Afraid (20 page)

‘We could let the police look at it,’ Shirley said after a while. ‘They have special departments for this kind of thing, so I’m sure they’d have no problem hacking into her account.’

‘No way.’ Jeff shook his head. ‘They already think I’m guilty, and if she’s written anything bad on there I’m done for.’

‘Why would she have?’ Shirley frowned. ‘You haven’t hurt her.’

‘I know, but she might have thought I’d been hurting her mum,’ Jeff murmured resignedly. ‘She was always in bed when it kicked off, but she must have heard Andrea screaming blue murder. The neighbours used to hear her, and they all thought it was me knocking her about, so what’s to say Skye didn’t think the same?’

‘I’m sure she knows you weren’t the aggressor,’ Shirley said supportively. ‘And I very much doubt that she’d have gone home and tried to contact you if she was scared of you.’

‘I still can’t risk letting the police see it until I know for sure,’ said Jeff. ‘What if we’re wrong and she’s said something bad about me on there? That’s bound to make them take Andrea’s allegations even more seriously, isn’t it?’

Shirley gave him a sympathetic look but didn’t say anything. She understood his concerns but she just didn’t know what else to suggest.

‘Hayley!’ Jeff said when the name suddenly popped into his head. ‘She’s Skye’s best mate – she might know her password.’

‘She might even be QTPye,’ Shirley mused. ‘Do you know where she lives?’

‘Her mum did tell me when she called round after I got out of hospital,’ Jeff said. ‘I can’t remember the number but I know the road, so I can ask around when I get there. It’s only a few streets from my old place.’

‘I’ll drive you over there when we’ve eaten,’ Shirley offered, pushing his as yet untouched plate towards him. ‘The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner we’ll clear your name.’

Kathy Simms was on her way home from the shops when Shirley drove onto her road a short time later. Jeff cried, ‘Stop!’ when he spotted her.

‘That’s Hayley’s mum,’ he said, peering out through the side window when Shirley pulled over. ‘At least, I think it is,’ he added, a little less certain now that he could see her more clearly. He’d only met her once, but he was sure she hadn’t been as skinny or gaunt-looking as this woman.

‘Go and ask,’ Shirley urged. ‘If it’s not her, she might still know where they live.’

Jeff nodded and unbuckled his seat belt.

Kathy had put her bags down and was about to slot her key into her front door when she heard her name being called. She turned her head and squinted at the man who was walking quickly across the road. Then, a wary look leaping into her eyes when she recognised him, she asked, ‘What do you want?’

Jeff could see now that he had got the right woman, but she looked even worse up close; her cheeks were sunken and the bags under her eyes were dark and deep, as if she hadn’t slept in weeks.

‘Sorry if this is a bad time,’ he said, a little thrown by her frostiness considering how nice she’d been when she had called round to his place that time. ‘I just wondered if I could have a quick word with Hayley.’

‘Absolutely not.’ Kathy opened the door and reached for her bags.

‘It won’t take a minute,’ Jeff promised.

‘I said
no
,’ spat Kathy, tossing the bags into the hall and then turning back to glare at him. ‘You’ve got a damn nerve coming round here.’

‘You told me to call round if I ever needed anything,’ Jeff reminded her, guessing that she must have heard the rumours about him and Andrea since their last meeting. ‘I just need to ask Hayley if she’s been talking to Skye on some chat room, and if she knows her password. Please, love, it’s really important.’

‘Are you deaf?’ Kathy snapped. ‘Just go away, and don’t come near me or my family again.’

‘Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard,’ Jeff said when she stepped inside the house. ‘But it’s not true.’

‘Oh, really?’ Kathy crossed her arms. ‘So the police were lying when they said they’re investigating you for abusing Skye, were they?’

Furious to hear this, and guessing that it was Jones’s doing, Jeff’s nostrils flared. ‘He had no right to say any of that stuff to you.’

‘So you’re
not
under investigation?’ Kathy raised an eyebrow and waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, she gave a snort of disgust. ‘And to think I actually felt sorry for you.’

‘Wait!’ Jeff reached out and pushed the door back when she tried to close it.

