‘Royal Park, yes I know it. I have a friend who lives not that far from Croom’s Hill. Very nice too. Will you sleep?’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Do you need something? I can —’
‘No. I’m assured a warm malty milk does the trick every time.’
Jane smiled. ‘Then drink a gallon.’
He stood, politely helping her to her feet. ‘I’ll walk you back.’
‘Tall, handsome and gallant,’ she commented, but didn’t look back at him as she led the way out.
He didn’t linger at the entrance to her building and neither did she, but he didn’t think it was because of the cold. Dr Jane Brooks suddenly looked awkward.
‘See you on Tuesday night,’ she said briskly. ‘Don’t be late. I charge like a wounded bull.’
Jack gave her a card. ‘Here’s how to contact me if anything should change for you.’
‘It won’t,’ she assured him, her gloved hand delaying ever so slightly on his as she took it.
On the tube home Jack’s thoughts erupted into confusion and for a good half of the journey he found himself thinking about a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman who looked nothing at all like Lily.
12.
Kate’s evening had gone entirely differently to how she’d expected. Right now she was sitting in a car she’d never have expected to find herself in, being driven home by someone who had surprised her.
She shook her head quietly as she thought back over the events that had begun late in the afternoon. She’d nervously turned up at Empress and waited on tenterhooks for DCI Geoff Benson to call her in. Unexpectedly he’d walked up behind her.
‘DI Carter?’
She jumped.
‘Ah, I still make you nervous, I see. Is it my size?’ She knew Jack called him the Bear.
Kate bristled. ‘I’m not nervous, sir.’
‘No?’ He grinned. ‘Does Jack know you’re here?’ She had to take a steadying breath; hated the fact that she was surely blushing. ‘He does not.’
‘Excellent. I love a bit of intrigue,’ he said, smiling even more widely. ‘Shall we?’
‘What?’
‘I’m all finished here. I’m ready to go. You’re not planning to go back to Westminster, are you?’ She shook her head, unnerved. ‘Then let’s do this over a drink, shall we?’
‘Er …’ she hesitated as she groped for the right way to respond, suddenly feeling as though she was in quicksand.
His amusement deepened and touched his dark blue eyes. ‘I’ve obviously dazzled you with my presence. So far you’ve said nine words, while I’ve said dozens.’
Kate blinked. He was counting? ‘I’m just thinking, sir —’
‘Taking you a while, isn’t it? Come on, DI Carter, I’m not asking you out on a date. You want to have a clandestine conversation about your superior; I should imagine a quiet pub would be just the spot for a cloak-and-dagger assignation, wouldn’t it?’
Ah, she understood. ‘Perhaps this isn’t a good idea, sir.’
He regarded her steadily through eyes that had turned a fraction stormy in seconds. ‘But you’re here now and I suggest you say whatever it is you wish to get off your chest, or throughout the rest of the case you’re going to look like you’ve smelled something awful or are permanently sucking lemons.’
Kate stepped back. She hadn’t been prepared for his attack. ‘Is that how I look?’
He nodded. ‘I think it’s your permanent countenance.’
She opened her mouth, hoping some snappy, clever retort would fly out but only silence hung between them.
‘Personally, I think you need to lighten up and a drink will do that for you. And far better we have this conversation off the record and well away from police premises. Come on. Let’s go, grab your coat — I presume that strange bright thing over there is yours?’
Kate regained her composure. ‘That thing, sir, is a new-season coat from Zara.’
‘Rather bright for Westminster. You must look like Red Riding Hood walking round in that.’
‘She wore a hooded cloak, I think, not a fashionable pea coat.’
‘Pea coat?’ He laughed. ‘You’re no fun, Kate.’
She sighed quietly as she grabbed the garment in question. That’s what they all say, she thought to herself, disappointed at how this meeting had begun.
