by Clare Revell
“You both have. Thing is you’ve come out the other side. Just give it as much time as you need. He’ll wait.”
“It’s just, his touch is familiar somehow. I feel safe and secure when he’s around, but is that enough? I’m trying so hard to remember, but don’t.”
“You’re over thinking things.”
“I am?”
He nodded. “Just accept the way you feel for each other and go with it. What’s in the past is over. You have a clean slate with him. Take it as a gift and make new memories.”
“I will.” She yawned. “I’m tired.”
“Then go to bed. I’ll clear up down here.”
Niamh nodded. She kissed his cheek and got up. “Night.”
Locking up as she went, she made her way upstairs to her room. The light bathed it in a soft pink glow. Sitting on the bed, she picked up the photo of Jared in uniform. “Keep him safe out there tonight, Lord. Bring him back to me. Thank you for this second chance we have. Please, let it work out this time.”
15
A tap on the door distracted Niamh from the pile of files on her desk. She smiled seeing Patrick standing there. A friendly face was a welcome relief after the morning she’d had. She beckoned him in. “Hello. What brings you to this neck of the woods?”
He fiddled with his visitors ID badge. “It’s kind of awkward actually.”
“Oh?” She swiveled her chair and stood. She walked around the desk. “What’s up?”
“I tried texting, and you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry. I was in court this morning, so the phone’s been turned off. I can check it now.”
Patrick shook his head. “Can we go for a walk?”
“Sure.” She closed the file on her desk and picked it up. “Let me lock this away.”
“Do you lock all your files away?”
“Yes. Though it doesn’t stop them going missing. Another reason I’m now working in a goldfish bowl. That and so they can watch me the whole time. See that mirror?”
“It’s very you, sis,” he said, his stance indicating that he knew what she meant. “I’m surprised you haven’t put fairy lights around it. The same way you did with the mirror in your bedroom when you were ten.”
She clicked her fingers. “That’s what’s missing. Maybe you could fit some.” She shut the filing cabinet and locked it, sliding the key into her jacket pocket. “OK, let’s walk.”
Patrick nodded, not saying another word until they were out on the cold, damp street.
“So, what gives?”
“We have a file…a pretty thick one as it happens. I’m going to turn a copy of it over to Nate Holmes as he’s handling the Gina Luckett murder. A copy will also be going to your department.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And you’re telling me this because?”
“Common courtesy seeing as how you put me onto it.”
“Our mutual friend?” She didn’t want to name him, just in case someone was close enough to overhear.
“There are definite ties between him and one former client, and possibly a current one. And I don’t mean a client/lawyer thing either.” He glanced at her. “But you are going to have to watch your step. If he wanted you out the way before, he definitely will now. Do you remember why?”
She pulled off her glove and rubbed the back of her neck. “All I know is it had something to do with the recent death. A missing file and…and she gave me…”
“And,” Patrick prompted. “Who’s she?”
“Give me a minute.” Niamh rubbed her neck harder then looked up. “Gina Luckett.”
“OK, good. Now, think, sis. What did she give you?”
“A letter. She gave me a letter. She stopped me on my way out of court…”
“Mrs. Harkin, please wait.”
Niamh turned around at the running footsteps, to see Gina Luckett tearing after her.
“Mrs. Harkin, could you take a look at this? I received it this morning and I don’t know what to do. I was going to hand it to the police, but now the case is over I thought maybe you should have it instead.”
She stopped, clutching the briefcase tightly in her hand. Still unnerved from the encounter with Miles, she wanted nothing more than to reach the safety of the robing room. She managed a smile. “Calm down, Gina. The danger is over now, everything’s fine. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to thank you for all you did. I can’t tell you what a relief it is, knowing Acre will be off the streets now. And I also wanted to give you this.”
“I can’t accept gifts…” She shifted the papers in her arms and took a step away.
“Oh…no it’s not a gift. Uh…it came this morning. It’s why I was late. I very nearly didn’t come at all.”
Niamh paused mid-step. “Oh?”
Mrs. Luckett pressed the letter into her hand. “Please, do with it what you need to.” Panic filled her eyes and she backed away. “I have to go.”
Stumped, Niamh just stood there for a moment, before realizing that Miles was at the end of the corridor watching them. Shifting the pile of papers, she slid the letter into them and hurried towards the robing room. She’d read it when she got back to the office.
“And did you?”
She shook her head. “Did I? Oh, no. No. I don’t think so. I don’t remember doing it, but then I might have done.”
“I need you to check.”
“Now?”
“Now is as good a time as any.”
“OK, but you can’t really be in the office when I look. I’ll text you if I find anything and show you later.”
“I could always hide in your bookshelf.”
“You will not. Let me do this. I’ll call you later.”
He hugged her. “Then I shall go catch some bad guys of my own.”
“You do that.” She returned the hug. “I’m sure the country has far bigger problems than me.”
“You’d be surprised.” He paused. “You know what with Li and his terrorists and you and your death threats, the country has enough troubles right here in Headley Cross.”
