Fox Evil

20

Bella wondered how long the child had been standing beside her. It was freezing cold and she was huddled in her coat and scarf, listening to Madame Butterfly on her Walkman. Zadie had taken the dogs back to her coach to feed them, and half the world could have crossed the rope barrier without Bella noticing. "Un bel di vedremo" swelled in her head as Butterfly sang of Pinkerton's ship appearing on the horizon and her beloved husband climbing the hill to their house to claim her. It was a fantasy. A hopeless, wrongheaded vision. The truth, as Butterfly would learn, was abandonment. The truth for women was always abandonment, thought Bella sadly.

She had looked up with a sigh to find Wolfie shivering in his thin jumper and jeans at her elbow. "Oh, for fuck's sake," she said roundly, tugging out the earphones, "you'll freeze to death, you silly kid. Here. Get inside my coat. You're one weird bugger, Wolfie. What's with all this sneaking around, eh? It ain't bloody natural. Why don't you never draw attention to yerself?"

He allowed her to wrap him inside the flap of her army greatcoat, snuggling up to her big squashy body. It was the most wonderful feeling he'd ever known. Warmth. Security. Softness. He felt safe with Bella in a way he had never felt safe with his mother. He kissed her neck and cheeks, and rested his arms along her breasts.

She put a finger under his chin and lifted his face to the moonlight. "You sure you're only ten?" she asked teasingly.

"Reckon so," he said sleepily.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"Can't get in the bus. Fox's locked it."

"Jesus wept!" she growled crossly. "Where's he gone?"

"Dunno." He pointed toward Shenstead Farm. "He took off that way through the wood. Reckon he's gone for a lift."

"Who with?"

"Dunno. He makes a call and someone picks him up. I used to follow him when Mum was around. Don't bother no more."

Bella eased him onto her lap inside the voluminous coat and rested her chin on his head. "You know what, darlin', I don't much like what's going on here. I'd take me and my girls away tomorrow… 'cept I'm worried about you. If I knew what your dad was up to…" She lapsed into a brief, thoughtful silence. "How 'bout I drive you to the coppers tomorrow and you tell 'em about your mum? It'll mean you'll probably be fostered for a while-but it'll get you away from Fox-'n' back to your mum 'n' Cub in the end. What d'you reckon?"

Wolfie shook his head violently. "Na. I'm scared of coppers."

"Why?"

"They look for bruises, 'n' if they find them they take you away."

"Are they gonna find them on you?" she asked.

"Reckon so. Then you get sent to hell."

His skinny body shivered, and Bella wondered angrily why he had been fed such crap. "Why would you go to hell for having bruises, darlin'? It ain't your fault. It's Fox's fault!"

"It's against the rules," he told her. "Doctors get right angry when they find bruises on kids. You don't wanna be around when that happens."

God almighty! It was a twisted mind that had come up with that disgusting piece of logic. Bella pulled him closer. "Trust me, darlin', you ain't got nothin' to worry about. You have to do somethin' really bad for doctors and coppers to get angry, 'n' you ain't done nothin' bad."

"You have," said Wolfie, who had listened to Bella's phone call from his hiding place under the blankets. "You didn't oughta tell Fox where Nancy is. All she ever did was untie the rope so she could make friends with you." He looked up at Bella's moon face. "You reckon he's gonna cut her with a razor?" he asked sadly.

"No chance, darlin'," she said comfortably, resting her chin on his head again. "I told him she was doing night ops on Salisbury Plain. It was crawling with soldiers three days ago-training for Afghanistan, I guess-so it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack… 'ssuming the needle was ever there, of course."

Message from Mark

Emergency. Phone me ASAP

Mark had one last try to get through, then thrust his mobile into James's hand and spun the wheel to take the Lexus back onto the road. "Do you know how these things work?"

James looked at the tiny machine in his palm. The buttons glowed for a second or two in the darkness, then went out. "I'm afraid not," he confessed. "The only mobile telephone I ever used was the size of a shoe box."

"No problem. Give it back to me when it rings." Mark floored the accelerator and drove at high speed up the narrow lane, scraping the bank with his tires.

James braced himself against the dashboard. "Would you mind if I give you a few facts of my life?" he said.

"Go ahead."

"Apart from the problem of IRA terrorism-which is an ongoing alert-there is now the threat of al-Qaeda terrorism. Both these factors mean military camps are no-go areas to anyone without documents and authority… and that includes army personnel." He flinched as the hedgerow loomed dangerously close in the headlights. "The best you and I, as civilians, can hope for is that we can persuade the sergeant of the guard to phone through and ask Nancy to come to the gate. He will almost certainly refuse and suggest we apply through proper channels tomorrow. Under no circumstances will we be allowed to wander around the camp, looking for her. Our friend on the telephone will be subject to the same restrictions."

