Afraid (33 page)

Shirley shook her head when she saw the sincerity in his eyes, and murmured, ‘I’d never tell you to leave.’

Jeff smiled and kissed her. Then, taking a deep breath when Andrea started hammering on the door and shouting his name through the letter box, he said, ‘Suppose I’d best go see what she wants.’

Andrea’s eyes were wild when Jeff opened the door. His heart sank, because it was clear from her stance that she was gunning for a fight.

‘How could you?’ she spat.

‘How could I what?’ he replied evenly, determined not to let her goad him into a slanging match.

‘You
know
what!’ she screeched. ‘Screwing that bitch behind my back! How long has it been going on?’ she demanded now, her words flying like machine-gun fire. ‘I bet you were at it the whole time you were working there, weren’t you? Is she the reason you were always late home? Is that where all the money went? Were you spending it on
her
, while me and Skye were scraping for crumbs?’

Conscious that some of Shirley’s neighbours had come outside and were gathering across the road, Jeff lowered his voice and said, ‘We’re not together any more, Andrea, so even if I
was
with Shirley it’d have nothing to do with you. But,
no
, I have not been screwing her behind your back. I
never
cheated on you – though God knows I wish I had, considering how many times you accused me of it. You made my life hell, but it’s over now and I want a divorce, so leave me alone.’

‘You can’t get a divorce,’ Andrea cried, tears spurting from her eyes as her anger dissolved in the face of his coldness. ‘I won’t let you! I’m your wife, and you promised to be faithful to me for life.’

‘You tried to kill me, and then told the police I’d been abusing my own daughter,’ Jeff reminded her incredulously. ‘You can’t seriously think I’d take you back after that?’

‘I was
ill
,’ Andrea sobbed, her usually pretty face a crumpled mess as she clutched at the front of his T-shirt. ‘You know I don’t know what I’m doing when I get like that. And I was desperate ’cos I thought I’d lost you. But I didn’t mean it, and I’ve told them it’s not true. Please don’t hate me. I can’t live without you.’

‘You’ve been living without me all right for the past few months while I’ve been laid up in hospital and prison,’ Jeff reminded her, trying to prise her fingers off his T-shirt without hurting her, because he had no doubt that she would probably have him arrested for battery again as soon as she realised that she wasn’t going to get her own way this time. ‘You went too far; there’s no going back from this.’

Shirley had decided to nip out to give them some privacy. Dressed now, her hair roughly dried, she came out into the hall to get her coat. But when she glanced out through the door and saw the growing crowd across the road, she touched Jeff’s arm, and said, ‘Why don’t you bring her in and make her a coffee to calm her down? Then you can talk to her without that lot listening in.’

Jeff didn’t want to talk to Andrea while she was in a state, because he knew from experience that it wouldn’t end well. But he didn’t want Shirley to suffer any more gossip because of him, so he nodded and jerked his chin up at Andrea to tell her to come in.

Still sobbing, Andrea stumbled over the step and clutched at Shirley’s arm. ‘Please don’t take him off me. He’s my husband, and I need him.’

Embarrassed, Shirley mumbled, ‘It’s got nothing to do with me. You need to talk to each other.’

She pulled her arm free and rushed out. But, just as she closed the door, a police car pulled up at the kerb ahead. When Jones and Dean got out and walked over to her, she said, ‘If you’ve come to see Jeff it’ll have to wait. Andrea’s here, and she’s a bit upset.’

Jones was surprised to hear this. The refuge staff had said that she had gone out when he and Dean had called round there, but it had never occurred to him that she might have come here. They had only come themselves because Shirley’s boss had told them that she’d taken the rest of the week off and they had guessed that Jeff must be here.

‘So they’re both here?’ Dean asked.

‘Yes.’ Shirley nodded and shifted her handbag onto her other shoulder. ‘But, as I said, she’s a bit upset, so you should probably give them a few minutes.’

‘I’m afraid this can’t wait.’

Shirley’s instincts prickled when she heard the gravity of his tone, and she murmured, ‘Oh, no. It’s not Skye, is it?’

‘Do you think we can do this inside?’ Dean asked without answering her question.

‘Of course.’ Hands shaking, her legs like jelly, Shirley pulled her keys from her handbag and unlocked the door, then rushed inside, calling, ‘Jeff, where are you?’

‘In here,’ he called back from the kitchen. ‘What’s up?’

‘Where’s Andrea?’ she asked.

‘In the spare room,’ Jeff told her. Then, frowning when he noticed the tears glistening in Shirley’s eyes, he asked, ‘What’s wrong, love?’

