A move forward by the man, and she levelled a spray and pushed down on the plunger.
McAlister bent over double and collapsed to the ground.
‘You asked for it. It was either mace or the Taser. Now, will you be calm?’
‘I will.’
More relaxed than she thought she would be, she phoned Isaac. ‘My house, as soon as possible. Otto McAlister’s here, and I don’t trust him.’
‘Lock yourself in a room; give me ten minutes.’
‘If he moves, I’ll use a Taser.’
‘They’re illegal.’
‘I brought one back when I was covering a story in the Middle East. Arrest me if you want, but I’ll use it on McAlister if he makes a move.’
‘You bastard,’ McAlister said.
‘Lie down flat, put your hands behind you.’
‘What for? It’s not as if we haven’t slept together before.’
‘This is my house, and you’ve invaded my personal space.’
‘I’ll not comply.’
‘Suit yourself. I’ll use the Taser, and don’t think I won’t.’
‘Just a coffee, not the Taser.’
‘Don’t move, not until the police get here.’
‘Water for my eyes?’
‘When the police are here. For now, don’t move, and I mean it.’
Realising that the front door was still open, Ashley made a move to close it. McAlister, drunk and angry, tried to grab her ankle. She took aim with the Taser and pressed the trigger, the man writhing in agony. Regardless of his situation, she grabbed hold of a cable tie and fastened him to a radiator in the hallway.
‘Sit yourself up. I’ll get you coffee and water for your eyes.’
‘You bastard,’ McAlister garbled. The effect of the mace, the power of the Taser, had rendered him barely capable of coherent speech. And on the floor, a rapidly forming puddle where he had wet himself.
A knock on the door. ‘Ashley, are you alright?’ Isaac shouted out.
‘I am now,’ she said as she opened the door. ‘I don’t think he is, though.’
‘Tasered?’
‘Mace, as well.’
‘You’d better hope he doesn’t want to press charges.’
Isaac took out his phone, requested an ambulance. ‘Hopefully, they’ll treat him here. What’s this all about?’ he said.
‘Drunk, thought I was cheating on him, as if.’
‘Remove the cable tie, and we’ll make him comfortable,’ Isaac said. ‘McAlister, we’re going to pick you up, put you into a comfy chair. Miss Otway’s going to fetch us a drink. Is that alright, Ashley?’
‘How is he?’
‘He’ll be alright. I was tasered at the police academy. They were looking for a volunteer; it hurts like hell, but recovery doesn’t take long.’
‘Why, Ashley, why?’ McAlister said. His voice was calmer, although still weak and tremulous.
‘A change of clothing might help,’ Isaac said.
‘I’ve got some that’ll fit.’
‘A man upstairs?’ McAlister said. To Isaac, the man was a lovesick puppy, although Ashley Otway, in underwear, was enough to turn any man’s head.
‘My brother, if you must know. He stays over sometimes, keeps some clothes here.’
An ambulance came and went, a medic washing McAlister’s eyes, checking his heart rate, his physical condition. Standard procedure would have been to transport the man to the hospital for observation, but on Isaac’s surety and a signature to confirm that he took responsibility, the medic left.
Wearing trousers three inches too short and baggy around the waist, McAlister leant back, a mug in his hand, apple pie on a plate in front of him.
‘Why were you here causing trouble? After all, you two are friendly,’ Isaac said.
‘She’s my meal ticket.’
‘Mercenary, but it doesn’t explain why she had to take you down.’
‘I was jealous and drunk. A man is entitled to make a fool of himself over a woman.’
‘A fool, for sure, but it’s more than that. You’re feeding Ashley information; she’s publishing it and letting us know afterwards. The priorities are all wrong here, and withholding evidence, especially in a homicide, is a criminal offence. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this.’
‘I’m not withholding anything, only letting her know what I know. You can put it together, make what you want out of it. I’m not giving any guarantees, am I?’
‘I wouldn’t know. Level with me, do you have proof as to who took a shot at Simmons?’
‘Ashley wants the story; I’m giving it to her.’
