Raven

by Heather Atkinson

  “He’s the one who needs help with all the women he juggles?”

  Damon turned bright red, contrasting startlingly with his hair. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”

  “Calm down,” repeated Raven.

  He took in a deep breath, the colour draining from his face. “Sorry.”

  “It’s not me you should be apologising to.”

  He looked down at the constable on the floor, who had stopped gasping but appeared tired and drained. “Sorry mate, alright?”

  The constable wisely nodded. “It’s okay.”

  “Do you want to press charges?” said Tom.

  “Yeah,” said Damon. “He poked me in the shoulder.”

  “I was talking to the Constable.”

  The constable took one look at Damon’s thunderous expression. “No, I’m fine.”

  “Really?” said Tom.

  “Yeah, really.”

  “Right, get yourself checked out.”

  “I’m fine Sarge.”

  “I’m taking no chances, especially with a neck injury. Get checked out then get yourself back to the station. I’ll wait here until we can get another constable sent over.”

  “Thanks Sarge,” he said, looking visibly brighter, picking up his hat and hurrying away before he could change his mind.

  “Thanks,” Raven said to Tom.

  “Just make sure he stays calm,” he replied, pointing at Damon.

  “I will,” she said, taking Damon’s arm and pulling him into Aidan’s room before he could reply, closing the door behind them.

  Tom watched through the glass as Raven resumed her vigil at Aidan’s bedside, Damon remaining standing. When Raven’s gaze caught his, he turned back round to face out into the corridor, feeling he’d intruded on a private moment.

  “Thanks for the cabaret,” Aidan said to Damon. “It was great fun watching you pin up a copper by the throat.”

  “It felt fucking good. You okay?”

  “I’ll live.”

  Damon was about to say that was a shame when he caught Raven’s icy gaze and decided against it. “Dad’s been admitted too,” he said instead.

  “Oh God,” said Raven, shooting to her feet. “Don’t tell me you cooked for him again?”

  “No,” he retorted. “It was a car accident. Actually, that’s a lie. It wasn’t an accident. Some cockwomble drove into him on purpose.”

  “Pitbull’s gang. Is he okay?”

  “He’ll be fine. Nothing could do Dad in short of a nuclear bomb. He’s got a broken arm and a concussion but other than that he’s fine.”

  “Which ward is he on?”

  “Twelve.”

  Raven looked to her husband but she didn’t need to speak. “Go to him,” he said, knowing how much One Eye meant to her.

  She kissed him. “Thank you.” She straightened up and looked from him to Damon. “Think you two can get along while I’m away?”

  “We’ll do our best,” said Damon, giving Aidan a hard look.

  “You’d better or the sergeant on the door will nick you both.” She scowled when they both appeared amused. “Just don’t cause anymore trouble, either of you. They’re suspicious of us enough as it is.”

  With that she left the room, leaving the men to glare at each other.

  “So,” began Damon. “You in pain then?”

  “None whatsoever,” lied Aidan.

  “I can always change that, if you like?”

  “I appreciate the offer but no thanks.”

  “Fine,” he said, flinging himself into the chair in the corner. “I’ll read my magazine then.”

  “High literature I see,” said Aidan when Damon dragged a porno magazine out of his jacket pocket.

  “What can I say, I like the pictures,” he said with a cockeyed smile.

  Aidan settled back into the pillows, deciding to leave him to it. At least he was quiet, for once.

  CHAPTER 42

  “On God, how are you?” said Raven, gently embracing One Eye, his right arm in an elbow-high cast.

  “Look what he did to your face,” he sighed, taking her hand.

  “Looks worse than it is. I’m more concerned about you.”

  “I’m feeling a little foolish but otherwise okay,” he replied. “Only four of them came after me. They thought I was easy pickings, being the more mature male.”

  She was heartened by the way his blue eye twinkled with good humour. “More fool them. It was Pitbull’s men. They were afraid of you going after them if they killed me and Aidan. Then they were going to take care of Damon.”

  “That would have been amusing to see.”

  “Marcus Moore was in on it too.”

  “No surprise there.”

  “I’ll be taking care of that wanker, have no fear.”

  “That’s very good of you my dear but fear has never been something I’ve had to cope with.”

  “Just a turn of phrase, I know you’re made of metal,” she said with a fond smile.

  He patted her hand, his gentle smile falling. “I was on my way to Stonefort.”

  “Why?”

  “I had to warn you, about the past.”

  “You know what really happened to me?”

  “Yes, although I had no idea it was Jeremy Elias. Stonefort covered it up, they couldn’t afford another scandal, they were on the brink of closure as it was. When you told me about him, I thought it possible.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I was afraid of the effect it would have on you. That anger buried inside you was planted there by the trauma you experienced. I was afraid of what would happen if you were exposed to the truth, especially when it was vital you remain sharp and focused.”

  “I can understand that but a warning would have been good.”

  “I had no idea if you would remember at all. I realised I’d made an error of judgement and I tried to warn you. Unfortunately Pitbull’s men decided to interfere. I take it we don’t need to worry about them anymore?”

  She nodded.

  “I apologise for my miscalculation but a psychologist I am not.”

