The Promise Page 26

  Though she was convinced the older child, Georgie, hated her guts.

  Javine had been trying. Really, she had. Asking them both questions about their favourite TV programmes, and what food they liked to eat, but so far all she’d come up against was a wall of silence.

  Marnie, remembering Javine from the little run-in that she’d had with the girl’s mother in the shop last week, had ignored her completely, and insisted on running around the apartment winding the dogs up as she screeched loudly and chased them and the older child, and Georgie, having clearly been filled in on the encounter, had done nothing but throw Javine filthy looks every five seconds.

  The atmosphere in the apartment had been stony to say the least.

  ‘I don’t think they like me, Delray,’ she said now honestly, her voice just a whisper; she didn’t want the girls to overhear.

  ‘Oh behave.’ Delray laughed. ‘Look at you. How could they not like you? Give them a chance, babe, they’ve been through so much the last few days. They just need a bit of time yeah?’

  Javine nodded in agreement. Maybe Delray was right. Of course the past few days must have affected them. Even she couldn’t get her head around what Delray had told her. Josie had murdered one of her punters in cold blood. Bludgeoned the man to death with a hammer in front of both of the girls. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to witness something so horrific. Javine had always known that something wasn’t right with the woman, but murder?

  ‘Tell you what, I’ve got just the idea. Why don’t you do a makeover or something on Georgie? Do her nails and her hair, let her put some of your clobber on. She’s almost as tall as you!’ Delray said, trying to sound like this wasn’t all pre-planned. ‘She’s the one you need to try and keep sweet. Marnie will warm to anyone.’ Delray shrugged. ‘At least it will give you something to do while I’m out. Tell you what, I’ll sort out a sitter for tonight. When I get back me and you can go to Liberties; we’ll get a couple of bottle of champers in to help us celebrate our engagement properly? Make it official.’

  ‘That would be lovely.’ Javine smiled, though she wasn’t sure she was really up for going to the club with Delray just yet. She knew she was going to have to just go along with it though.

  ‘Good.’ Delray grinned. ‘I can’t just let you sit at home all night when you look this sexy. I wanna show you off.’

  Javine couldn’t help but smile at that.

  ‘If you hear the phone or the intercom, don’t answer it, okay? There’s been some kids hanging around outside, making nuisances of themselves,’ Delray lied. He hadn’t bothered calling Children’s Services about having the girls.

  People would still be out looking for them. Delray couldn’t chance anyone coming in and taking them away from him now. Not when he’d worked so hard on the deal that was on the table for him. By rights, here was the last place the Old Bill would probably look. There was no reason why the girls would be here; no one knew of their whereabouts and the very few people that did – Davey, Mandy, Mary Sheelan – had all been warned what would happen if anyone opened their mouths.

  Grabbing his keys from the side, he planted a kiss on Javine’s cheek.

  ‘See you in a few hours, babe. Have fun, yeah!’

  Javine smiled.

  Fun? It wasn’t the first word that sprang to her mind at the thought of spending the next couple of hours with a pair of stroppy kids that acted like they both hated her guts.

  ‘Of course!’ Javine said, determined to at least try.

  How hard could baby-sitting possibly be?

  ‘Do you fancy playing a game?’ Javine said to Marnie. ‘We can play I Spy, or Truth or Dare?’

  Marnie shook her head, sulkily. ‘I don’t want to play games, I just wanna watch my programmes.’ Moving her head to the side, Marnie looked deliberately past Javine so that she could see the TV screen again.

  Javine sighed.

  Well, at least she’d tried.

  So far, Georgie and Marnie just weren’t interested in anything that she suggested. She tried to remind herself what Delray had told her about the girls having gone through so much the past couple of days. About how she should give them a bit of time to settle in, to get their heads straight, but she just couldn’t help thinking that they just didn’t like her.

  Georgie had barely spoken two words to her all evening. Every now and again, Javine had caught the child watching her. Looking at her curiously.

