Face in the Frame

by Heather Atkinson

  When Lucas enveloped Cass in a hug Brodie’s heart tore in two. He saw the way her eyes shone with happiness. There was no way she was coming back. This was it.

  “I’ve been so worried. What happened?” Lucas asked with concern. He saw the state of her knuckles and frowned. “Have you been fighting?”

  “Let’s talk about it inside,” she replied, gesturing to the door of his penthouse, which was standing open.

  “We’ll leave you to it,” said Brodie, just wanting to get the hell out of there.

  “Oh,” she said, downcast. “So quickly?”

  “You’ve got things to talk about, you don’t need us hanging around like spare pricks.”

  Cass forced a smile. “I’m going to miss your sense of humour Bossman.”

  Bossman he thought with a sigh. “I’m sure you won’t for long.” The hurt that flashed in her eyes pained him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. We’re all on edge here.”

  “Why is everyone on edge?” frowned a confused Lucas.

  “Cass will explain,” said Brodie. “Well, have a safe trip hen. It was great working with you,” he said, hoping he could get out before he punched the wall or burst into tears. He wasn’t sure which he was going for.

  “You too,” she replied, hurt that was all the goodbye she was getting from him.

  “I’m going to miss you,” said Christian, giving her a tight hug. “Remember what you said about us coming to visit.”

  “I won’t forget,” she smiled up at him, tears shining in her eyes. She looked to Ross. “Come here you.”

  He hugged her too and after she’d promised to send them her address when she was settled the three men made their way back to the lift, Cass’s eyes riveted to Brodie’s back, willing him to look back at her. But he didn’t.

  “Let’s go inside,” said Lucas, leading her back into the apartment and closing the door.

  The lift doors opened and just before Brodie got in he looked back but she’d already gone.

  “Here, get this down you, you’re shaking,” said Lucas, sitting her down in the lounge and pouring her a whisky.

  Cass didn’t really drink but she gulped it down, enjoying the warm honey taste sliding down her throat. Lucas assumed it was what had caused her injured knuckles that was upsetting her but actually it was Brodie’s casual dismissal of her. After everything they’d been through together, after watching each other’s back for years and working her arse off for his business, that was all she got. Not even a hug. The bastard. She wanted to be angry at him but instead she was hurt, aching inside.

  Angrily she pushed thoughts of Brodie aside and focused on Lucas’s face and she calmed down. This was the man she loved, who her future was with. So why did she not want to go to London with him now it was happening? It was too soon, she hardly knew him but she’d been backed into a corner and now she had no way out. Her own stubbornness had got her into this mess.

  “Could I have another please?” she said, holding the glass out to him.

  “Of course.” He planted a kiss on her lips. “Soon it’ll just be the two of us. I can’t wait.”

  “Me neither,” she replied, feeling hollow inside.

  He beamed at her and rose to refill her glass. Her smile only fell when his back was turned.

  He returned with her drink and gently took her hand. “What happened?” he said with concern.

  She explained the whole sorry saga to him, omitting nothing. What was the point? If they were to have a future together she had to be honest with him.

  “I’m glad you’re coming to London with me,” he said when she’d finished. “The life you lead here is so dangerous.”

  Cass realised that was what she lived for, what she thrived on. The danger. She loved tackling violent gangsters, striking a blow for abused women, protecting the vulnerable. She wasn’t the type of woman to play it safe. If she became a kept woman or a housewife she would wither away.

  “I can’t go to London with you Lucas,” she blurted out.

  He blinked at her. “But you said you wanted to go.”

  “I do, I mean I did, but I love my life here. I can’t give it up.”

  His eyes flashed. “Not even for me?”

  “I love you Lucas, I really do but I don’t want to live down there.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were supposed to make sacrifices for the one you love?”

  “And what sacrifices are you making? Absolutely none. I’m the one who has to give up everything and everyone she knows. Nothing will change for you. If it goes wrong what have you lost? Sod all but I will have lost everything. I can’t do it.”

  “Cass,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and taking in a deep, shuddering breath. “I can’t let you go. I love you too much.”

  “Then stay in Glasgow.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You say love is about sacrifice but you’re willing to sacrifice nothing for me.”

  “That’s not it at all. I just want us to be together.”

  “Then this isn’t the way.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, I can’t go with you.”

  Lucas sucked in a breath and shot to his feet. “I can’t believe this is happening. Everything was so perfect.”

  “We’ve known each other for two weeks. This is too fast. We can still see each other but it will have to be long distance.”

  “That’s not enough,” he exclaimed. “I want to wake up with you beside me every morning, hold you, kiss you. I can’t do that over the phone.”

  “Surely you see we can’t live together after knowing each other for such a short space of time?”

  “All I know is we were meant for each other. That’s all that matters.”

  “No it’s not.” She reached out to touch his face. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t say that. It sounds so final.”

  “It might have to be,” she replied, voice breaking.

  He pressed his forehead to hers. “No. I won’t let it.”

  “Then stay in Glasgow.”

  “I can’t, my businesses, my clients….”

