Nothing But Trouble, page 16
part #11 of Jessica Daniel Series
‘Is that Theo?’ Jessica asked.
The pressure from the door eased slightly. ‘What’s it to you?’
‘I’m the one who got him away when his dad was holding a pair of scissors against his neck.’
Jessica gasped as the gap between the door and the frame widened. Carol tugged it open and stood scowling at her. ‘So it is true? I thought those social service pricks were having me on.’
‘We went to arrest Eric but he wouldn’t put Theo down.’
‘Then one of you lot shot him.’
‘In the shoulder – Theo was never in danger.’
Carol glared at her, top lip snarled, before her face fell. ‘You should probably come in.’
Jessica clicked the door closed behind her, wondering how long it would take Izzy to pay up.
If Theo recognised Jessica, then he didn’t let on. He was sitting on the living-room floor, using his savage little teeth to bite into a Lego Darth Vader. Carol made them cups of tea and then joined Jessica in the living room, relaxing into an armchair that had yellow foam spilling from the side. She’d clearly made the best of what she had, decorating the sparsely furnished room with a host of crayon drawings, each with an endearingly wonderful ‘tHeO’ stencilled into the corners. Animals seemed to be his thing, with giraffes, elephants and lions lining up outside a white block that was probably this flat. Theo was lost in his own world, ignoring them as he hummed to himself and played with the Lego.
‘I always knew Eric would end up doing something stupid,’ Carol said.
‘Why didn’t you tell that to our officer earlier in the week?’
She threw an arm in the air, raising her voice. ‘I was battling to get Theo back from social services and your lot weren’t helping. I kept telling your woman I’d talk once it was all sorted but she wasn’t ’aving it. The only reason Theo was with his dad in the first place was because the court told me to. If it was down to me, Eric wouldn’t be allowed to own a dog, let alone look after Theo.’ Carol gazed adoringly at her son, her face softening. ‘How long’s he gonna get?’
‘Eric? Assuming he’s found guilty, probably a few years.’
Carol glanced towards Theo, lowering her voice slightly. ‘Chuffin’ brilliant. They can chuck away the key for all I care.’ She glanced up, catching Jessica’s gaze before rolling up her sleeve to reveal a V-shaped brown scar in her skin. She stretched out her forearm, making sure Jessica could see it clearly. ‘He did that with an iron when I got home late from the supermarket one time. Told me I was ’is and that if he ever caught me with another bloke, he’d kill the pair of us.’
Carol rolled down her sleeve, before tugging down the waistband of her tracksuit bottoms, revealing three raised circular marks on her skin. ‘He came in pissed one night while I was asleep, reckoned I was on ’is side of the bed, so he pinned me down and dug his fag into me.’
Jessica swore under her breath, unable to stop herself.
‘Yeah, you’re telling me,’ Carol replied, straightening her clothes. ‘The sooner he goes down, the better.’
‘Did you ever report him?’
Carol snorted, staring at Jessica as if she had two heads. ‘When I was living out Stockport, I reported my ex for smacking me about with a belt. What did you lot do? Nothing.’ There was little Jessica could say, which Carol clearly sensed. ‘I’m with a proper bloke now, anyway.’ Her voice raised a few octaves as she peered to Theo. ‘He loves you, little man, don’t he?’
Theo didn’t appear to notice he was being talked to, continuing to play with his Lego. It looked as if he was making a windmill, though there were wheels at the bottom and he was making engine noises. A windmill with wheels . . . he was a genius engineer in the making. One with vicious teeth.
‘How long ago did you break up with Eric?’ Jessica asked.
Carol snorted again. ‘Break up? He fu—’ She stopped herself, glancing at Theo. ‘He chuffed off with some other woman.’
‘Is he still with her?’
‘Don’t reckon. She was some Romanian or Hungarian type. Nicked his money then went off home – bloody hilarious.’
‘He was short of money?’
Carol threw her head back, braying like an excited horse. ‘He never paid me a penny of maintenance, despite what the court said – yet the minute I stopped Theo visiting him at the weekend, they had me up in front of the judge to explain myself.’ Another glance at Theo, protecting his delicate ears. ‘Chuffin’ joke if you ask me.’
