Tell Me No Secrets

by Lynda Stacey

  Kate shook her head. To Eve, life was literally that simple. Before the accident she’d spent most of her evenings as one big opportunity to find another man. She used to have three different boyfriends at any one time. They’d come and go like buses, normally at Eve’s request. If they were nice to her, they’d stay around for a week or two, but if not she wouldn’t think twice before ending the relationship, and moving on. Kate smiled as she remembered the day that Eve had picked the house phone up to a guy saying, ‘Hi, Eve, it’s me …’ which, of course, had sent Eve into a frenzy trying to guess who it was. After that, she’d always got her mum, James or Kate to answer the phone and find out who was calling.

  ‘Eve, Rob loves me.’ Kate tried to say it as convincingly as she could, but she still couldn’t understand his sudden change in mood, the sleeping on the settee or the days and nights he spent away from home.

  ‘Yeah, sure. Now … come on, humour a woman unable to get out much and dish the gossip. Just how tidy is this Ben?’

  Kate laughed but didn’t respond. She just thought about Ben. Everything about Ben was just a little more than tidy and it occurred to her that she wasn’t just talking about his desk. ‘He’s tidy,’ she finally said, before picking up her water and sipping from the bottle.

  Kate nodded. She liked tidy.

  ‘I knew it,’ Eve said triumphantly. ‘Lucky you, a new job and a tidy new man.’ Kate could hear the despondency that had now crept into her voice. ‘Kate, I’ve missed you today. I’d really love to see you.’ Kate could tell she was brooding. ‘Didn’t we, Max? We missed Kate, didn’t we?’ The sound of Max whimpering broke Kate’s heart. She’d bought him for Eve the year before. A black Labrador of a year old, who’d been unruly at first. But, Kate had friends in the right places and she’d happily paid one of her former colleagues, a police handler, to have Max expertly trained. And now, he could retrieve, go find the remote control, the telephone or even collect the newspaper from the specially designed post box.

  ‘I know you do, hun, but I had to take a job. Firstly, I didn’t want to starve and second, I really couldn’t bear watching daytime television any longer.’ Kate looked back across at Parker & Son, her mind drifting to Ben and what he’d be doing inside.

  ‘What would I do without daytime television?’ Eve said softly and Kate once again closed her eyes and thought of how boring and lonely Eve’s daily life really must be.

  ‘Okay, okay, I’ll pop over after work. We can take Max for a walk together, but I can’t stay long. I need to talk to Rob, you’re right, things are not good.’

  Eve’s bungalow was on her way home, which meant that Kate could easily call in after work without going too far out of her way. Besides, she liked spending time with Eve, even though that meant she quite often neglected Rob. But Rob worked away and more often than not he didn’t come home till late. He didn’t really need her. Yet, he’d made it very clear that he didn’t like Kate being at Eve’s beck and call either.

  Kate pushed the last of her sandwich into her mouth, took a gulp of the water, screwed up the paper bag, threw it in the bin and then turned to look up at the church clock.

  ‘Okay, Eve, I’ve got to get back to work now or I could be employed and dismissed all in the same day. I’ll see you later. Love you.’

  Eve put the phone down and began to stroke Max. She was happy. She’d wanted Kate to come over and was really pleased that her plan had worked. She knew that she’d gently manipulated her sister, and almost hated herself for doing so, but sometimes she got so lonely and spending time with Kate always cheered her up. Kate would be here just after five and already Eve was hoping she’d stay until at least six or seven.

  Maybe it was a twin thing, but Kate was the only one who understood her. She was the only person who knew what she had been through. She’d been there during and after the accident. She’d slept beside her at the hospital, refusing to leave, and had held her hand through all the indignity of being poked, prodded and jabbed by the doctors and nurses. The endless invasion of catheters, enemas and drugs had gone on for months. And each invasion had eventually taken away every inch of dignity that she’d previously had. She’d recoiled from all around her, from everyone except for Kate.

  She remembered the weeks after James had died, the way that everyone had mourned him. Of course, at first everyone was sympathetic that she and Kate had been hurt, but they hadn’t died, not like he had, they’d survived, so that was okay.

