Bad Girl (37 page)

‘Mouse?’

Helen barely heard him. The reel had moved on to a cold night in Soho, to a man with a wedding ring who she knew she couldn’t trust. She felt the frozen ice against her back, the pain as he beat her, the force of his hate. She had almost died that night, but somehow, miraculously, she had been given a second chance.

‘Mouse?’

Helen started, and blinked. ‘Huh?’

‘Will you tell him? Will you tell Tommy about the notes?’

She frowned, thinking of what it would mean to break such news to him. ‘Should I?’

‘Why wouldn’t you?’

Helen smiled faintly, understanding where he was going. To keep a secret in the hope of protecting someone else was a risky business. If she told him, he would have to live with the knowledge that he had made a terrible mistake. If she didn’t… well, that made her as guilty as him when it came to withholding the truth.

‘It’s your choice,’ he said. ‘I’ll stick by whatever you decide.’

She glanced down at the floor before slowly raising her gaze again. ‘Do you think she’s still out there somewhere?’

‘You could always look for her.’

‘And what if she doesn’t want to be found?’

Frank paused for a second. ‘I’d want you to look for me if I ever went missing.’

Helen felt her heart skip a beat. It was the nearest he had ever got to expressing any real feelings for her. ‘Would you?’

Frank held her gaze for a few seconds, and then said, ‘Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Stay here tonight, sleep on it, and if you still want to leave tomorrow, I won’t say another word. In fact, if you want me to drive you to the station…’

Helen lifted her eyebrows. She tried to keep her voice light, but she could still hear the tremor in it. ‘What is it with you and your deals?’

‘What can I say? I’m a creature of habit.’

‘Nothing’s going to have changed by tomorrow.’

‘Not tomorrow or the day after. Maybe not next month or next year, but eventually…’

‘It’ll all get better?’

‘It might,’ he said. ‘Stick around and see what happens. Running away never solved anything. Take it from someone who knows.’

Helen waited. She wanted him to say that he didn’t want her to go, to ask her to stay, but perhaps that was hoping for too much. Frank Meyer wasn’t the type of man who put his cards on the table. Their eyes locked for a second and something passed between them. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but she felt a surge of strength, of hope. She could take a chance, or she could walk away. The decision was hers. But deep down inside, she knew that she’d already made the choice. She sat back, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Even bad girls did the right thing sometimes.