Shirley bit her lip as her chin began to quiver. But one of the officers tapped on the front door before she could tell him, and she reached back to open it, murmuring, ‘Sorry, come in.’ Then, turning back to Jeff, she said, ‘Go and get Andrea while I take them through.’

Andrea’s face was tear-stained when Jeff led her into the living room, and she clung to his arm like a frightened child when she saw Jones and Dean sitting on the couch.

‘What do they want? Don’t let them take me away.’

‘It’s okay, they just want to talk,’ Jeff reassured her, pushing her gently towards the armchair beside the one where Shirley was already sitting.

When Andrea grasped his hand and pulled him down beside her, he flashed Shirley an apologetic look as he sank onto the arm of the chair. Then he turned to the officers, asking, ‘So, what’s happened? Have you found Skye?’

‘We’re not sure,’ Dean told him truthfully. ‘The body of a young girl who matches her general description was found yesterday morning, but—’

‘What do you mean,
general description
?’ Jeff interrupted. ‘You’ve got her picture – you must know if it’s her or not.’

‘I’m afraid there was damage to the face which made it difficult to establish the identity by picture alone,’ Dean told him, trying to make it sound less horrific than it actually was.

Jeff clenched his teeth when he heard this, and raised his chin. ‘So how do you know it’s her?’

‘We don’t,’ said Dean. ‘You’re just one of the seven families who are being visited today. This was recovered at the scene,’ he said then, holding out the photograph. ‘Do you recognise it?’

Jeff gazed at the picture for a second and shook his head. ‘No, I’ve never seen it before.’

‘Mrs Benson?’

Wide-eyed with fear, Andrea flicked a quick glance at the picture and also shook her head.

‘Hang on,’ Jeff said when a memory flitted through his mind. ‘I think someone mentioned something about a necklace to me recently. Hayley’s mum,’ he said when it suddenly came to him. ‘She said Hayley gave Skye a necklace on the day I …’ He paused and licked his dry lips, before finishing: ‘On the day I got stabbed.’

Dean exchanged a hooded glance with Jones, and then asked, ‘Would you be willing to view the body?’

Jeff breathed in deeply. The last thing he had ever expected to happen in his life was that he would be asked to identify a dead child. But somebody had to do it, and Andrea certainly wasn’t up to it. So he nodded.

‘Yes, I’ll do it. When?’

Dean saw the pain in his eyes, and said, ‘Look, I can see this is difficult, so why don’t we pay Hayley a quick visit to make sure it’s the same necklace before we put you through that? And that will also give us a chance to check if any of the other units have had a positive response in the meantime.’

‘
Skyyyeee …
’ Andrea suddenly moaned, as if the news had only just filtered through. ‘Where’s Skye …? I want Skye.’

Jeff put his arm around her shoulder when she started wailing, and gently held her to him, whispering, ‘It’s okay, love; they don’t even know if it’s her yet, so let’s not jump to conclusions, eh?’

‘I can have someone from the family-liaison team come over, if you like?’ Jones offered. ‘They’re trained to deal with these situations.’

Jeff didn’t answer so Shirley did it for him, saying, ‘Thank you, that’s probably a good idea. Andrea can stay here while we’re waiting. I’ll look after her.’

Jones and Dean both stood up, but as Dean made his way out to the car Jones called Jeff out into the hall.

‘I’m not being funny,’ he said when Jeff joined him, ‘but I think Andrea should see a doctor. I know it’s tough on both of you, but she’s taking it really hard, and with her history I wouldn’t want to take any chances.’

‘I know,’ Jeff murmured, glancing back into the living room, where Shirley was now holding Andrea in her arms. ‘She was already acting a bit weird before you got here, to be honest. Do you know if she’s been taking her meds while she’s been in that refuge?’

‘I couldn’t tell you,’ Jones admitted. Then, lowering his voice another notch, he said, ‘I know we’ve had our rucks in the past, and you probably think I’m a cunt. But if it’s awkward having Andrea here after everything that’s happened, I’d be happy to take her back to the refuge for you.’

Jeff’s heart was heavy as he gazed back at Andrea and Shirley again. As much as he resented his wife for what she’d put him through during these last few weeks, it was obvious from the way she’d been behaving since she got here that she was still ill. And if the staff at the refuge weren’t able – or willing – to make sure she took her meds, he dreaded to think what she might do if it did turn out to be Skye’s body they had found.

