Poor choice of words and he flinched like I had struck him.
“Stuart was a good step-father. I’m sorry, but I won’t lie to you.”
“And I will always be indebted to him for taking such good care of you. It still doesn’t alter the fact that it should have been me who looked after you, watched you grow. I am proud of the woman you have become. Your mother was an amazing woman, and you are verification of that.”
Leaning up, I placed a small kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.” Such a tiny thing brought the biggest smile. He beamed at me.
For such a long time I had hated the person my father was and what he represented. However, as much as I had tried to distance myself from that life, I now had to admit that it was in my blood.
“I still worry about you going after Denny, though, Vanessa. He’s tough, he’s proved that…”
Pressing a finger to his lips, I cut him off. “You forget one thing, Papa.” He remained silent, waiting for me to go on. “If I can kill a man that owned half of my heart, imagine what I can do to the man that holds the other half and my complete soul.”
The darkness inside him fired bright in the deep ocean blue of his eyes. I had on numerous occasion seen that very look in the depths of my own eyes. For the first time, I was grateful my father had passed down the gene that gave me his strength and courage.
“There is one more thing,” he said with a smirk. “You also have family behind you.”
Pain ruptured my soul when I thought of Mum and Stuart, and how much I missed them. “I only have you now, Papa.”
He shook his head and lay his palm on my cheek softly. “No, you don’t, matryoshka. You have the whole of the fucking Bratva. Your true family.”
“You also have the whole of the MET, and me.” Papa and I spun round to the sound of Caelan’s voice. He stood looking at me with a smile as soft as my father.
“I’m forgiven then?” I dared to ask.
Sighing, he shrugged. “Not yet. But I need to end this as much as you do, so until Denny Barnes is gone, I call a truce.”
Nodding briskly, I blew out a breath and held up Denny’s autopsy report. “So, I think we need to pay David Lloyd-Jones a little visit.”
Both my father and Caelan grinned.
“One more thing.” I looked to Caelan, puzzled. “How the hell did you get in? The door was locked.”
Rolling his eyes, he slowly shook his head at me. Pulling out the lockpick from his pocket, he dangled it between his fingers. “Some of us are skilled, babe.”
My father snorted when I told Caelan to fuck off under my breath.
Day 18
10:22
“I’m sorry, Mr Lloyd-Jones is busy at the moment. If I can take a name…”
Caelan shook his head at the receptionist and flashed his badge at her. “Now, love.”
She looked a little flustered, her eyes switching between Caelan and me before she sighed and pushed her chair back. “If you’ll follow me, Detective.”
Caelan smirked at me when I curled my lip in distaste, my focus on the perfect arse in the short tight skirt that was walking in front of us. “Jealousy is not pretty on you, babe.”
“Jealous?” I tutted at him. “Of her? No. I just think her skirt is a little too short. It won’t get her guy’s respect, you know.”
“No, but I bet it gets her plenty of dick!” Caelan quietly retorted.
The receptionist forced a smile in my direction before swinging a seductive one Caelan’s way. She opened a door and gestured for us to enter. “I’ll let Mr Lloyd-Jones know you’re here. If you’d like to take a seat, he shouldn’t be long.”
Caelan smiled at her. “Thank you, love.”
I frowned when she pulled a business card from her skirt pocket and held it out to him in her long fingers. “My pleasure.” Leaning towards him, my eyes widened when she whispered in his ear, “And yes, this arse does get me plenty of dick. Hopefully another very soon. Call me.”
“No one can accuse her of being a wallflower,” I scoffed when he took the card from her and slid it into his jacket pocket as he watched her walk away.
I looked around Lloyd-Jones’ office. It was furnished with the usual stuff you’d find in any regular office. However, Caelan spotted it at the exact same time I did. “I take it that’s his.”
