Lost Angel (31 page)

Or maybe he wouldn’t bother.

Maybe he’d just go back in the morning and see if he’d got lucky.

As well as the toothbrush they had originally set out for, Angel had a new dress, a couple of tops, a pair of jeans, a nightie and her first-ever pair of high-heeled shoes in her bags by the time they got back to Lisa’s that evening.

Too tired to cook after all the walking around, Lisa ordered a Chinese takeaway. Then, later, she opened a bottle of wine and gave Angel a glass as they cuddled up on the couch to watch a film together.

Unused to alcohol, Angel was more than ready for her bed by the time the film had finished. When Lisa checked on her a short time later and saw that she was fast asleep, she smiled and quietly closed the door. Then she ran herself a sweet-smelling bubble bath, and started getting ready for Johnny.

Johnny didn’t arrive until two in the morning – and Lisa was lucky he’d come at all.

He’d spent the afternoon and most of the evening playing hardball with a Dutch buyer called Arjen, who had seemed to think that Johnny would agree to pick up luxury cars to order and then ship them over to Amsterdam for a much lower rate than he charged his other buyers. In need of food and fun by the time he had finally managed to talk the man around to his way of thinking, Johnny had treated them all to dinner at The Hilton to seal the deal.

Reformed-character Dave had boringly opted to go home to his wife after the meal, but their new friend was still raring to go, so Johnny took him to a nightclub and introduced him to the delights of Manchester by chucking a load of booze down his neck, powder up his nose, and girls into his lap.

They ended the night in a Chinatown casino, where Johnny won fifteen grand at the poker table – and promptly lost it again on the roulette wheel. Up for an orgy by the time they left, Arjen invited Johnny and the girls back to his hotel to carry on the party. But Johnny wasn’t into other blokes watching him at it, so he declined politely and hailed a cab for himself and his bird, who had already suggested that they go to her place for a private party of their own.

And she’d been as fit as fuck, so Johnny had been well up for it. But after a couple of minutes in the back of the cab, with nowhere for her rank breath to go but up his nose, his stomach had started churning and he’d ordered the driver to pull over.

‘Where are we going?’ the girl asked, trying to follow him when he climbed out.

‘
We
’re going nowhere, darlin’,’ Johnny said, pushing her back in and closing the door before handing the driver a couple of twenties.

‘What’s wrong?’ she persisted, opening the window now and giving him a fresh blast.

‘Jeezus, love, you need to see a dentist,’ he told her, grimacing as he took a few more notes out of his wallet and thrust them through the window at her. ‘Here, go and buy some mouthwash.’

‘Fuck you!’ she snarled, snatching them.

Quipping ‘Not with breath like that, you won’t,’ Johnny walked away in search of another cab.

He found Lisa fast asleep on the couch with a sheet draped lightly over her. Grinning when he lifted the corner and saw the red satin basque and black silk stockings she was wearing, he squatted down beside her and put his lips to her ear.

‘Hey, sleeping beauty . . . wakey, wakey.’

Lisa opened her eyes and smiled sleepily up at him. ‘I thought you weren’t coming,’ she said, sliding her arms around his neck.

‘And miss out on my surprise? No chance.’

‘Do you like it?’ she asked, pushing the sheet off so that he could see the whole of her outfit.

‘Love it,’ Johnny said. ‘Go and make sure Angel’s asleep.’

Lisa wrapped the sheet around herself, tiptoed upstairs and peeped into the spare room. Angel was curled up on her side, her hair fanned out on the pillow around her pretty face, her breathing slow and deep.

‘Sleeping like a baby,’ Lisa assured Johnny when she came back down. ‘I think the wine must have really gone to her head.’

‘Wine?’ On the couch by now, Johnny frowned up at her. ‘What did you give her wine for? She’s too young.’

‘Oh, come on, she’s a big girl now,’ Lisa argued, sitting astride him. ‘One little glass of wine isn’t going to hurt her, is it?’

‘I suppose not,’ Johnny conceded, pulling her towards him.

Lisa closed her eyes when he kissed her, and ran her fingers through his hair before reaching down between her legs to unzip his fly.

‘Oh, that’s hard,’ she moaned. ‘Oh, yeah, baby, you can give me some of that . . .’

‘
Ssshhh
,’ Johnny hissed.

