by J. D. Weston
Time passed slowly and more cars arrived. More hands were shaken, women were hugged, and champagne flowed. Until the men at the gate caught Harvey’s attention and gave him the signal that all of the guests were accounted for, except one.
Harvey nodded.
Donny took his place at the arch, and after a final fake laugh with an unknown, Sergio joined him.
“Is Sergio Donny’s best man?” asked Harvey, as they looked on from the top of the steps.
“Who else could he ask?” said Julios.
He meant no comedy or insult by the statement. It was a fact that Donny moved through groups of friends like a dose of salts, then moved to the next group as soon as he’d insulted, angered, or ripped them off. It was just Donny’s personality. He didn’t pick up on the social cues that the rest of society did.
For Sergio though, the honour was apparent by his beaming smile. He had dropped the serious expression, and, for a short period of time, he would be able to enjoy the fruits of wealth and power as a somebody, rather than a man who served the family, as was his job.
The scene was set. The groom and his best man stood at the arch with the sober-looking vicar. The congregation waited patiently for the bride. The catering staff manned the bar and covered the lunch platters. All was still. The only movement was from the quartet who continued to provide soft, atmospheric music to the wedding party.
Then there was the rumble of an engine, deep and throaty, but finely tuned. The two guards on the gate both waved a single hand to Harvey and the wedding planner. The wedding planner in turn nodded to the vicar, who then leaned over to the quartet and muttered a signal.
They stopped playing and between the gates arrived a gleaming, open-topped, white Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. The driver wore leather gloves, a hat, and tails, and in the backseat, sitting alone, was the bride.
Harvey said nothing, but he felt Julios’ eyes and the two exchanged a look of amazement.
The man Sergio had assigned to car parking directed the driver toward the seating. It was the only car to have turned right off the driveway, and as he stopped and switched the engine off, the quartet began once more. The bride, elegant in her ways, and beautiful beyond anyone else there, stepped down from the vintage Rolls to the tune of Canon in D. Her hair flowed like falling water that had been frozen in time. Her skin was smooth like that of a doll, with shades of pink makeup to accentuate her facial features. She had slender shoulders that she pulled back as if she had attended elocution classes.
She was a picture to behold and every man and woman who stared at her right there and then did so with envy, lust, and admiration.
There were tears and smiles as the bride made her way between the rows of seats. And at the top of the aisle, Donny faced forward with his hands folded before him, and he looked up, as if reciting one last prayer of silent thanks.
He turned as his bride drew close, and even from the distance at which Harvey and Julios were standing, Harvey could see his face melt with emotion.
The soon-to-be-wed couple stood side by side before the vicar while the quartet played out their final bars. And then the vicar began the ceremony. His voice reached Harvey and Julios almost effortlessly.
“Where were you?” said Julios, taking the opportunity to air his thoughts while the ceremony took place.
“When?” said Harvey.
“I looked for you. Yesterday. You were nowhere to be seen.”
“Do you mean to say John was watching my house and wondering where I was?” said Harvey, and he remembered Sergio pounding on his door a few hours before. They had known Harvey was inside, which meant that John had been watching.
“Why do you not tell me?” said Julios.
“About what?”
Julios said nothing. He watched the ceremony, as calm as could be. But beneath the question, Harvey felt bitterness.
“There’s nothing to tell,” said Harvey.
Again, Julios said nothing. He was a tower of strength, both physically and mentally. Just as John could beat Harvey, or anyone, in a battle of words, Julios could overpower Harvey with his mind. Julios was the man Harvey respected most and to disappoint him would mean failure on his behalf.
“Perhaps you need re-training.”
“I don’t need re-training, Julios.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me, Harvey. Are you in trouble?”
“No, Julios. I’m not in any trouble.”
It was impossible to lie to Julios.
“You were not following the rules.”
Harvey said nothing. If he couldn’t lie, he wouldn’t speak at all.
But Julios’ silence added a weight that Harvey couldn’t ignore.
“I was arrested. They let me go. Nothing happened. It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters,” said Julios. Then he turned to face Harvey. “This habit of yours must stop. If you were sloppy like this on a job with me and we were both caught…”
“Then what? What if, Julios?”
He met Harvey’s stare, looking down at him as a disapproving father might be repulsed by his son’s insolence.
“I’d kill you myself,” said Julios.
Chapter Nine
“Sir?” said Fox, as Myers whipped his jacket from the back of his chair and pulled it on in a whirl of flowing cotton en route to the door.
“Not now, Fox.”
Myers was seething. He couldn’t stand Allenby’s patronising, condescending, and sanctimonious tone. He’d seen her rise through the ranks. If she hadn’t been sitting in that seat, either Carver or himself would have been. She knew it and he knew it. And that unspoken statement was the crux of their relationship.
“But, sir-”
“I said, not now, Fox. Whatever it is, you can deal with it.”
She looked disappointed, hurt almost, but she was too strong to let emotions stand in the way.
“I’m sorry,” said Myers. “I shouldn’t have snapped.”
“It’s Jennifer Standing, sir,” she said, and Myers stopped for a brief moment with one hand on the door. “Her father called. She’s ready to talk.”
