by M A Comley
“I’ll have you know I do my share around the house.”
They walked up the concrete stairs to the second floor, where the incident room was located.
“I’m not saying you don’t. It must be really time-consuming putting the rubbish out for the binmen every Monday before you come in to work.”
“Whoa! Who the fuck has rattled your cage this morning?”
Kayli bit down on her lip and turned to face him. “Ugh, sorry, matey, you didn’t deserve that low blow. Just ignore me. Blame it on the cool shower I had this morning.”
“Apology accepted. Want me to drop by and take a look at your boiler if it’s giving you hassle?”
“Nothing wrong with the boiler. I read a stupid article that I should have slung in the bin instead. I’ll be fine once I’ve downed a couple of coffees.”
“Missed out on breakfast again, did you?”
“I was running late. Didn’t have time to boil the kettle or drop some toast in the machine.”
“Yeah, not for the first time lately. Do you realise how thin you’ve got, to the point of being scrawny?”
Kayli stopped mid-stride and looked at him, her mouth gaping open. “For one thing, you shouldn’t be checking out my arse, and for another, it’s none of your concern. Don’t you know a lady takes offence when her weight is mentioned by a man?”
He raised his hands in front of him, his cheeks changing in colour to reflect his embarrassment. “Okay, I’ll keep my nose out. I needed to say something, boss. You’re wasting away. You need to get the doc to check you over, is all I’m saying.”
“It’s not that bad. I wanted to lose a few pounds anyway.”
He placed his hand up to his mouth, and coughing at the same time he said, “Bullshit!”
Kayli swiped his arm. “Don’t wind me up, Dave, not first thing in the morning and before I’ve dished out the jobs for the day. You’re standing on dodgy ground right now, hon.”
As soon as they entered the incident room, Kayli headed for the vending machine. “Anybody else want one?” she called out to the rest of the team already sitting at their desks.
DC Donna Travis was the first to answer. “I’ve already had one, but I could do with another, boss, if you’re offering.”
“I never say no. You know me, boss,” DC Graeme Chance replied.
“Great, three cups coming up.”
“Hey, aren’t you forgetting someone?” Dave said, pouting like a kid on the verge of tears.
“After the crap you’ve just given me outside, you think I should treat you nicely?”
Donna and Graeme looked his way, expecting him to enlighten them.
Dave shrugged. “All I said was that she has a skinny arse. Am I wrong, guys?”
Kayli cleared her throat to gain everyone’s attention. “I’d consider your answers carefully if I were you, guys. I haven’t inserted the coins yet.”
Graeme raised his hands and shook his head. “I ain’t going there. I know what Lindy is like when I bring up the subject of her losing weight. Dave, there are some topics men should avoid commenting on like the plague.”
Kayli nodded. “See, what did I tell you? I knew you were an intelligent man, Graeme. Unlike some I could mention.”
“Jeez, looks like I’m in for a hell of a ride today, judging by your mood, boss. Will an apology suffice?” Dave fluttered his eyelashes.
Kayli hitched up her shoulder. “Only if it’s meant sincerely.”
“Are you touchy about your weight too, Donna?”
Donna’s eyes widened, and she nodded slowly. “Yep, you really don’t want to go there, Dave, not if you know what’s good for you.”
“I genuinely had no idea. I regret my slip of the tongue in that case, boss. I’m also begging you for your forgiveness.” He dropped to his knees.
The team burst into laughter; even Kayli’s stern face broke into a smile. She distributed the cups of coffee and helped Dave to stand up. “You’re forgiven—this time. Right, let’s see what’s happening, shall we?”
“Boss, something I’ve just picked up on the screen might be of interest.”
Kayli strode across the room to stand beside Donna. “What’s that?”
“I’m hearing about a car going off the road on the B4054. Looks like it happened during the night. The rescue teams are at the scene now, and early reports are indicating that it’s suspicious.”
“We should get over there, Dave.”
