The Sister(188)

Emergency, which service do you require… she put the phone down.

She needed time to work things out; she couldn’t just put her back into a system that had failed her.

A taxi pulled up. Thank God, Tina’s home.

She opened the front door to let her in and caught the whiff of stale cigarettes. Five discarded cigarette butts on the ground. One of them still smouldered. Someone has been having a cigarette right by the porch! Who the hell has been smoking outside my front door like that? She shuddered involuntarily. ‘Tina quick, get inside.’

‘What’s wrong, Mum?’

‘I’m not sure.’

She glanced around, nerves jangling before closing the door in a hurry and double locking it.

The strains of Eilise singing in the bath reached Tina’s ears.

‘Is that a new record, Mum?’ she asked.

Sometimes, Jackie put music on upstairs while running the bath, or whilst getting ready. Focused on Eilise singing away upstairs, Jackie realised she actually had a very good voice.

‘No, Tina, it isn’t a record. It’s a visitor. Someone I should have told you about years ago.’

‘What are you talking about?’ She started for the stairs.

‘Tina, love, let’s wait for her to come down.’

She took a step back and let her hand slide off the banister. ‘Okay, but who is it?’

Jackie sat down, her hands clasped between her knees; not looking at Tina as she told her, ‘It’s your half-sister.’

Tina, displaying a maturity beyond her years, moved next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

‘It’s okay, Mum. Tell me all about it.’

The creaking stair behind announced Eilise had come down.





At first, Jackie was uneasy. She told them both what happened to her. There wasn’t a point in the next half an hour where none of them cried. Eilise was a tough nut to crack, but she joined in when Jackie told them how she’d lost Harry.

And then Eilise described what had happened to her.

‘You should get the police, Mum,’ Tina said.

‘The police would have got the other two girls out of there,’ Jackie said. ‘If I call them now—’

‘If you do that, I’m going right now.’

Jackie could see she meant it. ‘Don’t worry, Eilise, we’ll work something out in the morning, I promise.’





Later, while Eilise changed for bed, Tina asked, ‘What will happen to her, Mum?’

‘For now, she’ll stay with us. In the morning – well, we’ll just have to see.’ Jackie cocked her head at her younger daughter, suddenly thoughtful. ‘Tina, you don’t mind if Eilise shares your room? It’s just I wouldn’t want her sneaking off in the night … she’s a runaway you see and—’

‘That’s okay, Mum; I’ll keep an eye on her.’





Jackie couldn’t quite believe how well it had gone. The pills she’d popped an hour ago were dragging her into sleep. She pressed the fob to set the alarm. The activation light flashed. She cleaned her teeth, listening over the sound of the electric toothbrush for the beep to confirm the alarm had set. Now what’s wrong with this? The power in the toothbrush ran out. She padded heavy-eyed, to the spare room to place it on charge.

In her room at last, she turned out the light and closed her eyes.





They’ve seen you; they know who you are. The game had turned against him, yet he was unafraid. Strange, but this new turn of events excited him in a way he’d not experienced in years.

Whether Eliza had come here or not, he decided he was going to have her mother. He calculated his chances; after what happened earlier, no one would expect him to turn up here and with Kennedy in hiding, not answering his phone, it was the perfect opportunity to fit him up one more time before exposing him.

There was no time to plan fully; his observations covered only a matter of hours. He noted the alarm was an old type, easily nobbled by a burglar of his ability. There was no sign of a man or dog, in occupation. He’d seen the mother when the young girl pulled up in a taxi. With all the curtains drawn, he couldn’t see anything going on inside. Snippets of muffled conversation found their way into his ears, but he couldn’t make out the words. Then he heard the singing. Rich and soulful, it had to be the mother. Sing for me baby. He’d overcome them all, one by one with the gas. They wouldn’t know a thing until later, and by then he’d be long gone. He’d make up his mind about taking the girl back to another safe house later. Shouldn’t have ignored me, Kennedy.

He went to fetch his equipment.

In the back garden, he finished his final cigarette and changed into his suit. Moving quickly with barely a sound, he masked up and struck a small windowpane with his elbow. The way he was hyped-up, he’d hear a pin drop, or feel the air pressure change if a door opened.

He felt supreme, superhuman.





Jackie often awoke with a start, sitting upright, not quite sure where she was. Despite the passing of time, the dreams still occurred with unpredictable frequency. Anything could spark them off. Sometimes, she knew it was because she’d seen a news report or a headline, or watched a film, but whatever it was, it was always the same. She’d wake up choking and gasping for air after he’d throttled her in yet another nightmare.