‘Remove your hand right now or I’ll call the police,’ Kathy squawked, genuine fear in her voice now.

‘Just hear me out first,’ Jeff implored, gazing up at her. ‘I know you’ve probably already decided that I’m guilty, but I swear on my life I’ve never laid a finger on Skye. She’s my daughter, and I’m worried sick about her, so please just let me ask Hayley if she knows where she is. Or
you
ask her if you don’t want me to see her. Please, I’m begging you: just do this one thing for me, and I swear I’ll never bother you again.’

A flicker of uncertainty flashed through Kathy’s eyes. Jeff saw it and hoped that he’d got through to her. But she shook her head after a moment, and said, ‘I’m sorry, but Hayley was really upset when the police questioned her and I can’t put her through that again.’

‘The police questioned her?’ Jeff repeated, a sickly feeling of dread stirring in his stomach. ‘About what?’

Kathy didn’t answer this. Instead, her eyes now glittering with tears, she said, ‘Look, I don’t know if you’re lying, but if you are innocent I’m sure you’ll be able to prove it without involving us and ruining what little time we’ve got left.’

When Jeff gazed blankly back at her, her chin started to quiver and her shoulders seemed to fold in on her.

‘I’m only telling you this so that you’ll understand the damage you’ll be doing if you insist on coming back,’ Kathy said quietly. ‘Hayley’s got leukaemia. We only found out a couple of weeks ago, and the consultant doesn’t think she’s strong enough for treatment, so we’re not sure how long we’ve got left with her.’

‘Oh, jeezus.’ Jeff instinctively reached out to touch her arm. ‘I’m so sorry, love. I had no idea.’

‘Don’t!’ Kathy sobbed as the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you, and I really hope that Skye turns up soon. But I can’t let our last days with Hayley be tainted by this, so please just respect my wishes and stay away from us.’

Shocked and saddened by what he’d heard, Jeff shoved his hands into his pockets when she slammed the door shut. He made his way back to the car.

‘What’s wrong?’ Shirley asked, instantly concerned when she saw his gloomy expression. ‘What did she say?’

Jeff didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He just sat in stunned silence for several long moments. Then, his voice hoarse, he said, ‘Can we go home, please?’

Shirley didn’t hesitate; she put the car into gear and drove back the way they had come.

Already concerned, because he had clearly been disturbed by whatever that woman had said to him, she was even more so when he went straight into the bathroom when they got back to the flat and she thought she heard him crying. She didn’t want to pry but this was the first time she had ever seen him this upset, and it broke her heart to see him so defeated.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked, still waiting in the hall when he came out some time later.

‘Not really,’ Jeff muttered, embarrassed that she’d witnessed him breaking down like that. ‘I think I just need to be on my own for a bit. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise,’ Shirley said softly. ‘Take as long as you need. I’ll still be here when you’re ready to talk.’

Dark eyes filled with pain, Jeff gazed at her and said, ‘You’re a good woman, Shirley, and you’ll never know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I just wish …’

Shirley held her breath and waited for him to go on. But when he gave her a sad smile and then walked into his room, she sighed and went into her own room. There, deep in thought, she lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She wished she could find a way to help him out of this mess, but she just didn’t know where to start. The officers who had called round earlier had made it blatantly clear that they thought he was guilty, and she already knew that the idiots at work thought the same. And if that woman’s reaction to seeing him just now was anything to go by, the rumour mill was obviously running at full throttle.

It was so unfair, and Jeff didn’t deserve any of it, but there was nothing she could say or do to show them what a huge mistake they were all making.

In the next room, Jeff was also lying on his bed, his mind reeling as he tried to make sense of everything. He couldn’t understand why Andrea was doing this to him after he’d supported her through numerous breakdowns and suffered years of misery, never knowing what mood she would be in when he got home from work or what accusation she would throw at him next. Her own family had long ago washed their hands of her, as had any friend she’d ever managed to make, but he had stood by her the whole way, and this was how she repaid him – by accusing him of abusing their daughter. And the police might not have specified the nature of this so-called abuse, but he was no fool; he knew they meant sexual – and the very thought sickened him to his stomach.

