Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (89 page)

As she showed Ellen to the door, Mrs. Jones seemed to be relieved that she was leaving. She had a feeling the minute the front door closed behind her, the woman would go back to the lounge and have a good cry. Ellen felt guilty for putting added stress on Tina’s mother.

In the car, she contacted the office. “Brian, it’s me. We’ve got another connection to the gym with Tina Jones.”

“That’s umm… great.”

“Don’t sound too enthusiastic about it, will you?” She inserted the key and started the car.

“Umm… sorry. Listen, Ellen, you better come back to base.”

“What? I’ve got another call to make first.”

“Now, Ellen. Just do it.”

“Bollocks, Brian. You’ve gotta do better than that. What’s going on?”

“You’ve got a visitor here.”

“For Christ’s sake, it’s like getting blood out of a stone. Tell me who it is and what they want. I really haven’t got the time to trawl all the way back—”

Brian cleared his throat. “It’s your mum.”

“My mum? What? There?”

“Yes,” he hissed at her. “Come back now.”

“On my way.”

During the twenty-minute journey, her mind was working overtime, thinking unimaginable things. Her mother had never turned up at the office before—ever. Her stomach churned until she had to suck in a few deep breaths to calm it.

After parking in the car park, she leapt out of the car and ran into the building. Her mother was sitting at Brian’s desk with her back to the door. “Mum?”

Slowly, her mum turned to face her, and Ellen gasped. She looked as though a boxer had been using her to practice his left hooks on. Ellen ran towards her and dropped to her knees beside her. “Mum… did
he
do this to you?”

Her mother sobbed openly and collapsed against her. Ellen glanced over at Brian and motioned with her head for him to leave the room. He looked as shell-shocked as she was. Gently, Ellen pushed her mum upright. “Talk to me, Mum?”

“I didn’t want to bother you… I’ve got no one else I can turn to.”

“I’m glad you came to me. Is he at the pub? Why did he do this?
Did
he do it, Mum?”

Her mother remained quiet.

Ellen reached for the phone on Brian’s desk, but her mother grabbed at her forearm. “No! Don’t ring him.”

“I wasn’t going to. I was going to ring Jim. He can deal with Colin, or rather, the police can.”

“No! Please don’t do that, Ellen.”

“Why? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t ring your son and make him aware of what this bully has done to you?”

“Because.”

“Because?” Ellen prompted, her anger building.

“I forced him to hit me.”

Outraged, Ellen stood up and perched on the edge of Brian’s desk. “What?”

“It was my fault.”

“How do you work that one out, Mum? Did you wear a sign around your neck saying, ‘Come on, give it your best shot’?”

Her mother’s gaze dropped to the carpet. Ellen could tell her mum was ashamed. Over the years, she’d seen so many women who put up with abusive partners because they felt they had nowhere else to turn, to escape. Well, she didn’t want her mother to be, and had no intention of letting her become, yet another statistic.

“Don’t you see? He has to be stopped, and quickly.”

“There’s no talking to him when he’s in one of his moods, love. You, of all people, should know that.”

She did. She had first-hand experience of Colin’s rage. He’d tried to strike her a few months back. However, Ellen had used her police combat training to fight him off. She could have wiped the floor with him, but, conscious of how attacking her stepdad would cause friction between herself and her mother, she had thought better of it.
Now this!
She ground her teeth together, thinking about how she’d pay him back for knocking the shit out of her mother.

“We can’t let him get away with this.
I
won’t let him get away with it, anyway.”

Her mother blew out a heavy, exasperated breath. “I told you, I don’t want any aggro, please.”

“Umm… maybe you’re telling that to the wrong person. Mum, Jim and I have seen cases like this escalate drastically. Nip it in the bud now, before…”

Her mother looked up at her sharply. “He wouldn’t.”

“What? Hurt you? Have you actually looked in the mirror to see the damage he’s done?” Ellen riffled through her bag, looking for her compact. She opened it and thrust the mirror in her mum’s face. “Don’t turn your head away. Look at yourself!”

Tears trickled down her mother’s face. Luckily, she didn’t wear makeup. Although over the coming few days, she would have to wear it while serving at the pub. If her regulars saw the bruises she was sporting, they would be the ones stringing up Colin, instead of Ellen.

Her mother gasped, and her hand flew up to her mouth. Ellen noted how much her hand was shaking, and another burst of bile rose up to tickle the back of her throat.
How could he? How could that bastard attack my mother like that?
“I’m sorry, Mum, but I can’t keep this from Jim. I won’t keep it from him. If I did that, he’d never speak to me again.” She went behind her desk and picked up the phone before her mother could object.

“Jim Brazil, please?”

The girl on the switchboard put her through.

“Jim, are you due a lunch break soon?”

“Hi, Sis. Yep, I’m on early lunch today. What’s up?”

“Any chance you can come to the office?”

“Can you give me a hint what it’s about? Is it to do with your case?”

“Yes and no. Just come. I’ll supply your lunch.”

“Then you’ve got yourself a deal. See you in thirty minutes.”

Brian came back in the office. “Anything I can do?” he asked tentatively.

Her mother was blowing her nose on a tissue. Above the noise, Ellen asked, “Would you mind doing the lunch run? Mum, do you want anything to eat?”

Her mother shook her head. “I couldn’t. I mean, I’m not hungry.”

What did that mean, ‘I couldn’t’? Has the bastard hit her elsewhere, like in the stomach?
As tempting as it was to enquire, she thought she should leave that question for her brother to ask when he arrived.

“I don’t mind at all. The fresh air will do me some good.”

“I’ll have my usual, and can you pick up a ham-and-cheese salad for Jim, too?” She handed him a tenner out of her purse, and Brian left soon after.

