DEATHLOOP

by G. Brailey

  They were allowed to view Veronica though glass, like she was some kind of medical experiment and observing her there in those very white sheets, so magnificent a specimen of life on the cusp of extinction made Zack want to howl. People kept speaking to him but he had been made deaf by the trauma he decided, because even when he heard sounds they made no sense to him at all.

  He couldn’t begin to start picking his way through the car wrecks that had become his life but how and why they were happening did not matter. What mattered was finding a way to get them to stop. Justin was right, the weirder the better at one time, but not anymore, all this was pushing weirdness too far. Zack eventually told Miriam and Clarissa to go home, he would stand guard and report back if there was any change. He wanted to be alone anyway. He didn’t like the way Miriam was looking at him, and from Clarissa there was a sense of hopelessness that he felt he really could do without.

  At one o’ clock in the morning Tracy turned up, confirming what Zack already feared that Brian Smith had got wind of the accident and wanted to have a few words. He had been incandescent with rage apparently when, before his relapse, Sam had refused to press charges, insisting that he was as much to blame for their fight as Zack, and dismissing the whole thing as a disagreement that had got out of hand. The idea of Brian Smith lording it over him, with Veronica lying in hospital gravely ill meant that Zack would have to be very careful, the wrong word from the ghastly little termite and he would be up and over that table ringing his bloody neck.

  “Hasn’t he got anything better to do?”

  “He wants to be seen to be thorough I imagine.”

  “And when is the guy anything less than thorough?”

  “You can’t go back to the flat by the way, not until forensics are finished. Did they tell you?”

  Zack shrugged, he couldn’t think why he’d want to go back there anyway. “Why was Jason there?”

  “Search me, and before you ask, no I didn’t give him your address, although it’s probably just as well all things considered. Thankful for small mercies, Mr Fortune,” she said quietly, tapping Zack on the knee.

  They sat in silence after that, until a few minutes later Tracy prepared to leave.

  “Thanks, Tracy,” said Zack, “I should have got you a coffee or something.”

  “Not this late, I’d never sleep.”

  “Call me, yeah?” said Zack, slumping back in his chair.

  As Tracy was about to turn away, Zack stood up, pulled her round to face him and took her into his arms. Tracy disengaged first, a little taken aback at the show of affection.

  “You’ll be okay on your own?” she said, thinking it might be Zack’s way of keeping her there.

  “Sure, but thanks anyway.”

  Zack watched Tracy walk off, clocking her strange selection of clothes that always made her look as though she’d got dressed in a gale, the hemline of her skirt that fell a good two inches from one side to the other, the wrinkled black tights and the clapped out shoes. Zack found himself wondering if Tracy ever sought intimacy, or if past disasters had precluded her even thinking about it. He knew nothing of Tracy’s personal life, but he didn’t need to, she might just as well have had the words ‘unlucky in love’ stamped in huge letters right across her back.

  At the mention of the word ‘coffee’, Zack found himself longing for one and got up to find a machine, but as he left Critical Care and navigated a few deserted corridors, a prickle of fear spread through him. Thinking back to the nurse discovered in similar circumstances albeit in a different hospital, Zack turned on his heels and shot back to the ward like a boomerang. Another dead person would be too much. The ship that was Zack Fortune would go down, all hands on deck, absolutely no question about that.

  CHAPTER 26

  The following day Zack agreed to meet with Brian Smith really just to get it over with. At the police station Tracy was waiting for him, looking spruced for once. The make-up was back and it looked like she’d done something to tame her hair that always looked like it was about to fly off to a distant galaxy.

  “So you were back in Derbyshire, Mr Fortune, with Barbara Quinn I believe. Rather fortunate all round,” said Brian, with a hopeful grin.

  It took Zack a huge effort not to rise to this comment, and in a swift glance, he clocked Tracy sending him a very clear message not to let the little toad get to him. Zack did not respond at all, or appeared not to, although his heart was thumping so loudly in his chest he thought there was a good chance it would pick up on the tape.

  “Had you had a disagreement with Miss French lately?”

  “No,” said Zack, patiently, “we parted on the best of terms.”

  “Why go and see Barbara Quinn, anyway? What light could she throw on things?” said Brian, actually curious.

  “Okay, look, while I was out of town, my girlfriend fell down the stairs of my apartment block. I don’t know why she was there, or if she was with anyone else, or more to the point if anyone pushed her, I know as much about the incident as you do.”

  “We think she’d had some kind of fight,” said Brian.

  “A fight?”

  “Your door was open, and when investigating officers arrived there, the place was in disarray.”

  Zack knew nothing of this, and by the look on Tracy’s face she didn’t either. “Did someone break in then, is that what you’re saying?”

  “No evidence of that, so if she opened the door it was obviously to someone she knew,” said Brian pointedly. “And Jason Heart… would you care to fill us in?”

  “He wanted me to defend him on a criminal matter,” said Zack, knowing full well Brian’s ears would prick up at this.

