Broken Dreams

by Nick Quantrill

  ‘You’re drunk.’

  ‘I’ve never been more sober.’

  He leant in to me, so no one could hear. ‘Walk out.’

  I sipped my whiskey and shook my head. ‘Not until I’ve seen him.’

  ‘I suggest you walk out while you can.’ The smile fixed on his face.

  ‘I won’t be leaving quietly.’

  Johnson stared at me. I smiled, enjoying the balance of power swinging in my direction. ‘I’ll shout the place down’ I added.

  ‘Follow me’ he eventually said.

  We walked down several dark corridors, past various closed rooms before we sat down in his office. There was nothing personal on his desk, just a small stack of CCTV monitors. I could see the one covering the bar area. He’d probably tracked my every move. Shelves lined the walls, all containing labelled folders. Despite myself, I was impressed. The operation seemed more professional than I expected.

  He selected a file and sat down, ignoring me.

  ‘You don’t understand that at all, do you?’ I said, watching him study a spreadsheet print-out.

  Johnson put his pen down and looked up at me. ‘Don’t take the piss out of me.’

  ‘Why not?’ I knew I was treading a fine line, but I didn’t care. ‘The money isn’t your department.’

  Johnson walked to the door and told the two shadowy figures who were lurking to wait outside. He closed the door and sat back down. ‘I thought we understood each other.’

  I shook my head.

  ‘You were going to keep your nose out of our business’ he said to me.

  I said nothing.

  ‘You’re really starting to fucking annoy me.’

  ‘I want to see Salford.’

  ‘You’re dealing with me.’

  I laughed.

  Johnson leant forward, pointing. ‘You’re dealing with me.’

  ‘He killed my wife.’

  Johnson laughed. ‘Fuck off, Joe. We don’t go around killing people. We’re businessmen; all above board. Take a look round, or have your accountant come down. We’ve got nothing to hide.’

  ‘She died in a house fire.’

  Johnson relaxed back into his chair. ‘Accidents happen’ he said.

  ‘It wasn’t an accident.’

  ‘You’re not going to thank me for this but people are careless, accidents happen.’

  ‘It wasn’t an accident. It was started deliberately.’

  Johnson laughed again. ‘It sounds like you go around pissing people off.’

  ‘Accelerant was used.’

  ‘Like I said, you should stop sticking your nose into other people’s business.’ Johnson was leaning forwards again, angry. His temper was a like a tightly sprung coil, ready to go off at any moment.

  ‘My wife was babysitting her sister’s children.’

  ‘Like I say - accidents happen.’

  ‘She’d also received an offer for her house.’

  Johnson shrugged. ‘It happens when people really like the house. My wife was the same. She gave me some shit about falling in love with the house. I had to buy her it; she’d got that feeling, know what I mean?’

  I told him where the house was and how generous the offer was. He had a good poker face, giving nothing away.

  ‘I spoke to Steve Taylor earlier today’ I continued. ‘He told me how the scheme worked. Salford’s been buying up cheap housing, whether the owner wants to sell or not, and making them available when the compulsory orders from the council came rolling in. Having Taylor value the properties probably didn’t hurt, either.’

  Johnson stood up and paced his office, saying nothing.

  ‘How much money has Salford made from this?’ I was stood up, shouting at Johnson. ‘Enough to justify my wife’s death?’ We were toe to toe, neither of us blinking.

  Johnson was the first to back down, taking a step away from me. ‘I suggest you get the fuck out of my office. You’re on very, very dangerous ground here, Joe. So far, I’ve managed to persuade Mr Salford you’re not worth bothering with.’ He laughed. ‘I’ve convinced him you’re a joke. But now you come in here, into my office, making accusations you can’t back up.’ I could see the spit around his mouth, his anger erupting. ‘I’m fucking sick of you.’ He gestured to shadowy figures who had returned. ‘Show this cunt the door.’

  ‘We’re not finished’ I shouted, as I was dragged out of the room.

