Run!: He's coming for you

by K Leitch

  Lucinda nodded and watched as he counted out some notes, before handing her a cheque for the rest of the money.

  ‘What are you going to spend it on?’ he asked smiling at her, as she put it all carefully away in her handbag.

  ‘Oh I don’t know yet,’ Lucinda answered shyly, ‘a holiday maybe…we could do with getting away.’

  The manager nodded and smiled again, he seemed really pleased for her and as she loaded up Katy’s buggy with shopping and headed for home, Lucinda finally let the excitement take hold of her for a moment. This was it…this was all that she’d needed to get away. She’d been saving every penny for months now, ever since she’d come home from hospital she’d kept her head down, done everything she could to keep the peace. Oh there’d been a couple of times when she’d not managed it and Trevor had pushed her about a bit, but nothing that had put her back in hospital.

  Trevor owned a couple of night clubs in Torquay and Paignton. He’d started out with nothing and never tired of telling anyone that would listen how he’d dragged himself out of squalor to become the successful entrepreneur that he now was.

  Success to Trevor was his beautiful six bedroomed detached house overlooking Brixham harbour, his top of the range Mercedes, Armani suits and expensive watches and of course his glamorous wife and beautiful daughter. He was fiercely proud of all he’d achieved and he had no intention of letting any of it slip away.

  Despite being a wealthy man, Trevor made a point of keeping Lucinda short of money. It was just another form of control, letting her have only just enough for her daily needs, so that she would have to ask him (and quite often perform various sexual favours) if she needed any more. He’d never allowed her to have her own bank account, why would she need it when he could give her anything her heart desired, and she had never had a credit card.

  What Trevor didn’t know, however, was that a few months ago Lucinda had opened up a post office savings account, and she had been squirreling away small amounts of money whenever she could. Nothing much of course but she had surprised herself at how inventive she could be when it came to saving money. For instance if Trevor ever bought anything for her using cash (which he frequently did, as he liked to carry a large roll of notes around with him, just so that he could impress people with his immense wealth) she kept hold of the receipts and took whatever it was back to the shop the following week, pocketing the cash. She’d also been able to sell some of her jewellery, not her wedding rings of course but smaller pieces that Trevor wouldn’t notice. Despite all her best efforts though, she’d still only got about £900 in her savings account not nearly enough for what she needed. Now however with this windfall, she could actually start to put her plans into motion.

  First she needed a car, the flashy BMW that she usually drove would be easily tracked by Trevor so she needed something else. She didn’t care what it was, as long as it was a good little runner that Trevor didn’t know about and that would get her far enough away. Buying one however was going to be tricky. For a start she couldn’t buy anything locally, Trevor was well known in the area and as a consequence so was she. If she started looking round for cars it would be bound to get back to him sooner or later…no she needed a reason to go further afield, somewhere no one knew her. That threw up another problem though…where would she hide her car once she’d bought it?

  Lucinda had been determined not to involve anyone else in her escape; Trevor was a vicious bully and she knew from past experience that he wouldn’t hesitate to punish anybody that took sides against him. She’d found out not long after being released from hospital the last time, that even poor old Jack Guppy had been attacked and beaten. He’d called the police that night, despite her begging him not to and somehow Trevor had found out... so no she didn’t want to bring anyone else in unless she really had to.

  Having said that, she had already involved her dear friend Emma Greenwood. Lucinda and Emma had been friends since school, and she was one of the few people that Lucinda had managed to hang on to. One by one all her other friends had fallen foul of Trevor, there would always be some reason why he didn’t think she should hang around with them anymore and he would either bully Lucinda into giving them up or be so obnoxious to them that they simply stopped coming round or inviting her out. Emma was made of sterner stuff though and all Trevor’s insults and discouragements had fallen on deaf ears. Mind you she let Lucinda know what she thought of him in no uncertain terms and made it clear to her that she thought she was a fool to stay with him.

