Different (15 page)

"I haven't done this before,” she said nervously, sitting perched on the far edge of her seat and holding onto the door handle as though ready to take flight.

"I believe you,” he said, smiling reassuringly, “but can we talk about it over dinner? I don't know about you but I'm hungry."

She relaxed slightly and nodded. “I haven't eaten for almost two days,” she said, “That's why I'm...” She broke off embarrassed.

"Well, let's go and eat first . .?” He looked at her questioningly.

"Abby,” she said, “Abigail."

"Right Abby, I'm Russell, let's go.” He put the car into gear and pulled away. He drove with the heater on and before they'd gone more than a few miles he saw her head begin to droop.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the car park of his hotel. Abby was still fast asleep, he shook her arm gently and saw confusion and apprehension in her eyes when she saw the hotel sign.

"Come on Abby, we'll go to my room, freshen up and then go and get something to eat."

She hung back while he opened the door to his room, flipped on the lights and held it open for her. Abby took a deep breath, went in and stood looking nervously at the bed. Closing the door, Russell walked over to her; she flinched when he took her arm and turned her around to face him. Her whole body was tensed.

He half turned and pointed to a small door. “The bathroom's through there. Why don't you freshen up a bit and I'll see you over at the restaurant. It's just outside the main entrance and I'll meet you there when you're ready.” Without giving her a chance to reply, he strolled from the room. He wasn't certain whether she'd quietly slip away or join him later. Either way it didn't really matter because to him it was the game that mattered, the thrill of the chase, and anyway one telephone call would get him a bed companion for the night. Smiling to himself, Russell entered the restaurant and made his way over to the bar.

He was sitting at his table and watching a clown who was working the tables. The clown was obviously an expert balloon modeller, for the dog he'd made and handed to a delighted woman sitting at a nearby table, looked just like Pluto.

There was a light touch on his arm and Abby smiled down at him. “I'm sorry if I've been a long time."

The girl looked great, she'd washed and brushed her hair and applied some make up, and the pale blue dress she wore was a little creased but it matched the pale-blue of her eyes, which were fixed on him expectantly.

Russell stood and pulled out a chair for her, and after they were both seated he flashed her a smile. “You look really good Abby, now what would you like to drink?

She ordered a drink he'd never heard of and it came in a bottle without a glass, and as she sipped it straight from the bottle, he imagined her putting her mouth around his dick and groaned with desire.

He settled for a steak, she opted for the spare ribs and when the meals arrived, she stared at the mass of food on her plate and then ravenously began to eat.

He waited until the table had been cleared and pulled out his mobile phone and put it on the table. “Hadn't you better ring your folks and tell them you're ok?"

"No! They were glad to get rid of me and I never want to see them again!"

He shrugged and placed a fifty-pound note under the bill, hiding his pleasure of her confirmation that she wouldn't be missed. “Come on Abby, it's time to get laid."

In the bedroom, she undressed shyly and he waited patiently because tomorrow she'd become one of the group, an inhabitant of The Devil's Footprint.

She stuffed the two fifty pound notes he'd given her into her back pack and climbed into bed next to him. After they finished their lovemaking they lay side by side with her head resting on his chest.

"How would you like to stay with me at my place for a few days, Abby? I'll pay you two-hundred-pounds a day."

"Yes,” she said moving up to kiss him. “Yes, I'd like that."

Mary and Jay were taken home in a police car in the early hours of the morning. They had decided, that as Mary, couldn't face going back to an empty house alone, Jay would stay with her. Jay was afraid there might be reporters still waiting outside her grandparents’ house, and she too didn't want to be on her own.

Neither of them felt much like sleeping and so they sat on the sofa drinking tea and trying to help each other come to terms with what had happened.

"I hope Cassie pulls through,” Mary said. “She seemed really nice."

"She is,” Jay said, putting Cassie back into the present tense. “I should have tried to heal her, but with Granddad and your Dad..."

"Don't blame yourself it all happened so fast. I still can't believe it's really happened. I keep expecting to wake up..."