“Why? If there are no fatalities, then it’s nothing to do with MIT, or am I missing something?”
“The word suspicious highlights that it could be attempted murder to me. Maybe that’s just me overthinking things at this point. We won’t know until we see the scene for ourselves. Sup up,” she ordered.
Both of them blew on their cups of coffee and downed half their drinks.
Dave placed his cup on his desk. “Too hot for me, boss. I haven’t got an asbestos gob. Are you ready?”
Kayli winced as the scalding liquid scorched her throat. “Not really, but that’s not going to stop me.” She set her cup aside also.
They raced down the stairs and drove to the accident scene. One lane of the B4054 had been sectioned off by cones, and the emergency service vehicles were all at the scene. Even the air ambulance was in attendance.
Kayli and Dave flashed their IDs for the uniformed police officer, and he lifted the crime scene tape for them. They rushed down the steep embankment to the overturned vehicle. One look at the wreckage told Kayli to prepare herself for the worst.
“Hello, Kayli, nice to see you again. Terrible incident, not sure if the woman is going to make it or not,” DS Greg Boulder said, shaking his head.
“We heard reports that the incident is being treated as suspicious, Greg. Can you tell me why?”
“Preliminary tests indicate that the woman hadn’t been drinking, and by that I mean we couldn’t detect any alcohol on her breath.”
Kayli raised an eyebrow. “And that’s it? What about if she swerved to avoid something in the road? A cat or dog or badger perhaps?”
Greg shrugged. “It’s possible. There are several different scenarios being bandied about at present. We won’t know for sure what exactly happened until the young lady wakes up. The accident specialist team should be here soon.”
Kayli surveyed the car from a distance then moved forward to examine the rear of the vehicle.
Dave followed her. “What are you thinking or looking for?”
“Evidence of impact, something to suggest she was shunted from behind.”
“That’s going to be impossible to determine, given that the car rolled halfway down the slope.”
“I still need to check, Dave. Why else would someone deliberately drive into a barrier?”
“I hear you, but maybe this is just a genuine accident. They do happen, you know.”
“I’m not disputing that, but something about this looks odd, and I have no clue why. She was driving alone, not something I tend to do late at night.”
“It doesn’t mean to say that other females have an aversion to driving alone in the dark.”
“I know. Bear with me while I just run through a few things out loud that are bugging me, all right?”
“Fire away. I’m all ears.”
They moved closer to the vehicle. “We need to find out if she’s local or just passing through. Saying that, I’m local and had no idea there was this kind of drop the other side of the barrier, and I use this road regularly.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you there. I didn’t have a clue, either. However, the barrier would suggest there’s a pretty huge drop.”
“Granted. Let’s see if we can get closer without hindering the rescue attempt.”
“There’s one scenario you haven’t mentioned: suicide.”
“Hmm ... I could think of better places—and ways—for someone to attempt that type of thing.”
Inching forward, Kayli winced when she saw the angle the young woman was lying at
and the way the roof of the car had caved in and was pressing down on the side of her head. She overheard a couple of firemen assessing the situation. They would need the Jaws of Life to rescue her from the wreckage, once the attending doctor had given the young woman pain relief. From what Kayli could tell, the woman’s life hung in the balance, and she was dipping in and out of unconsciousness. If it had been up to Kayli, she wouldn’t have hesitated getting the machinery in there immediately, but she wasn’t an expert on dangerous, life-threatening situations.
“Is she going to be all right, Doc?” she asked, peering over the young doctor’s shoulder.
“Hard to say at this point. I suspect she has some internal bleeding, and who knows what other injuries she has sustained. That won’t become clear until she’s free of this damn vehicle ...” He paused to inject the woman’s arm. “Right, the pain relief has been administered. Now can we get her out of this wreckage, quickly.”
Kayli and Dave stood back to allow a member of the fire brigade access to the vehicle. The machinery started up, and the noise was deafening. Kayli moved around to the other side of the vehicle to keep a watchful eye on the victim’s reaction. She was sad to see there wasn’t any. That didn’t bode well, but on the other hand, the doctor had given her pain relief that had likely made her oblivious to what was going on around her.
