Broke (37 page)

She turned and gazed down at Cassie again. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, ‘I’ll come back, if that’s what you want. And I promise I’ll stay. But you’ve got to let her go home.’

‘Why should I believe you?’ Yates asked. ‘What’s to stop you from running off again the minute my back’s turned?’

‘What would be the point?’ Amy asked. ‘You’d only take her again.’

It was the wrong thing to say, and Yates switched in a flash.

‘You don’t really want to be with me at all,’ he spat. ‘You’re only saying you’ll stay to stop me from getting at
her
. I should have fucking known. You’re all the same, you slags. Tell me what I want to hear, then shaft me the first chance you get. Well, fuck you if you think I’m falling for your lies.’

Amy realised that she’d messed up, but she had to try and rectify it before he went crazy. So, making a massive effort to keep the terror from her voice, she looked him in the eye and said, ‘I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, ’cos it isn’t. You hurt me, and it’ll take time for me to trust you again. If this is going to work, you’ve got to respect me. I don’t want any more drugs, and I won’t sleep with men for money again. If you want me, you’ve got to meet me halfway.’

The pressure was building in Yates’s head again, and her words were bouncing around his brain like bullets. No woman had ever spoken to him like this before. Marnie never shut up, but everything she said was a lie designed to con money out of him. Amy was different. She always had been. That was why he’d had to break her the first time around: because she’d refused to give him a chance. But now she was offering what he’d wanted all along: the chance of a real relationship; just the two of them; no brats, and no lingering yearnings for her dickhead of an ex.

It could work.

‘
Dream on, you little mong . . . she hates you, just like the rest of ’em did . . . Just like
I
did . . . And if a ma can’t love her own son
, no
one can!’

‘Shut up,’ Yates muttered, backing away from Amy. ‘Just keep your fucking mouth shut and let me think.’

Amy nodded and turned back to Cassie, praying that he would say they could start over. It would be hell on Earth, but she owed it to the kids.

Behind her, Yates sat down and pulled his wrap of coke out of his pocket. Unable to wait, he tipped a heap onto the back of his hand and snorted it straight up his nostrils. It smashed into the back of his throat like a burning freight train, and he grimaced as the pain ripped through his head. But, seconds later, the fog cleared and he knew he was back in control.

‘Get over here,’ he ordered. ‘And don’t even think about saying no, or you know what’ll happen.’

Amy squeezed her eyes shut as bile rose into her throat. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, ‘Not here. Not in front of Cassie.’

Yates gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. But then, standing up, he said, ‘All right, upstairs, then. And hurry up about it.’

38

In desperate need of a wee, Marnie paid the driver, hopped out of the cab and rushed inside the house.

She’d been pissed off when Lenny walked out on her that morning, and her mood had deepened as the day dragged on with no word from him. Karaoke always cheered her up, so she’d readily agreed when her sister had rung to ask if she wanted to go. But it hadn’t cheered her up this time. If anything, it had made her feel worse.

She was barely even showing yet but she felt like a beached whale, and she was sick to death of feeling nauseous all the time. And she was obviously throwing off mumsy vibes already, because not one single bloke had given her the eye all night. Not even the pissed-up rugby players who had been groping everyone from her fat sister to the bog-eyed, buck-toothed barmaid. And, to cap it all, she hadn’t even been able to have a proper drink, because her sister had gone all pregnancy-police on her.

After relieving herself, Marnie came back downstairs in search of alcohol to take the edge off her depression. But a faint sound when she walked into the living room stopped her in her tracks. Sure that it was coming from next door, she walked over to the wall that divided her house from Amy’s and pressed her ear against it.

It sounded like a child crying, but how was that possible? Amy hadn’t been back to the house in weeks, and the kids had been living with Mark for the best part of a year.

But that was definitely a child she could hear. And it didn’t seem like anyone was in any hurry to see what was wrong with it.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Marnie opened the door and tiptoed through the grass to take a peek through Amy’s window. It was pitch dark in there, so she couldn’t see anything. But she could hear the child even more clearly now.

She stepped over the small fence, walked up to Amy’s door and knocked a couple of times. She got no answer, but the crying stopped abruptly, so she raised the letter-box flap and called: ‘Amy . . . are you in there?’

When dead silence came back to her, she retreated back to her own house, wondering if she’d imagined it. Lenny talked to himself sometimes, as if he was having a conversation with someone invisible. Maybe it was a ghost?

