‘Look,’ Cam said, trying to sound reasonable. ‘Let’s try and work this out. Tell me what I did to you and we can sort something out. I’ve told you, I’ve got money and I can get more.’
Pearson swung round and slapped Cam across the side of the head. Shock and pain made him cry out.
‘You want to give me money? Oh, that’s fucking rich. How much did you take off me over the years?’
‘I’ve told you; I don’t know who you are,’ Cam mumbled through snot and tears. ‘If I’ve taken anything from you, I can repay it.’
‘How about three years of my life? How can you repay that? Three years of beatings. Three years of torment and torture. Can you give me those three years back, Cam? Can you? Pearson’s voice raised to a shriek as he lashed out again, striking Cam below the eye.
‘I don’t– I’m–’ Cam stammered.
‘I know you don’t. Why would you remember me? Let me remind you. When I was eleven, I started at the grammar school.’ Pearson sat down again as though settling in to tell a long story. ‘I was a bright lad and I wanted to do well at school. I was good at maths and sports and my teachers said I should work hard and get a good job. But I hated going to school. I hated it so much that I made up excuses to my mum – bellyache, headache, colds, anything I could think of – but she still made me go. The teachers started to think I was lazy and a skiver and they stopped encouraging me and started punishing me. By the time I started studying for my GCSEs it was too late. I’d spent three years avoiding school or being so terrified when I was there that I couldn’t concentrate. Three years is a long time at that age, you’ll know that, Cam.’
‘I still don’t see–’ Cam said, but he was starting to understand; starting to remember.
‘You bullied me, Cameron Cleaver. You kicked me, punched me, stole from me and made my life a living hell. And, when I was old enough to recognise the full extent of the damage you caused, I wanted to pay you back. I got rich, much richer than you. I married a good-looking woman, younger than me. I built a business and I built respect. But I never forgot. And nor did my big sister. She was the one who had to wash my sheets when I pissed the bed and didn’t want my mum to know. She was the one who bandaged me up and put me back together time and time again only to have you tear me apart. She recognised you as soon as she started working here.’
‘Penny.’
‘Yes, Penny. She gave me your address, so I watched your house for a few weeks. Then I watched your wife. I didn’t love Chrissie, Cam. But I want you to know how little she loved you. I seduced her and encouraged her to leave you, but it wasn’t love – not on my part anyway. She never knew who I was – I called myself Adam Pearson and the name just sort of stuck.’
‘Your real name’s Gerald,’ Cam said, realisation dawning. ‘I picked on you when I was at the grammar school. Oh shit, Penny helped to set all this up?’
‘Go to the top of the class. You thought you inspired loyalty in your staff, but they all despise you – those who aren’t afraid of you.’
Cam watched as the man stood up and removed the gun from the belt of his trousers.
‘And I think they’ll all thank me for this,’ he said, leaning across the desk and holding the weapon to Cam’s temple.
‘Now, follow my instructions. Keep still. Eyes down. Don’t breathe.’
28
Penny ended the call, desperately hoping that her threats had prevented Mike from harming her daughter. The man knew that he was risking Gerry’s wrath as well as her own and she just hoped he had the good judgement to make the right decision and leave Annie alone. She picked up her pace as she jogged down the corridor to the main hall. If Mike was right and the police were on their way, she needed to do some serious damage limitation which meant getting the men off site without the students realising she was involved. With Gerry still occupied in Cam’s office she knew that it was down to her to rescue the situation. She pushed open the door to the playground, preparing to cover the short distance to the humanities block at a run when a shot rang out from somewhere near the front of the school. Were the police here already? Had they got Gerry?
She paused, trying to decide what to do. If Gerry had been arrested, then she was in charge. She needed to tell the men to get out. Phone would be quicker. Turning back into the school, Penny dialled and then ran back to reception with the phone to her ear.
‘Get out!’ she yelled as soon as Mike answered. ‘Go now. Don’t take any risks, just leave. I’ll be in touch.’
Without waiting for his answer, she charged into the reception area, surprised to see it empty. No police and no sign of Cam and Gerry. The shot should have brought Ruth Warnesford running – unless she’d decided to stay in Penny’s office for her own safety.
Cam’s office door was closed. She tiptoed closer and placed her ear against the wood. Nothing. No voices and no more shots. Slowly she clenched her hand around the door handle and pressed down, easing the door open an inch, then two, then a foot.
‘Penny.’ Her brother looked up at her, his eyes full of gratitude and another emotion that she couldn’t quite recognise – triumph?
She looked past him to the wreckage of Cameron Cleaver’s head and the
