Her Last Mistake - Detective Gina Harte Series 06 (2020)

by Kovach, Carla

  ‘Thank you for opening up to me the other night. I know you’re not comfortable talking about your past, but it helped me to understand. I hope it helped you.’

  She swallowed and stared at the steam bellowing out of the kettle’s spout. It had and it hadn’t. The relinquishing of control gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, a light churning. ‘I suppose time will tell.’

  ‘I meant what I said at your mother’s grave. This stays with me and I swear that to be true.’

  ‘Swear what to be true?’ Jacob stood in the doorway, serious expression plastered over his face. ‘Am I missing a cosy chat?’

  Briggs gave a smirk. ‘Don’t be daft. I was just talking about the reporters. They always think we’re holding information back on them and it’s true, they know it, we know it. I think I might explode one day if they don’t stop tying up every line we have. I swear that to be true!’

  Jacob burst into a fit of laughter. ‘You should see your face, guv.’

  Gina tucked a stray clump of hair behind her ear. ‘It’s been a long day and I can’t see it ending any time soon. I just want Holly’s murderer brought in, that’s all.’ A flutter caught her throat, making her voice a little croaky. She poured the water into the cups. ‘Want one?’

  ‘Do I ever? Thanks, guv.’ She pulled an extra cup from the cupboard, made him a drink and passed it to him. As Jacob left, her tense body almost crumpled.

  Briggs placed his warm hand over her shirtsleeve and gave her a little squeeze. ‘Come on, Harte. Let’s get our minds back on the case. There will be plenty of time to talk after.’

  She knew that had been close. Jacob could already see a fondness in the way Briggs looked at her. She didn’t need him to jump to conclusions that were no longer there. Or were they? They may not be ripping each other’s clothes off every night but a thick air of sexual and emotional tension often threatened to expose them to others.

  Wyre entered and hurried straight to the boiled kettle. ‘I’m glad that’s hot, I need a caffeine kick. Guv, Samuel Avery’s solicitor has arrived. I showed him to the interview room. He’s waiting for you.’

  ‘Thanks, Paula. Get onto those witness statements and find me someone who can back up Francesca’s version of events. I know he’ll walk if we can’t find anyone. Don’t worry about the gatecrashers with this case, it was before they arrived. That should eliminate all the people we had leaving the Angel Arms on the CCTV that Avery gave us.’

  Wyre made a drink and hurried back out of the kitchen. Briggs began rubbing his temples and half closed his eyes as he caught the glint of light that bounced off the silver kettle.

  ‘Right, time to grill Avery.’ She smiled at Briggs and turned the light off, leaving him alone in the darkness.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ‘It was consensual. I was in the corridor and she called me over and dragged me towards her. We kissed and things got a little heated. She rubbed me over my trousers and I reached up her dress. That was it. We were playing about and the constant interruptions put us both off. I don’t know why she’s saying this.’

  Avery began fiddling with the hem of his shirt, the same blue shirt that was taunting Gina’s thoughts. An image flashed through her mind. Avery in Holly’s flat, telling her to be quiet as Holly’s friend knocked and peered through the letterbox. Neither Holly nor her lover had banked on the mirror in the hallway giving away what they were doing. Had he gripped her around the neck, leaving the half-moon fingernail scars behind?

  ‘She’s fitting me up. They all do it after. They play away behind their husbands’ backs and rather than face their old man’s music, they lay the blame on a geezer like me.’

  Avery glanced back with a grin at his solicitor.

  ‘Once again, did you grab her from behind while she was trying to compose herself under the stairs?’

  ‘She told me to meet her there. I stroked her and began kissing her neck and she responded. She knew it was me. What bit of “she told me to meet her there” don’t you understand?’ The solicitor whispered in Avery’s ear. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to sound loud. It’s just an awful thing to be accused of when you’ve done nothing wrong.’