Marnie tutted as the thought entered her head, and told herself to stop being so stupid. It was no ghost, it was definitely a real child she’d heard. And the only explanation she could think of was that Amy was back, and Mark must have let her have the kids for the night – and she’d gone back to her old tricks and left them on their own.

Angry now, she pulled her phone out of her bag and rang Amy’s mobile. It was switched off, so she called Mark instead. It was possible that Amy was asleep and hadn’t heard her knocking but, with her history, Marnie would rather be safe than sorry.

In a light sleep on Steve’s couch, Mark was jolted awake by the sound of his phone ringing. They had hit a brick wall in their search for Amy earlier, and after several hours of driving around had decided to come back here and wait for Yates or Amy to contact them. Hoping that it was one of them now, he sat up and snatched his phone off the table.

‘Mark, it’s me,’ Marnie said before he could speak. ‘Sorry if I’ve disturbed you, and I hope you don’t think I’m speaking out of turn, but I’m a bit worried.’

‘Why, what’s up?’ Mark was wide awake now. ‘Is it about Cassie? Have you seen her? Was Amy with her?’

‘I haven’t seen them,’ said Marnie. ‘But I’ve just heard Cass crying, and no one’s answering the door. I’m not being funny, but if you’ve let Amy have her for the night, I think you’d best come and check on her.’

‘What about Yates?’ Mark asked, already pulling his jacket on. ‘Have you seen him?’

‘Why?’ Suspicion leapt into Marnie’s voice. ‘What’s he got to do with anything?’

‘If Cassie’s there, he is an’ all,’ said Mark, trotting up the stairs and tapping on Steve’s bedroom door. He felt bad for disturbing them, because Layla had looked worn out when they got back. But if Marnie was right, he needed Steve to drive him over to the house.

Marnie had gone quiet, but Mark could hear the heaviness of her breathing as she digested what he’d just said.

‘If you’re saying what I think you’re saying,’ she said after a moment, ‘I’ll kill him!’

‘Don’t go round there!’ Mark said sharply, guessing that that was exactly what she was about to do. ‘Just stay out of this or Cassie might get hurt.’

Already at her door, Marnie hesitated. ‘What you talking about?’

‘He took Cassie earlier,’ Mark explained, waving for Steve to follow him back down the stairs when his bleary-eyed friend came out of the bedroom. ‘He said he’d let me have her back when he saw Amy. We thought she’d done a runner, but if they’re in hers she must have found him. Just do me a favour and keep an eye on the house till I get there. Let me know if they leave.’

‘Why should I?’ Marnie protested. ‘He’s supposed to be with me now, so why shouldn’t I go and kick the pair of their heads in?’

‘Because he’s got a gun!’ Mark barked. ‘And if you kick off, my daughter might get hurt. Just stay out of it until I’ve got Cassie out, then you can do what the fuck you want.’

Mark cut the call now and turned to Steve.

‘They’re at the old house. Get your keys.’

Marnie couldn’t settle after talking to Mark. Her mind was reeling, and her stomach was so tightly clenched that she felt sicker than ever.

She was furious to think that Amy still had such a hold over Lenny, after everything he’d said to the contrary and everything Marnie had done to support him. But whatever she felt about Amy, she couldn’t get Mark’s words out of her head.

Lenny was about to be a father. How could he be so cruel as to snatch an innocent child and use it to force its mother to come back to him? That was disgusting.

And what if Mark was right about the gun? What if it went off and Cassie got hit?

Unable to bear the thought, Marnie reached for her phone.

Mark had told her not to interfere, but she would never forgive herself if something happened to that child and she’d done nothing to prevent it.

39

Tears trickled down Amy’s cheeks and soaked the pillow below her head. Yates had banged away at her for ages but he hadn’t been able to keep it up, so now he was pacing the bedroom floor, sucking angrily on a cigarette.

‘This is your fault,’ he said, kicking the bed as he passed and glaring at her in the dark. ‘You’ve fucked everything up.’

‘I didn’t mean to,’ Amy whimpered, desperate to get to her frightened child, who she’d heard crying a few minutes ago. ‘I swear on the kids’ lives I won’t run away again.’

‘That’s what they all say, but they all run in the end. ’Cos you’re a retard, and they can’t stand the fuckin’ sight of you . . .’

