by Anna Smith
Bridget’s heart beat faster. ‘How do you know this? Have you seen her? Is she all right?’
‘A lot of questions.’
‘Please. Tell me.’
‘I’m in there as well. I’m crazy too, so they say. But she gave me your number. Listen to me, Bridget. Millie is all right. Okay? I have to go in case they catch me.’
‘But—’ Bridget tried to speak, just as she heard the line go dead.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rosie watched Dan pace the living room at the flat, his knuckles white as he gripped the mobile to his ear. Beads of sweat broke out on his top lip and he was beginning to hyperventilate. If this was how jittery he was on the phone to Mervyn Bates, what the hell would he be like in a face-to-face? Especially if he was wired up to record the conversation. She glanced at Bertie, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. But if they were going to take this forward, McGuire had told her, they’d have to allow the face-to-face with Dan and Mervyn.
They’d discussed if it was time to get the police involved, and Rosie had considered phoning Don, her contact in Strathclyde Police, to alert his mates down in Scotland Yard. But it was too early, she told the editor. There were too many loose ends to bring in the police yet. The investigation would be taken out of their hands – and it could end up in the shredder, like the child-abuse investigation at the heart of it. This was a big story and it was theirs for the proving. Leave the cops out. McGuire agreed, but only with the proviso that the meeting took place over a coffee in the foyer of the Holiday Inn in Glasgow. It didn’t get any more public than that.
To Rosie’s surprise, Dan agreed to it immediately. ‘I want this fucker off my back,’ he’d said. He seemed to have grown in confidence now it had been established that he was Bella Mason’s brother. Declan, who’d been digging things up at Martha Street register office for the past three days, had tracked down their births, their mother’s name and their father’s. Rosie couldn’t work out whether it was the fact that, in due course, Dan would be in line to receive a fortune, which he could either blow on heroin or use to change his life, or whether it was just because he had a birth certificate in his hand that he seemed so much more in control. He’d kept unfolding it, looking at it again and again when she’d brought it to him. It seemed to legitimize him somehow. A piece of paper. He wasn’t just some gutter-junkie stumbling around. He was Dan Mason. His sister was Bella Mason, and he was going to let the whole world know how proud of her he was. Mervyn Bates wasn’t going to stop him.
Rosie hoped he hadn’t upped his methadone, but Bertie had assured her that he himself was keeping a careful watch, staying overnight and dishing out Dan’s dosage as prescribed.
‘Okay, Merv. I’ll see you there. Tomorrow. Two fifteen.’ Dan hung up, then turned to them, wiping the sweat from his lip. ‘Fuck me, man! He’s coming up here. What a smarmy cunt. Trying to sound like he really gives a fuck about Bella and me.’
Rosie handed him and Bertie mugs of tea. Dan sat beside her on the sofa.
‘You did really well there, Dan. But you seemed a bit nervous.’
Dan’s hands trembled as he put the mug on the table. He held them out in front of him. ‘Shitting myself, Rosie. Look at my hands! Shaking like fuck! But I’m all right.’ He looked at the three of them. ‘I want to do this. It’s the least I can do for Bella.’ He took a cigarette from a packet and lit up, sucking the smoke and coughing. ‘It’s not about the money or anything like that. Fuck the money! I don’t even know what I’d do with it. That’s for later on. But you know what, Rosie? I don’t know if it’s the methadone helping me but I feel better. I don’t know when or how I’ll ever be able to get off it, but it’s making me feel I can have a bit of my life back. I feel I can get through this. It’s like I can hear Bella telling me I’ll be all right.’ He shrugged and sniffed, glancing at them. ‘Does that sound fucking stupid?’
‘Not at all,’ Rosie said. ‘I’m so glad you feel stronger. But putting yourself up for him tomorrow is dangerous, you know that. You saw what happened when those two thugs came after us at the hospital that day. They want you out of the equation. What we’re trying to do here, and what you’re going to try to do tomorrow, is get Mervyn Bates to give you the opportunity to be out of the equation. Once he knows you have proof of who you are, he’ll be crapping himself. He has two choices. Get you done in, or pay you off. My problem is, I don’t know which he’ll go for.’
