by G H Mockford
‘I’ve learned to be.’
‘Just promise me you weren’t, you, know, touching them or anything.
‘You don’t honestly believe that, do you?’
Stephen was silent for a moment and then opened the door. ‘Of course not.’
‘If I think of anything else, or Donna, or the police call, I’ll let you know.’
Stephen nodded and got out of the car. As soon as he was clear, the Mercedes pulled away as if the car itself was afraid for its well-being.
There were still a couple of hours before work, so Stephen walked to the library and received a smile from the woman behind the counter.
‘I need a computer,’ Stephen said.
‘Of course you do,’ the librarian said, her face serious. ‘Where have you been?’
‘Just busy,’ Stephen replied. He didn’t have the time or inclination to go into it.
‘We’ve been worried about you,’ the librarian said as she followed Stephen to the computer zone.
‘That’s nice,’ Stephen smiled. ‘I’m sorry if I worried you.’
‘Oh, it’s okay. You’re just a part of the furniture.’
Stephen sat on the computer chair and logged into his account. He clicked on Google Chrome. The computer was frustratingly slow as the internet finally started.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ the librarian said.
Stephen grunted a goodbye and went to his Facebook page. He typed Georgia Mellors into the search bar and waited. A quick scroll through the list and he found his half-sister.
A sigh of relief escaped Stephen’s lips. Georgia had a public profile. He clicked on her friends list and began to trawl through it. Two hundred and eighty-six people.
A half hour later, Stephen had found no Americans on the list so he logged out. It was a long shot at best and it looked like a trip to The Broadway tomorrow was the next best bet. Cliff was sure to let him have the time off.
Thanking the librarian on the way out, Stephen headed to work. He stepped through the door and ran his eyes over the interior of The Manor. There were no visible additions today.
‘You’re early,’ Cliff greeted him.
‘Can I swap an hour or two for tomorrow? I need to go into town from about four ‘til six.’
‘Sure, as long as you promise to be back in time for the karaoke.’
Stephen tried his best to hide his disappointment and said, ‘You decided to go for it then?’
‘You’ve got to strike while the iron is hot. Oh, and there’s a man coming at four today to teach you how to operate the system,’ Cliff slipped in not too casually.
‘What?!’
‘Why pay someone to come in and run it. I’ve got a laptop and five thousand songs. The TVs and PA are already set up. Brian’s coming in to introduce you to your new best friend.’
‘I hate karaoke. Do I get a pay rise now that I’m entertainment manager?’
Cliff raised his eyebrows. ‘Come on, everyone loves singing. Just look at the pretty girls and ignore the quality of the performance.’
‘Since when has The Manor attracted pretty girls?’
‘Tonight’s the night. Singing and a handsome young man to take care of your wants and desires.’
‘I thought you had me pegged for DC Chambers?’
‘Oh, that reminds me. She’s coming to see you. She rang here and left a message.’
*
The new entertainment went better than Stephen expected. Three people had a go. All on the same song. At the same time.
Only O.J. and Jacqui and Jackie were left in the louge, and Stephen returned to the comfort of the bar when the throaty roar of the motorcycle signaled Chambers’ arrival.
‘I’ll start wiping tables so you two can be alone,’ Cliff said with a cheeky wink. Stephen shook his head at the old man’s fantasies.
Chambers came through the door. Confident and self-assured as usual with her helmet tucked under her arm and leather jacket undone. She marched up to the bar, smiled at Stephen and checked it was clean before putting her helmet down. ‘Lemonade, please.’
‘Don’t you want something stronger before you try the karaoke?’ Stephen asked.
‘There’s karaoke?’
‘There’s supposed to be.’
‘Anyone sings, and I’m out of here.’
Stephen smiled. ‘Wish I had that choice. I don’t think there’s much danger,’ Stephen said jerking his head out at the gathering of old people in the corner. What can I do for you, DC Chambers?’
‘I’m afraid this isn’t a social call.’