‘Skye, where are you?’ he moaned as a tear trickled slowly down his cheek. ‘Please come home, baby; you’re my only hope.’

14

‘I’m sorry.’ Skye trailed miserably behind Tom as he strode into the kitchen. ‘I didn’t know it was special.’

‘Stop whining!’ he snapped, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair. ‘I hate it when you do that.’

‘Sorry,’ she murmured, modifying her tone so he wouldn’t shout at her again as she perched on a chair and slotted her hands between her knees to keep them from doing any more damage. ‘If you get some glue while you’re out, I’ll try and fix it.’

‘Forget it.’ Tom picked his keys up from the ledge and unlocked the door. Flashing an unimpressed look back at her, he said, ‘Do something about your hair while I’m out.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know? Cut it, or something.’

‘Short?’ Skye was horrified.

‘I don’t care, as long as it looks better than
that
when I get back,’ Tom sniped. ‘You’re going to make me go off you if you don’t start making an effort. Is that what you want?’

Skye shook her head and sniffed back the tears that were stinging her eyes. Her shoulders sagged when he walked out, relocking the door behind him. It was three weeks since he had proposed, and he still hadn’t forgiven her for what he called her ungrateful response. Hurt that she’d thrown his love back in his face after he had opened his home and his heart to her, he’d taken back the engagement ring, telling her that she couldn’t have it back until she had proved she was worthy to wear it. And she had been trying really, really hard ever since, but nothing seemed good enough – not even when she let him do bottom sex without crying all the way through. But now she’d broken the vase that he said he’d inherited off his dead grandmother, he would probably never forgive her.

When Bernie came and sat beside her, she gave him a sad smile and stroked his head, murmuring, ‘At least you still love me. But I can’t take you out, if that’s what you’re after. He might come back, and then I really
will
be in trouble.’

Skye got up when Bernie slinked back to his blanket, and took the scissors out of the drawer. There was no way she was cutting her hair short, because she didn’t want to end up looking like a boy, but she supposed a trim wouldn’t hurt. It would help if she had some shampoo, because she’d been washing her hair with soap and washing-up liquid since the last bottle ran out, and it made her already fine hair look even more limp and straggly. But Tom was refusing to buy her anything at the moment, because he said she’d taken his generosity for granted and needed to be taught a lesson.

She didn’t blame him, because he had been really good to her when she first moved in and she had held herself back from really opening up to him. His coldness towards her these last few weeks had given her a serious reality check, and she’d have given anything to have the nice Tom back. Even the prospect of getting married no longer scared her, because it was infinitely preferable to the thought of spending the rest of her life in prison – which, Tom had been reminding her every day, was where she was going to end up if she didn’t buck up.

Determined not to let it come to that, Skye went upstairs to try and make herself look more presentable for when he got home. And then she would make him a special dinner, she decided: to show him what a good wife she would be if he could only find it in his heart to forgive her.

Tom was smiling as he drove into Manchester after leaving the house. Skye didn’t know if she was coming or going since he’d started punishing her for her bad attitude, and it was good to see her struggle because girls like her, with their pretty faces and innate sense of entitlement, had taken the piss out of him during his entire life. She had been jumping through hoops to win back his affection these last few weeks, and he had thoroughly enjoyed watching her go through the wringer. But with every victory came a loss, and his was that he no longer felt quite the same level of excitement he’d felt when he was first trying to woo her. Now she was his, body and soul, he needed a new source of entertainment; a new challenge.

The MOT stations and garages that were situated in the old railway arches beneath the Mancunian Way flyover were all closed on Sundays, and that made it the perfect spot for prostitutes and drug dealers to ply their trades. Tom would never have dared to walk through there on foot, and if his car had been even semi-decent he’d have thought twice about driving through there, too. But his clapped-out old Vectra hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention on his previous visits so he wasn’t too worried about parking up there now.

A group of hooded youths were gathered at the far end of the street. They hadn’t spotted him because it was already starting to get dark by then and his car was concealed behind a row of industrial skips. If they did see him and made a move, he would reverse out the way he’d come and make a quick getaway. But, until then, he was happy just to sit and wait.