An Unexpected Gift (9 page)

The
joy of yesterday was but a distant memory.

His
face was ablaze with anger and his blue eyes flashed angrily as he marched out
onto his driveway, looking around angrily in all directions. It was only six
o’clock in the morning. Daniel was an early riser and liked to be in the office
no later than seven thirty on most days. The quiet suburban street was empty,
and dark. There didn’t seem to be anybody around. He looked around, at his
house and saw everything looked fine there. Then he paused as something caught
his eye.

The
tires of his prized Merc had been slashed. All four of them. And someone had
taken a sharp object and drawn a deep line all around the edge of his car.

Damn
you Marisa.

He
loved this car and she knew he had. She had also known how clean and tidy he
was and that posting dog feces through his front door would set him off. 
She
was gone but still giving him hell.

He
slowly made his way back into the house. He had a niggling feeling in the back
of his mind but it was too early in the morning to figure out what. Daniel
sniffed in disgust. The putrid smell of the excrement filled his nostrils,
making him want to throw up then and there.

Instead,
he got a plastic carrier bag and threw it over the pile, scooping it up cleanly
and wrapping it up in several sheets of newspaper before throwing it into the
bin. 

He
would get Louise, his secretary, to call Marie, his regular cleaner to clean up
the mess on the letterbox and the mat. The mat couldn’t stay a moment longer.
He lunged forward, picked it up and flung it out into the back garden. He
didn’t want it in his house. As for the tires, he would have to see to them
later. He was going to have to speak to Marisa and threaten her with the police
if she ever pulled a stunt like this again. But he was busy at work today and
had an eight o’clock meeting which was urgent.

Everything
else had to take a back seat.

He
looked at the clock, it was getting on. He needed to get to work. Before he ran
into the shower, Daniel flipped through his wallet and dug out DCI Osborn’s
number. This was the man who was looking into the attack he had been involved
in before Christmas.

He
would give him a call later on in the morning, to see if they had made any
headway with getting that animal formally arrested and charged.

Why
was it that his life was full of people who did nothing but cause him grief?

The
morning after meeting Daniel, Caitlin woke up to yet another silent phone call.
They had started up again a few days ago.

This
cold morning, her ring tone shook her roughly from her sweet slumber. She
groggily reached out for her mobile phone which lay on her bedside cabinet. She
rubbed her eyes as she answered the call, registering that it was still only
half past five in the morning.

But as soon as she
reached for it, it stopped ringing. She put the phone back on her bedside
cabinet and rubbed her eyes.

She
had started receiving them first back in November, soon after she had dumped
Carl. He would call her but say nothing.

At
first, she tried to speak to him and reason with him. She knew it was him but
when he said nothing, she hung up. He would call back immediately and do the
same thing all over again. Never saying a word. But just hanging on the phone,
listening to her. It was eerie. And the more it happened, the more it unnerved
her.

She
would have preferred him to shout at her than to have the complete silence.

The
silence scared her because it was full of so much intent.  He used to text
her too. Nasty texts, swearing at her, accusing her of many things. Sometimes
it seemed as though there were two different people writing the texts.
Sometimes he would type out abusive things. Other times he would say he was
sorry and tell her how much he loved her. He would plead with her to get back
together with him.

It
got to a point back in November that he would call her continuously. Soon she
started hanging up on him. And then after that she had his number blocked from
her phone.

He started up on the land
line but she and Kerrie both stopped answering the phone.

He
hounded her mercilessly on Facebook and sent her emails by the dozen. Short
emails telling her he hated her interspersed with long ones, pages of them,
declaring his love for her.

She
knew then that she had become his obsession.

She
was almost on the verge of telling her parents about the situation but then in
December everything had gone quiet.

She
naively assumed that he had gotten over her. And then the attack happened. The
week’s hiatus from his constant harassment had given her a false sense of
comfort.

As
she recalled these fragmented memories of a time she would much rather forget,
Caitlin slid further down beneath her duvet, immersing herself completely in
its warmth and blotting out the rest of the world outside.

So
much had happened in the last few weeks that she had forgotten all about the
phonecalls – until now.

As
she lay under the duvet, she heard the familiar ring tone of her phone once
more. She had been waiting for it. She knew he would try again and the minute
it rang, her mind and body went on high alert instinctively and her
stomach tightened.

“Hello?”
she said warily. She knew, even as she said these words, that there would be
silence at the other end. She pushed the duvet away and hung up the call, then
lay in bed looking at the patterns on her ceiling.

She
wondered what Daniel was up to. Daniel. She always thought of Daniel whenever
anything related to Carl came to mind. The almost comical ring tone of her
phone went off again, ripping away all thoughts of Daniel. This time she seized
her phone angrily.  

How
dare he intrude on her life again? 
She’d show him. But even as she opened her mouth to shout out abuse
at him, she couldn’t. No words came out. It was as if he had taken away her
ability to speak, simply by being at the other end of the line. She hated this
the most; the almost paralyzing effect he had on her. She had always prided
herself on being feisty and outspoken but meeting Carl had stripped away that
feistiness.

She
switched her phone off and made up her mind to visit DCI Osborn later on.

Caitlin
turned up at the police station after finishing work later that day. She had
phoned ahead and DCI Osborn was expecting her.

All
day at work, the two early morning phone calls had bothered her. Each time she
tried to move forward with her life, Carl seemed to find a way to stop her.

“Hello
Caitlin, you said you had some more information for me? What is it?” DCI Osborn
had a direct approach and she liked that. 