‘What a shame,’ Stephen said more confidently than he felt.
‘That car was a dead end, I’m afraid,’ Chambers said, her tone turning professional. ‘Even with the partial number plate there are just too many black Ford Focuses it could be. Using the CCTV we managed to track the car to Radcliff, but then it disappeared. We’ve asked Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Derbyshire police to keep an eye out, but I’m not holding out much hope.’
Stephen placed a pint of lemonade on the bar. ‘Anything else? Crisps?’
‘You’re joking. Do you know the damage those things do to your teeth?’ Chambers pulled out a bunch of screwed up bank notes.
‘It’s okay,’ Stephen said, holding up his hand.
‘I can pay,’ she replied
‘It’s not like you’re stealing it, officer, it’s my treat.’
Chambers smiled and the features he once thought of as cold, suddenly didn’t seem that way at all. ‘I see you know how to show a girl a good time.’
‘I’m a little out of practice to be honest.’
A loud cough came from across the lounge. It was Cliff. ‘Stephen, I’m sorry to interrupt, but could you come over and pack up the equipment?’
‘In a second, Cliff.’
‘I said now,’ the publican said, staring at Stephen with wide eyes.
Stephen made his apologies and exited the bar.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Cliff said as soon as he was close enough.
‘I’ve come to pack up like you asked.’
Cliff tried to put his arm around Stephen’s shoulders but gave up when he realized he couldn’t reach. ‘What the hell are you doing? Don’t tell her you’re a lonely sad sack.’
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Well, you might as well have. Look she’s come late. We’re about to close up. There’s only one reason why she’s done that. And don’t pretend you weren’t trying it on. I was listening. Now let’s at least look like we’re talking about this equipment.’
Stephen started detaching cables.
‘Don’t listen to him.’
The new voice made both men jump. ‘Bloody hell, Annie love. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’
‘Keep snoring the way you have lately and I might have to arrange it,’ Annie said to her husband. Then she turned to Stephen. ‘Don’t listen to him. If it had been left to him, we’d never have so much as said hello. I had to ask him out.’
‘You didn’t,’ Cliff protested.
Stephen looked on as the pair began to argue and then returned to Chambers. He pulled up a bar stool and sat next to her. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘She’s right you know,’ Chambers said as she took off her biker jacket and hung it on a hook under the lip of the bar.
‘Who? Annie?’
Chambers nodded and took a sip of lemonade from the straw she must have added to it. ‘You should just be yourself.’
Stephen smiled.
‘There’s no such thing as being too keen either. Or forward in my book.’
‘I can assure you officer, I won’t be guilty of either.’
Chambers raised her eyebrows. ‘You can stop any kinky police ideas right now,’ she said with a straight face.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t–’
Chambers laughed. ‘Relax, Stephen.’
There was a cough from behind them. It was a little mo
re subtle this time. ‘O.J.’s gone, and the ladies. My bed’s calling. Are you okay to lock up?’ Cliff said.
‘Nothing I can’t handle.’
‘Oh yes, he’s good with his hands our Stephen,’ Cliff said giving the policewoman a nudge with his elbow.
‘How would you know?’ Chambers asked.
‘Goodnight, Cliff,’ Stephen said. ‘Annie’s waiting.’
The landlord nodded and wandered over to the door up to the apartment and took his wife’s hand. ‘You kids behave,’ Cliff said before the married couple slipped through the door and laughed as they rushed upstairs.
Forty-Eight
Georgia stirred. It was dark in the room again. Her sleep had been poor and disjointed. The drugs didn’t help. If anything they fueled her nightmares. Not that they could be any worse than her reality.
‘Georgia!’
‘Felicity?’ the sixteen-year-old replied and then crawled to the fireplace. ‘You’re alive,’ she blurted before she could filter her thoughts.
‘I wish I wasn’t.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Georgia said, crawling into the firebox. The chain snapped tight.
‘He…he…’
‘I know,’ Georgia said, trying to relieve the burden of admitting the terrible truth.