Beyond Fox’s shoulder, Myers saw the window blind in Allenby’s office twitch.
“Get your coat,” said Myers, and left the office before Allenby could protest. He called out that Fox should meet him in the car park and pushed through the double doors into the fire escape.
He fired up his old Mercedes and waited for Fox. His reflection stared back at him in the rear-view mirror, reminding him of his age, his lack of sleep, and his high blood pressure. His own mortality and the Standing case reminded him of Harriet. How much of her life had he missed already? How much more would he get to see? He wondered if she would ever be the same around him again, like she used to be. Those times when they would watch a movie as a family, and Harriet would rest her feet on his legs. It was the closeness he missed. There were things that he, as her father, felt privileged to know, privileged that she chose to confide in him. She would ask for his advice if friends were choosing the wrong path or mixing with boys that were less than law abiding.
But that was an age ago. The tired, old man that stared at the bags beneath his eyes in his rear-view mirror kicked himself for not savouring those moments and for letting it all slip away.
The car door opened, and Fox climbed in. Myers had pulled away before she’d pulled on her seat belt, and he slowed for the automatic gates to open. Fox said nothing, but she wanted to. Myers’ senses were attuned to those little, unspoken thoughts.
But Fox was a pro. She would go far if she kept her nose clean and learnt how and when to break the rules. Her words were professional and clear and masked the undertone of, ‘Is everything alright, sir?’ better than he gave her credit for.
“What’s this?” she asked, as he pulled out of the station car park onto the main road.
Myers glanced across and saw her opening the file he kept tucked into the side of the passenger seat.
<
br /> “Leave that,” he said.
“Is that a duplicate file?”
“That’s none of your business is what that is.”
“I didn’t think we were allowed to take files out of the office.”
“Look, if we’re going to get along, you’re going to have to rein in the rules. This isn’t college.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“I’ve been working on this case for months. It’s all I think about, Fox. Do you think when I wake up in the middle of the night that I’d drive into work to pore over some files and reports? You have to understand, Fox, when you get this deep into a case, you don’t switch off at five o’clock. It’s a twenty-four-seven job and it takes over your life. So, if that means I need to have some kind of intelligence with me and that happens to break a rule, then so be it.”
She tucked the file back down into the side of the seat. Myers waited for her to say something.
“I’d like to lead the questioning, sir,” said Fox.
It was a welcome surprise that offered Myers a little reprise. He considered it and felt her stare as he checked his rear-view mirror.
“Jennifer Standing has been through a lot, sir. Her parents agreed to her being interviewed on the condition that it was done at their home.”
There was something else. A catch, or a supporting reason. And it was coming.
“And I think, if you don’t mind me saying, sir, that-”
“Did Allenby put you up to this just now?”
“No, sir,” said Fox, doing well not to fluster at Myers’ slight aggression. She hesitated. “Well, yes. But I’d like to though, sir. If you don’t mind. You can jump in whenever you want, but right now, I think we need a clear account of what happened and if the suspect actually did anything wrong.”
“You mean the silent man?”
“Yes, sir.”
“He killed a man, Fox. He opened him up-”
“We don’t know that it was him and, as far as evidence is concerned, all we have is that Jennifer Standing went missing, Faisal Hussein was killed, and Jennifer was delivered home safe and sound. That’s all we have.”
“That man we arrested last night was-”
“That man we arrested last night, sir, was arrested for the abduction of Jennifer Standing. Hussein’s murder is a whole different case, sir.”
Myers licked his lips. He knew he did it but couldn’t help it. Fox knew it too. It was his signal that he didn’t appreciate the tone of her voice.
It was Allenby talking.
“Look, sir, I’m sorry. But the Standings are good people. Good people that care about their daughter’s welfare. If we’ve got any chance of Jennifer giving evidence, then this is our only chance. We can’t keep hitting her with open case questions. We need to close the door on her abduction and let the poor girl move on with her life.”
“She was the only witness to a murder, Fox.”
“A murder that took place in a forest in the dark while she was in a state of shock and fear,” said Fox. “You know as well as I do that she won’t have a clear understanding of what happened. It’ll be garbled, and rightly so. Poor thing. All I’m saying is that we’ve got two open cases and if we mess this up and drag it out, we’ll have two open cases tomorrow and the next day. Let’s at least close the abduction off so she can get on with her life.”
Myers stopped the car.
“It’s all yours,” he said. “You lead the interview. If it goes well, I’ll make sure Allenby knows about it. If it doesn’t go as planned…”
He paused and imagined the scene.
“Sir?”
“Well, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Chapter Ten
Mr and Mrs Cartwright turned to face each other and kissed. Then the blushing bride smiled at the congregation and the newlyweds walked down the aisle hand in hand. The new Mrs Cartwright was beaming, radiant and full of excitement. Donny wore his facade of bravado that he’d inherited from his father. He adopted a proud expression, maintained his composure, and nodded at the guests who sat on both sides, leading his wife to the end of the aisle.
It was there that John Cartwright was waiting. One of the servers stood beside him holding a tray of champagne, towards which John turned, collected two glasses, and handed them to his son and new daughter-in-law.
