Martine! Nice to meet you.’
She was so glad she’d tried it. So glad she’d dared. She walked out of the studio humming the Egyptian music with a spring in her step. Christine would have been so proud of her. And just wait until she told Sandra!
Chapter Ten
‘Hi, Lou – it’s me, Izzy.’
‘Hiya, love! God, I thought you’d dropped off the edge of the Earth. How are you?’
Hmmm, good question. Increasingly paranoid , she felt like replying. Like I’m going mad. As winter turned to spring, a whole new crop of worries seemed to be sprouting, namely the texts buzzing in from Gary, from a different number each time. She blocked them one by one, but that didn’t stop him.
Dirty slag.
I want my girls.
I’m gonna find u, Iz.
It was doing her head in. It was really starting to scare her. Her fingers shook whenever she opened a new message, as if the phone might blow up in her hands. Go away, Gary , she thought desperately. Leave us alone.
‘Things are a bit difficult’ was all she said to Louise. She sighed, missing her friend suddenly, wishing she could walk into Louise’s warm kitchen and have a cup of tea with her. Louise had one of those bright, open faces you could tell anything to; she had always been on Izzy’s side. She was the one who’d encouraged her to leave Gary in the first place, who had tutted and sighed with every new bruise and black eye. You can’t let him do this , she’d said at the end. You’ve got to have a bottom line – know when to get the hell out.
‘What do you mean, difficult? What’s happened?’
Izzy shut her eyes and leaned back against the armchair. The girls were in bed, and she could hear the trees rattling in the wind outside. ‘Gary’s been in touch.’
‘Shit. What did he . . . ? Hang on, I’m just going to take you in the other room. Wait there.’
Izzy tucked her feet up into the chair and put an arm around her knees. She missed having somebody hold her. Sometimes she even missed Gary, crazy as it might sound. She knew the girls did too; Hazel in particular was always asking after him. No, we can’t phone Daddy. Because we just can’t. I don’t know when we’ll see him again. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is, I’m afraid. We live here now.
Had she been fair, taking them away from him, ripping the family apart? God knows she’d hung on for as long as she could. But he had gone too far that last time. Staying put and hanging on wasn’t safe any more.
‘Hi, sorry – I’m here. Just wanted to go in the kitchen, because Ricky’s watching TV and you know what he’s like, getting in a hump with me for yacking over it.’
Izzy smiled weakly. ‘Yeah,’ she said. Louise and Ricky had the comfortable, easy sort of relationship where they only ever got annoyed with each other about things like what to watch on television, or who had scoffed the last biscuit in the packet. Lucky bastards.
‘So tell me. What’s happened? What did he say?’
‘He keeps sending horrible texts,’ Izzy said, lowering her voice, even though both the girls were definitely asleep. ‘Threatening ones, saying he wants the children back and that he’s going to find me. Horrible stuff.’
‘Jesus. How did he get your number?’
‘No idea. Only a couple of people know this new one. I don’t suppose . . .’ She licked her lips. ‘Could he have got it from Ricky?’
‘No way!’ Louise sounded hurt. ‘Of course not. Ricky doesn’t even have your number, does he?’
‘Sorry. I just . . .’ Izzy felt bad for asking. ‘Sorry, Lou. I’m freaking out. I’m scared. What if he finds out where we are?’
‘Oh, love, don’t worry. How could he?’
‘I don’t know,’ Izzy admitted. She twitched the curtain back and gazed into the darkness beyond her window. He could be anywhere, she thought. He could be in the back garden watching me right now, plotting how he could break in and . . . and . . .
‘There you go, then. Remember what a dumb-arse he is.
She was so glad she’d tried it. So glad she’d dared. She walked out of the studio humming the Egyptian music with a spring in her step. Christine would have been so proud of her. And just wait until she told Sandra!
Chapter Ten
‘Hi, Lou – it’s me, Izzy.’
‘Hiya, love! God, I thought you’d dropped off the edge of the Earth. How are you?’
Hmmm, good question. Increasingly paranoid , she felt like replying. Like I’m going mad. As winter turned to spring, a whole new crop of worries seemed to be sprouting, namely the texts buzzing in from Gary, from a different number each time. She blocked them one by one, but that didn’t stop him.
Dirty slag.
I want my girls.
I’m gonna find u, Iz.
It was doing her head in. It was really starting to scare her. Her fingers shook whenever she opened a new message, as if the phone might blow up in her hands. Go away, Gary , she thought desperately. Leave us alone.
‘Things are a bit difficult’ was all she said to Louise. She sighed, missing her friend suddenly, wishing she could walk into Louise’s warm kitchen and have a cup of tea with her. Louise had one of those bright, open faces you could tell anything to; she had always been on Izzy’s side. She was the one who’d encouraged her to leave Gary in the first place, who had tutted and sighed with every new bruise and black eye. You can’t let him do this , she’d said at the end. You’ve got to have a bottom line – know when to get the hell out.
‘What do you mean, difficult? What’s happened?’
Izzy shut her eyes and leaned back against the armchair. The girls were in bed, and she could hear the trees rattling in the wind outside. ‘Gary’s been in touch.’
‘Shit. What did he . . . ? Hang on, I’m just going to take you in the other room. Wait there.’
Izzy tucked her feet up into the chair and put an arm around her knees. She missed having somebody hold her. Sometimes she even missed Gary, crazy as it might sound. She knew the girls did too; Hazel in particular was always asking after him. No, we can’t phone Daddy. Because we just can’t. I don’t know when we’ll see him again. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is, I’m afraid. We live here now.
Had she been fair, taking them away from him, ripping the family apart? God knows she’d hung on for as long as she could. But he had gone too far that last time. Staying put and hanging on wasn’t safe any more.
‘Hi, sorry – I’m here. Just wanted to go in the kitchen, because Ricky’s watching TV and you know what he’s like, getting in a hump with me for yacking over it.’
Izzy smiled weakly. ‘Yeah,’ she said. Louise and Ricky had the comfortable, easy sort of relationship where they only ever got annoyed with each other about things like what to watch on television, or who had scoffed the last biscuit in the packet. Lucky bastards.
‘So tell me. What’s happened? What did he say?’
‘He keeps sending horrible texts,’ Izzy said, lowering her voice, even though both the girls were definitely asleep. ‘Threatening ones, saying he wants the children back and that he’s going to find me. Horrible stuff.’
‘Jesus. How did he get your number?’
‘No idea. Only a couple of people know this new one. I don’t suppose . . .’ She licked her lips. ‘Could he have got it from Ricky?’
‘No way!’ Louise sounded hurt. ‘Of course not. Ricky doesn’t even have your number, does he?’
‘Sorry. I just . . .’ Izzy felt bad for asking. ‘Sorry, Lou. I’m freaking out. I’m scared. What if he finds out where we are?’
‘Oh, love, don’t worry. How could he?’
‘I don’t know,’ Izzy admitted. She twitched the curtain back and gazed into the darkness beyond her window. He could be anywhere, she thought. He could be in the back garden watching me right now, plotting how he could break in and . . . and . . .
‘There you go, then. Remember what a dumb-arse he is.
Similar Books