‘I’m going to die, aren’t I?’
‘No. Don’t say that. It’s just a broken leg.’
‘I don’t know what he’s given me, but I can’t feel a thing. I’m stranded here. Trapped on this bed. I’m going to die here in pain, infected by my own filth.’
Georgia wanted to shout out, to tell her to shut up. Felicity’s mood was bringing her down too. ‘We’ll escape. We’ll find a way. I promise.’
‘Even if we could — and we can’t — my leg doesn’t work anymore. How would we leave the room, let alone walk out the house, across empty fields and over to Papplewick?’
‘Papplewick? We’re near Papplewick? I live in the next village — Linby. If we can get away, I know people who will help us.’ Georgia started to feel the return of the hope she’d felt slip away. To think her mother and Fraser were so close and yet so far away.
‘You don’t understand. The bone’s sticking out through my leg. I can’t walk. I’m probably infected. I’m going to die a slow and horrible death.’ Felicity’s voice sounded more resigned than afraid. It filled Georgia with dread.
‘I could get away. I could bring back help. My mum used to be a psychologist. She always says half the battle’s in your mind. We need to stay positive, Felicity.’ Georgia couldn’t believe what she was saying. It was like having someone who needed her gave her the strength she needed to carry on.
‘Your parents don’t care about you, Georgia. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but it’s true. It’s why you ran away.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Yes it is, and you know it. Why else would you run away?
‘It’s Annalise’s fault.’
‘Annalise?’
‘Yeah. I should never have listened to her.’
‘Why, what did she say?’
‘She encouraged me to do it. Promised me she would show me the world.’
‘Is she your friend?’
‘Yeah,’ Georgia answered. ‘She was. I was hanging out in town, moaning about school and stuff. Then she came and joined me and my friends. She was older. Funny. She was American. We all thought she was cool – like a big sister. She would give us cigs and stuff. We’d meet up occasionally, then, a few months back, she had a party. Fraser said I couldn’t go.’
‘Fraser?’
‘He’s my dad.’
‘Then why don’t you call him that?’
‘He was my mum’s ‘friend’. I always called him Fraser. Then, one day, Mum turned round and told me he was moving in. Mum was happy. I was happy. He was okay — bit strict at times. Then, bam, five months later they drop the big one on me. He’s actually my biological father.’
‘That’s fucked up,’ Felicity said.
‘It’s okay. It was just a shock. I never got out of the habit of calling him by his name.’
‘So you couldn’t go to this party,’ Felicity prompted.
‘I went anyway. Mum and F– Dad argued about it before. Argued about it after. Then they told me I wasn’t to see Annalise ever again. Said she was a bad influence.’
‘I guess she was,’ Felicity said from the darkness.
‘I acted like a spoiled brat,’ Georgia said. The two rooms went silent for a while except for the wind rushing past the outside of the house.
‘Anyway,’ Georgia continued, ‘I carried on seeing her. I wasn’t going to let them tell me what to do. Back in the summer I finished my exams, so we decided to go for it. The plan was that I would run away, bring my passport and any money I had. And then we’d get on a plane and fly away.’
‘So why didn’t you?’
Georgia started to cry. She cursed herself. She’d not cried for a while. ‘I got to The Broadway, where she said she’d meet me, but she wasn’t there.’
‘But you were on the street for two weeks,’ Felicity started. ‘Why didn’t you go back home when you realized you’d made a mistake?’
‘Pride? I don’t know. Stupid really. I went back to the Broadway a few times to see if she was there, but soon I started to look a mess and they wouldn’t let me in.’
‘I thought you said you had money?’
‘Fraser put it in a special account, a bond or something, that I can’t access until I’m eighteen.’
‘This Fraser sounds a right wanker. I knew a Fraser once.’
‘Was he a wanker too?’
‘No. He was lovely. So was his wife.’
‘So what’s your story?’ Georgia asked.
‘I’m tired.’