  “Then I don’t see what else we can do.”

  She recoiled when his eyes suddenly flared. He released her and shot to his feet, pacing the room. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is typical. Everyone rejects me in the end.”

  “I’m not rejecting you, we can still see each other.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous Cass. We both know it would peter out. The gaps between seeing each other would be longer, excuses would be made until it trailed off altogether.” He stopped pacing to glare at her, those eyes she’d always found so hypnotic suddenly unnerving. “I thought you were different, that I’d finally found my future. With you.”

  “And I thought the same about you but you’re being so stubborn.”

  “Stubborn? I want it all with you Cass, marriage, children…”

  “Then it’s lucky we didn’t move in together. I don’t want kids.”

  He looked puzzled. “I thought every woman wanted children.”

  She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “No they don’t. I don’t.”

  “You’ve never mentioned this before.”

  “Because it’s not the sort of conversation you have after two weeks together.”

  “You don’t mean it, you’re just saying it to make me shut up and go away, to make this easier on you.”

  “I’m not, it’s the truth. I don’t want children, never have.”

  He stared at her, eyes boring into her before saying, “you really mean it, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry Lucas,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  He sighed and hung his head. “So am I.” They remained in silence for another minute before he said, “I could use another drink. Would you like one?”

  “Yes please,” she said, holding out her empty glass. She rarely got drunk but right then it was all she wanted to do. The first man she had ever loved and
she was going to lose him. Correction, the second man. She would still get to be around the first man and that lifted her heart.

  He returned with her glass and held it out to her. She accepted it and eagerly drank it down as he sank onto the couch beside her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, reaching up into her hair to free it from its ponytail.

  “Lucas…,” she began.

  “Please Cass, we’re about to part forever. Allow me to see you in all your glory just one last time.”

  She gave him a gentle smile. “Alright,” she said languidly, enjoying his touch. Her eyes started to grow heavy as she relaxed into him, thinking it such a shame she was going to have to give up these delights.

  “I love you so much,” he said, kissing her hair.

  “Love you too,” she murmured back.

  “I want you to remember that.”

  “I will.”

  “Good. It’s because I love you that I’m going to make you immortal.”

  “What do you mean?” she said, only half-listening as she felt herself drifting off contentedly in his arms.

  His hand cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his. “You’ll be my greatest work yet, your beauty will live on.”

  Something Brodie had once said came screaming back to her tired, lethargic mind and panic surged through her. “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t let you go Cass. I need to see your face every day. If I can’t have all of you then I’m going to take that part of you with me.”

  “No,” she exclaimed, her sudden lethargy making sense. “You drugged me.”

  “You’ve left me no choice Cass. I can’t let you go, I really can’t,” he said, tears standing out in his eyes.

  Cass managed to shake off the encroaching lethargy and jumped to her feet, clearly surprising him. “Brodie was right.”

  “Brodie?” he frowned.

  “You’re going to stick my face up in your exhibition, just like you did to Fred.”

  “No Cass, I wouldn’t do that to you.” He ran his thumb along the line of her jaw. “You’ll be kept just for me to gaze upon. I wouldn’t put you up in front of strangers who would sully you with their dirty gazes. Only I will look upon your loveliness.”

  “Brodie warned me, he said you were a murderer but I wouldn’t listen, I said you weren’t capable.” She swayed on her feet and blinked, attempting to clear her vision as his face blurred.

  “Rubbish. That ape isn’t capable of thinking anything.”

  “You underestimate him. He knew and no one would listen. Not even me.” She staggered back a couple of steps, her muscles weakening. “For the first time ever I didn’t believe him. You bastard,” she said, drawing back her fist. It was like being in a dream where everything was slow and sluggish and she could do nothing to speed it up. Lucas caught her fist, twisted her arm up her back and spun her round, so her back was pressing against his front in a move she had no idea he was even capable of.

  “You’re not the only one with secrets,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m a black belt too. After you lied to me I didn’t feel the need to enlighten you. After enduring years of bullying not just from my parents but from my peers I thought it wise to learn how to defend myself. I’ve never been a victim since. Don’t fight,” he said when she struggled against him. “The drug’s too strong. Very soon you will be unconscious. I need to take your face while you’re alive, to preserve the animation, your life spark as I like to call it.”

  “No,” she tried to scream, tears falling freely now, the horror of what he was going to do to her almost too much. But even her vocal muscles were failing her and it came out as a raspy cry. In one last ditch attempt to escape before her body gave up entirely she tried to drive her elbow into his ribs but the movement was so weak it was completely ineffectual.

  “Please don’t fight me,” he whispered in her ear, holding her close, pressing his face into her hair. “It’ll be completely painless, I promise. I don’t want you to suffer, my love.”

  “You don’t love me,” she mumbled before losing control of her tongue, everything swimming out of focus as she began to fall into darkness.

  “I do. You’ll live forever my sweet.”

  The last thing Cass saw were those eyes she had loved so much. Her last thoughts turned to Brodie.

