The Lie She Told: All Kate wanted was a peaceful life, all Ryan wanted to do was destroy it. (Thornes series Book 1)

by Catherine Yaffe

  “An old friend? Around here? I thought you didn’t know anyone around here?”

  “No, I don’t. He’s here helping out in the family business for a short time. I did know he was from around here but I never imagined for second I’d bump into him.” Kate sighed and sat on the nearest chair. “It’s just a bit of a shock that’s all.”

  “And what’s he doing in Gairloch you say?”

  “He’s helping out in his dad’s pub, The Kingfisher?”

  “Oh, he’s Len Albright’s boy then is he?” Jack knew Len from way back, and used to be a frequent visitor to the pub.

  “Erm... I think that’s his surname. We weren’t particularly close friends or anything to be honest.” Kate wanted to play down her friendship with Ryan in case it raised too many questions. “Well, anyway.” Kate stood up and put her coat back on. “I need to go collect Joe. Thanks for sorting things out with Adam.”

  Jack took that as his cue to leave also and collected his own jacket from where he’d thrown it over the table earlier. “Right you are then. See you tomorrow,” he called cheerily as he left the café.

  As he took the short walk back to his cottage he couldn’t help but feel something wasn’t quite right. He ‘had a feeling’ as his Annie used to say. He thought back and could remember stories about Ryan Albright. Of course, Ryan had only been a kid back then, but Jack remembered the youngster was a bit of a troublemaker who’d been kicked out of school at 15 and had left for England shortly afterwards. And now he’d turned up in Gairloch and there was no doubt that Kate was thrown with his reappearance. As he trudged along he decided to give it some more thought but he felt unsettled and hoped it was nothing more than coincidence.

  6

  The tiny square of paper was burning a hole in the back pocket of Kate’s jeans. On it was Ryan’s mobile number. She hadn’t stopped thinking about the chance meeting all night, and although it was mid-morning in the café and building up to the busiest time of day, Kate was finding it really hard to concentrate. There was something about the conversation with Ryan yesterday that she just couldn’t shake. She felt certain that Ryan had hinted that he had something to tell her but no matter how many times she replayed the conversation in her head she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She felt sure there was more to it than the fact that he was helping out in his dad’s pub. She knew she would only get the answers she wanted by contacting him, but would that open a huge can of worms that she would rather keep locked away. The debate had continued all night in her head, leaving her feeling exhausted and irritable. As she cleared another table, Jack called over to her.

  “Kate, can you keep an eye on the till for a second please?”

  “Yeah, sure,” answered Kate as she made her way through the tables.

  “You okay?” he asked when Kate reached the front of the café.

  “Yeah, fine thanks.” She emptied the tray she was carrying and placed it in the kitchen. Jack followed her.

  “You sure cos you seem to be lost in a world of your own?”

  “Yeah, yeah I’m fine, honestly Jack,” she replied, touching Jack’s forearm. “Don’t worry.”

  “Well I do, and I think you should take the rest of the day off and sort your head out.”

  “But it’s almost lunchtime,” said Kate in disbelief.

  “Aye, and you’re no good to me or Gill when you’re lost in your own world. Even the regulars have started to notice.”

  “Aye, that’s right,” Gill chipped in. Neither of them meant any offence and only spoke out of concern.

  “So go make yourself a cuppa and take as much time as you need to get your head straight, and maybe have a wee nap, you look exhausted.” As Jack said this, he directed Kate towards the door that led to her flat upstairs. She went along willingly and could hear Gill chuckling away in the background. Raising both hands in mock surrender, she let herself be guided. “Ok, OK, I can take the hint but shout me the minute it starts to get busy.”

  Grateful for the break, Kate climbed the steep stairs to the flat and flopped down onto the overstuffed three-seater sofa. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and removed the incendiary note, staring at the number. She twisted the piece of paper around in her fingers trying to figure out what to do. The internal monologue that had been running all night started up again. She pushed her hands through her hair and let out a moan of exasperation.

