by Joe McNally
‘Don’t you mock me!’ she said, trying not to laugh. ‘The back door was open.’
‘You’re kidding!’
‘I’m not! It wasn’t lying open but it wasn’t locked. I just turned the handle.’
‘Jeez!’ I couldn’t believe it. All those precautions I’d been taking with the car and creeping through the woods and I’d gone out and left a door unlocked.
‘At least you’re okay, I said. ‘I thought they’d done you in and dumped you here.’
‘Who?’ She was still smiling.
‘The same people who did this to my face.’
‘It’s better than it was when I last saw you.’
‘Not much.’
She stared at me, the smile fading. ‘Does it still hurt?’
‘A bit, but I’ll survive. Listen, I hate to seem inhospitable, but what are you doing here?’
‘I went to see you at the hospital last night but they said you’d gone home. They gave me your address and I hitched a lift this morning.’
‘Does Mr Roscoe know you’re here?’
She shook her head. ‘I had a few days off coming so I told him me mother was ill and I had to go home and see her.’
‘Where’s home?’
‘Killarney.’
‘He thinks you’re in Ireland?’
She smiled mischievously. ‘Well that’s where Killarney was the last time I looked!’
I smiled. ‘So instead, you’ve come all the way up here to see me?’
‘It’s hardly all the way, it only takes about an hour and half in a motor.’
‘That’s long enough, especially to see somebody who caused you nothing but hassle and wouldn’t let you phone doctors when you wanted to.’
‘Well, you’re right, but I’d spent money on a present for you and I’m not one for waste.’ She reached into a baggy rucksack and handed me a book.
Short stories. I looked at her. ‘You didn’t seem the type to read anything that would take long.’ She said.
‘I don’t know how to take that, but thanks.’ She blushed slightly but held my gaze. We looked at each other in silence. There was a definite attraction between us, though God knows what she saw in me through raw blistered skin. She read my thoughts.
‘Will you be badly scarred?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Only for your sake.’
‘The doctor said he didn’t think so. The liquid that forms inside the blisters can do more damage than anything if it seeps out but he said we’re over that problem, though they weren’t exactly delighted when I discharged myself.’
She nodded slowly and after a few moments of silence said quietly, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were in trouble with Mr Roscoe?’
I shrugged. ‘Well, firstly, I didn’t know I was in trouble with Mr Roscoe till somebody tried to boil my face and secondly there was no reason to suppose you would take my side. You’ve worked for him for a while, haven’t you?’
‘About two years.’
‘And you hadn’t known me two minutes. Besides, by the time I realised where you were taking me it was too late to do anything about it. Not that I was in a fit state to.’
‘You should have said something.’
‘There was no point, especially since Bobby would have talked anyway.’
‘How did you know?’ She seemed surprised.
‘Because he thought I was a one-man freak show. There was no way he was going to keep quiet.’ I had thought at the time about asking her not to mention me to Roscoe but she would have been compromised when Bobby talked. It wasn’t a responsibility I was entitled to put on her.
‘I knew there was something wrong when you didn’t want to stay in the house even long enough for a doctor to get there, so I decided not to say anything about you when Mr Roscoe came home.’
‘But Bobby blabbed anyway?’
She nodded. ‘Then he asked me why I hadn’t told him and I had to say I was going to only Bobby didn’t give me time.’
‘Did he believe you?’
‘I think so but I suspected right off there was something funny because he knew who you were even though nobody told him your name.’
‘Does he know where I am now?’
‘I don’t know.’ She stared at me, hesitant, real concern in her eyes. ‘I heard him talking about you on the phone yesterday afternoon and he was in a fierce temper. Whoever was at the other end was trying to calm him down but he said you’d just cause more trouble and that they should have done more than just try to scare you off.’
‘They came pretty close to it.’
‘And he said the man was now deciding if he wanted it done properly.’
‘Who’s the man?’
She shrugged. ‘I thought you might know.’
I shook my head slowly. ‘Did he say when the next time would be?’
‘No. What is it they’re doing?’ she asked. ‘Why do they want to kill you?’
The more she knew the more danger she’d be in. I had to decide how much I wanted her tied up in this.
‘I’ve half an idea, but that’s all it is. And anyway, the less you know the better. For your own sake.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll put some sort of plan together. Don’t worry.’
‘Is there anyone helping you?’
‘Sort of. Look, don’t worry, I’ll be okay.’
She gazed at me again with those beautiful brown eyes. ‘Let me help you.’
I stood up. ‘Jackie, you don’t even know me! I could be a crook or a murderer.’
She smiled at me and wrinkled her nose. ‘What a crap line! What gangster movie did you get that from?’
I laughed. ‘I give up.’ I said and headed for the kitchen. ‘Want some coffee?’ I asked.
‘I’ll take some coffee if you let me help you.’
‘Okay, you can wash the cups.’
‘Very funny. You know what I mean.’
‘I know what you mean and it’s a crazy idea.’
She followed me through to the kitchen. ‘How can it be crazy? I’m in the perfect place to spy for you.’
