Whispers (23 page)

‘I think you’ve got some explaining to do, don’t you, madam? Just what the
hell
is this – and where did you get it?’

The colour drained out of Mel’s face like water out of a dam as she lowered her head and stared at the floor.

‘Well?’ Jess realised that she was screeching like a banshee but she
couldn’t
seem to stop herself. What had begun as a wonderful break for them all had suddenly turned into a nightmare. Taking Mel by the shoulders, she shook her roughly. She had never so much as laid a finger on either of her girls before but she had to do something to make Mel understand the seriousness of the situation.

‘It was Emile who gave you these and asked you to get them into England, wasn’t it?’ she choked as Mel’s head rolled from side to side.

‘No, it wasn’t,’ Mel cried as she shook herself free, and she then folded her arms and remained stubbornly silent.

‘Oh, you must think I’ve fallen off a Christmas tree.’ Jess tipped the wallets onto the floor, appalled to see how many of them there were. ‘I’m not stupid, you know. Who else could have given you these?
Answer
me, Mel.’

Still Mel refused to speak and now Jess ran her hands through her hair, totally distraught. And it was then that an idea occurred to her and, quickly lifting the toilet lid, she began to flush the wallets away a few at a time. There was no other way she could think of to get rid of them, and she could hardly leave them in their rooms. If she did there was no doubt the police would be after them before they even got as far as the airport. She was torn between fury with Mel for being so stupid and for refusing to confide in her, and her anger at whoever had pushed her girl into doing this.

‘What are you doing?’ Mel whimpered as tears began to flow down her cheeks.

‘What does it look like I’m doing,’ Jess snapped back. ‘You don’t really think I’m going to allow you to try and take these through customs, do you? You’re fourteen now – old enough to be criminally responsible for your actions. If they catch you with this lot, they’ll lock you away!’

‘Is everything all right in there?’ Jo’s worried voice wafted from the other side of the door and Jess tried to sound calm as she shouted, ‘Yes, love. You go and watch TV for a while. Everything’s fine.’

Jess systematically continued with what she was doing, flushing away four or five of the little plastic wallets at a time as Mel’s wails grew louder. At last it was done and all that was left was the plastic carrier bag that had contained the drugs. There was no way that this would flush down the loo but Jess tucked it well down in the small rubbish bin in the corner of the room. There was nothing conspicuous about it, so hopefully the maids would simply throw it away with the rest of the rubbish when they came to clean the rooms.

She would have liked to interrogate Mel further but was painfully aware that the time was slipping away. They would have to leave now, or they would miss their flight and suddenly she just wanted to be home.

‘Come on, get your things ready,’ she told Mel shakily. ‘But don’t think this is the end of it, young lady; not by a long shot! It makes my blood run cold to think what might have happened to you, if I hadn’t found those things.’

It was a relief for Jess when they eventually boarded the plane and she could finally have time to think. Mel and Jo were sitting together in the seats in front of her as the flight attendant went through the safety precautions with the passengers. Jess didn’t hear a word of it; she simply mechanically buckled her seat belt and stared out of the window at the runway as her mind raced ahead. What was she going to do? She couldn’t just let this go. And what would Simon say when he found out? He would probably lock Mel in her room and throw away the key. Things had been bad enough between Mel and her father before the holiday, without this.

The phone number that Emile had given her was still tucked away in her bag, and now Jess cursed herself for a fool. No wonder he had wanted to keep in touch. He would want to collect his drugs. Jess’s first instinct had been to ring him and tell him what a lowlife she thought he was, but that might have been asking for trouble. He wasn’t going to be happy when he discovered that the drugs he had given to Mel had been flushed down the toilet. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how much the drugs had been worth, and beneath her anger was a knot of fear about what the consequences of flushing them away might be, although hopefully there would be nothing he could do about it. He would be too afraid of Jess informing the police of what he had done. Or would he? There was no evidence now, so it would be her word against his. And if she told Simon, she would also have to explain why they had spent the majority of their time in Paris in the company of a handsome Frenchman, and she could only assume that he wouldn’t be too happy about that.

