Deceit of Angels

by Julia Bell

  “Did you establish the identity of this man?”

  Jason turned back and cleared his throat. “Does that matter?”

  “She might have met a friend and just gone to have a drink with him.”

  Jason shook his head slowly. “That’s what I said until I discovered she was seen coming out of the lift leading to the bedrooms.”

  Silence followed as Jason tried to control his emotions.

  “Did your star witness tell you that this man could have been a family member from her home town?” said Nigel softly.

  Jason put down his glass and stared at his friend. “A relative?”

  Nigel nodded. “And somehow he managed to track her down.”

  “Track her down! What on earth are you talking about?”

  “In my experience an irate husband is very cunning at finding a missing wife, hence the hundreds of injunctions I have to apply for each year.”

  These revelations made Jason’s head swim. “You’re saying this man could have been her husband?” Nigel made no comment. “And he came to Bristol and…found her!” He gasped with shock. “But she wouldn’t go to a hotel with him. She hated him and I know she was afraid of what he might do.”

  Nigel took in a breath, feeling uncomfortable and yet knowing this was for the best. He began to tell Jason everything and Jason listened, leaning forward in his chair, his elbows resting on the table. When Nigel came to Anna’s ordeal at the hands of her husband, Jason felt himself shaking, his heart beating in his throat. He leaned on one elbow and slowly cupped his hand round his mouth, as if to stifle the cry that was erupting inside him. At the conclusion, Nigel took a sip of wine and kept silent. Jason found he couldn’t speak, his mind filled with memories of his return from Singapore and the fact that, for a while, Anna had changed towards him. She was so tense and nervous that he knew something was terribly wrong.

  “My wife’s been counselling her,” Nigel said, breaking into his horrified thoughts. “Sophia is very good at her job. Sometimes she must hear worse things than I do.”

  Jason found his voice. “Why didn’t Anna tell me?”

  Sophia appeared in the doorway. “Because women who are raped are also brutalised into believing that those they love will be hurt if they speak out.” She took a seat at the table. “And if anything keeps them quiet that does.”

  “He threatened her sons? That’s despicable.”

  Sophia nodded. “Not physical violence you’ll understand. The simple fact that their father might be arrested and sent to prison is an awful burden for a young person to have to carry. Anna didn’t want to lay that on their shoulders.”

  Jason gave a low moan and sank back into his chair. “Oh, Lord! I was thousands of miles away! I wasn’t there to help her. And then I go and accuse her of having an affair, after all she’d been through!”

  “But as you say, she kept it from you,” said Nigel.

  Jason reached out for his wine and gulped it down. “I would have insisted on calling the police and that would have been the last thing she wanted.” His ideas were turning, as he became oblivious to the people sitting with him. “I must find her and tell her that I know and that I’m so sorry for behaving the way I did.” He shook his head in frustration. “But I don’t know where she went. I assumed she went back to live with her mother in Wakefield.” Nigel and Sophia exchanged wary glances. Jason noticed. “Oh, come on you two! Is there something else?”

  “Well, I think I’ll go and answer the call of nature,” said Nigel, rising from his chair.

  Sophia and Jason were left alone. “I’m afraid there were consequences,” said Sophia.

  Jason shook his head slowly. “You might as well tell me everything.”

  “She’s expecting a baby.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. “No, that’s impossible. She told me she’d been…”

  “Fitted with the coil?” said Sophia. Jason nodded. “And she had been for some years. But she had it removed, when she realised that you’d like another child.”

  He gave a groan. “Yes, I remember our discussion.”

  Sophia smiled sadly. “She wanted to give you the news at Christmas. As a very special present.”

  He felt so wretched that nausea engulfed him. “And because she did that for me, she left herself vulnerable. My poor sweetheart.”

  Sophia reached out and took his hand. “But you must remember that this child could be as much yours as his.”

  “She doesn’t know for certain?”

  “No Jason, she doesn’t. How could she know?”

  He licked his lips. “I’ve got to contact her. Please, please Sophia, if you know where she is then please tell me.”

  She smiled but suddenly became serious. “If I tell you where she is, you must promise me something.”

  “Anything!”

  “Don’t go putting any pressure on her. She’s been through a lot and she needs to move at her own pace. You’re going to have to start at the beginning and win her confidence and her heart all over again.” Jason nodded slowly. She studied him, thinking. “Anna told me about a letter she received from her husband shortly after starting work for you?”

  “Yes, she burnt it.”

  “Did she tell you what was in it?”

  “No, not really, except that it wasn’t pleasant.”

  “It contained an indirect threat against you.”

  He leaned forward, clenching his fists on the table. “What!”

  “I said an indirect threat. I believe he was trying to intimidate her by threatening the man he believed took her away from him. At the time it didn’t matter since you weren’t together, but now circumstances are different.”

  “He won’t hurt me,” said Jason, giving a crooked smile. “I’d like him to try.”