‘He thought I was sleeping with Jerome Jaden,’ Ashley said.
‘Why would he think that?’ Isaac asked.
‘I spent a pleasant evening with him at the Savoy. Not upstairs, but in the Grill. I drank too much, maybe said more than I should.’
‘Why were you there?’
‘Otto wants money. I can’t get it from my editor, but I can probably get it from Jaden.’
‘Why would he pay, and how much are we talking about here?’
‘Two hundred thousand pounds, enough for me to live like a lord in the Far East,’ McAlister said.
‘Ashley, explain Jaden’s logic, yours as well.’
‘He gets to control the release of the information, gets the maximum bang for his money. I get the credit for the story and a chance to work with him.’
‘You know what you are?’ McAlister said.
‘Don’t you think I know, and if I had to make up the one hundred thousand my editor wasn’t going to pay, I’d be flat on my back until this time next year. And you, Otto McAlister, weren’t a price I was willing to pay.’
‘The more you get angry, the more I like you. Come to Thailand with me, live like royalty, make love on a sun-drenched beach.’
Ashley Otway looked away, pretended to retch, which Isaac could see, but not McAlister.
Isaac liked the woman, a fiery spirit, able to stand up for herself against a man twice her size, although sleeping with McAlister for a story didn’t sit easily with him. She reminded him of a government-paid assassin he had had a fling with years before.
‘Are you going to charge me with possession of illegal weapons?’ Ashley asked. ‘And what about Otto?’
‘Are you pressing charges, McAlister?’
‘I was pushing my luck.’
‘I’ll make a note, caution you both,’ Isaac said. ‘Any more nonsense, and I’ll charge the two of you. However, my leniency comes at a cost.’
‘You want the truth?’ McAlister said.
‘That’s it. If you and Ashley want to keep stringing Jaden along, get the money out of him, I don’t care.’
‘If I tell you, Ashley will print it, and Jaden won’t pay.’
‘I’ll play my part,’ Ashley said. ‘After all, we’re not breaking any laws, or are we?’
‘If you want to fleece Jaden, that’s up to you two, but I can’t guarantee you much time to pull this off,’ Isaac said.’
‘As long as I get my twenty-five per cent. Okay with you, Otto?’ Ashley said.
‘Very well,’ Otto said.’
‘Are you sure you can trust me?’
‘You might be high and mighty with your fancy accent, your upmarket house, but you’re not much different from me. You enjoy the chase, the challenge, as much as I do. You won’t cheat me, and besides, I could always deny it afterwards, say it was taken out of context.’
‘Would you?’ Isaac asked.
‘No need, she won’t cheat, not if she’s got Jaden in her control. That man’s a rogue. Did he try it on?’ Otto asked.
‘He was a perfect gentleman, told me not to sleep with you; almost fatherly,’ Ashley said.
‘What do you have, McAlister?’ Isaac felt like a gooseberry, the interplay between the two former antagonists taking a turn in another direction.
‘I’ve got a recording where Hampton and Simmons threaten to kill each othe
r on that mountain,’ McAlister said.
‘Not good enough for two hundred thousand pounds,’ Ashley said.
‘Okay, try this. Mike Hampton isn’t crippled.’
‘Can he walk?’
‘He’ll not tell anyone, and after he had criticised Simmons, he was an outcast, but now his former mountaineering friends are starting to flock around him. One of these days, he’ll make a statement that the encouragement of others wrought changes in him, that he can feel the strength returning in his lower body.’
‘Is that true?’
‘I know it is.’
‘How?’
‘I saw movement in his legs when we were down in Argentina, and then, here in England, I visited him once, not that he was pleased to see me. I made him hot soup. Kate wasn’t there, probably shacked up with Skinner.
‘Anyway, I spilt the soup onto his lap. He moved, placed weight on his feet. He’s milking the sympathy vote, and remember, he was always a miserable sod, no idea why his wife put up with him. Later, I sneaked back and looked in a window, and there he was, balancing himself against a table in the dining room. He was standing.’