  “What the hell is wrong with me?” she asked the empty room. She stood and started pacing back and forth across the living room. Part of her wanted to ring him and tell him where to go, but she couldn’t deny that she was intrigued. Was it true that he was here to help out in his dad’s pub? If it was true then she knew she would have to stay away from him. She couldn’t afford to invest emotionally in a relationship with him; it would leave her vulnerable and she wasn’t prepared to go down that road again. But what if his reason for being here wasn’t so innocent? What could he do that would cause harm?

  ‘Oh, so much,’ she thought. Two and half years might have passed by, but she could still remember the day like it had happened yesterday. Just the thought of the decision she had made brought a wave of nausea over her, and she felt her legs go weak. She looked at the number again.

  ‘I could just text him.’ She immediately dismissed that thought as ridiculous. It might not even be his number.’ Again, she dismissed that thought out of hand. ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, just ring him.’ Decisively she picked up her Nokia and with clammy palms and overactive heartbeat she punched in the number, almost misdialling she was shaking so much. It didn’t even finish its first ring before she heard his voice.

  “Kate. How’s you?” Ryan sounded cheerful and positively happy to hear from her. “I’m glad you rang.” He’d only shared his number with two people and one of them was serving time.

  She didn’t know what to say now that she’d found the courage to call. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she had to sit down.

  “Kate? You OK?”

  She swallowed. “Hi, yes I’m fine.”

  “Wasn’t sure if you’d ring to be honest. Thought you might just ignore me.”

  “And why would I do that?” asked Kate.

  “You seemed shocked, that’s all.”

  “Of course I was shocked Ryan, you were the last person I expected to pick up from the side of the road.” Kate could feel her anxiety levels building and was starting to wish she hadn’t bothered to call.

  “Ah, come on Kate. Don’t be like that. This could be a chance of a new start for us, you know without any of the crap.”

  “I don’t think so Ryan. What is it you really want?”

  “Ooo, touchy. Come on, you know we had it good back in the day,” Ryan laughed. The flirting wasn’t working on Kate, and Ryan realised he had his work cut out if he was to win her trust. He changed tack. “Look, I was only joking. I’d really like to meet up, I just want us to be friends whilst I’m here, that’s all. Besides, I’ve heard from Darren.”

  Kate sat up straight. “What? You’re in touch with him?”

  “Not in touch exactly but you’ll want to hear what he has to say.”

  Kate couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Why on earth was Ryan in touch with Darren.

  “So, do you want to meet up?”

  “Wait a second,” responded Kate, trying to gain some control and recover her composure. She’d be damned before she let Ryan affect her. “I want to know why you’re in touch with Darren.”

  “I can’t tell you over the phone. Come on Kate, just a cup of coffee that’s all.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “One cup of coffee plus it would be nice to see you, catch up on old times.”

  Kate hesitated. It was the catching up on old times that Kate wanted to avoid. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. “OK, one coffee but it’s today or never. I don’t have much time.”

  “Busy lady with your new life, eh?” Ryan teased.

  Kate knew better tha
n to rise to the bait.

  Ryan carried on regardless. “How about 2pm today then?” If he was offended by Kate’s silence he didn’t let it show.

  Kate quickly ran it through in her mind. She had to collect Joe at 3:15pm so she had the perfect excuse to get away after an hour. “Yes that’s fine.”

  “Right, I’ll come to the café then,” suggested Ryan.

  “No!” said Kate. “I’d prefer somewhere neutral. What about Poolewe? Bridge Café.”

  “Yeah, I know the place. See you there at 2pm then. Looking forward to it.”

  The call ended and Kate let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She replayed the conversation in her mind and she now had more questions than her brain could handle. Annoyed with herself for not being firmer with him, she cursed out loud and threw her phone across the room.

  Kate arrived at Bridge Café early, hoping to beat Ryan to it and find a table first so she could get her thoughts together. The café was only small; four tables downstairs and three upstairs. She had deliberately chosen it as she knew it would be quiet at that time of day: the hill walkers would have been and gone. She was gutted when she pulled into the car park to see Ryan sat waiting on a bench. Steeling her resolve, she stepped out of the car and crossed the road.

