Now You See Her

by Paul J. Teague

  Cory didn't know what to say.

  Bianca started to walk across the road.

  ‘I'll hang out at a discreet distance. I'll be over here when you need me.’

  Cory felt his face reddening. Damn, he'd forgotten to call Nadia to explain why Louise had picked up the phone earlier.

  ‘Hi, Louise, ready to clock in for another day?’

  ‘Yes, I went back home and got a bit more sleep after I left your place this morning. Where's Bianca gone off to? And did you call Nadia yet?’

  ‘Bianca thinks there's something romantic going on. And no, I haven't called Nadia yet.’

  She changed the subject.

  ‘I hear on the grapevine that Chief Tarrant is pissed. He stormed into the office ten minutes ago, yelling at everybody in his path. That's why I'm sitting out here. There's no way I'm starting my shift early—I'm going in at the last possible moment to give him time to cool off. What did you do, run over his toes with your car?’

  Cory laughed.

  ‘Not quite. He might have been a little less angry with me if I had done that. Let's just say I pushed him a bit hard for information about the cases. I'm not his best friend at the moment.’

  ‘I took a drive out to Shallow Falls after I'd had my morning nap. I went as an interested citizen rather than in an official capacity. I hope you don't mind?’

  ‘No, I just wanted a second opinion,’ Cory replied. ‘Did you see anything out there?’

  ‘I think you're right. I found two campfires out there. They looked fresh to me and they'd been covered up properly. They weren't easy to find.’

  ‘You think there's someone out there?’ Cory asked.

  ‘It could just be campers or a drifter. But bearing in mind what happened to Imogen Franklin last night, and with Poppy still missing, I think we need to check out who it is. Once Chief Tarrant calms down, I'll suggest it to him. Or I might go straight to Deputy Cabera if the chief’s still like a bear with a sore head when I go in there.’

  ‘I appreciate it, Louise,’ Cory said. ‘I'd never forgive myself if we'd spotted something which might help to find Poppy and didn’t follow it up. Did you have anything to do with Xander Griffen's arrest?’

  She looked over towards the bank, distracted by something, then returned her attention to Cory.

  ‘I saw him being processed, but I didn't go to the house. I don't think I've ever seen a man so scared; most of the idiots we get in the station look cocky and arrogant. I wouldn't have put Xander down as a criminal mastermind. Why do you ask?’

  ‘I think he needs help from social services. Can the police get that in motion? Surely you can refer him? He certainly needs it, if you ask me.’

  Cory could see that she was distracted, but whatever it was she was looking at was behind him. He didn't wish to appear rude and turn around to look.

  ‘I heard that from my colleagues,’ she said. ‘His place looks and smells like a pigsty, apparently. I'll have to ask around in the office—I haven't been serving long enough to have dealt with a case like his yet. But sure, I'll check for you.

  She frowned and stared over his shoulder. ‘What the hell is going on over there? That's Bianca, isn't it?’

  Cory had suddenly become aware of raised voices across the street. He shuffled around so that he could take a proper look at what was going on.

  Bianca was across the road, outside the bank. Standing right in front of her, his hands clenched into fists and his face fired by fury, was Dean Tarrant. He was shouting into her face, and she was trying to give back as good as she was getting, but she was fighting a losing battle.

  Cory shot up off the bench.

  ‘That little shit,’ he cursed.

  He stormed across the square and began to cross the road, focusing on Dean and Bianca, intent on getting there before too much damage was caused. Instead, he walked directly out into the path of a car that was approaching in the opposite direction. The last thing he recalled before the impact was the sound of Bianca calling Dean Tarrant a lying bastard.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Cory felt the impact of the fender against his legs before he was pitched across the hood. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, looking up at a sea of faces.

  The first person he saw was Ida Maddison. Where was he? A thudding sensation filled his head.

  ‘Cory, are you all right? Stay still a moment—we've sent for an ambulance.’

  Above the hubbub of concerned and gossiping voices, Cory picked out Louise. She was frantic with worry; he could make that out above everything else.

  A horn sounded along the main street and somebody shouted impatiently at the driver.

