Liar Liar

by Mel Sherratt

He laughed. She looked around to see if anyone could hear them. But there was no one near. Vehicles drove past on Ford Green Road, rush-hour building up. It was a cold night, everyone on their way home to get out of it. To be safe; unlike her.

  ‘I want what’s mine,’ he repeated.

  ‘You said Monday.’

  ‘Well, I’ve changed my mind.’

  ‘I can’t get it that quickly. Not with all the police around.’

  Footsteps and voices approached on the path. Dane grabbed her roughly by the wrist, swivelled her round, pulled her into his chest and put a hand across her mouth before she had time to react.

  She could smell him, flashbacks of memories coming back at her. The times he’d thrown the dinner she’d prepared up against the wall.

  The times he’d thrown her up against the wall.

  The times she’d mopped up her own blood and got herself sorted afterwards rather than go to the hospital and face questioning.

  She had never understood why he was so obsessed with her. Maybe it was control, a game. It certainly wasn’t passion.

  She gazed up at the flats, knowing her children and Luke were so close, yet so far away. Tears burnt her eyes at the thought of never seeing any of them again.

  As the footsteps began to fade in the distance, she felt his grip loosen. His arm dropped and she stepped away from him quickly.

  ‘You wouldn’t have cared if my little boy had died, would you?’ she said.

  ‘Collateral damage is part of the game.’

  ‘This isn’t a game! This is my life.’

  ‘Mine too. So get it for me and I’ll be on my way.’

  ‘You expect me to believe that?’ She repeated his words.

  ‘Well, I won’t harm you yet. But if you don’t bring it to me, I will hurt your family first. And then I will come after you.’

  A sob caught in her throat. She swallowed it down. ‘I … I need more time,’ she pleaded.

  He stepped towards her, and she saw the glint of a knife in the street lamp.

  ‘I could finish you off right now. But what would be the fun in that?’ His laugh was taunting, cruel. ‘I will be back on Monday.’

  He disappeared into the bushes and left her standing there.

  She bent over, the bile in her throat forcing its way into her mouth. Stood there gasping for air as her body was wracked with the pain of seeing him again. Knowing he was close; hearing what he was planning.

  Once her breathing had returned to normal, she turned and ran to the shop. It was on her way back that she made up her mind what to do.

  Grace was at her desk. Allie was sitting opposite her while Perry was gathering mugs.

  ‘Cup of tea, Ma’am?’ Perry asked with a slight snigger.

  Allie nodded. ‘Stop calling me that. It makes me feel as old as the Queen. Boss will do,’ she grinned. ‘Like old times.’

  ‘Yes, boss.’

  ‘Hey.’ Sam raised a hand for attention. ‘Gather round and help me out with this.’

  They all went to stand behind Sam’s monitor.

  ‘I’ve been sent footage on Century Street, which is covered by city centre CCTV. This is Tuesday evening.’ Sam pressed a button. A road scene came into view and a man walked along the pavement to the old Bathrooms Warehouse building and went around the back.

  ‘How long does he stay there?’ Allie asked.

  ‘I fast-forwarded through to the next morning and he leaves at nine twenty-seven a.m. He comes back that night at eleven.’

  ‘He’s there overnight?’

  ‘Yes, and again on Wednesday.’ Sam pressed a few more buttons and pulled up another image. ‘This is another view.’

  They all leaned forward to get a better look.

  ‘It’s definitely not Forrester, is it?’ Grace asked.

  Perry peered a little closer. ‘It does look similar to him.’

  ‘It really does, but it isn’t him.’ Sam pointed to the image. ‘Seth is taller than this guy.’

  Grace sighed. ‘Well, at least we have one suspect ruled out.’

  ‘That would be great if we had any more.’

  ‘We don’t have all the forensics back yet,’ Allie soothed. ‘Let’s keep at it.’

  ‘But this could be Finn Ridley.’ Grace turned to Frankie. ‘What do we know about him?’

  ‘He’s known on the system but not coming up anywhere since 2010. I’m waiting on DC Hope from the Met to get back to me with some intel.’

