Blood Tears

by JD Nixon

  Annabel walked quickly up the three steps of the back verandah to the door. I followed her, my own gun prodding me in the back when I took too long about it.

  Inside, the house was dingy and unkempt. A television blared loudly from a room off to the side. Annabel hurried through the doorway and again, Merrick indicated I should follow by poking me in the back.

  A group of teens lounged around on the ancient, musty couches watching a sit com on the TV.

  “I’m back,” Merrick announced. He gave me a little push into the room. “Look who I’ve brought to visit. Let’s make her feel welcome.”

  “Pig,” said one teen, while another made oinking noises.

  “That’s not very polite,” Merrick reprimanded mildly. “Jonah, tie her up to one of the wooden chairs. We want her to stay for a while. Or at least as long as it takes me to get what I want.”

  I didn’t resist being restrained, but I flexed my wrists as much as I dared to avoid detection. When he’d finished tying me up, I tested the looseness of the rope, satisfied I’d be able to get out when needed.

  Annabel rushed over to a corner where a baby lay on an old-fashioned bouncinette.

  “Oi!” Merrick snapped. “I never said you could go near the baby.”

  “She needs a feed and a change,” Annabel said, showing the first sparks of defiance I’d seen yet. “Her nappy’s soaking wet. Didn’t any of you people look after her at all?”

  “Not our problem, sis,” Jonah replied in an uninterested voice, eyes glued to the TV.

  “You’re lucky we didn’t smother the brat,” said another teen in a bored voice. “Didn’t stop fucking crying for ages. It did my head in.”

  “Mind your language,” scolded Merrick. “We don’t want the officer to think we’re uncouth.”

  “Un-what?” asked that same teen.

  I looked around at them, wondering which of them was ‘Derek’, the person willing to deliberately injure or kill an innocent baby at Merrick’s request.

  “Let her feed and change her baby,” I said.

  “There you go again, Officer,” said Merrick, shaking his head in disbelief. “Thinking you’re in charge of things.”

  “Let her feed and change her baby,” I repeated deliberately.

  We eyed off each other for a long moment.

  “All right,” he finally conceded, turning to Annabel. “Tend to the brat. At least it will shut the damn thing up for a while.”

  Annabel threw me a grateful glance and gathered her baby to her breast, taking her upstairs, presumably to one of the bedrooms.

  “Right,” said Merrick, looming over me. I stared up at him, not hiding my contempt. I wasn’t personally afraid of him – I was afraid of what he’d do to Annabel and Jamie. “I’m sure you’d like to get out of here as soon as possible and, not to be rude to you, I want to get rid of you as soon as possible. So let’s get this ball rolling.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked.

  “I’m sure your fellow officer has contacted the big wigs in the police station here in Wattling Bay.”

  I thanked heaven that I’d turned my phone to silent earlier. The last thing I needed right now was an ill-timed call from a worried colleague giving away the fact that I actually did have my phone on me.

  I knew the Sarge would remember that I’d taken my phone with me as he’d made such a point about it, and would realise that it was a ruse. He would be able to pinpoint my current location using the app that tracks phones. All I needed to do was stay calm, and drag it out until the Big Town cops could come to my rescue. At least I hope that’s what I communicated to him in that long gaze we’d exchanged back in the shed.

  A couple of the teens came over to me too, and stood looking down at me. Despite my earlier bravado, I suddenly felt vulnerable in this house with a gang of criminals, with no weapons and tied up like I was.

  One nudged the other and with what could only be described as an evil grin, asked Merrick, “Are we allowed to have some fun with her?”

  Chapter 29

  “Don’t be stupid,” Merrick answered, clipping the kid across the back of his head. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay right away from cops? Especially female cops. Nothing will get you a heap of attention from the boys and girls in blue than to mess with one of them.”

  “You got her,” sulked the teen, rubbing his head.

  “Her nosiness landed her in my lap. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, but make no mistake,” he held up a finger, “I know the danger I’m putting us all in by bringing her here. So the sooner I can get rid of her, the better.”

