by Lynda Stacey
Eric pushed his glasses up his nose. ‘Oh my word, I feel like I’m stalking you. Honestly, I’m not. I always come in here. I live alone you see. The food’s normally quite good here and I don’t really like to cook for myself and, if I’m honest, I don’t like the telly either,’ Eric rambled, then knocked back the remnants of his drink. ‘I’ll be off home now, you know, leave you to it.’
Kate sighed. It was a small town and this was the nearest pub to where they both lived. Besides, she noticed the way he seemed to be looking at Eve and she at him.
Both blushed.
‘Eric, seriously, please sit down.’ She indicated a chair at their table. ‘I’d like you to meet my twin sister. Eric, this is Eve.’
Chapter Thirteen
Kate munched on her second packet of crisps as she walked from the car park and into the library. She was determined that she didn’t need a diet, not at her age, no matter what her mother thought or how many times the night before she’d mentioned how many calories there were in a single plate of fish and chips.
Eve and Eric had chatted non-stop and Kate had excused herself early, leaving Mother to drive Eve home. The cottage had been peaceful when she’d arrived back. It was the one place in the world where she normally felt happy. The memories and the good times she’d shared there with her grandmother seeped out of every brick and Kate sank into her bed with a deep sigh, before drifting off into a long, peaceful sleep.
But morning had come around far too quickly and Kate once again found herself in the library, which was currently full of children. Each child wore a matching green jumper and grey trousers or skirt. A local school had obviously organised a trip to encourage them to read books and every child ran up and down the aisles, pulling one book off the shelf after the other, leaving discarded books all over the low tables or the floor. Bellandini, to his credit, smiled and picked them up, putting each one back in its correct position on the shelf.
It was now just before lunch and her mobile flashed for what seemed like the hundredth time and Kate wondered how long she’d get away with ignoring her own mother. Leaving her bags where she could see them, she walked into the foyer and pressed the answer key.
‘Finally, Katie.’ Her mother sighed. Her irritation clearly came through in her voice. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you all morning. It was quite rude of you to leave me to babysit your sister and her love life last night, and by the time I got back to the cottage, you’d disappeared off to bed.’ Her mother paused but didn’t slow down long enough for Kate to answer, give explanation or apologise. ‘Your mousetraps, dear, where are they?’ she demanded. ‘I’ve found a dropping under the kitchen cupboard.’
Kate held the phone away from her ear and stared at the handset in disbelief.
‘Mother, what the hell are you doing under my bloody kitchen units?’ she snapped with annoyance as it occurred to her that not only had her mother had to get the kick boards off to look under there, she’d also have needed a screwdriver to remove them.
‘Darling, I’m just cleaning and it’s a good job I am. One dropping could lead to an infestation. There’s no wonder Robert stays out most evenings, especially if you don’t clean properly. Now, where are those mousetraps?’
‘Mother!’ Katie snapped. ‘For goodness’ sake. Why don’t you bugger off and annoy Eve for a few days?’
Kate felt like a petulant child and pressed the off button on the phone. She really didn’t want to argue with her mother. She didn’t need to be accused of having mice and found her mother’s constant insults just too difficult to live with.
It now occurred to her why, after university, she’d left Yorkshire in the first place. She’d happily moved her life to London to join the Met Police. If her grandmother hadn’t taken ill and subsequently died, she’d probably still be there, and the accident might never have happened. She closed her eyes and wondered if she should phone her father. She’d resisted calling the night before in the hope that their mother would see sense and go home. But she was getting desperate and thought that if she asked nicely, maybe, just maybe he would come to Caldwick and take her mother home.
Kate went back to her table and glanced around the library. While she’d been on the phone, Bellandini had disappeared and so had the group of school children.
Chapter Fourteen
Ben knelt by the gravestone, carefully emptied the stale water from the flowerpot and walked the short distance to where the water tap hung from a pipe. Using a cloth, he cleaned the pot, filled it with fresh water and then carried it back to the grave, where his wife and unborn child both lay.
Julia Parker, taken too soon, along with her unborn child.
