But it made me stop, momentarily, to wonder how far Jem was pushing these young women, how much he was leaning on them to get them between the sheets. Because I knew him, I assumed him to be incapable of hurting anybody. He was married to Sally, he might have been unfaithful, but surely he must have been reasonably okay if Sally had stayed with him? Their marriage had seemed fine, and they’d produced enough children between them.
It was only looking at Jem, heavy and unconscious on the floor, that the uneasy feeling from years previously had returned. How well did I really know this man?
Chapter Fifteen
Jem had been out cold for a few minutes, I didn’t know how long it would take him to come round. I had struck him hard. Surely he ought to have been conscious by now?
I knelt at his side again, checking for signs of life. It looked as if he was beginning to move, his eyelids were twitching.
‘Jem? Are you awake? Jem?’
Nothing. I wondered if he was playing dead, but there was no response from him. I tensed my legs, ready to return to my chair and check my phone again, but something made me pause. There was a green pill on the floor next to him. It looked as if it had fallen out of his pocket, but it might have been left over from Tony Miller’s earlier activities. It was nothing to do with me or Meg, I’d never seen a pill like it. Most of them are white and round, and if they vary from that, they’re usually in capsule form. My erectile dysfunction tablets were blue. What were green pills?
I could only assume it was something herbal. Stuff like that usually has bits in it to make it look more healthy, but this looked like a pharmaceutical product, not something that a bunch of hippies would cook up in a peace camp. Besides, Jem wasn’t exactly your herbal kind of guy.
I returned the pill to his pocket, assuming it was a drug that he had to take. It could have been an anti-depressant for all I knew. I’d never used them. Maybe they were all green?
I pressed the power button on my phone, it had just enough charge for the screen to light up once again. I waited for it to find the phone signal. A few more moments and then the text messages started coming in.
There was an electronic beep to my side. It hadn’t come from my phone, it was a message from my mum, sent via Skype. Of course … I was being an idiot. I could use Skype to speak to Alex, she was easy enough to find, I didn’t need a phone.
There were three texts from Alex. What you’d expect, given the circumstances.
WTF Pete! Call me!
Call me asap
You there? Call me please.
A notification appeared on my Erazerr app, it was from JEN1995. An update from Jenny. Still nothing from Ellie.
I decided to prioritise Alex. I texted her, not sure if my phone would cope with a call: I’ll Skype you. Long story. What’s your ID? Don’t call. Phone is fucked. She must have been anxiously waiting for my message as she was straight back to me: Skype is AlexK1981 x
I sent her a contact request and we were speaking within minutes. There were no welcomes.
‘What’s going on, Pete? I can’t raise Jason. What is happening? You need to get the police involved.’
‘It’s not good, Alex. I’m at the house now. Meg isn’t here. I haven’t seen her. There are no phones. My mobile is buggered.’
‘What about Jason? Did you meet up with Jason?’
‘Jason’s dead, Alex ...’
I let it hang there, waiting for her reaction. We were audio only, I was relieved about that. I didn’t want Alex to see my face.
‘What happened, Pete? Jesus Christ, what is going on up there?’
‘Tony Miller is dead too.’
Her face appeared on my screen, she’d activated the video feed. I fired up my webcam too. I hadn’t seen Alex for some time, only in passing on the TV.
She was white, drawn, shocked. I’m sure I was looking pretty shitty too.
‘What are we going to do, Pete? Who did it?’
‘It has to have been Meg. She must have been defending herself. Maybe Tony Miller killed Jason, then Meg killed Tony in self-defence. I don’t know how it happened, but Meg has to be responsible for at least one of those deaths. She must have fled. She must be shitting herself. I can’t contact her, she’s not answering her phone.’
Alex looked into her webcam. I don’t think she knew what to say. I was at a loss myself. Eventually the silence was broken.
‘We have to call the police now, Pete. They have to find Meg, work out what happened. She’ll be okay. She’d have killed Tony Miller in self-defence, they’ll see that, won’t they?’
