Cruel Justice (DI Lorne Simpkins (Book one))

by Comley, Mel; Tirraoro, Tania

  "Jade, you promised me you wouldn't keep harping on about that. I'm going to hang up now before we get into a slanging match. It's obvious who your loyalties lie with. For your information I've tried ringing Tom, but he won't take my calls."

  "But —"

  "For once in your life, Jade, will you listen to me?" Lorne paused, waiting for her sister to retaliate but to her amazement the interruption never came. "Currently I'm dealing with the worst case I've ever had to deal with, so I'd be grateful, extremely grateful, if you'd back off and give me —" Before she had the chance to finish her sentence Jade hung up.

  "Shit, that's all I fucking need, a wounded sister." Despondent, she walked back into the kitchen, Jacques at her heels.

  They finished preparing dinner in silence and it wasn't until they were halfway through the meal that Jacques enquired about what he'd overheard.

  "Tell me to mind my business if you want, but can I ask what your sister meant? What happened last year? It upset you when she brought the subject up." Jacques reached across the breakfast bar and placed a hand over hers.

  She toyed with the idea of telling him but found it difficult divulging such a personal secret. After a couple of minutes silence Jacques spoke again.

  "Cherie, I'm so sorry. It was rude of me to ask."

  He looked sad and Lorne felt guilty. "No, Jacques, it's fine. I'll tell you, I'm just trying to search for the right words. I've fought hard to keep it hidden and it's difficult for me to just blurt it out," she said, staring at the half-eaten plate of food in front of her.

  "If it is too painful then don't tell me. But if you think I might be able to help in some way then please open up to me." He gently squeezed her hand.

  What did she have to lose? She thought, as she prepared to unburden her guilty secret to a man she couldn't bear to be around a few days before.

  "A little over a year ago … I had an abortion." She searched his face though tear-filled eyes for any kind of reaction. There was none. No sign of hate in his eyes and his smile was one of reassurance. He nodded for her to go on. "Tom doesn't know." Again she paused, waiting for a repulsed response, and again he waited patiently for her to continue.

  She swallowed noisily before continuing, this was proving to be harder than she imagined. "We had always agreed we were only going to have one child, but then Tom changed his mind. He went nuts when he saw a packet of contraceptive pills in my bag. He made me stop taking them and after a couple of months, wallop, I was up the duff."

  He raised a hand to stop her, querying her terminology.

  "Sorry, I fell pregnant. I was frantic, didn't know what to do. So I lied and told him I was having menstrual pains and the doctor thought I had an ovarian cyst. I told him I had to have an emergency operation and that the doctor insisted it would be dangerous for me to even consider having another child. I hated myself for lying to him but I was adamant I didn't want any more kids." Lorne again, avoided his eyes.

  "So you had the abortion, what happened next?"

  "You're gonna hate me for this part. Tom — in his infinite wisdom — had a secret vasectomy. I was astounded when he told me that as I'd been forced to have an emergency operation it was only fair he should do his part in preventing another dangerous pregnancy."

  "Ouch! So I guess you got the better end of the deal."

  "Only a man could think that." She let out a breath and said, "An abortion isn't exactly a stroll in the park, you know."

  "I know, I'm sorry to tease, cherie. How long was it before you returned to work?"

  He looked perplexed, and she knew exactly what he was getting at, if only Tom was half as smart.

  "I returned after a couple of day's bed-rest. I know it's usually about two weeks recovery after having such an operation, fortunately for me, Tom isn't that well-informed about woman's operations or maybe he's just not that interested."

  "You know something, cherie?"

  "What's that, Jacques?" Lorne raised a quizzical eyebrow.

  "The more I hear about this bloody husband of yours the more I dislike him. He gives a new meaning to the word selfish. Merde!"

  "I think you're being harsh there, Jacques. Having to go through a vasectomy could hardly be described as an act of selfishness, could it?"

  Jacques shrugged. "Point taken, I apologise."

  Chapter Forty

  Monday 11th October

  The gloomy weather mirrored Lorne's mood, she'd said goodbye to Jacques at the gate. At five to nine she pulled into the station car park. The rain had just started. Five minutes to spare, just enough time to get settled before Roberts introduces himself to the team.

  "Have any suspects been pulled in, yet?" Sean Roberts asked as she pushed through the swing doors to the incident room.

  A long silence welcomed her and six pair of eyes studied her, waiting for a reaction. A flush worked its way up her slim neck. What the hell is going on?

  Pete's cough broke through the tension-filled room. "Er … No. We haven't managed to bring anyone in yet, sir." He shifted awkwardly as his eyes met Lorne's.

  "Ah Inspector, a little late aren't we?" The chief asked, noting the time on his watch.