Ben wiped his eyes. ‘I miss you so much.’ He pulled the flowers from their carrier bag. ‘I still find it so unbelievable that you’re gone. I miss chatting to you, the way we’d talk about nothing and laugh about the ridiculous.’ He paused and flicked at the cellophane that wrapped the flowers. ‘I miss the silly things, like arguing about the right way to pronounce scone or bath, you in your southern way, me typically northern, and the way we’d laugh about it till we cried.’
He thought of his wife. She’d always wanted the best for them both, had created a home, a life with a child. Yet, in one day, the meningitis had overtaken her whole body and she’d been taken from him, along with the child he’d never had the privilege to hold.
He glanced up at the sky. Clouds had formed and between them he could see diamond shapes that gave the hope of sunshine, but then he felt the tiny raindrops that began to fall on his face. He closed his eyes and for the first time in years, he prayed.
He thought of Kate. Of how he enjoyed the time he’d spent with her. Was it wrong for him to laugh, to be happy or to enjoy time with another woman? He felt the guilt that he’d always felt since Julia had died, but somehow it didn’t tear through his heart, not like it once had.
He’d spent the past four years throwing himself into his work. He’d left the police force, joined the family business and had sold his house. He couldn’t bear to live in the home he’d shared with Julia. It had been the one where the nursery had been, all decorated, ready for their child. He thought back to Kate, to how she’d told him about her father selling the family business and how she hadn’t felt able to take her brother’s job, to sit in his seat or to even work in his office. He nodded. He knew how she felt. He turned his attention back to the grave.
‘Hey, you’d think I’d get better at this.’ He fiddled with the paper that packed the flowers. ‘But I don’t. I never know what I’m supposed to say. Except that I miss you. But I guess that’d be a bit obvious.’ He searched around in the carrier bag by his side. ‘And you’d kind of think I’d get better at remembering the stuff, you know, like the scissors.’ He pulled the cellophane open and allowed the flowers to drop all over the grass. ‘I forget everything when it comes to visiting, don’t I?’ He picked up a single flower and lifted it to his face. ‘And do you know what’s worse? I miss your nagging. I miss you telling me to get my shit in order and yeah, yeah, I miss you bossing me around.’
The flowers were placed one by one in the vase, then Ben stood up. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and blew his nose. ‘That was the last thing I said to you wasn’t it, stop nagging me, I’ll do it.’ A tear dropped down his cheek. ‘God, Julia, I wish you were here to nag me now. I hate how torn I feel.’ Ben walked away from the grave, placed the cellophane and carrier bag in the bin and then walked back to the gravestone.
‘But that’s the question, isn’t it? How do I feel? It’s what everyone asks and I have no idea what to tell them.’ He paused. ‘What I should say is that I’m suffocating inside, and sometimes there are days when I can’t breathe at all. I feel as though someone placed a vice on my heart and every so often, they squeeze it just a little bit more. That’s what I should say, but, of course, I don’t. I just say that I’m fine, which I’m not, but it’s the British thing to do, isn’t it?’ Ben looked up, and then
took in a shallow, stilted breath.
He glanced around the graveyard, at the other people, crouched by headstones. It was so peaceful, yet so disturbing all at once. Was this it? Was this all there was in the end?
‘Julia. I feel sorry for saying this, but I need someone to be there for me. I need someone to boss me around, to tell me when I’m out of order and, yes, to tell me that they love me,’ he whispered, as though fearful of saying the words out loud. ‘Is it so wrong that I need this? Is it so wrong that I want to live again? Would you mind too much?’ He gulped and lifted his fingers to his lips, kissed them and placed the fingers to the top of the stone.
‘Take care of our baby, Julia. I loved you both so very much.’
Chapter Fifteen
Kate ran through the library, looking up and down each aisle as she went. The library had two floors and she wondered whether or not to take her search downstairs to where the literary section was, along with the coffee shop that openly encouraged people to read the books while enjoying lunch.