“I’ve
been getting silent phone calls again. I’m certain it’s Carl Summers.”

“Does
he say anything?” DCI Osborn listened patiently.

“No.
Nothing. He says nothing. There’s just silence at the other end. He did this
back in November, when I ended the relationship. But the calls stopped in
December. All his harassment stopped then.”

“He
was gearing himself up for the attack on you, more than likely.”

Caitlin nodded.

“How
many calls had you had now?”

“A
couple last week. Two this morning, at around half past five.”

The DCI listened
carefully and scribbled something down.

“Has
he confessed?” Caitlin asked quietly.

“No.
But he will. We’ll find the proof to pin on him.” DCI Osborn took off his glasses
and rubbed the sore bridge of his nose. His eyes looked even more tired than
she remembered from last time.

“I
don’t get it. If the man who attacked me already confessed that Carl Summers
paid him why can’t you just go and arrest him now?”

“I
wish it were as easy as that. But it isn’t. Right now it would be a case of the
attacker’s word against your ex’s word. We need solid evidence that will stand
up in a court of law.”

“And
what are you doing to get that evidence?”

“We’re
working on it Caitlin, I know it must be frightening for you. But we are
working on it. We’ve approached him and he denies any involvement in the attack
on you and Daniel.”

At
the mere mention of his name, Caitlin’s heart jumped.

The
DCI carried on, “In fact that young man Daniel is most anxious we arrest him
and charge him as soon as possible.”

“Has
he been in touch with you?” Caitlin asked curiously, wanting to know what else
Daniel might have asked.

“He
has. He rang this morning. He wanted to know whether we had made any further progress.
Sorry to say I wasn’t able to give him the news he wanted.”

Caitlin
flinched inwardly.
Daniel called?

“We
will
get him Caitlin, don’t you worry about that. We always do. But I
must warn you that if and when we arrest and charge him, and the CPS decide to
prosecute him, it can take many months for the full case to get to court.”

Caitlin’s
eyes darkened with fear. “But I want him out of my life. I don’t want him to
come near me or hurt me or threaten me ever again.” If the case didn’t go to
trial for months, it meant that Carl Summers was free to harass her as he
wanted.

“The
court can impose conditions on him to ensure he stays away from you and from
your home and place of work.”

“A
man like Carl Summers doesn’t obey orders!” said Caitlin hotly, her face
breaking out in anger. She would never feel safe again, not until he was behind
bars.

“Caitlin,
let’s take it one step at a time. You let me know if you get any more calls or
texts. Keep a diary, document everything. It will come in handy when this goes
to trial.  And if you need to speak to me just call me.” He gave her his
number. The poor girl looked frightened to death.

By
the time she left the police station Caitlin was shaking uncontrollably.

The thought of weeks and
months spreading out before her, living life as a frightened woman was
unbearable.

She
had spent the last few months looking over her shoulder every waking minute of
the day. She wouldn’t be able to live like this for much longer.

The
tears started falling, slowly at first, as she walked along Bishopsgate. The
passers by walked on, not seeing anything or anyone as they focused on where
they wanted to go and walked as fast as they could to get there. Just then her
phone rang again.

“Sod
off will you!” she yelled.  She was about to hit the button to end the
call when she heard, “Caitlin? Caitlin, it's me. Daniel. What’s happened? Are
you alright?”

The
sound of his voice reassured her, especially now that she felt all battered and
broken up. “Oh Daniel,” she burst into tears again, with relief and feeling a
bit sorry for herself too. As she walked along she noticed a small side road on
her left. She walked down it to get away from the noise and people that were
starting to suffocate her.

“Where
are you? I just need to know you’re alright. Has anything happened?” He sounded
urgent, anguished almost.

“
No, I’m fine,” she lied.
I wish you could come
here.
“It’s nothing. I’m not hurt. I..I…” She didn’t know what to say. How
would she tell him how low she felt?

“Tell
me where you are Caitlin. I’m coming.” He sounded so strong and as though he
was going to take care of her.  

“No,
you don’t have to Daniel. Really. I’m fine. I’m just having a bit of a bad
day.”

Refusing to take no for
an answer, Daniel insisted, “Where are you Caitlin?”

She
didn’t have the energy to make up any more excuses to avoid him.  She
leant against the walls of what looked like a church building and looking
around her she saw a sign. She told him, “I’m outside St Helens church, Near
Bishopsgate. But Daniel, it’s-” 

He interrupted her. “I’m
coming, I’m not far. Stay put.”

She wiped her eyes and
face and tried smiling, to lift her spirits but inside she felt extremely low.
He was coming and she didn’t want him to see her looking like the mess she felt
she was.

The
visit to DCI Osborn had rocked her to the core. News that the case might take
months to get to trial, if the CPS didn’t throw it out, had knocked her
self-esteem once more.

She
had barely gotten over the December night attack. And when the December attack
had happened, she had barely gotten over the months of hell she’d had with
Carl. She felt as though her life had taken a swerve into darker depths since
the summer and she’d been trying to get it back on an even keel ever since
then.

Yet
no matter how hard she tried, something always came out of the blue to knock
her back down again.

Today
everything had come to a head once more. The silent phone calls starting up
again, memories of her time with Carl and now she felt her visit to DCI Osborn
had done nothing to raise her spirits. Nothing that he said had given her hope.
Soon, if the police could not protect her, she would have to tell her parents
what was going on.