More Equal Than Others. The DS Lasser series. Volume five: Robin Roughley

by Robin Roughley

  'I remember the first time I laid eyes on him, I was with a co-worker someone more experienced, but he just watched me. Every second I was in that house, I could feel his eyes boring into me. I thought I'd made a terrible mistake, I just wanted to run away...'

  'But you didn't?'

  Carly shook her head, her brown hair swung back and forth. 'I told myself that things would get better.' She licked her lips and took a deep breath. 'I didn't see him for over twelve months.'

  'By then you'd learned the ropes?'

  She looked up and blushed. 'I got used to being around people like that, most of them were pathetic and spineless,' her eyes flashed in anger.

  'But not Bretherton?'

  As quick as it came the anger died and she shuddered. 'I thought I'd seen it all, how pathetic is that, twelve months in the job and suddenly I was an expert.'

  'So what happened?'

  Carly placed her hands in her lap and looked out into a rapidly freezing world. 'The guy who usually kept an eye on him was off sick, and I volunteered to take over while he was away.' She sniffed and turned fully in her seat. 'I now know it was the worst mistake of my life.'

  'He saw through you?'

  Her eyes widened in surprise.

  'Tell me Carly how did he play it, charming or outright aggressive?'

  She placed an unsteady hand on the dashboard. 'I think you already know the answer to that question.'

  He nodded in response and sighed. 'Don't blame yourself for what happened.'

  'I didn't know, I swear I'd never been into anything like that. I was married for God's sake, a normal happy marriage...'

  'He did the same thing to my mother.'

  Carly jerked back, her shoulder slammed into the door with a thump. 'What?'

  When he smiled it was without any hint of humour. 'That's one of the reasons I killed him.'

  'But I don't understand.'

  He told her about Bretherton, how he'd fooled his mother, tricked her into believing he was a normal average guy. She listened with a creeping sense of dread.

  'When my parents separated I went with my father,' he shrugged. 'She married again and they had a daughter but the marriage didn't last and then four years later up pops Clifford Bretherton.'

  'Oh God,' Carly whispered, her hands twisted together.

  'I went to see her once, without telling my old man and I remember Bretherton sitting at the table, watching me as if I was some kind of insect.'

  Carly could see his hands tightening on the wheel.

  'After that my father kept a close eye on me and told me to stay away. I tried telling him she was my mother but he wouldn't listen.'

  'So you didn't go back?'

  He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. 'What would you have done, Carly?'

  She didn't utter a word though her eyes told him her answer.

  'I waited two years but by then they'd moved. I asked the neighbour but they didn't have a clue where they'd gone.'

  'So you never found them?'

  She saw the anger flare like a bush fire brought back to life by the wind. 'There was nothing to find, my mother was already dead, she overdosed on antidepressants, my half sister had been taken into care and Bretherton had moved on.'

  Carly opened her mouth but no words came out.

  'Years later I became a police officer,' he smiled thinly as her eyes sprang wide in shock.

  'You work for the police?'

  'Not anymore, you see I would imagine it's a lot like being a Social Worker. You see them all, the thieves and muggers, the families were the kids can't wait to follow their old man selling drugs or beating up people, simply because they can, and right at the bottom of the pile you have people like Clifford Bretherton.'

  He flicked the cigarette through the open window.

  'I'm sorry,' Carly whispered.

  'For what?'

  'For being weak and disgusting,' she lowered her head a tear dropped into her lap.

  'It doesn't matter, you should never have been allowed to visit Bretherton alone.'

  She looked up and sniffed. 'I thought I could handle it, I thought...'

  'So how did you get involved with Redgrove?' he asked.

  The sudden change in direction disengaged her brain for a few seconds then she cleared her throat and licked her lips. 'He was nice at first and I was trying to change, my marriage had ended and Bretherton had moved away...'

  'You mean locked away don't you?'

  Carly screwed her eyes closed as the black well of disgust flooded through her system like an unblocked drain. 'I...'

