Watch You Burn

by KA Richardson

  Steeling herself, she took a breath and made her way into the reception. It was strewn with posters promoting smoke alarms and fire safety. Pressing the buzzer to alert someone she was there, she wandered round and waited.

  After a few minutes, a woman said, ‘Hello, how can I help you?’

  ‘I erm, am looking for my sister. She works here.’

  ‘OK, what’s her name?’

  ‘Edina Blaze – she’s a fire investigator.’

  ‘OK, just take a seat and I’ll see if she’s in the office.’

  Seconds later, the door beside reception opened and Ed peeked her head around.

  ‘Heath, what’re you doing here? You OK?’

  Unable to stop the tears, Heather just shook her head, swiping at her face with the back of her coat sleeve.

  ‘OK, come through. We’ll go up to my office.’

  Heather did her best to get her crying under control, glancing around with natural curiosity. She’d never been inside the station before. She didn’t know quite what she’d expected, but it wasn’t the level of cleanliness. It was pristine in there, the corridors smelling of bleach and cleaner. She watched Ed nod at a couple of firemen as she passed them in the corridor – Heather just felt her cheeks colour – she felt like a bloody school girl. Pushing her shoulders back, she followed Ed through to her office.

  As Ed closed the door behind her, Heather couldn’t hold it together any longer. Her uni bag landed on the floor, and she threw her arms around her sister, sobbing into her shoulder. She cried for the love she’d lost, the desolation she felt, and the anger she’d held in. In broken sobs, she told Ed about her relationship with Glen, and that the Dean hadn’t told them anything about what had happened.

  29th September, 1250 hours – Darlington Fire Station

  Ed felt herself freeze as she held her sister, feeling her grief. She hadn’t even realised her sister had been seeing anyone. The realisation that she’d been seeing the dead body from yesterday was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over her.

  ‘Heath, listen to me. What was Glen’s surname,’ she kept her tone neutral, even. She couldn’t let on she’d had dealings with him without being certain. Though she knew the chances of two Glens being murdered in the same town on the same day was pretty slim.

  ‘Peacock, why?’ Heather hiccupped, looking at Ed expectantly.

  Ed inhaled slowly. This was not going to go well.

  ‘Heath, listen. You know what I do for a living, right? Fire investigators look at any fire which has been set deliberately, or endangered life. I attended a scene yesterday where someone had been in an allotment shed that had been set on fire. I’m so sorry, sweetie, it was Glen.’

  Heather sat back in her chair, looking shocked. ‘They said he was murdered. How come they got it wrong?’

  Ed sighed, ‘they didn’t get it wrong, hon. The fire at the shed was set deliberately. Glen was inside.’

  ‘Oh god…’ Heather paled.

  Ed was about to pull Heather to her – she wanted to hold her sister so tight nothing would ever get close enough to hurt her again. But just as she moved forward, the door to the office opened and the chief walked in.

  ‘Where’re we at on the allotment murder, Blaze?’

  ‘Sir, would you mind if I come and see you in a moment, I have a guest. This is my sister, Heather.’

  Talbot’s eyes narrowed – Ed knew he hated the staff bringing family in without prior authorisation.

  ‘Very well. Nice to meet you, Heather. I didn’t even know you had a sister, Blaze.’

  ‘Sure do, sir. Can’t believe I never mentioned it. Sorry I didn’t ask permission, Heather just popped by on her way home from university.’

  ‘And what is it you’re studying?’ He directed the question at Heather, his gaze silently questioning her tears.

  ‘Um, Forensic Investigation. I’m in my second year.’

  ‘Very good, is Adam Sutton still teaching over there? I know him from the academy. Good teacher, if I recall.’

  ‘Yeah, he teaches the first years more than us but he’s still there.’

  ‘OK then. Well, I’ll see you in my office shortly, Blaze. Nice to meet you Heather. Stick in at uni, good grades lead to good jobs.’

