Bad Advice

by S M Mala

  ‘Why didn’t you say that before?’ said Riley, looking pissed off. ‘That’s different.’

  ‘Kids,’ mumbled Sebastian.

  ‘I-.’ Scottie’s mobile started to ring. It was Ruby. ‘Just got to get this.’ He walked away into the house and glanced at the three sitting at the table. ‘Hello.’

  ‘Hi there. How’s it all going?’

  ‘God I miss you,’ he sighed, smiling for a moment. ‘I’ve just told the boys about us. Charlie’s an adult, he’s fine but Riley? He’s being a baby and saying he doesn’t want someone else to boss him around. I said you weren’t that bad.’ She laughed for a second then sighed. ‘I really want to see you.’

  ‘Theo’s not well so I brought him back home. He’s got a temperature so I’m looking after my baby. I was going to open a bottle of wine but I think your bad Nana spiked my drinks last night.’

  ‘Or maybe you were laughing so much you couldn’t tell when she was topping you up. But I forgive you for being a lush as you were nice as pie this morning.’ Scottie felt hot remembering the slow and passionate sex, though he still thought Ruby was drunk as she continued to giggle. ‘And the laughing? What’s that about? It’s been twice you’ve done that.’

  ‘Ah, you’re worried about my happiness?’

  ‘I’m worried there’s something funny going on I’m not aware of.’

  ‘You make me very happy Jonathan Scott, that’s all you need to know and why do I laugh? Because that’s what you do when you’re happy.’

  ‘That’s good,’ he said and closed his eyes.

  ‘And the good news is, if you’re not too busy working on Tuesday night, I can come and visit. Hugh said Theo could go round and I have to go back in the office. I’ll be finished around seven. We have the whole evening.’

  He laughed out loud.

  He was happy too.

  Seventy nine

  ‘It feels a little weird,’ Ruby said, sitting at her desk at the Samaritans, constantly looking over at the meeting room. ‘Don’t you think it feels strange?’

  ‘It doesn’t feel wonderful by why should it? Someone’s been murdered,’ hissed Mick. Ruby just shook her head and put her finger over her lips, to point out people were on calls. ‘I’m surprised you came back considering you’re a sitting target.’

  ‘I came back because people like you, little narrow minded ones, thought that I’d run off and cry in the corner. I’m made of sturdier stuff,’ she replied and noticed Annette glare at Mick.

  ‘We’ll see,’ the man sniffed, picking up a call.

  Ruby sat at her desk and replied to a few emails that came in and looked at the folder with all the crank ones since the murders started. Again, she’d received half a dozen in the past twenty four hours.

  ‘What are you looking at?’ Annette asked, making her jump.

  ‘Work emails. I seem to be getting a few rude ones. People are just so stupid.’

  ‘Really? Shouldn’t you tell someone?’

  ‘Why? I get them all the time and they’re pretty freakish. Like Mick man boobs says, I’m a sitting target.’

  ‘Ignore him, he’s just an arse,’ she said, sitting down and leaning over to whisper. ‘You know Diane isn’t in a good way. She keeps crying and all sorts. Are you going to the wake round her home after the funeral? I know Chonika’s parents want only close family and friends at their place.’ Suddenly Annette started to get upset. ‘It’s an awful thing to have happened, just awful. What a terrible mistake to take a young woman’s life!’

  ‘Oh sweetie,’ Ruby said and put her arm around her. ‘They’ll find the person, I know they will. It’s just such an obscure thing to do, target us lot. We’re not exactly exciting, are we?’

  ‘Did you read the expose in that paper you work for? Their article about the other four victims? Terrible people!’

  ‘Who’d have thought, to be honest,’ she said innocently, looking at Annette then noticed a man walk in with Diane.

  Her heart went into her mouth when she saw Scottie following.

  ‘Police I take it?’ sighed Annette. ‘Diane said they wanted to come in to speak to us.’

  ‘Why?’ Ruby asked and avoided making eye contact with Scottie, who was looking extremely hot in a tight khaki t-shirt and very dark blue jeans.

  ‘They think we might know something,’ the old woman sighed.

