by David Belbin
‘Thought you’d stopped working here, duck,’ Ed said to Nick.
‘I’m not working,’ Nick said, and Nas didn’t contradict him.
‘You and Sarah. Back together again, are you?’
‘She gave me a lift, that’s all.’
‘I’d have thought she had better things to do on a day like today,’ Ed said. ‘But she has strong needs, Sarah, dun’t she?’
Nick couldn’t stop himself. He hit Ed in the face, hard, sideswiping his nose. The other driver didn’t go down. Without waiting to recover, he lunged at Nick. Before Ed had time to get in a good punch, Nick kneed him in the groin, hard.
‘From what I hear,’ he said, as Ed keeled over, ‘you’re used to being hit there.’
Nas threw Nick the keys to Stuart’s cab. ‘Get out of here before he can stand up.’
29
Best to be straight with her. Sarah couldn’t pretend to be at Polly’s house by accident. Suppose Ed was there? His taxi wasn’t outside but maybe, like Nick, he shared one. Meeting Ed was a risk she would have to take. Sarah knocked on the door, then took deep breaths, inflating the anger she needed before she was able to tackle Polly.
‘You again.’
‘We need to talk. Now. Away from the kids.’
Sarah’s demeanour was stern enough for Polly to step aside and let her in. She yelled into the front room.
‘I’ve got a visitor, so watch the telly quietly. No interruptions.’
She ushered Sarah into the back room, which was messier than on Sarah’s last visit. There was a leather jacket hanging from the cellar door. It was the one Ed had been wearing on the night of his release. Sarah pointed at it.
‘How could you, Polly? You were so convinced he killed your brother, your sister-in-law.’
‘Nick told you, did he? Ed said you used to know him but I found that hard to credit. The MP and the jailbird. We’re not so different, are we? Both go for blokes who’ve been inside.’
‘Nick’s crime was a lot less serious than Ed’s.’
‘Except for one thing,’ Polly said, looking at the stairway. ‘Ed didn’t do it.’
‘You’ve changed your tune. I don’t get it, Polly. How could you let that . . .’ – she was going to say ‘sociopath’ but doubted Polly would know what the word meant – ‘that creep near enough to you to convince you he’s innocent, never mind let him into your bed?’
‘Ed gets what he wants,’ Polly sneered. ‘But then, you’d know that, wouldn’t you?’
‘If you’re saying . . . ’
‘It bothers you, dunnit, that I’ve had the same men you’ve had. Nick, he’s the one who likes it rough. Did he learn to be like that from you? Ed, he’s a gent compared to Nick. Don’t look at me that way. You’re not going to pretend Ed forced you, are you? I know what you told Nick. But I know what you’re like.’
‘You know nothing,’ Sarah said. ‘Ed Clark tried to attack me and if I hadn’t hurt him, he would have raped me. I went out with Nick fourteen years ago and how he could have stooped to sleep with the likes of you, I can’t fathom.’
‘Stoop? Sleep? Fathom? Listen to her. Your Nick never slept here. He came to fuck me when he felt like it and didn’t give a shit if the kids heard a thing or not. Ed sleeps here. He’s good to those kids. And if he offered you a jump and you turned him down, you missed out.’
‘I think Ed murdered your brother,’ Sarah said.
‘You’re wrong.’
‘How can you be so sure, so suddenly?’
‘I am sure. I know who done it.’
‘Who?’
‘Think I’d tell you, way you’ve treated me?’
‘I treated you with nothing but respect. And I helped get Ed out of prison. You’ve suddenly decided I did the right thing, but I’m not so sure any more.’
‘The evidence against Ed was rubbish. He only got put away because they needed someone for killing a cop. He’d have got out without you.’
‘Convince me,’ Sarah pleaded. ‘Tell me what Ed told you. Who killed Terry and Liv Shanks? Why did they do it?’
The front door opened and closed. Ed charged into the room. His nose was red and there was blood on his shirt.
‘Get out,’ Polly told Sarah. ‘Ed, what happened?’
Sarah stood with her back to the door. Ed glared at her.
