Her mother glared at Ellen for interfering, but she didn’t care about that.
“Ah, yes. We’ll need to take some X-rays. I suspect you have a cracked rib or two, and your daughter has every reason to worry about a neck injury, too.” The doctor turned to Ellen. “Have the police been informed about this brutal attack?”
She was relieved the doctor had worded her mother’s awful injuries in those terms. Maybe now Mum will start to take the assault seriously and not keep poo-pooing it. “Oh, yes, the police were definitely informed.”
“You will need a few days of bed rest. Are you retired?”
“No, I am not! I’m the landlady of a very busy public house,” her mother retorted spikily.
“Not for the next week or so, you’re not. Is there anyone who can take over running the place for you?”
Her mother shook her head, and Ellen kept her mouth shut. She had neither the time, nor the inclination to run the pub for her mum, especially if the charming Colin was still living there.
The doctor raised an eyebrow at Ellen. “Couldn’t you or a sibling help out for a few days?”
“It’s complicated, Doc. The man who did this to my mother is still living at the pub.”
The doctor’s eyes widened in shock. “But after the police have dealt with him, he would be locked up, wouldn’t he?”
“It depends if Mum wants to press charges or not, doesn’t it, Mum?”
Shamefully, her mother shook her head. “I couldn’t do that. I love him.”
Ellen gave the doctor a shrug and a look as if to say, “See what I’m up against?”
The doctor took Ellen’s demeanour to give him the green light to grind some sense into her mother. “Mrs. Fisher, I must insist you mull this over thoroughly before doing something you later regret. In my experience, here in the A and E Department, I see approximately fifty to sixty cases like yours every month. Each time a victim refuses to proceed with an action against their partner, invariably, they end up back here in a much worse state. I urge you to reconsider. I know it’s difficult, but these men have to be stopped. They have to learn that sorting things out with their fists is not the way forward.”
“The doc’s right, Mum. You won’t be alone in this. I can’t run the pub for you because I’m involved in a huge case at the moment.”
The doctor raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I’m a kind of private investigator. I investigate missing people in the hope of reuniting them with their loved ones.”
“Ah, a very worthwhile job indeed,” the doctor said with a look of admiration lighting up his face.
“My job’s worthwhile, too, you know,” Ellen’s mother piped up.
“Yes, Mum, of course it is. Maybe the brewery has a list of relief managers who can step in and help out for a week or so?”
The doctor backed Ellen up. “That’s a great idea. Now, bear with me a moment while I arrange for the X-rays to be taken.”
The doctor left the cubicle, and a stony silence filled it in his absence. Ellen let out the breath she’d been holding in when he rejoined them. Afraid her anger would show in her words, she hadn’t said anything to her mother. Her father had always told her that it was best to say nothing than to upset someone with the obvious truth that they just didn’t want to hear. There was another reason behind Ellen’s silence—she knew the more she went on at her mother about Colin, the more she would dig her heels in. Jim was more qualified to reason with their mother than she was. When they got back to the office, she would inform him of the doctor’s advice and let him handle her.
They finally left the hospital at four that afternoon. Not knowing where else to take her mother, Ellen returned to the office.
Brian welcomed them with a sympathetic smile and rushed to put the kettle on. Ellen followed him back. “What did Jim do? Do you know?”
“About dickhead?”
“Yeah?” Ellen folded her arms and rested her backside against the sink in the tiny kitchenette.
“Actually, I shut up the office, and we both went round there.”
“Whoa, I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Just a friendly warning. I let Jim do most of the talking. The guy was pathetic. Tried to get us to see it from his point of view. He even had the audacity to mention you and your troublemaking skills.”
“He what? What sort of prick is he? I left there so they could get on with their lives. I’m feeling guilty as hell about that bloody decision right now.”
“Don’t go blaming yourself, Ellie. Your mum should be big enough to look after herself. Christ, that bloke is such an arrogant shit.”
“So, has he packed his bags?”
“He said he was. But then he said he wouldn’t be going anywhere unless your mum told him to.”
“Well, there’s little chance of that happening.”
Brian shook his head. “You’ve got to make her see sense.”
“There’s no point. She won’t listen to me, Brian. I’m hoping Jim will be able to get through to her. The doc has told her to have bed rest and to take the week off. The thing is, she won’t want to give up her reins on the pub.”
“Maybe you should consider moving back home for a little while. What’s going to happen with the pub?”
“The thought of moving back there and dealing with that creep doesn’t exactly have me jumping for joy. I told Mum to get on to the brewery, to get a relief manager in, but I can’t see her approving that. Then there’s this place to consider.”
“Hey, I can handle things this end.”
She knew he was capable of running the office in general. However, the case was starting to show up some interesting connections that she was dying to get stuck into. Why do I have to get involved in other people’s marriages? “Look, if the tosser has left the pub, then I’ll settle Mum in and return to work. If he’s still hanging around, I’ll stay there tonight and see how the land lies. God, I hate being put in this position. Don’t give me that look. I know she’s my mum, and I should be there to support her, no matter what. I didn’t tell her to marry that tosser, though, did I?”
