Jill was in the gatehouse kitchen when Terry came in.
‘All ready?’ he asked her.
‘Yeah. Think so.’
‘You look great,’ he said, coming over, giving her a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
Jill wasn’t looking forward to this damned party, not at all. But she’d made an effort; she was wearing a red Carolina Herrera cocktail dress, a cream jacket, heels and matching bag. Terry would want her to put on a good show today and she’d do anything for him.
Jill stood in her husband’s arms, feeling his heat, his strength. She adored him. Loved the bones of him. Then she thought of Charlie and Nula – they were like a curse, those two. And the Bartons were tied to them, they’d never be free. Charlie had never come near after that one time, and thank God for that, but he’d scarred her. Ruined her, so that every time Terry made love to her, it was always Charlie’s face she saw. She’d stiffen and Terry would say, what’s wrong? And of course she couldn’t tell him.
‘It’s all going to be fine,’ he said against her hair. ‘I know you don’t go for parties much, but . . .’
‘Ah, it’s OK,’ she sighed. ‘I’ve never liked Charlie, you know that. And that wife of his, what a bitch she is.’
‘Nula? She’s not so bad.’
‘She’s a nutter,’ said Jill flatly. ‘Always in and out of hospital, getting her brains fried. Ever since she lost baby Jake, she’s been off her head. And the way she sneers down her nose at me. Snobby cow. And have you seen her nails?’
‘What?’
‘Her fingernails. Chewed down to the quick. And the skin all around them, chewed to fuck. I tell you, she’s not right. She’s a head case. And he ain’t any better.’
‘Well, just for today, you got to be nice to them, OK? And polite.’
‘I wish you didn’t work for him,’ said Jill for about the thousandth time. Charlie was a beast. He was so flashy, so false. Everything was about creating a big impression – the wrong one. Because he was a bastard rapist really, and nobody knew. He was always flaunting his wealth. Laughing at the coppers. Pedalling his fucking drugs. Keeping his dirty secrets well hidden.
‘Well, I do work for him. And it pays. We live like princes, don’t we. So why complain?’
‘I’m not complaining.’
‘Sounds like it.’
Jill heard the warning in Terry’s voice. No one criticized Charlie in his hearing. She shrugged and straightened. ‘Nah, take no notice of me. It’s gonna be great.’
‘He’s flying in from the yacht, they’re down on the Beaulieu River. Making a grand entrance for the big occasion. You know Charlie.’
‘I’m surprised he didn’t want you with him.’ Yeah, she knew Charlie all right. More than she wanted to.
‘Listen, I don’t question what Charlie wants. I told him I’d be happier if I was with him this trip, but he said to chill out and that he’d see us at the party.’
Belle came hurrying down the stairs. She was wearing a midnight-blue silk gown and full make-up. She’d bouffed up her tangled blonde tiger-striped hair and made up her dark brown eyes smokily with grey shadow.
Jill looked at her and could hardly believe it. Belle was turning into a beautiful woman and she felt such pride in her gorgeous daughter, such love for her.
‘Don’t you look great,’ said Jill. ‘Don’t she, Terry?’
‘She does,’ said Terry, giving Belle and then Jill a hug. ‘You both do. My two glamorous girls.’
He was smiling at them both, feeling the need to shield them, keep them safe.
Then into Terry’s mind, uncomfortably, came Harlan on that day when he’d caught him terrorizing Belle in the garage, sneering at him, calling him the help when he gave him a slap and told him to stay away from his daughter. That little cunt was starting to really worry him, and it wasn’t only to do with Belle, although that was a big part of it. He thought of Nula’s warning that Harlan was a danger to Charlie and himself. How he’d dismissed it, thinking it was just crazy Nula spouting off again. But then there was Beezer’s death, with only Harlan there as a witness. And Harlan poking his nose into every aspect of the business, taking a strong grip on things in town, things that had always been Charlie’s preserve and were now – most definitely – Harlan’s.
Belle was doing her best to get in the party mood, if only to please her parents, but the truth was she had been deeply troubled since the whole Clacton thing and her visit to Nige. She’d walked into something strange, that much was certain. Maybe she’d find out the locations of the Stone manufacturing sites and start checking those out too. Then she looked at her much-loved dad. He couldn’t know about this – could he?
Then they all paused. Overhead, they could hear the clatter of a helicopter. A big one, twin-engined. Only one person in this area had a bird as distinctive as that.
‘Christ, here we go,’ said Jill with a sigh. ‘Charlie’s arriving. Making the big entrance, as usual.’
Terry went out into the hall and presently they heard the noise of him pissing loudly in the cloakroom. He never, ever shut the cloakroom door. It drove Mum mad. Jill rolled her eyes at Belle and almost smiled. Men! It was a brief moment of female solidarity, and Belle decided now was her moment.
‘Mum? I went into one of the offices in Clacton,’ she said quickly.
The half-smile vanished. ‘What the hell for?’
‘I thought maybe I could do something there. You know? A job?’
‘What the fuck . . .’ Jill looked outraged.
‘And the people there – I know you don’t approve, and maybe I shouldn’t have bothered, but listen. This might be serious, really bad. I think . . . I think they were making drugs.’
In the cloakroom, Terry was pulling the chain.
‘What the hell were you thinking of, going there?’ hissed Jill, grabbing Belle’s arm. ‘You are never to go there again, do you understand me?’
Terry was running water in the basin, and whistling.
‘But Dad has to be told. And Charlie. If they knew what was happening right there in their own place of business, then—’
‘Shut up!’ said Jill urgently. ‘Listen. You don’t mention this, you never say a word about this, not to anyone, you got me?’
Terry was coming back along the hall. Belle stared into her mother’s frantic eyes and suddenly it all clicked into place. Jill knew. Dad and Charlie were in on this. They knew all about it. And so did Mum.
‘OK folks, let’s hit the road,’ said Terry, coming back into the kitchen.
‘I’ll see you up there,’ said Belle. Suddenly she had to get away, she had to think. With shaking hands she took her car keys from her bag. ‘Going for a drive.’
‘Make sure you’re not late at the house!’ shouted Jill after her departing daughter.
But Belle was already gone.