Double Jeopardy (Hero Book 4)

by MA Comley

  ‘I’ll have you for assault, tosser cop.’

  ‘I’ve been called worse.’ Hero picked up the manky bar of soap from the sink. White clammed his mouth shut, but Hero poked a finger in the young man’s eye, and as he opened his mouth to cry out in pain, Hero shoved the soap in White’s mouth. Then he laughed profusely. He’d often been tempted to do it in the past with other suspects, but the opportunity had never arisen. He wasn’t about to let the chance slip by this time.

  White began to retch and tried to spit out the soap, but Hero held his hand over the man’s mouth for a second or two longer until he saw his eyes widen in fear and heard the man gagging on the soap still sitting inside his mouth. Finally, Hero placed White’s head over the toilet and watched him spit out the foaming bar, followed by half the contents of his stomach.

  ‘Everything all right, sir?’ Julie asked, standing in the doorway, looking amused.

  ‘I think we’ve succeeded in washing the filth out of this fella’s mouth now. Found anything?’

  Julie waved an A5 spiral-bound notebook at him. ‘Yep, enough incriminating evidence to throw the book at him, sir.’

  ‘That’s great. Well done, Sergeant.’

  ‘I also took a photo from the living room window, which has an even better view of Spalding Enterprise.’

  ‘Excellent. Looks like we’ve got you by the short and curlies, White. Anything you want to say?’

  Instead of the verbal diarrhoea that had tumbled out of his mouth freely moments earlier, White remained tight-lipped, although his shoulders sank in dejection.

  Hero smiled at his partner. ‘I guess not. Hopefully, he’ll be more talkative down at the station.’

  ‘Don’t bank on it,’ White mumbled.

  Hero grabbed his ear. ‘If you know what’s good for you, you’ll tell us everything you know, or I’ll do everything in my power to get you banged up for the next thirty years, including laying a charge of assaulting a police officer on you.’

  ‘He didn’t?’ Julie asked, mortified.

  ‘No, I didn’t,’ White hurriedly dismissed the accusation.

  Hero pointed at his forehead and winked at Julie. ‘Look, he head-butted me.’

  ‘That’s boll …’ White sighed, aware of what could happen to him if he swore again.

  Hero laughed. ‘I think he’s learnt his lesson now. Right, back to the station.’

  Hero left White with the desk sergeant for half an hour or so. He wanted the young man to experience what it was like to be in a cell before he started questioning him. Hero had a feeling all the fight had been knocked out of White when he had overpowered him and shoved the soap in his mouth. Maybe I should pass that snippet of information on to MI5. It’ll make an excellent torture technique.

  Julie joined Hero and White in the interview room, where as soon as the tape began to run, he admitted his part in the murder of Ross Spalding. If anything, the man was full of remorse. Hero sensed he’d only admitted it because he’d been caught and had no other option open to him.

  ‘Why? Why kill the man who had bent over backwards for you and given you a job?’

  ‘He ripped me off.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I invented something that he went on to make millions from.’

  ‘That was the nature of his business, wasn’t it? He must have paid you for the design, right?’

  ‘A measly grand. That’s all I was worth.’

  ‘On top of your healthy salary, I should imagine.’

  ‘Yeah, but he and his company earnt millions from my prototype. I wanted so much more than that.’

  ‘Ah, I get it. You wanted what Ross Spalding had strived fifteen years to achieve. Is that it?’

  ‘Yes. I didn’t want to be an office boy designer for the rest of my life,’ White admitted, his focus firmly on his hands wringing together on the table.

  ‘That’s the trouble with today’s generation – you want the benefits without putting in the hours of hard work, and when you find that success exceeds your grasp, you set out to punish those who have it all.’

  White said nothing in his defence.

  ‘Okay, that explains Ross’s death. What about Miranda Jackson? Why did you instruct Henley to kill her?’

  ‘I didn’t. You have to believe me.’

  ‘Why should I?’

  ‘Because it’s the truth. It was Rob’s idea. Once he and Murray had transferred Ross’s car to Scotland and found how easy it was to alter the chassis numbers and sell it on, they got greedy. They saw the value of the cars sitting in the company’s garage when they abducted Ross. They decided they could make hundreds of thousands by grabbing the cars.’