He placed an arm around her shoulder and squeezed tightly, then released her. “Everything will work out. You’ll see. Just holler if I can be of any assistance. In the meantime, I’ll keep on top of things here, keep tinkering with my new software package, and see what I can come up with.”
“But I wanted to get to Diane’s family home as soon as possible, while the trail is still hot, if you like. Then there’s the gym. I need to start asking questions down there.” She slammed her backside against the sink in a mini-strop.
“I know. Family comes first, though, Ellie.”
And that was the trouble. Her family always came first in Ellen’s book.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The pub was deserted when Ellen and her mother arrived. There wasn’t a single car in the car park. Ellen’s mother looked downbeat and unwilling to set foot in the place when they approached the back door.
“You don’t have to do this, Mum. Come back to Jim’s place with me?”
“No. I have to do this, love. Has he shut the pub, do you reckon?”
“It looks that way. I’ll go in first. Stay back a minute.”
Her mother gripped the back of her jacket and hung on tight. “I’d rather come with you.”
Tentatively, Ellen eased open the back door. She looked up at the top of the door in case the bastard had rigged it with a pot of paint or a bucket of water. Poking her head into the back hallway, she cocked her ear, listening for any sign of movement. There was none. They crept into the public bar. The till drawers were open, and the float tray was missing. The unlit juke box showed that someone had unplugged it since that morning, along with the arcade machines that lined one of the walls. Everything was so quiet—too quiet for Ellen’s liking.
“Let’s check out the flat.”
Her mother nodded as tears gathered in her eyes.
“Come on. I wo
n’t let him hurt you. I promise.”
Her mother let out a shuddering breath as they proceeded to climb the stairs to the owner’s accommodation.
Ellen started at the front of the property in the lounge and poked her head into each room until she reached the end of the upstairs landing. “Nothing. It’s all clear.”
“Did we shut the back door when we came in?” her mother asked, still nervously looking around her.
“I’ll go back down and check. Wait here.”
Ellen cautiously walked back downstairs and bolted the back door. As an afterthought, she checked the cupboard under the stairs. Seeing that everywhere was clear, she returned upstairs to the lounge to reassure her mother. When she got there, Colin was standing behind her mother, holding her arms behind her back with one hand. The other was holding a knife to her throat.
“What the hell? Don’t do anything stupid, Colin.”
His eyes screwed up, and he snarled at her, “Get out of my fucking pub. You ain’t working your way back in here.”
Ellen’s brain was ticking over so fast that she thought it was going to explode any second. Her police training pushed its way to the front, shoving aside the panic rushing through her veins. “If that’s what you want, then Mum and I will get out of here.”
“Your mum ain’t going anywhere. We’re a married couple whether you and yours like it or not. She loves me, and I love her.”
Ellen’s gaze left his and dropped to her mother’s petrified face. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her chin was wobbling as though she were on the verge of tears again. Colin repositioned the knife and nudged his wife. “Tell her, Irene.”
Her mother let out a mouse-like squeak. “Colin, please. I do love you. There’s no need for this.”
“Listen to her, Colin. She loves you, no matter what I or anyone else says to try and change her mind. She loves you. She doesn’t deserve this.” His hand relaxed a little, and the knife fell away from his wife’s throat as he appeared to think about what to do next.
“I’ll drop the knife if you leave.”
“I can’t do that, Colin.” Ellen cringed when the knife dug into her mother’s throat again, and the pressure nicked the skin. She watched, mesmerised, as a drop of blood ran down the blade.
“You’ll leave and let us get on with our lives, or I’ll end hers now.”
You crazy bastard! “Okay, have it your way. Drop the knife, and I’ll go. Is that what you want, too, Mum?”
“I think so. Yes. We’ll be fine if you go, Ellie. You won’t hurt me, will you, Colin?” Her mother’s voice searched for his reassurance.
The strength in her mother’s voice surprised Ellen. She wasn’t sure if the tables were turned, if she would be reacting in the same way. How long has Mum been walking on eggshells around this man? Needing to pacify him? She was torn. Should she leave her mother alone with Colin and ring Jim as soon as she got outside to come over to help? Or should she sit it out and see how Colin reacted? Fearing the last scenario would only make matters worse, Ellen decided to first try to persuade Colin that what he was doing was wrong. If that failed, then she would leave and ring her brother for backup.
His glare intensified. He’d been watching her mull things over, his face riddled with smugness. “If Mum wants me to leave, and you promise that you won’t hurt her anymore, then I’ll go. But I’d rather stay and talk things over. Mum’s not getting any younger, Colin. Neither are you. Do you really want to live like this? Mum to live this way, under constant fear and threats? What can we do to help you?”
“You can leave your mother and me alone. All our problems started when you moved back in. Our life was perfect up until that point.”
“I’m sorry I intruded, but I’ve since moved out. Why are you acting this way? Why now?”
His gaze left hers, and she could tell he was searching for the answer. Ellen suspected he didn’t have one and that he found it far easier to blame his faults on others, like most abusers did. They were never to blame for their own unstable behaviour.
Her mother mouthed for her to leave and get help. He must have felt her jaw move, because his hand jerked under her chin. “What did you say to her?” he demanded, his mouth close to her ear.