Determined to keep his mind on the job at hand, Lisa grabbed his face in her hands and sucked his tongue into her mouth as she lowered herself slowly onto his cock.

‘Oh, Jeezus,’ he groaned when she started riding him in a circular motion, gradually increasing the speed until he thought his balls were going to explode.

‘
Ssshhh
,’ she mimicked, sinking her teeth into his neck.

‘Bitch,’ Johnny muttered, both loving and hating the pain. When he could take no more, he flipped Lisa onto her back and gave her what she was asking for.

‘Wow, where did
that
come from?’ she gasped, clinging to him when he’d finished. ‘I won’t be able to walk in the morning.’

‘You always get me going, darlin’,’ he told her, grinning as he sat up.

‘Yeah, ’cos I’m the best,’ Lisa said huskily.

‘Sure are,’ Johnny confirmed, winking as he zipped himself back up. ‘Right, I’d best get going.’

‘You’re
going
?’ Lisa echoed, a look of disbelief replacing the smile of satisfaction. ‘I thought you were staying the night?’

‘Angel’s here,’ he said, as if he thought she’d forgotten.

‘She’s fast asleep,’ Lisa reminded him. ‘And I’ll set the alarm to make sure we’re up before her in the morning. She’ll never even know you were here.’

‘Nah, can’t risk it.’ Johnny took his cigarettes out of his pocket and lit up.

‘Where are you going?’ Lisa demanded, her eyes flashing with suspicion. ‘I know you’re not going back to yours, ’cos there’s no way you’d stay with Rita on your own. You’re going to see some other woman, aren’t you?’

‘You reckon I’ve got the energy for another woman after what we’ve just done?’ Johnny laughed. ‘I’m not fucking superman.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ Lisa argued, tears sparkling in her eyes.

‘Look, I’m going home,’ Johnny told her truthfully. ‘I need to check that the old bitch is still alive, for starters. And the nurse told me to put together a bag for Ruth, so I’ve got to sort that.’

‘Do it in the morning,’ Lisa implored, clutching at his hand. ‘Please, Johnny, it’s been ages since you’ve stayed the night, and I just want to go to sleep with your arms around me.’

‘You know I would if I could,’ he crooned, pulling her against him and hugging her. ‘But I can’t.’

‘I hate this,’ she complained, resting her head on his chest. ‘Ruth’s had you for years, and even now she’s in hospital she’s
still
pulling all the strings.’

‘Don’t start,’ Johnny muttered, pulling away. ‘You knew I was married when we got into this, so there’s no point moaning about it.’

‘Yeah, and you said you wished you’d picked me instead of her.’

‘I do.’ Johnny sighed. ‘But I’ve got to put Angel first.’

‘She won’t be a child for much longer,’ Lisa pointed out. ‘Anyway, she loves me, so she’d come to terms with it pretty fast if she found out about us. It wouldn’t hurt her half as much if she knew you’d left her mum for
me
rather than some random slag she’d never clapped eyes on in her life.’

‘I’m not leaving Ruth for anyone,’ said Johnny. ‘Not right now, anyway.’

‘But you’re still going to do it when Angel’s old enough?’ Lisa asked, hope sparking in her heart that these years she’d spent pining for him hadn’t been wasted after all.

‘I’m too tired for this,’ Johnny said with finality. ‘We’ve had fun tonight, so let’s just leave it at that, eh?’

Lisa drew back her head and gaped at him. ‘Are you finishing with me?’

‘Did I say that?’ Johnny asked. Smiling slyly when she shook her head and he saw the relief in her eyes, he said, ‘I’ll try and come round in the morning before I go to work. But if I can’t make it, take her out again. Go to the pictures, or something.’

‘So, you mean you
won’t
be coming.’

‘No, I mean I’m definitely going to try. But anything could happen between now and then. The yard could go up in flames, or Ruth could take a turn for the worse.’

Lisa sighed resignedly. ‘Okay, I’ll see you when I see you.’

Johnny grinned and gave her a slow kiss before leaving.

Cold when he’d gone, Lisa snatched the sheet off the floor and wrapped it around her shoulders before making her way up to the bedroom. All the effort she’d made to look sexy for him, and it had been all over in a flash. She didn’t know why she bothered.

25

Angel overslept for the first time in years. She wasn’t quite sure where she was when she first opened her eyes but, when she remembered, she smiled and stretched her arms out above her head.

