Heartlands

by Kerry Watts

  ‘Is that right, and, of course, I hope so too.’ Jessie still wasn’t biting. ‘I’m getting a coffee, would you like one?’

  She stood up from the table.

  ‘Yes, that would be great, thanks.’ Jessie poured the coffees as he continued. ‘Do you remember Sophie Nicoll? She was a fifteen-year-old girl who went missing in the North East twenty years ago.’

  Jessie frowned and attempted to recall the name, then shook her head.

  ‘Sophie’s body was found a few days later. She had been raped and murdered by two teenage boys she knew from school.’

  ‘That’s awful,’ Jessie answered, and swallowed a bite of her toast.

  ‘It’s a story that’s always stuck with me, you know. I spent a bit of time with Sophie’s family for a while afterwards. Getting to know them. You know, the real Sophie, not just Sophie the victim. Stayed with me to this day. One of the lads committed suicide not long after. The other one, Daniel Simpson, served five years and is living God knows where, with a new identity and a second chance at life, which was more than they gave Sophie.’

  ‘The boys were tried as juveniles, then?’ Jessie commented.

  Blair raised his eyebrows. ‘Sadly, they were, yes. I’d have locked the bastards up and thrown away the key. Excuse the language.’ He lifted his hand to apologise.

  ‘Clearly the probation service felt he was no longer a threat then.’

  Blair scoffed. ‘Yes, sure, and they always get it right, don’t they?’

  Jessie washed her food down with the last of her coffee and checked the time on her watch. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and stood. Blair nodded with a smile.

  ‘That was delicious,’ Jessie called out to Maggie before she left.

  ‘You have a good day, detective.’

  ‘You too. See you later, perhaps.’

  ‘Morning, Jessie. How’s it going?’ Dylan yawned, then greeted her with a warm smile as she walked into their compact incident room. ‘Kettle’s boiled, if you’re after a brew.’

  ‘Nah, I’m good, thanks. I’ve just had a cooked breakfast at The Black Witch. I’m stuffed.’ She ignored the buzzing of her phone in her pocket.

  Dylan frowned. ‘You avoiding someone?’

  ‘What?’ Jessie snapped. ‘No, why would I be avoiding anyone? Who would I be avoiding?’

  She could see by the look on Dylan’s face that she had overreacted, but this was none of his business. The last thing she needed was Dylan’s advice to distract her.

  ‘OK, then.’ Dylan refilled his cup with hot water and tipped in another spoonful of sugar. It was clear to him that she didn’t want to talk about whatever was going on.

  ‘Right, where was I?’ Jessie ran her fingers through her shoulder-length black hair before pinning it into its usual messy bun. She tapped Shannon’s diary with her finger. ‘Right, the contents of Shannon’s diary are an eye-opener, to say the least. If any of this little lot is true, there is a hell of a lot more to this sleepy little place that you might think.’

  ‘I’m listening.’ Dylan sipped his tea.

  ‘Shannon, it seems, has quite the private life. There are entries in here to suggest her relationship with both Rob Taylor and her teacher Calum Bailey are not what they seem. Wait a minute, let me see if I can just find… ah, yes, here we are.’

  She began to read. ‘“The moments we are alone are what I live for. He is so strong yet so very gentle. We both know what we feel seems wrong to so many people but how can something so wrong feel so right?”’

  Dylan almost spat out his tea. ‘What the hell? No way, let me see that.’

  ‘Well, what with that and the cryptic message from Bailey on Facebook. What had he had time to think about, I wonder? Their relationship?’

  Jessie passed him the diary then moved around to her evidence board, drew two lines from Shannon’s smiling face and wrote the names Rob Taylor and Calum Bailey next to each one. Stranger things have happened. She lifted the lid on Shannon’s laptop and logged into Facebook. She wanted to believe his reaction to Shannon’s disappearance was genuine. The worry he expressed seemed real enough. Jessie scrolled down Shannon’s timeline and read through some of the posts from concerned school friends, which were touching. Some suggested that they thought Shannon might have left Inverlochty because of something that troubled her, which intrigued Jessie. Had she simply run away? She scanned Bailey’s message again. What had he had time to think about?