As they walked, Benson talked, pointing out various features and landmarks of Earls Court. Kate wasn’t the slightest bit interested, but it passed the time and stopped him directing scathing comments towards her. She knew what this was now. He was Jack’s buddy and she’d made the wrong call. He wasn’t going to help her, he was going to humiliate her and probably phone Jack directly afterwards and share a few laughs over what an idiot she was. She felt sick.
‘What’s your poison?’ he said, after leading her into the packed front bar of the Moll Cutpurse.
She winced at the volume of noise.
‘We’ll go into the other room. It’s quieter,’ he assured her.
‘A spiced tomato juice is fine.’
He frowned. ‘No vodka?’
She shook her head. ‘I’ll go on through, sir.’
When he arrived at the table she was surprised to see him sipping from a long glass of what looked to be sparkling mineral water.
‘Lime and soda.’ He answered her unspoken query. ‘Cheers.’
Kate nodded. She wanted him to lead this conversation now because she felt very much in alien territory. It was her own fault, she knew that, but surely he would understand that she was doing this to help Jack, not hinder him.
She nearly spat out her first sip of tomato juice at Benson’s opening.
‘Listen, Kate, I know you think you’re helping Jack but right now you’re a hindrance. What the guy needs is his team to close ranks around him, and not have his 2IC running to his colleagues outside the operation.’
‘Is that how you see this?’
‘It’s not important how I see it. How do you reckon DCI Hawksworth will regard what you’re doing?’
She took an audible breath that sounded like a sigh. ‘A betrayal.’
He didn’t respond for a while, just sipped his lime and soda, his huge frame somehow daunting, and at odds with his far too kind expression. She suddenly wasn’t sure she deserved his pity.
‘He’s got so much time for you, so much faith in you, but you keep burning it. What’s going on, Kate … as if I couldn’t guess?’
She’d been staring glumly at the Guinness coaster on the table but now she flashed a glance at her companion, irritation mixing with fear. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Shall I spell it out?’
‘Why don’t you, sir?’
‘The thing is, Kate, I like Jack too … very much, in case you hadn’t realised. I love him in fact, although he’d probably punch my lights out for saying that aloud. We go back a long way, and I can assure you this is not the way to endear yourself to him. This is certainly not the way to win his attention.’
‘Sir, I’m trying to stop him tangling himself in a bizarre and dangerous situation.’
Geoff rubbed at his new beard as he regarded her. She squirmed beneath his gaze. ‘Actually, he’s already in it. But that aside, do you think he’s incapable of making decisions for himself?’
‘No, but —’
‘Do you think he will be incompetent in his role?’
‘No, perhaps compromised, or —’
‘Do you think he will endanger you, or any of the other team members?’
‘No, of course not, but he’s a danger to himself, surely?’
‘Surely?’ he repeated, as though asking himself the question again. ‘No, I don’t think so, or I would have made the call myself and had him removed from the case. I suspect you know Jack has spoken to me because I know Jack would have told his team as much. He’s a team player, you see, which is more than I can say for you, DI Carter.’
She swallowed, felt the treacherous sting of salty tea
rs, but fought them back. ‘I want …’ she began, but couldn’t finish.
Now he leaned forward and took her hand. She didn’t pull it away, much as she wanted to, and its massive warmth seemed to suffuse through her and a multitude of other emotions began to rumble up. Jack, Dan, her cancelled wedding, jealousy, rage, it all began to flow through her, triggered by the tiny show of affection from a man who was deliberately breaking her down.
‘Listen to me, Kate. What you want, you cannot have. It is not there for the taking, I suspect. If it ever comes your way, it will happen because it’s being offered to you, but nothing you do, or say, or act upon, will win you the heart of Jack Hawksworth. Do you understand?’ She sniffed to hide her deep shame and embarrassment. ‘He is an island. And right now he’s a desert island, surrounded by oceans of torment. Leave him be. You cannot join him on the island — he doesn’t want you there. If he did, you’d have been warming his bed years ago. But perhaps catching the killer of Lily can help him. You can be part of the solution that helps him get through this. For someone who clearly feels an enormous amount for him, you show it in strange ways.’
