Out Of The Red

by David Bradwell

  Slowly she started shaking her head.

  “No,” she whispered. “Steve just saw me. That’s why she killed him.”

  She?

  “Who’s she?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “Holly.”

  “Holly? Holly killed Steve?”

  She nodded. It was the smallest of movements but unmistakeable.

  “Why did Holly kill Steve?”

  “Because he saw us. When I told her.”

  “When you told her what?”

  Her eyes closed again. She seemed to be drifting away from me.

  “Leah,” I urged. “Told her what?”

  “That she’s my sister.”

  “Your sister.”

  That was the end of the conversation. The door flew open again. It was the policeman.

  “What happened here?” he asked.

  I explained about the pillow, the punch and the machines.

  “I’m going to need to take a statement,” he said.

  “Did you catch him?”

  “No, but I’ve called for back-up.”

  “Can I just go and get a glass of water?” I asked. I needed to get out of there, fast.

  He nodded.

  I turned back to Leah.

  “Okay Leah, don’t worry. I’ll look after everything for you,” I said. “Try to get back to sleep.”

  I turned away and headed back up the corridor as quickly as I could without raising any more suspicion. On my left, a door was hanging off its hinges. It looked like whoever he was had managed to lock the policeman in a room. I didn’t know how he’d done it but it was just as well I’d been there or Leah would now be dead.

  The sister was still on the phone as I passed, voice raised, asking for hospital security, giving out a description. I walked straight past, but looked over as I did so and pointed to my clipboard again.

  She called after me, but I carried on walking. Her voice got louder, but I just headed to the double doors, pressed the green button to release them, and then I was in the corridor outside. And then I ran, desperate to get back to Danny and Clare and equally as desperate to avoid bumping into the man again. He was still out here, somewhere. I slowed as I got further away, and then paused, trying to catch my breath.

  From behind, somebody reached out and grabbed me.

  42

  I SCREAMED, then turned, ready to fight, ready to lash out to try to save myself. But it wasn’t the man, it was Clare.

  “Shhh,” she said.

  “Jesus, you scared me,” I replied, although I doubt she heard me over the pounding of my heart.

  Clare took my hand, pushed open the door of a storeroom and led me inside.

  “You need to get changed,” she said, handing me my clothes in a carrier bag. “How was it?”

  “Unbelievable, I just...”

  She put her hand up to stop me.

  “Actually, save it till we get back with Danny. I’m just so pleased to see you. Well done.”

  Her praise meant everything to me. Who’d have seen that coming?

  She looked away as I got back into my normal clothes. I gave her the uniform and she stuffed it into the bag. Then she opened the door a fraction, checked the coast was clear, and led me back to Danny’s room.

  As we got there, something seemed terribly wrong. There was no police officer guarding the door, and when we opened it, there was no sign of Danny.

  * * *

  Finn couldn’t help but smile. Okay, it hadn’t gone quite as well as planned, but he was resourceful. It was far from over. He listened to the noise in the ward from the relative security of somebody else’s private room. The poor sod looked in a bad way, but didn’t seem to notice his visitor. Not that it really mattered. He’d only be there for a moment.

  There was a lot of noise outside. He could see the policeman running back towards Leah’s room. Then the nurse appeared from within. They spoke to each other, and then she walked away, passing within inches of his door. He hadn’t meant to hit her, but what choice did he have? She’d taken him by surprise. She shouldn’t have been there.

  The policeman seemed out of his depth. Some young sap posted on watch duty while the big boys were at work elsewhere. Cannon fodder really. Locking him in a storeroom had been fun, but he’d known it wouldn’t hold for long.

  Finn watched as the policeman rushed back towards reception, talking to somebody on his radio. And then the corridor was empty. This was his chance. Escape would be difficult. He had to hope that a window would open far enough, and if so that would certainly make things easier. But for now, while the corridor was empty, he had to head back to Leah’s room and finish the job that he’d started.

  * * *

  Faced with Danny’s empty bed, I immediately started to panic. Clare tried to place a reassuring hand on my arm, but I’d had enough shocks and trauma over the last few days to render that meaningless. My mind was in a world of its own, imagining the worst, fearing I’d never see Danny again, a new sense of nausea welling up inside me at the thought of what might have happened to him.

  “Don’t worry, it’s fine,” she said, but the words seemed hollow, as though I wasn’t really hearing them. As though I was on the other side of a thick pane of glass, while the world rushed by outside.

  And then I saw him, walking towards me, albeit gingerly, from the direction of the toilets. He was fully dressed, moving slowly, and waving at me.

  “Here we go,” said Clare, squeezing my arm. I rushed to Danny to give him a hug, wrapped my arms around him, then immediately felt guilty as he emitted a sharp intake of breath. Clearly being squeezed on a bullet wound can smart.

  “What are you doing up?” I asked.

  “I’m ready to go home,” he said. “Just waiting on the doctor to give it the nod and then I’m out of here.”

  “That’s such good news.”

  “I can’t wait to get back. Especially now you’ve got a real nurse’s uniform.”

  “Dream on, sunshine.”