  ‘Oh bugger.’ Feeling her false eyelash coming loose over her right eye, Javine marched over to the mirror. The mass of think black lashes had come loose. She tried to squeeze the line of fake lashes back, but they wouldn’t stay in place now.

  Grabbing her make-up bag, she drew a line of glue along the lash band before blowing on the adhesive to make it slightly tacky, then she stuck it back onto her own lashes.

  ‘Voila,’ she said to herself, pleased that they were back on again.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘These?’ Javine turned, surprised that not only had Georgie finally opened her mouth to talk, the girl was actually directing a question at her. ‘They are fake lashes.’

  Georgie eyed them curiously. Suddenly taking an interest in something.

  ‘You stick them on to make your eyelashes look longer.’ Javine fluttered her perfect lashes at Georgie as if to demonstrate.

  ‘They look nice.’

  Javine smiled. Then remembering what Delray had said about trying to bond with Georgie, trying to clear the air, she added, trying to keep her tone casual: ‘You want me to put some on you?’ She knew if she pushed it Georgie would just shrug her off. That was the beauty of communicating with a stroppy teenager, Javine wasn’t far off one herself.

  Georgie looked at the make-up bag, then back to Javine’s beautifully made-up eyes, and nodded. She was bored anyway. Marnie was watching baby programmes and hogging the dogs.

  ‘Tell you what. How about you let me give you a makeover?’ Javine said, excited that Georgie was finally acknowledging her presence; she was determined to try and get through to the girl. Javine had no idea how long the girls would be sticking around, but as long as they were here, they may as well at least try to get on.

  ‘Okay then.’

  Javine beamed at that. Grabbing her make-up bag, she began lining up all her products before pulling out a chair at the dining table for Georgie to come and sit on.

  She started with the girl’s foundation.

  ‘You’ve already got beautiful skin,’ Javine said as she brushed the make-up evenly across Georgie’s cheekbones. She blended it along the girl’s jawline with a sponge.

  ‘And your eyes are so pretty.’

  ‘They’re like my mum’s,’ Georgie said, her body suddenly tensing at the mention of her mother.

  Aware of the sore subject, Javine didn’t push the conversation. Instead she began drawing on a perfectly straight line of eyeliner across the top of each of Georgie’s eyelids, before going through the same process with the fake lashes as she’d done to herself just minutes earlier.

  Georgie waited patiently as Javine used pots and tubes of God knows what until finally she beamed.

  ‘Okay, you want to look?’

  Georgie nodded, unable to wait a second longer. She was dying to see the end result.

  ‘Actually, hang on… ’ Javine giggled, eyeing Georgie’s figure. The girl was tall and slim, apart from being flat-chested; Delray had been right again: Georgie’s shape was very similar to hers.

  ‘How about before you get to see yourself, we dress you up a bit too. You can borrow one of my dresses?’

  ‘Okay,’ Georgie agreed. Feeling a bit shy now, though she was really starting to get into the whole dress-up routine.

  She actually felt like she was having fun for a change. Enjoying the rare opportunity of spending time on herself.

  She was always keeping an eye on Marnie, or running errands for her mum. It felt good to do something for herself for a change.

&n
bsp; ‘What size shoe are you?’

  ‘I’m a size four.’

  ‘Damn, I’m a size five.’ Then wrinkling her nose she added: ‘that’s okay; we stuff them with a bit of toilet paper in the toes. Come on.’

  The two girls were enjoying themselves now.

  Laughing and giggling as Javine pulled out some dresses for Georgie to try on, she was looking forward to seeing Delray’s face when he got home.

  Georgie Parker looked stunning.

  Javine had done a blinding job.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Hearing the microwave ping, Mandy padded across her kitchen half-heartedly, and peeled the film lid off her ready meal, before giving it a stir and putting it back in for another few minutes.