  ‘Been upsetting people again?’

  I handed over the right money to the barman and shook my head. ‘Nothing to worry about.’

  He nodded back and walked off to serve the other waiting customers. I found a quiet corner and sat down. Johnson’s men had literally thrown me off the premises, leaving me face down on the pavement, cuts all over my face. One of them had kicked me in the stomach as I got to my feet, but I hadn’t fought back. The other guy had eventually dragged him away and I was left in peace. After getting my breath back, I limped to the nearest taxi-rank and asked to be taken to Queens, hoping to find some solace in a familiar setting. I drank the first half of my pint quickly and thought things through. I had to get close to Frank Salford. I didn’t know what I’d do or say when I got the chance, but I had to see the whites of his eyes and hear the truth, however hard it might be. If my wife died because Salford wanted her sister’s house to sell as part of the regeneration plan, I needed to know.

  I thought back to the night of the fire and remembered Debbie being transferred to the hospital. I was taken there by the police and kept a vigil at her bed for almost 24 hours before she died, never regaining consciousness. What hurt the most was not saying all the important things I should have said to her. How she was my life, how I’d be nothing without her. Drying my eyes and wiping my face on the back of my hand, I quickly left the pub before people noticed. Remembering how I’d woken Lauren the last time I’d visited, I rang Sarah’s mobile, hoping she was still awake. She didn’t answer, so I left a message. By the time she’d called me back, I was sat on her doorstep.

  She looked down at me. ‘What’s going on, Joe?’ she asked.

  I smiled and stood up. ‘I had some bad news.’

  After I’d washed my face, we sat down in the front room with hot drinks. This time the cat was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘How did your date go?’ I asked.

  ‘It was alright. We had some food and saw a film.’

  ‘Very nice.’

  ‘He was the perfect gentleman.’

  ‘You’ve not got him hidden away upstairs, then?’

  ‘Piss off.’

  I wondered how to tell her the news about Debbie.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on, Joe?’

  ‘I tried to talk to Salford.’ I told her the reason I’d tried to speak to him. Saying it aloud meant I couldn’t hold the tears back. Sarah sat next to me and held me until I’d finished.

  ‘I’m so fucking angry’ I said.

  ‘Don’t swear, please.’ She passed me a tissue.

  I smiled and apologised. ‘What should I do?’

  ‘Have you spoken to Coleman?’

  I shook my head. ‘I’d tried his mobile from the pub but it was switched off. ‘He did nothing for me at the time. He won’t do anything now.’

  ‘You can’t think like that. If you’ve got new evidence, he’ll have to re-open it.’

  ‘I don’t have any new evidence.’

  Sarah took my empty mug out of my hand. ‘He’ll have to listen to you. He has to.’

  I shook my head. ‘He had the nerve to question me over the fire. Tried to imply I’d started it.’ I thought back to the investigation. The inquiry had been quietly scaled back until it was classified as inactive. I was put under considerable pressure at the start, as most crimes are committed by individuals known to the victim, but after some heated exchanges between us, he’d backed away, seemingly accepting I hadn’t been involved.

  ‘I’m sure he was only doing his job.’

  ‘Not very thoroughly. He
eventually decided it was kids messing around. Messing around? My wife died. That’s not messing around, is it?’

  Sarah held my hand and told me to calm down.

  ‘I need a drink.’

  ‘You’ve just had one.’

  ‘A proper drink.’

  ‘It’s the last thing you need.’

  ‘My wife died. Two kids nearly died, and yet the police did nothing.’

  ‘It’s not always that easy.’

  ‘They backed away because they knew the truth. Coleman knew what was going on in that area. He knew Salford was behind it, but chose to turn a blind-eye.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Joe.’

  I turned away from Sarah. She was probably right, but I couldn’t think straight.

  ‘Do you want to stay here tonight?’ she asked.

  I wiped my face and nodded. ‘If you don’t mind.’

  ‘Not at all.’