Dan nodded. ‘I’ll tell him I’m going away. That I’m going to Spain or Morocco or Greece or something, and I need some money. I’ll say he’ll never see or hear from me again.’
‘What makes you think he’ll go for that? Look what he did to Bella.’
‘I know, but I’m depending on you to get this cunt arrested very quickly before he gets the chance to fucking do me in.’
‘I’m working towards that. But we need tomorrow to go well.’ She leaned forward and touched his arm. ‘We can pull out of this now, if you like, and move on. See if we can find another way to get to him. I want you to know that. By the time you meet him tomorrow, it’ll be too late to pull out. You do understand that, don’t you?’
‘Aye. I do. But if I pull out now and disappear, I’ll be looking over my shoulder for this fucker for the rest of my life.’
Rosie nodded.
‘I know.’
*
Bridget pulled on her coat and buttoned it as she stepped outside the hospital into the drizzle. She was glad to see the back of that shift, and she almost said it aloud as she walked across the car park to the main exit, reflecting on how her day had unfolded.
The other nurses on her ward had greeted her with the usual warmth when she’d arrived that morning. It had felt good to be back. Now that she’d passed on the information from this morning’s phone call to Rosie, she could take a back seat and get on with her life. She knew she’d done the right thing in taking Millie’s letter and acting on it. That was what had kept her going. She only hoped that some kind of justice would come out of it for those children, poor Bella and, of course, for Millie.
She’d only been a couple of hours into her shift when the phone on the nurses’ station had buzzed and she’d been asked to go and see the hospital administrator. She’d felt a little nervous as she made her way along the corridor and knocked on his door. A voice had summoned her in. Bridget stepped into the room and was surprised to be greeted not just by the administrator, but two men in suits sitting on opposite him.
‘Bridget. Thanks for coming, I know you’re busy.’ The administrator made eye contact with her. ‘You feeling better now?’
‘Yes, thanks.’ Bridget cleared her throat. She tried hard not to glance at the men, but she knew they were studying her and she felt her neck redden.
‘Bridget. These two gentlemen are making some enquiries on behalf of Colin Chambers. You remember Millie Chambers, the lady who was knocked down in the town centre?’
Bridget glanced quickly at the men, then away. ‘Of course I remember her. She wasn’t badly hurt, though. Only stayed a few days.’
‘That’s right,’ he said slowly, looking from her to the men. ‘Can you remember the day she left? She was going to some clinic or other, suffering from exhaustion – anyway, not our problem. But you were there with her just before she left, as I recall. I came into the room and you were with her.’
Bridget felt her chest tighten. ‘Yes. That’s right. I’d taken her in a cup of tea. She was all packed up, waiting for transport.’
‘How was she?’
‘How was she?’ Bridget threw it back at him, along with a puzzled look. ‘What do you mean? Is something wrong with her?’
He shook his head.
‘No, no. Just trying to check a few details. Did she speak to you about anything? I understand she was quite upset while she was here.’
Bridget gave a little shrug, hoping she seemed distant enough to hide her inner panic. ‘Understandable if she was a bit weepy, I suppose. The shock of the
car accident. She was on heavy painkillers. Combination that can make a person a bit tearful.’
He nodded slowly, and looked at the two men. They said nothing and the room crackled with tension. Bridget didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up. Sweat trickled out of the back of her hair.
‘Did she say anything to you, Bridget?’ one of the men chipped in. Bridget turned towards him and looked surprised. ‘Say anything?’
‘Well, yes. I mean, like, did she talk much to you over the few days, confide in you in any way?’
Bridget puffed, a little impatient. ‘Sorry, I don’t know what you mean. The lady was in a crash. She was a patient, and had been a bit emotional. But to be honest I’d only seen her a few times – in and out of the room. With her being a former cabinet minister’s wife, we wanted to make sure she was comfortable. So, no. She didn’t confide in me. Why would she?’
The other man piped up: ‘You knew she was going to the clinic, right?’ He didn’t wait for an answer or reaction. ‘Did she by any chance get in touch with you in the days that followed?’
