“So, smarty pants, how do you explain Suzanne thinking that Graham is in Thailand?”
“Well, alright, I admit that that’s going to be a bit trickier. We need to get that watertight, but I’ve already got a few ideas about that.”
“Go on, tell me one.”
“Well, we’ll say that after I’d gone with the body, you woke up on the settee in our house and saw that I wasn’t about, so you went to the front for a fag, wondering where I was, but then you saw all the lights on over the road and went over to see what was going on, and Suzanne was out cold.”
“So how is he in Thailand? How does Suzanne find out?”
“We’ll have to figure that out. Suzanne stayed here a few days, was too upset and too scared to go back and face Graham. When she eventually did, he wasn’t there. Just a note saying “soz I’m in Thailand.”
“What if the police don’t believe it?”
“They won’t care, will they? I go in there, tell them everything I just said to you, and they’re buzzing, it’s all neat and tidy, job done and everyone’s happy! It’s brilliant Rachel. I just want you to promise to come and visit me, that’s all I’m arsed about.”
Rachel got off her stool and walked across to Mick, and gave him a massive cuddle. They both cried for a moment, it was a mixture of joy, relief and also a sense of closure on this nightmare situation. Rachel was excited and devastated by the thought of Mick taking the blame, and doing the prison time. But she was completely devastated, because she would miss him first and foremost, and because his good name would be tarnished. But she was excited, because she could genuinely see some light at the end of the tunnel.
“What about the Facebook updates from Thailand that Suzanne’s been putting on?”
“I’ll say I did them.”
“How did you get his password?”
“It was on a piece of paper in his glove box. Fucking hell Rach, we need to go over all these bits and pieces with Suzanne. It’s simple babe. I’m doing it. I’m going for it.”
“When?”
“I’m going to sort out a list of problems that we need to work out, like the Facebook updates, any weirdness with Suzanne, things she might have said to people, all that kind of stuff. We need to get everything absolutely nailed down, and then I’ll go down to Bury cop shop and say I need to speak to an officer about an accidental death.”
“But what about us, the family? How are we going to survive without you?”
“You’ll be better off Rach, you know that. Single mum, four kids. You’ll get more in benefits than you get in my wages. Plus you’ll get all your fucking rent and council tax paid. You’ll be loaded, you’ll be miles better off! That’s how fucking stupid this country is. You know the score, dealing with all the benefits stuff at the Citizen’s Advice.”
“Fuckin’ hell Mick. I think this is the best idea you’ve ever had. And it’s so romantic as well.” Rachel’s face had the first glimmers of happiness and hope on it for the first time since the situation with Graham occurred. It melted Mick’s heart to see the first traces of the old Rachel returning.
“Cheers love. Come here you big snotty ball of tears and give us a kiss.”
“I love you Mick, so much!”
“I know you do. And I love you too, you murdering bugger!”
Chapter 31
Mick was sitting on the settee, pondering whether to go into work for his final ever afternoon shift, or whether to just leave it at that. His mind was racing, a thousand thoughts were zapping through. When should he hand himself in? Would it do any harm to have one last weekend with the family? Should he say goodbye to the kids and explain everything first? Maybe just wait until the first prison visit? Will Rachel manage alright? What if Liam goes off the rails? What if Noel goes off the rails? What if Britney tells the police that it was her mum who did it? No, why would she? Would the family still be considered for re-housing after all this? Killing a neighbour is pretty anti-social after all.
Mick was getting dizzy with it all. But he was excited too, he felt like he was about to go on a holiday, or to a really big football match. He had butterflies, and a desire to just get his shoes on and get down to the police station and get on with it all. But there was stuff he needed to sort out first, and it was making him restless. He looked up again at the clock. Quarter past eleven. It felt as though an hour had passed, but it was less than five minutes. He looked back at his piece of paper, a confusing list of notes that a casual observer would never make any sense out of. It was Mick’s list of loose ends that needed sorting out, half written and using lots of paranoid euphemisms and codes. The Facebook stuff from Graham was at the top of the agenda. There had been a total of four posts since the night that Graham had died. Mick thought that he could just get the password from Suzanne, then delete all of the posts, and then just rename the account John Smith before deactivating it. If he did it from a public internet access, McDonalds or Caffe Nero or somewhere, a place with CCTV, at least he could be seen as the person in control of Graham’s Facebook, if the police wanted to check.
