Stalker

‘Who’s that?’ she cried, her hand shooting to her mouth.

‘Boyfriend, I guess. She didn’t tell you he was coming?’

‘No, of course not!’

Russ summoned the waiter for the bill as Julie threw on her jacket.

‘No dessert or coffee, Sir?’

‘No, thank you; just the bill.’

Russ settled it quickly and they left, with him trying to reassure Julie that the children were safe, but that it made sense to go home straightaway. She didn’t need telling twice.

Outside, the chill in the autumn air seemed even sharper now and Julie pulled her jacket closer. ‘You’re taking it very well, Russ, but I’m furious with her. I trusted her implicitly. Just wait till I see her!’

‘I’m sure Sophie wouldn’t have neglected the children,’ he said, unlocking the car. ‘She’s done what many teenagers do – acted irresponsibly.’ They got in. ‘And to be honest, Jules, if she’d asked us if she could have her boyfriend round we would probably have said yes.’

‘Would we?’ Julie snapped the buckle on her seatbelt into place. ‘You might have but I certainly wouldn’t. She’s fourteen, Russ. A minor. I dread to think what her parents will say. They’ll need to know.’

‘Let’s see what Sophie has to say first, shall we?’ He started the engine and pulled away. ‘Perhaps they’ve just been sitting there playing Scrabble.’

‘It didn’t look like Scrabble to me.’

In contrast to the atmosphere and conversation during their journey to the restaurant – which had been light and convivial with the promise of a romantic meal for two at their favourite restaurant – it was now loaded with anxiety and recrimination. The silence was only broken by Julie’s morbid conjectures: ‘I can’t see how she’s been looking after the children properly if she’s been cavorting with her boyfriend … Supposing one of the children woke and saw or heard them? I bet she tried to switch off the camera in the living room so we couldn’t see them. That would have triggered the email, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes, good point,’ Russ agreed. ‘But try to calm down, Jules, there’s no real harm been done. She said the kids are fine and we don’t want a big fall out between our families.’

Julie stiffened. When it came to the children’s safety and wellbeing she couldn’t accept Russ’s platitudes. In other circumstances two teenagers canoodling on her sofa wouldn’t have caused her the same upset and indignation, but anything to do with the children was an entirely different matter. She’d have fought off a pack of hungry wolves to protect Jack and Phoebe, so strong was her in-built maternal instinct. And of course she also felt some responsibility for Sophie, who was only fourteen and her goddaughter.

Five minutes later they pulled onto their driveway and Russ cut the engine. Julie immediately threw open her car door. ‘Let me handle it,’ Russ said, touching her arm.

With her face set in reluctant compliance, she followed him to their front door and waited as he unlocked it, glancing up at the camera. If Sophie was looking at the monitor in the hall she’d be able to see them now. Russ opened the front door and she followed him in. The house was quiet as it should be. Sophie was in the living room sitting on the sofa with the television on low.

‘Hello,’ she said sweetly, standing as they entered. ‘Did you have a nice time?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ Russ said, looking around the room. There was no sign of the glass tumblers. Presumably she’d washed and dried them and returned them to the cupboard. ‘Was everything all right here?’

‘Yes. Perfectly.’ She picked up her phone ready to leave, apparently eager to go. ‘Will you be giving me a lift home or shall I call a cab?’

‘I’ll take you,’ Russ said.

Julie couldn’t contain her anger any longer. ‘Who was that lad you had here while we were out?’ she demanded.

‘Pardon?’ Sophie said indignantly. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But her cheeks were already flushing red.

‘Don’t play the innocent with me,’ Julie flared. ‘You had your boyfriend here.’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Well, who was he then?’

‘Who?’

Sensing that Sophie was about to dig herself further into a hole with more lies, Russ stepped in. ‘Sophie, you’re not in any trouble but—’

‘Yes, she is,’ Julie put in.

‘Why? What are you accusing me of?’ Sophie hissed.

Julie pointed to the camera in the far corner of the room. ‘We saw you with your boyfriend in here.’

Sophie looked at the camera and then at them. ‘You’ve been watching me through that?’ she said astounded. ‘Spying on me!’

‘There! So we know you’re lying,’ Julie snapped.

‘No,’ Russ said touching his wife’s arm for her to calm down. ‘Not spying.’ It made them sound like voyeuristic perverts. ‘Sophie, we received an email alert saying there could be a problem with the security system so we viewed the images coming from the cameras on our phones. Not only the outside ones but the one in here too. Only for a couple of minutes.’

‘You can see all of this room?’ Sophie asked.

Russ nodded.

‘What about upstairs?’

‘There aren’t any cameras upstairs.’

‘Why do you want to know that?’ Julie demanded, but she’d already guessed. ‘You took him to our bedroom, didn’t you? You little cow. Wait till I tell your parents.’

‘No, don’t do that!’ Sophie cried, her eyes filling. ‘They’ll be furious with me.’

