Deceit of Angels (31 page)

She
arrived home just after eleven and was dismayed to see the light still on in
the kitchen.  Ben and Mrs Wilby were sitting at the kitchen table and as she
opened the door they jumped to their feet in relief.

“Anna! 
Where have you been?  We were thinking of calling the police!” said Ben,
helping her off with her coat.

“I
got held up.  The city’s bedlam,” she answered lamely.        

She
couldn’t hide her cuts and bruises.

“What’s
the matter with your face?” said Mrs Wilby.  She tried to take a closer look
but Anna rebuffed her and went to the fridge for a drink of milk.

“Oh,
I fell over.  Slipped off the kerb.”

“We
should put something on that.”

Anna
shook her head.  “No, I’ll be OK.  Must go to bed, I’m very tired.”

Ben
and Mrs Wilby exchanged worried glances.

“Jason
must have rung three times,” said Ben.  “The last call came about six.  He was
just off to bed and he wanted to speak to you.”

Anna
licked her lips nervously.  “What did you tell him?”

“What
could we tell him?  That you hadn’t come back from your Christmas shopping,”
said Ben.

Anna
smiled.  “No doubt he’ll phone again tomorrow.  I’m off now.”

She
made her escape leaving a very perplexed Ben and Mrs Wilby standing in the
kitchen.

Anna
spent the next forty minutes in the shower.  She felt that all the soap in the
world would never make her clean again.  Finally, she climbed into the large
bed and pulled the covers over her.  For the first time she was glad to be
alone.  If Jason had been with her that night then she wouldn’t have been able
to hide her injuries or distress from him.  She would have had to confess
everything and there was no doubt that he would have reacted fiercely.  There
was no way she could have prevented him getting the police involved.  She lay
on her back staring at the ceiling, her feelings numb.  She would try and
forget it.  Surely it would be easy to dismiss it from her mind?  All she had
to do was pretend that it had never happened.

If Anna thought
she could put it out of her mind, she was very much mistaken.  She had a fitful
sleep, tossing and turning all night, her dreams filled with the horror of her
ordeal.

“Anna,
wake up!  Daddy’s on the phone.”  Hollie was tapping her on the cheek.

Anna
pulled herself up in a sitting position and took the receiver from her.   

“Hi
Jason.  I’m sorry, I seem to have slept in.”

She
heard him chuckle at the other end of the phone.  “I hope you haven’t been at
the Christmas sherry, sweetheart.”

She
tried to smile.  “No, I’m just a bit tired at the moment.”

“Well,
you’ve been working very hard.  I’m afraid I need some information for this
meeting I’m just going into.”

Anna
eased herself gently out of bed.  “I’ll get it for you now.  What is it you
want?”  He told her and she nodded.  “Yes, I know where to look.  Won’t be a
minute.”  She passed the receiver back to Hollie who had remained standing by
the bed.  “Talk to your daddy and then put the phone down when I pick up the
extension in the office.”

Hollie
blew out an indignant breath.  “I know what to do!”  She watched as Anna
struggled into her dressing gown and rushed out of the door.  “Silly Anna! 
She’s such a sleepy head this morning.”

“Perhaps
she didn’t sleep very well last night,” said Jason, trying to make conversation
while he shuffled some documents into a file.

“I
was so cross with her last night for coming in late!  She wasn’t there to read
me my bedtime story,” said Hollie.

In
Singapore, Jason stopped shuffling the papers.  His daughter went to bed at
eight-thirty.  “She was shopping that late?”

His
daughter went to make a comment, but was prevented by Anna coming back on the
line.

“I’m
here, Hollie.  Say bye to your daddy.”  She heard the soft ‘goodbye’ and Jason
responding with an equally tender farewell.  “I’ve got the information.  Have
you a pen ready?”  Anna gave him the details he wanted.

“I
should be home on Wednesday afternoon,” he said tenderly.  “I’ve missed you so
much.”

