Songbird (31 page)

She gave Maddy an aside wink. “Only every time you see me coming.”

“Well, they’ve all gone, so you’re out of luck,” Brad said, then burst out laughing.

Coming to sit alongside Maddy, Susan quietly addressed her but kept an eye on him. “He hides them in the oven. One of these days, he’ll switch the oven on, forget they’re there, and they’ll melt all over the place. And serve him jolly well right!”

Maddy laughed out loud. “I used to hide the biscuits too,” she admitted. “My friend Jack would eat all the cream ones and leave us with the soggy ginger-nuts and boring plain ones.”

“Tell us about your friend Jack.” Brad’s inquisitive voice brought her up sharp.

She searched for a way out, but there was none. What in God’s name had made her mention Jack? In one crazy, fleeting instant she had let her guard down.

Sensing her dilemma, Sue came to her rescue. “I thought you were making the tea?” she chided Brad with a warning glance. “My tongue feels like the back end of a saddle, and I’m sure Sheelagh here feels the same, after what she’s done to this kitchen. I haven’t seen it look like this since Joan went off to live by the sea. So, go on on with you! Chop! Chop! And
don’t
forget the biscuits.”

Realizing he had made a mistake in asking about Maddy’s friends, Brad set about making the tea, clattering around in the kitchen. “He didn’t mean to pry,” she explained quietly. “He’s a man, that’s all. And you know how they can put their big feet in it, even without trying.”

Brad poured the boiling water into a large teapot containing three tea bags, then went to wash his hands in the small cloakroom.

Maddy felt amazingly comfortable in this homely woman’s presence. Turning to her, she tried to explain. “It’s just that… well, Jack was like a brother to me. But that was another life — another time.” Yet never a day passed when she didn’t see him lying there in the gutter. Alice too, and both of them gone forever.

Sue put her hand on Maddy’s arm. “Brad really didn’t mean to intrude. But if he asks awkward questions again, just tell him to mind his own business.” She laughed. “I tell him that all the time, and I’m still allowed through the front door.”

“He seems like a good man.”

“Oh, he is.” Her manner grew serious. “Brad is a survivor. With what he’s had to endure these past years, any weaker man would have put a gun to his head. But not him, oh no. He’s like a mountain, always there, strong and enduring.”

She apologized, but, “Can I ask… has he taken you on as his new housekeeper?”

Maddy explained, “He hasn’t exactly called me his housekeeper, but yes, he seems to think I might be able to do the work his foreman’s wife did — Joan, wasn’t it?”

“Ah, yes… Joan. She was a real treasure. She virtually ran his office, made sure the pair of them ate regularly, and kept this house spick and span.” She glanced discreetly at Maddy’s slim figure and slight build. “It’s a job and a half. Joan was a big hulk of a woman… never stopped from morning to night.”

Maddy had noticed how she might be comparing her to Joan. “I’m not big-built,” she admitted, “but I’m strong, and I don’t mind hard work.”

Sue said immediately, “Aw, look, I wasn’t making comparisons. I’m sure you’ll handle it fine.” Lowering her voice, she winked at her. “Just make sure you keep him in check. Joan told me he has a habit of walking in with half the field still clinging to his boots. Then one day he’ll be in early, starving and ready to eat before you’ve had time to cook the meal, and the next, he’ll arrive home long after the meal is ruined. He’s unpredictable; aggravating, and at times he’ll drive you crazy.” She finished with the promise, “For all his many faults, he’s loyal to his friends, and kind as the day’s long.”

“He’s already told me about his plans and such with the veterinary practices,” Maddy confided. “He’s so passionate about them, I really hope he can achieve what he’s after.”

Lowering her voice, Susan was sympathetic, yet realistic. “His work here is too demanding of his time and energy. And at the end of it, he earns just enough for his needs. Yet, night after night, you’ll see him browsing over the other paperwork. You know, my husband runs a market gardening business, and he just falls asleep in front of the telly every night.” She threw up her hands and sighed, “Men!”

“Here we are, ladies.” Brad arrived, drying his hands on a small towel; he poured out the tea. Going to a cupboard, he produced a packet of chocolate digestives and set them out on a pretty plate. “I hope you two realize that these are the last of my supplies?”