‘For good reason,’ Julie said. ‘Not only have you betrayed our trust but theirs too.’

‘I didn’t mean to,’ she cried. ‘I promise it won’t happen again.’

‘Too right it won’t!’ Julie fumed. ‘You won’t be babysitting for us again.’

Sophie’s tears fell.

‘All right, enough,’ Russ said stepping in. ‘I’ll take you home now.’

‘You won’t tell my parents, will you?’ Sophie asked Russ in a small, plaintive voice.

‘No, not tonight,’ he said. ‘But I think you need to talk to them.’ Then to Julie, ‘We’ll discuss this later when I get back. OK?’ He could see how wound up she was and knew she could easily phone Sophie’s parents – their long-time friends – and say something she might later regret.

Julie gave a curt nod and then, taking a twenty-pound note from her purse, thrust it at Sophie. ‘Here’s the money I owe you for tonight. Count yourself lucky I’m paying you after the way you’ve behaved.’ She turned and began towards the hall. ‘I’m going to check on the children.’

‘I’ll see you shortly then,’ Russ called after her, and led the way out to the car.

‘I’m sorry,’ Sophie said as they got in. ‘I really didn’t mean to upset you both, but please don’t tell Mum and Dad.’

‘I won’t. We all make mistakes. Jules was very worried about the children. You feel differently when you’re a parent.’

‘Thank you. Will you tell her how sorry I am?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Russ started the engine and pulled away. ‘Sophie, one thing I don’t understand is why we were sent the email alert in the first place. Do you have any idea?’ She shook her head. ‘We weren’t broken into and all the cameras are working so the only other reason I can think of is that the system was tampered with. Did you or your boyfriend touch the monitor or any of the cameras in any way? Please be honest, I’m not angry.’

‘No. Honestly. I didn’t even realize that camera in the living room was working. It wasn’t showing a picture on the screen in the hall.’

‘We only have the outside cameras showing on the monitor. So neither of you tried to switch if off?’

‘No.’

At home Julie had checked on the children – they were both sleeping peacefully – and was now downstairs viewing the recording on the monitor in the hall. She had all the camera images showing and the digital display at the bottom of the screen showed the date and time. She had rewound the tape to where Sophie had arrived to babysit at 6.50pm, and had watched her on the camera trained on their front door as she’d rung the bell and Julie had let her in. Then the camera in the living room showed the three of them talking although she couldn’t hear what they were saying as there was no sound, before she and Russ said goodbye and left. Outside, the camera covering the drive showed them getting into their car and pulling away. Julie then saw Sophie sitting on the sofa texting, presumably to tell her boyfriend they’d gone. Within five minutes he was at their front door, so either he lived in the neighbourhood or he’d been waiting out of sight close by. He didn’t press the bell so Julie guessed Sophie must have told him to text her when he arrived as the doorbell might wake the children. They kissed on the doorstep and then the camera in the living room showed the lad making himself comfortable on the sofa and Sophie leaving the room, grinning. She returned with two glasses containing what looked like gin or vodka and ice.

Ten minutes passed when they sipped their drinks, laughed, snogged and groped each other. Julie fast-forwarded the tape and then stopped as Sophie stood, picked up their empty glasses, left the living room and returned with refills. Cheeky little cow! Then sprawled on the sofa with their drinks on the table, they continued their heavy petting. At one point they stopped and cocked their heads as though they might have heard something and Julie hoped it wasn’t one of the children calling out and being ignored. Another five minutes or so and Sophie had her hand down his trousers and his mouth was on her breasts. It was getting close to the time the email had been sent. Julie looked at the footage sent from the outside cameras but nothing untoward was showing there. More heavy petting; she fast-forwarded again and then slowed the tape to ‘play’ mode again as the lad stood. Clearly aroused, he pulled Sophie up and they disappeared from view, presumably going upstairs to her bedroom to have sex.

The living room stayed empty, and the outside cameras showed no sign of any disturbance that could have tripped the alert. She continued to watch, her anger growing. Russ had been studying the dessert menu now and the emails would shortly arrive on their phones. Another few minutes and she guessed it was the time she’d phoned Sophie’s mobile, but she could see it now lying on the table in the living room. She’d then called the house phone but the living room remained empty so the little minx must have answered the extension in their bedroom. She inwardly fumed as she pictured Sophie untangling herself from her boyfriend to reach out of bed and pick up the handset, just as she and Russ did sometimes. No wonder it had taken her time to answer. She’d been having sex in their bed when she’d phoned!

A minute later she saw them rush into the living room tucking in their clothes, now aware that she and Russ were returning. The boy grabbed his jacket and went out the front door while Sophie tidied up the living room, smoothing the sofa cushions, taking out the glasses. She reappeared in the living room, sat on the sofa and switched on the television. Then to her horror Julie saw her daughter appear in the doorway of the living room, possibly woken by the home phone ringing. She watched as Sophie went over to her and disappeared from view, she assumed taking Phoebe back upstairs to bed. She must have only just dropped off to sleep again when they’d arrived home.