Bridget screwed up her eyes, confused. ‘I’m sorry. I really don’t know what you mean. I’m a nurse on a ward. Patients come and go. They don’t get in touch with me after they leave.’ She smiled politely. ‘That just wouldn’t be right, would it, sir?’
‘So she didn’t get in touch?’
Bridget sighed and looked at the administrator. ‘No. She didn’t get in touch. Now, if there’s anything else I can help you with I will, but the ward is very busy and I’ve just returned from sickness, so I don’t want to leave them short-staffed.’ She turned to the men, then to the administrator. ‘I have no idea why you’re asking these questions, so if you don’t mind . . .’
Her legs felt a little weak. She glared at the administrator, and he turned towards the men. ‘Okay, Bridget. Thanks for your time. That’ll be all.’
She walked towards the door, feeling the eyes of everyone on her.
*
Bridget headed for the supermarket instead of going for the usual bus as she’d no fresh food in the house. She whizzed around with her basket, her head still going over the interrogation earlier. Who were those men? They’d looked like private detectives, ex-police or something. A couple of shady characters, anyway, and she hoped she’d given them short but polite shrift. She didn’t like the way they’d looked at her at all.
She came out of the supermarket and headed up the high street towards the bus stop. The rain was coming down heavily now, and she quickened her step. She walked up to the top, then looked right and left before she stepped into the road to cross to her bus stop.
It happened so quickly she couldn’t even move. The car seemed to come from nowhere. It was racing towards her, lights blazing, and she stood rooted to the spot, her legs refusing to move. Her mind was still trying to register it. The road had been clear when she’d stepped off the pavement. She barely knew it hit her. But just as it did, she became aware that she was flying through the air, and there was a sudden terrifying realization that they had come to kill her. She could hear screams somewhere close as her head hit the road – then nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dan was in the back of Matt’s car, alongside Bertie, as they drove out of Finnieston and along Broomielaw in the direction of the Holiday Inn. He stared out of the window, listening to Rosie from the front seat.
‘Okay, Dan, so you’re clear about everything, yes? How are you feeling?’
‘All right,’ he replied. ‘Bit nervous, but I know what I’m doing.’
Dan didn’t want to say that his insides had been turning over so much that half an hour ago, in the flat, he had considered taking the two jellies he had in his jeans pocket that he kept for emergencies. The prescription tranquillizers were common currency among junkies and did the job if you couldn’t get a hit of heroin when you desperately needed it. The methadone was getting him through what were maybe the first stages of rehab for him, but with so much shit flying around with this Merv bastard, he really wanted something else. But he couldn’t risk the jellies. They’d make him more relaxed for sure, but he could end up spaced out and running off at the mouth. He had to be sharp enough to go along with what Rosie had suggested. Get the fucker to admit that he knew Bella was Dan’s sister and to offer to pay him off for his silence, then bail out. The car pulled in at the Clydeside.
‘Probably best you get out here, Dan. You never know if Merv’s got somebody watching in case you arrive with anyone. So you just walk up there and go in. By the time you get there, Bertie, Matt and I will already be nearby. If we’re in the foyer or having a drink at the bar, don’t even look in our direction, okay?’
Dan nodded as he opened the door. He felt Bertie’s big hand grip his arm and give it a squeeze. ‘Don’t worry, son. We’ll be watching for you.’
Rosie turned to face him. ‘Good luck. Once your meeting’s finished, just walk out of the hotel and we’ll be parked right at the door. I’ve already arranged it with the concierge – he’s a good contact of mine and throws me some information now and again, so don’t worry.’
She reached for his hand, and he squeezed it hard, swallowing his emotion.
*
Dan could hear the roar of the traffic above as he took the short walk under Kingston Bridge towards Argyle Street. He shuddered a little as the wind swirled around him, and stopped for a moment to compose himself. He was on his own now. This was the biggest thing he’d ever done in his life. He reached into his pocket and his fingers caressed the photo of himself and Bella the last time they had been together. Without even looking at it, he could see her face smiling, the pair of them happy, with their arms over each other’s shoulders in the fancy hotel. The image brought tears to his eyes and he sniffed them back.