  “That’s as may be, but please remember that he doesn’t have to use his fists to hurt either Anna or you, or even her boys.” She sighed sadly. “I’ve been a rape counsellor for a very long time and of all the hundreds of women I’ve tried to help, unfortunately I’ve lost three.”

  “Lost?” he queried.

  Sophia nodded. “Two took an overdose and one cut her wrists.”

  “Women have actually committed suicide over what happened to them?”

  “Oh yes. People often don’t realise the dreadful consequences of an assault on a woman. It devastates her life and can destroy her relationship with her partner. And sometimes it becomes too much for her to handle and she finds another way to free herself from the pain.”

  Jason shook his head. “I never realised this.”

  “Men often don’t.” She paused and carefully folded her serviette. “I reminded Anna that she could have an abortion, but she turned it down flat.”

  “She would,” he sighed.

  “What I’m trying to say is that Anna has somehow remained strong throughout all this. And I believe that the only thing that’s kept her going is that she hopes this child is yours. When you meet up with her, you must keep that hope alive for her.”

  “I certainly will,” he whispered.

  Sophia thought for a few seconds more but then nodded in satisfaction. “She’s living at the Grange with your mother.”

  Jason had to force himself to drive straight home and not go to the Grange. Lying in bed that night he formed a plan. He needed to go to the main office in the morning and talk to Graham but after that he would set off and this time he would not phone beforehand. He would make an unexpected visit and catch them unawares. He rolled over and pulled Anna’s pillow towards him, holding it close.

  He had sensed a conspiracy many times, but had put it down to his imagination. Jason remembered his mother stumbling over her words at his birthday lunch. She hadn’t stammered at all, she had made a slip of the tongue, nearly saying Anna’s name and had pulling herself up just in time.

  His mind drifted back to Christmas and his return from Singapore. Things had been very strained between Anna and him. It was as if she had been repell
ed by intimacy and he had assumed it was because she was seeing someone else! Jason gasped in horror. Intimacy must have been so physically painful for her. She must have been bruised and hurting every time he made love to her and he hadn’t even realised. It had never crossed his mind that anything like that had happened to her. And then he remembered the night of the Christmas party when he had totally misunderstood the situation. He had thought she wanted to play a little game, but in fact she was terrified of him because she thought he was going to force himself on her. He would never do that sort of thing, but after what she had been through, she had reacted instinctively.

  Sleep came reluctantly and Jason was very relieved when morning came and he could start his day.

  “You’re a little more cheerful this morning,” said Mrs Wilby.

  “Am I?” came back his vague reply.

  “Must be the lovely weather,” said Ben.

  “Yes, it is a beautiful day,” Jason agreed with a smile.

  Hollie poured milk over her cereal and watched as it turned a muddy brown colour. “That’s what you’ve been like,” she sniffed. “Like a pond filled with dirty water.”

  Jason looked up from the document he was reading. “Have I? Well, I’m hoping that things will be different from now on.” He threw the file into his briefcase and snapped the catches shut. “Are you ready, sweetie? You don’t want to be late for school.”

  Hollie gave him a withering look. “Daddy, does it look like I’m wearing my uniform! It’s half-term!”

  “Oh, I didn’t realise that. Well, I’d better get myself off.”

  He strode towards the door and gave a cheerful wave as he disappeared. The others watched him until he was out of sight.

  “Something’s afoot,” said Ben and then he glimpsed Natalie. “Oh Lord, here comes the wet weekend to spoil everything!”

  Jason had a good meeting with Graham, there were at least three contracts in the pipeline and if Jason could pull them off, things would start looking up. At first, Graham was startled and then pleased that his business partner seemed more motivated. There was an earnest look on his face that he hadn’t seen for many months, an energy and vitality that gave him hope.

  At the conclusion of the discussion, Jason got up to go. Why this idea suddenly occurred to him he had no idea, but it was as if it jumped into his head.

  “Did anything strange happen at Christmas?”

  Graham stared at him in surprise. “Strange? In what way?”

  Jason tried to be nonchalant. “Did anything happen that gave you cause for concern?”

  His partner gave a soft chuckle. “Jason, I can barely remember what happened last week, never mind at Christmas.”

  “Well, if anything does occur to you, then let me know.”

  Zahra was just clearing away the coffee cups and had been listening in on the conversation.

  “There was that man in the car, Graham.”

  “What man in what car?” said Jason curiously.

  “He was parked across from the car park. I noticed him about mid-morning. Sitting there for hours he was and I thought that very suspicious. But then when I looked sometime in the afternoon, he was gone.”

  “He’d driven away?”

  “Oh, no,” said Zahra. “His car was still there, but he’d gone.”

  “Thank you, Zahra. Don’t forget to send that fax, will you,” said Graham quietly. Zahra left the office muttering something about having worked there for years and still couldn’t be trusted to do her job. Graham smiled as he closed the door after her. “She won’t forgive me for that insult for months.”

  “Do you know anything about a man in a car?” said Jason, frowning.

  “That’s why I wanted to get rid of her so I could tell you. I’d forgotten all about him to be honest. I was watching him too. Couldn’t understand why he was sitting there like that, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.”