  ‘Which means it could be him,’ Grace said. ‘So no images?’

  ‘Nothing since then,’ Frankie replied.

  Grace pointed to the screen. ‘So who the hell is this, then?’

  2014

  Time had gone by without any further contact from Finn and as the weeks turned into months, Ruby had hated him for leaving her and Lily to face Dane. She had suffered abuse, all the while wondering where he was, what he was doing; why he hadn’t come back for them.

  Now two years later, she could understand why. Dane controlled her like he must have done Finn. He had her at his beck and call, too scared to run, too scared to answer back. Too frightened to do anything. He’d taken to staying over whenever he fancied, often turning up in the early hours. She was stuck in a mess that she didn’t know how to get out of.

  Dane often sent his men around if he didn’t want to see her. None of them were nice either, always taunting her about Finn running out on her because she wasn’t good enough. She’d been passed along from one to another like a playmate. Dane had his people everywhere too, which is why she could never leave. She’d hated herself for a long time, for being weak. But he had worn her down. He took what little money she had, gave her even less to get by on and saw to it that he made her life miserable at every turn. She didn’t know why he treated her so cruelly.

  She liked to convince herself that a part of her stayed behind because she hadn’t given up on Finn. It was nothing of the sort really. He would never be coming back. Two years was a long time to be away from her and Lily so there had to be a reason for it. This was her life until Dane let her go. If he ever did.

  She hadn’t seen her dad in all that time either. Ruby hadn’t even told him about Finn leaving, nor what Dane made her do.

  That morning, she sat in the chemist, her foot tapping up and down as she waited. The clock said half past eleven and she was going to be late home. But Lily had been up for most of the night; she hadn’t stopped crying. Luckily Dane hadn’t stayed over or else he no doubt would have told her to shut her up.

  Lily had been coughing so bad that morning she could hardly get her breath. Ruby had rung the doctors and got an emergency appointment but there was only a slot at the end of the morning’s surgery. She knew as she was waiting to see her that she wouldn’t be home for midday.

  Luckily, Lily was given a good bill of health apart from the cold virus, which at least made Ruby feel better. She prayed she wouldn’t catch it too, but at least if she did she could cope with it, keep it at bay long enough for Dane not to get too mad at her looking a mess.

  The prescription ready at last, Ruby almost ran home with the pushchair. The final ten minutes was all uphill. She was exhausted, sweaty and red-faced when she finally saw the flats. And then she groaned when she spotted Dane’s car.

  The lift wasn’t working so she banged Lily’s pushchair up two flights of stairs, trying to ignore her little girl’s cries. She needed to get the medicine into her, try to get her to sleep.

  Dane was sitting in the living room when she pushed open the front door.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She rushed in. ‘Lily has been poorly and—’

  She felt a sharp pain in her head as he wrenched her into the kitchen by the hair.

  ‘Where the fuck have you been until now?’ he demanded.

  ‘I took her to the doctors. I couldn’t get an earlier appointment. I had to wait at the chemist for a—’

  ‘You disobeyed my order.’

  ‘For the first time, Dane. I’m
sorry but Lily—’

  ‘You put the kid before me?’

  She said nothing. She would always put her child before him, even if she didn’t want him to know that.

  ‘You should have been back ten minutes ago. Look at you. You’re a mess. And will you stop that child from screaming before I do something I regret?’

  Ruby raced over to Lily as he lessened his grip. Her daughter was red in the face, tears in her eyes as she scrunched up in pain, coughing. Quickly she got out the medicine, gave it to her before taking her from the pushchair, hoping to soothe her in her arms.

  It worked and ten minutes later, she put a sleeping Lily down in her cot. Then she hurried back into the living room. Dane hadn’t moved; he was watching the TV. He glared at her as she stood in the doorway.

  ‘I can’t be bothered waiting for you to take a shower.’ He curled his finger beckoning her over. ‘Come here.’

  She went to him. At least he didn’t seem that mad. Maybe she could satisfy him and he would leave. But as she reached his side, he stood up, raised his hand in the air and punched her in the mouth. The force of it made her fall into the wall. She groaned as her cheekbone hit the plaster.

