Bad Advice

by S M Mala

  ‘My turn in November,’ smiled Scottie, half-heartedly.

  ‘What’s wrong with the pair of you? It was so wonderful to see you with Ruby! I haven’t seen her in eons. I know she married Hugh Yates. We saw her a few times but not after the court case. That changed everything to be honest. She had a falling out with Tarzan.’ Gemma smiled sympathetically. ‘I think it’s really good you’re together. What does your boss say about it?’

  ‘What’s my boss got to do with anything? Ruby was part of a team that reported on corruption and the bad guys got put away.’

  ‘Gemma,’ Sebastian said, walking into the kitchen. ‘I think I heard one the girls calling for you.’

  ‘But never you?’ she smirked, shaking her head, walking to her husband and kissing his cheek. ‘I shall take the hint and leave the room so you can talk.’

  ‘Thank you my darling,’ Sebastian said, waiting for his wife to go. ‘Bring your drink and come to the study.’

  There was a feeling of apprehension as he followed him through the large house and into the room facing the garden, laden with books and papers.

  Sebastian shut the door and opened the window, reaching into this drawer and pulling out a packet of cigarettes. He lit one and looked at his friend.

  ‘I saw Ruby for lunch today. I asked her to meet me as I wanted to talk,’ Sebastian said. Scottie tried to hide his surprise. ‘I take it you know a bit more about her than you did yesterday?’

  ‘Why should Commissioner Trott know about Ruby? It’s got nothing to do with anything.’

  ‘It has got everything to do with it. Commissioner Trott, at the time, was seeing one of the officers who was later convicted for corruption. The poor man died of a heart attack after being sentenced, remember?’

  ‘She was sleeping with Commissioner Henderson?’ he said, totally surprised. ‘And didn’t they try to prosecute her and failed?’

  ‘All down to yours truly that it was stopped,’ replied Sebastian seriously. ‘But at the time, you can’t imagine what it was like. You weren’t part of the big boy network but there were repercussions for everyone in your establishment. Your colleagues also gave the journalists a hard time and the animosity never went. You get invited to their dos and, in turn, you invite them to your functions but neither side trusts each other. They think you’re hiding something and you think they want to make mountains out of molehills. It’s how it works.’

  ‘And your point is what?’

  ‘I love you with all my heart but if you want to go up that career ladder you will have a problem if you’re seeing Ruby. Commissioner Helen Trott hates her with a passion. I should know. I had to listen to her rant and rave about it, saying Ruby was out to get her. Not once did I reveal she was my friend. If I had, I wouldn’t have remained on the case. And it was too big an opportunity to miss.’

  He understood what his friend was saying.

  The warning was clear.

  And he didn’t want to hear it but knew what was on the cards.

  ‘I pick my job or Ruby, that’s what you’re saying?’ he mumbled, feeling the weight of the decision on his chest. ‘Why can’t I have both?’

  ‘Because my darling man, in this unfortunate case, you can’t without serious repercussions. It’s your choice.’

  All night he sat at his computer reading report after report, attack after attack on the Metropolitan Police. He felt angry.

  Angry at the accusations and angry at Ruby for being part of a team, intent on demolishing the establishment who he worked for.

  Who he loved.

  The police force was his life and the journalists were keen to knock it down, take every ounce of good away from it.

  He could see clearly what Sebastian meant and if Helen Trott hated Ruby, then it was really a no brainer on what he had to do.

  There was probably a very good reason behind it all.

  Scottie had no choice.

  Thirty Three

  She did a double take when she saw the headline.

  ‘Link to the two murders.’

  Ruby read the article on the website and was a little startled, more so because it came from her husband’s lot.

  Then she received a text from Diane which surprised her when she read the content.

  ‘Annette, Gary and I are going to the funerals along with one of the head honchos. We know the two people from years ago. It’s a very sad state of affairs. Please don’t quarrel with anyone especially Mick today. He’s volunteered to cover our shifts.’