I pursed my lips and stepped closer to the enormous photograph on the wall. Lloyd-Jones was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt on the deck of a yacht. Stood beside him was the police commissioner, Harry Parsons, also dressed in civvies. “He also has friends in high places. Parsons was also in Denny’s pocket.”
“Makes sense why when I went to check the case records for Denny’s death, how they had evaporated.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “So, I think we may have to pay your boss a little visit too.”
“He’s not my boss, Nessa. He likes to think so, but no.”
I chuckled. I had a feeling Caelan’s only boss was himself. “So, you don’t think that Lloyd-Jones isn’t currently on the phone to his best friend, panicking at the announcement of our arrival?”
“Oh, I know he is. But, makes it all the better to watch them panic.”
Strolling across to Caelan, I leaned in to whisper, “Then it’s a good job I got my father to tap his phone.”
Quirking an eyebrow at me, he smiled and nodded. “I underestimated you, Dr Griffiths.”
“You forget, I know how to play the organised crime game extremely well, Detective Inspector.”
The door opened, and we both turned to watch a somewhat flushed coroner enter his office. He glanced from Caelan to me, and I sighed smugly when the colour drained from his cheeks.
“Oh, you remember me then, Mr Lloyd-Jones.”
I lowered my face to hide my laugh when he completely ignored me and moved his gaze to Caelan. “How can I help you, Detective?”
“I’m investigating a death from a few years ago. Dennis Barnes. I believe he was one of your cases.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Lloyd-Jones answered a little too quickly.
Grinning, Caelan perched on the edge of the desk and looked at me. “Have you got the report, darling?”
I had to bite the tip of my tongue when I saw Lloyd-Jones falter slightly with Caelan’s endearment. Casting Caelan a sweet smile, I took the report from my bag and handed it to him.
“Perhaps this will jog your memory.”
Lloyd-Jones took it from him and quickly scanned it. There was no surprise on his face, and that was probably because he had been expecting us.
“I have a lot of cases, Detective. And an autopsy from four years ago is not one I would specifically remember.”
“Really?” Caelan clicked his tongue. “So, then you must falsify documents on a regular basis.”
Lloyd-Jones had the grace to look affronted. “Excuse me!”
“Well, you doctored Denny Barnes autopsy, and you don’t recall. That leads me to believe that you do it often. I mean who would forget fixing the results of a corpse, specifically a corpse that didn’t belong to whom it was supposed to anyway?” He looked to me, raising an eyebrow. “You’re a doctor, darling. Would you remember tampering with official paperwork at the hospital?”
“Oh, definitely. Not something someone’s ever likely to forget. I mean, it’s a criminal offence isn’t it, honey?”
“An imprisonable offence as well. But then, I suppose if you’ve got friends in high enough places you can forget about all the reports you’ve doctored and grin at the money when it enters your bank account.”
Caelan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out some paperwork. I couldn’t hold back the grin when he winked at me.
Picking up the pen from the desk, he ran it down the bank statement and clicked his tongue when he came across a specific credit. “Well look at this. There’s an anonymous donation the day after the Denny Barnes autopsy.” Shaking his head slowly with disapproval, Caelan tucked the statement back into his pocket and stared h
ard at Lloyd-Jones.
“I… I don’t know what you’re insinuating…”
“Whoa!” I exclaimed but remained rooted to the desk when Caelan slammed Lloyd-Jones up against his door.
“You’re a corrupt bastard. And I don’t care about your friendship with Parsons. Believe me, when I bring you down, I will take him down with you!”
Lloyd-Jones spluttered when Caelan pressed him harder.
“I suggest you hit redial on that phone of yours and warn the man who pays you that I’m coming for him.”
Dropping his hold on Lloyd-Jones, Caelan straightened his jacket sleeves and turned to me. “Okay, sweetie?”
I inhaled at length and straightened my shoulders. “Yes, I need some fresh air. There’s a smell of bullshit in this room, it’s not becoming.”
Snatching the report back from him, I couldn’t help but smile when Lloyd-Jones remained on the floor.