  ‘You reckon Foster’s in the frame, too, then? You reckon he knows more than he’s letting on?’ Dylan asked as he dropped the diary onto her desk and gulped the last of his tea, but not before spilling some on his tie.

  ‘Jesus, Dylan, with a mouth that size how can you miss it?’ Jessie laughed until her phone rang again, causing her expression to fall quickly into one of tension.

  ‘Everything OK, Jess?’ Dylan frowned. He was curious after watching her check the caller ID, switch it to silent and toss her phone down.

  Jessie had to turn away, and she sniffed back the tears that began to sting the backs of her eyes. She coughed quickly to compose herself.

  ‘Yes, fine, it’s nothing, and yes, I’m not ruling anything or anyone out. Shannon is out there. Searches of the wood and Ben Lochty have turned up nothing.’ She wiped the back of her hand across her nose and sniffed again. ‘Right, I want you to talk to Bailey, and I’m heading to Rob Taylor’s. See what he has to say about that.’ She pointed to the diary as the buzz of a text rang out. ‘Maybe one of those two can shed light on it. Or indeed, where the wee lass is. Has one of them arranged to meet her somewhere later?’

  Dylan watched her take in a huge breath before opening the text message.

  ‘Sure thing, boss.’ Dylan nodded and pushed his chair under the table.

  ‘I’ll see you back here,’ Jessie told him.

  ‘If you’re sure you’re OK?’ he answered with a wide-eyed nod of his head.

  ‘I’m fine, Dylan, thank you. Please don’t fuss.’

  Dylan closed the door and she opened Carol’s fifth message in two days. How could a short message with two innocent words fill Jessie with such terror?

  Call me.

  That’s all she’d put. Jessie moved to the small rain-splashed window and stared out at the hills that surrounded Inverlochty, wishing she was on top of one of them right then, even if it was lashing down with freezing rain, while she waited for Carol to pick up. By the time she’d heard three rings, she feared her heart might explode.

  ‘Hey, Carol, it’s me.’

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Louise opened her eyes and for one brief wonderful heartbeat Shannon wasn’t gone, her daughter wasn’t missing, and she would be there any minute. In her sleepy haze, everything in Louise’s life was as it should be. Pain ripped into her when reality returned, and she pushed her face into the pillow and sobbed.

  Her mobile buzzed on the bedside table. Through her tears she read a text from Cassie and laid the phone back down without answering it. Louise closed her eyes and tugged the duvet up round her neck. The more time that went by without any word from Shannon was crushing her. The not knowing was agony. She’d heard that expression in the past, but it was so true. They were currently enduring the gut-twisting limbo between hope and agony. It literally felt like torture to Louise.

  Her mother wasn’t helping, with her suggestions that perhaps Shannon had a secret boyfriend and she’d run away with him. If that was the case, she added, Shannon was probably having the time of her life. Even that detective thought Shannon had run away, but Louise knew her daughter better than either of them. She wouldn’t keep a secret like that. Louise was sure of it. Eric would have told her by now anyway, especially after talking to the police. He wouldn’t want to get into trouble.

  Louise tucked her knees up into her stomach and hid her face from the light streaming in through the crack in the curtain. Maybe if she went to sleep again, Shannon would be there when she next woke.

  ‘I’ll
get it!’ Rob called as he went to answer the front door. ‘Jason! Come in.’ Rob pulled the door wide open, aghast at the state of Jason.

  Rob had never seen Jason’s eyes look so empty. They were dead, and it was clear he hadn’t shaved for days. The stench of stale alcohol oozed through his pores.

  ‘Where is she?’ Jason’s words were slow and deliberate, his expression fixed and staring as he walked past him down the long hallway towards Rob’s living room.

  ‘Come on, I’ll make us some coffee.’ Rob placed his arm around Jason’s shoulders but, before they could get to the kitchen, there was a loud knock.

  ‘I’ll go this time,’ Cassie whispered.

  She was surprised to find a woman she didn’t recognise standing on the doorstep with her badge close to her face.

  ‘Hello, my name is DI Blake. I’m looking for Rob Taylor?’