She took the stairs, two at a time. The coffee shop was busy and she quickly queued up at the counter and bought coffee in a Styrofoam cup, while glancing around. She walked across the shop, and took a seat near the window just a little too soon. If she’d waited and looked for a few more minutes, she’d have noticed that in one corner sat Luca Bellandini and with him the most beautiful woman that Kate had ever seen. And now she was sitting too far away to hear what they were saying.
Kate pulled the phone from her bag, cursed her mother for calling about mousetraps that she didn’t need and began to text Ben.
Bellandini is in the coffee shop with a woman. She’s beautiful and, for some reason, I think I recognise her. Kate x
To Kate’s horror, she realised that she’d put a kiss at the end of her text and had pressed Send too quickly. She now watched the phone, wondering what Ben must have thought, and waited for him to reply.
Are you far enough away to speak to me? x
Kate smiled like a schoolgirl. Ben had put a kiss too and she wriggled in her chair, not knowing what to do. If she phoned Ben, would Bellandini hear her? The coffee shop was busy and Kate judged that at least twenty people sat between her and the person of interest. She picked up her phone and called Ben.
‘Hey,’ she whispered.
‘Hey, to you too,’ Ben replied. ‘Okay. Let me do the talking. Stay where you are and just watch. You say you recognise her? Yes or no?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘Shhhhh … don’t say too much.’
Kate closed her eyes for a second, imagining Ben sitting at his desk talking to her.
‘Without moving, do you think you could take a photograph without them seeing you?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Okay. Phone me back when you’ve done it.’ The phone went silent and for a moment, Kate felt sad that the reassuring voice of Ben was gone. She turned her attention back to Bellandini and the woman, and even though she was looking longingly at him, their conversation seemed strained. She looked anxious and kept glancing around her, making Kate wary of using the camera. She had to wait, had to ensure she wouldn’t be seen. She sipped at her coffee.
Kate watched. Bellandini and the woman were now deep in conversation. Kate flicked the phone screen to the camera and pretended to take a selfie. She looked down at the screen, only to realise she’d taken a perfect picture of the woman’s very expensive Louboutin shoes, which stood out a mile against the cheap, torn brown leather brogues that Bellandini wore. She tutted at herself, and once again switched the camera on.
‘Are you finished with that?’ a waitress asked as she pointed to the coffee cup, making Kate jump. Kate shook her head in annoyance, before lifting the phone to her ear. This time she went through the scenario of pretending to be on the phone, while taking the picture. ‘Got it,’ she whispered as she looked back down at the phone, quickly clicking on the screen to send the picture to Ben.
Then Kate phoned him.
‘Great picture, well done. Did they see you?’ Ben asked. His voice had gone soft, and husky.
‘Of course not,’ Kate said, all the time watching Luca Bellandini, who gazed into the woman’s eyes. He was obviously smitten with the woman’s perfect face. He didn’t look away. Not even when she reached into her bag, took out a small parcel and passed it to him under the table.
Kate fiddled with the phone, stood up and walked away from the table, just far enough to create a distance. She began to browse the books, glancing over at them to watch what was happening. ‘I’ve seen her before, but I can’t place her. It will come to me, no one is that sickeningly beautiful,’ Kate whispered back to Ben who’d gone silent on the other end of the phone.
‘I know who she is,’ he announced. ‘The woman you’re looking at is Isobel Reed.’
Kate picked another book up and pretended to read the back cover. ‘I know that name.’ Her voice was still a faint whisper and she smiled, realising that even though Ben was back at the office, he was whispering too.
‘She’s the widow of a drug dealer who was shot on his own doorstep two years ago. Her face was all over the papers,’ Ben explained, just as Bellandini stood up from the table and without a second look, walked away from the woman, leaving her to drink her coffee, alone.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Okay, this is our next person of interest,’ Ben said as Kate entered the reception of Parker & Son, where both he and Gloria sat. Kate noticed a photograph in his hand and held out hers to take it from him. ‘She’s called Isobel Reed and it appears that she’s following in her husband’s footsteps.’
