Run

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘Oi, watch it, or I’ll never cook for you again.’

  ‘Can I have that in writing?’

  ‘Don’t worry, you can go back to your fancy restaurants when I go home tomorrow.’ Leanne feigned indignation. ‘I’m sure Maggie’s imaginary cat will help me with the leftovers.’

  ‘You’re still going, then?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know what I mean.’ Jake turned his head and glanced at her. ‘We both know you’re going to move in with me eventually, so why wait?’

  Leanne bit her lip, unable to think of a suitable reply. She’d really enjoyed staying at his place, and wasn’t looking forward to going back to her grotty bedsit. But it was ludicrous to think about moving in together.

  Wasn’t it?

  They weren’t teenagers in the grip of a crush that could die out as quickly as it had ignited; they were full-grown adults who had dated enough misfits between them to know that they weren’t willing to settle for a meaningless fling. Leanne couldn’t see herself wanting to break things off any time soon – and Jake clearly felt the same. So why was she still wary?

  Because you thought Dean was perfect, and look how that turned out.

  Taking her silence as a sign that she still wasn’t ready to take the plunge, Jake said, ‘Why don’t you mull it over for a few days? And, don’t worry, I won’t be offended if you say no. Well, not much, anyway.’ He grinned.

  ‘Okay, I’ll think about it,’ Leanne agreed, wishing that she could talk it over with level-headed, straight-talking Chrissie. Left to her own devices, she was likely to do one of two things: let her heart rule her head and rush into something she may end up regretting; or, let her head rule her heart and risk losing the man who might just be ‘the one’.

  10

  Leanne’s road was blocked at both ends when Jake drove her home on Monday morning. Shocked by the sight of several police vehicles and an ambulance, her stomach lurched when she saw a paramedic pulling Mad Maggie out over the doorstep in a wheelchair.

  ‘Oh, my God!’ she gasped, fumbling with her seat belt. ‘I wonder what’s happened.’

  ‘Wait,’ Jake cautioned when she made to open the door. ‘They’re wearing whites, so whatever it is, it must be serious.’

  ‘Whites?’ Leanne was confused.

  ‘The suits they wear when there’s been a crime and they’re gathering forensic evidence,’ Jake explained.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Leanne murmured, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared out at the scene. ‘I hope that burglar didn’t come back and attack Maggie.’

  ‘She didn’t look like she had any blood on her,’ Jake said, watching as a uniformed officer tied the end of a roll of a crime-scene tape to a lamp post two doors down from Leanne’s house.

  ‘I can’t just sit here.’ Leanne reached for the door handle again. ‘I need to know what’s going on.’

  ‘Okay, but I’ll come with you,’ said Jake. ‘Just let me park up.’

  Legs shaking as she climbed out of the car a few seconds later, Leanne held tightly on to Jake’s hand as they walked over to the officer who was now securing the other end of the tape to a lamp post on the opposite pavement.

  ‘Excuse me, but that’s my house,’ she said. ‘Has something happened? Only I’ve been away for the weekend, and I’ve just seen my neighbour being put in the back of the ambulance. Is she okay?’

  ‘I can’t tell you anything,’ the copper replied. ‘But if you live there we’ll need to take your details, so go and speak to my colleague.’ He nodded towards a policewoman who was sitting in the squad car parked behind the ambulance, then asked Jake, ‘Do you live there, as well, sir?’

  ‘No, he was just dropping me off,’ Leanne blurted out, thinking it best to keep Jake out of this until she knew what was going on. He hadn’t done anything wrong when he’d warned Speedy off the other day, but if something violent had taken place in the house, the police were bound to suspect him.

  Turning back to Jake now, she pulled him aside, and whispered, ‘You’d best go before they start asking questions.’

  Nodding, Jake said, ‘Okay, but ring me when you know what’s happening, and I’ll pick you up. I’d best hang on to your suitcase,’ he added, remembering that it was still in the boot of his car. ‘They won’t let you into the house until they’ve finished, and you don’t want to be lugging it around while you’re waiting.’

