by L M Krier
There were murmurs of assent, but Ted was not entirely convinced by Jezza's. She could be strong-willed and impetuous at times. He made a mental note to get Jo and particularly Maurice to keep a close eye on her, especially when he was away for the weekend.
As the meeting broke up, DC Hope sidled up to Jezza with a suggestive leer and said, 'Perhaps you and I could team up for a pub night sometime, darlin'.'
Jezza smiled sweetly at him and her tone was pleasant, although her milky-blue eyes flashed like Arctic ice as she replied, 'I'd rather eat my own eyeballs.'
'So what are you, Jezza the Lezzer?' Hope asked.
Maurice was not far away, near enough to overhear the exchange. He moved closer and said mildly, 'Like I said before, I wouldn't make her angry, if I were you.'
Hope's face broke into a sneer. 'So you two are at it, then? Well, you're welcome, mate. She's not my type anyway,' and he turned on his heel and made for the door.
Jezza was about to storm after him, with a face like thunder, but Maurice put out a gentle arm to stop her. 'Just let it go, Jezza. Like my old grandfather used to say, you can't expect more than a grunt from a pig.'
Ted called Pocket Billiards as soon as he got back to his own office. He wanted to set up a meeting at lunchtime, so that he could introduce him to Jo and find out what he knew about Sabden House. As soon as he mentioned the meal would be on him, the journalist was miraculously available. Ted had never known him to pass up on the chance of free food.
'I warn you now, watching him eat is not pleasant,' Ted told Jo as they walked the short distance to The Grapes.
'Is this another sort of initiation, boss?' Jo asked him. 'If I can watch him eat and keep my own food down, I've earned my place on the team?'
'I think that's a given by now,' Ted told him. 'I just need you to keep eyes and ears on Jezza this weekend. She can be a bit impetuous. I don't want her going off being a maverick if she thinks I'm far enough away not to know.'
As usual, the reporter was waiting expectantly at the bar, not having bought himself anything until Ted appeared to put his hand in his pocket. Ted made the introductions, ordered and paid for the food and drink, then the three of them found themselves a quiet corner to sit down.
'What do you know about the Sabden House flats, Alastair?'
'Prime development site. There are big plans afoot, under the radar at the moment, to get rid of the tenants, demolish them and put up expensive new private ones.'
'And when you say get rid of…?'
'I know there have been some deaths there, but just junkies and alkies. I keep being told they're misadventure, at most. Are you telling me there's more to them than it first seems?' His nose was positively twitching, both at the prospect of a news story and at the sight of the fat steak sandwich and chips which had just been put in front of him.
'You do know that the latest death was Honest John?' Ted asked. Everyone knew John, especially the press, as he had loved to phone them, as well as the police, with his false confessions.
'Yeah, we got a good story out of that, getting that tub of lard out through the window and all that,' Alastair said, cramming steak and chips into his mouth as he spoke.
Ted fought the urge to punch him for his total lack of respect and human decency. Instead he pushed the press release on their murder suspect across the table to him, assuring the journalist that he had more there than any other paper.
'It's not official at the moment, and I'd like to keep it that way, but we are looking closely into those deaths, too. Jo, here, will be your contact for that. So anything at all you can tell him will be helpful. But for now, I'll have to run and leave you two to it.'
With a shameless wink in Jo's direction, he grabbed his own sandwich, sloped off and left his right-hand man to the delights of watching Pocket Billiards eating.
Chapter Twenty-three
Jezza bounced up behind Maurice and Steve, heading across the car park, as the team members were all going home at the end of the day. The three of them had become good friends since Jezza had joined the team and they had got to know her.
'So how about it, Maurice? You and me, on a pub crawl tonight, round all the town pubs?' she asked, linking arms with both of them. 'Steve will babysit Tommy, won't you, Steve?'
She treated him like a kid brother, completely oblivious to the adoring looks he was always sending her way, when he wasn't drooling over Océane.
