‘All the same, we have to be stricter.’
‘Thank you for your advice, but it’s a bit late now, and I hope you’re not trying to blame me for this…’
‘Stop, stop,’ he broke in, putting up a hand, ‘of course I’m not, but you have to admit we’re not as in control as we ought to be, so that has to change. Now tell me, what happens next?’
Taking a moment to back down from her temper, she said, ‘They’re waiting for the DNA results to come in and then they’ll charge him.’
Wanting to resist the mere thought of that, he rubbed a hand over his unshaven chin as he said, ‘Do you know where he is?’
She gave a growl of disbelief. ‘How would I?’ she demanded. ‘I’ve been with Annabelle all day, trying to get her through this terrible ordeal. I would do that, because I’m her mother, whereas you, as her stepfather, are clearly more concerned about the fiend who attacked her.’
‘That’s not true,’ he protested, glancing at the phone as it started to ring. ‘They’re children…’
‘
He
is not a child. Hello,’ she snapped into the phone. ‘Oh yes, hi. How are you?’ A moment later her voice softened as she said, ‘It’s so kind of you to be concerned. Yes, I’m afraid you did hear right. Well, she’s very badly shaken up, obviously. Oh yes, he definitely raped her…I know, it’s terrible. I can hardly believe it myself. OK, thank you for your call, and of course I’ll let you know if there’s anything you can do. It’s lovely of you to offer.’
Robert’s face was taut as he watched her put the phone down. ‘Was that absolutely necessary?’ he asked.
‘People are concerned, and they have a right to know what’s happening.’
‘You’re trying to inflame the situation,’ he accused, ‘and whatever you might think, that won’t help Annabelle. If she’s experienced a trauma, and merely looking at her tells us she has, then the last thing she needs is to be used as a weapon in her mother’s vendetta.’
Sabrina’s jaw dropped. ‘How
dare
you say that?’ she cried. ‘In all the… all the time I’ve known you…I never…Oh blast,’ she choked, breaking down. ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ she sobbed, covering her face with her hands. ‘It’s all so horrible, and now you’re making it worse.’
Understanding at last what a terrible ordeal this was for
her too, and distressed by the dreadful mess he was making of things, he went to gather her into his arms. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured, holding her close. ‘We’re all overwrought and in a state of shock.’
‘Of course we are, because it’s horrible,
horrible
, and for you to suggest that I might be glad Annabelle had to go through that…’
‘That wasn’t what I was trying to suggest at all,’ he assured her. ‘Everything’s coming out the wrong way at the moment, so maybe we should pour ourselves a drink and try to calm down before we go any further.’
Using her fingers to wipe away her tears, she looked up into his eyes.
As he gazed back he was searching for hidden truths, or the merest trace of malice, but there was only a kind of helplessness and a need for his support that stole deeply into his heart. He hugged her again, wanting more than anything to try and get this right for them all, but for the moment he could think of nothing to say that might help in any way.
‘Thank you,’ she said, when he passed her a glass of wine. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been hostile when I came in. I was so afraid you’d take Nathan’s side …’ She sipped her drink. ‘I understand what a difficult position this puts you in, and I know you don’t want to believe the worst of him, but I promise you, Robert, she’s not lying. I can always tell when she is, and this time I know she isn’t.’
Swallowing a mouthful of his own drink, he stood looking at her, not doubting her sincerity, but at the same time desperately not wanting to believe this of Nat. In the end he said, ‘Have the police put you in touch with Victim Support?’
She nodded. ‘They’ll be contacting us, apparently. I brought home some leaflets and things as well. Perhaps we can look at them together.’
‘Of course. Maybe we should ask Annabelle if she’d like to look at them with us.’
Sabrina was about to reply when the phone rang again.
‘If that’s another neighbour,’ Robert said, ‘please don’t do the same as you did before.’
Sabrina stiffened. ‘If they ask me what’s happened I have to tell the truth,’ she said, reaching for the receiver. ‘Hello?’ Her eyes went to Robert’s. ‘Ah, Canon Jeffries, how lovely to hear you. Yes, everything’s fine thank you. More or less, anyway. Yes, I’m afraid Annabelle has been the victim of a crime. No, it wasn’t very pleasant. Yes, I believe Nathan has been arrested. I can’t really say …’ Her face suddenly dropped. ‘Oh really,’ she said coldly. ‘I see. Well, thank you for letting me know.’
