Jade tried to temper her fury, squeezing her eyes closed to block out the images of him making love to another woman. It was only because she was convenient. A convenient fuck! Why else would he?
Peeling herself from the wall, Jade tried to slow the rapid beat of her heart, and then, pausing at the nursery door, made her way quietly back to the stairs. She needed to be calm, she reminded herself. The epitome of niceness.
Notching up her chin, her back straight, Jade descended the stairs. Stopping in front of the hall mirror, she tried to compose herself, working to obliterate all emotion from her face.
Walking into the kitchen and calmly opening the dog food cupboard, she selected a chew from the plastic storage box therein and then headed for the back door, collecting the key for Melissa’s workshop from the hook on the utility door as she went.
The cat was on the patio, basking in the sun. Whispering reassuringly to it, Jade picked it up. She actually couldn’t wait to be rid of it. What was Melissa thinking, allowing a cat free run of the place? It could easily slink upstairs to lap at lips fresh with milk and end up suffocating her baby. Irresponsible cow.
The dog was on the lawn, its head plopped dejectedly between its paws. The stupid mutt had clearly realised the cat was too clever for it by far.
‘Stay,’ she instructed it, and then headed to the workshop with the cat. Once inside, she placed the cat on the bench, using a sliver of the chew to entice it to stay there, and then went over to the window. Melissa was right, it was definitely in need of repair. Jade eased the latch and opened the window, and then, scanning the tools on the workbench underneath it, she selected a knife-like sculpting tool, which pushed easily between hinges and frame. It took a couple of heaves, but both hinges came away from the rotting wood fairly easily.
‘Stay, Felix,’ she said sweetly, running a hand the length of the cat’s back and up its tail as she passed it. Feeding it another nugget of chew, she moved to the sculpture, trailing a hand languidly over that, tilting it sideways, and then allowing it to fall and crash satisfyingly to the floor.
Alarmed, the cat jumped down, but Jade was already at the door, slipping sleekly out and closing it behind her. It didn’t take much to push the window in. One hard shove was enough. Jade was impressed with the dog’s agility skills, she had to admit, as she watched it sail through the windowless hole after the chew she threw into the workshop.
Jade furrowed her brow as she let herself out through the gate beyond the garage. Might it have cut its paws on the glass, she wondered. Briefly.
Twelve
MARK
‘I wasn’t drinking on my own in the small hours,’ Mark assured Melissa, as he towelled his hair with one hand and checked a text from Lisa Moyes with his other. ‘We were out of coke in the fridge so I—’
Reading the text, Mark stopped:
Forensics back. Stain on stairs confirmed blood. DNA match to Daisy.
Shit! Cursing silently, Mark tossed the towel aside. He was pulling on his clothes when he heard a distressed mewl and frenzied barking from the garden. Heading fast for the window, Mel close behind him, he looked out to see the cat scaling a tree as if its tail were on fire. Mark waited a second, expecting Hercules to come belting after it. More frantic barking but no sign of the dog. There followed a brief silence, followed by a sudden heart-flipping, high-pitched yelping that meant she was in trouble. Serious trouble, Mark realised, sensing the dog’s escalating panic.
Turning, he raced to the landing, while Mel grabbed up her dressing gown, tugging it on and stuffing her feet into flip-flops to follow him.
‘I’ll go,’ Mark said, nodding towards the nursery. He was probably being neurotic, but his inclination right now wasn’t to leave the children on their own, and out of hearing distance.
Once in the kitchen, Mark stopped to search for the workshop key, but it wasn’t hanging from its usual hook.
Dammit! ‘Mel, the key!’ he shouted, and headed out to the garden, where the dog’s cries were growing more urgent by the second. What the hell had happened? All became clear as he neared the workshop and saw that the window – which he’d added to his mental to-do list but hadn’t yet fixed – was missing. The cat must have gone in, chased by Hercules, who was now stuck inside the workshop.
‘Stay, Hercules,’ he said, calmly but firmly, as he approached the empty frame. ‘It’s okay, girl.’ Mark peered in, and swallowed, hard. ‘Okay, girl, stay. I’m coming.’
‘Mark?’ Evie in her arms, Mel was behind him as he hitched himself up to climb through after the dog. ‘Where’s the key?’ she asked, as he was poised to drop the other side.
‘Missing,’ Mark replied tersely, noting Hercules had sunk to her haunches and was emitting no noise now but a low, pathetic whine.
‘What’s happened? Is she all right?’ Mel called urgently, as he dropped carefully down to crouch beside the dog, talking softly to her and trying to coax her to turn so he could reach to apply pressure to the wound.
No, Mark thought. She’s very much not all right. How in God’s name was he going to get her out without injuring her further? ‘She’s bleeding,’ he said, as calmly as he could. He didn’t want to panic the dog, or Mel. ‘Badly. Front leg. We need the key, Mel. Can you remember where you left it?’
‘It’s on the hook. I’m sure I hung it… Oh God.’ Evie clutched close to her, Mel peered into the garage after him, clearly shocked when she saw the fountain of rich red blood Mark was trying to stem with his fingers.
‘Ring the vet,’ Mark instructed. ‘See if they can send someone urgently. I’ll have to try and lift her back through—’
‘Melissa!’ It was Jade, shouting from the other end of the garden. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘Hercules!’ Mel shouted. ‘She’s injured. I’ve lost the key. We can’t—’
‘It’s on the hall table,’ Jade cut in. ‘I’m sure that’s where you put it. Hold on. I’ll go and look.’
Thank Christ for that. Mark thought, relief surging through him. The girl’s timing was impeccable. From the amount of blood she’d lost, there was no doubt in Mark’s mind the dog was going into shock. Lifting her back through the window would probably kill her. He should try to elevate the leg, he was aware, which would slow the bleeding. But how was he supposed to do that without an extra pair of hands?
Had Mel called the vet yet? Or the fire brigade, who could at least break the door down? A neighbour? Anybody would do. Where was the damn key? Frustrated, and trying hard to suppress his own panic, Mark leaned down to wipe the blood from his face against his shoulder. With combustible and toxic substances stored in here, the place was an accident zone. They’d discussed it. Agreed to keep the key on the hook, should it be required at short notice, and well out of Poppy’s reach.
Yes, and he’d agreed to get the damn window fixed ASAP. If anyone was at fault here, he was. Mel had a million things on her mind with Poppy and Evie’s needs to attend to alongside her work. Mark doubted he could perform the juggling act she did on a daily basis half as successfully.
‘Hold on, girl,’ he said softly. ‘You’re not called Hercules for nothing, you know.’ Praying silently, he glanced upwards, and then snapped his gaze to the door as it opened.
‘Mel’s rung the vet,’ Jade said, coming in and dropping down beside him. ‘He said to keep pressure on the wound and take her straight there. Mel’s just popping Evie back in her cot. What can I do?’
Mark nodded. ‘I’ll carry her. I’ll need you to stay with me and take over the pressure bit. You’ll need two hands, here and here.’ He indicated where his own hands were placed. ‘Are you okay with that?’
Jade immediately jumped to her feet. ‘I’m right by your side,’ she said determinedly.
* * *