Behind a Closed Door (The Estate, Book 2) (28 page)

‘Liar! You stay away for hours on end and you expect me to believe that?’

‘What do you want me to say?’ he cried. ‘Yeah, I have a daughter; yeah, I have a son; yeah, there is an Anne-Marie.’

Kelly wanted to hit him again. She wanted to squeeze every last breath out of his body. In the space of ten hours, her life had taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Yesterday, she’d been dreaming of setting up her own business. Today, she’d found out that her partner had set up another family.

The more she glared at him, the more bile rose in her throat. She ran through to the bathroom where she threw up. In desperation, she grasped the rim of the toilet as all her hopes and dreams went down the pan with the vomit. Afterwards, she sat back against the wall. How could she have been so stupid? The bongo drums on the Mitchell Estate had certainly let her down this time. Scott hadn’t even denied what he’d done.

Minutes later, she heard him go into their bedroom. She listened closely, then heard him opening a drawer. Then another. She got to her feet and raced through to the bedroom.

‘What are you doing?’ she said.

‘It’s obvious that you don’t want me to stay here.’ Scott didn’t even look at her as he threw balled-up socks into a sports bag. ‘I’m just getting a few things and then I’ll be back for the rest.’

‘You don’t get to finish this.’ Kelly prodded herself in the chest and screamed. ‘I DO! You’re a cheating bastard and I hate you. How could you do this to me? Maybe shagging someone else I could get over in time, but to have children with her? And that boy was born a year after Emily, which means… which means…’ She paused for a moment. ‘Oh, I get it now. That’s why you were offered a house in Patrick Street – because you had access to a child.’

Scott shrugged.

‘It’s the oldest trick in the book, isn’t it? Single men don’t want flats because of the stigma attached – single bloke equals druggie slash trouble-maker – so they say they need more room because they have access rights to their kids three or four times a week. You got that because of Stephanie before I met you, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have been offered a house so quickly any other way. You would have stayed on the waiting list or had to take a flat.’

‘So what if I did? You still had it good while you were with me.’

Kelly was crying openly now but she was damned if she was letting him get away with humiliating her. She moved towards the door.

‘Where are you going?’ he said.

‘I’m coming with you to Anne-Marie’s. She needs to hear about this. And I hope she throws you out, because you deserve it. Then where will you go?’

Scott grabbed her arm and threw her down onto the bed. ‘Don’t fucking threaten me!’

‘You’re a loser,’ she shouted at him. ‘A fucking LOSER! Don’t ever think you’re coming back.’

‘I wouldn’t want to come back to you.’ It was the last thing he said before slamming the bedroom door on his way out.

Moments later, Kelly heard the front door open and close. She pinched herself and it hurt, prompting yet more tears to fall, not just for the way he’d treated her, but for the chance of happiness she had given up with Jay. Covering her face with her hands, she sobbed.

After checking up on Amy first thing, it took Josie over half an hour to find Sam Pearson the next morning. She’d driven around all the usual haunts and hang outs before realising it was probably too early for a creature like him to be out of his pit. But just as she was about to give up, she spotted him walking towards the shops. He was alone, a skateboard under his arm. Josie tutted: he couldn’t even be bothered to skate, the idle bastard. What a generation was being raised.

Like a scene from a bad cop movie, Josie slammed on her brakes, parked up her car and raced over to him.

‘Hey!’ She shouted to him. ‘I want a word with you!’

‘Fucking hell!’ Sam cried, jumping away from her. ‘You scared the shit out of me, you lunatic.’

‘I’ll do more than scare you if you go anywhere near Amy Cartwright again, you little creep.’

Sam laughed, even if it was a little uneasy. ‘You haven’t got a thing on me,’ he said. ‘Amy was gagging for it. You can’t prove anything else.’

‘I don’t need to prove it. I’ve got Amy’s night-dress with your DNA all over it.’ Josie tried to stop herself from grinning. She sounded like a Crime Scene Investigator: Gil Grissolm would be proud of her.

‘That doesn’t mean owt,’ Sam spat out quickly. ‘I’ll say she’s up for it with everyone. Loads of me mates will vouch for me.’