‘What’s happened?’ Robert said as she rang off.
‘Apparently your nephew is back at home,’ she said tartly.
Finding himself trapped in the minefield again, he took another sip of his drink rather than risk saying the wrong thing.
‘I’d like you to tell me that you won’t be going over there,’ she demanded.
Having sensed this coming, he inhaled deeply before saying, ‘Maybe if I spoke to Nat…’
Sabrina stared at him fiercely.
‘This is no easier for Alicia than it is for you,’ Robert reminded her gently.
‘And you think I care about that?’
‘I know you don’t, but I do. No, please don’t let’s argue about it when the situation hasn’t even arisen yet. Let’s focus on Annabelle now, and take a look at the information you brought home so we’ll be better informed about what we need to do.’
Alicia was studying Nat across the kitchen table. His head was down, his hands linked loosely together in front of him. Though he’d all but fallen into her arms when they’d finally released him, he’d barely spoken a word the whole way home, and he still didn’t seem to want to talk now.
‘Are you sure I can’t get you anything?’ she asked again. ‘You haven’t eaten all day.’
He shook his head. He looked so tense, and so very close to breaking, that she was afraid the slightest word or even gesture might push him over the edge.
‘What if I throw something together?’ she suggested. ‘Then you can make up your mind.’
‘I don’t want anything,’ he said.
Biting her lip, she turned to glance out at the garden. She was trying to imagine what Craig would do, to seek some sort of guidance from what she remembered of him, but every time she thought of him she wanted to curse the unfairness of life that he wasn’t here now, when his son needed him most. ‘Do you want to tell me how it went with the police?’ she probed gently.
His head stayed down. ‘They didn’t say much.’
Since Jolyon had told her, while Nat was dressing, that they’d handed over a prepared statement, she guessed the police probably hadn’t put him through too much questioning, but she still didn’t know what he’d told Jolyon – except that he’d denied it, and Jolyon believed him.
‘Jolyon can’t go into any detail,’ she said to Rachel, when she came round later to lend some moral support and they strolled up to the pub garden in order to talk without Nat overhearing. ‘And Nat doesn’t seem to want to tell me anything.’
‘Did Jolyon give you any idea what happens next?’
‘Apparently the police are taking statements to find out if anyone saw anything, but he said not to worry, it’ll probably all go away as soon as the DNA results come back.’
‘When’s that likely to be?’ Rachel asked, glad that Alicia had her back to a couple from the new estate who were looking their way and whispering.
‘On Wednesday, apparently.’
Rachel was surprised. ‘So soon? I thought those tests took ages.’
‘So did I, but apparently for something like this they turn them around pretty quickly.’ She gave a protracted sigh, then looked up as Maggie came out of the pub.
‘Hello my love,’ Maggie said, giving her a hug. ‘I heard you were out here. How are you?’
‘I’ve had better days,’ Alicia answered, guessing the entire village must know what was going on by now.
‘It’s all a load of nonsense,’ Maggie informed her hotly. ‘I don’t care what everyone’s saying, I know your Nat would never do anything like that.’
Alicia’s face drained. ‘Are people saying he did?’ she asked shakily.
Realising she’d blundered, Maggie reddened. ‘Well, only some,’ she said, trying to backtrack. ‘But mark my words, no one’s allowed to say it around me. We all know what young Annabelle’s like, ten to one she did get herself assaulted, and now she’s trying to blame it on Nat. And we all know who’d have put her up to that.’
Alicia swallowed and lowered her eyes.
Suspecting she’d hit another wrong note, Maggie glanced at Rachel. ‘I best be getting back in now,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I’ll send out a couple more drinks, OK?’
Rachel nodded her thanks and turned back to Alicia. ‘She could be right,’ she said. ‘Sabrina might be blowing this up into more than it is.’
Alicia didn’t disagree, but all she could really think about right now was Nat and what he was going through. ‘I just don’t understand why he’s clammed up on me the way he has,’ she said.
‘He’s probably embarrassed. After all, it’s a sexual thing, and you’re his mother. Boys can be very self-conscious over things like that, especially at his age.’
‘But he’s always been quite open with me before. True, he’d probably go to his dad first. I keep thinking of how much he must be missing him now. I know I am.’
Rachel smiled and squeezed her hand. ‘Have you spoken to Robert?’ she asked.
