by L.J. Hayward
Chapter 12
Erin was late to the office in the morning. She was still sipping her latte when she walked in. Ivan stood in front of his desk, arms crossed, foot tapping, lips pursed.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” he demanded.
“That you’re more gay than usual this morning.”
He tried to keep a stern face, but it crumpled into a big grin. “I have news. You’re late and I had keep it to myself all this time.”
She had to laugh. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the news?”
Ivan spent a moment composing himself. “I got a phone number for Jessica Harrington.”
“And that’s fantastic news?”
He deflated a bit. “Well, yes. I rang her this morning to set up an appointment for you and she said she couldn’t get away from work, but that you could meet her there. And that your assistant could come as well.” A hopeful smile struggled back onto his face.
Erin was careful to act serious. “And close the office while we’re both out?” She wondered where Harrington could work that would get Ivan so excited.
Ivan produced an Open/Closed sign. “Just pretend Mrs Veilchen is coming.”
Erin put down her coffee before she could spill it. She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes. When she could stop, she was out of breath. Ivan still held the sign hopefully.
“Where does she work?” she asked him on her way into her office.
“The Albert Tarrant Agency.”
“Oh, I see.” Tarrant was one of the biggest agents in Australia, representing some of the hottest faces on current TV shows. “So, you want me to take you somewhere that might lead to you quitting this job.”
His face fell. “Erin, I’m sorry, but… This would mean the absolute world to me. I won’t forget you when I’m famous.”
She made him suffer for a couple of hours. The appointment was for eleven and in that time, Ivan offered to do so much for her, including but not limited to a foot rub, a back rub and roses and chocolate once a week for a whole year. She eventually said yes just to get him out of her office.
They made a ceremony about putting up the sign then walked over to Tarrant’s building. He owned the whole thing, taking the top five floors for himself. The girl on the reception desk claimed to know nothing about their appointment and Ivan nearly ripped her headset off in frustration. Thankfully, the commotion brought Jessica Harrington to the desk.
“I’m so sorry about the mix up,” she said, leading them down a long corridor to her workroom. “Belinda’s new and still doesn’t know everything.”
Ivan’s ears physically perked up. “Really?”
Erin smacked him discretely. He just shrugged.
Jessica was a makeup artist, jazzing up Tarrant’s clients for photo shoots, TV appearances and red carpet events. Her workroom was very bright and white and reflective. Ivan loved it. He and Jessica chatted about all the bottles and pots lined up in front of the mirrors. Erin let them run for a while. A relaxed person was someone more willing to talk. Bringing Ivan had been a stroke of genius. Erin knew enough to slap on some mascara and lip gloss and that was it.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Jessica asked as she rubbed moisturiser into Ivan’s hand.
Erin studied her, trying to assimilate this young professional with the bubbly headed girl in the video. Jessica was very pretty, wide blue eyes, flawless skin, pale lips that had a very natural fullness and lovely shape. She either wore a lot of makeup so expertly applied it didn’t show, or she was just very lucky. Erin thought the only thing keeping her from being on Tarrant’s talent list instead of his employee list was the size fourteen figure.
“I don’t want to upset you with this, but I’ve been employed to find Matthew Hawkins.”
Jessica faltered in her attention to Ivan for a moment only. “What do you want to know about him?”
“Ultimately, where he is now. But I’m working my way up to that. He’s a very reclusive guy. At the moment, I’m following any lead I can get.”
The young woman nodded. “And I’m your best lead?”
“At the moment. Do you mind talking about what happened?”
“Of course I do.” She let Ivan’s hand go and went to a sink to wash the cream off her own. “But I will.”
“Thank you.”
Jessica sat in one of the tall, swizzle chairs in front of the mirrors. Erin sat beside her and Ivan perched on the bench, idly running his fingers over the tricks of Jessica’s trade.
“I don’t know where he is now. I don’t care where he is, so long as he’s not within a hundred meter radius of me.”
“Restraining order?”
She nodded. “But I don’t think it matters anymore. He was… different during the trial. It hurt him, what he did to me. I was too young to understand it back then, but I do now. He’s not a violent man.”
Erin licked her lips. “I saw the footage from Kirby’s. I beg to differ.”
“He had a reason.”
