by Anna Jacobs
The officer looked from one to the other, shaking her head as if dubious about a phone call, so Russ said, ‘I’ll put the phone on speaker and you can hear everything we say. Hell, you can record it if you want. I’ve nothing to hide.’
It took three consecutive phone calls to wake Pierre.
Russ told him quickly what had happened and asked him to stick to English so the police would know what was being said.
‘Police?’
‘I had to call for help. She’d gone berserk, shrieking that I’d raped her, for heaven’s sake. I thought she might harm the baby. They’ve taken her away in an ambulance.’
‘Mon dieu! I’ve been worried sick since you phoned earlier but this is beyond my worst imaginings. I’ll be there as soon as I can, Russ. With some form of medical help. I can’t allow this to go on.’
When he switched off his phone Simone asked him, ‘Do you want me to come with you to the police station, Russ?’
‘I have no right to ask it, but would you?’
‘Yes, of course. I’m probably a useful witness.’
The police officer, who had been keeping an eye on them both, said quietly, ‘It’d be better if you followed us to the hospital in your car, madam, then you can drive Mr Carden back from the police station later once we’ve got his account of what happened.’
‘Good idea. Give me the name of the hospital first, though, because I’m new to this area. I’ve only been in England for a few days. I’m Australian.’
She gave her a friendly wag of the head. ‘I guessed that from the way you talk. You’ve dropped right into the thick of this situation, then.’
‘Tell me about it. I’ve never seen anything like how she was behaving. I’ll just nip next door for my handbag and keys.’
She drove out of the hotel grounds behind the police car, amazed that this had happened in the peaceful rural England the Dittons had promised her.
Simone arrived at a huge hospital just as Justine was being persuaded to leave the ambulance on a stretcher. She started screaming as soon as she saw Russ get out of the police car.
The two officers frowned at him, looking even more suspicious, but they waited for Simone to join him before escorting the two of them into the A&E department into which Justine had already vanished.
One of the officers went with him to the counter to give information about his half-sister and Simone stood to one side.
‘Are you sure you don’t know the other details about her?’ the clerk asked Russ. ‘Not even her address?’
‘I’m certain. I hadn’t seen her for well over a year till she phoned me from Swindon yesterday afternoon. I’d had an accident in Australia, you see, and I’m only just recovering from it.’
‘Is that what caused the limp?’ the police officer asked. ‘She told my colleague she had to kick you to stop you attacking her and that was why you were limping.’
‘What?’
Simone moved forward. ‘Mr Carden has been walking stiffly because of the accident in Australia and a fall the day before yesterday in his garden. When the screaming started I went out to see what was happening. I watched him and his half-sister through the window before I knocked on the door.’
‘What were they doing?’
‘She was screaming for help and saying he was attacking her but he was nowhere near her. I think she must have been hallucinating. He didn’t even touch her till she attacked him, then all he did was try to hold her still.’
They had to hang around under the watchful eye of the police until a doctor had seen Justine and given her a sedative.
The doctor came out to see Russ. ‘Does your partner take drugs?’
‘She’s not my partner; she’s my half-sister. And the man she’s been living with said he’d got her off drugs. I don’t know whether she managed to get hold of something or not. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen her. She has taken drugs a couple of times that I know of in the past, though I don’t know what exactly.’
When they’d finished admitting Justine and taken her away, Russ turned to leave but was intercepted by the police officers.
‘If we could go to the station and take statements from you both, it’d save you coming to see us later today,’ one officer said to them.
Russ shrugged. ‘Why not? I’m certainly not going to sleep easily. Is that all right by you, Simone?’
‘Fine by me. I’ll probably have trouble getting to sleep again, too.’
By the time they were allowed to leave and Simone started driving back to the leisure village, the sky was full of pre-dawn greyness.
‘I can’t thank you enough for your help tonight,’ Russ said quietly. ‘The suspicious way those officers were looking at me made me shiver.’
‘I only told the truth.’
‘Very quietly and convincingly.’
When she pulled up in front of his house, he said, ‘Come in and I’ll make you a hot chocolate. I don’t know about you, but I’ll never be able to sleep now without something soothing.’
‘Sounds good to me. I’m a bit wired up by it all, too.’
Once the drinks were ready, they sat side by side on his small sofa, watching a glorious dawn gradually colour the sky and sipping the hot drinks. They didn’t say much but he felt himself gradually calming down.
When she leant her head against his shoulder and didn’t answer his question, Russ turned his head to look down at her and smiled. She’d fallen asleep between one sentence and the next. He took the mug away from her with his free hand and put it down next to his on the side table.
The warmth of her body against him and her soft, even breathing seemed to soothe him still further and he let his own eyes close, just for a few moments of peaceful rest.
Chapter Ten
The doorbell woke them both with a jerk and they looked round in surprise at where they were.
‘I can’t believe we fell asleep!’ Simone stated the obvious, more because she needed to get her head round that than because he wasn’t already aware of it.
The doorbell rang again.
‘I’d better answer it.’ Russ glanced automatically at his watch. ‘Hell, it’s nearly ten o’clock.’ He stood up, moving very stiffly, and went to find out who it was.