Ding Dong.
The doorbell made Mick jump. He’d been lost in his own little world, consumed by his busy thoughts. “God, I can’t have a shit in peace.” He muttered as he dragged himself up off the settee, mindful that he needed to get to the door quickly before the caller pressed the bell a second time.
“Oh, hiya,” said Mick as he opened the door and saw his mother-in-law standing there, looking sad and scared. “Come in. Rachel’s asleep, she’s been awake all night you know. She’s alright now though, she’s sound asleep. Do you want a brew? You look like shit Maureen. Sit down in there.” Mick gestured his mother-in-law through to the lounge.
“Cheers Mick, thanks a lot. I’ve not slept a wink, I’ve been crying all night. I feel like somebody has died.”
“Well, they have. That’s the problem.”
“That’s not funny Michael.”
“I know, sorry.”
“Anyway, I’ve thought of an idea. A way of sorting everything out.”
Mick felt sad about how upset Maureen was. She was the salt-of-the-earth, and Mick adored his mother-in-law. It was upsetting to see her in such a state.
“What do you mean?” asked Mick, sitting next to her on the settee.
“I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve found a way of you staying out of prison, you and Rachel.”
“Oh aye, tell us then,” he said.
“I’m going to take the blame. I’ll say I did it. It won’t matter if I’m in prison, but it will if you and Rachel are. The kids need you. What’s the point of me saying I’ll look after them. I might as well take the blame for what’s happened.”
Mick’s eyes were pouring with tears, but Maureen was none the wiser, he kept them hidden well. He was only found out when he had to speak.
“So, do you think that would work?” asked Maureen.
“God, I bloody love you, you daft old bugger!” said Mick as he cuddled Rachel’s mum. “Have a fag if you want, I’ll go and get you Rachel’s ashtray.”
Once Mick had wiped his face and blown his nose, and fetched his mother-in-law the ashtray, he sat down and told her all about the plan that he had come up with since he had last seen Maureen.
“Great minds think alike!” said Mick as he finished up explaining everything that he had already agreed with Rachel a couple of hours earlier. “What do you reckon?” he asked.
Maureen looked quite impressed, and Mick sensed that she felt a tiny bit of relief too, that she wasn’t about to go into prison, even though it had been her own idea.
“Aren’t you bothered though?”
“How do you mean?” asked Mick.
“Well, you didn’t even kill anyone. Don’t you mind the thought of going to jail?”
“I’d be going anyway, with Rach. It makes more sense this way. And it will get the blackmailing piece of shit from up there out of our hair as well.”
Maureen started crying, most
ly from relief that this nightmare situation that she had learnt about the previous evening looked as though it might not be quite as bad as it first sounded.
“God, I’ll be glad to get it all put to rest to be honest Maureen. Our Rachel’s been really ill with it. You’ve seen how much weight she’s lost. It weren’t as though she had a lot of spare flab to begin with!”
“I know, she told me she’s had a bug though. I had no idea…”
“Well, listen, she’s glad you know now. She told me this morning, said it feels a bit easier to cope with now that you know, and you’re being so sound about everything.”
“I’ve been praying all night long. That’s why she feels better. God is comforting her.”
“Look, go up and get in bed with her Maureen love. Go on, get yer head down for a bit.”
“I might do actually! I hope I don’t disturb her.”
“Don’t worry, she’s had two of my sleeping tablets. She’ll be out for a bit yet.”
“Alright, well, I will. I’m feeling a bit more calm now, that’s a cracking idea you’ve had there. Makes a lot of sense. I’m so proud of you, you know?”
