Unfinished Business

by W. Soliman

  She smiled across the table at Igor, who blew her a kiss. His eyes were all for her so he probably didn’t notice Monika’s scowl. Nadia did but she ignored it, revelling in the adoration she could detect in the eyes of her intelligent, handsome, powerful and oh-so-charming husband. How could she ever have imagined Igor had anything to do with Brett’s death? He idolised her and would never knowingly do anything to cause her pain. He hadn’t chastised her when she said those terrible things, seeming to understand that she needed to blame someone, anyone, other than herself. Well, she was over that now and would apologise later, assure him she hadn’t meant what she’d said and make it clear to him that she no longer needed to take his tranquillisers.

  Nadia answered a question put to her by the Spaniard sitting on her left. Her response was light and witty and she could detect approval in Igor’s eye as their male guests looked towards her with identical expressions of admiration. Good, she’d pleased him.

  She tuned out the conversation when it turned to business and found her mind drifting back to the day when Brett had accosted her outside the Jubilee Retail Park. It was so long since anyone had addressed her as Jasmine that she hadn’t responded. What did make her turn her head was the tenor of the voice. A tingle of recognition trickled down her spine as she slowly looked into her brother’s face. Her breath came in short, nervous gasps, the years fell away, and she hardly dared to believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.

  Fortunately Anton had been with her that day. He asked no questions when she flung her arms ’round a complete stranger, tears streaming down her face, and said she was going to have coffee with him. He even let Brett take a picture of the two of them together. Nadia shouldn’t have permitted it but couldn’t bring herself to disappoint her brother over something that must have seemed so trivial to him. She knew without having to ask him that Anton wouldn’t mention the meeting to Igor.

  She told Brett as gently as she could that it wouldn’t be possible—or safe—for them to meet again. But nothing could stop her from asking about Kara and her mother. She had a folder full of pictures of both her siblings supplied regularly by Igor. But now she knew something about their lives, as well. Neither of them referred to their father, and as they parted Nadia asked Brett not to mention to Kara or their mother that they’d met.

  She left him with fresh tears in her eyes, having convinced him it would be impossible for them ever to meet again.

  But three weeks later Brett again accosted her. This time Viktor was with her. He placed himself between her and Brett, and they didn’t even get to speak. She knew Viktor would take pleasure in telling Igor she’d been approached by a bloke claiming to be her brother.

  She waited for her husband to ask her about it but he never did. Instead, the next time Brett came to Weymouth he finished up dead.

  But it was just a coincidence.

  It had to be.

  Chapter Five

  “Charlie, my God!” Kara clutched my arm. “Is Harry all right?”

  “Yes, I guess so. He hasn’t seen the note.”

  “But who could have written it and got close enough to put it in his bag?”

  “That,” I said with barely suppressed rage, “is something I have yet to establish.”

  “This is all my fault.” Kara looked distraught. “What the hell have I got you involved in?”

  “It’s not your fault. All you wanted to do was to find your sister.” I reached for my biking jacket and then changed my mind. “Can you drive me to Shoreham? It’ll be quicker than getting the bike out.”

  “Of course. Is that where your ex lives?”

  “Yes.” I gathered up my wallet and mobile. “Stay, Gil!” The dog’s tail, wagging in anticipation of his usual evening run, flapped to a halt.

  “He can come if you—”

  “No, I want him to guard the boat.”

  Kara frowned. “You don’t think that anyone would—”

  “Until I get to the bottom of all this, I don’t know what to think.” I locked the boat and helped Kara onto the pontoon, a whole raft of possibilities flitting through my mind. “But one thing’s for sure, if they know where Harry goes to school, then they sure as hell know where I live.”

  “Yes, I suppose.”

  Kara drove in silence and with the swift efficiency I was beginning to expect from her. She concentrated on the road, seeming to appreciate that I needed the space to think without any distraction from her. The roads were quiet for once and we reached Shoreham pretty quickly. Kara pulled up outside the house I directed her to and turned off the car’s lights.

  “I’ll wait for you here.” She touched my hand. “Good luck.”

  Phil had obviously been looking out for me and opened the door before I could knock. He wasn’t spitting expletives at the upset caused to his wife but I figured he must resent the disruption to his orderly life.

  “Hello, Charlie, come on in.”

  His tone, calm and friendly, took me by surprise. “How’s Em?”

  “Pretty upset, but perhaps you can say something to calm her down.”

  I didn’t share his confidence. In Em’s eyes I would now be enemy number one. “I’ll see what I can do,” I said, heading for the lounge.

  “I’m sure there must be a rational explanation for all this.” Phil followed me into the room. “Charlie’s here, darling.”

  Emily, red-rimmed eyes staring from an ashen face, leapt up from the sofa. “What’s going on, Charlie?” Her high-pitched voice stopped just short of being hysterical. “What have you got yourself mixed up in that involves Harry?”

  “Nothing and it doesn’t.” I spoke with a calm assurance I didn’t feel as I guided her back to her seat. “I’ll get it sorted, Em, and Harry won’t be dragged into it again. On that you have my solemn promise.”