  Emma ran a local nursery, one that until a couple of months ago Lucinda had taken Katy to for a couple of hours a week. That was until Trevor had somehow got wind of the fact that Emma had been urging Lucinda to leave him, even offering her a place to stay at her house. Trevor had reacted badly and had caused a scene of horrific proportions outside the nursery one day, terrifying mums and children alike with his vicious threats and violent language until Emma had been forced to call the police. Lucinda had been mortified and had immediately taken Katy out of the nursery despite Emma’s protests that she shouldn’t give in to Trevor’s bullying. Lucinda had remained firm, hating the fact that Emma had already been dragged into her problems and determining not to let anything worse happen. One thing that Emma had offered her though, which she had gratefully accepted, was a reference just in case she ever did get up the courage to leave Trevor and needed work.

  For now though, Lucinda’s immediate worry was where was she going to hide the car once she bought it and how was she going to put aside clothes for her and Katy until she was ready to go. Lucinda mulled over these problems as she walked the short distance back home from the supermarket.

  Lucinda’s heart flipped over as she turned the corner, Trevor’s car was in the drive and as always when she knew he was home, her anxiety levels went up a couple of notches. Would it be the smiling loving Trevor that came to greet her or the insanely jealous thug demanding to know where she had been?

  She took a deep breath, pinned a smile on her face and went inside.

  ‘Hi Trev,’ she called with practiced nonchalance, as she manoeuvred Katy’s buggy into the kitchen and began unloading her shopping.

  Trevor came into the kitchen a moment later, he wasn’t a tall man and he was very aware of his shortness, especially when standing next to Lucinda who was 5’9 in her bare feet (Trevor never allowed her to wear heels). Despite his lack of height he was quite good looking, he had dark, slightly receding hair which he wore quite long and at the moment he was sporting a small goatee, which Lucinda privately thought made him look like a South American drugs smuggler (but maybe that’s why he liked it). His best features were his very intense blue eyes that Lucinda knew could change from sweetly smiling to terrifying lunatic in one blink.

  It seemed the smiling, loving Trevor was in the house today and Lucinda let out the breath she’d been holding as he put his arms around her and kissed her neck.

  ‘Where did you go gorgeous?’ he asked casually, as he covered her neck in soft kisses.

  Lucinda turned and kissed him back, ‘Oh just to the supermarket, it’s such a lovely day I thought it would be nice to walk Katy in the buggy, she’s exhausted though,’ Lucinda smiled as she looked down at her sleeping little girl, ‘I got some of that ham you like, shall I make us a sandwich?’

  Trevor ignored her question, ‘Howard saw you,’ he said his smile a little fixed now, ‘he said you were talking to some man… looked like the manager he said.’

  Lucinda’s blood froze in her veins and her heart skipped a beat but she’d learnt never to show her fear and to think quickly so she said as calmly as she could, ‘Oh yeh…guess what? I won fifty quid on the scratch cards,’ she rifled through her handbag and pulled out five crisp ten pound notes, if you win less than two thousand they give it to you there and then. It was the manager that gave it to me…what a touch eh?’

  For a couple of moments Trevor pinned her with his eyes, before taking the notes from her and putting them
in his pocket. ‘What were you doing buying a scratch card silly girl? I can give you anything you need, you only have to ask and I’ll get it for you… you do know that baby don’t you?’ He was up really close now pulling her towards him, his lips hot on her neck his hands coming up to cup her breasts. He caught one of her hands and pulled it down towards his crotch, Lucinda could feel that he was hard and ready for her. Lucinda forced herself to respond to his touch, he pushed his tongue inside her mouth so deep that she felt like retching, instead she moaned with practiced artistry, his hands on her skin repulsed her but she stopped herself from flinching, in fact she arched her body towards him in flagrant invitation…he had to believe that she wanted him as much as he did her, it was vital that he didn’t suspect a thing.

  Later as she lay on the bed next to him, Lucinda sighed with relief. Thank goodness she’d asked for some cash from the store manager, thank goodness Trevor hadn’t been in the mood to question her further or, heaven forbid, search her bag. She slid off the bed as quietly as she could so as not to disturb him as he slept, sated and snoring gently next to her.

  She went downstairs and checked on Katy. Amazingly the little girl was still asleep, her plump little arms flung high above her head…her perfect pink lips pursed in a cupids bow. Lucinda stood and watched her for a moment, once again marvelling at how beautiful she was, how precious…her greatest achievement.

