One Night (28 page)

I pulled unsteadily to my feet.

‘On the contrary. Perfect timing.’

Part 5

Night Again

‘I didn’t expect to see you at this time of night but I work shifts now – not
far from here actually – and I thought I’d check out your flat, pop a note with
my number under your door.’

Jake seemed solemn, a little
sad-eyed as I’d remembered him in hospital, still nursing his shoulder.

‘Another note,’ I murmured.

He frowned but didn’t respond. He
wrapped his long fingers around his coffee mug. He looked real and warm and
wonderful on the couch. I’d settled myself under a blanket and turned on all
the lamps. Sticky was asleep on the floor. The flat looked cosy, a sanctuary. The
lace of whisky in my coffee heated my blood, a flush of emotion still burning
my cheeks. Jake looked so amazing sitting there, like an angel, I thought. He
had the clean-cut features of a biblical character in an old Master’s painting.
Fuzzily, I thought: he could play the part of Jesus in a Passion play with
ease.

I told him briefly about Todd, made
as little of it as possible. He accepted this as a perfectly logical explanation
for my violent reaction to his appearance. I noticed he flexed his shoulder
with care.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘No.’ He grimaced. ‘Stiff really.
Complete movement hasn’t quite returned. But it will. Doctors say it can take
up to a year. Got to keep warm and exercise. Not much else to do. I suppose it
will never be the same.’

‘You nearly died.’

‘Yes.’ His look was serious. ‘Except
for you. I feel I’ve never really thanked you.’

‘Thank me,’ I snorted. ‘You saved
me from Matthew Bunting!’

‘Yes. I probably did. Although how
I managed it, I don’t know. I was crazy with pain, almost unconscious with
exhaustion, and yet – ’ his eyes darkened ‘ – I was so wild with anger. It
overcame everything.’

I smiled, thinking I should have
been kinder to Dr Mensen. ‘You killed the bastard!’

‘Yes.’ He nodded, eyes averted as
though embarrassed.

I went on, ‘They’ve assumed Matthew
killed Mona. At least evidence points that way. It’s taken the heat off Brent
I’m sorry to say.’

He shrugged. ‘Despite how I feel
about Brent, I would have to go with that. Matthew was deranged. He had one
thought in mind when he was after you.’

‘You recognized that then?’

‘When a man is chasing a woman like
that, he doesn’t intend to do her any good.’ He looked away, glancing round my
flat with slightly blank eyes.

I asked, ‘So you’re up before the
judge like me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, I hope you’ve got a good
lawyer because it seems they like to have people to blame. The ones who are
still alive.’

‘Death is never the final resolution,’
he remarked obliquely.

I looked at him. ‘Do you think
we’ll go to jail?’

He gave me a sharp look. ‘Hardly.’

There was a moment’s silence. I
could hear the clock ticking in the kitchen, the swish of a car on the road,
Sticky muttering in his fur. I felt warm and soft, as though I’d been dipped in
honey. Tonight, at last, I might sleep properly.

Jake stirred in his reverie. ‘We’ll
all be supporting each other,’ he said. ‘So that’s a good thing.’

I gave him a sleepy smile. ‘You
know about these things?’

‘They have the story from three
different perspectives. And they must all tally. So it stands to reason.’

He looked at me and I thought again
how gentle his face was.

He clasped his big hands with the
white knuckles. ‘Would you like dinner one evening? I mean with me?’

I felt something jump in me, a little
spark of possibility. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’d like that. But you come here. Next
Friday. I’ll do moussaka.’

At last he laughed, a lovely soft
chuckle. ‘You’re a Greek expert?’

I let the spark warm me through –
and thought of the last disaster when Stephen and I had scraped the dinner into
the bin and gone out for hamburgers. Old, happy, ordinary days.

‘Not really,’ I said.

That next week was different for me. I felt lighter, airy. Chores at work became
less arduous, people less irritating. It’s true what they say: attitude changes
everything. Suddenly I enjoyed my job, my colleagues with all their annoying
little quirks, the pressure of deadlines which made me feel motivated instead
of stressed. I had no idea if and when Todd might be back but suddenly I didn’t
care. I’d cared too much and for too long. Jake coming back was like a gift
from heaven. The world wasn’t mad. Not entirely. The world – for all its
madness – could be normal.

Mr Marse was appreciative. ‘Got
skates on today, Casey?’