“She told me to leave. That she would be fine with you. The thing is, I really want to leave, Colin, but I just can’t, not while you still have a knife to her throat. You can understand that, can’t you?” She kept using his name as she spoke, casting her mind back to the class she’d attended about hostage negotiations. Personalise the conversation. Keep the hostage taker on side as much as possible.
He appeared to be confused. The hand holding the knife kept rising and falling, pinching and unpinching the skin around her mother’s neck. With each movement he made, her eyes opened and shut in response, until finally, he withdrew the knife and placed it on the table behind him.
Ellen decided to leave and call her brother. If she went back on her word, things could spiral out of control again. It was best to keep Colin calm, for her mother’s sake. She raised her hands. “Okay, thank you for doing that, Colin. As promised, I’m going to leave you to talk things over. Is that all right with you both?”
Her mother nodded, but Colin still seemed a tad confused about what had just happened. Or is he pretending?
“Colin? Are you all right, dear?” Ellen’s mother turned to face him and ran a caring hand down his cheek.
Ellen watched, in awe of the way her mother spoke with tenderness to the man who, minutes before, had threatened to kill her. She sensed she was witnessing a regular occurrence, which she’d had no idea was going on.
“I’m sorry, Irene. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Colin sank into the sofa and held his head in his hands.
Ellen’s mother motioned for her to leave. She reluctantly left the room, rushed down the stairs, and jumped in her car. She searched her bag for her mobile, then rang her brother’s direct line at the station. “Jim, it’s me.”
“Sis? Everything all right?”
“I took Mum back to the pub. Colin is there. I’m scared he’s going to do something, Jim. I just talked him down from holding a knife to her throat. Can you come over?”
“What? Shit! I’m on my way. I’ll be ten minutes. Stay where you are. Don’t move.”
“Hurry!”
She ended the call and spent the next eight minutes tapping her hand on the steering wheel, her leg jerking up and down nervously as her gaze drifted between scanning the area for her brother’s car and looking up at the window of the lounge to the flat above.
Jim’s car pulled up beside hers. He hopped in the passenger’s seat and asked her to go over what had happened.
“What do you think we should do now?”
Jim glanced up at the flat. “Well, I warned him off earlier, and that seems to have backfired. I think we should go in there together and force him to leave.”
“Hold on a minute. This place is open to the public. It’s not as if Mum can just throw the bolt on the door to keep him out, is it?”
“You have a point. How was Mum when you walked out of there?”
“All over him like a rash. What a fucking mess!” Ellen sighed deeply.
“Yeah, you could say that. We can’t throw him out if Mum doesn’t want us to.”
They both looked up at the lounge window and saw their mother gazing out at them.
“I can’t tell what she’s thinking,” Ellen said.
“Neither can I. I’ll get out. Let’s see what her reaction is then.” Jim got out of the car, and her mother’s eyes widened in fear. She glanced nervously over her shoulder and then back down at her son.
Ellen joined her brother. “I say we go in.”
“I’m not sure. I think she’s trying to tell us to keep back, to go away. It’s hard for her to communicate if he’s still in the room with her.”
Just then, Colin came to the window. After one look at Jim, he fled. “We’ve gotta get in there.
I know he’s going to do something bad,” Ellen shouted as she charged towards the back door of the pub.
Jim caught up and passed her in a flash, his black jacket billowing out behind him. He stormed through the back door and was at the top of the stairs, just disappearing along the hallway, as Ellen entered the pub. Don’t do anything stupid, Jim, please!
Out of breath, she walked into the lounge to find Jim with Colin’s head in a headlock. Her mother was yelling at her son to let Colin go, but Jim’s grip held firm. Ellen pulled her mother away from the two men in case Colin summoned up enough strength to shrug Jim off, which looked unlikely, considering the way her brother was holding him, but stranger things had happened. “Let Jim deal with this, Mum. Colin has to learn that he won’t achieve anything by abusing you.”
Her mother wriggled out of her grasp and turned to glare at her. “He doesn’t abuse me. This was an accident. A one-off, you hear me?”
“Really? Oh, come on. Who are you trying to kid?” Ellen looked over at Jim, shrugged, and shook her head in disbelief.
“If I let go, you’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?” Jim asked Colin.
“No. Your mother and I are very happy together. All this has been a terrible misunderstanding. I never meant to hurt her. I’ll never do it again. I swear.”
Jim released his grip. Colin stood up, and their mother ran into his arms. Her brother seemed as disgusted as Ellen was by their mother’s puzzling display of affection.
“Come on, Ellen. Let’s get out of here.”
Ellen could tell Jim was well and truly pissed off as he moved toward the door. “This is your final chance, Mum. We could arrest Colin now for what he’s done, but if you won’t give us a statement, then there’s little we can do. You let this drop, and Jim and I won’t bother coming to your rescue next time. We’ll turn our back on the situation, just like you’re doing now. Have the courage to fight to have a stress-free relationship. You shouldn’t live under a cloud the way you do. No one should,” Ellen said calmly, letting her mother know that neither she nor Jim had the time to keep bailing her out every time her husband used her as a punchbag.
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