Love You to Death: An Absolutely Gripping Thriller with a Killer Twist

by Caroline Mitchell

  ‘Well, drink up then, we’ve only got an hour until closing,’ Ruby said, handing Eve her drink. ‘I’ve ordered you a “Slap ’n’ Pickle”.’

  ‘I shouldn’t really be drinking, I’m on antibiotics.’ Eve said. ‘What’s in it?’

  ‘Gin, brandy and pickle brine,’ Ruby said with a mischievous grin. ‘Go on, I’ve bought it now. One won’t do you any harm.’

  Eve took a tentative sip, looking like she had swallowed a lemon.

  ‘So what’s this I hear about Facebook photos?’ Ruby said, turning back to Ash and Luddy, who were drinking rum-infused milkshakes.

  ‘You want to see?’ Ash said, his cheeks pink from the alcohol infiltrating his system.

  ‘I’m surprised Facebook let you post them,’ Luddy said, a grin spreading across his face.

  ‘Oh they’ve been removed, but I’ve got them on my phone. See?’

  Ruby leaned over and stared at what looked like badly taken holiday snaps of various landscapes.

  ‘I don’t see anything… ’ she peered, ‘apart from that round thing blotting the sun. What is it?’ She brought the phone closer to her nose. ‘Hmm, it’s not a fly… hang on, are those… ’ she spluttered on her drink, ‘are those hairs?’

  Downes’s hearty laugh exploded from behind her. ‘Don’t you know a bollock when you see one, Ruby?’

  Ruby’s expression turned into a mixture of horror and disbelief. ‘In the name of all things holy… What? … Why?’ She thrust the phone back to Ash, who was now wiping the tears erupting from the corner of his eyes.

  ‘It’s called nutscaping; it has its own website and everything.’

  ‘How do you? … ’ Ruby said. ‘On second thoughts, I don’t want to know.’ Her eyes widened. ‘You didn’t tweet that, did you?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Luddy said. ‘Can you imagine Worrow’s face when she saw that? Old Ash has been on holiday and dropped his kegs to bend over and take a photo of his nutsack!’

  ‘Excuse me, it’s very tastefully done,’ Ash sniggered. ‘I had to get the camera ready, then get me old man out of the way… not an easy task, I can tell you.’

  Ruby’s smile faded as Worrow’s name returned the memory of their encounter earlier in the day. She was yet to come to terms with the fact that a member of her team had grassed her up. Most likely someone she had just bought a drink. ‘Going for a ciggy,’ she said, signalling towards the door. ‘I’ll be back in a minute. Time one of you tight sods got a round in.’

  * * *

  The faded gold lighter flickered into life, giving barely enough flame to light the Silk Cut in Ruby’s mouth. It was one of her most treasured possessions, and all she had left of her dad. She sucked until a circular orange glow punctuated the night air. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, mulling over the troubling thoughts invading her brain.

  ‘I thought you’d given them up?’ A soft voice came from behind. It was Luddy.

  ‘I have. This is just a social smoke,’ Ruby said, lowering the cigarette, now imprinted with her signature red lipstick. ‘What are you doing out here? You don’t smoke.’

  ‘Fresh air. I don’t think the cocktails agreed with me,’ he said, masking a burp into his closed fist.

  Ruby smiled, taking another slow drag of her cigarette. ‘Did you know that The Blind Pig is American underworld slang for den of iniquity?’

  ‘No, I didn’t,’ Luddy said, shoving his hands in his trouser pockets. ‘I’ve never been to this place before. I don’t know how you found it.’

  She stared into his eyes, slowly delivering her words. ‘Do you think I’m corrupting you?’

  ‘Corrupting me? No,’ Luddy exhaled an awkward laugh.

  ‘Then why did you report me to Worrow?’ Luddy was the only person who had challenged her in the last few days, and it stuck in her gut to think that he went running to his DCI instead of having it out with her.

  The smile slid from his face. ‘For what? I haven’t spoken to her.’

  Ruby dragged hard on the remnants of her cigarette, locking the smoke in her lungs before letting it go. ‘I thought we were a tight team. If my rule-bending worried you that much you should have spoken to me.’

