The Babysitter

by Sheryl Browne

  ‘So, will you be taking her soon?’ Dylan asked, shrugging his huge round shoulders awkwardly. ‘It’s just that me mum comes out to talk to the pigs sometimes.’ He nodded to where the disgusting creatures were snuffling and grunting in the field adjoining the cottage,

  Jade had to stifle a laugh at that, the image of his sour-faced, frumpy mother talking to the pigs. Mind you, she wasn’t surprised, with only Dylan for company.

  ‘I will, I promise. It’s just…’ Jade faltered. ‘You know he doesn’t want her,’ she went on, looking tearfully back at him. ‘He’s bound to do something awful to her. She really is much better off here for now.’

  ‘He’ being Mark, who Dylan believed to be the father of the girl, and who was as capable of doing something awful to a child as he was his needy wife. His inexhaustible patience was becoming a bit of a concern. Jade needed Mark to realise that Melissa was nothing but a ball and chain around his ankles, pulling him down. He needed to leave her. Jade had no intention of sharing him for much longer.

  Puffing up his chest manfully, Dylan looked her over and nodded. ‘I know,’ he said sympathetically, placing a huge paw around her shoulders. Jade’s skin crawled. ‘It’s okay,’ he said gruffly. ‘She can stay a bit longer. I’ll try and keep me mum away.’

  ‘Thanks, Dylan.’ Jade smiled at him, and silently thanked God she’d convinced him to change the locks. With his miserable mother wandering around, she was going to have to do something about the girl sooner rather than later, she realised. ‘I knew I could depend on you. I’ll see to her soon.’ Checking her watch, she sighed regretfully. ‘I’d better go.’

  Giving him a peck on the cheek, Jade turned, resisting the urge to wipe her mouth. She wasn’t sure how, exactly, she would see to her. Feed her to the pigs? Pondering her options, Jade hummed softly to herself as she went. Hush, little baby…

  Thirty-Six

  MARK

  ‘Hey, Poppet.’ Mark swept Poppy up as he came through the front door. He was late. Way later than he’d expected to be, having been on site at a demolished property within the search radius for Daisy Evans. Discovering the building had a basement, it had been worth checking out, but to no avail. Now, Mark felt exhausted and frustrated. ‘Shouldn’t we be in bed?’ He nodded to the hall clock, where Poppy could see that the big hand was way past the half past seven mark.

  ‘I was going.’ Poppy made huge eyes at him as he put her down. ‘But Mummy said she would come up and tuck Dory in.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’ Mark nodded, then furrowed his brow, pondering how, exactly, one tucked a goldfish into bed. ‘So where is Mummy?’

  ‘Working,’ Poppy said, following him towards the kitchen. ‘She’ll be utterly sausted,’ she added, with an elongated sigh.

  ‘Exhausted,’ Mark corrected her, looking curiously towards Jade, who was busy loading bottles into the steriliser.

  ‘She’s been in the workshop since this morning,’ Jade explained, turning to flick on the kettle, which was now plugged into a socket well away from the freezer, he noted.

  ‘She’s been working all day?’ Mark was surprised. He’d worried the side effects of the drugs, which he knew to be difficult to handle for the first few weeks, might make it impossible for her to work. But then, Mel was a fighter, he reminded himself. He’d never known her to give up on anything easily, an attitude of which their two beautiful kids were evidence. Plus, she found her work therapeutic, which might actually help. Staying out there the whole day and half the evening, though? He hoped she wasn’t overdoing it.

  ‘She’s been in to check on Evie once or twice but that’s about it,’ Jade said. ‘Do you want me to take Poppy up and read her a bedtime story while you go out and have a chat with her?’

  ‘That’d be great. Thanks, Jade.’ Mark guessed Poppy wouldn’t be too devastated at having Jade read her a story in lieu of him. Mark was grateful for Jade’s help, and amazed at how adaptable she was prepared to be. Grateful also for the effort she made to be a friend to Mel. She would certainly need one, particularly now her friendship with Lisa had cooled. Mark still couldn’t get his head around what the hell had been going through Mel’s mind. But that, he suspected, was probably a subject best left alone for now.

  ‘Yay! Lily the Little Mermaid!’ Poppy clapped her hands gleefully.