  Clare was arranging the chairs by the bed when we walked back into the room.

  “So, how did it go?” asked Danny.

  “I’ll give you the summary. Holly killed Steve because he overheard Leah tell her she was her sister.”

  There was a shocked silence.

  “What?” said Danny after a moment. “That doesn’t even make sense. Fantastic work getting her to talk, though.”

  “It’s what she said, and thank you. Mind you she was half asleep, but I’ve got it all on tape.” I paused. “Oh, and then somebody broke in and tried to kill her, but luckily I fought him off.”

  Danny started to laugh.

  “No, seriously,” I said.

  He stopped laughing.

  “What, really?”

  “It’s all on the tape.”

  “Fucking hell. Excuse the language.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

  “Sorry. Wind it back. What exactly happened?”

  And so I told them about pressing the buzzer, gaining access, and then the ward sister having a phone call just as I was approaching.

  “That was me,” said Clare, looking pleased with herself. “I’m ever so pleased about that. Good timing.”

  “I won’t even ask how you did that.”

  “I just timed how long it takes to walk from here to the ICU, added a bit to get through the door, and then called on an internal line.”

  “What if I’d stopped on the way? Needed a wee or something?”

  “You’d have been on your own. But you didn’t. We’re a team.”

  I felt unimaginably proud when she said that. Then I told them about getting into Leah’s room, the policeman being called away, hiding beside the bed, the man breaking in and trying to smother Leah, and then how he’d scarpered.

  “What happened to him?” asked Danny.

  “No idea. The policeman called for back-up. He said he’d need to take a statement from me, so I asked if it was okay to get a
glass of water and then legged it.”

  Clare asked for the voice recorder. I handed it over, and she rewound the tape than played it through for us all to hear.

  “You’ve done brilliantly,” she said. “Better than I ever dared to dream.”

  “But what does it mean?” I asked. “Why is it such a big deal that Leah’s her sister? Why kill Steve?”

  “Let’s have a minute to think.” She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. I looked at Danny. He shrugged, then smiled at me and mouthed “well done”. It would be nice to have him home, but he could sod off if he thought I’d be dressing up for him. At least until he was better.

  After a few minutes, Clare opened her eyes.

  “Thoughts?” she asked, addressing us both. I was happy to bow out at this stage, and leave it to the experts.

  “It depends what she means by sister,” said Danny. That confused me.

  “Just what I was thinking,” said Clare, which confused me more.

  “Sorry,” I said, “but am I being stupid? How many different types of sister are there? If we discount the kind you find in hospitals.”

  They looked at each other.

  “Go on,” said Clare. Danny took over.

  “It depends,” he said. “Obviously she could just be her sister, straight up, but then how come Holly didn’t know about her? So that makes me think half-sister maybe? Seb’s playing the field, gets somebody pregnant, does the dirty and abandons her, even assuming he knew anything about it. It could have been a one-night-stand and he had no idea she was pregnant. Either way, Leah’s born to a single mother. Life’s tough. She gets fostered possibly, then runs away, ends up homeless. She tracks down her real father, finds him, but for whatever reason she decides to get close to Holly first rather than confront him outright. And for whatever reason this causes a big enough problem for Holly that she has to do away with her.”

  “Could be,” said Clare. “But what do we know about Leah? Apart from the homeless thing.”

  “Not a lot, not really,” said Danny.

  Clare gave him a look like a bossy schoolteacher addressing a wayward pupil.

  “What?” he said.

  “She’s a gifted musician. We’ve already said that doesn’t come cheap. So, if she was fostered, it was with supportive parents who clearly thought the world of her. Or else she wasn’t fostered, and maybe her mum was just well off. We’re only assuming life was tough. Maybe it wasn’t. There are plenty of single families who do just fine, with children who go on to great things. It’s not all about money anyway.”

  I suddenly remembered something Danny had told me about Clare, that her father had died when she was very young, and she’d been brought up by her mother, ostensibly as a single parent. It was clearly a sensitive subject.

  “Granted,” said Danny. “Or maybe Seb did know about her and made some sort of financial contribution, but kept it secret from everyone, especially Holly.”

  “But why would the sudden discovery be enough for Holly to want to kill Leah?” I asked, “unless she was worried about having to split an inheritance, or something.” As soon as I said it, I thought it made a lot of sense, but the others seemed unimpressed.

  “It’s possible,” said Clare, “but why the urgency? Why didn’t Leah just go to Seb directly? And what was it that she said to Holly that suddenly put her life at risk? That Holly would kill Steve for, just because he overheard it?”

  The thoughtful silence returned. Eventually Danny broke it.

  “But none of this helps with everything else,” he said. “None of it explains March, or the people trafficking or how all that fits together, even assuming it does. It doesn’t explain why March suddenly cropped up, pretending to be a music mogul so he could get taken on as their manager.”

  I looked from Danny to Clare then back again. I was as confused as ever. Then suddenly Clare spoke.

  “Oh my God.”