  ‘Is this about our visit to Goldie? Sarge, I… ’

  Ruby swivelled her head left and right, grateful that nobody had heard. ‘It’s Ruby for fuck’s sake. I don’t let you call me Sarge when I’m at work, much less draw attention to us when we’re out on the piss.’

  ‘Ruby then,’ Luddy said. ‘I didn’t report you. Sure, I was worried about how you handled things, but only for you, not the job. You’re the best sergeant I’ve ever had. The last thing I’d do is go telling tales.’

  ‘Well, somebody did.’

  ‘Actually, I’m quite offended that you thought it was me,’ Luddy sniffed.

  ‘Well, if you didn’t,’ Ruby said, ignoring his mild outrage, ‘then who did?’

  * * *

  Ruby was relieved that she had clung on to her senses and decided to leave the pub early. It was a very rare occurrence. It was not a proper piss-up unless she had disgraced herself in some way, either by dancing on a club podium or waking up with Downes in her bed. But there was work to be done, jobs to oversee, and witnesses to interview. So they had all sensibly rolled home at closing time, their expensive cocktails warming their bellies. But the drinks outing had done little to quell her rising anxiety. Someone was out to cause her trouble and given her recent activity they might not be short of ammunition.

  Ruby stiffened as she caught sight of a shadow in the stairwell of her flat. Clenching her fists, she prepared for confrontation. As they stepped forward, she exhaled a sigh of relief. It was Darren, the neighbour she had helped out in the past.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said, stepping into the light. ‘I didn’t mean to frighten you.’

  ‘You didn’t,’ Ruby lied, wondering what he was doing on her floor. ‘Everything alright? It’s not your mum, is it?’

  ‘Nah, she’s alright,’ Darren said, his hands nestled down the front of his tracksuit bottoms. ‘It’s Mr Crosby… Nathan. Have you heard? He’s been stabbed.’

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Flashing her warrant card, Ruby smiled apologetically at the matron as she granted her access to the ward. At two a.m., it was way past visiting hours, and she was careful to shield her face as she passed the CCTV cameras on the way in. It was unlikely to be viewed, but if anything else was to happen that night, awkward questions would be asked in the morning. The last place she expected to find herself was at a hospital at two in the morning. But a stairwell chat with her neighbour Darren had given her information that temporarily stopped her heart. Nathan had been admitted to hospital after a ruck in his home. Little was known, apart from the fact they had tried to stab him as he slept. She had taken a chance coming to the hospital, but she knew the matron would have kicked his family out as soon as Nathan was bedded in.

  * * *

  The soft glow of a bedside lamp warmed his features, and she saw a peace that had not been present in years. She had no intention of waking him. A stabbing was recorded, but little explanation was offered. Ruby clenched her jaw. It was related to Lenny. It had to be. Since coming out of prison he had caused nothing but trouble, gaining back his territory from the dealers trying to muscle in.

  Silently she sidled up to the bed, her heart sinking at the sight of Nathan’s vulnerability. The private room offered comfort, but it was of poor consolation when he could have just as easily been lying in a hospital mortuary. The thought pierced her heart, and she swallowed back the bitterness rising up her throat.

  Nathan’s eyes opened as he inhaled, and he blinked a few times before focusing his gaze on her. ‘Ruby,’ he said, his throat dry, reaching out his hand over the waffle blankets.

  Ruby glanced up at the closed door before pulling in her chair. Barely trusting herself to speak, she leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

  Her tears betrayed her bravado as they silently spilled down her
cheeks. She had come here to tell him off, to warn him against any dealings in his brother’s business. But with a bellyful of alcohol lowering her defences, her emotions erupted and all the stresses of the last week came out. She steadied her breathing, taking his hand as it was offered.

  Nathan’s thumb rubbed against hers. ‘Babe, don’t cry. I’m okay. They’re letting me out soon.’

  Ruby drew back, pulling a tissue from her pocket and rubbing away the tears. She cleared her throat, composing herself. ‘You could have been killed. I could be looking at your body on a slab right now. Why do you keep putting yourself in danger?’

  ‘It was a misunderstanding, crossed wires.’

