Twisted Love and Money (35 page)

“Cross my heart
no,” she said drawing a cross with her finger on her chest.

With a cry he
reached for her. Ann-Marie dodged, grabbed her top and bra from the
seat of the bike, gave him a quick kiss and said, “I’m off” and ran
into the woods, towards the driveway and the house.

Seamus
hesitated, wondering should he follow her, and then shouted
“tomorrow” after her.

“Yes” she
shouted back and was gone.

Ann-Marie put
on her bra and top as she ran. She skipped in through the back
door, which she had left unlocked and went into the billiards room.
She switched on the lights and began to play. She was into the
game, when her father, attracted by the noise, stuck his head
in.

“Ann-Marie, we
wondered where you were. Have you been playing billiards all
evening?”

“No, I came
down from the TV. I was bored.”

“Mother said
your TV was on but there was no sign of you.”

“Well here I
am.”

Michael smiled
at his favourite daughter.

“Any word of
Peter? I rang his flat and no answer. He was invited a party in the
Shelbourne.”

“No Dad, not a
sausage. But Peter wouldn’t tell me of his movements.”

“By the way”
Michael added, coming further into the room.

“Guess what
happened tonight.”

“What?”

“Dorothy got
engaged.”

“NO!” Ann-Marie
was astounded.

“Yes,” Michael
smiled.

“No, I don’t
believe it!” she said, her voice rising in wonder and pleasure.

“Ask her. She’s
here,” Michael suggested.

With a shriek
Ann-Marie sought Dorothy out. She was in her bedroom.

“Dorothy is it
true?” Ann-Marie asked wide-eyed.

“Yes,” Dorothy
said with simple pleasure.

“Who!”

“Jeremy, you
met him at the cinema.”

“Really!” The
really was said with amazed surprise.

“Show me the
ring,” Ann-Marie demanded.

“Have none
yet,” Dorothy said abashed.

“Never mind,
but you did announce the engagement?”

“He did. In the
middle of the party tonight. It was so embarrassing.”

“Fab - u -
lous” Ann-Marie bounced on the bed and clapped her hands.

“Come on
Dorothy, tell me all about him.”

For once
Dorothy was happy she had a sister and while Ann-Marie listened,
beside herself with excitement, Dorothy told her all the nice
things she knew about Jeremy.

Back at the
party Jeremy’s jaw was getting tired from being nice. It was the
early hours as the last stragglers left the party.

“I think that
is it for the night. Time for your public relations team to go
home” Elaine said, having sought him out again.

Jeremy gave her
a hug with one arm. He could see she was exhausted after a long
day.

“You did a
great job,” he said appreciatively.

She smiled,
“all a part of the service.”

“I’m not saying
it to be polite,” Jeremy said, “You really are a good professional
at what you do. The whole event was a great success.”

He kissed her
nose. “Now run along Elaine, your husband will be waiting for you
at home. I will be in touch.”

“Good night
Sir.” And she was gone. She skipped his reference to the husband
bit as she was separated for a number of years now.

Jeremy wandered
through the remains of the party. They were all gone and the staff
was clearing up.

“Another drink
sir?” a waiter asked.

“No
thanks.”

“Good night
sir. Ring at the bar if you need a drink. We are clearing up
inside.”

Then it struck
him. He had not bought her a ring. He asked the waiter for the
nearest phone and the waiter brought him to it. Reception got the
number.

Ann-Marie, who
was still up, got the phone and then tore back up to Dorothy.

“It’s the
Shelbourne, a call for you.”

Dorothy’s heart
hit her boots. Had something gone wrong? Jeremy, don’t let me down,
she pleaded inwardly.

“Dorothy.”

“Yes dear,” she
said softly.

“Dorothy I
never got the ring. You never mentioned it.”

“It’s up to the
man Jeremy.”

“I suppose
so.”

“Look, come up
to Dublin,” he added.

“Now?”

“No tomorrow
morning. I’ll meet you in Bewley’s Cafe at half ten. We’ll go and
select a ring. I believe Weirs in Grafton Street is not bad.”

