The Back Road

49

Leo had finally left Max and Tom to a serious conversation about police procedure, as Max tried to understand exactly what would be happening to Ellie. She knew she couldn’t afford the luxury of a bath now. She needed to give support to Max and be available if Ellie needed her, so she quickly washed any visible blood off her body, and pulled on the first clothes she could find.

As she made her way back downstairs, hugging some jeans and a T-shirt for Ellie to her chest, the phone was ringing in the hall. Hoping that it would be Ellie to say that she could come home, Leo picked it up.

‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Ellie?’

‘Leo - thank goodness I’ve managed to get through. What’s going on with all your phones? I haven’t been able to phone Max for days, and he hasn’t phoned me either.’ It was Patrick.

‘Sorry, Pat, I know nothing about that, but now’s not a good time to talk to Max. I’m sorry. I can’t explain right now, but I’m sure somebody will talk to you tomorrow and let you know what’s going on.’

‘Actually, I only want a phone number and you might be able to help. Do you have that policeman’s number - you know, Max’s new neighbour Tom?’

‘I can do better than that, Pat. He’s here. But it’s all a bit tricky just now. Will tomorrow do?’

‘Sorry, Leo. It won’t. I think I’ve found something important. It’s about Abbie Campbell. But I’m not sure if I’m getting excited about nothing. Maybe I’m reading too much into stuff, which is why I thought I would speak to Tom first. I don’t know how long my money will last in this bloody thing. Probably been vandalised in some way.’

There was a brief pause.

‘Are you ringing from a phone box, Pat?’

‘I can’t explain, Leo. I’ll tell Tom what I think, and see if he decides that I’m crazy. I need him to come to the house, though. Mimi’s house. Can you ask him, please? I can’t hang on now, but if he can come, it would be very helpful.’

The line went dead.

Leo tried speaking into the phone a couple of times, but got no response. She wasn’t sure she could deal with anything else tonight, but wearily she made her way to the kitchen.

Tom looked up gratefully when Leo entered, and she felt terrible for leaving him alone to deal with Max’s distress.

‘That was Pat on the phone. I was hoping it was Ellie.’

‘What did you tell him?’ Max asked. ‘I can’t even think about calling him back now, and anyway every time I’ve tried to call him, the line’s cut off straight away.’

‘He was asking for Tom’s number actually. He wants some advice. But it was odd, because he was calling from a phone box. Weird, don’t you think?’

Max looked indifferent.

‘Well, odd or not, he would like you to go round to Mimi’s, Tom.’

Tom’s lip curled up in the corner in a ‘you must be joking’ kind of expression.

‘What, now?’ he said.

‘It seems so, yes.’ Leo repeated everything that Patrick had said, and Tom looked at Max.

‘I don’t want to leave you, Max. But if it really is about Abbie I think we need to work out who’s best placed to do what.’

Max looked expectantly at Tom, and it was clear that his mind wasn’t able to compute the options, so Tom continued.

‘Somebody has to stay here with the twins, of course. I need to go to Pat’s now, unfortunately, and somebody needs to take clothes to Ellie. I think on balance that you’d be better waiting here, Max. Ellie might come back - the solicitor will bring her home as soon as he can get her out of there. You’ve had a drink, and you don’t want to roll up at the police station smelling of whisky, even if you are under the limit. Leo - can you take Ellie’s clothes?’

Leo shook her head.

‘You’ll never find Mimi’s house. It’s a maze of streets and you’ve no sat nav in the Jeep. Why don’t I come with you, and after you’ve seen Pat we’ll take Ellie’s clothes. Hopefully he won’t need you for long - it sounded like he just needs your advice. What do you think?’

They both looked at Max, who just gave them a confused nod. Leo could feel his pain and shock. His face was devoid of shape and colour, as if the skin were moulded to the bone, and his eyes were huge and lost. She picked up her bag from the table, and leant over Max, putting her arm around his shoulders in a tight squeeze.

‘It’s going to be okay, Max. I promise. We’ll get everything sorted out.’ It spoke volumes that Max didn’t betray any surprise at Leo’s gesture of affection.

‘We’ll be back as soon as we can, and we’ve got mobiles with us. I’ll get Leo to text my number to you while we’re driving. Okay?’

Max was staring at them without seeing, but he bobbed his head in acknowledgement.

* * *

‘Sorry we’ve ended up in this heap of junk again,’ Tom said as they clambered into the Jeep. ‘I could go back for the car, but it would waste a bit of time. Are you okay with this?’

