Play With Fire

by Solomon Carter

  “You’re a friend, remember?” said Eva. “How are things going with Mark?”

  “Erm. They’re not. But I suppose I deserve it. I’m the one who walked away from him, right?

  “And how are things with the stick man out there. Any better?” said Dan.

  Joanne blushed. “That’s not fair, Dan. Toby doesn’t have any ill will towards either of you guys. Toby’s just sorry you’re in this mess. Honestly.”

  “Well, tell him I’m sorry he knows about it,” said Dan.

  “Dan!” said Eva.

  “What? I know diddly squat about Tobias Falk – except for the flashy name – but he knows all of our business.”

  “We’re friends as well as colleagues,” said Joanne. “It’s natural. We talk.”

  “So I heard,” said Dan.

  Joanne blushed again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

  “Why is he here anyway?” said Dan.

  “We were about to go out when I heard what happened. He gave me a lift straight here.”

  “Right,” said Dan.

  PCSO Bec Rawlins walked over to join them. She bent down and looked Eva in the eye. Another visitor come to mollycoddle the sick patient. “I heard we should change your name to Tyson.”

  “I’m okay, thanks, Bec. How is Boothroyd? Have you heard?”

  “The man’s got a broken face, but he’ll live. And as no charges are going to be pressed, the way I hear it, is that you’re almost free to go.”

  Joanne gave Dan a look. She appealed for his attention and gave a nod to a corner further down the corridor. Dan frowned. The girl repeated the gesture and Dan gave a nod. As Bec Rawlins played nurse, Dan followed Joanne to the corner by the vending machines.

  “What is it?” said Dan.

  “This is down to that Lauren Jaeger.”

  “Yeah, I think it is,” said Dan.

  “She’s dangerous, Dan. But Eva won’t see it.”

  “That woman’s been a bigger drain than an event horizon, but as being dangerous… I wouldn’t have believed it until now.”

  “They need watching,” said Joanne. “Eva especially.”

  “We’re stretched right now. We had a bundle of leads come in and I’ve taken on a really awkward case. In fact it just got a whole lot more twisted. And a little girl could be in danger. I can’t walk away until she’s safe.”

  “These leads. Are they any good?”

  “Most of them have been a dead loss. But hey, we need the work. I just wish this one hadn’t blown up right now.”

  “Blown up?”

  “The client was attacked. He’s in a bad way.”

  “The client? Which one?”

  “What does it matter? You won’t know them.”

  Joanne nodded and pursed her lips. Dan narrowed his eyes in thought.

  “I’ll do my best to keep an eye on Eva. Don’t worry.”

  “She needs to get rid of Lauren. I mean it,” said Joanne.

  “I’m working on it, believe me.”

  “And Mark,” said Joanne. “Is he okay?”

  “I didn’t think he was on your radar anymore,” said Dan.

  “I still care about him… why wouldn’t I? I’ve just moved on, that’s all.”

  “He’s under my wing. He’s not happy, but workwise, he’s coming on well.”

  “Then that’s the important part. The rest will come good at some point, won’t it?”

  “One day,” said Dan, refusing to give too much comfort. Joanne sighed.

  “There’s another thing,” said Joanne.

  “Isn’t there always?” said Dan.

  “Alice Perry,” said Eva.

  Dan made a face like Joanne had just jabbed a drawing pin into his chest.

  “Why bring her up?”

  “Because she’s always been trouble for you guys…”

  “There’s no need to rake all that up now. That’s history. Look, you can see for yourself, Eva is in a bad way. And we dealt with all that, remember?”

  Joanne opened her mouth to speak but Dan hardened his eyes. “We dealt with it – okay? Leave Perry for another time.”

  “I’d like to, Dan, but seriously, she’s everywhere I look. She was involved in that lead.”

  “What lead?” said Dan, his eyes drifting to Eva.

  “The bad one. The Poulter lead. It was a fake, remember…?”

  “How could I forget?” said Dan. Dan narrowed his eyes. “You gave it to us. Now you’re blaming Perry?”

