Remorseless: A British Crime Thriller (Doc Powers & D.I. Carver Investigate #1)

by Will Patching

  Carver interrupted him, raising his own voice to match Doc’s. ‘When I told them she and her kid were staying at your place, it undermined the argument somewhat... Sorry.’

  ‘Oh great! They think my professionalism and integrity are at that low an ebb, do they? For Christ’s sake!’ He was livid. How dare they?

  ‘Relax. It was a fair consideration... Especially as you refuse to address them directly. There were some doubts about how fit you were, to cope. They were concerned. Maybe I should’ve told you.’ He apologised again. ‘Sorry Doc. Really.’

  Doc sat in silence, trying to calm himself. In a way he could see it. He did not like it, but he understood their mentality. This merely confirmed his decision to liaise through Carver as not only justified, but essential for his own peace of mind.

  Carver broke into his thoughts. ‘Obviously I’ve been telling them everything you say, even the stuff I’m not so sure about. I think there’s no doubt you’ve proved you’re back, fully capable. Okay?’

  He stopped the car outside Doc’s house. It was almost two in the morning.

  ‘You had doubts too, Jack?’ His voice was soft, his expression hopeful that at least this man had faith in him. ‘Yet you supported me in the first place?’

  ‘You keep thinking about Natalie. I see it in your eyes. On top of that, you opted out of the profiler role a few years back due to stress... But I never doubted you could do it, that’s why I asked for you back on this case. I was just concerned to see how you would handle it. And you’re doing good Doc.’ He reached across and opened the passenger door. ‘Now piss off out of my car and go and see that young beauty you’ve got yourself. I’m knackered and I’m up for an eight o’clock meeting with the PTBs.’

  ***

  Judy heard the front door close and waited a few minutes for Doc to appear. He did not, so she gently disentangled herself from Josh, careful not to disturb her son’s slumber. She crept out to the landing and stood, horrified. Colin was sitting on the hall floor, his back against the front door, sobbing and calling out in a hoarse whisper, ‘Please leave me... Please leave me!’

  He was staring up the stairs and, for a devastating microsecond, she thought he was looking at her, talking to her. Her heart thundered into her throat.

  Then Doc dropped his head to his knees, rubbed his eyes so hard she thought he would damage himself. His voice moaned the words, ‘Natalie!’ and ‘No!’ over and over.

  Judy was relieved. And then angry with herself at the selfish thought. She went to him, sinking to her knees and hugging him in one fluid motion.

  He was trembling, his life-force fluttering, but the moans died away as she clasped him, cooing in his ear, ‘It’s okay Colin. I’m here. It’s Judy. I’m here for you.’ She stroked his hair and held him to her breast, the twirling emotions in there driving her heart rate to such a pace she thought it might burst. It was as though his troubled soul was transferring its pain, nullifying it, converting it to love during their tender embrace. She had never felt anything this intense for a man before, it was as powerful as her love for Josh though different – something she thought impossible – and the sensation made her lightheaded.

  Doc raised his head and she saw once more the hell of his loss etched on his features, his eyes dull and hollow.

  He croaked, ‘I’m sorry sweetheart. I’ve had a really shitty day. It’s getting on top of me...’

  ‘Come.’ She stood and tugged his hands. ‘I’ll get us some wine, you go upstairs and I’ll join you.’

  He nodded, a vague action, but made no effort to stand.

  ‘Colin. Please. It’s not very comfy here. Let’s go and lie down. Okay?’ There was nothing more in her mind than trying to help him relax, to unwind from his day. To expunge the vivid hallucinations.

  He hauled himself up, nodded more firmly this time, and traipsed up the stairs.

  Judy went to the kitchen and while she organised the wine and some glasses she thought of Josh, and how he had learnt to walk. His determined little face filled with frustration as she held his hands and he tottered, always falling. Sometimes he gave up and cried. Other times he laughed and giggled with her at the inanity of his attempts.

  Baby steps. That was what did it in the end. He took his first little steps... and that was what she needed to do with Colin. Support him, be with him when he cried, laugh with him when she could.

