Raven

by Heather Atkinson

  “That must be difficult for you.”

  “Yeah,” she mumbled, looking down at her hands. “It is.”

  “Is your husband into any illegal activity?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “How could you be sure PC Elias had him here?”

  “He sent me footage of him tied up.”

  “On your phone?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll need to see that footage.”

  “I lost my phone during the fight. You can search me if you don’t believe me,” she added when he frowned.

  “Give me your coat.”

  “What?”

  “You said I could search you. So give me your coat.”

  “Fine,” she said, moving to wrench it off, which wasn’t easy in the confines of the car, the movement making her wince with pain.

  “I think you should get checked over.”

  “I don’t need to,” she said, hurling the coat in his face.

  He sighed and began checking the pockets, carefully prodding at the lining to ensure nothing was hidden. “Thank you,” he said, handing it back to her.

  Raven was very glad she’d dumped her weapons.

  “To be honest Raven, this is all very murky.”

  “You’re telling me. Are we done here because I need to find my husband?”

  “We haven’t been given the all-clear yet by the bomb squad.”

  “For God’s sake, how long are they going to take?”

  “They’re going as fast as they can but they need to ensure no one else will get hurt.”

  “In the meantime Aidan could be being crushed under there.”

  “I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do. PC Elias told me the man who spilled water all over me at the ball was your husband, Aidan Gallagher. Well?” he said when she remained silent. “Was it?”

  “You already know, don’t you?”

  He nodded. “I ran a PNC check on him.”

  “Then why ask?”

  “Because you told me you hadn’t seen your husband in a year, that he only turned up a couple of days ago, yet there he was, at the ball. Why are you lying Raven?”

  A voice crackled over the radio in the car, giving the all-clear. Raven leapt out of the car and pelted up the drive, her pain and exhaustion forgotten in her desperation to find Aidan.

  Stuart tried to halt her at the gate but she dodged round him and kept going, Tom running after her.

  She was halted in her tracks by two more officers at the top of the drive.

  “You can’t go in there,” said one of them.

  “Get out of the way you cretins, my husband’s in there.”

  “Raven, calm down,” said Tom, taking her by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him. “Let them do their jobs, they know what they’re doing.”

  “They’re going too fucking slow,” she cried. “He could be dead by now because they’ve been pissing about.”

  “Raven,” yelled Tom, his raised voice shocking her into silence. “What are you going to do? Start lifting bricks with your bare hands?”

  She took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

  “You’re upset, that’s understandable but getting hysterical isn’t going to help Aidan.”

  She nodded. “At least let me stay here, so I can see what’s happening.”

  He looked to one of the firemen. “Is that alright?”

  “Yeah, as long as she doesn’t get any closer.”

  “She won’t,” he replied. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Raven stood by Tom’s side, looking on as they began the laborious task of sifting through the rubble for Aidan. She didn’t know if they’d even find a body. If he’d been close to the epicentre when the explosives detonated, there’d be nothing left of him to find.

  “You never did answer my question,” he said as they watched the rescue effort.

  “He came home two days before our date.”

  “And why would you go on a date with another man when your husband was home?”

  She glanced sideways at him, the hurt in those beautiful dark eyes of his clear to see. This was the last thing she’d wanted to do to him. Something else she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for. She’d lied to him enough. Time for some truth. Well, partial truth anyway. He couldn’t know it all. “PC Elias was the Needle Killer.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He was the real killer. You’ve got the wrong man. He set up Marcus Moore to take the fall.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Because Elias tried to kill me at a nightclub but I fought him off. It was at Heaven and Hell, where Terry Higgins died. When he couldn’t get me, he chose another victim.”

  “Did he purposefully choose you or were you in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

  “Purposefully. He knew I’d been hired to track down the killer.”

  “Hired, by who?”

  “Patrick Bryce. He was a suspect and he wanted to prove his innocence.”

  “You’re not a detective.”

  “I’m a bounty hunter, I’m good at tracking people. He thought I could help. Aidan got word I’d been attacked and came home to help. He didn’t want me to go on the date with you but I went because I knew Elias would be there. It felt wrong using our date to get information, which is why I left early. Tried to anyway, before Elias struck again.”

  “You were in a roomful of police officers. Why didn’t you tell one of us?”

  “Because you wouldn’t have believed me. Elias was the super cop and I had no proof.”

  “And Aidan poured water all down me because he was jealous?”

  She nodded. “I know you think I used you Tom but I didn’t. I genuinely like you.”

  “Yeah, course you do,” he said flatly.

  “I meant it when I said if it wasn’t for Aidan then I’d like to see more of you.”

  Their gazes locked, Tom’s expression softening. “I’d like to think you mean that.”

  “I do.”

  He shook himself out of it. “So Elias kidnaps Aidan to lure you here because he knows you’re a threat?”

  “He was desperate, all his secrets were tumbling out.”

  “About him being a paedophile and shooting that woman?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he do those things?”