  ‘I’ve got an alibi,’ sniffed Mick, a little bit too loudly.

  ‘Have they taken you in for questioning yet?’ asked Ruby.

  ‘I don’t have to answer to you!’ he snapped. Ruby noticed the men walk up to them. ‘What can we do for you? I’ve given my statement already.’

  ‘Mr Dawson, you have but we wanted to ask some further questions,’ the other man said. Ruby peeked at Scottie from the corner of her eye. He was looking across the room. Then she saw Diane, whose head was hanging down. ‘We spoke to Gary Davies earlier on and the rest of the team, we just need to speak to Mrs Hector and Ms Marquis and yourself again, Mr Dawson?’

  ‘Fine!’ Annette said standing up. ‘I have to leave at five so you better be sharpish.’

  She marched off to the meeting room and stopped for a second. Ruby gulped hard realising no one had stepped in it since the murder. Diane took in a sharp breath as Annette opened the door and sat down.

  ‘You better go and speak to her now,’ Diane said, starting to look tearful. ‘This is just awful. I can’t cope.’

  Quickly she walked out of the office. Ruby jumped up to her feet and followed. Diane was braced against the wall, sobbing into her hands.

  ‘You shouldn’t be here. There are other people to cover and it’s not good for you,’ Ruby said gently. ‘Come on, call the higher ones and get someone to cover until we get through the funeral.’

  ‘I can’t… I need to be here.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’ Scottie asked, walking out into the corridor.

  ‘Find the mad man that’s doing this, that’s all I ask,’ blubbered Diane.

  ‘I think she should go home,’ said Ruby and noticed Scottie half smile. ‘I’m going to call for a cab.’

  ‘I’ll sort it,’ he replied, wrapping his arms around his cousin as she sobbed into his chest. ‘We’ll come and talk to you in a minute.’

  ‘Okay,’ she replied and walked straight back in.

  It was deadly quiet as she got back to her desk and saw Mick glaring at her.

  ‘Isn’t he high up in the police force? What’s he doing here?’ he asked, looking angrily at Ruby.

  ‘He’s Diane’s cousin and why the dirty looks? I’m getting sick and tired of your sniping!’

  ‘Chonika could have helped people but she’ll never get the chance and what do you do? You make money off the back of it. You’re no better than the ones that got killed,’ he hissed. The comment hit hard in her chest. ‘That’s why the person is probably targeting people like you. The ones exploiting the innocents so they can pay their dry cleaning bills.’

  ‘Would you prefer it was me lying on a slab? Then who’d do my job? You? Give me a break!’

  ‘Like you’d know what life is about? You probably live in a large house without a care in the world. This is probably just fodder for your dinner party conversations with your la de dah friends.’

  ‘You know what, Mick? I don’t care what you think. I have my reasons and I won’t justify them to you,’ she said sharply, then turned to see Annette walking out quickly and the other policeman coming towards her.

  ‘Can I talk to you?’ Dave asked.

  ‘I’ll speak to Ms Marquis and you can talk to Mr Dawson,’ interrupted Scottie.

  ‘Sure,’ said Dave.

  Mick got up and flashed another dirty look.

  ‘Diane said she tripped the phones into the central call centre so you can lock up when you leave,’ Scottie said. She was so angry with Mick, she didn’t realise Scottie was staring at her. ‘We can use Diane’s office. What’s upsetting you?’

  ‘Nothing,’ s
he sighed, getting up and walking away.

  Ruby sat down and waited for Scottie to enter the room.

  He closed the door and sat behind the desk.

  ‘You don’t like Mr Dawson?’ he asked quietly, taking out a note book and getting a pen. ‘He certainly doesn’t like you.’

  ‘How can you tell?’

  ‘I heard what he said,’ replied Scottie quietly. ‘So Ms Marquis, I need to ask you a few questions regarding the incident that happened here and-.’

  ‘Just ask away,’ she sighed and looked at his blue eyes focussing hard.

  ‘He’s certainly wound you up.’

  ‘He’s a stupid fucker, that’s what he is!’ Ruby gulped and noticed Scottie trying not to smile.

