Family Betrayal

by Kitty Neale

It took Steve some time to calm down, but when he finally did, he said, ‘Ivy told me about her childhood, about Dan taking her father's money. I knew she was bitter, but why kill George?’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Joan asked. ‘What money?’

  Steve drew in a gulp of air. ‘Ivy said that Dan and her father had money stashed away, money that should have been her mother's.’

  ‘This is news to me, Steve. If you'd told me before I found out what a bastard my husband was, I wouldn't have believed you. Now, though, I feel like I was married to a stranger, that the man I thought I knew didn't exist.’

  ‘Yeah, that's how I feel about Ivy,’ Steve said, his voice rising to a strangled cry, ‘but she's dead, my Ivy's dead, and I don't know how I'm going to cope with the boys.’

  ‘Oh, Steve,’ Pet cried. ‘I'm sorry that I ran off like that, but … but when Ivy told me that she … that she had killed George, I was in a bit of a state.’

  Steve fought to pull himself together, his voice calmer when he answered, ‘Of course you were, and no wonder. I don't blame you, Pet, for running off or for telling the police.’

  ‘Where are the boys, Steve? Who's looking after them?’

  ‘They're with a neighbour. I know I shouldn't have left them, but at the moment I'm in no fit state to look after them. Pet, please, will you come back? They're fond of you, they … they need you.’

  ‘She'll do no such thing. My daughter is staying with me.’

  ‘It's all right, Mum,’ Pet said. She then turned to Steve. ‘I'm sorry, really I am, but living with you wouldn't be, well, appropriate, and not only that, I can't leave my mother, not now, and there's still the funeral.’

  ‘I know, and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I'm not thinking straight and it was daft.’

  ‘What about the rest of the money? Have you found it?’ Joan snapped.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Ivy killed George for money. She murdered my son to buy the house you live in. Tell him, Petula, tell him what Ivy confessed to you before she died.’

  And so Pet did, Steve's eyes, red from crying, widening. ‘I didn't know. I thought we'd got an exchange – that our house is council property.’

  ‘Don't give me that. If it belongs to the council, what about the rent?’

  ‘I can answer that,’ Pet said. Her mother was so bitter, so hard, taking her angst out on Steve. ‘I lived with Ivy for over six months and I know that she handled all the finances.’

  ‘That's true,’ Steve said. ‘I always left the running of the house to Ivy. I just stumped up my wages and she paid all the bills, which I assumed included the rent.’ Steve then lowered his head, raising both hands to bury his face. For a while he was quiet, but then he looked up, saying, ‘If the house was bought on money that Ivy stole from you, there's only one thing I can do. I'll have to sell it to pay you back.’

  ‘No, Steve, no, you can't do that. It's the boys’ home. If you sell it, you'll have nowhere to live,' Pet protested.

  ‘Oh yes he can. Ivy stole that money and I want it back.’

  It was too much for Pet and she surged to her feet, glaring at her mother. ‘Hasn't there been enough pain? Enough death, enough hate and anger. You don't need the money, Mum. From what you've told me, you did well on the sale of the yard and have you forgotten that the money Ivy took was made from porn? I don't want anything to do with it. The thought of it makes me sick. So tell me, do you really want it back? Do you really want to take Harry and Ernie's home? Because if you do, if you're so bitter and twisted that you'd make two innocent children and their father homeless, I'm going, and this time I won't be coming back.’

  Her mother was gawking whilst Pet's shoulders heaved with emotion. With a sob she ran from the room, dashing upstairs to fling herself across her bed. Oh God, when would it end?

  Pet's door opened and her mother came into the room. She stiffened, expecting a tirade, but instead the bed dipped and she found herself in her mother's arms.

  ‘Petula, I'm so sorry, really I am. I've been so wrapped up in anger, so disgusted at what your father and my sons did to make money, that my mind has become bitter and twisted. When you came home I was so happy to see you, but then you had to tell me about George and, well, it all started up again. I know he was a bad 'un, but he was still my son. She killed him, Pet, Ivy killed him, and I can't stand it that she got away with it.’

