The Society Of Dirty Hearts (24 page)

Chapter 20

Somehow Julian got through the night. Somehow he drove to the factory. He limped to his office and sat behind the desk, staring dead-eyed at the computer monitor, thinking, what the fuck am I doing here? Why did I come in today?
Where else have you got to go
? his mind asked. I should be out there, he replied silently.
Doing what
? I don’t know, something...  

Julian gave a start when his dad entered the room. “Where did you get to last night?” Robert asked.

“I went to see Eleanor.”

“How’s the website going?”

Julian blinked his sore eyes. He’d forgotten all about the website. After what’d happened, it was a fair bet to assume it wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t about to tell his dad that, though. He didn’t have the heart or energy to face his disappointment and questions. “Fine.”

Robert raised a smiling eyebrow. “When are you two going to get back together?”

Julian winced, not because of his leg. “I don’t know, probably never.”

“That’s a shame. She’s a great girl and you’re really good-” Noticing his son’s increasingly pained expression, Robert broke off. “You’re upset aren’t you, I can see it.” He hesitated, looking like what he was – someone on unfamiliar terrain – then asked a little awkwardly, “Want to talk about it?”

Julian shook his head. Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have known how to talk about it, not with his dad. “Well you know where I am if you change your mind,” continued Robert, with a flicker of something in his eyes that might’ve been disappointment or, more likely, thought Julian, relief.

He nodded. “Thanks.”

A moment’s silence passed between them. Robert scratched at the base of his neck and cleared his throat. “Listen, Julian, you remember that guy from the other day? The buyer from the high-street store. Well, he’s coming here again this morning. I was going to ask you to sit in on the meeting, but you’re obviously in no state for it. You look as if you haven’t slept a wink.”

“I haven’t. I was up…working most of the night.”

“In that case, why don’t you go home, get some sleep?”

Sleep
. The word sent a shudder through Julian. Along with a guilty sense of duty, it bound him to his desk. “I’ve got a ton of work to do. The overheads-”

“Can wait until tomorrow. I know you’re eager to get on with things, Julian, but you’ll be no good to anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.”

“I guess you’re right,” Julian admitted reluctantly. Robert stared at him as if waiting for him to get up and leave. He didn’t move. He didn’t want his dad to see his limp. He felt faintly nauseous at the thought of having to come up with another bunch of lies to explain it away.

Robert put his hands together as if he was about to pray. “Right, better get to it. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Dad,” Julian said, and he really meant it. He was, he realised, starting to believe that maybe the change in his dad wasn’t an act put on for the benefit of Christine. Maybe it was for real. The thought pricked him with guilt, but he also drew comfort from it, even hope – hope that as the emotional distance between them closed, he might come to understand his dad, and in doing so, come to understand himself too. Perhaps then he’d be able to put his demons to rest, live his life without fear, have a future with Eleanor. His thoughts returned to Mia, and his hope died like a snuffed candle. He could never have a future, not while she was missing. He was stuck in this moment, this nightmare.

When Robert had left, Julian rose and slowly made his way to his car. He drove to the nearest off-licence and bought a quart of whisky. He drank enough to take the edge off the pain, but not to kill it completely. All morning, he limped around the town centre, peering vaguely this way and that, wandering aimlessly through shops, occasionally swigging from the bottle. In a backstreet antique shop’s window he caught sight of something that brought his eyes into focus. He went in the shop for a closer look.

“Looks like a medieval torture device, doesn’t it?” said the shopkeeper. 

Julian nodded. “What is it?”

“It’s a mantrap. Gamekeepers used to use them to catch poachers.”

“How does it work?”

“Wait there and I’ll show you.” The shopkeeper disappeared through a curtain at the rear of the shop, returning after a moment with a thick length of wood. He placed the mantrap on the carpet, carefully pulling apart its spring-loaded steel teeth. “Stand back,” he warned, placing the length of wood’s tip on the pressure-pad at the device’s centre and pushing down. The teeth snapped shut breaking the wood in two. “Just imagine what that’d do to your leg.”

Julian could well imagine. “How much is it?”

“It’s not for sale.”