  What the fuck did he mean by that? He'd told her to be here at nine, according to her watch, and the large clock on the wall behind her new boss, it was three minutes to.

  "You told me to be here at nine, so here I am."

  "No, I distinctly remember telling you to be here at eight. I wasn't aware that Inspectors kept office hours of nine to five. We'll discuss this in my office later." He dismissed her as if she was something he'd stepped in. "You were saying, Pete?"

  Pete's awkwardness was plain to see as Lorne swept past everyone and into her office. He cleared his throat again and continued reviewing the case with the DCI.

  Lorne was seething, but she should've expected Sean to pull a cheap stunt like that. How dare he undermine me like that in front of my team? If his intentions are to try and get rid of me, he'll have a bloody fight on his hands. Bastard!

  On her way in, the desk sergeant had given her a jiffy envelope. Before opening it she pulled on a pair of gloves. She saw similarities to the others she'd received, the address was written in thick black marker pen, so she was under no illusion who the package was from. She rang Jacques straight away.

  "Hey, missing me already? It's only been an hour since I left," he teased, but she wasn't in the mood for laughing.

  "I was wondering if you could send one of your guys over to pick something up?" Her voice matched her sullen mood.

  "I'm assuming another package has arrived. Wouldn't you like to bring it over yourself? I'm sure I could find time for a coffee in my busy schedule."

  "I can't. The new boss wants to give me a bollocking for turning up late this morning. Can you make the necessary arrangements?" She hung up and sat down heavily in her chair.

  "The new chief wants to see you in his office right away, boss," Pete said from the doorway.

  Without saying a word to her partner she stormed past him and marched up the long grey corridor to the chief's office. A secretary she hadn't seen before gave her a practised smile and told her to take a seat. The secretary disappeared into Roberts' office and came out again ten minutes later, notebook in hand. "Chief Inspector Roberts will see you now, DI Simpkins."

  The taut back of Roberts' black leather chair greeted her. She stood in front of his desk while he talked on the phone, then his chair slowly rotated and his eyes locked onto hers. When she couldn't stand his glare any longer she walked over to the shelves of books in the arched alcove of his office but felt his eyes follow her every move.

  When he ended his call Lorne returned to stand in front of his desk. A smile reached his eyes and she shifted uncomfortably before him.

  The bastard isn't even going to ask me to sit down.

  "You're looking good after all these years, Lorne," he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

  Lorne didn't answer. She knew she looked good
after all these years, but then so did he. It didn't mean she still fancied him.

  "Not keen on returning the compliment I see." He picked up a pen from his desk and twiddled with it.

  "What did you want, sir?" She'd wasted enough time already waiting around for him to make time to see her.

  "I'd hoped our bitter feuding could remain in the past, but the look on your face tells me otherwise."

  "You've made it quite clear how you want our relationship to be. Undermining me this morning hardly shows me you're making an effort, does it? If you still have a problem with me let's thrash it out here and now. My team's a happy one and I'd like to keep it that way," she calmly replied.

  "Inspector, you've lost me. In what way did I undermine you?"

  "Return to work at nine on Monday, those were the final words you said to me on Thursday afternoon. And what do I find the minute I step through the door after my enforced weekend off? I find my weekly team meeting coming to a close and you reprimanding me, in front of my staff, for being late. What exactly did you hope to gain from that little display?"

  "I'm sure you must have misheard me, I definitely said eight. Anyway, that's beside the point. We have other pressing matters to attend to. From what I can gather talking to your team they seem to think you are well out of your depth with your current case."

  She found it hard to believe her staff would even insinuate such a thing — she knew Pete would jump on anyone saying a bad word against her. There again, after the traumatic week she'd just had nothing would surprise her anymore.

  "How dare you?"

  He gave her his best poker-face and said, "DS Childs tells me four murders have been committed and not a single person has been called in for questioning yet. Why is that, Inspector?"

  "Are you aware of how much work is involved in one murder case, let alone four? The amount of paperwork needed to sort through? As SOI I have to attend all the autopsies, they're at least four to five hours long depending how brutal the crimes are …" she reeled off before pausing to take a breath.

  "I see your temper is as fiery as ever, Lorne."

  "For your information, sir, we were just about to start bringing suspects in when I was ordered to take a few days off."

  "Convenient."

  "Convenient or not, it happens to be the truth, sir. What else did my team tell you?"

  "Um, let's see," he rotated his chair around 360 degrees to annoy her. "Ah yes, something about bringing a psychic woman on board. I hope they were pulling my leg with that idea."

  She gulped noisily and he smirked. "Actually they weren't. If it wasn't for Carol we wouldn't have found our last victim as quickly as we did," she snapped again.

