Snatched (33 page)

‘Do that again, and I
will
get the gag out,’ he warned her when her breathing had steadied. ‘You promised not to make any noise, and I trusted you. But if you’re going to prove yourself to be a liar like your dad, I’m going to have to hurt you. Got that?’

PART TWO

13

Terry was feeling really positive about him and Leanne when he took a shower that morning. Which, in turn, made him feel twice as guilty about what he was about to do.

They’d had a brilliant night, and the sex had been amazing. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but everything seemed to have really clicked into place between them. And after the stresses of the last few months that was fantastic, because he’d begun to seriously wonder if they had a future.

Now that everything was looking so good, he desperately didn’t want to destroy it by deceiving Leanne. But how could he admit that he’d made arrangements with Sue behind her back without doing exactly that?

Still, it might all work itself out. Things were already looking up since Sue had called a truce and agreed to let him see Connor again. And, in time, she might even let him stay over at the flat with him. But Terry wasn’t about to force it on her and risk having her change her mind. So he would play it her way for now – and hope that Leanne didn’t find out before he was ready to tell her.

Which left him still needing a plausible excuse for getting out of the flat for a few hours without her today. And that wasn’t going to be easy, given that he didn’t work on Sundays and didn’t have any mates to visit since they’d all turned against him in support of Dave. He couldn’t even use his family as an excuse, because Leanne knew that he didn’t have any contact with them. And there was no way he could say that he just wanted to be alone for a while, because Leanne would probably think that he was seeing someone else, and they’d be back to square one.

But he needn’t have worried, because Leanne was about to make it really easy for him.

Still in bed, she was chewing her nails, wondering exactly the same thing as him: how she was going to get out of the flat without telling him where she was going, or who she was going to see.

Her mobile had rung a few minutes earlier and, thinking that it was probably her mum wanting to moan about her dad again, she’d glanced at the screen with every intention of ignoring it if she saw her mother’s name. But when she’d seen a number she didn’t recognise, she’d answered it, assuming that it was one of her friends letting her know that they’d changed their number again. Expecting it to be Goldie, or Janis, or Neela – or
any
of the girls – she’d been furious to hear Zak’s voice.

Eyeing the door nervously in case Terry walked in and asked who she was talking to, she’d demanded to know how he had got her number. But Zak had told her that it didn’t matter; that he wanted to see her.

‘And don’t even think about ignoring me,’ he’d warned, his tone letting her know that he wasn’t messing around. ‘Because I know something about that fire that could get you and your man into serious trouble.’

Telling her where to meet him then, he’d hung up, leaving Leanne in a quandary. Did she call his bluff and not go? Or lie to Terry and meet Zak to find out what he thought he knew?

She really didn’t want to lie to Terry, not after last night. For months now she’d been terrified that they were drifting apart, but last night she’d felt closer to him than ever, and she didn’t want to risk losing him over something stupid like Zak.

But if Zak
did
know something, and she pissed him off by ignoring him, then she might still lose Terry if Zak told the police and they arrested him.

The sensible thing to do, Leanne decided, was to meet up with Zak and let him say what he had to say. At least then she’d know what she was dealing with. And if it was just more speculative rubbish like the stuff he’d been coming out with at Goldie’s party, she would tell him to get stuffed. But if it was something more dangerous, then she would just have to front it out and convince him that he was wrong. And smart as he thought he was, she had always found it easy to get round him when they’d been going out with each other. He was as much of a sucker for her wily ways as her dad was in that respect.

That’s it!
she thought, jerking upright in the bed. She’d tell Terry that she was meeting up with her dad. He would believe her, because he knew that they had started talking again. And he definitely wouldn’t ask to go with her, because it would take him a while to get used to the idea before he agreed to spend any time with her father.

Getting up now, pleased with herself for coming up with such a plausible excuse, Leanne slipped into a pair of jeans. Then, determined not to give Zak any reason to slag her off for flaunting herself, she pulled on one of Terry’s jumpers.

Coming into the bedroom just then, Terry felt his heart sink when he saw that she was already dressed. Hoping that she wouldn’t demand to come with him, he opened his mouth to tell her the lie he’d concocted about nipping into town to buy her a special present as a thank-you for all the support she’d given him this last couple of weeks.

But before he had a chance to speak, Leanne blurted out that her dad had just rung and asked her to meet up with him.

Looping her arms around his neck now, she said, ‘You don’t mind, do you? Only I know you won’t want to come, but if you’d rather I stayed here with you, I’ll call him back and say I can’t make it.’

‘
Go
,’ Terry insisted, hugging her tightly. ‘I know you’ve been missing him, so I’m not going to be selfish and say no, am I?’

Pressing her face against his chest as the guilt washed over her, Leanne murmured, ‘Thanks, babe. I’ll try not to be too long.’

‘Be as long as you like,’ Terry said, holding her close so that she couldn’t see the guilt that was written all over
his
face. ‘I was thinking of nipping into town, anyway.’