‘Who attacked you, Ed?’ Sarah asked, allowing no sympathy in her voice.
‘You know who did.’
‘Nick hit you?’
‘Then ran off, ’sright. But I’ll catch up with him, don’t you worry.’
Sarah felt a warm buzz of affection for Nick.
‘Look how smug she is,’ Polly said, as Ed took off his shirt.
‘How did you do it, Ed?’ Sarah asked. ‘How did you convince Polly you didn’t attack me? The same way you made her believe you didn’t kill her brother?’
‘She dun’t need convincing of ought. Poll knows what happened to Terry, and to Liv. And she knows what’s going to happen to you.’ Ed lowered his voice and reached over Sarah. His sweaty chest crushed her breasts, while his right hand jammed the door closed. ‘There were no witnesses, were there? There’s only me and you know how hard I fucked you, how you told me it were the best shag you’d had your whole life. But this afternoon, Poll’s a witness. What do you say, Poll? A’right wi’ you if I give her seconds?’
Sarah couldn’t tell if Ed was serious. She reached for her phone. It wasn’t in her pocket. She’d left it in the car. She looked over Ed’s shoulder for help, assurance that they were winding her up. Polly’s face was a blank, unreadable.
‘Let’s finish what we started,’ Ed said.
It was Nick’s last shift and one of his first jobs was to pick up his brother.
‘How is she?’
‘Don’t reckon it’ll be long now,’ Joe said. ‘Thanks for agreeing to do a shift.’
‘You’re not going to the Labour bash?’
‘I’ll be there late on, I expect. Nas has to get home sometime.’
‘Nas’s brothers,’ Nick said. ‘Do they know about you?’
‘You must be joking.’
‘You lead a risky life,’ Nick said.
‘There’s no fun without risk,’ Joe said. ‘You told me that once, when I warned you about the skunk operation.’
‘I don’t remember it being all that much fun. Profitable, yes, but half of it went up my nose. It was certainly a risk.’
‘You were bound to get caught sometime.’
‘Most people don’t,’ Nick said. ‘I was unlucky.’
‘You make your own luck. If I’d come in with you, like you wanted, I wouldn’t have any of . . . this.’
‘No need to rub it in,’ Nick said. His brother had never been good at tact. It was one reason he always got what he wanted. Joe changed the subject.
‘Someone said they saw that Andrew Saint in town the other day. You still in touch with him?’
‘Not really.’
‘I tried to call him, like you asked me to, when you got busted. He never returned my calls.’
‘He was in the States, I think. Doesn’t matter. He couldn’t have done much.’
‘No? Not much is still better than nothing.’
Nick let Joe out at the Cane Cars office, where Nas was bound to tell him about his fight with Ed. It shouldn’t matter to Joe, not with Nick leaving. The two men operated on a ‘need to know’ basis. This was, Nick decided, the safest way. He could never completely rule out the thought that Joe had betrayed him to the police as some kind of retaliation for his affair with Caroline, to get him out of the way. But Joe still didn’t seem to suspect they’d had a fling and Nick was no longer so paranoid. They might not be as close as some, but Joe was his brother. He wouldn’t give him up. Whereas Andrew Saint was merely an old friend, one he’d drifted apart from. And Andrew had warned him when he began the skunk operation: in the drugs business, there were no real friendships, only alliances.
Since getting o
ut, Nick had slowly come to the conclusion that the Saint must have betrayed him. He knew about the caves, had given Nick the contacts to sell the stuff on. He took a small commission at first, then told Nick not to bother. He didn’t want any of his income traceable to a criminal enterprise. At the time, Nick thought this was generous, an act of friendship. Now he wasn’t so sure. Andrew had been overgenerous since Nick got out, too. Two grand would have been enough. The extra three, the home visit, these things smelt of guilt more than kind-heartedness.
But the betrayal? That puzzled Nick. Andrew was either out of the country already, or had fled shortly after Nick’s arrest. Had he given Nick to the police as a bargaining chip to get himself off some lesser charge? Or was Nick still being paranoid and the whole debacle was what the police claimed, a combination of police work and luck?
