Snatched (42 page)

‘So what if it was?’ Dave said calmly, standing between the two women. ‘I told you it was none of your business then, and it still isn’t.’

‘So how come you slept with
me
that night?’ Carole demanded, tears in her eyes now.

Laughing nastily, Dave said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. As if I’d sleep with you again.’

‘You
liar
!’ Carole gasped, unable to believe that he was fronting it out like this.

Taking Sue’s arm, Pauline said, ‘Come back to mine, pet. You don’t need to be getting involved in any of this.’

‘Yeah, come on.’ Irene joined in, giving Carole a dirty look. ‘Leave them to it.’

Shaking them off, Sue dodged around Dave and faced Carole.

‘Look, he doesn’t want you, so just stop making a show of yourself and go home. And you’re wrong about us, because we’ve only just got together, so you’ve got nothing to kick off about.’

‘Fuck off!’ Carole yelled, lunging at her again.

Holding Carole back, Dave jerked his head at Sue, saying, ‘Go to Pauline’s while I sort her out. I’ll pick you up from there when I’ve finished here.’

The kids were all laughing by now.

‘Shame!’ Fred gloated as Sue walked past him. ‘My mam battered you!’

‘Yeah, just like we battered mongy Connor,’ Ben added gleefully.

Narrowing her eyes, Sue glared at the two boys. ‘That was you? I might have known it, you little bastards!’

‘Oi!’ Dave barked, still holding Carole back. ‘Just go. I’ll deal with him.’

Shooting one last poisonous look at the boys, Sue allowed Pauline and Irene to lead her away.

‘Ridiculous,’ Pauline muttered, herding Sue back up the road. ‘Never could keep her nasty mouth shut, that one. And out on the street like that. The woman’s got no pride.’

Irene was more interested in getting the gossip than in slagging Carole off. Folding her arms as she walked, she peered at Sue, saying, ‘So, you and Dave, eh? Never saw that one coming. How long’s that been going on?’

‘Not long,’ Sue muttered, keeping her head down as she felt the stares of all her old neighbours following her up the road. ‘Just over a week.’

‘And how’s it going? Is he being good to you?’

‘Mmm.’

‘Leave it, Reen,’ Pauline said quietly but firmly. Pushing her gate open, she waved Sue in ahead of her. Then, standing in Irene’s way, letting her know that she wasn’t invited, she said, ‘I’ll just get her a cup of tea. See you later.’

‘Well, that’s nice, I must say,’ Irene complained as Pauline ushered Sue into her house and closed the door. ‘And it was me what told her about it in the first place. I’ll keep my bloody mouth shut next time.’

Going into the kitchen to put the kettle on, Pauline said, ‘There’s a comb on the shelf if you want to sort your hair out. And you’d best put a spot of cream on that scratch.’

‘Scratch?’ Sue repeated.

‘On your face,’ Pauline said, coming back into the doorway and tracing a finger down her own cheek to indicate where it was.

Looking in the mirror over the fire, Sue tutted when she saw the nasty red welt running from her cheekbone to her mouth. And her hair was all over the place, like she’d been rubbing balloons on it.

Taking a small tube of TCP cream out of the drawer, Pauline handed it to her. Finishing the teas then, she carried them through and sat down.

‘I know it’s none of my business,’ she said, watching as Sue put herself back to rights. ‘But do you really think it’s a good idea getting involved with Dave? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against him,’ she added quickly. ‘But you know what Carole’s like. She’s never going to give you any peace.’

‘I know,’ Sue said quietly. ‘But she knows about us now, so she’ll just have to get used to it.’ Turning from the mirror, she came and sat down. Thanking Pauline for the tea, she sipped at it. Then she said, ‘He’s been really good to me this past few weeks, Pauline. Me
and
Connor. And I know you probably won’t understand it, but I really like him.’

‘I’m sure you do,’ Pauline replied, not sure that Sue really understood what she had let herself in for. ‘But have you thought what this is going to mean to the kids? And then there’s Terry to consider.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with him,’ Sue muttered. ‘He’s been with Leanne for a year, so he can’t say anything.’

‘And Dave’s her dad,’ Pauline pointed out. ‘So that’s bound to make it even more complicated.’

‘Not if everyone stays out of each others’ business,’ Sue said. ‘Anyway, you can’t help who you fall in love with. And you can’t switch it off just because someone doesn’t like it.’

