J & P Book 3 - Please Don't Leave Me

Chapter 16

A tormented Patrick stood next to a policeman whose name he couldn't remember, angry with himself for letting Jenny walk in to danger, angry with her for going in, most of all angry with Paul Williams for getting her involved in this. She'd been in there maybe one, two minutes, and he couldn't cope, not knowing what would be said, what would be done, whether Andrew was there, and if he was alright.

He hadn't slept at all last night, and so he was incredibly tired. All night he'd had unwelcome thoughts spinning around his head. He'd been aware that Jenny had been lying awake most of the night as well, but she'd not once turned to him for comfort. This had further compounded his agony. Crazy as it was, the terrible reality of their son still being missing was now being pushed to the back of his mind. Jealousy and mistrust was eating away at him.

He was convinced in his own mind that Jenny had been with Paul last night, despite her explanation that she'd been to see Lucia. He had seen it in her eyes when she'd returned. She had seemed guilty, she'd looked at him with pity and shame. She'd showered before she'd gone to bed.

Every time he'd seen Paul this week, every time his name had been mentioned, he'd been reminded of that dreadful afternoon, when he'd come home and heard the sound of a couple making love through his bedroom wall, and he'd made the awful realisation that it was his girlfriend and her ex-lover, his next door neighbour. He'd almost predicted it would happen, but to have it confirmed so brutally made things even worse than he'd anticipated.

He'd just sat in his bedroom, stunned, repulsed, for the rest of the day. He couldn't move; he knew what would happen if he'd moved. So the next morning when Jenny knocked on the door to tell him their relationship was over, he'd still been sitting there, shocked and angry. He'd not deserved that. Nobody would have deserved that. For the last couple of weeks he'd been waiting for the right moment, the right opportunity for him and Jenny to take the next step in their relationship. He was frustrated enough with the situation before Paul came back on the scene, but to hear what he had heard that day had been torture, there was no other word for it.

History was repeating itself. As he'd said to Deny earlier yesterday evening, he didn't think he could win this fight. He was going to lose her again, and lose his son to boot, should he not be already lost, if his suspicions were true. He knew he should have confronted her. But he was afraid of her answer. So he hadn't asked her. He didn't want that final confirmation.

He had to remember that she had gone in there for Andrew. Not for Paul. He had to move his focus to their son. He was the most important thing now. The police were clearly convinced that Andrew was inside the flat. There was now an ambulance parked up along with all the police cars, in the wake of the discovery that Baby was armed. Officers were at the door to the flats and inside the building.

Suddenly the policeman sprang into action. "We're going in."

"What.. what's happened?" Patrick stammered. He knew that Baby had threatened violence towards Andrew if the officers went in.

"Mr Smalley you need to stay here, our officers are going in. The situation has become volatile."

"Volatile – What? Is everyone okay?" He feared for Jenny now.

"We'll know more soon."

"I need to get in there... my wife, my son.."

Another female officer approached him and edged him to one side. "Mr Smalley, I'm sorry but you really need to stay calm. We can tell you what you need to know as soon as we know what's going on."

The ambulance crew sprang into action, and Patrick's panic intensified. "Has anything happened to Andrew? Why is nobody answering me?"