  ‘That just doesn’t make sense. You’re telling me they killed an innocent woman in cold blood just to steal her car?’

  ‘Yes, you have to believe me. I had nothing to do with any of what happened after Ross’s death. When Henley reported back to me and told me how he’d murdered Ross, it sickened me. I tried to ditch him – both of them – but they had me by the balls. They turned the tables on me and ordered me to hand over the addresses of the other board members.’

  Hero flipped open the notebook. ‘And all those addresses were in here. When and where did you obtain these addresses?’

  ‘I don’t know. When I worked at Spalding Enterprise.’

  ‘Why?’

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I snuck into the secretary’s office one day, thought it would be a bright idea at the time. I didn’t have a clue whether, or if, the information would be useful. I just wanted it to hand.’

  Hero sighed at the man’s warped excuse. ‘You’re unbelievable. One thing is still puzzling me.’

  ‘I’ve told you everything I know, I swear.’

  ‘How did you know Henley and Murray?’

  ‘I’ve known Lee and Graham Murray for years. Lee introduced me to Henley when he found out how dissatisfied I was at losing my job. He said he knew a way of getting back at Ross, and Henley was the man who could pay him back for treating me like shit. Sorry, for swearing.’

  Hero shook his head in disgust. ‘How did you lose your job?’

  ‘I resigned. Couldn’t bear to see Ross sitting in his large office, smiling smugly at me every time he noticed me staring at him.’

  ‘Have you had a job since?’

  His head dropped again. ‘Nope. I’ve been living off the meagre inheritance my dad left me after he died a few years ago.’

  ‘So, you telling me your old man is a solicitor was yet another bare-faced lie then?’

  ‘Not exactly. He was when he was alive. He died in a car accident.’

  ‘He would have been so proud of you, not. You’re one screwed-up kid.’

  ‘I ain’t a kid. I’m twenty-five.’

  ‘Going on seventeen. You repulse me. You’re to be pitied, lad. I’ve heard enough. Let’s see what a jury makes of you. I can tell you this – if they’re half as savvy as me, they’ll see right through you and your preposterous excuses. You’re nothing but one of life’s wastrels. If you had the brains to develop something that earnt Ross Spalding millions, then that should have spurred you on to prove Spalding wrong, to have shown him that you were good enough to make it on your own. Instead, you stripped him of his successful life because of your petty jealousy and greed. Chuck him back in a cell where he belongs, Sergeant,’ Hero ordered, getting to his feet. ‘Wait – one more piece of the puzzle we haven’t covered yet. The fire?’

  White placed his head in his hands, admitting his guilt. ‘It wasn’t my decision. Henley forced the address out of me and said killing Ross hadn’t satisfied him enough. He wanted more. He and Lee Murray set the fire. Nothing to do with me. He did it out of spite.’

  ‘But you still supplied the address, right?’

  White nodded, refusing to make eye contact with Hero.

  ‘You bastard,’ he said before leaving the room.

  He began to climb the stairs to the incident room but halted when he heard
a commotion kicking off in the reception area. The door opened, and Jason and Lance stood there with a young black man struggling to break free between them. Jason looked up and saw Hero. ‘Lee Murray, gov. He might be full of it right now, but when we rushed into the warehouse, we found him cowering behind boxes.’

  Hero laughed. ‘That figures. Chuck him in a cell. I’ll question him in a few hours.’

  Epilogue

  The team left the station at six that evening and went straight to the pub to celebrate solving the case – everyone except Hero. He gave Julie twenty pounds for a round of drinks and excused himself. He rushed to the hospital to see how his folks were getting on. He was surprised to see Fay at his mother’s bedside when he arrived. ‘Hey, where are the kids?’

  ‘My mum’s looking after them. I was desperate to come and see how your mum and dad were doing. You don’t mind, do you?’

  Hero hugged her. ‘Of course not. I’m glad you’re here.’ He kissed his sister then his mother before flopping into the chair. ‘It’s been a long day, but the case is finally over, and the culprits are sitting in a cell.’

