by Jade Winters
“Jesus! You’ve nicked his porn stash,” Dale said with a big grin.
Heat crept up the back of her neck, and she squirmed in her seat. “Well, this I wasn’t expecting,” she mumbled, keeping her eyes firmly down, too embarrassed to make eye contact with Dale.
“It doesn’t look like the normal stuff either,” Dale said, pointing to an image. “Why would someone plant that in your brother’s flat? It doesn’t make any sense. Okay, it’s vile, but it’s hardly incriminating, is it?”
Ashley couldn’t respond. What was her brother doing with this material? Why would he even have such images? Surely he couldn’t enjoy them or find them erotic. He’d been brought up to love and respect women as equals, yet he had this large folder of image after image of women in every imaginable and inconceivable position, being used and abused by men in all manner of disgusting ways. Ashley began to realise that as much as she liked to believe she knew her brother inside out, it was entirely possible, judging by the images of the file that lay in her lap, she didn’t know him at all.
Ashley felt physically sick. Some of the photos looked ragged and well used. There was obviously another side to Nathan’s personality that he kept hidden from her and from the rest of the world. A side well hidden and very, very twisted. Could that side be capable of murdering someone in cold blood?
Chapter Sixteen
Standing on Debbie Connor’s doorstep in the pouring rain with fingers chilled to the bone, was the last place Ashley wanted to be – especially as they didn’t have anything positive to tell her. When the front door finally opened Ashley found herself under the verminous stare of Danny Connor.
“Have you found the person responsible for knocking down Abbi?” Danny spat the words out at them at them as if he was warding away an evil spirit.
Ashley inhaled and let the breath out slowly, trying to keep herself calm. Just because she was having a bad time at the moment didn’t mean it was okay for her to take her frustrations out on anyone who annoyed her. Danny Connor being top of the list.
“Not yet.” She kept her tone neutral. “Look, do you mind if we come in?” She glanced up at the sky and was rewarded with a big fat droplet of rain landing in her eye from the guttering above. Great! She wiped her eye with her hand. It was a good thing she’d left off the mascara that morning. The rain fell heavier. Danny still didn’t budge.
Ashley took a step forward. “We’re hoping you and Mrs Connor can fill us in with a few more details.”
“Bloody typical, instead of being out there looking for the bastard you lot want to sit around asking useless questions.”
Ashley put her hand on Dale’s arm as she sensed him about to move towards Danny. “I understand your frustration Mr Connor, but we have to look into all avenues,” Ashley said.
“Just let them in, Danny.” Debbie’s voice came from inside the hallway.
Danny eyeballed Dale then took a step back and widened the opening just enough to let them enter.
Debbie beckoned them towards the living room.
“I’m sorry to have to intrude at a time like this, but we’ve spoken to all the pupils at Abbi’s school and we haven’t been able to find a motive yet. Did Abbi have a boyfriend?”
Debbie grabbed a cigarette packet from the coffee table, opened it up and withdrew one. She patted around her jeans pocket until she located the lighter that she was looking for. Lighting the cigarette she took a long drag before blowing it out.
Danny was the one to answer. “Of course she didn’t.”
The door suddenly flung open and a chubby teenager still wearing pyjamas entered the room, carrying a light brown Chihuahua close to her chest. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know anything about her.” She brushed past Ashley and Dale and dropped onto an oversized chair. Putting the dog on her lap, she reached for the remote control then flicked on the TV.
“Watch your mouth, Kelly,” Danny said.
“Or what?” She turned to Danny and shot him a saccharine sweet smile. “You going to hit me in front of police officers. Doubt it, you’re not man enough.”
They stared at each other with pure hatred for a few seconds before Kelly tore her gaze away and turned her attention back to the TV.
Debbie clapped her hands together, the loud sound startling the dog. “Can you two bloody well stop it? As if things aren’t bad enough as it is, do I have to put up with you two constantly bickering?”
