When Mike had told Dan he was working Saturday, it had been an excuse. He didn’t need to be reminded again of how successful his brothers were. However, with the hairdressing salon quote still to do, a promise to the woman in Dovedale that her living room would be finished before Monday evening, and now an appointment with his barrister, he’d resigned himself to the fact that he’d be working Saturday, probably Sunday as well.
He hadn’t exactly got up early—Bethan had been awake since three—but he’d come over to the house early, hoping to get the quote together before he left to see the barrister at ten. The quote prep was going well, thanks to Shaunna. As soon as he’d left the salon, she’d sent him a text with all the stuff her boss had said she wanted. Without that text, he’d have been lost, and he was annoyed with himself for not being on top of his game, but his head was all over the place.
“You’ve nicked my chair again.”
Mike turned and gave Charlie a grin. He’d heard her trademark whistling as she approached, so she hadn’t taken him by surprise. She was Len’s…he wasn’t sure what to call her. PA, accountant, marketing director, office manager—in short, she ran Len’s business for him, while Len spent all his time at his car showroom, which was better than having him snarling and grunting under a heap of paperwork.
Charlie was a lot like Andy, give or take the obvious few anatomical details. From their late-night chatter when Andy was staying at the house, Mike had gleaned that they’d shared an obscene number of adventures. All that swimming with sharks and snowboarding nonsense Andy got up to, Charlie was just as bad, and when the two of them got together they turned into surfing bores. But Charlie could also be cool and professional when the need arose, and she had a point; Mike was sitting in her chair and using her computer. He pushed the chair back and moved to get up.
“No, no. You carry on,” she said. “I’m gonna make coffee before I start work.” She squinted at the screen. “What you up to?”
“Quote for Shaunna’s boss.”
“Ah, OK. You still not got a computer?”
“Nope. Can’t afford one.”
“Hm. Let me have a think on that.” Charlie left again.
Mike tried to ignore the sinking sensation in his gut. Much as he appreciated people’s offers of help, he didn’t like owing, or relying on anyone else, and he was beginning to feel like a charity case. His van and decorating gear were bought with what little was left from settling the finance after the divorce. His furniture was the stuff Anne had said he could take from the house when she’d sold it. He only had somewhere to live because Len was doing Andy a favour. Even his daughter…
He loved her with every cell of his being, but the truth? She was born for all the wrong reasons, and she was with him because there was no-one else. Or there had been no-one else. After Rachel’s sentencing, his brothers, his mum, Len, the lawyer…they all said he was home and dry, but he’d never shaken the fear that one day someone would take Bethan away from him. Now Jacqueline Perry wanted to challenge his fatherhood abilities, and he wasn’t sure he could rise to it.
He didn’t blame Rachel’s mum for what her daughter had turned into; he’d met Rachel’s sister and brother—Tammy and Felix, or Pez, as Len had ‘christened’ him—and they both seemed well-balanced, normal people. There was nothing wrong with the way they’d been brought up. There was nothing wrong with Jacqueline’s parenting. She was a good mum who loved her kids—watching her fall apart in court when Rachel was found guilty had demonstrated it beyond doubt.
At the time, Mike had felt no sympathy for Rachel’s family. Her mother had blamed him for her daughter’s demise; her brother had aided and abetted in the sabotage of Len’s cars. Her sister had refused to make a statement in court, even though she’d been as much a victim of Rachel’s cruelty as the rest of them.
But six months of fatherhood was more than long enough for Mike to fully comprehend why Jacqueline Perry believed Rachel’s story. When he looked at Bethan, he saw a perfect angel who could do no wrong, and he knew if he ever found himself in Jacqueline’s situation, he would do the same. She was trying to protect her daughter and granddaughter, and the prospect of going up against her in court terrified Mike. He felt the power of that love, but he would fight her, if not for his rights, then for his mum’s. If Jacqueline got custody of Bethan, the likelihood was his mum would never get to see her again.
“You not done yet?”
Mike shook his head. “Nearly,” he lied and tried to concentrate, but Charlie was leaning against the doorpost, sipping her coffee, and watching him.
“I’ve had an idea. Want to hear it?”
