The Mark

by Heather Burnside

  While he waited for the coke to kick in, he gathered up the drugs, cash and credit cards, pausing at intervals to take several large swigs from a can of beer he’d found in the fridge. As soon as he felt the rush of the coke he left the bedsit, knowing he couldn’t afford to go back there.

  Gilly had a plan of sorts. He’d go into hiding; rent a room somewhere but not in the city centre. He’d head into the suburbs instead and find a cheap B & B, giving them a false name. Then, once the heat had died down a bit, he’d think about his next move.

  *

  It was late Friday evening and Maddy was having a well-needed glass of wine. She hadn’t seen Aaron since he’d left her after the police visit and, although she’d rung and texted him several times, she still couldn’t get a reply.

  She was no longer angry from her earlier row with Andy. Instead she was feeling strung-out after such a stressful day. The fact that she was craving cocaine didn’t help but she resisted the temptation, knowing that it would probably make her feel even more anxious in the long run.

  Andy’s words kept playing over in her head and she wondered whether he might be right about Aaron. Could there perhaps be a connection between Aaron and all the bad things that had been happening recently? The fact that Aaron was being so elusive only made her doubt him more.

  But then she told herself she was being foolish to listen to Andy, whose view of Aaron was bound to be biased. Instead she thought about how wonderful Aaron had been to her in so many ways, even today when he’d held her tight and comforted her after she’d found the damage to her car. Some niggling doubts persisted but she would speak to him about them as soon as he showed up, and he would hopefully put her mind at ease.

  When she heard the doorbell, Maddy jumped and automatically checked the time on the clock. Twenty past nine. That would be him now. As she went to answer the door she felt a reassuring glow. She should have known he’d be here soon, and he’d probably have a good explanation about where he’d been.

  But the person on the other side of the door gave Maddy a start. She had expected Aaron, but instead she was looking at a tall black woman, Amazonian in stature. Her reaction seemed to displease the woman, who glared at her before speaking.

  ‘Crystal sent me to tell you about Gilly,’ she said, matter-of-factly.

  Maddy stared back, still unnerved, but somewhere in the back of her mind the name Crystal meant something. Then it came back to her. She was one of the prostitutes who she’d interviewed a while ago. The recollection provided a link with the woman standing at her door and she vaguely recognised her. She had been there too; the feisty one. She hadn’t spoken much during the interview but when she had, her comments had been barbed. The fact that a woman from such a background had found her way to Maddy’s door unsettled her even more.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked sharply. ‘And how on earth did you know where I live?’

  ‘No need to get funny with me, girl. I’m doing you a favour.’

  ‘What the hell do you mean?’ asked Maddy.

  ‘Crystal wants you to know about Gilly and what he did to her.’

  ‘What are you talking about? Who on earth is Gilly?’

  The woman tutted then said with attitude, ‘Aaron Gill. That guy you’ve been seeing?’

  ‘Aaron? What about him?’

  ‘He’s not who you think he is, girl. He’s a bad bastard. He beat my mate Crystal up good and proper. Now she’s lying in the hospital, black and blue, and she wants me to warn you. She thinks he’s gonna come for you. Crystal says he’s obsessed with you – he even used to sit outside your house when he wasn’t with you.’

  Maddy had now gone from unsettled to terrified. It was bad enough that a virtual stranger had turned up at her door, but what she was saying about Aaron made matters even worse. Maddy couldn’t understand what the woman was doing here or why she was telling her all this. Her automatic reaction was to become defensive, her mind loosely connecting this woman with the threatening incidents that had taken place recently.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Aaron isn’t a violent man, and he certainly has no connection to prostitutes.’

  Maddy went to shut the front door but the woman rammed her foot against it, startling her. Maddy stepped back, and put her arms up to her face in a weak attempt at defending herself.

  ‘Don’t worry, I ain’t here to harm you, girl, but you gotta hear this for your own good. That Gilly is very fuckin’ handy with his fists, and he’s put Crystal in hospital cos she didn’t like him seeing you. He’s her fella, ya see, as well as her pimp.’