  “Why’d you bring her here then, if she’s so much trouble?” asked Jonah.

  “Because she is going to help me get my property back, and she’s going to guarantee us a safe passage out of this town.” He placed his hand on my head. I wanted desperately to shake it off, repulsed by his touch. I couldn’t imagine how Annabel had endured it. “But while she’s here, I want you all to consider her to be a guest. Understand?”

  He seemed satisfied with the sullen murmured responses he received in return.

  “Let’s get to it . . . What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you Officer, and I can’t remember what your colleague called you.” His smile was a mere grimace. “Our third meeting was rather stressful. Even more stressful than our second.”

  “Tess.”

  “Okay, Tess. Let’s not drag this out. Let’s get on the phone to the highest cop in Wattling Bay. Who would that be?” He laughed. “Luckily, I’m not that familiar with the police force here.”

  “Superintendent Fiona Midden. She’s the commanding officer of the entire district. But I won’t speak to her unless you agree to let Annabel and her baby stay here when you leave Wattling Bay.”

  He was thoughtful for a long moment, his eyes considering me. “All right. They can stay. That baby was driving me insane anyway. Now will you speak to the Superintendent?”

  “Yes.”

  “Excellent. Nobody gets to such a high rank without being a reasonable person, willing to see sense and negotiate. This should be a breeze. Right, Tess?”

  “Um . . .” I didn’t know what to say to him. He’d obviously never met the Super before.

  “Good,” he said, almost as if he didn’t hear my hesitation. He turned to one of the teens. “Find me the number for the Wattling Bay police station.”

  I rattled it off for him. “You’ll need to ask to be transferred to her,” I told him helpfully.

  He chuckled. “Naturally. I wouldn’t expect a superintendent to be answering the general phone number at the station herself.”

  He rang the number and waited patiently for it to be answered. He was obviously fobbed off when he requested to speak to the Super in person.

  “I’m positive she’d be interested in talking to me,” he told the receptionist politely. “Tell her it’s Merrick calling.” He took a moment to spell out his name. “Let her know I have something important to tell her about Tess.” He listened for a moment. “I’m not sure. Let me check.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Are you Senior Constable Tess Fuller?”

  “Yes.”

  “This person wants to know your service number.” He spoke into the phone again. “One moment, please. I’ll put her on, and she can tell you herself.”

  He held the phone in front of my mouth.

  “I’ve put it on speaker phone,” he warned. “So don’t think you’ll get away with any coded talk.”

  I told the receptionist my service number and she immediately transferred me to the Super.

  “Tessie Fuller,” said that familiar growly voice. “What the fuck are you up to now? When I get my fucking hands on you, you’re going to wish you’d taken up flower arranging as a career.”

  “Ma’am, we’re on speaker phone.”

  “I don’t give a flying fuck if we’re being broadcast to the entire galaxy and E-fucking-T is listening in. I am personally going to kick your a
rse black and blue when this is over. I do not have time for this fuckwittery today.”

  Merrick’s eyebrows rose.

  “I’ll be looking forward to that, ma’am,” I said, with a level of dryness that probably wasn’t appropriate for the situation.

  She rightly ignored me. “I cannot believe what Maguire told me, no matter how many times I made him repeat it. No officer of mine, and I mean no fucking officer of mine, hands over her weapon to a Z-grade criminal piece of dickscum like some pimply-arsed, shit-scared new recruit. Especially when that officer is allegedly a senior constable.”

  “Excuse me,” protested Merrick. “No need to be so rude about me.”

  “Don’t you dare talk to me, shitwit,” she barked at him. “When I get my hands on you, you’re going to be singing fucking soprano for the rest of your useless life.”

  “Ma’am, he needs to talk to you,” I said. “He wants to deal.”

  “What? Are you taking his side? Fuck me. She’s got Stockholm Syndrome already.”

  “Of course I haven’t, ma’am. I’m just trying to help.”

