Peppercorn Street (21 page)

‘But only the family is allowed in at a time like this,’ the male nurse said, letting go for a moment as she stopped struggling.

‘I’m as good as family. Better than
his
family.’ She wiped her eyes, but more tears rolled down her cheeks.

The other nurse glanced at him meaningfully and mouthed, ‘Stay here,’ then slipped away. Kieran guessed she was going to summon assistance. Well, he’d do what he could to help if the woman tried to go into the room and disturb Nicole.

‘Let me see Sam,’ the woman said, and her shrieks subsided into loud sobbing. ‘
Please
. Just let me say goodbye to him. We’re lovers.
She
doesn’t love him any more, but I do.’

Kieran wondered how much of this was penetrating into the small room beyond the door. He felt sorry for this woman, who was clearly in great anguish, but didn’t know what to do about that.

How could they keep her away from the man she loved when he was dying? Only, how could they let her go inside and upset Nicole and Paul?

Dawn arrived at Miss Parfitt’s on her usual wave of energy. When they all tried to tell her at once what the matter was, she quietened them with a gesture, then suggested they sit down.

‘Now, I think Janey should be the one to tell me what the problem is. Don’t hurry, dear. I’ve got as long as it takes. Margaret is keeping an eye on the shop.’

She listened intently as Janey told her about Gary and the way he was pursuing her.

‘Stalking,’ Dawn corrected. ‘He’s stalking you. It’s a pity you didn’t take a photo of his car.’

‘What with?’ Janey asked bitterly. ‘I’ve got a cheapie old mobile phone and it doesn’t take photos. Oh, I remember, Kieran who owns the flats took a photo on his mobile phone of him harassing me.’

‘Good. It’s always useful to have evidence. But one thing’s clear: if this goes on, you’ll have to move into the women’s refuge.’

‘Couldn’t she stay here?’ Winifred asked.

Dawn frowned, tapping her forefinger on her lips as she thought this through. ‘We’d need more than you to make her safe, Miss Parfitt, with all due respect.’

‘I could stay here too,’ Dan offered. ‘I’ve got a sleeping bag, just find me a sofa. I’d be really happy to help. We’ve both grown very fond of Janey.’

‘You’re so kind, but I think I’m safe once I’m inside my flat,’ Janey said. ‘It’s when I go out I feel threatened.’

‘I’ll get in touch with Kieran and ask him about the photo,’ Dawn said. ‘And I can take you home now. Just let anyone try to mess with you when I’m around.’

‘Have a cup of tea first,’ Winifred offered. ‘You look tired.’

‘Been a busy few weeks, but someone else is starting at the charity shop tomorrow, so I should have a bit more free time. Now, let’s talk about something more cheerful. Have you had any chance to think about advertising this garden scheme?’

‘Not really.’

‘Let me know how I can help you get started.’

Nicole suddenly realised exactly what the woman was shouting and reached out to clutch Paul’s shoulder. Still listening, she exchanged startled glances with her son then looked at the figure on the bed. If anything would have made Sam respond, surely the woman’s cries would? But it hadn’t: his expression hadn’t changed at all, not even when there was all that passion and fury so close.

The woman outside had it right, though. Nicole didn’t love him, hadn’t done for quite a while. It was guilt that had brought her here and that was a poor substitute for love.

The stranger renewed her sobbing and pleading. ‘Let me in. Please let me see my Sam before he dies. How can you keep me from him at a time like this?’

Paul shifted uneasily from beneath his mother’s grasp. ‘You shouldn’t have to listen to this, Mum. And Dad shouldn’t have been unfaithful. How could he?’

‘People fall out of love – and into love. It happens. Though Sam should have been more open, left me. I can’t think why he didn’t. That woman’s right about one thing, though. She should be allowed to see him.’ Nicole took a deep breath. ‘Say goodbye to your father, Paul, then we’ll give her the chance to say her own goodbye.’

He gaped at her. ‘Are you OK with that?’

‘I’m not OK with anything very much at the moment, but she definitely needs to see him.’ Nicole walked to the bottom of the bed, turned to take one last look at the effigy-like figure lying there, well tended, neatly arranged, but somehow not really Sam any longer. She opened the door in time to hear the woman’s next words all too clearly and see the instinctive gesture that went with them.

‘You’re heartless, that’s what you are, heartless. Shouldn’t call yourselves nurses.’ She cradled her belly in a gesture known through the ages. ‘I’m carrying his child! If anyone should be sitting with him now, it’s me.’

Nicole couldn’t move for a moment at this second shock. She heard her son’s gasp behind her and saw Kieran gape at the woman, then pride stiffened her spine and she moved forward. ‘I’m Nicole. I don’t know your name but I agree with what you’re saying. You do have a right to be with him, to say farewell.’

