The Forgotten_An absolutely gripping, gritty thriller novel

by Casey Kelleher

  ‘No, seriously. I’m fine,’ Bridget protested, holding her hands up to stop Nancy. ‘It’s just a bit sore, that’s all. If I start complaining to that lot, they’ll only insist on keeping me in here for longer, and I just can’t, Nancy. The food’s bad enough as it is, especially when I’ve got to try and eat it while old Hilda Ogden over there keeps insisting on flashing her gash at me too. It’s no wonder I’ve lost my appetite.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure,’ Nancy said, not entirely convinced but knowing how pig-headed Bridget could be when she wanted to. She passed her friend her cup of water, before sitting back down again.

  ‘I’m positive, Nancy. Seriously. The face on you! Would you stop looking at me like that…’

  ‘Like what?’ Nancy said, holding her hands up to protest her innocence.

  ‘Like you’re about to burst into tears. Seriously, Nancy, it’s a little nick of the skin. The doctors are only keeping me in to make sure that it doesn’t get infected. I’ll be back at the house later today, you can bet your life on that. We’ll get everything done in time for Monday still.’

  ‘Er, the last thing you need to be worrying about right now is work, Bridge. We’ll manage. I’ve already spoken to Felicity. She’s rounding up some of the girls and they are all over there to give me a hand to unpack the rest of the place. They all send their love. All you need to worry about is making sure you’re feeling better.’

  Bridget nodded gratefully.

  The last thing she wanted to do was let Nancy down. The woman had given her such an amazing opportunity to run the new house, and instead of being back there overseeing everything was up and running in time for the grand opening on Monday, Bridget was stuck here in bloody hospital.

  ‘How is Fliss doing?’

  ‘She’s okay. A bit shaken up, you know. It must have given you both a fright, someone breaking in like that.’

  Bridget nodded.

  ‘Has Jack managed to find out anything yet? Who it was?’

  ‘No, not yet.’ Nancy shook her head sadly. Wishing that she could have said different. That they had some sort of lead. Only the truth was, they had absolutely nothing to go on.

  Whoever it was that had broken in last night had managed to get away without a trace.

  Which only made Nancy more furious.

  ‘I should never have listened to you and Jack. I should have insisted that company came back out yesterday evening and fixed that bloody security system, no matter how late it was. We would have caught the fucker that did this to you red-handed if the cameras had all been working. At least then we’d have something to go on. I told Jack to read them the riot act when we finally manage to get hold of them. Right now we have nothing to go on, fuck all.’

  ‘The security system would have made no odds, Nancy. The bloke was determined to get in, and he’d made sure that no one would recognise him. Hence the balaclava. It could have been anyone,’ Bridget said with a shiver. Recalling the icy cold look in the man’s eyes.

  The knife in his hand.

  How everything had happened so fast.

  The fear she’d felt; the struggle between them.

  Poor Felicity looking so scared, cowering behind her.

  ‘You were caught off guard. It won’t happen again,’ Nancy said, regretting that she hadn’t put her security staff in place before the official opening. Though she’d never figured she’d have to. The place wasn’t up and running, and her staff were only there to protect the girls. To make sure that there was no trouble while they worked. ‘I’m going to put some men in place at the property full-time now. There’ll be security on site at all times. So, when you come home, you won’t ever be put in that position again, Bridge. I mean it. I’m so sorry,’ Nancy said, riddled with guilt.

  She couldn’t even begin to imagine the fear that Bridget had felt, being confronted with the intruder.

  ‘Hey, it wasn’t your fault, Nancy. You couldn’t have known that some idiot was going to break in. None of us could. I mean what’s the chances? And the fact that he was alone too. He’s got to be either really fucking ballsy, or really fucking stupid.’

  ‘Well, he purposely fucked with me, so I’m going to go with the latter,’ Nancy said, still visibly annoyed that someone would dare to walk into her property and single-handedly try and rob her. Not to mention what he’d done to Bridget. ‘When we catch up with him, which we will do, he’s going to wish to God that he’d never set foot in my house. I’ll fucking kill him myself for what he did to you,’ Nancy vowed. ‘I promise you, Bridge. Jack will find him.’

