by Lisa Cutts
‘Come on, then,’ he said. ‘What’s in it? It was heavy enough.’
He watched Sophia force a smile, shrug and say, ‘I got three of everything they had. I wasn’t sure what you both liked.’
‘Must have cost a fortune,’ said Harry. ‘You didn’t need to get so many.’
Sophia’s face reddened.
‘Start without me,’ said Hazel as she pushed herself up from her seat. ‘That’s my phone ringing.’
Harry wasn’t sure if Hazel was telling the truth or had found the easiest way of leaving the two of them alone.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Sophia said, ‘Is she okay with me crashing your Sunday morning?’
‘Haze? Bloody hell, yeah. She’s sound as a pound. Now, what’s going on? And no bullshit.’
Her bloodshot eyes filled with tears. He put out a hand, gently placing it over her trembling fingers clutching the table’s edge.
After a minute or so of biting the inside of her cheek and scrunching a tissue in her free hand, Sophia said, ‘You’d be a very poor detective if you hadn’t noticed the amount of time I’ve been spending with Dane lately. On and off duty.’
He gave her hand another squeeze before letting go of it.
‘I had noticed.’
‘Well, I’m not sure what I’m getting myself into, if I’m honest. He’s been a bit . . .’
‘Bit what?’
‘I don’t know how to explain it. He’s been intense and then he disappears. We had a great night out last night. Well, to a point anyway. I nipped to the loo and when I came back he was arguing with some fella in the restaurant.’
She paused and looked away. More chewing on the inside of her mouth. He could tell she was still keeping something back, but Harry wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know what that was.
‘He came back to mine, which was probably a mistake, and then, well, just before I called you, I thought he’d gone.’
Sophia took a deep breath and said, ‘I was ready to chalk it up as just one of those things, but when I opened the bedroom door I saw him in my spare room. He didn’t see me, but he was going through my paperwork, my private stuff. There was absolutely no need for him to be in there, and what he was looking at was personal.’
Harry asked, ‘Any idea what he was looking at?’
A slow, sad nod.
‘Yeah. I’m broke, completely broke, and I’ve been hanging on, waiting for a couple of endowment policies to mature. I was set to get around twenty-five grand over the next few months. It’s the only thing that was keeping me going.’
‘Was?’ said Harry.
He watched Sophia’s shoulders tense up to her ears.
‘Turns out, they’re not really worth anything. A letter arrived yesterday morning telling me the news that I’m going to get back a lot less than I paid in, about five grand tops. What with that and what you told me about the job refusing to pay out Frank after Pierre’s death, I know I have absolutely no financial security. Harry, I’m screwed.’
Once again, he leaned across and gave her hand a squeeze. ‘We can sort this, girl. We’ll make an appointment for you to go and see Welfare. There’s always a way out, trust me.’
Sophia stared at him with sad, exhausted eyes.
‘Even worse than that,’ she said, ‘I didn’t really want him staying the night in the first place. He talked me into it, against my better judgement. I could have said no, I did say no at one point.’
Harry put his head in his hands.
‘Soph, if you didn’t want him to stay the night, why did you let him?’
‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ she said, tears in her eyes. ‘I can’t think straight any more.’
‘You’re sensible and smart,’ he said. ‘You can surely see what you’re doing, where this is heading?’
‘Thanks for nothing,’ she shouted as she threw herself back in her seat. ‘Even you’re judging me now. Christ, I knew coming here was a mistake.’
Sophia pushed her chair back and grabbed her handbag, her bloodshot eyes now spilling tears down her cheeks.
‘Soph, I’m sorry. Please stay. Talk to me.’
‘You think I’m stupid and vulnerable,’ she sobbed. ‘Of all people. I thought I could count on you.’
Harry watched her walk towards the kitchen door, Hazel’s worried face appear in the doorway, and Sophia push her way out and into the hall.
Before he knew it, he was on his feet after her.
Only a hand on his chest from Hazel stopped him grabbing Sophia and dragging her back into the kitchen.
‘Leave her,’ whispered Hazel. ‘She’ll be back when she wants to talk.’
He made his way to the front door as Sophia reached her car, hands over her face. His heart was breaking at the sound of her sobbing.
Chapter 53
Afternoon of Sunday 10 May
Time was running out and I had to get Sophia on board soon or I would have to cut my losses. The endowment policies I’d seen were due to pay out, and if I couldn’t persuade her to help me pull off my next job for Turner then I’d settle for taking her money.
I had managed several hours’ sleep since getting home from her house, and since then I’d paced up and down in my depressing little flat, trying to plan a robbery of police HQ. I had an idea about how to pull it off, but Sophia was pivotal to what I had in mind, and one way or another I would make her help me.
As soon as I had a vague plan in my head, I sent her a text asking her to meet. I knew this would be the most delicate part of the entire operation.
I needed to make the text seem as though I was being thoughtful, but not desperate. The last thing I wanted was for her to get wind of anything being wrong. I had learned from my mistakes in the past and knew only too well how one false step could jeopardize an entire operation.