  ‘Oh god, that’s awful,’ she sighed, realising it was closer to home than she previously thought. ‘Bloody good Samaritans!’

  After dragging her son to school at high speed, she went to the supermarket to get some bits and pieces, walking back through the park.

  Then she did a double take.

  Scottie was walking towards her.

  Her heart leapt into her throat as she ran towards him and gave him a massive hug.

  Scottie hugged her back then stepped away, smiling.

  ‘I didn’t hear from you yesterday and thought maybe it was about the link to the two murders. Diane and Annette know the people and they’re going to the funerals with-.’

  ‘Ruby, can we talk?’ he gently interrupted.

  He looked really tired. She nodded seeing he wasn’t interested in what she had to say. Later on she’d use her power of sexual persuasion to get some more information.

  ‘Do you want to come back to mine?’ she asked, desperately wanting to make love to him.

  ‘Can we sit for a moment?’ he said, walking her towards a bench in the park.

  The sun was streaming down and it was going to be a warm day.

  Ruby leaned forward to kiss him but he pulled away and gently grabbed her shoulders. A little startled, she realised he wanted to say something.

  ‘Scottie, I’m pleased you’re here because I really think you should know about-.’

  ‘Can I speak?’ he quietly asked and smiled at her so sweetly, she nodded, wanting to hug and kiss him, missing him fiercely since the weekend.

  ‘Talk to me,’ she said quietly.

  ‘You know I think the world of you,’ he gulped, looking straight at her. ‘And these past months have been amazing. Thing is, I don’t think you’re what I need.’

  Ruby felt like something had grasped her chest as it squeezed for a moment. His words came as a total shock. Her breath seemed to leave her body.

  ‘After the weekend I thought about it and I don’t think we should see each other again, it’s for the best,’ Scottie said with a little smile on his lips.

  She searched his eyes for some hint it was a joke then realised he was being deadly serious.

  ‘What did I do wrong? Did I upset one of your friends on Saturday? Have I upset you? Scottie, I don’t understand. I’m really sorry for anything I-.’

  ‘It was a fling that got out of hand,’ he replied very quietly and leaned closer. ‘I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have and misled you in the process. I’m so sorry Ruby but I wanted to tell you-.’

  ‘Did Sebastian say something?’ Ruby asked, feeling a sob come to her throat. ‘He told me to tell you about what I worked on and-.’

  ‘I’ll be honest, had I known about that then, I wouldn’t have started this. Look Ruby, in life you have to have boundaries. Being with you will cross a major one of mine. You’re a lovely woman but what you and your colleagues did was wrong and it hurt a lot of people.’

  ‘We only told the truth,’ she said, shaking her head, gulping back the tears which were going to come out at any given moment. ‘And we were right, Scottie. Read the articles. Some of the people were-’

  ‘I don’t want to see you again,’ Scottie said quite firmly and sat back. Ruby stared at him for a moment and could see his steely resolve. A stray tear betrayed how upset she felt. ‘Which means the kids won’t get to meet. That’s a good thing, to nip it in the bud before it got out of hand and then they’d get hurt.’

&nb
sp; ‘You’re nipping me in the bud?’ she said, not sure if she was hearing right. He stood up. ‘Can we at least talk about it? It was a long time ago and so many things have changed. My reasons then were a little warped but I don’t want to split up over this. Please give me a chance?’

  ‘I’ve got to go,’ he said quickly. ‘Don’t call or make contact, okay? It’s for the best.’

  ‘But Scottie,’ Ruby said, unable to stop the tears springing to her eyes as she looked up at him. ‘I love you and you said you loved me only a few days ago so I don’t get it. It can’t just be about that. Didn’t you mean anything you said? I know you did, I know it was real. I could feel it and-.’

  ‘Sorry Ruby, I didn’t.’

  She sat there stunned for a moment examining his eyes looking directly at her.

  It was like a sharp stab in the gut.

  He meant it.

  Her face started to crumble as well as her heart.

