Snared (28 page)

Chapter Eighty-Five

H
ope these are what you were after.” Robert held up the
Majestic
bag, the contents clinking together. “I had to make a special trip up there, but I was running low anyway.”

Vicky pecked him on the cheek and took the bag, glancing at the three bottles of wine. “I’ll have to inspect them closely.”

Bella lurked behind Vicky, hugging her leg and keeping a
distance
.

“Bella, this is Mummy’s friend, Robert.”

Bella stuck out a lip and hugged tighter. “Hello.”

Robert laughed. “Don’t worry, my Jamie’s just the same with new people.”

Vicky held open the door. “In you come.”

Robert walked in, patting Bella on the head as he passed. She squeezed back against her mother.

Vicky led them into the kitchen. “Shuffle. I haven’t put the oven on.”

“Don’t worry.” Robert got out the wine bottles — all had matte black labels, beads of perspiration on the clear glass. “What do you fancy first?”

Vicky set the dial on the cooker. “You choose.”

“Rosé it is.”

Bella stood by the door, peeking into the kitchen. “Are you my Uncle Robert?”

Robert knelt as he shared a look with Vicky. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Robert’s just Mummy’s friend, Bella.”

“Is he a baddie?”

Vicky laughed. “Are you?”

“I’m not sure.” Robert sat back on his heels. “Bella, what does your mummy do?”

“Catches baddies.”

“Has she caught me?”

Bella pouted. “Don’t know.”

“Well, if she hasn’t, am I not a goodie?”

“Don’t know.”

Robert smiled at Vicky. “What do you think?”

“The jury’s still out.”

“Why’s jewellery out, Mummy?”

Vicky picked Bella up. “Jury. It’s people who decide
whether a baddie is actually a baddie or not.”

“Do we need a jewellery for Robert?”

Vicky smiled. “What do you think, Robert?”

“I’m sure you and Bella would make a good jury.”

“Bells, one thing a jury does is it deliberates.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means they go to a special place and think about things for a few hours.”

Bella pouted again. “Does that mean I have to go to bed?”

“It does.”

“But, Mummy —”

“But
nothing
. It’s time for your bed, young lady.” Vicky held up Bella’s arm. “Say goodnight to Robert.”

Bella wiggled her fingers. “Night-night.”

Chapter Eighty-Six

I
t’s bloody ruined.” Vicky gritted her teeth as she stared at the charred mess on her plate. Disaster.

“Looks okay to me.” Robert picked at his food, holding up a lettuce leaf. “At least you can’t burn salad.”

“Oh, I could, believe me.” Vicky stabbed her fork at the pasta before taking a bite. The food was still boiling hot. “Actually, it’s not too bad.”

Robert followed suit. “What cheese did you put on the top? Mozzarella?”

“No. It was a hard one. Parmesan, I think.”

“That’s what’s burnt. You need a bit of moisture in the cheese. Otherwise it’ll basically just go on fire.” He took another mouthful. “Still, it’s pretty good.”

Vicky went through to the kitchen and found a block of
Cheddar
in the fridge. She grated it onto a plate, dumped the used grater in the sink then took the cheese through. “Try this.”

Robert sprinkled the Cheddar on his pasta, which was still steaming. “Looks like it’s going to melt.” He took a forkful and ate it. “Right, that’s the stuff.”

Vicky tried some of her pasta, now heaped with orange cheese. “This is good, actually. I didn’t know that about cheese.”

“I used to work in a kitchen when I was a student. I learnt a lot, mainly how to make an arse of most dishes and then how to save them. But I generally only arsed them up once.”

Vicky took a sip of wine — her glass was almost empty. “Ready for a top-up?”

Robert nudged his over. “Aye, go on.”

Vicky poured. “Have you got school tomorrow?”

“I do, but Thursdays are pretty light for me. Lots of marking at this time of year, even in PE. Full afternoon, mind — First and Second Years are playing softball.”

“Fills the time, I suppose.”

“It does.” Robert frowned as he ate some salad. “Does this taste burnt to you?”

“Very funny.” Vicky took another drink. “Do you enjoy
teaching
?”

“I do, aye. PE’s a pretty weird subject. There’s nothing quite like it. All the kids get PE in First and Second Year. Bit of a nightmare as you’ve got the fat kids forced to do cross country and half the girls in the class having their period every week in swimming. What are the chances of that?”

