Dangerous Desires (20 page)

But how on earth did they know about her spell? There was no way anyone could have guessed that she’d used unseen forces to have her wicked way with the young lads. This was the beginning of a nightmare, she knew as she wondered what the caller wanted. He obviously intended to blackmail her. Did he want sex in return for his silence? she wondered.

Slipping into her dressing gown, she walked to the end of the garden. Ian had finished the fence, and made a three-inch hole in the panel about three feet above the ground. But she daren’t go ahead with her plan. With someone watching her, she daren’t suck her neighbour off through the fence, or invite the boys round again. Looking about her, she couldn’t see any windows overlooking the garden. The only way anyone could have seen her was if they’d peered over the fence at the end of the garden.

Standing on her toes, she gazed into the garden backing onto hers. There were shrubs and brambles over the fence, but someone could have tramped their way through the undergrowth and spied on her. If that was the case, how did they know about the young lads. More to the point, how did they know about her powers? Returning to the house, she again wondered where Tom had got to as she hurriedly showered and dressed. Perhaps he’d seen the lads leaving, she mused. But he knew nothing about her so-called spell. And what would he be doing skulking about in someone else’s garden? She was going to have to discover the identity of her would-be blackmailer before using her power again.

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Sipping her coffee in the kitchen, she made her plans. The caller was definitely a neighbour, she concluded as she gazed out of the window at the back garden. He must have seen her over the fence, and possible just happened to be walking past the house when the lads had left. Perhaps he’d meant that her spell was her charm, her young body? she pondered. That was it, she decided. Her spell was her curvaceous body, her good looks, her sexuality.

Rather than phone Tom, she sat down and watched television to relax and calm her mind.

Whoever had it in mind to blackmail her had to be careful, she mused. With her powers, she could quite easily destroy him. But there was nothing she could do until he made his next move, until she discovered his identity. And when she did, he was going to regret the day he was born.

Grinning, Annabelle felt a little easier as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

168

“What is it now?” Annabelle asked the two police officers standing on her doorstep the following morning. “What’s he accused me of doing this time?”

“May we come in, Mrs Davis?”

“I am
not
Mrs Davis,” she returned, leading them into the lounge. “I’m divorced.”

“Yes, quite. Your husband has had some money stolen from his house. Five-hundred-pounds, to be exact.”

“And? What the hell has that got to do with me?”

“Is this yours?” he asked, holding up a gold earring with a small ruby adorning the stud.

“Yes, yes it is,” she replied, frowning as she gazed at the earring. “Where did you get it from?”

“It was found on the floor in your husband’s diningroom. By the bureau where the money was taken from, to be exact.”

“This is ridiculous,” Annabelle snapped angrily. “I’ve been nowhere near his bloody house. In fact, I’ve avoided that area like the plague.”

“Then, how do you explain the earring?”

“He must have been here and taken it from my dressing table. He’s trying to set me up, yet again.”

“So, you’re saying that he broke into your house and stole the earring in order to make out that you’d gone to his house and stolen his money?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Does he have a key to this house?”

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“No, of course not.”

“And there was no sign of a breakin?”

“Well, no.”

“But you have a key to his house?”

“No, I gave the key back when I left. Look, he’s accused me of sending text messages to his mobile phone, he’s said that I’ve sent him a threatening letter, and now he reckons that I’ve been to his house and stolen his money. It’s ridiculous. He’s obviously trying to get me into trouble. When did this so-called robbery take place?”

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” she echoed. “But, he’s on holiday in Spain. He’s not even in the bloody country so how could he have ...”

“On holiday? He’s at home, Mrs ... He’s not been away.”

“But I thought ...”

“You thought that he was abroad?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I see. So, thinking that he was in Spain, you took your key and let yourself into his house?”

“No, no I bloody didn’t.”

“Who told you that he was in Spain?”

“My sister. Someone or other mentioned it to her and she told me.”

“Very interesting. Well, that’ll be all for now. We’ll make further enquiries and get back to you.”

