Songbird (26 page)

“So, how did you manage to get away from him?” Ellen’s eyes were huge and alarmed.

“I wanted to run, but I was afraid he’d come after me. Then I thought it might be best if I played along with him, so I told him I was lonely, because my husband was away. I said we lived in one of the terraced houses near the shops.”

Thinking of it now made her skin crawl. “I told him I had things to do and that I’d be back in an hour. We made arrangements for him to call round.”

“Could it have been that he just saw and recognized you?” Ellen asked. “He may simply have been an old client thinking you were down on your luck, and trying to take advantage.”

Maddy shook her head. “No. Knowing Steve Drayton, he’s probably got men all over the country looking for me. Looking for
both
of us.”

Ellen had to concede the possibility. “You could be right.”

“I am. I just know it.”

“But it doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?”

Ellen went over what Maddy had told her. “If he
was
Drayton’s man, why would he approach you in the first place? I mean, why didn’t he just take a note of where he’d seen you, secretly follow you home, and report it back to Drayton?”

Maddy’s heartbeat slowed down. “Do you think he really was just a client who’d seen me singing at the club, and was coming on to me?” Oh, if only she could believe that, but every instinct in her body told her otherwise.

“I really don’t know what to think,” Ellen sighed, “although like I said, if he really
was
Drayton’s man, he’d have been far craftier. On the other hand, he
could
have been sent to find you, and thought he could get his leg over for tuppence. After all, he’s a man, and sometimes men can lose all sense of duty where a woman’s concerned. Maybe he’s wanted you for a long time and you were always out of reach. When he saw you today, his need of you was stronger than his fear of Drayton.”

Pulling up at the traffic lights, she glanced at Maddy. “You have to admit, it’s possible.”

“Well, yes, when you put it like that.” Maddy was not altogether convinced. “But even if that were true, it doesn’t change the fact that one of the club-goers recognized me. What if it gets back? What if this man has links with him? If he thought he could get money out of it, what’s to stop him from visiting him and asking if he’s willing to pay for information regarding his old sweetheart?”

Ellen groaned. “That is some imagination you have,” she said. But she didn’t laugh, nor did she dismiss Maddy’s fears.

Maddy first thoughts were for her baby. What would happen to Michael if
he
were to find her? She daren’t even think of the consequences.

“I’m frightened,” she told Ellen in a choked voice. “I thought we were safe. Now I’m not so sure.”

Choosing not to alarm Maddy any further, Ellen said nothing. But she fully understood her friend’s fears. The past was catching up, and it was a dangerous thing — for Maddy and the child, more so than for herself.

There was no doubt about it. However much she might try to reassure Maddy, this was a frightening development, which needed some very serious thought.

The little man was sweating. His bleak surroundings were all too familiar. The stench of misery seemed to waft through the room, and there was a sense of hopelesness in the very walls of the prison. Behind him, the warder stood watching, ready for the slightest wrong move by either the prisoner or his wretched visitor.

The little man looked up, directly into the flat dark eyes of the burly warder. “We’re late today,” he said pleasantly, but his voice fell on deaf ears. He knew what it was like. Often the guards deliberately did not bring the prisoners out on time. It was as though they took sadistic enjoyment in making them sweat to the last minute.

The little man wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. Twelve years off and on he had lived behind prison walls, and the very thought of being locked in even as a visitor, made the sweat drip down his back like a running tap.

Turning again, he nervously smiled at the officer. As before, the other man made no response. Instead, he stared down on him through those shark-like eyes, his hard expression seemingly set in stone.

The little man twitched and focused on the door through which Drayton would arrive any minute.

The moment he had the thought, the door opened, and Drayton swaggered to the table where he pulled out the chair and sat down, his eyes riveted on little Danny. “I take it you’ve got something for me?” Leaning forward he kept his voice low, so as not to be overheard.

Markedly jumpy, Danny glanced about.

