Artifact

by Bowes, K T

  Dan had acted without thinking, seizing the rapist by his hair and his open shirt collar and throwing him off his daughter. Jayden bled from the sex but also from a stab wound under her ribs, which Wes had used to silence her cries. He preferred the whores who worked for him to stay quiet and at least pretend to like his efforts. The knife had slipped in a little deeper than he had intended, but he would have no further use for the girl after this, so it made no odds to him.

  An uncharacteristic red mist had descended over the gentle father’s mind and he had displayed a furious temper, kicking Wes hard in the groin and making the man double over in pure agony, doing irreparable damage and putting out his fire once and for all. The steel toe caps of Dan’s work boots had broken Wes’ eye socket and decimated three ribs, driving the dope dealer and part-time pimp nearer to the floor to slobber and cry. Dan had knelt and scooped his daughter up into his arms, pulling her torn skirt back down over her dignity with tenderness and care. “My beautiful daughter,” he had said, the words catching in his throat. Jayden had looked up into his face, unable to read the myriad expressions there and had been staring into his disbelief through her tear filled eyes, when the wide-eyed look of realisation had crossed his features.

  Wes’ face appeared above him, writhing in discomfort with his own injuries and speckling blood over her father’s white-shirted shoulder. The long bladed knife was slipped into Dan’s body through his back, puncturing his left lung and wrecking his insides. But the father wasn’t yet done and the last thing Wes remembered before waking up in the hospital under guard was the feel of Dan’s fist in his face. The action of turning caused the blade to touch the finer workings of the honourable man’s heart, jamming itself inside one of the precious cavities and severing a splendid career as a father. Despite his injuries, Dan still managed to set his daughter carefully on the ground, before keeling over onto the stained floorboards.

  It all happened so quickly, fast forwarding Dan’s exit as though Death was in a hurry to claim his soul. With no mobile phone and no landline in the dirty derelict house, Jayden had sobbed as the life dripped from her father. She had just enough time to apologise over and over for something she had convinced herself was her fault. “Sorry Daddy, sorry.”

  Her father’s blood had mingled and diluted itself in hers as his final juddering breath left his body and she had cradled his head in her soiled, bloody lap.

  In his haste, Dan had run two red traffic lights and fortunately been seen by a passing police car. Slow to make the turn they had lost him as he flew after his son’s tail lights. Nick had nosed his vehicle down a steep driveway, effectively making himself invisible as he dragged Jayden into the property via the back door. Dan had driven frantically around and finally abandoned his 4 x 4 truck slewed across the road and the top of the driveway. Cruising around in their search the cops had come upon the truck with its engine still idling and ventured inside to search the property, night sticks drawn and back up already on its way.

  The blood bath in front of them had been horrific. Mistaking Jayden for one of the local prostitutes, they had not been as attentive as they should and her stab wound was initially missed. It was only the kindly ambulance man, a little more experienced than the policemen who were equipped mostly with the blind enthusiasm of the young, who pried Dan’s head from Jayden’s lap and noticed the flow of blood that continued to soak the school skirt. Wes’ state of undress and the finger marks around her throat, already turning shades of black and blue, gave the game away and Jayden was treated differently from that moment on.

  It was only when the three blood-soaked creatures, plus one drugged up comatose male, were ambulanced to the hospital and Jayden’s mother arrived to identify three of them as hers that the full extent of the horror was finally understood. Jayden’s spleen was removed in surgery and by the time she was awake enough fully to comprehend the dire state of her circumstances, most of the action was over. Her father was dead, her brother was under arrest and Wes was undergoing surgery for a blood clot to his warped excuse for a brain. Jayden had lain in the hospital, flanked by Hannah’s faithful presence and resigned herself to the fact that she would never recover. The demons had settled on her then, when at her most vulnerable she had failed to lock her soul against their lies and they had kept her prisoner ever since.

