by Roberta Kray
It was only a couple of minutes before she saw Rick jogging along the street. There was something touching about his sense of urgency. She ran down the stairs as quietly as she could, pulled across the bolts and opened the door. A moment later, they were face to face.
‘Hi,’ he said softly. ‘Are you okay?’
The relief at seeing him was almost too much to bear. She felt the tears prick her eyes and tried to wipe them away. Even as her hands rose, she was aware of him moving forward and of the gentle, reassuring tone of his voice. She wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but suddenly, somehow his arms were around her holding her tight, and for the first time all day she felt safe.
25
Rick leaned forward with his elbows on the counter, gazing down at the dead bird. It was half an hour since he’d arrived, time that Maddie had spent explaining the whole sorry story. Now he knew everything. He knew about Greta and Bo, Cato, Lena Gissing and the mystery surrounding Lucy Rivers.
He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘And you haven’t called the cops because…?’
Maddie was trying to avoid looking at the tiny corpse. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on Rick. ‘I thought about it. I almost rang them. I don’t know. I didn’t want them to come while Zac was here. And I was hoping that Cato would call.’ She folded her arms across her chest. ‘And then there was what Lena said, about having friends at Cowan Road. If I report it, I might make things even worse. What do you think? Do you reckon she might have that kind of influence?’
‘Hard to know, but she could have contacts. Her sort usually do.’
‘Her sort?’
‘Gangsters, criminals, whatever you want to call them. I’m sure she’s bribed a few officers in her time. If nothing else, she might get to hear that you’d been to the station.’
Despite the warmth of the kitchen, Maddie gave a shiver. ‘That’s what I’m worried about. And I can’t prove that she did this.’ Although she didn’t want to look, her gaze automatically slid down to the dead bird. It was the long silver nail that made it so much worse, the nail that pierced the centre of the body. It reminded her of a crucifixion. ‘It’s sick. What kind of person…?’
‘The kind of person who’s worried about what you might know – or say.’
‘Which is ironic, seeing as I hardly know anything at all. And I still don’t get why Delia Shields had a go at me. Where does she figure in all this?’
‘She’s a friend of Lena Gissing.’
Maddie frowned, surprised by the revelation. ‘What? Delia? Delia and Lena? How do you know that?’
‘Because I’ve seen them together. And because Eli says they go way back, went to school together apparently. Maybe you should ask him about Lucy Rivers.’
‘Or you could,’ she said, not relishing a conversation with the strange Eli Glass. ‘He’s more likely to talk to you.’ She turned her back to the counter so she couldn’t see the bird. ‘I’m still trying to get my head around Delia and Lena Gissing. I mean, Delia always seems so… prim and proper. It’s hard to imagine the two of them being friends.’
‘Although it accounts for how Lena knew where to find you this morning. Delia must have called her as soon as you got there.’
‘That’s true.’ She rubbed her face, exhausted by the day’s events. ‘God, what am I going to do? What do you think I should do?’
‘It’s your call, babe.’
‘Would you go to the cops? If you were in my shoes?’
‘I’m not sure. I suppose you have to weigh up the pros and cons. If you report it, then they’ll probably go and talk to Lena Gissing. But of course you can’t prove anything, and she’s bound to deny it, so…’
‘So it’ll be a waste of time.’
‘Well, I know you don’t want her to get away with it, but once she sees that you haven’t gone to the cops, she might back off and leave you alone. And if you’re not tending the grave any more, then she’s got no reason to keep hassling you.’
‘Except she thinks I’m in league with Cato.’
‘Like I said, it’s your choice. You have to do whatever feels right.’
Maddie ran her fingers through her hair and released her breath in a long, low sigh. ‘I wish I knew what felt right. Nothing feels right.’
‘Maybe you should wait and see if Cato gets in touch.’
‘And what about…?’ She gestured with her head towards the box. ‘What do I do with him?’
Rick leaned in closer to the bird, examining the body. ‘Looks like its neck got broken. It was probably a cat. Wrong place, wrong time and all that.’