  “Only because I know she was involved…”

  “Seems like a stretch to me. Why would she give you a poisoned chalice like that? Wait. You didn’t get it from the council, did you? You got that lead from the Stickman. Is that where all our leads have been coming from? His cast-offs?”

  Joanne blushed. “Dan. It’s not like that.”

  But Dan saw the colour fill Joanne’s cheeks. He had his answer without a word being spoken. “Now I know why you asked for the client’s name. You’re the one giving us the recommendations. For what it’s worth, the client I’m working with is Andrew Ronson.”

  Joanne shook her head.

  “Okay. I sent you some leads. I was trying to help.”

  “You felt sorry for us. There’s a difference. We don’t need that guy’s business. Understand?”

  “Dan, please listen. If you—"

  Bec Rawlins stood up to make her goodbyes, and Dan turned to watch. It was almost time to go.

  “Perry’s involved in something.”

  “She’s a hack,” said Dan. “They have to be involved in everything. They put themselves around.”

  Joanne shook her head and looked away. She glanced back to the reception doors to see Toby Falk looking at her through the porthole windows. Joanne raised a finger to say, ‘one minute’ and as she looked away, she found Mark watching the man through the glass, his arms folded and resolute.

  Joanne looked back and found Dan looking at her closely. “A lot of people put themselves around. The hard part is deciding who you can trust.”

  “What? But you know you can trust me!” said Joanne.

  Dan made a thoughtful nod. “Yeah, I think I can. But maybe I can’t trust him.”

  Joanne looked hurt. “Fine. I get it. I’m persona non grata with you guys. But, Dan, don’t make the mistake of trusting Perry again. She hasn’t got any better. Believe me.”

  “Joanne. No offence, but I don’t need your input on my personal affairs anymore. Been there, done that, remember. Now you better go and see Mr Falk before he gets snapped in the breeze.”

  Joanne shook her head again. “I only came here for Eva. Sorry I bumped into you.”

  Joanne turned and marched past the desks with her arms folded. Dan turned glum in self-reproach. Joanne didn’t deserve the carpeting he’d given her. He’d taken out his anger on her. Now he owed her an apology. Life – no matter which way you sliced it, some days you just couldn’t win.

  PCSO Rawlins approached and smiled at him. “You can take her off our hands now, Dan. Just keep out of trouble. That goes for both of you.”

  “Yeah. I’ll let you know how that goes,” said Dan, smiling back. Eva joined him and threaded an arm through his. They slowly marched between the banks of desks, avoiding the eyes of the curious uniforms who watched them leave. By the time they reached the double doors, Joanne and Tobias Falk had just left. But for a fleeting second Dan and Falk’s eyes met through the reception window as the couple walked by on the plaza. Neither man seemed to like what he saw.

  Seventeen

  Dan took Eva home. He shut up the office, switched off her mobile phone, and found the bottle of wine open in the bag beneath his desk, before following her up to their apartment.

  “It was that bad, huh?” he said, holding up the half empty bottle of wine.

  “Much, much, worse,” said Eva.

  Dan gave her a look. Wistful, full of concern.

  “I know,” she said. “You have to go out again.”


  “I’ve got no choice,” he said. “But you’re not going anywhere. I mean it. No matter what Lady Lauren demands, for now you know she’s safe. The hitman can’t eat solid food, let alone hurt anyone. Lauren can wait. You’ve helped her more than she deserved already.”

  There was still Blane to deal with. She had to see him, to make him face what he’d done. But right then, Eva had nothing left in her, and she didn’t want to explain or justify herself. She was exhausted, and all too keen to finish whatever her wine and get to bed. It was early. She wanted oblivion. She wanted every trace of her nightmare gone, if only for a while. Sleep seemed her best option.

  “You’ll be okay?” Dan looked at her, and Eva nodded, but something in her eyes said she wasn’t sure.

  He looked at the clock and waited.

  “Stay with me,” she said. “Just for a little while. I’ve missed you.”

  Dan was about to say something but Eva reached for his hand.

