Guaranteed Justice (4 page)

After pulling out of Fiona’s arms, Linda took a hankie from her sleeve, dried her eyes, and blew her nose on it. “But you heard what the detective said. It’ll be his word against mine.”

Fiona knew that. She was still confused as to why her sister hadn’t at least tried to fight off her attacker. As yet Linda hadn’t gone over the events leading up to the attack, and Fiona thought it would be best to leave the questioning until her sister was better equipped emotionally to deal with the painful memory of that night, which she had so far attempted to block out. The police had questioned her before Fiona had arrived, and Linda had found the questioning so traumatic that both Ami and Fiona had skirted around what had happened with the police since.

Now that Linda had the courage to refer to her attacker, Fiona seized the opportunity to find out more. “Can you tell me what happened, sweetie?”

Linda’s eyes widened as if the thought of going over the details again would completely destroy her.

Fiona rubbed the back of her sister’s hand, which was now winding a fresh tissue through her fingers. “Only if you feel up to it, of course.”

Sucking in a deep shuddering breath, Linda kept her gaze focused on the rug beside Fiona. “Abigail and I were on the dance floor when Gibson joined us. We started chatting, and Abigail left us to it. I was so enthralled with him that I barely noticed she had gone…”

“Go on,” Fiona encouraged quietly.

Linda let out a huge sigh and tucked a stray section of hair behind her left ear. “We danced for a while and then had a couple of drinks at the bar. I didn’t have many, I swear. Gibson pulled me onto the floor just as the slow numbers were starting, and that’s when he asked if we could leave. The place was crowded, far busier than usual. There was some kind of hen party going on. I just wanted to get out of there.”

Fiona could tell her sister was trying to shuffle her thoughts into some kind of chronological order. She waited patiently.

Linda swallowed hard. “We went outside. The bouncer and Gibson shared a secret joke. He told me that there wouldn’t be a problem for us to get back into the nightclub when we wanted to return. Anyway, we went in search of his car. Things were going great until we reached his penthouse.”

Fiona nodded, urging her to go on.

“All of a sudden, he pulled my arms behind me and put something around my wrists. At first I didn’t know what it was, then I realised it was handcuffs. Everything happened so fast.

“I know we had this discussion years ago that if we found ourselves in such a situation, we should lash out, scratch the offender or scream out for help. But I just couldn’t. His mouth was clamped over mine like a vice. I tried to bite him, but it was too difficult.” Tears sprang from Linda’s eyes and began running down her cheeks.

Fiona took the near-shredded tissue from her sister’s grasp and dabbed the salty line away. “Come on, hon. You’re doing so well.”

“He covered my mouth with his and placed his hand up my skirt. Fi, I was so frightened. By then, I would have done just about anything to get out of there alive. The look in his eyes was so…‌I thought he was going to kill me.”

“I’d be frantic too, if I’d been in your shoes. How did your ankle get busted up?”

“I’m not sure. I passed out about then. Although, I do hazily remember that he threatened me. I felt him do unspeakable things to me. I swear I wasn’t drunk. Maybe he used that date rape drug or something, I don’t know. My heart was pounding out of control…”

By now, Fiona’s own heart was pounding like a runaway train in her chest. “What threat did he make, love?”

“He told me, if I didn’t comply…‌that he’d come after you next.”

“What?”

Linda nodded as more tears spilled from her red eyes. Fiona got up from the floor and sat on the sofa next to her sister.

“I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you, Fi. I was about to give in, but I passed out. It didn’t stop me feeling his grubby hands on me, though.”

Fiona covered her face with her hands then ran them through her hair. “Oh, Linda. If only you could’ve struck out at him. We could’ve—would’ve—dealt with the consequences after you were out of harm’s way. You’re always putting others first, when you should be thinking of your own needs.”

“I’m not so sure. How can you take the word of a rapist? I wasn’t aware that Gibson even knew you.”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you, Linda. How do you know this lowlife?”

Linda turned to face her. “He’s always at the club. A friend of a friend, you might say. He used to have a girlfriend up until a few weeks ago. He’s been eyeing me up for weeks, and I suppose he finally plucked up enough courage to talk to me this week. I wish he hadn’t bothered. What’s going to happen now? The police said they’re going to see him, to ask his side of the story, but you can imagine what the little shit will be telling them, can’t you?”