  Wandering through to the kitchen, she took the rest of her winnings out of her bag and hid them at the bottom of an old storage jar underneath some pasta shapes, she could deposit the money tomorrow, once Trevor was back at work. She hugged herself excitedly…not long now, just a couple of things to organise and then she’d be off, and this time she was never coming back.

  CHAPTER 14 - CARLA

  ‘Carla wait,’ Frank came running out of the interview room after her, ‘don’t rush off…don’t you want to talk about it?’

  Carla moaned and wrapped her arms around herself leaning against the wall, ‘I don’t know Frank…I don’t know what to do…I don’t understand, how could he do this to me…why, what have I done?’

  Frank could see that she was at breaking point. They’d gone straight from the CCTV cameras to interview Herbert Twee.

  Twee had been as cocky as ever, he didn’t deny being in the alley, that wasn’t a crime was it? Yes he may have had a huge suitcase with him, he remembered now he just been to the launderette, their washing machine had been on the blink. No he couldn’t remember seeing Ruben or the other biker in the alley. Yes he did give Ruben a bike to borrow, he was a good lad who deserved a break and Lewis had just been given a new bike recently so he’d thought why not, surely the Detective Inspector wasn’t going to arrest him for being a good neighbour was she?

  Carla had felt her temperature rising as each minute passed, she was looking at Twee’s smug face as he sat across the table from her and she found herself wanting to smash him in the mouth, just pound her fist into him over and over until she’d wiped the smile of his ugly ferret like face. Frank had obviously sensed her anger, he’d taken over a lot of the questioning calming the situation down, but eventually Carla hadn’t been able to take any more of this man’s crap.

  She’d lunged over the table and grabbed Twee by the throat, ‘You think you’re so fucking clever don’t you, you smug little twat,’ she’d growled at him slapping at Frank’s hands as he’d tried to pull her back, ‘I am going to have you Twee,’ she’d continued through gritted teeth, ‘if it’s the last thing I do I’m going to make sure that you and your revolting family get what they deserve…and that’s a promise,’ with that she’d stumbled out of the interview room with Twee’s shouts of police brutality ringing in her ears.

  Frank put his arm around her and walked her back down the corridor towards the cafeteria. He sat her at a table in the corner and went and got them both a coffee. When he came back Carla had her head in her hands, she looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

  ‘I don’t believe this is happening Frank…not to me, not James…oh God…oh God what can I do…I don’t know what to do?’ she broke down completely then, huge gulping sobs her face a mass of tears and snot.

  Frank offered her a tissue, he wasn’t at all sure how to handle this, he wished Linda were here.

  ‘You have to talk to him Carla,’ he said a few moments later when Carla had got herself under control again, ‘we may be completely wrong about what we’ve seen…’ he held a hand up as Carla began to protest, ‘you know as well as I do things aren’t always what they seem, especially on a CCTV camera…talk to him love, hear what he’s got to say before you do anything rash…ok?’

  Carla nodded, ‘I’m sorry I lost it in there,’ she said a moment later.

  Frank snorted with laughter, ‘Shit…you should have seen his face, he was so shocked…ha ha ha it was so funny, for once he was completely lost for words.’

  Carla managed a watery smile and then shook her head, ‘Oh God…he’ll definitely report me though…shit, I am such a bloody fool….’

  ‘Don’t worry about that for now,’ Frank said grabbing her hand, ‘just go home love…you’re not up to it today. Go home and sort this out, I’ll deal with Twee.’

  Carla nodded again, she knew Frank was right, her head was all over the place, and she needed to speak to James. She squeezed Frank’s hand, ‘Thank you…for…well you know.’

  Frank smiled and shook his head, ‘Are you going to be okay to drive?’ he asked her as she made her way towards the exit.

  ‘Yes…I’ll be fine Frank, don’t worry,’ Carla said giving him a smile.

  She drove the short journey home in a daze, she just couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Oh sure they had been having problems lately and she knew that James was cross with her…but this. She just couldn’t believe he’d be this cruel…not James…her James.