  “Hey, you came then?” Ryan greeted her, moving forward to kiss her cheek. Kate took a swift side-step and headed into the café without saying a word. They both ordered coffee and Kate led the way upstairs. Silence descended. Unable to bear it any longer, Ryan broke the frosty atmosphere.

  “So how have you been?” he asked, looking at her.

  “I’ve been doing fine, thank you.”

  Ryan realised this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. “Kate, look. I don’t want it to be like this.”

  “Like what exactly?”

  “This. Cold, frosty, defensive. It’s not like you. Well, not like the Kate I used to know anyway.” He watched Kate’s face closely for a response.

  “I’m not the Kate you used to know, that’s why.” She picked up a sugar packet and tore off the top, pouring it into her cup.

  “I know, I get that. How did you end up here of all places?”

  Ryan didn’t know about Witness Protection so Kate was cautious with her answer. “Seemed as good a place as any.” She stirred her coffee, avoiding his gaze.

  “Really? Well I’m glad you did.” He reached his hand forward to stop her constant stirring and felt her shake. “Hey, what’s with the shakes?”

  “It’s all just a bit of a shock Ryan, can you blame me?” Finally, she met his eye but pulled her hand away.

  “No. I understand, really I do.”

  “So what did you have to tell me? You’ve spoken to Darren? I’m amazed you had the guts.”

  “I didn’t ‘speak’ to him exactly. More like I had a message delivered from his cronies.” Ryan paused. “He proper screwed me over Kate.” Ryan adopted a semblance of being the wounded party.

  “Is that right?” Kate asked warily.

  Ryan carried on. “It is pure chance that I’m here at the same time as you, but it couldn’t have happened at a better time for me to be honest.” He looked away, staring out of the window.

  “Go on.”

  “Darren and his little cronies played a right number on me. Tried to grass me up but when that didn’t work he got some of his ‘gangster’ mates to start spreading shit around about me.” Ryan shifted in his seat and looked back at Kate. She was staring at him and he could see the uncertainty on her face. “Some really nasty rumours involving kiddies and that.”

  Kate was stunned into silence. She looked at him questioningly. “What? You mean...” Kate couldn’t quite form the words to finish the sentence.

  Ryan nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. Course it doesn’t take long for mob mentality to kick in where we live does it? It was a blessing when Dad rang and asked me to look after the pub. Gave me a reason to leave and I couldn’t get away fast enough.”

  “Shit Ryan, that’s awful.”

  “I know, right? You don’t believe them do you?”

  “No, no of course not. How awful. And what a bastard Darren is. God, I’m glad I got away when I did.” She reached over and took Ryan’s hand. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that.”

  “Huh, it’s not your fault. Just a bit shit, know what I mean?”

  “Yes, yes of course. So what will you do? How long are you staying?” asked Kate, concern written all over her face.

  Ryan didn’t answer immediately, framing his response in his head before he opened his mouth. “Erm, not sure. Dad goes in hospital for a knee op shortly, but it’s the recovery that takes longer so who knows? Definitely over the summer anyway. After that, who knows?”

  They let the sentence hang between them until Kate realised the time. “I have to go. I need to pick Joe up from school.” She pushed her chair back and pulled her coat on. Ryan stood and helped her with it.

  “Look, Kate. I know this is all a bit sudden but can we at least keep in touch?”

  Kate looked at Ryan, studying him. She knew what it was like to be forced out of your own home. She knew Darren was a nasty vengeful bastard but he really had gone too far this time. She knew that Ryan had been used as a punching bag, and looking at him she could see that he was putting a brave face on the situation. “Let’s keep in touch and see how it goes, OK?”

  “Thanks Kate. It’s nice to see a friendly face. I imagine things haven’t been easy for you either.” He took one of her hands in his.

  “Oh, I’m fine now but yeah, it’s been a bumpy road. No one knows anything about my previous life around here so let’s just say we’re friends from way back if anyone asks?”