“Don’t.” Vicky prodded her fork at him. “The boys in my class were practically wanking themselves off at the girls in the pool. It was
horrible
.”

Robert laughed. “Aye. I tried to get them to split the sexes in swimming classes. The two jobsworths who do the timetable knocked it back.” He took another drink of wine. “Anyway, the point is most kids doing PE learn to hate exercise. If we taught them to do what they enjoyed, then we wouldn’t have such a problem with obesity in this country.”

“I can understand that.”

“For me, it only gets interesting when I get my Standard Grade and Higher pupils. They’re the ones who’re really into it. They can run and they play football because they’re good at it, not because their dad wants the next David Beckham to pay off his mortgage or whatever.”

“Is Jamie going to pay off your mortgage?”

Robert chuckled. “Not by playing football. He’s a maths
prodigy
. He’ll be an accountant or an actuary or something.” His smile thinned. “That’s Moira’s genes.”

Vicky felt the nerve spike at her. “But you enjoy your job?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t, even with the holidays.”

“Were you any good at football?”

“Dundee had me on their books when I was a teenager. Never made it, obviously. Went to uni instead.”

“When was this?”

“You’re trying to calculate my age, aren’t you?”

She shrugged. “I might be.”

“I’m forty-one.”

“Well, I’m thirty-five.” Vicky took a sip of wine before frowning. “Did you say you played for Dundee?”

“Tell me you’re not United.”

“My dad is. I can’t stand it.” She frowned. “No, I was wondering if you knew a Micky Scott.”

“Name rings a bell. Why?”

“He was a greyhound trainer. Played for Dundee in the eighties according to his son. Got an injury and had to retire.”

“Is this the new murder case?”

“It is.”

“Mummy!”

Vicky set down her cutlery. “I could have sworn I put you to bed, young lady.”

“I want to stay up with you.”

“Mummy’s having her dinner. You had yours at Granny’s. It’s bedtime.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll put you back to bed.”

“But, Mummy!”

“No buts, Bella.” Vicky reached down to pick up her daughter before smiling at Robert. “Back in a minute.” She carried Bella upstairs, the child’s feet catching on the banister. She put her in bed and tucked the sheets around her, putting a couple of teddies on the floor.

“Think the jewellery’s back in, Mummy.”

“Oh, is it?”

“Is Robert a baddie?”

“No, he’s not.”

“Is he a goodie?”

“Mummy thinks he might be.”

“Am I a goodie, Mummy?”

“Yes, if you go to sleep.” Vicky tickled her sides. “Otherwise you’ll be a baddie!”

Bella giggled. “Okay.” She scrunched her eyes closed. “Night-night, Mummy.”

Vicky kissed her on the top of her head. “Night-night, Bells.” She raced down the stairs, almost skipping into the living room. “Sorry about that.” She sat down, noticed that Robert had topped up her glass. “Are you trying to get me drunk here?”

“You’re doing a very good job of it yourself.”

Vicky took a sip. “I think Bella likes you.”

“She’s certainly much more personable than my Jamie.”

“How old is he?”

“Six.” Robert took a long drink. “Where’s her father?”

Vicky looked away. “Alan lives in Edinburgh now.”

“And he’s not on the scene?”

“Never has been, really.”

“I see. Must be hard raising her on your own all this time.”

Vicky shrugged. “Mum and Dad help out way more than they should.”

“That’s the advantage of still living here, I suppose. That’s how I cope, myself.” Robert stared into his glass for a few seconds. “
Bella’s
father doesn’t help out, then?”

“Bella’s father doesn’t want to know about her.”

Robert raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t realise.”

Vicky sipped her wine. “It’s better for all concerned, trust me. We’d known each other for years and just got together one nigh
t. W
e’d only been going out for a few months when he got a job offer in Edinburgh. I found out I was pregnant but I was kind of settled here. He didn’t want to stay in Dundee. I took that as meaning he didn’t want to stay with me.”

“He doesn’t want her in his life?”

“No. It’s fine. I’d much rather bring up Bella on my own than have to deal with him and his nonsense.”

“Did you ever . . . You know?”

“Think about abortion?”

Robert scratched at his neck. “Aye.”

