Behind a Closed Door (The Estate, Book 2) (30 page)

‘Your point being?’ said Scott.

‘You’re a creep, a pathetic loser! You’d use Emily to get back at me?’

‘I’m just saying, don’t come running to me when you haven’t got a penny to your name.’

‘I managed when you were sent down!’ Kelly paused, lowering her voice. ‘I can manage again. And you haven’t given me any money since you got out.’

‘I shouldn’t have come back at all,’ Scott retaliated. ‘It would have saved me a load of bother if I hadn’t.’

Kelly pointed a finger at him. ‘You came back because you thought I’d be the pushover you left behind.’

‘No, I –’

‘Come on, youth, let’s go.’ Jay put Emily on to the floor. ‘I’ll see you on Thursday, Kelly.’

Scott was already out of the flat when Kelly and Jay reached the bottom of the stairs.

‘Call me later,’ Jay insisted. ‘I’m here if you need me.’

Funny, thought Kelly, that’s what Josie had said, Sally too. Altogether it made Kelly realise that she didn’t have to be alone. She had friends she could turn to, friends that cared about her wellbeing. It was such a wonderful feeling. But right now wasn’t the time to keep contact with Jay. Emotions were running high.

‘No strings attached,’ Jay added into the silence.

Kelly watched him walk away, her heart hurting to see him so wounded. She pushed her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans to stop them reaching out to him. She wanted to hug him but knew he’d read more into it than he should. She might not let him go either.

As she was shutting the door, Scott reappeared. ‘Now Jay’s out of the way, I’ll get what I really came for.’ He pushed past her and ran back up the stairs.

Kelly quickly followed him. When she reached the landing, she knew he’d be in Emily’s room. It was show time. She stood in the doorway with her arms folded.

‘Looking for something?’ she asked.

Scott threw a pile of Emily’s toys across the room. ‘You know bloody well what I’m after. Where the fuck’s my money?’

‘Tell me where it came from and I’ll tell you where it is.’

Scott took a step towards her. ‘Don’t fuck me about. Where is it?’

‘What did you do to get it?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

‘You must have done something major to get that much. You said you’d changed your ways.’

‘I had it before I went inside, remember?’

‘Yeah, when I was still weak and vulnerable Kelly.’

In an instant, Scott pushed her up against the wall. His face inches from hers, he clasped her chin tightly with his right hand. Her arms flailed as his pressure intensified. Scott’s eyes locked with hers and, for the first time ever, she saw what everyone else saw. Scott Johnstone, the good for nothing, the thief – not fit to be scraped off the bottom of her shoes. But she also saw Scott Johnstone the maniac, who could really hurt her if he wanted to.

‘Get. Off. Me!’

Kelly tried to push him away but he was too strong. He held her there with the weight of his torso.

‘You think you’re the only one who’s changed since I’ve been inside? You’re not and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut about what’s in the bag. If I hear anyone’ – he squeezed Kelly’s chin harder – ‘
anyone
talking about it, I’ll rip your fucking head off. Do you hear me?’

Kelly felt tears burning her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t cry and give away her weakness but she didn’t know how to stop. She nodded slightly and Scott released his grip.

‘Right, then. I’ll ask you again, where’s the bag?’

‘Under the sink in the kitchen.’

Scott swiped the back of his hand across her face. Crying out in pain, Kelly dropped to her knees.

‘Good answer,’ he said as he left the room.

Kelly gasped for air. She cradled her cheek as she fought to gain her composure.

‘Mummy, what’ve you done with my toys?’ Emily wailed from behind her. She picked up a doll that had landed on its head in the corner of the room.

‘I tripped over the box and everything fell out,’ Kelly fibbed, knowing that if Emily had been older the logic of the lie wouldn’t have worked. She stood up quickly. Through the window, she could see Jay sitting in his car, saw him check his watch before glancing upwards. Kelly moved back quickly. She didn’t want him to see her. This was nothing to do with him, this was her fault.

