Chapter Fourteen
‘Come on, Gladys, let’s get you to the table. It’s toad-in-the-hole today, your favourite.’ Cherie steered the elderly lady and seated her by the other nursing home residents. As always, Gladys never answered.
Body aching like she had the flu, Cherie hurried to the kitchen. The table at the back that overlooked the garden was reserved for staff and it was time for her break. At least Christian couldn’t have a go at her while she was at work. Getting out of bed with him at seven had been awkward. He’d huffed and puffed about what a trying day he was going to have. That it was her fault he was tired and stressed. He even went on about how they should cancel her dinner party on Saturday night. That had been it. There was no way she was cancelling her friends, especially now. She’d flipped and walked out. That’s why her white tunic was creased and her hair looked like it had been styled by a hurricane. She’d pulled the leaves from her tangled mop earlier, when she’d clocked in.
‘Can I sit here?’ Sadie plonked a plate of toast on the table. ‘Want some?’
Cherie smiled. A friendly face, at last. ‘Thanks.’ She took half a slice and began eating it. Thoughts of Christian could wait until she got home, where she’d then face whatever was coming her way.
‘Can you believe, I ask the bastards about my pay rise and they fobbed me off again? It would take the bloody plague making a comeback for the powers that be to recognise our value and what we do, day in, day out.’ She chomped on the toast and threw the crust at the plate, continuing to speak with her mouth stuffed. ‘I really need the money too now Damien has been made redundant. I might start looking elsewhere, maybe go into private home care for the rich. Fat chance of that happening.’ She let out a small laugh along with a few toast crumbs. ‘You haven’t heard a single word I just said. Are you okay?’
Sadie had noticed that something was wrong. Cherie glanced back and Sadie was shrugging at the cook. They’d been talking about her. She should have gone to the toilet and sorted her appearance out as soon as she arrived, but she’d been late.
‘You’re not normally late. It’s okay, I covered for you. We bottom feeders have to stick together. Maybe one day, we’ll actually rise up against the ruling classes.’
Cherie stared at her and furrowed her brow.
‘Joke. I wasn’t suggesting we walk out right now and start a revolution. Or was I?’ Sadie snorted as she laughed and glanced back at the cook. The portly woman stirred a large pot of something that resembled custard, evident by the splats of yellow against the stainless steel splashback.
‘Thanks. My alarm didn’t go off.’ That old excuse. Again, excuses weren’t her forte. She’d proven that in the early hours of the morning.
‘Oh well, these things happen. Rough weather out there. Yes, it’s far too chilly for that revolution. I think I’ll stay in the warm.’ Sadie reached across and pulled a corner of a leaf from Cherie’s hair.
‘I am in a state. That’s what you get for not setting your alarm properly.’Grin your way through this.‘Thanks for the toast.’ She held the last bit up and popped it into her mouth.
‘Well, if you ever need to talk—’
‘I best get back to work.’
‘You’re still on break.’
Sod break time. She didn’t need someone barely out of nappies offering to counsel her. She needed everyone to get off her back and act as if everything was normal. But it wasn’t normal. Everything had changed. Her heart rate began to pick up. Nothing would ever be the same again. Her phone buzzed against her thigh. She scurried through the dining room and pulled it from her pocket as she ran along the corridor and out through the front door. She was still on break and she’d spend the last few minutes of it alone in the car park where no one would bother her. How hard was it to just be alone?
Just talk to me. I hate it when you shut me out like this and I’m sorry about your compact. C. xx
Like all the other times, Christian had mellowed. His need to fix and repair her was now shining through, along with the guilt of breaking her grandmother’s compact. She smiled. Maybe things weren’t so bad. The breeze whipped up a chill around her ears. Shades of orange and brown crispy leaves swished up in the corner of the car park before settling in an even larger pile against a skip. Sweeping it up would no doubt be one of her jobs.
She glanced at the message again. This week was just the beginning and she would need him onside should everything fall apart. Oliver and Bella were her world. She couldn’t lose them. She couldn’t lose her mind.Keep focused, Cherie.
I’m sorry, love. The compact doesn’t matter. I was stupid and you saved me, again. I love you so much. Xxx CH.
Another lie to get him off her back. She wasn’t even sure she loved him. Their marriage had been a little shaky for the past year since she’d stopped drinking herself into a stupor. She shook her head. She had to drop it for now. She had her friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night and preparations to make. A message from Marcus popped up on her phone.
Me and Penny had a huge row and now she’s gone. She’s not answering her phone. I don’t know what to do. Can you try calling her? Marcus. X
With shaky hands, Cherie tried to call Penny but her phone went straight to voicemail. She threw it in her pocket, her mind wandering to the tension that would exist amongst them around the dinner table. She imagined Isaac making jibes about Penny being a drama queen as he slowly got drunk. His partner Joanna would hang on his every word like some lovesick teen and Marcus would be there alone as they all looked at the gap where Penny should be sitting. It wouldn’t be the first time Penny had put Marcus through a couple of days of hell while she swanned off somewhere to be alone or maybe there was more to it. Marcus didn’t normally contact her for help.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she gasped for breath.Don’t lose it. Forget the past, it’s gone.
She glanced back at the nursing home. Sadie was helping Sidney to walk with his Zimmer frame and one of the trainees hurried past with a mop. The pile of leaves were no longer her problem, neither was Gladys. She jogged to her car, got in and turned the key, knowing that the only consequence of this action would be her dismissal. Frankly, she didn’t care. She couldn’t face the rest of the day, not knowing that Penny had gone AWOL.
Chapter Fifteen
Gina slumped back in her office chair as she listened to DC Wyre on the other end of the phone. As the conversation came to an end, she checked her list. ‘Can you check someone out for me? Elsie Peterson, died at seventy-three, twenty-one years ago. Our unidentified figure was lurking around behind this gravestone. It may or may not have some significance. I know you’re busy with the undertakers and coffin makers but it might just offer us a lead.’
She ended the call and allowed the case to run through her mind as she tried to search for links that she hadn’t already found. Watching the footage from the café while Jacob was in the room had sent her pulse rate soaring, now exhaustion had set in. Briggs may have only briefly touched her hand, but it would have been enough to get people talking. She inhaled, counted to three and then exhaled slowly. Pulling the letter from her pocket, she lay it on the table.
Gina,
