CHERUB: The Sleepwalker - Robert Muchamore Page 0,73

my conscience if Gemma ends up with a fractured skull, or out on the street with two little kids. There must be something we can do to help.’

‘Gemma’s an adult. She’ll only get out of this abusive relationship if she wants to.’

Kerry was exasperated. ‘But I’ve tried telling her, Zara. She just won’t listen.’

‘I bet you’re not the first to tell Gemma how to run her life,’ Zara said. ‘Hopefully she’ll meet another bloke, or a friend who makes her realise that she deserves better. But when people interfere aggressively and tell people how to run their lives it puts them on the defensive.’

‘So what should I do?’ Kerry asked.

‘I don’t think there’s much you can do,’ Zara shrugged. ‘Except listen to Gemma and offer her emotional support if she needs it.’

Kerry sounded annoyed. ‘So we just wait until Danny gets out of hospital and starts beating her up again?’

‘This Danny sounds like a nasty piece of work and you were severely provoked,’ Zara admitted. ‘But you’re not the law, Kerry. Nothing gives you the right to go around breaking arms and legs. I don’t know if there’s much I can do to help Gemma, but there are charities and groups that provide shelter and other help to people trapped in violent relationships. I’ll make some calls and arrange to have some leaflets sent to her at work.’

‘Leaflets,’ Kerry said, tutting contemptuously. ‘What good will that do?’

‘We can’t make Gemma do something she doesn’t want to,’ Zara said firmly. ‘She has to work it out for herself. With luck she’ll study the information and realise that she has other options. As for your punishment …’

‘So I am getting a punishment?’ Kerry sighed.

‘You can rely on that,’ Zara nodded. ‘I’ll have to speak with James and Dana and get to the bottom of everything that’s been going on over the last two weeks, but you will be punished and you can expect it to be severe.’

29. SATURDAY

Fahim woke early on Saturday morning. He hated being in the house now that his mum was gone, but his mood was fair because he was meeting Jake at the cinema later on. After eating breakfast he headed down to the basement and racked up the balls on his father’s pool table.

Having a table at home meant Fahim got a lot of practice and he played well, but there was only the washer-dryer for company and after clearing two sets of balls he got bored and headed back towards his room. A shout startled him as he neared the top of the basement stairs.

‘Tell me, you little bitch,’ Hassam yelled, as a body thudded against the wooden panelling on the other side of the door.

The tone reminded Fahim of arguments between his parents. He moved his ear towards the door, tantalised at the possibility that his mother had come back. But the desperate reply came from Sylvia, the cleaning lady.

‘Let me go,’ she squealed. ‘I don’t know what you’re on about, I swear to god.’

‘Well, who else?’ Hassam yelled. ‘Do you see anyone else coming in and out of here?’

‘Please, Hassam,’ she begged. ‘I don’t know what you want.’

‘Skanky bitch,’ Hassam shouted. ‘Who put you up to this? Who are you working for?’

‘You’re talking crazy, Hassam,’ Sylvia cried. ‘I clean your house, that’s all I do.’

Fahim heard a scream and a rip of clothing. Sylvia had been knocked against the wall again, but this time she lost her balance and slapped against the marble floor near the front door. Heart thumping, Fahim turned the doorknob and opened a crack to glance out.

Spots of blood ran from the kitchen and all the way to the front door. Fahim watched his father bundle Sylvia into the small bathroom directly off the hallway. She moaned as Hassam plunged her face into the toilet bowl, then slammed the seat down on her head before pulling the flush.

‘Tell me,’ he demanded. ‘Who are you working for? Who put you up to this?’

As water gushed over Sylvia’s head, Fahim edged cautiously into the hallway. He looked back towards the kitchen and gasped as he saw smears of blood where the cleaner’s face had been smashed into a wall cabinet. There was a piece of buckled plastic in the middle of the floor and he was horrified to recognise it as one of the relays installed by Jake.

Fahim wanted to sneak out and run to Jake and Lauren’s flat two streets away, but the walk to the front door was risky because