“Sure,” he agreed breezily and felt his blood pressure crank up a notch.
“I’ve got a computer at home. I bought it a couple of weeks before I started working for Len, and honestly, if I’ve switched it on twice since, I’d be surprised.”
“You’ve been working for Len for a year, yeah?”
“Yeah, but it was top spec.”
Mike laughed. “That’s the opposite of what I meant. Wouldn’t you be better bringing it in here?”
“I can see why you’d think that, but I actually prefer this old clockwork doodah of Len’s. I’ve got it set up perfectly for what I do. Mine—I don’t even think I got as far as connecting it to wi-fi.”
“How much?”
“Ah, well, I was thinking we could trade skills. Have you met my mother?”
“Err, not that I recall.” Mike had no idea where Charlie was going with this.
“She’s…how to put it? Exacting. But she likes your brothers, so it’s a safe bet she’ll like you.”
“Are you setting me up with your mother?” He hoped he sounded like he was joking, although there was a very real underlying fear that she might be doing just that. He knew very little about Charlie’s family, like whether her dad was still around, for instance, although judging by Charlie’s raucous laughter, he was in the clear.
“That’s too funny.” She was laughing so hard coffee came out of her nose and made her cough. “Setting you up, oh, God…” She shook her head. “With my mum!” She dabbed at her wet eyes and laugh-sobbed a couple of times, alternating between sighing and giggling as she tried to pull herself together. “It’s too early in the day for this.” She cleared her throat and continued, an occasional giggle still escaping with her words. “OK. It’s like this. Our house has got six bedrooms. It’s where we all grew up, and now there’s only Mum, Dad, Pete and me living at home, there are three spare rooms, which Mum’s been threatening to decorate since I was at uni. Then she did her back in, and Dad’s rubbish at decorating, so I offered my services, except I’m not much better than my dad. And I did try. I half papered one of the rooms. Mike, it’s so bad.”
“Right. So you want me to come and decorate?”
“I want you to give me some lessons. I’m happy to do it, if you can just show me how.” Charlie blinked beseechingly, still giggling a little, which made Mike laugh, too. Now he knew what the deal was, he relaxed a little, although Charlie was pretty much the only woman besides Shaunna who didn’t put him on edge.
He nodded. “I’m up for that.”
“You are? That’s fab. Cheers, Mike. I’ll bring the computer with me on Monday, unless you want to come and pick it up over the weekend?”
“Monday’s fine by me.”
“Great. There’s no rush, by the way. Whenever you’ve got time. I’ll leave you to finish your quote. I’ll be in the gym. Give me a shout when you’re done.”
“Will do,” Mike confirmed, but Charlie was already walking away. He got back to work on the quote, which, now he was concentrating, didn’t take anywhere near as long as he’d thought it would. These days, he could calculate quantities of materials without looking them up, and all the pricing was on the merchant’s website. He saved and printed the estimate, let Charlie know he was finished, and went to find his mum and Bethan. He tried the kitchen first, but it was empty, so he returned to the atrium and listened for noise upstairs.
“Mum?”
No response to that, he retraced his steps down the passageway past the kitchen and out to the conservatory, slowing to a stop to watch his mother backstepping in the pool, her palms under Bethan to support her while she floated on her back. She was loving it, too, judging by the little gurgling sounds and the way she was kicking her legs, like she was swimming for real. His mother turned his way and smiled up at him.
“You all right, lovey? Did you get your paperwork sorted?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna head off now and drop it in on my way. I’ll let you know how it goes with the lawyer.”
“Okey dokey. Good luck, though I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, Mum. See you later.” Mike delayed, until his mum turned away, and then left for the salon.
***
Shaunna was opening up as he arrived, with no sign of her boss.
“It’s Hayley’s morning off,” Shaunna explained as she opened the door. “One sec.” She marched across to the counter, leaving Mike loitering in the doorway, and jabbed at the control panel on the wall. The alarm’s quiet beeping stopped, and Mike assumed it was safe to enter.
“You get many break-ins here?” he asked.
Shaunna raised an eyebrow. “Just the one. I’ll get the kettle on. You staying for a cup of tea?”
