Time To Go

by Time To Go (epub)

  ‘Shithole?’ Jolene glared. ‘Cheeky cow.’

  ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘Anyway, what I do here is a sideline.’ Jolene smoothed her hair. ‘I have other stuff going on too.’

  ‘Yeah? And it’s making you rich, is it, conning people?’

  ‘How the—’ Jolene stopped, nodded to herself. ‘Mulligan.’

  ‘He made a comment, but I worked it out myself.’

  ‘Well done.’

  Caelan held up her hands. ‘Come on, I’m impressed. It takes balls to run a scheme like that.’

  ‘Yeah, I do okay, but it’s not regular income, if you know what I mean. Depends who I meet, how stupid they are.’

  ‘Well, I’m offering you a partnership. The money we make would be split fifty-fifty. I’d have a contract drawn up.’

  ‘A contract? You’re kidding.’

  ‘Straight up,’ Caelan lied. ‘I know a legal bloke, takes on this kind of job on the side. It wouldn’t be specific about what we’re selling, but it’d do the job. Protect us both, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘If you say so.’ Jolene nodded at Ewan. ‘What about him?’

  Caelan smiled. ‘He’d protect us both too. He’ll make himself useful, don’t worry, but he’s not a businessman.’

  ‘Just happy to spend the profits,’ Ewan said with a smirk.

  Curling her lip at him, Jolene turned back to Caelan. ‘That’s the deal?’

  ‘Best I can do. Can’t say any fairer than fifty-fifty. Like I said, a partnership.’

  ‘And you’re offering me this because you want to find a cousin you hardly know?’ Jolene looked sceptical, and Caelan couldn’t blame her. ‘You must be crazy.’

  Caelan knew she had to keep talking. ‘It’s not only that. You know the place, the people. You already have customers. I’m not new to the game but I’m new to the area.’

  Jolene’s eyes strayed towards her mobile, which was still on the counter between them.

  ‘How do I know I can trust you?’ she said.

  Now Caelan smiled. ‘You don’t, any more than I know I can trust you.’ She grabbed Jolene’s phone before the other woman could stop her and held it up. ‘You’re recording this, aren’t you?’

  Jolene stuck out her chin. ‘No. Why should I be?’

  ‘Because you want proof that I came in here offering you a deal? Because you want to go running to one of your boyfriends to tell tales? I don’t know, Jolene. You tell me.’

  Lunging across the counter, Jolene made a grab for the phone, but Caelan stepped back and held it out of reach.

  ‘Give me the code to unlock it.’

  She spoke quietly but with authority. Jolene’s face contorted.

  ‘Fuck off,’ she snarled.

  Caelan smiled. ‘I’m going to stop this recording one way or another, so either you tell me the code, or I drop the phone on the floor and keep stamping until there’s nothing left but a five-hundred-piece jigsaw.’

  ‘Bitch.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, you’ve already told me.’ Caelan lowered the phone to hip height, her eyes not leaving Jolene’s. ‘Five seconds. One, two—’

  Jolene smacked her palm against the counter. ‘All right. Fucking crazy bitch. It’s one nine zero seven seven three.’

  Caelan tapped in the numbers and scrolled until she found what she was looking for. ‘Thank you.’ She held out the phone. ‘What’s the number mean? Is it someone’s birthday?’

  Jolene snatched the phone, shoved it into her pocket. ‘Yeah, my mum’s. She’s dead, in case you’re interested.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’ Caelan felt a tug of guilt.

  ‘Why should you? You just want to push me around, make me do what you want me to.’ Jolene ran an angry hand over her eyes. ‘Like everyone else does. Like they always have.’

  ‘Jolene, I—’

  ‘No, you’re going to listen to me for a change.’ Jolene’s eyes were fixed on Caelan’s, her gaze steady, her voice cold. ‘My mum died when I was fourteen. She argued with her boyfriend in the pub one night and he marched her home, gave her a kicking and threw her down the stairs.’ She took a breath. ‘Then he came into my bedroom and…’ Her voice faltered and she glanced at Ewan. He didn’t move, gave no sign he had heard her.

  ‘We get it,’ Caelan said softly.

  Jolene looked at her feet. ‘Yeah, well. Everyone’s got a story, haven’t they?’