‘Yeah, but the cat didn’t skewer the poor thing to a piece of card, put it in a box and leave it on my doorstep.’
‘Seems unlikely,’ he agreed. ‘You want me to bury it, or are you going to keep it as evidence? Doubt there’s any fingerprints lying around. They wouldn’t have been that careless.’
Maddie sighed again. She had pretty much decided that she wasn’t going to the police, at least not for the moment. What would it achieve? They could hardly offer her twenty-four-hour protection. In fact, the only thing they probably would offer was a promise to ‘look into it’. And in the meantime, Lena Gissing would find out that she’d been to talk to them. ‘Would you mind? And would you, you know, take the nail out before…?’
‘Sure,’ he said.
Maddie went to the living room while he was carrying out the procedure. She pulled a handful of tissues from the box and took them back to Rick. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘You can wrap him in these.’
They went out into the yard, where there was just enough light from the kitchen for them to see what they were doing. Maddie got a spade from the garden box and passed it to him. Then she found a nice spot near the roses where the bird could be buried.
While Rick was digging, she kept glancing up towards Zac’s bedroom window. She prayed that he was still asleep, that he wouldn’t hear the soft sound of the spade cutting through the earth. She wondered if she was making a mistake, burying the evidence like this. But she didn’t want Zac finding the bird. And anyway, unless she put it in the freezer, there was a limit on the time she could keep it before the body started to rot.
It didn’t take long for Rick to complete the job. He bent down, laid the tiny parcel in the hole and glanced at her. ‘You want to say a few words?’
Maddie looked at him. ‘Like what?’ she whispered. ‘It’s not a funeral.’
He grinned back at her. ‘Well, it is, kind of.’
‘Just cover it over.’
Rick filled in the hole and patted down the soil. ‘There. All done.’
‘Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it.’
They went back inside, where Maddie closed the door and bolted it. There was no direct access to the back of the house, but she wasn’t taking any chances. ‘God, you must be regretting the day you ever met me.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘All this,’ she said, nodding towards the box that was still sitting on the counter. ‘And everything else. It’s not exactly normal, is it?’
‘And is any of it your fault?’
Maddie gave a shrug. ‘That’s not the point.’
Rick bent down and kissed her on the top of her head. ‘Course it’s the point. Now, have you got anything stronger than coffee in this house? I don’t know about you, but I could do with a real drink.’
Maddie went to the fridge and opened it. ‘There’s only wine,’ she said. ‘No beer, I’m afraid.’
‘Wine will do fine.’
She took the bottle and a couple of glasses through to the living room and they sat down at either end of the sofa. Although the poor bird had been disposed of, the threat still loomed large in her mind. She poured the wine, passed him a glass and then pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. ‘Thank you,’ she said again, ‘for coming round and everything. Thanks for dealing with the…’
‘No need to thank me. It was a tricky burial, but fortunately
I’m a highly trained gravedigger.’
‘I picked the right guy for the job, then.’
‘You picked the right guy full stop.’
Maddie smiled. ‘You think?’
‘Who could doubt it?’ Rick sat back and sipped on his wine. There was a short but not uncomfortable silence. ‘So you and Greta,’ he asked. ‘Were you close?’
‘When we were kids, but not so much as we grew older. And I think that was my fault. I was so wrapped up in my own life, my own career that I didn’t really make time for her any more. By the time she died… was murdered… we were almost like strangers to each other. And now I’m finding out this stuff and…’ She stopped. ‘But you don’t want to hear about all that. You’ve had enough of my life story for one night.’
‘Not true,’ he said. ‘I’m interested. So did the cops find any link to the Gissings back then?’
Maddie shook her head. ‘Not as far as I know, but then they didn’t tell us much. I think they pretty much wrote it off as some kind of gangland killing. Bo worked for the Streets, but I’ve heard he was close to Adam Vasser too.’
‘Vasser?’ Rick said, his eyebrows shooting up. ‘Jesus, he certainly picked his company.’