  'Be honest Carly that's all I ask.'

  'He served two years for assault, it wasn't on a minor I swear, he got involved in a fight in a club and...'

  'I know all about it.'

  Her mouth snapped shut.

  'So then Redgrove turned on the charm.'

  She nodded. 'I know it was wrong, he was married, and I was a mess.'

  'The trouble is with these people, the charm doesn't last long, does it?'

  Carly gripped her knees and snapped her head up, the veins in her neck rigid. 'What's wrong with me, why can't I just be normal?' Her voice slammed around the interior of the car, bouncing of the windows.

  'What about the people at work did anyone know about you and Redgrove?'

  'God no.'

  'So it was your little secret?'

  Carly dug her heels into the carpeted floor. 'I'd been with him for six months before he changed. I mean I thought he was normal, I thought we had something special.'

  'Fooled again eh, Carly?'

  For the first time she felt anger towards the man sitting by her side. 'I suppose so,' she snapped.

  'So I take it Redgrove knows about your relationship with Bretherton?'

  'No, I...'

  He lashed out, the back of his hand whiplashed across her face, Carly's head snapped back and slammed into the headrest.

  'Please don't lie to me, Carly, I heard Redgrove, I saw the way he reacted when you told him about Bretherton.'

  'I'm sorry,' she whispered.

  'So?'

  She nodded rubbing a hand across her tender skin. 'I told him.'

  'Why would you do something like that, I mean what would be the point?'

  Carly Hughes started to cry, huge sobs shook her shoulders, her breathing sounded laboured. 'He made me tell him, it's what people like him get off on, it excites them, they use it to twist things, to make you suffer,' she spluttered to a stop and hiccupped.

  The man dropped the car into gear and snapped the headlights on.

  'Where are we going?' Carly asked as she swiped at her eyes.

  'Bretherton told you to go home and wait for him...'

  'But...'

  'So that's what we're going to do.'

  'You can't he'll go berserk!' she plucked at the sleeve of his jacket in fear.

  When he smiled, Carly moved her hand away and scrunched herself against the door; it was like looking into the eyes of a dead man.

  'Believe me Carly, you have no idea what berserk means,' he flicked a smile. 'But you will, believe me, you will.'

  Carly closed her eyes and wept.

  CHAPTER 137

  Kerrie shook her head in disbelief as she listened to Lasser talking about a man she didn't know.

  'But he's a police officer, he told me...'

  'He left the force six months ago, Kerrie.'

  She was perched on the edge of the sofa, a wad of mascara stained tissues clasped in her right hand. 'You're wrong, we met five months ago and he was on police business.' Her eyes flashed triumphantly.

  Lasser was waiting for Bannister to arrive; he could see his own reflection in the French windows, a sepia image of his worn out self. 'Tell me Kerrie, where did you meet?'

  She dragged a hand through her hair in aggravation. 'If you must know I met him at Leigh hospital.'

  Lasser felt a piece of the puzzle drop neatly into place. 'You were visiting Simon?'

>   'Yes, but...'

  'And John was there on police business?'

  'He wanted to see if Simon could remember anything else about the attack on Steven Barton.'

  'And you got talking?'

  'It's not against the law!' she snapped.

  Lasser held up a hand. 'No of course not.'

  'I don't make a habit of picking up strangers but he's a nice guy and you're wrong.'

  A nice guy with an axe and a capacity for cutting up bodies like a butcher in an abattoir, Lasser thought, but kept his opinions to himself.

  'Has John ever shown an interest in your work?'

  'My work?'

  Lasser watched as her gaze dropped to her lap and then she snapped her head upright as if suddenly realising that body language could speak volumes. 'No, he hasn't.'

  'So you've never spoken to him about what happened to Simon?'

  Kerrie pushed the shrug from her shoulders. 'I'm telling you, you've got the wrong man.'

  'You haven't answered my question. I mean it's natural, you were at the hospital visiting Simon, and he turns up, then you spend three, four months together and he never once asks you about your friend.'

