Next of Kin (10 page)

‘You’re right. It was convenient. I do want to stay here, and so yes this will obviously help me. And yes, I’m sorry it had to happen like it has, Sarah, but I want our arrangement to be as amicable as we can make it.’

‘Amicable? How can it be amicable, Woody? You’re buying me.’

He stared at her, his expression hardening, his eyes glassy. ‘You had a choice.’

‘What choice would that have been?’ she said. ‘You know as well as I do that I had no choice. There was no other way out that I could see. So it was a case of take you up on your offer or see Ryan killed and me beaten up or worse – and still owe those thugs the money? I didn’t have any kind of choice and you know it. You’re forcing me into this.’

‘Force is such an ugly word, Sarah,’ Woody said in a calm even voice, as if he was the reasonable one. ‘And this is not just about me; there is Ryan to consider too.’

Sarah stared at him.

‘It’s him who made the decision. Him who borrowed the money. Without you he would probably be dead by now.’ Woody smiled. ‘I’m part of the solution not the problem. You need to see it for what it is. It is purely a business arrangement, a solution that is mutually beneficial to all parties. Perhaps it might be easier if I spoke to Josh. What do you think? After all we don’t want him messing things up or getting tangled up with Farouk, or ending up in an alley like Ryan, do we?’

Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off him. ‘Is that a threat?’

He smiled but there was no warmth in his expression. ‘No, I’m just saying that if you think about it, it’s better if Josh knows nothing about our arrangement, that way he can’t say anything that would screw things up, and he can’t get himself into any trouble. Farouk isn’t someone to mess with.’

‘What does Josh have to do with Farouk?’

‘Well obviously I had to explain to him how our deal was going to work out.’

‘You told Farouk about me and Josh?’ said Sarah.

Woody nodded. ‘He wanted to know exactly how Ryan was going to get the cash. What the deal was. He wanted to be certain that he would get what was owed to him, and that we weren’t trying to scam him.’

Sarah bit her lip. ‘I need to explain to Josh.’

‘I’ve already told you, you can’t explain. Would you like me to do it for you? Just have a word.’

‘And tell him what? You just said yourself that you can’t explain – so what are you going to tell him? That you’re marrying his girlfriend? That you’re buying her to ensure her brother doesn’t get his head kicked in? I love him, Woody. I have to talk to him. I want to explain what’s going on. How’s it going to look if you do it? The fact I can’t or won’t talk to him will only make things worse not better. He’s worried about me. He’s not going to give up. I’m not saying that he’ll be happy about it but he deserves to know what’s going on. Please.’

Woody hesitated, and then he nodded. ‘You’re right. It would be better coming from you. But you can’t tell him about us getting married; you understand that, don’t you? If anyone finds out that this is a sham marriage we will be arrested. And if that happens then you’ll be left with your little brother’s loan to pay off and those thugs on your doorstep.’ He smiled, leaning back against the table. ‘You should be grateful that I’m helping you out.’

‘Grateful?’

He nodded.

Sarah stared at him, surely he couldn’t be serious? Apparently he was. He held his ground, facing her down.

‘What do I tell Josh then?’ she said.

They were standing face-to-face, practically toe-to-toe. Sarah felt anything but grateful. She felt driven into a corner and angry and hurt, and more than all of those things she felt powerless to change any of it. ‘If it’s just a business arrangement, and you’ve already told Farouk, then why shouldn’t I tell Josh?’

‘Because I said so. Farouk won’t be telling anyone, but if you tell Josh, then how do you think he’s going to react? And who will he decide to tell about it? And if you tell him then who else will you think needs to know? It has to be a secret, Sarah. You can’t say anything. Is that clear?’

‘So what can I tell him?
What
?’ Her voice was rising. ‘How can he and I carry on our relationship if I’m getting married to you? I love him, he loves me. He was going to move in with me. How can we do that now?
How
?’ she demanded, voice full of tears. She knew that the truth was that they couldn’t, not without telling Josh the truth, not without some sort of an explanation, and Woody had made it clear that that wasn’t on the cards.

He shrugged. The wrecked phone rang in Sarah’s hand. She turned it over. ‘It’s Josh,’ she said, holding the phone out towards him.

‘Then you’d better answer it then, hadn’t you?’ said Woody.

Sarah stared at him. ‘I thought you just said I wasn’t to talk to him?’

Woody nodded. ‘I did, but you’re right, you need to tell him yourself or he’ll just keep ringing and coming round, causing trouble.’

‘He’s not causing trouble. He wants to talk to me.’

Woody smiled. ‘So there we are – you’ve got your wish. Talk to Josh.’ He pressed the button to speaker phone and set the handset down on the table.