  ‘Of course, yes, he’s in the kitchen, go straight through.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Jessie wiped her feet before going in, impressed by the antique oak sideboard and matching coat rack just inside the front door. She wouldn’t have chosen the basic magnolia paint for such a large space, though. Jessie would have gone for more of a mocha instead. The wood floor looked real; expensive, too.

  Jason’s head appeared round the kitchen door on hearing Jessie’s voice.

  ‘Detective Blake? Have you found her? Why are you here? How did you know I would be here?’

  Jessie nibbled her bottom lip. As much as she felt sorry for Jason, his presence here made the situation awkward.

  ‘Jason, I’m not here for you.’

  ‘What do you mean? Why are you here then?’

  ‘Jason, mate,’ Rob intervened. ‘Let’s get that coffee. Detective, can I get you a coffee?’

  Jessie nodded. ‘That would be great.’

  Her chat with Rob Taylor would have to wait. For now.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  1997

  ‘Hey, Dan, wait up.’

  The sound of Malky’s Irish brogue travelled quickly towards Daniel as he cleared away his breakfast tray. The five-foot-six Irish lad had befriended Daniel the day Malky arrived. Being Irish and short made Jockey the ideal nickname, and Malky hated it. He wasn’t shy about letting everyone know it, but he and Daniel got on well. Perhaps that was because Daniel had never called him Jockey. Not to his face, at least.

  It hadn’t been long before the reason for Daniel’s incarceration came up in conversation. Malky said he hadn’t heard but Daniel let that go. It was common knowledge in Carseview that Daniel was in for murder. Theft and GBH were Malky’s speciality, and he had put a security guard in hospital with a broken jaw and several smashed ribs. Both boys had been raised in similarly dysfunctional homes, which bonded them immediately. Who knew having a junkie mother could be helpful because, before Malky, Daniel had kept himself to himself.

  Even as a big lad, Daniel had been terrified of prison. It was a struggle to come to terms with the noise most of all. It was like nothing he had ever heard.

  Daniel raised his head in greeting as Malky got closer. ‘How’s it going, Malk?’

  ‘Not bad, not bad.’

  ‘Where you been? You’ve missed your breakfast,’ Daniel asked.

  Malky smirked. ‘Had a meeting with Cam, didn’t I? She’s coaching me for this parole meeting shit next week, isn’t she?’

  Daniel pushed his tray onto the pile and turned to face him. ‘Lucky bastard.’

  ‘Fuck off, they’re not going to let me out. That security bastard is milking it, isn’t he? He’s still on crutches.’ Malky grinned and squeezed Daniel’s shoulder. ‘You’re stuck with me buddy.’

  ‘You two get your arses in gear.’ The prison officer’s instruction tore into their laughter. ‘Solomon wants you on time today, Malky.’

  ‘Sir, just going, sir.’ Daniel moved past him behind Malky, whose smirk was as big as his personality.

  ‘Sir, just going, sir,’ Malky mimicked.

  ‘Fuck off,’ Daniel retaliated.

  ‘Nice to see you, Malky,’ John Solomon greeted the last two students and closed the door quietly after them. ‘Sit down, get your books out and turn to page sixty-five. Daniel, you start.’

  Daniel would never admit this to anyone, but he didn’t mind Mr Solomon’s class. He enjoyed the education programme. It was different to school. He would certainly never admit it to any of the other lads. They would be merciless. But Cam knew. Instead, he had to join in Malky’s ribbing. The sound of Malky’s stifled laughter was something he had got used to. It was the soundtrack to their English class.

  ‘Malky.’ Mr Solomon guided Malky’s book down onto the desk in front of him and pointed to the page. ‘Enough.’

  Daniel continued to read on, regardless, until the next reader was invited to carry on. He stared out of the window at the sunshine streaming across the golden fields of wheat, reliving that day over in his mind. In three weeks it would be exactly one year ago. If he had said no to Jack that morning. If he had helped his mum, like she had asked, instead; but he was angry with her that day. He didn’t care that she was suffering. She had let him down again and he wanted to punish her; for her to feel the hurt he felt. But he couldn’t go back. None of them could. The nightmares had stopped, at least. It was a long time before he’d forget the sight of Sophie’s face; her hair streaked across her cheek, looking up at them as the soil hit her. That was an image Daniel would never forget.

