The Red Dress chapter forty one

      Nick woke up at six o’clock, his mouth dry, and his head pounding. He looked over to the other side of the bed expecting to see Lisa there, but she was gone, and he tried to remember what had happened before he fell asleep. Bit by bit, in the space of less than a minute, it all came back to him.
 
     He drove like a maniac all the way to the hotel. He knew he was probably still over the limit from the night before, but he didn't care, he had to speak to Lisa and explain what his pride and jealousy had made him do. Little did he know that she already knew the whole story regarding what he had done to Alan, and how his actions had resulted in the death of Mike, Alan’s wonderful friend and flatmate.
 
     He got to the hotel just before six thirty and ran into the reception where the elderly night porter was sitting reading one of the papers. Nick ignored him, and ran up the stairs two at a time. As he got to Lisa's room and banged on the door, he could hear the phone ringing inside. Lisa didn't answer, so he pounded the door some more. After a minute or so, the guest in the next room opened his door and angrily asked him to stop making such a damned racket.
 
     Nick ran back down to reception and looked for the night porter, but he had gone through to the kitchens to turn on the ovens for the chef to make breakfast. Nick had to wait for the receptionist to arrive just before seven o'clock when he demanded a passkey for Lisa's room, claiming that he thought she was unwell. The receptionist checked on the computer screen in front of her and told him it wasn't necessary. Miss Collins had already checked out…
 
 
 
 
 
     Lisa looked down on the Island as they took off. Her heart was still pounding as hard as it had when the taxi drove past the entrance of the hotel where she’d seen Nick's Mercedes convertible, the driver’s door wide open, parked right outside the front door. Fortunately the warning from the night porter hadn’t been necessary. She’d been waiting at the side entrance for five minutes before her taxi had turned up
 
     When she’d arrived at the airport, she’d checked in and hid in the ladies toilets for fifteen minutes until her flight was called. It was the longest fifteen minutes of her life, and the short walk from the ladies room to the boarding gate felt like a hundred miles, as she almost ran towards it looking neurotically around for Nick's face.
 
     Right up to the moment of take-off, she expected him to charge through the cabin door, she was so convinced he had the power to find her. But he hadn't, and now, thank God, she was safe.
 
     Lisa thought again about the pictures in her bag, and a feeling ran down her spine like a dizzy spasm. Nick must have known all along about her and Alan, and still he had wanted her. Her brother must have phoned Nick and told him when she was meeting her mother in London, and that would have been confirmed by whoever took the pictures if they had waited at the station on the morning she'd left for her new school. She knew if she gave the pictures to the Police, Nick and his accomplice would probably be arrested for their part in the attempted murder of Alan, and the murder of Mike. Her biggest fear was that Nick would realise that too. She had to get some legal advice and make sure the pictures fell into the right hands. But whose? If she had given the pictures to the police in the Isle of Man, where she knew he had friends in high places, they would mean nothing to them.
 
     No, she needed to get them to the Chelmsford police because that’s where the accident had happened, and where she knew she had friends to help her until she could go back to school.
 
     As soon as the plane landed, Lisa jumped into a cab and gave the driver the address in London. Lisa wasn't absolutely sure why she had kept hold of Richard's card, but she suspected it was because he was the only person, apart from Mike, who knew anything about her and Alan’s love affair. Because of that, his card represented much more than his address, or the fact he was a lawyer. She had also known that, if she ever wanted to know anything about Alan, Richard would have been able to find out via Vikki or Karen. Whatever the reasons, Lisa thanked God she had kept it.  
  
 
 
 
 
     The offices of Turner and Clark were quaintly old fashioned. Reference books lined the bookshelves in the reception where the girl behind the large leather-topped, mahogany desk seemed to spend most of the time answering the phone. After two or three minutes of patiently waiting for a gap between conversations, Lisa asked if Richard was in and was told he was with a client. She would have to wait, and even then, the girl politely explained, she might not be able to see him.
 
