Strangers

12

Scott had barely spoken since he’d got back to the house with Tammy. It was late now, almost eleven, and he was still hammering in the kitchen. Michelle had learnt to keep her distance at times like this, and though the circumstances tonight were wholly different, there had been plenty of times like this before now.

Phoebe and George were, thankfully, managing to sleep through. Michelle crept upstairs to check on Tammy. They’d talked – argued – when she and Scott had returned from Thussock. Tammy had accepted she’d been way out of line, but Michelle understood her daughter’s frustrations. She was feeling them herself. She gently knocked on Tammy’s bedroom door, then let herself in. ‘You still awake, love?’

Tammy was lying in bed with her back to the door. The curtains were open, moonlight flooding in. Michelle tiptoed around the room and crouched down. Tammy’s eyes were wide open and she clutched a tissue in her hand. She continued to stare into space before slowly looking over at her mother.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

Michelle shook her head. ‘What’s done is done. That’s not why I came up. I just wanted to see if you were okay.’

A pause. The noise downstairs had stopped. They held their breath and waited until it started again.

‘Of course I’m not okay,’ Tammy answered, sniffing back more tears. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be okay here.’

‘You’ve got to stop talking like that, love. We are—’

‘—where we are. I know. Give it a rest, Mum.’

Michelle sat down on the bed, her legs tired from crouching. She stroked Tammy’s long hair. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘What have you got to be sorry about? You haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘Doesn’t feel that way.’

‘It’s not you… it’s him.’

‘Please don’t…’

‘But you should have seen him. You should have seen the way he attacked that bloke, Mum. He scared me more than anything else.’

‘I know Scott’s got a temper, but—’

‘He just kept punching him and punching him… there was blood everywhere.’

‘No matter what you think about what he did, Tam, it was for the right reasons. He was trying to protect you, trying to keep you safe.’

‘But I don’t feel safe. Not around Scott.’

‘You have to keep things in perspective. Think about how he was feeling, how worried we both were…’

Tammy sat up, held her mother’s gaze. ‘This was different, Mum. It was like he’d gone insane, completely lost it. It makes me wonder…’ She allowed her voice to trail away, not sure if she should continue.

‘What, Tammy?’

‘It makes me wonder about the body he found in that garden, that’s all.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘It just makes me wonder if he’s as innocent as he makes himself out to be.’

‘That’s just rubbish…’

‘Is it? Hell of a coincidence. All this stuff happened since Scott got here.’

‘You can’t talk like this, Tam.’

‘Why not?’

‘Just listen to yourself. You’re saying Scott’s a serial killer? Seriously?’

‘But you know better than anyone what he’s like, what he’s capable of.’

‘Yes, but—’

‘I don’t want him to hurt you more than he already has, Mum. You need to do something because next time might be too late.’

Michelle got up fast, her head full of thoughts she didn’t want to think, certainly didn’t dare vocalise. This was too much. On top of everything that had already happened, this was just too much…

The hammering downstairs had stopped. She rushed back down to Scott.