Sweating, his mind whirring as he tried to think who he’d upset enough to send heavies after him, Rob said, ‘Has – has Angie sent you?’ as he placed the knife on the table. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt her,’ he went on, holding up his hands. ‘And I’ll pay back the money I took, I swear.’
‘I don’t know any Angies,’ the man said, looking at his mate. ‘How ’bout you?’
‘Nah.’ The white man shook his head and slapped the bat onto the palm of his other hand.
‘Rob . . .?’ Suzie appeared in the doorway wearing only her pyjama top and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
‘Well, hello there, darlin’ . . .’ the gunman drawled, a glint of lust in his eyes as his gaze slid down her body. ‘Come to join the party, have you?’
‘Suzie, don’t come in,’ Rob said. ‘Go back to bed.’
Suzie blinked in confusion as she looked from Rob to the men, and the blood drained from her face when she saw the gun and the baseball bat. Then, snapping out of the daze, she said, ‘Who the hell are you, and why are you in my house?’
‘Feisty,’ the one holding the gun chuckled, walking over to her and peering down into her eyes. ‘I’m going to have fun gettin’ to know you, Suzie.’
‘Don’t fucking touch me,’ she spat, jerking her head away when he slid the barrel of the gun beneath her hair.
‘Don’t argue with him,’ Rob croaked. ‘Angie’s sent them.’
‘Shut the fuck up and sit down!’ the other man barked, whacking the back of his legs with the bat.
‘Leave him alone!’ Suzie yelled, instinctively trying to go to Rob when his knees buckled.
‘Now, now,’ the gunman purred, wrapping a muscular arm around her waist and pulling her against him. ‘We only want a lickle chat with your man, so be a good girl and mek us a drink, eh?’
‘Get out of my house right now,’ she hissed, forcing herself to return his gaze.
‘Suzie, shut the fuck up and do as he says!’ Rob spluttered, his teeth bared with pain as he sank onto a chair.
‘Didn’t your mam teach you it’s rude to speak to women like that?’ the other one snarled, ramming the end of the bat into his stomach.
‘Stop it!’ Suzie cried when Rob doubled over, clutching his stomach. ‘Just tell us what you want and go! Please.’
On the landing above, Holly bit down hard on her hand when she heard the fear in Suzie’s voice. She’d been sleeping fitfully and had woken several times throughout the night, her heart pounding, a dread feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She had been awake when a floorboard creaked outside her door a couple of hours earlier, and she’d cowered beneath the quilt when it had brought back memories of the nightmare. When whoever it was had passed and she heard them going downstairs, she had forced herself to calm down, reminding herself that she was safe and that it must be Rob or Suzie going down for a drink.
She had gone back to sleep after that, but voices drifting up from the kitchen a few minutes ago had roused her again, and she had slid out of bed and come out onto the landing to listen, worried that Rob and Suzie were arguing and he was going to hurt her again.
But it wasn’t only them down there. She could hear two more voices, one of which sounded familiar, although she couldn’t remember where she’d heard it before.
A low chuckle from below made every hair on Holly’s body stand on end, and the blood in her veins turned to ice.
It was him – the man from her nightmare! He was real, and he’d come for her!
More terrified than she had ever been in her life, Holly edged back into the bedroom and snatched her phone off the bedside table. Then, nervously watching the stairs, she crept along the landing to Suzie’s room and, carefully sliding the wardrobe door open, she slipped inside and hid at the back behind the long dresses before sliding the door shut again.
Covering her mouth with her hand when she heard an angry shout followed by a cry of pain, she fumbled with her phone, switching it to silent before making the call.
The phone rang once before clicking into voicemail.
‘Mum?’ she whispered, keeping an ear open for sounds of someone coming up the stairs. ‘Mum, if you’re there, pick up! The – the man’s here . . . he’s going to kill me! Please, Mum, I’m scared!’
40
Josie’s phone hadn’t been charged since the battery had died after she discharged herself from hospital, so she had plugged it in before climbing into bed. The slug of vodka she’d taken from the bottle had relaxed her and, aware that she needed to be clear-headed when she faced Holly if she was to stand any chance of persuading her to leave, she decided that she would allow herself one more little drink to wash the tramadol capsule down before going to sleep.
That had been her intention, but temptation had got the better of her and, before she knew it, she’d polished off two full glasses, neat, and had swallowed not one but both of the capsules.
Dead to the world now, she didn’t hear the phone vibrating on her bedside table, and nor did she hear when it clicked to voicemail.
Across the road, shivering wildly in the wardrobe, Holly stared at her phone, willing her mum to call her back. When several minutes had passed with no response, a sob escaped her lips and she swiped at the tears that were cascading down her cheeks. Her mum didn’t care about her. She’d gone and she wasn’t coming back, and she’d blocked Holly’s number to stop her from pestering her. How could she do that?
Downstairs, Dom was getting fed up, and he walked round behind Rob’s chair and yanked his head back by the hair.
‘I’ll give you one last chance,’ he growled. ‘Why were you looking for