  But both her life and Kate’s, as they’d known it, had been lost too and Eve knew that her life would never be the same again. She’d lost the ability to walk, yet no one really seemed to care, except Kate, who’d been continuously apologetic for not having been crippled too.

  After a while it had become normal to act withdrawn. She’d enjoyed the attention that Kate had given and had continued to keep up the act long after her release from hospital. Besides, their relationship was better now, they were closer and it was different to how it had been as children.

  She laughed, remembering the identical dresses that their mother would buy. The matching shoes, hair ribbons and toys. As toddlers and teenagers everyone had expected them to be identical. Do identical things and wear identical clothes. But they’d both rebelled and had gone out of their way not to wear or do anything remotely similar. They led very individual lives. They’d had their own friends, their own clothes and their own hobbies.

  Kate had been the geeky one that had studied continuously. She’d read books and spent time with her equally geeky friends. She’d been the perfect student. The one that father had expected would go to law school. The one he’d expected to succeed and, in his eyes, the one, along with her brother, who would take over the family firm.

  Eve hadn’t cared. She’d been the wild child. She’d had no intention of becoming a lawyer. She’d worked hard as a beautician and she’d played hard at being wild, beautiful and free and the last thing she’d ever wanted was to become their father’s pet. Oh no, she’d been more than happy for James to fill that role.

  After the accident their father had become difficult. No one could speak to him and both he and their mother had treated Kate as though the accident had been her fault. Their son had been killed and both of their daughters scarred or injured for life, but in their eyes perhaps Kate had suffered the least, so she bore the brunt of their pain and sadness. And if she were honest, Eve had been pleased when her mother and father had moved to the other side of York. It had given both her and Kate some peace, without their constant invasion of looks and questions.

  Eve stroked the black Labrador. ‘Kate’s coming later, Max. Are you excited she’s coming?’

  Chapter Four

  Kate walked back into the office, and headed straight for the room she now shared with Ben. In her absence he’d moved the desks around and into a more uniform pattern. A filing cabinet now stood to the side of her desk and a bright pink chair stood behind it.

  ‘Great, you’re back. We have a client.’ He pointed to a file.

  ‘Really, that’s excellent.’ Kate felt her stomach churn; the thought of going on a job filled her with nerves and excitement all at once.

  ‘We’ve watched this person of interest before,’ he said as he flicked through the pages. ‘Nothing came of it last time, and, to be honest, I’m not sure we’ll turn anything up this time either. But it’ll be a nice starting point for you.’

  Kate sat and waited until Ben looked up from the file. He pulled out a picture and passed it to her. It was of a casually dressed man; he looked to be of a medium build and seemed fairly good-looking. Kate noticed that his eyebrows were neatly trimmed, as was his short black hair.

  ‘This … this is our person of interest?’ She moved in her seat. ‘Okay.’ Kate nodded. ‘Who is he?’ She fiddled mindlessly with the pens and pencils on her desk with one hand, while holding the picture in the other. ‘I mean, do you want to fill me in on his story, especially if we’re going to be following him?’

>   Ben laughed. ‘Of course. This is Luca Bellandini. He’s a librarian. Obviously Italian. His employer thinks he’s up to something, and they’re probably right.’ His voice was calm, yet sounded bitter. ‘Budget permitting, we keep him under surveillance and look for clues. They’ve suspected he’s been up to something for a while and I’ve been spending time in the library on and off over the past few months. I sit there and pretend to read and watch what he does. I keep notes on everything, including what time he seems to take toilet breaks and who he speaks to. It’s all in the file. Here.’

  Kate flicked through the folder that Ben had passed her, before once again picking up the photograph. She held it up to the light. ‘What on earth can he get up to in a library?’

  Ben shook his head. ‘You’d be amazed.’

  ‘So, what do we do next? Do we just keep watching, or do we take a new approach?’ Kate was genuinely interested; she couldn’t work out what it was about the photograph, but something niggled her. He was just too familiar.

