Payback

by Charlotte Mills

  Kate grinned. “I told him I’d make him into a eunuch if he touched me again.” She adjusted her position and straddled the wooden seat, resting her left arm on the table. She centred her body, sitting upright, and began singing in a low, tuneless voice. “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

  Helen smiled as she heard the words. “George sings that at the end of the film.” She was tempted to say more but didn’t want to give the impression that she had been waiting for an opportunity to discuss Kate’s nickname, even though she’d watched the film recently, specifically in case the topic came up.

  “I know,” Kate replied confidently as she sang the words again.

  There was silence for a few moments before she finally had the courage to speak. “I am, Kate, I am,” she said quietly, changing the final words of the film slightly. The couple of drinks she’d had seemed to have loosened her tongue, but the looks and signals that had passed between them were unavoidable. She’d purposely put distance between them today, fearful of her own feelings, but somehow Kate always had a way of getting around her defences, absence the latest tool in her arsenal.

  “What?” Kate asked, surprise evident in her tone.

  There was no going back now. Helen steeled herself before continuing. “I’m afraid of Virginia Woolf.”

  “Are you? Why?”

  “I think you know why.”

  They were getting into dangerous territory, and how the hell was she going to close it down now that she had opened the door for more questions? She should have kept her mouth shut. Why? Why did she have to say that?

  Kate reached out and slipped her hand into Helen’s, preventing continued fumbling with her mobile phone.

  “Is it because…?” She paused.

  Helen risked a quick look over at Kate, trying to hide the concern she felt for her intoxicated state. Kate was already a hothead. God alone knew what was going to come out of her mouth now. Helen was grateful for the dark solitude surrounding them. She found herself praying for the taxi’s delayed arrival.

  Kate leant towards her as she spoke in a low voice. “I want you. And you think it’s a mistake, and that I’ll screw everything up and hurt you.”

  Her eyes flickered closed as Kate’s words burned their path into her bloodstream all the way to her heart. Helen turned her upper body around to face Kate more squarely, their bodies only inches apart. “I see you’ve thought about this a bit.” Her fiercely contradicting heartbeat was throbbing in her ears as she realised that Kate still held her hand. A thumb danced along the skin on the back of her hand. The softness of Kate’s touch broke through her final line of defence. Even in the darkness, Kate’s lips looked full and tempting as they parted slightly under her scrutiny.

  The silence stretched between them.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She needed to know how those lips felt against her own. Throwing caution to the wind for the first time in years, Helen leant forward. Stopping only a couple of inches short, she heard Kate’s startled intake of breath. The slight upturn of Kate’s lips forced her to close the final few inches that separated them. Soft, warm lips pressed against hers. After a few seconds, they parted a little. A hand made its way to the side of her face, deepening the kiss. The heady taste of alcohol filled her mouth as she ran her tongue slowly along Kate’s bottom lip before tentatively pushing inside. She swept her tongue deeper still and was relieved to hear the low moan of approval escape Kate’s throat. She wanted this to last forever, to take Kate home with her right now, to feel her body against Kate’s, but something cut through her, holding her back. This wasn’t right. She couldn’t risk getting attached to a temporary officer. She needed to take a step back before it was too late.

  Pulling back, she caught her breath before pressing her forehead against Kate’s. “Your taxi will be here soon,” she whispered. She could hear the disappointment in her own voice. The thought of Kate leaving now filled Helen’s stomach with turmoil. She brought their lips together again. The warmth of Kate’s mouth sobered her, bringing her body to attention. A throbbing heat flowed through her body even as Kate pulled back. She wanted more of Kate Wolfe. It was too late already.

  Helen stood abruptly. Without taking her eyes off Kate, she straddled the wooden seat, mirroring Kate’s position.

  “Come here,” Kate murmured as she reached out to grasp the lapels of her coat.

  Their lips collided, parting almost immediately. She wanted this, wanted to feel Kate’s desire for her. Kate’s hands slipped to her thighs, thumbs following the inner seam of her trousers. The additional dimension of Kate’s hands on her pushed away any thoughts of ending this moment. Lifting her hand, she cupped Kate’s cheek, pulling her closer, but nothing seemed to be quite close enough. Kate’s hands felt electrifying on her body. She knew if they didn’t stop soon there would be no need for the taxi.

  The sound of an approaching car made them both pull apart, creating a yawning distance between them. The headlights of the taxi flashed across Kate’s face as Helen stepped over the seat, walking towards the car as it pulled up next to the kerb beyond the garden. She waited for the driver to lower his window before speaking.

  “Evening, Malc. New car?”

  A sinking feeling developed in the pit of her stomach as she focused on the wonky, magnetic taxi sign attached to the driver’s door proclaiming Malc’s Taxis.

  What exactly had she started here tonight?

  “Traded up. Thought it was about time. Other one kept breaking down, started losing business,” Malc Walters said from inside the waiting car.

  Her voice had regained its regular timbre as she tried to make conversation with Malc. “One to take home,” Helen said, indicating Kate, still sitting on the bench.

