by MA Comley
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lorne and Charlie were in tears at the kitchen table. “If you’re agreed, then I’ll ring Jeff now. Only if you’re one hundred per cent okay with this, Charlie.”
Her daughter sniffed and then wiped her nose on the sleeve of her jumper. “I know what I have to do for the dog’s sake. It’s just really hard to let go, Mum.”
“No one said it would be easy, love.”
They both glanced down at Henry, who looked up at them with his head cocked to one side.
“I suppose I could start to do some training with this guy.” Charlie ruffled the collie’s head, and he shuffled nearer to her and placed his chin on her lap.
“What a great idea. He’s getting on a little now, but I’m sure he’d love the exercise. You two would make a great team. Maybe you could enter a few of the shows in the area. I think you’re good enough. The question is whether Henry will be.”
“Well, he’s besotted with his tennis ball. Perhaps fly-ball training would be a better option for him. We’ll see. Make the call, Mum. I’m ready to let Rusty go.”
“Are you sure? He’ll have a wonderfully fulfilling life.”
“I know. I can’t be selfish about this any longer. It’s been fun having him around the place.”
Lorne left the table and went into the lounge to ring Jeff Salter.
“Hello, Jeff. It’s Lorne Warner.”
“Lorne, how wonderful to hear from you. How are things going there?”
Lorne loved the warmth she heard in the man’s voice. It said a lot about his personality, to her anyway. “Well, we’ve come to a decision.”
“Which is?”
“Charlie is willing to give Rusty up.”
“That’s wonderful news. She won’t regret it, I promise.”
“If for any reason Rusty doesn’t do well on the training exercises, he will come back to us, won’t he?”
“Of course. That’s a given. Once the training is complete, we always invite the people who have kindly donated the dogs to us to come for a day out. They can meet the trainers and see the dogs in action. How about that?”
“That’d be great, Jeff. When do you want to pick Rusty and the other two dogs up?”
“Would tomorrow be too soon? The quicker we get them introduced to the trainers, the quicker they’ll be able to take up their new roles.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then. Morning or afternoon?”
“About nine if that’s okay with you?”
“Nine’s fine. See you then.”
“Thanks very much, Lorne. I’ll bring something special along for Charlie to show my appreciation.”
Lorne hung up and turned to see a tearful Charlie leaning against the doorframe. “He’ll be here at nine in the morning.”
“Okay, Mum. I’m going up to bed now. Goodnight.”
Lorne stepped closer and hugged her daughter, soothing her head with her hand. “You don’t know how proud I am of you, love. You’ve come such a long way in a short time. Made decisions no teenager should be forced to make. Granddad would have been proud of you too.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
Charlie went up to bed, and Lorne rang the hospital to see how Tony was. She hadn’t forgotten to ring him—she was under strict orders not to ‘pester’ him every minute of the day. She appreciated that he was telling her to get on with trying to solve the case, but it didn’t stop her feeling a little guilty about neglecting him. When she rang the ward, the nurse informed Lorne that Tony was asleep, and she would pass on the message that she’d called when he woke up.
Lorne took Henry out into the garden to reflect on what had happened over the past week. She looked up into the night sky and picked out two of the brightest stars she thought would be her dad and her former partner, Pete, shining down on her. “Keep watching over me, you guys. I have a feeling that I’m going to need your help soon.”
• • •
The following morning, the phone rang at six thirty. Lorne had been dozing most of the night and answered the call on the first ring.
“Lorne, it’s me. We’ve had a breakthrough.”
She sat up quickly. “What’s that, Katy?”
“We’ve got another victim—a man, except he’s not dead. He survived an attack.”
“Wow, that’s brilliant. Can he name his attacker?”
“It was a woman, a Dawn Gideon. We’ve run a check, and it’s a fake name. The exciting part is he’s agreed to help us and is willing to work with the police sketch artist.”
“Terrific. When?”