Mike took out his phone and checked the time. He had another forty-five minutes. “Yeah, go on, then.”
Shaunna went through to the stockroom, leaving him alone in the salon.
So this was the place she vandalised—allegedly. To his mind, and everyone else’s for that matter, there was no ‘allegedly’ about it. But Rachel Perry was too clever to leave evidence. At first, she’d admitted every charge the police brought against her, including assaulting him, though he refused to give a statement, so that charge would have been dropped anyway. By the time her case went to court, she pleaded not guilty to everything except tampering with the brakes on Elite Motors’ cars. That was enough to see her go down for murder and two counts of attempted murder.
As to the rest of the charges, she claimed the police had coerced her into confessing, citing postnatal depression as the reason she’d gone along with their accusations. When the judge did the summing up at the end of the trial, he said in his mind, there was no doubt she was guilty of every single offence brought before the court, but neither he nor the jury could find her guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. It didn’t matter. She was in prison, and Mike needed to let it go, but he felt better for knowing he wasn’t the only victim, however selfish that made him.
“Here.” Shaunna thrust a mug into his hand.
“Thanks.”
“Welcome.” She bustled away again, over to the counter, and started flipping switches. The salon came to life around him—the cash register, under-counter lights, the fish tank he hadn’t noticed two days ago. There again, it was located under the giant photo of Shaunna and Andy. His brother had done well to catch her; she was absolutely stunning to look at—very curvy, gorgeous red hair—and a smashing personality, kind, generous, patient, brilliant sense of humour. He hoped one day he’d meet someone like Shaunna, that’s if he ever bothered with dating again.
“What’re you thinking about?” Shaunna asked, pulling him out of his drifting thoughts.
“My bad luck with women,” he answered frankly.
“Yeah, you’ve had a run of it, haven’t you?”
“Since I hit puberty.”
Shaunna laughed. “It can’t be that bad.”
“You wanna bet? If I don’t count the one-off kisses and fumbles in high school, I’ve had four girlfriends—that’s including Anne and Rachel.”
Shaunna didn’t pass comment. She switched on the computer and frowned at the screen.
“Problem?”
“Hm?”
“Computer.”
“Oh. No, it’s always dead slow. I was thinking, if you asked your Dan or even Andy about their past relationships, they’d probably say they’d all gone badly.”
Mike opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, Shaunna cut in.
“I know none of them were on a par to Rachel. What she put you through…” For a second, Shaunna’s eyes blazed fury, but she got it in check. “It can take a long time to recover, but you don’t need to give up living completely.”
“If this is about tomorrow at Dan’s…”
“It is, partly. When was the last time you went out with your mates?”
Mike laughed wryly. “Mates?”
“Or your brothers? Or anyone at all?”
He didn’t answer, although he had no problem recalling the last time; it was the day Rachel was taken into custody.
Shaunna walked over to him and rested her hand on his arm. “Look, Mike, I’m not suggesting you should start dating again. Just get out of the house sometimes. Even if it’s to come and watch telly with us for the evening.”
“That’s not fair on you. I know you and Andy got fed up with me when I stayed at yours.”
“Yeah, and if you were coming round every night, then I might have something to say about it, but you haven’t visited at all since you moved into the summerhouse, and you’re always welcome. You know that, don’t you?”
Mike smiled and nodded. “Cheers, Shaw.” He saw her nostrils flare, realised why and amended. “Shaunna.”
She grinned and hugged him. “I don’t mind, really.” She released him and went back to the counter, where the computer was stuck on the start-up screen.
“It shouldn’t take that long,” Mike said.
“It doesn’t usually.” She tapped a few keys and shrugged.
“You want me to take a look?”
“Have you got time?”
“A bit. I can come back later, if need be.”
She shrugged again and moved from behind the counter so Mike could get to the computer.
“I’m coming to footy practice on Sunday,” he said as he restarted the computer in safe mode.
“Are you? Awesome!”
Mike smiled. He thought it was awesome, too. “Dan asked me yesterday. Said he’s looking to kick the Anchors’ up the arse.”
“Tell me about it. I’m kind of pleased I’m still not fit enough to play.”