  ‘Don’t ever fucking defy me.’ He bent down close to her face. ‘Do you hear?’

  She nodded quickly, knowing not to say anything. It would only make things worse if she fought back. She’d learned that the hard way.

  Once he was gone, she let her tears drop. One day she would get away from here. She wasn’t strong enough yet but she couldn’t live her life like this any more.

  FORTY-FOUR

  Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Ruby tried to stay calm and walked rather than ran to the safety of Harrison House. Once she was on the walkway and a few metres from her home, she stopped. It was bitterly cold, her fingers frozen, her feet cold from standing on the grass. But she gulped in the fresh air anyway, to stop herself from throwing up.

  Dane had given her breathing space and she was going to take it. It wasn’t going to be pleasant but she had to tell Luke what was going on, and hope that he’d trust her afterwards. She couldn’t bear to lose him.

  She went inside, put the milk in the fridge.

  ‘Kids, I’ve bought you a treat. It’s in the kitchen,’ she shouted through to them. ‘Lily, can you help your brother?’

  ‘Chocolate marshmallows!’ Tyler cried when she saw him in his sister’s arms. ‘Can I have two?’

  Ruby laughed. ‘No, you can’t, greedy guts. Lily, can you plate them up and sit in here to eat them? Mum needs a word with Luke.’

  She left them to it and went into the living room, sitting down next to him. Swallowing her nerves, she took one of his hands in her own.

  ‘We need to talk,’ she said. ‘Later, when the kids are asleep.’

  He sat forwards, a look of frustration clear. ‘Don’t say there’s something else you haven’t told me? I thought there weren’t any more secrets?’

  ‘Have you told me everything?’ she challenged, her defences up.

  He looked away for a moment. She turned his face towards hers again.

  ‘Do you trust me?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He pulled away from her. ‘Is this about this Ridley man?’

  She paused, knowing everything was on the line once she replied. Would he stand by her? Would he leave straight away? Would he listen to her reasons why before passing judgment? Either way, it was time to tell him the truth.

  ‘There’s more isn’t there?’

  She nodded.

  He pulled her into his arms, his eyes filled with resignation. Then he cupped her face with his hands. He kissed a tear that had fallen.

  ‘Whatever it is we can get through this,’ he said.

  She gave a faint smile, hoping that they could.

  It wasn’t an easy night, knowing something was hanging over them, but once both children were asleep, Ruby sat down next to him on the settee again and took a deep breath.

  ‘The man after me isn’t Finn Ridley,’ she told him. ‘It’s someone much worse, and he wants to punish me.’

  Luke shook his head. ‘Why all the lies, Ruby?’

  ‘Just hear me out, okay! When Finn left me, I had a visit from a man named Dane. Finn was in a lot of trouble because he was with me. He was a member of a gang. They committed a lot of crimes and once he met me he wanted out. He tried to leave but they wouldn’t let him. The gang leader, Dane, didn’t like his disloyalty and he got into a lot of trouble for it.’

  ‘What a bastard.’

  Ruby’s voice caught in her throat. ‘They attacked him because of it. I … I saw it. I was hiding and they didn’t know I was there. They left him for dead. At the hospital he went straight into surgery. He lost his spleen and was very ill for a few days. But on the day he was discharged, I went to meet him and he’d already gone. The nurse said he’d had a visitor; I think it was Dane and he was running scared. He didn’t even dare to go to the police for protection.’

  Luke sat quiet for a moment, as if he was taking it all in.

  ‘Did you ever hear from him again?’ he asked.

  ‘I had one phone call. He said he’d come and get me when things were safer for him. They knew he loved me, and Lily, so I think they took that away from him. It was his punishment.’

  Luke shook his head. ‘I don’t buy that. I couldn’t leave you and the kids behind. No way.’

  ‘Not even after Seth attacked you?’

  Luke pulled a face. ‘I guess it’s easier said than done.’

