’re freaking both of us out. Let’s just calm down, yeah?’
Ollie shoved him in the chest. ‘What did you bring her up for? I told you to keep her downstairs.’
Scarlett was incensed. ‘You’re talking about me as if I’m a thing!’ she shouted. ‘You don’t get to decide where I go and what I do!’
But Ollie looked past her, as if she weren’t there. His focus was solely on Mickey. ‘Why can’t you ever do what we agree?’
‘Careful,’ Mickey growled.
Scarlett slid her eyes to the right. Blood pounded in her ears. It wasn’t just Mickey’s voice that was different. His whole demeanour was, too. Gone was the concern she’d seen in his eyes earlier. Gone was the awkward, apologetic expression. The ‘he’s my boss, what can I do?’ act. Too late, she saw that he’d sensed her watching him. He swivelled his head to the left and looked straight at her.
‘You need to be careful, too.’
48
Dee pointed her keys at the car as they ran towards it. Two minutes later, they were inside. Dee put the central locking on and tried to put her key in the ignition, but her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t feed it into the slot.
Lindsay kept looking over her shoulder. ‘Get away from here, Dee!’ she said. ‘Drive!’
‘I’m trying, I can’t—’ At last, the key went in and the car started. But Dee seemed to have forgotten how to drive. She stalled as she pulled away from the kerb. ‘Fuck!’
‘Take a deep breath and start it again,’ Lindsay said. ‘You’ve got this.’
This time, her muscle memory kicked in and she managed to drive off. She headed back in the direction of Woolwich and Lindsay’s house on autopilot, not daring to think about what had just happened. Not yet.
Lindsay began to shiver in the passenger seat. She was in shock. They both were. Somehow or other, Dee kept driving. It must have been the adrenaline. Fight or flight. They’d done both today.
‘There’s a blanket in the back seat,’ she said. ‘Can you reach it?’
Lindsay twisted round and threaded her arm through the space between the two front seats.
‘No, it’s too far away.’
‘Do you want me to pull over and get it for you?’
‘No! Just drive. Get me home quick.’
Lindsay shrunk down in the seat. She was trying to fasten her seatbelt and failing. The car began to beep its security warning. ‘My car’s still there,’ she said. ‘I left my bag on the front seat. My phone and everything.’
‘Don’t worry about any of that,’ Dee said. ‘It’s not important. What the hell happened? Is that how it was before? The first time?’
‘No, of course not. He was nice the first time.’ Lindsay started to cry. ‘I was so fucking stupid, flirting with him in the first place. But once I’d explained what a tough year it had been back then, and how sorry I was for stealing Gabe’s things, I broke down and started crying. He comforted me, told me he hadn’t been going to say anything anyway, that he’d just wanted us to know he knew, and, well, one thing led to another. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, Dee. It was crazy, but you know what, I actually did fancy him. He was … he was really gentle.’
Lindsay’s teeth started to chatter. ‘I don’t know what happened to change things. Maybe he bragged about it to his mate. They obviously decided they were on to a good thing, that I was so desperate for them to keep quiet about what I’d done that they could have some fun with me whenever they fancied it.’
She hung her head in her hands. ‘When I saw that review I tried to phone him, but he wouldn’t pick up. I left messages and he never replied. I was just going to talk to him at the door, tell him enough was enough and that I’d call the police if he kept hassling us. No way was I going to go inside. That’s what I was doing, telling him I’d speak to the family myself. Offer to give them the money back and make a donation to a charity or something. But then the other guy appeared from nowhere and they pulled me inside. They were off their heads. I was so frightened. Trevor had a knife.’
Dee gasped. Thank God she hadn’t seen that, or she might not have had the courage to fight back.
Lindsay cried like a child then. Great rasping, juddering sobs. ‘Oh God, Dee, when I saw you there too, I thought …’
‘They won’t get away with this,’ Dee said. ‘We have to report them.’
They’d reached Lindsay’s road now. Dee found a space and, when they were parked up, she slumped over the steering wheel in relief. ‘We’ve got to get you inside and warmed up,’ she said. She swivelled round and got the travel blanket from the back seat, pulled the Velcro straps off and wrapped it around Lindsay.