'Jezza, it was only this morning the boss said a big fat no to anyone doing anything until he gives the go-ahead,' Maurice reminded her. 'We don't yet know how dangerous our suspect is and I can tell you for nothing, I don't want another knife in the guts, thanks very much.'
'Oh, come on, Maurice,' she wheedled. 'It won't come to that. Just a couple of pals going out for a few drinks after work. Where's the harm? I promise faithfully that if we see anyone who even looks like him, we'll phone for back-up straight away and not do anything until they arrive. Brownie's honour.'
'I bet you were never a Brownie. Too much of a rebel,' he told her, but she could see straight away that he was weakening. Jezza could twist them both round her little finger, and she knew it.
'Go on, please, this evening, just a quick round of the pubs, see what we can see. I'm buying. You can drive the Golf. I'll order in pizza for Steve and Tommy, and I'll treat you to something nice while we're out.'
Maurice laughed. 'I suppose 'you can drive the Golf' is Jezza-speak for you're going to get hammered so I need to be the sensible grown-up to see we get home in one piece.'
He looked down at her fondly. It was hard to say no to Jezza in full-on charm offensive. With her drama training, she could be whatever she needed to be to persuade him.
'You do know the boss is going to kill us, slowly, if he finds out? Especially me,' he warned her.
'Fabulous, thanks so much, Maurice. You'll see, we'll have a blast and who knows, we might just spot a killer to catch.' She flung her arms around his neck to give him a kiss on the cheek, then planted one on Steve's for good measure, making him blush furiously. 'See you at mine, half seven? Pepperoni pizza, Steve? Stay over after, both of you. We can finish off the pizza when we get back, if you leave us any.'
They often did stay at Jezza's place, especially when Steve had been babysitting and Jezza was out late. The spacious flat was big enough, and Jezza's room had a walk-in wet room, as well as the bathroom close by, so there were never problems with four of them in the flat.
Taking it as decided, she was gone in a clunk of the VW's door and a squeal of tyres as she pulled away, waving gaily at them.
Maurice shook his head. 'I'm not quite sure what I've let myself in for,' he said. 'And I still reckon the boss is going to skin us alive, if he finds out. Are you all right with this, Steve?'
'I'll have to be, won't I?' the younger man muttered, looking anything but all right. 'You shouldn't be doing this, and you know it. You should have said no.'
'Eh, Steve, lad,' Maurice sighed, looking across in the direction in which Jezza had just left. 'I wish I knew how to say no to our Jezza.'
The two of them arrived at Jezza's stylish apartment at the appointed hour. Steve was in his casual clothes but Maurice had made an effort to smarten up for the occasion. He didn't want to show Jezza up, nor to look too much like her dad, although he was old enough to be.
As usual, they were both met by a barrage of questions from Tommy, Jezza's younger brother, demanding to know everything about their plans for the evening, and the exact time they would be back.
'I told you, Tom, I can't tell you for sure,' Jezza told him. 'We're going out on police business. Important undercover work. It just isn't possible to say for sure. But we will be back, and Steve's here with you, so there's nothing to worry about. And your pizza will be here any time now, so don't eat too much.'
Tommy liked precision in his life, and his sister's sometimes erratic hours unsettled him. But he loved the idea of her doing undercover work like the police he enjoyed watching on
television, in films and dramas.
'Don't let him stay up too late, Steve. And don't you, either. Make yourself at home, and we'll be back when we're back. You have the spare room tonight and let Maurice kip on the sofa, in case you're already asleep when we get back.'
She picked up the car keys from the hall table and, with a final wave over her shoulder, she breezed out of the door in a waft of expensive perfume. Maurice trailed in her wake, still convinced he was doing the wrong thing, though doubtless for the right reasons.
They had a lively evening and visited several pubs, but there was no sign of anyone resembling their suspect. Jezza was taking Maurice's agreement to drive her Golf as licence to drink freely. Since his operation, Maurice had been drinking much less, partly because of the medication he was on. He limited himself to half a lager, then switched to soft drinks. He was already convinced the boss was going jump all over him if he got wind of what they'd been up to. If he got pulled for driving over the limit as well, that would be the end of him.
