Darkness Read online

  Jules blew her a kiss before locking the door. Quietly she padded downstairs, already in stealth mode. Halfway down she paused to listen. She couldn’t hear anything but someone was creeping about below, she could feel it.

  With the taser in one hand she drew one of the knives with the other, the weight of her faithful old friends reassuring.

  At the bottom of the stairs she hesitated again, waiting to see if anyone would appear. The atmosphere in the house was electric, as though something was about to happen but she had no idea what or from which direction it was going to come.

  At the bottom of the stairs she turned right, where her instinct was telling her to go, hastily ducking back in the doorway when she saw a big shaven-headed bastard in a suit standing guard. Creeping up behind him she wrapped an arm around his neck, pressing the blade to his throat, having to go up on tiptoe to do it.

  “Who are you?” she whispered in case there were others lurking about. She pressed the blade harder against his neck when she thought he was opening his mouth to call for help. “Who?” she hissed. “Don’t think I won’t slice you open, you know who I am.”

  “Jared.”

  Jules felt as though a bus had run into her, such was her shock but it was only momentary before the rage set in. She released him and shoved the taser into his back, causing him to jump and jerk.

  Mikey please hurry, she inwardly prayed as the man dropped to the ground, spark out.

  She tucked the taser into her belt and drew the second knife. She was fighting for her daughter and she was perfectly willing to fight to the death for her.

  A large figure walked into the room and stopped, staring at his fallen comrade in astonishment. Jules recognised him as one of Jared’s goons. His jaw dropped when he saw a fully armed and very angry Jules. As he reached for the gun at his belt she threw one of the knives, which spun end over end and embedded itself in his neck, hitting the jugular vein with perfect precision. Down he went, drowning on his own blood.

  Jules knelt by his side and clamped a hand down over his mouth until the life faded from his eyes, feeling absolutely no compassion for him. This bastard had tried to kill her family, had helped Jared torture her and was now here in an attempt to abduct her daughter.

  When his heart had stopped beating she managed to yank the blade from his neck without sending a jet of blood spurting across the room. Both knives clutched in one hand, she crept deeper into the house.

  As she stepped into the kitchen she just managed to duck out of the way of the large hand that shot out, attempting to grab her. She stopped and spun on her heel to confront her attacker. Even though she’d been forewarned it was still a shock to see Jared Slattery standing in her kitchen. Even more surprising, his expression was gentle.

  “Jules,” he said.

  CHAPTER 13

  When Jared made no move to attack her, Jules shrugged. “If that’s all you came here to say you can leave now.”

  “No, I have a lot more to say than that.”

  “Well?” she said when he failed to elaborate.

  “We…we have a daughter together.”

  “No we don’t. Cara is Jackson’s.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “Why do you lie to me? I know the truth Jules, I’ve had a DNA test done.”

  Her eyes hardened. “How the fuck did you get DNA from my little girl?”

  “Jackson’s parents took her out to a restaurant to eat. She threw a fork at the next table. The man at that table was one of my men. He took the straw she’d used.”

  Jules felt physically sick. Jackson’s mum had told her about that incident. How could Jared possibly know about that if that man hadn’t been working for him?

  “She’s our little girl,” he continued in a soft, gentle voice that puzzled her. “We made her together, me and you. She’s a product of our love.”

  “Jesus,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “What love?”

  “I love you Jules. Since you left me I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I want you to come back to Essex with me, we can raise Cara together.”

  “You make it sound like we had some sort of relationship.”

  “Well, we did,” he said coyly.

  She threw back her head and laughed. “The only reason I slept with you was to stay alive.”

  His expression darkened. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I bloody well do. You kidnapped and tortured me. I had to play along until I could escape.”

  Furiously he shook his head. “We had something special, we still do.”

  “Stop deluding yourself. I’m happily married and you are nothing to me so you can fuck off back to the shithole you came from.”

  Jared appeared to swell with anger, looking even more huge than he already did. “I don’t fucking believe you,” he bellowed at her.

  “I don’t give a rat’s arse what you believe. You will get out of my house right now and you will stay away from my daughter.”

  “She’s my daughter too, you’ve no right to keep her from me.”

  “It’s the best thing for her. Do you think I’d let her anywhere near that freak show you call home?”

  “Freak show?” he exploded.

  “Someone needs to tell you Jared, your relationship with your precious mummy is weird. It’s not natural. Do yourself a favour, cut the apron strings before you strangle yourself with them.”

  “You’re calling my relationship with my mum when your biological one is an evil crack whore who sold you to a pair of paedos and you burnt your foster mum to a crisp.”

  “For being an evil paedo. I don’t make a habit of it.”

  He moved closer, attempting to take her face in his hands but she took a step back out of reach. “Don’t you see, we’re so alike. We’re meant to be together.”

  “I love Jax.”

  “No you don’t,” he snarled, as usual wildly fluctuating between rage and gentleness.

  “I’m not your prisoner now, you don’t get to dictate to me. I love Jax, he’s the man I want, end of. Throw all the threats at me you’ve got, it won’t change anything.”