  She realised she had been standing motionless, the corkscrew in one hand, the wine in the other as visions of her son and her man dominated her thoughts.

  But I am not going to be Colin’s mother figure!

  She stabbed the cork and wrestled with it until it came free with a pop that she found unusually satisfying.

  Strange she thought that now, as she had wondered at first whether he might subconsciously be some sort of surrogate father for her.

  Far from it.

  Glasses and bottle in hand she went up to her would-be lover.

  He had dropped his jacket to the floor, kicked off his shoes and loosened his tie. He was on the bed, one arm covering his eyes, his breathing suggesting she was too late.

  ‘Damn.’ She placed the bottle and glasses on the bedside table, turned off the light and eased herself onto the bed beside him. In a few moments her eyes adjusted, and she thought the moon, shining through the open curtains, bathed the room in a romantic light. Shame. Tonight was definitely not the night. She moved closer, Doc stirred.

  ‘Hi.’ His arm came off his eyes and wrapped itself round her shoulders. She laid her head on his padded breast. It felt so right. She heard his voice echo in his chest as he said, ‘Sorry. It has been a long day’

  ‘Tell me.’

  So he did, starting with his meeting with Henley. She listened, rarely interrupting, letting him meander through his day, hoping it would help. When he started explaining his new theory on Leech, the possibility that he was framed, she sat up and said, ‘I don’t know about you but I need that drink.’ She poured as Colin slid up the bed, propping his head and shoulders against the headboard.

  In the half-light Judy decided his eyes no longer appeared hollow...but sexy. She felt warmth in her lower belly, amazed that she could feel that way while discussing Leech. She brought herself back to the matter in hand.

  ‘So Shaun Leech thought he wasn’t in danger. Because he knew his brother was no killer. But he was wrong wasn’t he?’

  ‘It gets worse I’m afraid.’ He told her about the Judge, sparing no details, explaining AEA. ‘Oxygen deprivation is very common among S and M practitioners, gays and fetishists of all kinds.’

  The Judge! How could he? And here she was discussing kinky sex on her man’s bed. She almost laughed aloud, but Colin’s sombre mood and his obvious pain from the loss of his friend strangled it before it could form in her throat.

  Instead she said, ‘I don’t believe it!’ He seemed puzzled at her comment. ‘No. I mean, I believe the kinky mob get into stuff like this... But I just don’t believe it of the Judge. I didn’t know him well, but...’ She ran out of words.

  ‘I don’t either. I’ve asked Jack Carver to check the surveillance tapes to see if either of the Leech brothers was in the area at the time. I don’t know if he’ll swing it though. The powers that be may decide to take it at face value.’ He slurped some wine, then poured more for them both.

  ‘That’s terrible! Budgets again?’

  ‘It’s often the way... Anyway, I was expecting to get home around midnight, then we got called to Shaun Leech’s home.’ He described what he had seen, explained about Suzie Leech and the boy.

  ‘And Peter Leech definitely did this?’ It was a rhetorical question. She was visualising the green-eyed beast, feeling his presence again, suffocating from his malevolent magnetism. ‘He is evil. How could we all be fooled by him?’

  ‘The Judge would never have admitted it, but it happens far more regularly than the media realise. Only a few instances ever hit the headlines, yet recidivism abounds. It’s the syst
em. All we can do is try our best to improve the odds. Make things better... In memory of the Judge, may he rest in peace.’ They clinked glasses and sipped their wine.

  ‘He lost his wife to cancer, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, almost ten years ago. He was stoic. Strode through it. A stiff upper lip concreted on his face!’ They chuckled. Then Doc quietened, thoughtful. ‘Not like me.’

  ‘Cancer’s different Colin. You usually know what’s coming. Can prepare yourself for it... Very different.’

  ‘To my situation? You’re right I s’pose. Such a wise head on those young shoulders.’

  He finished his wine, poured himself more, her glass still full from last time.

  ‘I’m not that young any more. And I’m not that wise.’ Was he worrying about the age gap again? She opened her mouth to ask, but he spoke first, and what he said left her chin frozen where it was.