‘Sharp, efficient, focused,’ I
said.

A grin wobbled on his double chins.
‘Going to make that a company slogan.’

Abieda said, ‘Nice to see you
smiling again.’

‘I have a date. Jake has come
back.’ And I told her what had happened.

She was horrified and awestruck.
‘That bastard Todd! I’m glad you stuck it to him! But Jake will take care of
you,’ she prophesized. ‘It’s a romance.’

‘It’s hardly that.’

‘Can I whisper it to the credit
department?’

‘It’s a date, Abieda – not a
wedding.’

‘A date is a romance,’ she said,
her dark eyes huge. ‘You could be pregnant by Saturday.’

Jake arrived wearing a jacket and tie.

‘Am I that scary?’ I asked.

He slipped off the jacket, loosened
his tie. Grinning a little self-effacingly, he said, ‘I’d prefer not to answer
that.’

‘Relax. Kick off your shoes, if you
like.’

He sat. ‘I just wasn’t sure what
you expected. I wanted to make a good impression.’

‘To make up for all the other ones?
Like running off with my phone, for instance.’

He looked suitably shame-faced.
‘I’m sorry about that. But sometimes circumstances make us do things we
wouldn’t normally.’

I poured the wine. Two red glasses
stood on the coffee table like giant rubies. Candles drew darkness into
corners. The moussaka was warming in the oven along with the
Mediterranean-style roasted vegetables. I had taken some tips from Abieda and
Fatima who apparently knew as much about Greek food as they knew about any
other. I was wearing a soft wool jersey in deep lilac which emphasized my eyes,
and purple slacks in flowing jersey cloth. I felt comfortable and relaxed – and
each time I looked at Jake, I was quietly thrilled by that perfect, calm face,
the gentle look in brown eyes littered with stories.

‘Tell me,’ I said. ‘Tell me what
happened to you that night. Tell me everything: why you were there, what you
saw, why you disappeared. I’ve had Brent’s version of events, I want to know
yours.’

‘All right,’ he said, leaning
forward for his wine. ‘Best to get it out of the way before dinner.’ He smiled
good-naturedly, lifted his glass. ‘Cheers.’

There was something soothing about
his voice, a low-key easy tone, almost somnambulant. He made gentle gestures
with those big hands. His dark brown eyes, when cast in my direction, were
filled with that sadness I found so compelling. I just wanted to hug him, to
stroke that smooth beard. To tell him that everything would be all right.
Fascinated, I watched him – my wounded knight who had saved me in battle.

He nursed his wine, staring into
its depths. ‘It took me a long time to find Brent after I left prison. At
least, I should say – a long time to get to him. I knew where he was, I just
didn’t have much money. And getting a job after prison is – well – rather
difficult as you can imagine. When I eventually decided to make the effort I
had just finished some contract work and was a little flush. The place was
further than I realized – and not having a car was difficult. But I was
determined to get there.’

I nodded. Determined was what Jake
would be. ‘What were you hoping to achieve?’

‘Honestly, I’m not sure. I believed
that he might have enough common decency to understand how he had ruined my
life. I also knew Brent was stashed with cash. I suppose I was hoping he would
be rattled enough by my appearance to buy me off with a nice lump sum.’

‘Like how much?’

He looked vague. ‘I was hoping for around
twenty grand.’

I had to grin. ‘You would have whistled
dixie, mate.’

‘Yes, but you must remember, I had
an awful lot on him. If I’d really wanted to cause trouble by blabbing a whole
lot to the police, it could have put a nice fat fly in the ointment for him.’

‘I see.’

His smile was regretful. ‘I had
cards to play.’

‘And then?’

‘And then I reached the cottage and
there was nobody around. The dog went ballistic but he soon calmed down. I
looked around but there was nobody about. I thought Brent must have gone into
the woods, so I did a recce but there was no trace of him. It struck me that
Brent must have gotten wind of me coming and hidden.’ Jake looked at me almost
apologetically. ‘Because you see, the dog was still there.’

‘So what did you do?’

He looked ashamed. ‘This is the
part I don’t like to talk about.’

‘What?’

‘I decided to take whatever I
could.’ His eyes were defiant now as though he was protecting himself from his
own honesty.

‘You wanted to steal stuff?’

‘Yes. I took a couple of shirts, a
nice jacket, a rather fancy fountain pen, and a wallet full of money. I was
just figuring a way to get all the clothes on, when you arrived.’