“Name your price and I’ll double it.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t sell it at any price. These things are illegal. What do you want it for anyway?”

Julian made no reply. As he turned to leave, he noticed a black-bladed, wooden handled knife. He picked it up and thumbed its blade. “That’s a jungle survival knife from World War Two,” the shopkeeper told him.

“How much?”

“Twenty quid.”

Julian handed over the money. “There’s a sheath to go with it somewhere,” said the shopkeeper, stooping to root through a box.

Julian wasn’t interested in the sheath. He left the shop. On the high-street, the pubs and bars were opening their doors. He headed into one and bought a pint. He sat by the window, watching passersby. It made resentment surge up in him to see them going about their business. He wanted to yell at them,
there’s a young girl missing and you carry on as if nothing’s wrong
.
What the fuck’s the matter with you? Am I the only one who gives a shit?
Part of his mind knew it was illogical, but he felt the resentment nonetheless. Like an invisible boil, his rancour towards his fellow townsfolk festered and grew as he drank his way through the afternoon. By the time early evening drinkers began drifting in for a post-work pint, his eyes were beady with alcohol and hate. “Sick,” he muttered to himself. “Sick and tired. No good for nobody. Nothing you can do for her. Nothing anyone can do. Nothing, nothing…”

“Excuse me, are you okay?”

Julian looked up blurrily at the speaker. It was a girl about his age, maybe slightly younger. She was slim with a pale face and sharp blue eyes. She had black hair with a purple streak going down her bangs. She was dressed in black too – black leather jacket, black t-shirt, short skirt, tights and boots. He blinked and, for one heart-wrenching instant, he saw Mia. He blinked again, and the phantasm was gone. “Are you okay?” the girl repeated.

Julian’s head bobbed, partly in reply, but mainly because of the drink. “Mind if I sit down?” continued the girl. Julian shrugged. The girl sat opposite him. He stared into his drink, hoping to shut off anymore attempts at conversation. “I’m Nikki,” she persisted.

Julian heaved an irritated breath, lifting his gaze to hers. “Do you know me?” he asked, each word slurring into the next.

“No.”

“Then why are you speaking to me?”

“You seem upset. I thought maybe you might need someone to talk to.”

“Do I look like I want to talk?”

“Yes, I think you do.”

“Well I don’t, so leave me alone.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” Nikki said, but she made no move to leave. Julian took another look at her from under his eyelids as she sipped her drink. Superficially she bore a resemblance to Mia, but under her clothes she was athletic rather than skinny, and her cheeks showed blotchy through her pale makeup. There was a blemish under her right eye that might’ve been a bruise, although it was difficult to tell. A silent minute passed. “I don’t suppose-” she started to say.

Julian cut her off. “Jesus, what do I have to do to get you to leave me the fuck alone?”

“I was just going to ask if you know anywhere I can get a room for the night, that’s all.” Nikki’s tone was hurt. Shaking her head, she started to stand to leave.

Little creases of disquiet appeared between Julian’s eyebrows. “You not from around here?”

“No, I’m just passing through.”

“On your way to where?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“Are you on your own?”

Nikki stared at Julian, perplexed, hostile. “Why the sudden questions? I thought you wanted me to leave you the fuck alone.”

“I do…I mean, I did...” Julian sucked in a breath, trying to clear his drink-fogged mind. “Look, will you sit down.” When Nikki remained standing, he continued, “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you just now. I’ve had a shitty day. In fact, a shitty week.”

The hostility left Nikki’s eyes. She sat back down. “What’s been so shitty about it?”

Julian shrugged. “The usual stuff – work, women.” He changed the subject. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“I guess you could say I’m just kind of drifting around.”

“Doing what?”

“Not much, that’s kind of the point of drifting.”

“Don’t you think it’s dangerous to travel alone?”

“Not really, if you know how to look after yourself. Anyway, I’m thinking about hanging around this town for a while, maybe even trying to find a job.”

The creases between Julian’s eyes deepened until they were like cuts. “I’d keep going, if I were you. Take it from me, this isn’t the kind of place you want to be.”

“Why not? Seems like a nice enough town to me.”