  ‘You never felt the same way?’ Ruby said, trying not to sob her sentence out. ‘You told me you did. I believed you. Why would you want to hurt me? What did I do to make you want to do that?’ She put her head down, feeling an immense pain. ‘Did someone tell you to do it to me? Break my heart? Is that what happened? Tell me, please.’

  As she looked up, he’d hurriedly walked away.

  For the life of her she couldn’t believe what had happened as she put her face in her hands and sobbed her heart out.

  Thirty Four

  He got into his car and sat there, unable to look behind him, knowing he’d left her crying on the bench.

  Scottie breathed in, thinking he was going to vomit from the swirling sensation in his stomach. Then something came up.

  It was a large sob which he swallowed hard on, bending his head down over the steering wheel, not knowing how he could feel so bad when he’d spent the last twelve hours preparing to split with her.

  But it had gone wrong.

  He ended up hurting Ruby in the process, which he had no intention of doing.

  Scottie denied ever loving her.

  But he’d made a decision.

  He knew what he had to do.

  His career came first and he couldn’t have Ruby.

  It was her genuine look of devastation that hurt the most.

  Wiping his angry tears quickly away, he drove off to his better life as there was no turning back.

  He couldn’t be with Ruby, not now.

  He felt sick to the pit of his stomach knowing that he was throwing away one of the first good things to come into his life in a long time.

  Scottie suspected he’d never get that feeling back again.

  Thirty five

  A few days later, after going into her work office and attending a few meetings, she loitered by the news desk as Billy turned and looked at her.

  ‘Oi, oi, what are you up to?’ he asked, his round little face beaming brightly.

  He was in his forties but looked much younger, mainly because he had a baby face and was portly. Ruby had known him for years. She shrugged a response as he raised his eyebrows.

  ‘What do you want?’ persisted Billy.

  ‘What’s this about the helpline murders?’ she said, sitting on his desk.

  ‘I did think of you first and foremost being behind this,’ he laughed out and grinned. ‘Why you interested? Thought you didn’t care about the news anymore, just broken hearts?’

  ‘I’m not good at helping my own broken heart, how could I be of help to anyone else?’ she said glumly, feeling sick about what happened with Scottie.

  Scottie had tricked her.

  Made her believe he loved her when he never did.

  He was a policeman after all.

  That’s what they did.

  Lied.

  ‘Ouch, that face says it all. And here was I thinking you’d fallen in love, based on your irritating bout of happiness,’ Billy said quietly. ‘Reconciled with the husband?’

  ‘Fuck no!’ she blurted out as Billy laughed loudly.

  ‘Someone else?’

  ‘Doesn’t matter because they didn’t want to know,’ Ruby mumbled. Billy grimaced for a second. ‘He was just playing with my heart.’ Saying that out loud just hurt her even more. ‘Anyway enough about me. What’s the link to the murders?’

  ‘And I’m going to tell you?’ he grinned. ‘How do I know you won’t tell Hugh?’

  ‘Because I’m not married to him,’ she said, grabbing a chair and sitting next to Billy. ‘Surely you can’t seriously think that someone is just killing people who have worked for the Samaritans? There’s a link, isn’t there?’

  He raised his eyebrows and she knew he wasn’t going to say.

  ‘Maybe they were like you and honest to the point of bluntness?’ He laughed. ‘You know had anyone told me ten years ago you’d be doing what you’re doing now, I’d have told them to get their mental health checked out. You’re very talented and, I know you don’t want me to say it, but-.’

  ‘Then don’t say it,’ she replied, standing up. ‘Do you think Hugh knows something about these murders?’

  ‘You know he has a direct link to the powers that be,’ Billy said seriously.

  ‘Yes I know.’

  ‘It doesn’t make sense. How could talking to you lot want to make you commit murder?’ he said, starting to laugh. ‘Unless they were talking to you!’