They screamed around a bend. "Are you saying there's no point going?"

"I'm certainly questioning the wisdom of dying in the attempt," the old man said dryly. "Even if we do decide to proceed, an extra fifteen minutes will make no difference to Nancy's safety."

"Sorry." Mark slowed to a manageable speed. "I just think she needs to know what's going on."

"We don't know ourselves."

"Warn her, then."

"You've already done that with your message." The old man's tone was apologetic. "We're not going to find out anything by running away, Mark. Headlong flight smacks of panic under fire. Standing our ground will at least tell us who and what we're up against."

"You've been doing that for weeks," Mark pointed out impatiently, "and it's got you precisely nowhere. Also, I don't see why you're suddenly so laid-back about him knowing her name and address. It's you who keeps describing him as a madman."

"Which is why I'd like to keep him in my sights," said James calmly. "If we know anything in this present situation, it's that he's at our door. Almost certainly with the travelers. He's obviously been watching us… may even have followed us to Mrs. Weldon's… and if he did, then he'll have seen which way we turned out of her drive. At the moment, the Manor is undefended and that may have been what his last call was intended to achieve."

Mark's headlights picked up a break in the hedgerow a hundred yards ahead where a gate led into a field. He drew into it and was preparing to do a three-point turn when James laid a gentle hand on his arm.

"You'll never make a soldier, my boy," he said with a smile in his voice, "not unless you learn to think before you act. We need to decide on some tactics before we roar back the other way. I'm no more inclined to walk into a trap than that little boy this afternoon,"

Wearily, Mark killed his engine and switched off his headlamps. "I'd be happier if we went to the police," he said. "You keep talking as if you're in a private little war that has no bearing on anyone else, but too many innocent people are being dragged into it. That woman-Bella-and the little boy. You said yourself they were probably being used, so what makes you think they aren't in danger as well?"

"Leo's not interested in them," said James. "They're just his excuse for being here."

"So Leo's this Fox character?"

"Not unless he had a child he's never told me about… or the child isn't his." He handed Mark the mobile. "The police won't be interested until somebody gets hurt," he said cynically. "These days you have to be dead or dying to get any attention, and then it's lip service only. Talk to Elizabeth. She won't pick up the receiver-calls go straight to her answer machine-but I'm fairly sure she listens. It's pointless my speaking… she hasn't answered since Ailsa died… but she might talk to you."

"What do I say to her?"

"Anything that will persuade her to give us information," said James harshly. "Find out where Leo is. You're the word-smith. Think of something. There must be some trigger point that will persuade my only daughter to behave decently for the first time in her life. Ask her about this meeting with Mrs. Bartlett. Ask her why she's been telling lies?"

Mark switched on the overhead light again, and reached into the back for his briefcase. "Is that the sort of tone you use to Elizabeth?" he asked without emphasis, pushing back his seat and opening the case on his lap. He retrieved his laptop and balanced it on the lid, booting up the screen.

"I never speak to her. She won't pick up."

"But you leave messages?"

James gave an irritable nod.

"Mm." Mark waited for the icons to appear, then brought up Elizabeth's file. "Right," he said, casting an eye over the details, most of which related to her monthly allowance. "I suggest we bribe her with another five hundred a month, and tell her it's your Christmas present to her."

The old man was outraged. "Absolutely not," he spluttered. "I shouldn't be paying anything. I certainly won't increase it. It's only a few months since she had fifty thousand from her mother's will."

Mark smiled slightly. "But that wasn't your gift, James, it was Ailsa's."

"So?"

"It's you who wants a favor. Look, I know the whole subject drives you mad-and I know we've debated it endlessly-but the fact remains, you did set up a fund for her after her marriage failed."

"Only because we thought she'd been badly treated. We wouldn't have done it if we'd known the details of the divorce. She was little better than a whore… touting herself around the clubs and selling herself to anyone who'd buy her a drink."

"Yes, well, unfortunately the result was the same." Mark raised a calming hand. "I know… I know… but if you want information, then you must give me some leverage… and, frankly, beating her about the head isn't going to produce anything. You've tried that before. The promise of an extra five hundred will make her more amenable."

"And if it doesn't?"

"It will," Mark said bluntly. "However… as I'm planning to be pleasant to her, you either get out of the car now or you give me a sworn guarantee that you'll keep your mouth shut."

