Abigail: Chapter 45

Joy at having stood up to my mother did nothing to help shift the mulled wine induced headache that greeted me on Monday morning but it did give me a certain spring in my step and I took great delight in having been elevated in my teenage daughter’s eyes. I almost dropped the toast when Grace offered me a cup of coffee but I recovered quickly enough to accept. After tasting the coffee I made a mental note to teach her how to use my coffee machine properly but I decided that was a lesson that could wait for another day. I was content to enjoy the moment, although when she offered to make me a second cup I politely declined, explaining that she needed to get dressed for school.

While she and Louise were dressing I made myself that second coffee and thought about the teatime visit to Abigail’s house later that day. When I’d spoken to Carol and Saul Rogers they’d been delighted to hear from me. I’d done my best to set their expectations around seeing Abigail and the children. They weren’t stupid people, I imagined they knew only too well how tricky things could be if we didn’t all behave like grown-ups but it was clear Abigail needed their help so I had to hope she was ready to play nicely.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that when my mobile rang I jumped and smacked my knee on the table. Ouch! I groaned and rubbed my knee with one hand while using the other hand to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Charlie? Is that you? Are you okay? You sound all funny.”

“Hi Abigail. Yep I’m fine, just bumped my knee. What can I do for you?”

“Sorry to phone so early. I just wondered if you’d be able to come over? Those guys who came before, about Toby’s debt? They’re back.”

“What do they want? They wouldn’t speak to me last time.”

“I’ve told them I won’t do anything until you get here. They say I’ve got thirty minutes then they’ll start taking stuff away.”

“I’m on my way.” I sighed. “But you’re going to have to stall them.”

After saying bye to the girls and wishing them a lovely day I went straight round to Abigail’s house. Thanks to a rush of early morning commuters it took me almost twice as long to reach Abigail as it had over the weekend but there was nothing I could do other than keep my foot flat to the floor at every opportunity and offer my apologies. Thanks to Abigail’s stubborn refusal to let them in until I arrived, the bailiffs were still outside when I pulled up in front of her house.

“Ms Diamond? Steve Parsons. Good to see you again.” He offered me his hand and I shook it.

“I’d say the same but under the circumstances …”

He smiled. “I understand.”

“Mrs Rogers wouldn’t let you in?”

“She said she wouldn’t do anything until you arrived.”

“May I speak with her? I’ll be right back.”

Steve looked at his watch. “Two minutes. We really need to get on with it.”

I nodded and knocked on Abigail’s front door. The door opened a crack, the chain firmly in place, but when she saw it was me, Abigail closed the door, took the chain off, then opened the door wide to let me in.

She gave me a brief hug and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Happy to help but I’m not sure what I can do. We’re not any closer to finding Toby so I doubt they’ll give us any more time.”

“Don’t tell them about the ransom money!” Abigail looked scared. “If they know I’m trying to get it, they’ll want to know why I won’t pay them.”

I couldn’t argue with her logic but a small unvoiced part of me sympathised with the bailiffs. They had a job to do and they were only here because Toby hadn’t paid his bills. What I was most interested in now though was finding out who the mystery creditor was and what, if anything, could be done to help ease the pressure on Abigail.

“We need to let them in. Maybe we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

Abigail put her hand on mine. “You promise it’ll be okay?”

“I promise.” I didn’t know what okay would look like, but I knew I could promise to help find it. Promises made, I opened the door and called out to Steve and his colleague. “Fancy a cuppa Steve?”

I led them into the kitchen and put the kettle on. “Have a seat guys. We need to sort out a solution for Abigail here. But first, are you content to talk to me about the debt this time? I’m here as Mrs Rogers representative.”

Steve looked at his colleague and nodded. “That sounds reasonable,” he said.

“So what are our options?”

I listened as Steve gave me a spiel about payment in full and the cost of removing goods. I found myself totally zoning out until he said two words that were like magic to my ears: payment plan. If we could negotiate a low enough monthly payment there was a good chance Abigail would go for that. It would also allow time for me to find Toby and get this whole mess sorted out.

Twenty minutes later and the payment terms were agreed. I decided it was time to play my trump card.

I turned to Steve. “One more thing Steve. Mrs Rogers has agreed to make payment. We’d really like a copy of the creditors agreement. The case with Toby Rogers is still ongoing and anything we can ascertain about his movements prior to his disappearance would be helpful.”

“Of course. It’s all in the paperwork.” He handed me a piece of paper and pointed to an address near the top. I thanked Steve and his colleague for their co-operation and showed them out.

When I came back I showed the details to Abigail. “Mean anything to you?” The address was a post office box based out of Cardiff.

She shook her head. “Sorry Charlie, I don’t know.”

“No worries.” I looked at the time. “Listen, if you’re okay here, I have a few errands I need to run before Toby’s parents arrive later.”

My lady with her broken shower had phoned and left a voice message during my drive here. It might not be glamorous but I was glad of the excuse to get some space between me and the Rogers family. I needed to clear my head and plumbing helped me think.