  “That’s the rumour.”

  “You’re avoiding my questions again.”

  “Because I don’t know for sure. But I do know he tried to kill me when I was fourteen.”

  “What?”

  “It happened here,” she said, gesturing to what remained of the hospital. “I found my mum’s body after she’d killed herself. I couldn’t handle it. I had a mini breakdown and ended up a patient here, at the same time as Jeremy, who was in suffering a breakdown after the deaths of his father and brother. That’s when he did it. He stole a scalpel, intent on cutting my heart out but the staff stopped him. He targeted me because when our parents were patients here at the same time, my mum stabbed his dad in the arm. Shortly after that, his dad killed himself, which he blamed my family for.”

  “A background check was done on Elias before he joined the force. He had no history of mental illness.”

  “The records of Stonefort were never computerised. He had my hospital file. No doubt he destroyed his own, so no one would ever know. Elias considered me unfinished business. When he became a police officer he thought that gave him licence to do what the fuck he wanted. That’s why he took Aidan.”

  “I read Aidan’s file. It’s hard to imagine anyone taking him somewhere he didn’t want to go.”

  “No one’s invincible.”

  “You’re going to have to talk to CID about this, there’ll be an investigation.”

  “I know.”

  “You’ll need to give better answers than the ones you’ve given me.”

  She studied him, trying to work out what he was thinking, those expressive eyes of his not telling her enough.
“And I will.”

  “I don’t doubt it.”

  A shout from the search team drew their attention away from each other.

  “They’ve found him, they’re calling for the paramedics,” she said excitedly. “They wouldn’t call for the paramedics if he was dead.”

  “It might not be Aidan. You said Elias was in there.”

  Raven didn’t reply. Jeremy had been at the epicentre of the explosion. He’d been turned into atoms. “Maybe.” She gasped, knees going weak when she saw Aidan being carefully maneuvered over the rubble on a stretcher.

  “Let her through,” Tom told his colleagues when she ran towards the stretcher. “She’s his wife.”

  Raven walked alongside her husband, answering the paramedic’s questions about his medical history. Tom watched her go, very troubled by what she’d told him. There was more to this than she was letting on, much more but he wasn’t sure he’d ever find out the real truth.

  CHAPTER 41

  In the ambulance a detective attempted to question Raven but he was shooed away by the paramedics.

  “I’m fine,” she told the medics when they attempted to tend to her injuries. “See to Aidan instead.”

  “We’ve done all we can for him. I don’t mean it like that,” he added when her eyes widened. “We’ve stabilised him. All other treatment requires a hospital.”

  “Will he be okay?”

  “He survived an explosion, so I dare say he’ll survive a few bruises and scrapes.”

  “That’s all that’s wrong with him?”

  “Your husband’s a very smart man. He hid in a metal bathtub and covered the top with a fire door. He was well protected from the explosion.”

  “Oy you bastard,” she said, slapping Aidan’s arm, startling the paramedic. “You can stop playing on it now.”

  Aidan’s eyes fluttered open, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile.

  “You had me terrified there.”

  “I was hoping you’d nurse me,” he said, voice raspy.

  “Nurse you? I’ll kill you for scaring me like that.” She kissed him. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  He took her hand. “Right back at you.”

  She bent over to whisper in his ear. “There’s going to be questions.”

  He nodded. “We have answers.”

  “What’s wrong?” she said when he grimaced.

  “I’ve just been blown up. I’m a bit sore.”

  “You’re tougher than that.”

  “Tell me what I need to know.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the paramedic, who was busy sorting through the equipment at the back of the ambulance, giving them some privacy. So Raven began to whisper in her husband’s ear.

  Tom and the detective who had attempted to interview her earlier were waiting for them on arrival at the hospital.

  “Please, let me go with him,” said Raven as Aidan was lifted off the back of the ambulance.

  “They both need to get checked out,” the paramedic told the officers. “You’ll need their doctors’ permission before interviewing either of them.”

  “Looks like you get to stay together a little longer,” said the detective coldly. He was a slender, suspicious creature with a pinched face and beady dark eyes. His attitude told Raven he thought they were the perpetrators rather than the victims. She glanced Tom’s way but his expression was inscrutable and she wondered how long his fondness for her was going to protect her.

  She walked past them, sticking close to Aidan. However in A&E they were separated, Aidan steered one way down the corridor while Raven was led into a cubicle the opposite way.

  After being examined and her cuts cleaned and dressed, she was told she was fine and discharged. Upon leaving the cubicle, she was confronted by the detective and Tom.

  “I want to see Aidan first,” she said.

  “You can’t,” replied the detective. “He’s still being treated.”

  His look told her she wasn’t getting out of it this time. “Fine,” she sighed.

  She followed them into the relative’s room, the two men sitting opposite her, looking stern, while she sank into a soft chair, grimacing as her bumps and bruises were jostled.

  “So, can you explain what happened today Mrs Gallagher?” began the detective.