  This is what her life had come to, she thought sadly. A soggy, plastic bowl of slop on a Saturday night, all on her tod. She shook her head, feeling well and truly sorry for herself this evening, but she knew it was all her own doing. Davey was beyond pissed off with her, and rightly so. Even she didn’t know what she’d been thinking to have called Delray Anderton of all people, but she’d just panicked. Seeing the girls just turn up like that; seeing them both looking so lost and scared.

  Josie wouldn’t have wanted the girls to be abandoned to some horrible old children’s home or fostered out to God Knows Who. She certainly wouldn’t want the girls to be separated. Georgie and Marnie were all each other had now.

  As much as Josie despised Delray most of the time for the way he treated her, she was certain that Josie would only want what was best for them both and, right now, Mandy thought that was Delray. She would have taken them in herself if she could have, but how would she have been able to help them? Here in her one-bedroom flat, she didn’t have a pot to piss in for herself, let alone able to feed and care for two children.

  She’d acted on impulse. Why should Delray Anderton wander around London like a dog with two bollocks, with money to burn, yet these two children had nothing?

  As far as Mandy was concerned the man owed Josie big time, and it was about time he took responsibility for his child. He was Marnie’s father after all.

  She’d known about it for years, Josie had confided in her when she’d first found out she was pregnant. She’d told Mandy that she was going to have the baby, despite the fact that Delray wanted no part in its life, and that’s exactly what her friend had done.

  Tough as old boots and determined for her child, Josie had held her head up high, and brought up her children on her own, without a single penny from anyone else. The fact that she handed over half her money to Delray every week for his protection often made Mandy’s blood boil but, like Josie always said, it was the only way she could guarantee a regular income and still have Delray’s protection.

  It was the only way she could survive.

  It was about time he made an effort for Marnie. Georgie too, it was the least he could do for Josie.

  When Mandy had rung him to tell him about the girls being at Davey’s she never in her right mind thought that he’d agree to step up to the plate and do his bit for them. She’d half expected him to laugh down the phone at her, or tell her to sling her hook before hanging up.

  She wished he had now, the amount of trouble it had caused her.

  She’d been just as surprised as Davey had been when Delray had turned up at the pub fifteen minutes later.

  He’d been so angry that she hadn’t discussed it with him, that she’d made the call behind his back. Delray Anderton was a fucking lunatic, a pimp, a criminal. How the hell would the girls have a better life? He was right, of course he was, but she’d realised that all too late. Now, Davey was refusing to take her calls.

  She’d been trying to ring him all day, desperate to explain, to talk to the man. But Davey was as stubborn as an ox.

  She shouldn’t have got involved; she should have just let Davey deal with them like he said he would. He would have rung Children’s Services first thing in the morning and the girls would have been back in care. Instead, Delray had taken the kids himself, and Mandy had felt on edge ever since.

  Police and Children’s Services would be looking for the girls. There would be a search party for them. Two young runaways. Especially with the murder case splashed over the front of the newspapers. The media would be having a field day with it all. She was expecting a knock at her door any minute. People would start asking her questions. She would have to lie. She’d have to tell them that she didn’t know anything, that she hadn’t seen them. Delray had made that perfectly clear. He’d threatened Davey. Humiliated the man in front of them all. That was the hardest bit for Mandy to swallow. Davey didn’t deserve that. He was a kind man, with good intentions. He’d only been trying to help. The whole thing was just one big mess.

  Hearing the microwave ping once more, Mandy took the black plastic tray out and stared down at the congealed sauce and the nuked bits of pasta.

  Her appetite had well and truly gone now. Lifting up the dustbin lid, she threw it inside. Pouring herself another glass of Chardonnay, she slumped down at the table and lit up a fag; she thought about Josie. Guilt flooding her then.

  She still couldn’t process what had happened. Unable to get her head around the fact that her friend was in prison – for murder.

  It was like, suddenly, the world had gone mad.

  Josie. Her Josie.

  Fuck me, the woman had a wicked temper on her at times, but murder?

  Josie hadn’t really been herself now for a while, but Mandy thought that she was better. She’d told her that she was clean, that she’d stopped the drugs. She was drunk, yes. They’d had a right skinful that night when they’d been out together, but not enough for Josie to hop in a taxi and then go home and turn into a hammer-wielding psycho.