  “Don’t apologise. This is my baggage, not yours. You did your best.”

  “How do you feel about it all? I hope it didn’t overwhelm you.”

  “It did at first. He was a clever bastard, he made sure I saw Mum’s old room and the memories hit me all at once - her lying dead in her cell, me being strapped to a bed, Jeremy trying to kill me…”

  “I’m so sorry you had to remember all that.”

  “It nearly broke me then your training kicked in. I don’t know how but I slipped into a meditation, the ravens came. They took away the pain. It sounds crazy but that’s how it was.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy Raven. In fact it makes perfect sense.”

  “I came back fighting and now he’s gone.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it. So there’s no danger of him coming back?”

  “None whatsoever.”

  He nodded once. “Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

  “Yes but the police don’t believe me.”

  “Don’t you worry about them. I’ve arranged something to support your story.”

  “What?”

  “Best not to discuss it. If you look surprised when you find out it will only lend the lie more credence.”

  “What would I do without you?” she said, planting a kiss on his forehead.

  “Me and my useless broken arm. Dear God, I’ll have Damon nursing me.”

  “No you won’t. I’ll come round every day and help out, do the cooking and cleaning.”

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort. You’ll spend time with that man of yours.”

  “Before he goes away again?”

  “Yes, although it pains me to say it.”

  “I know,” she sighed. “But how will you manage?”

  “A rather lovely lady moved in to the house five doors down. She’s very maternal and enjoys p
ampering people. Now her children have grown up and moved away, those instincts have no outlet. I thought I might fill that role for her for a while.”

  “In the hope that she’ll fulfil some urges of your own?”

  “You never know your luck,” he said, eye twinkling.

  Raven sighed when the pinched-faced detective entered the ward, his gaze homing in on her immediately. “That’s the investigating officer,” she said. “He’s come to speak to you.”

  “And I’ll handle him, don’t fret.”

  They watched the detective approach, his eyes full of disapproval.

  “It seems you always manage to get to people first,” he said. “How do you do it Mrs Gallagher?”

  “It’s not some sort of trick, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she retorted. “He’s my father.”

  “Got your stories all straight, have you?”

  “I resent that,” said One Eye. “You insult my daughter.”

  “That was not my intention,” he replied. “I was merely insinuating that she has a sixth sense for where I’m going next.”

  “If you think there’s something suspicious about me visiting my dad in hospital after he’s been in a car accident then you’re crazy,” she said.

  “A car accident that just happens to occur on the same day your husband is kidnapped?”

  “It was no coincidence,” said One Eye. “It was a trap, set up by Jeremy Elias, a bad seed that none of your lot spotted until he’d left mayhem in his wake.”

  “I’d like to discuss that with you Sir.” He glanced at Raven. “Alone.”

  “It’s alright,” said One Eye, patting her hand. “Go and check on Aidan.”

  She planted another kiss on his forehead before getting to her feet. “I’ll be back soon.”

  One Eye watched her leave the ward, proud of how high she held her head. Elias had tried to break her and had failed. Only when she’d gone did he turn to the detective, fixing him with his good eye, which positively burned. “Let me tell you a story Detective.”

  The team sweeping what remained of Stonefort wore white suits and breathing apparatus, a huge amount of dust still floating about from the explosion.

  “Is it safe?” Tom asked one of the team.

  The man, who was just a pair of watery blue eyes encased in white paper, nodded, suit rustling. “Fire brigade’s given the go ahead.” He produced a map from his pocket with a flourish and opened it up to reveal a plan of the hospital crisscrossed with lines. “We’ve divided the site up into grids. This area still needs searching,” he said, pointing at a section off to the right. “The segregation cells.”

  “Where Raven’s mother killed herself,” he murmured.

  “Eh?” said the officer.

  “Nothing. I’ll search the area.”

  “Thanks, that’ll take the strain off a bit. This site’s bloody massive. We’ve not even started on the outbuildings yet.”

  “Have you found any trace of Constable Elias yet?”

  “No but if he was near the epicentre of the explosion there won’t be anything to find.”

  After pulling on a paper suit and mask, Tom wandered around the area he’d been given to search, knowing he was looking for something, although he had no idea what that was. His police instinct was telling him there was something to find, something vital.

  Part of the roof in the segregation cells had survived and had been propped up to ensure it didn’t fall on the search team’s heads. He pulled the torch from his belt, the lukewarm glow lighting up chunks of fallen masonry. Some of the doors had been blown off the cells, others had managed to cling on by a hinge. The only door that had stayed on properly was the room where Raven’s mother had died, which gave him the chills.

  Tom shook off the sense of superstitious dread. He was a police officer, he had to remain logical and it wouldn’t do his reputation much good if he ran out of here screaming.

  He forced himself to peer around the door and into the cell, a roomful of nothing but shadows, the furniture that had been in there utterly destroyed, the sense of oppression hanging heavy in the air. He could only imagine how Raven had felt being locked up in this revolting place after witnessing something so horrific. No wonder she was the way she was and that should send him running for the hills, but it didn’t and he was beginning to question his own sanity.

