Daddy's Here(36)

TWENTY-SEVEN



ISABEL





Whatever the dream was, it was a bad one. It was the first time I’d seen him look scared, his face contorting even as his eyes remained tightly closed. I sat watching him, wondering what it was he was dreaming about.

The train journey seemed more and more pointless, the longer it went on. What was I going to say to Ben? I hadn’t seen him for years. A thought occurred to me as I sat there. What I needed wasn’t on the train. I could only get it once we got off.

He slept most of the way, only waking up once. I let him sleep, he clearly needed to. I sat thinking hard about my future. How long could I keep ahead of the men who were chasing after me? I’d almost been kidnapped twice, it was only Jake that had stopped them from succeeding.

How far was Tony willing to go to get me back? Did he really want someone to marry his son who might run away at the first opportunity? I could only guess that he thought he’d be able to persuade me to stay, using either money or threats.

Should I just give up and go back? But if I did, there was no guarantee Jake would be safe. It was awful to think of him getting hurt because of me. Would he have to go on the run? How would he survive?

One question after another ran through my mind until I felt dizzy. I didn’t want to have to come up with the answers myself. What I wanted was what had happened in the dressing room. I wanted someone to just tell me what to do, take all the questions away so I didn’t have to worry anymore.

I had to wake him up when we got to Gladwell, shaking his shoulder lightly. His eyes opened instantly. “What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting bolt upright and immediately alert.

“We’re here,” I said. “We’re at Gladwell.”

We stepped off the train and joined the other passengers heading for the exit. “Can I borrow a fiver?” I asked as we passed a newsagent’s in the main entrance hall. He gave it to me without asking why and I dipped into the shop, coming out a minute later with a carrier bag in my hand.

“Where does Ben live?” he asked, stepping out onto the pavement and waving his arm at a passing taxi.

“Samson Avenue,” I replied as a cab swung in to stop next to us.

“How far’s that?”

“No idea.”

“About five miles,” the taxi driver told us when we gave him the address.

Once we’d set off, I dug into the carrier bag and brought out my purchases.

“What’s that for?” Jake asked, nodding down at my lap.

“For me to write on,” I replied, opening the notebook. I spent the rest of the journey writing, crossing out and restarting countless times before finally getting somewhere just as the taxi stopped. “Samson Avenue,” he said. “That’ll be eleven fifty.”

Jake paid from his pool winnings before we climbed out. I looked up and down the tree lined street. “It’s number nine,” I said. “That way.”

We walked up the street and then I saw the house on the other side of the road. It felt so strange to think that Ben was inside there. “Wait there,” I said to Jake, pointing at a bench. “I won’t be long.”

“I should go,” he replied. “You don’t need me here for this.”

“Please, just wait there for one minute.”

“Why?”

“Please.”

He nodded. “All right. One minute.”

He sat on the bench as I crossed the road. I stopped at the gate and looked up at the house for a moment, looking for any hint of movement inside. Once I was sure no one was watching, I unlatched the gate, walked through and then up to the front door. There was a doormat with ‘Welcome’ stamped on it in thick letters. I took the letter I’d written out of my pocket. Bending down, I wedged it under the edge of the doormat before muttering, “Bye, Ben,” and turning back to the street.

Jake was still waiting on the bench. “You didn’t knock,” he said when I reached him. “Why didn’t you knock?”

“I did what I had to do. Shall we go?”

“But what the hell, Izzy? Don’t you want to talk to him? Find out how he feels about you?”

“I’ve said goodbye,” I said, turning and beginning to walk down the street. “That’s enough. Are you coming?”

“You wrote him a letter didn’t you?” Jake shouted after me, getting to his feet. “What did you put in the letter?”

I was about to reply when a car suddenly screeched around the corner and raced towards us. “They’ve found us,” Jake said, running towards me. The car was already on us, the doors opening as it spun and stopped, separating me from Jake. A pair of hands reached out and grabbed me as I began to scream.