Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
JADE
I retied the towel around my wet hair, walking as softly as I could manage past the closed living room door.
I could hear Annie in there talking softly to Amala.
I needed to be quick. There was something unsettling about her, the way she looked at me, my child.
Something off. She was nothing like I’d imagined – expected.
When he had spoken of her, it had been clear that despite himself, his wish to distance himself from what he called his past, there was still a lot of feeling there.
Reverence almost. It hadn’t made sense, his story of why they no longer kept in touch, but when I’d tried to push it, I’d been shut down.
I’d expected a softer character. Someone warmer, but there were times when frankly she seemed a little unhinged.
I knew she wasn’t sleeping. Could hear her moving around at night.
The creak of the floorboards. The opening and closing of her wardrobe, as if she was searching for something, or squirrelling something away.
I shivered, thinking of her cold, flat eyes when she watched me.
He had mentioned none of this. Nothing that might suggest Amala and I wouldn’t be safe here.
Did he intentionally miss that out, or was I just a victim of my hormones? Seeing danger everywhere ?
I couldn’t deny they had been brutal in the wake of Amala’s birth. Made everything so much harder to cope with. And the bleeding was wearing me down, making me feel weak and vulnerable. Surely it should have stopped by now?
I had to be strong. Keep going. I didn’t have a choice, and besides, things would be easier soon. I had to hold on to that thought to get through the next few days.
I walked quietly through the big kitchen, past the enormous fireplace, the morning light streaming through the windows.
It was a beautiful house. I couldn’t help but wonder if Annie was blind to the privilege she had, the gift of living somewhere like this.
The village was quintessentially English, and surprisingly, unlike so many, was still thriving.
I’d seen people gathered outside the post office, chatting as they waited to go in.
The local shop assistants had been warm and curious about what I was doing here, and cooed over Amala, congratulating me on becoming a mother.
It had felt like I’d gone back in time, into a better world, a kinder place, but Annie, it transpired, never set foot outside her house.
Never took the time to get to know them all. It was a shame.
I slipped my feet into the flip-flops I’d left by the back door and, pressing down on the handle, opened it slowly, stepping outside and heading across the lawn to the old shed. Testing the door and finding it unlocked, I glanced over my shoulder, then slipped inside.
I was in there for less than three minutes before, dejected, I re-emerged into the bright sunlight, squinting after being in the dark. I was just closing the door when I felt myself forced forward, a hard body pressed into my back, my chest squashed against the splintered wooden door.
‘You lied.’ The man’s voice was gravelly, his breath hot against the bare skin at the back of my neck.
I tried to twist free, but he held firm. I’d managed to glimpse his face, though. It was that awful neighbour again.
‘Get. Off. Me,’ I demanded, flinging my head back, hoping to headbutt him in the face but meeting only air.
‘Not until you explain who you are. I know the name you gave me was false. I looked it up. There’s no such person as Jade Ashton, at least not one matching your description. So,’ he went on, pressing into me again, ‘I’ll ask you once more. Who are you, and what the hell do you want with Annie?’
I gritted my teeth, my wrist aching as he twisted it tighter against my spine. ‘Is this how you were trained in the police force, Aaron? Because I have a feeling your supervisors would be interested to hear how you conduct yourself when not in uniform.’
He released his hold in an instant, stepping back just far enough that I could spin to face him. ‘I’ve been expecting you to show your face,’ he said.
‘ What ? I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, you weirdo!’
He dipped his head, and when he looked back up, his eyes were twinkling with inexplicable laughter.
‘I knew you’d come. Sooner or later. I was surprised it took so long, to be honest. The baby was a nice touch – very clever.
Who doesn’t trust a mother, right?’ He flashed a wink, though his mouth morphed into a cold sneer.
He stepped closer, and I turned my face to the side, trapped against the shed door, panic racing through my veins.
‘Whose is she?’ he asked, his voice silky, as if he was in on a secret I hadn’t shared with him. ‘Don’t tell me she’s yours – I don’t believe it for a second.’
I shoved him hard in the chest, snapping my head round and jutting out my chin, a sick dread pooling in my gut.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ I spat, my voice low and vehement.
The last thing I wanted was Annie to come out and find me here with him.
‘What makes you think you’re entitled to know my business?
’ I demanded. ‘What gives you the right to harass Annie’s guests? ’
‘She’s my friend. And she’s… vulnerable.’ He said the word slowly, as if he meant something quite different. He shook his head. ‘I don’t want you here. You or your borrowed baby. It would be best if you left. Today.’
‘Best for who?’ I asked breathlessly.
He glanced over his shoulder as if he was afraid she might hear, then lowered his voice. ‘Take my advice and move on. And get that baby back to her mother before it’s too late.’
‘She’s my daughter!’ My chest heaved with conviction, and I met his shocked gaze, challenging him to argue otherwise. I would not have him claiming Amala wasn’t mine. How dare he!
He stared silently back at me, then shook his head sadly. ‘Then you’re a bloody fool to have brought her into this. What kind of mother are you?’ He didn’t wait for me to offer a response as he turned and strode away, heading through the side gate towards the front of the house.
I realised I was shaking. Squaring my shoulders, I rushed back across the lawn and slipped indoors, turning the key in the lock, securing the back door. I couldn’t help but feel he would come back, come inside .
My wrist throbbed, and I looked down, seeing the red imprints where his fingers had pressed so urgently. Who was this man? And why was he so wrapped up in what Annie did, who she had under her roof? The two of them were as strange as each other. They were unsettling.
Trying to compose myself as best I could, I took a deep breath and headed through the kitchen to the living room.
‘Thanks, Annie,’ I said, holding out my arms for Amala, relieved that she didn’t put up any resistance.
I needed her back in my arms after that awful encounter.
I felt like his words had been a warning – one I hadn’t bargained for when I’d made up my mind to come here. ‘I appreciate your help. ’
‘You’re welcome,’ Annie said stiffly. She walked out of the room without another word, and I heard her by the front door.
A moment later, I watched as she walked down the garden path, picking up the shovel and setting to work on the ominous hole she’d created.
As I watched her dig, I pictured myself being tossed into that pit, buried alive as she dumped soil over me, suffocating, silencing.
Had all these years alone sent her mad? It certainly seemed that way.
I shivered, lowering myself as Amala rooted, offering her a nipple. I tried to shake off the goose pimples that had rushed over me at the hideous premonition.
My gaze landed on the metal doorstop sitting on the table, and I suddenly remembered the way Annie had been clutching it so tightly when I’d come in earlier. What had she been planning to do?
I looked down at my daughter and felt a wave of uncertainty about having come here. The sooner I got what I came for, the better. Annie and her creepy neighbour had made me quite sure of that. This house wasn’t safe.