Chapter 69: Cora - The Foster Child

Scott switches the electric back on and boards up the kitchen window. As I guessed, Jacob tampered with the fuse box then lay in wait for Elliot to come in.

Gabby phones me to say that Elliot has been taken to hospital. I’m relieved that he’s okay but I can’t go and see him, not yet. I’m so angry about what he put us through, the things he kept from me. We could have all been killed.

A policewoman stays with us for a while to check we are okay and Scott goes home. I insist that Violet stays overnight, it has been an ordeal for us all and I don’t want her to be home alone. I feel so guilty that I’d thought it was her. The three of us sit up half the night talking, trying to make sense of everything.

When I get up in the morning I phone the hospital to check on Elliot, they say he’s comfortable and out of danger, then I phone my parents to tell them we can’t make it, promising to call them back later. I don’t want to worry them, especially on Boxing Day. It will be on the news so I have to tell them, but I want to think of the best way to say it.

Lori, Violet and I are in the lounge, having a cup of coffee, when Scott and Gabby come round to check on us.

‘I hope you don’t mind Scott telling me, but he thought you might need a friend,’ Gabby says, holding out her arms.

‘I do.’ I choke back the tears and hug her.

‘How are you all? It must have been a horrendous experience for you,’ she says softly.

‘In a state of shock,’ I reply.

‘You saved our lives. If you hadn’t come in when you did we’d probably be dead,’ I tell Scott. ‘Elliot definitely would be.’ I motion them to sit down and they do. ‘What made you come around? Did you see something suspicious?’

Gabby looks at him. ‘You have to tell her.’

Violet gets up. ‘Do you want me to go so you can talk privately?’

‘We can go up to my room,’ Lori says.

‘No, you both have a right to know. You could have been killed last night,’ I tell them. Then I turn to Scott. ‘I know about the hit and run Elliot and his friend were involved in back in their teens, Jacob told us. Did you know about it too?’

He nods. ‘I lived in Manchester for a while and was in the force at the time. I was aware of Elliot – or Lee as they called him back then – and his crowd, they were hell-raisers. They’d nick cars and race each other with them, a bit of shoplifting, that sort of stuff.’

‘Elliot?’ Lori repeats, stunned. ‘I can’t believe it.’

‘Neither can I,’ I agree.

Scott rubs his beard. ‘Don’t judge him too harshly. He didn’t have much of a start in life. His parents were drug addicts, he was in and out of care most of his life. His father threw him out when he was sixteen and he slept on the streets, hung out with other homeless kids. He knew Rocky from the children’s home and they bonded. Rocky was the ringleader, I reckon.’

I stare at him, dumbfounded at these revelations about Elliot’s childhood.

‘One night Rocky nicked a car, persuaded Elliot to get in and they went racing. But Rocky went too fast around a bend, crashed into another car. He legged it. Elliot found a phone box and called the police. The guy in the car was Jacob’s dad and Elliot saved his life. But the man was badly injured and lived a life of pain.’ Lori gasps. Scott glances at her then continues. ‘When he died a few months ago Jacob found newspaper cuttings about the accident and court case. He realised that his dad’s suffering had been caused by a couple of kids with no licence or insurance driving a stolen car. He was furious and decided to make them pay. He found Rocky and killed him then went for Elliot.’

I shake my head, unable to believe what he’s saying.

‘I was aware of the case, and I thought there was something familiar about Elliot, when you mentioned his full name I realised who he was, although he went by the nickname of Lee back then. When Rocky was murdered I was worried that Elliot might be next so I’ve been keeping an eye on your place. Rocky’s murder was very savage and I was concerned for all your safety.’

Lori is crying softly now, and Violet has her arms around her.

One thing doesn’t make sense. ‘Jacob murdered Rocky, but tied up Elliot and put him in the boot of his car? Why? Why didn’t he murder him?’

Scott shakes his head. ‘I think he intended to murder him once he got him away from here. If he’d shot him in the garage someone would have heard the shot and maybe he wouldn’t have got away.’

‘I understand why Jacob was upset about what happened to his dad but it was twenty-five years ago,’ Violet says.

‘True, but his dad needed a lot of care and sometimes his mum couldn’t cope so Jacob and his sisters were sent into care. He spent a lot of time in foster care. I guess the resentment built and built, then when he realised who caused his dad’s accident it pushed him over the edge.’

Three of them. Violet, Elliot and Jacob all growing up in care. Violet and Elliot have managed to turn their lives around though, haven’t they? Especially Elliot.

Scott told me that Rocky was blackmailing Elliot, sending him Christmas cards to tell him this was his last Christmas unless he paid up. Jacob was unaware of that, but he was planning to take revenge on both Rocky and Elliot. He got Elliot’s number from Lori’s phone and sent him a warning text.

I remember the text and how shaken Elliot had been. ‘He said the text was an insurance reminder and didn’t tell me about the cards. We were all in danger and he didn’t say a thing.’

‘I don’t think he knew who it was at first. And he was probably scared he’d lose you.’

‘All the other things, the dug-up plants, my orchid, the Christmas wreath… were they all Rocky too?’

‘Some of them were Caleb, he let his dog in to dig up the plants and Rocky was hanging about the cottage, saw him and offered him money to do the other stuff. Then when Jacob killed Rocky he found the pack of Christmas cards with one written out so carried on sending the cards to Elliot.’

‘Caleb!’ Violet gasps, her eyes widening. ‘So he was involved. I had no idea, Cora. I promise.’

I believe her. After all I had no idea what Elliot was up to, did I?

‘The police are going to question Caleb about this, but he’s only thirteen so my guess is that he’ll get a caution.’

‘A caution, after everything he did!’ I exclaim. But I know that Rocky and Jacob are the real villains.

Gabby puts her hand on mine. ‘This has been an awful shock for you, Cora. And you’ve all been so scared. But try not to blame Elliot too much. He had nothing once and worked hard to turn his life around.’

One question has really been bugging me. ‘How did Rocky find him?’

‘Lori posted a photo of you all having a meal, when she came to visit you when you first moved in. Rocky saw it and recognised Elliot. Jacob saw it too, and targeted Lori at university. He used her to find Elliot.’

Lori puts her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh. Mum. I’m so sorry. I caused all this.’

‘No, you didn’t. This is all Jacob’s doing,’ Violet tells her.

I played my part too, unwittingly. If I hadn’t come into his life the past might not have caught up with him.

‘Elliot kept all this from me. We could have been killed.’ The enormity of the danger we have all been in is only just hitting me. ‘He lied to me, kept things from me, put us all in danger.’

‘I think he was trying to protect you, Cora. That’s why he got the doorbell camera and security system.’ Scott gets up to go. ‘You can find details about the case online. It will tell you that Elliot wasn’t driving and he ran for help.’

I can forgive Elliot for what happened when he was a teenager. What I can’t forgive is that he didn’t tell me. He kept it all from me knowing what danger we were in. We could have all been killed. He should have spoken up and contacted the police when the first Christmas card came instead of concealing it from me. I thought that Elliot was upstanding, trustworthy, that he would always look after me. I was wrong.