In Search of Hope (18 page)

He watched her press the little buttons on the phone with fingers that trembled just a little.

‘Mrs Greaves? Sorry to trouble you at home, but your husband left me a message to ring him urgently.’

‘Ms King?’

‘Yes.’

‘Hold on. I’ll get him.’

Libby waited, tapping her foot impatiently as Mrs Greaves called out her husband’s name, then footsteps approached across a wooden floor.

‘Is that you, Libby?’

‘Yes. I’ve just got home. Your message … worried me. Does Steven know where I am?’

‘I don’t think so. He was pressing me to give him your contact details.’

‘He’ll find out, probably by tomorrow morning. It won’t be the first time he’s spent a night online, searching for information.’

‘Please don’t run away without letting me know where you are.’

‘I might have to.’

‘Is Joss there?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ask him to ring me when he gets home, will you? Trustee business.’

She looked at her companion. ‘Mr Greaves wants you to phone him later.’

‘I’ll phone him now.’ He took the handset and clicked on loudspeaker mode, so that she could listen in. ‘Henry, I’m here and I don’t think we should plan anything behind Libby’s back.’

She nodded her thanks and listened carefully to what was being said.

‘You’ll need to stay close to her from now on, Joss.’

‘Obviously.’

‘I don’t think her husband knows exactly where she is, but it won’t take much for him to find out where she’ll be, will it?’

‘Sadly, no.’

Joss pulled Libby close again with his free arm. ‘From now on, Henry, I’ll consider myself on bodyguard duty. Until a suitable solution is reached. I’ll get back to you tomorrow.’

She was tense and rigid in his arms, and her voice was low and shaky. ‘Thank you.’

‘I won’t let him get you. Or Ned. I’ll make up a bed in your front room, if that’s all right, and sleep here from now on.’

‘That’d be good. But Joss, what if Steven persuades Social Services that he has a right to access, and they try to arrange a visit with Ned?’

‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking hard. ‘I have a useful set of contacts, and I’m prepared to call them all in if I have to.’

‘I’m more worried about my son than myself. Ned is my Achilles heel and Steven knows it.’

When Joss went next door to pack, he phoned the unit. He needed to stand down from duty with them until he’d sorted things out for Libby. He got the usual artificial voice telling him that Leon would ring him back in a few minutes.

When this happened, Leon didn’t waste time on greetings but asked, ‘How did it go at Chadderley’s?’

‘It went well, I think. I had a good excuse to go there, so I don’t think the owners realised I was connected to you. It’s a beautiful gallery, isn’t it?’

‘Beautiful but a bit spooky. Did you explore the rest of the buildings at all?’

‘No, but I’ve arranged to go back next week for a guided tour.’

Leon’s voice went very quiet. ‘I wonder, was that wise?’

‘Wise or not, it’d sound strange now that it’s arranged if I were to back out. Besides, I want to see the rear outbuildings. I have a feeling I might need to know my way around there. Don’t ask me why I feel that. Call it a police instinct, honed over the years. Call it spooky. There’s a strange feel to the whole place, as if it’s waiting for something, ready for something.’ He bit off further words, afraid he’d made a fool of himself.

Leon sighed. ‘Oh, hell, they haven’t caught you up in their woo-woo already, have they? Don’t be surprised if you start seeing ghosts and strange lights in corners next time you visit. Emily does.’

‘Do you see that sort of thing when you go there, Leon?’

Silence. Then: ‘I don’t believe in it but … yes, it is a bit spooky and yes, I’ve sensed … something; seen lights.’

His frank answer surprised Joss. It was the last thing he’d have expected such a capable and intelligent man to admit. He realised Leon had said something else. ‘Sorry. What was that?’

‘Did you meet the tenants of the units that Chad and Emily have built at the rear?’

‘I met Toby, if that’s who you mean.’

‘Yes. Clever lad, in his own way, our Toby. Has some surprising gifts.’

‘Finding antiques at flea markets, do you mean?’

‘No. Communing with ghosts. You’ll see.’

‘You sound as if you know the place well.’

‘I’ve known Emily for a long time, so I’m bound to visit, aren’t I? I visited when she took over and I went to the grand opening earlier this week. Tell me more about this Libby and her son. Do you realise how your voice softens when you talk about her?’

