The Mark

by Heather Burnside

  But she knew that was never going to happen, especially with Gilly. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe it would ever be more than a dream. She and Gilly would never be equals. She was his property, just like all the other girls who sold their bodies so he could profit, more so, in fact, because she was his first recruit.

  There was a time when she had felt special to him. But not any more. Not since he’d set eyes on the journalist. But even though his interest in her as a person was waning, he was still interested in her as a money-making machine. So, for now, her dreams would have to remain as nothing more than that – just dreams.

  *

  Andy was sitting in a coffee shop and across from him sat Clare, who was currently taking a gulp of her cappuccino. She put down her cup and looked up, meeting his gaze.

  ‘Thanks for coming, Andy,’ she said.

  ‘That’s OK,’ said Andy, managing a thin smile.

  Clare then cleared her throat and began explaining why she had brought him here. ‘I don’t want to worry you,’ she said, ‘but I’m a bit concerned about Maddy. Now, before I say anything further, I want you to promise me that this is just between the two of us. I’d hate Maddy to think I’d betrayed her and, well, to be honest, things already aren’t too good between us.’

  ‘You as well?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  Clare sighed. ‘Yes. We were due to meet for lunch only Maddy didn’t show up. When she was almost an hour late I rang her and, it seems, she’d completely overlooked the fact that she was due to meet me.’

  ‘Strange,’ said Andy.

  ‘Oh, it gets worse. Apparently, the reason she’d overlooked meeting me was because she had had to deal with some graffiti on her front door.’

  ‘Really?’ asked Andy.

  ‘Yes, somebody had written the word “bitch” and Maddy had got herself worked up over it. Not only that, but she thinks someone has been watching the house; two different cars, apparently.’

  Andy looked at her quizzically with creases forming on his forehead. ‘Hang on a minute. Did Becky see the graffiti?’

  ‘Maddy thinks she might have done.’

  ‘Shit!’ he cursed.

  Clare carried on speaking, as though she was keen to get it all out in the open now that she had started. ‘But it isn’t just that, Andy,’ she said. ‘Maddy has changed. I rarely see her these days. She seems to spend most of her time with Aaron and, from what I can make out, she doesn’t always have a lot of time for Becky either. She’s even admitted to being a bit short with her.’

  ‘Really?’ Andy asked again, while Clare paused to take another sip of her cappuccino.

  ‘There’s more,’ said Clare, ‘but please don’t tell Maddy I told you this.’

  ‘Don’t worry. This stays between us,’ he said.

  Clare continued. ‘Well, whatever’s going on, it’s affecting her work life too. She’s missing client appointments and she’s even lost work because one of her articles wasn’t up to scratch.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound like Maddy,’ Andy chipped in.

  ‘I know. She’s lost the whole of the Sunshine group.’

  ‘Bloody hell! That’s a big client.’

  ‘Tell me about it. But, the thing is, she didn’t really seem fazed when she told me about it. She sounded more annoyed that they’d stopped working with her on the strength of one article, rather than concerned that her poor standard of work had caused them to do that.’

  When Clare finished speaking, Andy stared at her, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Jesus!’ he said. ‘It’s worse than I thought.’

  ‘So, you’ve got concerns as well?’ asked Clare.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he said, but he didn’t elaborate.

  ‘You mentioned that things aren’t good between you and Maddy either?’ she asked.

  ‘No…’ said Andy, but he didn’t tell Clare about the school ringing him. Even though she was a friend, it was something he didn’t really want to share. Instead he said, ‘Same sort of thing. She’s always running late and seems to be behind with things all the time. I spoke to her about it and, well, things got a bit heated, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Clare. ‘It’s strange that she seems to be alienating everyone round her.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Andy, but he didn’t continue.

  For a few moments they remained silent, the atmosphere between them now a bit awkward. They both sipped at their coffees, each occupied with their own thoughts.

  It was Clare who broke the silence. ‘Thanks again for sparing the time to meet me,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry to have had to tell you all those things. I don’t really know what you can do about the situation, to be honest, but I just felt that you should know.’

  ‘No, that’s fine,’ said Andy. ‘I appreciate you telling me all this. I mean, obviously I’d rather not have heard it, but I think it’s best that I know.’

  ‘OK. Well, I’ve got to get going now,’ said Clare, getting up from her seat, and Andy noticed that her coffee cup was still almost half full.

  ‘No need to rush on my account,’ he said.

  ‘No, no, it’s fine. I’ve got things I need to do.’ She looked at him with a sympathetic smile on her face before adding, ‘I hope that me telling you all this does some good. I’d love to see Maddy back to her old self.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Andy. Then he fished inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card, quickly scribbling his mobile number on the back of it. ‘If you have any other concerns, Clare, please let me know.’

  ‘I will do, and please let me know how things go,’ she said. ‘I’ll text you with my mobile number.’

  Once she was gone Andy went over everything in his head. Jesus! It was even worse than he had thought. Why the hell would someone scrawl such an offensive word on Maddy’s front door? He couldn’t understand it. And then there was all this carry-on about somebody watching the house. Could that really be true? Or was Maddy jumping to ridiculous conclusions?

