Just Tell Me (The Justice Series) (7 page)

BOOK: Just Tell Me (The Justice Series)
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Daniel
returned to his gatehouse and opened the dark oak door into the entrance.  He had spent time renovating this property back to its Victorian glory and he threw his shoes across the tiled terracotta floor. The kitchen was large and open plan, its simple handmade beech cabinets and contrasting granite worktop were pristinely clean.  Not a sign of someone with OCD but someone who was rarely at home.  He put his iPod on the docking station, pressed shuffle and opened a bottle of chardonnay from on the drinks fridge. He poured himself a large glass and opened the patio door into the garden to let some cold night air into the stuffy room. 

The haunting melody of Coldplay sang out from the expensive speaker system,
he sat at the table, quickly drank the first glass and poured himself another.  His hand reached into the draw by the window and located a Marlboro Light, lit it and inhaled the smoke, he rarely smoked now but didn’t care tonight he needed to calm down. 
What was I thinking?
  He had to be so careful who he dated in future, clearly she was just a chancer, not the person he had thought, another fantasy in his head.  He had better get himself checked out with the family doctor too, he thought of the unprotected sex. 

Something still didn’t feel right
.  His inner voice spoke reason to him, he couldn’t stop thinking about the time they shared, how she looked at him, and her dodgy choice in nightwear, she had seemed so genuine.  Daniel couldn’t understand, it he felt such a connection with this woman and now, tonight, it was like watching a different person watching her with Andrew.  A proposal?  She had accepted, that much was clear, the ring on her finger confirmed that.  Why? After what she had told him about Andrew?  He looked around the room and felt alone as he battled with his inner paranoia and the more he drank, the darker he felt, this kitchen, it needed someone to breathe some life into the heart of the house, make it a home. The stainless steel appliances stared back at him, large and over bearing pieces of metal in the lonely kitchen.

He missed the comfort of his youth
, when he didn’t have this emotional baggage.  He had grown up in the castle, playing in the corridors; memories of his grandmother sitting in the great hall stern and prim but also fun and loving flooded over him.  He was close to his grandparents and he still missed them, they passed away two years ago, his grandmother had died in her sleep a few months after her husband.  Died of a broken heart.  They had been the real custodians of the estate and since they had died it seemed that everyone was in limbo, waiting for instructions on what to do next and in the meantime everything just ticked over.

Daniel felt deflated, he just wanted to go
to bed and he stood up, knocking into his table and the empty wine bottle toppled over.  He found the half bottle of brandy in the cupboard, unscrewed the cap taking mouthfuls of the burning liquid, his head started to spin and the effect of the alcohol was welcoming as it numbed his emotions.  His demons were pacified and his iPod played Depeche Mode, the welcoming sounds of the darkness washed over him as he lit another cigarette and breathed in its acrid smoke, the pain in his chest a welcome distraction from the pain in his heart. The brandy bottle emptied quicker than he anticipated and he wandered unsteadily up to his bedroom, falling on the bed. Soft Egyptian cotton sheets crumpled under his weight and the room span as he finally went to sleep, he resolved to wake up in the morning and get on with his life.

Daniel woke up in the early hours, fully dressed,
his mouth was dry and as he climbed off the bed he stumbled in the dark to find the light.  He sat back on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair as he grabbed an empty glass left on the bedside cabinet. As he filled the glass from the tap he stared at his reflection, he looked old and faded in the harsh bathroom light, the cold and loneliness were his only companions as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep wishing it was a different night.  Another night with Nicole and his heart screamed.

Chapter 5

The 09:15 train to Manchester was on time; Nicole sat by the window and stared out over the grey Edinburgh sky.  It looked like she felt, depressed and tired.  Her mind tried to focus on work, she had to read some contracts this morning but she couldn’t concentrate, her finger still hurt from the ring, she had managed to pull it off this morning and it sat in her bag. Ready to return it to its owner. Let some other unfortunate woman have it, she would rather die than marry him. 48 hours with Daniel had given her the resolve to walk away, he was right it was only money and not worth living this life for.

Nicole watched the countryside rush past her through the window, her thoug
hts were overcome with Daniel. His smell, the way he looked at her, how he had touched her and her heart ached for him. She tried to keep the memory of his face fresh in her mind but she knew he would fade away, become a distant memory as the days went on and she didn’t want to let go. She had emailed her office and told them she would be working from home in the afternoon; she couldn’t face the questions and the embarrassment of the proposal. Her phone beeped and she smiled as she saw it was her mum. They were very close.  Not close enough to confide about Andrews abuse, Nicole knew that time would come and she was still reeling from talking to Daniel so honestly, it had been the first time she had spoke about the abuse. 

