Snatched (5 page)

Still, he only had himself to blame. If she’d been any other girl, the lads would have slapped him on the back and congratulated him for getting himself a fit young bird. But he’d had to go and get caught up with Dave Miller’s daughter. And he really should have known better, because Dave was one of the biggest troublemakers in Manchester. Consequently, a year on, Terry was
still
getting shit from all sides. And, much as he loved Leanne, the way she acted around her mates, he couldn’t help but wonder why he bothered.

Picking up four cans of beer and a pack of tobacco from the late shop on Great Western Street, Terry went back to the park and sat on a bench overlooking the dirty, rubbish-littered lake. Rolling himself a cigarette, he tore the tab off one of the cans and took a long drink. It was freezing out here, but he was determined not to go back until Leanne had had enough time to get rid of her mates. With any luck she might even be asleep and he’d escape the sulking. But it would be
way
too much to hope that she’d cleaned up. No doubt that would be left to him – as usual.

An hour, five smokes, and all four cans later, it started to rain. Drenched to the bone in minutes as the razor-sharp needles pelted down on him, he gave up and went home – only to be pissed off all over again when he came out of the lift and heard the music still pumping out from their flat.

Inside, Leanne had been making a good show of pretending that she was having fun, but she was still fuming about Terry walking out like that. And the longer he stayed out, the angrier she got. So when she heard the front door opening and closing now, followed by the sound of the floorboards creaking as he walked past the living room, she told her friends that she’d be back in a minute and went after him.

Terry had switched on the lamp and was getting undressed when she went into the bedroom. Scowling at him, she said, ‘Where the hell have you been? And don’t say nowhere, because you’ve been ages. And you didn’t take the car, so you must have been close by. So, where were you – and who were you with?’

‘I was out,’ he replied flatly, stepping out of his jeans and peeling his T-shirt off over his head. ‘And now I’m going to sleep, so go back to your party.’

Pursing her lips, Leanne cast a disapproving eye over the wet heap of clothes he’d dropped. ‘I hope you’re not expecting
me
to pick them up and get myself covered in shit?’ she said tartly.

Telling her that he’d do it in the morning, Terry pulled the quilt back and climbed into bed, reaching out to switch off the lamp before lying down.

Immediately flipping the overhead light on, Leanne folded her arms. ‘You still haven’t told me where you’ve been.’

Sighing heavily, Terry reached for the remote and turned the portable TV on. He felt like telling her that he’d been shagging another bird, because that’s what she obviously
thought
he’d been doing. But he didn’t have the energy to deal with the tantrum which would inevitably follow if he did.

Leanne’s chest heaved with irritation as she watched him. Lying there, sulking like a baby just because he hadn’t got his own way. It was pathetic!

‘Why are you being like this?’ she demanded. ‘You made a right show of me back there. Don’t you care that they’re all laughing at me behind my back?’

‘So stop bringing them round when you’ve promised not to and it won’t get to that,’ Terry replied reasonably, his eyes fixed on the TV, even though he wasn’t really watching it.

Stepping in front of the screen to block his view, Leanne said, ‘That’s not fair. You know I only get to chill with them at the weekend.’

‘You’ve got all day every day to
chill
with them,’ Terry reminded her, emphasising the word to let her know how stupid it sounded. ‘But the weekend’s supposed to be
our
time, seeing as I’m working all the rest of the week and hardly get to spend any time alone with you.’

‘No one told you to go and change your stupid shifts,’ she countered moodily. ‘And I don’t see why you bothered if you hate doing lates so much.’

‘You know exactly why.’

‘Oh, what, ’cos me dad threatened you?’ Leanne said sarcastically. ‘Big deal! And I wouldn’t mind, but he doesn’t even work there, so you didn’t have to change your hours at all. You were just being extra.’

Giving her an incredulous look, Terry said, ‘No, ’cos he hasn’t got all the lads at work having a go at me on his behalf, or anything, has he?’

‘It’s not my fault if they like him better than they like you,’ Leanne snapped. ‘So stop having a go at me all the time and deal with it.’