  “And you saw him leave his car?”

  “Yes I did and it made me quite jittery. You see, Anna pulled up and parked in your space as she normally did. She set off walking towards the city centre and that’s when this guy got out of his car. It looked like he was following her.”

  Jason took in a big breath. “You’re sure about this?”

  “Well, that’s what it looked like, but it might have been a complete coincidence.”

  “But he was parked there a long time?”

  “Oh, yes. Zahra first noticed him about ten o’clock and Anna arrived about three. So he was there a good five hours.”

  “You didn’t see him come back?”

  “No, I left about six-thirty and his car was still there. As was Anna’s, of course. And that’s when I came in on the Saturday morning and saw Anna’s car still parked. Gave me a terrible jolt, when I remembered that man.”

  “I take it he was gone by the time you came in Saturday morning?”

  Graham nodded. “There was no sign of him.”

  “What kind of car was it?”

  “A dark blue BMW.” Graham opened the office door for him. “All just a coincidence, thank goodness and no harm done.”

  Jason sat in his car for a while trying to absorb this new information. Her husband must have looked up the details of Harrington Rhodes and discovered the office address. That would be easy enough to find. He would have assumed that she worked there, since the family had been told not to tell him that she actually worked in a small office in a private house. He must have sat there hoping to see her, perhaps when she left the building for lunch or to go home. It was just a terrible coincidence that Anna decided to go Christmas shopping that afternoon. If she hadn’t then his vigil would have been futile. Reversing out of his space, Jason headed for the Grange.

  Jason drove up the drive and parked in the forecourt, determined that he would not leave until he had spoken with Anna and promised the protection and support he had failed to give her in the past. He entered the hall and taking off his sunglasses, glanced up the stairs to the landing and then towards the parlour door listening for voices.

  Fran was mopping the marble floor, humming a little tune.

  Jason bent over her. “Where is she, Fran?”

  She jumped with fright and staggered slightly, making him reach out to steady her.

  “Who? Who?”

  “You sound like an owl! I’m talking about my fiancée. Where is she?”

  The look of horror on the young girl’s face made him smile. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, I’m sure sir!”

  “Fran! I know you know. So, come on and tell me.”

  Margaret appeared at the parlour door. “Oh, for goodness sake, Jason. Leave the poor girl alone, you’re terrifying her.”

  He strode across to her. “I’m not leaving until I see her!”

  She could see by the look on his face that he meant it. “Very well, she’s in the rose garden.” As he turned to go she caught his arm. “Be kind and gentle with her!”

  Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I have no intention of being anything else.”

  Anna had spent her most peaceful moments in the rose garden, sometimes bringing out her work so that she could enjoy the late spring sunshine. The garden was starting to bloom and even at the end of May, the roses were showing their cascade of vibrant colours. It would soon be summer and she was filled with hope. The Grange had kept her safe and her secret was part of its fabric now. Somehow that seemed comforting. That morning, her files and paperwork were scattered over the small table Margaret had found for her. She lifted her eyes from her work and looked about her, blinking hard against the glare of the sun. There was someone coming along the path. A man, but not John, he was too tall and then with a muted cry she realised it was Jason. Anna jumped to her feet and headed for the kitchen door. She didn’t get far.

  Jason increased his stride and caught up with her. “Anna! Please don’t run away. We must talk.” She stopped and turned to face him. His deep blue eyes looked into hers with
fierce determination. “I know what happened. About your husband and what you went through.” She turned her head away in embarrassment. “And I want to say sorry for hurting you and making the situation worse.” He raised her face with the edge of his forefinger. “Please say you forgive me for saying all those dreadful things. I should have trusted you and realised there was more to it.” She closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to look at him. “Anna, in God’s name, please talk to me, before I go out of my mind.”

  She squinted at him. “Who told you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. All that does matter is that I love you.”

  Anna frowned. “I didn’t want you to know.”

  “But if you had told me, I could have helped you.”

  She shook her head vigorously. “I couldn’t tell you.”

  He decided not to pursue the argument. “Does it change things now that I know?”

  She moved away from him. He made no attempt to stop her, but stood patiently waiting.

  “I don’t…Let me think a minute.” She trailed her fingers through her hair. He noticed that it had grown and now she dressed it with a pretty band letting the soft blonde curls fall over her shoulders. She looked so lovely and yet vulnerable. “Everything’s so different now. Everything has changed.”

  He wanted her to understand. “I still love you so much,” he repeated.

  She stepped closer to him and he resisted the urge to reach out for her. “But Jason, I’m carrying a child and I don’t know who the father is.”

  “I don’t care about that. I know who the mother is and that’s more important to me.”

  Anna looked at him and her heart melted. “You really want to be with me?”

  He laughed softly. “Anna, please, please let me back into your life. I can’t function without you. Only you can make my existence bearable.”

  He slowly reached out for her and she stayed quite still. “I don’t seem to be able to think beyond tomorrow,” she whispered.