She missed her parents and had a longing to see them. 
When Nicole was a teenager she rarely saw her father, he was working as a head chef for a cruise ship company and spent many weeks travelling across the Mediterranean serving fine dining food to discerning travellers.  She had inherited his love of food and cooking and had the same delicate touch he did when it came to the culinary arts.  She tried not to resent him when he discouraged her from a career in catering and while she knew it was sensible, her passion was in food and she pushed away her regrets.  Being a solicitor was supposed to be a way of raising the money to pursue her dreams, not planning how to pay off her bastard boyfriend. She dreaded the look of disappointment which would cloud her father’s eyes when she told him. When her dad had a stroke aged 38, he had to give up the long hours and take it easy, losing the movement in the right hand side of his body meant he had to learn to use a knife and fork again.  The respite at home with his wife and child after years of working away was tough. 

Nicole remembered the arguing and bickering, especially as her mother couldn’t
even cook an egg and occasionally she heard her father smash the plate on the floor out of frustration.  He eventually got back some of the use of his arm and started working at the local sandwich shop, sneering at customers and moaning most of the time. For some reason the owner kept him on, the customers didn’t flee in fright and he became happy again. The house had fond memories for Nicole and she wondered if she would make it back to her old bedroom on the top floor of the terraced house.  She planned her weekend; she would start packing her essential clothes and move back home for a while, at least to keep her safe, away from that bastard. 

Nicole didn’t know what Andrew
was capable of but the way he had looked at her in the hotel room repulsed her. Surely he wouldn’t resort to rape? She didn’t know anymore, but the hold he had over her was broken so long as she kept her strength.  Daniel.
I need to find him.
She needed to tell him the truth about last night, she closed her eyes on the train, lulled into a light sleep. Memories of the time they shared flashed before her, the way he had looked at her. All the little details which would become a distant memory, engraved on her heart forever. She had fallen in love with him, the hurt in his eyes when he saw her with Andrew burnt through her and her head was in tatters. 

The train pulled up in
Manchester and she walked the short distance through the city to their apartment.  She glanced up at the old warehouse, it was sandblasted, the old brick was pink and the metal supports had been painted black.  Two standard bay trees stood in the shared reception and she pressed the steel lift button.  Her heart was in her mouth. Andrew hadn’t contacted her since she pushed him out of her room and she dreaded seeing him back here, she opened the front door and could smell stale cigarettes in the air.
Urgh
. She opened the sliding doors onto the balcony and breathed in the city air, it was warm and the sun reflected against the glass behind her.

Th
e apartment was immaculate. She walked to the kitchen and glanced in the dishwasher, Andrew hadn’t even hidden the two wine glasses and the plates, clearly he had someone round here while she was gone.
She was welcome to him
. Fear nagged her and she decided to pack her clothes, ready to go. She walked into the bedroom, her Egyptian cotton sheets were rumpled, and it was obvious he had had sex with someone in here, on her sheets, the ones she had bought only two weeks ago.  Disgusting. 

She grabbed a bag from the fitted wardrobe and picked out some
clothes, she wanted to cram as much as possible into it so she didn’t have to face returning, her heart was beating as she pushed more into it and she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her.

“And what do you think you’re doing you little slut?”  She turned round and looked at Andrew, he had been drinking and he had removed his tie.

“Why aren’t you at work?” she could feel her heart beating under her shirt.

“Case was cancelled” he shrugged his shoulders “I will ask you again” his eyes were dark and she felt
vulnerable in this apartment. ”What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m leaving you Andrew. I have had enough of this, of you treating me like shit” she stood up to him and he raised his eyes at her in mock fear.

“Ok fine” he stood out of her way his hands open in fake openness and she grabbed her bag, she needed to get away from him, it was too easy and she could hardly breathe as she walked past him but it was only as she got to the front door she realised he had locked it.  She heard him chuckle and he grabbed the bag off her, pushing her against the wall.

“You don’t think I would let you just walk out of here?  You can’t leave Nicole, you owe me money you don’t have”

“I will pay you Andrew, for God’s sake this is ridiculous, we don’t love each other why are we doing this?”

“I like having you here,
it’s…. Convenient.  You are going to stay here with me” he rolled the word around and pushed her harder, his hand was over her throat and she couldn’t breathe.  He relaxed his grip for a moment and she started coughing.  He kissed her roughly on the lips and she pushed him away, the tears in her eyes gave him pleasure and he laughed humourlessly.  “You try and leave me I will find you.  Do you understand?”  She nodded silently and hated him, trapped in this flat. 

Daniel woke up late that morning, his head was pounding and he felt exhausted, he crawled out of bed and grabbed a t-shirt and shorts from his draw.  The room felt cold despite the blue sky outside.  He wandered down to the kitchen and made himself an espresso, the pot heated up on the stove as he looked in the fridge for breakfast. The housekeeper had left some Danish pastries and although they were a couple of days old they were still soft, and he grabbed one.  He sat by the window, the evidence from the night before still there, the empty bottles of wine sat accusingly on the table.  The smell of stale cigarettes turned his stomach and he took his coffee outside, sitting on the cast iron garden furniture as he relaxed in the early morning sun.  He flicked through his
Blackberry and sent a message to his office telling them he would be working from home. 