‘We’ve had our suspicions, spoken to his doctor, but he’s not told us the full story,’ Isaac said.
‘I don’t know about that; I just know he’s capable of movement. If anyone could have taken that shot, it would be him.’
‘Hatred is a great motivator,’ Isaac said.
‘So’s love. How about you, Ashley?’ Otto said.
‘You’ll need a bath and a rest. You can stay here for tonight; plan our next move.’
Isaac discreetly made for the front door. It had been a bizarre visit, and how Ashley Otway and Otto McAlister got together that night was the most bizarre of all.
Chapter 22
Tricia Warburton considered her position. She had gone from the co-host of a successful programme to redundant and rehired to great fanfare. And now, apart from putting up with Jim Breslaw’s interfering and Tom Taylor’s incompetence, she felt as though she had been set up, an attempt by the television station to force life into a defunct programming format.
‘A bit more, Tricia,’ Breslaw shouted. ‘Lean out further. We’ve got the cameras on you.’
She knew as she dangled perilously over the chasm, a cord secured to her ankles, that the stories she was going to bring in, the travel to all four corners of the globe, was not going to occur. And that it was her, Tricia Warburton, who was putting her life at stake, attempting stunts that Angus would have done.
‘Pull me back,’ she screamed.
‘Why, it’ll be great.’
‘If you’re so keen, you can get out here.’
Unhitching herself, removing the radio mic and taking off the helmet with the GoPro mounted on it, she walked off the set and got in her car. She was furious.
Jaden waited at the television station, forewarned by Breslaw of an impending visit from a presenter who, in his estimation, was unstable, fighting angry and not suitable for the new programme.
Across from Jaden, two people who interested him more: Ashley Otway and Otto McAlister, his eyes still red from yesterday’s mace, his body bruised from where he had collapsed to the ground after being tasered.
‘I want you to make yourselves scarce when Tricia arrives,’ Jaden said. ‘In the other room, Alison will make sure you’ve got a drink.’
‘Are we in agreement?’ McAlister asked.
‘I agreed to the deal with Ashley, not sure how I’m going to maximise on this. It’s a matter of timing.’
‘My money isn’t. I want it now, or else I’ll offer it to the highest bidder.’
‘Otto, you should heed Ashley’s wisdom on such matters. You are, quite frankly, out of your depth.’
Jaden, who did not care for McAlister’s bombastic manner, also didn’t care whether the man heeded Ashley or not. What he needed for now was time, and Tricia Warburton was heading up in the lift.
‘Next room, now,’ Jaden said. ‘Give me whatever time I need, and we’ll come to a mutually beneficial agreement.’
‘If that’s a smart way of saying you’ll drop the price, I’ll not buy it.’
‘Leave it to me, Otto,’ Ashley said. ‘You’ll get your money.’
Alison came in, took one look at the woman who would have slept with her boyfriend if she had been willing, and gave McAlister a casual glance.
‘If you’ll follow me,’ she said. ‘We’ve not got long before Tricia’s here.’
‘You’ve seen her?’ Jaden asked.
‘Breathing fire. I saw her on the CCTV downstairs, arguing with reception, insisting she didn’t need an appointment to see you.’
‘She still got through.’
‘I wasn’t about to stop her. There’s a press briefing in later today, as you know.’
‘It may be that we’ll have updated news for them.’
‘Jerome, Jim’s impossible,’ Tricia said. The other three had left the room before she entered. ‘And besides, I thought I was there to present, not to get myself killed.’
‘Bungee jumping?’
‘I’m not a dancing parrot, nor am I Wonder Woman. I like my feet planted firmly on the ground, looking pretty if that’s what you want.’
‘It’s what you agreed to.’
‘Risking my life, I didn’t. And why is Jim taking control? I thought we were working on a new programme that would bring in the viewers.’
‘And we are, but times are tough, the revenue’s not there. We might have to curtail the travel, three months, maybe more.’
‘But…’
‘There are no buts, only yes. Get back out there. Do what you need to do.’