  ‘Can't you see there's been an accident here, you idiot? Pipe down while we help the man.’

  In spite of the inevitable chaos that the incident had caused, Cory knew he was okay and that it was a lot of fuss about nothing. Shallow Falls cars were restricted to twenty miles per hour in that zone, so it had come as more of a shock to Cory than anything else. The moment he'd felt the fender, he realized what a stupid thing he'd done and all but threw himself onto the hood to avoid any serious damage to his legs. Like a stuntman from Starsky and Hutch, he’d rolled across the hood and onto the road at the side of the vehicle.

  Granted, he'd whacked his head on the side of the car as he fell to the ground, but metal was a better option than asphalt, and he managed to break his fall before receiving a nasty blow to the head. All in all, it rated higher on the embarrassment scale than the pain threshold.

  ‘How are you, Cory? Have you broken anything?’

  Louise was kneeling at his side, with the look that she might give a fallen soldier.

  ‘I think I've shattered my dignity,’ Cory began, forcing out a smile.

  He wriggled his toes and moved his fingers, the amateur's quick test to confirm sentience and mobility. He had both.

  ‘Doctor Parsons is here now,’ somebody shouted.

  A gray-haired man pushed through the crowd, an old leather doctor’s bag in his hand.

  Cory wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Doctor Parsons ran through the obligatory checks and confirmed very quickly what Cory had known all along: his body and mind were still very much intact. It was just his pride that might need to be rushed to the ER for urgent cardio attention.

  ‘You should stop by the hospital and get checked for a concussion, but I'd say you're good to go,’ the doctor announced.

  ‘How about you get your ass out of the road,’ the horn-blowing motorist yelled, having seen that it was now socially acceptable to express impatience once again.

  Louise offered Cory a hand and he took it, getting back to his feet cautiously.

  ‘Yeah, and about time, too,’ the angry driver shouted as he pulled past the car that had struck Cory and carried on with his journey.

  ‘Bianca…’ Cory said, remembering why he'd been in such a rush in the first place.

  ‘Steady,’ Louise warned. ‘Don't go rushing off before you've taken a few moments.’

  ‘I'm fine,’ Cory insisted. ‘Bianca needs my help.’

  ‘Hadn't we better exchange insurance details or something?’ the driver of the car asked. Cory noticed how drawn her face looked; he imagined he'd given her quite a fright.

  ‘Hey, I'm so sorry about running out in front of your car,’ he began. ‘It was entirely my fault, I accept full responsibility.’

  The driver looked relieved.

  ‘Is there any damage to the car?’ Cory asked, checking over the vehicle. He looked up the main street, but could no longer see Bianca.

  ‘Nothing that I can see,’ the driver said, looking to Louise for official confirmation.

  ‘I'm happy to let this drop, Louise—if that's all above board?’ Cory asked.

  ‘Are you happy with that?’ she asked the driver.

  The driver of the car nodded.

  Louise took out her notepad.

  ‘I'll take your details before you continue
your journey, but I think we're all good here.’

  ‘I'm going to check on Bianca while you're doing that,’ Cory said, ‘I want to make sure she's okay.’

  Louise seemed reluctant, but Cory went anyway. At first his legs were weak and unsteady, probably from the shock, but he could tell there’d been no permanent damage done. He thought of the times he and Nadia had warned Zach about running into the road, and there he was doing it himself; he just hadn't thought before rushing off to help.

  Bianca had only moved a hundred yards or so in the opposite direction. He heard her raised voice first of all, then he saw her. She was still dealing with Tarrant's son, the arrogant little punk. It riled Cory just seeing him with that entitled, sneering look and aggressive body language.

  ‘Are you okay here, Bianca? Is this man bothering you?’

  ‘Hey, grandpa, this is none of your business. This is between me and the girl, okay?’

  Cory felt his fist clench, but he just as quickly loosened it again. This was Chief Tarrant's son; he had to be very careful how he dealt with him.

  Bianca was clearly distressed, her eyes red with tears and her face flushed, probably with frustration and anger, he thought.