  “Help? You would have been more fucking help to me if you’d just stayed in bed today playing with yourself. I do not want to have to explain to that ugly, limp-dicked Commissioner why one of my officers, a so-called professional, was handing out weapons left, right, and centre to any fucking lowlife who asked.”

  “Ma’am,” I complained, afraid we’d never get around to the business of the hostage deal through her red hot ranting. But I was equally glad we were conversing by phone and not in person.

  “Tessie, are you okay?” came through the Sarge’s anxious voice.

  “Zip it, Maguire. Who asked you to speak? You just sit there, shut your face, and be grateful I haven’t transferred you to Arseclown Island where you belong. You’ve been back – what? Five minutes? And Tessie’s already gone off and done something fucking stupid again. How about transferring some of that blood in your dick back to your brain again when she’s around? Do I need to remind you, a-fucking-gain, that you’re her supervisor, not her talking dildo.”

  “Ma’am,” we both said in annoyed synchronicity.

  “Excuse me, Superintendent,” spoke up a snippy Merrick. “I’m the one in charge of this conversation. Can you pipe down for five seconds so we can parley?”

  A deadly silence emanated from the phone.

  “Superintendent?”

  “Don’t mind me,” she said in a deceptively mild voice. “I’m just writing a list of all the things I’m going to use your miniscule balls for when you’re captured. If I can find them, that is.”

  “Superintendent! Can we please be serious?”

  “Who said I’m not being serious?”

  Merrick took a deep breath. If he hadn’t been such a repulsive human being, I might have managed to find a tiny portion of pity for him in having to deal with Fiona, particularly in a negotiating role. But, seeing he was such a repulsive human being, my pity remained safely sealed inside.

  “I want to do a trade with you,” he started.

  She cut him off. “Not interested.”

  He was clearly taken aback. “Don’t you want to hear the details?”

  “An exchange of Fuller for your shiny bits of shit and an escape. Right?” she said, bored.

  “Yes, but –”

  “Like I said, not interested. I’d rather nail your arse to my door as a souvenir, so no deal, and no escape.”

  “What about your senior constable?” he asked, his voice rising shrilly at the end.

  “You can keep her, and good luck with that. She’s nothing but fucking trouble, as you’ll soon find out to your cost.”

  We heard a clunk, and were left listening to a dial tone.

  “What the hell?” asked Merrick, staring at his phone in disbelief. “She hung up on me.”

  “Sorry,” I said, shrugging as best I could with my arms tied behind my back. “I should have told you that I’m not really a favourite of hers.”

  “It shouldn’t matter if you’re a favourite of hers or not. You’re a cop. Isn’t there supposed to be some sort of cop code?”

  “You heard her. Unfortunately, the Super likes to make up her own code.”

  “Great. Just fantastic,” he spat out, prowling about the room, his shoulders hunched, face drawn into a caricature of itself. “Of all the cops to take hostage, I had to choose the one that nobody cares about.”

  Oh geez, I thought. That was a bit harsh. But instead of indulging in self-pity, I spent the time he prowled and ranted in loosening the bonds tying my wrists. Luckily for me, these guys were strictly amateurs when it came to taking hostages as they hadn’t secured my ankles, so that once I’d freed my arms, I could make my move. The only flaw was I didn’t have a clue exactly what I’d do when I released myself.

  I had no weapons on me, but I could see my Glock carelessly left by Merrick on a side table next to an armchair. Run for the gun, I told myself. I could hold off the lot of them with the gun. I could go upstairs, grab Annabel and Jamie, and we could leave the house, all with the help of Ms Glock. But what then? Where would I go? You’d use your phone to ring the Big Town cops, I told myself. Bingo, I had a plan.

  “Ring her again,” I told Merrick, more as a way of dragging out the situation, so I could finish loosening my bonds.

  “Why?”