“You select the
ring Jeremy. I’ll trust your good taste. Bring it down for me
tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“Jeremy, we have our business meeting tomorrow. I can’t let dad
down. I have too much to do. I can’t come up to town to meet
you.”

“O.K. Sweet,
see you tomorrow. I’ll bring the ring and propose again.”

Dorothy went
off to bed, her happiness complete. Ann-Marie fussed around in
excitement.

Jeremy made a
mental note. He would make a few early phone calls to check out
discounts and wholesale at Weirs. After all he was a retailer in
the same street.

Tired, Jeremy
made his way back to bed. David was in deep sleep.

Jeremy regarded
him for a minute and then went and brushed his teeth. Then he
stripped off and got in beside David.

David shifted a
bit but did not change his breathing. Slowly Jeremy drifted off to
sleep.

David lay still
with Jeremy’s arm across his chest. He felt he should get up and
leave. But Jeremy’s arm, although it lay lightly across his chest,
held him like a chain.

David had left
the party in stunned surprise when Jeremy announced his engagement.
Of course they had previously discussed Dorothy.

Jeremy had laid
out his plans to have an heir to the business and Dorothy was to be
the provider.

David ran the
conversation over in his mind. Instinctively he’d known there was
more. Jeremy’s explanation had been too cold. Jeremy had somehow
fallen in love with Dorothy but had not fallen out of love with
him.

David felt he
knew Jeremy. He knew that the big announcement was Jeremy’s way to
overcome all opposition, regardless of the consequences.

Jeremy would
disregard the consequences and who was hurt, in the hope of picking
up the pieces later.

David knew he
should get up and go.

But Jeremy had
come to his bed.

They could work
it out.

Without Jeremy
he would be dead.

Jeremy gave
direction to things.

David stared at
the ceiling and listened in wonder to Jeremy’s untroubled breathing
as he slept soundly.

And he
remembered that Jeremy expected him to attend for the weekend at
Dorothy’s parents house.

Jeremy shifted
his steeping position and held David close.

David decided.
The weekend, this was the time to confront Dorothy. He’d take a
closer look at her and see how she handled.

He couldn’t
sleep, but he relaxed, tomorrow was another day. For the moment at
least, he and Jeremy were still together.

Chapter
thirty-nine

Peter awoke
with a start to dawn’s early light. He was not clear whether it was
the smell or the snuffling sound that awoke him.

Peter came to
with a shock. His hands felt dead. He realized they were still tied
behind his back and his fingers were numb. The snuffling came
closer up against the stainless steel bars he could see at his
feet. He pulled back sharply. He could just see movement in the
semi gloom.

It was a large
pig, trying to get in at him. Peter could see its beady eye through
the shining bars. The smell. Suddenly he realized where he was. He
was in a pen in a pigsty. Now the background noises filled in and
made sense, the shuffling, snuffling noise of large hungry pigs. He
jumped as there was a loud squeal and a fight broke out somewhere
in the pigsty.

Peter suddenly
found his voice and began to scream and then to shout. The pig
snuffling at the steel bar gate to his pen seemed to be pushing at
the gate and it was slowly moving. Panic hit him. He’d be eaten by
pigs. He had to get out.

Suddenly there
was a bright light. Someone had lifted off the cover of his pen and
the dawn light streamed in.

“Help!” Peter
shouted, “Help me!”

A smiling face
appeared.

The face of a
farmer, unshaven, shifty eyed, but apparently friendly. Then Peter
had a shock of panic as he recognized the face. It was Jenny’s
father. The father of the Kildare girl he had made pregnant.

The pig was
pushing at his feet now and the farmer seemed only mildly
interested, even amused as he leaned on the pen and watched the
proceedings.

“Pleeeaasse!!!!!” Peter begged.

“Hup, out of
that!” The farmer hit the pig with his stick and it backed off with
a squeal.

“You’re in its
favourite pen,” The farmer explained pleasantly.

“You may not
realize it but my pigs are a bit crowded these days. But I’m
getting a new piggery soon, you’ll see.”

