Scarred Surrender (Scarred Series Book 6)

by Jackie Williams

  “Did you do this?” She asked her sister in a voice only just above a whisper.

  Emily nodded.

  “Of course. I think I’ve caught you rather well, actually.” She admired her own painting.

  Crystal swallowed before speaking.

  “But what’s it doing in here? Did James take it from you?”

  Emily stifled a chuckle.

  “Twit! Of course not. I gave it to him. The way he has it displayed on here makes me think he rather likes it.” She looked at how it was tilted slightly. He would be able to see it from where he slept.

  Crystal watched her sister as she turned away from the picture and towards the wardrobe. Emily began rooting through James’ clothes.

  “Can you remember which suit he wore at the funeral? I’m afraid that I didn’t really notice details?”

  Crystal pushed her sister out of the way and picked out James’ best suit.

  “This one.” She scrunched the material in her hands and brought it up to her face, breathing in deeply as a slight whiff of his scent caught her.

  Emily wrestled the jacket away.

  “Stop sniffing it will you. We don’t have time for all that sort of thing. We need to find out what’s in that envelope.” She dug her hand into the pocket and pulled it out. The seal was still intact.

  Crystal stared at it for a moment.

  “We should show this to the police.”

  Emily snorted.

  “Not before we show it to James’ lawyer. Why do you think he gave us that message to find it in a sort of code? He wants to see what’s in here before the police do. We should photograph it, just in case the police decide they’re going to lose it.” She quickly snapped away with her phone, making sure she had a close-up of the unopened seal.

  A frown creased Crystal’s brow.

  “Why would they lose it? It could be evidence that proves James innocent.”

  Emily shook her head at her sister.

  “Sometimes I wonder about you. You believe the best of everyone when you shouldn’t. Don’t you think it odd that the police believed Saskia’s fake pictures so quickly? I mean, it’s obvious to anyone that they have been cropped. It took Alex no time at all to find the company that took them. I know the police might be a bit slower than him, but they are not useless. And then there was that Trout woman. She was like a dog with a bone. Had an answer for everything I said and she was clearly more interested in the money than anything else. There’s definitely something odd going on.”

  Crystal put the letter in her jacket pocket and turned to leave but stopped as she noticed the picture again.

  “You didn’t answer my question earlier. Why did you give this to James, and why does he have it in his room like this?”

  Emily let out a low laugh.

  “If you don’t know by now, I’m certainly not going to tell you.” She made for the door but Crystal caught hold of her arm.

  “You think he likes me?” She could barely speak.

  Emily placed her hands on her hips.

  “No, he thinks you are a complete troll. He’s put it there so he can throw darts at you from his bed.” She rolled her eyes dramatically.

  Crystal lifted her hand to her throat and gasped before she suddenly huffed out an exasperated breath.

  “Okay, so he likes me, but maybe he keeps it there so you see it when you come in here.” Her voice quivered.

  Emily’s eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead.

  “I don’t come in here, and he would have put it somewhere in the lounge if he’d wanted to share it...Crystal, don’t you really know why he keeps it here? Are you being stupid on purpose?”

  Crystal shook her head.

  “I just don’t want to get my hopes up. He’s never said anything to me to make me believe he likes me more than just a friend.”

  Emily took hold of her sister’s hands.

  “He more than likes you. I don’t think he realized it himself until after dad died, but I can tell you that it’s killing him you being in France and him being stuck here with me.”

  Crystal let out a strangled whimper.

  “But I have to be there. I’m making a difference to those men and women and he can’t leave his business, or you.” She closed her eyes tightly in case the tears began to fall again. “He won’t give up his guardianship of you because it was one of dad’s last wishes, and I don’t want you to be here alone anyway. I don’t know how we can make this work unless I give up the centre.”

  Emily shook her head.

  “You can’t do that. You’ve done something that no one else has been able to. I understand why you can’t leave there, but James needs you too. He loves you, Crystal. I know he does.”

  Crystal pulled her hands away from her sisters.

  “Don’t, that just makes it all so much worse. I don’t want him to love me if he can’t be with me. It will waste his life.”

  “And what about you? Are you suddenly going to go off with someone else? What about Jules? He looks pretty keen on you. Or Andrew. He has followed you here. Are you going to switch off your feelings for James and date one of them?” Emily sounded almost annoyed.

  Crystal shook her head.

  “I will never love anyone else. If James doesn’t want me or can’t come to me, I’d rather be alone.” She gave a small laugh. “And you can forget about Jules and Andrew. Jules has his own reasons why he wouldn’t want to date someone like me. He has become a good friend but it’s more to do with the therapy than anything. He wants to see if he can train in it too so he’s work shadowing me while I help Andrew. Andrew is going through all sorts of emotions, and he can’t seem to get through a day without help. That’s the only reason he’s here. He’s far too young for me anyway, besides, I think he’s rather fond of you.” She gave a sudden smile.

  “Me!” Emily shrieked as she blushed to the roots of her hair. “Is he fond of me?” The sudden hopefulness in her tone revealed more than her words.

  Crystal gave her sister a squeeze.

