PICTURES OF YOU: a gripping psychological suspense thriller (16 page)

Chapter 50

They sat in the pub for several hours. Mary bought them more drinks and then coffee.

There were times when she thought she had lost them. Though Judy agreed what she was proposing was possible, she hesitated when asked if stealing the information from Jacob’s computer and camera was beyond what was reasonable. They were all three decent people, and to interfere in someone’s life to the extent they were planning and to impact in such a negative way on Jacob’s future was a step into the darkness for them.

Mary almost threw in her hand at one point. Judy had agreed to go along with the plan if Chloe would play her part but when Mary asked the girl to let her have images of her battered face for publishing on the internet she shook her head decisively.

“No way. I couldn’t, I just couldn’t. It was horrendous, I know your poor face is badly damaged Mary but mine was so much worse and then there was my tooth. Well, it was so bad that my mum and dad believed me with no hesitation when I told them I’d been in a car crash. I can’t let that go out there, sorry but no.”

“If we make sure you can’t be recognised?”

“Ha, that’s a laugh, no way would anyone recognise me from that. It’s not that, it’s just, you know it would be there and I would be scared of just coming across it you know. I’m still in touch with some of my friends from those days, and what you are proposing would have them all in a dither and sharing and tweeting and it would be me, about me, do you see? I’m sorry but I can’t.” Her dark hair swung around her face as she shook her head back and forth in distress.

“Okay, I do understand and I told you right from the start I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that was too much, so fair enough. I am still going ahead though and if you see this stuff and your friends are tweeting about it and discussing it on Facebook would you promise me you would let them know you saw me in real life and you know what I am saying is true? Could you at least do that?”

Chloe nodded her head and then lowered her face into her hands. “God, Mary you make me feel such a wuss, you really do. You are being so brave about this.”

“I have to Chloe, I have no choice. You were able to come back here and pick up your life again. I know it wasn’t the life you had chosen but I think it’s worked out for you anyway hasn’t it? I haven’t got that option, you see. My home is all I have. My home and my family are my world and I can’t up and leave and start again somewhere else. I know all I can do is try to make my place safe and peaceful again and so, yes, I suppose that is making me determined.”

There was a pause, the old clock in the corner of the room ticked and groaned. Around them the mutter of conversation and the clink of glasses filled the brittle moments as Chloe battled with inner demons that were not of her own making. Eventually she raised her eyes.

“Okay, look I’ll tell you what; if you promise never to give my name to anyone, even if they try to guess and let’s face it anyone who knew me could put two and two together. If you promise you will never confirm it and I approve the picture before it goes out then okay. I’ll go along with you.”

“Oh, Chloe thank you, that is amazing.” Mary leaped to her feet and leaned across the table to embrace the other girl awkwardly amidst the coffee cups and glasses.

The sun was lowering by the time they left with warm hugs and promises to keep in touch. The darkening sky was streaked with rose. Blackbirds filled the evening with liquid music and Mary drank in the beauty. She held it close and told herself it was a blessing on her plans, a sign of success and of a gentle future back in control of her own destiny.

The drive home was pleasant and uneventful and she dropped Chloe at her digs with an arrangement to meet the next day and set the thing in motion. As she waved to her new friend and turned for home there was no forewarning of what was waiting at the end of the long day.

Chapter 51

As soon as the door closed she knew. At first glance the house appeared the same as it had been when she left, but the atmosphere was different. There were no tell-tale noises, no smell it was – a feeling. Her heart thudding Mary stepped slowly along the hallway. The atmosphere was thick with threat, someone had been in while she was away. On a different level from the one pushing her forward her brain was sifting information. The locks had been changed, the new keys were all safely in her purse, she hadn’t even had the chance to leave a spare with her mother which was the usual procedure.

The kitchen door was closed. Of course! The explanation for some of her alarm. The light in the hall was different from normal because she never closed the door to her kitchen and the borrowed light was enough to brighten the narrow space.

She stopped. Instinct screamed run, turn and get out of the place, get into the car and leave. She beat it down, where was there to run to and from what? The past days had disrupted all her senses, maybe this was just another effect. Perhaps she had inadvertently closed the door. Why, after years of living in the place, would she suddenly do that? But, maybe. She took a few more steps, her hands shook, fear stalked alongside her on the carpet.

She reached and grasped the handle. It felt strange, unusual to be opening this door. She pushed at the wood. The small draught stroked at her face and made her hair wisp and move in the disturbance of air. The light was on. Soft music played from the sound system, only now with the door open could she hear it.

A vase of lilies was centrally placed on the table.