“May your tongue drop out!” Sue wagged a finger at him. “I bet you keep another stash hidden somewhere. I’m going to check that oven of yours!”

“Don’t you dare!” Offering round the milk and sugar, Brad said, with a twinkle in his eye, “All right — maybe I
do
keep a packet back for emergencies. But it’s not for me… it’s for young Rob. He gets right shirty if he doesn’t have a biscuit with his nightcap.”

“No, I don’t.” The boy came running through the door with Dave and Donald on his heels. “Them chocolate digestive things are yuk! I keep asking you to get some Jammie Dodgers, but you never remember!”

“Tuck in, everybody.” Brad stood up and fetched two more mugs for the boys and wisely chose not to get into an argument with his son. “I’ve got some shortbread fingers too, somewhere.”

So they all sat down and chatted, and Maddy was surprised at how easily she seemed to fit in. The worry had not gone away; yet here, in this place, with these people, she felt protected and secure.

“So, are you taking on the job?” Brad asked.

“I’ve already warned her what a tyrant you are,” Susan chirped in.

Brad made a sad face and appealed to Maddy. “I take it you won’t be helping me out after all then?” Becoming serious, he added, “I won’t blame you if you think it’s too much to take on.”

“Please stay, Sheelagh,” young Robin piped up, surprising Brad, and now he made an offer that surprised even Dave. “If you stay, I’ll let you go in my tree house. My dad made it for me, and it’s got a sofa and everything.”

Maddy smiled, a little tearfully. “How can I refuse? Especially when I’ve been made to feel so welcome.”

Giving a loud whoop, Brad grabbed his son, and swung him up in the air. “I built the blessed thing,” he chided, “but you never offer to take
me
into your tree house!”

“That’s because you’re too big, Dad. You’d break it!”

That evening, when Robin, worn out, was fast asleep in his bed, Brad and Maddy sealed the arrangement with a glass of Brad’s homemade wine. “Here’s to you,” he said, raising his glass to hers, “and here’s to the future.”

Maddy echoed his words and drank, hoping with all her heart that things might improve for this kindly man.

They were not all that different, she and Brad.

He too, had come through a bad time when he had lost someone he had thought would be with him forever. But he had learned not to dwell on things he couldn’t change. And even then, with his life and plans cruelly shattered, he had recovered the strength and belief, to hold on tight to his dreams.

Maddy thought him to be a remarkable man, a noble example to his young son, Robin.

Later that evening, under cover of a clear, moonlit sky, Maddy left her little house and wandered down to the brook. Seated on a fallen log, her thoughts drifted over the miles to Ellen and baby Michael, and she wondered if she would ever have peace of mind again.

She watched the water trickling over the pebbles, marveling at how the moonlight caught its every turn, making the water seem like molten silver as it danced and twisted, and for one beautiful moment, her heart was at rest.

But it was just one, fleeting moment, when she foolishly let herself believe that everything would be all right. Then she remembered where she was, how achingly alone, and how far from her child she had traveled — and the hopelessness of the situation froze her heart. She thought of Steve Drayton, and her rage was all-consuming.
“I won’t let you beat me!”
she muttered.

Fists clenched in anger, her tortured gaze searched the skies. “Help me, Lord,” she pleaded, the tears rolling down her face. “Help me to keep my baby safe. I need him so much. I want him with me, but I’m so afraid they’ll find us.”

After a time, cold to the bone and wearied by the long tiring day in a strange environment, she set off back to the cottage.

Alerted by Donald’s barking, Brad, standing by the bedroom window, saw her coming up through the spinney. He saw how she dragged her feet and how her head was hung low, and his heart went out to her.

His first thought was to go to her. From the first minute he had looked into her eyes… he cast his mind back to when he had literally bumped into her at the garage… he had known that she was running from something — or someone.

He kept his gaze on her, watchful, protective. “You hide your troubles well,” he whispered. “You talk and laugh as though in your world, all is well. Yet inside, you hurt so much. Like me, you make a brave face to the outside world. Yet inside, you need reassurance that it isn’t too late; that somehow everything will come right.”