  ‘Pimp? What on earth are you talking about?’ asked Maddy, the word pimp sending a shockwave through her.

  ‘That’s right, girl. I don’t know what he’s told you but that’s what he is. He’s a bit crazy too. And now he’s fuckin’ lost it good and proper.’

  Maddy’s mind was wrestling with the conflicting thoughts that were running through her head. Denial about Aaron’s supposed identity battled with recognition of his drug abuse, but both thoughts were sidelined by her overriding confusion and fear.

  ‘Do you know anything about the damage to my car?’ asked Maddy, her voice sounding small and shaky.

  ‘Not me, no. I’m your good Samaritan, girl. Not that I’m getting any fuckin’ thanks for it. I should have let the police handle it, like I told Crystal.’

  ‘Look, you’ve said what you came here to say, so could you please go now?’

  The woman stepped back from the door. ‘Suit yourself,’ she said. ‘I didn’t wanna come in the first place.’

  Maddy quickly pushed the door to and as she did so she could hear the woman still talking, her manner now more aggressive. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When that Gilly comes looking for you, you better be fuckin’ ready.’

  Then Maddy recoiled as she heard the woman’s fist hammer on the door. For a moment she thought she was going to bash the door down but then she realised that it was probably just a parting punch, done in temper. Maddy dashed to the living-room window and peeped through a gap in the curtains, heaving a sigh as she watched the woman walk away.

  Maddy was shaking after the encounter but felt relieved that the woman had gone. She’d rarely encountered anybody so intimidating. For a moment she thought about ringing the police and reporting her, but the woman hadn’t threatened her. She seemed to think she’d been sent as a warning. But why? Her Amazonian stature, abrasive manner and stern features hadn’t filled Maddy with trust, and she wondered what the woman’s motive could be.

  Maddy knew that Aaron would never hurt anyone in the way the woman had described. He was gentle and caring. And yet, did she really know him? He did get a bit snappy at times. But that was nothing. It was just because of the stress of setting up a branch of his business in Manchester. And it certainly didn’t make him a violent man.

  She thought about the woman’s words. And Andy’s words. And the way Clare seemed to have taken against Aaron. No! They couldn’t be right. Surely?

  She tried Aaron’s phone again but once more she was directed straight to voicemail. Maddy cut the call without leaving a message, annoyed. Now more than ever she needed to speak to him. She needed his reassurance and the comfort of his words. She needed him here, holding her tight and telling her it was going to be all right. And, more than anything, she needed him to tell her that everything the woman had said had been a lie.

  50

  The following morning Maddy wasn’t feeling so good after drinking far too much wine the previous night. She had a headache and felt shaky, her hangover helping to fuel the anxiety brought on by yesterday’s events. Despite the amount she had drunk, her anguished thoughts had kept her awake for much of the night, meaning she was also overtired.

  By the time she’d finally got to sleep she had managed to convince herself that the woman who came to visit her was lying about Aaron. Maddy knew Aaron wasn’t capable of the things the woman said, and there was no way s
he was going to take the word of a malicious, aggressive prostitute about the man she loved and trusted.

  When the doorbell rang she half expected it might be Aaron and she automatically checked her appearance in the hall mirror. Despite a swift application of make-up that morning she looked worn out. Her eyes were dull, the pupils mere dots, and the dark circles beneath them were still visible under her foundation.

  She swung the front door open to find two uniformed police officers standing on the other side. Straight away something instinctively told her they weren’t here in connection with the damage to her car. One of them was an older man who wore a sergeant’s stripes, and the other was younger. Both of them bore grave expressions.

  The sergeant was the first to speak. ‘Madelaine Chambers?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Maddy.

  ‘We’d like to speak to you about Aaron Gill. Could we come inside, please?’

  ‘Y-yes,’ said Maddy.