  In masking her true feelings during her training and the subsequent five years of work, Jayden had denied Lily and played into the vile hands of the ghouls who held her hostage. She wiped her eyes again and wondered what life would be like from now on. She could feel more of her old self stirring in her heart and responded to it reluctantly.

  A sharp rap on the door heralded Ed, as promised. He grabbed her coat from the closet and held out his hand to her. “Come.”

  Like a child, Jayden allowed him to lead her from the room, attempting to lock the door behind them and fumbling so badly that Ed had to take the key from her. With a wave at Sal and a raised eyebrow, he exited the centre, dragging his partner with him. He had already asked Sal to cancel Jayden’s appointments for the day. The world would have to manage without her.

  On the crazy paved path at the side of the church, he stripped off his white dog-collar, the mark of his trade and opened the top button of his black shirt. Stuffing the stiff white thing in his jacket pocket, he tucked Jayden’s uninjured right arm underneath his and led her gently as though out for a stroll.

  The two detectives were just entering the side gates to make their way around to the counselling centre. The older man waved a slip of paper in their faces and told them victoriously that he had gotten a warrant from a justice of the peace. Jayden ignored them both completely, allowing herself to be led along by Ed, almost cracking a smile as she heard his reply to them in a jovial tone, “Jolly good.”

  The policemen stood and watched the odd pair turn the corner before shrugging at each other and proceeding into the building. Only Ed and Jayden had keys to the offices and only Jayden held the key to the precious filing cabinet. Both key holders were long gone by the time the deflated cops had debated the issue with an indignant Sal at the front desk. Campion appeared at his office doorway, following a client to the reception desk and read the warrant with a serious expression. It gave the detectives the power to search his office and cabinets also. He smiled and held the door open for them, whilst pointing out that even if they broke the door down into Jayden’s office, the filing cabinet was bolted to the floor and tamper proof. “You would be better off waiting for her.”

  Ed walked Jayden out of the front gates and into the High Street. Her boot heels clacked on the pavement, resounding peculiarly off the three storey buildings all around them. Jayden was grateful that Ed didn’t take her to the church cafe. Staffed by volunteers it was generally a lovely place to sit and waste some time but it could also be a hotbed of scintillating gossip. Coffee with the stand-in-vicar would be sure to arouse unhealthy interest in their companionship and almost definitely get back to Ed’s wife.

  They went instead to a small cafe tucked between two shops at the start of the pedestrian area. It was modelled on an Italian theme and Ed seemed at home there. The young girl behind the counter was somewhat smitten with his dark good looks and he bantered kindly with her for a moment while he ordered the drinks. Jayden skulked into the toilets to clean herself up. She hadn’t grabbed her handbag and so was forced to scrub off the offending mascara using damp toilet roll but as the quality of the paper was not high, ended up covered in tiny threads of grey paper. The more water she used, the worse it got.

  Jayden emerged eventually, feeling embarrassed about her blotchy red raw face and puffy eyes, but Ed glanced up from the newspaper he was perusing and appraised her warmly. Jayden felt the heat of attraction rising up inside her chest and fought to beat it down again. After almost nine years of enforced drought, trust her to fall for a married one!

  Their drinks arrived and Ed smiled up nicely at the barista, who coloured slightly at his attention befor
e returning to hide behind her noisy coffee machine and peek over the top at him longingly. The girl eyed Jayden with open curiosity, making her feel self-conscious and unworthy of being with the gorgeous man who was at that moment, stirring a sachet of sugar into his coffee. He did everything precisely, with concentration and a hint of perfectionism. His fingers were long and slender with a dusting of dark hair on the backs of his hands. His nails were clean and short, a healthy line of white along the edges showing that he wasn’t a nail biter.