  “Would you like a drink, Charlie?” Phil asked. “I think we could all do with one.”

  “No, I’m all right, thanks, Phil, but I expect Em could use one.”

  “Is that still your answer to everything?” she cried accusingly. “A few shots of whisky and all the world’s problems magically disappear.”

  “It was my suggestion, darling.” Phil sat beside his wife and handed her a glass of brandy. He encouraged her to lift it to her lips and take a sip. “Now, why don’t we stay calm and let Charlie tell us what’s going on? We both know he’d never deliberately put Harry at risk.”

  “Thanks, Phil.” I was grateful for his lack of emotion, which seemed to temper the worst of Emily’s histrionics. “Harry’s all right, I assume.”

  “Yes, but he could easily have found that note. It’s only good luck that he didn’t.”

  “It wouldn’t have meant anything to him, even if he had. Anyway, I think I know who’s responsible for the prank.”

  “Someone connected to this Jasmine Webb, presumably,” Emily said sarcastically. “Even I worked that one out. Who is this woman, Charlie, and why are you looking for her?”

  “She’s a runaway, or was, fifteen years ago. Her brother died recently and the rest of her family wants to let her know. They came to me because I was involved when she first went missing and I said I’d ask a few questions.”

  “You expect me to believe something so innocuous resulted in a direct threat to our son’s safety?” Emily was getting all worked up again. “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Charlie. There has to be more to it than that.”

  “It’s the truth. I wouldn’t try to pull the wool over your eyes when it comes to Harry’s well-being, you know that.”

  “Not intentionally, but I know you when you get your teeth into a case. You become totally obsessed. Even after all these years, you still haven’t let your mother’s murder go. Perhaps that’s why you and I couldn’t—”

  “Leave it, Em.”

  My tone was glacial. My mother’s murder was something I never talked about, not even with Emily, who’d helped me get though the aftermath. I supposed that made her one of the few people entitl
ed to an opinion on the earth-shattering, pointless crime that deprived me of the mother I adored, changing the entire direction of my life. It didn’t help matters that Emily was right. My disinclination to talk to her about it hadn’t exactly helped to cement our rocky relationship.

  “You’re not being fair, darling.” Phil’s calm voice filled the brittle silence. He covered one of his wife’s hands with his own and smiled. “Charlie’s told us that he’ll sort it out.”

  “Yes. That’s what he says but you don’t know that he can deliver and neither does he. You have no idea what it was like—”

  “I’d done all I could about Jasmine and was going to let it drop,” I said, in no mood to listen to one of Emily’s tirades about my myriad shortcomings as a husband.

  “Well, that’s all right then,” she said ungraciously. “That’s what they’ve asked you to do and it means Harry will be safe.”

  “There, darling, I knew there’d be a simple—”

  “Just a minute.” She eyed me suspiciously. “What do you mean, you were going to let it drop? Surely you don’t intend to carry on looking for this woman? Not now, after what could have happened to Harry.”

  “I can’t have people threatening my child.” Ice trickled through my veins. I exist on a pretty short fuse at the best of times and was almost frightened by my determination to inflict physical damage on the people using Harry. No longer being an officer of the law, I was fast discovering, had its advantages. “What sort of father would that make me?”

  “Our child, Charlie, our child, in case you’ve forgotten. You’re not the only one involved.”

  “I’m only thinking of Harry.”

  “Then do what’s best for him, report this to the police and let them sort it out.”

  “And what would the police do?”

  She hesitated. “You’d know better than me.”

  “Right. What they’d do is question Harry and everyone connected with him at school to see who could have got access to his bag. Do you really want to upset him like that?”

  “They have people specially trained to talk to children. With all their resources, they’d probably catch whoever’s behind this much quicker than you can.”

  “Let me deal with it. I’m not bound by their restrictions anymore.”

  “That makes sense, darling,” Phil said.

  “These thugs seem to think I know a lot more about Jasmine’s disappearance than I actually do,” I said, thinking aloud. “And unless I find out why, then the threat to Harry won’t go away.”

  “Oh God!” Emily buried her face in her hands. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this. Whatever possessed me to marry a policeman?”

  “Em, you, Phil and Harry are going off to your parent’s place in Spain when term finishes in a couple of weeks, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, why don’t you take Harry out of school and go tomorrow? I know it’s a bit earlier than planned, but your mum and dad would love it and so would Harry.” I turned to Phil with an apologetic shrug. “I guess it would be a bit inconvenient for you, Phil, but it would mean they’d both be safe and you can still join them in a fortnight.” My expression probably reflected the grim determination I felt, because neither of them tried to interrupt me. “And by the time you get back to England, I’ll have this sorted.”

  “I think that’s the most sensible thing that’s been said this evening.” Phil surprised me again by siding with me.

  “But I don’t want to go without you,” Emily said to her husband, her voice a pitiful wail.

  “I’ll only be a couple of weeks behind you, love, and I’d rather be alone for a few days than be worrying about you both all the time I’m at work.” He smiled at his wife. She didn’t look overjoyed at the change to her plans but her objections dried up and she retreated behind a sullen silence. Phil obviously had a handle on Emily’s need for attention and knew how to keep her sweet. “I’ll see if I can change their flights,” he said to me, getting to his feet.