‘That’s what bothers me. You’re also in the perfect place to have your face ending up like mine and then how would I feel, especially since yours is a damn sight prettier to start with?’
‘Flattery won’t put me off, Eddie.’
‘I was already getting that impression.’
‘Well?’
‘Well, let’s have a cup of coffee and talk about something else like how we’re going to get you back to Roscoe’s.’
‘I can’t go back till Sunday, remember? I’m in Ireland.’
I turned to her and put my hands on her shoulders. ‘When I opened the door and saw you in that chair my first thought was, big trouble. Then I recognised you and said, Thank God, it’s only Jackie. I’m beginning to think the first impression was right.’
She smiled her soft warm smile again then, leaning forward, she closed her eyes and kissed me softly. I flinched. ‘Does it hurt?’ She asked.
I nodded. She frowned. ‘But life’s a compromise, I suppose.’ I said and pulled her close again.
21
Maybe if I’d been physically and emotionally stronger, maybe if I’d been in a serious relationship during the last couple of years rather than the odd tacky drunken one-night stand, I would have succumbed less easily to Jackie’s determined seduction.
But I, or rather we, ended up doing nothing for the next three days but making love, indoors and out, walking in the woods, eating, drinking, sleeping, laughing, talking (the only taboo subject was Roscoe, Harle and associates).
At twenty she was seven years my junior but she cooked for me, tended my blisters, bathed me, made me laugh, made me feel worthwhile and made me fall in love with her.
When McCarthy rang on Saturday to ask if Harle had been found I was sorely tempted to tell him I was giving up. It just didn’t seem to matter any more. I was infatuated with Jackie, and sh
e was, I think, with me.
She was due back at Roscoe’s on Sunday morning. I told her we’d rise before dawn and I’d drive her there. On Saturday night I took her to dinner. In the previous three days Jackie had made me forget all about my face and we breezed in to the restaurant laughing, only for some of the ruder diners to stare almost open-mouthed at this Beauty and the Beast.
She gazed at me through the candle flame. ‘Never mind, when your face is better we’ll come back and show them!’
‘They’ll probably get a bigger shock than they just did.’
‘What do you actually look like under all that, anyway?’
‘A cross between Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise. It won’t be my fault, of course, if I don’t return completely to my former glory.’
She smiled and squeezed my hand. ‘I’ll never forget seeing your face that first morning. I almost fainted.’
‘I was doing enough fainting for both of us, thanks.’
We ordered champagne while we waited for our food. I reached for her hand. ‘I’ll miss you.’ I said.
‘I won’t go then.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Why not? It’s not exactly the best job in the world. I’ll miss the horses, but you would just about make up for that.’
I thought about it. ‘We could leave here,’ she said. ‘Go to Ireland. I know places where they’d never find us.’
‘They ... That’s the trouble, that’s what it would always come back to. They ... Them ... Looking over our shoulders all the time.’
‘Why would it come to that?’ What have you done that would make them hunt you down?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it, Jackie. I don’t want you involved.’
‘Okay, so I won’t get involved, I promise. I’m only asking you what you’ve done so far which means you can’t stop now?’
I thought about it. ‘Nothing, I suppose.’ It was the easy way out, the way Kruger wanted me to take. To clear the field and let him run riot.
‘Well, then,’ Jackie said, ‘why don’t you forget it? You don’t have any family ties, there’s nothing to keep us here.’
Us. Me and Jackie, tucked away in some little Irish village. No more villains, no more scaldings, no more stupid policemen.
‘I could ring Mr Roscoe in the morning,’ Jackie said. ‘Tell him I’m not coming back because me mother’s worse than I thought. We could leave tomorrow.’
I looked at her and saw the happiness in her eyes at the thought of it. Leaning across the table, holding both my hands, every ounce of her was saying, please, let’s go, and most of me was agreeing. She reached forward and gently touched my cheek, and I thought back on what had happened to me.
I thought of the two bastards who’d done it and what they’d done to others. I thought how happy they’d feel if they’d had another success and frightened me away. Then there was Kruger, how satisfying it would be for him if I dropped out, he’d have cost me my licence twice.
And Alan Harle who, although I knew he must be mixed up with the crooks, I’d begun to feel some real responsibility for. I’d certainly suffered for him. McCarthy too, he was a pain in the arse at times, but he’d stood by me. God knows how much fighting he’d had to do to keep me on the case.
Then there was the matter of a certain racecourse less than a mile from where I sat. A course where they ran the Gold Cup and the Champion Hurdle, where the best steeplechasers in the country soared over big black fences, a course which tested jockeys’ skills more than any other ...
She saw it in my eyes. ‘I think I’ve lost this one, Eddie, haven’t I?’
‘Don’t count it as a loss. We’ll think back sometime and we’ll be glad we didn’t run.’
‘We will or you will?’
‘Both of us. I know I could never live with it and I’d take it out on you.’
‘I’m strong, I can stand it.’
I smiled at her youthful optimism. ‘Maybe for a month or a year, but not for ever.’
‘Try me.’
‘Listen to the wisdom of an older man.’
‘But ...’
I squeezed her hand and shook my head. ‘It’s our last night, let’s not argue.’