‘If Eric came into money, where do you reckon he’d spend it?’
‘Bookies.’
‘Anywhere else?’
‘I s’pose he might’ve paid off some of the money he owes.’
‘To whom?’
Carol shrugged. ‘Everyone – he owes me hundreds without even touching the child maintenance he hasn’t paid. He’s borrowed off his friends, his family, everyone. Then there’s his gambling debts.’
Jessica leant forward. ‘How much does he owe?’
‘Big money: hundreds, prob’ly thousands. I dunno the name but it’s some casino out Oldham way.’
23
Jessica knew that letting a teenager take control of the music would be a mistake. Instead of its usual mix of Britpop and rock, the stereo system in her house was being subjected to what could only be described as giant tortuous bag of shite. It started with some sort of electro-pop, before blending into a tweeny whiner carping on about a boy who’d left her. Jessica knew neither the singer, nor the song – but she was definitely on the side of the boy.
‘I hope you realise this is a one-off,’ Jessica said, leaning over to speak into Bex’s ear.
The newly turned eighteen-year-old grinned at her. ‘You should come and dance.’
‘I’d rather cut off both my legs.’
Bex sniggered, mouthing a ‘thank you’ and twisting back towards her friends, who were dancing/having fits at the far end of the living room. Jessica gave her a wave and then headed through the kitchen into the back garden.
As eighteenth birthday parties went, it was relatively serene: crisps, dip, mini sausages, sausage rolls, some Indian goujon things, pizza, wedges – everything Bex had asked for. Jessica was half-hoping she wanted jelly and ice cream, if only for an excuse to get tucked in herself, but, alas, no. There was a cake bought from a bakery Fat Pat had recommended, plus half-a-dozen crates of various bottled lagers. Aside from the dodgy music, it was all going well. Bex had invited seven or eight people she knew from college, while, largely to make up the numbers, Jessica had asked Archie, Izzy and Rowlands over for a few beers.
The four of them sat on the patio at the back of the house, leaving the kids to themselves.
‘Aren’t you worried they’re going to trash the house?’ Izzy asked, sipping from a bottle of Corona and peering nervously towards the house.
‘There’s only a few of them – that’s why I asked you round.’
‘Yeah but you hear about this type of thing all the time – one minute it’s half-a-dozen teenagers, the next it’s on Facebook and three thousand people turn up.’ Izzy giggled tipsily, a day of chasing after her daughter and husband in the sun giving way to a deliciously warm evening. She hiccupped and slumped lower in her chair. Two nights on the razz were too much for her.
‘How’d you persuade Mal to let you out two nights in a row?’ Jessica asked.
Izzy winked. ‘I made certain promises.’
‘Eeew . . . there’s always someone who has to drag down the conversation.’
Izzy hiccupped a second time. ‘She’s luuuuvvvverly.’
‘Who is?’
‘Bex.’
Jessica nodded, a strange swell of pride creeping into a smile. ‘I know.’
Archie raised an empty bottle. ‘Anyone?’
Jessica, Rowlands and Izzy shook their heads, Izzy adding a hiccup for good measure.
‘Don’t say I didn’t ask.’
Archie disappeared into the house, heading into the living room, where Jessica could see him through the window. He was weaving between the dancing teenagers, wiggling his arse towards a red-headed girl who, surprisingly, didn’t seem to mind.
‘There’s no way you should let him loose in a room of young girls,’ Rowlands said, giggling too.
‘All right, Romeo. Where did you end up last night?’
‘A gentleman never tells.’
‘Why are you keeping quiet then?’
Rowlands blew a raspberry at her, leaving Jessica to wonder if she was the only sober adult at the party. Well, actual adult. Bex and her friends were technically adults, but still . . .
Jessica sat up a little straighter, trying not to make it seem like she was watching Archie that closely, even though he was now in the middle of the dancing girls, arms in the air, belting out whatever Eurocrap was currently playing. ‘Iz, did Katy seem a little familiar to you last night?’
Izzy hiccupped and giggled at the same time. ‘There was something about her.’