  'I...'

  'Forgive me but that sounds unlikely.'

  'I don't care what you think.'

  Lasser looked around the room. 'Tell me Kerrie does John spend a lot of time here?'

  She shrugged. 'That depends.'

  'Let me guess the phone rings and he's dragged out at all hours.'

  Her face hardened. 'Look...'

  'He arranges to come over and then something happens at work and it's a change of plan.'

  Kerrie folded her arms. 'Why don't you tell me?'

  'So let's say he spends two maybe three nights a week here...'

  'It's more than that!' she spat.

  Lasser smiled. 'Ok let's say five and you're telling me you never talk about work?'

  'Why would we talk about work, I do my best to forget about that place.'

  Lasser tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. 'I don't believe you.'

  The colour rose in her cheeks it was impossible to tell whether it was through anger or embarrassment. 'I don't really care what you think.'

  'So where is he tonight?'

  Kerrie stood up. 'I want you to leave.'

  'Sorry I can't do that.'

  She gave him a withering stare, Lasser held her gaze. 'You're going to look such a fool when all this is sorted,' she snapped.

  'Believe me Kerrie I'm used to it.'

  When the front doorbell rang she shot across the room, Lasser sighed and stayed seated.

  Twenty seconds later, she stormed back into the room her face laced with fury, her hands raised. 'I'll tell you the same thing I told him, you're wrong and I want you out right now!'

  Bannister followed hot on her heels, brandishing a photograph. 'Take a look at this, if you tell me it's not John Mack then we'll bugger off and you can put in a complaint, in fact I'll help you write it!'

  Kerrie snatched a pack of cigarettes from the mantelpiece and lit one, her hand shaking in anger. 'Give it to me,' she snapped out a hand and Bannister handed it over.

  Her eyes widened as she glanced at the image.

  'Well?' Bannister asked.

  'I still say it's a mistake,' she said with uncertainty.

  'But that's John Mack, right?'

  She nodded and thrust the paper back at Bannister before drawing hard on the cigarette.

  'Right where is he?'

  Kerrie peered at the DCI through a cloud of smoke. 'I have no idea.'

  Lasser stood up. 'Kerrie have you ever been to Mack's house?'

  'No.'

  'Well do you have an address?'

  Kerrie sunk slowly back onto the sofa as if her legs had suddenly lost the strength to hold her upright. 'I don't have a clue, he always comes here.'

  Bannister glanced at Lasser and frowned.

  'But you're expecting him to come back here at some point?'

  Kerrie dropped the cigarette into a glass ashtray. 'I thought he would have been here by now.'

  'What about a mobile number?'

  'Look, what is this all about; I mean you come here in the middle of the night and...'

  'The killings, Kerrie...'

  'No way!' she shot to her feet her face blasted with fury.

  'Three nights ago someone left John Sanderford tied to the front porch of Harold Bolts house; he'd been mutilated and left for dead.'

  'I...'

  'Was John here with you three nights ago Kerrie?'

  Her right hand jerked and she took a step back. 'Of course he was,' she licked her lips nervously.

  Bannister took a step towards her. 'Listen to me, now isn't the time for misguided loyalty, if I find you're lying then you'll be an accessory to murder, end of story.'

  For a few seconds Lasser thought Kerrie Fleming was going to make a run for it, she shuffled on the spot like a long distance runner waiting for the gun to go off. Then her shoulders dropped and she fell back onto the sofa.

  'He was here till half past six and then he said he had to go to work.'

  'What time did he get back?'

  Kerrie shrugged, she looked shell-shocked. 'I don't know I was asleep when he got in.'

  Lasser slid his hands into his pockets. 'I asked you earlier about pillow talk and you said you never had any conversations regarding your old job.'

  'I know what I said.'

  'So are you still sticking to your story?'

  Kerrie looked up, behind the shimmer of unshed tears; Lasser could see a brittle disdain.

  'Fucking men you're all the same aren't you?'

