by K Leitch
Susan gasped, ‘Oh my god Gordon, where the hell did you get that…oh no no this is getting madder and madder. We can’t do this, what if we get caught…that’s murder we could go to prison!’
‘We could go to prison for what we’ve already done you stupid bitch,’ said Gordon bitterly. ‘I knew I should have put a stop to it all those years ago, well I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I am not prepared to have some jumped up little wannabe gangster threatening my family for the rest of my life…it stops here. You just get him here, I will do the rest. It will be fine, why on earth would anybody connect us to this murderer. No one is even aware that we know him…he will just disappear.’
Susan was by no means convinced; and they argued long into the night. But next morning Susan left a message on the number she had been given by O’Bruin; saying that she had the money and she would make sure her house was empty the following evening for him to come and collect it. She didn’t get a reply, but she hadn’t expected one. So she began to make plans; the children could go to her mother’s for the night, and Gordon would appear to set off for one of his meetings (just in case O’Bruin was watching the house). He would then double back through the gate at the end of the garden and hide himself in the shed, and wait for Susan to do her part. That was going to be the tricky bit; Susan wasn’t convinced that O’Bruin would be stupid enough to allow himself to be led anywhere. So she had to think of a convincing reason why she had to give him the money in the shed. She decided that the best way was to tell him that she thought the house was being watched, and that the only place that wasn’t overlooked was the shed. Which in actual fact was no more than the truth; the shed was surrounded by apple trees and was completely secluded. Well all she could hope for, was that he would go for it and that Gordon didn’t mess up. In fact the more she thought about it the more Susan liked the idea of getting rid of Craig O’Bruin once and for all. He was the last person to know about what they had done all those years ago; once he was dead they were home free.
CHAPTER 46 - HELEN
Helen woke to the snuffling cries of her daughter; she looked at the clock on the bedside cabinet, it was 3.30.am.
‘Wow that was good going little girl,’ she said as she gathered Abby, blankets and all, from her crib which was next to the bed and put her to her full breast, wincing a bit as the tiny mouth latched on greedily.
‘By my reckoning that’s four and a bit hours since you were last fed; what a good girl you are…yes you are,’ she smiled down at the serious little face that stared back up at her, ‘…and soo beautiful…oh yes who’s my beautiful girl,’ she cooed, smoothing the downy hair, her heart filling with joy as a tiny hand clutched at her finger.
Helen had never expected to feel so much joy; she had always longed for motherhood, but these indescribable feelings of love and contentment were all new to her.
There were still a couple of clouds still on her horizon though; Maggie still hadn’t been in touch, unless you count a congratulations card and voucher. She still hadn’t been to see the baby and Helen had been too much of a coward to phone her, she made a promise to herself to do that first thing in the morning. And Helen was worried about Maya; everything had been wonderful when Helen had been in hospital. Maya had been so supportive and overjoyed, almost as much as Helen, when baby Abby had made her appearance. She had made Helen’s homecoming really special too; there were spring flowers everywhere, and she had cooked a wonderful meal. But in the days that had followed she had become increasingly distant and quiet. She was still as wonderfully efficient as she had ever been; the house was still spotless and there were delicious meals in the freezer for Helen. But she was spending less and less time at home; she needed to make sure her neighbour was ok…she had promised a friend that she would spend the evening with them…her sister needed her to look after her children.
Helen was aware that she had been monopolising Maya’s time over the last couple of months; so of course she probably had let things slide with her family and friends. It was just that Helen had hoped that she would want to be a part of Abby’s life, that she’d want to be a part of Helen’s life. But maybe she had got this all wrong…maybe Maya had just been a good employee and Helen had read something into all of her attentions. Helen was amazed at how much the thought of losing Maya hurt her; she needed to set sometime aside and talk to her. She was going to have to be brave and tell Maya how she really felt, even though she wasn’t really sure how to put it into words…no that was a lie, she knew very well how she felt about her…she was in love with her.