‘It’s not a date, Tom. I don’t think we’re out to impress each other.’

Despite the circumstances, Tom almost smiled. Leo reminded him of an arrow, straight and true. Not just because of her tall slender body, but because she didn’t mess around. She got straight to the point by the shortest possible means, and would cut through any junk that got in the way. Incapable of dissembling, it would seem. He liked it.

‘I meant what I said, you know,’ Tom said. ‘We will fix this. Ellie will be okay.’

‘I hope you’re right. It doesn’t help poor Sean, though. I just can’t make sense of any of it.’

Leo rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes, but Tom could see the furrows of tension that hardened her face. This, of course, wasn’t the only thing she’d had to face in the last few hours.

‘I’m so sorry that I had to break the news of your father today. With everything else, the timing was pretty crap, wasn’t it?’

‘Do you know, I’d almost forgotten about that,’ Leo answered. ‘All I can think about is Ellie.’

‘Have you decided what you’re going to tell her? It’s going to be unbelievably hard for her to hear just at the moment.’

‘I know. It’s difficult. Her mother kept it from her and lied about it, so although she didn’t have the highest opinion of her mother, that will hurt too.’

Tom glanced at Leo.

‘You know, you might find this difficult to believe, but as I said before, it could be that she had yours and Ellie’s best interests at heart. She might not have wanted to upset you.’

Leo said nothing, but leaned forward and peered out of the windscreen, looking towards the sky.

‘What’s up? What are you looking for?’ Tom asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road, but flicking his gaze to Leo.

‘There it is!’ she said with mock glee, pointing upwards. ‘Now I see it!’

Tom couldn’t see anything.

‘What? What are you talking about Leo?’

‘A flying pig,’ she said with a sour expression, leaning back with a thump against the seat.

‘Very funny,’ Tom said. ‘Okay, I’ll stop trying to give credit where maybe it’s not due, but perhaps knowing your dad’s dead is one thing. But finding out how and where he died is going to be hard on her at the moment, even if we leave out the bit about why he was there.’

Leo’s head was hard back against the headrest, and she was staring straight ahead.

‘I know. I am going to have to tell her. But not now. I’ll tell her that you’ve found out that he’s dead and when, but I’ll probably say that’s all you could find out - and convince her that it’s enough. When she’s got her emotional strength back I’ll tell her the rest. We mustn’t have any more secrets. But she’s too fragile at the moment, and she’s going to have so much else to deal with. She’s not as tough as me.’

Tom resisted the urge to comment. Leo had one of the toughest and most resistant exteriors he had ever come across. Which perhaps made the softness that was lurking beneath infinitely more interesting.

‘You need to turn left here,’ she said. ‘We’re nearly there, but this is the tricky bit.

As Leo gave him brief but concise instructions, Tom turned his thoughts to Pat. What could he want that was so urgent? He didn’t like the feel of this.

‘When we get there, I want you to stay in the car,’ he said to Leo.

‘Why?’

‘Because I don’t know what’s going on, and until I do it’s better if you stay out of harm’s way.’

Leo turned to look at him without saying a word, and he cast a quick glance in her direction.

‘I know you think I’m mad, but just do it please. There was something about Pat that seemed a bit shifty at Ellie and Max’s dinner party. I don’t know what it was, but he didn’t come across like a totally honest sort of man to me.’

Leo gave a derisive snort.

‘I’m not surprised. Ellie said that at every break in the eating he was sneaking out to phone his wife, or text her. He might have physically left her, but he’s still there mentally. No wonder he looked like he was up to something. He was. I almost feel sorry for Mimi. I know he’s Max’s friend, but he’s not coming out of all this in a very good light, is he?’

‘I’ll reserve judgement. I don’t know any of them. But nevertheless, if he has something to tell me or talk to me about it might be easier if you’re not there.’

Tom knew without looking that Leo would be casting her eyes up in irritation, but she said nothing else and continued to give him instructions until they pulled up in one of the parking spots close to Mimi’s house.

‘Mimi must be out,’ Leo said. ‘Her car’s not here.’

Pulling on the handbrake, Tom turned to Leo.

‘Maybe that’s a good thing. Listen, I’ll be as quick as I can. Don’t run away, will you?’ he smiled and leaned across to give Leo a brief peck on the cheek. He didn’t know why he did it but it felt like the most natural thing in the world, and she didn’t pull away.