Peppercorn Street (17 page)

But just then another car drew up behind hers in the drive, a police car.

‘Thank goodness!’ Paul said.

William made a rude sign with one finger and vanished into the kitchen.

One of the police officers came hurrying towards her. ‘Everything all right, Mrs Gainsford?’

‘No. My son William is here. I think he was about to attack us when you arrived. He went into the back of the house.’

The officers looked at one another then one pointed
and ran through the front door while the other ran round the side towards the rear.

Kieran watched them intently, keeping an eye on the other side of the house. ‘I wish this were a semi-detached house,’ he murmured. ‘If he comes round the other side, don’t try to stop him, either of you.’

But there was no sign of William coming round the side and after a while the police officers returned.

‘I reckon he went over the back fence,’ one said. ‘The plants were freshly trampled in one corner. Do you want to check the house now?’

Nicole nodded, guessing there would be further nasty surprises waiting for her. Best get it over with. ‘Paul, when we’re sure it’s safe, sort out your clothes and anything else you want to take with you. Work as fast as you can. Pile the clothes on the bed and we’ll wrap them in the sheet.’

‘Right.’

It hurt her to see him looking so upset. Well, she was upset too – very – but she didn’t dare give in to her feelings. She went back into the house, ignoring the two rooms at the front. The kitchen was even messier than before. A can of baked beans had been overturned recently and the sauce was still slipping out into a glutinous puddle on the table. There was a carton of milk on the draining board, with splashes where it had been dumped in a hurry.

In one corner was a pile of broken crockery. It looked as if someone had simply lobbed pieces there on purpose. She moved closer and gasped. ‘That’s my best dinner set,’ she told the police. ‘He must have brought it in from the dining room to break like this. Why does he hate me so much? What have I ever done to deserve it?’

‘From what your younger son and husband told us before, he’s on anabolic steroids, and they can do terrible things to young men, especially if he’s on the designer version. Rage and mindless aggression are among the common side effects.’

‘I don’t understand why young men do this to themselves.’

‘The medical gurus say they want to be more powerful. Others because they think drugs are where it’s at. Anything for kicks.’

‘William was never an easy child to rear. He wasn’t very good at school, right from the start. We had to hire tutors to get him reading properly. Paul was different, a good student all along. I suppose this is William’s way of making up for it.’

He gave her a sympathetic look, waited a moment then asked, ‘Shall we go and check upstairs now, Ms Gainsford?’

She nodded and turned to Kieran. ‘Will you come with me as well?’

‘Of course I will.’ He took her hand for a moment, sure they’d find something unpleasant upstairs. ‘Let’s do it.’

She turned to her son. ‘Paul, you follow us. Keep a few steps back and if I say you’re to go downstairs again, do it.’

Upstairs it looked as if a hurricane had swept through. William must have been searching for something, because all the drawers had been emptied out and half the clothes dragged from the wardrobes and left in tangled heaps.

‘Looking for something valuable to sell, probably,’ the male officer said.

She looked at him anxiously. ‘I took my jewellery to
my new flat. You don’t think – he won’t have gone there, surely? Not with the police looking for him?’

The officer was already pulling out his mobile phone. He walked out on to the landing to make the call, suggesting they send someone to her flat immediately. He turned. ‘Address?’

She gave it with a sinking heart. ‘I don’t know whether to hurry back or stay here,’ she told Kieran.

‘Stay here. Retrieve what you can now, because it’s my guess he’ll be back.’

Paul’s room had also been ransacked and the computer monitor lay smashed in one corner. He stood for a moment fists clenched, expression anguished, then said, ‘I think the computer itself’s OK, but I’ll need to get a new monitor, Mum, if you can afford one.’

‘You can take your father’s. In fact, take your father’s computer as well. It’s in the study downstairs. We don’t want it getting smashed.’ It didn’t sound as if Sam would need it again. Her throat clogged with guilt which was weighing her down so heavily she didn’t know how to bear it. She should have tried harder to persuade him to go to the doctor’s.

Paul touched her arm briefly, as if he sensed her distress. ‘You all right, Mum?’