‘Does how I feel about him show that much?’ she mumbled.
‘Mmmm?’ he asked. Kate repeated her question, looking up at him this time, trying not to cringe at having to say it again. He nodded sadly. ‘Glaringly obvious from the moment I met you a couple of years back, I’m afraid.’
‘How humiliating.’
‘No, very natural, I imagine. He’s just one of those lucky bastards.’
‘Lucky?’ she repeated, full of self-loathing.
‘Yes, lucky to have someone as talented, decent and attractive as you being so dementedly loyal. And when I say that, I mean loyal but in a strangely demented way.’
She looked up again, this time blushing hard. Was that a compliment after all the biting remarks?
‘Give him all that energy, Kate, but focus it into the operation. If you can’t have him the way you want him, you might as well have his respect and pleasure at working with you. I’ll tell you again: he thinks the world of you, but you do make it hard. He needs less demented, more loyal!’
The first sign of a smile creased at her mouth and she’d only just realised that DCI Benson hadn’t removed his hand.
‘Ah, there we go. Who said bloody Hawksworth has all the charm?’ he murmured.
She had to admit it. ‘You’re a nice man, DCI Benson.’
‘Bet you didn’t think that five minutes ago.’
She gave a sound of exasperation. ‘I know I’m my own worst enemy sometimes.’
‘Yes, I think that’s an excellent summation. But you’re also one of the rising stars of the force — I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that, but it’s always nice to hear, isn’t it?’
‘Do you really mean that?’ She looked at him incredulously.
‘No, it’s a pick-up line I use regularly. Did it work?’
She laughed now.
He joined her. ‘Of course I mean it. You’ve got enormous potential — everyone knows it — and you can learn so much from your boss. Follow in Jack’s footsteps. He didn’t get to be DCI and seemingly heir apparent just because of his looks … anyway, he’s not Sharpe’s type.’
A few moments ago Kate had felt as though she might never smile again and now she was giggling furiously. She could see why Hawksworth and Benson were mates. They would be fun to be around.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I really mean this. I promise to leave Jack be and put all my energy into the team.’
‘Don’t tell me, tell yourself.’
‘What do we do about this meeting?’
‘What meeting? Two colleagues sharing a soft drink together just outside headquarters? What’s dodgy about that?’
‘You did this all deliberately, didn’t you, sir?’
‘Just saving you from yourself. Call me Geoff, we’re now officially socialising.’
She shrugged. ‘He accused me of rescuing him.’
‘He doesn’t need saving right now. He needs friends, support, understanding — and some time to get this thing done. Help him.’
She nodded. ‘Thanks, Geoff. I’d better get going.’
‘Where’s home?’ he asked before he drained his glass.
‘Stoke Newington. And you?’
‘Southgate. Would you like a lift?’
She shook her head. ‘I was planning to call by the RLH and find out where I’m supposed to be leading my chief tomorrow for a meeting. I thought I’d impress him by being well prepared.’
‘Admirable. But I can drive you past there just as easily as a cab can.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘No, I’m just repetitive. I always ask women the same question in different ways.’
She grinned. ‘Are you always like this?’
‘Actually I do always have to ask a few times.’
She knew they were not speaking about lifts in cars now. ‘I doubt that. I mean, are you always the joker?’
‘Oh absolutely, ask Jack. Better still, don’t. We can’t have him knowing his two friends have been plotting behind his back.’
DCI Benson was easy to be with. ‘Well, I appreciate it.’
The drive to Whitechapel was faster than she’d anticipated, and she was almost disappointed when he pulled over.
‘So where is this place?’ he said, frowning and looking up through the windscreen.
‘No idea,’ she said and he turned to look at her, astonished.
‘RLH sprawls over a very wide area, you know. How about I run in and ask?’
He pointed to a special disc on his car. ‘Go ahead, police can’t move me on, but hurry.’
She nipped out and was relieved that she was able to get an answer to her query almost immediately from a passing pair of nurses, whose precious coffee break she supposed she was interrupting.