  ‘That’s fantastic news, son. You must be thrilled,’ his mother said, beaming with pride.

  Cara and Fay both kissed him again, delighted to hear the news.

  After he’d asked after his mother’s health, the three women demanded to know how he’d caught the criminals. Even though he was bone-tired, he relayed the events of the last few days. He was just getting to the end of his story when a nurse rushed up to them.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt, but you’re wanted in ICU, all of you,’ the nurse said, her eyes resting on Hero’s mother.

  ‘Even me?’ Hero’s mother asked, placing a hand over her chest.

  ‘Yes, we’ll get you a wheelchair. Won’t be a moment.’

  Within seconds, a porter appeared with a wheelchair. Hero helped the porter get his mother out of bed and into the chair. Hero dismissed the porter, and together, the four members of the family made their way to the lift up to the ICU.

  Hero felt buoyant about the trip. He whispered to his wife, ‘Fingers crossed that Dad has come out of his coma.’

  His sister obviously heard what he’d said, because she smiled and crossed her fingers. The lift opened, and Hero pushed the wheelchair along the hallway.

  ‘It’ll be lovely to see your father after all this time. I’ve missed him so much,’ his mother said in a hushed voice.

  They all slathered their hands in the protective gel before entering the ward. Then any joyful thoughts Hero had quickly dispersed when he saw the nursing staff standing around his father’s bed. Hero coughed, and the doctor turned and walked towards them.

  ‘Hello there. I thought you would all want to be here.’

  ‘For what, doc? Is he all right?’ Hero asked, his voice strained with emotion.

  ‘I’m sorry, no. His body is shutting down, his organs are failing, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Believe me, we’ve tried our best.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ his mother asked, reaching for Cara’s hand.

  ‘We feel it would be best to turn off the ventilator and let him slip away peacefully.’

  Fay clung to Hero’s arm. He stared at his sister and mother. Both of them had large tears streaming from their eyes. A lump formed in Hero’s throat. He swallowed hard before he found his voice again.

  ‘Will he make it without the ventilator? Is there a chance that will happen?’ he asked, not really sure what to say next. All he knew was that he couldn’t just stand there and say nothing.

  The doctor shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, no. If you’re in agreement, I’ll need someone to sign the consent form for me.’

  ‘And if we refuse?’ Hero asked angrily.

  ‘Hero, please don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Look at him,’ his mother pleaded. ‘That’s not my husband … or your father. He’s no longer with us. Let him go, lad. For his sake.’

  ‘She’s right, Hero. We should stand back and let him go,’ Cara agreed.

  Hero turned to face Fay, tears misting his vision. His darling wife nodded as tears welled up in her eyes and dripped onto her cheeks. ‘It’s time, love. Let him go.’

  Let him go … all three of them have said the same. He had no words. Hero nodded to the doctor, who asked a nearby nurse to retrieve the form to sign. ‘Do you want me to sign it, Mum?’

  ‘Would you, dear? I don’t think I could.’ His mother’s chin wobbled as she spoke.

  Hero looked at the doctor to get his approval. The doctor nodded his acceptance.

  Hero’s hand shook as he added his signature to the form. The doctor switched off the ventilator and asked his team to move away from the bed.

  Cara, Fay, Hero and his mother moved closer to the bed. The four of them held hands as his mother said, ‘Goodbye, my love. Thank you for the laughter and the love you’ve bestowed upon this family. We will miss you dearly.’

  Then they watched in stunned silence as his father slipped away …

  THE END

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  Readers who enjoyed Double Jeopardy will also enjoy

  In The Shadows by Tara Lyons

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  Acknowledgments

  Thank you as always to my rock, Jean, I’d be lost without you in my life.

  Special thanks as always go to my talented editor Stefanie Spangler Buswell and to Karri Klawiter for her superb cover design expertise.

  My heartfelt thanks go to my wonderful proofreader Joseph for spotting all the lingering nits.

  A special shout out for all the staff at Bloodhound Books for their input in publishing this book.

  And finally, to all the wonderful Bloggers and Facebook groups for their never-ending support of my work.

  Have you read?

  MA Comley’s thrilling In Plain Sight

  Available on all major retailers