  He nodded, sat down on the sofa beside Eva and poured her a large drink. Eva took the glass and sipped, then put the glass down and leaned against him.

  “It’s weird,” she said. “Sometimes Lauren still seems like my old friend at school. The girl I used to know. I see it in flashes, and when I do, I feel for her. And that’s when I want to help her again. Other times, I see something else. Someone I don’t know. A shapeshifter. I don’t know which woman is the true one.”

  “Maybe both, Eva.”

  “I saw her medical report, Dan. When our friendship broke apart all those years ago, she cracked. It took a while, but eventually she ended up in a French mental institution because of it.”

  “But that isn’t your fault.”

  “But I never forgave her, Dan. All those years I didn’t need to carry that grudge. Because Lauren never forgave herself. She carried it for me, and as a result she’s suffered ever since. That’s why she’s like this. Because of what happened.”

  “Because of her choice.”

  “She was a girl back then. I hope, in helping her end this thing with Blane, I can help her deal with it. We can never be friends, not after all this, but maybe she can forgive herself, move on and get some peace.”

  “I think maybe you should forgive yourself. You don’t have to carry the world, Eva. You never did.”

  Eva’s eyes gleamed. “I wish I wasn’t carrying anything,” she said.

  “Then don’t,” he said. Dan was caught by the sadness in her eyes. He reached for Eva’s face and slid his hand into her hair. Her shining eyes came back to the present. She leaned her head back onto his hand.

  “How much longer can you stay?” said Eva.

  “Not long. But let’s find out,” said Dan, as he reached for her arm and found Eva already in motion. She leaned upward, moving to her knees on the sofa so she could lean over him, slipping her arm around his waist, moving towards him so she was able to plant a firm, loving kiss on his mouth. They embraced, Dan’s hands working over her soft back, squeezing the tight muscles in her shoulders. “God, I’ve missed you,” she said.

  “I’ve noticed,” said Dan, smiling, as she kissed his face.

  “No,” said Eva. “You’ve got no idea.” She looked into his eyes and leaned in for another lingering kiss.

  Eighteen

  Feeling a little more chipper than before, Dan paid a visit to Ronson in his bed at Basildon hospital. He’d left Eva cosy in their bed, knowing she would be self-medicating on white wine. Not good, but necessary. In Basildon’s ITU the bedside monitors bleeped. Nurses carrying clipboards clip-clopped along the tiles behind them. And as the large African nurse had told them three times already, visiting time would soon be over. The ward was quietly busy in the way only an ITU can be. But for an ITU patient, Ronson didn’t look too bad. In most of the beds around them, the occupants were silent, eyes closed, and attached to ventilators. Ronson was able to talk but found it a struggle. His left lung had been punctured by a broken rib, but his face had sustained most of the damage. His dislocated shoulder had already been reset.

  “At least you understand now, don’t you?” said Ronson, his voice faint. His shrunken chest was exposed to the ward air, an abundance of bandages taped to the left side, where a tube had been inserted, and was still draining a pink coloured liquid. Ronson wasn’t exactly a page seven fella, but Ronson had never ever pretended to be something he wasn’t.

  “I understand alright,” said Dan. “Your neighbours are scum with smiles on their faces.” He shook his head. “Will you be going to press charges?”

  Ronson eyed Dan with scepticism. “Me? It’s my word against theirs, isn’t it? No one saw it, not even you. They lured me inside for that reason. I don’t want to take them on again. But you can still stop them, can’t you? And now you’ve seen what they’re capable of…”

  Dan nodded grimly. “Don’t worry. I’m going to help alright,” he said. “But you know, I was thinking… about you and the Mellot girl…”

  “Yes?” said the man, smacking his dry lips. Mark looked up from his phone screen for the first time since they’d arrived. “The Mellots have already noticed that you pay a lot of attention to their daughter. Things like that don’t go down well. There’s a lot of bad things on the news, if you see what I’m saying.”

  The man’s brows dipped low over his glasses. He looked down at his hands.

