Somewhere to Hide (The Estate, Book 1) (15 page)

Cathy ripped it open. Like the last one, it was blank on both sides. Again there was a piece of cheap lined paper, the writing on it the same as the first note.

‘YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE’

Stupid, stupid man. Cathy screwed up the note in anger. How dare Kevin McIntyre put her in this predicament! He must have sneaked up to the house while she was watching the film. She shuddered: what a creep.

But just as quickly she smoothed out the paper. Now there were two of them, the matter became a little more serious. What should she do? Should she show it to Liz or would it have the desired effect of putting the frighteners on her? Liz was trying to get on with her life: it was just a shame that stupid prick of her husband wasn’t.

Cathy sighed. She couldn’t decide what to do about it now. She’d speak to Rose in the morning. Maybe talking it through would make more sense of it.

Over coffee at Rose’s house the next morning, they discussed the matter.

‘What do you think I should do?’ Cathy asked.

‘If you don’t want to show Liz, then you should show them to Andy,’ said Rose. ‘He’ll know what to do with them. He’ll probably tell Liz to take out an injunction or whatever it is she needs to do.’

‘Yes, she did mention doing that a while ago.’ Cathy sighed. ‘But she seems to be finding her feet, even though she’s still a nervous wreck whenever she goes out or there’s a knock on the door. I don’t want to worry her any more than is necessary.’

‘You’re getting too close, Cath,’ Rose pointed out gently. ‘She has a right to know.’

‘Yes, but –’

‘How would you feel if someone had kept it from you?’

Cathy looked down at the table. Rose was right: she knew she’d be mortified.

‘And what if there are more to come? If he thinks they aren’t being taken seriously, he might move on to other things.’

‘I don’t follow.’

‘If he thinks that the notes don’t bother Liz, then,’ Rose shrugged a shoulder, ‘who knows what else he might do to get her attention.’

‘God, you have a point there.’

They sat in silence while Cathy mulled it over.

‘I still don’t know what to do,’ she said eventually.

‘Yes, you do.’ Rose patted her hand. ‘It’s Liz who needs to decide. You should show them to her.’

Once they’d finished their conversation, Cathy took Rose over to the shops on Vincent Square to pick up a prescription. They headed into the newsagents afterwards. While Rose was over at the till paying for her lottery tickets, Cathy flicked through a magazine.

Someone nudged her. She turned to see Josie and smiled warmly, pointing at the female model she’d been looking at.

‘I was looking to see how I could give the impression of being twenty years younger in a day. I mean, what do they do with these models? Believe me, no amount of Botox or tummy tucks would get rid of the crisps and chocolate that I stuffed down me last night. Mind you, it did give me some exercise this morning. I had to run to the loo several times because I ate that much. Oh, hello…’

Cathy looked on in embarrassment when she noticed that Josie wasn’t alone. The man standing to her right was tall, thin but not to the point of being skinny. His hair was dark, receding slightly and cropped short, his clothes clean and stylish. Cathy noted that he could easily fit in the magazine alongside Miss Twenty Something Trollop, although it would have to be a spread on sugar daddies: he looked like he was in his mid forties. As well as the upturn of his lips, bright blue eyes were smiling at her too. All at once Cathy felt heat rise from her chest, up her neck and spread swiftly across her face.

Josie noticed it too and grinned. ‘This is Matthew Simpson – Matt,’ she introduced. ‘He’s the new maintenance officer I was telling you about.’

Cathy thrust out her hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Matt.’

‘Likewise,’ Matt replied, letting his hand linger in hers for a second longer than necessary.

‘Those youths have been hanging around again, Josie,’ said an elderly lady carrying a small dog underneath her arm. She pushed past them all to grab the three-for-a-pound chocolate bars on offer. ‘It’s been chaos in my street lately. How many times do I have to complain before anything gets done about it?’

‘We do our best, Mrs Weston,’ Josie replied, rolling her eyes when she knew the woman wasn’t looking directly at her. ‘But sometimes it’s hard to get the right results for everyone.’