  ‘Some are worse than others.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Jolene raised her head. ‘Anyway, he ran from the house, left my mum lying there. I managed to get downstairs to her, but I was…’ She faltered, cleared her throat. ‘I was hurt myself. Anyway, I was too late. By the time the ambulance arrived, she was gone. I went to hospital, then into foster care. My mum was cremated by the council and her bastard boyfriend went down for life once they found him.’ She bared her teeth in a vicious smile. ‘And eventually he found out what a life sentence can really mean.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Someone shanked him last year.’ Jolene drew a finger across her throat. ‘Bled out in a couple of minutes. Heartbreaking.’

  Caelan was silent, thinking about another man she’d known who had died in prison in exactly the same way. Suspicion flared in her mind. ‘Do they know who did it?’

  Jolene gave a dismissive flick of her hand. ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Probably not.’ Caelan maintained eye contact. ‘Was it someone James knew?’ Or someone he had threatened?

  ‘Might have been. All I’m saying, is, don’t think you can push me around. Whatever you think you’re threatening me with, I’ve been through ten times worse. You don’t scare me and you won’t own me.’

  ‘I’m not trying to. I said partners – equal partners.’

  ‘And I won’t drop Mulligan in the shit, not ever. He’s been good to me. If he gets better, all of this is off.’

  Caelan still wasn’t sure about Jolene’s motives, especially since she apparently owed money. Her expression when Caelan had asked about Stefan Harris had been telling. ‘Then you agree?’

  Jolene held out a hand. ‘Fuck it, yeah, though I don’t know what we’re going to sell. Mulligan said he needed a deal. Does that mean you do too?’

  Caelan gave a reluctant nod as she shook Jolene’s hand, hoping she was going to be able to keep up the pretence. Her role was becoming more complicated by the day. ‘Like I said, I have contacts.’

  ‘Me too. I know a bird can get you anything you want, though she’s pricey. Has to be, her stuff’s the best. We’ll need money up front, though.’

  ‘Which is the main problem.’ Caelan chewed the inside of her cheek, pretending to think about it. ‘Let me talk to my contact. He might let us have some credit.’

  ‘No chance. These guys never do. I’ve known this woman I buy from for years and she still wouldn’t lend me a fiver.’

  ‘Maybe. Let me see if I can persuade him. I’ve done favours for him in the past.’ Caelan flicked a glance at Ewan, and Jolene leered.

  ‘Yeah, got you. Well, let me know.’

  Caelan hoped Ewan would keep his mouth closed, and he did, though he didn’t look happy. Caelan wondered whether it was genuine. She was used to lying with every second breath, but he wasn’t and she wondered if he might be struggling.

  ‘Your turn.’ She pointed a finger at Jolene. ‘Tell me what your customer said. I need to find my cousin.’

  ‘All right. Damon – shit, I mean my customer – was sitting behind someone in a lecture one day. They all have laptops or tablets out, supposed to be making notes, but this one guy, the one in front of Damon, was watching a video.’ Jolene paused, ran a hand across her mouth. ‘Oh, I don’t know about this. I feel like a grass.’

  Caelan wanted to scream at her. ‘Come on, Jolene. We’ve agreed a deal.’

  In truth, what Jolene had already let slip might be enough to help them. They could go back to Tom Haslam, throw their knowledge about his obsession with Lucy in his face an
d see how he reacted, but if there was more, Caelan wanted the whole story.

  ‘Yeah, you could be ripping me off. I could spill my guts and never see you again.’

  ‘Not going to happen,’ Caelan told her.

  ‘Prove it.’

  Fuck, Caelan thought. ‘How am I supposed to do that?’

  Jolene’s smile was cunning. ‘You know the debt you owe Stefan?’

  ‘You mean the fifteen thousand James owes him? Yeah, rings a bell. Why?’

  ‘How’d you like to make it twenty?’

  ‘Twenty? What do you mean?’ But Caelan already knew.

  ‘That’s my price.’

  ‘Five grand? Five grand to give me information that could save someone’s life?’

  Jolene scoffed at her. ‘Dramatic, aren’t you? I still reckon she’s gone off with her boyfriend.’

  ‘No one knows, that’s the point.’

  Another smile. ‘Can’t take the risk then, can you? Agree to pay the five K for me and I’ll tell you everything I know.’