Anna
swallowed hard.  “I miss you too.  It seems ages since you left.”

“It
won’t be long now.  Must go, sweetheart, they’re waiting for me.  Love you.”  

Anna
put down the phone but didn’t move from her position by the desk.  She tried to
shrug away the tears that stung her eyes.  A feeling of desperate loneliness
swept through her, followed by overwhelming yearning.  Just hearing Jason’s
voice made her feel like splintered glass.

“Please
come home.  I need you,” she whispered.

Her
thoughts were in turmoil.  Everything she had suffered the night before was as
fresh as though it had just happened.  She ached in every joint and her head
was splitting.  She must find some aspirin before it got any worse.  She
remembered what Dave had said to her, his threats and the mind shattering
knowledge that he knew exactly how to control her.  He had known her better
than she had ever guessed.  She took in a huge breath and shivered.

Anna
tried to pull herself together.  She would work in the office today, even
though it was Saturday and catch up on all those little jobs she never seemed
to have time to do.  By the evening, her memories will have faded.

Ben
rushed into the room.  “Anna!  You’re not going to believe it, but your car’s
been nicked!”

“What!”

“It’s
gone!  From its usual place,” said Ben.

Anna
suddenly remembered.  “Oh, it’s not been stolen.  I left it in the car park at
Harrington Rhodes.”  She smiled weakly.  “I ran out of petrol so I got a taxi
home.”

Ben
wiped his hand across his forehead.  “I wish you’d told me!  I nearly had a
heart attack when I saw it missing.”

“Sorry,
I should have, but I was so tired when I came in, it went completely out of my
mind.”

Ben
mused for a moment.  “You ran out of petrol?”

Anna
nodded.  “I should have filled up on my way into Bristol, but I forgot.  I only
remembered when I went to start the car and realised there wasn’t enough to get
me to the petrol station.”

“Well,
if you get dressed, we can go and sort it out,” said Ben, watching her.  Anna
was usually the last person to run out of petrol.  She liked to fill up as soon
as the gauge reached halfway.

Anna
did as she was told and forty minutes later she was sitting next to Ben en
route to Bristol.  They didn’t talk much on the journey and Anna was relieved. 
She thought he might question her about her late night and she didn’t want to
go through the ordeal of having to lie.  She had already started telling
untruths and it sat uncomfortably with her.  On the way, they pulled into the
petrol station and Ben filled up a can, but as they drove into the car park,
Anna was dismayed to see Graham standing by the Peugeot.  He gave a look of
relief as he saw her.

“Thank
goodness for that, Anna!  I was getting quite worried.  I thought you’d not
come back all night.”

“Ran
out of fuel,” she lied.

He
pulled a face.  “Well, I’ll leave you to it.  I’ve got a lot of catching up to
do and Saturday is the only day I get the chance, when the phones stop ringing.” 
He disappeared into the building.

Anna
unlocked the petrol cap and Ben began to pour the fuel into the tank. 

“Jump
in and give it a try,” he said.  Anna slipped into the driver’s seat and turned
the key.  The engine exploded into life immediately.  “Well, that should be
enough until you fill up.”

“Yes,
I’ll go now,” said Anna, jumping out, locking the petrol cap and hoping he
wouldn’t notice the fuel gauge that stood at three-quarters full.

She
climbed back in, waved and sped away.  Ben watched her with a frown.

When Anna
reached home, she went straight to the office.  She worked the entire day only
stopping for a short lunch break.  Ben and Mrs Wilby exchanged concerned words
during the afternoon, but decided that Anna was missing Jason and everything
would return to normal once he was home.  Even so, they worried at her ruthless
determination to work herself into the ground.

Jason
phoned again at three o’clock, he was off to bed as he was exhausted, but told
her that everything was going well and the five-year contract was almost ‘in
the bag’.  Anna decided to go to bed early too and soon after reading Hollie
her bedtime story, she was under the covers, squeezing her eyelids shut in an
effort to forget everything in sleep.  It didn’t work and she spent most of the
night listening to the house as it creaked and groaned.