Helen had fought against her attraction to Maya; she had friends that she loved with all her heart, but what she felt for Maya was very different. She loved the look of her, she felt happy when she was near, but more importantly she wanted to hold her, kiss her, if Maya brushed against her accidentally, Helen’s skin tingled…Maya aroused her. Sex had never been a major factor in Helen’s relationships; it was not that she didn’t enjoy it, but she could live without it. The sexual attraction she felt for Maya though would not be denied, she thought about it all the time and she had been pretty sure that Maya felt the same… but that was last week, she was not so sure now. She had to talk to her…soon.
Abby had fallen asleep whilst all of this soul searching had been going on; so Helen gently put her back into the crib, and settled back down to try get some sleep. Abby would be up again in a few hours and she needed to rest; she was just beginning to doze off when she heard a noise coming from downstairs. Maya had said that she would be out late and might not come home; so Helen presumed she had changed her mind. She wondered whether she should get up and have that talk with her now, but thought better of it…she might have had a few drinks, it would be better discussed sober. She could hear noises in the kitchen; she was probably hungry after her night out, but then the footsteps seemed to be going into the living room, she heard a drawer being opened and closed and then another. Why would Maya be looking through the lounge dresser? And at this time of night too; Helen decided to get up and see what she was looking for, maybe she could help.
She put on her dressing gown and headed out onto the landing and started down the stairs.
‘Maya…are you so drunk that you’ve forgotten your way upstairs…’ she began, but was then shocked out of her wits when a man dressed all in black rushed along the hall way in front of her. Helen let out a scream and turned to go back up the way she had come, but the man caught her by her feet and she went flying down the stairs landing on her bottom with a thump. She tried to stand but was pushed down again.
‘You keep quiet and tell me where the money is and you won’t get hurt…you get me?’ the man said in a broad Irish accent.
Helen shook her head, ‘What money…I don’t have any money…’ she began, only to be pulled up and thrown against the staircase.
‘Look don’t you feck me around sweetheart,’ he rasped at her, ‘you sell your pictures for bundles, you live in this fecking big posh house…don’t tell me there’s no fecking money…now where is it or I’ll have to start tearing this place apart.’
Helen was terrified; she could smell the alcohol on his breath, and his eyes (which were all she could see of his face) looked glazed and vacant, he was obviously drugged up to the eyeballs.
‘Look…’ she began falteringly, ‘…please…I don’t keep money in the house but you can have my jewellery and I have some old silver that was left to me, take that… take anything but please don’t hurt us…please…NO!’ she backed away as he came at her in a fury.
‘Fecking jewellery, fecking silver…what the feck am I meant to do with that…I need money, cash… you get me? I don’t have time to be selling your fecking jewellery and silver, I need money and if I don’t get it someone’s going to get hurt…’
‘OK…please ok I’ll get it, I have a bit in my purse…it’s in the kitchen…wait I’ll get it.’ Helen sped past him into the kitchen. She only just stopped herself screaming out in terror a
gain, when saw Maya standing with eyes as big as saucers behind the door with an enormous cast iron skillet in her hands. Maya put her fingers to her lips telling Helen to be quiet; Helen controlled herself and looked straight ahead to her handbag hanging on the kitchen chair. She grabbed her purse out of the bag and handed it to her assailant, who had followed her drunkenly into the kitchen.
‘How much d’you have?’ he said as he grabbed the purse from her and pulled out the notes, ‘thirty pounds, where the feck is that going to…’ Maya bashed him over the head with the skillet and he fell to the ground. Helen collapsed in tears and ran over to hug Maya.
‘Oh thank goodness you came home; I thought he was going to kill me…I thought he might hurt Abby…’
Although Helen could feel she was shaking herself, Maya tried to calm her, stroking her hair. ‘All over now…come… I make you hot drink…’
‘No,’ said Helen detaching herself from Maya’s arms, ‘we must call the police, perhaps we should tie him up first…oh bloody hell, the phone is upstairs next to my bed, watch him Maya while I get it.’ She rushed upstairs and into her room, quickly checking on Abby who had slept peacefully through it all. She grabbed the phone and ran back downstairs, only to find that the back door was wide open and the thief had fled.