  “Oh yes? What kind of criminal matter?”

  “A drugs charge,” said Zack, a little sheepishly.

  “A drugs charge, eh?” said Brian, with a forced chuckle, “well, you should know about all that.”

  Zack counted to ten, allowing Brian his few moments of amusement at his expense.

  “So what was he doing on the stairs… any ideas?”

  “None at all,” said Zack.

  “Does Miss French know Jason Heart? Had they met before?”

  “Yes, briefly.”

  “So if he had come knocking, she might well have let him in?”

  “Unlikely,” said Zack, thinking back to their encounter in Holloway.

  “Is he a frequent visitor?”

  “No, I’m not sure how he found out where I lived. I certainly didn’t give him the information.”

  “Bit of a coincidence then all things considered.”

  “Yes,” said Zack, looking defeated, “I agree, it is.”

  An hour later, Zack and Tracy were in their usual greasy spoon, Zack checking his mobile every few moments, gulping down the first food he had seen in a while.

  “Just by chance Jason is hanging about on the stairs…” said Zack, his mouth full, “weird or what?”

  “Oh God, back to Jason are we?” said Tracy, sounding exhausted suddenly.

  “I should have been there,” said Zack, giving up on the food and pushing his plate away.

  “But you weren’t there,” said Tracy, “so stop beating yourself up about it.”

  “You don’t really think Brian Smith thinks I put him up to it, do you?”

  “No!” she barked, “well… I think he’s maybe trying to make a connection with Susan’s allegation but he won’t get very far, and he knows that, he’s just a bad loser that’s all.”

  For the first time since they’d met, Zack got the distinct impression that Tracy was sick of him. If his lawyer, who was getting handsomely paid for her time and expertise was beginning to wish he had instructed someone else, things were worse than he thought. A few minutes later Zack stood up saying he needed to get back. Tracy got up too, and as though she regretted her quick temper, she patted him on the back and wished him well.

  At the hospital as Zack turned into the corridor leading up to Critical Care he was throw
n to see Jason there, on patrol. He looked even smaller today, like some funny little scarecrow guarding a field. Jason’s eyes locked onto Zack’s at his approach, exuding a combination of self-consciousness, insecurity, terror and an eagerness to please.

  “Is she better?”

  “Not yet…”

  “It wasn’t me that pushed her. Is that what you think? Well it wasn’t me. I didn’t push her, I didn’t push anyone. I just found her there on the stairs, then I talked to the cops, gave them your number so they could call.”

  “Yes, thanks Jason, you did the right thing.”

  “I could have gone home, or to the pub, or to the pool hall or anywhere really,” said Jason, reasonably, “but I thought I should stay and help, so I did, because she’s your girlfriend, and I knew you would want me to because of us being such good friends.”

  “I appreciate it,” said Zack with a distant smile. Jason looked at him as though waiting for something else. “So, I’ll catch up with you later,” said Zack, turning towards the door.

  “When?”

  “I’ll call you.”

  “Yes, but what time?”

  “Jason, I can’t talk now, mate, I have to go and see Veronica.”

  Jason handed Zack a plastic carrier bag that he had kept hidden behind his back. “I got her a present…”

  “That’s very kind of you,” said Zack, pressing the buzzer, and hoping for a swift release from the conversation.

  “I could have got Celebrations or Quality Street, but the man in the shop said Roses are the best because they’re everyone’s favourites, so I took his advice,” said Jason aware that Zack would leave soon, and trying to prevent it, “are you going in there now?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Shall I come in with you?”

  “No, sorry, it’s not allowed.”

  Zack left Jason standing there, looking through the small glass porthole, as he made his way along to the nurse’s station. As he arrived there, he glanced back, and saw him still peering in at him, his hood almost concealing his face.

  Today Miriam seemed keen to speak with Zack, relating her conversation with the police. “There’s no way into your apartment block is there? I mean apart from being buzzed up.”

  “No of course not, although… the boy that found her didn’t live there, and no one is quite sure how he got in.”

  “Who is he, this boy?”

  “Just some kid… he’s got fixated on me for some reason.”

  “Why?” asked Miriam, as though the idea was completely beyond her comprehension.

  “That’s what we’d all like to know.”

  “So tell him to bugger off,” she said, demonstrating instantly the difference between the two sisters.

  “Listen, he’s not involved in this, and if he hadn’t been there it could have been worse.”

  “Tell me how!” said Miriam, on the verge of tears.

  “I’m sorry, Miriam,” he said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

  Zack threw a clumsy arm round her, although physical contact felt strange to both of them. They had tolerated each other up to this point. Zack, convinced that Miriam had always talked him down to Veronica, Miriam, well aware that Zack knew she had always talked him down to Veronica and both unsure quite how that information left them.

  Two hours later Zack told Miriam he needed some air. It was true to some extent, but he found being near her a strain. As he made his way to the lift he was aware vaguely of someone behind him.