She playfully thumped his arm. “In that case, you can walk me back to my office. But first we stop off at the takeaway on the corner and buy hotdogs. That way it looks like you took me for lunch.”
****
Taking her half eaten hotdog into the office, Niamh wondered where she’d have put the papers. She knew where she’d put them now, but that didn’t mean she’d have done the same thing before the car crash.
She turned around and saw Alan passing. “Alan?” she called.
He opened the door. “Hey.”
“Got a question. Where would the papers from the Acre case be? I remembered something while I was at lunch and I want to see if I was right.”
“Past cases are filed down in the basement. Active ones in the filing cabinets up here.”
“Cool. In that case, my lunch and I are going to the basement.”
“Fancy some company?”
“Sure. You can save me hours of searching for it on my own.”
They headed towards the elevators. Alan pressed the button. “So what did you remember?”
“Gina Luckett gave me a letter. It’s probably nothing, but it was the day the case ended, the day I crashed. I just wondered what it said.”
“Did you not read it at the time?”
“No, I was too busy escaping Miles for some reason.”
“He accosted you in court. Remember, I told you about that.”
“Yeah, right, you did.” She slid into the elevator and pressed the button for the basement. “I shoved the letter into the files and meant to read it later. Whether I did or not is anyone’s guess. So figured I’d look for it while it was fresh in my mind.”
Despite the basement being dark and dingy and lit by a single bulb, it didn’t take long at all. Niamh took the file over to the desk and flipped on the light. As she opened it, a sinking feeling came over her. “You didn’t bring this one to the house?”
“No, lassie. Toby thought it best not to.”
She flipped through the pages. “Is this all there is?”
“What were you expecting to find?”
“I had a load of papers loose in my hand. They fell to the floor, and I picked them up…no that was in the courtroom. She gave it to me afterwards.”
“Who gave you what afterwards?” A fresh voice from the door made her glance up.
“Oh…Toby.”
He pushed away from the doorframe. “They said you were down here. Alan, there’s a phone call for you.”
“Thanks. Come see me when you’re done down here, Niamh.”
“Sure.” She went back to the file, flipping through it. “I’m sure it would have been here.”
“What are you looking for?”
“I remember running into Gina Luckett just after leaving court. I was flustered after the brush with Miles and wanted to get out of there.”
“You remember that?” His tone meandered between passing interest and something deeper.
“Bits and pieces. It’s irritating. Anyway, she called after me and I stopped. She gave me a letter, and I shoved it in with the papers. I don’t remember any more but can’t find it.”
“I’ll give you a hand. Sometimes the files get separated.”
Twenty minutes later Toby found the other box of files. “Here. Under Z.”
“Well that makes sense. Not.” Niamh pulled the lid off. “Not filed in a folder.” She picked them up. An envelope wafted gently to the floor. She picked it up, her heart beating erratically. Her palms grew damp. “This is it.”
Toby sat on the desk next to her. “Open it.”
She slid one finger under the back and carefully opened it, not wanting to disturb the contents too much. “Should I have gloves or something on?”
He shook his head. “So long as it’s only you—your fingerprints will be on file.”
Niamh drew out the letter and unfolded it. Dark bold lettering stared up at her. She gasped and dropped the letter onto the desk. She’d seen that writing before.
“Niamh?”
She put a shaking hand into her pocket and laid a creased piece of paper on the desk alongside the letter. “This came via internal mail this morning. The font is the same.”
She looked down at the letters. Aside from the name on the top, the words were identical. And internal mail could only mean one thing. Miles wasn’t working alone.
Back off now or you die.
****
The driver dropped Niamh off at home. She walked up the drive, aware of both him and the cops watching her. She was early, but knew Jared would be home, even if he was sleeping. Right now, she needed him. Just to see him, to be held by him, told that everything would be all right, and that the police would catch this guy before he tried to kill her again.
Dropping her bag and coat to the floor, she went up the stairs to his room. His strong, muscular frame lay across the bed, his scarred back in full view. Not wanting to wake him, she tiptoed across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
The shaking started in her fingers and gradually worked up her arms and across her shoulders until it encompassed her whole frame. Tears followed, slowly at first, then a torrent and finally a flood.
Hands pushed through her hair, a calm voice spoke her name and she found herself leaning against Jared’s bare chest. She clung to him, taking the comfort he so willingly offered. After a while she looked up at him, her cheeks wet. “Sorry…”
“Don’t be, my love.”
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I had to get up anyway.” He kissed her gently. “What’s upset you so?”
“I got another letter. It looks like it’s from the same guy who killed that woman.”
His gaze searched hers. “Seriously? Are the police upping your protection?”
“They want me to go away,” she whispered. “But I don’t want to do that.”
A flash of lightning split the room, followed a few seconds later by a crash of thunder. Rain poured against the window, the wind howling. She pushed tighter against his chest, his heart beat soothing her.
“What do you want?” His voice whispered in her ear.