Helen turned to Maya angrily, ‘I thought you were watching him…bloody hell Maya I was only gone a couple of minutes…’
‘I am sorry…so so sorry…I only leave him for seconds…call police maybe they can chase him,’ wailed Maya tearfully.
Helen put her arm round her, ‘Don’t worry…at least he’s gone. I’ll phone the police now, maybe they will be able to track him down, I didn’t see much of him though, did you?’
Maya shook her head and began weeping in earnest, ‘Sorry Helen…please forgive me…I’m so sorry.’ Maya seemed distraught, so Helen spent a few minutes calming her down before she got round to phoning the police. The policewoman on the desk said that they would be sending someone round; so Helen made a hot drink for them both and they sat and waited.
They sat in awkward silence; all of the ease that they had naturally had with each other seemed to have disappeared, and Helen kept on feeling like she needed to fill the silence with inane chatter.
What was going on?
What had changed?
What had she done wrong?
Maybe she had just expected too much; but whatever it was, Maya could not look her in the eye. Tears were still steaming down her face, and it seemed like she wished she was anywhere else rather than sitting here with Helen.
The police arrived quite quickly and Helen began telling them what had happened. They listened and took notes; although Helen had only seen the man’s eyes and Maya said she only saw him from the back. And it was soon obvious to Helen that they didn’t have nearly enough information to be able to find this man.
‘How did he get in?’ the taller of the two officers asked, I don’t see any broken windows, was the door forced?’
Helen looked at Maya, she hadn’t thought about that, ‘Um…I’m not sure really, I just presumed he must have picked the lock or something. He must have been very quiet because I was awake feeding the baby, I only became aware of noises when I heard him in the kitchen…I thought it must be Maya coming in late. But then I heard footsteps going into the living room and opening cupboards…so I went downstairs.’
‘And when did you get home Miss?’ he asked Maya.
‘I get home very late, the kitchen door is open so I know something is not right…when I go inside I hear Helen crying and someone shouting…so I look round the door and I see him with Helen in the hall. I get big skillet from cupboard and wait…then I hit him…I think he is …um knock out…but he ran away when I turn my back,’ she finished keeping her head down. The policeman looked as if he would have liked to say more but he was interrupted by the other one.
You said the man kept asking you for “the money”,’ he asked Helen, ‘what do you think he meant? Do you have any large amounts of money in the house that he might have known about…it seems very specific you see “the money” as opposed to someone just breaking in looking for valuables? In fact you say he wasn’t interested in the valuables you offered him, he just wanted cash…why would he think you had cash lying around?’
‘Well I don’t,’ said Helen confused, ‘…although as it happens until yesterday I did have about four and half thousand pounds in a drawer in the living room. I had sold one of my canvases you see, and then what with going into labour and having the baby, I sort of forgot that I hadn’t banked it. Normally if I am paid in cash I try and bank the money as soon as possible. But anyway, Maya took it to the bank for me yesterday… so there was no cash in the house, was there Maya?’
Maya shook her head, her eyes still streaming, ‘No I take…in morning yesterday…here I will get book to show.’ She went out to the kitchen and brought back Helen's paying in book and showed the two officers the stamped page…sure enough £4624.89 had been deposited in Helen’s bank account the day before.
The shorter of the two officers stood and paced the room for a minute then turning he said, ‘It seems a bit coincidental that you had that cash in the house the day before you were broken into, was there any way that anyone else could have known about that money?’
Helen was shaking her head, ‘No I don’t think so, unless…well I suppose the man that paid me for the canvas would have known, but that was a few days ago before my daughter was born, surely he would have realised that I would have banked the money. And he wasn’t Irish; in fact he was very public schoolboy English and short and plump, definitely not the same man. Look officers, I am sorry but I need to get some sleep before my daughter wakes up again, and I know Maya is exhausted. Can we do the rest of this tomorrow…or later today rather? I’m sorry we haven’t been much help but really it all happened so fast and we were both in a state of shock…maybe we’ll remember something when we’ve had a chance to sleep.’
