“You know your father as well as I do. Once he’s got his mind set on something, all sorts of stubbornness is stirred into the mix.”
“I know. Umm… I was wondering if I could drop by tonight? Maybe stop over even?”
“What? Why are you asking? Of course you can. You know there’s always a bed for you here, love. Is everything okay?”
Relief flooded through her. “Yes, Mum. I’ll tell you about it later. I just need somewhere to stay for a few days, that’s all. Give my love to Dad. I’ll be there around six thirty, unless something crops up here in the meantime.”
“How wonderful. I’ll cook your favourite for dinner. Roast chicken with all the trimmings.”
“Yummy, I’ll have a light lunch in that case. Thanks, Mum. Love you.”
“I love you, too, dear. See you later.”
For the rest of the day, Sally and her team followed procedures to try to place Dorling or his car at the crime scenes. Sally set the arduous task of searching through the CCTV footage to Joanna. But disappointingly, nothing of any relevance showed up on any of the cameras in the surrounding areas.
At six o’clock, Sally ordered the team to pack up and go home. After Sally had bid them all farewell, she was collecting her handbag and jacket when Jack appeared in her office doorway.
“Want me to come home with you? Check the coast is all clear?”
“That’s sweet of you, Jack. However, I’ve decided to stay at my parents’ for the next day or two. I rang Mum earlier.”
“You wouldn’t be telling me a fib now, would you?” he asked, one eye half-closed and tilting his head.
“No. It’s true. Thanks for your concern. You get off and tackle your mess at home and leave me to deal with mine, okay?”
“Grr… did you have to mention that? I might just have a sneaky one at the pub before I entrench myself in the battlefield. I can still walk you out to your car, though, right?”
“That’s a deal.”
They left the building together then went their separate ways at their vehicles. On the thirty-minute journey to her parents’ house, Sally prepared herself for the barrage of questions, along the lines of what her partner had subjected her to earlier in the day.
She pulled up in the drive and glanced across the street at the troublesome neighbours’ house. All was quiet, thank goodness. At least if a disturbance occurred during the evening, she would be on hand to deal with it.
Trepidation seeped into her veins as she placed her key in the front door and entered the house. Dex was the first to greet her. She knelt and made a fuss of her dog, who was pretty vocal and seemed pleased to see her. Tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. She hugged him, stood up, brushed down her suit, then walked into the kitchen, where she knew she would find her mother.
Not looking up from stirring the pot on the stove, Janine welcomed her daughter. “Hello, love. You’re just in time. I was about to dish up.”
“Smells beautiful, Mum.” Sally approached her mother and planted a light kiss on her cheek. “Can I do anything to help?”
“What the…” her father’s thunderous voice made them both turn in his direction.
“Don’t start, Dad, please?”
Her mother gasped and grabbed her arm. “How the heck did that happen? Did someone object to you arresting them?”
Damn! Why hadn’t she prepared a tale like that on the way over here?
Sally shied away from her father’s stare.
“What in God’s name?” Sally’s father pressed in spite of her plea.
She shook her head. “I’m okay, Dad.”
“There’s no fooling me, child. You should know that by now.”
Sally pulled away from her mother and sat down at the kitchen table. Her mother turned off the gas beneath the pot on the stove then pulled out the chair next to her. She clasped Sally’s hand in her own. “What is it, love? What aren’t you telling us?”
Sally’s gaze went over her mother’s head and locked with her father’s. His face had darkened, resembling a threatening storm cloud, but there was a glimmer of a kind smile lurking in his eyes. He knows!
He raised an eyebrow. “Your mother asked you a question, Sally. Kindly do her the courtesy of answering it.”
She knew when her father spoke in that off-tone of his there was no hiding place. Such places had been absent during her childhood, too.
Her mother turned sharply to look at her father. “Don’t speak to her like that, Chris. Show some compassion in your old age.”
Sally squeezed her mother’s hand. “It’s okay, Mum. Dad’s right. I shouldn’t keep this from you. I should have told you what he was like before.”
“You’re not making any sense, love.”
“Hush, Janine. Let her speak.”
Sally flinched at her father’s unexpected harsh words. “This didn’t occur during working hours, Mum. This happened last night at my flat.” Sally’s father sat down on the other side of her and grabbed her free hand. All of a sudden, a tsunami of emotions overwhelmed her. Her voice cracked when she continued, “It was Darryl.”
Her mother’s free hand clutched at her chest while her other squeezed Sally’s hard. “No. He wouldn’t.”
“Yes, he would,” her father stated. “This has been going on for years, hasn’t it, love?”
Sally couldn’t bear to look her father or her mother in the eyes.
“What? Is that right, Sally? Look at me, child.” Sally’s mother placed a finger under her chin and forced Sally to look at her.
“Yes, Mum. I’ve always hidden it from the pair of you. I didn’t want to shatter the illusion you had of him.”
“Ha! I had no illusions other than that he was a charmer who enjoyed cheating on you,” her father said.
“Why on Earth didn’t you tell me you had doubts about him, Chris? I always thought the pair of you got on well together.”
“I tolerated him for Sally’s sake. You know that old saying about keeping your enemy closer, well, that’s what I was doing with him. I was waiting for the day he physically hurt you in a place we could all see, and now that day has come, nothing would please me more than to teach that shitbag a lesson or two about how to treat women. Damn! Why didn’t you just come out and tell us this was going on, Sally? I’ve had to suppress the desire to thump him for years, but I couldn’t do it while you still loved him.”
“I appreciate that, Dad. I really do. All you need to know is that we’re finished now. You know what cowards men who abuse women are. Once the truth is out in the open, they rarely stick around to face the consequences.”
“Okay, I understand what you’re saying, but surely the divorce put an end to any contact between you, didn’t it?” her father asked.
“Yes, or so I thought. He turned up drunk at the flat last night. Rather than disturb the neighbours, I foolishly let him in. It wasn’t until I asked him to leave that he lashed out.”
Her father’s eyes narrowed. “What else did he do, love?”
Sally sat back in her chair, releasing her hands from her parents’ grasp, and stared at the table. She heard her father curse under his breath and scrape his chair back, almost tipping it over in his haste to reach his car keys hanging up on the rack. Sally glanced up in a panic and silently pleaded with her mother to stop him.
“Sit down, Chris. I refuse to let you go after that piece of filth. He’s not worth it.”
“It’ll make me feel a darn sight better.” He placed his hands on the worktop, extended his arms, and bowed his head.
Sally left her seat and walked across the room. She threw an arm around his shoulder and gently rested her head against his. “Please, Dad. Don’t make this worse than it is. I’m fine.”
He swallowed hard. “You don’t look fine. I can’t let him get away with this. You can’t let him get away with this. That’s it—you should press charges against him for assault.”
Sally stepped away from him and shook her head. “I can’t do that, Dad. I wouldn’t be able to go into work every day knowing that people were whispering behind my back, treating me like a victim.”