Maddie reached for her glass and drank a little wine. She’d have liked to drink a lot of it, to drown her fears and sorrows in alcohol, but was aware of having to get up early in the morning to take Zac to summer school. ‘How long did you say you’ve lived in Kellston?’
‘A few months,’ he said. ‘Why?’
‘Because I’ve lived here for six years and I’d never heard of him. I’d never heard of Lena Gissing either.’
Rick laughed. ‘Ah, well, there’s a good reason for that. You don’t waste your time sitting around in the Fox, listening to the local gossip. It’s amazing what you hear in that pub.’
‘And what have you heard about Vasser?’
‘That he’s a nasty bit of work, but then that goes with the job description. And being Lena’s flesh and blood can’t do much for the personality. Rumour has it that she runs a high-class escort service – beautiful girls for men with large bank accounts.’
‘Really?’
‘That’s what they say.’
‘But if you know that, then why don’t the police?’
‘Maybe they do,’ Rick said. ‘Maybe they just don’t want to go there. You start turning over stones in that kind of business and you never know what’s going to crawl out – or rather, who is going to crawl out. And a scandal is the last thing they want, especially if it involves some of their own.’
Maddie took another sip of wine while she thought about this. ‘So it’s okay to break the law so long as you’re dealing with the rich and the powerful?’
‘Hasn’t it always been that way?’
‘Doesn’t make it right.’
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘It doesn’t. But that’s how it is. And it’s what gives her protection. So long as she’s discreet, she won’t get any bother.’
Maddie was sure now that she’d made the right choice in not going to the law. ‘And what if she did have something to do with Greta’s murder? What happens then?’
‘It gets complicated.’
‘It’s already complicated.’ She leaned her head back against the sofa. ‘I wish Cato had called. He must know something. He has to or he wouldn’t have gone to all the bother of hiring me.’
‘Give him time. It’s only been a day. It’s not always easy to get on the phone in those places.’
Maddie threw him a look. She hardly knew anything about his past; perhaps he had some dark secrets of his own. ‘Is that from personal experience?’
‘If you’re asking if I’ve ever done time, then no. But I’ve had mates who’ve been in for the odd short stretch. Never fancied it myself, so I try and keep out of trouble.’
‘You’ve come to the wrong place, then.’
‘Ah, but this is a righteous sort of trouble. Not the same thing at all.’
‘Seriously, though, I don’t expect you… don’t want you to get involved in all this. It’s not fair. It’s my problem, not yours.’
‘Now you’re just being selfish.’ He leaned forward, took hold of the bottle and topped up both their glasses. ‘Didn’t your mother ever teach you about sharing?’
‘All my mother ever taught me was how to pack a suitcase. I’m exceptionally good at that.’
‘Lots of practice, huh?’
‘Lots.’
‘But getting back to the point, it’s too late to dismiss me now – I’m already involved.’
Maddie peered at him over the rim of her glass. ‘Digging a hole in the ground doesn’t count as being involved.’
‘I’m shocked,’ he said, placing a hand on his heart. ‘That wasn’t just any old hole. It was a highly professional piece of digging.’
‘For which I’m very grateful, but it doesn’t mean that you’re obliged to do anything else.’
‘What, not even moral support?’
Maddie hesitated. ‘I suppose there wouldn’t be much harm in that.’
‘Good, that’s settled, then. Now, about all this packing you did as a kid…’
An hour later, when the past had been shared, the wine finished and a cup of coffee drunk, Rick glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better make a move. Will you be okay?’
‘I’ll be fine.’ Maddie forced a smile. She hadn’t been looking forward to the time when he’d leave and she’d be on her own again. ‘Really I will. Thanks for coming round. It was good of you.’
He stood up. ‘No problem.’
She rose to her feet too, trying to appear perfectly calm about him going.
‘Unless…’ he said.
She gazed up at him, her eyes locking on to his. ‘Unless…?’