  “I think you are far too young to think about it yet, but yes, he’s very fond of you. Why do you think he keeps sitting by me when we’re Skyping?”

  Emily glowed.

  “To see me? Really? I didn’t realize. I don’t think James realized either. You need to talk to him about this. I think he’s thinking stuff that isn’t there.”

  Crystal took hold of her sister’s hand as she glanced around the room again. A squash ball sat on his bedside table.

  “Is he suffering badly?” She asked quietly.

  Emily followed her sister’s gaze and nodded.

  “He’s rarely without one. He has them all over the house.”

  Crystal let out a deep sigh.

  “Maybe that’s why he keeps the painting in here. Maybe he can imagine me giving him instructions on how to deal with his syndrome if he can see my face.”

  Emily scoffed.

  “Huh! You really need to talk to him.”

  Crystal moved to the door.

  “I will, but we have to get him out of jail first. Come on. We need to get this envelope back to the hospital.” The two women ran back down the stairs and out of the front door.

  James sat in the hospital bed staring at the two Inspectors. His solicitor sat by his side and looked almost as shocked as he felt.

  “You think I swapped Adam’s antibiotics so that his sore throat and cold became worse, turned into a chest infection and he eventually died of pneumonia...Then I left the evidence right there in the house for anyone to find and tried to kill myself because I suddenly felt so guilty? Is that right, or have I missed something?” He glared at the two men. “Do you think that because I’ve lost my legs, I’ve lost my brain as well?”

  Lincoln drew in a sharp breath.

  “You tell us, sir, we’re just pointing out the evidence against you.”

  James laughed.

  “There is no evidence against me. I didn’t swap the pills in the bottles. I ju
st grabbed what I thought were painkillers and took them as instructed on the bottle, same as I would with my own.”

  Marsh looked down at his notes.

  “Your fingerprints were on both bottles. How do you explain that?”

  “Easy. I picked up the antibiotics bottle first to see what they were. I was looking for painkillers so I put them back in the cupboard.”

  Lincoln frowned.

  “Why? Mr. Bowden wasn’t going to need them. Why didn’t you throw them away?”

  James sighed.

  “They weren’t mine to get rid of. Crystal and Emily have done a load of clearing, but we keep finding the odd thing. It’s not like you can wipe out thirty years of living in one house that quickly, and I’m not going to decide what they keep or throw out. It’s not my place.”

  Marsh came straight back at him.

  “But there were only your prints on the bottle. Seems that you were the only one who touched them so you must have swapped the contents.” He sounded a little too pleased with himself.

  James frowned and glanced at his solicitor.

  “Can’t have been just my fingerprints on the bottle. Adam’s must have been on there too. Even if they were the wrong tablets, there were only a few left of them as far as I recall. He must have taken the rest, so his fingerprints would have been there as well. They might have been old or unclear, but there would have been some on the bottle besides my own.”

  Lincoln raised one eyebrow at his colleague as though saying, I told you so, but he let Marsh speak.

  “Yes, we wondered about that too, but you could have wiped your own prints previously and then forgot when you were looking for painkillers.”

  James snorted.

  “Don’t be stupid.” He looked between the two men. “You know I didn’t do this. If you know that the tablets were swapped, why haven’t you gone after the one person who could have done it, and probably did? After all that crap with the pictures and the ridiculous allegations about my delving into Adam’s daughters trust funds, why are you looking at me? What does Saskia Chalmers have on you that’s holding you back from questioning her?”

  A nervous glance shot between the two men and then Marsh sighed deeply as he leaned forward and unlocked the handcuffs. He motioned for the lawyer to leave the room and was about to speak when Crystal and Emily burst in waving the envelope. They stopped dead when they saw the two policemen.

  Emily bristled immediately.

  “Not you two again! I might have guessed you would have something to do with this. How can you be so idiotic as to arrest James?”

  James interrupted her as he stared at Crystal.

  “I don’t think I am under arrest anymore.” He glanced at Marsh who shook his head quickly.

  “No, seems pointless. Even I can see that the evidence we have wouldn’t stand up in court, but we don’t have enough against anyone else either.”

  Crystal ignored the two men and handed the envelope to James.

  “I don’t know whether it’s an emergency any longer, but Emily and I think you should open it anyway. If there’s anything in there that will bring dad’s killer to justice, I want to see it.”

  James nodded and slid his finger under the seal. He lifted out several sheets of paper and a sheaf of photographs. He grabbed them up and pressed them to his chest as soon as he saw the top one.

  “What the hell! Out!” He pointed towards the door as he stared at Crystal and Emily.

  Emily stood her ground.

  “Why? We’ve come to help you!”

  James shook his head.

  “You have helped, but you are not looking at any of this. I’ll tell you what it’s all about as soon as I’ve spoken with Inspectors Marsh and Lincoln. Until then you and Crystal will have to wait outside.”

  Crystal moved immediately, but Emily frowned for a moment before she gave up and followed her sister.

  James waited until the door shut behind them before turning the pictures back over again.