It was a cheap attempt at control, thought Harvey, that even John would conjure a moment in the wedding to inflict his display of wealth and power on his guests. But his placement was apt at the south end of the aisle, outside of the makeshift, open-air chapel. He spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear but directed his words to Donny and his new bride.
He took a glass for himself and flicked his head for the server to return to the line of girls holding trays and waited for the string quartet to finish and fade away.
“It’s a glorious day,” he said, and the murmuring crowd hushed in anticipation. “Not only is the sun shining down on us, but I get to welcome this beautiful young lady into our family and call her my daughter-in-law. So, Julia, welcome.” He raised his glass to the congregation, who were still standing by their seats, keen to get drinks of their own. “We’ll be dining in an hour. In the meantime, please help yourselves to drinks and canapes and enjoy the music.”
There was a rushed and muted applause and John spoke quietly to his son and daughter-in-law as people left the ceremony and approached the line of servers. From where Harvey was standing at the top of the steps, he could not hear what John was saying, but he guessed it would be pretentious, ostentatious, and authoritative, despite the positive intent.
A few children ran between the seats, starting a game amongst themselves while the adults formed groups. Harvey watched as men he’d known John to have worked with in the past had words in the ears of other men and, despite the scene of splendour, bore expressions of distrust and caution as they eyed other familiar faces.
The children brought their game to the steps and were soon running around Harvey and Julios’ legs and, for a second, Harvey thought he saw a fond smile creep over Julios’ face, but it was masked by the shadow of his focus as movement caught his attention.
It was Donny and his new bride who had managed to escape the crowds for a few moments and were heading towards the steps, hand in hand.
The children saw the newlyweds approaching, stopped, giggled, then ran off towards the stream and the orchard.
Harvey steeled himself to be nice to his foster-brother, as per John’s latest instructions.
“Congratulations, Donny,” said Harvey, then turned to his wife. “Mrs Cartwright. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“You must be Harvey,” she replied, and gave Donny a look of pleasant surprise. “Please, call me Julia.”
“Well, Julia Cartwright, welcome to the family,” said Harvey, turning to Julios. “This is-”
“Julios,” said Julia, and locked eyes with the big man. “I’ve heard so much about you that I feel I know you already.”
Harvey was surprised at his own ability to make pleasant small talk with Donny and his bride. But Julios surprised him further. He reached down, collected the girl’s delicate hand in his own fat fingers, and bent to place a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. He admired the ring for a few seconds, then straightened.
“If there is anything you need, Mrs Cartwright, anything at all, then, please, Harvey and I will be glad to help you.”
Donny’s eyebrows were raised in astonishment and only settled when Julia returned to his side and pulled herself close to him.
“Why don’t you go and show that ring off,” said Donny. “I just need a few moments.”
She smiled an adorable, playful smile and backed away.
“You’d better not be talking business on our wedding day,” she threatened.
“Of course not,” said Donny, and glanced at Harvey before returning his attention to her. “Just brotherly stuff. You know?”
“I see,” she said. “Well, d
on’t be long, the photographer wants us under the arch.”
She was greeted by a group of John’s friends who were waiting to capture her and learn more about the girl who had won the heart of the Cartwright heir. Donny watched her with adoration before turning to Harvey.
“Should I go?” asked Julios. “Maybe you both want some time.”
“There’s no need,” said Donny, his tone flat and short, a contrast to just moments before. “I wanted to thank you both, you know, man to men.”
Harvey didn’t reply and Julios straightened his jacket collar.
“I’ve known you both for most of my life and you should have been a part of the ceremony.”
“There’s no need-”
“Just let me finish, Julios. Please. I wanted you both to be a part of it. I really did. But the truth is, and I’m sorry if this is hard to hear, but I’ve not got many friends. In fact, I have more enemies than friends. Dad offered to have the place swarming with men so that you both could enjoy the ceremony.”
He stopped, as if he were choosing his words and taking the time to clear his throat.
“I know we haven’t seen eye to eye, Harvey. I know you think little of me. And, Julios, I honestly don’t know what you think. But the fact is that I wouldn’t feel safe without you two looking after the security. You’re the only two men I trust well enough to make sure that Julia and everyone here has the best day of their lives. So, thanks.”
“It’s nothing, Donny,” said Julios.
“But it is. It really is. I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve all this,” said Donny, sweeping his hand across the scene behind him. “But I’m grateful to have it. And I’m grateful to have you both looking after it, and for looking after Dad.”
The words faded to a hum in Harvey’s mind. Donny was a cruel man and had been even crueller as a child. He was vindictive, selfish, and above all else, he was a coward. In Harvey’s experience, cowards never learn courage. But in all that time, during all those moments when he and Harvey were growing up and Donny would play a cruel trick to land Harvey in trouble, he’d never shared as many words with his foster-brother as he did now. There was a part of him that felt and sounded genuine, a real honesty behind the words. But history had proved Harvey right more often than not, and he couldn’t find any solemn truth in the words, despite Donny’s efforts at credibility.