  ‘Don’t bullshit me, Nathan. Couldn’t your brother have got his heavies elsewhere? Why did he have to involve you?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that. You know I don’t get involved in his battles anymore. They came after me. I didn’t go starting anything.’

  ‘They? So who was it? And how did they break into your house?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s all sorted now.’ Nathan winced as he shifted position.

  ‘So someone else has got it in return and the war rages on.’

  Nathan didn’t answer. He lay back in bed, tight-lipped.

  Ruby felt a pang of guilt. He wasn’t well enough for an interrogation, but she was so angry at him. ‘I’m not here to question you, and I respect your decision to move on without me. But please, Nathan, leave it behind.’

  ‘For Christ’s sake, I’ve had it in my ear all day from me old mum, nag nag nag. Not you and all.’

  Ruby knew his mother would not be nagging him for his involvement, but his carelessness in getting hurt. She could imagine Lenny standing grim-faced at the end of the bed with his fists in his pockets as their mother ranted about honour and protecting the family name.

  Ruby sighed, a wave of tiredness overcoming her. ‘Is it really sorted?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then get some rest. You look like shit.’

  Nathan gave the faintest of smiles before his eyelids flickered into the depths of sleep.

  Ruby set the alarm on her phone and sat back in the chair, watching his chest rise and fall. In sleep, his features relaxed into peace once more, and she wished nothing more for him than to have a normal life, being graced with the things everyone else took for granted. She wanted to crawl in beside him and bury her head in the crook of his neck. But that was behaviour definitely unbecoming of a police sergeant, and she didn’t think the matron would approve. The least she could do was stay and repay him for being with her when she needed him. Lenny and his mum had gone for the night, and she would be left in peace in the private room. It was not unusual for police to stay with a victim of crime overnight, particularly when they were so well known. But in such cases, the officer wasn’t usually in love with their subject.

  * * *

  Ruby was gently lured out of sleep by a familiar hand stroking her hair, gently waking her. She raised her head from the side of his bed wondering how she had deviated from her chair to leaning over the mattress, where she had fallen into slumber. ‘What time is it?’ she asked, hoping none of the nursing staff had seen her.

  ‘Almost six. You shouldn’t have stayed.’

  ‘I know,’ Ruby said, knowing he would have done the same for her. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Honestly?’

  ‘Yes, honestly,’ she said, rubbing away the crick in her neck.

  ‘Horny.’

  Ruby laughed as she stood. ‘You never cease to amaze me, you know that?’

  ‘See for yourself. It’s been a while since we… and you smell good.’

  ‘I think you should reserve your strength for getting better,’ Ruby said, not wanting to think about the last woman he had sex with. Was he really seeing another woman? It was a painful thought, and she had no right to be jealous given her casual fling with her DI.

  But that was always the way it had been with them. One minute they were fighting, the next making up. Their bodies couldn’t resist each other. The only way around it was to stay away. ‘I’d best be off. I’ve got work in two hours.’

  ‘Call in sick.’

  ‘And what? Stay by your bedside? I’m sure my showdown with your brother would provide some light entertainment.’

  ‘Don’t piss him off, Ruby; he’s not been in a good frame of mind since he came out.’

  Ruby gave him a withered look. ‘I know.’

  Nathan narrowed his eyes, unspoken words passing between them.

  ‘Anyway, take care of yourself. You know how I feel about all this. Just call if you need me.’

  ‘Don’t I get a kiss?’

  Ruby leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. ‘Goodbye, Nathan.’

  She turned and walked away. Goodbyes meant nothing in their world.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  ‘Ruby, fancy seeing you here,’ Frances said, tottering up the newly cleaned corridor before opening hours. Ruby could barely hide her annoyance.

  ‘I’m always here,’ Ruby said nonchalantly. ‘A lot of our victims end up in hospital.’

  Frances’s lips pursed in a taut little smile, her fingers tightly gripping the lip of her designer handbag. She looked too overdressed to be visiting hospital, and Ruby hoped she was going on holiday. Preferably somewhere very far away.

  ‘Why don’t you join me for a cuppa in the canteen?’ Frances said. ‘You’re a tea drinker, aren’t you? Although judging by your breath I’d say you’d had a drink or two.’