  She walked out of the room and came back with a duvet and pillow and made me a bed up.

  ‘Goodnight, Joe.’

  I smiled at her. ‘Thanks.’

  And then the brick came through the window.

  I’d cleaned most of the glass up within ten minutes. Sarah had sat with Lauren until they’d both calmed down. I didn’t want to, but I’d called Don to tell him what had happened. We sat there and waited for him to arrive. The cat was intrigued by the cold air blowing in, so I passed the time trying to push her back into the kitchen, well away from the open window.

  Don walked in, looked at the smashed window and then at me. I said nothing.

  ‘Uncle Joe said some silly people did it.’

  I smiled at Lauren. ‘That’s right.’

  Sarah made her give Don a kiss and took her back to bed, closing the living room door behind her. ‘Well?’ Don said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  Don was in my face. ‘We’re talking about my daughter and her kid. If anybody hurts them, I’m holding you responsible.’

  I sat down and nodded. I didn’t like being threatened, but his anger was understandable. I’d brought trouble to his door. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He sat down next to me. ‘Who did this?’

  It could have been kids, or even students; just bad luck. The odds on it were probably incalculable. ‘I tried to speak to Salford earlier tonight.’

  Don sighed and rubbed his face. ‘This has to stop. We’ll have to go to the police.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Can’t?’

  ‘He’s involved in Jennifer Murdoch’s death and I know why now. I spoke to Steve Taylor earlier. He’s involved in the valuations of the compulsory purchases and he’s had enough. He told Salford he wants out and he ended up taking a hiding. We’re talking about a lot of money.’ I looked at Don. ‘It’s enough to kill over.’

  ‘You need to let the police deal with it.’

  ‘I can’t’ I repeated.

  Don raised his voice. ‘So my family have to put up with this?’

  I told him to be quiet. ‘You’ll scare Lauren.’

  ‘You don’t think you’ve done a good enough job of it?’

  ‘Salford killed my wife.’

  That stopped Don in his tracks. He stared at me, unable to say anything. He stood up and walked across to the broken window before turning back. ‘Salford killed Debbie?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Salford wanted Debbie’s sister’s house so he could sell it on as a compulsory purchase. He’d already tried to force them out. Starting a fire was the next step.’

  ‘That’s some accusation to make, Joe.’

  I shrugged. ‘It makes sense.’ Whether or not he meant to kill her was irrelevant. It’d happened.

  Don sat down. ‘Have you got any proof?’

  ‘Murdoch told me.’

  Don laughed and shook his head. ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘Why would he lie?’

  ‘Because his back is against the wall. Because he’s the main suspect in his wife’s death. Because he thinks you can help him in some way. Any number of reasons, Joe.’

  I couldn’t see it. I’d looked into Murdoch’s eyes and saw a man who’d also lost his wife. The pain he was feeling wasn’t false. I recognised it.

  ‘Have you spoken to the police about it?’ he eventually asked me.

  ‘No.’ I was getting a bit sick of Don’s stock answer to all our problems. We were investigators. We could conduct our own investigation. The police weren’t going to be any help to us.

  ‘You should speak to Coleman’ he said.

  ‘No point.’

  Don stood up. ‘You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, right?’

  I nodded.

  ‘You’d best do it quickly and not drag my family into it, then.’

  He turned towards Sarah, who had walked back into the room. ‘Pack yourself a bag. You and Lauren can come and stay with me. Joe can wait here until they come to fix the repair.’

  Don was right. They shouldn’t stay here. Not if Salford was gunning for me.

  Sarah packed quickly and five minutes later they were ready to go. She gave me a key and they headed out to Don’s car. He waited for them to leave the house before returning to speak to me. ‘Think about what I said.’

  I said I would.