  The more he thought about everything Clare had told him on top of the concerns he already had, the more he became seriously worried about the environment his daughter was now living in. He wasn’t sure what kind of an influence this Aaron person had on Maddy but, whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

  Just who was he exactly? He recalled Maddy telling him about Aaron a few weeks ago. She had been full of it, all excited about this new businessman she was seeing. He ran an electrical goods wholesale company, apparently, called Lecco. The name had stuck in his mind because he remembered thinking how corny and unoriginal it was.

  Maybe he could make a few enquiries and see if he could find out anything more about him. He didn’t have a surname for him, but he had the company name and that was a start. Maddy had also told him that Aaron had found a warehouse in Manchester after the first one he was after had fallen through. Andy wished he could recall the name of the industrial estate, but he hadn’t really taken much notice at the time. Something beginning with W.

  For a few minutes he sat sipping the last dregs of his coffee and trying to bring the name of the industrial estate to mind, but when he couldn’t think of it, he decided to finish his coffee and set off for home.

  It was while he was leaving the city centre that the name finally came to him. Witney. Yes, that was it. Like the singer, Whitney Houston, except it was spelt differently. He knew this because he was already familiar with that particular industrial estate, having dealt with a few firms located there in the course of his employment.

  Witney industrial estate. So now he had the name of the firm and the location for its new warehouse. It was a good starting point. Armed with that information, he intended to find out as much as he could about Aaron before he decided what to do next.

  41

  It was two weeks since Maddy had found graffiti on her door and since then there had been no further incidents. Neither had she seen any strange cars parked near her home. Time had also passed since her argument with Andy and, although
things were still a bit cool between them, at least they were speaking, and she was relieved that he hadn’t said anything further about custody of Rebecca. She was trying to put all of it behind her and get on with enjoying life.

  Maddy and Aaron arrived back home in the early hours of Saturday morning. They had been seeing each other for three months now, and Aaron had suggested an impromptu celebration to mark the mini-milestone. They’d gone into Manchester, exploring the trendy bars near Deansgate, where they had spent the evening drinking cocktails then dancing till after midnight.

  They were both merry when they arrived back at Maddy’s house, and were sharing a joke as they walked through the door. Maddy had had another wonderful night with Aaron but, despite feeling elated, she also had something else on her mind. She had wanted to talk to him about it when he’d arrived to pick her up, but he’d been on such a high about celebrating that she hadn’t wanted to ruin it.

  Now though, given a little courage by the amount she had drunk, she decided to broach the subject. She waited until she had fixed them both a nightcap and they were sitting together on the sofa.

  ‘Aaron, I’ve been thinking,’ she said. She looked across at Aaron, feeling a stab of guilt when she saw his smile replaced by a grave expression. ‘Well, remember before when I said we were seeing a bit too much of each other—’

  ‘Why d’you have to fuckin’ spoil it?’ he snapped, before she had chance to finish what she was saying.

  She gasped in shock and stared at him for a few moments. Aaron quickly backtracked when he saw the look on her face.

  ‘Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to snap,’ he said. ‘It’s just that we’ve had such a good night. You could have picked a better time to spring that on me.’

  His volatile reaction made her choose her words carefully as she responded. ‘Well, I was going to mention it before we went out, but you were so happy that I didn’t want to spoil it for you. It’s not that I don’t like being with you, Aaron. I love being with you and I’m not trying to cool things between us. It’s just that I have so many other things I need to be doing. I’m getting behind with my work again and I’m overdrawn at the bank. I also need to spend more time with Becky.’

  ‘OK, I get it,’ he said, his tone still harsh. ‘But I don’t want to spend less time with you. We can do things together with Becky, like when we went to Blackpool. And you can do your work when I’m not here. I need to go to work too, don’t forget.’ He didn’t mention the fact that she was overdrawn at the bank.

  ‘Well, yes, I know that,’ she said. ‘But we always stay up so late when you come over. Maybe we should make the effort to go to bed earlier in the week so that I’m still alert when it comes to work. We could still stay out late at weekends.’

  ‘Yeah, whatever,’ he said flippantly, and Maddy stared at him again, unable to fathom this change in attitude.

  Then he seemed to pick up on her disquiet, and he turned to face her, his expression serious. He took her arms in his, with his hands cradling her elbows so that she was enveloped by his embrace. ‘Maddy,’ he said, his tone now pleading. ‘I’ll do anything to make you happy. You know that, don’t you?’

  Maddy smiled and nodded, so Aaron continued. ‘Since I’ve met you you’ve made me the happiest man in the world. You’re the number one priority in my life and everything else can wait. Work, houses, business, all that shit. It doesn’t mean anything without you. We’re meant to be together. I love you, and I thought you felt the same.’

  ‘Yes, of course I feel the same about you, Aaron, but—’

  ‘Shush,’ he said, placing two fingers over her lips. ‘No more of that now. Let’s enjoy the rest of the night.’