‘Like it’s that easy,’ Terry snapped back, irritated that she was trivialising it when she wasn’t the one who’d had to take all the flak that had been aimed at him for the last year. ‘Anyway, it’s just as well I
did
go for lates,’ he added pointedly. ‘Seeing as the money’s better, and we need every penny we can get while I’m the only one making any effort to clear the debts.’

Narrowing her eyes, Leanne said, ‘Oh, so now I’m a gold-digger, am I? Well, thanks for that, Tez. At least I know what you
really
think of me.’

Instantly regretting the words, Terry flopped his head back against the pillow and ran a hand over his eyes, murmuring, ‘I didn’t mean that. And you know I don’t mind the shifts, but would it kill you to show a bit of gratitude?’

‘
Gratitude
?’ she repeated scathingly. ‘What, like I’m supposed to thank you for keeping me, or something? Like a fucking dog.’

‘All right, consideration, then,’ he corrected himself. ‘I’m wiped, Lee, and all I want is a bit of peace and quiet when we get the chance of a night in together, instead of you fetching these idiots round all the time.’

‘They’re not idiots. They’re my friends.’

‘They’re kids.’

‘They’re exactly the same age as me,
actually
,’ Leanne said sharply. ‘Or is that your
real
point?’

Glancing up at her, Terry let his raised eyebrow answer the question.

‘Christ, anyone would think
you
were my dad,’ she snarled. ‘It’s your problem if you’ve forgotten how to have fun, but I’m
not
letting you turn me into a boring old woman!’

‘As if,’ Terry muttered, closing his eyes. His head was starting to pound, and the beers were beginning to churn in his stomach. ‘All right, can we just drop this now?’ he said wearily. ‘I’m too tired for—’

Before he could finish, one of the girls knocked on the door and called through that Leanne’s mobile was ringing.

Telling her to switch it off, Leanne waited until she’d heard her go back into the living room, then said, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you lately, Terry, but you’re turning into a right miserable get, and it’s getting right on my nerves.’

‘And you’re a selfish bitch.’

‘Bollocks! You’re not the only one who’s had to make sacrifices, you know. I lost all my mates, too.’

‘Oh, so the girls aren’t really here, then?’ Terry said sarcastically. ‘Well, shit, Lee, I wish you’d told me earlier, ’cos I wouldn’t have had to go out in the fucking rain to get away from them, would I?’

‘If you think you’re going to bully me into making them feel unwelcome, you can piss off,’ she hissed. ‘I’ve already lost me dad over you. I’m not losing them as well.’

Terry had had enough. Looking up at her coldly, he said, ‘Get out, Leanne.’

‘You what?’ she squawked, glaring back at him. ‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?’

‘I’m talking to you,’ he snarled. ‘So, go on, piss off back to your mates before we both say something we regret.’

‘The only thing I regret is getting myself hooked up with a tosser like you,’ she spat, marching to the door. ‘And don’t think you’re touching me again till you stop acting like a dick, ’cos you’re not!’

‘Thought I was acting like your dad,’ he reminded her, but she’d already flounced out of the room.

Groaning when he heard the karaoke starting up again a few seconds later, Terry glanced at his watch. It was one in the morning, but to hell with the neighbours. If he had to suffer, so could they.

He turned the TV up and had just rolled a cigarette and was reaching for his lighter when he noticed that his mobile was lit up on the bedside table. He hadn’t heard it ringing because of the noise – and when he saw Leanne’s mum’s name on the screen, he wished he hadn’t seen it, either.

He felt like switching it off, like Leanne had done hers. But, knowing that Carole would come round to see what was going on if she couldn’t get hold of at least one of them, and she was the
last
person he wanted to see right now, he reluctantly picked it up.

‘About time!’ Carole gasped. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of our Leanne but her phone went dead, and yours was just ringing and ringing.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m here now, so what do you want?’ Terry said – as patiently as he could manage, given that the mere sound of her voice wound him up. They were almost the same age, so it was hard for him to treat her with the respect she seemed to think that she was due as his girlfriend’s mother. But it was her nasty habit of forgetting all about Leanne and flirting with him whenever she got the chance that really turned his stomach.

But there was to be no flirting tonight as, sounding remarkably sober for once, Carole grimly informed him about the fire and Connor being taken to hospital.