  As he shut the door, Ed rolled her eyes. ‘Meet the boss,’ she said, a little sarcastically. She hadn’t realised he knew her neighbour, either. She’d have to watch what she said. It really was a small world.

  ‘I need to go and give him an update. It shouldn’t take too long – you OK to wait here? When I come back, I’ll drop you home, if you like.’

  ‘I don’t want to go home.’ Heather’s tone was quiet, subdued even.

  Astutely, Ed picked up on what she meant. ‘OK, not home. We’ll go for a cuppa – that new Costa is open up Yarm Road. I’ll need to go if I’m called in, though. If that happens I’ll drop you over at Susie or Chloe’s, OK?’

  Heather nodded. ‘Thanks, Sis.’

  29th September, 1305 hours – Darlington Police Station

  Janelle had been at the station since 1130am. She’d sat and told several officers what had happened, and signed her statement. They’d given her a cup of sweet coffee, which was kind, she knew, but it had tasted rank, like piss in a cup. She’d lied through her teeth as to her reason for being in the area, too: it wasn’t like she could just say ‘Oh yeah I was there to get some drugs.’

  When the detective had offered to ring her mother, she’d had to make up another story – if a cop rang her mum that would just open up a whole can of worms. It was best they think mum was away at her sister’s place in Bedlington. It made for a good story, even if her aunt never even acknowledged her sister was alive. Janelle wished her mother was really up in Bedlington – she could barely face being conscious at the present moment, let alone facing looking after her mum and watching her drink herself into oblivion.

  It was hard keeping the tears at bay though, the detective was patient – waited for her to stop each time. He didn’t know the real reason she cried was because she missed Glen, that she wanted him next to her. She could honestly say she barely remembered the robbery itself. Too much crap was already running round her mind. She gave a vague description, but wasn’t specific. Not because she didn’t want him caught, but more because it was all a blur in her mind.

  She’d wanted the drugs to take the edge off, to take away the feeling that her whole world had collapsed. When she thought about Glen being gone, it felt like a knife in her soul. He was her best friend – the only one who she would ever confide in. Now he’d gone. And she had never felt so alone. All she wanted to do was go home, bury her head under her duvet and not come back out for a long time.

  When the detective finally said she could go home, she nearly collapsed from sheer relief. Finally she could be alone, away from this melee of people who wanted answers to questions she didn’t care about. When Kelly-Ann’s face popped into her head on the ride home in the squad car, for a moment she didn’t hate her, for a second she wondered if maybe she was being too harsh on Kelly-Ann – she had seemed genuinely upset when she’d heard about Glen. And, begrudgingly, Janelle acknowledged that she had integrated into the group well. Deciding she’d give Kelly-Ann a call tomorrow gave her some peace, like maybe there was a slim chance that all this bad stuff hadn’t happened because she’d been such a bitch. She knew she couldn’t blame herself for Glen dying, not really, but in the great scheme of things, and if one believed about karma and the like, maybe it had come back round for her.

  Shaking her head, she stared out of the window. Bad things happen to good people. It’s that simple. Glen was one of the good people. If there is a god, then why would he punish Glen and not me? It didn’t make sense, none of it did. Closing her eyes, she tried to still her mind.

  29th September, 1655 hours – Darlington Police Station

  Kevin sighed and looked up from his email. ‘Jax, did you get that statement finished for the stabbing last week? The DI
’s busting my balls saying he hasn’t received it. I’m sure you said you’d done it though.’

  ‘I did. He’s had an email copy and a hard copy. Honestly that guy’s a complete arse: he’d lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his shoulders. I’ll go up and see him in a sec, just finishing off this photo booklet for the allotment murder. Have you seen them?’

  ‘Yeah, nice shots of the shed base. It shows the burn pattern really clearly. Slater was impressed, said when they finally get a collar it’ll be a good one to illustrate to the jury what’s meant by burn patterns. I was gunna put a note in your PDR.’

  Jackson grinned, ‘Can’t beat positive things in my PDR – makes a change from the negative.’

