The Vanishing Point

46

You’d have thought I’d had enough shit to shovel for one day. But it wasn’t over yet. Not by a long chalk. I left George smoking his cigar in the ghastly grotto and headed back through the growing dusk across the car park to the hotel. I was almost home and dry when Pete stepped out from behind a parked SUV and blocked my way. ‘Hello, sweetheart,’ he said with the relaxed smile of a man who knows he’s welcome.

My step stuttered and I recoiled backwards. But not fast enough. Pete moved more quickly than me and before I knew it, I had my back to the vehicle and he had an arm on either side of me. He stepped into me, pressing me close to the van. His familiar smell hit me and I felt sick. Impossible to remember now that once I’d revelled in the animal smell of him, loved that masculine fragrance that clung to his skin. Now I’d have settled for Scarlett Smile rather than this.

‘Let me go, Pete,’ I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt.

‘I can’t do that, Stephanie. It’s been too long since I held you.’ He rubbed his face against my neck. I felt the faintest shadow of stubble. He’d shaved before he came out and his skin was almost smooth against mine. There was something repulsive about the sensation.

‘Let me go,’ I insisted, turning my face away. ‘You know this is wrong, Pete. It’s over.’

‘Don’t be silly, Stephanie. You need me now more than you ever did before. I know about the kid, you know. A boy needs a father if he’s not going to grow up a spoiled mummy’s boy. And I’m the perfect choice for the job.’ He was pressing me against the van. I could feel him growing hard against me. I was starting to feel genuinely afraid. This section of the car park was only overlooked by a few bedrooms and there were no lights on in any of them. His hot breath on my neck, his skin against mine, the pressure of his need combined to send a cold wave of fear through me. He’d never gone this far in his pursuit of me before.

‘I don’t need you, Pete. And I don’t want you. This isn’t right.’

‘Of course it’s right.’ His voice was harsher now. ‘You belong to me. You always have. Now we’re going to be a family. You and me and Jimmy. We’ll be together for ever.’

‘No,’ I shouted. ‘Get off me, Pete.’

His hand shot out and slapped me. I gasped at the shock and pain, felt my eyes widening in fear and horror. ‘Don’t shout at me, Stephanie. Know what my trouble is? I let you get away with far too much before. I should have disciplined you more and indulged you less.’

‘Stop it, Pete.’ I didn’t mind begging if it got me off the hook. I was terrified now, knowing how much stronger than me he was.

‘“Stop it, Pete,”’ he mimicked. ‘Listen to yourself, Steph anie. You don’t exactly sound like you mean it. In fact I know you don’t mean it.’

‘This is wrong, Pete.’

He gripped my cheeks tight in his hand, forcing my mouth into an O shape. ‘Where’s your policeman pal when you need him, eh? It’s not so much fun when you’ve not got a tame copper to warn me off, is it? What did you think you were doing, Stephanie, setting that plod on me? Do you really think he scared me, with his “It’s been pointed out to me that you are not an invited guest, sir. I’m afraid I’m going to have to escort you from the premises.” Pompous prick.’ He shook his head. ‘What? You couldn’t come and tell me yourself that I wasn’t welcome?’ He let go of my face, pushing my head back so it bounced painfully off the SUV’s window.

‘Like that would have worked,’ I spat back at him. ‘You can’t take a telling, can you? I am not your girlfriend,’ I said, syllable by angry syllable. ‘I never want to see you again.’

I tensed for the slap that never came. Instead, I heard the familiar clatter of cowboy boots on Tarmac. Rapidly followed by Simon saying, ‘What the fuck? Steph, are you OK?’

‘Leave it out, pal, she’s with me,’ Pete snarled.

I tried to wriggle free, but Pete’s weight told against me.

‘I think you better step away from the lady,’ Simon said. He looked more anxious than scary, but the bottom line was that he was a witness.

‘And I think you better butt out.’ To confront Simon, Pete had to turn sideways on to me. As he moved, I caught him off balance and pushed his hip forward as hard as I could. He stumbled away from me and that gave me enough time to get behind Simon. Forget feminism. At that moment I was more than happy to let a man protect me.

‘Are you OK, Steph?’ Simon didn’t take his eyes off Pete.

‘Thank you, yes.’

‘You’ve picked the wrong fight, mate,’ Pete said, eyes narrowing. ‘Never come between a man and his woman. Did they not teach you that at your posh school?’

‘He’s not my man and I am not his woman,’ I shouted. ‘He’s my ex but he can’t get that bit through his thick skull. It’s over, Pete. It’s been over for years. Now leave me alone.’

Pete took a step towards Simon, hands clenching into fists. What I could see but he couldn’t was that George was moving up behind him, taking in the whole scenario with one long sweep of his eyes. To my astonishment, George set himself square on his toes behind Pete then with a swift one-two, he rabbit-punched him in the kidneys.

Pete screamed in pain, half-turning as he fell to his knees. George side-stepped and gave him a mighty kick in the balls. Pete screamed again and rolled on to his side, curled up like a baby. ‘Leave her alone,’ George said in his dry, precise voice as he stepped over Pete’s moaning body, took my arm and swept me off towards the hotel.

Simon brought up the rear, exclaiming at George’s pugilistic skills. ‘That was well impressive, George,’ he said for the third time as we turned into the foyer.

‘I had no idea you were the James Bond sort of agent,’ I said, squeezing his arms.

‘I did a bit of boxing in the Guards,’ he said. ‘I train at a gym a couple of times a week, purely to keep fit. Haven’t hit a man in anger for thirty years.’ He winced. ‘I may have kicked him a little too hard. These are definitely not the shoes for it.’ He steered me away from the ballroom and into the hotel bar. We found a table in a corner and he sent Simon to the bar for large gins. ‘That was your ex, wasn’t it? The one you moved to Brighton to get away from?’

I nodded. ‘That bit worked just fine. He doesn’t know where I live. That’s why he turned up today. And why he turned up at Joshu’s memorial. He’s still not given up.’

‘That’s not good,’ he said.

Simon came back with the drinks. ‘Bloody right it’s not good. If George and I hadn’t happened to be there, that could have turned very nasty.’

‘Believe me, I know. And I appreciate it, guys.’ I raised my glass and toasted them.

‘What were you doing out there?’ George asked Simon.

‘I wanted some fresh air,’ he said. ‘I’ve been here for dinner with Scarlett and I remembered there was a little enclosed garden thing the far side of the car park. I didn’t think anyone would find me there.’ All of a sudden, he looked as if he would burst into tears. ‘Sorry. I miss her, that’s all. Not very professional, I know. But I’d grown very fond of her.’

George cleared his throat. ‘Hard not to be when you got to know her.’ He took a long swallow of his drink. ‘Stephanie, I hate to put any more pressure on you, but you really will have to do something about that toerag. It’s bad enough when it’s just you he’s stalking. But there’s Jimmy to consider now. I shudder to think of the effect on that vulnerable little boy if he were to witness a scene like that. Or worse. I think you’re going to have to talk to the police.’

I sighed. ‘They won’t take it seriously. Not until he actually does something. And no, that little incident in the car park doesn’t count as something.’

We all stared glumly at our drinks in silence for a few minutes. Then Simon perked up. ‘What about if you knew a friendly cop you could draft in to give him the hard word?’

‘That would be worth a try,’ George said. ‘If you knew the right chap.’

‘I was thinking . . . what about the one who ran the inquiry into Joshu’s death? He seemed like a decent bloke. And you got on quite well with him, didn’t you? You were talking to him at the memorial service, I seem to remember.’ Simon smiled encouragingly.

And that is how Nick Nicolaides and I got to be an item.