He turned off Argyle Street and into the hotel’s car park. He looked up at the tall building and reached inside his shirt to switch on the tape recorder and the camera hidden in the lapel of his bomber jacket. The automatic glass doors opened as he approached and a middle-aged couple came out with their suitcases. Dan paused for a brief moment, took a deep breath, then walked into the lobby. He glanced around the area that led up to the bar and the restaurant. Four or five business types were sitting at tables, going over papers and drinking coffee.
Then his eyes fell on Merv. His head swam and he felt cold and clammy. He thought he was going to pass out. He tried to catch his breath but it wouldn’t come. ‘Calm down, for fuck’s sake,’ he told himself. He managed a deep breath and let it out slowly. When he looked at Merv again across the room, he was staring right at him. A mixture of rage and fear burned through Dan and he found his body squaring up as he lifted his chin in acknowledgement to the big fucker, then walked towards him.
‘Dan!’ Merv stood up, his hefty frame just as Dan remembered. ‘My boy. I’m so sorry, son, for your loss.’
Then, to Dan’s surprise, Merv held out his arms and pulled him into his chest. Jesus! He could smell the pervy bastard. Dan didn’t hug him back.
Eventually, Merv stood away from him, his face a mask of fake sympathy behind the wiry beard. ‘When you walked in the door there, son, it was like Bella had come back to us.’
Dan said nothing, but he wished to fuck he’d stop calling him ‘son’.
‘Sit down, son. Have a drink. Well, a bit early for a drink, maybe. But a coffee or something.’
‘Just a soda and lime, thanks, Merv.’
Merv waved at a waitress and ordered, including a coffee for himself. Dan sat down on the wicker chair. He glanced at the silver attaché case beside Merv. ‘So.’ Merv pulled his chair closer so his knees were almost touching Dan’s. He leaned forward, hands clasped. ‘I know it’s a tough question, Dan, but how are you? I can’t tell you what it’s been like for me. Losing Bella . . . It was like my own child was taken from me. I was in bits. Still am.’
Dan nodded. Lying bastard. He opened his mouth to speak, but Merv kept going: ‘Bell
a had so many problems with drugs. I did everything to get her off coke, once I knew it wasn’t just a case of a few lines at a party. It was a serious habit. You did know that, didn’t you?’
Dan nodded, but said nothing.
‘And, of course, I know how much she worried about you and the heroin, Dan.’ Merv sighed. ‘What a mess young people are making of their lives, these days. Such a waste.’
Dan waited, hoping for an in from Merv, but he kept rabbiting on.
‘You know that night when she . . .’ he paused as though choked with emotion ‘. . . when she took her own life, I’d decided to take matters into my own hands. As soon as we got back from Madrid, I was going to more or less force her into rehab. She was that bad with the coke, Dan. Honest to God. But I didn’t think she was suicidal.’
Dan sipped his drink and placed the glass on the table. ‘She was all right the last time I saw her.’
Merv’s shock and surprise showed on his face. ‘You saw her? When? You mean that night in London when she had you down for the show?’
‘No. In Glasgow. She came up to meet me,’ Dan said, hoping he was sounding calm. ‘She was great. We went to the shops and she bought me some clothes. I stayed with her in the hotel.’
‘Really? She didn’t tell me that. Well, I can’t be up to date with everything my girls do, and they’re entitled to their free time, but she should have told me.’
‘Why?’
‘Why?’ Merv was suddenly irritated. ‘Because anything could have happened to her in Glasgow. Don’t take this the wrong way, Dan, but you’re a heroin addict. I don’t know who you mix with. Anything could have happened to Bella, meeting you.’
They were silent for a moment, and Dan sensed a change in the atmosphere. ‘She wanted to see me. It was fine. We just stayed in the hotel. Had dinner.’ Dan looked Merv in the eye. ‘Bella was all I had. My sister. You know that, and you know how much we meant to each other, Merv. When Bella found me that time a couple of years ago, it was the best day of my life. I’d thought I was never going to see her again.’