  Leanne thanked him and gave him a quick kiss before ducking under the tape.

  A group of her neighbours were huddled together on the other side of the road. As Leanne passed, one of them stage-whispered, ‘What’s going on, love? Maggie hasn’t flipped out again, has she?’

  ‘No idea, I wasn’t here,’ Leanne said, continuing on her way.

  The policewoman had been talking into her radio, but she abruptly stopped when she spotted Leanne heading her way and, jumping out of the car, tried to herd her back behind the tape, saying, ‘This is a crime scene. Stay on that side of the cordon.’

  When she explained that she lived in the house and had been sent over to give her details, Leanne was directed to take a seat in the back of the car. Gazing out through the window after climbing in, she shuddered when a white-suited man walked out carrying a clear plastic bag containing a large knife with dried blood on its blade.

  ‘Has . . . has someone been hurt in there?’ she asked the policewoman who had just climbed back into the driver’s seat.

  Ignoring her question, the woman said, ‘Name, please?’

  Leanne gave her name, and then asked, ‘You don’t think this could be connected to the burglary, do you?’

  ‘Burglary?’

  ‘Oh, sorry, you wouldn’t know about it because I didn’t report it. Nothing was stolen, you see, and I didn’t want to waste your time.’

  ‘When was this?’

  ‘Friday night. I’d stayed out, and when I got back on Saturday morning my door had been kicked in. My neighbour, Speedy, told me he’d heard a load of banging up in my room at around three or four in the morning, but he reckons he didn’t see anything.’

  ‘You should have reported it,’ the policewoman said, making a note of it.

  ‘I know,’ Leanne murmured guiltily. ‘I just thought you had more important things to deal with. Sorry.’

  ‘When you say Speedy, are you referring to Darren Humphries?’

  ‘I don’t know his real name,’ Leanne admitted. ‘We had a bit of a falling out not long after I moved in, and we haven’t really spoken since.’

  ‘Would you know if he’s fallen out with anyone else recently?’

  ‘I only ever see him in passing, to be honest, and I don’t know any of his friends,’ Leanne said, guessing that, whatever had happened, it must involve Speedy. Frowning now, as it occurred to her that Maggie might already have told the police about the altercation she’d had with Speedy the other night, she said, ‘We, um, had a bit of a row a couple of days ago, actually. He’d left a bike in the hall and I tripped over it in the dark. It looked expensive, so I thought he might have stolen it, but he said it was his friend’s.’

  ‘I take it you didn’t believe him?’ The policewoman raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Not really.’ Leanne shook her head. ‘He’s not the most trustworthy of people.’

  The policewoman made another note in her book, and then pushed her door open. Telling Leanne to wait there, she climbed out and walked over to speak with another officer.

  Unable to hear what they were saying, Leanne gazed back at the ambulance. The doors were still open, and she could see Maggie sitting in the shadows at the back. Still in the wheelchair, with a blanket around her shoulders and a blank expression on her wrinkled face, the old woman looked so frail Leanne couldn’t imagine how she could possibly have caused any harm to Speedy. He might be as skinny as a rake, but Leanne knew from bitter experience that he was far stronger than he looked, and the amphetamines he was addicted to had made him so paranoid he was always on edge,
so she doubted the old woman could have caught him off guard. Anyway, the police would surely have handcuffed her if she were the one who’d caused that blood to be on the knife, so it was more likely that the real owner of the bike Speedy claimed was his friend’s had found out where he lived and come to take it back.

  ‘We’d like to ask you a few more questions, so I’m going to need you to come down to the station,’ the policewoman said when she came back. ‘It’s a bit busy down there at the moment, so you might have to wait around for a while.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ Leanne agreed. ‘Is Maggie all right?’

  ‘She wasn’t hurt,’ the woman assured her. ‘She just had a bit of a funny turn after calling us, so we thought we’d best get her checked out.’

  Leanne nodded and gazed back at the ambulance again. Catching one last glimpse of her elderly neighbour as a paramedic closed the doors, an uneasy feeling settled over her. Poor Maggie would probably end up getting sectioned if the funny turn was anything like the last few Leanne had witnessed. But while that might do her some good, considering how erratic her behaviour had been of late, Leanne didn’t relish the thought of having to go back into the house on her own.