  ‘You’ve never had a negative one off me. And you won’t get one – the whole point of a PDR is to help you develop, not penalise you and highlight something that, to be fair, wasn’t even your fault. You know what that lot north of the Tyne are like – I couldn’t work up there. Stupid really, we all work for the same force. You’d think we all sang to the same hymn sheet, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘It’s not all of them. It’s just that one tosspot. Anyway, it’s irrelevant now, he’s left. Went to teach at Harperley Hall, but even that’s been closed now – wouldn’t have liked to be a new student passing through his doors.’ Changing the subject, Jackson added, ‘You’re still coming to Mum’s party tomorrow aren’t you? She’d be gutted if you didn’t show your face. And it’s not like she’ll ever turn sixty again.’

  ‘Course am coming, you loon, I wouldn’t miss Aunt Cathy’s party for all the tea in China. It starts at 7pm doesn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah over at the Cleveland Arms on Albert Hill – you know how Mum loves those darts team girlies. God knows what they’ve got planned – they’re all a little nuts.’

  ‘A room full of women – all my dreams come true,’ sighed Kevin, shaking his head sarcastically. He was crap at talking to women, even now at thirty eight. How he’d ever plucked up the courage to talk to Madge had always been a mystery to him. And as for Edina, well, he’d had a few pints so that must’ve loosened his tongue. Knowing Jackson was too astute for his own good when reading his expressions, Kevin turned away and looked out of the window – the rain fell in a steady stream, and it was already getting dark – weird seeing how sunset wasn’t due for another hour and a half. That said the grey clouds hid any hint of the sun – had done all day. He turned back to see Jackson smiling widely.

  ‘You completely suck at trying to hide anything, cuz. You blushed redder than the tomatoes Ma gets from her greenhouse! You were thinking about that lass weren’t you? The one who runs into blazing buildings and rescues the screaming grannies? What’s her name again? Edna?’

  Kevin snorted, unable to contain the spurt of laughter. ‘Edna? That’s the best you can do? It’s Edina, and she doesn’t run into burning buildings, she’s the investigator, dufus, she goes in after the fire’s out.’

  Jackson rolled his eyes and grinned – ‘I know, dufus. Hey, you should bring her to Mum’s party – Mum would love to meet her. And I’ve never been properly introduced. It’s only fair to bring the girl you’re seeing home to meet the family? What could possibly go wrong?’

  Kevin looked aghast. ‘What could possibly go wrong? Have you met Uncle Billy? He’ll be as pissed as a fart, are you nuts? I’d love her to meet everyone, but it’s a little soon for all that. We’ve never even been on a proper date!’

  ‘So count the party as the first date. We’ll leave you alone – I’ll even have Mum set you up a little table in the corner of the bar so you two can get to know each other.’

  ‘Christ she’d run a mile. I’ve been looking at something for her, anyway, was thinking of asking her out for a drink. But don’t even know if she’ll wanna do that to be honest, not after the way I treated her when we first hooked up.’

  ‘Aww, who could resist my cute little cousin. I’ll be having words if she says no.’

  ‘Little? I don’t think you being two days older than me qualifies me as being little.’

  Jackson winked. ‘Wasn’t talking about the age difference, cuz. We shared a bath when we were kids remember?’

  Kevin smiled. ‘You’re a complete nugget. Piss off. Shouldn’t you be doing statements?’

  ‘Yes boss,’ replied Jackson with another eye roll. ‘Going to see tosspot now.’

  As Jackson left the office, Kevin smiled, shaking his head at the banter. Living with Jackson when they were growing up had certainly never been dull. Jackson had two sisters, so he and Kevin had naturally been tight when Kev had moved in with them. They’d shared a room from the age of nine until Kev left to move in with Madge at nineteen. He smiled, remembering the hell they’d raised in their teens. How his aunt Cathy had made it to sixty in one piece he’d never know – she was the perfect ‘mum’ material though. She’d loved all of them without question, and had always treated him like her own. He had a lot of respect for her. There was no way he’d miss her party.

