The Back Road

37

Gary Bateman didn’t know whether he wished they’d gone on holiday or not. He supposed it would have been fairer on the kids, but Penny was driving him insane with her whining. And the kids were turning out to be a bit too much like their mother for his taste. He was sure a house full of boys would have been better.

He was still waiting for Sean Summers to show his hand, and he was impatient to find out who the big investor was. Might be a bit of an earner there, if he played his cards right. He’d been promised the money today, but it was getting late and Sean hadn’t called to say where they could meet.

There was one thing he could do while he was waiting.

He opened the sliding patio door and made his way out into the garden. He had bought a bench for the back corner, where he could talk on the phone to his heart’s content and watch the house to make sure nobody sneaked up on him. Not that he gave a flying f*ck what Penny thought. Maybe if she realised he was playing away she would make some effort to be nice to him. But even she was being odd today. Since he’d got back from dropping off the Porsche yesterday, she’d been different. And he was damned sure she was lying to him about something.

Nursing his mobile phone in his hand he looked back towards the house. At least there was only Penny there, and she would keep out of his way while he made this call.

Searching his contacts for the right number, Gary pressed the screen to connect. It was early days yet, and he hadn’t bothered to commit the number to memory in case it proved a waste of time.

‘Hello.’ Shit. It was the husband. He should have called the mobile, but he’d called the house phone by mistake. He hung up. Fortunately, he had his phone set permanently to block its number - so there would be no caller ID.

Now what was he going to do? He’d been hanging around too long for this one, and he was getting impatient. It didn’t usually take this long to get them gagging for it. He’d been put off on Saturday night and told that it was all about seduction, but you can’t bloody seduce somebody if you don’t see them.

His phone buzzed in his hand. It was her.

‘Hello - I hoped you’d realise it was me and call back. How are you?’ he said in his smoothest tones.

‘Angry. That’s how I am. I told you yesterday that this week would be difficult - so why are you calling me?’

‘Come on - you know you don’t mean that. You miss me - you know you do.’ Gary smiled, even though he didn’t feel like it. He had been told that you could hear a smile down a phone, so he pulled his face into a rictus of a grin.

‘No. I don’t miss you. Things have changed here and I’m no longer interested in what you have to offer. I think we should leave it at that.’

Gary was incensed. He had never failed before. ‘Well, I don’t. You wanted to be wooed, so that’s what I did. You said we were nearly there. I played by your rules, for once in my life. Perhaps I should just have had my way with you - forced your hand. Perhaps you’d appreciate a bit of rough treatment. Lots of women do.’

‘I can assure you that I cannot be counted among their number. Now, let’s get some rules straight here. We’re inevitably going to meet again at various functions. I will be polite. And you will be polite. But I don’t want to see you alone again. Is that understood?’

‘You don’t know what you’re missing. I thought you might be quite fun, under that frosty exterior. But I was wrong. And don’t tell me it’s because you’ve belatedly got the hots for that turd of a husband of yours, because I don’t f*cking believe it. You’ve wasted my time, lady. And I think that’s something you may well regret.’

‘Is that a threat, Gary? How splendid. I shall wait with bated breath until you enact your revenge. Goodbye.’

The phone went dead.

Snooty, toffee nosed bitch. Who did she think she was?

His phone buzzed again. Perhaps it was her, begging his forgiveness.

He looked at the screen. Sean. He’d better not be fobbing him off with some cock and bull story about the money not being through. Because if he was, there would be trouble. Big trouble. He was in just the right mood.

* * *

At the end of her shift, Ellie couldn’t bear the thought of going home. After Kath’s revelations that afternoon and the horror of Abbie’s early life, she couldn’t face more tension. She was perilously close to her breaking point.

She didn’t know how she was supposed to react to last night’s surprise dinner, and she didn’t know how she was going to stop herself from blurting out the truth about what she’d done. She approached the car park in trepidation, though, wondering if Sean would be waiting there for her again, particularly after what had happened earlier. But there was nobody there, and no yellow rose.

Ellie breathed a huge sigh of relief, and got into the car. What now? An idea struck her. One thing that she hadn’t dealt with this week was the problem with Georgia, which she had yet to understand. She should have followed it up sooner, but with everything that had been happening, including the extra shifts and Leo staying with them, it had been driven so low down in the list of priorities that she had practically forgotten. And that wasn’t good enough. Georgia was her best friend, and the one person that she might be able to tell about all this mess.