  Definitely not devastated. ‘I take it she does Lily better than me?’ Mark asked.

  ‘She’s a girl, silly. Lily’s a girl mermaid,’ Poppy informed him.

  Mark sighed theatrically. ‘A lesser man would be crushed, you know.’

  Poppy pressed her hand to his cheek as he leaned down to kiss her goodnight, searching his eyes worriedly, and then giggling when Mark went cross-eyed. ‘You’re teasing,’ she said, trying very hard to do likewise and make her pupils meet in the middle.

  ‘A bit,’ Mark said, planting a kiss on her cute button nose. ‘Good job I know you love me bigger than the sky, isn’t it?’

  ‘And the moon.’

  ‘And all the stars. Night, Poppet. I’m assuming you’ve had no further trouble from the bug monster?’

  ‘No. Jade slayed him,’ Poppy said airily, as Jade led her to the door.

  ‘With a single blow of my bug-slayer sword,’ said Jade, rolling her eyes good-naturedly over her shoulder.

  ‘A single blow? Wow. You’re a braver man than I am,’ Mark said, looking suitably impressed as he headed for the back door.

  ‘Daddeee, she’s a girl!’ Poppy called from the hall.

  ‘I know, I noticed.’ Mark called back.

  * * *

  Rather than barge in and possibly frighten her, Mark tapped on the workshop door and waited.

  ‘It’s open,’ Mel shouted, after a moment.

  ‘How’s it going?’ Mark asked, going in.

  Mel stepped away from the sculpture she was working on. ‘Truthfully,’ she said, brushing her fringe from her face with the back of her hand, ‘crappily.’

  Mark looked her over, hopefully not too obviously. She had clay on her face. He might have wiped that off with his thumb, a few weeks back, brushed her soft lips with his own. Now? He felt he was walking on eggshells, never quite sure how she’d react. He might do better to check how the land lay first.

  ‘You’re probably pushing yourself too hard,’ he ventured. ‘You should take a break.’

  Mel glanced at him despairingly. ‘Thanks for the advice, Detective,’ she said, with a definite hint of sarcasm. ‘In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m miles behind with my orders. But then, you’ve obviously been too busy elsewhere to notice.’

  It looked like the ground underfoot was going to be tough going. Mark sighed. ‘Which means?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Mel shrugged, picked up a modelling tool and went back to her work. ‘It’s just you’ve been a bit distracted lately.’

  Mark looked at her askance. ‘That’s hardly fair, Mel,’ he said, wondering how to point out that the only thing he’d been distracted from was his job.

  ‘No, nor is being treated like an invalid.’ Mel shot him a look, a flash of fury in her eyes. ‘Or an idiot.’

  Mark staggered inwardly at that. He hadn’t been. Had he? He sifted through his memory – though he was so bloody tired, he could hardly think – and realised he probably had. Her I don’t need a babysitter comment came to mind, her obvious annoyance at him asking her if she was all right every two seconds. He needed to pull back. Give her some space. Stop acting as if he was her babysitter.

  ‘Right.’ He nodded, running a hand through his hair. ‘Well, if I have, I’m sorry. I’m concerned, that’s all. You can’t blame me for that, Mel.’

  Mel looked him over – guardedly, Mark noticed. ‘So why so late?’ she asked him. ‘If you’re so concerned, I mean, why work so late?’

  Because I have to catch up, too. I’m not exactly having a picnic here myself, Mark thought. ‘Work,’ he said. ‘The missing girl. We located a property that might have been a possible location. I needed to check it out.’<
br />
  Mel looked momentarily saddened by that. Then she frowned. ‘With Lisa?’

  And there it was, whatever was eating away at her. ‘Yes, with Lisa,’ he said exasperatedly. ‘I work with her, Mel. What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Tell the truth,’ Mel suggested, with another casual shrug.

  ‘The truth?’ Mark stared at her, completely confounded. She really did think he been screwing around, didn’t she? ‘Jesus Christ, Mel! I have no idea what’s going on in your head, but—’ He stopped, realising that what he was about to say would seem way below the belt.

  Mel didn’t speak. Just carried on sculpting.