Inside, Nick never allowed himself to dream that he might rekindle something with Sarah. He still doubted it. Some people used a long stretch to study. He’d had time to get an MA, a PhD even. Instead, he’d slacked the days away, becoming a cruder, less complicated person than he was on the out. That was how you got through. Nick knew he’d live to regret hitting Ed. Inside, he’d not got into fights. He’d hit back a couple times when he had to, but never struck out in blind rage, the way he had with Ed, today. Violence should always be calculated to have the maximum effect, that was what the smart cons said. What effect did hitting Ed have? He’d probably go home and take it out on Polly.
And maybe Polly liked being hit. When they were together, Nick had been surprised by how rough she wanted him to be. Polly brought out a side of Nick he hadn’t been aware of.
What if Ed decided to take it out on Sarah? This was her big day. The last thing she needed was big Ed turning up while she was campaigning, throwing a spanner in the works. He ought to warn her.
She answered on the second ring. There was something wrong with her voice.
‘I know,’ she said, when he told her about Ed.
‘How?’
‘I’ve seen him.’
‘Already? I don’t understand . . .’
‘I went to see Polly. He came back . . .’ She began to cry.
‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I’m coming.’
‘I’m sitting in my car.’ She told him where.
Nick was with Sarah within five minutes.
‘I’ll kill him,’ he vowed. ‘I’ll take a brick to the bastard and . . .’
‘Stop, stop. You know it wouldn’t do any good. Ed can control himself. You have to learn the same or you’ll end up back in prison.’
‘The bastard assaulted you.’
‘He brushed his hand against my breasts. He scared me so much I wet myself. He didn’t physically hurt me. He made it clear that he could rape me and get away with it, that his girlfriend would hold me down.’
‘Polly helped?’
‘She didn’t do anything to stop him. She didn’t help him either. She’s in Ed’s power. She acts hard, but she’s terrified of him, I’m sure of it. If I went to the police, she’d swear I suggested a threesome. Only Ed isn’t stupid enough to go that far. He enjoys power but he’s too clever to take unnecessary risks.’
‘Then why did he get caught killing Polly’s brother?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe Polly’s telling the truth about that and Ed is innocent. Whatever happens tonight, I have to find out what really happened. I don’t know how, but I will. Until then, stay away from him.’
‘In case he takes his revenge through you?’
‘He won’t get near me again,’ Sarah said. ‘Once I go back to the committee rooms, there’ll be people with me every minute of the day. But he knows where to find you. Be careful. And hold me, please.’
Awkwardly, he put his arm around her shoulders, then nuzzled his head against hers. He began to kiss her hair, then her neck. Sarah’s mobile rang. She answered it. Winston.
‘I’ll be on my way in a minute. Oh, I’ll have fish and chips with everyone else, it’s a campaign tradition, isn’t it? No, I’m fine. It’s just a bad line. See you in five.’
She looked at Nick. ‘Promise me you won’t get into any more trouble today. And that you’ll come to the party. I want you to take me home tonight.’
‘Yes, please,’ he said, and kissed her again, a long, full-throated kiss.
‘Oh, and I know you don’t live in my constituency, but don’t forget to vote.’
Nick replied with a regretful smile. Of course, he’d been in prison too recently to have registered. He didn’t have a vote.
30
At the count, boxes were opened and ballot slips sorted. All four Nottingham constituencies were being counted in the same hall. Old hands like Sarah could quickly tell where the election was heading. Within an hour, she would know the result to the nearest thousand votes. Her majority in the by-election had been five thousand, but that was on a huge anti-government swing. Previous Tory majorities had been in five figures.
Winston gave Sarah his hipflask and sent her to sit in the TV room.
‘Long night ahead.’
Exit polls showed New Labour on course for a comfortable victory. There was a brief piece on how the face of the House Of Commons would change if Labour won big. The place would be younger, with far more women: an exciting prospect, if you were going to be there. With so many women on board, Tony was bound to promote a few. Sarah might have had a chance of joining the government. Nothing flashy, but something responsible: pensions, perhaps, or a junior Health minister.
‘Looking good, eh?’ Tony Bax said, winking at her. ‘Do they need us out there yet?’