“Can’t you see what it is he’s trying to do?” she asked as they walked into the hall.

“We only deal with facts, Ma’am.”

170

“You should also look at the overall picture. If you did that, you’d clearly see what my ex-husband is trying to do. He’s been causing trouble for me since I left him. Any fool can see that he’s simply ...”

“He withdrew five-hundred-pounds in cash from the bank,” the officer interrupted Annabelle. “We’ve seen the bank statement, by the way. The money was stolen from his bureau.

There was no sign of a breakin, suggesting that the thief had a key. You believed him to be on holiday in Spain. Your earring was found on the floor by the bureau ... As I said, we’ll make further enquiries and get back to you.”

Closing the front door as they left, Annabelle was fuming. Brian had planned the whole thing, she knew. Telling people that he was going to Spain, taking her earring, withdrawing cash from the bank ... It all fitted very nicely, she thought, her stomach sinking as she wondered how she was going to get out of this one. He’d not have too much trouble getting into her house and taking her earring. And there was every chance that she still had a key to the ex-marital home.

“Shit,” she breathed through gritted teeth, wondering what the hell to do. Thinking back, she realized that she’d not worn that particular pair of earrings since moving out of the marital home. She could have quite easily left it behind. Brian had found it and hatched his evil plan to get her into serious trouble. And it would probably have worked, had she not had a trump card up her sleeve. Realizing that the only way to deal with her ex-husband was by using her power, she checked her watch. Ten-thirty. If he believed that he’d spoken to Carole when he’d phoned, he might ring again to arrange to meet her.

171

Pacing the lounge floor, Annabelle clutched one of the ivory symbols as she willed Brian to call at her house. Thinking that Carole would be there at eleven o’clock, and that Annabelle was in Scotland, he had the ideal opportunity for his illicit meeting with his ex-sister-in-law.

How she was going to use her power to influence him before coming face to face with him, she had no idea. Unless she spoke to him before opening the front door. If she called through the letterbox, she might be able to use her power before he set eyes on her.

The bell ringing at eleven on the dot, Annabelle spied through the lounge curtains. It was Brian. Hovering on the step, looking about him like a thief in the night, he rang the bell again in his desperation to get into the house. He obviously didn’t want to be seen by the neighbours as he lowered his head and held his hand to his face. If the police discovered that he’d been there, he’d have some awkward explaining to do. Slipping into the hall, the ivory symbol in her hand, Annabelle again wondered why she’d married the man. Had she known that he was going to go running to the police, continually try to cause trouble, she’d have ... There would have been nothing she could have done, she knew. He was insane, mentally unstable. There was no reasoning with the mentally ill.

“Is that you?” she called, pressing her ear to the front door.

“Yes,” he replied, tapping on the door. “Let me in, Carole. I don’t want to be seen out here.”

“Annabelle’s away,” she said, holding the symbol tightly and praying for the power to work. “You’ll believe that I’m Carole.”

“Yes, I understand.”

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“As far as you’re concerned, I’m Carole. All right, you can come in now,” she said, opening the door.

“You look great, Carole,” he chuckled, stepping into the hall. “To think that you’ve fancied me all along ...”

“Let’s go into the lounge,” she cut in. Following him, she stood with her back to the window as he reclined on the sofa. “I didn’t think you’d be able to get a flight back for several days,” she said, rather too accusingly.

“No, I ... I was lucky. How much time do you have? I mean, is there any rush?”

“I have an hour or so,” she replied, amazed by her power over him. “We have plenty of time.”

Gazing at his brown hair cascading over his lined forehead, she couldn’t believe what he’d been trying to do to her. They were divorced, so why the continual fight? Why wouldn’t he let go and move on? He looked tired and haggard, she observed. His futile battle wasn’t doing him any good. If anything, she reckoned that he was doing more damage to himself than he’d ever do to her. His mind was riddled with jealousy, envy, bitterness, hatred ... But he’d always had problems with his mind, she reflected. Unable to live a normal life because of his peculiar mental state, he was only going to get worse. Mental problems didn’t get better or simply go away.