  This was useless. ‘I should go and check on the kids.’ Kneading his temples, Mark sighed heavily and turned away before he said something he would certainly regret.

  He got as far as the door before Mel stopped him. ‘I’m sorry!’

  Mark took a slow breath and turned back. He needed to stay calm, he reminded himself, however bloody angry he felt. The fact was, Mel wasn’t likely to be rational right now. He knew that. It didn’t make it any easier though.

  ‘The kiln’s still not working properly, and everything seems to be going wrong – even the sink’s blocked up.’ Mel waved a hand in that direction. ‘And… me! Me, Mark! I’m going wrong,’ she shouted, clamping a clay-caked hand to her breast. ‘I can’t do a thing right for Evie. She seems to think Jade’s her mummy, and Poppy seems to prefer Jade’s company too. I… I can’t think straight any more!’

  Mel looked at him, her eyes beseeching, her chest heaving, clearly desperate for understanding.

  Mark wished he did understand. That he could. Right now, he felt confounded, shut out, utterly impotent. ‘I love you, Mel. You! I don’t look at anyone else, I don’t want anyone else. Can you please try and hold on to that?’

  Mel pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. ‘I know,’ she said eventually. ‘I know you do. It’s just…’

  She looked back at him, scanning his face hard.

  Just what? Apprehension twisted inside him. She hadn’t said she loved him. Did she? Love didn’t come with a lifelong guarantee, did it? Might she want out? Could that be part of what was going on here? Mark took a step towards her – and there was a loud thump on the door behind him.

  Fuck! He cursed silently, glanced back to Mel and then, arranging his face into something less than a scowl, turned to open it.

  ‘Sorry. I had to kick the door, rather than knock it,’ Jade said, holding a tray aloft. ‘Hope I’m not interrupting, but I brought Mel some tea out. She said her kettle wasn’t working earlier.’ She smiled past Mark to Mel. ‘I brought your tablets out, too, Mel. Just in case you forget to take them.’

  Thirty-Seven

  JADE

  Jade wasn’t surprised to find Mark still in the lounge, drinking what appeared to be his second glass of whisky. He’d drained his first when he’d come downstairs, looking dishevelled yet sexy in his tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt. Mel had drifted off to sleep before he’d come out of the bathroom and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her, he’d said. He really was a kind, caring man. Selfless. His own nights had been disturbed constantly, first by Evie waking, then by needy Melissa insisting on seeing to her and only succeeding in making her more fractious, and now by the silly bitch’s screaming nightmares. Still, though – Jade tried to be charitable – she couldn’t help those. Considering the amount of medication she was on, she’d been surprised Melissa had stayed the pace today, working on her stupid pottery in the garden. Jade did hope she was swallowing all the tablets. She’d have to keep her eye on that.

  ‘Do you mind if I join you?’ she asked, going on in. She couldn’t leave the poor man sitting there on his own, looking so utterly dejected, so desperately lonely. He was studying the bottom of his glass as if looking for answers. He needed company, the comfort of a good woman’s arms around him. Soon, my love. Soon.

  Mark looked up at her, smiling wearily. What Jade would give to press her lips softly against his and soothe his worries away. ‘That bad, hey?’ he asked her.

  ‘No.’ Jade smiled reassuringly back. ‘I thought one red wine wouldn’t hurt, though, if that’s okay? It might help me to relax. Busy day.’ She yawned and stretched, making sure to expand her chest, showing off her breasts, covered only by a flimsy strappy top, to maximum advantage.

  Mark looked at her, his eyes travelling fleetingly lower before moving back to her face. He smiled again, obviously having appreciated the view. ‘Help yourself,’ he said.

  Jade was so tempted to invite him to do the same, but… it was too soon. He was clearly worrying himself silly about Melissa, imagining himself responsible for her, indebted to her in some way for giving birth to his children, as if she’d done something miraculous. Well, Jade supposed it was a bit of a miracle that she’d managed to produce two, given that the woman was useless at the fundamentals. He must have been so relieved when she did finally manage to get pregnant and hang on to it – he wouldn’t have to keep going through the mechanics of having sex with her. Jade doubted he would have got much satisfaction there. And he certainly wasn’t getting any now.

