Oh well, she hadn’t made it into the group but she now had two names for the price of one.
Sixty
As they reached the bottom of the hill two minibuses pulled up to the side of the farmhouse.
‘Who are they?’ Tiff asked, as men and women piled off chatting animatedly with each other.
Everyone smiled and waved in their direction.
‘Some of the guys coming back from work. Everyone here contributes something.’
Tiff noted the vehicles were both just a couple of years old. She wondered who had contributed those.
‘Come on, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,’ Britney said, grabbing her hand and holding it tight. Tiff suddenly had the feeling of being back at junior school about to skip around the playground with her new best friend.
Tiffany tried to take note of where they were going, but the farmhouse was bigger than she’d thought and filled with people coming and going to somewhere.
Tiffany realised they were heading towards the most delicious smell she could imagine.
Her stomach grumbled in appreciation. She’d been about to eat lunch when she’d been summoned to see the DCI.
‘Aah, there you are,’ Britney said, brightly, as an attractive white-haired man headed towards them. She was immediately struck by the light blue eyes that stared straight at her. She was unsure if she saw a hint of suspicion in those eyes before he smiled widely and offered his hand.
‘Jake Black, pleased to meet you.’
‘Tiffany, Tiff,’ she answered, unable to look away.
‘He’s not just Jake Black,’ Britney said. ‘He founded this place and welcomed us all to share in it.’
Jake smiled fondly as he placed a hand on Britney’s shoulder. The girl glanced up at him with unconcealed admiration.
He leaned down closer and spoke intimately into Britney’s ear. ‘If you make it back quickly I’ll save you both a place at my table.’
Britney coloured and grabbed her hand again as Jake wandered away.
‘First sitting and Jake’s table, come on,’ she said, heading back out the front door.
Britney guided her through the beautifully lit courtyard to the first barn.
‘I’m in here,’ she said, taking the second door on the left.
The room was small, basic and not unpleasant. A single bed, dressing table and bedside cabinet were the only items of furniture in the room.
‘Just drop your bag here before the food gets cold.’
Tiffany reached into the side pocket and took out her phone.
Britney shook her head. ‘You need to leave that here. Really, you need to switch it off. We don’t have phones here.’
Reluctantly Tiff did as she was asked and put the phone back in her bag. She could live without it while she ate. She’d grab it afterwards.
Time to get to what she was here for.
‘So, sittings?’ she asked Britney as she followed her out of the door.
‘Yeah, there are about one hundred of us and the dining room only holds fifty, so there’s two sittings for every meal. Always best if you can get on the first; food’s hotter and you get first choice. Second sitting it’s warmish but all the good stuff is gone.’
Didn’t seem very fair to Tiffany. The force canteen at Halesowen wasn’t great but it was consistently average if you were at the front or the end of the queue.
‘So, is it oldest, youngest or…’
Britney laughed as they re-entered the farmhouse. ‘Nah, it’s performance based. The more you contribute dictates which sitting.’
Tiffany noted the framed motivational posters that seemed to hang on every wall. Pebbles, sunrises, beaches, meadows, forests and shouty words like ‘peace’, ‘fulfilment’ and ‘motivation’.
‘But, do you get?…’
‘Shush, we eat in silence, appreciate the food,’ Britney said, entering the dining room.
To the left were tables holding hot plates with three women behind serving portions to the queue. The rest of the space was taken up with five tables seating ten people each. Jake Black was already sitting at the top table with two spare seats to his left.
The queue moved quickly, and Tiffany was suddenly in front of the source of the delicious smell from earlier.
‘Yummy, my favourite: pork chop in onion gravy with mashed potato.’
Tiffany couldn’t help her disappointment. The aroma had promised so much more than basic chops and smash.
‘You just wait,’ Britney whispered with a smile.
Tiff followed Britney through the tables to where Jake Black sat. Everyone she passed smiled and nodded in her direction.
Without speaking, Jake indicated that Tiffany was to sit next to him. Tiff caught the quick look of disappointment that crossed Britney’s features before she took the other seat.
She sat, trying not to be unnerved by the lack of noise other than the scrapings of cutlery on plates. It was a stark difference to how mealtimes had played out in her own home. With four brothers it had been like feeding time at the zoo; her mother cooking different things for the boys, the boys changing their minds and wanting each other’s; tantrums, complaining, food throwing. Oh yes, she could see the value in silence at the dinner table.
She cut a piece of pork and added a little mashed potato. It was like heaven in her mouth. The pork was tender and tasty, seasoned with something she’d never tasted before. The onions were tasty little slivers that accented the taste of the pork. Simple mashed potato had been elevated with lashings of real butter, garlic, cream cheese and chives.
She glanced at Britney, who offered her a conspiratorial smile, which said, I did tell you. And she had been right, Tiff admitted, taking another mouthful. Her stomach grumbled in appreciation, and if anyone noticed they made no indication. She took another bite vowing not to leave even a mouthful on her plate.
Jake finished his meal, save for a line of pork fat pushed to the side.
He glanced towards the door and the sound of panpipes filtered into the room.
