Grind Their Bones (11 page)

‘Well I hope you’re truly happy now you’ve unravelled the mystery and discovered that your baby sister is a fucking lunatic? Use whatever words you like. Unstable, depressive, insane, not to be trusted with her own children in case those dark little voices inside her head compel her to do something unspeakable.’

Her pretty face was twisted up into a sneer of sheer hatred, some of it directed at me, but seemingly most of it being directed squarely at herself. I found myself overwhelmed with guilt that she had landed on my doorstep in what was clearly a cry for help, and I’d been so wrapped up in my work and my own comparatively happy life that I’d not even noticed.

‘Emily, I am so, so sorry; I had no idea how much you were hurting and what was going on. If you’d only told me on the phone or when you arrived then I could have been more supportive. I could have tried to help.’

I stepped towards her and the anger flared up in her again as she bared her teeth at me in warning like an animal.

‘I didn’t want you making allowances for me, I didn’t want you to do what everybody else is doing and start treating me like some kind of MADWOMAN.’

She was shouting now, starting to lose what little self control she still possessed. I stretched out my arms towards her but she backed away.

‘No Zara, it’s far too late for that now. I’m leaving and I’ll never see you again after today. But here’s something to remember me by.’

Without further warning she launched both plates of spaghetti in my direction, spattering me and the carpets and furniture with scolding hot pasta sauce.

Chapter 35

Elizabeth could see that he was impressed from the moment that he arrived to pick her up from the kerbside on a quiet country lane. His expression remained friendly and neutral, but he was unable to prevent himself running a lingering gaze over every inch of her like a caress. She understood his desire for discretion and was happy enough to respect it too, but a small part of her had been irritated at having to walk right out the far end of town and half a mile along a dirt track in her best heels. Of course that part had swiftly disappeared when his brand new silver Jaguar glided into view. The car was a thing of beauty, and she’d slid easily into the electronically warmed passenger seat and savoured the newness of the aromas – leather, polish and pine air freshener – that saturated the air inside.

‘My apologies for the choice of meeting place. I trust that the walk wasn’t too much of an inconvenience for you?’

His voice was deep and full, not a trace of the infirmity of age, although she guessed that he was probably older than her mother, who looked practically ancient by comparison due to the ravages of her illnesses.

‘Actually there was a point halfway up this track when I cursed the fact that I hadn’t worn my trainers, but at least you didn’t leave me standing and waiting for long.’

She worked hard to keep the ghost of petulance out of her words and finished the sentence with a dazzling smile.

‘In that case I’ll need to work extra hard to make it up to you tonight then, won’t I?’

He returned the smile casually and waited for her to clip in the seatbelt before he pulled smoothly away.

‘So do I have to wait until we arrive at wherever you’re taking me before you share any details of this opportunity, or are you going to give me some little teasers on the way?’

She looked over at him, fluttering her eyelashes playfully when he risked a glance back.

‘I always find that anticipation heightens the experience in life, but you’ll be finding out soon enough.’

He faced forwards again looking thoroughly pleased with himself and Elizabeth found herself thinking about the stun gun momentarily again.

‘How do you know that I’ll like it when I do find out?’ she asked innocently, noticing that he was concentrating more on their surroundings than on her now and wondering how often he’d done this kind of thing before.

‘Because I know what I want and I know what you want to, and between us I know that we can be part of something special.’

He guided the Jaguar around a tight turn to the right, heading right up into the hills and woodland, and the conversation died away for a few minutes. Elizabeth turned her face to the window to hide her disappointment from him, making a pretence of looking out at the view. Earlier in the day she’d been dwelling on thoughts of a fine hotel with champagne and a big bed, not some leafy glade in the open air with bugs flying around and thorns scratching up her legs. Still, if it got her what she wanted then she’d endure it this time around.

‘Since I can see your scowl in reflected in the window, I’ll just let you in on the fact there’s a cottage further along this track, and it’s got all of the usual creature comforts.’

His voice shocked her back out of her thoughts and she blushed, and turned back towards him, pasting on a guilty look as she mentally kicked herself.

‘I’m sorry. I was deep in thought and I tend to scowl when I’m thinking. Anywhere that you take me will be absolutely fine.’

She moved her hand across to rest on his thigh for the second time that day and felt the faint quiver of excitement rippling just under the surface of his skin. All was not lost. She was quite sure that he’d forget all about her little slip when they were in the cottage together alone at last.

Chapter 36

I let Emily go in the aftermath of our argument, in considerable pain where the tomato based sauce had touched my bare arms and neck, and not entirely trusting myself to keep my anger at her actions in check if I followed her out into the street. The carpets were probably ruined, but I was more concerned about the burns on my body anyway, so I stripped and had a long cold shower before liberally applying cold antiseptic cream to soothe my tender skin. I had nothing else to get dressed back up for, so I put on some old pyjamas and wrapped my white dressing gown around myself, pulling my hair back away from my face and then twisting it into a wet ponytail.

When I calmed down enough to go back downstairs and surveyed the mess I almost burst into tears. Livid orange stains coated every available surface, with spaghetti and sauce clinging to cushions, carpets, walls and paintings all around the room. It seemed as if the portions had multiplied once they were liberated from the plates, and the damage could easily run into thousands if I ended up having to replace pictures, furniture and the carpets themselves. As sorry as I’d felt for Emily’s situation before and as guilty as I’d been of failing to be there for her this time, I didn’t feel like I deserved this, and hot tears started to run down my face.