  “We’re great together, I’ve never felt so comfortable with anyone before as I was with you. I could talk to you about stuff I’ve never told anyone.”

  Jules actually felt a bit sorry for him. She’d had the shittiest upbringing imaginable but she was lucky, she’d found her brothers and their families as well as Jackson and Mikey and she’d had Cara. All he had was his barmy mum. “Jared, you’ve got to let this go,” she said more gently. “It would never work. We’d end up killing each other.”

  “No we wouldn’t. We’re made for each other, we could have a really good life together. Look,” he said, producing a small black box from his pocket and opening it.

  “Oh Jesus,” she sighed.

  “I brought a ring. I want you to marry me.”

  “I’m already married.”

  “Get a divorce.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll love you for the rest of my life, I won’t even look at another woman. Just please come home with me and stop me feeling this misery. Please Jules.”

  “It’s not happening Jared. I love Jax, not you and I’m staying right here. Go home and forget about me and Cara. We can’t be part of your life.”

  “I’m going nowhere without either of you. You’re my family.”

  “You can’t make me go with you.”

  “I did before,” he glowered.

  “And you think kidnap’s a good basis for a relationship, do you?”

  “I want you,” he yelled.

  “Will you listen to yourself? You sound like a spoilt brat but that’s what you get for being allowed your own way your whole life. Sometimes Jared we can’t have what we want and we have to accept it, it’s what grown-ups do.”

  “I’ve a right to Cara, she’s my daughter.”

  “You’re not on the birth certificate.”

  He looked incredibly hurt. “I’m not
?”

  “No. I never wanted you to find out she’s your daughter. How did you know anyway?”

  “I’ve been keeping my eye on you. When I found out you had a kid nine months after we were together, it kind of made me suspicious,” he said with a touch of sarcasm.

  Jules thought what a fool she’d been to think she could keep it from him but she had assumed he’d eventually forget about her, he was a known womaniser. Clearly his obsession with her hadn’t gone away as she’d expected it to but then again, Jared Slattery was not normal.

  “Maybe we can work something out?” she said, just wanting him to leave. She could fight this battle later but right now she needed him out of her house and away from her daughter.

  “You mean joint custody or something like that?”

  “Why not?” she replied, hoping to stall for time before Mikey arrived but he’d been at the bungalow when she’d called and he had to negotiate the busy city centre to get here. Her worst fear was Jackson coming home with Jared here because she was quite sure Jared would try to kill him.

  “Because I want you and her with me all the time,” he snarled, suddenly turning nasty. That was a peculiarity of his, gravitating between rage and gentleness in a split second. Not a good trait around a child.

  “Aint gonna happen,” said Jules. “Now fuck off out of my house. You’re not welcome.”

  “I’m not leaving without you and Cara.”

  She drew both the knives. “Then I’ll fucking make you.”

  They charged at each other, Jules knowing this time she stood a good chance of losing but she had to try. Her little girl was not going to be raised by this lunatic, even if he was her natural father.

  Jared’s fist shot out but Jules had already anticipated this and she went in low, attempting to slash his arm but he moved too fast and she missed. When she drew the taser he knocked it from her hand and it went skittering across the floor. He made a grab for her but her blades kept him at bay and he was forced to relinquish the attempt.

  They both straightened up and spun round to face each other. Without pause, Jules threw herself at him again, lashing out with the blades but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to cut him and Jared easily dodged all of her attempts.

  “You don’t want to hurt me, do you?” he said, startled by the realisation.

  Jules furiously shook her head, breathing hard. What the fuck was wrong with her? She didn’t love him, she thought he was a loon but they had shared some very tender moments, told each other the most painful secrets of their lives and she realised she did feel something for him. It wasn’t anything like she felt for Jax or Mikey but nevertheless, it was still there.

  With a sigh she sheathed the knives. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Because you love me,” he said hopefully.

  “No. I don’t know what the hell it is but fighting each other isn’t the answer.” She planted her hands on her hips and sighed again. “Maybe we can work something out but you’ve got to meet me halfway. You can’t expect me and Cara to come and live with you because that won’t happen.”

  “It’s what I want,” he glowered.

  “It’s not fucking happening. Accept that or we can go back to fighting each other.”

  “I don’t want that.”

  “Then try. Please.”

  He nodded. “Alright.” His eyes widened. “No.”

  Jules released a cry of surprise and stumbled forward when she felt something slam into her back. She managed to remain upright and whipped round only to be hit in the stomach.

  “No,” bellowed Jared.

  Jules was stunned to find herself confronted by Tanya Slattery, her hand still gripping the hilt of the knife that protruded from her abdomen. With a malevolent smile Tanya withdrew the blade and plunged it into her stomach again.

  “I’m pregnant,” Jules managed to whisper.

  Tanya’s eyes widened with surprise. The two women stared back at each other for a moment, uncertainty in Tanya’s eyes. Then they filled with resolve and she yanked out the blade again, causing Jules to slump to her knees.