  She heard footsteps approaching from behind as she reeled off Kate’s address. She didn’t want to risk Kate making a scene; she wasn’t ready for that yet. She opened the rear passenger door and nodded for Kate to get in, stepping up to close the door behind her. The expression on her face was unreadable, which only worried Helen more. She’d basically kissed Kate, then dismissed her. She hadn’t expected the evening to take the turn that it had, but, equally, she wasn’t ready for the conversation now that their feelings were out in the open.

  Helen held out a 20-pound note from her pocket towards Malc, adding, “Wait for her to get inside before you leave.” She waited for him to nod in acknowledgement before letting go of the money.

  Back on the pavement, Helen watched the taxi drive off around the corner. She couldn’t help thinking that she’d made a mistake acting on her feelings towards Kate. They worked together. The whole thing was a terrible idea. She was only on secondment for five more months, then she’d be off back to London and back to her high-flying life in the Met.

  She scolded herself. She was Kate’s boss; how could she expect to have any control over her now? She was edging towards feral as it was; God knew what she’d be like now Kate was aware of Helen’s feelings. The woman had a sell-by date, and she wasn’t suitable relationship material. Not that Helen would know with her track record, or lack of it. She hadn’t had a relationship in, how many years now?

  She quickly blamed the alcohol for loosening her tongue, but now she would have to deal with the fallout. Crossing the road, she headed up the short, cobbled road to her house, hoping that sleeping on the whole thing would reveal some answers.

  Chapter 10

  The increasing volume of the clock radio roused her from her slumber, pulling a pillow over her head did little to stem the flow of horrendous thuds and beats that attacked her ears. Realising it was pointless to continue to try and sleep, she rolled over, stretching to turn off the alarm.

  “Fuck off!” she breathed into the empty room. Who the hell listens to that shit at this time in the morning anyway? A persistent throb began at the front of her head.

  Relaxing back on the bed, flashes o
f last night’s events went through her mind. She recalled the kisses she had shared with Helen. The nervous flutter returned to her stomach just thinking about it, not to mention the rush of blood to her crotch. Turning over, she pressed her thighs together. A jolt of electricity flowed through her body at the thought of Helen’s lips on hers, tentative at first, but soon revealing her desire. Her hand quickly moved between her thighs, ready to relieve the tension, but the ringing of her phone broke the reverie as if scolding her for impure thoughts.

  She pulled her phone from the nightstand. Helen’s name flashed across the screen. She wondered how they would handle it today, now that it was all out in the open. Helen was her superior.

  She considered not answering it at all for a moment. There hadn’t been any discussion of their feelings or about how they would act around each other after their kiss. Instead, she’d been shoved into a taxi and sent home. Reluctantly, she accepted the call.

  “Morning, Virginia. I’ve sent someone to pick you up and bring you into the station.”

  Her mind slowly came into focus as she remembered having a word in Terry’s ear after he tried to feel her up.

  “Shit! Was I that bad last night?” Surely it wasn’t an arrestable offence.

  “Terry will be there shortly. You’ve got about twenty minutes to get ready.”

  “Fuck! Please tell me you’re kidding.” The pain in her head began to escalate.

  She had a feeling Helen barely heard her reply over her laughter. She had to wait several seconds before there was a suitable gap.

  “Seriously?”

  “Okay, okay! It’s not Terry, but PC Davies will be passing your house in about fifteen minutes, so get cracking.”

  “Where are we going?” she asked as she walked back down all the steps that she had just expended energy climbing.

  “We’re going to meet Slim Jim. I hear he’s got some good info for us. But first I’m going to buy you breakfast, Virginia.”

  “Seriously, Guv?” she asked, a little surprised.

  “Yes. I think we need to…talk,” Helen said quietly, preventing any ears in the vicinity from picking up their conversation.

  Any hope that their relationship had been upgraded to a more intimate level faded with Helen’s tone. Helen was softening the blow as she shut the door on any chance of anything happening between them.

  “Oh, right.”

  They left the station, walking up the street in silence, towards a short row of shops. She thought for a moment they were going to Helen’s house for a tête-à-tête but quickly realised that wasn’t the case when she saw a sign for Bobby’s Café come into view.

  Entering the café behind Helen, her stomach churned a little at the smell of grease floating in the air. The café was small and relatively busy, with three of the five tables occupied. A small queue of people stood at the counter where a young man took orders. It had been so long since she’d had a hangover, she had no idea how to make it better. She felt listless as she took a seat opposite Helen.

  A woman sidled up to their table, notepad in hand, and they both ordered tea and breakfast cobs. She wasn’t quite sure what it included, but the thought of reading the various foods on the laminated menu in front of her made her feel queasy.

  Mugs of tea quickly appeared in front of them. She made a grab for hers, hoping it would be the answer to settling her stomach. She felt Helen’s gaze on her as she sipped her tea.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Reluctantly, she looked up, meeting Helen’s eyes, forcing what she hoped was a smile onto her face. “I feel a little tatty around the edges but otherwise okay.” She tried to skirt over her embarrassment. “Thanks for getting me home last night. I’m sorry. I don’t normally get in that kind of state.”

  “No problem.” Helen grinned. “If that’s what happens when you spend a few hours in Davies’s company, then I should be issuing a restraining order to one of you. Don’t worry about it, Virginia. We all need to let our hair down every once in a while.”