  Raven launched into an explanation, glad she had an excellent memory otherwise she might have found it difficult to keep up with the lies she’d told. When she’d finished, the detective looked a little shell-shocked, dismayed by the amount of work his investigation was going to involve.

  “Have you found Elias?” she said when the detective didn’t speak.

  “Not yet,” he replied. “The search is still on-going. As yet, there’s no one to back up your story.”

  “Aidan will.”

  “I’ve no doubt about it, seeing how you were permitted to travel here together in the ambulance,” said the detective, casting an accusing look at Tom, who stared right back at him. “Is there anyone else who can verify your story?”

  She shook her head. “Can I see my husband now?”

  “Yes but don’t go far. There will be more questions, I can promise you that.”

  His tone was designed to intimidate her but she got to her feet, staring down at him, the detective shifting uncomfortably at the coldness in her eyes. “Me and my husband are the victims here. I suggest you remember that.”

  When she continued to stare, he looked away.

  With one last glance at Tom, she exited the room, heading back down to A&E to track down Aidan. He’d been admitted to a medical ward so she made her way over there, finding him in a private room with a police officer she didn’t recognise guarding the door. She wasn’t sure whether he was there for Aidan’s safety or the public’s.

  “You can’t go in there,” the officer told her, placing himself before the door when she tried to walk through it.

  “I’m his wife.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “You can’t keep me from my husband.”

  “Sorry Ma’am, it’s orders. I can’t let anyone in.”

  “It’s alright,” said a voice. “Let her in.”

  She turned to see Tom. “Thank you.”

  He just nodded, his expression enigmatic.

  Raven put him to the back of her mind as she walked into Aidan’s room, who appeared to be asleep.

  “You can open your eyes,” she said. “It’s just me.”

  His eyes flickered open and he smiled. “Thank Christ for that. I thought it was that nosy detective again.”

  “Let me guess, you’re going to feel ill every time he’s around?”

  “For as long as I can.” He patted the bed. “Come here.”

  “I daren’t go near you in your fragile state.”

  “You know I’m tougher than that.”

  “I do indeed,” she said, perching on the edge of his bed and taking his hand. “Tough enough to survive being blown up. You scared the crap out of me back there. Why didn’t you get out?”

  “Because of Pitbull and his goons. If it hadn’t been for that steel bath, I’d be a goner.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s true but I’m still alive and kicking.”

  “And Pitbull and his gang?”

  “In millions of tiny bits.”

  “Were they dead when the bombs went off?”

  He nodded. “Hopefully there should be no trace of them but if there is, we’ll blame their presence there on Jeremy too, which won’t be a lie.”

  “The detective I spoke to is very suspicious. He doesn’t believe a word I say.”

  “Who gives a shit? There’s no one to tell him any different.”

  Tom watched Raven and Aidan talking together, holding hands. What he wouldn’t give to hear that conversation. They were gazing at each other in a way that made him want to throw up. It also rankled that he was jealous. He couldn’t explain why he liked Raven so much - yes, she was very attractive
and good company but he knew practically nothing about her and she was a woman who liked to keep people at a distance. Except her very dangerous husband. No wonder she was fearless tackling some of the scumbags she brought down when she was married to a man like that. His criminal record had made for daunting reading.

  As usual, Raven was keeping things close to her chest, he just hoped it didn’t backfire on her. If it did, he had the feeling he’d do his best to protect her. Why he was willing to do that for a woman he barely knew he had no idea but there was something about her that spoke to a deep, dark part of himself. Even now, watching her through the glass, he got the urge to touch her hand, stroke her hair and it made him feel foolish. She only had eyes for the psycho on the bed. What a waste.

  He was knocked out of his thoughts by raised voices followed by a thud. A huge angry ginger man had his constable pressed up against the door, a hand wrapped around his throat, his constable looking terrified.

  Tom extended his baton, preparing to assist his colleague, but the door to Aidan’s room opened and the only thing that stopped the constable from falling through it was the angry man’s hand around his neck.

  “Damon,” said Raven. “Let him go.”

  Tom held his breath, clutching the baton, prepared to spring should he attack her but, to his surprise, the man let the constable drop, who slumped to the floor, gasping for breath.

  “Are you okay?” Damon asked her.

  She nodded. “Fine and so is Aidan.”

  “Thank God,” he breathed, pulling her into his chest, smothering her with his giant pecs.

  “You just assaulted a police officer,” said Tom.

  Damon turned to look at him, still holding onto Raven, outrage on his face. “That’s what happens to people who get in my way.”

  “You can’t do that and not suffer the consequences.”

  “You want to arrest me do you big man? That little stick you’re holding isn’t going to help. You’re going to need a bulldozer and a fucking elephant gun.”

  “Please calm down Damon,” said Raven in a way that indicated she’d put up with his moods for a long time.

  “Who the hell is this?” Tom asked her.

  “My brother.”