As she listened to the conversation, Simone stood up and ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it as she waited for him to return.
There were no mirrors to check her appearance. What must she look like? Thank goodness wavy hair didn’t show untidiness as much as smooth hairstyles did.
Russ opened the door. ‘Pierre! How on earth did you get here so quickly?’
‘Hired a plane, then a helicopter.’ He gestured to the man standing beside him. ‘This is Alain Chevret, the doctor who’s going to be looking after Justine from now on. Can we come in?’
Russ moved away from the door. ‘Yes, of course. Sorry. I’ve only just woken up. This is my neighbour Simone, who drove me to and from the hospital. We didn’t get back till dawn.’
‘Hospital?’
‘They admitted Justine, had to sedate her, and she’s still there, I’m afraid. She was in a wild mood and seemed likely to damage the baby, besides accusing me of attacking her.’
Pierre exchanged glances with the doctor. ‘She’s getting worse, then. I thought we’d calmed her down.’
‘Sounds as if she got hold of some drugs,’ the doctor said. ‘We’ve already found out that she can be very cunning, n’est-ce pas?’
‘Unfortunately, yes.’ He turned back to Russ. ‘Sorry. You were saying?’
‘We were so tired, we sat down for a rest and must have both fallen asleep soon afterwards. You woke us ringing the doorbell.’ He yawned again. ‘Sorry. After so little sleep, it may take me a few minutes to gather my wits together. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?’
‘Non, merci. We need to see Justine as soon as possible and start on the paperwork for taking over her care. How exactly was she behaving?’
‘Screaming,
shouting, throwing things – and accusing me of raping her when I wasn’t even standing next to her,’ Russ told him.
‘I saw that you were limping. Did she hurt you?’
He was getting very tired of explaining about his limp. ‘No, no. That’s the result of an accident last year. I had a fall at the weekend and hurt it again, just slightly.’ He gestured towards Simone. ‘Thank goodness my neighbour heard the screaming and came round. She saw how Justine was behaving and was able to bear witness to the police that I’d not been touching her.’ He hesitated. ‘Justine was acting as if she really believed someone was hitting her yet no one was even near her.’
‘Hallucinating, probably,’ Alain said.
Pierre shook his head. ‘Damn. What exactly started her off?’
‘She said she needed a drink of wine to get to sleep. I’ve only just moved into this house and I hadn’t any to give her, nor would I have done in her condition. She went mad about that.’
‘She must definitely have been getting some drugs, in spite of all our care, if she’s reverted to that behaviour.’ Pierre looked at the doctor. ‘That settles it, don’t you think, Alain?’
The doctor nodded. ‘Yes. She’ll have to be admitted and watched carefully for the baby’s sake as well as her own till after it’s born. The poor thing might have been damaged already by what she’s been taking, I’m afraid.’
Pierre looked sad and whispered, ‘I pray not.’
‘When is she due?’ Simone asked.
‘Next month.’
‘That soon! But she looks so thin.’
‘She’s trying to avoid eating. She’s been obsessive about food and staying thin for as long as I’ve known her. We’ve been persuading her to take vitamins and small amounts of highly nourishing food. A couple of times she had to be admitted and fed intravenously because she grew so listless and pale.’
He looked distressed. Simone’s heart went out to him.
The doctor turned to Russ. ‘I presume you were the admitting relative at the hospital?’
‘Yes.’
‘I know it’s asking a lot but could you please come with us and officially hand her care over to Pierre and myself? It’ll make things easier, though my clinic is well known in Europe as a leader in this field so I’ll be quite credible.’
‘Yes, of course I’ll come.’ He turned to Pierre. ‘She seemed furious that you weren’t going to marry her, and one has to wonder why you’re making such an effort to look after her.’
He shook his head. ‘All she cares about is my money. I’m definitely not going to marry her and give her the chance to come after it as a divorce settlement. Sorry if that sounds mercenary but she’s money-hungry. I’ll look after her, of course, but what sort of life would I lead with her as a wife? As for the baby, if he survives, I’ll make sure I’m the one with custody of him.’
‘Do you have other children?’
Pierre shrugged. ‘No. I have a low sperm count and thought I was unlikely to father a child, which is why I’ve tried so hard to take care of this one. I have wanted a son very much.’ He let out a deep sigh. ‘I’m sorry, Russ, but your sister seems hell-bent on destroying herself. I tried to get her off drugs, I really did. She can be such fun when she’s on a more even keel.’
There was a silence, then Simone said firmly, ‘I’ll drive you to the hospital again, Russ.’
‘No. I’ll manage. You must be exhausted.’
‘Why don’t you both come in our car and let the chauffeur drive?’ Pierre gestured towards the front of the house where a huge limousine was parked. ‘I’ll send you home in a taxi afterwards. I’m sure you’re both too tired to drive safely. I wouldn’t ask you to come as well, but I think it will look better if you’re with Russ, Simone. A group of men trying to take a woman away forcibly might raise a few eyebrows.’
Russ looked at her hesitantly.
