All that really mattered was misdirecting Murray.
He couldn't know where we lived.
I was so panicked at the thought of him finding the flat that I didn't think clearly and I didn't see the error in my plan.
Me. Alone. On a dark, rough, muddy pathway. At night.
The adrenaline was pumping through me as I marched upward. I attempted to listen for the sound of footsteps behind me, but my heart was racing so hard it was pulsing blood in rushing waves into my ears. The palms of my hands and my underarms were damp with cold sweat, and I couldn't breathe properly, my chest rising and falling in ragged breaths. I felt sick with fear.
When I finally heard the heavy footsteps behind me I glanced back and saw my dad's face under the wash of moonlight. He was pissed off.
All the determination I'd had earlier to stand and face him and show him he didn't scare me just disappeared. I couldn't let go of that little girl who was terrified of him.
And so, like her, I tried to run.
My feet slapped against the steps as I ran upward as hard and fast as I could, wishing I could conjure up people, witnesses. But no one was there.
I was alone.
Except for the pounding of heavy boots behind me.
At the hard, warm grip of his hand around my arm, I made a noise of loud distress that was quickly muffled by his other hand clamping down over my mouth. The smell of sweat and cigarette smoke flooded my nostrils as I fought him, my nails biting into his arm, my legs trying to kick out as I was dragged off the path. I lost my grip on my bag with my pepper spray as I fought him.
I wasn't strong enough, and now I was unarmed.
Murray slammed me back against the rocky, grass-covered slope of the hillside and pain shot through my skull before shooting all the way down to the tip of my toes. Tears leaked from my eyes as he held me there, his large hand around my throat.
I grunted against the other hand that was still clamped over my mouth.
He tightened his grip on my throat and I stopped squirming.
Despite the fact that his face was mostly cast in darkness, I could still make out the anger that stretched his features taut. 'Trying to give me the runaround?' he hissed.
I didn't answer. I was too busy wondering morbidly what he was going to do to me. My body began to shake hard, and I lost complete control of my breathing. He felt the gulping breaths behind his palm and smirked.
'I won't hurt you, Jo. I just want to see my son.'
Knowing it would bring me physical pain, I still shook my head 'no'.
Murray's smirk grew into a smug smile, as though he'd won something. 'I suppose we better come to an arrangement then. I'm going to take my hand off your mouth and you're not going to scream. If you do, I won't hesitate to hurt you.'
I nodded, wanting at least one of his disgusting paws off me. As I stared up into his face, I saw not for the first time how there was nothing behind his eyes. I didn't think I had ever met anyone in my entire life who was as callously selfish as this man. Was he really my father? There had been no connection between us other than that of abuser and victim. To me he'd been the reason for the knot in my stomach when I heard his rattling old banger of a car pull up to the house. The affection I'd felt for Mick, the eagerness to see him, the warm contentment of safety he gave me, was exactly what I should have felt for this man. But a man was all he'd ever been to me. A man with mean eyes and even meaner fists. For the longest time I'd despaired that he didn't love me as a father should. I'd questioned whether there was something wrong with me. Looking at him now, I wondered how I could ever have questioned myself. I wasn't the problem. He was. He was the shameful one, not me.
I sucked in a deep breath when he let go of my mouth, but he put more pressure on the hand around my throat as an extra warning to be quiet.
'Now.' He leaned into me and I could smell the beer and cigarettes on him. He hadn't been in Club 39, but he'd obviously been in one of the bars near it, waiting on me. 'I might just give up my right to see the wee man if your boyfriend made it worth my while. Say a hundred grand?'
I knew it. And straight to the point. He didn't even care. He was as soulless as he'd ever been. How could someone be that way? Was he born soulless, black to his rotten core? Or did life make you that way? How could you hurt your own children and not feel like a monster? Maybe a monster was too far gone to realize he'd become one …
'I stopped seeing Malcolm months ago. You're out of luck.'
He squeezed my throat and panic suffused me. I automatically grabbed his hand, my nails biting into his skin. He didn't seem to notice. 'I'm sure you can persuade him somehow.' He pushed his face into mine, his breath reeking of smoke and stale beer. 'I had myself a bonnie bairn. She's fucking useless but bonnie. It's a commodity, Jo. Use it or I'll come for Cole.' He let me go and I sucked in a breath, my fingers brushing my neck to reassure myself that his hand was definitely no longer there. 'If I wanted to, I could become a right pest in your lives, lass.'