'You know, you look really good since the op, Maurice,' Jezza told him, blinking up at him, with the effects of the vodka shots she'd been consuming. She draped an arm round his neck and scrutinised his face from close up. 'You're a really nice bloke. For a bloke, I mean. You should find yourself someone nice. What about Megan?'
'Did you really ask me out to look for suspects, or to sort out my love life?' he asked her, smiling fondly. 'Megan wouldn't look twice at me; she could find someone much better.'
'Rubbish! You're a really nice man. A really, really nice man.' Jezza was clearly rather more drunk than he'd realised. Maurice thought it was about time he took her home, or at least persuaded her to drink something soft to try to sober her up a bit. He was perfectly sober and had been taking stock of the other drinkers in each pub they'd been in, so that at least one of them was doing what they'd set out to do - looking for the prime suspect.
He went up to the bar to get some mineral water with ice and a slice for both of them, taking the chance to scan the room from a different angle. There was still no sign of anyone who could possibly be their man. No one sitting alone, watching the others. No one who looked the right height or build for the vague description they had of him, and from the CCTV images. It had been a pleasant evening, and he'd enjoyed the meal, but he decided it was high time he was taking Jezza home. Especially if he wanted her to turn up for work the next morning not looking like someone who'd been out on the drink the night before.
'I'm really pleased you're my friend, Maurice,' Jezza told him expansively when he sat down and put the drinks in front of them. 'What's this?' she peered suspiciously at the tall glass in front of her.
'Vodka and tonic,' he told her. 'I thought it would make a change from straight shots.'
She was clearly too far gone to notice she'd been tricked into drinking mineral water. He hoped it would dilute what she'd already drunk. It was still an unsteady and giggling Jezza he helped back to the Golf and drove back to her flat.
The lights were off and there was neither sight nor sound of Steve or Tommy. Steve was one of the few people who could tire Tommy out enough to make him sleep well, with his patient help in finding endless trivia answers on the Internet for him. Maurice went to put the coffee machine on in the kitchen while Jezza flopped on to the sofa where he would shortly be sleeping, hopefully, if she could manage to get herself off to bed without too much trouble.
He brought in steaming mugs of black coffee for both of them, and encouraged Jezza to drink hers.
'I had a really great night tonight,' she told him. 'You're really good company, Maurice, d'you know that?'
She snuggled closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. She could sense his growing discomfort at her closeness, so she reached up and pulled his head towards her, kissing him on the lips.
Maurice groaned and tried to pull away, hating himself for weakening but knowing he was perilously near to being past the stage of saying no, even if he'd wanted to. 'No, Jezza, this isn't right. You're drunk. If you were sober, you wouldn't be doing this.'
She held on to him so he couldn't move away, her mouth next to his ear. 'Come on, Maurice. I know it's what you want. And I need to get back in the saddle. I haven't been with anyone since…' she left the sentence hanging. 'And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather it was for the first time since then than you. You're a really nice man. Kind, gentle. And you're practically my best friend. I want it to be like that.'
She slid off the sofa and tried to stand up, but immediately overbalanced into a giggling heap on the floor. Maurice stood up, gently pulled her to her feet, and steered her to her bedroom. Carefully, he eased off her shoes, slid her jacket off, then peeled back the duvet and helped her to lie down.
'Come to bed with me, Maurice,' she said sleepily, but she was already nodding off and soon her deep regular breathing told him she was asleep. He pulled the duvet back up and tucked it protectively around her. Then he took off his own jacket and shoes and lay down on top of the duvet next to her, not close enough to touch her, just watching her sleeping peacefully.
At some point, he must have fallen asleep too as he awoke with a start, some hours later, to find her propped up one one elbow, looking down at him and smiling gently, her features clearly defined in the street light through the curtains.
