by Anita Waller
She knocked gently on the bedroom door and Mouse opened it.
‘I was just coming down. I heard the knock on the door and then Marsden’s voice. I kind of guessed she wasn’t here for you.’
‘We’re in the garden. Take your time, I’ll tell her I had to wake you.’
‘Thanks, I’ll go splash my face and try to do something with my hair. It’s the Worzel Gummidge effect at the moment.’
She headed for the bathroom, leaving Kat to go back downstairs.
Kat was concerned. Mouse looked drained, and certainly not as well as she had looked when they’d left hospital.
Joining Marsden in the garden, Kat sat in the chair next to her.
‘This is beautiful, Reverend Rowe.’
‘Please, I feel we’re going to get to know each other quite well, call me Kat.’
Marsden nodded. ‘Tessa. Is Bethan okay?’
‘She looks washed out, but I’ll take care of her. It’s Beth, by the way. She’s just trying to make herself look a bit more presentable and she’ll be down. Can I offer you a drink?’
‘Thank you. Cold water will be fine. After you’ve had a couple of coffees back at the station, water starts to taste like nectar.’
Kat smiled. ‘I’ll even throw some ice in the jug.’ She headed back into the kitchen to see Leon helping himself to a glass of water.
‘God, it’s hot.’ He bent to kiss his wife. ‘Everything okay?’
‘It’s fine. DI Marsden is out in the garden, waiting for Beth. I’m just doing a jug of iced water.’
‘Then I’ll join you.’ He kissed her again as she reached up to get a jug out of the cupboard. ‘I’ll put some shorts on first though. This damn suit’s far too hot.’
He headed upstairs, and Kat tipped a load of ice into the jug. As she was filling it with water, it briefly occurred to her that Mouse didn’t know Leon was home; Kat hoped Mouse was fully clothed.
Mouse stared into the bathroom mirror and gave one last tug of the brush through the curls. The bruises were turning a muddy shade of yellow, still sore when she touched her face, and she decided that pretty no longer described her, battered was a closer comparison.
She opened the bathroom door and saw the beautiful personage that was Leon Rowe for the first time.
Her twenty-year-old brain internally gasped.
His teeth seemed extra white against the blackness of his skin as he flashed a smile at her. He held out his hand. ‘You must be Beth.’
‘I am. And Kat never said a word about you other than your name. Hello, Leon.’
‘It’s very good to meet you.’
She laughed. ‘And it’s very good to meet you. I’m sorry if I looked shocked, Kat neglected to mention that lovely skin.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I don’t think Kat realises I’m any different to anybody else of her acquaintance. You heading downstairs? Marsden’s here.’
‘I know. She woke me. I’ve just spent ten minutes trying to make myself look half presentable. I’ll go down to Kat now.’
‘Tell her I’ll be five minutes.’
‘No problem.’
Tessa and Kat were discussing herbs and their medicinal values when Mouse joined them.
‘Water?’ Kat passed a glass dripping with condensation to Mouse.
‘Thank you. I need to take tablets.’ She swallowed the painkillers and sat by Kat.
‘I just came by for an informal chat really, Beth,’ Tessa said. ‘To see if anything had come back to you.’
‘Nothing regarding the man who attacked us, I promise you, but we’re going to go to the alleyway and see if that jolts my memory. The evening is coming back to me in little bites, but it only goes as far as the moment he shot me.’
‘And did your memory forget that you escorted Anthony Jackson? You’re not his girlfriend?’
‘No, it didn’t. But what difference does that make? I wasn’t an escort girl at the point that he was killed. My escort duties finish at midnight, unless there is a prior arrangement for an extended function. There was no prior arrangement that night, because if that little group hadn’t decided they wanted to go clubbing, it would all have been over just after eleven. I was on my own time as a friend, and a girl.’
Tessa nodded, deep in thought. ‘What was he like?’
‘He was very nice. Thoughtful, complimentary, funny. I really enjoyed his company. And good-looking up to the point that bullet blew away his face.’ She felt tears prick her eyes.
‘Let me take you back to the time where that small group decided to go clubbing. Did you know any of them?’
‘Not really, I can’t remember their names. Anthony ordered four taxis to take us to Steel, and then they left their car keys at reception. The men said they would be back for their cars when they were sober enough to drive.’
‘What did Anthony do with his house key?’
Mouse looked surprised at the question. ‘Erm, let me try to picture this. I can see us all milling around in the reception at Alhambra, deciding what to do.’ She was quiet for a moment. ‘He removed it from his key ring, handed the car key to the receptionist who tagged it with the registration number, and then he slipped his house key in his jacket pocket. Do you need it to get into his house?’