‘Even Ricky Cartwright?’

At the mention of Amy’s older brother, Sam’s cocky demeanour changed. Ricky Cartwright was a fighter: they both knew he’d go mad if he found out what had been happening.

‘Is Reece your son?’ Josie asked next. The thought had been running through her mind all morning.

‘No, he’s fucking not!’ And with that, Sam was off. ‘You’re not landing me with that one,’ he threw over his shoulder. ‘I’ll say I never touched her at all.’

‘But you used that as an excuse to get her knickers off.’ Josie ran to catch up with him and yanked hold of his arm. ‘She’d done it once, she’d do it again? Is that what you thought?’

Sam shrugged her arm away. ‘Gerrof me, you mad woman. Look, I told you it wasn’t like that.’

‘No, rape never is from the rapist’s point of view.’

‘Rape?’ Sam cowered. He looked up and down the street, as if the word had been shouted, but apart from a car in the distance, there was no one around. ‘I never did that! You can’t say –’

‘Then what would you call it?’ Josie prodded a finger into his chest. ‘Making mad, passionate love?’

Sam’s eyes went to the floor.

‘You used her. She’s vulnerable and you used that for your own means.’

‘I won’t go round again!’

‘You’ll have to think of something better than that to stop me going to the police.’

Josie walked off, but Sam was quick on her tail.

‘Wait! Please, I promise I’ll leave her alone – I swear!’

Josie opened her car door. ‘You’ve just told me there’s no point in threatening you so I don’t have a choice, do I?’

‘What are you doing?’ If it were possible for Sam to go any paler, it happened then as Josie reached for her mobile phone. ‘Don’t call the pigs!’

‘But if I let you off, you’ll be round Amy’s like a shot.’

‘I won’t! I swear – please, I’ll do anything.’

His words were like music to Josie’s ears, but what could she do to make him understand his predicament? Her mind went blank, but she’d think of something in time. For now though, she’d let the hard man-come-mardy-arse stew.

R u ok, Kel? I heard what happened. Text me if u want to talk. J. xx

Although they’d been out separately on their morning calls, Josie and Ray got back to the office at the same time. After they’d parked up, Ray asked how Amy was doing.

Josie locked her car and shoved her files underneath her arm. ‘She seems okay, thanks. More to the point – how are you?’

Ray’s hand automatically rose to the split in his lip. ‘I’m okay,’ he said.

‘What happened to make you flip like that?’

Ray shrugged uncomfortably. He moved aside as a car pulled into the space beside him.

‘I’d seen Pearson’s scooter parked outside Amy’s flat quite often when I’d been on my rounds.’

‘That’s funny,’ said Josie. ‘I never saw it.’

‘It changed on a regular basis. Pearson would have a different one every few weeks or so. They were hot, I reckon. When Amy’s heating broke down a while ago, I suppose I started to feel sorry for her. She came into reception in such a panic, as if she was going to get into trouble, so I told her I’d call round later that afternoon. When I got there, Pearson came to the door, I could see Amy was uncomfortable around him, but when I suggested that Pearson leave while I sort everything out, he grabbed Amy’s arm and told me to go instead. I just saw red. That little bastard was up to no good but what I didn’t know was whether Amy was okay with it. So I barged in –’

‘You didn’t!’ Josie was shocked.

Ray looked uncomfortable again. ‘They weren’t, you know, exactly having sex, but I still told him to sling his hook. He told me to mind my own business, in so many words, so he felt the back of my boot up his arse.’

Josie smiled. That was more like the Ray she knew.

‘I meant metaphorically,’ he said, clocking her expression. ‘A job’s a job and I’m not losing mine over scum like him. I tried to talk to Amy about it and she froze up. And when I next collared Pearson, he practically laughed me off the shops. There were too many witnesses for me to have gone at him.’  

‘So how did you know when he’d be there again?’

‘I kept an eye on those scooters. When I drove past last week, he’d just parked it up and was going up the path. He saw me looking and gave me the finger. That was all I needed.’

‘Ray –’

‘That bloody kid’s not mine,’ Ray joked, ‘if that’s what you’re thinking.’