  ‘’Course he will. Good old Jack, eh!’ Bridget smiled then. The faith in her words genuine. Jack was a rock to them all. If anyone could find the bastard that stabbed her last night, he would. She had no doubt about that.

  ‘Anyway, enough of all the depressing stuff. Tell me about tomorrow? The children’s gala. You’re still going, aren’t you?’

  Nancy nodded.

  ‘’Course we are. We wouldn’t miss it for the world, couldn’t even if we wanted to. It’s all Scarlett’s spoken about all week. You wanna hear her talking about all the Disney princesses that she’s going to meet. They certainly know how to throw a party, huh!’ Nancy said with a grin.

  Keeping up appearances, as always, as one of London’s most successful businesswomen and property tycoons, following in her father’s footsteps, Nancy Byrne had done so much for the children’s wards at St George’s Hospital that she had been given the honorary role of ambassador for one of them.

  As exhausted as she was with everything that had been going on the last few days, she had to make an appearance. Her donation to the hospital was so substantial this year, and she knew that a lot of important, influential people would be at the event too.

  Not only that, but giving back to that hospital in particular helped to ease her guilt at what had happened to poor Megan Harris a few years back.

  Even though Alfie Harris’s daughter had gone on to make a full recovery, Nancy had never truly got over how close she’d come to throwing that poor young girl into the firing line. Just so she could reap revenge on her brother, Daniel.

  ‘Oh, I bet Scarlett’s going to be in her element surrounded by all the Disney princesses and characters there. She’s mad for them. That last time I babysat for her, she made me watch that Little-poxy-Mermaid on repeat. Five hours of my life I’ll never get back! I think I went to bed that night with ‘Part of Your World’ still playing out in bleeding stereo inside my eardrums.’ Bridget laughed, affectionately.

  It was no secret how much Bridget doted on the child. Always telling Scarlett that she could call her Auntie Bridgy, while constantly showering the child with little gifts and sweets every time she saw her.

  Another reason why Nancy liked Bridget. Not only was she a good friend to Nancy, but she really cared about Scarlett too. The woman was the salt of the earth.

  ‘Oh, don’t. She’s obsessed with that bloody Ariel,’ Nancy said, rolling her eyes. Only too familiar with Scarlett’s latest fixation. ‘You know why, don’t you? She said that they both have the same long red hair. She’s managed to convince herself that that’s all part of the criteria and that she’s actually part mermaid too. My poor nan couldn’t get the little madam out of the bath yesterday. She was in there for over an hour and a half, apparently. Joanie said she’d had to keep topping up the hot bath water to stop Scarlett from turning blue and that by the time she’d managed to coax her out of there, she’d looked like a wrinkled prune.’ Nancy laughed then. ‘I tell you what, the pair of them are hilarious to listen to. Always butting heads with each other, but they adore each other really. They’re just two of the same. Stubborn as you like. Scarlett’s just like Joanie. And my dad,’ Nancy said, a tiny tremor of emotion behind her words. Which caught her still, even after all these years, every time she thought about the fact that the two most important people in her life would never meet each other.

  That her father would have so loved Scarlett. The
man would have adored the girl.

  It was a pain that cut deeply.

  ‘Oh, yeah. Because we don’t know any other stubborn, fiery redheads that she might take after, do we?’ Bridget smiled at Nancy. Stating the obvious that Nancy seemed to forget that Scarlett was the woman’s mini-me. ‘And I’ll tell you what, you think you have trouble on your hands with her now, you wait until she gets older, Nancy. That one’s going to give you a right run for your money.’

  Nancy nodded in agreement.

  She’d been thinking the same herself. Scarlett was only four, yet already the child was as stubborn and strong-willed as ever. Christ knew what she was going to be like when she hit her teenage years. Already Nancy was dreading it.

  ‘So this event, it’s just the three of you going?’ Bridget teased, interrupting Nancy’s thoughts. ‘Like a proper little family outing.’

  ‘It’s a family event.’ Nancy laughed, rolling her eyes at the fact that Bridget just never let up.

  The woman was forever convinced that there was much more to their unconventional relationship than Nancy let on. She was like a hungry dog in search of a bone, always looking for little clues that there was more than just a friendship going on.