She pulled herself together. ‘Yes. Work as quickly as you can.’

When they left an hour later, they took as much as they could with them, odd-shaped bundles, boxes. Paul had to sit squashed into one corner of the car’s back seat, on top of some bundles of clothes and with head-height bundles beside him, and even on his lap.

The police escorted them to Nicole’s flat, where their colleagues were now keeping watch.

Janey walked down Peppercorn Street from Miss Parfitt’s house, pleased with how her life was turning out. She’d left Mr S pacing out the garden and she hoped this project would help cement his friendship with his hostess. They were both lonely, she could see that. There ought to be introduction agencies for old people, not for them to find new marriage partners, but just for finding friends.

She felt happiness well up inside her like a warm fountain as she counted her blessings. She was starting to make friends, finding activities to occupy her time, not to mention coping with looking after her daughter, something which had terrified her at first.

Lost in her thoughts and plans, she didn’t notice the car until it slowed right down next to her. She looked sideways at it, expecting someone to be asking directions. But it wasn’t. It was
him
, giving her that confident gloating smile which made her shiver.

She stopped, unable to move for sheer terror. Her heart started to pound and she would have screamed, only she couldn’t make a sound, except for a soft whimper of protest.
He’d come back looking for her! He was going to spoil her lovely new life!

As he waved one hand in greeting, a police car with its light flashing drove past and
he
drove off at once, not stopping to ask what the police were doing there. Well, he was stationed on the other side of Swindon so they couldn’t be members of his team.

It was a while before she could move on and then she
walked slowly and heavily like an old person, couldn’t help it because fear was still weighing her down. She’d known he could find her easily enough, but she hadn’t seen any reason why he would bother.

But he had bothered. Why? And why had he made his presence known to her today? What did he want from her? Hadn’t he done enough to ruin her life?

She gasped. He surely didn’t expect her to let him near her again willingly?

But he didn’t want a willing woman. He’d really enjoyed hurting her. That had terrified her most of all, because she’d thought at one stage he was going to kill her.

If only she’d gone for help straight away, shown people her bruises. But she hadn’t known she was pregnant. She’d thought she could just forget it and take care never to be alone with him again.

She looked down at Millie, amazed as she always was, that she could love
his
child so much. Maternal instinct, she supposed.

But she wasn’t going to let him force her again. She didn’t know how she’d stop him, but she would. She couldn’t prove that she’d been unwilling to have sex with him but she’d already decided she didn’t want to have a DNA test done on Millie, because she didn’t want
him
to have any rights of access to her daughter. He might hurt her too.

So it had to be stopped.

But how?

One of the police officers keeping watch on Mrs Gainsford’s flat from a little way down the street turned to the other. ‘Wasn’t that Gary Yarford?’

‘Yeah. Same old surveillance vehicle. Everyone in the force for fifty miles around knows it by now. You’d think that lot would have the wit to replace it, because if we know it by sight, you can be sure others will too.’

‘I wonder who he was keeping watch on?’

‘He drew up beside that girl who was walking with her baby. I saw him wave to her. She didn’t look happy to see him, though. Did you see her face? Hey, she’s turning into those flats just down the road! Pull forward a minute. There’s nothing parked on the road outside them.’

They moved further down the street and watched as Janey hauled the buggy up the step and into the entrance hall. She unfastened the baby and carried it upstairs, then came back down for the buggy.

‘She doesn’t look like a crim or a hooker to me.’

‘Me neither. But she knew him and she was definitely scared of him. Did you see her face?’

‘You never know who that bugger’s watching. He’s a law unto himself. Glad he’s not my sergeant.’

‘Me, too. A couple of my pals work under him and they hate his guts. Ah, here are the others. We can hand over to them now. This Gainsford lad is causing a lot of trouble. ’Bout time he was picked up.’

Nicole followed the police officer into her flat, relieved to see that it hadn’t been touched. Then everyone helped lug in the things they’d brought from home. She wanted to tell Kieran to leave it to the others, because he was looking tired and his limp was worse, but she bit back the words. What he needed most at the moment was to feel useful and normal.