“This morning, first thing. I’ll get back to you later. I couldn’t wait to share the good news. I’m hoping to have more good news later, once I’ve chased up several lines of enquiries.”
“Keep me informed. I’ve got Jeff coming at nine this morning to collect three of the dogs. After that, I’m free.”
“Crap, I bet Charlie’s cut up about that?”
“She’s accepted it. Ring me later if you can?”
“Okay, I have a feeling this is going to turn out to be an excellent day,” Katy said enthusiastically.
Lorne got up and went downstairs. The back door was unlocked, so she walked out to the kennels in her dressing gown, the collar of which she scrunched up around her neck to ward off the chill. Creeping into the kennels, she heard Charlie nattering away to the dogs. Lorne followed her daughter’s voice down the length of the kennel and tucked herself away before she reached the end. Peeking around the corner, she saw her daughter and the three dogs that were due to depart in a few hours sitting in a group huddle.
“You’re going to love it, guys. Make sure you remember us, though, eh?”
Three sets of adoring eyes stared up at Charlie. She gulped noisily and kissed each of the dog’s heads. Rusty licked at the saltiness tears had left on her cheeks. She gave him an extra hug and stood up.
“All right, love?”
Charlie’s hand covered her chest. “You startled me. Yeah, I’m good, just saying yet another farewell. Why is life so unfair? We never seem to live with the happy times for long before another shitty bout comes darting around the corner.”
Lorne held out her hand, and Charlie slipped her hand inside hers. They walked back out of the kennel and towards the house. “That’s life, love. Periodically, we’re thrown a bunch of predicaments that we need to sort out. It’s how we sort out such dilemmas which determines what type of person we are. I don’t know, maybe it’s God’s way of testing us.”
“But you don’t believe in God.”
“Who said that? I believe something is out there. When the chips are down, I find myself asking for his help, so I must believe in God a little. I just don’t shove the fact down people’s throats like others do.”
“I think I’m like you in that respect.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Granddad always used to tell me that you were moulding yourself into a mini me. I see so many of my traits, both good and bad, in you. We’ll just have to restrain the bad ones and push forward the good ones, and then you’ll be perfect, unlike me, who’s almost perfect.”
• • •
After showering and throwing on a T-shirt and jeans, Lorne treated them both to pancakes for breakfast, filled with lashings of lemon and sugar. Then they both sat at the kitchen table and watched the hands of the clock on the wall rotate their way around to eight fifty-five. The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway made Charlie run over to the back door and look out.
“He’s here,” she said sullenly.
“Chin up, love. Be brave. Please don’t let the dogs see how upset you are.”
“I’ll do my best, Mum. Shall we go out and meet him?”
Lorne rose from the table. “Why not. Happy faces on, and here we go.”
Jeff was at the rear of his van, making sure all the travel cages were in order and safely strapped in. “Hello, ladies, lovely day.”
“Morning, Jeff. We’ll
go gather the troops. Shall we bring them out one by one?”
“Whichever way you want to do it, Lorne, is fine by me.”
Charlie ran ahead. Lorne suspected her daughter wanted to snatch another cuddle or two before she arrived to put the leashes on the dogs.
Lorne whistled as she entered the kennels, knowing she had to put a brave front on for Charlie’s sake, but inside, her own heart was on the verge of splitting in two. “Happy faces,” she reminded Charlie as they slipped the leashes on, and the dogs dragged them excitedly out into the fresh air.
Jeff smiled as they approached him. “All set, boys? This is for you, Charlie.” He held out a carrier bag.
Charlie looked inside and pulled out a T-shirt that had Jeff’s training school insignia emblazoned on the front.
“Wow! Thanks so much. It’s cool.”
Jeff smiled. “It’s the least I could do.” He opened the door to the first cage, and Rusty jumped in without hesitation. The dog turned to face them and sat patiently as the other two dogs followed his lead. Jeff didn’t prolong the agony any more than was necessary. Once the dogs were all loaded, he shook hands with Lorne and Charlie and promised to keep them updated with the dogs’ progress as soon as they started training in a few days.