I need to see you this evening. There are some things I really should explain xx
With luck, that would do it.
Barely fifteen minutes had gone by when I got a text from her.
Busy at the moment. See you at work.
This wasn’t good at all. I was desperate and couldn’t see any way out of my predicament that didn’t involve Sophia. I suppose I was fond of her, in a desperate kind of way.
Not one to sit idle, I showered, dressed and drove towards her house. I made a quick detour on the way to pick up some flowers. I hoped she would apprciate the gesture, especially since I avoided buying them at the petrol station forecourt. I had gone out of my way to visit the only florist in East Rise that was open on a Sunday and didn’t mean parking in the town centre. Sundays were always particularly busy, not to mention two pounds for an hour in the multi-storey.
Pleased with my purchase, I drove to Sophia’s house.
The first thing I noticed was that it seemed like she wasn’t home: the driveway was empty, the curtains were open and, despite the warmth of the Sunday afternoon, all the windows were shut.
To be fair, she had texted me back to say she was busy, but I thought she was still sulking with me for whatever reason had set her off that morning.
I sat and pondered whether I should wait or give her a call, not impressed that I’d wasted my time, not to mention twenty quid on a bunch of bloody roses I would never reap the benefits of.
I took out my phone, not entirely certain that calling her was going to work if she wasn’t in the mood to be persuaded. Again.
Then, as luck would have it, I saw her car turn the corner.
Should I let her see me and know I’d been waiting, or should I watch her get out of the car and follow her inside?
My life was full of these dilemmas.
Someone was smiling on me today: as she got out of her car her next-door neighbour came outside. I saw them exchange pleasantries and saw Sophia lean over and pat some small, pointless, hairy little dog.
This was my moment.
I jumped from the car, grabbing the flowers as I did so, and strolled over to them.
Flowers held in my arms, I gave Sophia my best winning smile. It was the same one that had won her over at East Rise police station front counter.
As she turned to me, I saw her face harden and then the corners of her eyes wrinkle as she smiled, and her mouth turn from cat’s arsehole to grin.
My timing was perfection as the nosy next-door neighbour said, ‘Oh, are those for you, Soph?’
‘Course they are,’ I said, trying my best to look modest, only it didn’t come naturally.
I held them out, saw her hesitate.
She took them a little gingerly, with some reluctance it seemed.
‘What a gorgeous dog,’ I said as I bent down to pat the little bastard on the head.
‘Thanks,’ said the annoying woman. ‘We’re just off to the park.’
‘Have fun,’ I said, as if I really cared.
‘Well, bye, then,’ said the neighbour, with what I suspect was supposed to be a surreptitious wink, which failed spectacularly.
The walls in these houses were probably fairly thin; I guess she’d heard us.
I was so busy watching her walk away that it took a second for me to realize Sophia was already at her front door. Concerned that she might try to go in and close the door behind her, I covered the short space between us and made sure I was within leaping distance of the threshold.
‘Listen,’ I said, hand out to touch her shoulder, ‘I’d love the chance to make it up to you.’
She turned, a new gleam in her eye.
‘Make what up to me, Dane?’
I hesitated, glanced down at my feet. An attempt at being bashful.
‘Whatever it is I’ve done.’
She was still staring, so I tried a different approach.
‘And there’s something I really need your advice about. You see, I need an expert.’
Her reaction made me think she was at least curious, so whatever I had done, it couldn’t have been that bad.
‘Come in, then, but I’ve got a lot to do today.’
I grinned at her back as she walked towards the kitchen, and followed her in.
Chapter 54
Evening of Sunday 10 May
Sophia knew that the weakness she felt for Dane was clouding her judgement, yet she simply couldn’t help herself. Was having someone in her life who made her forget about the sheer drudgery of the daily grind such a bad thing?
Yet she had to admit it – Dane had entered her life at a low point, and he’d seemingly sensed her vulnerability. She hated herself for that.
She looked across to where he lay in her bed. He was good-looking, funny, he had a job, his own place and sex wasn’t something she was going to be complaining about any time soon.
Now she thought about it, how exactly had they ended up in bed that evening? She was sure he hadn’t charmed her with the flowers: she wasn’t that easily persuaded.
Sophia put a hand up to her lips. It had started with him kissing her. That’s right, they were in the kitchen, she was about to tell him that he couldn’t get around her that easily. Then he had.
She let her hand drop back down to the duvet.
‘You okay there?’ Dane said.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Did I wake you?’
He rolled on to his side and propped himself up on his elbow.
‘No, I only nodded off briefly.’
‘I wasn’t sure whether to let you stay there or wake you up. We’ve got work in the morning.’
He gave a sigh, eased himself on to his back and said, ‘What if we didn’t have work in the morning?’
‘Yeah, funny,’ Sophia said. ‘What are we going to do? Throw a sickie? Both have a duvet day?’
‘I’d make it worth your while,’ he said with a wink, and inched his hand towards her under the covers.
‘Stop,’ Sophia said as she smacked his hand away.
‘How about we never had to worry about getting up for work ever again?’