The woman looked at her for a moment, face working as she fought not to sob. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you, Nicole. I didn’t mean to. Sam didn’t mean to, either. But I love him so much.’

‘Tell me your name and address. I’ll make sure you know when the funeral is so that you can attend.’

‘You’d let me – do that?’

‘Yes.’

She nodded, wordlessly, fumbling in her handbag. ‘Here. My business card. I’m Tracey.’

The two women stood for a moment, studying one another, not with anger, but with intense curiosity, then Nicole stepped aside and gestured with one hand. ‘We’ve all finished saying goodbye. Go to him.’

‘You’re as nice as he said you were. Thank you.’ Tracey pushed past the nurse, waited for Paul to step out of her way, then went into the room, making no attempt to stem her sobs now.

‘Are you sure about this, Mrs Gainsford?’ the nurse asked in a low voice.

‘Letting her see him is the only thing I am sure about
at the moment. Let her stay with him for as long as … is necessary. I won’t be coming back.’

She felt Kieran move closer on her right side and Paul on her left, and each took one of her hands. With their support, she got herself out of the hospital and into the car.

Only then did she break down and start sobbing, vaguely aware of the car starting up and moving off. But through all the pain and tears about Sam, one thought consoled her and gradually helped her to stop crying. She had no need to feel guilty about leaving him, because he really had been having an affair. She hadn’t done anything wrong; he had.

And though she felt dreadfully sad about him dying, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

Another thought crept into her mind. Tracey had said, ‘You’re as nice as he said you were.’ It was as if Sam himself had reached out from the mists of death to comfort her.

She hoped the baby would comfort Tracey.

Even before Dawn turned into the car park, Janey stiffened. ‘That car in the visitor’s bay. It’s him!’

‘The gall of the fellow!’

‘He’s not inside it. Where do you think he is?’

‘I’m about to find out. Let’s go up to your flat and check that out first. I’ll just write down his car number.’

As Janey got out of the car, she caught a glimpse of someone standing round the side of the building. It was him. As he started walking towards her, she froze.

‘Can I help you carry the baby up, Janey?’ He smiled and reached out as if to open the back door and unfasten Millie from the baby seat.

‘No.’ Janey moved between him and the car, pushing him away.

Dawn came running round to join her.

‘I can see them up,’ he told her, as calmly as if he was a friend.

Janey found her voice. ‘No, you can’t. I don’t want you near me. Why won’t you leave me alone? I don’t want to see you ever again.’

‘That’s going to be a bit difficult because your father’s so worried about you, he’s asked me to keep an eye on you. As he’s a good friend, I’m going to do just that.’

‘What I do is no concern of his now. And anyway, I don’t believe you.’

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘Read this.’

Dawn twitched it out of his hand and shared it with Janey. ‘Is that your father’s handwriting?’

‘Yes. But it doesn’t matter. He’s weak and lazy, always does what Gary wants and believes the lies Gary tells about me.’

‘Tch! Tch! Not a nice way to talk about your father.’ He turned to Dawn. ‘So you see, my dear, I’m
in
loco parentis
.’

‘Don’t you “my dear” me,’ Dawn said. ‘You’re not acting as a parent, either. Janey’s eighteen. She’s an adult now.’

He sighed. ‘I didn’t want to go into this but there are some official concerns about what sort of mother she is. We’re as concerned about the baby as about Janey. That’s why I’m here.’

Janey couldn’t speak for shock and fear at this implied threat.

Dawn was silent for a moment or two. ‘What official concerns?’

‘Ask Ms Stevenall, who’s in charge of the case.’

‘I will,’ Dawn said, ‘and in the meantime, I’m telling you to stay away from Janey, who has made her wishes very plain where you’re concerned.’

As the two locked glances, another car pulled into the car park and since they were standing in front of the garage, the driver sounded his horn.

‘It’s the owner.’ Janey thrust the pushchair handle into Dawn’s hands and ran across to the car.

Kieran wound down the window, but before he could speak, he saw Gary. ‘
What?
Don’t tell me he’s come back to bother you again.’

‘Yes. He says there are concerns about me being a good mother and—’

‘Don’t say anything else now. You don’t know how he’ll twist your words. Save your talking until we’re inside. Who’s the woman?’

‘Dawn. She’s from
Just Girls
. She’s a good friend.’

‘I’ll wait here till you and she have gone into the house.’

She hurried back to Dawn, who was holding the pushchair, watching. ‘Let’s go inside. It’s no use talking to
him
.’

‘You’re going to regret it if you’re not co-operative, Janey,’ Gary said. ‘Your father will be angry.’

‘No, you’ll regret it. You’ve a lot to lose as well.’

He just smiled. Confident. Menacing.

She grabbed the pushchair and moved towards the front door, followed closely by Dawn.

Gary looked towards Kieran with a frown, as if trying to work out who he was. He didn’t attempt to follow them, but stood and watched, and somehow that too was threatening.