  When he left us alone, Emily stared at me through hostile eyes and refused to speak. I felt guilty for inadvertently having caused her so much grief and was relieved when Phil returned brandishing online boarding passes.

  “I’ve got them on a flight out of Gatwick early tomorrow morning,” he said.

  I turned to him with gratitude, having been obliged over the past ten minutes to revise my opinion of the man. There was none of the superiority I would have expected at the turn events had taken. Just the calm, no-nonsense attitude of a meticulous man who loved his wife and stepson and would do what was necessary to keep them safe. I shook his hand and offered to pay for the flights. Phil waved the suggestion aside.

  “Can I see him for a moment?”

  “He’s asleep,” Emily snapped. “No thanks to you.”

  “I won’t wake him.”

  “Oh, all right, I suppose it can’t hurt.”

  I ran up the stairs and into my son’s room. Harry was sprawled on his back, arms and legs flung at impossible angles, the light from the landing illuminating soft features slack with sleep. The room was a shrine to his Chelsea football heroes, posters covering the walls, books and magazines about the beautiful game cluttering the little desk in the corner. His prized possession of a programme signed by some of the players was propped up beside the bed. I was amused to notice that his new crash helmet was there too. I gazed down at the boy who was my life and felt my heart inflate with a love that was almost too painful to bear. My determination to keep him safe swelled with it. Careful not to wake him, I gently brushed the hair from his brow.

  “You be careful, champ,” I said in an undertone, “and I’ll get the bastards who dared to threaten you before you even know it.”

  Back in the car I briefly told Kara of the arrangements I’d made for Emily and Harry.

  “I’m so sorry, Charlie. If I’d known what I was getting you into, I never would have asked you to help.”

  “It’s okay, we’ll sort it.”

  “We?” About to start the car, she paused and blinked at me in evident astonishment.

  “You surely don’t want to know anything more about it now?”

  “You don’t have me pegged as a quitter, do you?”

  She pulled away from the curb. “Well, no, but I realize what Harry means to you and I guess you can do without the hassle.”

  “I didn’t want to know anything more about it before this happened and I really wouldn’t have let you persuade me.” I glanced sideways at her. “No matter what you had planned to try and get me to change my mind.”

  “It looks as though you’ll never find out.” She grinned. “Pity that. Anyway, what do you intend to do now?”

  “By threatening my son, those scumbags have achieved the one thing they were trying to avoid.” My anger escalated. “I’ll let you know what I discover,” I said when we arrived back at the marina.

  “No need because I’m coming with you.”

  “Afraid not. This could be dangerous.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right. It’s now more your fight than it is mine, and I don’t want to get in your way.” She glanced at me. “Where will you start?”

  I was too preoccupied to be suspicious about her easy capitulation. “How do these people know I’ve been asking questions?”

  “From someone we’ve spoken to, presumably.”

  “Smart girl. And who have we spoken to?”

  “Only Sally and Ramsay.”

  “Right, and I’d stake my bank balance on Sally not being involved.”

  “You think Colin Ramsay told the people behind Jasmine’s disappearance that we’d been asking questions?”

  “Don’t see who else it could have been. Unless you’ve spoken to someone I know nothing about.”

  “No, no I haven’t. I haven’t even discussed it with Mum or Dad. I know how they’d react to the mention of Jas’s name, especially now when they’re still so devastated about Brett.”


  “Well, there you are then.”

  “So what will you do?”

  “I shall pay a little visit to our friend Ramsay before the start of college tomorrow.” I got out of the car. “Thanks for the lift.”

  “At least let me come with you for that. He’ll see me but may not be available for you.”

  “Oh, he’ll see me, make no mistake about that.” My tone was imbued with steely determination. “I don’t need you there, Kara. This is between him and me now, and you’d only be in the way.”

  “Take care, Charlie.”

  She blew me a kiss and drove off without a backwards glance.

  I found the boat still intact, with nothing to suggest that uninvited guests had come calling during my absence. Gil greeted me with enthusiasm and finally got his run, which afforded me the opportunity to have a good think. Returning to the No Comment, I rang the squad room but it was too much to hope that Jimmy would be on duty again. With no time to waste, I passed my request for any information they had on Colin Ramsay to another of my ex-colleagues. I didn’t have to wait long for the return call, which confirmed Ramsay had no record and no complaints recorded against him, throwing the theory that had been incubating in my mind back into touch.

  I set out early the next morning on the Harley to intercept Ramsay as he arrived at college, counting on the element of surprise to act in my favour. I had nothing more than gut instinct to support my conviction that Ramsay was involved in the disappearance of Jasmine Webb, and nothing but the anger still churning inside me to make the smarmy bastard admit it. It would have to be enough.

  Ramsay drove an unremarkable midrange car and slotted it into a space in the corner of the staff car park, which was already almost full. In black leather and still wearing my helmet with the tinted visor covering my eyes, I must have appeared pretty intimidating. Well, I hoped so anyway. I blocked Ramsay’s path and took the teacher completely by surprise.