The policemen both stood to leave. ‘Of course madam, we’ll be in touch if we need anything more from you, um just one more thing Miss Dronski,’ he said turning to Maya, ‘how long have you been in Mrs Drover’s employment?’
‘I can answer that,’ said Helen before Maya had a chance to speak, ‘Maya’s been with me for about three months now, why?’
‘And where were you before Miss Dronski?’ said the officer looking pointedly at Maya.
Maya sighed and raised tearful eyes to him, ‘I work in Birmingham…Mrs…um, Chowdry …then I come here …work for Helen,’ she said quietly.
‘I see,’ he persisted, ‘and I take it you live in? Did you live in at your last place of work?’
Helen interrupted again, ‘It seemed sensible for Maya to move in, especially now…with the baby. She is a great help, I don’t know what I would do without her.’
‘I’m sure she is…um would you be able to give us the full address of your last place of work Miss Dronski…at your convenience of course… um goodnight ladies, I hope you manage to get a few hours sleep before the little one wakes up…ah babies what a bloody nightmare, I remember it well.’
Helen showed them to the door and then went back into the living room. Something was seriously wrong with Maya and she intended to find out what. But the living room was empty, so was the kitchen, Maya had gone to bed. ‘Ok,’ thought Helen, ‘but she won’t be able to avoid me so easily tomorrow, it’s time I got to the bottom of this…whatever it is.’
She heard a thin wail coming from her bedroom…Abby was awake, time to feed her daughter again.
CHAPTER 47
Duncan sat in his van staring at the picture on his wall. It was of him and his grandfather; they were smiling happily at the camera, fishing rods in hand and old Joe had that stupid hat on, the one that made him look like Charlie Chaplin. Duncan smiled to himself, he was sure his grandfather had only worn that old thing to wind him up, he never saw him in it any other time than when they went fishing.
/>
‘It’s me fishing hat son,’ he would say when Duncan teased him about it, ‘never catch a fecking thing without I’m wearing it.’
The truth was they never caught a fecking thing anyway; but Duncan had loved those trips with his granddad…special times…never again, old Joe had passed away earlier that evening. He had never come round after the stroke. Duncan had rushed him and Martha to the hospital, but it was evident pretty quickly that the old man wasn’t going to survive this one. They had sat next to him each holding a hand as he had slipped away. Martha had been distraught; and the doctor had given her something to help her sleep. Poppy, kind sweet Poppy, had put aside her own grief and helped Duncan get Martha to bed before making sure that Duncan himself was fed and watered, her kindness had driven him to tears and he had cried buckets thinking about the wonderful old man that had loved him so much.
Now though his mind was turning towards more practical matters, like what the hell was he going to do with Martha? Obviously he couldn’t leave her to fend for herself; maybe he could hire someone again, like he had with Mary. Oh sure because that had worked out well hadn’t it? No maybe not hire someone, what about a care home then…but he had seen so many documentaries on the box lately about elderly people being mistreated in some of these homes, how would he ever be sure that she was ok? No he had to look after her himself; but, and here was the problem, he couldn’t look after her properly in her caravan. Somehow he was going to have to persuade her to leave her beloved van and move into a proper bricks and mortar house with him.
Duncan still had a bit of money left over from the sale of his flat, and he knew that Joe and Martha had a huge amount of savings, so money wasn’t going to be a problem. He had got very fond of this little village that they had found themselves in, even made a few friends. So it made sense that they find something round here, especially if his grandfather was to be buried locally. Oh god the funeral; that was something he would have to sort out as soon as he could. Maybe Poppy would help him; he had no idea where to start. Duncan put his head in his hands; he needed to sleep, time to worry about all of this in the morning.