Kate looked up and caught his eye. He held her gaze as his eyes searched hers and he gave her a smile. ‘You okay?’ he mouthed as Gloria got up to go back behind the reception.
Kate smiled, nodded and blushed at the same time. She thought back to the previous night’s phone call, the way she’d wanted to hear his voice, yet now she wished she hadn’t said quite so much.
He continued. ‘Every law enforcement agency in the country has tried to catch her out since her husband was shot on his own doorstep. What’s more, and I have the information in the file, there’s a couple hundred grand’ reward that goes to the first person to bring Isobel Reed and the gang to justice. And, thanks to you, Kate, we may just have found a way to earn it.’ His eyes were fixed on her reaction.
‘Isn’t that a big reward for the police to cough up?’ Kate looked back at the photograph, ‘I’ve never heard of a reward that big.’
Ben shook his head, ‘It’s not the police. It’s a private donor, clouded in mystery.’
‘But, who the hell has money like that?’ Kate questioned and looked at Ben for answers.
‘Well.’ He shrugged his shoulders, ‘whoever it is has more money than sense and obviously has a huge reason to want them off the streets.’
Kate shook her head. ‘Could it be anything to do with the husband getting killed? I think I remember the shooting.’
‘It was on the local news, and that’s probably where you’ve seen her before. She was on the front page of all the tabloids, you know, grieving widow and all that.’
Kate finally put the photograph down, removed her coat, and folded it in a neat pile, placing it carefully on top of her bag. She sat down next to Ben and once again, she picked up the picture. Isobel Reed was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen, but Ben was right, she had seen her in the papers.
Ben pulled other pictures from a file and passed them to Kate. ‘So, as far as we know, she’s dealing drugs. I think you said that she passed something to Luca, so he’s either taking them or dealing them, which explains why his boss is suspicious. People on drugs act differently, moody, and they lie. As far as Isobel is concerned, she’s not the kind of dealer that stands on a street corner, oh no.’ Ben shook his finger in the air and then pointed upward. ‘Word has it that she’s a high-class dealer. She’s right at the top of the food chain, the one that brings them into the cou
ntry and sells them directly to the dealers. Which again is probably what you saw her doing with Bellandini and why there’s such a bounty on her head.’ Ben caught Kate’s eye.
‘So how does she get them into the country?’ Kate tried to focus and studied the photos.
Ben laughed. ‘Well, if we knew that, we wouldn’t have any reason to stake out her house for the next few days, would we?’ His eyes sparkled with amusement. Kate knew that he was making fun of her and slapped his arm with the photographs, before turning to where Gloria stood behind reception, her normal mugs of coffee held out in her hand.
‘So, what happens next?’ Kate was eager to start. She’d worked on drug raids in the Met, had loved the adrenalin rush, the speed of the take and the way that the officers all knew exactly where the other would be at any one time.
‘We sit, we watch and we do nothing unless we have some evidence. Once we get the evidence, we pass the information onto the police and at the same time, we collect the reward.’
Kate felt disappointed. ‘What, no storming the house, searching or arrests?’
Ben shook his head. ‘Sorry, we leave that to the authorities. We have no power to arrest them.’ He raised his eyebrows as though looking for her approval.
‘Okay, fine. The authorities get the arrest. So, until then, are we to work together, or am I watching the house alone?’
Ben sipped at his coffee. ‘You won’t be alone. I can’t promise that it’ll be me that’s with you the whole time, but I will try to be there as much as possible.’
‘Thank you,’ she said gratefully as she leaned forward to take a thick blue file from his hand. She liked the thought of working with Ben, even though the idea of being locked in the back of a van with him for hours both scared her and excited her in equal quantities.
‘You’ll need to do some research.’ He closed his eyes as though waiting for a bad dream to pass and Kate wondered what was going through his mind. ‘I had her followed this time last year,’ he continued, ‘but we couldn’t prove anything substantial. She appears to be a serial adulteress as well as a drug dealer. I think the two have gone hand in hand and it was quite apparent that the Louboutin shoes were not being bought from her widow’s pension. But other than that, we found nothing.’