“From the twins?”
“Yeah, giving birth does shocking things to…well, you don’t want to know, believe me.”
Mike was happy to trust her on that one. The computer had finally started up. He had a quick look at the main culprits and quickly diagnosed the problem, or one of them, at least. “You’ve not got enough free disc space. There’s a lot of stuff on here I’m pretty sure you don’t need. I’m gonna delete your temporary files, which’ll help a bit, but if you can manage without it for a few hours this afternoon, I’ll come and sort it out properly.”
“If you don’t mind. We can always call in a exper…” Shaunna rolled her eyes. “Forget I said that.”
Mike laughed. “No worries. My knowledge is long out of date, but I can get this sorted, no problem.”
“OK. Hayley will be really happy about that.”
Mike restarted the computer again and drank his tea while he waited to make sure it was working. The desktop appeared. “That’s better. Right, I’ll see you later.” He passed his empty cup to Shaunna and moved towards the door. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He backtracked and handed her the quote.
“I’ll pass it on.”
“Thanks. See you later.”
***
Mike spotted it as soon as he got out of the van: the 1969 red Mustang parked two cars in front. He kept his eyes on his goal as he went to buy a parking ticket, returned to the van and stuck the ticket to the inside of the windscreen with considerably more force than required. Door shut, van locked, he muttered a few fucks under his breath and waited.
“Alright?” Andy acknowledged, casually strolling towards him.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Thought you’d appreciate the moral support.”
Mike nodded, appreciating nothing. “Who told you? Dan or Mum?”
“Doesn’t matter. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I haven’t seen you.”
“But you’ve seen Dan?”
“I went to price a job in—I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Whatever, I’m coming in with you.”
“You’re not.”
Andy raised his arms, part shrug, part challenge, and Mike was sorely tempted to take him up on it. Short of smacking him in the teeth and causing a scene, he didn’t see that he had any choice in the matter. He turned and walked up the path to the law firm’s building. Andy followed him in and waited a few feet away while Mike spoke to the receptionist, who told him to take a seat. He did so. Andy sat next to him.
“Keep your mouth shut, all right?” Mike warned.
“Fine by me.”
Mike stared at the wall opposite. Andy took out his phone, unlocked it, read the screen and started typing. He wasn’t making any noise, but it still got up Mike’s nose. He sniffed and diverted his attention to the ceiling. Andy locked his phone and put it away again.
“This is nothing to do with you,” Mike said.
“Isn’t it?”
“What’s that mean?”
“You don’t have to do this on your own.”
“Oh, for fu—You know, I’m sick and bloody tired of everyone telling me what I do and don’t have to do.”
“Everyone as in…?”
“I don’t need you to hold my hand.”
Andy nodded and smirked. “Fair enough.”
Mike waited, expecting him to get up and leave, but he didn’t. “You’re staying, then.”
“I said I was.”
Mike sat back and folded his arms. “What’ve you done with the twins?”
“With Mum.”
“So it was her who told you.”
Andy didn’t comment.
“She knew you were coming here, and she didn’t even mention it. Nice, that.” When Andy still didn’t respond, Mike glared at him. He was still smirking. “What?”
“You’re being a knob.”
“How’s that?”
Andy picked up a magazine from the table in front of them. He turned a couple of pages. “She thinks I’m at the dentist.”
“Right.” Mike had nothing further to say. He knew he was being a knob, but he couldn’t help it.
“Thing is, bro, this situation? It’s because of me.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Rachel—”
“Rachel nothing.” The sound of a phone ringing stopped Mike from going any further. The receptionist answered it, watching him over the top of her glasses.
“Ms. Lane will see you now, Mr. Jeffries. Up the stairs, second door on your right.”
“Thanks.” Mike got up and set off for Ms. Lane’s office, aware of Andy tailing him all the way up the stairs, but when they reached the top, Andy slowed to a stop.