Pursing her lips she lowered her head and nodded almost imperceptibly. Right on cue the waiter brought the champagne.
All through dinner she worked on me to let her help. I was dead against it for her sake, but she persisted. I knew she would make a valuable ally, the best I could wish for, a spy in the camp. On the drive home we reached a compromise.
‘Okay, we’re agreed,’ I said.’ You take no chances whatsoever. You don’t go prowling around, you don’t ask anybody any questions, and I mean anybody, even someone you think you can trust. All you do is listen and observe as you go about your normal daily business. All right?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Come on, Jackie, this is serious.’
‘Okay! Okay! But I’m not a kid, you know!’
‘I know you’re not. You’re twenty and I want you to live till you’re thirty, and then forty and so on. That’s why I’m going to keep drilling into you how dangerous this is. These people are killers and maimers. The two guys who do the dirty work positively enjoy it, to the extent that they like to think of imaginative ways to assault new people on their list. Think about it!’
She was silent for a minute as we drove through the darkness, then she said, ‘Tell me the story so far.’ By the time we reached the cottage I’d told her everything.
I didn’t really learn much that was new from Jackie about the people at Roscoe’s, though the fact that Roscoe ran a couple of horses regularly at the small tracks in France was interesting. The runners were always accompanied on their travels by either Skinner or Harle. I’d bet they weren’t there just for the racing.
Lying together on the rug in the firelight we finalised plans. ‘I’m particularly interested in what Skinner’s doing at the yard,’ I said. I felt her shiver.
‘Yugh!’
‘Not your favourite person, I guess?’
‘He’s a dirty old bastard. Always trying to touch me up or making filthy suggestions.’
‘He does look the part.’
‘If I’m grooming or mucking out he’ll wait till my back’s turned and, preferably, till I’m bending over, then he sneaks into the box under some silly pretext and tries it on.’
‘You’d be amazed how much he’d probably respond to a well aimed prod with a pitchfork.’
‘I thought of that but up till now I’ve needed the job too much. Once this is over I’ll think of some way to get him back.’
‘Let me know, I’d like to be there.’
‘I will.’
‘How long has he been at the yard?’
‘Almost a year. I remember him first trying to grope me on Derby day.’
‘Just doing normal vet-type things, apart from the groping, that is?’
‘Yes, as far as I can see. He takes blood tests, checks legs, gives injections, that sort of stuff.’
‘Ever seen him injecting what you thought was a healthy horse?’
‘No, definitely not. I’d have noticed. Then again I don’t see everything he does.’
‘I bet you don’t. Where does he live?’
‘Mr Roscoe moved him into the head lad’s cottage when he arrived.’
‘Must have pleased the head lad.’
‘He left shortly afterwards.’
‘Does Skinner have a lab to analyse the blood tests?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Ever been in his cottage?’
‘What kind of a girl do you think I am?’
I smiled. ‘Come on, Jackie, stop messing about.’
‘No, I haven’t. Nobody goes up there ‘cause he keeps this big bloody Rottweiler and lets it roam around the house.’
‘Does he spend much time in the cottage?’
‘Can’t say I’ve really noticed.’
‘That’s one thing you could sta
rt looking out for then, but for God’s sake don’t take any chances.’
‘Okay, okay, I won’t!’ She leaned forward and kissed me. ‘You’re a terrible nag, Edward Malloy!’
‘I’ve ridden some terrible nags, too in my time.’
She grimaced. ‘Your jokes are worse than your face!’
I grabbed her around the waist. ‘But you love it anyway.’
‘Oh, do I now?’
And we kissed. Then, in the glow of the dying embers, we made love, but not with the passion and energy of the last three days. Thoughts remained unspoken but we knew the next time might be weeks or months away or, depending on the coming days, depending on Kruger and his men, maybe never.
On the drive to Roscoe’s next morning we went over the things she was to watch out for: any sign or mention of Harle or Kruger or the two men, any hint of what Skinner did on a daily basis. She was to ring me from the pub each night if she could, at ten o’clock, though I told her not to worry if I wasn’t there. I stressed again she was to take no chances.
‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘What are your plans? How do I get in touch?’
‘Tomorrow I’m going to Kempton in the hope of seeing Harle’s girlfriend. She hangs around the London tracks and there’s a chance if he’s still alive that he’s tried to contact her. Where I go from there I don’t know yet but I’ll keep you up to date each time we talk. ‘Remember, if you can’t get me or if anything happens to me, you’ve got McCarthy’s number. I’ll speak to him tomorrow and tell him what we’ve planned.’
We stopped a mile from Roscoe’s knowing it was safer if she walked the rest of the way. As dawn broke we stood holding each other tightly, then we parted in silence.
22
At Kempton I saw people I knew but either they didn’t recognise me because of my face or didn’t want to be seen talking to me. Not that it bothered me much any more.
I spotted Mac standing alone by a racecard kiosk. He didn’t want to be seen with me, I knew that, but there was nobody around. He watched me approach and looked nervous.
‘I told you not to speak to me on the racecourse.’
‘Relax. As far as everyone’s concerned I’m the invisible man anyway.’