"Don't Mary, or you'll have us both crying again and I thought I was all cried out."

"When are you going to ring your uncle?”

"Oh, hell! I forgot about that. Can I use your phone?"

"Help yourself, but won't they be in bed? Perhaps you ought to wait until the morning."

"No, it's only about half-past-seven over there. They're five or six hours behind us,” Jay said, walking over to the phone, she picked up the receiver and dialled.

"You know their number? I thought you hadn't rung them for ages."

Jay nodded and listened to the phone at the other end of the line ringing. “Yes, in February on my cousin Scott's eighteenth birthday, but I've always been able to remember numbers."

"Hi, this is Peter Williams..."

"Uncle Peter, its Jay, I ... I have some terrible...” Despite her resolve, she started to sob and the receiver fell from her hand. As she tried to pull herself together, she could hear her uncle's anxious voice coming from the handset dangling from its cord.

"Jay ... Jay ... Are you ok Honey?"

Then Mary was beside her and she picked it up. “Mr. Williams, I'm Mary Slymond, Jay's friend,” she said. “Someone killed my dad and Jay's granddad tonight.” Though tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks, Mary's voice remained calm and clear.

"Oh, my God!” Jay could hear the shock and horror in her uncle's voice. “Why? What happened, are Jay and my Mom, ok?"

"I'm sorry, but your Mom died from a heart attack earlier tonight. We were standing outside the hospital afterwards when the shooting happened,” For the first time her voice began to falter, “It was horrible. One moment we were standing talking and the next..."

"Hey, don't. I've got the picture and you can tell me the rest when I get over there. Is Jay staying with you?"

"Yes,” Mary said and told him her address.

"I'll be on the next flight over,” Jay's uncle said, and the line went dead.

Mary hung up and put her arm around Jay's shoulders. “Are you ok?"

Jay sniffed and smiled her gratitude. “And I thought I was supposed to be the strong one."

"What? My dad raised me on shredded wheat,” Mary said, clinging together they laughed and cried together, comforting each other.

Jay awoke feeling drained and saw it was only seven-o-clock. They'd only managed a couple of hours sleep between them. They had told each other about the special times they'd had, Mary with her father and Jay with her grandparents. They'd alternated between a state of almost frivolousness and the depths of despair as the reality of the situation finally sank in.
Still,
Jay thought,
it's probably for the best we share our grief than to have to mourn alone
. Not that their mourning was over, she knew, but today there were practical things that had to be done.

Mary was sprawled in her dad's armchair and snoring softly, Jay went into the kitchen and switched on the kettle, intending to wake Mary up with a hot cup of tea. Some one knocked on the front door and Jay hurried back into the living room but Mary was already opening the door. David stood on the step and behind him were Sophie and Carl
God I must look a mess,
Jay thought, but already their visitors were coming into the room, Sophie of course looking as though she'd just come straight from the hairdressers.

"We thought we'd come and see if you were all right, or whether there's anything we can do,” David said. “It's been all over the news this morning."

"Yes, Sophie said, “Four people killed outside the hospital..."

"Four?” Jay cut in. She had a sudden cold feeling. “Cassie Harper the BBC reporter?"

Carl nodded. “Yes, she died in intensive care this morning."

"But that's only three people,” Mary said. “Jay's grandmother wasn't shot, she had a heart attack."

"No. The police found a guy who'd been shot in a stolen car on the hospital car park,” David said. “They're still trying to identify him."

To Jay's surprise, Carl reached out and took Mary's hand in his. “Would you like me to knock the day off school and..."

Mary shook her head, but then raising herself up on her toes, she lightly kissed him on the lips. “Thanks, but no. Jay's relatives are on their way over from America and we really do have a lot to sort out."

"Mary's right,” Jay said, stunned by the apparent intimacy between her and Carl. “Look, why don't you ring us later, when we've had time to sort things out."

Sophie glanced at Carl and then Mary and looking at Jay, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. Jay gave a shrug to say she hadn't known there was anything between the pair either and Sophie nodded her understanding.

"Right, we'd better get off then,” David said. “Oh and Auntie Pauline said if you need her..."