Bending at the waist, I brought my face close to his. “Oh, and a heads up, Mr Lloyd-Jones, Denny Barnes has been reincarnated. And, although he paid you enough cash to buy yourself that pretty little yacht, I think he may need to start burying all the evidence there is. And take a running guess where he will start?”
The small bubble of smugness that popped in my belly was bested when Caelan made a gun with his fingers and shot Lloyd-Jones right between his eyes before dramatically blowing the imaginary smoke away. “I’d say it’s been a pleasure, but I don’t falsify shit.”
“Where the hell did you get his bank statement from?” I asked Caelan quietly when he closed the door behind us.
Giving me a sideways glance, the corner of his mouth twisted upwards when he extracted the paperwork back from his inside pocket. “You mean this?”
Chuckling to myself when I saw Caelan’s details at the top of the paper instead of Lloyd-Jones’, I elbowed him gently. “And you tell me you’d never bend the rules.”
“I haven’t!” he argued with an arrogant smirk. “Obtaining Lloyd-Jones’ bank statement without the necessary paperwork would be bending the rules. I merely insinuated…”
“Okay, Columbo. Enough,” I laughed as I followed my sneaky partner out.
Day 19
11:54
Frank gave me the same reaction that my father had. He laughed.
When he realised I was deadly (no pun intended) serious, he poured us both a substantial amount of whisky and fell into a chair. “Jesus, Ness.”
“Uh-huh.”
He looked like he was going to vomit, and I understood why. Denny had resurfaced for the sole purpose of vengeance on Caelan and me. However, none of us knew if he wanted his firm back.
“I doubt he’ll take it from you,” I tried to placate him, reading his thoughts.
“Oh, he won’t succeed in taking the business back, Ness, I can promise you that. But you know what he does win from me?”
I frowned and shook my head.
He scoffed. “You do realise this means technically you’re still married.”
Oh, well shit!
I didn’t have words. My mouth popped open and closed a few times, and giving in, I knocked back my drink and gestured for another one.
“Yeah,” Frank sighed, the look of defeat in his eyes stinging me more than I thought it would. I hadn’t wanted to marry Frank, and although he’d had many motives for requesting my hand, so to speak, he had always been kind to me. He’d kept mine and Denny’s secret for many years, and I knew if I had ever needed him he would have been there.
Draining his glass, he narrowed his eyes at me. A twist of anxiety pulled in my belly when he leaned his elbows on the table and stared straight into me. “If I help you take care of Denny once and for all, will our deal still stand?”
This did surprise me, and my mouth fell open. “But you were always so fiercely loyal to Denny.”
He laughed, except it wasn’t in humour. “Yes. I was. But that was before he faked his death, and then tried to take you out.”
Pressure crushed my lungs when I saw through the sentence and recognition slapped me in the face. “You didn’t want to marry me just for the firm.”
Snatching up the bottle of whisky, he poured us more. “You were always so in love with Denny, and then Noah…”
“What the fuck? You knew about Noah?”
“Of course, I fucking knew!” he bellowed. “You seriously thought that spiking his food would subdue him enough for you to drown him?”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. Nothing would work. Not my mind, not my vocal chords, not even my heart dared to take a beat when his revelation saw my soul shift from within me.
Shaking his head, he blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Nessa, the first thing you need to understand is, Noah fucking Fen was always one step ahead of you. You don’t think he knew that you had found out about him being undercover? He was the best copper the MET ever had!”
“I didn’t kill him,” was all I could manage to say, and even that was meek and mild.
“No,” he admitted. “No, you didn’t. But I did.”
He lit a cigarette and passed it to me. Taking a long pull of nicotine, I swiped at the tears that were flowing down my face.
Sitting in the seat next to me, he took the cigarette and drew on it. “Your food didn’t paralyse him, it was the lethal dose of botulism I injected into his neck before you even got there that did. When you got to the hotel and presumed Noah to be just unconscious…”
“He was already dead,” I finished for him.