“Yeah, thanks Maureen, I’m just glad we’ve come to some sort of sensible solution. It’s been too much just waiting to see what’s going to happen. At least this way, we all know what’s happening. It’s perfect. I’m feeling pretty buzzing to be honest with you. I’ve just got a lot of stuff to figure out, so, you go and get a nap, and I’ll crack on.”
Maureen stood up, leant down and gave her son-in-law a kiss on the forehead.
“God-bless you Mick. You’re one-in-a-million love.”
Chapter 32
“Good news Suzanne, got a brilliant plan. Can’t talk here, Tania will see us and wonder what’s going on. Meet you in McDonalds in Bury town centre at 4 to discuss. Is that okay? R xxx” Rachel pressed the send button on her phone and the text message disappeared off the screen.
“Right, I’ve sent her a message. Going to meet her at four in town.” Rachel was still feeling sleepy, she’d managed three hours sleep. Mick had no choice but to wake her in order to get things moving along. Maureen was still upstairs, fast asleep with the big bed all to her self.
“Nice one Rach. Sorted. The sooner the better love. We need to make the first move, it’s going to be a headache if we wait until the police come.” Mick was tapping out a beat on his leg with a pen.
“Why though? Why can’t we just wait it out?”
“Because of big fat Tania, you pellet.”
“Oh aye yeah. Dickhead.” Rachel made a gun with her hand and pretended to shoot herself in the face.
“Thick as two short planks, you!” said Mick, smiling.
“Alright, don’t push it.”
“Will you sort us out with loads of good stuff when I’m in prison?” asked Mick, trying to look as angelic as possible, still nervously tapping out a rhythm on himself.
“Yeah, course I will. I’ll be down all the time. What sort of stuff will you want?”
“Don’t know really. Soap, stuff like that. Razors. Toffees. Bars of chocolate. Loads of rolling baccy. Bring us a big massive bagful and I’ll be running the wing in no time.” Mick smiled to himself.
“Will you? Will you be the top dog?”
Mick burst out laughing, and Rachel joined in too. They were both feeling pretty good about this solution that Mick had come up with. But there was still a nervous doubt bubbling away. Mick just wanted to get on with it now and hand himself in. That way, he felt as though he’d be controlling the way the investigation was going to go, and Tania would have no further part in the matter. Rachel’s phone vibrated and a new message appeared.
“Oooh sounds ominous! Can’t wait to find out what’s cooking! See you at 4 and I’ll get the McFlurry’s this time! Suz xxx”
“Right, it’s all sorted.” Said Rachel, showing the text message to Mick. “We’ll sort all these items out that are on your list, and then it’s send you to prison time!” Rachel tried to make it into a joke, but her delivery failed to contain the all-important humour. Her joke stood awkwardly in the air for a moment before Mick saved Rachel’s blushes.
“Just make sure we can get these three things sorted out.” Mick showed Rachel the items that were causing him the most concern.
“No worries. Let me write them down. Right, so, if all this goes straight through without any trouble, when are you thinking of handing yourself in?”
“In the morning. So I want plenty good lovin’ tonight!”
Mick had hoped that Rachel would laugh, or slap him, or call him a cheeky bugger. But she just seemed to go very pale, and those red, irritated eyes welled up with tears once again.
“Mick…”
“Shut up Rach. You know it’s the best idea. It’s going to be alright, I’m telling you now.”
*****
Mick was hyped up. He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this. He was relentless, wandering around the house like a restless caged animal roaming about its enclosure. He just couldn’t sit, he’d tried to watch TV, he’d put on a DVD, tried playing the Playstation. He just couldn’t settle. There was an urgency, right at the pit of his stomach, and it was bubbling more with each passing hour.
“Right love. That’s me, I’m off. Bloody hell, are you still walking about the house? What are you like? Just try and calm down will you?” Rachel gave Mick a peck on the cheek.