James lowered his window and felt the cold night pinch at his cheeks. "I'll keep my mouth shut."

There was no answer. As James had predicted, the call went straight to the answerphone. Mark talked until the time ran out, mentioning money and his regret that, as he hadn't been able to reach Elizabeth in person, payment would inevitably be delayed. He redialed a couple of times, stressing the urgency of the matter and asking her to pick up if she was listening, but if she was there she wasn't biting. He left his mobile number and asked her to call him that evening if she was interested.

"When did you last speak to her?" he asked.

"I can't remember. The last time I saw her was at the funeral, but she came and went without saying a word."

"I remember," said Mark. He scrolled down the screen. "Her bank's acknowledging receipt of the checks. Presumably they'd inform us if nothing was being drawn against the account?"

"What are you suggesting?"

The young man shrugged. "Nothing really… just wondering why the long silence." He pointed at an item dated the end of November. "According to this, I wrote to her a month ago with the annual reminder to review her house and contents insurance. She hasn't replied."

"Does she usually?"

Mark nodded. "She does, as a matter of fact, particularly when it's a cost that you've agreed to shoulder. The premium doesn't have to be paid until the end of next month, but I'd have expected to hear from her by now. I always threaten her with a visit if she doesn't provide me with an up-to-date valuation. The house and contents are nominally your property still, so it's a way of stopping her flogging them off." He clicked through to his diary. "I've given myself a reminder to chase her up at the end of next week."

James pondered for a moment. "Didn't Mrs. Weldon say Mrs. Bartlett had seen her?"

"Mm, and I'm wondering how she got hold of her. I can't imagine Elizabeth returning a call from Pokeweed." He was busy bringing up his email address book.

"Then perhaps we should be talking to Mrs. Bartlett?"

Mark looked at Becky's contact numbers on the screen and wondered if he'd left them there on purpose. He'd torn up everything else that would give him access to her-deliberately cleared his memory of the mobile number that had once been as familiar as his own-but perhaps a part of him couldn't bear to erase her entirely from his life. "Let me try this person first," he said, retrieving his mobile. "It's a long shot-she probably won't answer either-but it's worth a try."

"Who is it?"

"An ex-girlfriend of Leo's," he said. "I think she'll talk to me. We were pretty close for a while."

"How do you know her?"

Mark tapped in Becky's number. "We were due to get married in June," he said in a deadpan voice. "On March seventh she gave Leo an alibi for the night Ailsa died, and by the time I got home she was gone. They'd been having an affair for three months." He flicked James an apologetic smile as he raised the phone to his ear. "It's why I've always accepted that Leo wasn't in Shenstead that night. I should have told you… I'm sorry I didn't. Pride's a terrible thing. If I could put the clock back and do it differently, I would."

The old man sighed. "So would we all, my boy… so would we all."

Becky couldn't stop talking. Every sentence ended with "darling." Was it really him? How was he? Had he been thinking of her? She just knew he'd phone eventually. Where was he? Could she come home? She loved him so much. It was all a terrible mistake. Darling… darling… darling…

"It's a term of endearment that means very little… if someone said it to me, I'd stick my fingers down my throat…"

Mark caught his grim reflection in the windscreen and abruptly killed the overhead light to blot it out. He questioned why he had ever allowed Becky's departure to upset him. He might have been listening to a stranger for all the emotion she stirred in him. "I'm sitting in my car in the middle of Dorset with Colonel Lockyer-Fox," he broke in, choosing to answer the question of where he was. "I'm calling on my mobile and the battery's likely to go at any minute. We need to get hold of Elizabeth as a matter of urgency but she's not answering her phone. I was wondering if you knew where she was."

There was a short silence. "Is the Colonel listening?"

"Yes."

"Does he know about-?"

"I've just told him."

"Oh, God, I'm sorry, darling. I never meant to embarrass you. Believe me if I could-"

Mark cut in again. "About Elizabeth, Rebecca. Have you seen her recently?"

He never called her Rebecca, and there was another silence. "You're angry."

If James hadn't been listening, he would have said he was bored. Give him a woman with intelligence, he thought, who knew when to walk away without asking questions. "We can talk when I get back to the flat," he said by way of an inducement. "For the moment, tell me about Elizabeth. When did you last see her?"

Her voice warmed again. "July. She came to Leo's flat about a week before I left. The pair of them went out… and I haven't seen her since."

"What did she want?"

"I don't know. She kept saying she needed to speak to Leo in private. She was paralytic so I didn't bother to ask why. You know what she's like."

"Did Leo talk about it afterward?"