  ‘It was John who was attacked in his home. He’s in hospital. In a coma. Sorry Judy. I didn’t know how to tell you. I needed to unwind a little first.’ He was reading her face, searching for something.

  She was sure all he could see was shock. No feelings for the man. Confusion certainly.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘It seems Leech went to his home, assaulted him, bound and gagged him and left him, seemingly not too concerned if he died.’

  The compassionate Judy, the loving side of her, was appalled for John, experienced a tinge of horror at his plight, the terror he undoubtedly had felt. Sorrow too for his current comatose state.

  The wronged Judy, the spiteful, vindictive one, the spurned wife who had socked her ex-husband and knocked him to the ground, whispered to her: He deserves it.

  She did not want to inspect the thought any further. And then she heard her comment at the hospital, remembered hissing at him, I wish you were dead. Was that the very last thing she had said to him?

  She blurted out, ‘How bad is it?’ Stupid question. A coma. How much worse can it get?

  Doc put his arm round her shoulder, touched his head to hers. ‘His heart shows some signs of damage. It’s touch and go whether he’ll survive.’

  ‘Josh! Oh Lord! What will I tell him?’ The poor mite. He still loved his father.

  ‘You want my advice?’ He gave it anyway. ‘Tell him nothing yet. See how things progress.’

  ‘You mean see if John lives or dies?’ Her heart lodged in her throat again.

  Colin nodded. ‘He thinks his dad is away. Very busy. If John comes through in the next few days, then no problem. Why worry the boy?’

  She lay back, stared at the ceiling. She thought how strange it was that colours faded to grey in the half light. Like her love for John. Faded to grey before it disappeared altogether.

  ‘You’re right. I’ll say nothing. See how John is by the weekend. I’ll call the hospital tomorrow, find out how he’s doing.’

  Colin rolled onto his side, his face looming over hers, and she thought it was an inappropriate moment for a kiss. She was right. She did not get one.

  ‘Did you know he was using cocaine? Large quantities too.’

  ‘Are you serious? My John? Impossible! He detested the drug users in his business.’

  ‘It was in his bloodstream. It’s probably why his heart is dodgy... The police found a big stash in his home.’

  ‘No!’ An explanation occurred to her. ‘You say Leech went to his home?’ The full implications would strike her later, but right now she couldn’t believe John used drugs. ‘Leech took it there! Planted it. Perhaps he wanted to ruin John’s reputation too, like the Judge.’

  ‘Firstly, there is no reason for Leech to want to harm John’s reputation. I can’t see him having any motive for framing John.’

  She chewed on that. Had to admit it was true.

  ‘And secondly?’

  ‘Jack Carver said there was physical evidence in his nostrils.’

  ‘It could’ve still been planted! Leech probably forced him to take it.’

  ‘Judy... The doctors found long term damage to the tissue. Rotting membranes. Erosion of the septum. The nasal cartilage.’

  ‘Good grief... How long?’ Was he a junkie when he lived with her? She had been unaware of his infidelity until she caught him with his pants round his ankles, but this?

  Was she really so naïve?

  ‘Several years in all probability. Certainly while you were still together.’

  ‘Jesus!’ She sat up, glass held out. ‘I need another drink.’

  He picked up the empty bottle. ‘I’ll get another.’

  He left her to her reminiscences, trying to fit John’s behaviours into what little she knew of cocaine addiction. It began to make sense... He had often complained of hay fever. Sniffles. Watering eyes. Nose rubbing. It had come on over the last few years they were together, not long after Josh had been born... He blamed the pollen in the summer, the polluted city air in the winter.

  The bastard!

  It was another little stab to her heart. He really was an unfit parent. There was no way she was going to put off the court case just because he was in hospital.

  Sod him. She hoped he didn’t recover until after the court decided Josh needed protection from him. She would call Sarah and tell her about the cocaine first thing.

  Colin returned with the wine, refreshed their glasses and moved close in to her. She rested her head on his chest again. He was so comfortable to lie on. A padded quilt of a man, not unyielding and muscular like John had been when they were first together.