‘And you’re no better,’ Mrs Weston vented her anger on Cathy next. ‘That bloody girl of yours, that Myatt girl, has been causing trouble too.’

‘Wind your neck in, Vera,’ Rose answered sharply as she joined them. ‘Your grandsons aren’t so perfect, are they?’

Aware that she was going to get back what she’d given, Mrs Weston walked off muttering to herself.

‘Wow, is it always this eventful when you buy a bag of crisps?’ Matt wanted to know. ‘There seems to be so much happening on this estate.’

Cathy and Josie shared a smile.

Rose snorted. ‘Wait ’til you’ve been here for a month, love. You’ll soon want to go back to where you came from. Which is where, exactly?’

‘Buxton.’

‘And you chose to come and work
here
?’

Matt laughed at the outlandish look on Rose’s face. ‘It’s not that bad, surely?’

‘Ever watched
Shameless?
’

‘Yes.’

‘And
The Sopranos
?’

Matt nodded slowly, his eyes flicking quickly between them.

‘How about
Dexter
?’ Cathy smirked.

‘Who?’ asked Rose.

‘
Dexter
. It’s an American series. He works in forensics and he’s a serial killer.’

‘Oh. I was thinking more along the lines of
Bad Girls.
’

‘Or even
Taggart
. There’s always a
mur-da
going down on the Mitchell Estate.’

Josie nudged Cathy sharply. ‘Bugger off, you two. You’ll scare him away before I’ve told him the rest.’

‘The rest?’ Matt’s eyes widened but he finally realised he was being had when the three women burst into laughter.

‘You’re playing with me,’ he grinned. ‘Right?’

‘Actually,’ said Josie, ‘I’m afraid we’re not.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘We’ve been across to the shops,’ Rose told Liz when they got back to Cathy’s house. ‘We bumped into Josie Mellor. She had that new maintenance officer with her.’

‘And?’ Liz was stirring a saucepan of soup over the cooker.

Rose tried to whistle. ‘I wish that I was twenty years younger. What do you say, Cath? Did you like him?’

Cathy nodded. ‘He was certainly a sight for sore eyes.’

‘Talk, dark and handsome, that’s what I would’ve said in my day,’ Rose continued.

Liz laughed. ‘What do you think we would say now? Hot, fit and hunky?’

‘Yes, exactly that.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ said Cathy. ‘You’re too old to think of men that age. Unless you want a toy boy that is?’

Rose roared with laughter. ‘Listen, you two. I’m not too old to give you a run for your money.’

‘No, just too ugly.’ Cathy smiled sweetly at her.

Rose slapped her wrist in a playful manner. ‘Speak for yourself. I’m up for it.’

‘Yes, but would all your aches and pains be up to it? You keep harping on about your bad back.’

‘I don’t see that as a problem. I reckon I could find a way around it that would mean I didn’t have to do all the work.’

‘Rose Clarke!’ Cathy feigned shock. ‘If only your Arthur could hear you now.’

‘Why should I care?’ Rose said fondly. ‘He was probably the cause of it in the first place.’

Liz smiled. ‘You two argue like an old married couple.’

‘What I was going to say,’ Rose directed the comment to Liz, ‘is that he’s about right for Cathy.’

‘Please.’ Cathy batted it away. ‘A man’s the last thing I need in my life, don’t you think?’

‘Why?’ said Liz and Rose in unison.

Cathy frowned. ‘Because – because they complicate things.’

‘Well, you do fancy him,’ said Rose.

‘I do not!’

‘You should have seen the colour of her cheeks.’ Rose winked at Liz and pointed a finger at Cathy. ‘Blood red in a matter of seconds.’

‘They were not!’ said Cathy, knowing full well that she had felt them burning at the time. ‘Besides, he’ll probably be spoken for if you think he’s that good-looking.’

Rose leaned forward and patted her hand. ‘I’ll make it my job to find out for you.’

