few places until I can find you somewhere to sleep, and I want you to promise me you’ll stay there.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ She shrugs, but I can see her shoulders have relaxed slightly knowing she won’t be sleeping by the river tonight.
I get on my phone to call the local hostels, and as I tell her story to each stranger who picks up the phone, she gazes ahead listlessly. Reaching for her glass of Coke, I notice her sleeve rides up, and I see a ladder of fine scars running up her arm. Our eyes meet. She knows I know, and pulls her sleeve down awkwardly, realising that I’ve clocked the tiny tell-tale stamp running along her flesh. I look at her face, and see my mother’s eyes staring back. She’s using.
I try to smile reassuringly, but I’m reminded of being a little girl again, in a dark and spiky world. My heart sinks, and another battle begins.
It’s a fraught walk back through Worcester to the office, my mind so consumed with Chloe I haven’t given Helen a thought until I get to the square where I’d encountered her earlier. I suddenly feel vulnerable in the dark, and even though it’s bustling with people Christmas shopping, I check behind me every now and then.
As soon as I get back to work I call Alex to tell him about Helen chasing me and calling my name. The others are aghast, and keep saying I should call the police, but Alex has a couple of mates in the police and he says he’ll talk to them about it before we take anything further.
‘The problem is, she hasn’t actually done anything yet,’ he says.
‘Yes, but she told you she wants to hurt me,’ I protest. ‘I’m scared, Alex, thank God you told me she was in the area, at least she couldn’t take me by surprise.’
‘Exactly. The app gives me a rough location, and I know when you’re in the same vicinity, sadly I can’t pinpoint exactly where you are.’
‘So you wouldn’t know if she was literally inches away?’ I ask, horrified.
‘No… not really,’ he says awkwardly.
‘Shit, Alex, I thought you were going to come steaming in the minute she got too close, I thought you’d know.’
‘Not exactly, the technology isn’t that good.’
‘So I should call the police next time she’s nearby.’
‘No – look, you have to trust me, we don’t want to aggravate an already sticky situation. I know the law around this – it’s complex, but I promise I’ve got this.’
‘Okay,’ I say reluctantly, ‘but if anything like this happens again, or I’m even slightly unsure or scared, I’m straight on to the police.’ With that, I put the phone down. I hate that Alex has put me in this situation, and I can’t believe he made it worse by showing her a photo. She was his wife, he must know her, and he must have guessed how she’d react to the fact he now has a new girlfriend. Then again, I’ve been surprised at Tom’s behaviour since we parted – and I thought I knew him inside out.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sameera’s wedding is in early January, so with a week to go before Christmas, we’re combining her hen night with our office Christmas night out. It’s not strictly a hen night, because Harry’s coming along, but he’s being an honorary girl for the night and will be wearing the pre-requisite bunny ears, which – worryingly – he can’t wait to do.
‘I’m not sure you’d get me wearing bunny ears on a girls’ night out,’ Alex says when I tell him our plans.
‘I think you’d look cute.’ I laugh.
I’m back at his house after work, he’s cooking dinner while I go through my report on Chloe. I managed to get her a safe place to stay through Children's Services, but the problems clearly go deeper. All I can garner from talking to her is that she’s in a relationship with an older man who seems to have a hold on her. She’s refusing to say anything about him, and I am forming a theory I’ve just run by Alex.
‘What if, rather than Pete hitting her mum, Carol discovered that something’s going on between Pete and Chloe, and that’s why she threw her out of the house?
‘Possibly,’ he murmurs. He seems distracted.
‘Chloe apparently doesn’t always tell the truth, but then who can blame her?’ I continue, knowing that in Chloe’s world, the truth is a horrible place.
‘Bit odd though, Harry coming along on a hen