“What the hell does that mean? You’ve either found her or you haven’t.” Having recently tangled with the worst kind of enemy behind bars, Drayton was in no mood for games. “Well?”

Not relishing the news he had to impart, Danny jogged Drayton’s memory. “Do you recall Jimmy Norman — the man who used to do a bit of running for you, at the club?”

Drayton wasn’t listening. He was watching as the guards escorted in a huge mountain of a man. Physically daunting, with wide beefy shoulders and the neck of a bull, he seemed to dwarf the officers who flanked him.

Two days ago Brewster was sentenced to life. Powerful and merciless, his aim was to bring the other prisoners in Brixton under his control. However, he had not reckoned with Drayton — and there was already bad blood between them.

Now, when he sauntered by, the atmosphere in the room was dark with loathing.

“As I was saying…” Sensing trouble, the little man called Drayton’s attention back. “Jimmy Norman…”

“Dammit, man, get on with it!” With his eyes boring into the back of Brewster’s head, Drayton looked fit to kill.

As quickly as he could, Danny told his story. “It seems one of Jimmy’s mates runs a gambling joint in Blackpool. Jimmy was up there — apparently the two of them are going into some venture or oth—” Seeing the look on Drayton’s face, he began to gabble nervously. “Bottom line is this. Jimmy was in Lytham when he spotted yer woman.”

Seeing how Drayton’s face lit up, he swiftly explained, “Sorry, boss, but you’re not gonna like this. Y’see, Jimmy had no idea you were looking for her, so when he recognized her from the club, he just thought to make a play for her. She gave him an address, and later when he called there, the landlord said he didn’t have no idea who this Maddy was. In fact, he threatened to make Jimmy pay for some other woman who had left the week before without paying the rent.”

“Stupid bastard!” Drayton pressed his clenched fists so hard against the table, the blood drained from his knuckles. “So the little trollop fooled him, did she?”

“Seems like it, yes, but one good thing’s come out of it. At least we’ve an idea where to be looking. I’m on to it, boss. You can count on me. North, south, east or west, trust me. There will be no stone left unturned.”

A week had passed.
A week of sleepless nights. And tonight was no different. Exhausted though she was, Maddy could not sleep.

Ever since the bad experience in Lytham, she could only suspect that all too soon, her whole world would come crashing in on her.

She could flee. She had done it before and if need be, she could do it again. As far as she knew, Ellen was in no danger from Drayton. But what about the baby? If Drayton wanted
her
out of the way, there would be no real reason why he should want to spare the child. He had never accepted it as being his, and never would. If anything, he probably hated the child even more than he hated her.

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she swayed back and forth, going over everything in her mind. “I have to leave,” she murmured. “If I stay here, it could be disastrous for everybody. But if I leave, where will I go?”

Maddy knew it would be hard. She’d need to get as far away from here as possible. Find work. Make a home. And what of little Michael? Though her baby had come along in leaps and bounds and the doctors assured her his lungs were now as normal as those of any other baby, he had only this past week finished his hospital appointments. I don’t want to leave him here with Ellen, she thought. She had an agonizing choice to make. But then again, she couldn’t put him in danger by dragging him from pillar to post. What to do? What to do?

Another sobering thought crossed her mind. If she left him behind, would she ever see him again? Climbing off the bed, she began pacing, searching for alternatives.

The night outside her window grew darker and thicker, and still she paced the floor. The darkness broke and the dawn crept over the horizon, and she was no nearer to some kind of solution.

After a while, she came to realize that, for the sake of those she loved above all others, she had no option but to take the only route left open to her.

She had to leave, and it had to be now, before full daylight came to change her mind.

It took but a few minutes to wash, brush her hair and get dressed. She kicked off her slippers and thrust her feet into the one pair of sturdy walking shoes she owned.

Going to the wardrobe, she took out an overnight bag and put in it only the most essential items: a hairbrush, toothpaste and toothbrush, underwear, warm tights, a clean skirt and blouse, and a big thick jumper.