  A moment of panic gripped her, the breath catching in her throat and her heart racing. She tried to control her shaking limbs as she led the officers through to the lounge and offered them a drink. They both declined; it seemed to Maddy that they were eager to get down to business, so she offered them a seat instead and waited anxiously to find out why they were here.

  Again it was the sergeant who spoke while the other officer took out his notepad and pencil. ‘Can you tell us what your relationship is to Aaron Gill, please?’ asked the sergeant.

  ‘Why? What’s he done? Is he OK?’ asked Maddy.

  ‘Yes, as far as we know he’s OK,’ said the officer. ‘Could you answer the question, please?’

  ‘Y-yes, he’s my boyf… well, fiancé,’ she said. ‘What’s he done?’

  ‘We’ll come to that later, if you could just answer a few questions for us first of all, please,’ said the sergeant.

  It was worded politely but Maddy could tell by the expression on his face that he expected her to cooperate. She nodded and the sergeant carried on.

  ‘How long have you known him?’

  ‘A few months,’ said Maddy.

  ‘And how long has he been living at this address?’

  ‘He doesn’t live here,’ said Maddy. ‘He just stays here.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked the sergeant.

  ‘Yes, why?’

  ‘He gave this address when he hired a car, a BMW.’

  ‘You mean… that wasn’t his car?’

  ‘No, it wasn’t,’ said the sergeant, his tone dismissive, as though it should have been obvious to Maddy. ‘Do you have an address for him?’

  ‘Not really, no. He’s been staying here a lot but he’s originally from Yorkshire.’

  The sergeant’s eyebrows curled inwards in an expression of scepticism. At this silent prompt, Maddy continued, although her mind was still occupied with thoughts of why Aaron would have lied to her about the car.

  ‘He’s opening a branch of his business in Manchester so he’s staying at the Midland for now till he sorts everything out.’

  Hearing herself saying all this out loud, coupled with the revelation about the BMW, made it all seem implausible even to her, but Aaron had made it sound so convincing.

  ‘OK,’ said the sergeant, looking across at the younger officer to make sure he had taken the details down. ‘Whereabouts in Yorkshire is he from?’ he asked.

  ‘Erm, I don’t know exactly,’ said Maddy, feeling foolish.

  ‘OK. Do you know his room number at the Midland?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Maddy, giving him the number, almost relieved that at least she knew that.

  ‘When did you last see him?’ the sergeant asked. His questions were coming more quickly now, which unnerved Maddy.

  ‘Yesterday,’ she said.

  ‘What time?’

  ‘Erm, I don’t know exactly but it was some time in the afternoon.’

  ‘Could you be more specific?’

  ‘Sorry, no. I was a bit stressed. I erm…’

  Maddy was going to mention the damage to her car, thinking that the officers probably already knew anyway, but the sergeant butted in with another question before she had chance.

  ‘Where was he when you last saw him?’

  ‘Here.’

  ‘OK. And you don’t know what time it was when he left?’

  Maddy thought back to yesterday. A lot had happened since she’d discovered the damage to her car. That was late morning. After that, she hadn’t rung Aaron straight away and, when she did ring him, it had been a while until he’d shown up. He’d sat with her throughout the police interview and then he’d gone.

  ‘Erm, I think it was late in the afternoon,’ she said. ‘Yes, I remember now, it was late because he said he had to go and buy something from builders’ merchants in Hyde before they shut for the day.’

  ‘And have you any idea of his whereabouts now?’

  ‘No,’ said Maddy. ‘He was supposed to come back last night but he didn’t show up. I kept ringing and texting him but there was no reply.’

  There was now a note of desperation to her voice as the reality of her situation began to hit home. The sergeant looked across to the younger officer, frowning as he did so, and waited while the other officer finished writing in his notepad before he spoke again.

  ‘Can you let us have his phone number, please?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ said Maddy, and she read the number from her phone’s list of contacts while the junior officer wrote it down.

  ‘What’s he done?’ she asked again, conscious of how high-pitched her voice had become.

  ‘I’m afraid he’s wanted in connection with a serious crime but we’re not at liberty to give out any details at the moment.’