Lorne and Charlie waved to the dogs and then went back inside the house for a consoling cup of coffee. During the morning, Lorne kept a close eye on Charlie, who ambled around the house looking lost, until Lorne suggested she take Henry out to the training course.
Charlie bucked up, and Henry wagged his tail as if pleased to be the centre of the teenager’s attention once more.
Mid-morning, the phone rang.
“Good news and bad, Lorne,” Katy told her.
Lorne lowered herself onto the sofa. “Go on?”
“Bad news first. We managed to track down Simon Pierce, the ex-boyfriend of Susan Samuels.”
“And?”
“He hasn’t stepped foot back in the country since he left a year ago.”
“Oh, no chance he could have got a friend to bump her off?”
“It’s not something we’ve considered. Seems unlikely to me.”
“Keep it in mind.”
“Will do. Another thing that has come to our attention is forensics went through the agency’s computer and found that a newcomer made a date with a Natalie Swanson.”
“Okay, I can guess what you’re going to tell me next, that the newcomer’s details were all fake. Am I right?”
“Bang on. Plus they were due to meet up at a restaurant.”
“What day was the date supposed to take place?” Lorne asked as she doodled on her notebook.
“Monday evening.”
Lorne gasped. “The night Susan died.”
“Correct. Coincidence or what?”
“So…if this—sorry, did you mention the bloke’s name?”
“No. Hang on. Gordon Watts.”
“Right, if this Gordon Watts couldn’t get in touch with Natalie Swanson because Lucy pulled the plug at the agency, where did he find his next victim?”
“Where indeed. I might go and pay Natalie Swanson a visit.”
“It might be worth a shot to see if she’s contacted any of the other sites or if she’s recently joined an activities club or something like that. What about last night’s victim? Any progress there?”
“He’s quite poorly, but he put his pain aside to help the artist. He wants us to find the woman as soon as poss, fears she might try the same routine on another bloke soon. Thinks she’s a prick tease and gets off on leading men on, knocking them off balance, only to knife them when they least expect it. I’m inclined to agree with him.”
“Has the artist finished?”
“Yeah, I’m looking at the sketch now. Not sure I think it’s any good, though. I can never seem to work these things out. He’s done a photo composite ID, too, and that just looks weird.”
“Do you want to fax them over to me?”
“I’ll do it now. That’s as far as we’ve got at this end. How’s Charlie?”
“Well the dogs went off at nine, and she’s been walking around lost all morning. She’s just started training Henry. I looked out a few minutes ago, and she was laughing at his antics. I think she’ll be all right after a few days.”
“I’m sure she will. Gotta fly. Expect the fax soon. Let me know what you think?”
“Rightio.”
Lorne hung up and was just about to replace the phone in its docking station when it rang again.
“What did you forget to tell me?”
“I’m sorry. Is that Mrs. Warner?”
“Yes. Who’s calling?”
“Mrs. Warner, this is Dr. Steele, calling with regards to your husband.”
Lorne felt her heart beat at the back of her throat. “Sorry, Doctor, I thought you were someone else. Is Tony all right?”
“Yes, he’s fine. I wanted to let you know that I’m discharging him early. He asked me to give you a ring. Any chance you can come and pick him up?”
“Need the bed urgently, eh, Doc?” It was either that or the hospital couldn’t wait to get rid of Tony.
“How did you guess?” The doctor laughed. “In all seriousness, I suspect he’s dying to leave and get back home there to be with you.”
“I could be there in about an hour. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine. Look forward to seeing you then.”
Lorne leapt out of the chair, her mind racing about how to make her husband’s homecoming special. She shot upstairs to change the bedding on the bed. Then she ran back downstairs, put the sheets in the washing machine, and turned it on. She went to the freezer and removed a lasagne she’d made over the weekend. After putting the dish in the oven to thaw, she went back in the lounge to ring her sister.