"Not really. He just said her mind was going and he'd taken her home." She paused. "It happened once before. The police phoned to say they had a woman in their waiting room… it was all a bit weird… they said she couldn't remember where she lived but was able to give them Leo's number." Another pause. "I expect the time in July was something similar. She was always haunting the flat."

There were too many hesitations, and he wondered how truthful she was being. "What was wrong with her?"

Her tone grew spiteful. "Drink. I doubt she's got any brain cells left. I told Leo she needed treatment, but he wouldn't do anything about it. It flattered his pathetic little ego to have his plaything around him."

"What does that mean?"

"What do you think it means? They didn't have the sort of relationship you have with your sisters, you know. Haven't you ever wondered why Elizabeth's brain-dead and Leo's never married?"

It was Mark's turn to be silent.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes."

"Well, for Christ's sake, watch what you say in front of the Colonel. No one'll get any money if his father-" She broke off abruptly. "Look, forget I said that. Leo scares the shit out of me. He's a really sick bastard, Mark. He's got this thing about his dad… something to do with the Colonel being tortured during the war. Don't ask me why because I don't understand it… but Leo really hates him for it. I know it sounds crazy-oh, God, he is crazy-but all he ever thinks about is how to bring the old man to his knees. It's a kind of crusade with him."

Mark ran through his very limited psychological vocabulary, acquired through briefing barristers on defendants' psychiatric report. Transference… compensation… displacement… depersonalization… He took it a step at a time. "Okay, let's start with this relationship you mentioned-are we talking fact or guesswork?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Becky said angrily. "I told you to watch what you say. You're so damn thoughtless, Mark. As long as you're all right, you couldn't give a shit about anybody else."

That sounded more like the Becky he knew. "You're doing all the talking… darling," he said coolly. "Anything I say is purely incidental. Fact or guesswork?"

"Guesswork," she admitted. "She was always sitting on his lap. I never actually saw anything but I'm sure it happened. I was at work all day, don't forget, earning the bloody mon-" She checked herself again. "They could have been doing anything. Elizabeth definitely wanted it. She used to trail after Leo as if he were God."

Mark glanced at James and saw that his eyes were closed. But he knew he was listening. "Leo's an attractive man," he murmured. "A lot of people gravitate toward him. You thought he was God for a while… or have you forgotten?"

"Oh, please don't do that," she begged. "What will the Colonel think?"

"More or less what he thinks now, I should imagine. Why does it matter? You're never likely to meet him."

She didn't say anything.

"You were the one with illusions," he went on, wondering if she still had hopes of Leo. "For everyone else the charm had run a bit thin."

"Yes, and I found that out the hard way," she said harshly. "I've been trying to tell you for ages, but you wouldn't listen. It's just an act. He uses people then throws them aside."

Mark decided it would be counterproductive to say: I told you so. "How did he use you?"

She didn't answer.

"Was the alibi a lie?"

There was a long hesitation as if she were considering her options. "No," she said firmly.

"Are you sure?"

There was the sound of a stifled sob. "He's such a bastard, Mark. He took all my money and then got me to borrow off my parents and my sisters. They're all so angry with me… and I don't know what to do. They've told me to get it back, but I'm so scared of him. I was hoping you'd… being his father's solicitor and everything… I thought he might…" She petered into silence.

Mark took a deep breath to hide his irritation. "What?"

"You know…"

"Reimburse you?"

Her relief was so strong he could feel it through the phone. "Will he?"

"I shouldn't think so… but I'll discuss it with him if you give me some honest answers. Did you go through my briefcase? Did you tell Leo the Colonel was looking for his grandchild?"

"Only once," she said. "I saw a draft of a will that mentioned a granddaughter. That's all I told him. There was no name or anything. I didn't mean any harm, honestly I didn't… the only thing he was interested in was how much he and Lizzie were going to get."

A car approached down the narrow lane, blinding him with its headlights. It was traveling too fast and the rush of wind as it passed the Lexus buffeted against the sides. It was too close for comfort and it set Mark's nerves jangling. "Christ!" he swore, switching on his headlights.

"Don't be cross with me," Becky pleaded at the other end. "I know I shouldn't have done it… but I was so frightened. He's really horrible when he doesn't get his own way."

"What does he do?"

But she wouldn't or couldn't say. Whatever terrors Leo held for her-real or imagined-she was not about to share them with Mark. Instead she became coy in an attempt to discover if her "terrors" would persuade Mark to recover her parents' money.

He rang off, saying his battery was on the blink.

A year ago he would have trusted her implicitly…

… now he didn't believe a word she said.