  ‘And if I don’t pay?’

  ‘Then I’ll go to Stefan and tell him you’re planning on muscling in on his patch.’

  ‘What if I go to your mate Damon myself? Shouldn’t be too hard to track him down.’

  ‘Same applies. I go to Stefan.’

  Caelan narrowed her eyes. ‘Who’s the bitch now?’

  Jolene laughed. ‘You said it yourself – we can help each other out here.’

  ‘No choice then, have I?’ Caelan shook her head as though resigned to being outmanoeuvred. ‘All right. Looks like I’m paying your bill too.’

  ‘What the fuck?’ Ewan exploded. ‘You don’t have the money to pay Harris a couple of grand, never mind twenty. Why don’t you walk away, let your cousins sort out their own shit? You owe them nothing. You don’t even know if she,’ he glared at Jolene, ‘has anything worth saying.’

  ‘Owen—’ Caelan started to say, wondering what the hell Ewan was thinking.

  ‘Come on.’ Jolene held up her hands. ‘I’m giving you information, my time, my contacts and my loyalty.’

  He snorted. ‘Loyalty? Do you even know what the word means? Back-stabbing bastards, the lot of you.’

  Caelan turned on him. ‘Can you let me handle this?’

  ‘Yeah, do as you’re told,’ Jolene told him. ‘You’re only here to look pretty, remember?’

  Ewan turned on his heel and walked out of the shop. Caelan looked at Jolene.

  ‘Finished?’

  ‘Not my fault he’s a touchy bastard. Where were we?’

  Caelan exhaled through her nose, told herself to stay calm. Whether Ewan’s anger had been fake or genuine, she wasn’t going to run after him.

  ‘You were going to tell me what you know,’ she said.

  ‘Well, Damon was in the lecture, yeah, and this guy in front of him is watching some video on his phone, kind of hiding it behind his laptop screen.’

  ‘But not hiding it from Damon?’ Caelan was instantly suspicious. Was this a set-up?

  ‘Damon was a couple of rows behind. He came in late, sat down quickly and quietly. He didn’t think the other guy knew he was there.’

  ‘Convenient. You think he’d have been more careful.’

  Jolene scowled. ‘Do you want to hear this or not?’

  ‘You know I do.’

  ‘All right. So Damon’s half listening to the lecture, and watching this video at the same time, only he realises it’s not a video at all. It’s live footage.’ Jolene raised her eyebrows. ‘You see what I’m saying?’

  Caelan was beginning to. Her heart began to thump. ‘You mean—’

  ‘I mean, this pervert had hidden a camera in this girl’s room and was watching her every chance he got, even when he should have been listening to his teacher. It was her bedroom, and Damon said you could see she had no idea she was being watched. She was getting changed, doing her hair… He must have seen her naked hundreds of times. Maybe he’s even broadcasting it, making other people pay to watch.’

  ‘You’re saying he was spying on my cousin,’ Caelan said flatly. She felt sick, but this might be a break. If there was a camera in Lucy’s room when she disappeared, wouldn’t it have picked up what had happened?

  ‘Woman in her twenties, long red hair? That’s exactly what I’m saying.’ Jolene sounded disgusted too.

  ‘Did your friend Damon give you a name? If they were on the same course, I assume he recognised him?’

  ‘Of course he did. He said his name’s Tom. Tom Haslam.’

  Caelan nodded, angry but not wanting Jolene to pick up on it. ‘We’ve met him. I spoke to him when we went to Lucy’s house earlier.’ And he lied to us.

  ‘Yeah?’ Jolene curled her lip. ‘Lucky you. He must have one of those cameras you set up to watch your front door or your dog. You know the ones? You log in through an app on your phone to see what’s happening?’

  ‘I’ve seen them.’

  ‘He could have got into her room and hidden it somewhere.’

  But how? Caelan wondered. When? Lucy Mulligan was a computer expert, surely well versed in the latest technology. Wouldn’t she have noticed a camera suddenly appearing, even if it was well hidden? She didn’t want the other woman to think she wasn’t taking her story seriously, but she knew she had to be cautious. Jolene had just palmed off her own debt and thought she had Caelan trapped. She was a con artist, and spinning a line or two would be what she did best. But this time, she wasn’t aware Caelan knew more than she did.