Kelly picked up the dog and kissed his little head before glancing back at her mother. “It’s your husband’s fault,” she said in a harsh whisper.
Ashley moved closer to Kelly. “Anything you can tell us will be very helpful.”
Kelly looked up at her. The hostility in her hazel eyes faded. “Yes, Abbi is seeing someone. Freddy Stone. He’s much older than her.”
Mrs Connor watched on with her mouth agape. Kelly looked at her briefly. “Oh stop pretending you care. All you think about is him, you don’t care about us, and you never have.”
Danny exaggerated a sigh. “I’m going, Debs. I don’t know if I’m coming back.” He flounced out of the door like a sulky teenager.
“Good riddance,” Kelly called after him.
Debbie quickly stubbed her cigarette out in an ashtray. “Danny, where are you going? Please don’t go.” Her features were panic stricken as she ran after him. Ashley could hear Debbie pleading with him in the hallway.
“I take it you don’t get on with your dad.”
Kelly snorted. “That man is not my dad. Our dad died when me and Abbi were kids.”
“Oh, I thought...”
Kelly’s face grew pensive. “Yeah, he puts on a convincing act of being the caring step-father doesn’t he? Believe me he’s anything but. Abbi hates him as much as I do. He thinks he’s some big man, but all he does is ponce off my mum while she goes out to work to support him.”
The front door slammed shut. A tearful Mrs. Connor appeared seconds later. “Do you see what you’ve done now? I doubt he’ll come back!”
“Good!”
“You kids will be the bloody death of me, you will,” Debbie shouted before quickly retreating from the room.
Taking a breath, Ashley said, “Do you have any idea where I can find Abbi’s boyfriend?”
Kelly nodded. Her eyes were full of tears as she looked up at Ashley. “Yeah, he works at the mechanic’s place in the town centre. I think it’s called GT Motors.”
***
Dale steered his car through a violent storm of rain, stretching his neck forward, looking out for speed bumps. The car jumped slightly as the wheels rolled over the solid mound. Ashley craned her neck and looked up towards the overcast sky. Strong winds battered barren branches on either side of the road, whipping them into a frenzy. Ashley pulled the collar of her jacket together and leaned back in her seat. Despite the heat in the car a shiver raced down her spine. She didn’t know if the cause was fear or sorrow. What she did know was that the dynamics in the Connor home were out of sync.
“Well that was enlightening,” Dale said as he suddenly swerved the car to avoid hitting a plastic bin that the wind had blown in front of their path.
Ashley barely noticed the near accident and didn’t answer right away. She was still thinking about Kelly, living with a mother whose main priority seemed to be keeping her partner happy rather than her own daughter. Instead of comforting Kelly, who must be going through her own emotional turmoil, her mother had seemed more concerned about placating her husband. What a mixed up mess.
“Yes, it was,” she finally said as the Connors’ house disappeared from view in the wing mirror.
“I told you the man was a prick.”
Ashley exhaled a pent-up breath in a long sigh. “And a very good actor by the looks of it.”
“Are you feeling up to visiting the boyfriend? I can go by myself if you like.”
Ashley gave a quick shake of her head. “No, I’d prefer to keep busy. Being alone with my thoughts is the last thing I want at
the moment.”
Twenty minutes later they arrived at GT Motors. The forecourt was bursting with various cars being inspected by mechanics. Ashley and Dale followed the sign to the reception area. Pushing open the door, they stepped into a small, dank area. The counter was manned by a young man, who sat with his eyes glued to his IPhone, a smirk on his face.
Dale cleared his throat. “Hello?” He peered at the man’s name tag. “Dean.”
“Yup?” Dean said without looking up.
Ashley and Dale exchanged glances before Dale withdrew his ID from his jacket and held it under Dean’s face. Immediately, Dean lurched back in surprise, catching his phone before it fell out of his hands and stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans. He sprung to his feet and abruptly stepped away from the counter.
