Lost Angel (42 page)

‘Go easy, Speedy Gonzales,’ Lisa complained, clinging to the sides of her seat.

‘Sorry.’ He pulled up sharply at her door. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘You’re not even coming in?’ Lisa’s brow creased with disappointment. ‘I thought that was why you told Ruth you were going to the yard.’

‘There’s something I’ve got to do,’ Johnny told her.

‘Like what?’

‘I can’t tell you.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Fury sparked in Lisa’s eyes. ‘Got someone else lined up, have you? Younger and prettier is she? Like I used to be before you stole half of my life. Well, fine . . .’ She unbuckled her seat belt. ‘You go for it. But don’t bother creeping back round here when you get fed up, ’cos I’ve had it with you.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with another woman,’ Johnny lied. ‘Just trust me on this.’

‘Why should I?’

‘Because I’m asking you to.’

Lisa’s chest was heaving. Johnny looked at her breasts moving up and down inside her tight top and grinned.

‘All right, I’ll come in for a bit.’

‘Don’t put yourself out on my account,’ she huffed as she pushed the door open and climbed out.

Johnny switched off the engine and followed her into the house.

After they’d made love Lisa lit a cigarette while Johnny went to the toilet. As soon as he’d gone his mobile phone began to ring on the bedside cabinet. She reached for it without stopping to think that it wasn’t hers. Before she had a chance to speak, Dave started talking.

‘Have you seen her yet?’ he whispered. ‘What do you think? Is he your kid, or what?’

Lisa hung up.

Johnny was still naked when he walked back into the room five minutes later. He was rubbing his wet hair with a towel.

‘Hopped in the shower,’ he explained. Then, tilting his head to one side when he saw Lisa sitting in Ruth’s old wicker chair, with her dressing gown on, a moody look on her face and her foot bouncing up and down like it was on a spring, he gave her a questioning smile. ‘What’s up with you?’

‘Dave rang,’ she spat, her teeth clamped angrily together. ‘Wanted to know if you’d seen
her
yet. Oh, and is the kid yours?’

‘Jeezus,’ Johnny groaned. ‘Tell me you didn’t speak to him!’

‘I didn’t get a chance,’ Lisa yelled. ‘He just came right out with it. But is that all you care about? Him finding out about us and telling your precious fucking
wife
? Maybe I’ll save him the trouble, hmmm?’ She jumped up and snatched her own phone off the ledge. ‘I’ll just call her and tell her all about it,’ she hissed, scrolling through her numbers. ‘And maybe I’d best tell her about your other kid while I’m at it? What d’ya think,
stud
?’

‘Lisa, stop,’ Johnny yelped, running around the bed and snatching the phone out of her hand.

‘Give it back,’ Lisa demanded as she tried to grab it. ‘I hate you!’ she cried, smashing her fist down on his chest when he moved the phone out of reach. ‘You’re a bastard! You’ve been stringing me along for years, and all the time you’ve been having kids with other women. Well, you’ve crossed the line this time. I’m going to tell Ruth
every
thing!’

‘Just listen to me,’ Johnny pleaded, grabbing her wrists as she made for the door. ‘It’s not what it sounds like.’

‘Fuck off!’ Lisa spat as tears streamed down her face. ‘I know what I heard, and don’t you dare try and twist it round and make out like I’m stupid. You’ve got another kid. What’s his name, huh? How old is he? Does he fuckin’
look
like you?’

Johnny pulled her into his arms as her heart broke. She struggled, but he held on tight.

‘I swear to God, it’s not like that,’ he told her. ‘Just calm down and I’ll tell you the truth.’

Lisa sobbed for a while longer. Then she pulled herself together, swiped at her puffy eyes and wrenched away from him.

‘All right, talk. I’m listening.’

Johnny sat down on the bed and patted the mattress, gesturing for her to join him. But she went back to the chair and lit a fresh cigarette with shaking hands.

‘All right, it’s like this,’ he said. ‘A woman’s claiming that she had my kid.’

‘I
knew
it!’ Lisa’s nostrils flared as she struggled to keep the tears at bay.

‘Nearly twenty years ago,’ Johnny went on. ‘Way before you and me got started.’

A flicker of confusion came into her eyes. ‘Does Ruth know?’

‘No.’ Johnny shook his head. ‘And neither did I till today. That’s why Dave was asking if I’d seen her yet, because he said I should go and talk to her – find out if she’s lying.’

‘Are you still seeing her?’

‘No, and I didn’t even know I’d slept with her. It was supposed to have happened on my stag do, but I knew nothing about it.’