  Jade might have to do something about that, she decided. Fuck him long and slow. Jade’s insides clenched at the thought of him coming hard inside her. She could almost feel it.

  ‘Another?’ She turned, waving the whisky bottle, sure he would see the burning desire pooling in her eyes, possibly throw his principles to the wind and stride across to take her there and then. Mark’s gaze, though, was unfortunately elsewhere, studying the happy-fucking-family snaps lined up on the mantelpiece. Bloody Melissa. Jade reined in her irritation. It wasn’t his fault. It was hers, digging her claws in and holding on to him, manipulating him. The sooner the man stopped torturing himself and made up his mind to leave her, the better.

  ‘Mark?’

  ‘What?’ Mark snapped his gaze back to her. ‘Oh. Sorry. I, er…’ He looked from her face to the bottle, taking in her breasts, which she was holding the bottle strategically in front of, and then back to her face. ‘Why not?’ he finally said, handing the glass to her.

  The poor man was beyond exhausted. He needed a massage, firm hands to ease away the knots in his muscles. Pouring his usual small measure, then adding another good splash, Jade carried the drink over. His fingers brushed hers as she handed it to him, sending an electrifying jolt of sexual tension right through her.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, such longing in his eyes as he smiled up at her that Jade was tempted to throw her own carefully laid plans to the wind and peel off her top there and then. But no. The decision had to be his. She couldn’t rush it. She couldn’t give him cause to lay the blame at her feet should he lose his children. Though that was highly unlikely – there was no way Melissa would be deemed capable of looking after them, assuming she didn’t do them all a favour and end her sad little life before custody was an issue – but it was still better to err on the side of caution.

  Offering him an encouraging smile, Jade walked across to the seat opposite him, making sure to swing her hips seductively, but not too overtly, as she did. Curling herself up on the chair, she watched him pondering for a while – probably questioning how he’d come to be trapped in such a destructive relationship. ‘I’m a good listener,’ she said.

  Mark turned his attention back to her, his expression pensive. ‘I hadn’t realised how bad things were,’ he said quietly.

  Jade waited, hoping he’d say more, but Mark fell silent, kneading his temple instead.

  ‘I’m glad I can be here,’ she said. ‘To help.’

  Mark nodded, once.

  ‘And how’s the investigation going?’ she asked, keen to show some support with the obvious lack of any from his wife.

  ‘Not great.’ He sighed and took a large gulp of his drink. ‘I thought I was on to something, a possible location on Hawthorn Farm, but…’

  Oh shit! Alarm bells rang loud in Jade’s head. ‘No luck, I take it?’ she ask
ed, trying not to sound too interested, as her brain scrambled for a plan. She’d have to speak to Dylan, enlist his help, bribe him or goad him. It wouldn’t be a problem, she assured herself. The man was as malleable as Melissa’s clay, but she’d have to do it soon.

  ‘No.’ Mark shook his head disconsolately. ‘Turned out to be a wild goose chase. I was so bloody sure.’

  Sighing again, he got to his feet and walked to the cupboard to top up his glass.

  ‘Is that why you were late?’ Jade asked.

  ‘Yeah, sorry about that. I was later than I thought I’d be. If I’d known Mel was working I would have tried to get back sooner.’

  ‘It’s not a problem,’ Jade assured him. ‘I get that you’ll be detained sometimes. I mean, with a missing child investigation underway it’s bound to happen.’ She hesitated, then decided to go for it. ‘I’m sorry Mel didn’t seem to understand.’

  Mark looked at her quizzically as he sat back down.

  ‘I overheard, when I brought the tea out.’

  Mark nodded, his jaw set tight. ‘She used to,’ he said, taking a small sip of his whisky. ‘For some reason, she doesn’t seem to trust me right now. I’m still not sure I understand why.’

  ‘Does that worry you?’ Jade probed carefully.

  Mark hesitated, as if not sure how much to confide. ‘Frankly,’ he said, after a second, ‘it bloody terrifies me.’

  ‘Why?’ Jade asked, gently urging him on.

  Mark ran his hands up over his face. ‘I don’t… I know she’s ill, but I’m beginning to wonder whether she still…’ He paused, picked up his whisky, put it back down, then got to his feet.