Sunday
found her exhausted and unable to do anything but her washing and ironing and
then sit listlessly watching television.  Ben and Mrs Wilby became even more
concerned.  Before Jason had left, he had confided in Ben that Anna’s husband
was none too pleased about a divorce and he might cause trouble.  Ben had been
left with strict instructions to keep an eye on her, a fact he winced at, since
he had let her go shopping alone in Bristol on Friday.  But he had been busy
finishing off Hollie’s Wendy house and felt that a shopping expedition hardly
needed his attention.

Sunday
night came and once again, Anna hardly slept.  By the time she went into the
office on Monday morning, she was screaming inside.  She walked up and down
agitated, her only thought that she needed help.  By mid-morning she went into
her bag for Nigel Barnes’s card.  The receptionist told her that he was with a
client but would pass on a message as soon as possible.  An hour later Nigel
returned her call.  When he discovered that Anna wanted an appointment he went
into his diary and suggested the end of the week.  But when Anna let out a cry
of dismay and begged him to let her see him earlier, he became alarmed and kindly
gave up his lunch hour, telling her to come for one o’clock.

The
drive to his office seemed interminable.  Finally parking and climbing the
stairs to his office came as a great relief to Anna.  But waiting her turn
suddenly made her panic.  What was she going to tell him?  Why had she asked
for this appointment?  She didn’t have time to put her thoughts together before
he came out of his office and beckoned her in.

“Thank
you for seeing me at such short notice and giving up your lunch time.”

He
waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal and offered her a seat.  “In my line
of work I get used to working all hours,” he smiled.  “Now what can I do for
you?  And before you answer that, I’m afraid I’ve not heard from your husband’s
solicitor.”

The
receptionist came in with a steaming mug of coffee and Anna held it between her
hands drawing comfort from its heat.

“I
didn’t think you would,” she murmured.

He
watched her curiously.  “I really wish you’d consider the other choice I gave
you.”

“Unreasonable
behaviour?”

“Yes. 
Then you could file for divorce.”  He suddenly noticed the shadows under her
eyes and the paleness of her complexion.  “Are you OK, Anna?”

She
didn’t seem to hear him.  “What would I have to do to get a divorce on grounds
of unreasonable behaviour?”

Sighing
with relief he sat back in his chair.  “All that’s needed is a short list of
things you believe your husband did to cause you unhappiness.  It doesn’t have
to be anything specific.  The fact that he neglected you or his behaviour
caused you distress…” He stopped talking as he noticed tears trickling down
Anna’s cheeks, her face creasing in despair.   “Oh, my goodness,” he said in
alarm.  He rose from his seat and pulled another chair closer so he could sit
next to her.  “What’s the matter?”

She
turned a tear stained face towards him.  “Is raping me, good grounds for
divorce?”

He
stared at her hardly understanding.  “Your husband…raped you?” She nodded. 
“Anna, why didn’t you tell me this when you first came to see me?  You have a
very strong case to end your marriage.  When did it happen?”

Anna
took a sip of her coffee and tried to summon her courage.  “Last Friday,” she
whispered.

Nigel’s
face blanched with shock.  “I think you’d better tell me what happened.”

For
the next thirty minutes, Anna told him about meeting her husband and her
subsequent ordeal in the hotel bedroom. 

When
she had finished, she pleaded with him.  “Please don’t tell Jason.  I couldn’t
bear it if he knew.  He would want me to press charges.”

“And
he’d be right!” said Nigel.  “Anna, no man, husband or not, has the right to
violate a woman like that.”  He thought rapidly.  “Did you see a doctor?”  She
shook her head.  “You should have!  For the sake of your own health and also a
doctor’s report would have gone a good way in helping your divorce.”

“I
just wanted to try and forget it ever happened.”

“I
think that would be impossible,” he said softly.