“Yeah, well appearances can be deceptive.” Julian rolled his eyes around the room as if to make sure no one was listening, before going on, “There’s something very wrong with this town.”

“Really? What’s wrong with it?”

“Don’t you read the papers? A girl went missing from around here just the other week.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. But I thought she was supposed to have killed herself.”

“Well you thought fucking wrong,” snapped Julian. Seeing the hurt look come back into Nikki’s face, he raised a conciliatory hand. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just that I know the girl. She’s a friend.”

Nikki smiled sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it. No wonder you’re so down.” She reached across the table and gave Julian’s hand a squeeze. “Poor baby.”

At this show of compassion from a stranger, Julian felt tears rising up his throat. He swallowed them back down with the last of his drink. “She’s not the only one who’s gone missing either. There’ve been other girls. Three for sure. Maybe more.”

Nikki leaned closer, intrigued. “So what do you think’s happening? Do you think someone’s abducting them?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” Even drunk as he was, Julian wasn’t about to get into all of that, not there, not with a stranger.

“Well what do the police think?”

Julian’s lips curled into a sneer. “I don’t think they think at all.” He removed his hand from under Nikki’s. “Look, all I know is a girl like you shouldn’t hang around here. You should move on as fast as you can.”

“Well I’m not going to be moving on anywhere tonight. I don’t have a car.”

“I do. I’ll give you a lift anywhere you want to go.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think you’re in any condition to be driving.” A mischievous glint came into Nikki’s eyes. “Besides, how do I know it’s not you doing the abducting? How do I know you won’t take me out into the woods and have your wicked way with me?”

“Because I was only four or five years old when the first girl went missing. And anyway, you’re not really my type.”

“Oh, so what is your type?” When Julian shrugged, squinting at him as if trying to weigh him up, Nikki added, “I’ll bet you like blondes. Cute little things with dimples and good-girl smiles. I’m right, aren’t I?” Julian made no reply, but his eyes dropped away from hers. “Ah, he’s gone all shy,” she teased.

“You want a lift or what?” Julian asked a touch brusquely.

“Tell you what, let’s have another drink, and I’ll think about it.” Nikki stood. “What you drinking?”

“Coke.”

“Vodka and Coke.”

“Just Coke.”

When Nikki returned with the drinks, she said, “So tell me about yourself.”

“There’s nothing much to tell. I grew up around here, and nothing much happens around here.”

“Except all those girls going missing.”

“Except that.” Julian swallowed half his drink in one, spilling dark trickles out of the corners of his mouth. “What about you?”

“I guess I’m trying to work out what I want to do with my life.”

“Where you from?”

“All over. My parents were travellers, not Gypsies, but Hippy types.”

“You’re lucky. Growing up in a town like this, it makes you small. Small and afraid.”

“Of what?”

Julian jerked his chin at the window. “Of the world out there – the big, bad world.”

“From what you say, sounds like there’s more to be afraid of around here than out there.”

Julian’s mouth turned up in a sour smile. Nikki threw back her drink, and stood. “Where you going?” asked Julian.

“You convinced me, I’m getting the fuck out of this town. Come on, drink up and let’s go.”

Julian finished his drink. As he pushed back his chair, he felt a strange sensation, like his feet were sinking into the floor. He staggered and Nikki hooked her arm through his, steadying him. “I’ll be alright,” he assured her. “I just need some air.”

Nikki guided Julian through the crowded bar. Something occurred to him. “Haven’t you got any bags?” he asked.

“I travel light.”

As they made their way to Julian’s car, he sucked in lungfuls of the evening air, but rather than clearing his head, it made him even groggier. His legs felt loose and wobbly, barely able to support him. There was a bitter taste in the back of his throat. “Fuck,” he slurred, vainly trying to insert his key in the lock. “I must be drunker than I thought.”

Nikki took the key off Julian and opened the door. He collapsed into the driver’s seat. “So whe…where do you wa…wa…” He struggled to shape the words, as if his tongue and brain were out of synch.

“Where do you want to go, Julian?” Nikki’s voice was different, neither hostile nor friendly, it had a flat, uninterested tone.