There was something different about her as she came in from town, then he realized it was that she didn't have any shopping bags.
‘Why are you waiting for me?' she said, with the big scared eyes of a spooked deer. She didn't break her stride, forcing him to trot along at the side of her.
‘I thought we might snatch five minutes.'
‘Not today, Matthew. I don't feel like I want your company today.'
‘Please, darling.' He grabbed her arm to stop her. She ripped it away with disproportionate force and ran up the escalator. It was all very odd. She looked like she did when she had first started speaking to him, when she had been scared of Adam. Matt couldn't get a handle on it at all.
However, coming through the revolving door into the building immediately behind her, Colin Seed knew he could.
Chapter 42
It was Catherine's youngest daughter Violet's birthday that same day.
‘Vio can't wait to see her new pyjamas!' said Danny that morning, skipping his way to school.
‘Oh Danny, you didn't tell her and spoil the surprise, did you?' said Stevie.
‘No, I didn't,' said Danny indignantly. ‘I just said that it's something she can wear in bed.'
‘Great,' said Stevie, shaking her head.
The Flanagan matriarch picked Danny up from school to whisk him away for a party at Burger King, allowing Stevie time to get stuck into Highland Fling. She had sent Crystal the synopsis and was waiting for a call to see if she liked it. Knowing Crystal as well as she did, she rather thought she might. It was turning out to be the best Midnight Moon she had ever written. There was a knock on her door just after six and she opened it to find Adam on the doorstep.
‘I didnae like coming straight in.'
‘Well, it's going to look pretty weird if you start knocking, considering you're supposed to be living here.'
‘Aye, I suppose so,' said Adam and he bent, placing his cheek near to hers to simulate a kiss, just in case they were being watched. She noticed that he smelt of work and clean sweat and woody aftershave. ‘Where's the wee 'un?' he asked as Stevie closed the door.
‘He'll be scoffing a big burger now. It's Catherine's daughter's birthday so he's at her party.'
‘Ah, I see. Have you eaten?'
‘Er, no, I've only just stopped working.'
‘Come on, what is it that ye dae?'
‘I'll put the kettle on,' she said.
He dropped his bag near the hall table where Stevie had put down her post – a postcard from an old schoolfriend and her unopened wage slip from Midnight Moon. The motif on a big brown envelope caught his eye. A large moon with a clock face sat in it.
‘You get post from Midnight Moon?' he said with an amused twist to his lip. ‘What is this then?' He pretended to open it.
‘Give me that, please!' said Stevie, quickly abandoning the kettle, but Adam put it well out of her reach, high above his head. Well, as high as the beams would allow.
‘I'm serious, Adam, let me have it.' Stevie jumped up. She didn't want him to know what she did. He had made her feel sad enough, in the pathetic sense of the word, about her job. She wanted that envelope back now, but it was impossible. Adam danced around and Stevie leapt up like a Red Indian around a totem pole. It caused a very odd picture in the window, which Matthew, staring obsessively through his window, saw.
Despite his money troubles, despite his hiccup with Jo, despite worrying why he seemed to see Colin Seed hovering around whenever he looked up these days, Matthew still had a huge chunk of worry space saved up for Stevie. He knew MacLean was using her, probably to tempt Jo back by driving her crazy with jealousy. He knew one day soon the charm (whatever that could be) would stop and the violence would begin. Surely no woman, not even Jo, would want to see Stevie as scared and beaten as she had been. Whilst this thought was on his mind, he saw Adam MacLean and Stevie involved in some kind of tussle by the window, although hardly a fair one with her at Bonsai and him at Californian Redwood height.
Jo had just about been ready to forgive him and had come up for a snuggle when Matthew almost threw her out of the way and thrust open the outside door.
‘Hey, look,' said Adam, dropping his arm, ‘your man's on his way over here and he means business. Start laughin'. NOO!'
‘Laughing? What do you mean, "laughing"?'
‘As if we're having a good time.'
‘I'm not that good an actress!'
‘C'moan, nooo!'
Stevie shrugged, but complied anyway. ‘Okay.' She managed a pathetically lame laugh.
‘Och, try and dae better than that.'
‘I can't just laugh like that.'
‘Stevieareyouatiglsh?'
‘Am I a what?' said Stevie.
‘Quick!' said Adam.
‘Quick wha … arrrgghh!' In a flash Stevie suddenly found herself being slammed onto the floor. Then for some bizarre reason Adam ripped his shirt open like the Hulk and sat astride her.
‘What the hell … !'
‘Sorry!' he said in advance as his hands made claws and descended.
Matthew didn't bother to knock before trying to open the cottage door, but it was locked and he banged hard on it. Stevie was screaming, which made him bang more. Although the more he listened, the less sure he was that those screams were ones of pain. She was laughing maniacally and actually sounded more like she was being tickled than assaulted. In between various requests for him to stop whatever he was doing, she was shrieking out Adam's name and that, for a reason he was not prepared to admit to himself, made him even angrier.
‘Stevie, let me in!' He threw his shoulder into the door, but it was massive and oak and he couldn't have broken it down if he was Rambo with a cannon.
Suddenly, Stevie arrived at the door looking very tousled. She was so red-faced, he could have been forgiven for thinking that she had just been mainlining beetroot. Her hair was mussed up, she was straightening her clothes and he got the distinct impression that she had just been rolling around on the floor. There in the background, Adam MacLean appeared to be getting up from the same floor with his shirt ripped open and looking too fucking pleased with himself for Matthew's liking. Plus he was none-too-subtly adjusting his trousers.
‘I heard you screaming, Stevie, are you okay?'
‘I'm … er … fine,' Stevie said breathlessly.
‘MacLean wasn't hurting you then?'
‘Er … no, quite the opposite actually.'
Too much detail, thought Matthew with an inner wince. ‘Oh, right – sorry to have bothered you,' he said stiffly. He turned to go, then, when he was at a safe distance, spun around with his finger projecting towards Adam like Harry Potter's wand.
‘You hurt her, MacLean, and I'll … I'll kill you!' he spat. ‘And leave her money alone as well!'
Adam didn't react, other than with a surprised Roger-Moore lift of his eyebrows. He stood there trying not to look amused, watching as Matthew stabbed at him a few more times before retreating quickly across the road whilst his luck was still in. Finch was being awfully protective towards this violent firebrand he supposedly couldn't wait to get away from. Hmmm.
Stevie was astounded. She hadn't seen Matthew act that passionately since – well, ever. Whatever she might think of MacLean, he certainly knew his basic psychology very well. That didn't stop her taking her hatred of him to new heights, though. How dare he do that to her! Who did he think he was?
‘Wow,' said Adam when Stevie had shut the door. ‘There's a turn up. Sorry, by the way. I saw that trick once on a John Wayne film. It worked then as well.'
‘You … ' struggled Stevie, not able to find a word insulting enough.
‘Tell me why Midnight Moon are writing to you.'
‘Go to hell,' said Stevie, snatching her letter and charging into the study where she sat and wondered if her heart would ever stop thumping.
Sheepishly, Matthew trudged back across the lane, thinking, I must have caught them at it! How could Stevie sleep with someone who beat up women? Was she so desperate to try to make him jealous that she would compromise her own safety and that of her child? If so, was it working? He honestly didn't know which leading emotion had sent him flying across the road to her defence.
Jo was waiting for him with a slow handclap.
‘How gallant,' she said. ‘Shame you didn't do that for me when I needed rescuing from him.'
‘She didn't need rescuing,' said Matthew bitterly. ‘I thought she was screaming because he was beating her up when actually they were about to have sex.'