Rotten to the Core (45 page)

Kate helped Paul put a very tired little Sophia to bed an hour or so later. If Paul had been in any doubt of how Kate had felt about meeting his daughter
,
he needn’t have
worried
. Kate had soon had him laughing with her when she had explained what she had first thought she may have been walking into at the beginning of the evening.
A
dmitt
ing that
she had felt jealous before she had arrived,
she
had been relieved to see that the special person had in fact turned out to be a beautiful little girl.

They had spoken for hours about everything
:
Kate
’
s kidnap, her mother’s death, Paul
’s
ex
-
wife, everything had tumbled out. They laughed, shed tears
,
and finally in the early hours they had fallen into bed, where they had
spent the
night completely wrapped up in each other.

Now
,
she could hardly believe that she was sitting in Paul’s car on her way to the airport, it was all a whirlwind.
A t
wo
-
week
,
all
-
inclusive holiday in the Caribbean. He
had
insisted that a holiday
was
just what she needed. He had mentioned it to Kate
,
and by nine o’clock last night it was all booked online and paid for
;
it was exactly what she needed, the thought of getting away for a while to somewhere hot and sunny was just what the doctor ordered. Paul had arranged for the three of them to go, including Sophia, and Kate was
very
happy.

Sophia had taken to her straight away and vice versa,
but
this would be the perfect opportunity for them all to get to know one another properly.
Kate
had barely had time to pack,
but
she had thought she could
buy more
bikinis at the airport.

Emma and Billy had waved her off this morning and told her to enjoy herself. Billy had told Paul that he would keep an eye on the club, and Kate had a feeling that Billy would be keeping more than an eye on Emma
,
too
,
while they were away. She had seen a few glances between them
;
they seemed to be good mates,
and
there was definitely
the
potential for more, she had a strong suspicion that maybe something had already begun between them
:
because if it hadn’t already, it was just a matter of time. Billy was really making a real effort with Emma
,
Kate
had noticed. Billy had never really taken to Emma
before
, he had always thought that she was a bad influence on Kate
,
but ever since he had found her at the flat, he
was
much more patient and caring towards her. Kate had seen them
joking together
over the last couple of days, and they seemed at ease in each other’s company
.
H
opefully they would both put the past behind them, and it pleased Kate that some good had come out of the whole thing. Kate was pleased at how well everyone seemed to be getting on; it
was
amazing how
a
crisis
brought
people together. Her brother and Paul got on famously
;
it was almost like they were best mates and it made her happy that there was genuine respect and friendship
between them
.

Paul pulled up into a space at the airport’s long stay car park, looking at his watch he smiled at Kate
.

             
“We’re almost four hours early
;
is that enough time for you to squeeze in a bit of retail therapy
,
missy?”

She smiled back
;
she had nagged him to pick her up as early as possible this morning, she was so excited, she would have gone to the airport last night if she
could
have got away with it.

             
“
Y
es, four hours should be just enough time, and who knows we may even have a spare two minutes at the end of my little shopping spree for a quick coffee
.”
They made their way into the terminal to check in their bags
,
Kate holding Sophia’s hand while Paul
got
a
trolley
for
their
luggage.
Kate couldn’t stop
smiling;
how life
had changed
in just the space of a few days. It was like everything, for the first time in her life, had fallen into place. This holiday
was what she needed: sun, sea
and Paul to herself. Then
,
looking down at the gorgeous girl holding her hand and smiling up at her, she thought
‘
almost’ to
her
self
,
if she had to share him with anyone
it would be with
this adorable little girl.
As
if he could read her mind, a habit of his,
Paul
took
Kate’s
hand
.

             
“Come on Kate, let’s get rid of these bags
then
go and do some serious damage to my credit card
.
F
our hours isn’t very long for a woman to shop and
,
knowing you, that will be barely enough time to do just one store
.
”
H
e laughed
,
as they made their way to the check
-
in desk.

Jay slowly shook his throbbing head. It was pitch
-
black
;
he couldn’
t
see
anything.
H
e had no idea how long he had been unconscious
and no
idea where he was.
P
ain seared through him, making him feel weak and sick. He felt
as if
his body w
ere
covered in bruises
:
which
,
after
what
he had endured
from
Ryan, it
probably
was.

Trying to sit, he whacked his head on something hard and fell straight back down into
a lying
position. Reaching to feel where he was, he seemed to be inside a box
: a
small, solid
,
wooden box.
Pushing the
sides,
he began to panic, he wasn’t good at being closed in at the best of times and the feeling of claustrophobi
a
was making him feel physically sick with fear.

Shouting for help, he wondered where the hell Billy had put him
;
he prayed that someone, somewhere
,
would hear his cries. Clawing his fingers across the top
of the box
, splinters from the wood piercing his skin, he tried to see if he could climb out
;
he tried to use his
whole
body by turning onto his stomach and putting his back behind the top of the box as he tried to force his
way out, but he could barely get off the floor, it was stuck solid.

He figured that he
had been in there for a long time,
as he now noticed the lack of oxygen he had, and was sure that he would run out quite soon.
Fear and panic made h
is breathing erratic, and the air was gradually dwindling.

Frantically
,
he
kicked
and hit the walls but nothing
gave
. He was trapped. He started to cry.
It was a
sign of weakness, he knew, but there was no-one to see his tears or witness how low he had sunk. There was no-one to help him, this was it for him. Billy had caught up with him, and he was going to end his days buried alive.

Jay
thought about all the people he had done wrong to
and
all the shit he had gone through in his life. He had wanted so much more than this for
he had had
. He had always said that he would do better than his old ma
n
, and for a while he thought that he had. But he was no better; in fact
,
he was worse. Billy had been right, nobody would give a shit if he was dead or alive.
S
tupidly
,
he had
let Tanya get one over on him.
He was s
ure that he would have got away with it if it
hadn’t been
for her damn greed. He had
had
no idea how callous she
was
.
She was a cold
-
hearted bitch that one.
It was i
ronic though
,
he thought, that he
had
used woman all his life and the first woman he had ever loved, the first women he had ever trusted
,
had done nothing but use him back
: although n
one of that mattered now.

It’s funny the thoughts that pop into your head as you die
;
he remembered hearing
about how a person’s
life flashes before
their eyes
when
they’re
dying
:
a slideshow of photos and video clips kep
t
in
the
subconscious. Memories you shared, the faces of people you loved and that loved you. He waited for
the slideshow
, but all he saw was darkness.

He could taste the salt of his tears, and he could smell that he had soiled himself
.
I
t wasn’t the  exit that he
had
imagined he would have
from
this
life. He had often wondered if he would have died from a beating or a stab wound. The kind of dealings he had been involved in, knives and guns were never far away. A bit more fitting for him
,
he felt
, would have been
to go out in a blaze of glory. This was something else altogether.

He was alone, crying like a baby and scared, and as he struggled to gulp his last few mouthfuls of air, he could almost feel his lungs explode with the struggle.

The face that flashed before Jay Shaw’s eyes as he slipped out of this life minutes later was that of a
smug-looking Billy O’Connell
.