“Really?” Ivan asked.
Jessica looked at her hands, twisted together in her lap. “Give me a moment and I’ll tell you.”
Erin and Ivan sat quietly while Jessica prepared herself. It took a couple of minutes, her eyes closed and breathing deeply. Then she began speaking.
“I was sixteen years old. Just got my learner’s permit and I wanted to take my dad’s car out. He wouldn’t let me go without him and he didn’t want to go anywhere. Too drunk, as usual. I took it when he fell asleep. I was heading down to the coast to see some friends, thinking I was being a very good driver by staying in the middle lane and doing the speed limit. But I had the stereo turned right up and I wasn’t checking my mirrors at all. I didn’t see or hear the ambulance coming up behind me.”
Erin touched Jessica’s hands. “There was an accident?”
Jessica nodded. “All the other cars got out of the lane. It was only when the red and blue lights began flashing around me that I realised what was going on. I saw the ambulance, realised it couldn’t get past me and knew I had to get out of its way.” She shivered. “I panicked. I went right, then for some reason thought I should be in the left lane. The ambulance clipped the back of my car. I spun into the soft barrier on the left side of the road. The ambulance went into the cement barrier in the middle of the road.”
“Dear God.” Ivan clutched his hands together.
“I came out of it with a few bruises and whiplash. I didn’t know what happened in the ambulance until a week later. There was a mother and daughter in back. The little girl had a heart murmur or something. She’d stopped breathing and the paramedic had just got her breathing on her own again when the accident happened. He brought her back to life just so she could die.”
Jessica sagged in her chair, shivering. Erin stood beside her, hugged her close.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s all right.” But she wondered if it was.
“The driver of the ambulance died on impact. The mother died of a broken neck and the daughter had a heart attack and died. The other paramedic, the one who’d saved the girl’s life, was thrown from the back and through the windscreen.”
“But he survived.”
“Yeah. Had a shattered knee and I don’t know how many other broken bones.”
“Matthew Hawkins.”
The young woman sniffed loudly and grabbed up a handful of tissues. Erin let her go and sat down again. Jessica wiped her face and revealed that she wasn’t hiding anything with makeup. Her nose and cheeks blazed with emotion, tears glinting on her lashes.
“So, that was his reason. I got a rap on the knuckles and he got six weeks in traction and a life time of pain.”
Erin didn’t want to excuse him for what he’d done, but as with most similar situations, it wasn’t black and white. “That was how long before the incident at Kirby’s?”
“About eighteen months. I was so sick because of what I’d done, I couldn’t leave the house. I went
to some psychiatrist about it and I can’t remember what he called it.”
“Agoraphobia,” Ivan said. “Fear of open spaces.”
Jessica nodded. “I’m over it now, obviously. I lost my licence but I don’t care. I won’t drive ever again.”
“The night at Kirby’s,” Erin prompted.
“It was the first time my friends had convinced me to go out with them. I drank way too much. You know, to deal with it all. I suppose I was pretty spastic by the time we reached Kirby’s.” She absently touched her nose. “I didn’t feel any pain when it happened. I could barely register what was happening.”
“You recognised him, though.”
“Yeah. My dad had taken me to see him in hospital. Said it was an object lesson. I’ll never forget seeing him in that bed, strapped up like some violent animal or piece of art so precious it was too fragile to be moved. He was in an induced coma, never saw me. After that was when I decided I couldn’t face the world anymore.”
“But he recognised you at the club,” Ivan said softly.
“At the trial when they asked him how he knew it was me, he said he just knew.”
A shiver went down Erin’s back.
Jessica stood up, fixed her hair and asked, “Is that all you needed?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m sorry we brought up so many bad memories. But you have helped us.”
“What I said will help you find him?”
Erin smiled. “It helps me know him, and that helps me find him.”
Ivan was quiet until they were back out into the hard sunlight and putting on their sunglasses.
“Wow, that was intense.”
Erin sighed. “Glad you came?”
“I got the name of a new moisturiser at least.”
“And I got one step closer to our mysterious Matthew Hawkins.”
“Really? I don’t see how.”
“Think about it, Ivan. He had a reason for what he did. It doesn’t excuse him, but at least it means he’s got nothing to hide.”