  ‘Bianca is my friend, and you're harassing her,’ Cory replied, moving closer to try and separate Tarrant and Bianca. Dean blocked him, standing directly in his path. Cory hadn't realized what an intimidating presence he was. His arms were muscular and thick, his chest broad, his stomach toned and trim. He was in all respects the typical sports jock; a perfect physical specimen in stark contrast to Cory's more conventional vital statistics. But no bully was going to threaten him.

  ‘Now listen here, kid,’ he began. If Tarrant was going to refer to his age, he might just as well play the same game. ‘There are laws about harassing young women. It's quite clear to me that Bianca wants nothing to do with you and you should respect that.’

  ‘What are you, her sugar daddy?’ Tarrant sneered in his face. ‘Or some kind of pedo?’

  Cory felt his fist forming again. As a man who'd never had to resort to violence in his life, this jerk brought out a rare fury in him.

  ‘Okay, that's enough,’ he replied.

  ‘She's my girl, old man. We just want to be left alone to make out in peace without some old fogey like you in the way.’

  ‘I'm not your girl, and I want nothing to do with you,’ Bianca shouted at him.

  Tarrant moved in and put his arm around Bianca's shoulders.

  Cory had to intervene now—he couldn’t ignore such blatant provocation.

  ‘That's enough,’ he said, moving in to push Dean Tarrant aside. But it was as if his hands had met a mass of concrete; the kid’s body was solid and he didn't budge an inch.

  ‘Come on, Bianca, give me a kiss, for old time's sake. You know how you love a bit of Dean—you can't resist.’

  Cory moved in a second time, this time pulling Tarrant's arm away from Bianca as she struggled to escape from him. Tarrant's response was immediate and instinctive. His spare arm came at speed in Cory's direction, clasping his shirt tight and pulling him in so close that Cory could feel his breath on his face.

  ‘Look here, little man…’

  Dean Tarrant lifted Cory slightly off his feet. Cory was not a skinny man, in spite of the jogging. It took more than a morning run every now and then to offset the ravages of middle age. But Tarrant's arm barely seemed to register the weight he was lifting.

  ‘I don't appreciate you interfering in my business, little man. If I say this pretty lady is my girlfriend, then she is, right? You're just an annoying little dick who writes for a paper that nobody reads any more, and you have no say in this situation at all. So how about you take a stroll and leave me and Bianca to get a little closer? She's a bit of a handful, you know—has she told you what we get up to when we're alone?’

  Cory felt the rage burning through his body. He pushed his right arm against Dean Tarrant's chest as hard as he could. Tarrant immediately released him and fell to his knees.

  ‘My god, did you see what he just did, he hit me, this man hit me!’

  Tarrant was now playing it up to the small crowd that had gathered.

  ‘Did you see what he did, Louise? That was assault! We've got witnesses, too, this pedo just assaulted me because I was trying to protect this young woman from him. Arrest him, Louise, he's hurt me… he punched me—you saw that, right?’

  Dean Tarrant had spotted Louise approaching before Cory did. He’d timed it beautifully; Cory figured Louise must have seen his ineffectual attempt at getting his assailant to release his grip.

  Tarrant gave a triumphant smile. ‘Arrest this man immediately, Louise. Or else I'll report you to my father for ignoring an assault that took place right in front of your eyes.’

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dean Tarrant played the crowd for a few minutes longer, then stormed off, swearing he'd report Cory to his father for harassment and threatening behavior, and that Louise would lose her badge for not intervening. Bianca was in a high state of distress; Cory cared more about her than he did himself at that moment.

  ‘That jerk,’ he said to her. ‘Are you okay, Bianca? Did he hurt you?’

  She shook her head. Louise remained silent.

  ‘What started that altercation?’ Cory asked.

  ‘I just happened to meet him on the street,’ Bianca replied, calmer now Dean was out of sight. ‘This is what it's like, Cory. Ever since we backed down over the school, he knows there's nothing I can do.’

  ‘He's a bully, that's all he is,’ Cory said, trying to reassure her. He was struggling with his own rage; Dean Tarrant had both infuriated and belittled him. ‘What do you say, Louise?’

