Dark Spaces (31 page)

A girl with very long, very black hair taught me how to hide the pills under my tongue and spit them out later. I wonder what became of her?

‘Did you sort out a court date for the medical notes?’ I ask.

‘Kerry’s on it.’ He means the fat prosecutor. They’ve been on the phone all evening. ‘She’ll let me know first thing.’

‘I think the whole thing’s ridiculous,’ I say.

‘Too right.’

‘Since when were doctors above the law?’ I say.

Jack waves his now empty glass in my direction, the ice cubes rattling at the bottom. ‘That’s exactly what I tried to explain to the chief.’

‘What did he say?’ I ask, giving him a refill.

‘What do you think?’ Jack takes a gulp. ‘He told me I’d better pray Piper doesn’t have a good solicitor.’

‘Why?’

‘In case he sues,’ Jack replies, his voice slightly blurred around the edges.

I shake my head. ‘I know you and Lilly have been having a few small problems …’

‘Small?’

‘Okay. I know you two have been having some pretty huge difficulties lately,’ I say. ‘But I don’t believe she would ruin your career like that.’

‘No?’ He looks into his whiskey as if the answer might be hiding in there.

‘No.’ My tone is firm. ‘You’re the father of her child after all.’

He takes another long sad drink and I top him up again.

‘Are you trying to get me pissed?’ he asks.

‘You look like you need it,’ I tell him.

As much as I dislike drinking myself, I’ve always enjoyed watching others do it. That way you can retain control of yourself and take away the other person’s. With men like Jack you don’t even need to take it. They just hand it to you gladly.

‘Look,’ I say. ‘I’m no fan of the way Lilly’s behaved recently, but she wouldn’t ruin your life to make a point. No way.’

Jack pats my leg. ‘You always think the best of people, Kate.’

Chapter Eleven

Luton Express and Star

Date: 16/03/2008

Judge Attacked in Family Court

Police were called yesterday to an incident at Luton County Court when a twenty-year-old woman let off a fire extinguisher in the face of a judge.

His Honour, Hugh West, was hearing an application by the young woman to be allowed contact with her younger siblings who are in foster care, but when he explained that would not be possible she became angry.

‘At first she was just shouting and swearing,’ said Carlton Reed, who works as a security guard in the court. ‘To be honest, I felt sorry for her because she only wants to see her family.’

Carlton confirmed that the young woman’s solicitor tried to calm her.

‘She gave her a glass of water and tried to make her see sense,’ he said. ‘The problem was some of her witnesses hadn’t turned up to give evidence so the judge’s hands were tied.’

Unfortunately, just as everyone believed the situation was under control, the woman grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall.

‘I thought she was going to throw it,’ Carlton said. ‘But she managed to get it working and fired it straight into the judge’s face.’

Mr West was taken to hospital and, although shocked, has not suffered any lasting injuries.

The twenty-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and is due to appear in Luton Magistrates’ Court today.

Lilly made herself a cup of tea and stretched her sleep-sodden legs. Today she was going to have a quiet one. She was going to play with Alice, take a walk in the snow, go out to the shops and cook for everyone. She thumbed through a cookbook, mentally tossing up between slow cooked beef and fish pie. Either would provide the rib-sticking comfort she craved this morning.

‘You working today?’ Sam looked over Lilly’s shoulder.

‘Nope,’ she said.

‘Amazeballs.’

‘Is that even a word?’ she asked.

‘It is if you’re under sixty.’

Lilly tried to bat him around the head but he ducked away.

‘Have you seen your dad?’ she asked.

‘No.’ Sam looked worried. ‘Isn’t he here?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Lilly replied. ‘He wasn’t on the sofa when I got up.’

‘What did he say last night?’ Sam asked. ‘Did he mention he was going out?’

Lilly laughed. ‘I’m not his mum.’

‘You don’t think he’s gone back to Cara do you?’

‘I doubt it,’ Lilly said. ‘He’s left his manky razor in the bathroom.’

Sam frowned, anxiety etched across his forehead.

‘Would it be such a bad thing if he did go home?’ Lilly asked. ‘Little Flora needs her dad.’

‘I need my dad.’

Lilly smiled at him. Sam had loved having David around. He’d been so much less moody with Lilly and much more accommodating of Alice. But would it hurt all the more when David did leave? Would it open up all those old wounds?

The unmistakable sound of a key rattling in the lock came from the front door, followed by David swearing as he tripped over the recycling.

‘Dad?’ Sam’s face lit up. ‘Dad, is that you?’

David ambled into the kitchen holding a supermarket carrier bag of food in each hand. ‘Who were you expecting?’ he asked. ‘Still, I suppose it’s possible anyone could turn up to see your mother.’

Lilly went to bat him around the head, and he attempted the same manoeuvre as Sam to evade her. But he lacked his son’s speed and she managed to give him a smart clip around the ear.

‘Is that any way to treat someone bearing gifts?’ He held the bags aloft.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Lilly. ‘You must have been waiting outside when the doors opened.’

David dropped his bags on the kitchen table and began to unpack. ‘They said on the news last night that hardly any delivery vans were making it through to the shops so I thought I’d better grab what they had.’ He picked up a bag of frozen cod fillets. ‘Pretty poor pickings, I’m afraid.’

‘No worries.’ Lilly tapped her cookbook. ‘I was planning fish pie.’

‘See, Sam.’ David rubbed his hands together with a grin. ‘What a team your mum and I make!’

