Free Creeping Ivy by Natasha Cooper

Put his foot down an’ tell her that he wanted her and no other damned bloke was going to get his … get his hands on her.’
    ‘What an interesting idea!’
    ‘Why the sarkiness, Sarge?’
    ‘I thought he might be a good man,’ Kath said slowly, looking through the pristine windscreen but not seeing any of the traffic or the pedestrians. She was thinking about the worn, lined face and the kind smile, the warm voice, and the careful intelligence she had sensed in the man they had just left. ‘I’d like to have been taught by him when I was at primary school. Wouldn’t you?’
    ‘Not sure I can remember that long ago,’ said Sam with the realism that was his most admirable characteristic. ‘But I doubt it. He’d have been too much of a creep for me even then.’
    ‘I think he might be tougher than you give him credit for.’
    ‘Come on, Sarge. He was a jellyfish. What d’you reckon? Could he have nicked the kid?’
    ‘A man like that? I can’t see it, can you?’
    ‘Only if he’d done it to get back at his ex. Not to hurt the child; I can’t see him doing that. But I can see him putting her somewhere safe so he could watch his ex squirm.’
    ‘You’ve got a nasty mind, haven’t you, Sam?’
    ‘It’s what they pay me for.’

Chapter Six
    ‘What shall I do, Trish? I can’t sit here waiting – I’m not used to it. I don’t know how to let other people run things any more.’
    ‘You’ve got to, Antonia. The police know what they’re doing. There’ll be plenty for you to do yourself when …’ Trish paused, reluctant to offer false comfort and yet unable to make herself correct her ‘when’ to an ‘if’. ‘Later,’ she added feebly. ‘Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about Robert.’
    ‘What about him?’
    ‘How things are going with him. Whether you’re happy. That sort of thing.’
    ‘Why?’ Suspicion stood out all around Antonia’s head like the quills of a threatened porcupine. Trish could almost hear the rattle.
    With the discovery of blood in Charlotte’s toy pram and news of the marks on her arms, it was impossible not to believe that someone in the house had been hurting her. Knowing from the statistics that Robert was a much more likely suspect than the nanny, Trish wanted to find out a lot more about him. Antonia was the only person who’d be able to tell her anything useful, but she was looking so suspicious that she would have to be approached with care.
    After a moment, Trish delved into her own private weediness and said, ‘Because I’m so bad, at relationships, and I don’t understand why. I thought hearing about yours might give me a clue.’
    Not all that convincing, she told herself as she waited for Antonia to answer. I know exactly why. It’s because I hate the way men make you peel back all your defences until you’ve none left and then bugger off – or else use you for target practice. Either way you end up miserable, furious, and scared of the self you’ve found below the pith.
    ‘I used to be able to keep an affair going for nearly a year but these days I can’t stick it for more than about three months. I look at people like you and Robert and admire you like anything and then start wondering how you do it.’
    ‘By not thinking too much.’ Antonia’s voice was dry but a good deal of the suspicion had gone. ‘That’s always fatal.’
    ‘Why? I mean, what is it you’re afraid you might find if you did start thinking about Robert?’
    ‘Nothing awful, so there’s no need to look so interested. I’m not a romantic like you and I’ve seen too much to believe in eternal bliss or even happy-ever-after; it’s better to concentrate on the surface and not go digging for trouble.’
    I’ve seen too much, too, thought Trish, but that’s why I won’t put up with any of it any more.
    ‘Come on, Trish, you know as well as I do that no man ever stays as attractive – or as keen – as he was at the beginning. That’s just life. But