Her knees wobbled as a gasp escaped her throat. She clutched at the door frame to hold herself upright. A couple more steps took her fully into the room. The outside door was closed but the curtain on the window shifted and billowed slightly. It was an old sash style and there was now no need for any further search. It was open just a few inches, enough to disturb the atmosphere, enough to tell her that someone had been here. It wasn’t wide enough to allow entry to whoever it had been, and surely she knew who it had been. He must have come through the window and then almost closed it behind him.

She turned, she must go to the lounge. Her heart juddered and nausea threatened. At what point would he leap from his hiding place? Just when would he confront her and then what? She should run, while there was still time, run, run. She turned and flung back the lounge door expecting him to be there, waiting, just waiting but the room was empty and undisturbed.

She heaved a great sigh, now what should she do? As time slid by, calm was winning the battle over panic. The flowers were evidence that he had been but perhaps that was all it was, a strange and terrifying gesture to be sure, but maybe that was all there was.

The stairs stretched above her, the dimness of the landing taunting until she flicked the light switch. Squaring her shoulders she gripped the banister and planted her feet firmly on the first step, the second, third, onward and upward.

The upstairs was undisturbed and the bathroom called her, fear had weakened her bladder, she ran in and relieved herself. As she sat on the little wooden seat she let go the tears of tension and terror and lowered her head into her hands allowing the sobbing to engulf her for a few moments. She gathered herself together, blew her nose on a piece of toilet paper and then dragged off her jacket. She rinsed her hands and strode along the landing to her bedroom.

A beautiful thing isn’t always a beautiful thing and she had never really understood how it could become the antithesis of normal assumptions until now.

Her room was dimly lit by golden light. Candles burned on the dresser and the bedside table. They were newly lit. The tiny flames guttered and flickered in the breeze from the half-opened window. The bed, carefully made as always was strewn with red rose petals and on the chest an ice bucket held a bottle with the top loosened and the cork pushed partway in. A solitary champagne flute stood beside it with a tiny card propped against the stem.

The picture of a smiling teddy holding a bunch of daisies mocked her, and Jacob had scrawled inside with a red pen.

Enjoy this on your own lovely lady, but maybe we can share the next one. I miss you. X

The room spun as reality floated away. Mary felt herself succumbing to the horror and flopped onto the side of the bed and lowered her head to her knees. As her senses returned she became aware of the rattle and click of the gate as he left.

Chapter 52

She tore at the bedding. Scarlet petals flew around her legs and fluttered dejectedly to the floor. Everything was ripped from the bed; pillows, duvet, sheets and all were bundled onto the landing. She had extinguished the candles and now, as the wax cooled and hardened, she gathered them together and dumped them into the bin. Next, she turned to the sparkling wine in its bucket of rapidly melting ice. Grabbing it by the neck she headed for the door on her way to the kitchen bin. As the cold glass and a trickle of moisture cooled her hands she looked at the green bottle, “humph,” she dragged out the cork and for the first time in her life took a great slug from the neck of the bottle.

It was good.

She took another.

The alcohol hit her immediately and a giggle burbled up from deep in her gut as she caught a glimpse of herself in the bedroom mirror. Clothes dishevelled, hair wild and clutching a bottle of what was in reality cheap plonk. She began to laugh. It veered to the edge of hysteria but still near enough to the right side of sanity to be cathartic. She flopped onto the floor, her back resting against the bedroom wall and raised the bottle again to her lips.

What the hell was she going to do?

There was the plan and with Judy to help her she still hoped that it would be enough to make life for Jacob untenable at the college and in his shared house. She had to believe in it otherwise the future was a hopeless shambles. The thought of leaving her home and moving away was painful and, if he didn’t go, there wasn’t going to be another option.

Should she call the police? Of course she should, her home had been invaded and her safety threatened. She squeezed her eyes closed and spoke into the darkness, “Oh Mary, what the heck are you doing?” There was of course no answer and she was swept by a wave of loneliness and isolation.

The bottle was now a third empty and with a shrug she filled the glass which still sat on the table. Perched on the bedroom chair she laid back her head and sipped at the cool liquid. The wine had worked its magic to an extent and her heart felt lighter, though she knew it was a myth and the influence of alcohol was no answer at all. She stood and began to tidy up the mess. She remade her bed with clean linen, all of it. She couldn’t tell if he’d lain across her covers, or whether his traitorous fingers had caressed and held her pillows, her nightwear. It all had to go, there must be no trace of him.

When all was clean and tidy she made her way back to the kitchen. It was sad to discard the blameless blooms but the flowers had to go, and she tore the little card into tiny pieces and tossed it in the bin. Sensible Mary knew that she should make tea, but the Mary of this night, with her tumultuous emotions and shredded nerves, needed oblivion and she poured more of the wine and glugged it back. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” she muttered quietly and then, “All things must pass.” It was the wine muttering she knew, but the aphorisms helped, though in real terms they were empty words against a full on threat.