And she felt better when he was around. Much better.

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe in that house again,’ she murmured as she set down the last bundle. She didn’t realise she’d spoken her thoughts aloud until one of the officers answered.

‘You’ll probably be safer here, Mrs Gainsford. This is a fairly secure building, but nowhere’s completely safe because windows can always be broken and you’re on the ground floor. So … you’re not going to go back to the house?’

She couldn’t help shuddering. ‘No way.’

‘We’ll keep an eye on it, then.’

‘You and Paul can stay on with me, if you like,’ Kieran offered.

‘We can’t trespass on your goodwill.’

‘It’s been nice to have company.’ He lowered his voice as he added for her ears only, ‘It’s doing me good to make friends again. We are friends now, aren’t we? Perhaps … more than friends?’

She smiled. ‘Oh, yes. You’re very kind, Kieran, but I think we’d better stay in my flat. I don’t want William thinking he can walk all over me.’

‘Why not get a cheap security system?’ one officer suggested. ‘One with a siren that screams loudly if anyone tries to break in while you’re out. There are plenty of neighbours within earshot.’

‘Are they expensive?’ She was already starting to worry about money, because Sam hadn’t been with that company for long and she didn’t know how much sickness entitlement he’d have accrued or how his superannuation stood. He’d refused to discuss that with her when he changed jobs, saying by the time he retired, they’d be rich.

‘Security systems aren’t that expensive if you get a do-it-yourself kit. Are you at all handy? They come with full instructions.’

‘I could have a go,’ Paul offered. ‘I like fiddling with computers and electronic stuff.’

‘I could help him,’ Kieran volunteered. ‘I’ve got a system fitted at my flat and I watched how they installed it. Paul can climb up and down ladders, and I’ll play foreman.’

Paul grinned at him and Nicole felt pleased at how well the two of them got on.

The police left her to sort out her possessions and Kieran sagged against the door frame. ‘Look, I need to get something to eat so that I can take a painkiller. I’m only taking halves now, so it’s even more important that I take them on time. I can come back and help after that.’ He didn’t tell her that he’d reduced his dosage so that he’d be more alert to help her. But the doctors had told him to start doing that when he felt he could cope.

‘Why don’t you have a rest and we’ll come down about two o’clock, then you can help us buy a security system?’

‘If you’re sure you’ll be all right till then?’

‘I’m sure.’ Pretty sure. She hoped.

‘I’ll program our phone for the police so you only have to hit one button to get that number they gave us,’ Paul said. He watched Kieran leave and drive off down the street. ‘He’s a nice guy, isn’t he?’

‘Very.’ She saw her son looking at her speculatively. ‘Hey, watch what you’re thinking. I only met him a few days ago.’

Paul gave his mother a very solemn look. ‘But there
might be … possibilities. He looks at you as if he’s attracted.’

‘And what do you know about that?’

‘I’ve got eyes, and I have my moments, too, you know. You may not realise it, but geeks are cool these days and I’m a bit of a babe magnet.’

‘You are?’ She tried not to hide her surprise.

He shrugged. ‘Yeah. Not many girls go for dumb beefy types. And William’s acne was a big turn-off. Besides, Dad’s been treating you like shit for a good while now. I think you deserve better, so you should go for it. Get a life.’

‘It was the tumour that made him so lazy.’

‘Mum, he was lazy long before he got the tumour. You’ve had to nag him to help in the house for as long as I can remember.’

‘That tumour could have been developing for years.’

‘Don’t fool yourself, Mum. Just because he’s ill doesn’t mean he was a saint.’

‘You don’t sound very – upset.’

‘I am, but not as much as I could have been. He’s not been a very hands-on father, has he? He always put his best effort into his job. He just – wasn’t there for me.’

‘But that was to earn money for us.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Mum! Get real. You’ve always had to earn money too. If his job was as hot as he boasted, you wouldn’t have needed to work.’

She gave up protesting. How could you argue against the truth?

Paul came and gave her a quick hug, something he did so rarely she’d not got over her surprise before he moved away.