‘I can’t let her go back there on her own,’ he said resignedly. ‘She needs me.’

‘Okay,’ Jones said, respecting him all the more for standing by his wife after everything she’d put him through. ‘We’ll come back as soon as we’ve seen Hayley, and let you know what she says.’

He reached out and opened the door now. But before he stepped out, he extended his hand, and said, ‘I’m really sorry it’s come to this, mate. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.’

It was an olive branch, but Jeff was hesitant about accepting it because he couldn’t forget how massive a part Jones had played in ruining his life. But then, he supposed that he had himself played an even bigger role. He’d had numerous opportunities to set the record straight, but pride and misguided loyalty had prevented him from telling the truth about his and Andrea’s volatile relationship, so who could blame Jones for having marked him down as a wife beater?

‘Thanks,’ he said, shaking Jones’s hand. ‘I appreciate that.’

After showing the man out and closing the door, Jeff leaned back against it, wondering how he was going to tell Shirley about the decision he’d just made.

He was still standing there, staring up at the ceiling, when Shirley came out into the hall a few minutes later.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

He was far from feeling that but he didn’t want to burden her any more than he already had, so he pulled himself together and said, ‘Yeah, I was just thinking things over. What’s Andrea doing?’

‘Lying down,’ Shirley told him. ‘She dropped her bag and her tablets fell out. I noticed some Valium and persuaded her to take a couple. I hope that was okay?’

‘That’s fine; it’ll help a lot,’ Jeff said. Then, a look of regret in his eyes, he said, ‘We need to talk.’

Shirley shook her head. ‘No, we don’t,’ she said softly. ‘She needs you, and I understand that you’ve got to be there for her. And please don’t worry about me, because I’ll be fine. Friends?’ She gave him a tiny smile.

‘Always,’ Jeff whispered, taking her in his arms to give her one last hug.

‘Fuck!’ Jones muttered, a deep frown creasing his brow when he turned onto Hayley’s road fifteen minutes later and saw a long line of cars parked right the way down, in the middle of which were a hearse and two black limousines. ‘Trust us to turn up with news like this when they’ve had a death on the street.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Dean said, already opening his door as the car crawled to a stop in the middle of the road outside the Simms’s house. ‘Go and find somewhere to park – I’ll be in and out in a minute.’

‘All right, but don’t get waylaid,’ said Jones, making the sign of the cross on his chest. ‘Funerals give me the heebie-jeebies.’

Dean nodded and jumped out of the car. Then, head down as a mark of respect, he walked quickly over to the Simms’s house.

The door opened just as he was about to knock, and he stepped back quickly when a black-suited funeral director came out. Thrown, he looked around to see where Jones had gone but just as he spotted him and was about to make a hasty retreat, another man came out and asked, ‘Can I help you?’

Dean took in the man’s red nose and swollen eyes and guessed that he must be closely connected to the deceased. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I can come back tomorrow.’

‘You’re here now, so you might as well tell me what you want,’ the man said, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting up with visibly shaking hands.

‘Terry, do you know where I put that—’ Kathy Simms came into the doorway and abruptly stopped speaking when she saw Dean. She swallowed loudly, and folded her arms before asking, ‘You’re the one who came to see Hayley about Skye, aren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Dean affirmed. Then, feeling awkward, because she looked every bit as upset as the man, he said, ‘I’m sorry for disturbing you; if I’d known, I would have left it for another day. Please accept my condolences.’

‘Wait,’ Kathy said when he turned to leave. ‘What did you want?’

Dean hesitated. This felt so disrespectful under the circumstances, but they were both curious to know why he was here and he didn’t want to leave them worrying on a day like this. So, turning back, he said, ‘Skye’s dad mentioned that Hayley gave her a necklace.’

‘That’s right.’ Kathy nodded. ‘For her birthday. What about it?’

‘I wondered if I might ask her to take a look at a photograph,’ said Dean. ‘It should only take a second, and it would be really helpful to our investigation.’

Kathy bit down hard on her lip as tears immediately flooded her already swollen eyes, and Dean’s heart sank when he suddenly realised whose funeral this was. He had no idea why, considering some of the untimely deaths he’d seen in his line of work, but he automatically thought of old people whenever he saw a funeral procession and he had assumed that the deceased must be one of the couple’s parents. But, now that he thought about it, he supposed he really ought to have guessed, because Hayley had been unwell when he and Jones had visited that time to ask if Skye had ever mentioned anything about her father abusing her, and her mother had asked them to leave because she was concerned that the child might get worse if they upset her too much.