Heading out of the car park, she turned left towards Georgia’s house, hoping that her friend would be back from work. By the time she got home, Ellie knew the twins would be in bed, and perhaps Leo would be there so no awkward questions would be asked. She would miss kissing the children goodnight, but they’d got Max – for now, at least.

Using the flashy new hands free device in her car, she said the magic words “Call Max” and the car was filled with the sound of a ringing phone. Of course he didn’t answer. He never did. She left a message and hung up. Then tried to ‘call home’ instead. Nothing. He would probably be out in the garden, barbecuing something for the twins and no doubt making too much noise to hear the phone.

Georgia and Pat’s house was one of Ellie’s all time favourites. If she hadn’t felt compelled to renovate Willow Farm, she would have chosen something like this, and it had such a wonderful corner plot backing onto open countryside. She pulled her car up the drive, and was pleased to see that Georgia’s car was already there. She was almost surprised that Pat’s car wasn’t, because she knew that since moving in with Mimi he regularly stopped off to see how his wife was getting along, or to pick up his post. Any old excuse. But he’d been very quiet since Saturday, and try as he might, Max had been unable to get hold of him on his mobile.

Ellie swung her legs out of the car, and walked the short distance to the front door, which was opening as she reached for the bell. Georgia’s unsmiling face appeared, and without a word she pulled the door wide and turned and walked towards the back of the house, leaving Ellie to find her own way in. She followed Georgia as she disappeared down the hall, and didn’t speak. She wasn’t going to talk to her friend’s back. She wanted to see her reaction. They ended up in the kitchen, as Ellie expected, and Georgia reached for the kettle.

‘You’re driving, so I suspect you’ll want a cup of tea. Would that be right?’ Georgia asked.

‘That would be fine, thanks.’ Ellie sat down at one of the high stools that ran the length of a wide worktop. She had spent many an evening in here, talking to Georgia as she prepared a simple supper for them both on her ‘nights off’ as Max always called them. Pat would go round to their house so that Max could babysit, and she would be free to go out with Georgia. But in practice, they always ended up staying in and talking non-stop about anything and everything until it came time for her to order a taxi home. It was usually a taxi on those nights.

Georgia had an amazing sense of style and she always looked elegant and professional. Like Fiona, Georgia had expensive taste in clothes, but unlike Fiona she steered clear of the more vibrant colours and went for classic, well cut styles and muted shades. She always said she was an Armani girl, and tonight was no exception. She had obviously only just returned from work, and was wearing a black knee length straight skirt and a dusky blue fitted jacket over a simple white top. Not for the first time, Ellie felt frumpy in her black trousers and cotton top. She was going to have to spend some money on clothes, whether she managed to lose weight or not. Not that Armani and nursing went well together.

Ellie waited quietly until Georgia sat down facing her before she spoke.

‘I’m sorry that it’s taken me a while to get round to see you, but I’ve had to work a lot of extra shifts this week. The hospital is short staffed because of the holidays, and there was the hit and run that you probably heard about. Otherwise, I would have been round here sooner. What’s going on, Georgia? Why the sarky message?’ Ellie spoke gently. She knew that Georgia had been seriously hurt by Pat, and could understand if she acted out of character from time to time.

Georgia gave her what could only be described as a sneer.

‘My message? What about yours? “Mimi’s a little treasure” was it? “We’ve got her all wrong.” That was very nice, Ellie. Exactly the sort of text I wanted when I knew that Pat was round at yours with his trollop and all our friends. You have no idea how marvellous that made me feel.’

Ellie banged her mug down on the worktop.

‘What? What are you talking about? You know I don’t think that - not in a million years. I think Mimi’s a little cow. I don’t actually think anybody has given her a chance to be anything else, because we all feel so sorry for Pat and that must make her feel like shit. But I don’t like her. Good God, Georgia - I wouldn’t even think it, let alone send it to you in a text.’

Georgia reached for her handbag and grabbed her Blackberry. She flicked through a few screens, and then held the message up for Ellie to see.

