Dan wiped the kiss away.
“Sorry,” said Perry, without a hint of apology. “Must be the moonlight.”
She turned away and left Dan watching her back. She looked over her shoulder and smiled when she found him still watching. “See you soon.”
Dan stood and watched her depart before slinking back into the bar.
“What is it with her?” said Mark.
“She’s one of a kind. The dangerous kind. Here’s another tip from your mentor. You ever meet one of those, be sure to proceed with extreme caution. Drink up and I’ll drop you home.” Dan picked up his tankard and poured the ale down his neck in a few great gulps. Mark wondered if Dan was following his own advice. The look on his face when Perry came in made it difficult to be sure.
Twenty-two
Mid-morning and the wait was dragging on. Eva and Lauren were dressed incognito, seated on a bench in the middle of Basildon high street, but their clothing choices were mismatched. They looked like women who were worlds apart. Lauren sat with her oversized handbag hung over her shoulder, the same one she had brought the last time she went home to ‘get ready’. But aside from the bag, the rest of her attire was pure street. Hair tied back in a ponytail, threaded through the back of her white No Fear baseball cap, while her body was bedecked in her standard black hoodie tracksuit. She was far from the demure lady Eva had met at Southend Central, but Eva reckoned these new duds made a better fit with Lauren’s, hard and fast personality. Even if Eva had owned a tracksuit, she wouldn’t have worn it. Instead, Eva’s dress-down look was a stuffy smart-casual. She wore a white cotton blouse beneath a green lambswool sweater, the blouse untucked over a pair of jeans which had definitely grown tighter since she last pulled them on. Eva didn’t own a baseball cap, but her hair was tied back too, and her look was completed with a pair of throwaway reading glasses. At best, she imagined they looked like social worker and client, each sipping a coffee bought from the glass-fronted coffee shop in the middle of the precinct. But if anyone blended in with the crowd it was Lauren. Eva wondered what was in Lauren’s bag, but she didn’t feel like asking. Or even talking much at all. Lauren’s psych report was still spinning through her mind. One moment she felt a sense of responsibility for the woman’s breakdown all those years ago, the next she only saw the risks. The implications of the report seemed to point in all directions and every possibility that came to Eva seemed more disturbing than the last.
If Dan had known the full story, there was no way he would have approved of Eva trying to handle Lauren by herself. But if she told him, Eva knew Lauren’s presence in her life would only drag on as a background threat, yet another problem waiting to pounce whenever she chose. Eva couldn’t face that any more. She wanted the woman gone for good. So she left Dan believing that she was out tying things up, shutting the case down. But the fact it was a half-truth didn’t make Eva feel any better.
Moment to moment, they each shot glances at the foot of Beeker House, the 1960s concrete monstrosity that rose up on one side of the Basildon precinct, towering high above the shops. They often looked up to the fifth floor hoping they might catch Blane peering down from the window of his recruitment office, but he never did. Meanwhile the silence between them got heavier, becoming a burden in itself.
“You’re quiet,” said Lauren. “Very quiet.”
Eva looked over and forced a smile. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
“This was your idea, remember? You were up for this. Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind?”
Eva shook her head. Her ponytail danced behind her shoulders. She sipped her coffee as the phone-reading and texting pedestrians raced by.
“No,” said Eva. “I’m about as ready for this as I’ll ever be… think, we’re already half done. Boothroyd’s out of the picture. All we have to do is get Blane to face up to what he’s done.”
“Eva, you should have stopped at ‘get Blane’. How much has talking to him helped us in this whole thing?”
There was no point in arguing. Lauren was either sane and difficult, or she was wild and dangerous. But in her predicament, there seemed a good reason why a sane woman would turn wild.
Don’t argue, Eva told herself. Agree with her. Whatever you really believe…
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Of course I am,” said Lauren. “Every time you act and don’t talk, you’ve won. Each time you’ve hesitated or tried to talk your way through we’ve come unstuck.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Dan.”
“I don’t think so!”
