Behind a Closed Door (The Estate, Book 2) (17 page)

‘I remember only too well! You were nasty to me no matter what I did.’

‘I wasn’t that bad!’ Kelly protested.

‘You were, but that’s what mates are for. Look Kelly, are you sure that you want –’

‘Whoops!’ Kelly’s elbow slipped off the table and she fell forward. ‘What is it with me and lunchtime drinking?’

Jay sighed. He glanced over to where Emily was climbing a ladder ready to dive into the balls again. Then he looked at his watch. ‘Jesus, have you seen the time? We’ll have to go soon, Kel.’

‘I suppose you’re off to check up on your other woman, aren’t you?’

Jay laughed. ‘Me? I haven’t got
time
for another woman.’

‘You must have someone special in your life, though. I wonder what she thinks of all the time you spend with me and Em.’ Kelly pointed an unsteady finger at him. ‘You are a true… true friend. Scott should be vey – vey proud of you.’

In her inebriated state, Kelly didn’t realise that Jay’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Surprisingly, but true to his word, Stewart stayed away from Josie. After a week on her own, she started to get over the initial shock of what had happened. Although the swelling around her nose had gone down in days, the black and blue of the bruising could still be seen. Her emotions had taken a battering too.

Stewart had sent her a few text messages, to which she’d responded with as few words as were appropriate. He’d even rung once, on Friday evening, to see if she would see him yet, but she’d told him it was too soon to start talking. She needed to be clear about what she planned to do next and she was nowhere near that stage yet.

By the time she went back to work, she was all thought out. More so, she needed to catch up with her case notes. It was hard for anyone not to have heard about Charlotte Hatfield over the past week. She’d been local front page news for two nights, her story told in bold, graphic details. Josie had been annoyed to be away from the office at such an important time. She wanted to make sure that all the paperwork was filled out correctly, that every t was crossed and every i was dotted, in case the statement was used as evidence in a court case. She wanted to be sure they’d nail Charlotte’s partner for it. After the damage Nathan had caused, he deserved no more than to rot in a ten-by-eight cell. However, reporting to work the next day looking the way she had wouldn’t have been ideal.

Charlotte’s children had been collected by their grandparents and ferried back to Leeds while Charlotte had spent two days in intensive care. She was now – thankfully – on the road to recovery. It never failed to amaze Josie how much a human body could cope with in difficult situations. Her mind flipped back to her mum’s last days. Brenda had hung on for what seemed like forever until her body, unable to take in food, slowly deteriorated and her heart stopped.

Arriving at the office, she boxed up her feelings and headed in. The first thing that greeted her was the report of another burglary.

‘What’s up?’ Debbie asked as she passed over a mug of coffee.

‘Mrs Lattimer’s been robbed over the weekend,’ Josie told her. ‘Remember, we visited a couple of weeks ago?’

‘Yes, she was really nice to me.’ Debbie shook her head in disbelief. ‘Is she okay?’

‘I’m not sure. We only get the basics on the call-out logs. That’s five now in the past couple of months. I’ll have to pop in and see her.’

Debbie sighed. ‘It makes it more personal when you know the tenant involved, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ Josie grabbed her keys and slipped her mobile phone into her coat pocket. ‘It took her family and me ages to get her to move there in the first place. She didn’t think she’d cope but she’s been much more independent since. This will set her back big style. I’ll have to pop round this morning, see if I can catch her in.’

‘Send her my love,’ Debbie shouted as she marched away. ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do.’

After trying her best to console Mrs Lattimer, Josie caught up with some paperwork before heading out again after her lunch. Her first visit was to Clarence Avenue. Rather than enjoying a mug of coffee with Kelly in her tidy, clean living room, she was crawling around the floor while baby Reece kicked his legs infuriatingly next to her. Josie was trying to make him laugh by waving a yellow rabbit in front of his face and then pressing it to his nose. He was niggling: Amy was heating some food for him.