“Listen, Mike. If you really don’t want me in there…”
Mike shrugged. “You’re here now.” He knocked on the door; a female voice commanded he enter. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was smaller than he’d expected, with minimal furnishings, bland décor and no clutter. The desk positioned in the centre of the room had a slimline monitor and keyboard on top of it. There were two basic chairs on their side of the desk, behind it a vast, black leather chair, and it was empty. Mike frowned at Andy and mouthed, Where is she? Andy looked past him and nodded once in answer. Mike turned to find a sharply dressed woman had entered via a second door. She closed it and advanced on them with a smile.
“Mr. Jeffries,” she greeted, her tone warmer now than when she’d called him in. “Michael, isn’t it?” She extended a hand, and he shook it.
“That’s right. Or Mike.”
“Mike, and this is your brother, I presume?”
“Yeah. This is Andy.”
Andy and the barrister shook hands. She gestured to the chairs on the near side of the desk, and they both moved over to them, waiting for her to sit down before they did.
“OK, Mike, I’ve received the paperwork from Jacqueline Perry’s barrister. Mrs. Perry has stated her intention to apply for a guardianship order in respect of your daughter Bethan.”
“Yes,” Mike confirmed, although that was as much as he knew.
“Has she ever indicated this was her intention?”
“No, but then, I haven’t seen her since Rachel’s trial.”
“Of course.” Ms. Lane leaned back in her chair, her gaze flitting between Mike and Andy. “I’ve had a quick look over the information we have concerning Rachel Perry’s trial. Unfortunately, she was represented by another firm. Rather, it’s fortunate inasmuch as there is no conflict of interests, but it means our files pertain only to the witnesses we represented.”
She was talking about Felix Perry and Len, although one of the other lawyers in the firm had represented them.
“Mike, would you mind telling me about your relationship with Rachel Perry?”
He shrugged. “We don’t have one. She walked out three days after Bethan was born.”
“And when was that?”
“Twenty-second of March. Bethan was born on the nineteenth.”
“What was the relationship like between you and Rachel before Bethan came along?”
“Not great. We were only together because of the pregnancy.”
“Were you a couple before your daughter was conceived?”
“No. We met on holiday, spent a night together. Rachel got in touch to say she was pregnant, and I told her I’d stand by her and the baby.”
“Were you cohabiting?”
“We were. She moved in more or less right away—said she couldn’t stay at home because her mum didn’t know. But we never got on.”
“Would I be right in thinking your relationship was already over before Bethan was born?”
Mike nodded. “To be honest, I don’t think it ever was a relationship.”
“And did Rachel make any attempts to see either you or Bethan after she left?”
“No, although when I was staying with Andy and his girlfriend, she came to the house.”
“But not to see you or her daughter.”
“No. She didn’t even ask how Bethan was doing.”
“Why do you think Rachel tracked you down?”
“I’m not sure she knew we were staying there.” The questions were becoming too probing, and Mike felt under pressure. He could see the movement of Andy’s hands as he latched and unlatched his fingers. He was itching to speak, but he’d promised to stay quiet.
“How many times did she visit your brother’s house?”
“Once.” Mike rubbed his forehead, wincing at the pain forming in his temples. Ms. Lane offered him a sympathetic smile.
“I know you’re finding this distressing, but it’s important I establish whether there were other occasions Rachel visited than the one mentioned in the witness statements.”
Mike shook his head. “That was the only time.”
“OK. Thank you, Mike. Now, before we go any further, would you like a drink?”
“No, thanks.”
“Andy?”
“I’m fine, cheers.”
“I won’t be a second.” She got up and left the same way she’d entered. Mike heard her talking quietly to someone on the other side of the door and listened in for long enough to establish the conversation was about another case. He tuned out again, instead wondering why all the questions about Rachel when he was here because of her mother. Maybe it was to see if Rachel had shown any interest in Bethan, which would probably give Jacqueline more chance of getting custody. But she hadn’t. Once Mike and Bethan had played their part in Rachel’s scheme, she’d deserted them. That had to count for something.
The conversation beyond the door stopped, and Mike cracked his knuckles, mentally preparing for more questions.
“You all right?” Andy asked.
He nodded.
Ms. Lane returned with a mug of coffee and resumed her seat. “OK, Mike. I’ll explain why I asked about Rachel’s contact with Bethan. Rachel requested a transfer to a prison with a mother-and-baby unit.”
* * * * *