  Was that what she’d done? Let her hair down? This case was definitely getting to her. It wasn’t meant to be this hard. She needed her wits about her now more than ever.

  Helen filled the silence. “Anyway, I wanted, well, I thought we should talk about what happened in the beer garden.”

  The uneasiness in Helen’s posture as she struggled to maintain eye contact for more than a second or two made her feel compelled to help her out. She wanted to reach out and touch Helen’s hand as it gripped the mug in front of her. She imagined the soft, warm skin underneath hers, but the shadow of someone walking by their table made her change her mind.

  “Look, I know we have to work together and I’m sorry if I went too far. It was inappropriate. It won’t happen again.”

  “Okay. Erm… Good.”

  Helen looked away, gulping down her tea.

  Helen softly placed the mug on the table, her eyes still cast down, and said, “I’ve got to make a couple of calls before we meet Slim. Can you wait for breakfast, and I’ll meet you back at the station?”

  “Sure.”

  Shocked by her own actions, she watched in surprise as Helen rose from her seat and deposited some money onto the counter before briskly leaving the café, and was glad to be on her own for a while. It hurt to look at Helen, knowing they couldn’t be together. She hadn’t planned on letting her off the hook, but the sight of her anxiously fiddling with her mug, as she had her mobile phone the night before, was too much. She had done it for both their sakes. It wasn’t fair on Helen; she had no intention of sticking around in Warner, and she couldn’t see Helen leaving on her account.

  Breakfast in hand, she took a slow walk back to the station. She wanted Helen to be her normal, impressive, confident self, not the apprehensive woman that had left her in the café earlier.

  Approaching the entrance to the station, she saw Helen emerge, phone jammed between her shoulder and ear as she jotted a note on a scrap of paper. She decided to wait at a respectable distance for her to finish her call; it could have been personal for all she knew.

  “Ready?” Helen said, as she joined her in the car park.

  “Yep,” Her tone was probably a little too cheerful as she handed Helen one of the bagged-up breakfast cobs.

  “Our firebug was out again last night, set fire to some garages off Green Lane. One of the owners tried to fight the fire and ended up with smoke inhalation. I’ve asked Uniform to canvas the area and check any CCTV.”

  “Shit!” She was almost relieved that Helen was all business as she reeled off the latest updates. Although, if she was being honest, she was a little disappointed that she had been so easy to get over. Not that anything had really happened between them. She certainly didn’t come up here searching for a relationship, or whatever it was, between them.

  Helen pulled her keys from her pocket and nodded for Kate to follow. “Jarvis’s mother was just in the station.”

  “Really? What did she want?” She mentally chastised herself for asking such a stupid question as she got in the passenger seat. “Sorry.”

  Helen looked across at Kate with a raised eyebrow. “Well, apart from her son, she wanted to know what we were doing to find him. I told her we’d been to his house, and apart from the missing CCTV footage, we didn’t find anything suspicious.”

  “Did she know about the CCTV?”

  Helen pulled out of the car park. “No, which means she didn’t know that he had cameras inside his house too.”

  “What?” she almost dropped her cob. Her stomach began to churn like it was on a spin cycle.

  “I know. Every room downstairs apparently. The question is, why? Was he scared of something or what? I just spoke to the crime techs; they didn’t find anything at the Jarvis house, no blood, nothing. The drag marks could be perfectly innocent with nothing to compare it to.” />
  “How did she take it?” She asked, her stomach still spinning.

  “Um.” Helen manoeuvred around a parked car. “Not great, but we don’t have anything else yet.”

  Relief flooded her brain. “He’ll turn up sooner or later.” She took another look at her cob. She needed to fill her stomach with something to stop the feeling of it eating itself, but now wasn’t the time. At least they weren’t about to launch another murder inquiry. She made a mental note to check with Uniform about those Whiting lads.

  “So, Davies said the secretary was pretty useful yesterday?”

  Caught a little off guard, she stared at Helen blankly. Her brain was certainly lacking a few necessary cells this morning. It took her a few moments to realise that she must have seen Davies in the station earlier.

  “Uh, yeah,” she mumbled and pulled her notebook from her pocket. “Turns out they were pretty friendly, got on well,” Scanning her notes, she clarified her statement. “She thinks he was having an affair with someone who worked at the factory at the time he disappeared. Sandy was a bit of a ladies’ man, apparently.”

  “She didn’t say who it was?” Helen asked, hopefully.

  “Well, he’d had relations with several women at the factory, often staying behind after hours to meet them in his office. She gave me a few names to check out, but she couldn’t say who his latest squeeze was.”

  “Squeeze?” Helen laughed. “Have you been reading James Ellroy or something?”

  “Who?” she asked.

  Helen looked across at her. “It doesn’t matter. It’s probably not highbrow enough for you.”

  After turning the car down a side street near the canal, she turned to Kate again and asked, “What about the money? Does she think he took it?”

  “No. She said some people knew each other’s passwords. Sandy often wrote his down so he didn’t have to remember it. So, basically, a lot of people could have done it, like we thought.”