Revelling in the freedom of being able to get up in her own time, without her mum or nan barking at her to hurry up, she had a wash and got dressed, and then went downstairs to make Lisa some breakfast. But Lisa had already gone out and had left twenty quid, a key and a note on the kitchen table.

Angel picked the note up and read that Lisa had gone to the dentist and would be going straight to her mum’s from there so probably wouldn’t be back until late afternoon. Angel was to help herself to anything she wanted, and use the money to go shopping if she got bored. Oh, and ps: her dad had rung while she was asleep to say that something had cropped up, but he would come round to see her after he’d finished work tonight.

Disappointed to have missed her dad’s call, but not overly surprised that he’d put work before her, Angel made herself a cup of tea and a piece of toast, and then phoned Vicky to see if she fancied going into town. Fed up when Vicky’s mum informed her that Vicky had just gone swimming with some of her friends, Angel gazed out of the window at the lovely blue sky. It was boring walking around town by yourself, but too nice a day to waste sitting inside. So she went to the shops and bought herself a couple of magazines, and then went to the park at the end of the road.

Even in the blazing sunshine, the park looked dismal. There was a tiny playground to the left of the path as she entered, comprising a set of seatless swings, a see-saw, and a lopsided roundabout. Beyond that, a bricked-up toilet block squatted beside an old tennis court that had long ago lost its net. But it was still better than being stuck in the house all day by herself, so Angel found herself a nice patch of grass and settled down to read the magazines.

She’d read one and had just started on the other when she heard the sound of a child crying out in pain. She shielded her eyes with her hand and peered around. A group of young girls were huddled together in the doorway of the toilet block on the other side of the park. Concerned that one of them might have had an accident, Angel got up and strolled towards them.

As she got closer, one of the girls glanced around and, eyes widening, legged it towards the gate at the far side of the park. Angry when she saw that the two girls who were left behind were kneeling on top of another smaller one, pulling her hair and punching her, Angel yelled, ‘Hey! Pack that in!’

The girls stopped what they were doing at the sound of her voice and raced after their friend, and Angel rushed to their victim. The little girl was sitting up by now, crying as she examined her bloodied knees.

‘Are you all right?’ Angel asked, squatting down beside her.

The girl nodded, but it was obvious to Angel that she was hurt. Her bushy hair was standing out in clumps around her head, and her tear-streaked face was covered in welts from where the girls had raked her with their nails before setting about her with their fists.

‘Do you know them?’ Angel asked, peering angrily around to see if the girls were still in sight.

‘Yeah, but it don’t matter,’ the little one said, sniffing and making little gulping sobbing noises. ‘I just wanna go h-home.’

‘I’ll walk with you,’ Angel told her, helping her to her feet. ‘Do you live near here?’

The girl nodded and pointed towards the gate. The scent of urine wafted up from her, and Angel suspected that she had probably pissed herself with fear. But she quickly realised that it might not be that recent when she noticed the child’s dirty dress, and the streaks staining both of her skinny legs. Angel felt sorry for her. As badly as her own mother had treated her over the years, at least she had always been fed and her clothes had been washed. But this skinny little thing looked like she hadn’t eaten in weeks, and she stank to high heaven.

Angel felt a little thrill of revulsion when the child reached for her hand, but she swallowed it and walked her out of the park. The girl led her past Lisa’s house and around two corners, but as they were approaching the house that she’d pointed out as being hers the front door opened and a woman with an equally skinny face and wild hair came out carrying a bulging bin bag.

‘Oi!’ she yelled when she clocked her child walking hand in hand with a stranger. ‘What’s going on?’ She dropped the bag and ran out onto the pavement. ‘What’s she supposed to have done?’ she demanded, snatching the girl away and glaring at Angel.

Shocked by her aggressiveness, Angel took a step back. ‘She’d not done anything,’ she said. ‘Some kids were beating her up in the park, so I walked her home.’

‘What kids?’ the woman demanded, glaring at her daughter now.

The girl winced and raised her arms as if she was expecting to get hit. ‘Kerry, Simone and Danielle,’ she stuttered.

‘And you just stood there and let them?’ Her mother clumped her across the side of her head. ‘How many times have I told you to stand up for yourself, you stupid little cow?’

‘Hey, there’s no need for that,’ Angel protested. ‘There were three of them, and they looked a lot bigger than her.’