‘Shut up!’ Yates punched the side of his head in an effort to silence his mother’s voice.

‘
Mongy little Lenny
,’ she sneered. ‘
Kissed the girls and made ’em cry, hung himself but wouldn’t die. . . .
’

‘I’m warning you,’ Yates hissed, his hand involuntarily going to his throat as the memory of the belt cutting into his flesh washed over him. ‘Shut your mouth, or I’ll kill you!’

‘I didn’t say anything,’ Amy cried.

‘I’m not talking to
you
!’ Yates roared. ‘Stay out of this – it’s got nothing to do with you!’

Scared now, Amy eased herself up in the bed. ‘Lenny, come and sit down,’ she urged. ‘There’s no one here but us.’

‘
She
’s here,’ he snapped, his eyes glinting crazily as he turned and stared at her. ‘She’s
always
here. Don’t pretend you can’t hear her.’

‘I’m ignoring her,’ Amy said carefully, guessing that he had finally flipped. ‘She doesn’t matter. We’re all that matters – you and me.’

Yates gave a sharp, bitter laugh. ‘She won’t let us be together. She’s just gonna keep on pecking and pecking till there’s nothing left, can’t you see that?’

‘We’re stronger than her,’ Amy said, wondering who the hell he was talking about. ‘We can beat her if we stick together.’

‘No, we can’t,’ Yates said defeatedly. ‘I’ve tried, but you don’t know her, you don’t know what she’s like. She’s evil, and she won’t stop till she destroys us.’

He paced the floor from wall to wall and back again. Then, turning back to Amy, he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

‘What are you doing?’ she squealed when he pulled her off the bed. ‘Lenny, stop it! Talk to me!’

‘Too late for talking,’ he said through gritted teeth as he dragged her out onto the landing. ‘There’s only one way to get away from her. You want to be with me, don’t you?’

‘Yes, but not like this,’ Amy protested, tripping as he hauled her down the stairs. ‘You’re going to frighten Cassie.’

‘She’s coming with us,’ said Yates, pushing open the living-room door. ‘Sorry I couldn’t get the other one, but the three of us will be all right.’

Cassie was huddled on the couch, trying to stifle her sobs with the quilt. She took a fearful breath when Yates stalked into the room, but she stopped breathing altogether when she saw the hazy shape behind him.

‘Sit with her and keep her quiet while I get things ready,’ Yates said, hurling Amy towards the couch. ‘What do I need . . . what do I need?’

Amy pulled Cassie into her arms and held her tight, her gaze riveted on Yates as he walked in a circle, punching at his head. She’d always known that he had a screw loose, but this was real madness, and she was seriously scared.

‘It’s okay, baby, Mummy’s here,’ she whispered, her mouth against Cassie’s hair. ‘I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.’

Cassie was rigid in her arms, and the little girl’s young mind reeled. Her mummy was here: she could see her, hear her, smell her. But her mummy hated her, so it couldn’t be real. It had to be a dream – a bad, bad dream.

40

‘Whatever happens, just stay calm,’ Steve cautioned when he had parked up around the corner from Amy’s house.

‘Easy for you to say,’ said Mark, his legs shaking wildly as he climbed out of the car. ‘It’s not your kid in there with him. I could fucking kill Amy for taking off like that. Why didn’t she ring to let me know she’d found them? She knew how worried I was.’

‘He probably wouldn’t let her,’ Steve murmured, remembering what Amy had told him. ‘And I wouldn’t be too hard on her, ’cos it’s been a nightmare for her, all this.’

‘Whatever,’ Mark muttered, setting off down the road. Steve might have fallen for Amy’s sob story but Mark was having none of it. She’d had a row with Yates, but now they were back together she obviously thought she could keep Cassie and Mark would just roll over and accept it. Well, she was wrong. Mark had custody, and he wasn’t leaving until he got his daughter back.

‘What we gonna do?’ Steve asked as they neared the house.

‘Knock on the door and tell him I want Cassie back,’ said Mark. ‘He can’t say no – he knows I’ve got the law on my side. Anyhow, he’s got what he wanted.’

‘Didn’t you say Marnie said she’d already knocked and got no answer?’

‘Even better if they’re not there.’ Mark shrugged. ‘I’ve got my key. I’ll just let myself in and take her.’