     After twenty minutes or so, Richard came out of his office door and shook hands with the client he had just seen. He was just about to go back into his office when he saw Lisa sitting in the reception area. He smiled warmly when he recognised her and came straight over to where she was sitting. He couldn’t help noticing how pale and drawn she looked, compared to the last time he'd seen her.
 
     “How lovely to see you, Lisa! What are you doing in London?”

     Lisa stood up and was just about to reply when Richard went to kiss her on the cheek, his usual mode of greeting a female acquaintance. He couldn't help noticing her recoil when he lent towards her.
 
     “So you're not here for my body then, Lisa?” he joked. Even in her anxious state, Lisa had to laugh. Richard was inwardly relieved because she seemed very tense.
 
     “No, I'm not, I'm afraid, Richard. I wonder if I can speak to you in private?” she asked, looking apprehensively around the reception area as though someone was about to jump out of nowhere and grab her.
 
     Richard ushered her into his office after ordering coffee for them both from the receptionist. Lisa looked as though she needed it. He had noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and there was a nervousness about her that certainly wasn’t apparent when he’d met her at Vikki’s party. When she sat down opposite him at his desk, he tried to make polite conversation until the coffee arrived.
 
     “I believe congratulations are in order, Lisa. I've been reading all about your engagement to the famous Mr. Corday and bragging to all my friends about how I met you in Chelmsford.” Lisa hoped he was referring to the paper, and not the sleazy porn magazine that had made her look like a whore.
 
     “I was a bit surprised though,” he continued with a puzzled frown. “Weren't you in love with that guy called Alan, the one who was at the party?” Richard saw her expression change.
 
     “I was, but it's all over now. That’s one of the reasons I'm here.” She added, the tears welling up in her eyes.
 
Richard passed her a tissue from a box in the top drawer of his desk. He was used to women crying in his office, especially the divorcees.  They could go through a whole box in one sitting.
 
     “I'm afraid it's pretty serious, Richard, and you're the only person I could think of to turn to, because you’re the only one who might understand. I didn’t know what else to do.”
 
He looked back at her, his ego flattered. He wasn't sure how he could help, having met her only once.
 
     “Do you want to tell me all about it? I'm told that I'm a pretty good listener,” he said, and sat back in his chair with the assured air of an understanding mentor.
 
     Lisa hoped he was. It was going to be hard to explain. She asked Richard if he had time to listen, and he looked at his watch. He had nearly half an hour before his next client arrived, so he told her he had. At that moment the coffee arrived, and Lisa gratefully picked up her cup before taking a deep breath. She wasn’t sure where to start, so decided to start at the beginning.
 
     She told Richard everything, including how much she'd loved Alan, which he already knew. When she got to the part about Nick raping her the night before, he sat up and looked at her anxiously. That at least explained why she'd been so jumpy earlier on in the reception area.
 
     “Why didn't you tell me about this when you arrived, Lisa?”
 
She realised that she hadn't made herself clear. Richard obviously thought she was there just because of what Nick had done to her.
 
     “Richard, I'm not here because of that. I'm here because of the pictures,” she said, not making herself clear at all. He looked at her with an exasperated expression.
 
     “What pictures?”
 
Lisa was so tired, she was getting confused. She took the brown envelope out of her bag and shook the contents out onto the desk, trying not to touch them.
 
     “There was no point in showing you these until I told you the whole story. Nick hired a photographer to take pictures of me when I was in Chelmsford, and then tried to have Alan killed after I left to go to the school. He nearly died in a car crash, and his flat mate Mike was killed when he went through the windscreen.”
 
     Lisa handed Richard the cutting from the paper so he could read it. He didn't need to. His cousin Vikki had phoned him and told him all about it when it happened. It seemed that everyone had known all about it, everyone except for Lisa. By that time she was conveniently tucked up safely in her new boarding school in Surrey. 
 
     Richard examined the pictures and realised why Lisa had to tell him the whole story. He noticed a slip of paper with a mobile number at the bottom of the pile of pictures, and asked Lisa whose it was. She didn't know because she’d never seen it before. Richard picked up his phone, got a line, and tapped in the number before handing the phone to her.
 
