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“More or less.”
She sighed and shook her head.
That was it. She’d just fired her broadside and hit dead centre. He was sunk. He might as well go back and clear out his desk. Save the trip in tomorrow and have a lie in-
“Why did you keep digging? Why not just hand it in when you were supposed to after hitting a dead end?”
Richard had to work hard to keep his confusion from showing.
Why had he kept digging? Force of habit? Professional curiosity? His last job had done checks all the time, and he’d never let it go on for so long. There had just been something. Something not right. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Just something. Just…
“Just a hunch.”
“A hunch?” She leaned back in her chair. “Well Dick, I don’t know what to say, except…” Her full red lips spread into a wide smile, with just the hint of a white lion’s fang. “Congratulations.”
What the?
Alice’s eyes widen at the sound, so high with pain and fear, like an animal caught in a trap. Forgetting her train of thought, her eyes darted up to the ceiling. It sounded like it had come from the Blaire’s flat, but that could have been a trick of the building. The tower block’s walls were paper thin and often as not, she could hear several things going on at once from any number of directions that sounded like they were coming from somewhere else. Just the other night she’d been treated to overhearing one couple’s marathon sex session that had clearly sounded like it was coming from that very flat upstairs, but couldn’t. After all, Richard had been up there, helping Rebecca with her computer.
A pity, if he hadn’t been upstairs, it would have made quite the mood starter…
Another scream went out, louder this time and much more distinctive.
Rebecca. Alice’s heart leapt into her throat.
“You worthless bitch!” a gruff voice half slurred, half barked, followed by the crash of something heavy smashing into glass, shattering it. “Stay still!”
Alice didn’t wait for him to get his eye in.
Wheeling on her heel, she made straight for her front door, hurriedly tying the sash of her robe as she went. Another scream, louder, echoing as footsteps ran down the building’s stairwell. Then suddenly they were on the landing, running, growing louder by the second as Alice ran to the door.
No sooner had she wrenched it open than Rebecca barrelled into her.
Just managing to catch herself, Alice pulled the girl to her, her arms going around her in a protective hug. “Hey, hey Rebecca, honey, what’s happened? What’s going on?”
“He’s coming, please… I didn’t touch… don’t let him…” Sobbing, she clung to the older woman, her big doe eyes pleading, so wide they were almost round. The poor thing was terrified out of her mind.
The sight tore at Alice’s heart and she pulled her closer, doing her best to sooth her with quiet words. “Shh… honey, it’s okay, I won’t, nothing’s going to happen to you, I promise.”
She almost couldn’t believe this was the same girl she knew. Rebecca was always so upbeat and bubbly. Of course, she’d known there were some problems in the home. Even a blind man could have seen was nervous around her father and that he could be hard on her, too hard sometimes, but this…
The thought lit a fire in her mother’s heart that threatened to burn them both to cinders. That the brute could do this to his own daughter. Drive such a sweet girl to such a fit of terror, sickened her to her very core. What parent, no, what kind of fucking beast could do such a thing?
Struggling to keep her tone soothing, Alice slowly steered Rebecca inside. “Come on, let’s get you inside and I’ll-”
“Come back here you little bitch!” the other voice bellowed from above amidst a thunder of footsteps. Then he was there on the bend on the stairs, Derik Blaire, red faced with murder and madness scorching his wild eyes. “Where is it, I want it, you fucking whore,” he seethed, half lumbering down the last few steps like a hippopotamus, not even seeming to notice Alice. “You hear me? You’re a whore. Just a fucking whore, like that bitch mother of yours, now give it to me!”
Rebecca stiffened at her father’s call, her knuckles going white like bone as she clung on with a death grip. However Alice hardly noticed as she turned to look at the man. With a gaze as cool as ice, she gently pried herself free. Then, with a gently push, she urged the girl inside the flat. “Go inside,” she instructed, her tone firm but just soft enough so that Derik wouldn’t overhear. “Lock the door. I’ll knock and call for you when it’s safe to come out.”
“No, please… don’t leave me, don’t let him-” Rebecca’s eyes were glassy with tears and visibly pleaded for Alice not to leave her as she tried to cling to her arm. It was the same look she saw in the eyes of many kids on their first day of school, when their parents left them at the gates for the first time.
“I won’t. Go on, I’ll take care of this. You go put a brew on.” It tore at Alice’s heart, but she pushed her inside regardless and pulled the door shut with a firm slam.
She felt like a bitch for it but it was the only way. She couldn’t deal with the problem at hand if she was concerned for the girl.
“What the fuck you think you’re doing, bitch? Get the fuck out of my way!” he slurred angrily, staggering to a stop only a metre or so from Alice, swaying from one foot to the other. As if only just seeing her for the first time, he grinned in a way that made her feel dirty just for him looking at her.
“Alright John, I don’t know what you’re on tonight, but I think you need to go back upstairs and sleep it off.” Alice wouldn’t be cowed. He may have towered over her, but she was well accustomed to dealing with people bigger than her. She held his gaze with steely determination, doing her best to ignore the fact that the only thing protecting her modesty was a silk robe that showed off way too much leg and did nothing to hid the swell of her bosom.