  ‘What we do is go to the library tomorrow. Pretend to look up information, read and study. All we do is watch what he does. Under no circumstances do you do anything other than watch and make notes on how he behaves, who he talks to and how well he seems to know them. I’ll be interested in comparing our notes at the end of the day, see what similarities we get.’

  ‘Comparing notes. Won’t we be together?’

  Ben shook his head and picked up his coffee. ‘Not all the time. I’ll probably pitch my spot at the other side of the library. I might come over at some point and chat to you. But we’ll act as though we’ve met in there by chance. If he goes out, just let him go. I don’t want you following him, not yet, nor do I want you taking any risks. Surveillance has to be learnt. Even if you have done it before, you still need to learn how we do it.’ Ben walked around the office and then sat back in his chair, making Kate wonder if he ever sat still for more than a moment or two.

  ‘His boss says he’s been acting suspiciously again. His mannerisms seem to have changed and he isn’t as tolerant as normal, and they think he could be getting mixed up in the family business again.’

  ‘The family?’

  ‘The Bellandini family, they’re notorious in these parts, always wheeling and dealing in something and always in and out of jail.’

  ‘What do they mean by he’s less tolerant?’ Kate studied the picture again.

  ‘Well, let’s put it this way, his employer says he has a bit of a temper and the last time they saw his girlfriend, she was wearing really heavy make-up. Could have been covering bruises, if you know what I mean?’ Ben cringed.

  ‘He hit her?’

  Ben shrugged. ‘They don’t know. Either he hit her or she’d walked into a very heavy door. To be honest, his many girlfriends are not their main concern, but the possibility that he might be dealing drugs in the library is.’

  He tapped on the keyboard, read something that interested him on the screen and then looked back towards where Kate sat shaking her head.

  ‘And you’re happy to leave me alone with him, are you?’

  Ben shook his head. ‘Not really, but you’ll only be alone for short periods, I won’t be far away.’

  ‘Good, because I’d probably kick his arse for being a woman beater.’ She looked directly into Ben’s eyes, which sparkled back at her, like shiny pieces of black onyx. They captivated her. Kate inhaled and caught her breath, before looking down and turning her face away.

  ‘And that is exactly what you don’t do.’

  Kate glared. She knew he was right, but she couldn’t bear the thought of a man hitting a woman. However, kicking Luca Bellandini’s arse and blowing their cover would be the last thing she’d want to do. Even if he deserved it. ‘Okay, tell me again, what do you want me to do?’ She picked up a notepad and began scribbling across the page.

  ‘It’s easy. All you have to do is sit there. I’ll be at the other end of the library, which means we’ll get a visual from both ends of the building. All we’ll be doing is observing him, nothing else. If he starts disappearing up the Home and Garden aisle on a regular basis, maybe you could walk past and look for a book, just don’t do it every time, it’d become obvious what you were doing. Write down what you see. If he sits at the reception and eats wine gums, write that down too.’ His voice was gentle and Kate watched him as he continued to sip his freshly made coffee. She saw his gaze fall upon her scar and she purposely turned her face away from his view. The scar was something no one spoke of, no one ever mentioned and yet she knew that Ben kept looking and she held her breath, knowing that at some point he’d mention it.

  ‘Okay, spend this afternoon getting up to speed on the file and we’ll start first thing in the morning, let’s say 9.30 a.m. Be the easiest challenge you’ve ever had. It doesn’t get any simpler.’ He smiled, turned back to his laptop and began tapping on the keys.

  Kate grinned. She knew she hadn’t been employed to dust the desks, but going on an assignment on day two was more than she’d expected. She began to laugh nervously.

  ‘Simple, you say.’ She smirked. ‘What happened to the training your father talked about, what happened to my bloody induction?’ she teased and held her face square to his. ‘And there was me, thinking that your dad was the scary one.’

  Chapter Five

  ‘You’re here. I’ve made tea.’ Eve smiled and held her arms out to hug Kate, before wheeling herself into the kitchen. ‘I’ve also made a quiche,’ she said as she pulled it from the oven. ‘Freshly baked, I made it myself, and a salad to go with it.’