  For that particular question, Lasser had no answer

  CHAPTER 138

  Steve Black eyed the packet of Jaffa cakes, his stomach rumbled. Sally Wright wandered into the kitchen just as he was reaching for the biscuits.

  'Don't you dare?'

  Black looked at her red faced. 'Come on I'm starving.'

  'You're always starving,' she said as she peered through the broken window. 'So what do you think happened here?'

  Black reluctantly turned away from the biscuits. 'Not a clue.'

  'It's like someone blew a fuse. I mean the frying pans on the patio...'

  'It could still be a burglary, someone could have done it for kicks, and it's not as if there are any neighbours close by.'

  'I suppose so,' she said as she headed back out of the kitchen.

  Black grabbed a Jaffa cake and shoved it into his mouth before following her down the hallway. Sally was standing by the large bay window when headlights flared at the glass and the car pulled onto the drive.

  Carly yanked at the seatbelt, panic rearing in her chest. 'It's the police,' she hissed.

  The police car was pulled up tight to the left hand side of the drive John Mack grunted and eased the Range Rover over to the right.

  'Do you have any idea what they're doing here?'

  'I don't know,' she looked at him her eyes wide with fright.

  Mack unclipped his seatbelt. 'Well we'd better go and find out.'

  'No, no, just drive away,' she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.

  He nodded towards the house as the front door swung open. 'Too late Carly, now I suggest you calm down...'

  'I smashed the house up.'

  Mack turned and raised an eyebrow. 'And why would you do something like that?'

  'It was after I found out about Bretherton, I didn't know what to do I...' her voice drifted to a halt.

  'Well at least we know why they're here,' clicking open the door, he climbed out onto the driveway as Carly fumbled with her seatbelt, then he leaned back inside and smiled at her.

  'If you even think about screaming for help I'll cut off their heads and the responsibility will lie with you.'

  Her hands fluttered into the air and then she swallowed and nodded. 'I understand.'

  'I hope for their sake you're telling the truth,' he said before closing
the door.

  The two officers were standing shoulder to shoulder; Mack smiled and raised a hand as he walked towards them.

  'Is everything alright?' he asked, the smile still hovering around his lips.

  Steve Black hitched up his trousers. 'I'm afraid not sir.'

  Mack stopped and waited for Carly to catch up.

  'It seems as if you've been burgled.'

  Mack turned to Carly. 'Did you hear that?'

  Carly Hughes nodded and pushed the hair from her eyes. 'I...'

  'How did they get in?' Mack asked.

  'Well we're not exactly sure, I mean we have a broken window at the rear of the property and to be honest the place is a bit of a mess.'

  Mack sighed and shook his head. 'Is it alright if we go in?'

  Black moved to one side. 'Of course just watch where you stand there's quite a lot of glass.'

  Taking hold of Carly's hand Mack strode forward, he smiled at the female officer, and she frowned in return.

  Carly averted her eyes as they moved into the hall, letting go of her hand Mack headed through into the kitchen. 'I see what you mean about the mess,' he said as he looked around the demolished room.

  'Can I ask where you've been? Sally Wright asked.

  Mack turned. 'For a meal with friends and then back to their place, I'm afraid we lost track of time.'

  'It happens to us all,' Black said as he eased past into the kitchen. 'Now I suggest you take your time and have a good look around the place to see if anything's been stolen.'

  Mack nodded pensively. 'Don't worry we will.'

  'They've also been in the living room, though thankfully there isn't too much damage.'

  'Well that's one thing I suppose.'

  'Are you alright?' Sally smiled at Carly who nodded quickly before turning away.

  'I suppose it's just the shock of finding the place like this,' she mumbled.

  'Well we've had a good look around and whoever did it is long gone,' Black said with a reassuring smile.

  'That's a relief,' Carly said before sliding her hands into her pockets.

  Sally dipped her head and looked closely at the woman who stood in the doorway. 'That's quite a nasty bruise you have there.'