Retribution

Chapter 42 - Making Statements

The rest of my birthday floated by like a seamless dream. It was as if I'd walked from one world into another. By Sunday evening, my cheeks ached from the permanent smile I'd had all weekend. When I'd gone to Mum's to collect Harvey, I'd been delighted with the platinum necklace she'd bought me. A beautiful heart shaped amethyst pendant hung from it, nestling a couple of inches above my ever-growing cleavage. Harvey had been so excited to give me his present, he ended up telling me what it was before I'd taken the wrapping paper off; a pair of matching earrings.

I spent the evening at home, indulging in a Chinese takeaway with the two men in my life; I couldn't ask for anything more. All the excitement wore Harvey out to the point he fell asleep, still sat up, with a half-eaten prawn cracker in his hand. Jake carried him up to bed, the sight of which made my heart ache. If having this man in my life was all I could have, I'd want nothing more.

We headed back downstairs, making suggestions of what to watch on TV. Just as I reached the bottom step, I froze. The unmistakable sound of Ellie's growls tightened around my heart. The noise continued to come from the living room, along with the sound of material being ripped.

Marco was in his room, resting, so whatever was going on, Ellie was doing it off her own back. Jake stepped in front of me and marched into the living room. I stayed put, waiting as the seconds ticked by.

"Oh my God," Jake said. "Lou, come in here."

Adrenaline burst from my heart like a horse from the starting gates. I'd had such a good day, I didn't want anything to ruin it. I went in, not expecting the sight I saw. Ellie sat at Jake's feet, looking up at him with a wagging tail sweeping across the carpet. Jake was holding Harvey's bright yellow Pokémon toy; which Ellie had ripped into several chunks. White fluff had been spread around everywhere like there'd been a foam party.

"Look at this," he said, turning to me with the headless toy. "This is how he found us in my cottage."

Confused, I looked into the guts of the toy to see a small bundle of wires, a microchip, and a flashing red light. I gasped. I couldn't believe he was actually using Harvey in this pathetic battle. Mentally kicking myself for being so naïve, I swore right then and there that Harvey was having no more unsupervised contact with Adam. Guilt swamped me as the thought of what Harvey could have been used for kept creeping to the forefront of my mind.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, sweetheart," Jake said. "You did what you felt was right. Harvey never mentioned his dad being mean or hurting him—you gave him the opportunity to still be a father. That's a lot more than some men get."

"I know, but what if it hadn't just been this? If Ellie hadn't picked it up, what would have been his next move? How far would he have involved Harvey?"

"Stop torturing yourself," Jake said, putting the toy in a bag. "It didn't happen like that—it happened this way. There's no point in wasting energy on scenario's that didn't occur. We have this one to deal with, which in the grand scheme of things, is a mild situation. Let's just be grateful for that and think forwards, not backwards."

I couldn't argue with him. As we lay in bed later on, I wondered why Ellie had waited all this time to attack the toy. Then it struck me; if Harvey was up and about, he was downstairs or outside with Ellie as his shadow. If he was out with Adam or with my mum, the toy would be with him, or in his bedroom. As she only came upstairs at nights, it meant Harvey was always hugging the damn thing. By sheer coincidence, Harvey falling asleep this evening had given her a golden opportunity to reveal a secret none of us would have known about—possibly ever.

Jake assured me he would detail Harry on it in the morning. He was positive we could present him back before the courts with this and all the other things he'd done recently. As much as I knew preventing him seeing Harvey would cause issues, I needed to make a point about enough being enough. If he had a problem with me, fair enough, but using Harvey in such a sneaky, underhand way was not something I would allow. I was like a mama bear protecting her cub. His threats had hovered around us long enough.