Scott appeared in the doorway again, holding the bag. ‘I’ve put it inside another bag. I’ll tell Jay it’s stuff for Emily.’ He sneered at her. ‘Now keep your nose out of my business or next time you’ll find out exactly how much I’ve changed. That was for starters. If –’

 ‘Everything okay up there?’ Jay shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

‘Yeah, I’ll be down in a sec,’ Scott shouted back. Then he glared at Kelly. ‘See you around, babe. And remember,’ he tapped the side of his nose, ‘keep this out in future.’

As soon as he’d gone, Kelly ran down the stairs and locked the door. She slammed the bolts across top and bottom. Sure that she was safe, she sat down on the stairs and stared ahead at the brick wall. She wanted to bang her head against it to rid herself of all the frustration.

What the hell had gone on between them during the last ten minutes? She’d thought he’d leave her alone now that she knew about the money but her plan had backfired. And now he had the upper hand, he would use it against her.

Soft footsteps and tiny legs enveloping her body alerted her to Emily’s presence.

‘Mummy, I love you,’ she whispered as she cuddled into Kelly’s back.

Kelly pulled her around to sit on her lap. ‘I love you too, monster.’ Through her pain and tears, she smiled. If there was one thing guaranteed to make a parent cheerful again, it was the love of a child. Kelly would protect Emily from anything and anyone, even if that included her father, so if staying safe meant keeping her mouth shut about the money, then she would play ball.

What she needed to do now was to concentrate on a life without Scott Johnstone. Now that he wouldn’t be there to stop her following her dreams, making a future for her and Emily, she could do as she pleased. And that meant talking to Josie.

Josie, meanwhile, was up to her ears in paperwork. She’d been updating her case files all morning. Now she was catching up with her emails. She scanned down the list of new ones to see if there was anything demanding her immediate attention, praying that everything could wait until another day.

Suddenly her eyes caught a benefit officer’s name. Philip Matson was the subject heading. She opened the email right away. It could mean only one thing: they had a new address for him after his recent eviction. Now she could get on with his re-charge for the water damage.

As she read, Josie gasped and her hand shot to her mouth. She glanced around the office quickly to see if anyone had noticed her reaction but everyone was going about as they were before. She read the email again, thinking there must be some mistake. But she’d known that particular benefits officer for years now. Between them they had a great reputation for tying up lots of outstanding debts. Josie knew that she wouldn’t be wrong. She just didn’t want to believe what she was reading – because the new address she had for Philip Matson was somewhere that she had visited recently. It was where she had collected and dropped off Debbie when they’d been out for her birthday meal.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

As soon as Kelly opened her eyes the next day, she got out of bed on a mission. Papers, pens and files were spread over the living room carpet. All the thoughts swirling around in her head were written down and being worked out, if only to keep Scott away from her mind. So far she had some kind of business plan, an advertising leaflet and a price list – none of which may be viable, but she had tried. She’d drawn a huge idea for a logo, so that Emily could be kept busy colouring it in. Kelly smiled as she watched her daughter, absorbed in what she was doing, tongue sticking out as she concentrated. Two hours later, they were sat in the reception area of Mitchell Housing Association.

‘Kelly, Emily! Hello,’ Josie greeted her in the reception. ‘To what do I owe this pleasure?’

Kelly’s look was comical. ‘Your hair!’ she cried with wide eyes. ‘It looks amazing!’

Josie ran her fingers over it again, still not used to the reaction that it got.

‘You should have told me that I looked like a scarecrow,’ she teased. ‘Do you like it?’

‘Oh, I do. It’s taken years off…’

Josie grinned. ‘It’s okay. Everyone’s put their foot in it, but I don’t mind. I feel like a different person.’

They sat down in an interview cubicle. Emily was engrossed in a box of toys in the reception area.

‘How are you anyway?’ Josie asked, wondering if Kelly would want to talk about Scott yet.

‘Okay, I suppose.’