All the way back her mind chopped from one idea to another, but by the time the plane was coming in to land she was no further towards knowing what to do for the best.

When they had gone through customs and were waiting to collect their cases she pulled Mel to one side and hissed, ‘Not one word of what has happened to your father, do you understand? I’m not sure
what
we should do about it yet, so it’s best to say nothing until I do. But don’t think you’ve got away with this, Mel. This is far from over, I assure you. I just can’t believe you could have been so stupid!’

Mel looked away from the anger and fear in her mother’s eyes as their cases appeared on the conveyor belt. Jess yanked them off and after pushing one unceremoniously towards Mel she growled, ‘Come along. Your dad will be waiting for us.’

Once outside in the bitterly cold wind they glanced this way and that but there was no sign of Simon. Normally Jess wouldn’t have minded waiting for a few minutes, but today she wasn’t in the best of humours.

‘That man will be late for his own funeral,’ she grumbled as she stamped her feet to keep warm. Sensing that her mum was not in the best of moods, Jo wisely said nothing.

Simon appeared twenty minutes later, and Jess saw that Beth was with him.

‘Sorry I’m late, love,’ he apologised. ‘I got caught up on a job and while I was at home changing to come and collect you, young Beth here turned up and asked if she could come along too. Have you all had a good time?’ He pecked Jess perfunctorily on the cheek as Jo immediately began to tell him about all the places they had seen as they followed him back to the car park.

Jess was actually glad of her chatter, it gave her time to compose herself and put her thoughts into some sort of order. The afternoon was darkening as they pulled into the long drive leading to Stonebridge House and Jess was glad to be home. One thing was for sure; it would be a very long time before she took Mel away again after the stupid stunt she had almost pulled. Had she not come across the drugs, Mel might be under interrogation by the Customs and Excise Department at this very moment. Jess came out in goosebumps and she felt nauseous again. As soon as they entered the kitchen Mel shot off upstairs whilst Jo disappeared into the garden with Alfie and Beth.

‘So,’ said Simon as he filled the kettle at the sink. ‘After all that coffee they serve you over there I dare say you’ll be dying for a decent cuppa now, won’t you? How did it go?’

‘It was very nice,’ she answered quietly.

Simon raised his eyebrows. ‘Just very
nice
, after all the money it cost? I expected you to come back full of it.’

‘I probably will be later on,’ she replied weakly. ‘But I’ve got this
rotten
headache at the moment. In fact, I think I’ll cancel that tea for now if you don’t mind and go and have a lie-down.’

Upstairs, Jess quickly undressed and slipped into her warm dressing-gown before crossing to the window. She could see Beth and Jo frolicking on the lawn with Alfie, and tears pricked at her eyes. Now that she had calmed down a little she realised that most of what had happened had been her fault. If she hadn’t encouraged Emile’s advances, he would never have been able to get to Mel, and she was sorry now that she had ever set eyes on him. He had seemed such a genuinely nice person, but then she knew that most conmen usually were. He had probably been sitting in that restaurant that evening just waiting for some unsuspecting female to appear with a youngster he could twist around his little finger, and like a fool she had fallen straight into his lap. She might as well have served Mel up to him on a plate.

Dropping onto the bed, she placed a hand across her eyes. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Simon she had a headache. It had probably been brought on by all the stress and suddenly she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
I’ll just rest for ten minutes
, she promised herself,
and then I’ll start the unpacking
, and that was the last thing she remembered.

The sound of crying woke her some time later, and when her eyes snapped open she found herself in darkness. The wind was howling outside and rain was lashing against the window. Rising quickly, she put the lamp on before venturing out onto the landing where she paused to listen. The sound was coming from Mel’s room. Before she could reach the door, it opened and Simon appeared, his face twisted with anger.

He stabbed a finger towards the door. ‘I thought she might come back in a slightly better mood but I suppose that would have been asking too much. I just took her a cup of tea in and tried to be pleasant, and all I got for my trouble was a mouthful of abuse. I’m telling you, Jess, I’ve just about had it with that spoiled little bitch. She needs taking down a peg or two.’