  Without considering what the consequences might be, Jayden reached out the fingers of her right hand and touched the back of Ed’s as he twirled the spoon in a rhythmic motion. He placed the object carefully on the table and met Jayden’s fingers with his. There was a moment of intensity, as though the world had paled into insignificance around them while his fingers explored hers, knitting themselves through them as though designed to fit with surprising perfection. He turned her cool, smooth hand over and raised it to his mouth, kissing her curled digits tenderly. Feeling the eyes of the other customers straying their way, Jayden gently pulled her hand back and used the distraction of sipping her coffee to mask any awkwardness.

  Ed seemed genuinely disappointed but covered it well, returning his attention to his drink, a cappuccino with an incredibly generous sprinkling of chocolate. “You like chocolate?” Jayden asked, suddenly tired of the silence, even though it wasn’t overly oppressive. Ed leaned in conspiratorially.

  “Not that much really. But the young lady behind the counter thinks I do.”

  Jayden bit her lip and tried not to look across at the barista. “Why don’t you go to another cafe?” she asked, thinking it logical. Ed sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking around at the stonewashed walls and stencilled Roman pots. It oozed a kind of stereotypical Italy, which probably bore no relation to the reality.

  “I like it here,” he replied loyally, “it reminds me of home.”

  Jayden smiled in response and studied him covertly from underneath her lashes. Ed felt her gaze and stayed deliberately still and quiet. It was a little like lying on the ground waiting for a nervous deer to sniff him out, running the risk of falling foul of its hooves or deceptively dangerous antlers. Jayden spoke suddenly, appealing for his wisdom and it made him feel as though he could take on the war-torn, raging world. “What shall I do about giving the cops access to my notes?” she asked and Ed thought for a moment.

  “I don’t see that you have a choice. Their warrant effectively unlocks that filing cabinet, whether you like it or not. Why?”

  Jayden lowered her voice. “If I tell you something, you have to keep it to yourself don’t you? Because of the oath you swore when you became a curate.”

  Ed winced visibly and nodded slowly. “Kind of, but like you, there are certain circumstances that allow me to break that. I think you just need to tell me, Jayd.”

  “Well,” she leaned forwards conspiratorially and he did likewise, their fringes meeting over the top of their coffees. “What if I told you that the notes from one of my clients could seriously implicate them in the vicar’s murder?”

  Ed let out a low whistle. “I’d say that was a real praline.”

  “What?” Jayden was confused.

  “Oh sorry,” Ed whispered with a smirk, “I have to swear in chocolate. The congregation doesn’t much like their curates dropping the ‘f-bomb’ in church. Habit, sorry.”

  “This is serious, Ed! A woman’s life could hang in the balance over this.”

  “Do you think she did it?” he asked in a whisper.

  “Heck no!” came Jayden’s retort. “She’s crippled with arthritis and couldn’t have even got up those stairs, let alone chucked her husband off the balcony. But if anyone had motive and opportunity, then it was her.”

  Ed’s eyes widened and Jayden clapped her hand over her mouth. She had given everything away to this man, having fallen into the depths of his smouldering blue eyes and broken all of her own rules. He could see her inwardly beating herself up and didn’t want that for her. Ed reached out and reclaimed her right hand, holding it tightly in his with no intention of letting her go. “I’m not going to say anything if you don’t think she did it. But let’s just talk this through properly. Are you saying that you’ve been treating the vicar’s wife?”

  Jayden nodded miserably. “Yes. Sal has to leave at four on a Thursday and Campion has a tutorial with the students he takes up at the university then. So she’s been coming in to see me for the last six months. I just make sure that Sal leaves it free for me and she sneaks through. It’s been fine up until now. Nobody needed to know.”

  “Can you tell me what you’ve been treating her for?” Ed asked gently, refusing to let Jayden’s hand go so that she could scratch her nose. She was forced to use the other hand and caught the edge of her cast on her cheekbone. She gave a huge sigh and seemed reluctant, capitulating eventually.

  “Anger management.”

  “Turkish delight!” Ed’s response had a vaguely comic feel, despite the inappropriateness of it.

  “Ed! Be serious!” she snapped at him again and he bit his bottom lip.