  ‘It's difficult to know what to do about a little prick like that. His father could make life difficult for me if he wanted to, but I doubt he'll say anything. As you say, Cory, he's just your regular bully. But I'm not sure if I can raise this with the chief. You can imagine how that'll play out, can't you?’

  ‘He's got me over a barrel,’ Bianca said after a moment. ‘If I create a fuss, it'll get back to the school and it could mess up my references.’

  ‘I'll make sure you get a good report,’ Cory said.

  ‘Yes, but when it comes to college, school references will hold the biggest sway,’ Bianca reminded him.

  ‘You need to get yourself over to the hospital to check for a concussion,’ Louise reminded him. ‘You heard what the doctor said.’

  ‘What happened?’ Bianca asked. ‘I saw something going on along the road, but I had a problem of my own to deal with. That wasn't you, was it?’

  Cory opted to make light of it, to avoid burdening Bianca any further.

  ‘It's nothing, Bianca, but Louise is right: if it's good enough for Zach, it's good enough for his father. Are you okay to run me over, Louise? I'd better get the all-clear before I drive.’

  ‘Haven't you been run over enough for one day, Cory?’

  Cory realized what he'd said and started laughing.

  ‘Sure, Cory, my shift starts in twenty. I'll drop you off beforehand.’

  ‘How about you, Bianca?’ Cory asked. ‘If you wanted to take some time off, I couldn't blame you. Not after the experience you've just had.’

  ‘I want to complete an errand at Town Hall,’ Bianca replied, perking up. ‘I was heading over there when I ran into Dean Tarrant. I've got one of those journalistic hunches that you get, Cory.’

  She smiled at him.

  ‘Do tell,’ he urged.

  ‘Later.’ She walked off, grinning. ‘But if you're finished before I am, that's where I'll be. Hope everything is fine at the hospital.’

  Cory and Louise followed her along the street so they could be sure that Dean Tarrant wasn't lurking around. Satisfied, they left her alone as she turned a corner.

  ‘Best get a move on,’ Louise urged. ‘You don't want to be in the chief's bad books, especially if his jerk of a son is making threats.’

  Th
ey arrived at the hospital and settled down to wait. Thankfully, he was called quickly.

  ‘Second time in a week, Mr. Miles,’ the nurse said, smiling at him. ‘Working on a local newspaper’s obviously more dangerous than I thought.’

  Louise's phone buzzed. She excused herself and walked out into the corridor to answer it.

  The nurse ran through the list.

  ‘Nausea? Vomiting? Headache? Neck pain? Blurred vision?’ she asked.

  Only as a result of meeting Dean Tarrant, Cory thought.

  ‘No, all fine. Nothing unusual to report.’

  He glanced over to the corridor. Louise had a deadly serious expression on her face.

  The nurse ran some routine checks on him, shining a small flashlight into his eyes, taking his blood pressure, and running a few simple sight and speech checks.

  ‘Everything okay?’ Cory asked as Louise came back in.

  ‘You're all clear here,’ the nurse informed Cory. ‘Please try not to come again. I mean that in a nice way. If I see you here again this week, you'll be getting your own room.’

  She gave Cory a warm smile and left.

  ‘I've got to go,’ Louise said. ‘Are you all right to call a cab or walk back into the center?’

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ Cory answered. ‘What's up, anything interesting?’

  ‘I can't tell you the details, but all hell just broke loose at the station. They want me over at Shallow Falls ASAP.’

  She came closer.

  ‘Keep this to yourself, Cory. They've found a body.’

  ‘Oh my God. Not Poppy?’

  Cory thought about Reece Norman in her trailer, with her two girls.

  ‘I can't say yet,’ Louise replied. ‘I don't know the details, but there's a body up at the falls. If you want to get your scoop, follow me up in ten minutes. Please don't make it look obvious that I told you; I'm worried enough already about what Dean Tarrant might say to the chief. You sure you're okay on your own?’

  ‘Go, Louise,’ Cory urged. ‘You've got a job to do. Get over there as fast as you can.’