  He frowned as he thought about her gift. He hoped she’d like it. He and Jackson had paid for an all-inclusive holiday for Cathy and her best friend, Carole, who owned the Cleveland Arms, to go to Greece, five star, top of the range. They’d even booked her time off work without her boss letting on – Jackson’s sisters had put up the spending money, and bought all the holiday clothes and suitcases. All the years he’d lived with his aunt, and all the years since, she’d never been on holiday. Not once. Any spare money she had had always gone on her children, and now the grandchildren she had to the two girls.

  Turning his attention back to the computer screen, he refocused on the never-ending list of emails in front of him.

  9

  1st October, 0510 hours – Kelly-Ann’s residence, North Lodge Terrace, Darlington

  It was cold tonight. The first frost of autumn was leaving sparkles all over the ground and putting a light glitter over the cars parked in the street. The weather had turned quickly – just a week ago the temperature had been hitting fifteen degrees and now it was around zero.

  She’d been outside the terraced student house now for about thirty minutes. It was deserted in the street and not one house had its lights turned on. It was unusual for the area – she had walked past hundreds of times and generally there was always noise from one of the student houses or other. They were lined up together with threadbare curtains, or raggedy blinds. Some had yellowing nets up to obscure the view of those walking past.

  Having spent a good ten minutes looking around Kelly-Ann’s car, she had come to the conclusion that getting fuel inside should be relatively easy. The car had a sun roof, currently closed of course, for security reasons, but she knew if she did it carefully she could force the roof open without breaking the glass. Getting the liquid inside without it spilling all over the seats could be the issue though. She didn’t mind if the car smelled of fuel, Kelly-Ann would just think she had a fuel leak, but she didn’t want the seat to be wet – that would be too obvious. Even to a no-brainer like Kelly-Ann.

  She smiled in the darkness. She loved being out at this time of the morning. Everywhere was quiet, and best of all, it meant she wasn’t at home.

  Home? If you could call it that anyway. It was the place she went to lay her head when her mind finally shut down long enough to let her sleep. Externally, it looked like anyone else’s home. Furniture, wallpaper, pictures. Her friends came round, had met her mum and dad numerous times, even stopped over on the odd occasion. But no amount of decorating could hide the horror she knew went on behind those closed doors. It was too much to tell, anyway: no one would understand. They’d all think it was her fault, that she deserved everything that happened. They’d agree with her mother that she was a monster, who should be locked up in a padded room. Which was essentially what the attic was. A padded room with nothing in it but a blanket and a pillow. The bedroom downstairs was just for show, that’s why it often smelled musty. It was rarely used. Only when it was her turn to
entertain her friends, which didn’t happen often nowadays: they were all too old for sleepovers. Nobody knew about the attic. Not her extended family, and most definitely not her friends.

  Most of the time, it wasn’t even hard to keep the secret. Over the years, she’d learned to ignore the intimate searches her father conducted, the beatings if he found anything he thought he should be concerned about. She wondered what he’d do if he ever found out about the garage – it was her place, her secret place. She’d registered with the council to use one of the garages in a block a few streets from her home, having the correspondence sent to the uni so her dad wouldn’t find out. It was where she kept all her research, where she kept everything that meant anything to her. She went there to be alone, to think, to write in one of the hundreds of notebooks that adorned the makeshift shelves she’d built. She used it to research, study what she believed to be her calling. Fire had called to her when she was young, made itself a part of her world. The garage held the reverence she couldn’t otherwise show.

  It was where she would go when she finished here. Anything to avoid going home.

  Seeing a light pop on a few houses down, she shrank into the shadows of one of the trees that decorated the verge along the street.

  It was time to go.

  1st October, 0910 hours – Darlington Fire Station

  Edina pushed her way through the doors at the rear of the station, almost tripping herself up with her own feet. The box of cakes she carried teetered precariously as she paused to regain her balance.