“How can I help you, officers?” he asked, flicking his tongue across his thin lips.
“We’re here to see Freddy.”
“Oh okay.” Dean’s face visibly relaxed. “I’ll go and get him for you.”
After Dean had left the reception, Ashley said to Dale, “I don’t even want to think about what he was watching on his phone.”
Dale grinned. “I’m not saying anything.”
The door opened behind them and they both spun around. A long-limbed man with delicate features stepped into the room, wiping his greasy hands on the legs of his blue overalls.
“Are you Freddy?” Dale asked taking a step towards him.
Freddy toyed with his nose piercing. “That’s what my name tag says, doesn’t it?”
Dale turned back to Ashley. In a lowered voice, but loud enough for Freddy to hear too, Dale said, “Is it my imagination or are all the people we talk to today really hostile.”
Ashley twisted her lips. “It seems that way, DC Taylor.”
Freddy looked at them distastefully, his eyes bloodshot. “What do you want? You’re making me look bad in front of my boss by coming in here and asking for me. I ain’t been in trouble for years.”
“Oh we’re sorry to cause you any inconvenience, Mr. Stone,” Ashley said sarcastically as she crossed the room to him. “But when we’re investigating a serious incident, we actually have to, you know, have a talk with those closest to the victim.”
Freddy fixed his eyes on Ashley in genuine confusion. “I don’t know anything about a crime. I’m clean now!”
Dale looked at Ashley with a grin of amusement. “And do you know what else I find strange, DS McCoy. Every person we talk to about a crime says they know nothing about it.”
She glanced back briefly. “I know, it’s shocking, isn’t it?”
Freddy backed away uncertainly. “Hey, are you two on wacky backy or something?”
“No but your girlfriend Abbi Connor is in hospital.”
Freddy’s eyes widened. “Hey, she isn’t my girlfriend. I haven’t done anything to her. I know she’s underage. We’re just friends.”
Dale rolled his eyes. “Yeah, course you are,” he said. “Freddy, where were you yesterday at three pm?”
“Here. I don’t finish until six. Ask my boss, he’s out in the garage. He’ll tell you. We had a busy day yesterday.”
Dale excused himself and went off in search of Freddy’s boss.
“Is Abbi going to be okay? I’ve been trying to get in touch with her but her phone is switched off.”
“You haven’t heard?”
He shook his head. A genuine look of concern covered his features.
“I’m sorry, Freddy, but Abbi Connor is in Intensive Care. She was involved in a hit and run yesterday.”
Freddy moved unsteadily towards a seat and lowered himself onto it. “A hit and run? Where?”
“In the school car park,” Ashley replied.
“That car park is tiny, how could anyone accidently hit someone there?” Freddy rested his face in his hands, then slowly removed them and glanced up. “Unless…It was that bastard wasn’t it. I told her he’d go too far one of these days.”
She noted his hands had started to tremble. “Who are you referring to, Freddy?”
His head snapped up. “Abbi’s idiot step-dad, who else?”
“What about him?”
He cradled the sides of his head in his hands. “I should have done something. She was scared of him. He’s got a right temper. Always throwing his weight around.” Freddy looked up at her. “Abbi said he was looking at her funny as well. Always walking into her room when she was changing clothes. Refused to let them put a lock on the bathroom door. Creepy stuff like that, you know?”
Those poor, poor girls. Ashley made a mental note to contact Barbara, her friend at social services, and ask her to look into Danny’s background.
Freddy stood up when Dale entered the room. Dale nodded in Ashley’s direction confirming Freddy had been telling the truth.
Freddy looked from Dale to Ashley before saying, “It’s that Danny you ought to be looking at. That man is one sick fuck. Abbi was desperate to move out of that house. When he found out her plan he said the only way she’d be leaving home was in a body bag.”