  ‘Seriously, Bridge. If there was something going on between me and Jack, don’t you think you’d know by now? You know the score. We’re her parents. That’s it. No hassle, no dramas, no complications. It’s purely platonic, and it works. I don’t see Jack that way.’

  ‘Well you must have at some point, otherwise Scarlett wouldn’t be here, would she?’ Bridget said, still not convinced. Still, getting any real information out of Nancy was like getting blood from a stone. So instead, she changed the subject.

  ‘Here, let’s crack open that box of chocolates you bought me,’ Bridget said then, pointing to the tray table beside her, visibly perking up at the fact that Nancy was staying for a while and keeping her company. ‘We might as well put them to good use.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re allowed chocolates while you’re on a drip?’

  ‘’Course I am. They’ve only got me on this for my blood pressure, Nancy.’ Then smirking, she added sarcastically. ‘Seriously, Nancy, if I can survive a near-fatal stabbing, I’m sure I’ll survive a box of posh choccies!’ Bridget insisted.

  ‘Well, you may not be nil by mouth, Bridge, but I bet old Hilda Ogden over there, wishes that you bloody were.’

  Nancy laughed then, as the two women shot a glance across the ward to the bed opposite them, where the old lady lay, still shooting them both daggers over the top of the book she was reading.

  Chuckling to herself, Nancy did as she was told and opened the chocolates for her friend, glad that Bridget was back to her usual gobby self.

  Popping a chocolate in her mouth, she smiled at Bridget. Playing down the fact that she was seriously pissed off that someone had the blatant audacity to break into her house and harm one of her girls. To try and rob her of her hard-earned money.

  This would never have happened if her father had still been here, running things.

  This was because she was a woman, in a man’s world.

  People still saw her as weak. As an easy target.

  Nancy Byrne was anything but. Whoever did this to her friend would be found and, when he was, Nancy was going to take great pleasure in making an example out of him.

  No one fucked with her. No one.

  Thirteen

  ‘Grandad!’ Throwing her beloved doll down onto the floor without a second thought for it, as soon as she clapped eyes on her great-grandad, Scarlett Byrne ran towards the man, screeching with excitement.

  ‘Hello, my little pickle.’ Bending down Michael Byrne opened his arms widely and scooped the child up. Hugging her to him. ‘Ahh, who’s my favourite girl in the whole wide world?’

  ‘Oh? Is it not me then? Charming!’ Joanie Byrne chuckled as she sat in the armchair with her hand wrapped around her warm mug of tea.

  ‘Poor Nanny.’ Winking at Scarlett so that the child knew Nanny Joanie was just winding up Grandaddy Michael.

  ‘Okay, okay. My two favourite girls then.’ Michael beamed at Joanie.

  They’d been getting on so well lately, and he knew exactly how to butter the woman up. Especially seeing as he had made plans today. Michael lived for his time alone with his precious great-granddaughter.

  ‘No, no. No,’ Scarlett screeched. ‘Just me. I’m your favourite girl, Grandaddy. Me.’ Scarlett giggled, pretending to pull her great-grandad away from her nan Joanie, just as he bent down and attempted to plant a kiss on his wife’s forehead.

  ‘Oh, of course you are! Come here,’ Michael said, earnestly, tickling the child, who in turn squealed with delight at the attention she was receiving.

  ‘You two!’ Joanie pretended to scold them both, as she turned up the TV, secretly in her element at the little bond the two of them had with each other.

  The love between them both was so pure, and so genuine, that it almost made Joanie want to cry with joy. Michael Byrne had well and truly redeemed himself these past four years.

  Ever since Scarlett had come along, he’d been a changed man.

  He may not have been much of a father to their Jimmy, in fact if anything he’d barely given their only child the time of day. Michael was far too busy for any family stuff, back then, when Jimmy had been a boy. He’d been too preoccupied with chasing bits of skirt, as Joanie had referred to all her husband’s indiscretions over the years.

  Michael had only ever looked after number one.

  Only these days, he’d become the dedicated family man. A fantastic great-grandfather to Scarlett. Nothing was ever too much for his precious great-granddaughter, and Joanie was made up for the man.