Raising her eyebrows, Pauline said, ‘So, it’s love then, is it?’

Inhaling deeply, Sue pursed her lips thoughtfully. She hadn’t meant to say that, but now that she had, she realised that she meant it.

‘Yeah, I think it is,’ she said. ‘And believe me, I didn’t go into it lightly, because it was as much a shock for me to find I had feelings for him as it is for you. But he’s been so good to me. And he feels the same way. So what am I supposed to do? Pass up on the chance of being with someone who really cares about me and the kids, just because Carole and Leanne have got a problem with it?’

‘What about what Carole said just now?’ Pauline reminded her. ‘About him sleeping with her the night of my fund-raiser?’

Feeling a small knot of jealousy twisting in her gut, Sue tried to shrug it off. ‘If he did, he did. But we weren’t together then, so it’s not like he went behind my back or anything. Anyway, he said he didn’t, and I’d believe him over
her
any day.’

Sighing, Pauline said, ‘Well, you know your own mind, so I won’t interfere. But I just hope it doesn’t come crashing down on your head, because you’ve had a bad enough time of it lately. And so has Connor.’ Sipping her own tea now, she said, ‘How is he, by the way?’

‘Fine,’ Sue said wearily. ‘Dave’s been great with him, and he seems to get on well with Dave’s dad as well.’

‘Jack?’ Pauline said, genuine surprise in her voice. ‘I thought he was dead. I haven’t seen him in years.’

Cursing herself for having mentioned Dave’s dad, because that could lead to Pauline asking where he was living, Sue said, ‘Yeah, he’s okay. Anyway, thanks for the tea, but I think I should go and see what’s keeping Dave.’

Reminding her that he’d said he would pick her up from here, Pauline took out her cigarettes and offered her one. Taking it, Sue lit it and glanced out of the window.

‘Oh, Lord, you know what I forgot,’ Pauline said suddenly. ‘I rang you a few times, but your phone was off. And that friend of yours was a bit rude when I tried to get her to pass a message along, so I didn’t like to ring her again. But you’re here now, so I can give it to you.’

Standing up, she hurried to the sideboard and took out a tin box. Unlocking it, she took out an envelope and handed it to Sue.

‘The money we raised,’ she said when Sue looked confused. ‘You never came round the morning after, and I haven’t seen you since. It’s not as much as I’d hoped, but it’s all there. Three hundred and twenty pounds, and seventy pence.’

‘That’s a lot,’ Sue murmured, blushing. ‘I didn’t expect that much.’

‘Yes, well, I thought there would be more, considering how many people came,’ Pauline said, shrugging as she added, ‘But we didn’t do as well on the drinks sales as we’d hoped. And between you and me, I think Irene might have been giving a lot of it away, because she was a wee bit under the influence herself by the time we started selling the alcohol. Anyway, there you go. It’s all yours.’

Sue didn’t know what to do with the envelope. She didn’t want to put it straight into her pocket, because that felt cheap. And she definitely wasn’t going to open it and look at the money.

‘Will you take some?’ she asked, glancing up at Pauline. ‘As a thank-you.’

‘I most certainly will not,’ Pauline said adamantly. ‘That was raised for
you
. So you just take it and use it to buy you and Connor some new things to replace what you lost. Okay?’

Smiling at the look of indignation in Pauline’s eyes, Sue nodded. ‘Okay. And thanks again. You’ve been a real friend.’

‘I’m glad I could help,’ Pauline said modestly. Then, ‘Did you hear anything about that appeal thing yet?’

‘Not a lot,’ Sue told her, slipping the envelope into her pocket while Pauline put the tin box away. ‘The policewoman came round a couple of days later and told me that they’d had a lot of calls from people claiming they’d seen Nicky. They were going to look into them all, but she said it could take some time, because there were a lot of sightings in places like Blackpool and Scarborough. I’ve not heard anything since, though.’

‘She’ll turn up,’ Pauline said quietly, guessing from Sue’s expression that she was still desperately worried.

‘I’m not so sure,’ Sue murmured. ‘And it’s her birthday in a few days, and the policewoman’s already warned me that they’ll scale the search down, because she’ll be sixteen.’

Shaking her head, Pauline went back to her seat. ‘Beggars belief, doesn’t it? You’d think they’d just go on searching until they found her, never mind scaling it down.’