The silence faded away as people began to speak to each other while they ate.
So, Jake Black preferred to eat in silence, she suspected, as she speared another piece of pork.
‘So, Tiffany, what brings you to Unity Farm?’ he asked, turning towards her.
She chewed the pork in her mouth while he waited for an answer.
‘Britney offered me a place to come for a few hours. I didn’t want to go home.’
She was telling the truth.
‘Why not?’ he asked, leaning closer as the volume of chatter at their own table increased.
Regretfully, Tiff put down her knife and fork. She couldn’t continue eating when he clearly wanted to engage her in conversation.
‘Had a row with my mum.’
He nodded his understanding.
‘Families are complicated. We place high expectations on blood relatives to do the right thing.’
Yes, telling Ryan he could have the box room would have been the right thing for her mother to do.
‘They often let us down, but do you know why that is?’
Tiffany had the sudden feeling that they were the only two people in the room. The chatter fell away as he continued.
‘There is an expectation on family members to love equally and they don’t. Parents do have favourites, maybe one child is prettier, funnier or more intelligent. They get favoured and it’s hard for the kids who get left behind. Not feeling good enough for your parents can lead to a whole lifetime of misery. Unloved kids seek approval until the day they die.’
Tiff listened carefully. He was right. She was still seeking approval now.
He touched her hand lightly. ‘There comes a time that you have to take control. Decide enough is enough and that the approval is no longer important to you.’ He paused and tipped his head, a smile playing on his lips. ‘If your family don’t appreciate just how special you are, they’re idiots and it is definitely more their loss than
yours.’
Tiffany felt emotion gather at the back of her throat.
Jake squeezed her hand once more before standing.
‘People, listen up,’ he called out. Everyone turned.
‘This is Tiffany, or Tiff. Please take care of her and make her feel welcome. She is a special friend of Britney’s.’
Everyone nodded and smiled. Jake gave her one last smile as he left the table and walked away.
Tiff would have liked to have listened to him some more.
‘He likes you,’ Britney said, finishing her plate of food. Tiff looked sadly at her own which had now gone cold.
At the exact second Jake went out of sight the three women began to remove the hot plates.
‘Where are they going with that?’ Tiff asked. There was the second sitting still to eat.
‘To get the rest of the food.’
‘But there was plenty left,’ Tiff observed as the last of the pork and mash was removed. They’d been at the back of the queue and the third hotplate of food had been almost full.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Britney said, standing. ‘I want to show you around.’
Tiffany followed her out of the room as the women brought in two huge saucepans and placed them down. The lids of the pots were uncovered.
Tiff noted they were filled with rice and beans.
Sixty-One
‘Okay, guys, quick refresh,’ Kim said, once she returned from briefing Woody. He’d been perturbed that the body found was not the person they were looking for but had agreed to keep the divers for another day.
‘Can’t believe it wasn’t Sheila down there,’ Penn said, running his hand through the loose curls.
‘Hey, your work got us the dive team and a body that we weren’t expecting. Which by the way is male,’ Kim said. She’d received a text from Keats on her way up to see Woody.
‘Wonder if his name is Eric Leland,’ Stacey offered.
‘Why?’ Kim asked, folding her arms. It wasn’t a name she recognised.
Stacey explained about the Facebook group and the two names she had.
‘Get right on it tomorrow,’ Kim advised. ‘Anything on Jake Black and Kane Devlin?’
Kim watched the constable’s expression turn to dissatisfaction. She knew by now that Stacey looked that way on days she didn’t feel she’d earned her keep.
‘Jake Black came from a family rich in reputation but piss poor. His parents sold their possessions to get him a decent education and then high-tailed it to Australia to start a new life. Jake stayed but then the trail runs cold, and Kane Devlin doesn’t appear to exist at all,’ she said, opening her hands.
‘You come across this often?’ she asked. Normally Stacey could get background on anyone.
Stacey shrugged. ‘Some folks do manage to live completely offline, especially if they really want to. Staying out of trouble and away from social media can do it.’
Kim couldn’t imagine Kane being the sort to share his evening meal on Instagram.
‘Of course he could be using a false name,’ Stacey offered. ‘It’s not like he has to show his passport to the Brown family, and they’re the only link we’ve got.’
‘Keep on it, Stace. I don’t like using Myles Brown as the middle man.’
Stacey nodded.
Kim turned to Penn. ‘Anything on the financials?’
‘Still waiting, boss. Data protection block.’
Kim understood. Sometimes they hit a wall in an investigation where just about everyone was hiding behind that law.
‘Get on it tomorrow but it’s time to call it a night.’
It was almost seven and they had another twelve-hour shift under their belts.
‘Boss?’ Stacey said, nodding over at the empty desk. ‘Is Bryant okay?’
She’d seen Penn glance questioningly behind her when Bryant hadn’t followed her in.
‘He’s fine, just caught up in something from an old case.’
Kim saw the relief on both their faces and understood. In many ways Bryant was their glue. He was solid, dependable. He wasn’t moody and his demeanour put people at ease. In one way or another they all relied on Bryant.