“Why don’t you like him?” said Eva. “He’s a good man.”
“I see him as getting in the way.”
Eva frowned and sipped her coffee.
“Of what?”
“Of you. You being all you could be. He’s a burden to you, Eva. You let him be the action man, as if being a man makes him more qualified than you are. But you’re capable of all of it.”
“Just because I’m capable doesn’t mean I don’t need him in my life.”
“There you go again. You don’t need anyone, Eva. You certainly don’t need a man. You’re able to do anything you set your mind to. I’ve seen it first-hand.”
“But what if I want Dan in my life?”
“Then you’re setting the bar way too low.” Lauren patted Eva on the shoulder. “You’ll see. Once we get through this, you’ll soon see you’ve outgrown him.”
“I don’t I want to outgrow him, thanks all the same.”
Lauren gave Eva a hard look before her eyes softened again.
“You’re getting stronger, Eva. Your life is changing, even now. You should just embrace it.”
Eva sipped her coffee to soften the tightening feeling in her throat.
“If you say so.”
Eva fell quiet again and looked up to Blane’s office windows. Lauren didn’t seem satisfied with Eva’s response
“All this overthinking, Eva, is down to Dan. I’ve hardly seen you with him this last couple of weeks. You should ditch him. Get yourself an upgrade.”
Eva narrowed her eyes and her jaw tightened. “Please, let’s not talk about that. It’s enough to think of what we’ve got to do today.”
“That’ll be done with soon. Jamie has to come out of there sooner or later. And what’s the matter with talking about you? You already know everything there is to know about me. I don’t think you should be off limits just because my life happens to be in a mess.”
“No thanks, Lauren. The more we talk about my life, the more say you seem to have.”
Lauren frowned. “But you know everything there is to know about me.”
“Do I?” said Eva. Regretting the comment, she tried to backtrack immediately. “Let’s just get this mess out of the way before we start trying to fix me, shall we?”
“Jeez, Eva. Don’t be so damned touchy. Don’t you see? This case is not just about me. It’s about fixing your life too. I’ve been helping you all along. You just didn’t notice it.”
Eva swallowed. “You’re right. I guess I didn’t notice.”
She noticed Lauren smiling from the corner of her eye.
The damned case needed to finish as soon as possible. Eva could feel Lauren thinking, rehearsing more lines to feed her with, more ways to prod her, cajole her, to disrupt her thinking. It was an odd methodology. To get someone on side by putting cracks in their reality, by spreading her madness. Eva didn’t like it at all. She didn’t want any more cracks, and she didn’t want any more of Lauren’s crafted words.
“You need to chill out, Eva.” She glanced down as Lauren’s laid a supposedly reassuring hand on her forearm. Eva stared at the long fingers and the painted nails but felt nothing but the cool and assertive touch. Lauren’s hand felt almost alien on hers. Whatever game she was playing, this part didn’t feel calming, sexual or anything else. It was just another gambit in her unreadable game plan.
“I am chilled well enough, thank you,” said
Eva, pulling her arm away.
Lauren shook her head and looked away.
“Look.” Eva narrowed her eyes as she saw Jamie Blane walk briskly away from the foot of Beeker House. The wind whipped at his tie and dragged it back over his shoulder. He walked side by side with Suzie Appleby. The girl looked back over her shoulder and around the precinct for a good long time before she drew close to Blane and threaded an arm through his.
“Why’s she looking around like that?” said Eva.
“I think I know,” said Lauren, laughing. “He’s told her not to show any affection at work. Jamie, you old bastard, you never change. Which means it’s definitely not love. But it never is with him. It’s all about the bedroom and nothing else.”
“Are you sure?” said Eva. “The girl’s sharp. She might have guessed something would happen.”
“No, she’s not. Look at her.” Lauren peered from under her baseball cap. “She’s all lips and tits. There’s no brain there beyond the money-and-status seeking kind. Now look at him,” she said.