  Pet clung to her mother. ‘No, Mum, it's me who should be sorry. You've been through so much and no wonder it's made you bitter, but Ivy didn't get away with it. She told me that the guilt had eaten at her, sure that it had caused the cancer that took her life. She suffered, Mum, months of dreadful pain before she died.’

  ‘It's no more than she deserved.’

  ‘Mum, please …’

  ‘Oh, Pet, take no notice of me. I've been so wrapped up in George that I've forgotten you've been through hell and back too. You didn't deserve it, and it must have been dreadful, but you're all I've got left now. Pet, please don't leave me. As you said, I've got money and I could even buy a little house. We could make a fresh start, just the two of us.’

  ‘Mum, I'm not leaving you. When that … that man raped me, it almost destroyed me and, like you, I became bitter. I don't want to go on like this, Mum. I don't want what happened to ruin my life. If I do, he'll have won. Do you really think we can make a fresh start? Do you think we could put the past behind us?’

  ‘I dunno, love, but we could give it a bloody good try. Look, I'll tell you what, after George's funeral we'll make a start. We'll have a look at some property, maybe somewhere out of London. How about the coast? I've always fancied living by the sea.’

  ‘What about Steve? The house?’

  ‘You were right, Pet, and I'm ashamed to say it took you doing your nut to bring me to my senses. I don't want anything to do with it. As you said, it was bought on money from porn and if Steve ever finds the rest of the money, as far as I'm concerned he can keep it. At least it will give the boys a start in life, so something good will come out of it.’

  ‘Oh, Mum,’ Pet said impulsively, ‘I love you.’

  ‘And I love you too.’

  For the first time in her life, her mother had said she loved her, and Pet clung to her waist as tears spurted from her eyes. Yes, they could make a fresh start. They had each other, and as memories returned again of happier times, she wondered if she would ever be able to forgive her bothers – if her mother could ever forgive her sons. Even if they found it impossible, Pet knew that her brothers would be all right. Thanks to their mother they all had businesses. They had their wives, and Chris his woman, albeit in a strange relationship. Pet wondered if she'd ever marry, if she'd ever have children, yet even if she did, now that she knew her mother loved her, needed her, she would always remain central in her life.

  Yet before any thoughts of marriage, Pet had an ambition to fulfil. She knew what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to break the mould – to be a Draper who wasn't involved in crime. When she eventually had children Pet wanted them to be brought up without the stigma she had suffered – to see that they grew up knowing right from wrong, but there was more to it than that. The film that Jack Garston had forced her to watch, the terror she had seen on the little girl's face, would always haunt her. She wanted men like him stopped, but alone Pet knew she could do nothing – that alone she could never make a difference.

  During the last few days, for the first time in her life, Pet had had dealings with the police and it had strengthened her ambition. That was what she wanted – to join the force – and as soon as she and her mother were settled she would work towards that goal.

  She hugged her mother, feeling a hug in return. ‘Come on, Mum, let's go and tell Steve that he can keep the house.’

  Her mother smiled at last, nodding in agreement, both leaving the room, both now knowing that when the pain of George's funeral was over, their new life would begin.

  Acknowledgements
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  My thanks to my editor Maxine Hitchcock and her team at Avon/HarperCollins. It has been a difficult year for me, but they were always there to offer their kind support. Thanks also to my wonderful husband Jim and daughter Samantha, two precious people who keep me smiling.

  About the Author

  Kitty Neale was raised in South London and this working class area became the inspiration for her novels. In the 1980s she moved to Surrey with her husband and two children, but in 1998 there was a catalyst in her life when her son died, aged just 27. After joining other bereaved parents in a support group, Kitty was inspired to take up writing, and Nobody's Girl was recently a Sunday Times bestseller. Kitty now lives in Spain with her husband and is working on her new novel for Avon, due to be published in early 09. To find out more about Kitty go to www.kittyneale.co.uk or visit www. AuthorTracker.co.uk for exclusive updates.

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  Copyright

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

  The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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  First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2008

  Copyright © Kitty Neale 2008

  Kitty Neale asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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  EPub Edition © 2008 ISBN: 9780007287666

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