‘Okay, enough. Get out.’
Kim had just enough time to get home, collect, feed and walk Barney before…’
‘Boss,’ Stacey said. ‘I’ve ordered a car. It’ll be waiting for Tiff at the…’
‘Cancel it,’ Kim said, grabbing her coat.
‘But, boss… we told her…’
‘Stace, it’s fine. Just cancel it,’ she said, heading out of the office.
She intended to go and collect Tiffany herself.
Sixty-Two
It wasn’t even seven and Tiff was already exhausted.
Britney had taken her on a whirlwind tour of the whole site.
She’d been in and out of all the buildings, except the small barn right at the end which apparently was not yet finished.
She’d seen the yoga room, the meditation room, the crystal therapy room, the massage room, the reading room, the inner reflection room, the colour therapy room and the reiki room.
‘Is there a TV room?’ Tiff asked. After a long shift as a police officer she often returned home and unwound during a couple of hours of mindless TV.
‘Spoken like a true zombie,’ Britney said, digging her in the ribs. Tiff laughed, unable to believe she had only known this girl for a few hours.
‘What’s a zombie?’ she remembered to ask. It was getting difficult to keep track of the fact she was supposed to know nothing about the place.
‘People out there,’ Britney said, moving her head to signal outside. ‘Do you know how the telly box has killed conversation. Why would you sit and watch other people doing stuff instead of doing it yourself?’
‘So, you have no televisions on the premises?’
Britney shook her head. ‘No computers, no smartphones, no tablets or…’
‘But how do you survive?’
Britney turned to her laughing. ‘You really think you need 3G to stay alive?’
‘Well, there’s 5G now,’ Tiff corrected. ‘And I didn’t mean to physically survive but just get things done.’
‘How old is your phone?’ Britney asked, taking a seat amongst the fairy lights in the courtyard.
Tiff followed suit. ‘About a year old,’ she answered.
‘And what do you use it for?’
‘Social media, taking photos and sharing on insta—’
‘Photos of what?’
‘Anything, really.’
‘Why?’
‘I like to share, I suppose.’
‘How old were you when you got your first phone?’
‘Eleven, I think.’
It was Ryan’s old Nokia after her mother had bought him a new one.
‘And you didn’t die prior to getting one.’
‘All my friends had one before…’
‘Ah, so because they had phones you wanted one too?’
‘I suppose so,’ Tiff answered, not minding the conversation one bit.
Britney’s tone was not judgemental or combative just amused.
‘Interesting. Okay, what else do you do with it?’
‘I message people, use the maps to give me directions, order stuff from Amazon, research for college projects,’ she added for good measure. ‘Pretty much everything.’
‘But what is it?’ Britney asked, tipping her head.
‘What do you mean, it’s a phone.’
‘And yet not once have you said you use it to make calls.’
Tiff opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again. She actually couldn’t remember the last time she’d used it to make a call even though it was close by 24 hours a day.
‘But, I have another question,’ Britney continued. ‘I asked you almost three hours ago to turn off and leave your phone in my room. You did and how much thought have you given it?’
Jeez, had it really been three hours? Surprisingly, she hadn�
��t thought about it once. Normally she was checking it every ten to fifteen minutes.
‘I want to ask you a question, but I don’t want you to think about the answer. Just say the first word that comes into your head, okay?’
Tiff nodded.
‘How have you felt for the last few hours?’
‘Relaxed,’ she said, without thinking. And it was true. Without her phone, she had known that no one, absolutely no one, could reach her. She was alone and independent. She was not checking what her friends were up to or responding to tagged comments and posts. She was sure her notifications were building up but she didn’t care. She’d check later when she was good and ready.
‘You see how you’ve become a slave to it?’
Tiff nodded. It was true. If she was away from her phone for longer than half an hour she began to panic: why?
She had no answer.
‘Just take a breath,’ Britney advised. ‘See and enjoy what’s right in front of you.’
Tiffany let out a long breath and looked around. The twinkling of the fairy lights was hypnotic and compelling.
‘It really is beautiful,’ Tiff said, watching the lights dance above Britney’s head.
‘It’s my favourite spot,’ Britney agreed. A smile spread on her face as a slight built girl in her twenties approached holding a chunky green cardigan. She smiled in Tiff’s direction before holding the garment towards Britney.
‘Thanks, Brit. Kept me warmer in the shop today.’
Britney made no effort to take it. ‘You selling veg again tomorrow, Maisie?’
The girl nodded.
‘Keep it for now, okay?’
Maisie leaned down and pecked the red-haired girl on the cheek. ‘Cheers, Brit. You’re the best.’
Britney coloured at the compliment and rolled her eyes as Maisie headed away.
‘So, how did you find this place?’ Tiff asked, feeling comfortable enough to ask her the question.
‘It found me,’ Britney answered, fixing her gaze on the hypnotic fairy lights. ‘A girl here called Lorna found me bedding down for the night in the doorway of Greggs in town. She almost fell over me as I was breaking up my two cardboard boxes.’
Killing Mind: An addictive and nail-biting crime thriller (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Book 12) Page 16