The Girlfriend: A Josie Cloverfield Detective Novel
Page 26
Man, I hated her. But no guilt this time. I wanted to strangle her myself.
“You vile, stuck up mad woman. And what the hell did you think you were going to live on? No university degree, no mummy and daddy paying for everything. Pretty stupid plan, Hannah.” I spat the words.
“Oh please! I’ve taken so much from my parent’s credit cards; they’ll be choking when they get their statements. I’ll move away and start a new life. New identity, you see. It’s amazing the shady people you meet when you strip in a dive like the Duchess of Devonshire.”
“And when the money runs out?”
“I’ll have found someone to take care of me long before then. Class always finds class, my dear.”
“Oh really?” I said, doing my best Hannah-style sneer. “Like you dad found your mum. Very classy!” That turned out to be a bad move; Hannah took a step towards me, her eyes furious!
“Oh, wait.” I said, holding up a flat palm. “The necklace. How did you pull that off?”
“Easy!” Hannah said, almost pleased that I’d shown an interest in her scheming. “I’d planted it the night before I went missing. I’d bought one just like it for Kellie. I yanked it off her before I strangled her. I’d already snapped my own one and hid it in the chav boy’s sock the night before.” Her manner was so cold; so matter of fact.
“That’s the last time you call him that.”
“You’re just so funny.” Hannah said, and gave a spiteful laugh. “Anyway, the Police fouled up again. I thought their search would be more thorough. Still, Josie Cloverfield to the rescue again, huh? And it worked. You thought Liam had done it.”
“You couldn’t have known the Police would search his place.”
“No, but I had a fair idea. For one thing, I’d left enough clues to make it look like Liam had cause to be jealous and, for another, they always look at the boyfriend first, right? That’s why I picked someone from that awful estate. The Police wouldn’t take much persuading that somebody so very….well….downtown, would have done it. Especially with his shady family.”
“You picked him? You mean, that’s why you went out with Liam? You had it all planned?” I was furious.
“Yes. He was perfect. Such an idiot, and entirely disposable.”
“You know what, Hannah? People aren’t disposable. Not Liam, not Kellie, not Matty. You think yourself so above everyone else, that other people are just chess pieces, but in the end, you’re just a low rent stripper like old Shazza was. Like mother like daughter. You total skank!”
“No, you’re the skank.”
“No, Hannah, I’m just poor. You had chances thrown at you from all directions, yet you still took your kit off in a urine-soaked pub to make a point.”
That was clearly the last straw. Hannah lifted the knife high in the air and advanced. I was so scared I couldn’t even close my eyes; I just stared at her in horror.
For a moment, she seemed frozen. Just like the Statue of Liberty, one arm held aloft. Then I heard a determined sort of a crackling noise, and Dale suddenly appeared from God knows where.
He had her around the waist and disarmed before the shock of the taser had dropped her to the floor. In a rather cool way, he let go of her so that she hit the ground with a proper good thump.
Suddenly, Betty was there too, casually unhooking the wires which attached Hannah to her taser.
“Good shot, Betty.” I said, with a totally inappropriate chuckle.
“Good talking. Nicely done.” Betty replied, making me feel totally cool.
“Yeah, good one.” Came a croak from the floor. “Remember me?” I darted to Liam’s side.
“You’re awake?”
“I’ve been awake for ages.”
“Oh cheers, pal!” I said, scowling at his very, very pale face.
“I didn’t want to confuse things, Dude. You know I say silly stuff under pressure.” He said, with a really big Liam-style grin. “And anyway, I could see Dale pressed up against the doorway, and Betty sneaking in, all scary rolling shoulders, like a leopard or something.”
“What do you see in this bloke?” Betty laughed before radioing for an ambulance for Liam.
“God knows.” I said, smiling at him, and also starting to cry a little bit.
“Oh, no way, Dude. This is happy time! You spared me a lifetime of balaclava wearing, and the bump on my swede will die down soon enough.”
“I know.” My voice wobbled.
“Come here.” Liam sat up as best he could and pulled me into his arms. “Thanks Josie.” He murmured into my hair.
This time, I didn’t mind him calling me Josie one little bit.
“Oh, by the way.” Liam said, pulling back a little and looking at Dale. “How did you know to come here? Are you getting visions and stuff now?”
“No, you plumb!” Dale said, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “I’ve been following Josie on and off all week.”
“Why?” I said, a little sharply.
“I don’t know, Josie. I just had a feeling. I knew you’d do whatever you had to do to save Liam, so I thought I’d better have your back. I couldn’t have anything happening to you now, could I?”
“The library?” I asked. I had to know.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d seen me.”
“And then the vigil and the dry cleaners?” I said, thawing out with the realisation that I was very much cared about.
“Yeah, alright, I’m not so stealthy. I’ve not done any surveillance courses yet.” He shrugged.
“Nor are you likely to.” Betty said, laughing. “Oh, I hear sirens.”
Epilogue.
“Nice flowers, Dude.” Liam said as I set a bunch of bright little gerbera daisies down on Kellie’s grave.
“Thanks, Liam.” I smiled up at him. “You know, it’s weird, I feel like I knew her.”
“Maybe because Hannah did a good impression. She must have made a good study of her cousin to fool Kellie’s own father.”
“I guess so. Still, some parents just aren’t that observant, as we both know very well.”
“Dude, people do their best with what they have available at the time. Not just material stuff, but personality and resilience and what-not. It’s time to let it go, Dude, or it will cloud your world forever.”
“You always take me aback when you act like a man. I’m so used to the boy.”
“You can have both, since I am both.” Liam smiled at me, and helped me back up.
“Thanks. And I’m always here for you too.”
“I know that, Dude. You saved my hide.” He was grinning.
“I really did save your hide, old bean. Me. Josie Cloverfield. Campus Detective!”
“Me and Rich Richard helped. We’re detectives too.” Liam pulled his affronted face.
“Ok. If you say so.” And I pulled my sarcastic face. “But it was still me who saved your furry butt, my friend.”
“Ok, you really did. Although we need to talk about the fact you were so easily convinced that I was the Grantstone Strangler.”
“Oh, Liam!”
“Seriously, I’m not going to forget it.”
“You really should forget it.”
“Nope. Never. In fact, I’m going to go on about it forever. I’ll mention it more than the colouring book story.”
“I’ve got two words for you.”
“Steady on, Dude. Keep it clean.”
“Spiderman underpants.” I was victorious. He crumbled immediately. He knew I’d seen them.
“Ok. We’re quits.” He said, and threw an arm around me as we slowly made our way out of the cemetery. “Shall we track down Rich Richard?” He grinned.
“Yeah, go on. We might be able to turn him upside down and shake the loose change out of his pockets or something.” I chuckled.
“Dude, that’s so scandalous. You’ve literally turned into Snatcher Harris right there. That man is like your father-figure now.” Liam laughed too, knowing that I truly liked Richard.
If I’d been a little less judgemental, I would have seen that he was never really a part of that world in the first place.
Anyway, I’d now doubled my list of best mates to two; a minor miracle in Josie Cloverfield land. A minor miracle that made me really, really happy.
The End
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