  Finally, he got it. Just how much children could mean in his life. How much joy and love they brought with them.

  He’d missed out on so much when their Jimmy had been small. Joanie realised that now, and she also had to acknowledge that not all of that had been entirely his fault either. She’d been selfish too. Wanting to keep her Jimmy all to herself.

  How she’d relished turning him against Michael.

  She wasn’t about to make the same mistake with Scarlett. If anything she encouraged the bond that the two of them had between them.

  Playing the good cop, bad cop, just often enough so that Michael would come out looking on top. She loved Scarlett more than life itself, but Scarlett adored the very bones of her great-grandad and Joanie would never step in the way of that love.

  ‘I can barely hear my programme with all that noise you two scallywags are both making.’ She laughed.

  ‘Nanny said that we’re going to the park again, Grandaddy? Can we go now?’ Scarlett asked, jumping from one foot to the other, as her great-grandad placed her back down on the floor again.

  ‘You may as well.’ Joanie waved her hand at her husband playfully. ‘You take your Grandaddy to the park, Scarlett, at least that way Nanny Joanie will get some peace and quiet while you’re both gone.’

  Michael glanced at his watch. Acting coy now, as if he wasn’t fussed either way.

  Before grinning down at Scarlett.

  ‘Go on then, go and get your shoes on.’

  ‘Yay! Come on, Grandaddy!’ Scarlett squealed again, as she ran to get her coat and wellington boots from where she’d left them from yesterday’s little adventure with her Grandaddy. ‘Shall I wear my boots and we can jump in puddles again? Like we did yesterday?’

  ‘Only if you don’t splash me, you little monkey.’ Michael laughed as he bent down to kiss Joanie on the head, in a bid to say goodbye, just as they both heard the sound of the front door go.

  ‘Hello, Nanny Colleen!’ Scarlett called out. ‘I’m going to the park with Grandaddy. Look, I’ve got my pink wellies on.’

  ‘That’s lovely, darling,’ Colleen said with a grin, though secretly she was a little miffed that the child was going out, when she’d only just got here.

  She’d only managed to s
ee Scarlett once this week, and that was purely to put the child to bed and read her a story because Nancy had been running so late.

  They were supposed to be all equally sharing Scarlett’s childcare, though Joanie and Michael always seemed to have their own plans for the child, now that Colleen wasn’t living here anymore.

  Colleen was left with only the scraps it seemed.

  ‘Yesterday, Grandaddy kicked a puddle at a cat, and the cat ran off and we laughed. Didn’t we, Grandaddy?’

  ‘Michael!’ Joanie reprimanded the man, just as Colleen walked in, stopping just inside the lounge doorway.

  An outsider, forever looking in.

  ‘Well, that’s not a very nice thing to do to the poor cat, is it?’ Colleen said, shooting a glare at her father-in-law. ‘Not the greatest thing to teach a four-year-old, is it?’

  Michael looked at Scarlett and rolled his eyes playfully, which Scarlett only mirrored. Rolling her eyes up at her Nan Colleen; only she wasn’t as subtle and Colleen caught her, which only made Scarlett giggle some more.

  Catching the look the two exchanged, and realising that she was the butt of their joke once again, quickly put Colleen’s back up. She knew all about the not so private little jokes and jibes they had about her. Making out as if she was always moaning about something. As if she was the one at fault here.

  ‘I was going to do some arts and crafts with Scarlett today. I told you that the other day. You remember, Scarlett? I said I’d be up on Saturday morning, and that we’d do some painting and sticking together. Just you and me.’

  Scarlett shook her head.

  ‘I don’t want to, Nanny. I want to go to the park with Grandaddy.’

  ‘Well, maybe you should go to the park another day. It looks as if it’s about to rain. And I haven’t seen you for a couple of days, darling. Wouldn’t you like to have fun with your Nanny Colleen?’

  ‘NO!’ Scarlett squealed, shooting Nanny Colleen a filthy look as she stamped her feet. The child’s mouth twisted into a scowl, making her look even more like her mother than ever. ‘I don’t want you. I only want Grandaddy.’