  Thirty Six

  ‘Two murders in London,’ Helen Trott said in a briefing to the team at the police station. ‘The press cottoned onto it a few weeks ago and now we’re being pressurised to give more information. Surely there has to be another link, other than they worked for the bloody Samaritans at one time or another?’

  ‘We’ve spoken to the Samaritans and they’re as baffled as us,’ said Dave, clearing his throat. ‘And we’re not releasing anything about the writing on their mouths.’

  ‘There’s the fact the murders were done by injection,’ Scottie quietly said, thinking about Ruby and realising he hadn’t seen or heard from her in three weeks.

  The whole subject made it hard to get her out of his system.

  He noticed Helen Trott was looking at him.

  ‘We need to sort this out. The newer headline is from Yates and his team saying ‘Samaritan Slayer’. They are insinuating there’s a link to these murders. There’s a lot of publicity and speculation going on at the moment. It will look like a travesty if we can’t get to the bottom of this. And Scottie, they’re going to ask you tomorrow if you know what’s going on.’

  Scottie let out a little groan, knowing the announcement about his promotion was happening then and the big public relations wheel was in motion.

  He still wasn’t ready for it.

  ‘Dave, can I have a word with Scottie, in private?’ she asked.

  Dave stood up, looked at Scottie then walked out.

  Helen Trott sat in the chair beside him.

  ‘You’ve not been yourself for weeks,’ she gently said, touching his arm. ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ he replied, forcing a smile.

  He’d been so unhappy since splitting with Ruby but tried to hide it. Something felt wrong. Every day he ached to see her but knew it was impossible.

  ‘Are you ready for tomorrow? I’m sure your family will be looking forward to it.’

  ‘Yes, the kids are coming, even my police hating Nana,’ he smiled, noticing she was giving him a look of concern. ‘And I’m going to shave and look presentable. The uniform even fits.’

  ‘You’ll make an amazing Assistant Commissioner. This is the start of something big so make the best of it. You’re very young to get this position, not yet forty. Be careful of what you do and say, the friends you keep. So many people are willing to trip you up, believe me. And leave all the things like social media behind. Consequences are to be had for the ones who made silly comments and it backfired.’

  ‘I’m very careful and discreet with everything,’ he said and swallowed hard, stand
ing up. ‘I better crack on.’

  ‘Doesn’t your cousin work for the Samaritans? Surely they must have some insight into what’s going on. They have to be very worried.’

  ‘Diane is upset which is only natural as she’s worked for them for years. She’s none the wiser than any of us.’

  Scottie went back to the office and looked at the faces of the victims.

  The bodies we unmarked, other than the statements left on their lips and the pinprick, where the injection had gone in.

  And the writing was more baffling.

  He was stumped what ‘Bad Advice’ the killer had been given to make them want to do this.

  Then his mind wandered off when he saw the late afternoon sunshine and remembered making love to Ruby and how happy he felt before crashing down to reality, knowing he’d made the right decision.

  But it wasn’t sitting right in his heart.

  Thirty seven

  ‘Why come in if you’re so miserable?’ asked Diane. Ruby sat at the desk and ignored her friend. ‘You’ve been like this for weeks.’

  ‘I’m not miserable. I’ve just got things on my mind,’ she replied, knowing she’d done all her freelance assignments and sitting at home was only making her depressed.

  Scottie had broken her heart and she felt vulnerable, wondering why he would play such a horrible trick when he knew how she’d been hurt before. Again, she blinked back her tears so no one could see but then she noticed Annette looking at her.

  ‘How were the funerals?’ she asked Diane, who frowned.

  ‘Not the nicest thing in the world to deal with but I felt we needed to show we’re united in these terrible incidents,’ her friend replied in corporate speak.

  ‘Did you know them?’

  ‘I’ve seen them around from time to time. It’s Annette who knows everyone,’ she sighed, looking at the woman in question who had just taken a call. ‘She was very upset and Gary? He was being philosophical, saying it’s just a co-incidence.’

  ‘There’s more to it and no-one’s saying. I can tell the police and papers are covering something up.’