‘Has he been like this all morning?’ Josie shouted through the open kitchen door, waiting for another loud yell as Reece took another breather. His angry little face was beginning to represent the colour of sun-ripened tomatoes.

Before Amy had time to reply, Josie’s mobile started to ring. She rummaged around in her pockets until she found it. It was Craig from the office, wanting to know if she would get Irene’s card on her way back. It was Irene’s fiftieth birthday at the weekend and they’d had a bit of a collection. Although Irene wasn’t particularly liked, it was astounding how much of a conscience people had when a collection went around the office. They’d collected quite a sum for her.

Josie disconnected the call, feeling herself shivering in the small room. Amy had reappeared with Reece’s gooey delight and settled him onto her knee.

‘It’s a bit chilly in here, Amy. Have you got enough gas tokens?’

‘Yeah, I took me card to the post office on Monday. It was on my to-do list.’

Josie smiled, watching her spoon in another mouthful, then carefully wipe the remainder from Reece’s chin with his bib. She was such a good kid, it grieved her to see how she had been let down by her parents.

‘Good. I wondered if the problem with your heating had been sorted.’

Amy looked up quickly. ‘There’s nowt wrong with my heating.’

‘But Ray – you remember Ray, the other housing officer? – he said it wasn’t working properly the other week. I thought that you were still having –’

‘No, it’s okay now.’

Josie wondered why Amy’s body had tensed. For some reason, she wouldn’t look her in the eye either.

‘It’s okay if you did something wrong,’ she said, hoping to encourage Amy to open up. She decided it was time for a white lie. ‘I know when I moved into my house, I was forever switching off things that should stay on or leaving things on that should be turned off.’

Amy began to relax a little but Josie had seen the signs and was worried. Amy seemed to be coping: the house was tidy and Reece, despite his grumbling, was looking well. Maybe there was something Amy was keeping to herself?

‘Is there something else that you want to tell me?’ Josie questioned, her voice soft.

Amy shook her head vehemently.

‘I just wondered, because when I called the other day, I couldn’t get an answer when I knocked. You were in, though, weren’t you?’

‘No, I was at the shops!’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes!’

Amy wouldn’t look at Josie. Instead, she wiped Reece’s face clean and pulled off his bib. Josie sighed and grabbed her file. There was nothing she could do when Amy was in this frame of mind. She was a stubborn little sod when she wanted to be – and she didn’t have to tell Josie anything if she didn’t want to.

For now, she’d have to be content that Amy was doing okay, even though there was clearly something on her mind. She’d have to dig deeper during her next visit.

The rest of the afternoon was quite successful for Josie, too. She’d been to see Mrs Baker from Russell Close, who had finished decorating the downstairs of her property: only another six months before the upstairs would be to a decent standard, no doubt. The new tenant in Winston Place had moved in on time and six of the eight garden checks had been tidied to a reasonable level.

After having a giggle at some of the extremely rude cards on display in the newsagents, she was making her way back to her car when she spotted a figure in the distance.

‘Mrs Middleton!’ Josie waved to catch her attention.

Ruth Middleton turned slightly but kept on walking.

‘Wait a minute!’ Josie had to run to catch her up. Finally as she drew nearer, Ruth stopped.

‘How are you?’ she asked, a hand held to her chest as she caught her breath.

‘I’m fine, thanks,’ Ruth smiled tightly.

‘Good.’ Josie knew instantly that the question was being avoided. Ruth didn’t look well at all. A small woman, she was pale and thin, bags under her eyes denoting her lack of sleep. ‘And how are things at home?’

The last time Josie had visited Ruth after a neighbour complaint about noise, she hadn’t been faring well. Ruth seemed depressed, extremely subdued. It was almost as if she was in a trance. Josie had wondered if she was on strong medication but Ruth hadn’t come forward with the information. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was living with her partner, she might have tried to get her some help – not that Martin was any use, but Josie did see him out a lot with Ruth’s two young boys.