  ‘You’d think she’d have realised,’ was all Caelan said.

  ‘Why would she? You don’t expect people to be watching you, do you?’ Jolene shook her head. ‘No. Poor cow hadn’t a clue.’

  ‘But how would he have set it up? He told us Lucy’s room was always locked when she wasn’t in there.’

  ‘Don’t know, do I? He probably sneaked in when she was in the shower or something. I doubt she locked the door every time she went to the toilet or kitchen. Wouldn’t bother, would you?’

  ‘Seems she should have done.’

  ‘Telling me.’

  Caelan considered what Jolene had said. However outraged she was about the invasion of Lucy Mulligan’s privacy, however abhorrent she found Haslam’s actions, she knew the images he had seen might help them. If Lucy had been abducted somehow, or at least forced to leave the house under duress, Haslam might have seen what had happened, even from afar. He wouldn’t have been able to tell the police, or Caelan and Ewan when they had seen him, without landing himself in a lot of trouble.

  ‘Dirty little fucker,’ she muttered. ‘Didn’t this mate of yours think to confront him? Not even when Lucy went missing?’ Normally she would have asked why he hadn’t gone to the police, but she knew the woman she was supposed to be would want to deal with the situation herself, not run to the law. Anyone involved in buying or dealing drugs might think twice too, whatever the situation.

  Jolene looked shifty. ‘Well, he thought… I mean, he didn’t see any harm in it at first.’

  Caelan stared. ‘What?’

  ‘I know, I know… blokes for you. Some blokes, anyway. He thought it was funny, that’s why he told me about it. Thought I was going to laugh along with him.’ Jolene pressed her lips together. ‘Wanker. I soon put him straight. Anyway, when I spoke to him after I heard Mulligan’s sister had disappeared, he pretended he didn’t remember telling me about it, said he’d been off his face and I should have ignored him. Told me to forget about it.’

  ‘Shit.’ Again Caelan wondered how much she could trust what Jolene was saying.

  ‘Yeah. Tell you the truth, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was planning to blackmail this perv with the camera.’ Jolene tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘And if he tried it, maybe this Tom Haslam has already taken the camera away. If he has, even if you got back into the house, you’d never prove what Damon told me is true.’

  Caelan hid a smile. And you’re banking on me not being able to, she t
hought. ‘He must have taken it away,’ she said. ‘The police went into Lucy’s room, Haslam told me that himself. They’d have found it.’

  ‘Maybe they did. Maybe they’re planning to arrest him,’ Jolene said.

  Caelan knew she’d have to check, though if the camera had been found and identified as Haslam’s, she knew her colleagues would have brought him in for questioning at least. They would have had to consider the possibility that he had been involved in Lucy’s disappearance. No. He must have removed it before the police arrived, but how would he have known they were coming if he wasn’t aware Lucy had disappeared? His obsession now seemed even more sinister.

  Appearing to read her mind, Jolene said, ‘So what are you going to do?’

  ‘I don’t know yet.’ Caelan wasn’t lying. She should go to Penrith, to Brady, Achebe and Somerville, but it would be obvious where the information had come from if the police went knocking on Haslam’s door again. Jolene and Damon would run for the hills, but not before Jolene had told Stefan Harris what Caelan was planning, and the whole operation would be blown. It was another problem to add to a case already thick with them. ‘Maybe I should go back and see Haslam again.’

  ‘Well, when you decide, remember to keep me out of it. Damon told me it was our little secret, and I don’t want him thinking I can’t be trusted. He’s a good customer, and word would get around.’

  ‘But you’ll sell him out for five grand?’

  Jolene grinned. ‘Business, isn’t it? Now, this partnership of ours. When do we start?’

  ‘When we’ve got something to sell.’

  ‘But you’ve no money, and we need to invest equally, don’t we? To get started?’

  Caelan had to admit Jolene had a point. ‘Yeah. It’s only fair.’

  ‘Screwed then, aren’t you?’ Jolene flicked her hair over her shoulder. ‘Because before we can start our business, you need to pay Stefan his twenty grand.’ She laughed. ‘Now, it’s time for my break. I’ll see you around.’

  26

  Ewan was leaning against the wall outside, staring at his phone. When he saw Caelan, he shoved it into his pocket. She ignored him, walked past him, forcing him to scurry to catch her up.