  ‘I’ll relax you in a few hours but, in the meantime, can you tell me where you were on the night of…’

  Ruby walked out of the offices, after locking up, and went towards the car park. Slowly she headed to her car, looking at the sunshine. Then, out of nowhere, someone came running at her and she was pushed forward.

  ‘Fucking bitch!’ they shouted as she fell to the floor, landing on her knees, the whole thing catching her off guard.

  For a moment she stayed on the ground. Ruby tried to pull herself together.

  The whole thing had caught her by surprise.

  Standing up and hobbling to her car, she realised both her knees were bleeding plus she’d scraped the palm of her hands. Getting in, she grabbed a wet wipe from the side and wiped her knees.

  Then there was a loud bang on the car, scaring the living daylights out of her. A coke can had been thrown at the windscreen, covering the glass in brown fizzy liquid.

  That’s when she started to get scared as it was broad daylight.

  Again, another can hit the car, this time smashing the side window.

  She revved up the engine and drove straight out of the car park, her hands shaking, as another can came hurtling towards her, hitting the boot.

  Not knowing which way she was going, Ruby got away as fast as possible. When she thought it was safe, Ruby stopped the car and grabbed the mobile.

  ‘Hello,’ Scottie said. ‘Are you coming to-.’

  ‘I’ve had a bit of an accident,’ she said, trying to compose her breathing. ‘I think I might have to go straight home.’

  ‘What’s wrong? Are you okay?’

  ‘No,’ she said, bursting into tears.

  Within minutes there was a police car parked behind her. She was petrified but pulled herself together, winding down the window.

  ‘Ms Marquis?’ the woman police officer asked. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, nodding her head. ‘Just a bit shook up. I don’t know what happened. I was in the car park and someone pushed me over and-.’

  She started to cry.

  The next half an hour was a bit of a blur. She told the officers what happened while looking at her bleeding knees. Refusing to go to hospital, Ruby wasn’t in a fit state to drive.

  Then she saw Scottie turn up and walk calmly towards them.

  ‘I’m going to take Ms Marquis home,’ he said. The officers looked surprised to see him. ‘She works with my cousin and we were in the offices only a few hours back. Can you get the footage from the security cameras?’

  ‘Will do Sir,’ someone said.

  ‘My legs are a bit bloodied,’ she mumbled, realising she fell really hard on them and they were starting to hurt.

  Scottie got her bag and walked her towards his car. He didn’t say anything as he helped her to sit and buckled up the seat belt.

  The look he gave her said it all.

  He was worried and now, so was she.

  Eighty

  The call had frightened the living shit out of him. There was one thing for certain. He knew it wasn’t a coincidence.

  She’d taken a shower and was now sitting in his sofa with her legs up while her knees had ‘Mr Bump’ plasters on them, courtesy of Riley’s first aid kit.

  ‘Please don’t look at me like that,’ Ruby said as he prepared something to eat. ‘The car needs to be sorted. They smashed the glass and-.’

  ‘It’s all taken care of,’ he said gently. ‘I got it driven back to your home.’

  ‘I rarely use my car to go into work. I thought it’d be quicker to get to yours instead of taking a cab.’

  ‘Do you want a top up?’ he asked, seeing she’d drunk the wine quickly.

  She shook her head from side to side and forced a wide grin.

  Scottie dished out the pasta and took the plates to the table as Ruby stood up. He could see she was in a lot of pain but was trying to hide it. Gently, he grabbed her arms and escorted her to the chair. As he sat next to her, he put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.

  ‘I’m okay, honest,’ she whispered up at him. ‘I don’t want anyone to know about this, especially Hugh. He’ll just get paranoid. It’s silly. I’m sorry for calling you. I didn’t know who to call and-.’

  ‘I’m pleased you thought of me first,’ Scottie gently said, taking a large gulp of his wine. ‘I do want you to go to the station with me tomorrow and report it.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ Ruby replied, getting visibly upset. ‘Can we just have a nice evening? Please Scottie?’

  ‘Sure,’ he sighed, knowing all the signs of shock she was experiencing.

  He’d seen it so many times before and it was always the same. As she took her fork, he noticed she flinched. Scottie realised she’d grazed her hands.