“Every day at about this time.” Vicky smiled. “Only joking. I did think about it but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’ve not regretted it.” She noticed that their plates were both empty and took a big dent out of her glass. “Shall we have a comfy seat?”

“Go on.”

Vicky stood up, almost toppling over. She held out her arm for Robert to take. Instead, he put his hand on her arm and kissed her gently on the lips.

Chapter Eighty-Seven

V
icky got out of bed and crossed the room, tugging the dressing gown around her naked body.

“Not bad for your age.” Robert grinned across the darkened room at her. Just the one sidelight was on.

She blushed. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She went into the
bathroom
, locking the door behind her, and sat down. She looked at the condom, the teat filled with semen, millions of half-Roberts swimming around. It stank. She dumped it in the bin, lifted the toilet lid and sat on the seat, head in her hands. “Shit, shit, shit.”

What the hell was she doing?

Was it fair on Bella?

Bottom line, could she really commit to anyone other than herself or her daughter? And taking on a son?

Her breath came in short bursts as she felt the weight of the relationship crushing her lungs. She peed and flushed the toilet before splashing cold water on her face. In the mirror, her face was pink and blotchy, her make-up still underneath. She went back through and sat on the bed.

Robert snuggled up to her, kissing her neck. “I enjoyed that.”

Vicky stayed still, letting him do the work. “You know you can’t stay, right?”

“Wouldn’t expect it any other way.”

“Really?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vicky shrugged. “I just feel like such a shit mother at times.”

“You seem great with Bella.”

“You think so?”

“I do. She loves you but you’re not letting her take the piss.” Robert brushed her hair aside and started stroking her neck, not far from that nerve. “Do you want to come to mine for dinner tomorrow night?”

“It’s quite soon.”

Robert gave her a puppy-dog face, lip out, eyes wide. “Don’t you want to see me?”

Vicky laughed. “Okay, it’s a date.” She turned back to face him, tempted to kiss him back. “I’ll get Mum to look after Bella.”

“You could bring her, if you want.”

“Two kids under the age of ten isn’t going to be a great idea.”

“Agreed.”

Vicky glanced at the clock. 12.03. “I need to get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Robert got up. He slid his boxers on, then the first leg of his trousers, hopping as he put the second one on. He was much more athletic than she’d initially thought — his abs were tight, his shoulders firm.

Vicky looked down at her stomach spilling out of the gown. Not so good.

“Well, that’s me.” Robert put his shirt on, pulled his belt tight. “I take it you want me to slip out like a thief in the night?”

“You can tell you’re a nineties boy.”

“Eh? That’s a Rolling Stones song.”

“I thought it was Take That.”

“All this talk of grunge is just a cover, isn’t it? You’re really a pop girl.”

“No comment.” Vicky led him downstairs, creeping so as not to wake Bella. She leaned against the open door. Tinkle milled around her ankles, rubbing hard.

Robert kissed her on the lips. “I like you, Vicky.”

“Okay.” Vicky pecked him back on the cheek. “See you
tonigh
t, okay?”

“Looking forward to it.” He patted her arm and walked off into the night.

She watched him go, her heart jolting. That night, she’d be in his house, eating with his son, digging a deeper hole for herself. He seemed to have his heart in the right place, but was it?

Did she even like him?

Thursday

3rd April 2014

Chapter Eighty-Eight

T
he clock radio blared out REM’s
Shiny Happy People
.

Vicky slammed her hand down on it, her boob falling free with the movement. She looked down, wondering where her vest top was. She was naked.

Robert.

She turned back over. What the hell was she doing?

The clock radio read 7.02. Her mobile lay beside it.

She spotted her dressing gown on the floor. She reached down to get it, tugged it on then sat up, trying to clear her head.

“Mummy!”

Vicky reached out to grab Bella as she jumped on the bed. “Somebody’s full of beans today.”

“Had good sleeps, Mummy. Can I catch baddies with you today?”

“Maybe.” Vicky’s phone buzzed on the table. She reached over and picked it up. Forrester. Bella hugged her tight. She put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Vicky, thank God. All hell’s broken loose here. Raven’s got us in a ‘power breakfast’, would you believe? Mac and I can contain it but I need you to get out to the Fixit DIY store on the Kingsway.”

Vicky jolted awake, nudging Bella to the side. “What’s happened?”

“The store manager’s been found outside.”

“Is he dead?”

“No idea. Just get there as soon as you can.”