I’d worked in journalism all those years, yet I hadn’t got a clue how it would be viewed by the law. Was it manslaughter? I’d heard of reasonable force, but Tony was carved up badly. He’d been stabbed several times, he was a mess. It had been a frenzied and violent attack. I wasn’t so sure that Meg would pass that particular test.
‘I really don’t know, Alex. I need to find Meg and hear it from her mouth, then we’ll go to the police. I don’t know where she is.’
‘Did you think of the hospital, Pete? She might have gone there. Maybe she’s gone to the police already.’
‘They’d be over here like a shot if she had,’ I replied. ‘Maybe the hospital, though. I hadn’t thought of that. Wherever she is, she’s been able to walk, her car is in the drive still.’
There was an electronic beep to my side. I looked at my phone, but it hadn’t come from there. I turned round to look at Jem lying motionless. I felt in his jacket pockets and detected the outline of a phone. It would be a text or a notification, something like that. I turned back to Alex. She looked like shit, but she was still beautiful. I could still see why we’d fallen in love.
‘You need to contact the hospital, Pete. That’s the first place she’d go if she was hurt. She might have got a taxi – strange that she didn’t use her car. If you can’t find her there, you’ve got to call the police. You can’t put it off any longer.’
‘It doesn’t change anything if I call the police!’ I snapped. I knew immediately that I shouldn’t have. ‘Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. But Jason and Tony are dead, they’re not going anywhere. I’ve disturbed the crime scene by moving the bodies. The police are going to curse me for that. I just need to find Meg.’
‘Okay, okay. But look, it’s a little after two o’clock now. If she doesn’t turn up by 8 o’ clock, you’ve got to call it in, Pete. Leave it to the police to find her. You’ll land yourself in trouble if you don’t call it in.’
‘Yeah, I know, I know. Jesus, this is a mess. Some fortieth birthday!’
I’m not sure if I sensed the movement first or if it was Alex’s shocked face which alerted me. I was right about Jem, he’d been playing dead. Whatever message had come in via his phone, he’d quietly eased it out of his pocket, read it and decided it was time to make a move.
I heard Alex shout ‘Pete!’, caught a fast movement to my right side, then felt a blow to my head. The bastard had just repaid the favour, he’d whacked me with the same lamp stand that I’d used to hit him with earlier.
‘Fucking hell, Jem!’ I shouted, turning to defend myself. He struck me again. This time he missed and it hit my shoulder. Christ, it hurt.
‘Sorry mate, I’m really sorry ...’ Jem began, turning to leave the room. I grabbed his jacket by the collar. It must have looked ridiculous. Like the Chuckle Brothers having a scrap. I was pulling off Jem’s jacket, he was thrashing at me with the lamp stand, only he had his back to me. We were both cussing and Alex was listening to everything off camera via Skype. Jem was strong, it hadn’t been an issue before. I’d never thought that we might end up in a fight. Was this a fight? Or a scuffle? I didn’t know, I certainly had no intention of hurting him.
Unfortunately, he had a different agenda. Whatever had forced him to make a move needed to be done without me on his tail. After several thrusts of the lamp stand missed their mark, he finally landed one directly on my nose. I felt the bon
e crack and could see the blood dripping onto the carpet. I moved backwards, instinctively backing away from Jem and the source of the pain. It gave him his window. He hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not to pick up his jacket, which I’d managed to work from his arms. Not quite a Steven Seagal move.
He looked at me, saw that I was down for a few seconds, and ran. I sank to the floor, giving it up. My face felt as if it was on fire, all I could do was feel it with my hands, assess the damage that had been done and try to stop the bleeding.
‘Pete! Pete! Are you okay?’
Alex’s voice came through the laptop, anxious, panicking.
‘I’m okay, Alex!’ I called from the floor. ‘Just give me a minute!’
I sat on the floor, cradling my nose. On the road outside the house, I heard a car door slam violently and the roar of an engine as Jem disappeared into the night.