‘Not since I called to tell him what was happening. He was as shocked as I was, obviously. Odd that Sabrina hadn’t told him, don’t you think?’ Her eyes fluttered closed, as the enormity of it all swamped her again. ‘Just to think of what they’re doing to my son,’ she said, putting a hand to her head as a sharp pain shot through it. ‘I’d like to go over there and wring that bloody woman’s neck. This could ruin Nat’s entire life.’
‘It can’t if Annabelle’s lying,’ Rachel reminded her, ‘and as we know she is, you can put that fear out of your mind now.’
‘It was seriously full on,’ Annabelle was saying to Georgie, who’d come round to find out how she’d got on with the
police. ‘We had to go all the way up to Bristol to this special unit for victims of sexual abuse. It was a bit weird, actually, like it was someone’s house – not that you’d want to live there. Anyway, I had to have a medical so they could take all these swabs and blood and stuff, then they took me into a room where there were cameras so they could video everything I said. It was really out there, you know, all these detectives and special officers.’
Looking faintly horrified, Georgie said, ‘So what did you tell them?’
Annabelle shrugged. ‘Everything,’ she answered. ‘I had to, didn’t I, or there was no point in going.’
Conceding that, Georgie lit a cigarette and went to open the window. ‘Do you know what they’re going to do to him?’ she asked, blowing the smoke outside.
‘They arrested him, apparently, but Mum said just now that they’ve let him go again.’
‘So what, they’re going to let him get away with it?’
‘She doesn’t think so. He’s probably on bail, or something.’
Georgie nodded and took another drag. ‘Everyone’s talking about it,’ she said. ‘The police are going round taking statements…’
‘Oh my God! That reminds me. Give me your mobile. I have to ring Theo. Do you know if he’s spoken to them yet?’
‘They’re seeing him tomorrow, he said. Where’s yours?’ Georgie asked, handing over her phone.
‘They kept it. Have you got his number programmed?’ Finding it, she pressed to connect and put the phone to her ear. ‘Damn! Voicemail!’ she muttered. ‘I’ll have to leave a message. Theo, it’s me, Annabelle. Georgie says you’re seeing the police tomorrow, so just tell them we snogged and made out, OK? You don’t have to say anything about us going the whole way. I didn’t, so our stories have to match, and this way you won’t have any problems because of my stupid age. Oh, and can you text me if you know someone called Neil? Use Georgie’s phone, OK?’ Snapping the mobile shut, she grabbed a cigarette from Georgie’s packet and lit up. ‘I should have given them a false name
instead of saying it was someone called Neil,’ she said, blowing out a cloud of smoke, and annoyed with herself for only thinking of it now.
‘He might have made it up himself,’ Georgie pointed out, taking the positive view.
‘True. Let’s hope you’re right. So when are you supposed to be seeing them?’
‘They’re coming round in the morning about ten so Mum can be there too. I have to tell you, she’s not at all happy about this. She didn’t want me to come over here tonight, so I said I was going to Cat’s and got my neighbour to drop me off on her way to Bruton.’
‘What’s her problem?’ Annabelle demanded frostily. ‘Does she think I’m contaminated or something?’
‘No, she just thinks you’re leading me astray, going to raves and stuff, like I don’t have a mind of my own.’
Annabelle’s face was turning pale, her eyes showed her confusion.
‘Forget her,’ Georgie said, waving a dismissive hand. ‘She’ll get over it.’
Deciding to take the advice, Annabelle picked up a hand mirror to inspect her bruises. ‘The swelling’s not going down much,’ she said, touching a finger to the puffiness over one eye. ‘So what are you going to say to the police when you see them?’
Georgie shrugged, and flicked her ash into a cup. ‘Whatever you want me to.’
Annabelle considered how Georgie’s evidence might help her, but after running several possible scenarios through her mind, she thought of her own statement and said, ‘I think you just have to keep it simple, like we said yesterday.’
‘Whatever, just as long as we don’t let him get away with it.’
A pale circle formed around Annabelle’s lips as they tightened angrily. ‘No way,’ she snorted. ‘He raped me and he knows he did, so as far as I’m concerned he’s going to prison – and with any luck it’ll be for the rest of his stupid life.’
Nat was lying on his bed, wearing only boxers. His limbs were spread out across the rumpled sheets and his face was
turned to the wall. He needed to shave and shower, and his dark hair was greasy, but he didn’t care. What was the point of being clean when he only wanted to be dead?