‘Ever again?’ she repeated. ‘What are we going to do? Knock off a bank?’
Dane hooted with laughter, a little too hard, Sophia thought.
‘Weirder things have happened,’ he said when he managed to stop himself from finding her flippant remark quite so funny.
‘So, you’re an expert on bank robberies now?’ she said, starting to lose interest in the conversation and focus on what she needed to get together for the week ahead at work.
As she grabbed the corner of the duvet to get out of bed, he placed his hand on hers and said, ‘Think about it: we’re the police. If we did robberies, how bloody good would we be at it?’
For a second, she held his gaze, seeing such intensity in his eyes. Sophia knew she had hesitated for a fraction longer than she should have.
She sensed that was going to come back to haunt her.
‘You’re thinking about it,’ he called as she slipped her hand from his and reached across for her dressing gown on a nearby chair.
With her back to him, she shrugged into the gown, pretending not to listen to him as he outlined his reasoning to her.
‘They’ve taken the piss out of us for years,’ he said. ‘And you more so: everyone’s fucking with us. The government, the Police Federation, senior officers. I’ve heard enough conversations about them taking away the pension, and I haven’t even got one. I can’t afford it, and I’d have to work until I’m ready to die of old age before I saw a penny of it. Why shouldn’t we take back what we’re entitled to?’
Sophia looked over her shoulder, not wanting to meet his eye any more.
‘Because we’re the police, that’s why, and we’re not thieves. We should be better than that.’
She stormed out of the room, full of anger and fury.
It wasn’t so much that she was livid with Dane, it was because she thought he was right.
The financial situation she was in was dire, and there was little she was going to be able to do about it.
Little that was the right side of the law, anyway.
Surely nobody could say they wouldn’t have their heads turned by the prospect of walking away from all the grief and problems in their life, and simply starting again, putting everything bad that had happened behind them.
Would people really blame her? Wouldn’t they do the same in her position? Thoughts of her murdered colleague Pierre flashed through her mind. He had done the right thing and look at what happened to him.
A single tear ran down her cheek.
She wasn’t over Pierre’s death . . . none of them were. And while two wrongs didn’t make a right, she was damned if she’d end up the same way: sold down the river by a failing organization that couldn’t protect her.
Whatever happened though, Sophia was certain she couldn’t break the law she had upheld for so many years. So why then was her head now full of thoughts of how she could make her existence so much easier?
Life wasn’t fair, but perhaps she could tip the balance back to where it should have been had she not been dealt such a rough hand.
Chapter 55
Tom Delayhoyde had spent another day in the incident room, mostly by himself, while his colleagues raced around East Rise and the surrounding areas, following every lead they had on Sean Turner and black Range Rovers.
Painstakingly, Tom watched the town centre CCTV over and over again, watching as a black Range Rover pulled up outside the hotel. Turner jumped in the back seat and it drove off. No amount of enhancement of the footage was ever going to reveal the number plate. The camera was at the wrong angle.
For hours, until his eyes felt as though they were full of grit and his back was screaming at him as he hunched as near to the screen as he could get, he switched from camera to camera and back again.
Just when he thought he might go insane, he pressed pause and sat upright.
‘Oh, you beauty,’ he said to himself in the empty room. ‘It’s a bus. It’s only a bus.’
Never in the history of the number 238 bus, had anyone been as happy as Tom was t
o see it edge its way around the corner and into view.
He grabbed his coat and made his way to the bus depot.
Chapter 56
Sophia stood in her kitchen, mug of coffee in her hands, listening to the creak of the floorboards as Dane got out of bed. She guessed from the moving around he was getting dressed and ready to leave.
Her feelings weren’t entirely clear to her. She knew she would much rather be single than with the wrong man, yet she enjoyed having company. Not to mention the sex.
By the time he appeared in the doorway, Sophia was perched on one of her breakfast-bar stools, finishing her drink.
‘I can put the kettle back on,’ she said, aware that her tone was flat.
He leaned against the doorframe.
‘Want to talk?’ he said, more enthusiasm in his voice than she had managed.
‘I’m not sure what there is to talk about? Some sort of heist? Armed blagging? What exactly was that about?’
‘That’s a lot of questions,’ he said as he pulled out the stool beside her.
Aware that his hand was inching towards her thigh, she stood up and moved to the kettle.
‘I’m having another one, even if you don’t want one,’ she said over her shoulder, voice louder than necessary over the noise of the running tap as water sloshed into the kettle.
‘Soph, please come and sit down.’
She set the kettle down and slid back on to the stool beside him.
‘We’ve just spent several hours in bed and then you come out with ludicrous crap like that.’ She stared at him.
He laced his fingers together, left his hands on the breakfast bar and slowly shook his head.
‘I’m not sure where to begin,’ he said, still looking down at his hands. ‘I’ll level with you . . . I’ve had financial difficulties, all right? It’s something I didn’t want to bring up and burden you with. It’s not your problem, it’s mine.’
Dane gave a miserable shrug and peeked out at her from under his hair.