“You’re looking a bit more human!” Mick smiled, and was glad to see that Rachel appeared a bit more like her old self.
“Right, shut up, I’m going to miss my bus.”
“Why don’t you just get in Suzanne’s car round the corner?”
“I don’t want to chance it.”
“Fair enough. Right, listen, as soon as you’ve got Graham’s login e-mail address and password, text it me. Then I’ll get to work sorting that out. Then, sort out that other stuff, make sure your stories are perfect, and we’ll all be sorted.”
“No worries, I’ll be in touch. Okay?”
“Love you.”
“Love you too Mick, more than Charlie Sheen loves cocaine and hookers!”
“Love you more than Gary Barlow loves not paying his tax!”
“Love you more than Deidre loved Ken, and Mike, and Samir.”
“Love you more than… no I can’t think of anymore. You win Rach. See you in a bit.”
Rachel set off and Mick watched her power-walking off the close, at much the same speed that she’d had him trying to keep up with the previous night. As Rachel disappeared from view, Mick smiled to himself. It had been such a weird twenty-four hours. It was unbelievable how much had changed since he’d walked out of work the previous night. Now he felt slightly guilty that he had phoned in work and said that he wouldn’t be in, because he had a tummy bug. But it amused him that he felt bad. He’d done his last shift. Shit, what were the lads going to say when they heard about this? Mick laughed at the thought of his mates, the factory’s staff all stood around in little groups discussing the factory killer.
“They’ll fucking love this! Best excuse for being off, ever!” said Mick, smiling from ear to ear.
*****
Rachel caught the bus with plenty of time to spare. The rattling old vehicle seemed to be taking longer than ever today, thought Rachel, as she vibrated and slowly juddered along the road, stopping and starting every two hundred yards for bus stops, traffic lights and school crossings. Rachel had never known the journey to take as long, as the bus seemingly crawled its way into the town centre.
Despite the slow speed of travel, Rachel realised that she was starting to feel happy. It was a ridiculous notion, and the realisation of it shocked her at first, and instantly made her feel guilty. Mick was about to get sent down for something that she had done, and her reaction was happiness. It was a bizarre situation, but Rachel could feel that the sense of hopelessness, the cloud of despair that had been hanging over her for the past month was finally disappearing. It was
going somewhere else, and good fucking riddance to it as well, she thought.
Rachel took her phone out of her pocket and texted Mick.
“OMG, I just caught a reflection of myself smiling in the window. I haven’t smiled since YKW. Love you so much Michael. I really do. Thank you. You are a hero and I will make this back up to you ten thousand times. Love you Mick, so much. R xxx”
She smiled again as she pressed the send button. Things were finally starting to look up. Mick might even get off with it. After all, it was nothing more than a good Samaritan situation, that had got completely out of hand, she considered. Drink, fear, and adrenaline were going to be Mick’s only defence for his actions. Rachel had heard of other people getting off with similar crimes, although she couldn’t think of the specifics of any particular cases to Google. But she was confident that it had happened in the past.
The bus pulled into Bury Interchange at twenty minutes to four. Rachel was careful to avoid the part of town where the Citizen’s Advice Bureau office was based, she felt bad that she hadn’t been in for weeks. The staff had been great with her when she’d phoned, but she still felt guilty for letting the team down. Even though the role was voluntary, she still took a great deal of pride in the position, and tried to treat it with the same amount of commitment that she would a paid position.
It was a relief to finally arrive at McDonalds. Rachel looked around the restaurant, but Suzanne hadn’t arrived yet. She was disappointed. She was absolutely bursting to share this news. It was only ten to, thought Rachel as she got into the queue. She ordered two cappuccino’s and went to find a seat for her and Suzanne. She chose a booth that was out of plain view of the windows, just for a bit of privacy – because Rachel thought that knowing her rotten luck, Tania would no doubt walk past and see them talking, and then come along and disrupt everything.
Neighbours From Hell : DCI Miller 2: The gripping Manchester thriller with a killer twist Page 23