  “Want to explain any of this before I pass it to my lawyer? I’m sure he will know exactly who to give it to.” He waited patiently until Marsh gave his partner an almost imperceptible nod and Lincoln’s shoulders slumped as he spoke through gritted teeth.

  “That bitch could ruin our careers. She could ruin my marriage and my kids’ lives too. I made one mistake. Have regretted it ever since, but she won’t let it go.” He took a deep breath. “She’s blackmailing both of us. Looks like your friend had evidence of it too.”

  James leafed through the pictures. They were like scenes from a porn shoot.

  “You and a lot of other guys by the looks of it. Do you all go to the same gym?” He turned one picture and tilted his head at an angle before raising his eyebrows at a red faced Marsh. “Some interesting equipment they use there. Didn’t know you could fit three people on a bench like that.”

  Marsh snatched the picture away from him and stared at it.

  “Don’t! I feel sick enough about it as it is without you rubbing it in. She’s got us both over a barrel and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it except keep paying her.”

  James wiped his hand across his brow.

  “You’re the police, damn it! Of course you can stop her. Call her bluff. Go see some of these other guys and testify against her.”

  Lincoln shook his head.

  “I’ve got three kids in school around here. Even if she ever forgave me, my wife is a GP. Her career would flounder as well as mine, and I don’t want to think of what will go on at school with the kids. Frank’s in a similar position.” He nodded towards Marsh who looked back miserably. “He can’t lose his job either. He pays for his grandmother’s nursing home costs. All the other guys have reasons why they won’t come forward. Mostly it’s to do with their families, and who can blame them. That witch couldn’t care less who she takes down.”

  James scratched his head as he thought about the implications of the man’s words, but he couldn’t help his rising temper.

  “Yeah, but you were almost willing to take me down too. Bloody hell! What lengths would you have gone to?” He fisted his hands in his sheets to stop himself lashing out.

  Lincoln shook his head.

  “We took the cuffs off you before you had this evidence. It wasn’t going to go any further than this room.” He sighed deeply and sat down in the chair beside the bed. “She wants the money from your mate’s will and she’s willing to go to any lengths to get it. She had us trying to bang you up for a crime you didn’t commit.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Shit! I can’t believe what we’ve been reduced to by that woman. She set a trap for us and we fell right into it.”

  Marsh nodded in agreement.

  “Our own stupid fault, of course. We’d heard rumours about what was happening at the gym but didn’t want to believe it. It was only when she came on to us with a few of her friends that we realized it was all true, but it was too late. We fell for the worst trick. Could barely believe it when we saw the photographs.” He looked up at the ceiling and then closed his eyes as he spoke. “Rohypnol, or something like that, we guessed, but those pictures don’t tell anyone that. We look like we are enjoying ourselves, but the truth is that I don’t remember a flipping thing.”

  Lincoln took up the story.

  “Only a couple of weeks later we saw the bitch eyeing up your mate. That huge payout of his had been all over the local rag. We decided that we had to warn him, but for the first few weeks it looked as though he’d ignored our advice. It took us a while to realize that he wasn’t into her at all. It turned out that he was investigating her. He said he was gathering evidence, trying to find something on her that would mean we could all sleep soundly in our beds.”

  James could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

  “And you let him do it? For your own sakes! Christ! What were you thinking?”

  Lincoln shook his head quickly.

  “No! Not just us. There’s been about another do
zen men that she’s done it to. All of us have too much at stake to go against her, and your mate wanted to do it. We tried to stop him but it was like trying to move a mountain. He was outraged by her callous cold heartedness and was determined to do something about it. We had no idea what he was up to or how far he’d gone, until now.” He looked down at the pictures and winced at the graphic scenes.

  James blew out a breath, feeling partly relieved that Adam hadn’t been as easily hoodwinked as he, Crystal, and Emily had suspected, but also slightly annoyed that his friend hadn’t asked for any help. He knew exactly how stubborn Adam could be. The man never backed down from a challenge and this one would have presented him with a perfect opportunity to feed his insatiable desire to see justice done.

  Yet another thought crossed his mind.

  “So you knew the pictures of Emily and me were fakes right from the word go! And yet you still had that harridan from social services try to see me branded as a pervert.” Anger laced his tones.

  Marsh coughed into his hand.

  “Actually Saskia paid her to do that. It’s amazing what lengths some people will go to for a few quid.”

  James rolled his eyes.

  “Great!” The sarcasm lay thick on his tongue. “And I suppose you made all that rubbish about the pills up? Jesus! But hang on, why did I collapse if they were only painkillers?” His brain ached with trying to work it out as he sifted through all the papers in his hands. Most looked like sworn statements of what Saskia was doing. They documented the blackmail threats and the incidents photographed. Some of the images were graphic enough to grace any pornographic magazine. He threw them down in disgust but then noticed that Lincoln suddenly looked slightly happier.

  The man rubbed his hands together.

  “She swapped them! When you said it earlier I thought you were just making up an excuse to get yourself out of this, but you weren’t. She really did swap them.” He frowned again. “But why didn’t she swap them back? Leaving them in the wrong bottles was a daft move. It doesn’t make sense.”

  James laughed as he caught on quickly.