‘What?’ Rowlands said, peering between them.
‘I dunno. Did she use the toilet a lot?’
Izzy spluttered a spray of lager into the nearby rose bush. Rowlands’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re just jealous,’ he said.
‘Yeah, that’s it,’ Izzy replied.
Jessica raised herself higher, trying to get a better view through the living-room window. ‘Oh, for . . .’ She was instantly on her feet, telling them she’d be right back, before heading through the back door into the house. Bex was in the corner of the living room, while Archie had one arm leant against the wall next to her trying to make himself seem taller. His free hand was holding a bottle of Peroni, frosty condensation dripping onto the floor. Bex burst out laughing at something he’d said.
As Jessica approached, she only heard the tail-end of the conversation but it was enough. ‘. . . so how many piercings have you got?’ Archie asked.
Jessica cut him off with a ‘Never you mind,’ smiling at Bex, then turning to Archie. ‘Can I borrow you for a minute?’
Bex left them in the corner, returning to her friends as Jessica lowered her voice to a growl. ‘What did I tell you about flirting with teenagers?’
Archie held his arms up defensively. ‘She asked me how I knew you, then asked what I was drinking!’
‘So you thought you’d ask about her piercings?’
‘I told her I liked the eyebrow one.’ His spun to look at the group of dancing teens, then turned back to Jessica. ‘Are you jealous?’
‘Oh, piss off, Arch – just stop flirting with kids.’
He started to say something, then stopped himself, taking a breath instead, lowering his voice. Over his shoulder, Jessica could see Bex peering sideways at them. Izzy and Rowlands had come inside too, hunting through the boxes of beer, though both were watching Jessica and Archie.
Archie spoke quietly, his lips barely moving. ‘You’ve still not told me if you want to do something when my parents come down for the football.’
Jessica replied while still watching Izzy, Rowlands and Bex across the room. Her lips remained together, as if they were each practising ventriloquism. ‘We’re not going out, Arch. I’m engaged.’ Her gaze flicked to the photograph underneath the television of her and Adam in a city-centre pub that had been taken not too long after they got back together. He had his arm around her, grinning lovingly; Jessica was rolling her eyes, trying to hide from the picture-taker. It summed up the pair of them.
‘But—’
‘But nothing, Arch.’
‘We’ve been together for months.’ He cursed as his phone started to ring, glancing at the screen and rejecting the call.
Jessica finally turned to face him, consciously standing taller so that he was shorter than her. ‘That’s just a bit of fun,’ she said.
He stared at her defiantly. ‘Fine.’
‘Fine.’
Archie skirted away without another word, grabbing a second beer and then stomping into the garden. Jessica was alone in the corner, catching Bex’s eye for long enough to realise that the girl had seen everything. The cat wasn’t just out of the bag, it was doing photoshoots for Pets Weekly.
Izzy shrugged away Rowlands and crossed the room, handing Jessica a Tuborg. ‘All right?’ she asked, voice low, hiccups gone.
‘I probably could’ve made it a little less obvious.’
Izzy pulled Jessica onto the sofa, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. ‘I’ve drunk too much,’ she said.
‘Quitter.’
Izzy giggled. ‘You should’ve introduced us to Bex earlier.’
Jessica sighed. ‘I didn’t know how people would take it. It’s a bit awkward, we’re not related but she lives in my house. I don’t know how to explain it.’
‘We’re your mates, aren’t we?’
‘I sometimes wonder if all this happened because I wanted to make myself feel better.’
‘You’re allowed to help people without feeling guilty about it.’
Another sigh: ‘I know . . . I just . . . I really care about her.’ They went quiet for a moment as Bex supped on a Diet Pepsi, nudging one of her mates with an elbow and dragging them onto the makeshift dance floor. ‘I’ve told her she can stay as long as she wants but then I wonder if I’m only doing that because I want a reason to come home. Is she here for her benefit or mine?’
‘It’s not something you need to think about. She was homeless when you invited her in, right?’
‘Yeah.’
