She bobbed her head, blushing.
‘Is that all right? Because if you still feel unhappy you can always talk to her about getting someone else in.’
‘No, no,’ she protested, ‘it’s fine.’
And that was it. I couldn’t make sense of her. She clearly didn’t want to be having the discussion at all, and gave me no more idea of what had prompted her complaints.
I asked her to talk to me first if anything else bothered her and we could see if we could sort it out between ourselves.
‘Yes,’ she said.
In my dreams.
‘Have there been any more calls?’
‘Last night. He said I’d betrayed him, called me all these names – swearing, awful things.’ Her mouth twisted with disgust. ‘Names from the Bible, too – Salome, Jezebel, Delilah.’ I had a mental picture of Tom Jones crooning, the silhouette of a woman, the knife, the stabbing from the video that had accompanied the song. Tom’s throaty Welsh bellow: ‘Deli-ilah!’
I concentrated on Debbie. ‘Have you rung BT?’
‘Yes, well, Ricky did, this morning, after I told him. They said to stay calm and not to talk, put the phone down for a while and then replace the receiver. If it carries on they said they might trace the call, like you said.’
‘What about changing your number? Would you rather do that?’
She didn’t get a chance to reply as the front doorbell rang. She went to answer it. I heard a man’s voice then Debbie’s, low and urgent.
‘Lost him again, have you?’ He came into the room and stood there with his feet apart, legs braced, chin out. He had very short hair, wore stonewashed chinos, a green vest, Doc Martens.
‘Ricky,’ she said weakly.
‘Have you any idea what it’s doing to her?’ the man blustered. ‘He wants putting away, bloody pervert. What’s his game, eh? Frightening women? She’s scared to look out of the window or answer the phone.’ It had to be the brother. Rebecca Henderson had mentioned him. It couldn’t be anyone else.
‘I know,’ I interrupted him, ‘and as soon as we find out who he is and where he lives, we can apply for the injunction.’
‘Oh, great – and what if he ignores it, what then? He wants locking up now before it goes any further. She’s gonna end up in Cheadle Royal if it goes on like this.’
‘Ricky, please.’
‘Sit down,’ he ordered her. She sat. ‘She’s already on tablets, you know. She should sue him, screw the bastard, what he’s done to her nerves. You’ll never get him like this,’ he pronounced. ‘You need to be here all the time. I told her she should get a proper security firm. Lot of them are ex-coppers, they know how to play it. Soon get it sorted.’
‘Of course, you could do that,’ I spoke directly to Debbie, determined not to exclude her from the conversation. ‘But you’d have to pay for it.’
‘No, it’s not what-’
‘Comes down to money, dunnit?’ he demanded.
‘Yes,’ I agreed.
‘And she gets you, cut-price, part-time,’ he sneered. He craved a reaction but he didn’t get one.
I spoke to Debbie again. ‘The firm are employing me and you know what I’m paid to do. You’ve got a right to do anything else you want on top of that. If you do decide to hire security, there are several reputable firms I can put you in touch with. I’m sorry we’ve not been able to identify him yet, but I’m confident that the next time he’s here I’ll be able to trace him.’
Ricky snorted.
‘I’d better go now,’ I said pleasantly. ‘Goodbye.’
Debbie got up to see me out, avoiding my eyes and mumbling goodbye. Ricky remained in Action Man pose, stony-faced.
Christ, I thought as I climbed into the car. If Debbie had to put up with his hectoring on top of being stalked, no wonder she was on tablets. Big brother, big help. I shuddered. And in his blustering attempts to protect her he was undermining any chance she had to hold onto her self-esteem.