Julie watched as she and Russ came in, her face set in anger and shouting at Sophie while Russ tried to keep the peace. She saw herself thrust the twenty-pound note into Sophie’s hand, then leave to check on the children while Russ took Sophie home. Thank goodness nothing worse had happened, she thought, and thank goodness they’d taken the engineer’s advice and had a camera installed in the living room or they’d never have known. What was it he’d said? Many of my clients who take this option are surprised by what they find goes on in their absence. He’d certainly been right there! Returning the screen to the real time images, Julie left the monitor and went upstairs to change the linen on their bed.

Chapter Ten

‘It is a sad fact that stabbings and break-ins are very good for business,’ Derek said to Paul as he drew the van to a halt outside U-Beat nightclub. It felt strange coming back here after what had happened but there was a job to be done. ‘If everyone was kind to each other and obeyed the law I’d be out of work and there’d be no apprenticeship for you.’ Derek threw him a wry smile. ‘As it is people behave like animals with callous disregard for their fellow human beings, so business is flourishing.’

Paul nodded disinterestedly as he checked his phone. He’d heard similar before from Derek. Derek turned slightly towards him in his seat and Paul knew what was coming next: a description of the job they were about to do. Derek often repeated himself as if no one else grasped anything first time, which Paul supposed came from living with his mother who was old.

‘So we’re going to install two cameras today – one at the end of that alley over there that runs alongside the nightclub.’ He pointed.

‘Where Kev was stabbed,’ Paul said.

‘Yes. And the second camera at the rear of the premises. It’s straightforward. They’ve also asked me to check if any additional cameras are needed inside, but I think they’re well covered. Ready then, lad? Phone off or on silent. I know it’s not a private home but the same rules apply.’

‘Of course,’ Paul said amicably, switching his phone to silent and sliding it into the pocket of his jeans. ‘Are you leaving the van here? It’s on a yellow line.’

‘I know,’ Derek said, irritated, ‘but there aren’t any parking bays free and we’re trade so I can leave it here while we unload.’

‘The last time you did that you got ticketed,’ Paul reminded him with a smirk.

‘And if you remember it was rescinded on appeal. They need to train their traffic wardens better.’ His hand was on the door ready to get out when his phone vibrated with an incoming call. He checked to see who the caller was and pressed to accept the call. ‘I won’t be a minute, lad,’ he said to Paul. Then, ‘Good morning, Mr Williams.’

‘Is that Derek Flint?’

‘Yes. How are you and Mrs Williams?’

‘Well, thank you. I’m sorry to trouble you but my wife and I both received email alerts to our phones yesterday evening about a breach of security.’

‘Yes, I know.’

‘You do?’

‘A copy of any alert comes to me. I saw it this morning.’

‘OK. So do you know why it was sent? We’ve been through the tape twice but can’t see any reason. We were out at the time and the message gave us quite a shock. We went straight home.’

‘There was no need to do that,’ Derek said. ‘The advantage of being able to access your cameras online is that you can check all is well from a distance without the need to dash home. I’m sorry, I should have made that clear.’

There was a short silence. ‘Our babysitter was here looking after the children so we thought it best to return. But we’re puzzled as to what could have tripped the system.’

‘I see.’ Derek pondered. So he wasn’t going to share what he’d seen when he’d logged in. ‘Mr Williams, I remember you said you trusted your babysitter implicitly but to be honest the most likely cause for the email alert was that the system was interfered with, assuming your house wasn’t broken into. Do you think your sitter might have tried to turn off one of the cameras without the correct password?’

‘She says she didn’t touch anything.’

‘In that case the internal camera could have been triggered. It has an in-built motion detector. If there was a lot of movement in the living room, for example, by someone dancing or jumping maybe, it could have triggered the alert.’

‘Oh. Yes, that could have been it.’

‘These cameras are very sensitive; they’re meant to be. But if it happens again give me a call and I’ll come and check. I can adjust it if necessary, although given what happened to you before you had the cameras I would think you want everything working as it should be.’

‘Yes, of course. Well, thank you. I’ll tell my wife.’

‘You’re welcome. Was there anything else?’

‘No, that’s it. Goodbye then.’

‘Goodbye, Mr Williams.’ Derek returned the phone to his jacket pocket as Paul looked at him questioningly. ‘Nothing for you to worry about, lad. Now come on, out you get, there’s work to be done.’

‘They haven’t caught the geezer who stabbed Kev the bouncer,’ Paul said half an hour later as Derek came down from the ladder they’d propped against the side of the club.

‘Apparently not.’

‘I read in the paper they are still appealing for witnesses which means they haven’t a clue,’ Paul said.

‘It would have been a different matter if they’d had one of these installed in the alley,’ Derek said, taking the new camera from its box. He’d marked the position where the camera had to be and now passed it to Paul. ‘You know what to do. So no more talking. Concentrate on the job and remember you’re at the top of a ladder so don’t step back.’

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