I felt my face burning with embarrassment,
perhaps a touch of disappointment in my handsome knight. Not knowing how to
respond, I said inanely, ‘Oh, my word. I seem to have been in everybody’s way!’

‘I didn’t know what to do. I
thought if you found me rifling through Brent’s things, you’d call the police.
It was the last thing an ex-jailbird like me would want.’

‘So you hid.’

‘Yes. Tried twice to get out. I’d
hoped to take Mona’s car but you’d parked across the back of it.’

I felt as though I’d been smacked.
‘That’s exactly what Brent said! You must have
both
been around when I
arrived!’

‘Ironic?’ He lifted an eyebrow.

‘Creepy.’

‘Ah, well.’ He paused, pondering.
‘Then I met a little angel. A girl who stole my heart. A girl who was kind to
me. Kindness – ’ he swallowed. ‘Kindness is not something I’ve experienced in
the last few years.’

My heart melted. ‘I’m so sorry
about all this, Jake.’

He looked startled. ‘It’s not your
fault!’

‘No, I mean your experience with
Brent. He’s the catalyst for all this. He’s bad news.’

‘He’ll get what’s coming to him
now. You can bet on it.’

I sipped my wine. Somehow I wasn’t
comforted by Jake’s pronouncement. I asked, ‘Why did you run away?’

He almost laughed. ‘Are you
kidding? When I heard that girl screaming I tried to get out but you’d locked
the door.’ He threw me a quick look of reproach. ‘So I went out the window. I
saw those men and the girl leaving. I was a bit spaced. I didn’t know what was
going on. But when I saw you in the shed – ’ his eyes bored into mine ‘ – I
knew I had to get away. I knew you would be fetching the police – and for me –
’ He looked away, eyes troubled. ‘Well, as I say, for a jailbird like me that
would have been very awkward.’

‘You had my phone,’ I responded tartly.
‘I wasn’t able to call anyone.’

‘In retrospect, it was a stupid
move on my part. Took me right into the path of Wally Bunting who thought I was
part of some computer game. He believed his house was under attack.’

‘I think he was neurotic because he
was hiding his baby brother.’

‘Yes, well, whatever. He took
things seriously enough to shoot me.’

‘And then I turned up.’

‘And pretty much saved what was
left of me.’

I tried to smile but it crumpled.
The vision of that awful house and its cluttered yard slid into my mind like a
black and white scene from an old horror movie. I remembered the ill-lit
cellar, a gun blast and the splatter of Wally’s blood on my hand. The image
froze me momentarily. I couldn’t breathe.

Jake said, ‘Casey?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes.’

He was leaning across the coffee
table between us. His eyes were limpid, intent, his broad, rangy shoulders so close,
his big hands within my reach. Tonight I would kiss this man – and who knew
where things would lead.

‘Casey.’ He leaned a little closer.

I tilted my head, expecting even at
this early moment, a tender kiss. But he was looking at me in some
consternation. ‘I think something’s burning.’

Days passed. Weeks. Things changed almost without my noticing. I became more
focused at work, learning new things, gaining confidence. Abieda said I had a
‘sparkle’. She said that’s what you get when you’re in love.
In love.
It
was odd how I couldn’t quite apply this term to myself and yet everything
pointed to it. I saw Jake nearly every day. He would leave work at odd times
and turn up at my flat, sometimes quite late in the evenings. Just knowing he
was around, orbiting my inner circle of friends, made me feel comfortable. I
didn’t see Todd after the pepper spray incident in the lift. Either he realized
there was no point in pursuing the matter or he had seen Jake’s regular visits
and decided to back off. Thelma Clark and her shotgun may also have played a
persuasive role. But I didn’t care why he’d gone, just that the man at my door
was somebody I actually wanted to see.

Jake had a way of calming things
down. He was quiet, unobtrusive – the opposite of Stephen who always seemed to
take up too much space. He was happy with Greek takeout from down the road or a
concoction of my own making. Sometimes he would bring me presents – not flowers
or chocolates but a fossil trapped in stone, an art magazine, a book on
marketing. Jake was unexpected. Just when I thought I understood the inner man,
he would look at me in a way that left me less sure and a little intrigued. We
shared tastes in some things and not in others. He loved opera, I didn’t. He
read non-fiction, I didn’t. He disliked football, I loved it. We differed, but
we never disagreed.