Despite what had happened Jess found herself rushing to Mel’s defence just as she always did.

‘She’s probably just tired after the flight,’ she told him, her eyes flashing. ‘Why don’t you just lay off her for a while, Simon? I think you just make her moods worse. You don’t seem to have any idea how to handle a teenager.’

‘Oh, that’s just
great
coming from you, that is.’ Simon threw his
hands
in the air. ‘Her mood swings are all
my
fault now, are they? Well, I’ll leave her to you in future then. I’m off out.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To the pub. Do I have to clock out?’

Jess watched him storm off down the stairs. Some homecoming this was turning out to be. She arrived downstairs just in time to hear the Land Rover accelerate out of the courtyard. Normally after a row with Simon she would be in floods of tears, but tonight she was so emotionally drained that she felt nothing.

It was as she was sitting there that someone tapped on the back door and Laura poked her head round it with a broad smile on her face.

‘Hello, I thought I’d just pop in and see how the holiday went. I’m not disturbing you, am I? If you’re tired I can come back in the morning.’

‘Don’t be so daft, of course you’re not disturbing me,’ Jess chided. ‘Come on in. I was just about to have a coffee. I think I must have got the taste for it in Paris. Do you fancy one?’

‘Yes, please.’ Laura took her coat off, hung it over the back of a chair and sat down. ‘Brr, it’s enough to freeze you out there,’ she said with a shudder as Jess put the kettle on. ‘But come on – tell me all about your break.’

‘There’s not that much to tell really,’ Jess replied cagily. ‘We just did the usual things sightseers do.’

‘Oh.’ Laura looked mildly surprised. She had expected Jess to be full of it. She knew she certainly would have been if she’d just come back from Paris.

‘And what about the girls? Did they enjoy it?’

‘Yes, I think they did.’ Jess kept her head lowered as she spooned instant coffee and sugar into two mugs. She was bursting to confide in someone about what had happened with Mel but was too afraid to, at least until she had decided what to do about it. She still hadn’t worked out whether she should confide in Simon or not, and if she were to tell Laura and him only afterwards, that could make things even worse than they already were. And so she remained silent as she made the coffee and carried the mugs to the table.

‘Something is wrong, isn’t it?’ Laura gazed at her seriously. ‘Is it something to do with Simon? I just passed him haring off down the drive like a boy racer.’

When Jess didn’t answer, she went on, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sticking my nose in where it isn’t wanted. Just ignore me.’

‘No, it’s all right.’ Jess knew that Laura was only trying to help, but at this moment in time she was so confused she didn’t know if anyone could. ‘To tell the truth, Simon and I had a bit of a row over Mel, and as usual he’s gone off to seek solace in the bottom of a pint glass.’

‘Oh, what a shame and on your first night home too.’ Laura looked at her sympathetically and Jess couldn’t help but notice how her neighbour’s eyes kept flitting nervously about the room. She was just about to comment on it when Laura suddenly burst out, ‘I think something really bad is about to happen. I can
feel
it.’

Shocked, Jess stared at her. ‘What do you mean, something bad?’

Laura clutched her mug with both hands.

‘I don’t know. Bad things have happened here in the past. Really bad things – and there’s more to come. I’m sorry, Jess – I don’t mean to upset you, but you need to know.’

If what she had read in Martha’s journal was true, Jess knew that Laura was right. Bad things
had
happened here – in the past – but it was her home now, and there was no way she was ready to leave it just yet.

‘I sense there’s a young woman standing over there in the corner and she’s not happy,’ Laura told her as she gazed over Jess’s shoulder. ‘It could be the young girl from the sketch in your room.’

Not so long ago, Jess would have scoffed at her but now strangely she wondered if Laura might be right. This had been Martha’s home long before it had been hers, so perhaps Laura really could sense her there even if she couldn’t.

‘Can’t you ask her what’s wrong?’ Jess breathed quietly.

‘She won’t tell me.’ Laura was as pale as putty now and shaking, slopping coffee over the rim of her mug onto the table. Suddenly she exclaimed, ‘She’s gone!’