It took a fireman with the Jaws of Life ten minutes to cut through two different parts of the vehicle. After the fireman retreated, his colleagues peeled back the metal and were able to extract the victim from the carnage. She was placed on a stretcher and swiftly transported up the embankment to the waiting chopper. Kayli and Dave followed the doctor and the paramedics. “We’ll join you at the hospital, Doctor. We’ll need a word with her as soon as her condition permits.”
“Very well. I have no idea when that is likely to be, due to the medication and her head injuries. I’d like to keep her sedated for as long as possible to assess her injuries further. She’ll probably go down to X-Ray the minute she arrives, and we’ll go from there.”
“I understand. There’s nothing we can do here anyway. Damn, I need her ID. Dave, can you run back and see if there’s a handbag in the car or some form of identification in the glove compartment? Failing that, note down her registration, and we’ll search for the information we need that way.”
Dave nodded and ran back down the slope to the car. He rejoined her a few minutes later, out of breath and carrying the woman’s small handbag, which revealed very little. “Hang on ... yes, here’s her driving licence tucked away in her purse.” He handed Kayli the tiny card.
“It’s a start. Let’s get a contact number and ring her next of kin.”
“I’ll arrange that with Donna now. Are you all right, boss?”
Kayli shook her head and glanced at him. “Fine. Why do you ask?”
“Just concerned, that’s all.”
“There’s nothing for you to be concerned about, Dave. I’m simply trying to figure out how the incident occurred.”
He smiled tautly and punched the number of the station into his phone. Kayli watched the medics complete the job of strapping the stretcher in the back of the chopper, then turned to observe the impact the woman’s car had made with the barrier. She tried to recall if there had ever been any other accidents on this stretch of road before. The answer was no—not that she could remember, anyway. Usually, if a section of road was dangerous enough to cause several accidents, there would be remnants of bouquets of flowers at the site. Kayli saw none on either side of the road, which only raised her suspicions more.
“Here we go. Donna worked her magic and found the woman’s phone number.”
“Great. Strange ... so she is local. Then she should know this road inside out, right?”
“You’d think. But that’s a hell of an assumption.”
“I know. I’m just trying to think outside the box. Okay, I need to ring her home number, see if there is anyone at the house. If not, we’ll have to ask Donna to dig a little deeper or drop by the woman’s address to question her neighbours.” She dialled the number.
A man’s sleepy voice answered the phone on the fourth ring; it was ten o’clock in the morning. “Hello?”
“Hi, sorry to disturb you, sir. Do you know a Carmen Drinkwater?”
“Yes, of course I know her. She’s my girlfriend. Who is this?”
“I’m DI Kayli Bright of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary. It is with regret that I have to inform you that your girlfriend was involved in a serious accident.”
“My God! Is she okay? How serious? She’s not ... dead, is she?”
“No, not dead. We’re at the scene now. Carmen is being airlifted to Bristol Royal Infirmary. Maybe you can join us there? We’re just going to head over there now.”
“Of course. Shit! How serious is it? She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?”
“We’re not sure yet, sir. We’ll know more once the medical staff have assessed her thoroughly at the hospital.”
“I’ll be right there. I’ll have to make arrangements for a member of my staff to open up for me. I run a bar in the city centre. After that I’ll come straight to the hospital. Where shall I meet you?”
“At the Accident and Emergency Department. Sorry, I should have asked, what’s your name, sir?”
“Lincoln James. I’ll be with you in half an hour, Inspector.”
“See you then, Mr. James.” Kayli hung up.
“How did he sound?”
“Upset. I woke him up. He’s a bar manager, hence him still being in bed, I suppose. He’s going to join us at the hospital. Talking of which, we should get a move on ourselves,” she said, shielding her eyes from the dirt as the chopper took off.