“You,” she said. She flicked her gaze up. His eyes, dark with passion and need looked at her. “But I’ll settle for a kiss for now.”
As the storm intensified, Jared nodded, his lips covering hers. He pushed her back against the headboard, his hands moving through her hair.
Niamh kissed him back, heat consuming her. She clung to him, not wanting him to stop and whimpering slightly as he drew away. “Jarrie…”
His fingers ran down her cheek, fire following in their wake. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t be able to.” His eyes had darkened to ebony. “I want this to be right. OK?”
She didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. Her whole body ached for his touch.
“OK?” he repeated.
“OK,” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll go take a shower and you put the kettle on.”
As she nodded, Jared grabbed a pile of clothes and left the room. She sucked in a long breath, her fingers resting on her lips. She could still feel him, taste him.
Is it so wrong to want him? Everyone keeps telling me I’m married, but would it still be classed as a sin because I don’t remember marrying him? Is that why he stopped? What if he no longer wants me?
She took a deep breath and went downstairs, trying not to imagine Jared standing naked in the shower. Then she shook her head. He was hardly going to shower with his clothes on, now, was he?
After she put the kettle on to boil, she rummaged in the freezer and pulled out cheese and onion pasties and chips. Not the most exciting of dinners, but it would do. The storm finally ended and Niamh crossed to the window, drawn by the huge rainbow hanging in the sky.
Jared’s arms slid around her, pulling her against his hard frame. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yeah it is.”
“I have something to show you.”
“Oh?”
“Slip some shoes on and come outside a minute.”
“But dinner…”
“Won’t burn if you just leave it for a couple of minutes.”
“OK.” She went to get her shoes, then followed him outside. The rainbow, even more brilliant and now double, still hung overhead, the calm following the violent storm.
“So…what did you want to show me?”
“Little Miss Impatient.” Jared laughed.
“That’s me.”
He grinned and knelt on the wet ground in front of her.
“What are you doing?” Surely he’s not doing what I think he is?
He pulled a small box from his pocket. “Niamh, I love you, more now than I did all those years ago when I first met you.” He opened the box and held it out to her. “My life just isn’t complete without you in it. I came so close to losing you, and it just about tore me apart. I don’t want to spend another minute without you beside me all the time. Niamh, hon, will you marry me?”
Her gaze shifted from the ring to him and back again. It wasn’t the same one she’d thrown at him several weeks ago. “But you and everyone else say that we are married…”
“You don’t remember that. I want you to remember marrying me.”
“That’s not the ring I gave you back…”
He smiled. “No. It’s a new one. This is a new start for the both of us. A new start deserves a new engagement ring, though I’d like to reuse the wedding rings, if that’s all right with you.”
Niamh dropped to her knees beside him, tears pouring down her face. “Yes. Yes to both. I’ll marry you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”
He slid the ring onto her finger, and wrapping his arms around her, kissed her.
Niamh closed her eyes as he deepened the kiss, totally oblivious to the rain that cascaded down onto them as the storm returned full force.
Only
the sound of the smoke detector going off inside the house broke Jared’s steamy embrace. His eyes widened, and Niamh doubled over with laughter as he raced into the house to try and save the dinner from complete destruction.
16
“Are you sure you want to talk about the wedding, now?” Jared asked, amazed at the way Niamh had paper everywhere as she worked on the files in front of her and talked to him at the same time. She hadn’t lost focus on either task. If only he had the ability to multi-task like that. “You just look so busy.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Her face lit up as she smiled at him. “This is just catch up stuff. Look, I’ve put the pencil down.”
“OK. Well, I was thinking…if you wanted, we could have a really big wedding with long white dresses—“
“Dresses plural? Are you planning on wearing one as well?”
He scrunched up his nose at her. “Oh, behave, will you? A long white dress, singular for you, an arch of axes, your mum can cry, your dad can give you away, Liam can object at the relevant section, your great aunt can come over from Nevada, and your cousin Elfic can come over from New Zealand. Then there’s Adric and Rhiannon, Idris, Iestyn and Ivor from Neath in Wales. Oh, and the Irish contingent.”
“No, I don’t want that. Not a big wedding. Just you and me.” She glanced down at the files. “They’ll have done it once and flights are expensive at the best of times.” She shoved the file closed and winked at him. “’Sides, I don’t want to wait too long.”
He rolled his eyes. “We might need a couple of witnesses. And a church—unless you’re thinking we elope and get married on a beach. Or we could drive to Gretna Green and get married tomorrow.”
“Yeah, like that would help. Seriously, I don’t want a huge wedding. Just immediate family and anyone from the church who wants to come, is fine.”
“Are you sure?” Amazement gave way to surprise. The first time around, she’d insisted on the biggest, most expensive wedding possible. He thought she wanted to get married and yet she didn’t seem bothered one way or the other now. Maybe she wasn’t multi-tasking quite as well as he first assumed.
“Quite sure. Dad will give me away. I’ve asked Jacqui to be my bridesmaid. You just need to pick a best man and book the church.”