‘Shit!’ she said. ‘You haven’t got your keys, have you? They’ll be in your bag.’
‘It’s okay. There’s a spare buried in the pot of lavender. Just under the top layer of compost.’
As soon as Dee had fished the key out of the pot and shepherded Lindsay inside, Lindsay shot upstairs like a flash, and into the bathroom. Dee followed her up and found her washing her face, rubbing it so hard with a soapy flannel it was a wonder she wasn’t taking the skin off.
‘I don’t think you should be doing that, Lins. We need to report this, don’t we? They’ll need to examine you.’
Lindsay was now brushing her teeth like a demon, scraping her tongue clean with the bristles, swilling her mouth out with water and spitting pink foam into the sink. Dee wondered how much of the blood was from the savage brushing she was doing, and how much was from what she’d just bitten into. She shuddered at the thought.
Lindsay was throwing up in the toilet now. Heaving into the bowl. Dee held her hair back and stroked her sweaty back until she stopped. Lindsay clambered to her feet and started the washing and scrubbing all over again. Dee ran her a bath and went downstairs to make them both some tea.
There’d be no traces of that bastard on her now.
They were sitting, the two of them, on Lindsay’s sofa, both nursing huge mugs of hot, sweet tea. Lindsay was in her pyjamas and bed socks. The skin around her mouth looked red and sore. Her eyes were pink and watery.
‘I don’t want to report it to the police,’ she said.
Dee stared at her. ‘But they can’t get away with it. They can’t.’
Lindsay sighed. ‘Think about it, Dee. I’ll be questioned. They’ll do a bit of research into my sexual history, and that’ll be that.’
‘But that’s got nothing to do with—’
‘I know that, and you know that, but that’s what happens. I don’t want to go through all that. It could drag on for months on end, years maybe. I want to forget it. I want to wipe it clean away and pretend it never happened.’
Dee frowned. ‘I’m not sure you’ll be able to do that.’
‘I will. And anyway, if we report it, all the stuff about that fucking crash helmet will come out, won’t it? I don’t want to put us through all that. And anyway, I doubt T. J. Cooper’s going to be asking anyone to give him a blow job any time soon.’
Dee caught her eye and, in spite of everything they’d just been through, the sheer horror of it, they found themselves laughing. Hysterical laughter that consumed them utterly for minutes on end, then made them both start weeping.
When they’d recovered, Lindsay touched Dee’s arm. ‘You were brilliant back there, Dee. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you turn on that other guy. It was like a switch going on in my head and I knew what I had to do. We did it, Dee. But if you hadn’t done what you did first, I’m not sure I’d have had the courage. It’s so hard to fight back when you’re paralysed with fear.’
Her breath caught in her throat. Tears were running down her face.
‘You were so brave, Dee. So bloody brave. And you’re right. The way I’ve been carrying on, all the risks I’ve taken, it’s a bloody miracle something like that’s never happened to me before. You were right to say those things to me, because they’re true. You can’t possibly think any worse of me than I think of myself.’
‘Jake told me, by the way,’ Dee said. ‘He told me he pressured you into letting him sell that stuff. Why didn’t you tell me, Lins? I know he’s your brother and you love him, but why did you take all the blame?’
Lindsay sniffed back her tears. ‘Because it doesn’t make it any better. I shouldn’t have let him pressure me, should I? I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Dee. Why am I so fucked up?’
Dee squeezed Lindsay’s hand and sighed. ‘We’re both fucked up, but in different ways. It’s like Gina went missing and part of us did too. We had to carry on with our lives with this huge Gina-shaped hole in it.’
Dee sat bolt upright. She felt as if someone had pulled out a plug and all her blood was draining away.
‘Dee? What’s the matter? You look—’
‘I can’t believe I forgot!’ Dee clamped her hand over her mouth. It seemed so long ago that she’d been with Scarlett Quilter this morning and seen Gina’s novel or, rather, Rebecca’s novel, and listened to Scarlett unburden her suspicions about her brother. Had that really only been a couple of hours ago? And to think how desperate she’d been to warn Lindsay about the danger she could be in.