  Gina knew of the solicitor – he had a reputation for getting the guilty off. There was no way Avery would be arrested if he stuck to his story. Without further evidence, she relied on him tripping himself up in an interview. She should’ve known better. Avery was a seasoned liar. ‘She says you pinned her up against the wall before kissing her against her will.’

  ‘I’ve told you what happened and that’s it. You’re just pig sick that your daughter likes me. That’s what it is. You think this will keep me away from her. I tell you something, you don’t know a thing, always thinking you know it all, DI Harte.’

  A shiver ran along the nape of Gina’s neck, like icy fingers teasing their way around. She inhaled sharply, trying not to conjure up her past. She held her hands to her neck as if trying to release the invisible fingers while reminding herself not to lose her grip. ‘She then says you pinned her to the wall under the stairs and pushed your hands into her underwear.’

  ‘She had her hands on my crotch. Shall I put in a counterclaim for assault? We were kissing and touching, doing all those things that turned-on people do. Have you never felt the thrill of foreplay, Detective Inspector?’

  Gina met his stare and felt her knuckles tightening as a slight grin formed on his lips.

  ‘My client has been over what happened more than once so if you have no evidence, I suggest you let him go. He won’t be saying any more on the matter.’ The solicitor stood and peered through his round glasses as he inserted all his paperwork into a folder.

  ‘Interview terminated at seventeen thirty-three.’

  Gina hurried out of the room, leaving Jacob to finish up. She ran into the toilets and gave the bin a swift kick. Once again she’d failed when it came to Avery. She’d failed her daughter too as he’d be back out there with her that same evening. She grabbed her neck and massaged her nape as she tried to forget her own wedding night that followed the marital vows she’d bitterly regretted. Almost choking, she grabbed the tap and turned it on, splashing cold water over her face as she gasped in lungfuls of air until she felt light-headed.

  ‘Here you are, guv.’ Wyre entered and smiled.

  She splashed her face again. ‘I failed with Avery. He’s walking out as we speak. I can’t face it.’

  ‘We’ll get him. The investigation won’t stop just because he denies doing any wrong, you know that. It was obvious he’d deny everything. Someone has to have seen something. There were too many people around. We’ll keep looking.’

  She forced a smile. ‘I know we will. I can’t get all defeatist over this. I think it’s because it’s him. Anyone else, I could’ve dealt with but Avery, he really gets to me. Did you have something to share?’

  ‘You’re going to like this. Carrying on from the door to doors, one of the PCs has reported back that someone matching Phillip Brighton’s description was seen trying to get into Holly’s block of apartments about three weeks ago.’

  ‘He claimed he didn’t know Holly. If that was the case, what was he doing outside her apartment block? Can we pull the miniscule amount of CCTV we know of on the surrounding roads, going back as far as possible?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘We now know that Phillip Brighton knew Holly Long even before the wedding. Could it be too much of a coincidence that he was there to see someone else?’

  Wyre shrugged. ‘It would be a huge coincidence.’

  ‘We need to speak to him. Is he still here?’

  ‘No, he’s gone. Once we established that the pink tablet was nothing to do with Holly, we had to let him go.’

  ‘What conditions was he bailed on?’

  ‘He’s meant to report to the station at ten every morning until his case is heard at the Magistrates Court.’

  ‘This day just gets worse. We’re going to see him at his bedsit
. I want to get to the bottom of this without delay and this can’t wait until ten in the morning. I want to know why he was visiting Holly’s block of flats three weeks ago.’

  As Wyre left, Gina pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and wiped her pale face dry. Her eyes had darkened and a few lines creased around the edges. She removed the band from her hair and allowed it to fall over her shoulders before fluffing it up. What on earth did Briggs see in her? Before leaving, she felt the back of her neck once again and her heart fluttered as she touched it in only the way Terry used to touch her. He’d lure her into a false sense of security by tickling her neck and the first time, on that night, she’d felt nothing but tenderness. After that, it was merely a trigger for what was to come. Just leave me alone, Terry. Please, you’ve hurt me enough.