'You look very cute when you're asleep,' she said softly. 'I'm awake now, and I'm completely sober. And I really would like it, very much, if you would please make love to me, Maurice Brown. My best friend.'
Steve was already in the kitchen by the time Maurice got up the next morning, carefully extricating himself from the tangle of the still-sleeping Jezza's arms and legs. It meant he couldn't sneak past to get his bag from the living room for clean clothes. He decided the only way was to bluff it out, so he went into the kitchen in just his trousers and greeted Steve breezily.
'Morning, Steve, you're up early. I hope we didn't wake you up, rolling in last night.'
Steve had the coffee machine on but instead of returning the greeting, he spun round and landed a punch full in the centre of Maurice's face.
'You absolute piece of shit,' he spat, nursing his hand. Steve was no fighter and the hand had been badly injured in an assault not long ago, so it didn't appreciate his actions.
Blood spouted from Maurice's split lip and his nose, as he grabbed for a kitchen towel, still trying to bluster his innocence.
'How could you, Maurice? After what she's been through?'
Steve's voice was rising in pitch and intensity, and brought Jezza hurrying in from her room, knotting her dressing gown around her waist.
'Keep it down!' she hissed. 'Tommy's not awake yet. You know how raised voices freak him out. I don't want him starting the day badly.' Then she appeared to see Maurice dripping blood for the first time and demanded, 'What the hell is going on in here? Steve, whatever you think happened, you're wrong.'
At that moment, they heard Tommy's door open and he came padding into the kitchen in bare feet and pyjamas, looking agitated.
'What's wrong? Why is everybody shouting? Maurice, why are you bleeding? I don't like it when you shout.'
Jezza bent down towards him, glaring at Steve. 'Tommy, it's fine. Everything's all right. Maurice and Steve were just being silly and Maurice got hurt by accident. But it's really nothing to worry about at all. Is it, Steve?'
Steve hesitated, but in the face of Jezza's furious look, he climbed down and looked at Tommy.
'That's right, Tom. We were just mucking about and Maurice's nose got in the way of my hand. But it's all fine, we're all still friends. Why don't you go and get ready for school? The child-minder will be here in a minute to take you.'
Jezza smiled her gratitude at him and put a hand on his arm as Tommy obediently disappeared to start getting ready. 'Steve, thank you for thinking you were defending my honour, or something, but honestly, it wasn't like that. But it's sweet of you.'
The three barely exchanged a word ove
r an awkward breakfast. Steve refused to ride with Maurice in his car, preferring instead to go with Jezza in the Golf. It gave her the opportunity to talk to him, to try to explain how it had been, though he was still angry and unreceptive.
As soon as Ted called the team to order for the morning briefing, he could see that something was badly wrong with the dynamics. He saw Steve's angry face and the way he nursed his hand, the anxious looks Jezza kept throwing at him and at Maurice, and Maurice's cut lip, red nose and guilty expression. He could guess what it all meant and he was not pleased. He was glad he'd told Foster's team they didn't need to come over this morning. They knew what needed doing, and they were also being interviewed by DSU Fletcher at some point during the day, so needed to make themselves available.
The whole team felt the tension the three had brought in to work with them and it was affecting everyone's concentration. Jo was able to feed back on his discussions with Pocket Billiards and a lead he had been given on an inquest with a suicide verdict, where mention had been made of bad financial investments.
'It was all very vague, though, he couldn't remember much detail.'
'Give whatever you have to Maurice to follow up. Maurice, check it out with the coroner's officer and see if you can find the detail. Particularly find any next of kin. It's a promising lead,' Ted said tersely. He was still furious with Maurice and finding it hard to hide the fact.
'Océane, anything else for us from the computers or phones yet?'
'Rather too many photos of Mr Gildyke's not particularly impressive dick, boss, but so far not much more,' she replied, raising a small chuckle from the team. 'Why do some men think that's something which a woman might find an incentive to date them?'
'Jo, can you work with Sal on Sabden House? I want to know everything about that building and the plans for its future. Do we know when the PM on John is yet?'