Janey hoped he hadn’t seen how she was shaking.

When the front door had closed behind Janey and Dawn, Kieran shouted across to the man still standing there,
‘Please remove yourself and your car from my property and don’t come here again.’

Gary made a rude sign with one finger and got into his car. But he didn’t drive away; he parked in the street outside, in full view of the flats. Switching off the engine, he leaned back, as if making himself comfortable.

Kieran got out his mobile phone and took a photo of the car and driver, then eased his own vehicle into the garage.

‘What was all that about?’ Nicole asked.

‘That fellow is stalking Janey. And as he’s a policeman, it’s a bit harder to accuse him without proof than it would be to accuse someone else. I’ve been keeping an eye on her but I can see I’m going to have to do more.’

She smiled warmly at him. ‘If anyone can, it’s you.’

There was a moment’s silence as he smiled back at her. ‘Sorry. I didn’t ask if you wanted driving home. I should have done.’

‘We’ll walk. It’s only just up the street and William isn’t going to be attacking us in broad daylight, I’m sure. A bit of fresh air will do my headache good.’

‘It’s still aching?’

‘A bit.’ She turned to Paul. ‘Coming?’

‘Yeah.’ As they walked, he said, ‘I can’t believe that fellow was doing it so openly. That poor girl looked scared stiff.’

‘Some men think they rule the world.’

‘Who is he?’

‘He’s a policeman. I remember him coming to give a talk at the library once, a few years ago. He didn’t do it very well, kept ordering them to do this or not do that and the audience got very restless. He’s put on a lot of
weight since then and he looks – I don’t know, sour. I don’t remember his name, but it’ll come back to me if I don’t obsess about it.’

‘There’s a lot of shit happening, isn’t there? Not just to us.’

‘Yes.’ She opened the front door and they went inside, switching off the security system.

‘Do you want to talk about Dad and what’s-
her-name
… Tracey?’ Paul asked.

‘I don’t know. I’m still getting used to the idea of this woman – and the baby.’ She let out a mirthless laugh and shared one thought with her son. ‘The thing that’s been upsetting me most was that I’d wrongly suspected Sam of being unfaithful. I felt so
guilty
. And now – does it sound crazy to say I’m glad she exists, glad I don’t have to feel guilty any more?’

‘Nah. I get that.’

‘Do you realise the baby will be your brother or sister?’

He gaped at her, then rolled his eyes. ‘Well, I’m not volunteering to babysit.’

‘You’ll probably not see the woman again once the funeral is over. Want a cup of tea or a can of something?’

‘I’d really like something to eat. How about we get a takeaway? We can walk down to the end of the street and pick something up.’

‘Good idea. I don’t have much food in because of not being able to go shopping lately. What do you fancy? Indian, Chinese, pizza?’

‘Pizza.’

‘Right then, pizza it is.’

‘And can we buy some fruit? And make sure there’s something in for breakfast? I get a bit hungry.’

‘
A bit?
You’re a stomach on wheels.’ She smiled and ruffled his hair. ‘You can go and order the pizza while I’ll nip into that little supermarket.’

They walked down the street, passing Kieran’s flats again. ‘Don’t look now,’ Paul said, ‘but that fellow’s not moved. He’s still watching the flats. I wonder if they know he’s there?’

‘I’m sure Kieran has everything in hand.’

‘He’s a great guy, isn’t he? Pity about the accident. He says he’ll never get full movement back. But we’d not have met him otherwise because he used to be travelling around the country all the time. He called it “tilting at windmills” but I think he was a lot more successful than Don Quixote. Even I’d heard of Kieran Jones. He’s won a couple of awards for his work, you know. I saw him on TV collecting one. He wasn’t as thin then.’

She loved the way Paul had started talking to her, hoped he’d never feel a need to withdraw from the world again.

As they walked back up the street half an hour later, Paul said, ‘What is that guy like? Look at that comb-over. As if you can hide baldness. And he’s stalking a girl old enough to be his daughter. He’s a real sicko, that one. I think I’ll ring Kieran and make sure he knows the guy’s not gone away.’

‘Do it quickly. We don’t want the pizza to go cold.’

Kieran joined them upstairs. He chatted to Dawn while Janey fed Millie.

‘I really need to give her a bath and put her to bed now.’

‘You do that,’ he said with a smile. ‘Take all the time you need. I’m in no hurry to go anywhere. After you’ve finished we’ll do some serious planning.’

‘Do you know what to do?’

‘Oh, yes. I’ve not been an investigative journalist for nothing. I’m about to call in a few favours and if I don’t manage to stop that fellow once and for all, then you’ve still got the women’s refuge to go to.’

‘Thanks. Only I’d rather not. I’d still be looking over my shoulder, wherever I went.’ She picked Millie up and went into the bedroom.