‘Hello?’ said Josh.

‘Hello,’ said Sarah nervously, sitting down at the table.

‘Sarah?’ She could hear the relief in his voice. ‘Is that you? I’m glad I’ve finally managed to get through to you. I’ve been really worried. Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.’

‘Are you sure, you sound a bit odd.’

Sarah’s eyes met Woody’s.

‘No, I’m fine. Really. Just—’

‘Just what? What’s the matter? It’s been hell not knowing how you are and what’s going on. Is Ryan okay now? Has he got any idea who did it? I was just on my way round. What happened?’

So many words, so many thoughts.

Sarah didn’t know where to start. Woody raised his eyebrows, a gesture of encouragement, an admonishment to get on with it, she couldn’t decide which.

She took a breath. The truth was that there was only really one option if she wanted to go through with this and keep the two men she loved most in the world safe.

‘I’m so sorry, Josh. I didn’t know how to tell you. I can’t see you again,’ she said softly, so softly that she could hear the sound of her heart breaking over the top of the words.

‘What?’ Josh gasped as if she had punched him. ‘What do you mean? I don’t understand. Let me come round – let’s talk.’

‘I can’t,’ she said thickly.

‘What do you mean you
can’t
? What’s happened? What’s the matter?’

‘I just can’t,’ she repeated. She looked up at Woody. His expression was neutral but there was something in his eyes, something dark and triumphant that made her shiver. ‘I didn’t know how to tell you. I’m not ready,’ she said, not taking her eyes off Woody. ‘It was a mistake. I think it would be better if we didn’t see each other again.’

‘Sarah. Wait. We don’t have to rush this, we can take our—’

‘Please, I’ve got to go now,’ she said, before Josh could finish. She knew what he was going to say. ‘I’m so sorry, really, really sorry.’

Woody nodded.

And with that Sarah hung up and closed her eyes tight shut, trying to hold back the tears.

‘There, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?’ he said.

The sob bubbled up from low in her belly, a tidal wave of sorrow and grief. ‘How can you possible say that?’ she sobbed. ‘I love him.’

‘I didn’t ask you to finish with him. Did I?’

Sarah swung round, to face Woody, the frustration and fury bubbling through her. ‘What else could I have done – what else? Tell me? I hate this – do you understand. Between you and Ryan you have destroyed my life.’ The truth was she didn’t see any other way out, and she loved him too much to get him mixed up in whatever it was that Woody or Farouk had planned. And she had sensed the threat.

The phone rang again. This time Woody took out the batteries and set them and the phone alongside her.

‘You need to pull yourself together,’ he said. He held out his hand. ‘Why don’t you let me keep your mobile for you, then he can’t hassle you.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m not giving you my phone. For god’s sake, Woody. Why would I want to do that? All my numbers are in it and I need it for work. No, haven’t you had enough?’ She replaced the batteries.

He shrugged. ‘Please yourself.’

As he spoke her mobile began to ring again.

‘I was just trying to make things easier for you. This will soon all be over. We’ve got a wedding to arrange.’

She took a breath but before she could speak, Woody continued. ‘I don’t want anyone to have any doubt that this wedding is the real thing. You understand, don’t you? You have to look like you mean it.’

‘Or what?’ she snapped, backhanding the tears away.

‘Let me explain how things are, Sarah,’ he said leaning in so close that she could feel his breath on her face. ‘I’ve given Farouk’s friends a little sweetener to keep them off Ryan’s back until after the wedding. It’ll hold them off till then, but it won’t hold them forever. I’ve told them they can have the rest as soon as we’re married. You understand? So it needs to work. If it falls through then we’ll both be in big, big trouble. You understand me?’

‘How do you know that will work?’

He grinned, a long lazy unsettling grin. ‘I know Farouk,’ he said. ‘I know how he thinks. I know how he works. I know what he wants. Trust me it will be just fine. He’ll wait, just not for long.’

Cambridge Evening Times

Unidentified body found in barn by school children

Police are seeking information from the public after the badly decomposed body of an adult male was found by school children in a derelict field barn near Soham, Cambridgeshire while they were searching for a lost dog.

A police spokesperson told reporters that they were awaiting forensic reports to help establish the identity of the man. The body had been there some time and attempts to identify the body had been hindered both by the passage of time and by a failed attempt to burn down the field barn at some stage, though the police were unable to confirm that these two incidents are related.

Police are currently working on the theory that the man may be in the country illegally, possibly as an agricultural worker. Recent raids on local farms have uncovered large groups of men working illegally, and kept like virtual prisoners in a number of isolated locations throughout East Anglia.