The thick
midlands Irish country accent was hard for Peter to follow in his
current state of panic.

“Stop telling
me about new pig sty’s and let me out!” he screamed.

“Ahh now boy,
that’s what I am here to talk to you about,” the farmer said.

“By the way,”
he added, introducing two new faces which suddenly appeared in
Peter’s line of vision.

“Do you know
Jenny’s brothers, Peader and Aloysius and you can call me
Jimmy.”

“Yes, yes,
we’ve met, at a country dance wasn’t it?”

“Aye,” the two
nodded as they replied in unison.

“It’s the state
of Jenny,” the farmer continued unconcerned. “You know don’t
you.”

Peter
concentrated on kicking the steel bars. The pig was back and
jostling with an even bigger pig to get in at him.

“Did you hear
me boy?” the farmer asked, annoyed.

“Yes, yes, the
fucking pigs get them away.”

“Ara, I’ll feed
them soon, don’t worry.”

“They might eat
me.”

“Aye, they’d do
that,” one of the brothers offered.

“Great way to
kill a man,” the other offered. “Feed him to the pigs, sure there’d
be nothing left.”

“Kill a man?”
Peter said becoming more frightened as he realized he was at their
mercy.

“Those that
brought you,” the farmer continued amiably. “They said no one would
be able to trace you to here. You are ours to do with what we
will.”

“Those that
took me?”

“Aye, the men
who brought you here. Do you remember them?”

Peter sat up
with a start. What had happened? They had grabbed him as he’d got
into his car. Then the injection into his arm. God, his hands were
numb.

“Please untie
me,” he begged.

“Hold on now
boy. We have a bit of talking to do. You know it.”

“About
what?”

The farmers
face reddened and he looked aghast at his two leering sons and then
red with anger back at Peter.

“About me
daughter, do you not listen?”

The two sons
adopted expressions of endless patience.

“Your daughter.
We are not seeing each other any more. I’ve moved to Dublin.”

“You left a bit
of you behind,” Aloysius said dryly.

Peter looked at
them dumbly.

“She’s
pregnant, you fool. She told you.”

“Yes. I said I
was sorry. Accident.”

“Accident my
arse. You sowed your seed in my daughter and now you will harvest
it.”

Peter could
discern the farmer’s anger. He looked helplessly at the shuffling
pigs now being held in restraint by Aloysius’s stick, which he had
lodged against the gate.

“You may be a
townie but you must know that it is a big disgrace to get pregnant
outside marriage in rural Ireland,” the farmer explained.

“Unless she
married the man,” Peader threw in.

“Or the man
died in an accident before he did the decent thing,” Aloysius
added.

“You.... you
think I should marry her?”

“Aye lad.”

Peter looked at
the three amiable uncompromising ruthless faces.

“Will you now
lad?” the farmer asked quietly.

“Let me out,
let me out and I will,” Peter shouted.

He could see
Aloysius was guiding the pig around the gate with his stick.

“Aye, wise
move,” Peader said, and both sons lifted Peter up.

“We’d just beat
you to a pulp.”

“And cook you
and feed you to the pigs,” Aloysius added, assisting Peader as they
brushed down Peters crumpled suit.

“We might have
done it anyway,” the farmer explained, “but she is set on marrying
you.”

“Please don’t
harm me, I’ll marry her,” Peter begged. “Just release my arms, my
hands are numb.”

The farmer
produced a large penknife from his pocket and exposed the blade.
With a deft cut Peter was free. The pain ran down his arms and they
began to come back to life.

“Come on, have
a cup of tea,” the farmer said, taking him by the elbow.

“You never met
my wife. She’d love to see you. And Jenny is in the house waiting
to hear what you have to say. We’ll just hose you down to get the
smell off. Peader has a pair of trousers and a jumper that might
fit you. We’ll lend you a pair of wellies and when you are
freshened you can ask Jenny to marry you proper. O.K?”

Peter nodded.
He was looking around for an escape route. He let the farmer lead
him towards the house.

“This is
Monsey, me wife” the farmer said as a grey haired woman appeared at
the door of the farmhouse.