  Jolted from her thoughts when the squad car’s engine suddenly started, Leanne reached into her bag for her phone to let Jake know what was happening. Realizing that word must already be spreading that something had happened when she saw several increasingly frantic messages from Chrissie asking if she was okay, she sent a quick reply to let her know that she was fine before sending another to Jake, telling him that she’d call him as soon as the police had finished with her.

  *

  It was three hours before a detective was free to interview Leanne, and her head was pounding by the time it was over. Still shaken by what she’d learned, she was touched when she walked outside and saw Chrissie waiting for her on a bench.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, running over and giving her a hug. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be at work?’

  ‘I was, but I couldn’t settle for worrying about you,’ said Chrissie. ‘So I told my boss I had a migraine, and came here to wait for you.’

  ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ Leanne said, grateful that she had. ‘You’re going to get the sack if you carry on pulling sickies.’

  ‘To be honest, I couldn’t care less.’ Chrissie sighed. ‘I’m sick of being treated like a skivvy while the rest of them stand around filing their talons. Anyway, what’s happened?’ She changed the subject as, arm in arm, they set off in the direction of the bus stop. ‘Have they told you anything?’

  Leanne shook her head. ‘Not in detail, no. But I think Speedy might have been murdered.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Chrissie gaped at her.

  ‘Well, he’s definitely dead, and I doubt they’d have asked so many questions if they thought it was from natural causes.’

  ‘What kind of questions?’

  ‘Just about his activities, and people I might have seen him with. They asked about the burglary as well; wanted to know how Speedy reacted when I told him about it.’

  ‘Do they think that had something to do with it?’

  ‘No idea.’ Leanne shrugged.

  ‘This is crazy.’ Chrissie shook her head in disbelief. ‘I’ve never known anyone who was murdered before.’

  ‘Me neither.’ Leanne sighed and reached into her bag for change when their bus came around the corner. ‘I know he was a nasty little shit, but still . . .’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Chrissie asked. ‘You look shattered.’

  ‘I’m just struggling to take it all in,’ Leanne said as they boarded the bus. ‘How did you hear about it, anyway?’

  ‘Tina rang me.’ Chrissie flashed her pass at the driver after Leanne had paid her fare. ‘She passed yours on her way to the post office this morning, and rang me when she saw the police taping everything off. I started thinking all sorts when I couldn’t get hold of you.’

  ‘I was at still at Jake’s when it happened,’ Leanne said, flopping down on to the back seat. ‘I didn’t know anything about it till he dropped me off this morning.’

  ‘Well, if it was murder, I hope they hurry up and catch whoever did it,’ Chrissie said grimly as she sat down heavily beside her. ‘And I don’t think you should go back there until they do.’

  Leanne hugged herself when a shiver coursed down her spine. ‘What if it was me they were after and Speedy just got in the way?’ she mused.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Chrissie snapped. ‘I’m sorry to speak ill of the dead, God rest his miserable soul, but this is the kind of shit that happens when you live the kind of life he lived.’

  ‘I know, and I keep telling myself I’m just being paranoid,’ Leanne said quietly. ‘But don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence: me getting burgled, then him getting murdered a couple of days later?’

  Aware that her friend was scared, Chrissie said, ‘Why don’t you come and stay at ours while you look for another place, babe? You’ll have to top and tail with me, but it’s got to be better than going back there while all this is going on.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Leanne said gratefully. ‘But your mum’s got enough on her plate with your Tina and the baby.’

  ‘She won’t mind,’ Chrissie insisted. ‘I’ll ring her now, if you want?’

  ‘No, don’t.’ Leanne touched her hand. ‘Jake’s already said I can stay at his, so I’ll go there until I can get back into the house.’

  ‘I take it things are going well between you, then?’

  ‘Yeah, really good.’ Leanne smiled for the first time in hours. ‘Better than good, actually. He’s asked me to move in with him.’