  Kate held herself back, and fussed Max who sat patiently sniffing the air. She desperately wanted to rush forward and help her sister with the hot oven, but resisted and watched through half-closed eyes until the quiche was safely placed on a wooden board that had been positioned on a low table.

  She breathed in appreciatively. ‘Wow. That smells good. I’m starving.’ She took a step towards the dining room and looked in to see that Eve had already laid the table with a salad, pretty napkins, and two plates.

  ‘Here, do you want me to carry that?’ she asked lurching forward, but then cursed as she saw the look on Eve’s face. Kate drew in a deep breath. It broke her heart to see Eve in a wheelchair and every time she thought of that night, of their birthday, she kicked herself so hard for insisting that James drove them into town. If only they’d taken a taxi, or the bus, everything would have been so very different. But she’d wanted to arrive in style. The thought of catching a bus for the first time in years had been unthinkable. If only she hadn’t been such a snob, Eve would not be confined to a wheelchair, James would still be alive and a lawyer in their father’s firm and she … what would she be doing? Would she still be in the police force? Would she have met Rob?

  ‘I’m fine. I can manage, Kate. I just have to get myself organised.’ Eve placed the quiche on a lap tray, balanced the bean bag base over her legs and wheeled herself into the dining room. ‘After dinner, I’m going to do your nails for you. About time I got back into practise with the acrylics, it’s been too long and you, my darling sister, are to be my guinea pig.’

  Kate looked across and noticed the table that Eve had set up with an array of nail polishes, acrylic pots, brushes and a UV lamp. ‘Oh, Eve. I can’t stay long. I need to get home for a bath. It’s been an odd day and I start a new assignment tomorrow.’ She sat down at the table.

  Eve looked disappointed and sighed. ‘But it won’t take long, I promise. I need to get back into practise, I’m thinking of setting a little salon up here. I thought I could convert the garage.’

  It was obvious that Eve had been thinking about her future, which was a positive step in the right direction for her, so Kate relented. ‘Okay, okay. Hey, Maxy.’ The Labrador rested his chin on her knee and Kate stroked him gently, as a pair of huge sorrowful eyes stared up at her.

  ‘See, Max wants you to stay.’ Eve smirked and cut into the quiche.

  Kate laughe
d. ‘Of course he wants me to stay, don’t you, Max? I always give you lovely treats, don’t I? It’s called cupboard love, isn’t it?’ Once again Kate fussed Max before pointing to his bed. ‘Go on. Off you go while we eat.’ Kate watched as he slunk off to the soft bean bag, where he rested his chin on the floor.

  ‘So, what’s all this about?’ Kate pointed to the nail bar.

  Eve’s eyes pleaded with Kate’s. ‘I’m lonely, Kate. No one comes to visit any more, not since the accident.’ She picked up the salad bowl and dished some onto her plate. ‘All my friends used to come, at first. But now, well, they stay away. I don’t think they know what to say to me. That’s why I have to do something. I’m going to open the nail salon. It’s one of my skills I can do sat down, then maybe, just maybe, my old customers and friends will start coming back.’

  The accident had happened on their twenty-seventh birthday. She and Eve had been to their parents’ for supper, but had organised a big celebration with friends in town later that evening. The evening meal had taken longer than usual, with their mother making a fuss. James had been wanting to get off to his girlfriend’s, but Kate had begged him to wait, to give them a lift and to save them the expense of a taxi or the shame of going on the bus. He’d urged them to hurry so many times, but they’d taken clothes to change into and, as usual, had been fussing over their appearance, applying more make-up, and checking their hair, which in turn had made James even later for his date.

  They’d only been in the car a few minutes, when the nightmare began. There was the screech of brakes, the sound of metal upon metal and then the spinning as the car had left the road, turning over and over to land in a water-filled ditch. Kate remembered the air bags that had covered all the windows like huge white clouds and a mist that blocked the light from outside, giving her a feeling of being hidden within. And then there had been the water, cold icy water that began to creep in through the doors.