Chapter 19
“Helen,
I need you to come and see me. Can you arrange it with Miss Betts? Let me know
when you’re coming.” Helen listened to the message left by Nikki on the
answerphone, no words of greeting or love just cold demands. She sighed.
Obviously Trish had done her worst. She hated putting on Karen's good nature
but it was the only way she would get to see Nikki.
She
dialled Karen’s home number. “Karen, it’s Helen. You know the get together you
suggested, any chance for tomorrow? I don’t want you to put your career on the
line but something’s happened and I really need to see Nikki.”
“Don’t
worry, Helen, I’ll arrange it all. Milk, no sugar, right?” she laughed.
“Right
and thanks, Karen.”
Helen
was shown into Karen’s office, to find Nikki already there, arms folded and
lips set in a firm line.
“So
you went to see Trish after all,” Nikki said stonily when the door had closed.
“After I had specifically asked you not to.”
“Well,
she didn’t waste any time,” Helen
exclaimed.
“I
rang her as it happens. Bloody good job I did or I wouldn’t have found out.
Would I?” she demanded.
“Of
course you would. I would have told you.”
“Yeah,
I’m sure you would. Would you have told me you kissed her as well?”
“What?”
Helen looked at her in dismay. “Is that what she told you? And of course you
believe her rather than me. After all you’ve know her longer than you’ve known
me. Loved her more than you love me.” To her utter horror the tears started
rolling down her cheeks.
“Helen
darlin’, don’t,” Nikki soothed her gently and tried to take her in her arms but
Helen knocked her hands away. “Shit!” Nikki exclaimed as pain shot through her
right hand.
“Nikki,
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She grabbed hold of Nikki’s injured hand
making her wince again.
“It’s
my own fault for taking the piss. I knew it was all Trish’s fault and you
wouldn’t have made a pass at her.”
“Taking
the piss? You bloody bitch! It’s a good job you’ve got that,” she indicated the
plaster cast on Nikki’s right hand. “Or I’d break your arm.”
Nikki
grabbed hold of her and wrapped her arms around her. “Then you’d have to dress
me, undress me, wash me, feed me.” She punctuated her words with lingering
kisses.
“What
was the undress bit again? I’m sure I could manage that.”
“Really?
I’ll have to take you up on that sometime,” Nikki promised. She cupped Helen’s
buttocks and moulded their bodies together. Helen glanced at the glass
partition separating them from the outer office. “Nikki, we have to be
careful.”
“I
know we do,” Nikki sighed and drew away.
“Nikki,
about Trish. I know it sounds naïve but I had no idea she was going to kiss me.
Anyway, I told her I wasn’t interested because I’m in love with someone else.”
“And
are you?” Nikki teased as she slid her arms around Helen’s waist.
Helen
smiled lovingly. “You know I am.”
“And
I have never loved anyone as much as I love you and that includes Trish.” She
bent her head and kissed Helen thoroughly. “So what did you think of my house
then?” Nikki asked with a smile.
“Your
house?” Helen laughed incredulously. “I’m sorry, I just never thought.”
“We
have a lot to learn about each other, don’t we, Helen?”
“But
just think of the fun we can have doing it,” Helen raised suggestive eyebrows.
“That’s
if I ever get out of this bloody place,” Nikki said bitterly.
Helen
turned away from her, rubbing her temple.
“What
is it? What’s wrong?” Nikki asked anxiously. She turned Helen round to face
her. “Is it my appeal?”
“No,
Nikki. It’s not that. I need to know what happened on the night of the…the
night of the…”
“Murder?
Is that the word you’re looking for?” Nikki demanded.
“Nikki,
you didn’t murder him!” Helen exclaimed fearfully. “I just need to know in your
own words what happened that night,” she said gently.
“Alright.Trish
was working as a hostess at a club, a straight club,” she began hesitantly. “I
hated her doing it but it was what she wanted. Sometimes I would go and pick
her up, make sure she got home safely. The night of the…the…” she swallowed
hard. “Anyhow, I went to pick her up as usual. When I went into the club
Edwards had got Trish over a table trying to force himself on her.“ She shut
her eyes tightly as she remembered the scene. “I tried to drag him off but he
was built like a brick shit-house! He started laughing, said Trish wanted a man
not an excuse and he’d been screwing her for weeks and I was going to be next.
I just saw red and went for him.”
“With
a bottle?” Helen murmured.
“No!”
Nikki exclaimed. “With my fists. I’m not a weakling but I was no match for him.
He started beating the crap out of me. He had his hand on my throat and I
thought he was going to kill me. The next thing I knew he had a bottle stuck in
his neck.”
“So,
you lied!” Helen said incredulously. “You killed him because he was screwing
your girlfriend, not because he was trying to rape her!”
“It
wasn’t like that,” Nikki protested.
“What
was it like then?” Helen retorted. “Tell me
the truth. No more secrets between us, Nikki. You killed an innocent
policeman because he was screwing your girlfriend. Isn’t that how it was? You
became a cold-blooded killer because he was screwing your girlfriend.”
“Don’t
talk to me like that! Who the hell do you think you are?” Nikki yelled angrily.
“I’m
the woman who loves you!” Helen retorted, equally angry. “Remember me?” She
whimpered in pain as Nikki grabbed hold of her upper arms and her fingers dug
into the soft flesh. Her lips were taken in a punishing kiss. She stood
passively until Nikki’s anger abated and the kiss became soft and gentle.
Nikki
drew her head back, her eyes filled with misery. “I am so sorry.”
Helen
stroked her cheek lovingly. “Don’t keep fighting me, Nikki. I’m on your side.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you. If
only I’d met you first.”
“We’re
together now, that’s all that matters and we’re going to get through this
together.” She laid her head against Nikki’s chest and hugged her tightly then
drew back and gave her an encouraging smile. “Now, do you feel up to telling me
the rest of it?”
She
nodded. “Trish started screaming. I’ve never heard anything like it. Edwards
fell on top of me, I found out later he’d broken some of my ribs. As I went
down I banged my head on one of the tables and passed out. When I came round
his body was still on top of me and I was covered in his blood. I was trying to
get him off me when the police arrived. Someone had heard Trish screaming and called
them.” She sank onto a chair and put her head into her hands. “They questioned
me for hours. I had his blood all over me, on my hands, and they kept me there
until I started to stink! They wouldn’t let me see a doctor, wash my hands even
until I’d signed a confession.”
Helen
laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “My poor darling,” she said softly.
“How
can you love me, Helen, knowing what I’ve done?”
Helen
crouched down in front of her and sandwiched the large gentle hands between her
own. “I do love you, Nikki, and if I have to give up the prison service to keep
you I will do,” she told her emphatically.
“This
is total shit!” Nikki exclaimed. “I’m serving a life sentence for a woman who
doesn’t give a shit about me and it’s keeping me from being with a woman I love
more than life itself.” The despair in her voice was unmistakable. “Someone up
there” - she jerked her head skywards - “must be having a bloody good laugh at
my expense.”
Helen
regarded her closely. Nikki wasn’t one to wallow in self-pity. Something was
wrong but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “And you’ve told me everything?”
Nikki
nodded. She stood up, drawing Helen up with her. “Miss Betts will be back
soon.” She looked at Helen the desire in her eyes unmistakable.
Helen
slapped her playfully on the arm. “Behave!” she ordered with mock severity.
“When you come home we’ll spend a week in bed if that’s what you want,” Helen
promised.
“I’ll
make sure I take you up on it. Every last second...” Helen’s lips stopped her flow
of words.