The Magpies A Psychological Thriller - By Mark Edwards Page 0,67

right. I’m not into violence. I find it abhorrent. The whole idea. Jesus.’

The door opened and a middle-aged man called Frank, who sat a few desks down from them, walked in. They said hello to him then Jamie went to leave. Before he did, Mike put his hand on his arm, the tips of his fingers digging like claws into the muscle.

‘I think you’re making a mistake,’ he said.

Jamie shook his hand away. ‘No. It’s not right.’

‘Well, if you change your mind.’

‘I won’t.’

Now, carrying his coffee through the train, back to where Kirsty sat with her book, he thought of the offer Mike had made and how tempted he had felt. He had been that close to saying yes. But he had done the right thing. At least he still had that: a sense of right and wrong. He still had some sense of morality.

The train rattled along, heading north, and as they moved further from London – away from the source of their troubles – Jamie relaxed. He felt the tension in his muscles ease; the pressure inside his skull subsided.

At Warrington Bank Quay a woman got on with a baby and took a seat adjacent to them. Halfway through the Lake District the baby started to cry, sonorous screams that seemed to make the train’s windows vibrate. Up and down the carriage, people tutted, disturbed from their doze or just pleased to have something to tut about. To Jamie, the crying baby was far less irritating than the consistent stream of calls the man behind them had made on his mobile phone, all of which began with the words, ‘I’m on the train.’ Jamie glanced at Kirsty and saw that she was looking at the baby, a smile on her lips. Her hands went to her stomach – a now-habitual gesture – and the woman with the baby looked up and caught Kirsty’s eye.

‘You’ve got all this to come,’ the woman said, above the baby’s din.

Kirsty stroked the curve of her belly.

‘Usually she’s a little angel, but today I wish I’d left her at home with her father.’

The baby quietened suddenly, leaving a silence which Jamie felt the urge to fill.

‘But you’re happy?’

The woman looked surprised by the question. ‘Happy? Oh of course, yes. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. However much they scream and misbehave, that fact never changes. This is what it’s all about.’

When the woman got off at the next stop she wished Kirsty and Jamie luck.

‘Not that you’ll need it,’ she said. ‘You look like a lucky couple to me. Blessed.’

They changed at Carlisle then took another train to Gretna Green, where the station was merely a single platform situated between two fields.

The Bed and Breakfast where they were staying was five minutes walk away. They stepped down from the train and Jamie looked around. There was nobody around: nothing but fields and trees and open space. The air smelled so clean. Coming here had definitely been the right thing to do.

They were shown to their room by a white-haired man and as soon as the door was closed behind them they drew the curtains and took off their clothes. They were both aware that, for tonight, there was nobody around to listen to them; nobody to complain or bang on the ceiling. They lay down on the bed and looked into each other’s eyes, and Jamie rolled onto his back so Kirsty could straddle him. She was already wet and it felt so good that he had to concentrate hard to stop himself from coming straight away. He propped himself up on his elbows and Kirsty leaned forward to kiss him, eyes closed, and rocked her pelvis back and forth, slowly, digging sharp fingernails into his back, drawing the focal point of sensation away from his cock. Her breathing quickened and he rocked with her, moving towards orgasm.

Losing himself in Kirsty now, Jamie was able to forget all about Lucy and Chris and all the other things that kept him awake at night. Here, in her arms, familiar flesh in a strange room, as light ebbed from the sky beyond the room, he felt free.

The wedding passed so quickly Jamie was surprised the photographs weren’t blurred. They found a pair of old ladies in the newsagents across the road from the registry office who agreed to act as witnesses. Jamie guessed they were used to such requests. One of the ladies took a few photographs of them. One showed them