‘Who was that?’ I heard Alex asking from the laptop. ‘Was that Jeremy Denning? He’s put on some weight!’
I struggled up to the desk chair and turned towards the laptop webcam. I saw her flinch as I came into focus.
‘What happened, Pete? Are you okay? That looks painful!’
‘God, it hurts! And yes, that’s Jem.’
Alex had met Jem briefly, many years ago, on a training course in London.
‘Where did he come from?’
‘I forgot to tell you, he was out cold on the floor. I thought he was an intruder, so I hit him.’
‘Bloody hell, Pete. It just gets worse. What’s going on for Christ’s sake? It’s like Game of Thrones over there!’
I had to laugh at that one. I winced as I moved my face to smile. How could a blow to the nose hurt so much?
‘I don’t know, Alex. Something’s up with Jem, but I can’t figure it out. We only spoke a few hours ago in Newcastle, he was about to cop off with some gorgeous young journalist from the radio station. The next thing I know, he’s creeping around my house.’
I paused a moment and thought back to our earlier encounter.
‘He had a scratch on his face too. Didn’t say where it came from. Something is going on, that’s for sure.’
‘Any idea where he went?’ Alex asked, clutching at straws.
‘I have no idea what that was about,’ I replied. ‘I have to find Meg. I’ll figure out what’s going on with Jem later.’
I knocked my phone screen with my hand and it lit up. The battery was holding a decent charge once again. It reminded me of Jenny’s message.
‘One minute, Alex. I want to check my phone.’
I opened up the Erazerr notification. As I read Jenny’s messages, they disappeared from my screen.
Came back to hotel after I calmed down. It’s all kicked off here.
Bob is going spare, he’s got Head Office onto him and everything.
What did police say to you? Jen
That had come in as I’d been driving back from Newcastle. There were later updates.
Police were just looking for you. Wanted to know which room we’d put you in. Where are you? I told them you’d gone into town. They’re asking questions about you. Want to know who you were with. Didn’t say anything. Message me pls.
Shit, they’d be looking for me before I got a chance to find Meg. We’d be out of time if I couldn’t get to Meg soon. Events were closing in on me. There was one more message.
They’ve been asking me about Jackson. I started crying, couldn’t help it. They must have an idea what was going on. But I didn’t do anything. Can’t stop thinking about Jackson. Working double shift tonight. Knackered. Police asking about you again. I won’t say anything. Please don’t you say anything either.
I was exhausted. I was desperate for a rest, but I had to locate Meg. I was almost on the verge of handing myself in, maybe it would be the easiest thing to do. Alex looked busy at her PC, I could see her working away via her webcam. She sensed that I was back with her.
‘I’m contacting one of my legal chums,’ she said. ‘There’s not much I can do here now, but I can at least find out what is likely to come Meg’s way. Shit Pete, you know this is probably going to end up on the show don’t you?’
The irony of it. It would make a great reconstruction for Alex’s TV show. I wondered if the budget would stretch to buying in Brad Pitt to play the part of Pete Bailey. I scolded myself for pratting around. I had to get moving. My phone had charge again, I had a car, Alex was up to speed. Still no sign of Ellie. I remembered Martin Travis’s text from earlier. What had he said? I scrolled through my messages, I hadn’t deleted it: Hi Peter. Is Meg okay? I’m worried about her. Call me please. Any time.
That message had come in late. It was one more thing that didn’t sit right.
There was Ellie to think about too. Ellie can’t have had an accident, she was ahead of me on the road home, I’d have seen it. Where was she?
I looked at Jem’s jacket on the floor. Was his phone in there still? I felt in the pockets. It had been moved, the sly bastard must have checked that incoming message while I was talking to Alex. I was about to take a look when I heard a knock at the door.
‘What now?’ I said aloud. ‘It’s the middle of the night for Christ’s sake!’
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Alex. ‘What’s happening now?’
‘Stay online will you, there’s a knock at the door, I need to see who it is.’
I slipped Jem’s phone into my pocket and ran down the stairs. Jem had closed the door when he left, he’d done me a favour.