She knew she had to tread carefully with her mother so she wouldn’t take flight before Jim got there. Ellen went back to put the kettle on. She returned to the office with two steaming cups of strong sweet tea.

“Thanks, love. I’m sorry to lay this at your door.”

“Nonsense. That’s what family are for, isn’t it? There to support each other in their hour of need?” Her mother’s head dropped, and Ellen mentally kicked herself. “I wasn’t having a go, Mum, honestly.”

“I know you weren’t, love. It doesn’t stop me feeling guilty, though. I’m so sorry. I should never have let him kick you out like that. The pub is your home.”

“He didn’t get the chance to kick me out, Mum. I left before he could actually order me to get out. What exactly is his problem?”

Her mother shrugged her weary shoulders and sipped at her drink, contemplating her answer. “I think most of the time, he’s bored. I work eighty to ninety hours a week and have very little time off. Therefore, it’s impossible to go out together and do things.”

“He knew what sort of life you had when you first started going out together. Why on earth should he want to change that now?”

“I don’t know, love.”

“He seems happy enough propping up the bar for hours on end.”

“He stays in the bar to keep me company, mostly during my long shifts.”

“Does he now?” And that’s when Ellen stopped questioning her mother—the moment she started to stick up for him, again.

Ellen saw Brian and Jim pull into the car park at the same time. They shook hands and shared a joke as they made their way to the front door. Jim’s shock registered in his expression when he saw his mother. “What the…? Mum? Jesus, has the pub been done over?”

Her mother’s eyes welled up with fresh tears as Jim approached her. She held out a hand to him. He took it and knelt beside her. “Now don’t fuss, Jim. It’s nothing major.”

“Nothing major? Are you bloody kidding me? You look as though you’ve just had the stuffing knocked out of you by Ricky Hatton.” Jim, always one for making light of situations, gave his mother a smile. He enjoyed making people feel good about themselves. Never taking life’s crappy deals to heart, he saw them as obstacles to climb over rather than to block the path permanently.

Ellen jumped in before her mother could make up more excuses. “It wasn’t a robber, Jim. It was Colin.”

Jim dropped his mother’s hand and jumped to his feet. “Mum? Is that true?” His head swivelled between Ellen and their mother. He looked mortified by the revelation.

“It was an accident,” her mother whispered tearfully.

“It was not,” Ellen retorted, sounding sharp, even to her own ears.

“Am I understanding this right? Did he do this intentionally, Mum?”

Her mother slowly bobbed her head, wincing in pain as she did so.

Add possible neck injuries to the probable stomach injuries.

“That’s it. I’m taking you to hospital right now.” Ellen stood up and set her mum into a panic.

“Jim, don’t let her bully me into going to hospital, please.”

Ellen opened and shut her mouth, like an out-of-water fish gasping for air. “Me bully you?” She plonked back down in her chair.

Jim’s eyes pleaded with her to be patient. Ellen tutted, sat back, and crossed her arms while Jim tried to persuade their mother to get checked over.

“Ellen’s right, Mum. We need to get you to the hospital. Here’s what’s going to happen. Ellen is going to take you to A and E while I go home and have a little chat with Colin.” He raised his hands to combat her objections.

Sighing heavily, their mother finally agreed to go with Ellen. After three hours of sitting in the Accident and Emergency Department, Ellen’s stomach was groaning, and she regretted not grabbing her sandwich from Brian before leaving the office.

Ellen insisted she go into the cubicle while the doctor checked her mother over. “I think she has possible neck and rib damage, Doc.”

Her mother glared at Ellen for interfering, but she didn’t care about that.

“Ah, yes. We’ll need to take some X-rays. I suspect you have a cracked rib or two, and your daughter has every reason to worry about a neck injury, too.” The doctor turned to Ellen. “Have the police been informed about this brutal attack?”

She was relieved the doctor had worded her mother’s awful injuries in those terms.
Maybe now Mum will start to take the assault seriously and not keep poo-pooing it.
“Oh, yes, the police were definitely informed.”

“You will need a few days of bed rest. Are you retired?”

“No, I am not! I’m the landlady of a very busy public house,” her mother retorted spikily.

“Not for the next week or so, you’re not. Is there anyone who can take over running the place for you?”

Her mother shook her head, and Ellen kept her mouth shut. She had neither the time, nor the inclination to run the pub for her mum, especially if the charming Colin was still living there.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at Ellen. “Couldn’t you or a sibling help out for a few days?”

“It’s complicated, Doc. The man who did this to my mother is still living at the pub.”

The doctor’s eyes widened in shock. “But after the police have dealt with him, he would be locked up, wouldn’t he?”

“It depends if Mum wants to press charges or not, doesn’t it, Mum?”

Shamefully, her mother shook her head. “I couldn’t do that. I love him.”

Ellen gave the doctor a shrug and a look as if to say, “See what I’m up against?”

The doctor took Ellen’s demeanour to give him the green light to grind some sense into her mother. “Mrs. Fisher, I
must
insist you mull this over thoroughly before doing something you later regret. In my experience, here in the A and E Department, I see approximately fifty to sixty cases like yours every month. Each time a victim refuses to proceed with an action against their partner, invariably, they end up back here in a much worse state. I urge you to reconsider. I know it’s difficult, but these men have to be stopped. They have to learn that sorting things out with their fists is not the way forward.”

“The doc’s right, Mum. You won’t be alone in this. I can’t run the pub for you because I’m involved in a huge case at the moment.”

The doctor raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m a kind of private investigator. I investigate missing people in the hope of reuniting them with their loved ones.”