  ‘Come here,’ he said and chopped up the ravioli with the side of the fork. ‘I’ll feed you.’

  ‘I can feed myself,’ she smiled. He noticed a stray tear falling down her cheek. Gently he wiped it away. ‘Thank you for this.’

  ‘Stop thanking me.’

  Slowly he put the pasta to her lips and she looked at him before opening her mouth. He took it in turns to feed her and him. When they’d finished she grinned.

  ‘I think you’re probably a very good father,’ Ruby sighed, rubbing his face then let out a yawn.

  ‘I’ll take you to bed. You need to sleep.’

  ‘I’ve ruined your evening.’

  ‘It could have been a lot worse.’

  Taking her up to his bedroom, he stroked her head while she fell asleep. As soon as he knew she wasn’t going to wake, he went straight back down the stairs, flicked open his laptop and started emailing. Helen Trott was going to find out about what happened so he needed to get his story straight but first, he called Dave.

  ‘I was just about to ring you,’ his fellow copper said. ‘There’s been an incident.’

  ‘I know,’ he sighed, seeing the news had spread fast.

  ‘Oh? So you know about the brick being thrown through the window of Annette Hector’s home. Then Mick Dawson reported an incident where he said someone hit him and ran away.’

  ‘No, I didn’t know that,’ he said, taking a deep breath. ‘Ruby Marquis was pushed over and cans of drink were thrown at her when she was in her car. She was badly shaken up. I gave her my phone number and she called me straight after it happened. The guys were round there within minutes.’

  ‘What? She called you before anyone else?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, feeling shifty. ‘It’s odd this happened when we were only there this afternoon.’ Dave started to laugh. ‘What’s so funny?’

  ‘Oh my god Scottie, you were drooling as soon as you saw her and I’m not stupid, you know. She’s the same Ruby you’ve been seeing. You’re usually sighing when you say her name.’

  ‘That’s not true and I don’t want anyone to know. Look, I met her through Diane months ago and it’s really complicated. The Commissioner can’t find out, she’d go ballistic. They know each other and there’s no love lost there.’

  ‘Plus the Commissioner has set her sights on you. Look, your love life aside, it seems someone is targeting that branch in particular. Given the last victim used to work there, this is pretty serious. What are we go
ing to do?’

  ‘We have to tell the others to be vigilant and keep them safe. I’ll call my cousin first thing. She’ll only worry if I do it now and then we’ll contact the others. Were either of them badly hurt?’

  ‘From what I hear, not really, just shocked. So where is Ms Marquis right now?’

  ‘Safe,’ he replied. ‘I’ll speak to you later.’

  Hanging up, he knew Commissioner Trott was going to be all over this and he had to think on his feet what he was going to do and how to protect Ruby.

  Eighty one

  ‘What did you do to your knees and why are you limping?’ Theo asked when she picked him up from school.

  Ruby slept very soundly the previous night, other than a few things that startled her awake. Scottie had been on hand to soothe her back to sleep and she felt safe in his arms, in his home and in his bed. When she woke the following morning, the full brunt of the fall was playing havoc with her knees.

  ‘Your clumsy mother slipped over so you’re going to have to be patient with me and hobble along at my pace.’ She handed him a gingerbread man from the local bakery to soothe his impatience. ‘How’s dad? You better not have mentioned Scottie,’ she said, turning to see her son shrug. ‘That’s a secret.’

  ‘I didn’t tell him as you made me swear on my Lego collection and that you won’t allow me to go on play dates until I’m twenty five. I remember.’

  ‘So you didn’t say?’ she gently coaxed.

  ‘No.’

  Limping beside him, she grinned at the secret then frowned, knowing it wouldn’t be for long if Scottie was forced to tell his colleagues.

  ‘Dad said he had to move on as there was no point waiting for you to see sense,’ her child blurted out.

  ‘I have seen sense and that’s by not being with him.’

  ‘What if he meets someone? Won’t I be allowed to stay with him anymore?’

  ‘Don’t be silly! Your dad loves you more than anything else and nothing will change when it comes to that. We have joint custody. And knowing your father, commitment is the last thing on his mind.’