As she slipped between the clean bedcovers and lowered her reeling head onto the pillow the tears began and she let them flow. They followed so many others she had shed recently and in a slew of self-pity she railed at the fates who had first taken her husband and then offered her excitement and the chance of love only to dash it all against the rocks of a reality that she never would have believed she would face.

Tomorrow Judy was coming and they would begin the work to drive him away but for tonight she simply gave herself up to misery and ignored the feelings of guilt that such weakness inevitably threw in her path.

Chapter 53

Her head pounded, her mouth felt as if she had licked out the wheelie bin and when she tried to open her eyes the happy morning light screamed onto her retinas like lashings of molten mercury. It was years and years since Mary had suffered from a hangover and now, gulping back the nausea and trying to drag herself from bed, she was reminded in full measure of nights at Uni. And mornings in bed sits with groaning friends and deep regrets.

The pounding was getting heavier and was joined by a shrill ringing in her ears. There was an urgent need to make it to the bathroom, her bladder was complaining and her stomach threatened at any moment to erupt.

“Oh God. You stupid woman.” She muttered to herself in disgust. The ringing was louder now and she realised with a thud of horror that it was the front doorbell. Judy, Judy was coming over first thing. She pulled open the door.

“Morning, oh Mary, whatever is the matter, you look ghastly?”

“Come in, go into the kitchen. Can you put the kettle on? I’ll explain in a minute but – I need to go…” She pointed back up the stairs, and before the confused Judy had a chance to respond, made a dash for the bathroom…

“Sorry about that. Look Judy, I have been really stupid but will you stay? Just make a cup of coffee or whatever, I really, really need a shower and then when I come back down I’ll tell you what has happened. It was horrible. Just horrible. Do you mind?”

“No, no it’s fine. You carry on, I’ll make some tea shall I?”

“Oh yes, please.”

Feeling a little better after a quick shower Mary joined Judy who was waiting at the kitchen table, sipping at a mug of tea and nibbling a piece of toast. “Okay, truth time. I’ve got a thundering hangover. I am so sorry Judy. I was really silly; I drank a whole bottle of fizzy wine and went to bed completely drunk. I can’t imagine what you must think of me but I can explain.”

“Hey, you don’t need to explain to me, what you do is your concern. Really, don’t stress.”

“Well, that’s lovely of you but the thing is that when I got back last night he’d been here. Actually there is a good chance that when I came in he was still here. It really freaked me out and I reacted stupidly and now I’m paying for it.” She gave a rueful grin.

Judy had walked around the table and was now kneeling beside Mary where she slumped on the little dining chair. “You poor thing. He’s a real weirdo, he really is. Look, let’s get this thing started, I’ve been planning it out. You said that you have a VPN set up here don’t you?”

Mary nodded, she had set up the Virtual Private Network a while ago when she had been worried about a chat room she had used briefly.

“Right, well we can use that and I will get everything set up now. Then I’ll go to the house and see if I can get access to his stuff. I’m worried about that bit Mary, I mean I’ve never done anything like it before.”

“I know, and it’s a lot to ask, and if you don’t want to do it I understand I really do.”

“No, when I look at you, your poor face and now the state that you’re in today, well – he just can’t do this. I’ll see what I can do, if I can get access to his computer and find where his stuff is I’ll copy what I can. What we really need though is the stuff that he’s got for his Degree Show. That’s the work that he will have worked most on and it can’t be published before the exhibition or it’s disallowed. That’s the stuff we need. It’s only about three weeks now until it has to be presented, so he should have it nearly ready. I asked Brian about it all. He’s on the same course and so I know what I’m looking for.

“Chloe sent me copies of her pictures. I blanked out her eyes and sent copies back and she has said yes, go ahead and use them. So, when we get yours and providing I can get to Jacob’s machine today then we have all we need. The pictures of Chloe are ghastly, she was right when she said nobody would recognise her, but I did a bit of Photoshop on her eyes and hair and so on just to be sure. I also made a statement saying that we had done that. We don’t want anyone coming back later saying the stuff has been doctored, so I thought it best to be up front about it. Is that all okay?”

“Oh Judy it’s more than okay, it’s fantastic. How can I thank you?”

“Oh, come on. We can’t let him get away with this. I mean, who could be next eh? We have to stop him.”

“You show me where your machine is, get it all booted up and then while you get dressed I’ll get started. Do you want another cup of tea?”

“Oh yes please.” And so it began.