  “What did you do that for?” yelled Jared, racing to Jules’s side, who was pressing her hands to her bleeding abdomen.

  “You stupid soft boy,” said Tanya, unstrapping the knives from Jules’s wrists. “She wasn’t willing to meet you halfway. She was just trying to get rid of you.” She waved the knives still in their sheaths before her face. “I’ll take these thank you. A little memento.”

  “No she wasn’t,” said Jared, frantic. “She really meant it.”

  Tanya gave him a disgusted look before striding upstairs.

  “No,” rasped Jules, attempting to get to her feet and failing, knowing she was going upstairs for Cara. Blood was trickling down her back and she realised she’d been stabbed there too, not punched like she’d initially thought. She looked up at Jared imploringly. “Please…”

  “I….I don’t know what to do.”

  Her lip curled with disdain at his weakness as she dragged herself across the kitchen floor, smearing blood across the pristine white tiles. Tanya knew how to use a knife for maximum impact and she was bleeding out from the back wound as well as the stomach wounds. Her limbs were beginning to weaken, she couldn’t even stand.

  When Tanya appeared at the bottom of the stairs holding Cara wrapped in a blanket, Jules desperately tried to scramble to her feet but she lacked the strength.

  “Come on Jared,” was all Tanya said before turning on her heel and walking out, holding Cara close so she couldn’t see her mum bleeding everywhere. The man she’d tasered followed, dragging the body of his dead colleague along with him.

  “No,” wailed Jules, frantically crawling after them out of the kitchen and down the hall to the front door, growing weaker with each movement, knowing she was losing the child she already had as well as the one in her belly.

  Jared swallowed hard, frozen with indecision. When his mother shouted his name he jumped and hurried out, pausing to look back at Jules. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want it to come to this, really I didn’t.”

  “No…Jared…,” said Jules, continuing to drag herself. She practically slid down the front steps and outside, leaving a thick trail of red behind her, the heavy rain soaking her through. She was forced to watch as her daughter was bundled into the back of a car, Tanya keeping a tight hold of her, the cry she let up tearing out Jules’s heart.

  “Cara,” she managed to scream, hauling herself across the gravel driveway, unable to feel the stones cutting into her skin as her entire body went numb. Her strength finally gave out and she flopped onto her injured stomach, sobbing into the wet gravel. “Cara,” she whimpered as darkness set in.

  “Jules,” called a voice.

  The darkness suddenly receded and Jules’s eyes snapped open to see Mikey crouched by her side.

  “Cara,” was her first word. She knew she must have lost consciousness for a while because there was no sign of the Slatterys and it had stopped raining but she had no idea how long she’d been out. “Jared…,” she began, wanting to explain but lacking the strength.

  “Did the Slatterys take her?” said Mikey, taking her hand.

  “Yes,” she breathed, a tear sliding down her face.

  “We’ll get her back, I promise. Just hold on, an ambulance is on its way.”

  “Cara,” she moaned into the ground.

  Mikey took off his jacket and pressed it to the wound in her back, from which blood was steadily trickling. “I’m going to bring her home,” he said, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “I swear it and I’ll pay Jared back for stabbing you.”

  “Not Jared…Tanya.”

  “Then I’ll pay that bitch back too. Is anyone else in the house?”

  “No,” she breathed before her eyes closed.

  “Jules,” he yelled. “Jules,” he repeated when her eyes remained shut. “Stay awake.” In the distance he heard the wail of an ambulance. Mikey dipped his he
ad to kiss her hair. “Please don’t leave me. I love you,” he whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  A couple of minutes later paramedics charged up the drive behind a band of police officers, who all raced into the house. Mikey had no idea what the situation was in there or whether there were any of Jared’s goons left inside.

  A police officer attempted to talk to Mikey but he ignored him, his only care for Jules. He gasped as the paramedics gently rolled her over after sorting out the wound on her back to reveal her front drenched in blood, the amount of which terrified him. “Jesus,” he breathed.

  “Two more wounds,” one of the paramedics told his colleague, who nodded and they got to work, stopping the bleeding.

  “She’s pregnant,” said Mikey.

  The paramedics didn’t reply but they didn’t need to. The look in their eyes said it all.

  “Fuck,” said Mikey.

  CHAPTER 14

  Mikey was at the hospital, sitting on a plastic chair in the corridor of A&E, staring at his hands. He’d scrubbed them clean five times but he was sure he could still feel the awful, sticky warmth of Jules’s blood, keeping him locked in a terrible, endless loop of finding her on the driveway drenched in blood, her eyes flickering open and fixing on him before turning hazy and closing and no matter how much he’d begged she hadn’t opened them again. He’d no idea how she was, they’d taken her into theatre and he hadn’t heard anything since, despite his enquiries.

  It was a relief when Jez appeared at the other end of the corridor. He charged towards him and Mikey got to his feet to greet him.

  “Where is she?”

  “In surgery.”

  “What the fuck happened?”

  “Jared Slattery and his mum turned up. They must have found out Cara was his because they took her and Tanya stabbed Jules.”