Any members of the public who have any information should contact …

Sarah

‘And then Woody told me the reason he was home was that he had made an appointment for us to go and see the registrar and that the sooner we went the better.’

‘And you agreed to that?’

‘It felt like the ground was slipping away from under my feet. It didn’t feel like I had any choice. He said they would want to ask me questions to make sure it wasn’t a sham marriage. I laughed.’

‘And how did he react?’

‘He didn’t think that it was funny. He said he was paying me a lot of money to keep my mouth shut and bail Ryan out and that I needed to understand what was at stake, and that if they found out that we were lying, if he got into any kind of trouble, then the law would be the least of my problems, he didn’t like to think what would happen if he didn’t pay Farouk.’

‘They?’

‘The authorities. The immigration people. He said I needed to get my head around the idea that this had to work and work well. “Be happy, smile” he said. “You’re going to get married. You’ll need to learn these questions and answers before we go to the Register Office”.’

And how did that make you feel?’

‘Sick.’

Chapter Eleven

‘So how did you and Mustapha meet?’ the Registrar was asking. She was smiling, her voice had a warm upward lilt; she had a pen poised over a pad, and although it might seem like any other conversation, these were the questions Sarah needed to get right for the wedding to go ahead. She tried to remember to smile, after all this was meant to be a happy occasion.

The woman tucked a stray tendril of hair back behind her ears. She reminded Sarah of her mother; she had a kind tired face that good make-up and an expensive haircut couldn’t hide, and for the briefest of moments Sarah wondered if it wouldn’t be better if she just told the truth, and stopped all this before it went any further. She wanted to be with Josh; she wanted her life back to how it was, not this charade.

The woman lifted her eyebrows in an, “
I’m waiting
” expression.

‘Through my brother. Ryan brought Woody home,’ Sarah said with a smile. See that wasn’t so hard, now was it?

‘Woody?’ said the woman, tipping her head to one side.

‘Mustapha. Everyone calls him Woody,’ Sarah said quickly, broadening out the smile, wondering then if it had been too quick. She wondered if the woman would think she was too glib, too slick, could she guess that Sarah was bending the truth? Could she see that Sarah was lying?

The woman nodded and wrote something and then glanced down at the paperwork in front of her. ‘And it says here that you are currently living together?’

Sarah nodded.

‘And how long have you been cohabiting?’

Sarah glanced upwards; Woody had been coaching her all week. ‘Don’t just recite it,’ he’d said. ‘Like you’ve learned it by rote – be normal, be natural. Hesitate, reflect, consider.’

She didn’t feel either normal or natural. ‘Almost a year; about ten months now I think.’

The woman was still smiling, apparently moving her attention away from her checklist. ‘Okay. And will any of Mustapha’s family be coming to the wedding?’

Sarah smiled back; she knew this one: ‘No unfortunately not, his dad is quite elderly and infirm, and his mum doesn’t want to travel on her own. It’s a real shame but you can understand it, and Woody has said we’ll go over there as soon as we can. I think they’re hoping there will be another ceremony once we get there. Certainly a big family party. So no, but lots of his college friends will be there, and mine, obviously.’

The woman raised her eyebrows. ‘So will you be converting?’

Sarah hesitated. ‘I’m not sure…’ she began, no longer on safe ground, no longer on script. Was the woman even allowed to ask that? Sarah wondered if she should say something or refuse to answer, but how would being that defensive look? ‘I don’t think so. To be honest I’m not really religious,’ she said.

‘But if you’re thinking of having a ceremony in Quetta…’

‘I know, Woody and I keep talking about it. I’m hoping that maybe we can just get away with a big family party. I’m not sure how it works over there.’

The woman nodded and wrote something down on her pad. ‘Is Mustapha religious?’ Her tone was casual.

Sarah shook her head. ‘No, not really.’

‘But I can see he might want to please his family. I believe there is the equivalent of a civil marriage; maybe they have the equivalent of a blessing. It might be worth trying to finding out? I can give you details of who you will need to contact.’

Sarah nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she said, attempting a smile. ‘You know what men are like with arrangements.’ Don’t try too hard.

‘And what about brothers and sisters, other family?’

‘My brother, Ryan, will be coming. He’s going to be giving me away. But Woody is an only child. He has cousins though and we’ve invited them. I’m really hoping they’ll be able to make it. It would be so good to have some of his family there.’

Sarah had no idea if this was true or not but it was what Woody had told her to say. ‘Family and photos, that’s what we need,’ he’d said.

The woman was still smiling and nodding. Sarah, back on safe ground, made the effort not to sigh.