  ‘And that’s it for today, everyone.’

  Daniel looked up at the clock; an hour had passed. He got up to leave, as did the others.

  ‘Daniel, I need to have a chat with you. Got a minute?’

  Daniel spun round as he left the classroom to see Cam waiting for him. Daniel frowned at her serious expression.

  ‘I’ll catch you later, man.’ Malky nodded to Cam before following the rest of their class into the gym.

  ‘Hello.’ Daniel eyed her suspiciously. ‘Is everything OK?’

  Cam unlocked one of the rooms that led off the main corridor. Now Daniel was worried.

  ‘Have a seat,’ Cam told him as she put her bag on the floor and hung her cardigan over the back of the chair.

  Daniel’s mouth suddenly felt like he hadn’t had a drink for days. It was as if his tongue had become fixed to the roof of his mouth. He flopped down onto the chair opposite her, then shuffled uncomfortably until Cam spoke. She sorted through the papers in the folder in front of her.

  ‘Tom Nicoll has managed to get a new lawyer to take on his case.’

  Daniel’s eyes narrowed. He couldn’t understand why Tom Nicoll needed a lawyer.

  ‘What do you mean? Tom Nicoll has a lawyer? What’s that about?’

  Cam nodded and offered Daniel a half-smile he recognised. The smile that was about to deliver bad news.

  ‘Look, it’s your right to know, but I don’t want you to worry unnecessarily until there’s something to worry about.’

  ‘What?’ Daniel sat bolt upright in his chair. ‘What, worry about what?’

  Cam ran her fingers over her forehead. There it was. That smile again.

  ‘Sophie’s family have hired Malcolm Richards to appeal your sentence. They will be petitioning the high court that your sentence was unduly lenient and should be increased. They’re going to argue that time spent in juvenile detention isn’t appropriate under the circumstances, and want you transferred to an adult prison for the remainder of your sentence.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Daniel stuttered, his eyes darting around the room. ‘I could go to prison?’

  ‘First things first. We don’t panic. Just because they want to appeal doesn’t mean the appeal will even be granted but, as your social worker, I am obliged to keep you informed. You will be appointed a lawyer too if you need one, don’t worry.’

  Daniel rested his elbows on the table then dropped his head into his hands, shaking it as he spoke. ‘This can’t be happening. Not again. Please, not again.’

  C
am reached out her hand and took hold of his arm.

  ‘Look at me, Daniel, look at me.’

  Daniel lifted his head. The fear in his eyes tugged at Cam’s heart.

  ‘Cam, I’m scared,’ he whispered.

  ‘I know you are, and I’m sorry this is happening to you, but you have to be brave.’ She squeezed his wrist and Daniel grabbed onto her hand. ‘You’re not alone, OK? Whatever happens from here, you’re not alone.’

  Daniel appreciated she was trying her best to alleviate his fear, but nothing Cam could say would shift the gut-wrenching terror that had just thumped into his life. If only he could rewind the clock and go back to that day.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ‘Have you called Louise?’ Jessie’s patience was dwindling while she waited for Jason to finish his coffee. Her patience was wearing very thin. The longer she waited, the more chance Rob had of getting wind that she was really after him, if he hadn’t realised already.

  ‘She’s not answering her phone,’ Cassie answered, her face pale and tired. ‘Shall I go and get her? Maybe she could take Jason home.’

  Jessie had a better idea. The questions she had for Rob would have to be asked when she returned. ‘No, I’ll take Jason home.’

  Rob and Jason sat in silence. Jason’s fingers gripped the cup, but he hadn’t drunk a drop. He sat motionless, staring out of the window. Rob looked up to see Cassie join them and was relieved to hear Jessie’s suggestion.

  ‘Come on, Jason, I’ll give you a ride home.’ She spoke quietly and rested a hand on his shoulder.

  Her words were ignored until drips of cold coffee spilled onto Jason’s leg, stirring him from his trance. He stared past her and placed his cup on the coffee table.

  The pair drove in silence the short journey to Jason’s home until he uttered words that Jessie dared not answer.