‘That was quick,’ Geoff said, when she jumped back into the car.
‘They don’t call me Speedy Carter for nothing, you know.’
‘They don’t call you that at all.’
‘No, that’s true.’
He grinned, and turned the key in the ignition. ‘Where to?’
‘Apparently it’s in Stepney Way, around the corner.’
‘That’s off the main street, New Road. I can probably get you close enough.’
They concentrated as Geoff negotiated his way into teeming New Road, stopping at the corner of Stepney Way. ‘Can’t stay long,’ he warned her.
Kate opened the door and got out, but didn’t leave the side of the car, scanning the buildings, wondering which of the gloomy Victorian piles would be home to Professor Chan.
‘Have to hurry you, Kate,’ Geoff said, looking in his rear-vision mirror.
‘Okay,’ she said, jumping back in. ‘Thanks anyway. At least I have an idea now. We’ll get here early, or I can ring.’
Geoff glided back into the traffic. ‘You know roughly where it is, that’s the main thing. Jack, of course, has the navigational skills of a homing pigeon.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Yep. He’s one of those irritating people who instinctively know the right way to go. Me, I blunder around, ask lots of questions and usually end up in some service station, asking the poor sod behind the counter to write it down for me.’
‘Oh, I’m like that too. Hopeless.’
‘Then we’d make a good pair, wouldn’t we?’
She smiled, unsure of what that meant, liking the sound of it all the same. She reflected on how the evening had gone, and decided DCI Geoff Benson had saved her a ton of trouble. The car had fallen quiet, but it was not an awkward silence. As they approached Stoke Newington, she finally spoke. ‘It’s Dunsmure Road, into Stamford Hill really.’
‘Okay, I think I know where that is.’
‘Near the cemetery.’
‘Got it.’
‘You’ve been really good about this.’
He shook his head slightly, staring
out at the dark night. ‘I know in your heart you didn’t set out to start trouble, so you’re instantly forgiven. But trouble is what it would have caused had we made it official, sat in my office, and so on.’
‘Yes, I can see that now.’
‘I’d have had to make a report and you’d have caused me a big headache on the eve of my holiday.’
‘Oh? Where are you off to?’
‘Scotland.’
‘Alone?’ she exclaimed without thinking.
He looked at her with mock disdain. ‘Now why does everybody think I’m incapable of finding a woman?’
She began to laugh and it was genuinely filled with mirth, but also apology. ‘I’m so sorry, sir, I didn’t mean it like that,’ she began to protest.
‘Yes, you did. Bloody Hawskworth reacted exactly the same way. What a pair of bastards. I’ve a good mind to take you back and leave you at Empress in the dark and cold.’
‘You’ve been very kind to drop me.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s on the way home. You know, I always think of this area as being mainly for the Hasidim.’
‘It is. But I like it. There’s a great buzz — it’s like living in a village where just about everyone is tolerated. There are some great clubs, bars and restaurants here. I don’t need to go over into the west end to have a good time with friends.’
Geoff threw her a disbelieving glance. ‘But isn’t it a bit like stepping back in time? Like the Amish from that film with Harrison Ford?’
Kate laughed. ‘You think that because you’re an observer, not living it. These are good people. They just have a way of life that’s a lot more simple and a lot less hurried than ours. And because they’re in big numbers here it can look daunting.’ She shrugged. ‘I can’t say I have any Hasidic Jewish friends, but I stop and talk with people at the local shops and have a giggle with the women, play with their babies —
that sort of thing. All very normal, there’s nothing extremist or anything to fear here. They’re peaceful, Geoff. They don’t want trouble.’
‘True. I’ve never had to arrest a Hasid.’
‘I’ll tell you something. I feel safer walking around these streets than anywhere else in London. That’s the truth. None of the men leer at me, or make comments on what I’m wearing. Coming upon a group of young Hasidic men late at night is not threatening. They’ll step aside for you, look away in fact.’
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