He nodded and then shook his head. “He was going to send that video to Denny. We both know, as Noah would have, what Denny would have done about that.”
“I wouldn’t be sat here now, that’s for sure.”
“Exactly.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I shook my head. “How long, Frank?”
“How long have I been more loyal to you than Denny?” He laughed, but it was laced with pain. “Right from the very fucking beginning.”
I refilled our glasses, sat back and lifted my glass to his. “I’m not planning on being Mrs Vanessa Barnes, or even Griffiths for long. I still plan on becoming Mrs Johns, as was our original deal.”
His eyes widened, but so did his smile. I swore I saw the glisten of a tear in his eyes when he knocked his glass against mine, and said, “I’ll drink to that… fiancé.”
Day 20
07:51
“Can I ask you something?”
Caelan looked at me over his morning coffee and nodded.
“How come you haven’t taken this to The Yard?”
“You mean why haven’t I reported all this bullshit?”
“Yes,” I answered. If Caelan was as straight as he reckoned, then why hadn’t he gone by the book on this.
Sighing, he looked towards the kitchen window. “There are more bent cops in the force than you could ever imagine, and it’s ugly in there. I don’t just mean Parsons, either. You can only ever trust yourself. Do you really think my commanding officer will allow me to put a bullet in Denny Barnes – for real this time?”
Knowing it was a hypothetical question I remained silent.
“No. He’d have me haul his ass into the station. And, believe me, it wouldn’t be me that received recognition for his arrest. Another thing.” He plucked a cigarette from the packet and lit it. We had become dependent on nicotine, alcohol, and each other for the past three weeks, yet I didn’t care. I needed the comfort, the oblivion, and the strength each respective one gave me. “Reporting it would implicate you, and you wouldn’t be under the MET’s radar any longer.”
“You haven’t reported it because of me?”
“Just one factor, Nessa. There are others, as I’ve explained. This is personal. Denny wants you to pay for Noah, and me for shooting him. He made this about us, and I’m finishing it with us.”
Setting my cup down, I proceeded to light my own cigarette and sighed. “I have something to tell you.” He waited for me t
o go on. I wasn’t sure I could, but swallowing back my nerves, I told him the latest of my secrets. One among many. “This isn’t a lie or even an excuse. It’s… Jesus, I don’t know what it is.” Fixing my gaze on his, I made sure he could see the conviction in my soul while he heard it in my voice. “I didn’t kill Noah.”
Bafflement creased his brow. “What?”
“I won’t go into the specifics, but I had poisoned Noah’s food, hoping to knock him unconscious…”
“So, you could drag him into the bath and drown him! I know how he died, I read the autopsy report,” he added bitterly.
“I deserve your hostility, Caelan, I understand that. But you also killed my husband or at least tried to. Remember that.”
He sighed but nodded once, acknowledging what I was saying. “Go on.”
“It turns out that Frank beat me to it. He found out about mine and Noah’s affair and that he was going to tell Denny. He went to the hotel before me and injected him with a dose of botulism.”
“So, when you got there, and you thought Noah was just unconscious…”
“He was already dead. Yeah.” Taking a drink of coffee to wet my dry mouth I shook my head in sadness. “I loved Noah, Caelan. I really did. I thought he felt the same way. I saw it in the way he looked at me, in every one of his smiles. I felt it in his touch and heard it in the words he said to me. I don’t understand. If he hated me that much, why didn’t he at least turn me in? It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. It’s something I’ve been trying to figure out too. From all the images in the file, I have seen the way he looked at you. I saw it in the video the way he touched you. He was either an outstanding actor, or he really was in love with you.”
“I guess now we’ll never know.”
Getting up to make more coffee, Caelan flicked the kettle on and then turned back to me. “We need a fresh pair of eyes and an unsullied mind.”
“What do you mean?”
Game Master Page 14