  Then he got up from the sofa and fished inside his pocket, bringing out a small packet. Maddy knew straight away what it was. He unwrapped it and eased it in her direction so she could see the contents.

  ‘After all, this is a celebration,’ he said, dipping his finger into the white powder then holding it to his nostril and inhaling. ‘Come on, your turn,’ he said.

  Maddy did as he suggested, not because she didn’t want to risk upsetting him further but because, by now, it had become part of their routine. First a few drinks to unwind. Then a snort of cocaine to take them to the next level. And then, a night of passionate lovemaking that would take them higher still and leave them both sated. By the time they woke up Maddy would be so beguiled by him that his moment of moodiness the day before would be completely overlooked.

  *

  It was Monday morning and it had been a few days since Andy’s meeting with Clare. Despite his determination to find out as much as he could about Aaron, he hadn’t done anything up to now. He’d been too busy at work for one thing and, although he knew it would be easy enough to gather the information using his work role as cover, he was a bit apprehensive about doing so.

  The main reason why he hadn’t done anything, though, was because he’d had a change of heart. After all, he’d always been able to trust Maddy in the past and a part of him felt foolish for doubting her. She was entitled to a personal life just like everybody else and, although it irked him that a man he didn’t trust was now playing a big role in Rebecca’s life, it was something he had to learn to accept since he and Maddy had split up.

  He also knew that Maddy wouldn’t be happy that he was interfering, and they were only just getting back on track since he’d tackled her about the call from the head teacher.

  But then he’d seen her the previous evening. She was late picking up Rebecca again. He’d looked at her, uttering apology after apology in the hope that it would appease him. Something about her wasn’t quite right; it was as though she hadn’t taken the usual care and attention before coming out of the house.

  Maddy had been wearing her usual messy updo but somehow it had been messier than usual, and it had looked as if it was hiding a bad hair day rather than being casually put together for effect. Despite her make-up Maddy’s face had looked gaunt, the dark rings under her eyes still noticeable, and Andy had guessed that she was pale beneath her foundation.

  Her lateness coupled with her appearance had been all that it had taken to make him start questioning things again. He’d gone over everything once more in his mind, convincing himself that there was still a problem and that problem wasn’t going to go away without some form of intervention. In fact, if he didn’t do anything, he felt sure that matters would only get worse.

  So, he’d chosen a moment when the office was quiet. He had his own private office anyway, and his staff always knocked on the door before entering. As for senior management, they were usually too busy tending to other matters this early on a Monday morning and he knew it would probably be afternoon before they started doing their rounds.

  He started by visiting the Companies House website and doing a search on the name Lecco. He would have expected the company to be limited if it was big enough to have branches in both Yorkshire and Manchester. But there was a chance it wasn’t. There was nothing on the website that fitted. All the companies listed with that name were either dormant, different types of industries or had directors’ names that didn’t fit Aaron’s gender or ethnicity.

  While Andy was on the Companies House website he did a search for officers of a company. Unfortunately, he didn’t know Aaron’s surname. He put the name Aaron in anyway, but it was a waste of time. There were pages and pages of Aarons. It would have taken an age to go through them all, and most of them were surnames anyway.

  So, it didn’t appear that there was a limited company by the name of Lecco that dealt in electrical goods. And he’d found nothing up to now to prove that Aaron was a director.

  Andy wasn’t finished yet. There was still the industrial estate to try, which would help him to establish whether a company by that name was renting a warehouse. He came out of the Companies House website and did an Internet search for Witney industrial estate. There was a number listed for the admin office so he picked up the phone and rang it
.

  ‘Hi,’ he said when a cheery female voice came on the line. ‘This is Andy Chambers, sales manager for Belper Foods. I wonder if you could help me.’

  ‘Certainly,’ said the woman.

  ‘It’s a bit of a daft query actually,’ he began, feeling himself tense at the prospect of carrying out his subterfuge. ‘We’ve been doing some business with a new company and I can’t for the life of me find what I’ve done with their details. I wonder if you could check if a company called Lecco have rented an office from you?’

  ‘Just a moment, sir,’ said the woman. For a few moments he waited, gazing around him to make sure no one was near his office, while he listened to her tapping away on her keyboard. ‘No, nothing by that name, I’m afraid,’ she said. ‘What type of business was it?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten that too,’ he said, knowing it didn’t sound very convincing but also knowing that it was unlikely a food manufacturing company would be dealing with an electrical wholesale company. He didn’t want the person at the other end of the phone to make that connection.

  ‘OK. What about new firms in the last few weeks?’ he asked. ‘Would it be possible for you to let me have a list of them? I may have got the name wrong.’

  She hesitated. ‘Ooh, I don’t think I’m allowed to do that.’

  ‘Are you sure? They’ll be listed in the phone directory anyway once they’re up and running. Then everyone will have access to that information.’

  He sensed her uncertainty as she paused again. ‘Very well,’ she said, politely, before tapping away at the keyboard again then reeling off a list of three companies.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Andy, scribbling down the names on his notepad. ‘You’ve been very helpful.’