  “Boo!” said Jason, a rare smile beaming out from beneath his hood. Although irritated that he was still hanging around, Zack covered. They stepped into the lift, Jason hitting the buttons with a flourish.

  “Lift off!” he yelled, then beating out some hip hop number with his hands on the lift doors. “How about lunch?” Jason demanded.

  “Okay,” said Zack, decisively, as the lift expelled them on the ground floor, “good idea.”

  Zack deliberately chose a dark corner in an anonymous restaurant, pushing the table towards Jason and trapping him up against the wall. The lunch menu was basic and brief, it didn’t take them long to order.

  “Right,” said Zack, watching him down a pint of Coke in a matter of seconds, “I want the truth this time, I don’t want any stories, I want honest answers to all my questions.”

  Jason was surprised by Zack’s tone of voice. What had brought all this on? He had helped the girlfriend, in fact he had probably saved her life, and he had bought her chocolates which cost nearly £5 and he had done the right thing for ages now, so why was Zack telling him off? He couldn’t understand it at all.

  “How did you find out where I lived?”

  Jason was about to lie, but couldn’t come up with anything half decent, so there was nothing for it. “I looked you up on the Internet.”

  “You checked electoral roles, is that it? And how did you know how to do that?”

  “A boy told me how to do it. I’ve done it before. I went out with someone called Kelly once and for a joke she wouldn’t tell me where she lived so I found out and knocked on her door,” said Jason tearing bread rolls apart with his dirty hands and starting to chomp on them.

  “And do you still see her, this Kelly?”

  “No, it wasn’t serious. She got tangled up in electric cables on a building site and that was it… she got fried. She was only 18.”

  “Well I’m sorry to hear that,” said Zack.

  “I couldn’t even go to her funeral either, I was on holiday at the time in Barbados.”

  “So who told you about me?” said Zack.

  “No one,” said Jason holding eye contact.

  “Why track me down then, why ask me to represent you?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, stumped.

  “Someone must have told you, so who is this person? I don’t mind, I’d just like to know, that’s all.”

  “A boy in a children’s home, he told me about you.”

  “And how did he know me?”

  “His dad was a gangster and you got him off.”

  That could be true thought Zack, who had got a few gangsters off in his time, but it seemed unlikely.

  “So years ago, someone mentioned me and you remembered the name is that it?”

  “No one could forget it, could they, your name?” said Jason, (Zack privately acknowledging the truth in this), then as an afterthought, “we can be best mates, you and me.”

  “No, we can’t.”

  “Why not?” said Jason, looking anxious.

  “It’s not appropriate,” said Zack, hoping he wouldn’t have to elaborate.

  “That nurse thought you were a ponce first of all,” said Jason, with a smirk.

  “Exactly, so there we are.”

  “But you’re not.”

  “Okay, look, it’s got to stop.”

  “What has?”

  “Following me… letting yourself into my apartment block… why not do something constructive with your time?”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, there’s lots of things to do in London, there’s museums and parks and basketball courts, all buzzing with people your own age.”

  “I don’t like people my own age.”

  “That’s ridiculous…”

  “They want to stab me,” said Jason, “they all want to stab me.”

  “How about I make an appointment for you to see someone,” said Zack, gently.

  “A shrink you mean?”

  “Maybe I could find someone who knows the kind of things you’re going through.”

  “You wouldn’t have to look very far then, would you?” said Jason, staring straight at him.

  Just then the waiter came up and put plates in front of them. Jason started gulping down his food as Zack watched him, now even more wary of this kid than ever before. In his distracted state Zack started to question if Jason was actually real, or if he had conjured him up like the dead people. He knew this was absurd, but reality and fantasy had be
come so compromised recently, Zack was actually starting to give the theory credence.

  “Don’t you want that?” asked Jason minutes later after demolishing his own plate of food and taking hold of Zack’s.

  “Please, it’s all yours,” said Zack, then with a noticeable change of gear, “okay, right listen to me Jason, this is where it stops.”

  “Where what stops?” said Jason, glancing up at Zack as though he had just said something of passing interest.

  “I’d prefer it if you left me alone.”

  “But I saved your girlfriend’s life, not very grateful, are you?”

  “I am grateful, but nothing can come of you hounding me like this.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do because I won’t do it,” said Jason, pleasantly, and extremely lucid for once.

  “Right, that’s it, I have asked you politely to leave me alone, if you refuse, it means we get the police involved, is that what you want?”

  What Jason actually wanted right at that moment was to tip the table over, in fact, he was seconds away from tipping the table over, but he didn’t think that would help him somehow. So he forced himself to sit back, chewing on a piece of steak and watching Zack trying to attract the waiter’s attention to get the bill.

  Outside in the street Jason fell into step beside him. “Jason weren’t you listening?” said Zack, stopping suddenly, and turning to confront him, “please go back to Holloway and leave me in peace.”

  Zack continued at a cracking pace but he knew Jason was still tagging along in his wake and it angered him so much that he was very close to grabbing the boy and flinging him into the traffic.