‘In a few minutes,’ Sarah said.
There were too many people in the TV room, so Sarah wandered through the dingy sports hall until she found the ladies’. When she returned to the hall, she stood at the back, watching the watchers. Easier to do this than gawp at TV and have to discuss what she saw. The counters began to empty the ballot boxes.
‘Have you seen the exit polls?’ One of the volunteer scrutineers whispered. ‘They’re predicting a majority of eighty to ninety.’
Sarah nodded unenthusiastically.
‘What do you reckon?’ Winston asked.
The votes were being put into piles for each party.
‘Not sure,’ she said, unwilling to believe the evidence of her own eyes. ‘We haven’t seen anywhere near enough yet.’
Winston stared at the growing piles, counting votes the way a professional gambler counted cards. ‘West’s too close to call,’ he told her. ‘If the vote’s like this everywhere, we’re talking about a landslide.’
Nick had the radio on. The first results weren’t far away. He’d taken a couple of councillors he knew from way back to the Labour workers’ party at Trent University’s student union building. Neither of them had recognised him. Nick had fallen through the invisible net that separated the connected from the unconnected. He’d felt this way when he was sixteen. Then he’d gone to university and become someone.
Could he reinvent himself? Joe had managed it. Andrew too. Nick could start again, but it would have to be somewhere new. The decision was beginning to harden in his mind.
He was being called on the radio.
‘Nick?’ Stuart’s voice was agitated. ‘Know where Joe is?’
‘At the Labour Party do. Probably plastered by now.’
‘Right, I’ll send someone to try and find him.’
‘Don’t you want me to . . .?’
‘No. Get over to his house. Caroline’s gone into labour. You’d better run her to the hospital, pronto.’
Nick accelerated. When he got to Sherwood, Caroline was in the hall, leaning on the end of the banister. Her waters had broken.
‘I don’t want to mess up Stuart’s cab,’ Caroline groaned, holding out an old beach towel. ‘Spread this across the back.’
Nick took the towel then helped her into the car. The hospital was only a two-minute drive.
‘Where’s Joe?’ she
asked, once she was settled in. ‘His mobile’s off.’
‘On his way,’ Nick said, though that was presuming Joe really was at the election do and not still in bed with Nas. Caroline moaned. Nick drove fast.
‘Over there.’
They entered City Hospital and turned towards the maternity unit. Nick sounded his horn. Caroline had already rung them. She was expected.
‘You’ll be all right now,’ he said.
‘Nick? Stay until Joe arrives, please?’
‘Of course I will,’ Nick said, though being in on the birth was the last thing he felt like doing. He spoke into the radio. ‘Where’s Joe? Was he at the do?’
‘If he’s there, they haven’t found him yet. We’ll keep looking.’
Nick swore. Behind him, he heard a siren. Why would they need sirens inside a hospital? He parked and opened the door for Caroline, had to help her out. When someone tapped his shoulder, he thought it would be a nurse. It wasn’t.
‘Is this your cab, sir?’ the officer asked.
‘Not now,’ Caroline moaned.
Two porters were coming. The policeman was reaching over the driver’s seat, peering at the ID tag hung beneath the rear-view mirror. Luckily, Nick had replaced Stuart’s tag with Joe’s when he took the car.
‘You’re Joseph Cane?’
The nurse spoke at the same time. ‘Is that the father?’
‘No,’ Caroline moaned. ‘It’s my brother-in-law.’
‘Are you Joseph Cane?’ The officer repeated.
Had the policeman heard Caroline? Nick didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have time for this, but it began to dawn on him that he could be in trouble. Even a small infringement of the law could break his parole and send him back to prison. He must stay cool. When in doubt, Nick had long since figured out, it was always best to tell the truth.
‘No. I’m his brother. Joe isn’t around and his wife’s in labour. That’s why . . .’
Caroline was being wheeled away and couldn’t confirm or deny any story he told.
‘So you’re driving this cab illegally?’
‘I wasn’t charging her, for Christ’s sake! Look, she might drop the little bugger at any minute, so if you don’t mind leaving it for now . . .’