‘What for?’ Leanne asked, pulling her head back and peering up at him, wondering if she should ask him to wait until she got home so she could go with him.

Smiling secretively, Terry said, ‘Never you mind. Just be ready to thank me when you see what I’ve got planned for tonight.’

Pursing her lips, Leanne gazed coyly up at him through her lashes. ‘So, it’s something for me, then? And is it nice?’

‘Fantastic,’ Terry told her – cursing himself as soon as he said it, because now it would
have
to be special, which meant another battering for the credit card. But at least he’d have got to spend a bit of time with Connor, so it would be worth it.

Kissing him now, Leanne tripped happily out to the bathroom to get a wash – determined that whatever Zak had to say, she wouldn’t let it spoil things between her and Terry.

Sue felt fresh and alert when she woke up, thanks to the sleeping pill, which had knocked her out so completely that she’d managed to sleep right through the night without being plagued by any of the usual nightmares.

Thinking more sharply than usual, she realised that she had a decision to make. Wait to see if there was still a chance with Terry – which might well mean being on her own for ever. Or accept that it was over, once and for all, and get on with her life.

She still loved Terry, and probably always would. But the thought of letting go of him didn’t bring the heart-wrenching pain that it usually brought. Yes, there was a sense of sadness about it. But there was also a sense of hope, because letting go of the past meant that she was free to move on with the rest of her life. And, right now, the only person she could see herself spending it with was Dave.

There were still a million different reasons why it probably wouldn’t work, not least the fact that Dave’s daughter had stolen her husband, which would make family get-togethers an absolute no-no. And because everyone would immediately assume that they’d had something going on the whole time – and Carole would be the worst of the lot, Sue had no doubt about that. But like Dave had said last night, this was nobody’s business but theirs, so it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about it.

So, yes, she believed that she might just be ready to take the next step with Dave. But she would only make a definite decision after she’d seen Terry today and made sure that there really was nothing left between them. And she’d still want to wait a little while longer before she and Dave came out as a couple if she went for it. At least until she’d got somewhere of her own to live; and until she’d figured out a way to ease Dave into accepting that Terry was always going to be in Connor’s life. And Nicky’s when she came home.

If
she came home.

Sadly, the new-found clarity of thought she’d woken up with today had all but stripped the rose-tinted faith away, leaving Sue to face up to the fact that she might never see her daughter again. But while she didn’t want to believe that Nicky was dead, if she wasn’t, and had just run away after starting the fire and nearly killing Connor, then she might as well be, because there would be no place for her in Sue’s heart. And no excuse would ever be good enough for doing something so terrible. Not the bullying she’d supposedly been suffering at school; or the pain of losing her dad and having to help out at home while her mum recovered. Everyone had shit to deal with in life, but they didn’t all take it out on their innocent baby brothers. And if that
was
what had happened, then Nicky could stay away for ever as far as Sue was concerned.

Getting up now, Sue pressed her ear against the door to listen for sounds of Julie being up and about. Hearing nothing, she crept out and took a quick shower. Then, dressing quickly, she woke Connor up and got him ready to go and meet his dad.

Sneaking out of the flat, she took him down to the café where she’d arranged to meet Terry, which was at the other end of the road from where she usually met Dave. Sitting Connor down at a table by the window, she ordered herself a cup of tea, and a small fried breakfast for him. She couldn’t really afford it, and doubted he’d even eat it, but she couldn’t let him go off with Terry with nothing in his stomach or Terry would think she was neglecting him.

Sipping at her tea while they waited for the food, Sue gazed out of the window, watching for Terry’s car. The girl behind the counter was engrossed in a magazine and, with no prospect of getting any conversation out of Connor, Sue was glad of the tinny music coming from the radio, because it was the only thing that was stopping her from having to listen to her heart pounding in her chest.

Despite making her peace with Terry yesterday, she was nervous about seeing him again, because they both knew that she’d done some terrible things since the break-up. Knowing how much he loved the kids, she had used them as a weapon to punish him; telling him that if he wanted to see them it had to be on her terms – at
her
house,
alone
. She’d known that it would cause trouble between him and Leanne, but she hadn’t cared because she’d wanted to split them up. But when that hadn’t worked, she’d had him arrested for domestic violence – which had been an absolute lie, but it had seemed like the only way she could keep him away from the house. And although she’d stopped it from going to court, Terry must resent her for doing it in the first place.
She
certainly would, if the tables were reversed.

But now, much as she still hated Leanne and wished that she would do them all a favour and drop dead, she knew that the games had to stop – for her own sake as much as Connor’s.

The food still wasn’t ready when Terry arrived. Gripping her cup hard, because the sight of his handsome face never failed to give her butterflies, Sue watched as Connor jumped down off his chair and ran to him. Sweeping him up in his arms, Terry kissed him, oblivious to the look of envy that Sue was struggling to conceal.