  Carla pulled her car into the drive, it didn’t look like anyone was home, good…that was good. She could arrange for the kids to go somewhere…Maggie’s maybe, or Helen’s. Not that she wanted to tell them anything…not just yet, as Frank said it could all just be an awful mistake. Anyhow she’d make up some reason to send the children away this evening and then she’d speak to James.

  CHAPTER 15 - MAGGIE

  ‘Oh sure honey…yes that’s fine, Carla stop, you know how much Jukie loves Rosie he’ll be over the moon…well Harry can just plonk himself in front of his laptop and do his own thing can’t he, anyway Jed’s coming over later so they can play some footie. Stop worrying love, have some good quality time with your man…enjoy yourself…okay…okay… I’ll bring them back in the morning…yes…okay bye, bye.’

  Maggie disconnected the call and stared at the phone, a worried frown on her face. Carla had sounded a bit desperate…not at all like her usual self. Whatever this new problem was with James she hoped they managed to sort it out, maybe a bit of time to themselves would be just what the doctor ordered. Obviously Carla needed some good loving, she thought with a smile, a night of romance and passion could cure a thousand ills.

  In actual fact it couldn’t have worked out better, Dom was interviewing a potential nanny this evening and it wouldn’t hurt to see how well she’d cope when there was a whole crowd of them.

  Duncan came into the kitchen, ‘Who was that?’ he asked coming up behind her and kissing the back of her neck. Maggie turned into him and gave him her lips.

  ‘Carla,’ she said a moment later, ‘she needs to drop the kids over for the night…apparently she’d got something special planned for James this evening,’ she smiled wiggling her eyebrows.

  Duncan raised his own eyebrows in surprise, ‘Really?’ he said, ‘from what I’ve heard it might take more than a candle lit dinner and a bit of rumpty.’

  Maggie burst out laughing, ‘Rumpty…really Duncan,’ Maggie rolled her eyes at him. ‘What do you mean “it might take more”,’ she asked a moment later, ‘I know Carla’s been really stressed out lately…what’s going on Duncan…what
do you know?’

  Duncan looked as though he wished he’d kept quiet, ‘Oh nothing…I’ve probably got the wrong end of the stick, you know me…’

  ‘Don’t try and fob me off Duncan McKinney…Carla’s my friend and if there’s something wrong, I want to know.’

  Duncan sighed, ‘Honestly I’m sure it’s nothing, James has just been going on about how little he sees Carla that’s all. And he seems convinced that she promised him that she’d consider giving up the force after what happened last year. It’s obviously upsetting him that she won’t even talk about it now and…to be honest I think he’s feeling really neglected. He was saying that he has a better relationship with the microwave than he does with her at the moment…’

  ‘Hmm…I was beginning to suspect that they had problems but Carla’s not said a word,’ Maggie said as she switched on the coffee machine abstractedly. ‘We’ve all noticed the difference in her since…well you know last year… but is he really unhappy do you think?’

  ‘Oh I wouldn’t say that,’ Duncan said diplomatically, ‘I think he just wants his wife back… you must admit Carla is a bit of a workaholic. And like you say he’s had a lot to deal with over the past three years or so. I mean she’s been shot at and then left for dead in a hole in the ground, I’d be bloody worried if that was you, so….’

  ‘Well at least Carla’s realised there is a problem and is trying to sort it out, let’s hope they get to clear the air tonight,’ Maggie said handing Duncan a steaming mug of coffee, ‘don’t forget we’ve got that girl coming tonight…um Bronwyn I think Dom said her name was…she’s Welsh I think…or was it Brody…yes it could have been Brody….’

  ‘I thought Jed and Jools were coming over this evening,’ Duncan said, helping himself to some biscuits.

  Maggie nodded. ‘Yes they are, so it’s going to be a houseful…oh I must show you what I got in town for Matty,’ Maggie said excitedly, she jumped up and began to rummage through a pile of shopping bags that had been left on the kitchen table finally producing the tiniest pink tutu and ballet shoes. ‘Aren’t they the most adorable things you’ve ever seen…Jools is going to love them.’