  “Sorry!” he whispered back. “What I really want to say is bollocks, shit and bugger, but it’s not really on, is it?”

  “No,” Jayden shook her head. “But they’re my sentiments exactly.”

  “So you think that the minute they start reading her notes, they’ll be running the lights and two tones to arrest her?”

  “Well, wouldn’t you if you were them?” Jayden asked. “The thing is...her notes aren’t actually in that filing cabinet. They’re in my closet back at the office. I’ve hidden them up under the Christmas decorations. I know it’s all a bit unethical, but I didn’t want to run the risk of having that odious little vicar ‘come across’ them. I’ve suspected for a while that someone else had a key and I think it was him. The cabinet originally came from the vestry and obviously he had keys to all the offices. A couple of times I felt as though things had been disturbed and set a few traps. I don’t know what to do, Ed. Do I come clean and let the cops have all of it, or do I go with my gut and say nothing?”

  “I want to say it’s a ‘nutty’ one, but that’s only because I’m avoiding worse alternatives.” Ed bit his bottom lip and gave the matter consideration. Then he looked at her strangely. “What traps?”

  Jayden smirked. “I went through this period of feeling as though someone was coming in after I had left and reading my notes, especially those belonging to St Jude’s congregation members. Things just seemed out of sequence when I went back for them and I know how I like to leave things for next time. Also, he would ask me how so-and-so was getting on and stuff like that. So I left a little surprise in a client’s file one night recently and it seemed to stop after that.”

  “What surprise?” Ed’s curiosity was so stirred that his forehead almost touched Jayden’s as he leaned forward in anticipation.

  “A mouse trap.” Jayden sat back with a look of guilt mingled with satisfaction. Ed laughed outright.

  “Oh my goodness woman! Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you!”

  “The next day he had this massive bandage on one of his fingers. I didn’t know where to look and there was blood on the trap. It was one of those really spiteful ones. I don’t think he risked it again. I just made sure that he heard me tell Sal that I had a mouse problem and had hidden traps all over the office and he scooted off as fast as his shiny shoes could carry him!”

  Ed had begun to snigger and it was cute. His nose wrinkled up and his forehead creased, making him appear more like a naughty schoolboy than a man of the cloth.

  “What shall I do then?” Jayden asked him, peering closely at a long scar on his index finger. It was rough and jagged, shiny where the skin had struggled to mend and left that odd patina that a difficult healing leaves.

  “Look, I’ve met Mrs McLean and I don’t think she could have done it for all the reasons that you’ve said. For now, ho
w about we just ‘forget’ about her notes and leave it at that? If it comes up later, I’ll say that you consulted me and I told you to leave it.”

  “No,” Jayden shook her head. “I don’t want you getting the blame. I’ll take the fall for it. It just didn’t sit right making the decision alone. Rita would definitely have said I should hand it over, but...I’m not best pleased with her at the moment.” Jayden’s face took on a sour look that didn’t suit her and Ed stroked his thumb across the back of her hand. She looked down at their entwined hands and felt sad. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said, uncoupling her fingers from his.

  “Why?” he asked bluntly, refusing for a fraction of a second to let her go. “We’re both consenting adults and I’m not asking you to go to bed with me. I’m just holding your hand. I find you...”

  Jayden gave a determined tug and released her fingers, holding them up in front of Ed’s face to make him stop. “Raff said...” she began, but it was his turn to interrupt. The mood had plummeted suddenly.

  “You need to stop listening to everything my brother says. There are things you don’t know. I need to talk to you about his marriage proposal. He’s acting as though you’ve accepted and I...”

  Jayden stood up suddenly. All trace of the amicable conversation was over. Ed sighed and followed her out of the cafe, hit by the bracing winter cold outside in the street. “Jayd wait!” He tugged on her good arm and tucked it into his again. He felt uncharacteristically powerless and his heart sought the camaraderie of just a few minutes before.