‘Yes?’ Jess whispers, her voice trembling.
‘Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again, okay?’ DS Sawyer pushes up to standing, and her colleague follows suit. A chink of light sparkles dimly in Jess’s mind, the possibility that this might finally be over.
‘Wait,’ Lou says, lifting her hands. ‘Do we need to talk about Sean Russo?’
‘In what context?’ DS Sawyer asks, her hands resting on the top of the chair, her mind already onto the next case.
‘Well, he’s not going to be pleased about this, is he?’ Lou goes on. ‘The case against the guy who assaulted him – allegedly or whatever – being dropped. He’ll see it as Jess’s fault, and he’s a tough 18-year-old guy. What if he takes his frustration out on her?’
‘We have no record of Sean Russo being violent,’ DC Blake says. ‘He’s known to us, but for different offences.’
‘And how many assaults actually make it onto the police database?’ Lou throws back. Jess doesn’t know this Lou, the one who raises her voice. The strangeness of it makes her feel uncomfortable.
DS Sawyer turns to Lou and lifts her hands. ‘I understand your concerns, I really do, but we can’t help, I’m afraid. A potential crime in the future definitely isn’t within our remit.’
‘Could you not even give him a warning?’ Lou asks. ‘Tell him you’ve got your eye on him?’
‘The law doesn’t work that way; not anymore anyway. There are options – court injunctions for example – but Sean was the victim of this crime, so I doubt any judge is going to curtail his freedom just because you ask them to. Sorry,’ she adds as an afterthought. ‘And now, we need to go.’
As Lou shows them out, Jess feels the oxygen levels in the room rise a fraction. But she can’t fully relax until Gail has gone too. The social worker twists in her chair to face her. ‘What do you think, Jess?’ she asks. ‘Are you worried how Sean Russo might react?’
Jess pulls at her bottom lip. Lou slips back in. She must have heard Gail’s question because she stares expectantly at Jess.
‘This whole thing happened ages ago,’ Jess starts, trying to sound offhand. ‘Maybe he won’t care about it anymore.’ She’s not sure she believes it, especially with the stories going round about Sean. How he’s hanging out with a gang now. Selling drugs for them. But she wants to stop Lou worrying.
‘Do you think so?’ Lou says, breaking into a relieved smile. But it folds into a frown when there’s a loud thud in the hallway – the front door flying into the adjacent wall – and thumping footsteps towards the kitchen.
‘What the fuck have you done?!’ Amber screeches from the doorway. Her hair is sweaty and tangled; her shirt collar ripped.
‘Oh my God, Amber! What happened to you?’ Lou reaches out, but Amber shrugs her away, irritated by the interruption.
‘Is it true?’ she demands, narrowing her eyes at Jess. ‘Have you pulled your statement?’
‘I can’t go to court,’ Jess whispers. ‘It’s too much. You told me to sort myself out, remember?’
‘I meant your eating!’ Amber shouts. ‘Not this! Not signing your own fucking death warrant!’
‘Oh shit,’ Lou moans in the background.
‘But Sean might not care anymore,’ Jess pleads, clinging to her own version of reality.
‘Oh my God, you’re fucking delusional!’ Amber drops down into the chair next to Jess; grabs both her wrists and pulls her round, forcing her to make eye contact. ‘Why do you think I look like this? And how much worse do you think you’d look if it was you he caught instead of me?’
‘Did he hurt you?’ Jess whispers, her voice trembling.
‘He was my friend, Jess!’ Amber screeches, squeezing tighter, digging her nails into Jess’s soft flesh. ‘And now he hates me. How could you do that to me?’
‘What if I explain?’ Jess whines. ‘Tell him that I’m sorry?’
‘Are you really that stupid?!’
Jess’s bottom lip quivers. She grabs it with her top teeth but that makes her eyes water.
‘That’s enough, Amber,’ Lou says, her assertive voice back. ‘Let your sister go.’ Then she turns to Gail. ‘But we can’t ignore it; Jess could be in real danger here.’
‘What do you think he’ll do to me?’ Jess whispers. Her chest is constricting again. Her eyes swimming. Jesus, when is this all going to be over?
‘I don’t know, Jess,’ Amber hisses. ‘But you brought this on yourself.’
‘I don’t like this at all,’ Gail says decisively.
‘Me neither,’ Lou agrees. ‘But what options do we have? The detective already said the police can’t help.’
‘Leave it with me,’ Gail says grimly. ‘I need to discuss this with the team.’
TEN MONTHS BEFORE
Saturday 22nd July 2023
Jess
Jess looks around the unfamiliar living room and feels an intense urge to reach for her sister’s hand. But she’s too old for that. And also, Amber is still barely speaking to her.
‘Right, we don’t stand on ceremony here,’ Bill says with the ease of someone who’s fostered lots of kids before. ‘There are a few rules of course – shoes off at the door, help with the washing-up after dinner, that kind of thing – but mainly we just ask for honesty and some mutual respect. Does that sound okay?’
The words wash over Jess, but she nods, and it seems enough.
‘Thank you, Bill. We really appreciate it,’ Amber says. She’s been slagging off their new Jesus-loving, geriatric foster carers since they were first introduced to Molly and Bill a few weeks ago, but now she and Jess are officially moving in, she’s got a job to do – getting their foster carers onside enough to cut her the slack she needs.