‘Does it really? I haven’t … That’s none of your business’

Leon let out one of his soft laughs. ‘Most people wouldn’t notice. Bit risky, though, involving a child in our sort of business.’

‘Well, I can’t get involved myself for a while, I’m afraid. Libby needs protection at the moment, and so does Ned. She’s just left an abusive husband, but she’s terrified he’ll come after her. We were hoping it’d take him a while to find out where she is, but he rang her lawyer yesterday demanding contact details, so he knows she’s in this area. I’m one of the trustees for the legacy, and …’ He took a deep breath and said something that surprised himself, ‘I’m involved with her.’

‘Hmm. Well, no sane man can stand wife-beaters and I consider myself extremely sane, so you can sort Steven Pulford out with my blessing.’

‘You know his name. You already knew about Libby.’ It wasn’t a question, but a flat statement of fact.

‘Oh, yes. I have a rather good information-gathering system. If you need to find anything out to help your Libby, be my guest. Though actually, it looks as if we might welcome some feminine involvement in your first case. Something’s blown up out of the blue. It won’t put Libby in danger. Could you offer her a job without giving away exactly who we are?’

‘Probably.’

‘Do it. Promise her a fair payment for accompanying a woman who is also escaping an abusive situation.’ He named a daily sum, waited a moment or two. ‘Will you do the job for me still? Or should I find someone else?’

‘How soon?’

‘Probably tomorrow.’

‘All right. But the new bathroom won’t be ready for a while.’

‘That’s the last thing she’ll care about.’

‘Fine by me. But I’ll have Libby with me at all times.’

‘Libby’s presence will reassure the poor woman. Look, I’d put another operative on this job if I had a woman operative available. But I don’t. Not for a week or so. Let’s hope Libby’s ex doesn’t get in our way. If he does, I’ll be on his tail.’

‘Stand in line after me. I’m almost hoping he will need his attitudes correcting.’

‘Go for it. This woman is a small but important piece of a larger matter that impinges on national security. I’ll get back to you about her soon.’

The phone went dead and Joss was left staring at it, wondering at the way everything seemed to be happening at once.

Alone in the quiet room, with dusk softening the world, he grinned. He’d forgotten how much he enjoyed thwarting villains. You weren’t supposed to care about that sort of Boys’ Own stuff in this greedy, cynical modern world, but he did. He always had.

Then he realised Libby would be worrying about him and rushed round gathering his things for tonight. Thank goodness he had an air mattress. He was too old to sleep on couches.

He was pleased to find the front door locked. He knocked. ‘It’s me, Libby.’

The door opened and she let him in, locking up carefully again.

‘Sorry to take so long. I had an important phone call to make. Is Ned in bed?’

‘Yes. It’s been a busy day for him.’

‘And busy for you, too. You look tired.’ He reached out to touch the dark circles under her eyes and couldn’t help caressing the last traces of the bruise on her face. ‘It would make me very happy to mark your husband’s face.’

‘It’d make
me
very happy if neither of us ever saw Steven again.’

‘Is it likely?’

She shook her head. ‘No. He’ll not stop till he finds us.’

‘I’ll sleep here every night and I’ll be around most of the time during the day.’

‘What about your new job?’

‘Can we sit down with a coffee or something, Libby? I have a few things to tell you.’

‘How about a glass of wine? I’m more in the mood for that.’

‘Perfect. And let’s sit in the front room. It’s comfier there.’

She led the way but stopped in the doorway. ‘How will you manage, sleeping in here? It’s only a two-seater couch.’

‘I’ve brought an air mattress. I’ll be fine.’ He sat on the couch and when she would have taken a chair, he pulled her down beside him instead. ‘There are some advantages to a two-seater couch.’

‘I can’t think of my own wishes at the moment.’

‘I’m not intending to ravish you, Libby. I just want to sit and talk, maybe hold hands, maybe even kiss you goodnight. Is that too much?’

There was a long silence during which she stared at him, solemn as an owl, then she gave him a tremulous smile. ‘No. That definitely isn’t too much.’

He hadn’t realised he’d feel so relieved by her answer. This had happened so quickly and it felt so right. ‘Good. I’m glad. I really like you, Libby. And I find you very attractive.’ He realised he was twisting his fingers in his hair again, a stupid habit he had when he was tense. He tried to smooth out the tangles, was vain enough to hope she hadn’t noticed the occasional grey threads.