She nodded. ‘Yes, I can understand that. I’ll help if I can.’
Pierre cleared his throat to get their attention. ‘I don’t know anything about your relationship, or even if there is one, but could you please tell them you’re partners?’
Russ opened his mouth to protest but Simone got in first. ‘Of course. The police already took Russ’s denial of hurting his sister more seriously because of me being there with him.’
He mouthed the words, ‘Thank you!’
She linked her arm in his. ‘Let’s get this done, eh?’
As they sat in the ultra-comfortable limousine, Simone marvelled at how well she’d coped with an unpleasant situation. She didn’t usually poke her nose into what the neighbours were doing, but you couldn’t let a series of screams go unchecked, could you?
Her daughters were so wrong about their estimation of her capabilities, as she’d just proved again.
She’d been stupid to let them treat her like an inferior being, but she’d not been herself after Harvey’s sudden death. Grief took you in strange ways and you didn’t get over losing someone in a few days, or in her case, even a few months. She wouldn’t accept that sort of over-protective treatment from them any longer, though, however well-meant and loving it was.
She looked sideways. Poor Russ! He sounded to have had a bad time in the past year and from the way he absent-mindedly rubbed his leg, it must be hurting. He’d fallen heavily down those stupid steps the other night. She was glad there were none at the Dittons’. Their house was on a more level block of land.
He seemed to sense her looking at him and turned sideways, smiling at her.
She returned the smile instinctively. For some reason, it felt as though she’d known him for ages. It was like that with some people. You got on well with them from the very first meeting.
She saw him getting stiff and tense again as they walked into the hospital, so linked her arm in his once more.
He laid one hand on hers. ‘I hate these places. I spent a lot of time in them last year.’
They waited for Pierre and Alain to speak to the person at the desk, which seemed to be taking a long time.
‘The people here will have known what to do for your sister, at least,’ Simone said in an attempt to comfort him.
‘I expect so. I thought Pierre had dealt with it while they were living together. He’s very rich and if anyone should be able to find the right resources to handle such a problem, it’s him.’
‘The doctor guy said people using drugs can be very cunning.’
A short time later Russ said absent-mindedly, ‘Must be nice to be rich.’
‘Yes, it must. I’m reasonably comfortable, thank goodness, because Harvey had good life insurance. But then I don’t have expensive tastes.’
‘How did your husband die?’
‘He simply dropped dead one day and couldn’t be resuscitated. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. No warning, just . . . gone.’
‘How long ago?’
‘Four years.’
‘It must have been hard to lose him so young.’
‘Yes. But you move on, don’t you? Well, most people do. They don’t have any choice. You can’t bring people back from the dead, however much you love them.’
‘It sounds to have been a happy marriage.’
‘Yes, very. But I’m not unhappy now – at least I won’t be once I’ve found something more meaningful to do with my life – and once my daughters have learnt that I’m not merely a glorified babysitter.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘That sounds awful, doesn’t it? It’s not that we don’t love one another, or that I mind babysitting occasionally. I’m as much at fault as they are, too, for not saying no to them more often.’
They realised Pierre had come across and was standing next to them waiting to speak. ‘Alain has been taken to speak to one of the specialists here. He’ll probably get on better in an expert-to-expert situation than if I were with him. Apparently there’s a cafeteria somewhere. Maybe we could buy a coffee?’
Russ grinned at him and Simone could guess why, if hospitals here were simila
r to those in Australia.
‘Trust me, Pierre, unless something here is very different from other hospitals, you won’t even recognise what they serve as being coffee.’
He grinned. ‘That bad, eh? Then perhaps we could try the fruit juice from that dispenser? I’m quite thirsty after all that explaining.’
Simone took the first mouthful from the cardboard carton he brought over to her and grimaced. ‘Doesn’t taste much like real apple juice, but it’s wet, at least.’
Half an hour later, Alain returned, accompanied by an older man wearing a doctor’s white coat.
Simone was very conscious of how closely this other man was scrutinising her and Russ, but they must have passed some sort of visual test, because he led them back to his office and all the paperwork was brought there by his secretary.
Alain took out his phone. ‘You permit? I need to make arrangements for transferring Justine.’
‘Of course.’
He made a phone call, speaking in rapid French, said, ‘Bien!’ and put it away. ‘I had a private ambulance waiting. It will be with us in about an hour.’
Chapter Eleven
Just over an hour later, Simone and Russ said goodbye to Pierre and Alain then got into another limousine which had been summoned for them.
‘Very posh taxi, this is,’ he joked.
‘He needn’t have gone to this length, but it is very comfortable.’
They each sighed tiredly as they settled back to be driven to the leisure village, then exchanged smiles at the coincidence, hardly saying a word for the rest of the journey.
Once they’d been dropped off at home, Russ looked at her apologetically. ‘It’s past lunchtime. I’m sorry it’s taken so long to sort this out.’
‘It was needed. What an extraordinary night! I hope that poor baby will be all right.’ She couldn’t hold back a yawn. ‘I think I’m just going to grab a bowl of cereal, then catch up on some sleep.’
