Topspin (25 page)

“Leave it, love,” he said, covering her hand with his. “You don’t have to do this.”

“No,” she said, smiling wanly. “It’s important you understand it all so you’ll appreciate what Paul’s trying to do to Claire.”

“All right, if you’re sure.” He cast a glance of pure vitriol in Claire’s direction. “Can I get you anything else first?”

“No, Jack, thanks, I’m fine.” She took a deep breath, pushed her hair behind her ears, and carried on talking. “The twins were only a couple of weeks old when Paul came round, the epitome of the model uncle, bearing lavish gifts for the babies and for me. But I knew it was more than just a social call. Within half an hour he was telling me how much the punters loved me and were demanding more. He had another production in mind and was full of how much money it would make for us all.”

“But you didn’t want to know?”

“Too right I didn’t! Paul tried everything to get me to change my mind. You name it, he did it.” She was gripping her glass so tightly that the whites of her knuckles showed. “Cajolery, bribery, threats, the works. And he made Rod keep the pressure up on me, too. But I wasn’t having it. I had the twins to think about and they came first.” She lifted her shoulders. “In the end Paul accepted that I wasn’t going to be bullied into changing my mind and stopped bugging me.”

“But you weren’t sure that he’d leave it at that?” Jack said. “He sounds to me like a nasty piece of work who always wants the last word.”

Angela offered him a wan smile. “You could say that. He wasn’t used to people defying him, you see, and always found ways to get what he wanted. Anyway, I distanced myself from what they were up to for the next few years, although I have to admit I lived well on the proceeds. I just closed my mind to where the money came from, telling myself that if Paul and Rod didn’t do it then someone else would.”

“I don’t see what else you could have done.”

“Paul was in and out of our house all the time. I didn’t like the way that I sometimes caught him looking at me. But he never tried to touch me, or make me participate in his movies again, so I put up with his presence. I couldn’t help overhearing their conversations, often at night when they thought I was asleep. Times were changing and Paul’s customers were after something more extreme.”

Jack gritted his teeth, suspecting he knew what was coming next. “Angie, you really don’t need to go into so much detail.”

“I wish that was true, Jack, but you’d best let me finish.” He topped up her glass and she took another long swig of wine. “I came into the lounge one evening, late. The twins were four at the time and one of them had woken me. I went downstairs to fetch something, and found Rod and Paul watching their latest production on our video. They switched it off as soon as they knew I was in the room, but not quickly enough.”

She looked directly at Jack, who sensed she was finally getting to the crux of her story. “Jack, the two girls starring in the film looked to be about twelve. I couldn’t believe it. Not even of Paul. Rod assured me they were of age, but I didn’t see how they could be. He said they’d dressed them in school uniforms and made them look younger with makeup because that was what the punters wanted, but I knew he was lying. Why switch it off if they didn’t have anything to hide?” She spread her hands, her expression full of misgivings. “It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen it all before. I should have said something.”

“Who could you have told? Anyway, you had no proof. They never would have left that film lying around.”

“No, I suppose not, but I’ve never been able to get it out of my head.”

“The Internet must have been in its infancy about then,” Jack said, doing the calculations in his head. “And attitudes to porn were changing, too. Their video business must have been in decline.”

“That’s what I figured too, which is probably why they were getting more extreme in the hope of keeping their dwindling band of customers loyal.”

“My God!” Claire had been quiet for so long that her voice startled them both.

“I knew then that I’d never feel safe again leaving the twins alone with Paul.”

“Why didn’t you get out, love?” Jack asked.

“I should have left, I know that, but I had no money of my own. Rod handled everything to do with our finances and everything was in his name. I hadn’t protested about that because he said he was protecting me from having any connections to the business. I reckoned, in my naivety, that he was being thoughtful. Besides, where could I go with four-year-old twins in tow and no means of making a living?”

She paused to dash at the tears in her eyes. “Anyway, that’s when I first thought about fending for myself, about my intended career which hadn’t even got off the ground because of Rod, and started my training as a beautician. I thought if I had that to fall back on, I’d be able to support the kids and myself if I ever needed to leave in a hurry.”

“But you didn’t leave immediately, I take it?” Jack asked.

“No. Paul and Rod diversified, and I kept away from their work as much as I could. I never knew exactly what they were doing and didn’t ask. Anyway, about four years went by and we were holding it together as a family. Just. The problem was that the police were after them both. They knew what they were doing, which was more than I did, and didn’t leave us alone. I was told that the kids might be taken into care because our house wasn’t a suitable environment for them.”

“
That
made you leave?”

“Yes. I didn’t sleep that night for worry, wondering what I’d actually exposed the twins to. They weren’t much younger than the girls in the film, which made me sick with anxiety. I knew if I told Rod he’d try to talk me out of going, so I had no choice but to go somewhere where they couldn’t get at me easily. They were often out half the night, and that weekend Rod told me he wouldn’t be home at all on Saturday night. I think they’d got into hosting swingers’ parties by then, but didn’t want the responsibility of actually knowing.

“Anyway, once he’d left I simply packed the kids into my car, took as much of our stuff as I could get into it, as much money as I could find in the house, and headed for the ferry to the Island. I had a girlfriend here who’d been encouraging me to leave Rod for years and who I knew would put us up until we got on our feet.” She shrugged. “So now you know why I hate Paul so much and won’t have Rod back.”

“Didn’t he try to find you after you left?” Claire asked.

“Oh yeah, it didn’t take him long to work out where I would have gone. But, you see, I’d taken a little evidence with me in respect of Paul’s nefarious activities. I said that if Rod came near us, contacted us, tried to get us back or to talk to the kids, then I’d expose them both for what they were, regardless of the fact that they could implicate me in their grubby little enterprise.”