     “There's only one way to find out,” he suggested, as Lisa gripped the phone nervously to her ear.
 
     “See if you can recognise the voice,” he whispered to her across the desk.
 
     She nearly dropped the phone when it was answered, and she slammed it back down on the receiver as though it carried a deadly disease. She had recognised the voice instantly as Liam’s, the slimy photographer who had handcuffed her near-naked to the brass bed in his studio.
 
     It all fitted into place. Hannah must have given Nick Liam's number when he found out Lisa was in Chelmsford, Hannah’s home town. It might just have started as another job doing some undercover photography, but the beating Alan had given Liam after he attacked her had probably tipped the balance when Nick had asked him to do more. Selling her pictures to the porn magazine had most likely just been a bonus to Liam. He probably hadn’t even told Nick anything about them. That would explain Nick’s surprise when he saw them in the porn magazine at their engagement party.
 
     When Lisa explained it to Richard, he agreed that the best place to take the pictures was the police station in Chelmsford where the accident had happened. He looked anxiously at his watch. It was ten to twelve, and he knew his next appointment would be arriving soon.
 
     “Lisa, I can take you to Chelmsford this afternoon, but my next client will be here any minute. Before he arrives, I want to talk to you seriously about Nick raping you last night.”
 
Lisa looked surprised. Surely that didn't matter after what she had just told him about Alan and Mike?
 
     “What time did it happen?” he asked, picking up his pen. Lisa tried to think back.
 
     “About midnight, I think-- I can't be sure.”
 
     Richard hoped Lisa wouldn't be embarrassed by his next question, but he had to ask.
 
     “Did Nick use a condom when he raped you?” She shook her head and smiled bitterly.
 
      “No, it all happened too quickly.”
 
       "Well, unless you're on the pill, or any other form of contraception, Lisa, we're going to have to arrange for a morning after pill - that is, if you don't want to face the possibility of falling pregnant with Nick’s child.”
 
     Lisa couldn't think of anything worse, and said so. Richard looked at his watch, conscious of the time. His client was due any minute.
 
     “Right, Lisa, if I can get you an immediate appointment, do you mind being examined by a doctor. If you do decide to press charges, you'll need a medical report for the police anyway.”
 
     Lisa nodded, glad that he was being so business like. She was close to breaking down, and very, very tired.
 
     Richard picked up the phone, dialled a number, and outlined the situation to the person at the other end. He thanked them profusely before he put down the phone and smiled with relief.
 
     “Right, Lisa, that's sorted. I'll get you a cab. The doctor's a friend of mine and will see you right away. Don't worry- he's very nice, and more importantly, he's very discreet. If you get a cab back here afterwards, I'll drive you up to Chelmsford this afternoon as soon as I'm free, and we can go to the police station there - okay?”
 
     Lisa was so relieved that she nearly started crying again. Fortunately the telephone rang to tell Richard his next client had arrived, so she just had to pull herself together.
 
    
 
 
     When Lisa got to the surgery, she was treated with kindness, but she still found the examination a bit humiliating. Because of the possibility of HIV, she had to give a blood and a urine sample. She hadn't even considered the possibility of infection, but it was explained to her that this was normal procedure in any rape case, although it was unlikely the tests would prove positive.
 
     After Graham Caldwell had completed examining her, he looked concerned.
 
     “Richard has asked me to give you the morning after pill, Lisa, but I think it's a little bit late for that...”
 
     Lisa assumed there was a time limit for it to work, and asked if there was an alternative. It was obvious she had no idea.
Graham broke the news to her by asking the question.
 
     “You do know that you're pregnant, don't you Lisa?”  The surprised look on her face confirmed that she didn't.
 
     “Pregnant…?” she asked, her voice trembling.
 
     There had only been one occasion Alan hadn’t used a condom. It was the night of Vikki's party when they had made love so passionately upstairs in the guest room with no regard to the consequences. Her menstrual cycle had never been very regular, but when she had bled for a day or so the week after she went to the school, she had assumed that it was her period. The timing was right, but she had been surprised at the short time it had lasted. She was so distressed about Alan not answering his mobile at the time, she hadn’t given it much thought.
 