  “Um . . .” Think, Fuller, think. “She likes to play hard-to-get. You know, because she’s a woman in what’s still mostly a man’s profession. She doesn’t want to seem like a pushover.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Give it another shot.” I wiggled my hands and managed to pull one hand out of the bindings.

  He sighed with impatience and punched in the station number again. After talking to the same receptionist, he was put through to the Super again.

  “Midden. Speak.”

  “It’s Merrick,” he said coldly. “Can we start dealing now about your senior constable?”

  “Fuck off.”

  We were treated to the dulcet sound of the dial tone again.

  “This is nuts,” Merrick ranted. “I’ve spent years – years – on my collection. I’ll be damned if I’m just going to walk away from it now.”

  He eyed me malevolently and again, I felt that frisson of fear running down my spine. I had put myself in a vulnerable position with no plan in place. Not one of my smartest moments. Even so, I almost laughed out loud when I realised that at least my present woes had successfully taken my mind off Jake for a while.

  “That Superintendent isn’t taking us seriously enough,” Merrick mused, still giving me the devil’s eye. “I need to convince her that I’m deadly serious about my property, and if someone has to bleed to prove it, then I’m sorry about that, but I tried to negotiate.”

  My heart started racing.

  “She gives every impression of not caring about you, Tess, which I honestly find sad,” he said in a friendly, pitying voice, coming closer to me. He ran his finger over the top of my left ear thoughtfully. “But how would she feel if we . . . ramped it up?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked warily, my eyes darting around the room, looking at each of them. Run for the gun. Run for the gun.

  “It’s nothing personal, Tess. But I feel a huge amount of loss thinking of my property sitting in a police station. It’s mine.” His face mottled red and he punched the wall, startling everyone. “It’s mine.”

  The wariness in the room shot up in to the stratosphere, and I realised that his gang were afraid of him. He’d mostly kept it together since I’d been with him, but I wondered how often he displayed this volatile side of himself. Annabel had told me he’d hurt her, and I’d witnessed him being rough with her earlier.

  “What do you mean?” I asked again, trying to stop my eyes from darting to my gun every five seconds. If only I held it in my hand. If only I had my knife in my other hand as well.

  His fingers fleeted over my ear again. “Maybe if we just h
urt you a little. Made you bleed a little. Would that make your Superintendent take me more seriously about my demands?”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” I said, my heart pounding.

  I shook the rope off my other wrist, starting to talk again about anything I could think of to cover the sound of it thudding to the floorboards. Lurch up, fists out, and collect him with both in the sides of his head. Then run for the gun.

  I’d really thought the Sarge would remember that he could track my phone through that app. I felt sad and unbelievably disappointed that we couldn’t relay thoughts to each other anymore, as we’d been able to do since his first eventful week in Little Town.

  All of a sudden, Merrick was calm and congenial again. “I’m thinking an ear?”

  I forced myself to laugh, but it sounded hollow even to my own potentially ill-fated ears. “You’ve been watching Reservoir Dogs too many times. Nobody really does that sort of thing. It’s barbaric. And you told me you hate blood and gore.”

  “I must do what I need to, to recover my property, Tess. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Not really. The Super won’t cave in, so why don’t you just let me go. I’ll take Annabel and the baby, and you’ll never need to worry about any of us again.”

  He laughed. “That’s not going to happen. Sorry.”

  When I took in his expression, I felt red rage take over. “You lied to me,” I spat out in fury. “You had no intention of letting her go.”

  He laughed harder. “I was never going to let you take my girlie from me. My property is my property, and I won’t let people take it from me.” His mood switched again. He slapped me across the face – hard. “I mean that.”

  “Ring her again,” I said, my cheek stinging.

  “Last chance for you, Tess.” He jabbed in the now familiar number with angry fingers. “Put me through to Midden.”

  “Midden. Speak and hurry the fuck up about it.”

  He held the phone in front of my mouth again, on speakerphone. “Ma’am, it’s Tess Fuller,” I said between breaths.

  There was a slight pause. “And?”

  “He’s going to hurt me if you don’t listen to him.”