  “What? They think I might be some kind of…” Ronson didn’t want to use the word. Instead he substituted. “Threat? Dear, oh dear. Oh no, that’s awful. It’s only because she reminds me so much of my little Vicky. My own sweet girl…”

  “I know that. But no one else does because you’ve kept it such a secret. That’s causing you a problem.”

  “But it hurts, Mr Bradley. That’s why I don’t talk about it. I can’t face it. Seeing that sweet girl is like a window to the past. She’s like a tonic for me.”

  “If I were you, I’d make the effort to go and see them. You could try and explain to them about your family. It’d be good if they understood what happened to you.

  Ronson regarded Dan and Mark. “And you… You thought I was a threat to her too, didn’t you? That’s why you went upstairs and invaded my privacy. It is, isn’t it?”

  “We had to be careful,” said Dan. “We’ve had a few cases turn sour lately. I’m pleased to say that you’re not one of them.”

  “You could speak to the Mellots for me… couldn’t you?”

  Dan knew it wouldn’t work. Mrs Mellot had already made up her mind. The whole idea was probably a non-runner, but he didn’t want to steal the man’s hope.

  “Maybe I could put in a word. But don’t you worry about all that. Your job is to get yourself better, we’ll handle the rest.”

  “And how will you handle it?” said Ronson.

  “By making your neighbours face up to some facts. Such as, they can’t get away with what they just did to you. We can make sure they get the message.”

  “I don’t think I can go on living next to those people anymore. Not after this. They made it clear they didn’t want me around.”

  The words didn’t want me around struck Dan. He frowned and looked at Ronson.

  “Is that what this is about? They don’t want you around them? They think you’re a problem for them?”

  Mark looked up from his phone at the suggestion.

  “They say I’m too nosy…” said Ronson. “Too interested in their business. To them, your visit basically proved it. But I just want them to stop intimidating me – and I want them to leave that girl alone.”

  “Did you speak to them about the Mellot girl?”

  “I tried, but they barely gave me the chance to say anything once that door was closed.”

  “But you mentioned her?”

  “I did. They took it as some kind of attempt to control them. They told me what they do is none of my business. Then the woman said she would give me a chance. One chance, she said.”

  “What?”

  “He didn’t like it
when she said that… I could tell… He just wanted to hurt me. But she said something like this – we could cut a deal, have an arrangement or something… I agree to stay away from my house when they were busy. You know, I’d go away for a night – that’s what she meant… But how could I?!”

  Renton wheezed and coughed with all the talking. Dan narrowed his eyes and chewed the inside of his cheek. With every word he was disliking The Bleaches more and more.

  “Why did they say that?” said Dan.

  “Because then it wouldn’t bother me so much. That’s what she said.”

  “And you said?”

  “No. I wouldn’t ever go away. I wouldn’t go anywhere. It’s my home. But you know my real reason, don’t you?”

  Dan nodded. “Because you’re worried about the girl.”

  Ronson nodded. “Those people terrify me. But if I turn a blind eye, what will they do to her?”

  “Why are you so sure they’ll do anything to her?” said Mark.

  Ronson looked Mark in the eye. He took a deep wheezing breath and added emphasis to his words. “It’s the way they talk to her, son. The way they look at her. It feels almost strategic. Like they’ve got a vested interest…”

  Ronson broke into fits of painful coughing. A moment later a nurse rushed across the ward to his side.

  “I think you’d better let him rest now, don’t you? All those questions, it sounds like an interrogation, not a beside visit!”

  “Okay, we’re going. Mr Ronson,” said Dan, as he rose from his seat.

  The man looked at him red faced with the effort of coughing as the nurse attended to the tube hanging from his chest.

  “We’ll handle it,” said Dan. “I promise.”

  The man nodded in thanks before the nurse moved across and blocked his face from view. Mark and Dan walked away from the ward into the hospital corridor.

  “Those bastards. They’ve done this to break him. To make sure he leaves that street. Why else go from offering the man a deal to beating him half to death?”

  As they walked Mark examined his phone.

  Actually,” said Mark, “I don’t think those were the only reasons why they hurt Mr Ronson today.”