  CHAPTER 22

  “What the bloody hell is wrong with you two?” said Pete as he strolled into the office to find Christian and Ross slumped behind their desks, looking miserable.

  “Cass has gone,” said Christian.

  “Gone where?”

  “London.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s moving there with Lucas Thorne.”

  “Moving, as in permanently?”

  “Yeah,” sighed Christian.

  Pete looked to Brodie’s office to see the blinds had been drawn. “Oh hell,” he said, striding across the room and bursting inside.

  Brodie was slouched behind his desk swigging red wine directly from the bottle. He didn’t even bother to look up when Pete entered.

  “Christian just told me about Cass,” said Pete, closing the door behind him.

  Brodie dragged his bloodshot eyes up to his friend. “She’s sodding off with the Elf and they’re going to live happily ever after,” he said sarcastically.

  “It’ll all probably fall through in a few months and she’ll be back with her tail between her legs.”

  “You’ve not seen the way she looks at him. It’s the real thing. She’s gone Pete,” he said before taking another swig.

  “Why can’t you drink scotch like any normal burnt out private eye? You look a right ponce with that bottle of Rioja.”

  “Who are you calling burnt out?” he scowled.

  “Alright, maybe not burnt out but you’re not living up to the stereotype drinking that shite. Why don’t you come out to the pub with me and get hammered?”

  “I’m not in the mood.”

  “You’d rather sit here and get steamin’ all on your lonesome?”

  “Yeah because that’s what I am. Alone. Always will be.” He looked up at his poster of Nicola Sturgeon and raised the wine bottle in a toast. “She’s the only woman in my life now.”

  “Don’t think like that. You’re a good looking man.”

  Brodie’s scowl deepened. “Are you hitting on me? Is that why you want to get me drunk?”

  “Jesus Christ man, I’m trying to cheer you up. I won’t be able to stand looking at that miserable face for the next few months.”

  “Why didn’t I tell her how I felt before? She might have stayed.”

  “Or she might have run for the hills.”

  “You know Pete, you’re just pissing me off even more.”

  “You didn’t tell her because she didn’t feel the same way. This way at least you had more time with her. It was always on the cards that she’d find a man she liked and settle down one day.”

  “But she was supposed to settle down in Glasgow, so I could at least see her. I’ll never see her again now. She’s gone for good.”

  “It’s much better this way. It would have driven you crazy seeing her every day when she was getting serious with another man, being invited to the wedding, having weans.”

  “Cass doesn’t want kids.”

  “She might change her mind now she’s in a serious relationship and she might get a less dangerous job. This is for the best Brodie.”

  “See if you say it’s for the best one more time I’m going to jam this bottle right up yer arse,” he glowered, brandishing it.

  “You always were a kinky bastard but seriously, one day you’ll see I’m right.”

  “She was the one person I could talk to about Ricky and Nat and the shit that goes round in my head.”

  “You can talk to me too.”

  “Yeah but she’s got nicer breasts.”

  Pete looked down at his chest. “Mine aren’t bad. The dragon queen always said I had a cracking pair of moobs.”

&nb
sp; “Did you come here to talk about your man tits or was there a purpose to your annoying visit?” said Brodie, leaning back in his chair.

  “Actually there was a reason. I’ve found Fred.”

  “Oh aye?” he replied disinterestedly, only half-listening.

  “In the Clyde. With his face missing.”

  Brodie went rigid in his seat. “What?”

  “Pathologist said it was done while he was still alive, although he must have been out cold. There were traces of a very strong sedative in his system. This wasn’t about watching the victim suffer. They just wanted his face.”

  Brodie shot to his feet, sending his chair rocketing back against the wall. “It was Thorne.”

  “Now you don’t know that.”

  “Some prick comes to the city with a load of faces and you think he’s nothing to do with it when a body turns up with the face missing? Are you fucking serious? It was either him or Oliver Fender, the wee cockwomble.”

  “Thorne’s agent? What’s he got to do with anything?”

  “He’s a creepy wee shite who likes copying his client’s work. He did it with Hans Albrecht…”

  “Who?” Pete shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Just calm down. You’re making assumptions. You were wrong about the mad harpy, remember?”

  “Don’t give me that shite. The prick’s a murderer and Cass is about to swan off down south with him. If it’s not Thorne then it’s Fender and Cass has pissed him off. Either way she’s in danger.”

  “Take it easy will you,” said Pete, hurrying after Brodie as he made for the door. “You’re just using this as an excuse to stop her leaving.”

  “You’re fucking right I’m going to stop her. She is not going anywhere with that bastard. He’s a fucking serial killer.”

  “You don’t know that,” exclaimed Pete.

  “Go and get a sample tested from one of his creepy exhibits. I bet they come back showing human DNA.”

  “Do you think any judge in his right mind will give me a warrant?”

  Brodie clutched at his hair. “Has the whole fucking world gone mad? Just because someone’s rich and famous doesn’t mean they’re not a criminal. Actually that only means they’re more likely to be a criminal. You can stand here and fanny about but I’ve got a friend to save.”