  ‘What’s his rush?’ Chrissie asked. ‘It’s only been a few days.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I haven’t said yes,’ said Leanne, careful not to let the word yet slip out at the end. ‘I said I’d think about it, but this probably isn’t the best time to be making big decisions like that.’

  ‘No, it isn’t,’ Chrissie agreed, getting up when their stop came into view.

  Leanne pulled her collar up as they stepped off the bus and a blast of wind smacked her in the face.

  ‘Let’s take a quick look to see what’s happening at your place, then go to mine,’ Chrissie suggested, covering her hair with her handbag when it suddenly started raining. ‘We can talk about you and lover-boy over a brew.’

  ‘Okay,’ Leanne agreed, shoving her hands into her pockets as they hurried across the road. ‘He said he’ll pick me up when I’m ready, so I’ll ring him when we get there.’

  When they turned the corner on to Leanne’s road, they saw that the ambulances had gone, as had most of the police vehicles; but the crime-scene tape was still in place, and two uniformed officers were standing guard outside her front door. An Incident Response vehicle was parked directly opposite, behind which a transit van with blacked-out windows was sitting.

  ‘I bet Speedy’s in there.’ Chrissie nodded at the van.

  ‘God, I hope not,’ Leanne muttered, superstitiously crossing herself.

  At the sound of a car turning the corner behind them, they both turned to see who it was. Hoping it might be Jake, Leanne was disappointed to see that it was her landlord.

  ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you,’ Roger said, emerging from the car and walking briskly over to her. ‘Don’t you ever check your phone?’

  ‘I was at the police station so I had to switch it off,’ she explained. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I’ve decided to put the house on the market, so you’ll have to move out,’ he told her bluntly.

  ‘You can’t do that,’ Chrissie protested. ‘You’ve got to give her proper notice, in writing.’

  ‘I wasn’t talking to you.’ Roger flashed a dismissive look at her before turning back to Leanne. ‘I know you won’t be able to get in there today, obviously, but I’ll need you out by the end of the week. And make sure you get everything out on time, because I’ve booked a skip, a
nd anything that’s left will be going in it.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Leanne gasped. ‘How the hell am I supposed to find somewhere else to live in five days?’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll manage if you start looking today,’ Roger said unconcernedly. ‘You’re lucky I’m giving you that long, because I could evict you right now if I wanted to be a bastard about it. You’re behind with your rent, don’t forget.’

  ‘So take her to court,’ Chrissie challenged, her nostrils flaring with anger.

  ‘Will you stay out of this?’ Roger barked. ‘It’s got absolutely nothing to do with you.’

  ‘Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?’ Chrissie shot back. ‘I’m her mate, and if you think I’m going to stand here and let you . . .’

  Shivering as the rain pelted down on her, Leanne gazed back at the house as Chrissie and Roger argued the toss. This was all happening too fast, and she couldn’t take it in. Speedy was dead, and poor old Maggie was in hospital, unaware that she, like Leanne, was about to lose her home.

  ‘Leanne . . . ?’

  Snapped from her thoughts, Leanne turned to see Jake striding towards her. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘I thought you were going to wait for me to call you.’

  ‘I was passing, so I thought I might as well check what was going on,’ he told her. ‘How did you get on with the police?’

  Raised voices reached them before Leanne could tell him what she’d learned, and they both turned in time to see Chrissie whack Roger with her handbag.

  ‘How dare you put your hands on me, you cheeky bastard!’ she screeched. ‘I’ll have you done for assault.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Jake asked Leanne. ‘That’s not her boyfriend, is it?’

  ‘No, it’s my landlord,’ she replied glumly. ‘He’s just told me he’s selling up and I’ve got to be out by the end of the week, and she’s not too happy about it.’

  ‘Is that right?’ Jake narrowed his eyes.

  ‘Jake, leave it.’ Leanne grabbed his arm to prevent him from going over. ‘I didn’t really want to have to tell you this, but I’m behind with my rent so he was going to evict me soon, anyway. And, if I’m honest, I don’t fancy staying there now there’s been a murder, so—’