  "Ah that's just it, Lorne, your last victim was still a victim. You weren't able to save her, were you?"

  "No, but —"

  "Don't use her again. Do you hear me?" His eyes widened, warning her not to defy him.

  "Childs also told me he suspected Oliver Greenaway killed his mother but you refused to bring him in. I might have misheard him when he said something about your women's intuition told you he wasn't responsible for his mother's death."

  You bastard Pete, wait till I get my hands on you. She fumed inwardly but then wondered if Roberts was trying to drive a wedge between her and her partner on purpose.

  Calmly she reassured him. "That's me just winding Pete up, he's a bit gullible. I always tell him it's women's intuition when my instinct tells me something relevant. Every copper works on instinct or common sense I think you blokes call it."

  "So why didn't you bring Oliver in for questioning?"

  "Simple — because he lives over two hundred miles away. And, he's not the type to go around killing his family off one by one. You are aware his aunt was the next victim, aren't you?" He nodded and motioned for her to continue. "Kim Charlton was sixteen, I couldn't see how there was a connection there when they lived so far apart. Finally, Sandy Crayford our last victim, had lived in this area all her life, I doubt very much if he's ever been in contact with her."

  "Call him," the chief said, shaking his head in disagreement.

  "Whatever you want. Do you want me to question him or would you like DS Childs to have the privilege." She hoped she'd disguised her frustration.

  "I'll do it, if that's all right with you?"

  "Fine by me, you'll be wasting your time, though."

  "We'll see. What about this taxi driver, Wacko, is it? Do you have any intention of bringing him in?"

  "We're waiting to see if his alibi checks out."

  "Bring him in and let Childs question him."

  "Okay and what do you want me to do?"

  "You can sit next door while both men are being questioned, and observe."

  "That's it?" she said, her frustration finally getting the better of her.

  "Do you have a problem with that, Inspector? You'll find I'm very much a hands-on type of chief, unlike my predecessor, who was willing to let things move along at a snail's pace. We'll achieve better results doing things my way, you'll see. Arrange for the two men to be picked up. I'll expect them here by lunchtime. Get the Cornwall boys to bring Oliver in."

  "I'll organise it right away." She turned and headed for the door.

  "And, Inspector, it'd be better in the long run if you didn't fight me. I intend staying around this time. I've missed the old place."

  Without saying another word she closed the door behind her.

  * * *

  "Pete, my office. Now!" She stormed through the swing doors and headed for her office.

  Lorne was staring out the window when he entered a few seconds behind her.

  "Yes, boss?"

  "Take a seat, partner," she said, still looking out the window.

  "Have I done something wrong, boss?"

  "I didn't know back-stabbing was in the Guide to Being a Good Copper handbook?" she snapped, her gaze fixed on a woman pushing a pram. God, she missed Charlie so much.

  "Now wait just a minute —"

  "If you're not happy being my partner, it wouldn't take me long to sign the necessary paperwork to ship you out. You only have to say the word."

  "Whoa! Where's all this coming from?" Pete's face reddened with anger.

  "Sean Roberts. I've just had a very interesting meeting with him. According to him you think I'm not up to the job."

  "Hey, I wasn't the one who strolled in late for work. Blame the Doc for that one."

  She turned and glared at him.

  "I wasn't late! I was told to come in at nine. Since when do I turn up for work halfway through the morning?"

  He shrugged. "Anyway, you weren't here, and he wanted filling in on the case. So —"

  "So you thought, while the cat's away—"

  "That's bollocks and you know it. If you've got a problem with Roberts don't go taking it out on me."

  "Oh my mistake, Pete. You know what, I thought I had a loyal partner, obviously I was mistaken."

  "In my defence, I only told him what he wanted to know about the case. I ain't said anything about you, but you carry on accusing me and I'll go down the hall and tell him how I think you're screwing your whole fucking life up!" He thrust his chair back and marched towards the door.

  Her nerves were in tatters. "Stop. Pete, wait. Sit down, please."

  Pete kicked the door and leant his forehead against it. Guilt wrapped around her for questioning his loyalty.

  They sat opposite and glared at each other. A few minutes later they'd both calmed down enough to hold a civilised conversation.

  "Are you going to tell me who this geezer is?"

  "Nope. You know I'd rather you make your own mind up about people," Lorne said, shaking her head.

  "Well to me he seems an okay kinda guy. But if he can cause this much aggro between us, then I suppose he's a force to be reckoned with." Pete ran a hand through his thinning hair.

  "He has an axe to grind with me from a few years back."

  She nodded. "Come on, tell
me."

  "I owe you that much, but don't spread it around." Then she told him about their colourful past.

  Pete gave a shrill whistle. "Guess we're both in for a bumpy ride, me being your partner and all."