Shrugging resignedly, Sue said, ‘Apparently she’ll just be a missing person once she’s of age, so they’ve got no choice. And they haven’t found a body, so they’re pretty sure she’s just run away.’

‘It’s a shame, nonetheless,’ Pauline said, sighing softly. ‘And is Connor doing all right without her? I know how close they were.’

‘He’s coping,’ Sue said. ‘Still not talking, but he’s dealing with it in his own little way.’

‘I’d love to see him,’ Pauline said, smiling fondly. ‘Do you think you could fetch him round sometime and let me have him for a few hours? I haven’t got any grandchildren, what with my Georgina preferring her career to motherhood, so I’d love the chance to spend a bit of time with him. I could take him out to the museum, or something. My John’s not interested in anything that doesn’t involve blood, so I’ve missed doing stuff like that.’

Gazing at her and seeing the longing in her eyes, Sue said, ‘I think he’d love that. He’s got a real thing about dinosaurs.’

Giving her a wry smile, Pauline said, ‘I hope you’re referring to the ones at the museum and not to me?’

‘Don’t be daft,’ Sue said, smiling herself now.

Glancing at her watch then, she bit her lip. Dave was really taking his time, and she hoped things hadn’t turned too nasty with Carole. But she couldn’t go back out there to find out after he’d told her to come here, so she’d just have to wait for him.

Dave had put Carole into the car and driven her off down the road to get her away from the onlookers. Parked up in Netto’s car park now, he lit two cigarettes and tried to pass one to her.

‘Fuck off!’ she hissed, refusing to take it. ‘I don’t want anything that’s touched
your
mouth. Not now I know where it’s been.’

Flicking the cigarette he’d offered her out of the window, Dave said, ‘Please yourself.’ Then, peering at her, wondering how much he could afford to tell her, he said, ‘It’s not what you think, you know.’

‘Yeah,
right
,’ Carole snorted disbelievingly. ‘It’s
exactly
what I think. Exactly what I said when you got caught giving her a lift to the fucking hospital.
Lift
,’ she said again, spitting the word out. ‘I should have known you were lying, because you couldn’t tell the truth if it was crawling around in your mouth with legs and arms!’

‘Whatever,’ Dave murmured, wondering where she got these sayings of hers from. And what the hell they were supposed to mean.

‘You’re such a bastard,’ Carole said now, shaking her head, because she still couldn’t believe that he’d just stood and denied her in front of that bitch.

‘Say what you like,’ Dave said coolly. ‘But you don’t know what’s really going on, and you’ll change your tune when you do.’

‘So tell me?’ Carole demanded, glaring at him. ‘Thought not,’ she said after several moments of silence. ‘You can’t tell me, because you haven’t had time to think up a believable lie yet. But don’t bother on my account, ’cos I don’t even care any more. You’ve burned your bridges as far as I’m concerned, and you can just go back to your slag and leave me the hell alone.’

‘You don’t mean that,’ Dave said confidently. ‘When you know the score, you’ll have me back.’

‘In your fucking dreams!’ Carole snorted, folding her arms, her nostrils flaring with anger. ‘And don’t think Leanne’s going to be too happy about this, ’cos she’ll be fuming when she hears about it. And Terry’s not going to like it, either. The shit that bitch has given that poor man this year, and now she goes and does this. And you’re no better,’ she added. ‘He’s done nothing to you but fall in love with your daughter. But you can’t just be happy that she’s got herself a lovely man, you’ve got to go and try and ruin his life, even though you know it’ll ruin hers, an’ all. Just because you’re jealous that she loves him. You make me
sick
!’

Narrowing his eyes, Dave kept his mouth shut. He’d told Sue that he’d split with Carole because he’d sided with her after her fight with Leanne. But that had been nothing to do with it. It was purely down to this protectiveness that Carole was still displaying towards Terry. They’d had blazing rows about her going round to see him and Leanne, knowing full well that Leanne wasn’t talking to Dave. But Carole wasn’t the kind of woman you could dictate to, and it didn’t matter how many times Dave told her to stay away, or how many fights they had about it, she’d blatantly carried on seeing them. So Dave had left. And now he knew that she was still on
his
side, he wasn’t about to tell her what he was really up to, because she’d probably go and warn the cunt.

‘Got nothing else to say?’ Carole said suddenly.

Looking at her, Dave shook his head. ‘Nah. I think we’re finished. Sorry you found out about it like this, but at least you know now, so me and Sue can get on with it in peace.’