  We both looked at her, but Danny was nodding.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked, but she was already standing up, reaching for her jacket. From nowhere, the atmosphere had changed completely and she seemed to be in a hell of a rush to get somewhere.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” she said, voice suddenly very serious. “Danny, speak to Amy. Find out what they’ve got lined up for tomorrow. We’ve got to stop that handover.” She headed towards the door, then turned.

  “I’ve got to go. I’ll be in touch.” And then, in less time than it takes to think the world’s gone completely mad, she was gone.

  43

  MISSION accomplished?” asked Holly when Finn opened the car door and leaned inside.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Good man. I was getting worried. What took you so long?”

  “One or two complications, but everything’s sorted.”

  “Glad to hear it. Do you need a lift somewhere?”

  “No, you’re fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, though. We can celebrate then.”

  He stood up and closed the door. Holly watched him walk down the street and then jump onto the rear platform of a passing Routemaster bus. It was good to work with professionals, but equally she knew she’d have to be on her guard. These people were ruthless. Getting on the wrong side of them could be deadly.

  She started the engine, put the car in gear, and then edged out of the parking space. Traffic was still light for central London, but she knew it would soon start to get busy, even on a Saturday. She was glad she was heading out of town. The drive to Winchester could take a couple of hours, but that would be useful time to review all the preparations, to go over everything in her mind, and make sure that all eventualities had been thought about. Her father would be so proud.

  * * *

  I’d had enough of being attacked, so it was nice to get home for some relative peace and quiet, albeit with an annoying patient who seemed to want me to make endless cups of tea and supply endless biscuits, when I was quite sure he was entirely capable of getting them himself.

  I was worried that in the daylight there’d be some evidence of what had happened to Mitch or whatever his name was, but I had to give it to Clare. Whoever had helped with the clean-up had done an impressively thorough job.

  We hadn’t heard from her since her hasty disappearing act, but as that’s something of a speciality, I wasn’t overly concerned. I was looking forward to getting back to the world of focal lengths and f-stops. I wasn’t cut out for so much drama. I just wanted to take artistic pictures. To get back to my day job, my studio, my sanctuary.

  Danny spent the morning working on his computer and trying to get in touch with Amy, but without any success. By midday the events of the last few days had well and truly caught up with me, so I went for a lie down. My previous night’s outfit was still lying on the floor. I thought I’d never wear that dress again. Never wear those shoes. They’d always bring back memories of just how close I’d come to disaster, and how inept I was in forming opinions of men. What on earth had I been thinking? And yet it had all seemed so good at the time, so wonderful to be able to have fun and enjoy myself. Well, that wasn’t going to happen again.

  I couldn’t believe it was only a week since I’d been so excited about Danny’s return from Germany, how keen I’d been to tell him about the band, and how much I’d been looking forward to a night out in Covent Garden. I closed my eyes, trying to forget about everything, but my mind was haunted by images of Mitch towering above me. I doubted I’d ever have a good night’s sleep again.

  I was finally just drifting off when I heard Danny calling. I was tempted to turn over and ignore him, but he shouted again and sounded increasingly insistent. And then I could hear someone knocking at the front door. I knew I’d have to get up, whoever it was. No rest for the wicked, even if they’re not particularly successful at wickedness.

  The knocking was getting louder and more insistent as I approached the door. I was starting to get annoyed by the time I open
ed it, but all thoughts of a suitable rebuke receded when I saw the thunderous expressions on the faces of DS Amy Cranston and DC Anil Jachuck. I’d been involved in enough over the last twenty-four hours to immediately feel very faint indeed.

  “Hi,” I said. “Danny’s been trying to contact you.”

  “Can we come inside?” asked Amy. Maybe I imagined it, but her tone seemed less than cordial.

  “Of course. He’s through here.” I turned to lead them through to the front room.

  “It’s not Danny we’ve come to see,” she said.

  No, I definitely didn’t imagine it. I started to feel quite unwell.

  I led them through to the front room anyway, offered them the sofa, and then a cup of tea. They accepted the sofa, but refused the tea. Danny tried to say hello and how pleased he was to see them, but Amy cut him short.

  “This isn’t a social visit,” she said. “I’ve just come from the hospital. I’m afraid to say, it’s not good news. Leah’s dead.”

  My legs nearly gave way completely, but I just made it to a chair in time.

  “Shit,” I said, my mind doing somersaults. “Oh my God. That’s awful. What happened?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping you can tell us.”

  “Me?”

  I thought I was going to throw up.

  “Don’t be coy, Anna. We’re not here to waste time.”

  “But... Sorry, I can’t take this in.”

  “Shall I make it easy for you?”

  I couldn’t speak. Instinctively I raised my hands to my face and closed my eyes. I could feel tears forming. Tears for the stress, the trauma and the tragedy of the last few days. And specifically tears for Leah.

  “The ward sister said a nurse came onto the ward shortly after six this morning. She said it wasn’t someone she recognised. The policeman on duty outside Leah’s room confirmed the same. Both have given independent descriptions of the person concerned. And guess what? They match the description of a nurse seen leaving Danny’s room about seven minutes prior. And, strangely enough, also a person seen entering Danny’s room several minutes before that, albeit not in a nurse’s uniform.”