‘Now I know you’re lying,’ Lisa said scathingly. ‘You can’t have sex and not know about it.’

‘On Angel’s life.’ Johnny crossed himself.

Sure now that he was telling the truth, because she knew how much Angel meant to him, Lisa frowned.

‘She came to the registry office,’ Johnny went on. ‘She was outside when I went for a fag, and she just came right out and told me.’

‘But if you don’t know her, how did she know who you are?’

‘Fuck knows.’ Johnny shrugged. ‘I mean, I know who she is
now
, but I only met her for the first time a few weeks back.’

‘So you
have
been seeing her?’

‘No.’

‘You must have – or how else would she have known where to find you today?’

Johnny closed his eyes and sighed. ‘She’s Ryan’s mam.’

‘
What
?’ Lisa’s mouth dropped open. ‘You don’t mean . . . she’s not saying it’s
him
?’

Johnny nodded.

‘Bullshit,’ said Lisa, the word hissing out of her as if she’d been deflated. ‘No way. That would mean . . .’

‘Yep.’ Johnny’s voice was grim. ‘Angel’s just married her brother.’

‘No.’ Lisa shook her head. ‘This isn’t happening. Oh my God. What are you going to do?’

‘You tell me.’ Johnny wrung his hands in a gesture of helplessness. ‘I hoped I might see her when I drove round there. But I don’t even know what I’m going to say if I
do
see her. And I was pretty nasty back there at the registry office, so she might not even want to talk to me again.’

‘She can’t drop something like this on you and then refuse to talk about it,’ Lisa said indignantly. ‘And if she tries to, I’ll
make
her talk.’

Johnny gave her a grateful little smile. ‘Guess this isn’t quite how you expected to end the day, is it?’

‘
Nothing
’s ever quite what I expect with you,’ she replied dryly. ‘Anyway, why don’t you just go and knock on the door? Then she’ll have to talk.’

‘I can’t. Her husband’s a bit of a beast.’

Lisa drew her head back and gave him an incredulous look. ‘Since when has Johnny Conroy been scared of beasts?’

‘I’m not,’ he told her. ‘But
she
is. And she’s the one who’d cop for it if he found out why I was there. I’m pissed off, but not enough to do something like that to her.’

Lisa nodded. ‘Okay, I see your point,’ she said, standing up. ‘I’ll go and pour us a drink. Get dressed, then we’ll work out what to do about this.’

Johnny reached for her hand as she headed for the door and said, ‘Thanks, Lisa. It’s good to know I’ve got you on my side.’

‘You always have had,’ she said softly.

36

The following afternoon Zeta had just made a bottle for the baby and was drying her hands on a tea towel when the doorbell rang. She glanced out through the kitchen window and tutted when she saw a blonde woman on the step.

She opened the door. ‘Yes?’

‘Oh, hiya, sorry for disturbing you.’ Lisa smiled. ‘Are you Zeta Johnson?’

‘Who wants to know?’ Zeta narrowed her eyes and took a step back. If the woman was a bailiff or a summons server, the door was going to be slammed right in her face.

‘Aw, sorry, love, I’ve given you a turn, haven’t I?’ Lisa chuckled, deliberately roughening up her tone so that the woman would know that she was from around here. ‘I’m like that, an’ all. Number of times I’ve hid behind the sofa when the debt collectors come calling, or the TV detector van’s on the street.’

Zeta gave a little upward jerk of her chin and said, marginally less aggressively, ‘It’s all right, I was just busy. What d’ya want?’

‘I’ve got a parcel for you,’ Lisa lied. ‘Looks like it might be from a catalogue,’ she added, praying that the woman actually used catalogues. But then, most of the women round here did – Lisa included.

Zeta peered at Lisa’s hands, and then at the ground around her feet. ‘So where is it, then?’

‘Oh, yeah, sorry . . . it’s round at my place.’ Lisa grinned. ‘Don’t know why they brought it to mine, ’cos it’s not even the same number, never mind the same street. But they’re a right load of cowboys, them delivery drivers. I went out with one once, and he reckons they just bung stuff out anywhere when it starts getting late and they’ve still got a load on.’

‘Why didn’t you bring it?’ Zeta asked, thinking it must be true what they said about blondes being as thick as pig shit.

‘I was going to,’ Lisa told her. ‘But I had to rush out this morning and couldn’t take it with me. Then I got off the bus and realised I’d have to pass yours to get back to mine, so I thought I might as well let you know about it so you can come and get it – save me having to walk back round with it.’

‘I can’t come right now,’ said Zeta.