“And that worked?”

“Until now. I allowed Rod to pay the kids’ school fees. I simply couldn’t manage them myself and didn’t see why they should miss out on a good education just because I could no longer risk living with their father. Rod eventually agreed to pay up and promised to leave us in peace.” She searched in her bag for a tissue and blew her nose. “And he’s kept his word. Until now.”

“I don’t understand, love. I can see what it cost you to tell us all this but I don’t see how it reflects on what
she’s
done.” Jack nodded in Claire’s direction.

“Oh, sorry, I thought I’d explained all that at the beginning. Paul’s surname is Aston.” She gazed first at Jack and then Claire. “Claire meeting Rod was no accident. They set her up for a very specific purpose. You see, Paul is Ed’s partner in the scheme to redevelop the tennis club.”

Chapter Twelve

E
D
L
OOKED
U
P
F
ROM
T
HE
P
APERS
he was reading, frowning as Leah bounded into the room, the graceful action of her coltish legs impeded by the clumsy clodhoppers on her feet. Screwing up her eyes against the sunlight pouring in through the window, she peered over her mother’s shoulder to see what was so interesting about the E-mail she was reading.

“Is the trip to Bisham Abbey this weekend? Cool! Can we go, Mum?”

“No, I don’t think so, love. It doesn’t give us enough time to get organized. Besides, you’ve got school on Friday.”

“What’s to organize?”

“Well, lots of things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, someone’s got to feed the cat, for a start, and then—”

“Oh, Mum, that’s easily enough solved. The neighbors will do it, just like always. Come on, live dangerously for once. Let’s just go for it! I bet Sheba and Malik will be going. It would be
so
unfair if I miss out just because you’re worried about the wretched cat. Please, Mum,” she wheedled, wrapping her arms around Stella’s neck from behind. “It’ll be good for our tennis.”

“What’s she after now?” snapped Ed.

“I was telling Mum how good it would be for our tennis to go to this Bisham Abbey thing, but she doesn’t seem too keen.”

“I didn’t exactly say that.”

“Of course we’ll be going,” Ed decreed. “It was partly my idea to arrange the trip in the first place, so we have to go.”

That wasn’t true, of course, but it was essential to his plans that he be there. He couldn’t waste such a golden opportunity to work on some of the members. But even if he hadn’t been keen to enlist their support, he would have done anything right now to cultivate his daughter’s good opinion, without making it too obvious that he was trying to win her round. He’d never made much secret of the fact that he had little time for Leah. She diverted far too much of her mother’s attention away from him for his liking, but if he came on too strong now she’d smell a rat immediately.

Ed knew he’d gone too far when he’d punched Stella the other day. But then, did she really imagine he’d let her get away with not only defying him but pulling a knife on him too? The change in her attitude had been eating away at him like a cancer, and if he didn’t take an early opportunity to reassert himself she might be encouraged to continue in like vein, shifting the balance of power in their marriage away from him. And no way was he going to allow that to happen.

Ed still hadn’t been able to figure out where she’d found the courage to stand up for herself and that, too, was twisting him out of shape. But even so, seeing her bringing up blood had scared him shitless. What if he’d ruptured something and she finished up in hospital? They would want to know how she’d incurred the injury, and he could no longer depend upon her to keep her mouth shut. She’d taken to sleeping in the spare room again and nothing he’d said, none of the vague promises he’d made or reassurances he’d offered, had so far persuaded her back to the marital bed. He suspected that only an apology would achieve that objective, and he was buggered if he’d resort to groveling.

Leah had noticed their new sleeping arrangements and asked questions. Stella brushed them off with vague explanations, but Leah wasn’t stupid. She must suspect that all wasn’t as it should be between her parents, and if he wanted to get back into Stella’s good graces then breaking Leah’s fierce loyalty toward her and putting doubts into Stella’s mind as to who’s side she’d take if push came to shove seemed as good a way as any to go about it.

Ed’s phone rang. He flipped it open and barked, “Hello.”

“This is Paul Aston,” said a cultured voice at the other end of the phone. “I was expecting to hear from you before now.”

“Ah, yeah, I was just about to call you.”

“Were you, indeed? What a coincidence.” Aston paused. “Should I be reading anything sinister into the delay?”

Ed’s stomach lurched. They hadn’t met in person yet. All the paperwork to form their company had been handled by lawyers. Ed wasn’t looking forward to telling him that he’d failed at the first hurdle, which was why he’d been putting off phoning him, hoping that better news would come along in the meantime to soften the blow. He had persuaded Aston to put his money into the scheme with an assurance that he’d soon be the club’s chairman and in a position to swing the vote in favor of building.

Ed, unable to raise enough money to buy the freehold outright had advertised
A Great Opportunity for Property Investors
in the local rag and received quite a few replies. Out of all of them, only Aston appeared seriously interested and had sufficient cash to proceed. But he’d made a few demands of his own, the principal of which was that an offshore company be formed as the conduit through which the project would be managed. And that he be the majority shareholder.

Ed had refused the latter request outright. It was his scheme. He’d spent months dreaming it up and then softening up influential members on the golfing side so that he could press ahead with his planning application when the time was right. He’d put everything he owned on the line to bring it this far, and his position as majority shareholder was non-negotiable. Aston said in that case they wouldn’t be doing business and politely wished Ed luck in finding an alternative investor. Only when he discovered that no one else had the wherewithal to proceed was he forced to crawl back to Aston and accept his terms, losing face and putting himself at an immediate disadvantage in their relationship.