‘She’s very near tears,’ Dawn said to Kieran in a low voice. ‘She froze for a moment or two when she saw him. I hated to see the fear on her face.’

‘Poor kid. But that fellow’s lost touch with reality if he thinks he can get away with this. He must be obsessed by her or he’d not have come out openly. I can’t believe her father would support him.’

‘I’m worried that this man has got the Stevenall woman on his side as well. She seems to hate her clients. She and I have tangled a few times. I’d never let her handle one of my girls.’ She frowned. ‘Stevenall wasn’t dealing with Janey’s case, so why is he threatening us with her?’

‘I’m beginning to think it’s part of a bigger scam. Major local corruption. It’ll take a bit of unpinning, but I’m sure we’ll get there in the end.’

‘And in the meantime, Janey suffers.’

‘She’s made a few friends. If we draw up a roster to keep an eye on her, I’m sure we can guard her for long enough to catch him.’

‘I hope you’re right. But don’t underestimate Stevenall. If she’s helping him you can expect some nasty tricks.’

‘Why would she do that?’

‘I’ve heard that she’s been passed over for promotion
several times and is furious about it. And Janey’s defied her once. Stevenall’s known for getting back at people who upset her, and of course, she goes for the powerless ones.’

‘Well, Janey isn’t powerless. She’s got us. Ah, there you are.’

She came out of the bedroom just then. ‘Millie’s asleep already. She was tired out.’

‘So are you. Sit down. Can I get you a cup of tea, or perhaps something to eat?’

‘I’m not hungry. I had some cake at Miss Parfitt’s.’ With a sigh she sat on the couch, shoulders drooping, staring at the floor.

Dawn moved to sit beside her.

‘Right then,’ said Kieran. ‘This is what we need to do. The most important thing is that we all keep a diary, noting sightings of Yarford and what happens each time. You as well, Dawn. And then …’

The phone rang at three o’clock in the morning. Nicole rolled over, stared at it bleary-eyed, then suddenly jerked wide awake. She knew what it’d be, even before she heard a hushed voice say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mrs Gainsford, but your husband died a few minutes ago.’

She swallowed hard. ‘Was it – peaceful?’

‘Yes. His – um, friend was with him. She’s very upset.’

‘Yes.’

‘You’ll need to make arrangements for a funeral. If you or your funeral director can let us know the arrangements later today, that’d be very helpful.’

Nicole put the phone down and turned to see Paul standing in the doorway. ‘Your father’s dead.’

‘I thought it’d be that.’ He wiped his eyes. ‘He was only forty-two.’ His voice cracked on the last words.

‘I know.’ She moved closer and hugged him but he pulled away, and walked into the sitting room, so she followed.

‘Was that woman with him when he died?’

‘Yes.’

‘Mum? I went online about the baby.’

‘What about it?’

‘Won’t it be entitled to a share of Dad’s estate? Has he made a will?’

She hadn’t even thought of that. ‘I – don’t know. I don’t think he did. I haven’t.’

He went to the fridge. ‘All right if I grab a drink of milk?’

‘Yes, of course.’ She watched him pour it into a glass and raise it with a questioning look.

‘No, thanks. I’m not a big milk drinker. We should go back to bed. There’s nothing we can do now.’

He yawned. ‘All right.’

But the thought of what the baby might mean kept her awake for the rest of the night. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She wanted to sell the house, she already knew that, but she’d need the money it brought to buy another one for herself and Paul. She knew Sam’s insurance was up to date because she’d paid the bill herself a few months ago at the same time as the house insurance, but was a big chunk of it to go elsewhere?

It wasn’t
fair
. Why should she have to pay money to Tracey when she’d worked so hard to pay off that mortgage? All her wages had gone into that until recently. And she was the one who’d kept up the insurance payments.

It seemed as if every time she turned round another worry raised its head.

And they’d heard nothing from or about William today. What was he doing? More important, what was he intending to do?

And … how mentally unstable was he? He’d already hurt her. She put up a hand to touch the cut on the back of her head, though it was starting to heal now. She didn’t want him to hurt other people.

In the end, Gary took the surveillance vehicle back to base, then drove to his friend Lionel’s, stopping en route to buy a carton of six bottles of beer – only the owner of the off licence owed him a favour, so never took any money. As was only right. Gary wasn’t greedy, just took a little present from people every now and then.

He found Lionel watching football on the television with his mouse of a wife sitting in a corner, knitting. She was always knitting, stupid bitch. How a woman as plain and colourless as Dorothy could produce a daughter as lovely as Janey, he didn’t know. Janey’s youthful beauty haunted his dreams.

‘Getting tired, are you?’ he asked Dorothy pointedly.

She looked at her husband.

Lionel jerked one thumb towards the door. ‘Go up to bed now, Dot. Us men like to chat in private. Oh, wait! Just see if there’s anything to nibble with the beer.’