Josie smiled. ‘That’s the furthest thing from my mind, I just wanted to know why. You always have this big macho attitude about you. Why help Amy?’

Ray looked away for a moment. He seemed to be concentrating on a rose bush popping through the railings, hell bent on pulling the petals off one poor flower.

‘She really got under my skin,’ he said. ‘Her face… it was so… empty. Void of any feeling. She reminded me of a lump of meat. Even prostitutes get paid for it.’

‘Amy’s not a prostitute!’ retorted Josie, annoyed at his insinuation. An elderly man getting into his car turned his head, wondering if he’d heard her correctly.

Ray held up his hand. ‘I was comparing, that’s all. But you know what I mean. She’s just a kid.’

Josie nodded. ‘I hope Sam keeps away now. I’ve got nothing to use on him, except reminding him what Ricky would do if he found out. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll –’

‘It’ll work,’ Ray said, with a nod of his head.

Josie frowned. ‘You seem very sure about yourself.’

They began to walk towards the staff entrance. ‘I’ve been checking into our Mr Pearson,’ Ray explained. ‘He’s been doing a bit of work with Scott Johnstone. Word has it he’s trying to get in with the Kirkwells when they get out, stupid bastard. He thinks he’s one of the main men around the estate because of it – but he’s only a kid. It’s a shame to see that he’s taking the usual route, but maybe we can catch him early. Or maybe he’ll end up in prison. At least he’ll be out of our hair then. You certainly scared him, though.’

‘Oh?’ Josie looked on in perplexity.

‘He didn’t give me any lip when I saw him yesterday. In fact, he looked the other way, which is unlike him. Usually he mouths off, no matter how far away he is. But yesterday he kept his head down, as if he wanted to be invisible.’

‘Funny what power a word like ‘rape’ can have,’ said Josie, feeling better about her little episode with Sam. If it kept him away from Amy, then it had been worth it. Sometimes it was okay to move down a level.

‘You’ll have to be very careful, Mr Harman,’ she continued, wagging her finger at him. ‘You’re going a long way to ruining your miserable bastard reputation.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Ray assured her with a grin as he took the steps. ‘I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.’

Kelly pulled herself together and went into work the following night. Now that Scott had gone, she couldn’t afford to miss a shift. When Sally heard what had been going on, she threw her arms around her, causing Kelly to burst into tears again. Sally beckoned Leah over to the bench.

‘I can’t believe that!’ Leah was shaking her head after she’d told them everything. ‘I know Anne-Marie; she isn’t a slag. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scott hadn’t told her about you either. The sneaky bastard.’

‘But all this time?’ Kelly sniffed. ‘What an idiot I’ve been.’

‘Don’t say that,’ said Sally. ‘This isn’t your doing, you’ve got to remember that. How’s Emily?’

‘That’s the sad thing,’ Kelly replied, as Julia came over with mugs of tea for them all. ‘She doesn’t seem bothered. In fact, if I’m honest, she seems better now that he’s gone.’

‘That’s good then, isn’t it? With him having to pick her up for visits, it means you’ll be tied to him, so it might work out better if they don’t see each other.’

Kelly looked on in dismay. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.

‘I can’t deprive Em of her father,’ she said. ‘I’d rather be dead than see Scott on a regular basis but I would do it, for Emily’s sake.’

Sally touched her lightly on her arm. ‘You know that’s not what I mean. If Scott really is a loser, then he probably won’t want to fetch her. You’ve got to prepare for that.’

‘So what happens now?’ Leah asked quietly.

Kelly sighed and blew her nose. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him since he pissed off last night. I suppose he’ll be in touch soon.’

It was then that she remembered something. In his rush to get out, she wondered if Scott had remembered it too.

As soon as she got home, Kelly popped Emily into her pyjamas and they settled down together on the settee. It wasn’t long before Emily was sleep. Careful not to wake her, she moved her carefully to one side and went through to her bedroom. In the cupboard over the stairs, she moved some of Emily’s toys and looked to where she had last seen the box that she’d collected for Scott. To her surprise, it was still there. She pulled it out.