Two of the surfers along the beach dropped their boards on the sand and ran over, but before they could get to Ellie, someone else sprinted past her and into the water after Darren, tackling him spectacularly.
Darren made a surprisedooofnoise as the other man’s body slammed into his, and there was a huge splash as both of them hit the water. Both were soaked immediately. Darren sat up in the shallow water, gasping, and pushed against the other man.
‘What the—?’ Darren coughed, swearing.
Standing up, soaked through in shorts and a white T-shirt, Mark Gardner grabbed Darren’s shirt by the collar and wrenched him out of the water.
‘Let me go!’ Darren shouted, twisting, but Mark held him firmly.
‘Get out of here. You’ve been told. You’re not supposed to come within half a mile of Jamey and the kids,’ Mark growled.
‘Sod off. They’re my kids.’
‘You gave up your right to be their dad when you hit my sister.’ Mark shoved Darren hard in the direction of the beach. ‘Move. I’m callin’ the police now. And if you wanna try knockin’ my phone out ofmyhand, have a go. See where it gets you.’ Mark shoved Darren again as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled the police.
Ellie thought his phone must be unusable as it had been dunked in the water along with the rest of him, but he started speaking into it so she guessed it must be all right.
‘Police, please. I’d like to report an assault.’
‘Fine, I’m going,’ Darren shouted. He waded out of the sea, past Ellie. She stepped aside, not wanting to get close to him again. ‘Bitch,’ he muttered, as he passed her.
Ellie felt a wave of fury knowing that, as grateful as she was to Mark for showing up just at the right time, Darren had only stopped what he was doing because another man had forcibly stopped him. Even the fact that she had threatened to call the police hadn’t been enough.
Mark came to stand next to her, talking on the phone. Jamey and the children were wading out of the water too.
‘Hey. You okay?’ He tapped the phone to end the call and touched her arm gently. Mark shook his head; his blond hair dripped with sea water. The fury in his eyes had been replaced with concern.
‘I’m fine. He just… it was just upsetting, that’s all. My phone’s okay. Look after Jamey and the kids.’
He held out his arms for the children who ran to him, both now crying. Mark enveloped them in a big bear hug, squatting down in the shallow tide. Ellie could hear him talking to them quietly as she reached out to Jamey and held her hands. It was a little awkward, but she did it nonetheless.
‘Jamey. Are you all right? I’m so sorry… I saw him, and I tried to intervene,’ Ellie explained. Jamey was shaking, and it wasn’t with cold: Ellie knew what shock looked like when she saw it. ‘It’s all right. Look, he’s gone.’
They watched Darren retreating up the steps at the far edge of the beach. Even from that far away, Ellie could see the fury in his posture.
She was still on high alert herself, but at the same time, as she watched him go, Ellie thought about why she’d started working in law in the first place. Why she’d wanted to study it at university at all, apart from the fact that it was a good job and paid well.
It was never the money that attracted Ellie, really, although she’d ended up running with that crowd. It was justice that had appealed to her then, and she realised that justice still meant so much to her now. The law wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it was one way to help people who needed it, and it was something that could, at least in theory, protect the vulnerable.
Real justice might never visit Darren, whatever that justice might be. Ellie could imagine some pretty suitable punishments for him as she stood there, watching him go.
She doubted that Darren would ever know the desperate fear Jamey must have felt protecting her children from him. Ellie knew that mothers felt guilty at any time their children suffered. She knew that all mothers felt that deep protective urge for their children: that they would automatically stand in front of a speeding train to protect them, or any other threat. Jamey had put her body between Darren and the kids without even thinking about it.
And Ellie had always felt passionate about protecting others – women, children, and anyone poor or impoverished or suffering at the hands of a powerful few – in the same way. But she had forgotten that, somewhere in the world of corporate law, takeovers and mergers. She’d been offered a job in corporate law, and after losing her mum – and growing up without any of the things her friends thought of as essentials – she had grasped the opportunity, fearing another one wouldn’t come. The salary was large, and it got larger as she wrapped it around her like a security blanket.
Ellie had never stopped caring about women and about justice, but for a long time she’d been distracted by the security her job gave her. It filled the lack that had always been there in her life: the never having enough she had felt so keenly as a child.
But although her bills were paid and she had a nice flat and some expensive dresses, Ellie still wasn’t happy.
‘What if he does it again? I thought that restraining order was supposed to stop this happening.’ Jamey’s teeth were chattering. ‘I can’t rely on Mark to turn up every time. It was just lucky he was supposed to be meeting us on the beach this afternoon.’
‘I’m going to get the kids ice creams.’ Mark came and hugged his sister. ‘You okay?’
‘I’m all right. He never got to me.’ Jamey wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara. She forced a smile for the kids, and Ellie’s heart broke for her even more, watching her pull herself together for the children. ‘Hey, that’ll be nice, won’t it? It’s okay. Daddy’s gone now. He was just a bit angry.’
They watched Mark start to walk up the beach holding hands with Amber and Danny. He was still wet through.
As soon as the children had turned away to walk with Mark, Jamey started crying, her body slumping.