‘Everything’s fine,’ Ruth replied.

‘Right.’ Josie stepped sideways to allow a woman with a double buggy and a toddler to get past. ‘And the boys, are they doing okay? Looking forward to the Easter break coming up?’

‘Look, I don’t mean to be rude,’ Ruth fiddled with the strap on her handbag, ‘but I’m not sure that it’s any of your business.’

‘Sorry.’ Josie wasn’t taken aback by her tone. ‘But you were upset when I last saw you and I thought –’

‘You thought you’d come and stick your nose in again where it’s not wanted.’

‘No! That’s not it at all. I’m worried about you.’

Ruth looked away. ‘No, you’re not. You’re doing your job.’

‘Maybe, but I’m trying –’

‘Leave me be.’ Ruth started to walk away. ‘I don’t need your help. I’m fine on my own.’

‘Please, wait!’ Josie grabbed her arm and was shocked when Ruth flinched. She pulled her hand away. ‘You’re not all right, are you?’

Ruth’s eyes filled with tears.

‘Let me help.’ Josie tried desperately to connect with her. ‘Please.’

‘Sure, you can help. Do you know how? Leave me alone.’

Ruth turned away again. Josie had no choice but to let her go. Even so, she was still thinking of her when she got back to the office. She parked up next to Andy’s police vehicle in the car park, wondering what he’d called in for.

‘What’s all the commotion?’ she asked Sonia, who was practically sprinting up the corridor heading for the reception.

‘Some dickhead’s super-glued himself to the rent counter,’ she said with a grin.

Josie pushed open the door into the office and Sonia turned back in astonishment.

‘Aren’t you coming to see? He’s pissed off because his rent benefit has been stopped. One of the fraud officers caught him up a ladder cleaning windows on three separate occasions. He’s meant to be incapacitated, unable to walk for ten metres without help.’

‘I’m on my way.’ Josie grinned: this she had to see. The dickhead in question must be Derek Maddox from Robert Place. Josie had contacted the fraud department six months previously and they’d been building up a file on him ever since. She plonked her things down on her desk – no surprise to see an empty office – and joined the rest of the staff as the party unfurled.

‘That’s her!’ Derek shrieked as soon as Josie caught his furious eyes. ‘That’s the evil bitch that shopped me!’

Andy was having difficulty keeping his face straight as he looked over at Josie coming into view behind several housing staff. ‘Mrs Mellor, do you have anything to do with this little incident?’

‘Absolutely not, PC Baxter.’ Josie shook her head. ‘Contrary to popular belief, Mr Maddox, I don’t know
everything
that goes on around the Mitchell Estate.’

 ‘THEN WHO THE FUCK WAS IT?’ Derek screamed again. ‘When I find out who it is, I’ll break every bone in their fucking body. I’ll rip ‘em up into pieces. I’ll tear their balls off. I’ll –’

‘Calm down, Derek.’ Andy failed to keep the snigger out of his voice. ‘Swearing isn’t going to help. It’ll only stress you out, and you don’t want to come unstuck now, do you?’

Derek’s face turned a raspberry colour as laughter erupted from all around the reception area. An old lady Josie recognised from William Precinct pushed past him and handed the cashier her rent card through the slot in the glass. It seemed that she wasn’t prepared to wait a minute longer.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ laughed Josie. She nudged Debbie. ‘Get the digital camera.’

 ‘Ooh, yes. We can laugh about him later, too.’ Debbie grinned. ‘What a knob.’

Josie smiled back. She’d known it would only be a matter of months before the job made Debbie as bitter and twisted as the rest of the staff. Once she’d been threatened a few times on the reception desk and verbally abused on the phone, she’d hardened up pretty sharpish.

She grinned. These were the times when she realised that some days on the Mitchell Estate
were
better than others. The rough was worth it for the smooth.

Just then, she noticed Ray scuttling into the office through the staff entrance.