‘No probs – whenever you’re ready.’ Lisa tried not to look too disappointed. ‘But if you’re coming tonight it’ll have to be in the next half hour or so, ’cos I’ve got a date. And I don’t know when – or
if
– I’ll be coming home,’ she added with a conspiratorial smile.

‘Where is it?’ Zeta asked, wanting rid of her.

Lisa told her the address. Zeta thanked her, said she’d come as soon as she could and closed the door.

‘Well?’ Johnny looked up from the couch when Lisa walked in. ‘Did you have any luck?’

‘She’s coming,’ Lisa told him. ‘Not sure when, though.’

Twenty minutes later there was a knock at the door. Lisa was lying on top of Johnny, but she quickly peeled herself off him and shooed him into the kitchen. Then, after patting her hair down, she answered the door.

‘Oh, hiya, love. Come in a minute, I’ll just get it for you. It’s in the back room.’

‘I’ll wait here.’ Zeta stayed put.

‘Aw, please don’t,’ Lisa said quietly. ‘There’s someone I’m trying to avoid, and if they see you standing out here they’ll know I’m in.’

Zeta sighed, but relented and stepped inside.

‘Sit down.’ Lisa waved her towards the couch. ‘Won’t be a minute, but there’s a load of junk in the back and it might have got covered.’

She went through to the dining room and jerked her head at Johnny.

Zeta had just sat down when Johnny walked in. Her eyes widened and she jumped straight back up to her feet.

‘Not so fast!’ He ran to the door before she could get there.

Zeta turned to go out the back way instead, but Lisa was blocking the dining-room door.

‘What do you want?’ Zeta asked.

‘The truth,’ said Johnny.

‘I’ve already told you. But you made it clear that you didn’t believe me, so what’s the point?’ Zeta folded her arms and gave him a defiant look.

‘Tell me again,’ Johnny ordered. ‘And you might as well sit back down, ’cos you’re not going anywhere till we sort this out.’

Zeta scowled with irritation. ‘You do know Gary’s going to come looking for me if I don’t go back in a minute, don’t you?’

‘Let him.’ Johnny shrugged. ‘You’re the one who doesn’t want him to know about this. It makes no odds to me.’

Zeta sensed that he was going to stand his ground. She didn’t have time to argue, so she sat down sulkily.

‘What do you want to know?’

‘First off, how can you be so sure it was me?’ Johnny asked. ‘Not being funny, love, but if you were working in that kind of club and getting paid for extras you must have had hundreds of blokes.’

Zeta’s cheeks reddened. It had been years since she’d sold herself, thanks to Ryan’s wages keeping them afloat. And she hadn’t wanted to do it when she
had
been doing it, so it was shameful to have to talk about it. But this was too serious for modesty.

‘It was you,’ she told him, her gaze lowered. ‘It was a club rule to make the punters wear joeys, but we’d run out that night. I wasn’t going to do it, but your mate paid well over the odds and I was broke, so . . .’ She trailed off and shrugged, her cheeks still flaming. ‘A few weeks later I realised I was pregnant.’

‘Were you with your husband back then?’

Zeta nodded.

‘So it could be his.’

She shook her head now. ‘He was locked up when I got caught. There’s no way Ryan could be his.’

‘So how come
he
thinks he is?’

‘’Cos he’s not too bright when it comes to dates. I made out like Ryan was premature, and Gary’s not interested in that sort of stuff, so he didn’t ask questions. But
I
knew.’

‘That still doesn’t explain why you think it was me,’ said Johnny, clutching at straws. ‘You couldn’t have known my name, and there’s no way you would have recognised me.’

Zeta’s cheeks flared afresh. ‘I had your wallet away,’ she admitted. ‘There was a signing-on card in it with your name on it, and a little photo of you and a girl out of one of those machines. I’ve still got it. The photo, I mean, not the wallet or the other stuff.’

‘Why?’ Lisa couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.

‘I don’t know.’ Zeta’s shoulders drooped in shame. ‘I just thought you were really nice-looking.’ She flicked an embarrassed glance at Johnny. ‘And then Ryan came out so gorgeous and I guess I had some kind of romantic notion that one day . . .’ She flapped her hands and sighed. ‘One day, Gary might – I don’t know – leave, or
die
, or something.’

There was an edge of longing in her voice when she said this, and Johnny and Lisa exchanged a
what the fuck?
glance.

‘And what then?’ Lisa asked. ‘This fantasy of yours . . . Gary dies, or pisses off, and then what? You and Johnny get together and bring your son up together, happy ever after, la la la?’