  Despite the mask the air felt heavier, dust motes streaking through the torchlight and he was becoming concerned for his health.

  He was just about to turn around and escape this horrific place when he spied something against the wall. When he turned the torch that way, he forced himself not to stagger backwards.

  Splayed across the floor was a thing that could once have been a human being. In the gloom he could make out what appeared to be a leg encased in denim, a shoe on the end, the foot turned at an alarming angle. Beyond that he couldn’t make out very much, the whole thing was just a charred and blackened mess. No doubt the heavy door had protected the body from total destruction.

  “Is that you Jeremy?” he sighed. Once he would have had sympathy for him but after learning what he’d done to Raven when she was a girl he was finding it very difficult to muster any. It had to be him, there were no reports of anyone else being in the building.

  He was about to call it in when he spied what he took to be an arm tied to a radiator. Peering closer, he saw a cable tie knotted around burnt, stinking flesh.

  Tom straightened up, taking in deep breaths. Aidan Gallagher couldn’t have cable-tied who he was pretty sure was Jeremy Elias to that radiator. He’d been trapped in a steel bath when the explosion happened. It was possible he’d tied him up before then but he’d been found on the floor below. It didn’t make sense why he’d tie Jeremy up here then run all that way. His instinct had been right. Raven had been here all along.

  He stared at the cable tie, his phone in his hand. What should he do?

  The following morning the news revolved around the explosion at Stonefort, bolstered by various tales about Jeremy Elias. They’d got hold of Jeremy’s entire sordid history, apart from the fact that he’d attacked Raven when she was a child. Somehow that had been missed by every media outlet around the country. Even without that information, public opinion was firmly on Raven’s side.

  “It’s strange how every newspaper in the country got hold of this story so fast,” said Raven, flicking through one of the major tabloids. She and Aidan were at One Eye’s house, both men having discharged themselves from hospital early that morning.

  “Yes,” said One Eye, sipping a cup of tea Raven had made. “Very strange.”

  “And to get it before it went to press last night,” said Aidan. “Even stranger, especially as the police didn’t have all the facts then.”

  One Eye nodded. “Oh yes.” He smiled enigmatically when they all stared at him. “I have my contacts too.”

  “Thank God you do,” said Raven. “The police are going to have to make sure they have a ton of evidence before coming after any of us.”

  “Which they won’t get,” said Damon. “Because there’s fuck all to find.”

  “Exactly,” said Raven. “But why do I feel like I can’t relax yet?”

  “You will,” said One Eye. “Soon.”

  “If you hadn’t got stuck in the bloody building,” said Damon, addressing Aidan. “They wouldn’t have a clue you were involved.”

  “Oh I’m sorry for almost being blown up,” snapped Aidan. “I bet you’d have preferred it if I’d gone the whole way.”

  Damon was about to retort when he caught Raven’s pleading look. “No, course not. Sorry, I was out of line there.”

  Aidan was so surprised his anger deflated. “Oh, right.”

  One Eye gazed at his son with pride. Hopefully he was learning to control himself. It was about time.

  Raven checked her phone when it beeped. “I’ve got a job on.”

  “Who?” said Aidan.

  “Police.”

  “T
hey’re still using you, even though you’re being investigated?”

  “I’m their only option.”

  “Wait,” said Aidan when she got to her feet. “Don’t you think it’s a bit weird?”

  “Maybe but it’ll go in my favour if they remember what an asset I am.” She kissed him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

  “Let her go,” said One Eye when Aidan moved to follow her out the door.

  “She could be walking into a trap.”

  “She’ll be fine. In fact I was expecting this.”

  Aidan was becoming frustrated with his cryptic statements. “Expecting what?” he sighed.

  “This call. It’s a conversation she needs to have. Just be patient and trust it’s for the best.”

  It took everything Aidan had to retake his seat. Raven trusted One Eye and finally he did too.

  Raven left her car on the road beside the park and walked down the path snaking alongside the duck pond. She’d pulled up her hood so she wouldn’t be recognised, although One Eye had ensured the only photos of her the newspapers had were grainy and out of focus. However she was conscious of the severe bruising to her face and she didn’t want to scare the children playing on the park. The sun was out, shining down on her back, warming her. It was a good place to meet, the presence of so many people out enjoying the weather reassuring.

  The contact who had wanted to meet her lurked by the large oak tree beside the fountain. She slowed her pace when she saw who he was. He wore sunglasses, blue jeans and a pale blue t-shirt. She couldn’t help but admire the points and swirls of the tribal tattoos adorning his forearms, which had always been hidden by his clothes before.

  “Tom,” she said. “I should be surprised but I’m not.” She looked around, expecting more police officers to pop out of the undergrowth. “So, am I under arrest?”

  “Should you be?”

  “You tell me.”

  He held up an object for her to see. “Do you know what this is?”

  “Looks like a cable tie.”

  “You’re right, it is. Do you know where I found it?”

  “No idea.”

  “On Jeremy Elias’s wrist.”

  “He’s turned up then?”

  Her cool, calm demeanour came as no surprise. It seemed to be part and parcel of her personality. “Yes. Dead.”