     A few seconds after she’d absorbed what he had just told her, she asked the doctor if he knew how many weeks pregnant she was.
 
     “It's hard to be exact, but I would hazard a guess at approximately eight or nine weeks. Would you like an ultrasound to confirm the dates? I can arrange one right away, if you like.”
 
     Lisa shook her head. She didn’t need one. She had to decide what she was going to do. Her mind went back to the conversation she'd had with Alan about getting pregnant, and she remembered how opposed he had been to the idea then. It didn't matter now. He didn't want her, far less a baby. Lisa knew if she decided to keep the only thing that bound her to Alan, she would have to manage on her own. He had made his feelings quite clear...
 
 
 
 
     As they drove to Chelmsford, Richard could see Lisa was exhausted, so suggested she sleep for a while.
 
     She lay back and listened to the music while she thought about the life growing inside her. When the doctor first told her she was pregnant, Lisa had been horrified, but now, she was looking at things differently. The thought that a part of Alan was now inside her made her feel glad. She had no idea how she could cope with a baby, and she knew her parents would go ballistic when she told them, but she didn't care. If anything good were to come out of the whole tragic story of her love for Alan, then it could be this child.
 
     Seeing that her eyes were still open, Richard spoke, bringing her back to reality with a jolt.
 
     “I hope you don't mind, but I phoned my aunt.” Lisa was so tired, she couldn't understand the relevance of his statement. She looked at him blankly.
 
     “Vikki's Mum,” he reminded her.
 
     Lisa realised who he was talking about, and felt stupid. She had been miles away. Richard changed into fifth gear after they joined the motorway, and looked over at her for a moment.
 
     “I phoned her up, and without explaining too much, I asked if you and I could stay there tonight. Is that okay with you?” Lisa didn't care where she stayed as long as she got there and managed to expose what Nick had done.
 
     “That’s great,” she answered with a sleepy smile. “But is it all right with you, do you have the time for all this?”
 
     Richard overtook several cars in the middle lane before turning on cruise control on the walnut dashboard. His Porsche reacted like a good horse to its rider, and continued effortlessly along the motorway at eighty miles an hour.
 
     “As long as I'm back in London for lunchtime tomorrow, it’s okay. Your timing's perfect. I was supposed to be in court this week, but it's been settled, so I don’t need to.”
 
     Lisa thought ruefully that it must be the first time she had ever got her timing right. Richard was being very kind, and she was glad she'd turned to him for help. She knew he was taking her seriously, and more importantly, he believed everything she’d told him. Lisa shut her eyes and, still thinking about the baby, she fell asleep at last.
 
     Richard looked across at her, and seeing her sleeping, felt very relieved. When Graham had phoned him at the office while Lisa was on her way back from his surgery, he had not only told him about Lisa's pregnancy, he had also voiced his concerns. Assuming that Lisa was Richard's client, he recommended that Lisa should go to the police immediately because the extent of her internal bruising, and the bruising to the front of her thighs and abdomen, confirmed that she had been brutally raped. He was amazed she hadn't miscarried as a result.
 
     Richard thought back to the abhorrence on Lisa's face when he suggested that she might get pregnant by Nick, so he assumed the child had to be Alan's. He looked over at her again and wondered how such a lovely girl could have so much happen to her in such a short space of time. Under normal circumstances, he would be trying to work out a way to seduce her himself, which he now knew was totally out of the question. Apart from help he’d given friends and family, this was the most decent thing he had ever done for an unattainable member of the opposite sex in his life. He was just glad that she'd asked for his help.
 
     Ten miles before Chelmsford, Richard noticed he was low on fuel so started looking for a petrol station. At last he found one, and having filled up his tank, he left Lisa sleeping and went into the garage to pay for his fuel and pick up a couple of sandwiches. He absentmindedly made his way back to the forecourt where he had left his car, and when he got there, he stood, the sandwiches in his hand, his jaw hanging open. 

      Lisa and his car had disappeared…