Felicity said no more and Georgia was left with her own thoughts. She should have gone back home the moment Annalise never turned up. She’d been stupid. Georgia started to cry.
‘Don’t cry,’ Felicity said from the other room.
‘I’m going to die, aren’t I?’
‘Hey!’ Felicity shouted. ‘Positive outlook remember.’
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ Georgia said, wiping away her tears. ‘We’ll get away. I promise. We’ll have to start thinking. It’s these damn chains that are the problem. Perhaps we could convince him to take them off.’
‘I tried that. It’s why I, you know, did it the first time.’
Georgia felt sick. How could Felicity stoop so low? Could she? Could she give herself to him for a chance of freedom? Georgia thought for a moment and said, ‘He’s angry with you, perhaps I could use that to make him like me more.’
‘Do you know anything about men? You know, about how to–’
‘No,’ Georgia answered. The one thing she felt so proud of – many of the girls in her school had already lost their virginity – suddenly seemed like a burden. Thank God Eddie had rescued her that night.
‘Just think about what you’ve seen on the tele and on pop videos.’
‘Oh god, I can’t believe that we’re even having this conversation.’ Georgia gave a nervous giggle. Would giving herself to him be any different from what the night clubber tried to do to her?
She didn’t have time to wonder about the answer.
The key slid into the lock of her door.
Forty-Nine
He stood in the doorway.
Back in her chair, Georgia stared defiantly at the space below the headlamp even though it hurt her eyes and forced her to blink.
‘Which of you is it today, you bastard?’ she hissed. He tipped his head to one side. ‘I’ll assume you’re the silent one as you’re not answering.’
The light moved from her face and to her plate.
‘You’re not as smart as you think,’ Georgia taunted him. ‘There’s two of you, isn’t there?’ That’s why sometimes you talk and other times you don’t.’
He moved across the room, shone the light right into her eyes and the
n picked up the plate. ‘You’re not as clever as you think,’ he whispered. ‘You should be a little nicer to me.’ Georgia flinched at the sudden heat from his fingers as they caressed her cold cheek. ‘I’m going to need a new favourite soon.’
‘W…what do you mean by that?’
‘I’ve grown weary of Felicity. She’s no challenge to me anymore. I prefer someone with a little more…fight.’ The light moved away.
‘Oh, I’ll fight you. You’ll never take me.’
‘Oh,’ he said, mocking her. ‘I thought you had precisely the opposite in mind.’
Georgia froze for a moment. Had he been outside the whole time? Did he know about the fireplace? Hopefully he thought they were just talking through the wall. ‘Didn’t mummy teach you it was rude to listen to other people’s conversations?’
‘Mummy killed herself when I was small. I was the one who found her swinging from the tree in the garden. I remember,’ he paused, whether it was because he was upset or if it was to add drama, Georgia wasn’t sure. She couldn’t help but think it was all an act. ‘I remember,’ he continued, ‘how she looked down at me as the last moments of her life slipped from her cruel, terrible grasp. Her voice was quiet, no doubt due to a lack of air coming out of her lungs when she said, “You’ve done this to me. You”.’
Georgia remained in her chair and fought the natural inclination to say she was sorry.
‘I had the last laugh though,’ he said, suddenly brightening up. ‘I pissed all over her twitching legs and then wrapped myself around them and sat on her feet. My extra weight finished the job. Such a satisfying sound.’
‘You’re sick,’ Georgia spat.
‘You do have a talent for stating the obvious. If you knew anything about my mother or father, I’m sure you’d agree she got her just deserts. Now, if your backup plan was to distract me from Felicity, you’ve failed. I must go and see how my incumbent favourite is. But don’t worry. Your time will come soon enough.’
The light turned away and for a brief moment his hand was illuminated as he opened the door. Georgia expected it to be hairy, or scaled – the hand of a monster – but it was remarkably normal.
The key turned and the floorboards creaked as he moved down the corridor towards Felicity’s room.