Eva half turned her face to snatch a glimpse of Blane as he passed close by – the lines and tension were back on his face. He looked older again, haggard. And his movements were edgy.
“He’s running scared, Eva. His back’s against the wall and he knows it. We make a good team, don’t you think?”
Eva narrowed her eyes and met Lauren’s for the briefest time.
“It’s worked so far.” Eva found the words difficult to say.
“Hasn’t it. Come on.” Lauren’s eyes were bright and she smiled as she stood up from the bench. “I can hardly wait to finish this. I know you feel the same.”
Eva adjusted her glasses and they set off side by side.
“I’ll fetch the car. You follow them and text me where to pick you up.”
“Okay,” said Lauren.
Eva paused as she considered the risks.
“But please, Lauren… don’t do anything until I’m with you. Okay?”
“Why would I want to? You’re the one who’s going to bring the curtain down on this. I can’t wait to see it.”
The words chilled Eva. She nodded once and headed towards the shopping lanes and the market at the back of Basildon high street. Her car was parked down there, while Blane was heading towards the larger shopping mall car park. Eva watched Lauren for a moment as she paced away after the smartly dressed couple. Her heart began to race. The endgame was approaching. Eva hoped she was strong enough not to be played again. There would be no blood on her hands, not this time, no matter how Lauren tried to play her. Eva turned left down the lane off the high street, and began a half-walk, half-jog, towards the market car park.
***
“Coffee?” said Tobias Falk. He stood behind Joanne, teasing a lock of her blonde hair between his fingers, before threading it behind her ear. He stroked the nape of her neck. Stickman. Damn it. Dan’s insult had lodged in her mind, and Joanne really wasn’t in the mood for petting. She hadn’t been in the mood last night either, but on account of all the moonlighting she’d been doing, she had eventually given in. But it didn’t alleviate her guilt. In fact, today Joanne felt worse. But at least Toby Falk had been partly repaid with kisses and all the rest.
“Coffee would be great.” Falk left his fingers on her neck a little too long and Joanne grimaced but hid her expression by staring at her computer screen. Falk looked down at her, his mouth a flat line, his eyes strangely fascinated. The man slowly turned away and left the office suite. When Joanne was sure he was gone, she dabbed at the keyboard and toggled away from her work to-do-list, to her real objective. Eva Roberts and Lauren Jaeger. Ever since leaving them, the Jaeger case had become almost a compulsion for her. Eva still didn’t see the woman’s brutal, hard edges and was blind to the danger, even now… Joanne had to snap her out of it, somehow. Eva was compassionate and trusting but sometimes her compassion was a weakness, especially if someone devious like Lauren saw they could exploit it. But if Joanne could prove beyond reasonable doubt that Lauren Jaeger was bad news, she knew Eva’s logic would kick in and take over. But for that to happen, Joanne needed to up her game. She needed to find something to make Eva see before the inevitable disaster happened. Because something was going to happen, Joanne was sure of it. She narrowed her eyes and looked back over her shoulder towards the jutting wall which hid the door leading to the kitchen. Silence… funny though that she didn’t hear the door hit the frame. Still, she needed to press on. Joanne picked up the office phone, dialled a number displayed on the monitor, and waited, twiddling the cord around her fingers as she put the handset to her ear. Just as her call was put through, Toby Falk leaned his head around the wall, his eyes fixing on Joanne.
“Ah, hello. Mrs Gernahue? Sorry to bother you, but this is Joanne calling – the girl who called about Eva Roberts before. I hope you don’t mind, but I have a really important favour to ask. Seeing Eva could be in a spot of trouble, I was hoping you could help…”
Toby Falk bit his lower lip. His blue eyes narrowed and he stepped out into the hallway, making sure the door closed without a sound. Not good. Not good at all. Falk valued loyalty and honesty in his staff, and even more so in his women. He walked into the kitchen and flicked on the chrome kettle while his thoughts darted left and right. For the first time in days, his smile had soured. He stuck his hands deep into his pockets and stared at his reflection in the kettle. Before the kettle had boiled, Falk took his mobile from his pocket. This was a call he didn’t want to make. But he had to do something. Joanne had gone rogue. He needed to take back control.