He never worked from home or took any time off work but this Friday he needed to, he had a busy weekend ahead entertaining clients and dinner with his parents and needed to clear his head.  He watched a bee lazily searching in the flower
s planted by his gardener, it occurred to him he didn’t even know they were there until this moment.  The garden had gone unnoticed for months, work and life had never given him the time or chance to just stand and look. He looked around as though seeing it for the first time, the patio lead onto an immaculate lawn with a couple of ornamental statues standing randomly in the middle. The borders were shaded by shrubbery and rhododendron bushes, through the trees he could just make out the turrets of his parent’s castle.  Thank God for the gardener, Daniel wondered how the old man was doing, he hadn’t seen him for months either. He was becoming detached from the place he loved more than anywhere.

He heard shots in the distance and already knew his fath
er would be shooting some pigeons by the lakes, he could picture him striding across the wetlands with his gaggle of unruly dogs. Scaring every bird for miles around and he smiled in fondness of his absence minded father. He felt better after the coffee and the day stretched out in front of him, the sun was high in the clear blue skies and he felt in the mood for a ride. After a quick shower he wandered across to the stable block, and was greeted by Monty in the first stable. Joanna was brushing the yard with a stiff brush, a routine she did every day.  The stable manager had worked for the MacIntyre’s for twenty years, she had a small cottage on the estate and the polo ponies were her life.  The stables were immaculate as usual; ten wooden stables overlooked the sand arena and the paddocks beyond where they practiced polo.  There was a small undercover stand where guests would come in summer for private polo matches, dressed in their best and saturated with Pimms.  Daniel had played when he was younger but like everything he once loved it had given way to his all consuming career.  He patted Monty and Joanna gave him a warm smile

“Well hello Danny
, it’s been a while, how are you?”  He smiled back at her, no one had called him Danny since he was a teenager and he told her he was fine.  A lie she could probably see right through.

“I was thinking of taking Monty out, will he try and kill me?”  He asked half laughing.

“Ah he’s calming down now
you know, he’s getting on a bit”.  Joanna grabbed his tack and they got him ready, the old Arab relishing some attention from Daniel who clearly loved him.  Daniel used the mounting block to get on, his long legs wrapped around the horse and he took the reins in one hand out of habit.

“Now go gentle on him, he’s not
been out for a while, and for God’s sake don’t you ride with those headphones on” she scolded him and he grinned at her as he plugged the headphones in his ears.  His iPod started randomly playing on shuffle as Monty took him out of the gate and through the paddock. 
This is just what I need to take my mind off the last few days
he thought as the music played in his ears and he opened the gate into the woods. The horse took him down the narrow path and started to trot as Daniel found his rhythm in the saddle as he rode through the estate with Muse in his ears. Monty got stronger as they came out of the wood and the meadow took an incline, Daniel pushed him into a canter and felt the wind clearing his head and his hangover. 

A
s he pulled Monty into walk he felt invigorated, the smell of horse sweat was the best smell in the world and he smiled as he got to the top of the hill.  He took in the view; he could see his house and the castle.  For miles around was the open rolling Scottish countryside, all part of the estate, the sky was blue with a few white cotton wool clouds high up in the sky.  Daniel knew this land like the back of his hand, he knew the places not to ride through, the boggy wet marshlands and the stony tracks that lead to the roads.  

His mind wandered to the events of the last few days and tried not to think about Nicole as he sat on his horse, what she was doing now,
well what were her and Andrew doing?
Bitterness hit him as Muse died down, replaced with David Gray,
what the hell?
It was like his iPod knew his mood; he grabbed it out of his pocket and found some more suitable riding music.  He wasn’t being dragged down by sad songs today he decided as he urged Monty on through the fields and did a circuit back to the stables.  I’m taking a ride with my best friend; he smiled at the irony of the words. 

H
e returned back to his house, he sat and stared at his laptop the frustration hit him. Maybe something happened to her last night, maybe he should check the news. He could Google her, he would be able to find her if he put her mind to it but pride stopped him.  What would he say to her now anyway “Sorry Nicole I left the bar because your fiancée was there?”
why did she say yes?
  It was only 1pm.
too early for a drink
.  He sighed as he caught a glimpse of himself in the glass of the window. 
God I look rough.
  He reached for a fresh cigarette and made himself another espresso.  His mind was clearing and it didn’t make any sense, she couldn’t have said yes, surely not.  He looked at his Blackberry, he had Andrew’s contact details, it would just take one call. One call to find out what had happened, his link with Nicole.

BOOK: Just Tell Me (The Justice Series)
3.5Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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