  “Well, that is true really isn’t it?” Ryan smiled at Kate and she found herself smiling too in acknowledgement. She turned to leave him, and he pulled her back towards him when she didn’t pull away. He kissed her gently on the forehead and said goodbye. He didn’t follow immediately, claiming he had to use the facilities.

  He watched from the window as Kate’s car disappeared off into the distance. ‘What’s one more secret between us Kate?’

  7

  Harehills Lane, Leeds 1997

  Ryan pushed opened the door to the Dog and Gun and stepped inside. It wasn’t one of his usual haunts so there was little chance of him bumping into anyone he knew. The place was a dump. Sticky carpets, nicotine-stained walls and less than welcoming bar staff. It was still early doors so the place was empty, but the smell of body odour lingered and last night’s beer dregs added to the slickness across the bar top. A barmaid wandered through, half-heartedly wiping a filthy cloth across the pumps. Ryan could see directly into the tap room where his counterparts were already seated and slurping pints of bitter. As he waited for his own pint to be poured, he studied the motley crew he had unwillingly become a part of. Three of them huddled around a small table, and from his vantage point he studied each of them. As usual, Jon was banging on about his days as a rally driver. If Ryan could be arsed, he would love to know how much of this were true. Having seen Jon’s driving, it wasn’t so much that he had a lead foot but he had absolutely no spatial awareness on the road: forever clipping mirrors and scaring pedestrians with his erratic driving. The bloke was harmless enough, just a bit of a knob in Ryan’s opinion.

  Suddenly the three roared with laughter and Ryan assumed Clive had said something random as always. For the life of him Ryan couldn’t figure out why Charlie had even brought him in on the deal. At 52, he was older than the others, and a bit gormless but he had also been a long-time associate of Charlie’s. Hilariously Clive had been told to be the lookout but with one eye pointing east and the other west, he really was a standing joke.

  Finally, with his pint in hand Ryan made his way through to the back room. “Alright?” he asked, dragging a stool over.

  “Brighty! Good to see you pal,” said Jon, reaching over to shake Ryan’s hand which he ignored.

  “Now
then,” said Clive. “Was starting to think you’d bottled it son.”

  Ryan hated being referred to as ‘son’. He chose to ignore the dig and Charlie jumped in.

  “So we all set for tomorrow then?” he asked, lowering his voice unnecessarily. There was a nod of consent from around the table.

  Clive rubbed his hands on the thighs of his already shiny jeans. “Yeah mate, looking forward to it.”

  Ryan looked at him and shook his head. ‘Prick,’ he thought.

  “Ready as we’ll ever be,” chipped in Jon. “Got the motor all lined up. Lovely Beemer 3 series, runs as sweet as a nut.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes waiting for the next predictable sentence.

  “When I was a rally driver...” The rest of the lads flipped beer mats at him and told him to shut up.

  “So what’s the plan then Charlie?” asked Clive for the hundredth time.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake man, how many more times?” Ryan blew out a huge breath of frustration.

  “Hey, come on. It’s OK to ask.” Charlie grabbed Clive’s shoulder in reassurance.

  Ryan shook his head and stared at Charlie. ‘What the fuck has he got on you?’ He wondered. He knew Charlie had done some time inside for breaking and entering. Hardly Brinks Mat standard though.

  Originally from the East End of London, Charlie had built himself a bit of a reputation when he’d shown up in Leeds years ago. Someone not to be messed with, a bit of a hard man. He was handy with his fists after he’d had a few and often regaled newcomers with his glory stories. He was the living cliché of an East End nutter. He definitely had the build at over 6ft tall with a shaved head and prison-made tattoos. But, he’d started to lose his edge. The once grid iron stomach had softened to a rounded belly that had started to flop over his waistband. He reckoned this job would be his last, which is why he was determined to take as much as they could.

  Charlie ran through the plans again: he knew them by rote. He’d been working on this for over 18 months and he was damned if anything was going to go wrong now. He knew they made a motley crew but he had relied on Ryan for much of the job. Ryan had the contacts after all, and Charlie felt he could trust him.