Ivan thought about that for a while. “But he must have something else to hide, because he’s hiding.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t think that’s a big problem.”
“Big but not insurmountable. I know him a bit better now. And I know he used to be a paramedic.” Her phone rang and she answered with her usual business voice.
“Erin, it’s Gavin. How you doing? Did you get that fax?”
“I got it, thanks. You did fantastic.”
“If you think that’s fantastic, wait till you hear this. I found your man.”
Erin nearly dropped the phone. “What? How? Where is he?”
Gavin chuckled. “One at a time. When I came on shift this morning, I got a call from the Redcliffe station, passing on a report that came in from a doctor at their local hospital. Seems this guy was beaten absolutely senseless by a gang of thugs and managed to drag himself to the hospital. His ID labelled him as Matthew Hawkins, the same name as in that arrest report I faxed over.”
Erin grabbed Ivan’s hand in excitement. “He’s in the hospital?”
“Admitted at four a.m. this morning.”
“I can’t believe this. I expected a longer chase, and here he just drops into my lap. You’re a saint, Gav.”
She fended off more offers for dinner and felt shitty for it. He had, after all, just finished this case for her. After she hung up, she quickly told Ivan and they all but ran back to the office and piled into her car. Within an hour, they were standing in the lobby of the hospital, defeated once again and waiting while the admitting doctor was paged.
Dr Nolan was about her own age, tall and slender. He looked dead on his feet.
“Double shift in ED,” he said by way of an apology for his appearance.
“We won’t keep you long. I understand you treated Matthew Hawkins this morning.”
“Yeah. Though I’m thinking I should have just left him where we found him.” He waved to the front doors. “He passes out from pain on our front doorstep and then wonders why he should be admitted to hospital.”
“How bad were his injuries if he could just get up and walk out?”
“Oh, he didn’t walk on his own. He had help. Called in some friends and they carted him off. Through a fully staffed ED, mind you. Some people are going to get sent for eye tests.” Nolan wandered over to a chair and all but fell into it. “He was in rough shape. Needed a load of stitches and suffered tissue damage to a reconstructed knee. The man shouldn’t have been able to stand up without passing out, even considering the amount of morphine he was on. But somehow, he was vertical when his buddy hauled him out of here.”
“You reported the attack to the police but didn’t tell them he went AWOL?” Ivan asked.
“By the time anyone realised, it was several hours later, and we had a rush on. Gastro outbreak.” He sniffed the front of his shirt. “God, I smell like puke.”
Erin sighed. “Did you get an address for Mr Hawkins?”
“Yeah, it should be on his chart. Let me check.” He hauled himself up and went to the front desk. In a moment, he was back with a piece of paper. “Here you go. Hope you have better luck keeping hold of him than I did.” A strange look passed over his face. “For all that he’s an annoying bastard, I liked him. Loads of guts. When you find him, tell him thanks for the shopping list.”
Ivan pulled out a notepad and wrote that down.
“Dr Nolan, do you have security cameras in ED?” Maybe she could get a picture of this guy.
“Nope.”
“In the car park?”
“Let me check.” He went back to the desk and returned fairly quickly. “Just the one out the back, in the ED car park.”
“Can we check the footage? Maybe his friend parked somewhere we can see a number plate.”
Nolan sighed and trudged back to the desk.
“Seems very put on, doesn’t he,” Ivan muttered.
“He’s just tired.”
The doctor waved them over and led them to an elevator. “We have to go upstairs. The TVs for the cameras are in the admin section.”
An hour later, Erin and Ivan left. They had a grainy black and white picture showing a light coloured Prado and three people. One was a woman, standing a bit back, while a man of average height and size supported a slightly taller, slender man. No faces could be seen, but there was a nice shot of the number plate.
“Where first?” Ivan asked in the car. “Address or number plate searching?”
“Hey, we’ve had some luck, let’s try the address first. Where is it?”
Ivan looked and groaned. “All the way over in Ipswich. Man, we’ll never get lunch.”
“We’ll get drive-thru. Chin up, young person. This is what detecting is all about. Just think, if you ever get to be an actor, you could play a private dick.”
Ivan did not once run out of ‘private dick’ jokes on the way to Ipswich.