‘Your phone. Your message. Saturday night. What more can I say?’ Georgia’s mouth was set in a firm line, and her head tilted slightly to one side. Raising her eyebrows at Ellie with a look of defiance, she looked the picture of fury. But Ellie knew this fury was covering a deep hurt. She got up from her stool and went round to Georgia’s side of the counter. Wrapping her arms round her friend from behind, and resting her cheek against Georgia’s stiffly held head, she spoke quietly.

‘Georgia, you’re my best friend. I love you. I promise you that I would never do or say anything to intentionally hurt you, and even if I thought Mimi was God’s gift to the world, which by the way I don’t, I would still hate her because she’s not you. I can’t stand seeing Pat without you. It’s like listening to the backing track of your favourite song without hearing the words and the melody. It doesn’t make any sense in isolation. Please believe me, I didn’t send that text.’

Ellie felt Georgia’s spine relax, and she leaned back slightly.

‘Sorry,’ she whispered.

‘No, I’m sorry,’ Ellie said. ‘I should have been round before now, but I did try to call and you didn’t answer, and the last couple of days have been… difficult. But that’s another story.’ She made her way back to her seat, glad that she had calmed the situation but kicking herself for not doing it before.

‘What do you think happened with the text, then, if you didn’t send it?’ Georgia asked.

Ellie raised her shoulders in a baffled shrug.

‘I’ve no idea. I was going to send you a text. I remember that. Something had happened that had upset me and I was going to ask you what I should do. But I don’t think I ever sent it. I can’t remember. Did you get any other texts from me that night?’

Georgia shook her head.

‘No - but I got several from Pat. I’ll get back to his weird behaviour in a minute. What was it you were going to tell me? What had upset you?’

Ellie made a quick decision. She couldn’t tell Georgia about Sean. That would make her seem as bad as Pat, and she couldn’t bear to see the disgust and disillusionment in her friend’s eyes. She did remember something about the text, although not the exact words. She knew that it was about her stupid mistake, and having to go out after midnight to meet Sean - although she was convinced she hadn’t mentioned his name - but that night had been such a living hell that she could barely remember what she’d even cooked. Thank God she’d never sent it.

‘It was nothing much - just something to do with Max, and it’s all sorted now.’ From nowhere a memory of that evening and the blood stained kitchen roll leapt into her mind. ‘Bloody hell - I know what happened. I was in the middle of texting you and Mimi came in the kitchen. I left her there and went back into the dining room. She must have sent it herself. The little…’ Ellie couldn’t think of a suitable word that wasn’t unpleasant. She didn’t like the word ‘bitch’ but if the cap fits…

Georgia was shaking her head slowly from side to side.

‘She really is something else, isn’t she? I know every woman must think this when her husband walks out, but what does he see in her, Ellie? Please tell me, because I am lost here.’ Georgia looked close to tears, but Ellie knew she would hate that. She liked to feel that she was in control even when she wasn’t.

‘He didn’t walk out, Georgia. He made a foolish mistake, and you threw him out. He would never have gone out of choice, you know. I’m so very cross that Max and I were away that weekend, because I’m sure he would have come to us and not gone to her. We’d have sorted him out. Do you think you would have forgiven him?’

Georgia held very strong views on infidelity, as Ellie knew only too well. They’d spent many an hour talking about the famous and wealthy whose wives appeared to put up with all sorts of public ‘indiscretions’ without leaving their husbands, and wondering whether it was for love of their man, or love of their lifestyle. Maybe in retrospect they had been a bit judgemental. But her friend’s insight now might help Ellie when Max’s truth came to light.

‘I know it sounds totally out of character, Ellie, but I think - I hope - I would have forgiven him. In a way, you know, it wasn’t entirely his fault. I didn’t listen to him. I didn’t take anything he wanted into account. Pat’s always been the one to give in to me on everything, but he was determined to win the battle of the children. I was equally determined that he wouldn’t. I was being stubborn, and stupid if I’m honest. The daft thing is, I would like to have children. But Pat’s version - that he would give up work and I could carry on - didn’t fit with my ideas. I want to have kids and stay at home to look after them myself. I want to be a mum. But I couldn’t bring myself to admit that.’

Ellie was staggered. This was completely the opposite of everything that Georgia had ever said.