  ‘We’ll speak tomorrow.’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The light shone in through my curtains, hurting my eyes. I shuffled up the bed, feeling terrible. Looking at my alarm clock, I knew I was going to have to get up and face Don and Sarah. A hot shower and pot of coffee later and I was feeling ready to face the world. The anger I’d felt the previous day was turning into resolve. Anger was no good; it wouldn’t help me. I wanted justice for my wife and I needed to press on and get the answers. Grief would have to wait for now.

  Sitting down in my front room with my breakfast, I opened my wedding photos album. Neither of us were religious, so we’d married at Hull Registry Office; Debbie wearing a new dress, me wearing my only suit. It had been the best day of my life. The ceremony was quick, simple and just right. Leaving the building as man and wife, we’d headed to the pub for a low-key celebration before heading off on honeymoon. My mobile rang and I put the album to one side.

  ‘Are you coming in this morning?’ Sarah asked me.

  I mumbled something about running late and asked how she was doing.

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really. We’re going to stay with Dad for a few days. It’s not a problem, really.’

  ‘How’s Lauren?’’

  ‘At school.’

  I smiled. They were tough cookies. ‘How’s Don?’

  ‘Mad at you.’

  ‘Thought so.’

  ‘Is he there?’

  ‘He’s out and about today, so it’s safe for you to come in.’

  I laughed. ‘Good.’

  ‘Besides, I’ve got someone here asking for you. You need to come in now.’

  ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Says she’s called Anastazja.’

  I made it to the office in less than thirty minutes. Anastazja was sat at my desk, drinking from my mug.

  She smiled at me. ‘Hello, Joe.’

  She looked terrible. Her clothes were dirty and her face bruised. I sat down opposite her and pointed to the damage. ‘Who did this to you?’

  ‘It does not matter.’

  ‘It does. Who did it?’

  ‘Mr Johnson.’

  I sighed and nodded. Of course he did. I explained how I’d been looking for her, but I’d gotten nowhere with it. Sarah stood up and left the room.

  ‘Why would you look for me?’ Anastazja asked me.

  ‘I wanted to make sure you were alright.’ I didn’t add that I felt responsible for her situation. I was also relieved to learn she hadn’t bee
n sent to London.

  ‘Thank you, Joe.’

  I smiled. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘Mr Johnson did not like me talking to you and told me it had to stop. I said to him, why does it have to stop? We are not doing anything wrong, we are friends. Then he hit me and told me it had to stop. I was not to speak to you again. I was kept in my house and he said I was not to leave. He took my keys off me and sent people around to check on me. He said if I left, he would find me and hurt me.’

  I nodded. ‘He’s not going to hurt you. Not now.’

  ‘I hope not.’

  ‘How did you find me?’

  ‘You gave me a business card when we first met. I put it in a safe place in my room. They did not think to look for such a thing. The door of the house was left open this morning, so I left. Nobody was watching, so nobody stopped me. I walked into the city centre and found a street map. Then I found you.’

  ‘I should give you a job.’

  ‘Maybe you should.’

  I made more coffee and sat back down. ‘Did I tell you my wife died?’

  She shook her head. ‘You did not.’

  ‘In a fire. She was looking after her sister’s children and the house burnt down. She saved the kids but didn’t get out of the house fast enough herself.’

  ‘I am sorry, Joe.’

  ‘The fire was started deliberately.’

  Anastazja looked shocked and touched my arm. ‘I do not know what to say.’

  ‘There’s nothing you can say.’ Talking about it and finding some purpose was renewing me. ‘I can’t bring her back but I know who started the fire.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Frank Salford.’

  She was shocked. ‘Why would he do that? I do not understand.’

  I explained it the best I could.

  ‘Money’ she said, summing it up in a single word. ‘How do you know Mr Salford did it?’

  ‘Christopher Murdoch told me.’

  ‘You believe him? He is not a nice man.’

  I nodded, taking her point. ‘He’s not a bad man, though; at least I don’t think so. He got involved in something he didn’t understand and couldn’t control. It got his wife killed and now he’s alone like me. I believe him, Anastazja.’

  ‘I think I understand.’