  That’s what the newspapers were trying to paint her as.

  ‘Crack Addict Hammer Horror Attack.’

  Nothing about the fact that Josie was clean now. They’d painted her out to be some kind of monster. Implying that a life of prostitution had made her hate all men. That she was mentally unstable.

  Mandy hadn’t been able to even read the damn thing. It was all lies. All such horrible lies. She knew her friend better than anyone, and she knew for certain that something must have happened that night to make Josie flip the way she had. Trevor must have done something to provoke the attack.

  Georgie!

  Mandy remembered then.

  That night, when she and Josie had been out. Josie had been at it with that college student, and Mandy had taken a call from Georgie. Georgie had been crying, saying that Josie needed to get home. She couldn’t remember what else had been said.

  Mandy shook her head. Her memory vague. She’d had too much to drink too, and the call had been cut off. Something had happened though, something really bad, Mandy was certain of it. Shit! How could she have forgotten something so vital.

  Taking a big glug of her wine to calm her nerves, she tried to recall exactly what Georgie had said, but she couldn’t think straight. The past few days had all been such a blur.

  She wished to God now that she’d gone home with Josie that night. That she’d made sure that Josie and the kids were all right. Instead she’d stayed out, hoping to get her leg-over with Davey.

  Josie Parker a murderer? No chance. As fiery as her friend could be, she wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer.

  Mandy knew without a shadow of a doubt.

  She knew the woman better than anyone else.

  The police had said that it was a domestic. They suspected that she’d consumed a lethal cocktail of drink and drugs and she had just lost control. A psychotic episode, she’d overheard one officer say.

  Mandy was certain that wasn’t the case though.

  Josie was clean. The toxicology reports would show that, she was sure of it.

  The doorbell chiming dragged Mandy away from her thoughts.

  The police? Her heart started hammering as she rehearsed the story in her head. She hadn’t seen
Georgie and Marnie since they’d been taken into police custody. She didn’t have a clue where either of them were. She didn’t know anything.

  Or maybe it was Davey?

  Maybe he’d finally calmed down and had come around to talk to her.

  Anxious now, she tucked her hair behind her ear, taking a quick glance at herself in the hallway mirror as she passed. She wished to God that she’d worn something else tonight now to slob out in.

  She looked ridiculous. A lacy cerise pink camisole and a pair of ill-fitting tracksuit bottoms that had faded to a dirty grey colour; but she hadn’t been expecting company and there was sod all she could do about it now.

  Opening the front door, Mandy felt the disappointment ripple through her as Delray Anderton barged his way past her.

  ‘Hello to you too,’ she spat, shutting the door behind him and following him into her lounge.

  ‘You don’t need to come round here checking up on me, Delray. I told you I wouldn’t say shit to anyone about the girls and I haven’t. I swear.’

  ‘I ain’t checking up on you. I know you ain’t stupid enough to go running your mouth any more than you already have.’ Delray looked Mandy up and down then with distaste. ‘Fuck me you look rough as arseholes. I take it you and lover boy had a tiff after I left?’

  ‘He won’t even answer my calls,’ Mandy said sadly. Though why the fuck she was telling Delray this, she had no idea. The man didn’t have an ounce of sympathy in his entire body.

  ‘Maybe he’s had a better offer?’ Delray said sarcastically. Enjoying winding Mandy up.

  Mandy tugged at her tatty camisole top, feeling self-conscious.

  ‘Has something happened to the girls? Where are they?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ve left them with my bird for a bit, while I sort out a bit of business.’

  Mandy eyed the man warily, knowing full well what was coming.

  ‘I need a favour.’

  She knew it.

  ‘I need someone to sit with the kids for a bit. I’ve made plans tonight that I can’t get out of… And seeing as you ain’t doing jack shit tonight, by the looks of it, except for sitting on your arse staring at your telly, I figured you could give me a hand.’