‘So there we are, we’re more or less there,’ the woman said, glancing down at her list. ‘Have you thought about what you want for the wedding? For the ceremony?’

‘I haven’t thought about much else,’ said Sarah, glancing up to see Woody waiting for her out in the foyer. He was looking at her, smiling. He had already had his question and answer session. Sarah made the effort to smile back.

‘We obviously need to talk to you both about flowers and guest numbers and what music you’ll be having. And the readings – if you’d like readings? We have a booklet if you need some inspiration. I know it can sometimes be a bit daunting.’

Sarah nodded.

‘And have you chosen your dress?’

The woman seemed genuinely interested. Sarah felt herself redden. ‘Not yet – I wanted to make sure we had got a date. You know, so I could plan. But I’ve been looking,’ she added hastily.

The woman nodded. ‘Very sensible, you need to be sure that you’ve got the right one. Anyway now you can start sorting things out, can’t you? Full steam ahead.’

‘Yes,’ said Sarah.

‘Excited?’ asked the registrar.

‘Not exactly,’ said Sarah.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

Sarah managed to laugh. ‘I’m a bit nervous,’ she said.

The woman nodded sympathetically. ‘You’re not alone in that but I’m sure you’ll be just fine,’ she said. ‘And try not to fret too much. We’ll make sure you and Mustapha have a lovely day. You’re in safe hands, trust me.’

If only that were true, Sarah thought, as the woman got to her feet, indicating that the interview was over.

Sarah

‘I couldn’t sleep. I lay awake at nights thinking about everything that had happened, playing it over and over, and thinking about what I was doing. I wanted to talk to Josh face to face but after that day, when Ryan came home and I talked to Josh on the phone, everywhere I went Woody or Ryan came with me. I felt like a prisoner.’

‘They followed you?’

‘They took me or came with me, or waited for me to come out. Everywhere.’

‘But hadn’t they both told you that it was just a piece of paper?’

‘I know that that is what they said, but that wasn’t how it felt. It felt like a sticky trap; like I was stuck. It felt like a dream half the time, I kept expecting to wake up. The worst part about it was I kept thinking that I hadn’t done anything to find myself in that position. The thing with Ryan and the money and Woody and the visa. None of that was anything to do with me except that I was the answer. The answer to all their problems. And I couldn’t see any way out – then one evening when I was about to go off to work Woody asked me if I wanted to invite the people from work to the wedding.’

‘From the nursery?’

‘And from the restaurant. They were talking about it in the kitchen, the two of them, Ryan and Woody, drinking beer, saying it would look much better if people came, and then Ryan said that maybe we could have the reception at the restaurant, and wondered if they could get a discount on the catering. Laughing like it was some big joke.’

‘Had you talked to Ryan about what was going on?’

‘He wouldn’t talk to me about it. Not directly. I kept trying to get him on his own, tried to make him see sense and see what he had done, but he just said that it would be fine. Fine. There was nothing fine about it. He didn’t even say he was sorry anymore. And then Woody said that he would organise the food, and that I needed a dress – you know, like a proper wedding dress.’

‘And how did you feel?’

‘Like a piece of meat.’

‘And did you talk to Ryan about that?’

‘I tried to but something had changed between us after that day when he came home from hospital. It’s like he was blocking me out. Like he wasn’t on my side anymore. It was him and Woody. He kept telling me to lighten up, like it was nothing, that it would be over and done in no time, and then we could all get on with our lives. And I could see that for him it was true. By marrying Woody I had bought off Farouk; Ryan was home scot-free. They were talking about what they’d do, once things were settled.’

‘Who were?’

‘Woody and Ryan.’

‘Okay and what did you think they meant by settled, Sarah?’

‘Married, I suppose, with his right to remain. Woody kept saying that he could make some real money then. He and Ryan were always in the kitchen talking about what they would do next, how they planned to set up in business now they were going to be family. Next of kin.

Ryan kept on about how he had always wanted a brother. It was so crazy. It was like he pushed me to the outside edge. I wanted to shake him and try and make him understand. It felt like I’d sold my soul to save him, but he didn’t see it that way at all. Once the bruises had faded he didn’t seem to have any sense of what he’d done or what he’d done to me, and he was still swanning around in the van he’d bought like nothing had happened. Nothing. It felt like things were slipping away from me. Ryan wasn’t paying anything towards the bills because with his fingers being broken he couldn’t really work, and Woody said he was paying enough already – I practically had to beg the two of them for money to keep going.

‘And you were still working?’

‘Yes, all hours that god sent, although it wasn’t easy. The two of them didn’t want me out of their sight. I think they were both afraid I might change my mind or make a run for it or something. And they wanted me to tell everyone about the wedding.’