  Ruby frowned. Had Frances paid someone to tail her, or just smelt it on her breath? Ignoring the barbed comment, she took a seat across from her in the small hospital canteen. She checked the clock on the wall. It was time she could ill afford. She needed to get home and have a shower before work. But you did not say no to Frances Crosby; things were tenuous between them as it was. Ruby stirred her tea, which was disappointingly weak. Masking a yawn, she waited for what was going to come next. Everything had an agenda with the Crosbys. There were no accidental meetings. She swivelled her head to look for Lenny and was relieved to see no sign. It was odd she had yet to mention Nathan’s stabbing, but unless she brought it up Ruby was going to leave well alone. There was no fooling Frances. She would have known that Ruby had ignored her advice to stay away from her son.

  ‘Have you heard the news?’ Frances said, taking a dainty sip from her cup. ‘Our Nathan’s getting married.’

  Ruby almost spat out her tea, and in an unladylike slurping manner just managed to swallow it back in time. Her throat burned from the insipid liquid, but Ruby barely noticed; she was too busy contemplating Frances’s words. Surely she had been hearing things given what Nathan had just said to her? She raised her eyebrows, forcing a smile as she tried to regain her composure.

  ‘No, I hadn’t heard, but I don’t really mix in those circles anymore.’ She would not give Frances the satisfaction of enquiring about it. It was quite clear why she wanted to talk to Ruby on her own.

  ‘Oh yes, he’s been seeing this lovely girl called Leona for some time now. She’s got a degree you know; she’s very pretty as well. Of course, at twenty-eight years of age she would be.’ Frances leaned her head to one side, speaking in a sickly sweet tone. ‘They’re completely head over heels. We’re expecting him to pop the question any day now. They’ve even been out looking at rings.’

  ‘That’s nice,’ Ruby said. ‘You’ll be able to have those grandchildren you’ve always wanted.’ Ruby cursed herself for the bitterness lacing her words. Her stomach was churning with the news. Frances was lying. She had to be. Or was this why Nathan had bought her the flat? Was it a final farewell because he wanted to move on with someone else? He was never any good with break-ups; dealing with emotions was beyond his capabilities. But getting his mother to do his dirty work seemed out of character. And Ruby could not believe that he had any part in this meeting.

  Frances pursed her lips in a smug smile. ‘I’m going sho
pping soon to buy an outfit for the wedding. It’ll be a lavish affair, of course; her family is very well-to-do.’

  ‘I wish you all the best,’ Ruby said, gathering her things to leave. ‘But I really must be off now.’ She bit back the words balled up in her throat. She wanted to tell Frances about the daughter she and Nathan gave up for adoption. That would wipe the smile from her smug face. She also wanted to say that if she hadn’t been such an overbearing cow, she could have already had a place in her granddaughter’s life.

  * * *

  Perhaps it would be for the best, Ruby told herself as she returned to the station. A new start for Nathan with his twenty-eight-year-old bride, who would give him all the children he wanted, or at least that his mother wanted. And she would be free to get on with her work and concentrate on the one thing left in her life that had any meaning: cleaning up the streets that she loved so much. But criminals are like weeds: you stamp one out and the next morning there’s another two growing in its place.

  Every time she closed her eyes she could see Frances grinning at her. The ferocity of her emotions took her by surprise. Why did she let that woman affect her this way? It was exactly what she wanted. And Ruby fell for it every time. She pushed her thoughts of Frances away and regained her focus. Women were in danger. She had to find the killer before they struck again.

  * * *

  Ruby sat at her desk with the door closed. Having sat through briefing in the stuffy conference room, she now had the unenviable task of working out the overtime figures for approval. Piles of paperwork were mounting on her desk, and as she shoved her overflowing ‘in’ tray to one side a black-edged envelope caught her eye. She picked through the rest of the unopened post, blowing out her cheeks at how much she had let things slide. There was not one but two of these envelopes, directed solely to her. ‘DS Ruby Imogen Preston, C/O Shoreditch Police Station’. A shiver ran down her spine and she closed the window. But it was more than the outside breeze making her uneasy. She had seen these envelopes somewhere before. But she was yet to draw up the memory which would provide her with answers. Plucking a pair of scissors from her desk drawer she slid it through the top of the envelope, extracting the information within.