As she entered the garden, he stepped away from the curtains, though he kept a watchful eye until she was safely inside her cottage. Like a loyal sentinel, he stayed at the window. He saw the upstairs light go on, then he saw it go off, and when all was quiet, he returned to his bed.

Across the way, unaware that she had been watched, Maddy found it difficult to settle. She paced the floor, and occasionally she went to the window and looked out.

After a time she climbed into bed and fell asleep. But her sleep was fitful, and her nightmares, all too real.

Steve Drayton was none too pleased to hear that all his efforts had come to nought. “I’m beginning to wonder what I’m paying you for.” The look he gave the little man left no room for imagination. “Bloodhound! Huh! More like bloody useless if you ask me!” His cruel eyes bored right into the other man’s soul. “If I thought for one minute you were being paid by others to double-cross me, I swear…”

“No! You couldn’t be more wrong.” Danny was in fear for his life. “I know better than to cross you. We’ll find her, I can assure you of that. Besides, I’m still inside the timeframe you set me.”

“Why haven’t you found her, then? What’s the delay?”

“Look, all I can say is, I’ve got the very best of men out there looking. Somehow or another, she must have discovered you’d put the word out on her, and gave us the slip. There’s no other explanation for it. She’s obviously gone into hiding and, for the time being, she’s managing to stay one step ahead of us.”

He quickly explained the situation. “We scoured every square inch of the Blackpool area, in a radius of forty miles. We’ve tried the rental companies and B&Bs; we’ve kept a twenty-four-hour watch on the clubs and gaming houses up there, and still there’s no sign of her.” Putting up his hands in a gesture of defeat, he fell back in his chair. “I don’t mind telling you, guv, I thought it would be a hard and fast case; to be accomplished well within the time and me away to my next assignment. But I swear… it’s like she’s vanished off the face of the earth.”

Drayton wasn’t listening. Instead he was deep in thought, casting his mind back to that last big fight between himself and Maddy.

“Danny Boy?”

“Yes, guv?”

“Did you try the local hospitals?”

“Can’t say I thought o’ that. Why? Are you thinking she might have tried to top herself?”

Drayton’s face creased into a wicked grin. “Nah. I’m thinking she might have had a kid. According to her, she was up the duff. She claimed it was
mine
, silly tart. You can get rid o’ the brat, an’ all. Two for the price of one, like.”

The little man was horrified. “I’ve done some things in my time, but I’ve never done for a kid, no sir. And I’m not gonna start now,” he said.

“Is that so?” Drayton said softly. “In that case, you might as well hang up your gloves here and now. And I’ll make sure to let everyone know how you’ll only do a job if it suits your conscience. You’ve every right to make a stand if that’s how you see it. But you have no right being in this business if you let yourself become squeamish.”

“I’m
not
squeamish, and you know it!”

“If I let the word out, Danny, it could finish you off altogether. Is that what you want?”

“’Course not. It’s taken me years to get back in.” The hired killer looked indignant.

“Then do the job, and do it well. Afterward, I’ll make sure everybody knows how they can always rely on you. That you haven’t lost your touch… that you’re still as good as you ever were.”

Danny felt physically sick. “How do you know she didn’t get rid of the kid when you two split up? She might’ve had an abortion — gone to one o’ them Harley Street clinics.”

Drayton gave a snigger. “No way. I know her better than that. She would no more get rid of that kid, than I could walk out that door without being tackled to the ground and handcuffed.”

Leaning forward, Danny whispered, “About the kid — are you
really
saying you want me to…” Disturbed by the very thought of murdering a child, he glanced nervously at the patrolling officer.

“Look,” Drayton snapped, “the kid isn’t mine, all right? She was carrying on with some other man and when she got caught out, tried to use it to snare me into marrying her.”

Danny would have said something in return, but Drayton gave him
that
look, so he remained silent and listened.

“Sharpen your ears, Danny Boy. I need you to hear what I’m saying.” His voice inaudible to others, he instructed, “I want the bitch found, and soon. I want her
hurt bad
before you finish her off. And if the kid happens to be with her, then you know what to do… don’t you?”

When the little man fell silent, he glowered. “Cat got your tongue?”

“I know what to do, yes.”

“And is that a problem for you?”

“No, not a problem at all.” Though his stomach turned over at the very idea.