there somewhere, waiting to pounce.

They’d played nice with each other. Been kind. Talked about the film and the setting, about taking a couple of days in Paris between Christmas and New Year even though they both knew it would be impossible in that dead time that seemed to send people for each other’s throats. But they’d pretended all the same, taking comfort in the pretence of normality.

Later in the darkened confines of the car, speeding down the A1, he reached across for her hand, ‘I don’t want to lose you, Mel.’

Out of nowhere she’d felt tears welling up and all she could do was squeeze his hand and let her silence stand in for the gratitude she couldn’t express.

He was doing something stupid and probably dangerous and almost definitely reckless for her, and she decided she would hold on to that. Stop and think about it every time she wanted to fly at him.

Because she realised now that she would do the same for him if it came down to it, and how would she feel to have the gesture thrown back in her face?

He returned from the kitchen with a cold bottle of beer and handed it to her.

‘Where’s yours?’ she asked.

‘I’ve got to nip out for a bit,’ he said. ‘Hour. Two, tops. You going to be alright?’

She bit back the urge to ask him if she needed to barricade the door while he was gone or which kitchen knife he thought would be best to defend herself with.

Instead she smiled. ‘I’ll be fine.’

When the front door closed she took a long drink of beer, washing away all the questions she’d wanted to ask him. She went to Netflix and found a big, dumb action film she’d seen a dozen times before, put it on and let it melt her brain.

As the film’s ‘all is lost’ moment approached, her mobile rang – Lee Walton’s ex-girlfriend.

The sight of her name on the screen set Ferreira’s heart racing and for a moment she considered not answering it, knowing it wouldn’t be anything good, nothing she could actually help with. But she owed Dani an ear at the very least.

‘Dani, what’s up?’

‘Lee’s out,’ she said, her voice shaking. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? What are you playing at leaving it down to my mum to call me?’

‘You’re not supposed to be in contact with your family,’ Ferreira reminded her. ‘We discussed this, remember? If they know where you are, then Lee can find you.’

‘How am I supposed to not talk to my mum?’ she demanded.

In the background Ferreira could hear the regular beeping of a supermarket checkout. Was Dani seriously making this call in the middle of her food shop?

‘Good thing I am still talking to Mum,’ she said. ‘You obviously weren’t going to tell me he’s innocent.’

‘He’s not innocent! You know that.’

‘ I –’

‘He got out on a technicality,’ Ferreira said, as slowly and calmly as she could manage. ‘He’s still guilty. You always knew he was.’

‘No, you twisted everything and made me think he was. You lot have always had it in for him.’

‘He’s a serial rapist, Dani.’

‘No, you tricked me,’ she snapped. ‘He warned me. He kept telling me what you what were like and it was true. You fitted him up. I saw the news – I just bloody googled it – he’s in the paper!’

Ferreira took a deep breath, tried to find the right words to make her understand when all she wanted to do was scream at the woman to think clearly for once in her life.

‘I knew he never did it,’ Dani said, as the tannoy in the background blared incoherently.

‘Listen to me, Lee is guilty. He’s only out because someone at the lab misrepresented their qualifications. It doesn’t change what you know about him. It doesn’t change that you gave him false alibis for the times he was out raping women. Or that those women still identified him.’

‘They were lying.’

‘You think all of them were lying?’ Ferreira asked, incredulous. ‘All of those women decided to tell exactly the same lie?’

‘You probably told them to lie and say it was him so you could put him away,’ Dani’s voice was going higher and tighter. ‘You made me leave my home and come to this bloody place –’

‘We’re trying to protect you.’

‘Why would I need protecting if Lee was locked up? You knew he was going to be released and you just didn’t want us to be together.’

She was babbling now, breathless and near hysterical.

‘Lee beat you,’ Ferreira reminded her, remembering the tearful conversation they’d had, the visit to the hospital Ferreira had made, seeing Dani lying in bed with Lee at her side, remembered how pathetically grateful the woman had looked for the few kind words he threw her. All spoken for the police’s benefit, a way of showing them how completely he owned her and how cheaply her compliance was bought.

‘I can’t believe I let you do this to me,’ Dani said wretchedly, a cry from the gut. ‘He loves me.’

‘He put you in the fucking hospital,’ Ferreira said. ‘More than once.’

‘You’re just jealous.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Dani, please. Would you –’

Dani ended the call.

Ferreira swore at the dead screen and the action frozen on the television and the sheer, unfathomable stupidity and weirdness of other people’s abusive, shitty relationships.

She took a couple of deep, calming breaths and when that didn’t work, she drained the last of her beer, then called Dani back.

The phone only rang twice, long enough for her to know that the call had been seen and rejected.

Dani would be phoning Lee now, she guessed. Begging his forgiveness and telling him she couldn’t live without him, blaming everything on Ferreira and the rest of them. And Walton would lap it up, say whatever he needed to in order to get Dani and his son back home, which would be very little. He’d probably just whistle to her like a whipped dog.

Dani had been abused and manipulated and was unable to think

Вы читаете Between Two Evils
Добавить отзыв
ВСЕ ОТЗЫВЫ О КНИГЕ В ИЗБРАННОЕ

0

Вы можете отметить интересные вам фрагменты текста, которые будут доступны по уникальной ссылке в адресной строке браузера.

Отметить Добавить цитату