The Babysitter(97)
Clearly as stubborn as her brat child, the woman stirred again, attempting to lift her rusty-haired head from the pillow. ‘Mark. Where’s Mark?’ she mumbled, wiping the smile from Jade’s face in an instant.
‘Bitch!’ Jade spat, bringing her hand back to slap the slut’s face hard. ‘He doesn’t want you! Haven’t you seen what’s been going on right under your nose? Stupid cow! It’s me he wants.’ Placing a hand the other side of Melissa, she glared down at her, almost eyeball to eyeball with her. ‘Me he’s been fucking, for months. Right here, in this bed.’
Her chest heaving with anger, Jade jabbed a finger into the pillow right next to the woman’s face. ‘Anywhere and everywhere, and every which way. In the nursery, Poppy’s room, the kitchen, the lounge, even your precious fucking workshop,’ she snarled, making sure to paint a graphic picture for the useless cow to contemplate as she drifted off.
Melissa attempted to focus on her, but couldn’t, finally closing her eyes as the truth sank in.
Satisfied, but not finished, Jade straightened up. ‘He needs a real woman, a proper mother for his kids,’ she went on, driving Melissa’s failures home, ‘not some whingeing, weak, pot-making freak.’
Jade curled her lip in contempt as Melissa made a last valiant attempt to sit up, groping sideways as she did, presumably in search of her phone. Sadly, it was just out of reach. Calmly, Jade nudged it away.
‘Useless.’ She sighed, and then turned away, humming. Hush, little baby, don’t you cry… She headed to the dressing table, extracting a piece of paper from her pocket as she went. It was a nice touch, Jade thought. A goodbye note addressed to Poppy, showing the poor little mite her mother’s last thoughts were with her.
Jade smoothed it out carefully, and then, smiling at her own thoughtfulness, she turned back to help Melissa finish her tea.
Seventy-Four
LISA
Instinct telling her to proceed with caution, Lisa peered through the lounge window. Poppy was standing in the middle of the room, one hand twisting her hair into tight ringlets, her thumb plugged in her mouth. Lisa tapped lightly on the glass. Finally managing to attract the little girl’s attention, she smiled encouragingly and gestured towards the front door.
Peering through the letter flap, Lisa mentally crossed her fingers as Poppy cautiously approached. The girl looked traumatised. She desperately didn’t want to scare her. ‘Hello, Poppet,’ she whispered, hoping to put her at her ease. ‘Where’s Mummy, sweetheart?’
‘Sleeping,’ Poppy said, around the thumb she was still sucking nervously on.
Leaving her daughter wandering around on her own? Whatever shit Mel had been through, however depressed she was supposed to be, the Mel Lisa knew would never do that.
‘I need to see her, Poppy, urgently. Do you understand?’
Poppy nodded. Her eyes were full of trepidation. Picturing her own daughter at that age, feeling how she was feeling, Lisa prayed inwardly. ‘Do you think you could be a big girl, Poppy, and help me?’
Again, Poppy nodded.
‘Good girl,’ Lisa said. ‘I need you to open the door, Poppy. Can you reach it?’
Poppy gave another short nod, before she promptly turned around and scooted towards the kitchen.
Not sure where she’d gone, or whose unwanted attention she might attract, Lisa prayed harder, and then blew out a sigh of relief as Poppy reappeared, dragging a chair slowly but determinedly behind her. ‘I have to do the bolt.’ she said.
Minutes later, Lisa was in, immediately crouching to pull Poppy into a hug. ‘Well done. Daddy will be so proud of you,’ she said, close to her ear. ‘Now, I need you to do something else for me, Poppy.’
Taking her personal mobile from her pocket, Lisa eased back, holding the little girl’s gaze with a reassuring one of her own. ‘I want you to go to the lounge and stay there. If you hear or see anything that worries you, I want you to press nine three times on my phone, and then the green call button. Can you do that?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Poppy’s nod was resolute.
‘Show me where the nine is, honey.’ Lisa held the phone up and Poppy duly pointed.
‘Good girl,’ Lisa said, a wave of relief washing through her. ‘Tell them who you are and don’t end the call until Daddy’s friends get here. Promise?’
‘Promise.’ Poppy crossed her heart.
Hoping to God she would be safer there than wandering about outside on her own, Lisa steered her gently in the direction of the lounge, quickly checked the other downstairs rooms – the kitchen, downstairs cloakroom and study – and then made her way quietly upwards. Poppy’s bedroom door was open; the nursery door too. That room was empty, obviously. Lisa’s heart constricted.
The main bedroom door was closed. Beyond that was Jade’s room, she assumed. The door was ajar, too tempting an invitation for a detective. Praying a floorboard wouldn’t squeak at the crucial moment, Lisa headed that way, aiming to have covered all bases before going into Mel’s bedroom.
Jade’s things were still there, everything neat and tidy. Way too tidy. Lisa noted the lipsticks on the dresser, lined up like soldiers on parade, the bed made up to hospital standards. Bypassing the dresser in favour of the wardrobe, Lisa flicked through the few clothes hanging there; Mel’s mostly, apart from the skimpy babysitting gear the girl was fond of wearing.