‘Why didn’t you tell him, Georgia? Why didn’t you just talk to him?’

A tear escaped from the corner of Georgia’s eye, and she brushed it away angrily.

‘I was in line for being made a partner. I wanted to achieve that first. I would have felt then that I’d made it, and so afterwards the rest wouldn’t matter. But it’s a sadder story than that. I’ve been very honest with myself recently, and I know that I simply had to win. It’s as if we were in court, and I was the prosecution while Pat was the defence. It’s always been like that. I think I’ve squashed him over the years. I’ve made him bow to my will over everything, and now I struggle to respect him. I know it’s my fault, but since this business with Mimi I’m split between loving him for being the kind, sensitive and - to me at least - sexy man that he is, and despising him for being such a bloody wimp. But in answer to your original question, yes. I would have taken him back. It would have been very hard, and I would probably have made him suffer for it - unfairly, I’m sure - but I would have tried.’

A great wave of sadness washed over Ellie. A year ago, the four of them were the happiest two couples you could ever wish to meet. Or at least, that’s how they had seemed. But things are rarely as they appear, and hidden beneath the surface, out of sight, something had been eating slowly away at the fabric of this marriage.

‘And what about now, Georgia? I know he keeps coming to see you, and Max was pretty sure that he kept going out between courses on Saturday to phone you or text you. Are you going to have him back?’

Georgia gave a mirthless laugh.

‘Hah! Hardly likely now that madam is pregnant. I did think there was a chance, but he didn’t seem to realise that it required some effort from him. He somehow believed that it would be okay for him to carry on living with Mimi until I was ready to welcome him back with open arms. But that wasn’t the point. He had to decide to leave her first, to show that he didn’t want to be with her regardless of whether I had him back. He had to stop hedging his bets. But that was a step too far for Patrick. In the last week or so, though, he’s started behaving in a really bizarre way. For the first few weeks, he was always calling, popping round, sending me messages. But then he went all weird on me. He stopped taking my calls, sent me an awful message to say that Mimi was pregnant, and now seems to send me random texts all the time about how well things are going, or even what a bitch I’ve been and how miserable I’ve made him. I don’t understand his game at all. If he’d just moved out of her house we could have started some sort of dialogue - with a view to sorting things out and getting back together. But I’m not having emotional conversations with him only for him to go home and cry on her shoulder - or worse, screw her senseless.’

‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me or Max how you were feeling? If Pat knew you would have had him back if he’d moved out of her house, he’d have left like a shot. You know that. Why didn’t you say anything?’

Georgia leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on clenched hands.

‘Because he had to make the decision himself, Ellie. For God’s sake, it shouldn’t have taken much imagination on his part to realise that I wouldn’t be happy with him sharing somebody else’s bed while he was begging me to let him come home. All he had to do was to move into yours, or even into a B&B. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. I may have made him submissive, but I wanted to see if he had a spark of initiative left, and it seems he hasn’t.’

Georgia pressed both hands on the counter, and stood up.

‘I know you’re driving, Ellie, but can you manage a glass of wine? I don’t like drinking alone, and I’ve been doing a bit too much of it lately.’

‘Go on then - but only half a glass. I imagine the police are out in force in the village at the moment.’

Georgia spoke over her shoulder as she opened the cupboard for some glasses.

‘Oh God, yes. That poor girl. Pat was very upset about her. He came here on Sunday after he’d been to see the parents. That must have been awful. I wanted to comfort him, you know, because he genuinely cares about those kids.’ Georgia looked close to tears again, but she brushed the back of her hand irritably across her eyes. ‘But then we had a row and I didn’t have time to ask how they were before frigging Mimi tracked him down and he had to rush home with his tail between his legs, as always. Sod the pair of them. Much more importantly - how’s the girl?’

As Georgia poured wine into both glasses, Ellie brought her friend up to speed with Abbie’s progress. ‘She’s not out of the woods yet, but each time I look at her I wonder what happened and how she got herself into what must have been a terrifying situation.’ Ellie didn’t add that this wasn’t the only terrifying experience this child had lived through.

Georgia was quiet for a moment.

