Avaline Saddlebags

by Netta Newbound

  Grabbing two coffees, I made my way back to the incident room and handed Will his.

  “Cheers, boss.”

  “So, what you got on today?”

  “I’m looking into the travellers–see if we can track down who bought the van, but I won’t lie, it’s not gonna be easy.”

  “Do what you can.”

  “I have a few leads.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “There’s a large community that were settled just outside of St. Helens a few weeks ago. Seems they’ve moved up toward Manchester way and have taken over a parking lot behind an abandoned service station. I’ll take a drive up and see what I can find out.”

  I rolled my eyes, knowing how much carnage the travelling community usually left behind. Their lifestyle wasn’t for me, but I certainly respected their choices. I just wish they could be a bit more respectful of the places they took over. “Let me know, and if I’m not up to my eyes in it, I’ll go with you.”

  “No worries, boss. If you’re too busy, Joanna can come with me.”

  “Perhaps that might be the better option as I can cover some other stuff I didn’t get around to doing yesterday.”

  He grinned again.

  “What’s so funny now?”

  “Is it true you were in full makeup when Bella gave birth to the little fella?”

  “Fucking hell, Will, news travels fast around here. How did you know she’d had the baby?”

  “She’s good mates with my Rachel.”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot that.” Nothing was sacred in this place.

  “So?” He cocked an eyebrow.

  “What?” I didn’t want to give him anything else to laugh about, but as Bella had already dropped me in it, what could I do?

  “Is it true?”

  “Kind of, but keep that to yourself, or I’ll be a laughingstock.” I could have throttled Layla right at that moment. It had been her bright idea for me to audition in the first place. I really didn’t want to do it, but when lined up against two dead women and the possibility of further murders, it seemed churlish of me to refuse. Playing dress up and lip-syncing to some long forgotten disco classic wasn’t going to kill me.

  He sipped at his coffee then looked up. “You’re the boss.”

  “Yeah, right, like that’ll stop you taking the piss when the rest of the team get here.”

  I came back from lunch, stuffed up to the eyeballs after an all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut buffet, to find a gift-wrapped box on my desk.

  The room was deathly silent.

  “What’s this?”

  “Just a little something to celebrate your promotion, boss,” Joanna said.

  “Guys, you didn’t have to do this,” I said, touched. I ripped the wrapping paper off and pulled open the box, aware of the sniggers ringing out around the room. “Very fucking funny,” I said, as I lifted a personalised bronze desk nameplate up to read the words Detective Inspector Drag Queen etched into it.

  Roaring laughter shattered the silence. I had to admit, it was bloody funny and I laughed right along with them, positive if the shoe had been on the other foot, I’d have willingly played along too.

  “It was nothing to do with me,” Layla said, looking pale and drawn.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, concerned for her, once the laughter had died down and everybody had gone back to work. “You don’t look too good.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied. “Not much sleep last night.”

  “I know how you feel, but is there anything I can help you with?”

  “Not really,” she sighed. “Max came around last night with his new girlfriend.”

  She appeared to be at breaking point. Max had always seemed the decent kind, so rubbing Layla’s face in his infidelity didn’t sit right with me, and I vowed to tell him so if our paths ever crossed again. “The insensitive pig.”

  “It didn’t go well, which is no surprise really, and the kids were heartbroken. I wanted to kill him, Dylan.” She stifled a sob. “How could he do this to me, to all of us?”

  “I don’t know what to say because nothing will make any of this right, but maybe you should call it a day and go home, get some shut eye while the kids are at school and come back with fresh eyes tomorrow.”

  “The kids didn’t go to school–none of them, they were still too upset this morning and I didn’t have the heart to make them go. Mum’s looking after them, which has thrown a spanner in the works for her plans.”

  “Apart from it interrupting her love life, what does she make of the situation?”

  “She was there when Max arrived last night and she went mental. I had to hold her back.”

  “And the girlfriend?”

  “Eh?”

  “His new girlfriend.”

  “Oh, yeah, her.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Do you mind if we change the subject because I don’t want to get upset in front of this lot?”

  “No, not at all, but go home if you want to. It’s fine.” We really couldn’t afford to lose another staff member, but what use was she if she was just going to be moping around all day?

  “I’ll stay for another hour or two if that’s okay? I’m eager to know what Will and Joanna find out from the travellers.”

  “Okay,” I answered, “but I can call you at home if you’re gone by the time they get back.”

  Halfway up the M62, Joanna looked at her watch and frowned.

  “This will be a total waste of our time, Will.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so,” she replied, huffing. “This lot will clam right up as soon as they see our badges. They stick together through thick and thin. And if our killer is one of them, no way will they give him up easily.”

  “I’m not sure you’re right, Jo. Not this time anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “Would anyone want this lunatic living amongst them? No, I think if somebody knows something, they’ll spill.”

  “Bet you twenty quid we come away with nothing.” She smirked confident she’d win the bet.

  He kept his eyes on the road. “Deal.”

  Ten minutes later Will turned the car into an abandoned parking lot. Caravans and other vehicles could be seen for hundreds of yards.