She smiled and removed his hand, tidying his hair for him with her fingertips, her soft, gentle fingertips.

He breathed slowly and carefully, but even that slight touch had roused him further. ‘Right. We’ll take it slowly and see where we go.’ He laughed suddenly. ‘I feel as shy as a lad courting his first young lass. Stupid, isn’t it?’

‘No, not stupid. I feel … surprised more than anything. But attracted too. Only, I need to get rid of Steven officially before I can move on. It would seem dishonest to do anything else.’

‘He doesn’t deserve treating fairly.’

‘It’s not for him; it’s for me, so that I feel right about … us. Now, what did you want to tell me?’

It took him a few moments to gather his scattered wits. He set his wine glass down on a small table and took hold of her hand again as he spoke.

‘I’ve been offered some occasional work. I don’t know how to describe it. Escort work for people needing to disappear quietly would be the closest, perhaps. I can’t tell you about the department that organises it. Very hush-hush. But they sometimes welcome the presence of a woman, to make another woman feel safe. Or even a child, to make a group look like a family. They wondered if you might be interested in working with me every now and then.’

‘Is it dangerous?’

‘At the stage where I’d take over, not very. But there’s no part of life where anyone can feel perfectly safe these days, is there? For you, I think it’d be safer to be involved in one of the transfers, than to be left here on your own. Safer for Ned, too.’

‘It all sounds very James Bond.’

‘Not nearly that exciting. Probably quite boring in fact; just passing a person on to the next stage in a sort of underground railway till they reach somewhere safe further down the line. What do you think?’

‘I think you’re right. I’d feel safer being involved in that than sitting here alone waiting for Steven to erupt on to the scene.’

‘Is he likely to do that? Erupt?’

‘Yes. Now that I’ve defied him, he’ll be furious.’

‘Mmm. Well, I can be very decisive about dealing with him, believe me. Oh, I forgot one thing. These people are prepared to pay you for your involvement.’

When he told her how much, she gaped at him in shock. ‘That much! Wow, I’d welcome the chance to earn some money. They do pay well.’

‘They pay for your silence as well as for the inconvenience, because our services can be required any time, day or night.’

‘I’m happy to be involved, especially if it’s a woman who needs help.’

‘Good. And Libby … do not run anywhere except to me.’

‘I’ll try not to. But if Steven turned up while you were out, I’d have to do what was best for Ned.’

‘Fair enough.’

The phone rang at Emily and Chad’s flat early the next morning. Chad was in the shower, so Emily grabbed it.

‘Leon here.’

She sat upright in bed, feeling at a disadvantage lying down, even though he couldn’t see her. ‘You’re an early bird today.’

‘Needs must. I have someone in transit who needs shelter for a night, maybe two nights max. She’s had a rough time, been held captive and drugged.’

Emily sighed. She’d been in that position herself, and couldn’t turn down the chance to help someone escape. ‘OK.’

‘That easy?’ he teased.

‘You know damned well you pushed the right button with me.’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘Who is she?’

‘She’ll be using the name Jane Dawson while she’s with you. I haven’t decided what to call her next.’

‘Who’ll be bringing her, Leon? Anyone I know?’

‘No. He’s a newcomer to our chain of contacts. You met him yesterday when his partner was selling Chad some china.’

Emily was startled. ‘Joss is one of your men!’

‘Intermittently. Retired police. Injured in the line of duty, hates the thought of a desk job.’

‘And his partner? She seemed familiar, I don’t know why.’

‘I haven’t met her, only seen photos of her and her son. They’ll come to you as a family group. Our lady, whom we’re calling Jane, won’t leave the centre with them. She’ll stay for maybe a couple of days, before moving on again.’

‘You don’t often use children.’

‘No, I don’t. But Libby won’t go anywhere without her son. And he’ll make excellent cover.’

‘When exactly are we to expect our visitors?’

‘When did you arrange to show Joss round?’

‘Next week.’

‘Could you make it a little earlier? On Sunday, perhaps. Better to have this happen on one of your busier days, with quite a few people around at the centre. Oh, and Joss is staying with Libby. You’d better phone him there to change the appointment. This is the number.’