‘You da’ man,’ said Sam holding up his palm.

‘No, you da’ man.’ David high-fived him.

Lilly gave an indulgent sigh and opened her laptop.

‘I thought you weren’t working today,’ said Sam.

‘Just checking my emails,’ Lilly replied.

In fact, she was looking for something from Jack, but there was nothing. The previous night she had sent him a note, informing him of the two names Harry had given her and suggesting he run them past the CPS. She’d kept the whole thing short and formal to avoid misunderstanding.

Jack was tired and hungover. He’d drunk far too much whiskey last night and hadn’t been able to sleep. Every hour, on the hour, he’d got out of bed and reread Lilly’s email.

Kate put an arm around his shoulders. ‘You need something to eat.’

She was right. His gastric juices needed something to work on apart from alcohol and fury.

He put a slice of bread in the toaster and pulled margarine from the fridge, but when he removed the top, the sight of the oily softness turned his stomach.

When the toast popped, he took a bite and chewed the dry mouthful, fighting the urge to heave. Then he looked at the email once again.

To: Jack McNally

From: Lilly Valentine

Subject: Chloe Church

As you are aware, it is part of Chloe Church’s defence that both she and Lydia Morton-Daley were repeatedly sexually assaulted whilst in the Grove. It is also her contention that the perpetrator of said attacks is likely to be the perpetrator of Lydia Morton-Daley’s murder.

To this end, Dr Harry Piper has compiled a list of those individuals who had access to Chloe’s room. It is fortunately a very small list and therefore it should be easy and quick to undertake the necessary forensic tests.

The names of the individuals in question are:

Elaine Foley.

John Staines.

I would urge you to contact your lawyer as a matter of the utmost urgency as we will be making an application to the court.

Jack swallowed the toast, gagged and ran for the toilet. With his head down the bowl, he cursed Lilly Valentine one more time. She was a prize-winning, grade-A bitch and he couldn’t work out why he had never seen it before.

Poor Jack is in a dreadful pickle.

I can hear him vomiting in the toilet.

I admit I topped up his glass one too many times last night. Mea culpa. But in all honesty, the thing that’s made him ill is the email from the ex.

Lilly Valentine really does have the most stupendous timing.

At four this morning, he finally showed it to me, convinced that it is confirmation that she’s starting proceedings against him on behalf of the nasty little shrink. Well, of course the email doesn’t say that, but Jack’s vision has clouded. He appears, quite literally, unable to comprehend English.

I feigned shock and disgust in equal measure. It seemed the right thing to do.

Here he comes now, smelling of bile and mouthwash. Silly sausage.

‘I can’t believe she’s doing this to me,’ he says.

‘Come on, Jack, she hasn’t done anything,’ I say. ‘Yet.’

He flops into a chair at the kitchen table and I massage his shoulders. His skin feels clammy in my fingers.

‘Do you know what the most ironic thing about all this is?’ His head bends forward in defeat. ‘I’ve bent the rules a million times for that woman. I put my head on the block like an eejit, but it looks like all that’s been forgotten.’

‘People have short memories,’ I say.

This is true. It never ceases to amaze me how easily people erase their tiny minds and rewrite history to suit themselves. I never forget anything. Ever.

‘When they move on they want to pretend the past never existed,’ I tell him. ‘Especially when there’s someone new on the scene.’

Jack turns to look at me. ‘Someone new?’

‘Oh, ignore me.’ I carry on kneading his shoulders. ‘I’m probably reading too much into things.’

Jack catches my left hand with his right. ‘Let me be the judge of that.’

I pause. I sigh. I pause again.

‘Kate?’

‘I could be completely wrong, but the way Lilly’s behaving makes me wonder if she has a new partner,’ I say.

‘Who?’

I shrug. ‘I don’t know, Jack, it could be anyone. She seems pretty cosy with Harry Piper.’

Jack’s body stiffens. ‘That would make sense.’

‘I could be way off here, Jack.’ I say. ‘I’m just thinking out loud.’

He nods, but I can see where his mind is leading him.

‘She wants to play happy families with the head doctor,’ he says. ‘And I’m just a bloody inconvenience.’

‘That would be one possible explanation,’ I say.

He jumps to his feet. ‘Alice is my daughter and if Lilly thinks she’s going to push me out, she’s got another thing coming. She thinks getting me the sack will help her do it, but she’s wrong,’ He gives a hollow laugh. ‘Frankly, I’ll have so much time on my hands I’ll get more contact with Alice. Mary, Mother of God, I’ll get her to move in.’

Suddenly, he turns green and sprints off to the toilet again. I’m not sure whether it’s the sound of Jack dry retching, or the thought of Alice coming to live with us, but I give a shudder and have to sit down.

It’s not that I dislike Alice. It’s more that she’s a baby and babies don’t register on my radar.

Then again, if Alice did become a permanent fixture she would certainly cement things between Jack and I. We would be a unit. And Lilly would be nothing but a memory we could rewrite. Now I think about it, it’s the perfect solution. A ready-made family.

I can’t have children, you see. When I was fifteen I gave myself an abortion. It was a very simple procedure, actually. The foetus came out quickly and painlessly. But I didn’t stop bleeding afterwards and had to have surgery. Everyone was completely melodramatic about it, particularly my mother, who sobbed and held my hand for days on end. I tried to explain that I didn’t care, but no one believed me.