Kelly looked a little awkward as she spoke so Josie didn’t push the matter. ‘Is this a social call or a business one?’ she asked instead. ‘I can return the favour and make you a cup of coffee, but it won’t be the same.’

Kelly emptied the contents of her carrier bag on the desk. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said, about the business.’ A look of panic crossed her face. ‘I’m not too late, am I?’

Josie shook her head, pleased that her earlier seeds had been fertilised.

Kelly slid the file across to Josie.

‘Office Options?’ Josie raised her eyebrows. ‘What a brilliant name.’ She flicked through the pages in silence, every now and then catching Kelly’s intense stare.

Kelly’s hands felt clammy. It was like being back at school again, hoping for a good mark for an essay.

‘Wow,’ Josie exclaimed once she’d gone through every page. ‘You’ve obviously thought things through.’

Kelly nodded. ‘I needed something else to concentrate on. Scott’s gone for good. I reckon he’s moved in with that Anne-Marie, not that I care. All I’m bothered about is Emily.’ Through the glassed-walls, she eyed her daughter sitting cross-legged on the floor, happily playing with an abacus. ‘I don’t want it to affect her.’

Josie nodded knowingly. A lot of her tenants were single parents; a lot of their children had been tearaways by the time they hit their teens.

She reached across the table and squeezed Kelly’s hand. ‘Emily’s a good girl because you’ve brought her up right. If parents stay together but are always arguing, I think it does more harm than good. She settled in well when Scott left before.’

‘I know, but I don’t want him to forget her.’

Josie snorted. ‘And you think that’s a bad thing?’

‘Honestly?’ Kelly sighed long and loud. ‘I don’t know. I do think she should see her dad but, on the other hand, I don’t want him to use her to get at me. I’ll have to play things by ear until everything’s settled down.’

‘You’ll work it out,’ Josie assured her. ‘You’re one of life’s fighters.’

Kelly gasped. That was exactly what Jay had said. Were her friends telepathic? Or were they simply looking out for her? She felt that warm feeling rise in her stomach again.

Josie got up as she spotted one of the workmen standing at the reception desk. ‘Wait here.’

She was gone less than two minutes. When she came back into the room, she jangled a huge set of keys. ‘The keys to your future. Would you be able to leave Emily at your mum’s a bit earlier this afternoon? I have a few things to do first but then I can show you what I mean.’

 For the first time in a long while, Kelly felt optimistic. ‘Thanks,’ she said sincerely. ‘I couldn’t have done all this without you.’

Josie batted the comment away with her hand. ‘I’m sure you could.’

 ‘No, seriously, I couldn’t. You and me, we come from different backgrounds, yet, in some ways, you were right before, we’re exactly the same. You didn’t have to help me. I know what people think of me.’

‘No,’ Josie corrected her. ‘You have a preconceived idea of what people think of you. That’s different. In my line of work, I never judge a book by its cover. And with you, my girl, I’m following through until I get to The End.’

While there weren’t many people in the office, Josie took the opportunity to grab a coffee and sit down with some case files. Something had been bugging her since she’d received the email about Philip Matson’s address. She logged on to the computer system and opened her electronic calendar. Then she wrote a list of all the tenant support calls she’d carried out over the last few months. Next she opened Debbie’s calendar and wrote down the dates she’d been along to visits with her. Then she began to cross reference them. She had to be sure before she decided what to do next.

Finally, she checked the list of burglaries and cross referenced those dates also. When she got to Mrs Lattimer, Josie’s blood ran cold. She and Debbie had visited her two days before she was burgled. But then she remembered the conversation she’d had with Debbie the day after it had happened. ‘
Send her my love,
’ Debbie had shouted to her as she’d left the building. Maybe she was reading too much into this notion of hers.

She paused for a moment. Was it too much of a coincidence that four other tenants had been burgled shortly after she’d taken Debbie out on calls with her? Josie held her head in her hands and sighed. It couldn’t be anything to do with her, could it? Not Debbie, who she’d taken under her wing? Because if it was, she wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt that she had taken her into their homes.