  ‘Why would Leech attack John?’ She was puzzled, and though she knew Leech was violent and out of control she could not understand how John had become involved in all this.

  Colin’s arm folded round her again, the reassuring gesture welcome. It was as if he naturally knew how much women like to be held, to feel safe in a man’s arms.

  ‘I think he went to John’s home looking for you. Perhaps he thought you were still married.’

  She started. Of course! She had told Leech she was married when he had come up with the ludicrous notion of meeting her if he was paroled. Having given Colin a sanitised version of her meeting, preferring to keep that little conversation to herself, she decided not to enlighten him now.

  ‘Although we separated a couple of years ago John contested things at first, slowed everything down, told me to see sense! I said I had, which was why I was divorcing him.’ She giggled. ‘The decree nisi only came through in January. We’ve been officially divorced only six months. Wherever Leech got his information, it was obviously out of date.’

  ‘That would explain it. Did you ever use drugs?’

  The question would have knocked her down if she had not already been lying prone. She jerked up, slopping wine on his shirt as she did so.

  ‘Do I strike you as a bloody dope-head, or coke-nose or whatever you want to call it?’ She could feel her cheeks radiating heat, the red warning flashes glowing in the dim light.

  ‘No... No! Of course not. It’s just that, since you knew him for what, twelve years? It’s possible you – ’

  ‘Never! I didn’t even use weed at uni! Not one drag, not even a puff, let alone inhaling. As for cocaine, I’ve never seen the stuff except on films.’ She had met many junkies in her work though, street people who had shaped her view of what a drug abuser was like, none of them in the slightest bit similar to John. None of them using in her presence either.

  ‘Sorry – time out!’ He sipped his wine, brushing at the stain on his shirt. He tutted, sat up, pulled it off, dried his chest with it, and then tossed it to the floor. ‘I’ll sort that tomorrow.’ Then he held her shoulders and gave her a trust-me-I’m-a-doctor look. ‘Sorry I asked. It’s just, sometimes, because I’m so comfortable with you I forget we’ve only really known each other six weeks.’

  Six weeks! Is that all? She was mollified, her nostrils no longer flaring spasmodically. He was right.

  She leaned forward, touched her lips to his nose and said, ‘You kno
w, for such an old man, you have a remarkably wise head on those shoulders!’ They laughed at her hijacking his remark about her, the tense moment passed. ‘I feel like that too... the comfortable thing. It’s like we’re soul mates.’

  ‘Yes.’ His eyes seemed to shutter, like the high speed movement in a camera lens at the moment a photograph was taken. Was he thinking of her? Of Natalie?

  She wanted to kiss him, full on. Instead she pushed him back down, lay her head on the pillow of his chest, and said, ‘Try to get some sleep. G’night my love.’

  ***

  Judy woke soon after dawn, the strong sunlight beaming through the open curtains making her eyelids seem pink before she opened them. She glanced at the clock. Ten past six. Her mouth was wine furred and she felt grubby, rumpled and sweaty from sleeping fully clothed. She gave Doc a soft kiss on the lips, not disturbing him, wrinkling her nose at his booze-breath, convinced her own was worse. She went to Josh’s room to check he was well before changing into her running kit. She brushed her teeth and then let herself out into the cool fresh air of pre-rush hour London.

  She pounded the streets, found a park and jogged through trees, almost losing herself but getting directions from another early riser to make sure she was heading the right way home.

  Home? Not my home really, she thought. Not yet, said a little voice. She ignored it and stretched her legs into a sprint. This afternoon she was due in court and she needed to call Sarah’s office to leave a message. Let her know about John’s Class A substance abuse to guarantee the verdict. The medical evidence of long term addiction would be the clincher. She wanted to hammer John today. He deserved it.

  Her thoughts turned to Leech. She wondered what he had done to John... And why was she still so reluctant to tell Colin about Leech’s proposal?

  Was she just protecting him? Colin was plenty worried already. Before he had nodded off he mentioned the probability of a decoy being used in her home, if she agreed. She would call DI Carver and leave him a message too. It was a brilliant idea. Let the psycho come to her and be met instead by the UK version of a SWAT team of armed bobbies.