‘You’ll do no such thing!’

‘Come on, Cathy Mason. How long is it since you had a man between your legs?’

‘Change the subject, will you!’

Rose sniffed. ‘I think you’re mad not to follow up on him. He’s one gorgeous man. And it’ll heal up soon if you don’t use it. It’s not natural to go without for so long.’

‘You two are worse than Jess and Becky at times,’ Liz said, sitting down beside them with a steaming bowl of tomato soup.

‘Yes, but we love each other really,’ said Rose. ‘Don’t we, Cathy?’

Cathy huffed. ‘That’s what you think.’

‘Still,’ Liz sighed, ‘I wish I’d had a friend to grow up with.’

‘There must have been someone you were close to,’ said Rose.

‘I had a few acquaintances when I was at school and when I worked at the post office for a few months but when I hooked up with Kevin, I didn’t see them much more after that.’

‘You should always make time for friends. Don’t you have any close family?’

Liz was about to take a mouthful of soup but put down her spoon instead. ‘I had a really lonely upbringing. When my sister was born six years after me, it was like I didn’t exist. She was the pretty one: I was always the clever one. She’s always been the favourite. The year after I had Chloe, my parents moved to Devon. A year later, my sister and her family moved there too and I haven’t seen them since.’

‘That’s such a shame,’ said Rose. ‘I’m really close to my sister. I could murder her at times but she’s always been there for me. And my girls get on well together most of the time.’

‘Don’t get me wrong, I find out everything that my sister does in my mother’s emails,’ Liz explained. ‘She can’t wait to gloat. And she rings me every few months, though I think out of duty. She mostly goes on about how well Shauna’s doing and how she goes out with her family all the time. She doesn’t realise how hurtful it is. Last year, my parents even came to stay with friends in Congleton but they didn’t call to see us.’

‘Do you think it was because of Kevin?’

Liz shook her head. ‘I know they never wanted me to marry him. They made it perfectly clear how much of a mistake I was making. But it isn’t that. I’m just not the favourite daughter. It’s really that simple.’

‘It does explain why you stayed with Kevin for so long though,’ Cathy said. ‘Did your father ever hit your mum?’

‘Cathy!’ cried Rose.

Cathy turned towards her quickly. ‘What?’

‘Sometimes you can be a bit too blunt.’

‘I know, but I –’

‘It’s okay,’ Liz told them. ‘I don’t recall anything. All I can remember is a very oppressive atmosphere. Which is why I needed family stability, I suppose – even though, you’re right, it was far from stable with Kevin.’

‘At least you’re out of it now, thank goodness,’ said Rose. ‘Which is why the saying goes that you can pick your friends but you can’t choose your family.’

‘I agree with that one entirely.’ Cathy shook her head. ‘Can’t think why I possibly ended up with a friend like you then.’

Rose tutted. ‘I’ve never liked you that much anyway.’

Liz smiled: she found it hard not to.

Becky lay on her bed, one knee on the other, her foot swinging to and fro, her hand resting on her tummy. While she urged her baby to move, she wondered how big it was. And was it okay in there? Was it safe to have sex or should she stop Danny from touching her? That was when she could stand him pawing at her: her breasts were swollen and sore to touch which made it unbearable at times.

After she’d scarpered from the stolen car, Danny had texted her to apologise for his actions. Becky had sulked for a while before making up with him. Without Jess and Cathy knowing, they’d met up again and they’d had sex, four times so far. Twice she’d closed her eyes and imagined that it was Austin Forrester kissing her, Austin Forrester touching her, Austin Forrester riding her. Austin Forrester with his smouldering eyes, his strong features, his sexy bum she’d been staring at the other day when he’d been checking the oil on Danny’s old wreck.

She wondered – if she had sex with Austin, would everything be okay? Would the memories of Uncle James fade quicker? Was it only because Danny was rough and he wasn’t the right one for her? Or maybe he was the right one for her. How would she know?