"Thanks, David,” Mary said. “Oh, there's a police car pulling up outside."

Jay felt strange almost like a disembodied observer of what was happening around her. There was an aching emptiness inside her as the reality of the situation gnawed at her subconscious. Her grandparents were dead and she'd never see or hear them again. She wanted to run away, to hide herself away, but then she felt a reassuring hand on her arm and re-focussed onto Mary. Her friend was looking at her in concern and speaking to her, but it took Jay a few seconds to comprehend what she was saying.

"...and they want to have a word with us about last night."

The woman detective who'd spoken to them at the hospital last night was also in the room along with a man.

"Are you all right, Jay,” the woman asked. “Perhaps I'd better ask a doctor to come and give you another sedative."

"No,” Mary said. “She'll be ok. I'll take care of her."

Jay made an effort to pull herself together and managed a smile, which to her felt more like a grimace. “Sorry, I just lost it for a second,” she said, “but I'll be all right now."

The woman, Rebecca Carlyle, Jay remembered her name, looked unconvinced, but then shrugged. “I'm sorry to have to bother you today of all days, because I can imagine how you're feeling, but it's about the man found dead in the car. Mary did you know a man called Alex Matthews?"

Mary looked at Jay in surprise before nodding. “Yes, was he the ...?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so,” The policewoman said. “Have you any idea why he was sitting in a stolen car outside your house last night, or what he was doing at the hospital?"

"A friend of yours was he?” the male detective asked.

"No, not really,” Mary said. “He'd taken some photographs of me getting changed and tried to blackmail me and another girl, Julie Thomas, into having sex with him and Carl, the night before last, but Carl stopped him. He'd deleted the photos from the disc."

"So Alex would have been pissed off with Carl, so why would he be hanging around your house, or follow you to the hospital?” the detective asked.

Jay listened in surprise as Mary described the incident with the coffee and Carl threatening Alex.

"It looks as though Alex was blaming you for Carl and him falling out,” Rebecca said. “He was drunk and looking for a way of getting his revenge on you. What do you think, Sergeant Harris?"

"I think you're right, but when he got to the hospital he must have seen the gunman and that's why he was shot. Matthews was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jay heard another car pull up outside. “That will be my uncle. He's flown over from America."

Rebecca glanced through the window and swore. “Damn! It's the press! You and Mary keep out of sight and I'll see if I can get rid of them."

Oh, please not again,
Jay thought and turned to Mary. “We're going to have to find somewhere else to stay for a few days; otherwise we're going to get microphones in our faces every time we go out."

"It looks as though we've got here just in time Jay, because I know just the place."

The voice came from the direction of the door behind her and she stared at her uncle, and the young broad shouldered man standing beside him in surprise.

"Uncle Peter! Scott?” She hadn't realised how handsome Scott had become, his gangling frame had been replaced with muscle and he was at least six-foot.

"Hi, Jay,” he said, strode forward and hugged her. “Dad and I are here now. We'll sort things out together, as a family."

Jay looked over his shoulder at her uncle and could see the shock and the barely concealed grief in his eyes. Anna and Tom had been his Mom and Dad and she wanted to go to him. Wanted to tell him how much she'd loved them too, but then Rebecca came back into the room followed by Aunt Sharon, Scott's Mum, and the moment was lost.

Pulling free of Scott, she introduced the police officers to her family and then went and took Mary's hand in her own.

"This is Mary, my best friend,” she said. “Her Dad was shot too. We've been taking care of each other, and as far as I'm concerned she's a part of my family too."

Uncle Peter smiled for the first time and then nodded. “Mary and I spoke together on the phone,” he said. “Welcome to the family, Mary."

Mary blushed and looked as though she wanted to bolt from the room and Jay tightened her grip on her hand. “Don't you bloody well dare, Mary Slymond! We're sisters, now."

"I've got rid of the press for now, but they'll be back,” Rebecca said. “Shaun and I had better get back to the office. It was nice meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Williams, you too Scott. You have my number if you want to get in touch, Jay."