  “What an absolute shit hole,” he said, frowning.

  “Was there ever any doubt as to what we’d find here?”

  “Something tells me you’re not too fond of the travelling community.”

  “I’ve got nothing against them personally, Will. It’s just this.” She gestured at the mess all around her. “They think they have the god-given right to settle anywhere and expect us hard working taxpayers to foot the bill for the clean-up.”

  “I see what you mean.”

  “Make sure you lock the car,” she said. “Though we’ll be lucky if it still has four wheels when we get back.”

  “Gotcha,” he said leading the way. “Let’s start over here. He looks like the friendly sort.”

  Joanna cast a glance and spied an unkempt, bearded guy who looked to be in his fifties, drinking from a can of lager. “If you mean him, I wouldn’t bank on it.”

  Will readied his credentials. “Sir, would you mind if we spoke to you for a moment?” He held them up for the guy to see.

  “You got a warrant?” The man spat out a mouthful of chewing tobacco, right at their feet.

  Will stepped back. “No, but—”

  “Then I’ve nothing to say to either of you.”

  “Look,” Joanna said, already annoyed. “It’s just a few questions.”

  “And like I said, I don’t wanna talk to you, or him. You won’t find much help around here so get in your car and go back the way you came.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that Mr…?”

  “Man,” he replied with a smile.

  “Your name is Mr Man?” Joanna asked. “Very funny.”

  “Well, Mr Man,” Will said, cutting in. “Who’s in charge around here?”

  He laughed. “Do you think
there’s some sort of Gypsy King who will grant you an audience? Get fucked, the pair of yer.” He hacked up a ball of phlegm and spat on the ground again.

  “How would you like to spend a night in the cells?” Will stepped forward. “It can be easily arranged, or perhaps, I could call for back up, see what you lot are hiding?”

  His face paled. “What do you wanna know?”

  Joanna grinned. “Funny how amenable you lot can be when threatened with the law.”

  “I can tell you haven’t been laid in a while,” he said.

  “You cheeky…” Joanna’s face twisted in outrage and looked as though she was about to slug the man.

  Will stepped in before things took a turn for the worse. “Jo, why don’t you wait in the car for me?”

  Joanna glared at them both before stomping off.

  “I’m looking for the owner of a van,” Will said once she was safely at the car.

  “What van,” he asked. “I don’t know nothing about no van, so save your breath.”

  Will opened his file and retrieved a photograph, shoving it under his nose. “Does that ring any bells?”

  He glanced down at the photograph. “Not a sausage.”

  “Look properly,” Will ordered.

  “I said I didn’t recognise it, so looking at it again won’t change that.”

  Will wasn’t amused, but maybe Joanna was right when she said they’d come away with nothing to show for the drive there.

  “I’d like to speak to a few of your friends, see if they know anything.”

  “Go for your life, but I can say for certainty, nobody will recall a thing. Terrible memories, us lot, we’re renowned for it.”

  “Yeah, something tells me you’re right. But, all the same, I’m here now, so there’s no harm in me looking around and speaking to a few of, what was it you said, your lot.”

  “They won’t like you snooping around, throwing accusations.”

  “I haven’t accused anybody of anything, yet.”

  I picked up my phone. “Hi, Will, any joy?”

  “A complete waste of time, boss. Nobody knows anything and even if they did, we’d be the last people they’d tell. We did have a good look around and couldn’t see the van parked up though.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, thanks for trying–at least we can cross that off the list.

  “Righto. Jo and I are heading back now.”

  “Okay, I’ve got to get ready for the audition tonight. I’m just going to make a quick call to Layla, then I’m off to collect Bella and baby Dylan from the hospital.”

  “Baby Dylan–how cute,” Will teased in a baby voice.

  “Shut it,” I replied, ending the call.

  I scrolled through my phone and found Layla’s number.

  “Hi,” she said upon answering. “How did it go?”

  “It didn’t. They found nothing,” I replied. “So, stop worrying.”

  “Okay. Thanks for letting me know. My head is spinning with it all.”

  “Mine too. Are you feeling any better?”

  “Much. Thanks, Dylan. I’ll see you later at the club.”

  “I’ll set up a WhatsApp group for you and Will so we can communicate. Don’t acknowledge me, whatever you do.”

  Fourteen

  I raced over to Bella’s house to collect the car seat.

  After my knock went unanswered, I slid down the side of the house and rummaged under the rocks beneath the huge oak tree in the back garden for the spare key.

  Handmade banners covered in welcome home messages, and balloons filled the wide tiled hallway. “Penny? It’s only me,” I called out, concerned a crowd of people might be about to pounce out from every hiding place to surprise me.

  There was no response.

  I located the baby seat in the cupboard underneath the stairs and was on the road again minutes later.

  The car-parking gods were with me as I found a vacant space right outside the hospital’s main entrance. I was quite excited to see my little namesake again, and, after parking, I walked briskly to the lift.

  “You took your time!” Bella startled me as I stepped out into the corridor.

  “Oh, hello. What are you doing there? Have they kicked you out already?”

  “No, you twit.” She laughed. “I was just stretching my legs. I’ve been ready for hours and was beginning to think you were never gonna get here.”