“Hi, Jade. Are you doing anything special today?”
Jade sounded tired when she replied, “I’ve got another appointment with my psychiatrist. Why?”
“Oh, no worries. I’ve just got a call from the hospital asking me to pick Tony up, and I wondered if you could drop by and sit with Charlie for a while. That’s all.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, sister dearest, Charlie is a big girl now and is more than capable of fending for herself and being left alone there for a few hours.”
Lorne exhaled slowly. “Yes, thanks, Jade, I know that. It’s just she’s a little upset today because she’s said goodbye to a couple of dogs she really cared about. One of them was Rusty. It doesn’t matter. I’ll see if Carol is available to come over. Thanks anyway.”
Lorne ended the call and dialled Carol before Jade could ring back and complain about being hung up on.
“Hi, Carol. I hate to ask, but can you come over and sit with Charlie for a while?”
“Yep, I was just getting my shoes on. Thought you’d be ringing me. He’s going to be all right, you know, so stop worrying.”
“Who is? Tony?”
“Yes, and Charlie will be fine after a few days.”
“You’re a Godsend, Carol. Now any chance you can pick the winning lottery numbers out for me?”
Carol tutted. “If I had a pound for every time someone said that.”
“I know, you’d set sail on an around-the-world cruise, blah, blah, blah.”
They both laughed. “I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks, Carol.”
Charlie came in the back door with an exhausted Henry at her heel. “Who was that?”
Lorne refreshed the water in the dog’s bowl, and he dived for it straight away. “Carol. She’s coming over. I’ve had a call from the hospital. Tony’s being released, and I have to go and fetch him.”
“Aww…Mum, she’s not coming over to babysit me, is she?”
“No, certainly not. I just asked her to swing by and keep you company. Pardon me for caring.”
Charlie rushed at her and flung her arms around Lorne’s neck. “I’ll be all right. We all will be, especia
lly Rusty.”
“I know, love. Humour me, huh?”
“Okay. What’s for lunch?”
“Can I leave you to knock up something for you and Carol? I don’t have time to eat.”
“Do you think Carol likes beans on toast?” Charlie asked with a large grin.
“I’m sure she does. I’m leaving now. On second thought, I’ll wait until Carol arrives, then shoot off.”
“You will not. I’ll be fine. Go!” Charlie picked up Lorne’s handbag and keys and virtually threw them at her before she ushered her out the back door.
“Okay, I get the hint. I shouldn’t be too long. It depends on the traffic.”
• • •
Lorne and Tony returned home to find Charlie and Carol playing cards. At least that was what Lorne thought they were doing at first glance. She soon realised that the cards fanned out on the table were a pack of tarot cards.
“Mum, this is great. You should let Carol do a reading for you.”
Lorne’s mouth dropped open as an embarrassed Carol looked up. Lorne could tell that Carol was about to tell her something unpleasant.
“Go on, spit it out. What have you seen in my future?”
“Sit down the pair of you. I wasn’t merely dabbling here, and despite what Charlie inferred, I haven’t done a reading for her, nor would I until she’s older.”
“So, what have you seen?”
Carol frowned slightly. “First things first, how are you, love?”
Tony smiled and rubbed his leg. “Much better, thanks. I was driving the nurses potty and wanted to come home.”
“Thought he’d drive me up the wall instead, didn’t you, hon?” Lorne gave him her cheesiest grin.
“Ignore my wife. She loves me, really.”
Lorne squeezed his hand and then urged Carol to tell her what she’d seen. “Come on, what have you seen?”
“Well, when you left, I thought I’d have a bit of a tidy round for you, so I started in the lounge. That’s where I saw the picture.”
“What picture?” Lorne queried, perplexed.
“On the copier in there, of that woman.”