Imelda teetered dangerously on the ledge, glancing frantically down to the ground, where the police units surrounded the front entrance of the Griffin Estate.
‘You’re not taking him from me. I won’t let you,’ Imelda said, leaning over and looking down at the people who were gathering below.
She could hear more sirens in the distance. An ambulance and a fire engine were pelting towards the estate. She was trapped now, surrounded. She couldn’t let them take Jason from her. No matter what.
‘Imelda, I know what you did. To Shelby. And I know what you did to Liza Fitzgerald in Richmond Park. If you give Riley to Shelby, we can talk. Properly, just you and me. I promise you that I’ll listen. Because I know that none of this has been easy for you, either,’ Lucy said, trying to gauge whether or not Imelda was just calling their bluff.
Surely there was no way she would jump. Not with Riley. Only so far, everything Imelda had done had shocked and horrified Lucy. The woman was capable of murder and kidnap. There was no telling what she would do.
‘You don’t understand. You’re just like her,’ Imelda said, eyeing Lucy with the same disdain as she’d looked at Shelby earlier. ‘You can’t know what it’s like for me. Look at me, I’m invisible. Fat and ugly. No one gives a shit about me. All I’ve ever wanted was someone to call my own. Someone to love me no matter what. And I have that now. I have Jason…’
‘But that isn’t Jason, Imelda,’ Lucy said, watching as Imelda stared down at the crying baby in a trance. ‘That’s Riley and I’m sure you’ve done a fantastic job of looking after him, but he needs his mum.’
‘I’m his mum!’ Imelda shouted. Her voice coming out so forcefully that she lurched forward. The arm that was holding Riley jolted, causing Shelby to scream and run forward.
Stopping when Imelda stared at her; Imelda steadying herself as she warned the woman with her eyes not to come any closer.
‘Please, Imelda. Please? Give him to me. He’s scared, Imelda. He’s scared and cold. That’s why he’s crying. He needs to be fed. He needs my milk,’ Shelby said, begging then, aware the pain was getting worse, radiating through her side and into her stomach.
But all she could think about right now was getting her son back safely.
‘All I wanted was a baby of my own,’ Imelda said to no one in particular, her eyes down, looking on Riley. ‘I can’t have kids,’ she continued. ‘So much for there being a God, huh. He made me fat and invisible and then took away my ability to have a baby. I’m ugly on the inside and the outside. But you!’ Imelda looked up and stared at Shelby in disgust. ‘You’ve always got everything you wanted, haven’t you? You even took him from me.’
Shelby narrowed her eyes as Imelda nodded towards the flat.
‘Ashley?’ she said, confused. Thinking of all the times that they’d joked about Imelda having a crush on him. When really it had been an infatuation. An obsession.
‘You’re deluded,’ Shelby said, shaking her head. Realising what she needed to do. ‘We used to laugh about you, do you know that?’
Imelda was silenced then, her expression physically crumbling, as if she’d just been punched.
‘You wouldn’t stand a chance with him. Me and Ashley, we used to lie in bed together and cry with laughter about the pathetic crush you had on him,’ Shelby said, on a roll now. Seeing the rage spread across Imelda’s face. The humiliation. The indignity of what she was being told. It was all she could think about. All she could absorb. And Shelby had to keep talking. She had to distract Imelda.
She could see Lucy gradually edging her way towards her. So slowly, as she inched her way forward, that it was almost as if she wasn’t moving at all. And Shelby was revelling in this, wanting to hurt this bitch who had attacked her and taken her child.
‘It was the funniest thing, had us both in stiches, because Ashley would never have looked twice at you. Why would he when he had me?’
Shelby expected to see the wild rage in Imelda’s eyes. She braced herself for the woman to jump from the wall and pound her with her chunky fists. Anything, anything as long as she got her and Riley off that ledge. But Imelda wasn’t as stupid as Shelby thought. She looked at Shelby and her eyes shone with triumph. She held Shelby’s whole life in her hands. She had all the power. And in a flash, she could destroy her. Imelda lunged from the balcony.
50
Imelda had stopped focusing on Lucy. Lost in her own anger, it was as if she’d forgotten that Lucy was even there. All she could see was Shelby and Riley. And she knew that there would be no going back for her now. Not after everything she’d done. She couldn’t keep Jason. And the police knew what she’d done. There was no way out for her, nowhere left for her to go. So, she jumped. Leaning forward and releasing the one hand that had been gripping on tightly to the wall, she let go.
Only Lucy was on her in a fraction of a second. Her feet leaping from the floor, hooking one arm around both Riley and Imelda, as her other hand grabbed Imelda’s top and yanked her backwards. Fuelled with adrenaline, it was like a surge of strength that Lucy didn’t even know she possessed had taken over as she slammed Imelda onto the floor of the balcony. Her plump frame cushioned the fall for Riley, who she still clung to awkwardly as she landed with a thump on her back, her head smacking against the floor.
Pain exploded inside Imelda’s skull, leaving her dizzy and confused.
Shelby took her moment. Grabbing her little boy from