  “Some of us have a job to do, you know.”

  She took the car seat from me. “Thanks for this.”

  “Where’s baby? I’m dying for a cuddle.”

  “In the ward, fast asleep.”

  I fell into step beside her and we headed to the only empty bed in the ward.

  Baby Dylan was squeaking and snuffling in his basinet on the far side of the bed.

  “Hello, you,” I said, pulling the white cotton sheet down and away from his face. I gasped out a breath as I gazed into his midnight-blue eyes for the first time. “Oh, gosh, Bells, I love him.”

  “He is pretty special, isn’t he?” She also bent over and became all doe-eyed, clearly besotted with her little man.

  “Have you managed to speak to Simon?”

  “No, not yet. I left a message—he’ll probably call me tonight.”

  “Are you okay? You seem a little stressed.”

  Bella sighed and moved towards the bed, slumping down on it. “I’ll be better when I get home—I miss Lily. Hospitals get all my nerves on edge.”

  “Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let’s go.”

  Ten minutes later, we were in the car, heading towards Bella’s house.

  “So, how come Penny didn’t bring Lily in to see you?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve not even heard from her. I guess she’s waiting for us to get home. Did you see them when you called in earlier?”

  “No. They weren’t home. I had to root around for the spare key.”

  “Really? That’s odd.”

  “Odd?” I glanced at her, puzzled.

  “Yeah. If they’d gone out, why didn’t they come to see me?” She seemed hurt.

  I didn’t want to spoil the surprise that Penny and Lily had clearly been working on all morning. A few more minutes of thinking her sister didn’t give a shit wouldn’t kill her. “Haven’t a clue, but I’m sure she’s got a good reason.”

  She exhaled noisily and turned around, leaning between the seats to get a look at the baby. “Did you call Roy?” she asked when she turned back.

  “Not yet.”

  “Dylan! Bloody hell. Your audition’s tonight, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. I’m well-aware of that. I’ll call him in a minute.”

  “Don’t think you’re getting out of it. Laughing at you in those heels caused my bloody labour.”

  “I’m not trying to get out of it. Why would you say that?”

  “Because I know you, DI Monroe. I’m going to call Roy now.” She pulled her phone from her bag and moments later Roy’s voice boomed from the speaker.

  “Bella, darling, how did it go?”

  “Hi, Roy. I have a beautiful baby boy. I hope we didn’t leave you too traumatised.”

  “I did sink an extra couple of cocktails last night, if I’m honest. My nerves were hangin’ out, but congrats on the sprog though. I’m thrilled for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How’s that partner of yours? Is he still planning to come by for round two?”

  “That’s the reason I’m calling. He’ll be popping by shortly if that’s okay? Time’s running out.”

  “Looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see him all dolled up—the man has bone-structure to die for.”

  I cringed and shook my head at Bella, not wanting him to know I was listening.

  She grinned. “Okay gorgeous. Be kind to him.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll handle him with kid gloves.”

  Bella ended the call and burst out laughing. “I think he has a crush on you.”
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  “Oh, don’t, for Christ’s sake—that’s all I need.” I pulled up to the curb outside Bella’s house.

  The front door suddenly swung inwards, and Penny and Lily flew out and down the path towards us.

  Bella cried out, dropping to her knees, and dragging Lily into her arms. “There you are, my gorgeous girl! I’ve missed you so much!”

  “We’ve beened to buy a present for my baby brother.”

  “Have you? I bet you’re dying to meet him, aren’t you?”

  “Yes!” Her eyes lit up as she remembered.

  Penny rubbed her hands excitedly. “We’ve been waiting for ages.”

  I wanted to say she hadn’t been waiting that bloody long—they weren’t even home earlier, but I didn’t. “Right, I’ll get going then if you don’t need me for anything else. I’d rather get Roy over and done with and then I might be able to get some much needed practice in those heels.”

  “Roy?” Penny wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Nothing like that, cheeky!” I shook my head at her as I leaned into the back of the car and unclipped the baby seat. “Come on, little fella. You’re the man of the house until your daddy gets home.”

  Penny pounced on him as I lifted the seat out of the car.

  I grinned at Bella who pressed her lips together in amusement.

  “Here, you’re gonna need this.” Bella dug in her bag and pulled out the pink wig.

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Ten minutes later, I pulled up outside the town hall. I wasn’t really feeling this and still hadn’t decided if I was going to go through with the audition or not.

  Roy, dressed in a purple velour tracksuit, his face devoid of makeup, appeared as I stepped from the car. “Here he is, the Wirral’s answer to Dame Edna.” He kissed the air above both of my cheeks.

  “I don’t have a lot of time, Roy. Can we rush through the basics? I’ll take my time getting ready when I get home, I promise.”

  “Suit yourself.” He stomped up the steps and into the foyer as though I’d pissed him off.

  I followed him to the same room as last night.

  By the time we closed the door, he appeared to have got over his snit. “I nearly died when Bella almost dropped the sprog on my dressing room floor. I don’t know how you could’ve gone to the hospital with her—I couldn’t get away fast enough.”