  ‘I think he stayed away because he thought they would hurt me, but in the end, they did that anyway. I’m sure Dane knew where Finn had gone, but he told me he didn’t.’

  Luke’s shoulders drooped. ‘Shit, you didn’t have to …’

  Tears rolled down Ruby’s cheeks. ‘I shut it out as much as I could. Sometimes it helped; other times it didn’t.’ She couldn’t bear to see his look of anguish. ‘He told me if I didn’t do as he said, things would get much worse, and I couldn’t have that.’

  ‘Why didn’t you go to the police?’

  ‘You saw how dangerous he is on Monday. He came every few days to see me for his … payment. I was so scared, and naive at the time. In the end, I just put up with it. But when he was sent down for six months, I made my escape. Lily was two.’

  ‘So why has he kept away for so long? That was years ago.’

  ‘He was sent to prison again shortly afterwards, for armed robbery. He’s served half of his sentence and now he’s out.’

  ‘And he came after you straight away?’ Luke stood up and paced the room. ‘Have you any idea why?’

  ‘No.’ She lowered her eyes for a moment, afraid she would give herself away. ‘Just before I left, it got to the point that my life revolved around making him happy. I showed him only what he wanted to see. I didn’t lip back even when I wanted to. When he wasn’t there I was on edge all the time, watching my phone in case he rang and I missed it. He would call at least five times a day by then. It was a game, all control. And I couldn’t get out of it, because he said he would kill me. I’d seen what he’d done to Finn in only a few minutes, so I knew that he meant it.’

  Luke shook his head in disbelief as she continued.

  ‘I tried to leave once before I managed to get away for good. I was packing mine and Lily’s things when he turned up. That’s the thing, I never knew when he was coming, and he had a key to let himself in. I got a backhander and a punch in the stomach for that one.’ She looked at him through watery eyes. ‘He almost broke my arm one night when he pushed me up against the wall and thrust it up my back. I couldn’t use it for a week afterwards. Now he’s come after me again and I’m scared of what he’ll do.’

  She burst into tears, unable to contain her emotions and he pulled her into his arms. As he held her, she wished they could stay like that forever, with the kids tucked safely in their beds. The door shut to the world and all its horror.

  But when is life ever
that easy? She pulled away to look up at him.

  ‘You have to trust me as much as I trust you. I need to leave. I … I want you to come with me, but I’ll understand if you don’t.’ Tears flowed freely now. ‘I know I’ve kept things from you and I’ve hurt you. You might not ever trust me again but I still have to go.’

  ‘Wait, slow down. I don’t understand.’

  ‘If you are coming, we have to go tomorrow, first thing in the morning before too many police officers arrive,’ she went on, not stopping to explain. ‘We need to pack as much as we can in the car while the kids are asleep. We should really go now, but Tyler is only just home and—’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Please! I’ve always stood by you, even though you’ve lied to me.’

  Ruby collapsed in his arms again. She cried hard, letting out all of her anger, grief, fear. For the past two days she had hated herself for saying all those things about Finn, when all he had done was fall in love with her and want to stop his life of crime. But it was easier to blame Finn and try to stop the police finding out about Dane, and then to move on again. If she grassed on Dane, she would be in even more trouble. He might be dangerous alone, but he had a team of heavies behind him who would do anything for him. And Finn had betrayed not only Dane, but the other gang members too.

  ‘I don’t know how you got through that,’ Luke said eventually. ‘I really should be angry with you for not telling me in the first place but I’m worn down with all this. I’m actually quite proud that you made a go of things on your own after what happened.’

  ‘I had no choice.’

  ‘But you were strong and you survived. That mustn’t have been easy. I can’t wait to get out of here now, but I’m not sure what to do about Seth. What about the money I owe him? Will he come after me like Dane has come after you?’

  ‘It’s a chance we’ll have to take. We can’t pay him back.’

  His face was riddled with guilt. ‘I’m so sorry about the gambling. After this, I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. Life is too short.’

  Ruby gave him a half-smile. She only hoped he’d stick to his word. It was high time they got out of the hole they’d landed themselves in.