  ‘Did he beat that prostitute up and put her in hospital?’ Maddy dared to ask, dreading the answer.

  The sergeant gave her a hard stare, his eyebrows now raised. ‘What do you know about that?’ he asked, bluntly.

  ‘A woman came to tell me last night. A prostitute. I recognised her from an interview I’d done a few months ago at The Rose and Crown.’

  ‘The Rose and Crown,’ repeated the sergeant, checking to make sure his junior officer had written it down.

  ‘Yes, it was for an exposé I was writing about prostitution. She said that Aaron had beaten up one of the other prostitutes, called Crystal, and put her in hospital. She came to warn me… But I didn’t believe her…’

  Suddenly Maddy felt the impact of her own words. It was as though her brain had flicked the switch from denial to acknowledgement. But the truth was like poison on her tongue. She felt the room sway and her head went woozy.

  ‘I – I don’t feel very well,’ she said, her voice cracking.

  ‘Take a minute,’ said the sergeant. He then turned to address the junior officer. ‘Did you get all that down?’

  ‘Yes,’ said the officer, who looked sympathetically across at Maddy. ‘You might find it better to bend your head forwards,’ he said.

  Maddy did as he said and waited until the feeling subsided. While she waited, she became aware of the awkward silence in the room, and she willed the faintness to pass so the police could finish their questioning and leave her alone.

  She looked up. ‘Are you OK?’ asked the junior officer.

  Maddy nodded and she noticed that the sergeant was still wearing a stern expression. It told her that his patience was wearing thin. He was here to find out as much as he could and then set to work on finding Aaron as quickly as possible. Despite her shock and sorrow she felt guilty at holding him up.

  ‘Just a couple more questions before we go,’ he said. ‘Are you all right to continue?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Maddy, hoping it would soon be over.

  ‘The woman that visited you; do you know her name?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Can you describe her?’

  ‘Yes. She was a black woman, tall, very tall, almost six foot I think, but slim and quite muscular. She had her hair in cornrows too.’

/>   ‘Age?’

  ‘Only young. About early twenties probably.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said the sergeant. ‘You’ve been very helpful.’ Then he turned to his colleague. ‘Do you have anything to add?’

  The younger officer skimmed through his notes then looked up from his pad. ‘No, I think we’ve covered everything for now, Serg.’

  The sergeant stood up. ‘Aaron Gill is a very violent man, I’m afraid. You will need to be vigilant. Keep all your doors and windows locked and don’t answer the door unless you’re sure who the caller is. In the meantime, if he tries to contact you in any way at all, please ring the emergency services immediately and let us know.’

  ‘Y-yes, I will do,’ said Maddy. Then she led them to the door without saying anything further, afraid she wouldn’t be able to get her words out. She was on the verge of tears and knew that her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her. She quickly shut and locked the door, then dropped to her knees and howled.

  51

  Maddy was distraught. She couldn’t believe it had come to this. Aaron had seemed like the ideal man, and he’d made her feel so happy, and yet he had had these terrible secrets. Her first thought was how she would manage to live without him. All her plans for the future had been extinguished because now she knew exactly who and what he really was. And that deliriously happy feeling of being in love had been wrenched from her.

  She couldn’t believe that the prostitute had been right about him. And because what she’d told her had been true, it meant that everything else about Aaron was false. He wasn’t a businessman at all. He was a violent man, a pimp and a drug addict. Everything about him was a lie. His business. His family. Even his car.

  Maddy wondered about the woman who had rung the hotel telling her she was Aaron’s mother. Was she really his mother? Did his family perhaps live in Yorkshire but were just not as well off as she had surmised? Or was it somebody else entirely who Aaron had got to pass herself off as his mother?

  And it had been Aaron who had sat outside her home watching her, causing her hours of distress. On realising that, she felt as though frozen fingers were drawing a twisted line down her spine, and she shuddered. It was the sickening realisation that she had been targeted by a disturbed and malicious man.