‘You what?’ All trace of tiredness gone in a flash, Terry sat up and swung his legs out of the bed. ‘Where is he? What’s happened?’

‘He’s all right,’ Carole assured him. Then, less confidently, ‘Least, I
think
he is, or the copper would have said, wouldn’t she?’

‘Copper?’ Terry repeated confusedly, already pulling his damp jeans back on. ‘I thought you said it was a fire? What the hell have the police got to do with it?’

‘
I
don’t know, so there’s no point having a go at me,’ Carole retorted huffily. ‘I just got back from our Lisa’s and found a note through the door telling me to ring this copper. Our Lenny and Fred were both here when she called round earlier, but the ignorant little bastards didn’t answer the door, so I don’t—’

‘Just tell me what she said!’ Terry interrupted, dragging his T-shirt on and shoving his feet into his boots.

Tutting, Carole said, ‘Just that there was a fire and your lad’s at the hospital, and she wants to see you. So, like I said, there’s no point—’

‘What about Nicky?’ Terry cut in again, heading for the door. ‘Is she all right?’

There were several seconds of silence before Carole guiltily admitted that she didn’t know; that she hadn’t thought to ask.

Demanding to know when all this had happened, Terry burst through the living-room door and pushed his way through the girls. Flapping his hand at Leanne to shut up when she started complaining, he muttered, ‘For fuck’s
sake
!’ when Carole told him that she thought it had been a few hours ago. ‘Why the hell didn’t Sue let me know?’

‘
She
’s not there,’ Carole replied caustically. ‘She’s out with that mate of hers again, picking up diseases. Anyway, the copper will tell you more about it when she sees you, ’cos I had to give her your address. Hope you don’t mind, only she said you haven’t told your works where you’d moved to, so I had to.’

Gritting his teeth, Terry asked which hospital Connor had been taken to. Hanging up without thanking her when she’d told him, he snatched his keys off the ledge and headed for the front door.

Following him out onto the communal landing, Leanne demanded to know where he was going. And who he’d been talking to just now. And, more importantly, why had he been talking about that bitch? Was there something she should know? And he needn’t bother lying, because she’d find out.

‘There’s been a fire,’ Terry told her, marching to the lift and jabbing at the button. Slamming his fist into the door when he found that it had somehow broken down in the fifteen minutes or so since he’d used it, he turned on his heel and made for the stairs instead.

‘A fire?’ Rushing to the handrail, Leanne peered after him. ‘Where?’

‘My house,’ he called back. ‘Your mum’s just told me our Connor’s in hospital.’

Furious with him for referring to his ex’s house as
his
, Leanne yelled that she was coming with him. Running back into the flat, she grabbed her jacket and told the girls to let themselves out when they’d finished, then legged it down the stairs after Terry.

If he thought she was letting him go to the hospital without her, he had another think coming. Sue would be there by now, and there was no way Leanne was leaving the bitch room to get her claws into Terry again. Everyone knew she was still after him, and this was the perfect excuse for her to throw herself at him in the guise of needing comfort now that something had happened to their brat of a son.

Terry was in the car with the engine running and his mobile phone to his ear when Leanne hurtled out of the main doors. Jumping into the passenger seat beside him, she scowled at him as she dragged her seat belt on, demanding to know who he was calling now.

Ignoring her, Terry rapped his fingernails on the steering wheel. Tossing the phone into the gap beneath the radio when it went straight to voicemail, he threw the car into reverse.

Instincts bristling, Leanne snatched the phone up and pressed redial. ‘I
knew
it!’ she squawked, her head bouncing off the back of the seat as Terry backed out of the parking space with a squeal of rubber. ‘How come you’ve still got her number, you lying bastard? You
swore
you’d deleted it.’

Keeping his stare fixed on the road, Terry drove on in silence. She was right; he
had
said that he’d deleted Sue’s number, but only to get Leanne off his back. Everything was so cut and dried with her. He could either have
her
, or he could have Sue and his kids – no in-betweens, no ifs or buts. But she was too young to understand that he’d
had
to keep the number in case an emergency like this cropped up. And he was too old to waste his breath explaining.