She was already closing the bag when she remembered the club photographs. She climbed onto the chair and, reaching up to the top of the wardrobe, she retrieved the brown envelope, which she then slid into the bag.

She did not look at the photographs; she had no wish to. There were far more pressing things on her mind right now.

After putting on her winter coat, she stood awhile looking out of the window at the changing skies, the tears flowing down her face and her heart raw with pain. It was like her world had come to an end… again!

Going to the crib, she lifted her son into her arms and gently rocked him. “You know how very much I love you, don’t you?” she whispered. “You know I would do anything for you.”

She kissed his eyelids and pressed her face to his, and when he stirred, she tucked him back into the cot. To gaze on that tiny face and know she might never see it again was too much to bear.

In that awful, precious moment, she thought she had never felt so alone; not even when she was in that dark alley, with Alice and Jack lying so still on the ground.

Hardly able to see for the tears that blurred her vision, she padded downstairs to the kitchen, where she went to the dresser drawer and, taking out a pen and paper, began to write:

My dearest friend Ellen,
Please don’t think me a coward for leaving like this, but I honestly cannot see any other way to keep you and baby Michael safe from harm. I brought trouble here, and now I must take it away with me.
I think we both know that the man who stopped me in Lytham was sent by him, or will be reporting it back to him. And we both know that now I’ve been tracked down, Michael and I will never be safe. When he finds me — which he will — then he finds all of us, and I will have put you, Grandad and the baby in danger. I could never forgive myself for that.
It’s me he’s looking for, and because he is an evil man, who believes I betrayed him, he will not rest until he punishes me.
Oh Ellen, you have been a wonderful friend to me, and so has Grandad Bob, and I hope that what I’m about to do will repay your kindness. The only option for me is to go away and leave my baby in your care, until such a time when, God willing, I may come home and hold my son in my arms again.
He does not know whether I had the baby or not, so he won’t be looking for him; though if I take Michael with me, I know for sure I would be putting his life at risk.
I know you will love him as I do, and I know you will care for him, and keep him safe. Tell him I’ll be back as soon as I think it’s safe.
I have no idea where I’m going, but rest assured I will contact you as soon as I can.
I love you like the sister I never had. Remember that always.
Please let Grandad know I am okay, or he’ll worry and fret. You’ll think of something to tell him, I’m sure. Give him my love.
God bless, and please try to understand. I am doing this because I don’t know any other way to keep us all from harm.
If you think I’m wrong, then please forgive me.
Maddy
XX

Going back upstairs, and carefully slipping the note under Ellen’s door, Maddy then returned to her own bedroom.

Gazing down on her sleeping son, she was tempted to change her mind. But her deeper instinct told her she had to make this sacrifice, or risk him being discovered. Circumstances had forced her to make a choice, when really there was no choice at all.

One last loving, lingering kiss, then with the tears burning her face, she collected her bag and walked away, leaving the bedroom door slightly open, so if he cried, Ellen was bound to hear.

Quickly and silently she went down the stairs and out the front door. She dared not look back, afraid she might change her mind.

Secure in the knowledge that she had done the right thing, she started running, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she thought her lungs would burst.

The streets were eerily empty, her footsteps echoing against the flagstones like the patter of frantic fingers on a drumskin.

She didn’t know which way to go; she followed no particular direction. There was no plan, but she had to keep running, away from the pain, and the child she had borne and whom she adored with every beat of her heart. And now the child was left behind, because of
him
.

Loathing flooded her soul. One day… One day, if there was any justice in Heaven,
he
would suffer. Like she was suffering now.

Emerging from Penny Street, she saw the National Express coach slow down at the traffic lights. Quickly now, she ran out and put up her arms for the driver to let her in.

Astonished, he waited. The lights changed once, and then went back to red, and as she climbed on he told her gruffly, “What the devil are you playing at? It’s lucky for you there was no one behind me.”