Chapter Seventeen
Ashley stood alone outside Harlow Police Station. Dale had left work early to attend a dentist appointment. Despite a light touch of rain sprinkling her hair, she didn’t want to go inside yet. Colleen wanted an update on the Connor case and she was loath to admit they were no closer to solving it. Ashley had to believe that they would finally find the driver – otherwise how could the police evoke confidence in the public? She breathed in the cold air for a few moments, like a smoker taking their last puff on a cigarette, then checked her phone to read the message she had received earlier. It was from her mother enquiring if she’d spoken to Nathan lately. What could she say that wouldn’t make her mother worry? Nothing. Instead of replying, she slipped the phone back inside her pocket and made her way up to Colleen’s office.
Ashley sat opposite Colleen waiting patiently whilst she took a bite of her BLT sandwich. She considered broaching the subject of her brother’s case but thought better of it. Colleen had told her in no uncertain terms that she was not going to discuss his case with her and she knew better than to overstep her boundaries. There was only so much Colleen would let her get away with.
“So the boyfriend has a solid alibi?” Colleen asked between mouthfuls of food.
Ashley nodded. She rested her hand on her stomach. The smell of food was making her nauseous. For the past few days all she had been able to eat was chicken soup. She could never handle solids when her life was in turmoil.
“And the girls at Abbi’s school haven’t admitted to calling anyone from outside the school to involve them in the fight. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard a pupil call an older brother or sister. No one else seems to have a motive so we’ve got no case,” Ashley said.
“So what avenue are you going to go down now?” Colleen asked, wiping her mouth with a white napkin and taking a sip of coffee from the mug in front of her.
Ashley shrugged. “Maybe a public appeal? Dale met with the collision investigator who, due to the position of the injuries, believes it was a small car rather than say a four by four. He also confirmed our suspicions that it doesn’t appear to have been an accident. The direction and speed at which the girl was hit indicate that it was deliberate. He believes the skid marks were made after the incident, where the driver had to stop, turn around and then make a quick getaway. He’s getting back to us with a possible model of the car after examining the glass found at the scene. I think once we have some idea of which car was involved we can release the details to the media.”
“Well, that’s something I suppose,” Colleen said.
Ashley combed her fingers through her hair. “Abbi’s boyfriend made some serious allegations about her step-dad. We checked out his alibi. Seems he was telling the truth when he said he was in London at the time of the incident. Unless Abbi regains consciousness and tells us what happened, we’ve got no one else to look at. By the sounds of it th
e poor girl’s recovery isn’t looking likely.”
Colleen dropped her napkin on the table and stared at her. “Oh?”
“The doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down in her brain.”
Colleen pushed aside her half eaten sandwich. “Well, hopefully once the media runs the story someone will come forward with some information.”
“I hope so.”
The furrows between Colleen’s brows deepened as she stared at Ashley intently. “How are you coping, Ashley?”
“I’m trying not to think about it if I’m honest,” Ashley said, swallowing her emotions.
Colleen’s expression was pained. “I know this situation with your brother must be tough for you. I only wish there was more I could do to help but my hands are tied.”
Disappointment knifed through her at Colleen’s admission. “I know you would. I’m sure it will sort itself out in the end.”
A ghost of a smile touched Colleen’s lips. “I’m glad you have Tasha to support you at a time like this.”
Ashley shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Although her professional relationship with Colleen could be tempestuous at times, their personal one had always been a comfort to Ashley. She let out a small sigh before saying. “Tasha’s in Australia at the moment.”
“I hope it’s not permanent.”
Ashley shook her head. “No. Things just got a bit much for her, you know with Aaron’s death and the media.”
There was a faint glint of pity in her eyes. “I can imagine. Ashley, if you ever want to talk…”
Ashley rose to her feet. “I know where to find you.”
The two women exchanged a sad smile and Ashley turned and left. She was relieved the ordeal was over. She had to keep reminding herself that Colleen wasn’t one of the bad guys and she should stop treating her as if she was.