Izzy lifted her head from Jessica’s shoulder, cricking her neck. ‘So why can’t it just be a good deed? Her life is surely better since she got a roof over her head and a college to go to? If you end up feeling some satisfaction because of that, then so what?’
Jessica took a sip of the beer. ‘How was Blackpool?’ she asked.
‘Busy. How was Eric Maudsley’s other half?’
‘Delighted he’s off to the nick, plus very forthcoming. She reckons he’s got debts with an Oldham casino.’
‘Hyde’s?’
‘It’s the only one. I spoke to Topper but we’ve already gone through Maudsley’s bank accounts and there’s no sign of payments to a casino. We’ve only got Carol’s word to go on and don’t particularly want to ask the Hydes for their accounts, especially with the funeral on Monday. Still, it’s a link.’
‘What sort of link?’ Izzy asked. ‘Maudsley owed money to the Hydes, so he broke Owen Priestley out of a prison van to clear his debts? I get that part, but who killed Priestley?’
‘It could be the other way around – Maudsley was angry at the Hydes because he owed them money, so this was payback. Either way, I have no idea. It’s all unofficial, just something to bear in mind.’ Jessica stood, offering a hand to help Izzy stand. ‘Now, do you fancy joining me in the garden? I’m not sure I can take much more of this music.’
Aside from the odd spillage, the party went off as well as Jessica could have hoped. No trashed house, no teenagers crying in the corner because some unnamed lad had been caught copping off with some ‘bitch’ who was supposed to be a friend, just one happy eighteen-year-old, who’d had the first proper birthday celebration she could remember.
Bex and her friends were heading into town to finish off the evening; Rowlands had nicked off, muttering something about ‘meeting Katy’; while Archie had dozed off on the sofa and was snoring like a goat with a sinus infection. Izzy helped Jessica clear away some of the bottles and then said she had to go when the waiting taxi beeped its horn.
Light was just about clinging on as the dusky remains of the day left an orange haze burning from the horizon. Izzy gave Jessica a hiccuppy hug, then headed along the path to the waiting cab. Jessica watched her, grateful that somebody seemed to understand her. There was rarely a time when Izzy didn’t know the right thing to say. She was completely wasted on the police force, where the politics would surely drag her down sooner or later.
As the taxi pulled away, Jessica leant against the door-frame, peering across the road, feeling the gentle chill across her bare arms. She was tired but knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep yet. She was about to turn and go inside when there was a crack of dry wood. Jessica stepped away from the door, staring into the deepest shadows across the road, where she thought she saw the outline of a figure silhouetted under the gently swaying branches of Mr Green’s always-overgrown oak tree. She moved onto the pavement, squinting and shifting from side to side, trying to decide if it was a person, or a twisted piece of tree trunk.
‘I can see you,’ Jessica called.
The figure didn’t move, which was only an issue if it was a figure. If it was a tree trunk, then fair enough.
Jessica stepped onto the road and crossed it slowly, still trying to get a better angle on the thick shadows that were coating the area around the tree opposite. She was about to step onto the pavement on the other side of the road when there was a loud bang. Jessica turned to see her front door slammed shut, realising with a sinking feeling that her key was in the kitchen and the catch was set to lock automatically. Behind, there was a scuff and a rustle, with Jessica turning in time to see a hooded shape racing towards the nearby alley, not bothering to look backwards. Was it the blonde woman from before? The figure seemed taller, with narrower hips. More . . . male? More like the person Bex might have seen watching the house?
She turned from one problem to the other, knowing she was never going to catch the escaping figure – male or female. Instead, she was left wondering how she was going to wake Archie from his drunken, snoring slumber and get him to open the door.
24
Jessica woke alone in her own bed, sunlight creeping through the curtains as Sunday decided she’d slept for long enough. She yawned and stretched, swallowing the bitter morning-after taste of lager. Ick.
After hauling herself out of bed, Jessica crossed to the window, yawning, gazing out to the street below looking for anything untoward, but not seeing anyone, hooded woman or otherwise. She brushed her teeth, yawned, peered around Bex’s bedroom door to see the teenager fast asleep on her bed, yawned, and then headed downstairs, still yawning.