  She threw the paper towel in the bin and left. Finding Phillip Brighton was now at the top of her list. She had to let Avery go, for now.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Fran threw her phone and orange coat onto the corner settee after ending the call with the police. Just as she’d expected, that slimeball Samuel Avery had denied what he’d done to her and he was roaming free to assault some other woman. She was right to tell. If he did it again, her statement was on record and that’s what counted.

  ‘Charlie,’ she called, but the only sound was the echoing of her own voice in the hall. ‘Charlie?’ The heating was on as were a couple of lights. She hurried to the kitchen. She had to tell him exactly what had happened before she lost her nerve. ‘Charlie.’ He was nowhere to be seen. She tried the handle of the back door. It was unlocked. She glanced across the lawn and over towards the shed. The padlock was still on. He wasn’t in there.

  A piece of paper lay on the kitchen floor. She bent over to pick up the note and began to read.

  Be home about nine. Popped to Mum’s to help her to put a curtain rail up and my sister’s back from her travels. Come over if you want. We can all get a takeaway. Love you. Charlie. XXX

  She slammed the note on the table. Not only had he left the back door open at a time when there was a murderer walking the streets, he’d left half of the lights on too. She locked the back door. As she hurried through to the lounge, she grabbed her phone and tapped out her reply.

  I’ll give it a miss if you don’t mind. Think I’ll have a bath and see you when you get home. Love you too. XXX

  There was no way she could sit with his family all night, gushing over his little sister’s travel snaps while she had all this going on at the back of her mind. She needed to stay focused on telling him what had happened at the party and how she’d been to the police station to report it. She headed up the stairs, unbuttoning her blouse while she walked. The washing basket on the landing had overflowed. They hadn’t touched it since going to Crete. She pulled her tight trousers off and opened the bathroom door. A chill ran through her as the shower curtain fluttered in the breeze. She hurried across the tiled floor, pulling the window closed. A movement caught her peripheral vision. Remaining still, she grabbed the liquid soap dispenser and gripped it before turning around with it above her head. Reaching for the plastic curtain with her other hand, she swallowed before swiftly pulling it back to reveal nothing but an empty bathtub. Placing the dispenser back on the sink, she let out a little laugh and turned on the bath tap. Her mind was running away with her. It had been a long and trying day. She inhaled the lemon oil as she drizzled it into the bathwater, then removed her bra and pants.

  The door to the spare room creaked as she reached down to feel the temperature of the water. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around her tiny curves and gazed across the dark landing, listening for anything. As the breeze let out a gentle howl, the door creaked again. ‘Charlie!’ She hurried across the landing. They’d be having words when he got home. It might be May but it wasn’t summer yet. It was still too chilly to leave all the windows open. Stomping across the landing, she pushed the door and as suspected, the top window was open. She slammed it closed. Maybe now, she could have that bath in peace.

  Stepping in, she felt the initial burn of the hot water hugging her ankles before she cautiously sank into the water and lay back, immersing her head under the water while holding her breath. As she opened her eyes, she spotted something grey or blue shimmering through the water. The bathroom was white. There was no grey or blue. Bursting through the water, she rubbed the oil and water from her bleary eyes, gasping for breath.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ She grabbed a flannel and held it over her breasts. ‘Get out. Now.’

  He grinned and took a step forward in his all-in-one boiler suit.

  ‘Charlie is on his way home.’

  After dropping the note into the bath with his gloved hands, he kneeled beside the bath. They both knew Charlie wouldn’t be home for ages.

  She went to grab the shampoo bottle to hit him but her trembling hands betrayed her, taking all the strength from her aim. As she tried to stand, the oil she’d poured into her bath made her slide back down. Knocking her head on the side of the bath, she slipped beneath the water. He grabbed her by the hair, dragging her to the surface as she coughed out flecks of water.

  ‘Isn’t it good, being on the brink of death, then coming back?’