‘One minute!’ I shouted. ‘Who is it, please?’
‘Police,’ came the reply. ‘Is everything alright, sir?’
‘One moment, I need to get some clothes on!’
I had blood on my face. There were two dead bodies in my house. Were they onto me already?
I rushed into the sitting room, moved the sofa to conceal Jason’s body, then ran up the stairs, taking three at a time. I pulled the sheets over Tony’s body, rearranging some pillows to conceal the blood. I hated all those blasted pillows which Meg insisted on scattering on the bed, but now they were coming in handy.
I pulled off my trousers and shirt, threw on my dressing gown and headed for the stairs. I caught my reflection in the bathroom mirror on the way across the landing. I looked a state. I’d have to lie. There was another knock at the door. Not loud enough to draw attention from the neighbours, but more impatient this time.
I ran down the stairs and opened the door. There were two Specials on the doorstep, a man and a woman. The man was an older guy, my sort of age. The woman was younger, twenties maybe. The guy took the lead.
‘Is everything alright here, sir? We just saw a vehicle departing from outside your house – the driver seemed to be in a hurry. You look like you’ve been in a fight.’
They’d seen Jem. I had to think on my feet.
‘Thanks for coming, I appreciate it,’ I began, playing for time.
‘That was my brother you saw. We had a row. A fight, upstairs. I came off worse, as you can see. It was a stupid thing. It was over money.’
‘Are you alright, sir? Do you need us to run you to the hospital?’
Funny she should ask that, that’s where I intended to head next. But I’d do it without the police in tow.
‘I’m fine thanks, it hurt my pride more than my face. I used to be able to kick his arse when we were kids. No chance of that now, he’s much bigger than me.’
‘I take it you won’t be taking any action against him, Mr ... Mr?’
‘Bailey. Pete Bailey. No, no, of course not. These things happen. It was my fault. I borrowed money off him, should have paid it back weeks ago. He needs it for a holiday now. He’s getting grief from his wife. It’s my fault, I need to pay him back.’
The constable was peering inside the door.
‘Did you say your fight was upstairs?’ he asked.
‘Yes, in the spare room. I had to show him my bank balance online, convince him I’m broke.’
&nb
sp; ‘There’s quite a lot of blood on the carpet, do you mind if we come in and take a look?’
Yes, I did mind. That’s all I needed, someone auditioning for a role in CSI on my doorstep.
‘I think I’ve troubled you enough already, officers. I’m so sorry about this. I need to get myself cleaned up—’
‘If you don’t mind, Mr Bailey, it would be helpful if we could come in. I’d like to make sure everything is okay here.’
I looked back to the sitting room. There was blood on the carpet, it might have been mine it might have been Jason’s. I’d lost track. It’s not every day you get to host a couple of corpses in your house. I didn’t have a choice, I had to let them in. Stall them. Convince them it was my blood.
‘Come in,’ I said. ‘Feel free to do whatever you need to. I’m really sorry for causing all this trouble.’
They gazed into the sitting room, then walked along the hallway into the kitchen. Jason was reasonably well hidden, but it wouldn’t prove the most challenging game of hide and seek I’d ever played. He’d bled so much – I’d pulled the settee over the mess as much as I could. It depended how suspicious they were.
Alex’s voice could be heard from upstairs. She was still connected via Skype.
‘Are you still around, Pete? Pete?’
The two Specials rejoined me in the corridor, attracted by the sound of a female voice in the house.
‘Do you have company, Mr Bailey? Is there somebody who could corroborate what happened here earlier?’
This guy was a pain in the arse. He could smell that something wasn’t quite right, but he was struggling to put his finger on it.
‘Oh, it’s just a friend on Skype. She’s on the computer upstairs. Go up and check if you want.’
I knew that there was less chance of them finding Tony’s body in the bedroom. I’d managed to conceal it better with the cushions. I’d pop into the sitting room and double check Jason in case they looked in there on their way out.
Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set Page 19