‘I could stay if you want.’
His words hung in the air and for a moment Maddie was tempted, but she knew she’d be doing it for all the wrong reasons. Fear and gratitude weren’t good motives for going to bed with a man, no matter how attractive he was. She made a vague flapping motion with her hand. ‘Er… I don’t think… you know, with Zac and everything. I do like you, of course I do, but it’s probably not a good idea.’
He put his hands on his hips and stared at her. ‘Hey, I wasn’t… I was just offering to kip on the sofa if you’d feel safer having someone around.’
‘Oh, right.’ Maddie, feeling foolish, glanced away and then back at him. ‘Well, this isn’t awkward or anything.’
‘You think I’m the kind of guy who’d try and take advantage?’
She studied him closely, watching the corners of his mouth twitch. ‘Now you’re just trying to make me feel bad.’
‘Is it working?’
‘Yeah, pretty much.’
Rick grinned. ‘So, what do you reckon? To be honest, you’d be doing me a favour. It’ll save me the walk home. And I’ll make myself scarce before Zac gets up – he won’t even know I’ve been here.’
Maddie didn’t need much persuading. With Rick in the house, at least she’d get some sleep and not be lying awake listening for the slightest noise. She pretended to think about it some more even though her mind was already made up. Then she gave a light shrug as if she was the one bestowing the favour rather than the other way round. ‘Okay, I’ll get you some blankets.’
26
Adam Vasser watched from the bed while the boy stood up, tucked in his shirt and did up his flies. Already he was regretting the encounter. With his desire now sated, he was filled with that familiar self-loathing, the sense of disgust that always overwhelmed him at these times. He had met the boy in a bar in Brewer Street. What was his name? Already he’d forgotten. Lewis or Leo, something like that.
Earlier, he had found the guy attractive. Slim build, dark hair flopping over his forehead, a full mouth, a tattoo of a snake wrapped round the well-toned bicep of his right arm. He had an Italian look about him, although that illusion was shattered as soon as he opened his mouth. Pure Essex
. And now Adam saw him for what he really was – just a dirty little rent boy.
He rose to his feet, rage starting to blossom in his chest. His hands curled into two tight fists. He’d only gone into the bar for a drink, a few whiskies to help him wind down. He’d had no intention of… No, it had been the guy who’d approached him, started chatting, eyeing him up in the way they always did. Predators, the whole fuckin’ lot of them.
He glanced around the room, a shabby Soho dive where the boy conducted his business. Brown furniture, brown carpet, a layer of dust over everything. Dirty. Filthy. He scratched the back of his neck. God knows what diseases were lurking in the place. And he was expected to pay for the privilege of being here. It was a joke, a bleeding joke.
‘You ready?’ the boy asked, wanting to get rid of him. His tone was cool and dismissive. He pushed back the hair from his forehead, a gesture that Adam had found sensuous an hour ago but now only filled him with revulsion.
‘No,’ Adam said. ‘We’re not finished yet.’
‘You got what you paid for, man. Now it’s time to go.’
But no one told Adam Vasser what to do or when to do it. He quickly stepped forward, taking his victim by surprise. As his fist made contact with his jaw, there was a satisfying cracking sound. The boy staggered back, knocking over a lamp before his knees crumpled and he fell to the ground.
Adam could have left it at that, but he wanted more, needed more. A punch in the face – even if it had broken his jaw – wasn’t enough. The boy had taken advantage and he was going to pay for it. Drawing back his foot, he kicked him hard in the groin, in the ribs, in the stomach.
The boy instinctively tried to curl up, attempting to protect himself. Adam launched himself on top, straightening and straddling the boy’s body, his eyes burning with uncontrollable rage. ‘Bastard!’ he spat. ‘Fuckin’ whore!’ Pinned to the carpet, his victim had no hope of escape. The universe had shrunk to the dimensions of these four shabby walls; there was nothing in the world now but the two of them. He punched over and over, only stopping when the face had been reduced to a bloody pulp.