‘I won’t do it,’ Tricia said. ‘And if you force me, I’ll make it known that you intend to force up the price of your shares in this company, then to offload as much as you can, to let the station survive on its merits or die.’
‘An interesting speculation,’ Jaden said. He leant back and thought about what to do with a woman who was starting to become a nuisance.
‘Do you deny it?’
‘Whether I do or don’t is unimportant. What is important is that you signed a contract with very favourable terms, that you would front the programme.’
‘I didn’t agree with jumping off a bridge.’
‘I’m afraid you did. Tricia, you are the decoration on the cake, as well as what’s inside. If you have to stand there looking pretty, that’s what you’ll do, and if it’s getting dirty and jumping off a bridge, you’ll do that too.’
‘I’m scared of heights.’
‘So am I, so what? We’ll beef it up, make sure we get a couple of days’ worth of promotion out of it.’
‘I could fall.’
‘You won’t. I’ve got someone who’ll come along, make sure it’s safe. He can even take a jump before you. Didn’t your manager explain the contract before you signed?’
‘She said there had to be a catch.’
‘She was right. Did a lawyer check it?’
‘I knew what I was signing.’
‘Which means that you didn’t. If you had, the lawyer would have found a clause that says you’re liable for failing to comply with any reasonable request and that this station has the right to reclaim costs for money lost.’
‘Would you do that?’
‘Sue you? Without hesitation, the same as I would expect any individual to sue me if I reneged on a deal.’
Cornered, Tricia knew that she had to make a decision. ‘If you’ll promise my safety. I don’t want to end up like Angus.’
Jaden did not comment, only shook her hand, kissed her on the cheek, and showed her out of the door.
***
‘Are we in agreement?’ Jaden said. Three hours had passed since Tricia Warburton left, and McAlister and Ashley Otway were still in Jaden’s office.
‘It depends on Otto,’ Ashley said.
‘I agree,’ McAlister said. ‘Fifty thousand pounds today to my account and
that I’ll work with Tricia Warburton, advise her on the stunts, check them for safety, not that I couldn’t have done them myself.’
‘You’ll hand over a copy of the recording once the money is in your account, and you’ll give us indisputable proof that Hampton can walk; two days after Tricia makes the jump.’
‘You’ll pay the balance before I do?’ McAlister said.
‘McAlister, my word on it.’
‘I’ll test that cord for her, twice if she likes. All she’s got to do is jump, and if she dithers, I’ll give her a gentle nudge.’
‘My exclusive?’ Ashley said.
‘Just lay off the station and me for now, let me boost Tricia, get the share price up, some more advertising revenue, and I’ll see you right. Twenty-five per cent of what McAlister gets. Do you trust him?’
‘About as much as I trust you, Jerome.’
‘You’ve got the carrot; dangle it. Like a duck to water, so predictable.’
‘Are you referring to me?’ McAlister said.
‘Will you use the carrot?’ Jaden asked.
‘Sparingly,’ Ashley said, ‘but Otto will uphold his part of the bargain.’
‘McAlister, do this right, and maybe I’ll have extra work for you,’ Jaden said.
‘I won’t be dashing off anywhere quick,’ McAlister said.
Ashley knew she might dangle the carrot, but the donkey would never get to eat.
***
Wendy visited Mike Hampton, a letter of consent in her hand. She found the man in his usual place, sitting by a bookshelf, a book on his lap. In the corner of the room, a television, its volume muted.
‘The only damned thing to talk to,’ Hampton said.
‘You’re on your own?’ Wendy said.
‘There’s a woman who comes in twice a week, tidies up around the place, leaves me food and drink.’
‘You cook?’
‘If I have to.’
‘With your wife gone and Deb down in Dorset, it must get lonely.’
‘Not so much these days. A few of those who had treated me like a leper have found their way here.’
‘You were pleased to see them?’
‘I was civil, the same as I am with you, but I’d rather be on my own.’
The Hero's Fall (DCI Cook Thriller Series Book 14) Page 20