“The police will find out the truth, love. He may be a slimy git, but they’ll pick up if he’s telling the truth or not. And as for him coming after me, we’ll see about that. If I get my hands on him, I’ll rip his balls off and feed them to him, one after the other.”

Linda smiled and pecked her on the cheek. “For your sake and his, I hope the two of you never meet.”

Fiona privately hoped she would have the pleasure of meeting Gibson, and soon. Preferably in the same environment as the one where he’d left her sister.

From now on, she’d ensure that she carried Mace, along with the bottle of perfume and the personal alarm she always carried in her designer handbags. Fiona picked up the menu from the table. “Let’s order dinner and open a bottle of wine, eh?”

“I might manage a little. Why don’t you and Ami order, and I’ll have a little of each of your meals? They’re always huge portions, anyway—too big for one person.”

“Ami, have you decided what you’re going to have yet?” Fiona called out, picking up the phone, ready to dial and place the order.

A red-eyed Ami came back into the room and collapsed on the sofa beside Linda. “I couldn’t eat anything. Linda, I’m so sorry.”

The two sisters exchanged puzzled glances, and then eyed their flatmate with concern. Ami was such a sensitive soul. Linda’s attack had hit her hard.

Fiona put the phone back in its docking station and sat down beside Ami. She threw an arm around her friend’s shoulders and hugged her. “It’s all right, Ami. Linda will be fine, eventually. I’ll make sure of that. There’s no need for any of us to worry. We’ll all watch out for each other. Buck up, sweetie.”

Ami looked at both of them and gave a simple nod. “I’m being silly. It’s Linda we need to take care of.”

Fiona searched deep into the Chinese girl’s tiny black eyes and spotted something she hadn’t noticed before. She had no idea what that something was, but right then wasn’t the right time to delve further. Maybe Ami had been abused before and wasn’t sure how to share it, maybe she was devastated by what Linda had gone through and simply didn’t know how to show her how much she cared. Either way, Fiona had a feeling that the three of them would be crawling over eggshells for a while, not wishing to upset each other.

Fiona also realised that it would be up to her to make sure everyone recovered from the trauma and the undeniably fraught emotions. She had to come up with a plan that would help all of them get their lives back on track, and fast.

Eventually, the three of them decided they would indeed split two meals between the three of them. Fiona placed the order for a chicken tikka and a chicken korma. While they waited for the food to arrive, Ami poured them each a glass of Chablis.

When the doorbell rang about forty minutes later, both Ami and Linda jumped up in the air.

“Calm down, you two. It’ll be the delivery guy.” Despite her reassuring words, Fiona still checked who was at the door through the spyhole before she opened it. Crumbs, Fi. You’re getting as nervy as the others.

That was when the idea came to her. She knew exactly how to bring safety and security back into the flatmate’s world, but the idea would need thorough examination before she acted upon it.

The evening remained subdued, and the girls went to bed early. However, they each checked that the safety chain was securely fastened before turning in for the night.

Once in bed, Fiona shuddered at the thought of living the rest of her life in fear and spent the next few hours going through the local paper, searching for an ad that would help put her safety plan into action.

On the penultimate page, she found the very ad she was looking for. She picked up the pen from the bedside table beside her and circled the ad several times. Then, she turned off the light and snuggled under the quilt, smiling as part one of her new plan slotted into place.

Now all she had to do was ring her boss and arrange yet another day off.

CHAPTER FOUR

A
nother Indian summer morning
streamed through the curtains. Lorne jumped out of bed before Tony pounced on her as he usually did first thing.

“Do you want to go in the garden, boy?” she asked Henry. The spritely dog was already halfway down the stairs before she’d stepped off the first step. She opened the kitchen door and held onto his collar. “No chasing the chickens, you hear me? We need their eggs for breakfast, and if you keep chasing them, they’ll give up laying.”

Henry whined a little before she set him free. Lorne watched the dog immediately run after the black cockerel that had his chest puffed out and was in the middle of his dawn alarm call. The cockerel half ran and half flew across the yard and leapt over the chicken-wired enclosure where the other birds were pecking around disinterested, before Henry had the chance to sink his teeth in to his rump.