Falk dabbed a name from his contacts and made the call, wondering if she would even answer him. He doubted it. To his surprise, the call went through, but the tone of voice at the other end was everything he could have expected.
The young woman at the other end answered in a monotone, letting him know his call was most unwelcome.
“Alice?” said Falk.
“Toby. I didn’t think you’d be calling again. What do you want? That was all a long time ago now…”
“Not that long. Just a few months.”
“Six, actually,” said Alice.
“Whatever. I’m not the one who’s counting. Look, I’m not calling about… us. I know that’s over”
“Good for you. I knew you’d get it eventually.”
“I’m not a damned child, Alice. I have loved other women before you.”
“It wasn’t love, Toby. It was a thing, that’s all. Things happen, and then they’re done.”
Falk glowered at the kettle.
“Of course. It was just a thing. Such eloquence, Alice. It was written in the stars that you would be a writer.”
“Sarcasm isn’t your strongest suit, Toby. You’re far too stiff to make it work. Now what is it you want? I’m a busy girl”
“Somebody just dropped a name in my office. Just a name, but I happen to know it belongs to a local private investigator. I wondered if you know anything about them? You always did seem to know something.”
“Everybody wants information from me. When am I going to get some in return? Go on. I’m listening,” said Alice.
“The name is Eva Roberts. I’ve heard of her. I believe she has a partner, too, Radcliffe something like that.”
“Dan Bradley,” said Alice, in irritation. “Dan Radcliffe was Harry Potter, Toby. You always got names wrong.”
Perry fell silent. Her silence seemed loaded with meaning. Falk narrowed his eyes.
“Well? Do you know much about them?”
“A little,” said Alice. The woman’s voice was softer, more amenable. “The real question, Toby, is why do you ask?”
“The name came from my new employee.”
“An employee? Anyone I know?”
“I doubt it. But she does remind me of you.”
“Oh. It’s like that is it?”
Falk’s throat tightened. “Like what?!”
Perry laughed. “You got yourself a clone. I suppos
e I should be flattered, but I’m not.”
“She’s not a clone. She’s…”
“You’re so transparent, Toby, I could call you cling film.”
“Alice! Is there anything I should know about these people?”
“First, exactly why are you asking?”
“Because…” But Falk couldn’t admit the real reason. Couldn’t admit he was already fretting over his new girl’s loyalty. Perry would have laughed out loud. “Because apparently this Miss Roberts is in some kind of trouble.”
“Is she now…?” said Alice. Falk heard something like pleasure in Perry’s voice and wondered what it meant. “Okay, Tobes. How about a little meeting this afternoon? I might be able to tell you something… on a like for like basis of course..”
“Can’t we do lunch?” said Falk, sounding pushy. “I’d prefer to know sooner rather than later.”
“Sorry, honey. Our lunch days are over. I’m meeting someone else for lunch.”
“Oh. Anyone I know?”
“Now, now, Toby. You should know a girl never tells. I’ll see at two pm at The Mews. And be sure to bring a wine budget. They charge a premium in there.”
“You never change, Alice.”
“Oh, I’ve changed alright. But don’t go getting any ideas, you’re really best off with your clone.” The girl chuckled as she ended the call. Falk grimaced and started to make the coffee.
***
“You again, dear,” said Gernahue. “What is it you’re after now?”
“Something to make Eva see sense. You said that Lauren is dangerous, but Eva’s being too stubborn to see it. I need something more to make her understand.”
“I’m not sure I can tell you anything else. Not beyond what I told Eva myself last night. Surely Eva’s smart enough to make up her own mind.”
“You spoke to her?”
“Yes,” said the old lady. “She called me. I thought you might have known.”
Joanne frowned and the old woman hummed to herself, an absent minded gesture she found irritating.
Play With Fire Page 33