  She went to grab him but he forced her head under once again, leaving her there for longer. Don’t inhale. Hold your breath. It was too long. She inhaled a mouth full of water, then another. An intense spasm filled her throat. He pulled her to the surface again and she coughed and spewed the bath water out. ‘No, please,’ she gargled. A dark vignette formed around her vision, closing in as she almost lost consciousness. Breathing in short, sharp bursts, blood pumped around her body, each beat of her heart sounding in her ears, filling her head.

  ‘Tell me you don’t feel alive.’

  She coughed and gasped as she went to grab him. She couldn’t go under again. He’d kill her. He intercepted her grip, bending her fingers back until she whimpered and withdrew. ‘Please don’t kill me. Why are you doing this to me?’ Tears ran down her face and dripped into the bathwater.

  ‘It’s simple. I saw the way you looked at me when you invited me in the other day. I can’t let you bring me down. You know, don’t you?’

  ‘I won’t. I don’t know anything. Just go home and we can both pretend this never happened.’ She burst into a coughing fit.

  A grin spread across his face. ‘Too late. Besides, I like it.’ She felt him wrench a length of her hair and wrap it around her throat. As he throttled her with her own hair, all she could do was stare at him, hoping that he’d see the pain in her eyes and let her go. Her face dipped below the water’s surface once again. One glance back at him through the rippling water told her that this was her end. He bit his bottom lip with closed eyes, which told her he wasn’t letting her go. One last grab at the shower curtain brought the whole pole tumbling down. That move got her nowhere; it merely depleted what little bit of energy she had left. She flapped her arms, spraying the room as her vision started to fade. It was like being dragged backwards, the blackness of the vignette getting larger until her sight was almost gone. She let out one last croak as he brought her to the surface and all she could hear was his whisper.

  ‘Was it enough?’

  She thought of Charlie and Holly as her muscles tensed one last time.

  He grinned as he took a step back. The feel of her squirming beneath him still tingled through the latex gloves. He scurried down the stairs after checking that no sign of him had been left behind, then he darted out through the back gate, aiming to run the three blocks to his car. He grabbed the holdall that he’d left in a hedge, tucked the boot covers and gloves into the side pocket, and ran. He’d rushed to get over and when he’d seen Charlie leaving, he’d seized the opportunity. It had been handed to him on a plate when he’d opened the unlocked back door and read the note.

  Was it enough?

  No.

  It was only the start.

  He felt a stir in his
boxer shorts, the very pair that Holly had given him for his birthday. With one urge taken care of, he had another that was forming and he knew there was one person who’d be more than happy to attend to that one. She’d be waiting and he was ready.

  He’d been careful. Would his crimes catch up with him if he didn’t give up?

  Was it enough?

  Could it have been better? He nodded and grinned. It was also too easy.

  There would be a next time…

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Cass tried to call Elvis one more time to tell him she wouldn’t be at home when he finished work but, once again, it had gone straight to voicemail. ‘Message me when your phone’s back on. Why aren’t you answering my calls?’ She placed the phone in her zip-up bag and hurried up the long winding drive. The cutesy street lamps that lit up the hedges led the way to the huge double-fronted house. Having a wealthy family ensured that Kerry would never be like Cass, living in an unkempt rental property with zero chance of ever owning her own home.

  As she reached the front door, she took a moment to take in the mature gardens and perfect weed-free block paving, and the large silver feature balls that shone under the security light. She walked around the gleaming Mercedes, consciously making an effort not to allow her bag to brush against the silver paintwork. A scratched car wouldn’t get her back into Kerry’s inner circle. She rang the bell and waited. Glancing across she saw the little camera next to the bell and smiled. Was Kerry watching her? Making sure she wasn’t a dangerous intruder. She gave a little wave just in case. Her once best friend neared the door. Cass could just make out her outline through the narrow strip of glass. Smile, she thought.

  She gripped her bag, then held it more casually. Don’t look so tense, Cass.