Lorne laughed, then stretched. She walked through the back door and filled the kettle, ready for her morning cup of coffee.

A few minutes later, a sleepy Tony joined her in the kitchen. He snuck up behind her and enveloped her in his strong arms. “Morning, Mrs. Warner.”

She turned to face him. It didn’t matter how many times she heard the name—it still sent a tiny ripple of excitement through her. “Morning, Mr. Warner. Sleep well?”

He screwed up his nose and tilted his head from side to side. “So-so. The leg was giving me jip during the night.”

The doctor had told them that despite Tony’s leg being amputated at the knee, it wasn’t uncommon to still have sensations where the missing limb used to be.

“Sorry to hear that, love. I wonder how long that’s going to take to wear off.” She placed her arms around the back of his neck.

He kissed the top of her forehead. “Not sure. Never mind. Hey, what’s on the agenda today?”

That was Tony all over—never one to wallow in self-pity, always keen to move the conversation away from his disability.

Lorne traced a finger down his cheek. “I thought I’d spend some time with Hercules today. I put him in the stable last night. I’d like to get him used to being in the paddock as soon as possible, but I’m not sure what his reaction is going to be.”

“Poor sod. He’s probably never seen daylight before. I nearly thumped his owner yesterday when he was offloading him. As he walked him around the side of the trailer, he whacked the poor bugger in the side with a stick—at least, I think he did. I followed them round. I heard the thwack but couldn’t be a hundred percent sure what had happened. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure it out though, do you?”

“What? You should’ve told me.”

“What and risk you being done for assault?”

Lorne, smiled. “It would’ve been worth it. Anyway, I doubt an assault on an animal abuser would have any legs in court, if you’ll pardon the pun. I hope Hercules settles in okay. If not, I’ve heard of this woman in Maidstone who’s a kind of horse whisperer.”

Tony groaned and turned his attention to making the coffee.

She swiped him on the arm. “Hey, what’s wrong with that?”

“Your father warned me about your fascination with whisperers. Henry was brought up under Cesar Millan’s guidance, wasn’t he?”

Lorne pulled a face and poked her tongue out at him. “Yes, he was, and he’s a perfect specimen of a well-balanced, well-behaved dog despite all the negative media Cesar has had recently.”

“Try telling that to the cockerel he just tried plucking,” Tony said, laughing.

As if on cue, Henry pushed open the back door, stood in the doorway, and barked at Tony.

Lorne swiped her husband’s head for the second time that morning and said out of the corner of her mouth, “Shhh…‌He’s perceptive. He understands every word you say.”

“He does, huh? Hey boy, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”

Lorne watched with amusement as the dog cocked his head, turned, and walked back out into the yard. “You’re wicked. What’s he ever done to you?”

“I know, but I love winding him up. Getting back to today’s duties, what do you have planned for me today?”

“I thought you and Dad could make a start cutting down some of the trees in the far field. The wood will need to be stacked for a year or two before we can use it on the fire, but that’ll save you a job, next spring.”

Tony contemplated the task for a short while. “Ahh, I get it. Typical Lorne, always thinking ahead. You mean it’ll be less work to do if and when the PI business gets going.”

She chuckled. “There was a reason why you were an MI6 agent. There’s no fooling you, is there, mister?”

Tony gave her his best schoolboy grin as her father joined them.

“Coffee, Dad?”

“Please, love. So I’m going to be adding woodcutter to my C.V., am I?”

“If that’s all right, Dad. There’s not a lot else to do today. Although that could change at any moment, the rate the rescue calls have been coming in lately. I’m off to take a shower.” She handed her father a mug of coffee and set off up the stairs.

When she came out of the bathroom, Tony was sitting on the end of the bed waiting for her. “What’s the next step regarding the business, then? The PI business, I mean.”

After towel-drying her shoulder-length hair, she threw the towel in the Ali-baba basket in the corner and joined her husband on the bed. “Run an ad in the local paper, I suppose. Pete used to have a connection with a guy at the local rag. I’ll see if I can track him down.” Mentioning her former partner’s name filled her with a moment’s sadness.