I’d bought my house three years ago as a new build, and while it wasn’t exactly palatial, it was a good sized three bedroom semi in a nice area that I’d lovingly decorated myself and filled with objects that I adored. I looked up at one of the ruined paintings on the wall, an oil on canvas picture of a glowing red sunset done by a friend who had since died younger than anybody should have to of a quiet cancer that she’d chosen not to tell anybody else about. I’d never be able to replace it, and I’d never be able to forgive Emily for defacing it and in turn Siobhan’s memory with it.

Wiping at my cheeks with a fluffy sleeve I made my way through to the kitchen and dragged out the box full of cleaning products, running a bowl full of hot soapy water to take through with me. I might not be able to make it all perfect again, but I could try to rescue some of it as a part measure. Hopefully it would distract me from the ugly emotions that were circling so I could pull myself back together, and if Emily had any good sense left in her head at all she’d stay away and leave me to it. As I carried the full bowl back through, I quietly vowed to have nothing to do with her ever again.

Twenty minutes later I was making much better progress into the big clean up than I’d anticipated, and I’d turned on some music to keep me company while I worked. On closer inspection Siobhan’s picture had been treated with some kind of hard-wearing lacquer after she’d finished it, which had protected it from the worst of the damage. There’d be some small red and orange stains left behind, but they wouldn’t stand out too much against the other similar colours in the paint. The carpets were another story and were pretty much completely ditched, but I was so pleased about the painting that I could live what that as a trade off. I stood back and looked around the room again, scouting for stray bits of pasta and spotting another strand relaxing on top of a cushion.

As satisfied as I could be for the time being I moved the bowl of dirty water and stained cloths back through onto the kitchen worktop, realising as I did that I’d still not eaten and feeling my stomach growling. The Italian salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil was still sitting over to one side, and I knew that I had cooked chicken breast still in the fridge which would do for now. A bottle of some dark coloured liquid with a fancy label that was standing next to the hob turned out to be balsamic vinegar, which I drizzled over the salad after I’d arranged some on a plate with the chicken. The food looked good, and I was beginning to feel marginally better already. I’d almost managed to sit down and get the first forkful up to my mouth when the doorbell rang and my body dumped adrenaline into my bloodstream in anticipation of another fight.

Chapter 37

It was immediately obvious as I entered the hallway that the figure behind the front door wasn’t Emily. Even in silhouette it was too tall and stocky to be female, and as it turned its head to the side I caught the outline of glasses on its face. I hesitated for a moment, not immediately recognising the figure behind opaque glass, as they rang the bell in impatience for a second time. Whoever it was they weren’t going to go away without talking to me, it seemed, so I inserted the key and opened up the door.

‘David. What are you doing in these parts?’

My heart sank as my sister’s husband fixed me with his unpleasant stare, curling up one corner of his mouth in a gesture that I imagine was supposed to be a smile of greeting, but which fell a long way short. It was no secret that I was not his biggest fan.

‘Where is Emily?’

His tone was clipped and arrogant, the accent advertising that he had been

educated and raised the expensive way somewhere much further South than

Coventry. As ever he wasn’t going to bother with pleasantries and expected me to just tell him what he wanted upon command so he could go back to more important business.

‘The last time I checked she was married to you. You tell me where she is?’

I wasn’t playing, especially after what she’d told me about his demeanour towards her. If she wanted to be found then she’d call him to come and fetch her as far as I was concerned.

‘She’s been somewhat…distracted recently, and we agreed to have some time apart for her to rest. Unfortunately she’s been ignoring my calls and messages since she left, which has necessitated me having to track her down.’

His body language and facial expression told me what his words didn’t. This was all a big inconvenience and an embarrassment for him and he was acting on that basis rather than out of genuine concern for Emily’s welfare. It seemed like this was merely about saving face to him, and I felt the residual anger from the earlier argument starting to rise back up to dangerous levels again.

‘Didn’t you even consider for one moment speaking to the rest of her family about what condition she was in before now? Do you even really care about her or anybody else at all for that matter?’

I was ranting a little and I knew it, but a tiny part of me wanted to provoke a response, so I could see for myself the darkness in him that Emily had spoken about.

‘So you have seen her then?’

His eyes narrowed and I found myself wishing that I’d chosen my words more carefully.

‘She’s not here now, David. I don’t know where she is. But even if I did you’d be among the very last people that I’d feel inclined to share that information with.’

I glared at him in case he was still in any doubt that I thought he was pond life.

‘That’s disappointing,’ he said, and suddenly shot out his arms, pushing me hard enough to send me reeling back into my hallway and catching me completely off guard. I tried to grab onto something for balance, but my momentum sent me tumbling to the floor and he was in before I could jam my feet against the door.

‘EMILY? IF YOU’RE IN HERE IT WOULD BE IN YOUR INTERESTS TO COME OUT RIGHT NOW.’

His shouting filled my ears in the confined space and I fought to get back to my feet until he placed his foot in the middle of my chest and pushed my back down again.

I was about to begin shouting myself when David lurched violently backwards out of my view and out through the front door, letting out a startled roar as he went. Pushing myself up into a sitting position again I caught sight of the blur of Lee’s fist as he drove it into David’s doubled up body over and over again.

Chapter 38

The cottage looked infinitely better than the prospect of rolling around on a picnic blanket in the great outdoors had been. Elizabeth admired the green wooden shutters that matched the front door and the way that the surrounding woodland seemed to embrace the small stone building protectively, and she started to imagine what it might be like to live up here away from the clutter of the town. She didn’t mind the fact that her silver haired companion had grown increasingly quiet as they had moved away from civilisation, she wasn’t a big fan of small talk at the best of times, and if he was getting nervy and thinking about backing out she was confident that she could get him back on track in a matter of moments.