‘I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but Pat was out and about that night,’ Georgia said. ‘I don’t know what he was doing, but he left the rugby club early and came here. I told him to bugger off, and he left. But I know he didn’t go straight home. He says he parked up somewhere and just contemplated life - the pillock - but from what I can gather, he’s got a gap of at least three hours between leaving me and getting home. His car was picked up on CCTV at the garage. He told the police he’d been with me all evening, so they came to question me.’

‘Oh no. What did you tell them?’ she asked.

‘I told them the truth. Perhaps that’s why he’s behaving the way he is, but I’m a lawyer. I can’t lie to the bloody police. I think the only reason he didn’t tell them was because they would think he was a bit wet, sitting in his car in a lay-by because he’d had a row with his wife and didn’t want to go home to his mistress.’ Georgia was unable to hide the sour note of contempt in her voice. ‘Anyway, he’s had to go back to the station and try to account for his time, but he can’t. Of course, they’re looking within a wider timescale now that they know Abbie was abducted. The last time we had any sort of a conversation was when he came round on Monday and asked if I would give him an alibi. I said no, but I had no time to explain because sodding Mimi called him again. So he left, snarling that she would give him an alibi no doubt. The weird thing was, Pat told me he was sure he’d seen Charles Atkinson’s car drive past in the early hours of Saturday morning when he was sulking in some lay-by or other. There aren’t that many Aston Martins around. But he wasn’t sure enough to accuse him of anything. And now he says that Charles actually mentioned on Saturday night that he only got back from London that day, so I guess he was wrong, unless Fiona drives his car.’

‘I don’t think she’d dare,’ Ellie said, swirling her wine around but avoiding drinking any. ‘The police came to our house too. Max got a lift home with Alannah, but her car was picked up somewhere, and Max had to give her an alibi.’

Georgia giggled. The wine was doing its work.

‘Was he sober enough to give anybody an alibi? Don’t forget, I picked the pair of them up after last year’s party, and Max was singing rugby songs - he said he sort of had to, because they were in a rugby club. He was in very high spirits, but I doubt he remembered a thing the next day.’

‘Well, maybe he was sober when he was with Alannah - I don’t know.’ Ellie couldn’t see anything to smile about.

‘Ellie?’ Georgia said, giving her friend a puzzled look. ‘What’s up?’

She had to tell somebody - she really did. At least Georgia would understand, given that she had been in the same situation. Recognising that she was applying dual standards here - it was okay to talk to her friend about Max’s guilt but not her own - she couldn’t keep this bottled up for another moment.

‘I think there’s something going on between Max and Alannah. I think he’s going to leave me.’

Georgia let out a hoot of laughter.

‘Ellie, don’t be so bloody ridiculous. Of course Max isn’t going to leave you. Nor is he going to even consider having an affair. What in God’s name has given you that ludicrous idea?’ She laughed again.

‘I don’t know why you’re laughing. I would never have said Pat would have done it to you - never in a million years.’ She saw the look of sorrow flit across Georgia’s face. ‘Sorry, Georgia, I didn’t mean to hurt you, but it’s true.’

Georgia leaned forward.

‘Listen, Ellie, you’re wrong. Wrong with a capital W. Pat and Max are chalk and cheese. Max is strong. Even if he was tempted, he would resist - and I don’t honestly think that he would even be tempted. If there’s something between them, I would bet my life on the fact that it’s got nothing at all to do with sex. Ask him, Ellie. Just bloody ask him.’

‘And if he says he’s in love with her? Isn’t it better to pretend I don’t know until it all blows over?’

‘He is not in love with her. He is absolutely not. You know, I think this accident this week has made people start to see things that don’t exist. Everybody’s looking at everybody else and wondering what they were doing at the time of the accident, and now they know the girl was abducted first, everybody is suspicious and wondering whether it’s somebody they know. So much has come to light because of it. You found out that Max was in the car with Alannah. Would you have known otherwise? Pat’s going to have to explain what he was doing out in the car for all that time - not only to the police, but to Mimi too no doubt. I’m one hundred per cent certain that Pat couldn’t knock a child over and leave her to die on the side of the road. But will Mimi know that? Will she start suspecting him? And these are only the people that we know. All these thoughts and questions will be going on now in homes all over the village. One accident, but so many potential revelations; and the realisation that those we trust may not be worthy of it.’