This was her chance to be rid of him once and for all, she knew as she looked him up and down. Her priority had to be to get the police off her back. If Brian told them that he’d found his money, that he’d hidden it somewhere else and had forgotten ... Would it work? she wondered, 173

gazing at the pathetic figure sitting on her sofa. Why couldn’t he see that he was doing immense damage to his already damaged mind?

“I hear that you’re still pursuing Annabelle,” she said, watching for his reaction.

“She’s a silly girl,” he sighed. “She had everything she needed with me.”

“But, you threw her out.”

“It was a crazy argument, Carole. I didn’t mean for her to leave like that.”

“You thought she’d go back to you?”

“Yes, yes I did. I thought that she’d see the error of her ways and try to change. She’ll be nothing without me, I can tell you that. She’ll end up in the gutter.”

“Why? Why do you say that?”

“She relied on me, depended on me. She just won’t be able to cope on her own. For a start, she’s got no friends. Of course, she’ll have you believe that she has many friends but ... She won’t find another man,” he said smugly, folding his arms. “She was damned lucky to have me put up with her.”

Annabelle thought how arrogant and conceited the man was. Damned lucky to have him put up with her? He’d been damned lucky that she’d stayed so long. It was strange having him sitting in her lounge like this, she mused, trying not to blow up and have a go at him. End up in the gutter? Got no friends? Silently fuming as she scrutinized him, she wondered what she’d ever seen in him. Trying to remain calm, she knew that it was best not to annoy him. She’d use her power to have him forget about the past and move on, but not until she’d learned more about his true thoughts and feelings. And his futile plans to destroy her.

174

“Annabelle seems to be very happy now,” she said, discreetly placing the ivory symbol on the windowsill.

“Happy? She needs help, Carole,” he returned irritable.

“Help? In what way? I mean, she’s bought this house and ...”

“She’s not well. She needs psychiatric help.”

“Psychiatric help?” she gasped disbelievingly. “Are you saying that she’s mentally ill?”

“Yes, I am. It’s probably not apparent to you, or anyone else, for that matter. But I lived with her. I know the signs.”

“I see,” Annabelle murmured. “I honestly had no idea, Brian. In that case, if she’s in need of help, why are you doing your best to cause trouble for her? It seems to me that you’re deliberately trying to destroy her.”

“Well, I ... I’m not trying to cause trouble.”

“But the police and ...”

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing, Carole. The way her mind is, she has no idea what she’s doing. For some reason, she sent me a text message and a threatening letter. I went to the police hoping that they could help her, not prosecute her. I wasn’t trying to get her into trouble.

Anyway, let’s not talk about Annabelle. It’s you I’m interested in. After speaking to you on the phone ...”

“Were you ever unfaithful to Annabelle?” she persisted.

“No, no. It wasn’t easy living with her, especially as she was having affairs all over the place. But I remained faithful.”

“These affairs ... She never mentioned them to me.”

“She wouldn’t, would she?”

“How did you find out?”

175

“It was obvious. She’d been carrying on with other men for years. She took me for a fool, I can tell you.”

“I find this amazing,” Annabelle breathed. “She’s my sister and yet I had no idea that she was mentally ill and sleeping with other men.”

“Ah, that’s where she’s clever. She’s able to hide the way she is. Only I know her true character.”

“I find all this most odd,” Annabelle said, her despise for the man rocketing. “Only last week, we went out for a meal. I’ve never seen her so happy. She was laughing, joking and thoroughly enjoying herself. Oh, and she was telling me about a lovely man she’s met.”

“A man?” Brian echoed, his dark eyes frowning. “You mean, she’s got someone else?”

“I don’t know. All she said was that she’d met a wonderful man and I’d have to meet him before long. Whether they’re having a relationship or not ...”

“Is that who she’s gone to stay with in Scotland?”

“More than likely. I really don’t know.”