During the short trip to the hospital, Kayli’s mind was still on how the woman’s car had left the road. The impact must have been major if the barrier had failed to stop the vehicle. It was one of those mind-boggling, annoying scenarios that distracted her to the point she almost ran into a car at the traffic lights.
“Hey, are you sure you’re up to driving? I can take over. In fact, I’d rather do that if our aim is to get to the hospital in one piece, boss.”
“Sorry. My mind is firmly on the crash site. I promise you I’ll behave from now on.” She bared her teeth in an embarrassed smile.
“As long as that’s all it is,” Dave grumbled, turning his head sideways as he spoke.
“Let’s hear it, partner. If there’s something on your mind that I should be aware of, then spit it out.”
He shrugged. “Nope. Nothing that I can think of. I’m sitting here, minding my own business, as usual.”
“Smart arse. Give me a break, eh? Let’s concentrate on the job in hand and not what you perceive is going on in my head regarding my personal life.”
“Ah, at last. You’re finally admitting that there’s something going on at home then?”
“I said that we should concentrate on the job for now, Dave. When I feel like sharing, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I didn’t think we had any secrets. Guess I was wrong about that. I still ain’t comfortable with the amount of weight you’ve lost. Slate me all you like for caring, but that’s the truth.”
She placed a hand on his knee briefly before she pulled away from the lights. “I genuinely appreciate what you’re saying, Dave. There’s nothing wrong with my weight. I just don’t have much appetite at the moment, that’s all.”
“Have you seen the doctor? We’re on our way to the hospital. Maybe you should take a doc aside to get the low-down on what could be wrong with you, because something sure is.”
“Crap, you never give up, do you? You’re like a crocodile in a death roll. If you must know, I’m worried stupid about Mark. There. Don’t ask me to enlighten you on the subject as I’m liable to break down, and I don’t relish speaking to Carmen’s boyfriend in that state, okay?”
Dave bashed his thigh with his fist. “As soon as we leave the hospital, we need t
o have a chat about this situation, boss. It’s not healthy for you to be so pent up with worry just because your pig-headed boyfriend has taken up a role that is more dangerous than assembling sticks of dynamite on an assembly line.”
Kayli laughed, earning a scowl from her partner. “I appreciate you caring so much about my welfare, hon. Back to concentrating on the job in hand for now, right?”
“You win. I’ll keep my mouth shut, for the time being. You know you can talk to me at any time, right? I promise to listen and not judge. I shouldn’t have said what I did about Mark. I know he’d been out of work for a while and took the first decent job that came his way. My dilemma is that I’m the one who has to put up with you being a miserable cow all day—he doesn’t.”
Kayli swiftly turned to face him, her mouth gaping open in surprise.
“The road! Keep your eyes on the road!” he shouted, his eyes widening in fear.
“Stop dropping frigging statements like that and let me drive then. Bloody hell! Anyone would think I’ve been a mardy cow to be around lately. I haven’t, have I?”
“Do you mind if I answer that when you’re not driving? It might be safer, for both of us.”
“Seriously, Dave? Is that what you think, or are you just winding me up?”
He refused to answer until she’d pulled into the hospital car park a few minutes later. She found a space tucked away in the corner and swivelled in her seat to face him. “Answer me.”
“I was winding you up. See? I rest my case: you’re super sensitive, at least you have been over the past few weeks. Since Mark went off on his travels, shall we say.”
They exited the car and walked towards the main entrance of the huge building. “I had no idea I’d been so bad. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Nah, you haven’t really been that bad.” He held up his finger and forefinger, showing a little gap in between. “Just a soupçon.”
Kayli laughed. “Where the heck did that word come from?”
“I heard it on TV last night, promised myself I’d use it in a sentence today.”
“You challenge yourself to do things like that? And you think I have problems?”
They approached the young blonde woman with the friendly smile on reception, and Kayli flashed her ID. “We’re looking for the A&E department. That is where the air ambulance takes casualties, yes?”