Tessa shook her head. ‘No, we’ve already been in there. It was just curiosity really. It wasn’t with his personal possessions. We have his wallet, his watch, his ring, but no house key. It just seemed strange, and I wondered if you’d put it in your bag or something to keep it safe for him.’
‘No. I’m sure he put it in his right jacket pocket.’
‘Another mystery then,’ Marsden smiled. ‘This damn case is full of them.’
Leon stepped between the patio doors and joined them. He once again bent to kiss his wife, who responded with a smile. He took every opportunity to kiss her.
‘I’ve met Beth,’ he said. ‘It seems you neglected to mention the colour of my skin.’
‘Colour of your skin?’ Oh…’ Kat held her hand to her mouth and burst out laughing. ‘It’s ebony, Mouse. No big deal.’
Mouse grinned in response.
‘So, Beth, tell me if anything at all strange happened on that night.’ Marsden attempted to bring the subject back around to the murder.
‘I can’t think of anything,’ Mouse said. ‘It was a perfectly normal evening, like a hundred others I’ve attended over the last two years. I recognised one or two of the men there, although don’t bother asking me for their names because I wouldn’t, and I couldn’t, tell you. They don’t use their real names with escorts. I didn’t know Anthony’s until we were forced into that alleyway. He told it to me when he realised things might not end well, and I told him my full name. It seemed the right thing to do.’
Marsden nodded, as if digesting Mouse’s words. ‘And what will you do now?’
‘I’m pulling out of education for a start. I feel as if I’ve suddenly grown up. There’ll be no more of the escort world. I want to work for myself, but I’m taking time to get over this before I make any decisions. I’m selling my house, going to sort that tomorrow if I feel up to it. My two housemates are looking for new rooms, not happily, but it’s my decision. I’ll miss them, but it’s time to grow up.’
Marsden stood. ‘Thank you, Beth. If anything does come back, please ring me. The clues on this case are a bit lacking, and to be honest, a return of your memory could be a massive breakthrough for us.’
‘I’ll see you to the door,’ Leon said, also standing.
It was as Marsden was walking down the drive that she turned to him. ‘You didn’t know him… Anthony Jackson?’
He shook his head. ‘Only his name really. He once attended a conference I was at, but we didn’t speak. I just saw his name on the attendees list. I know we were in the same business, but that wouldn’t give us a reason to be acquainted. Quite the opposite, actually.’
Marsden stared at him, holding eye contact. ‘Yes, you’re probably right.’ The tin
gle in her spine told her something different.
9
There was a total absence of moonlight. Cloud cover was thick, and rain was promised for later in the night. He didn’t want it raining yet; oh no, that wouldn’t help at all.
He pressed the latch on the gate and slipped into the tarmacked back yard of the little house, so close to the Bramall Lane football ground. He had been told she had been released from the hospital, duly mended and spruced up, but he couldn’t risk her memory coming alive with anything.
He knew she hadn’t remembered who he was yet; his nurse girlfriend kept him well informed for a little bit of the ready supply of drugs he always had. She had provided him with the slag’s address for a relatively small amount of cocaine. But he couldn’t trust that Bethan Walters never would remember, so she had to be dealt with.
And it was all for the sake of the bigger picture. The day when he would have everything. With Anthony Jackson out of the way in such a spectacular fashion, life had looked good, but the slag had survived. Now she had to go, and properly this time.
The infiltration into Anthony Jackson’s empire had already begun; he had met with his primary cohorts, had talks with them regarding bringing them across to him and forming one large organisation. They had been cautiously optimistic about it, because they were feeling rudderless. He had to strike now while they were mixed up and worried. But loose ends were no good.
And this loose end was about to be tied off.
He stood in the corner formed by the house wall and the dividing wall separating the yard from the neighbouring one; the darkest point. Inside his black balaclava he was sweating; it was a warm night that was about to get much warmer. He carefully lowered his backpack to the floor and removed the two bottles with the fabric sticking out of the top.
Walking silently to the back door, inspected earlier in the day, he placed the suction cup on the window glass nearest to the lock. The glasscutter scored around it, and a hard thump broke the circle away from the rest of the single-glazed panel.
The man reached his hand inside and turned the key. The door widened a few inches and stopped, so he re-closed it, removed the chain that was causing the problem and opened the door fully.
He stepped into the kitchen and listened for any sounds. Nothing, utter silence.
Quietly he went back to his corner outside, took the petrol can out of the backpack, then returned to sprinkle it on the stairs. He revisited the yard for the final equipment, the two petrol bombs.
Slipping back inside to stand at the bottom of the stairs, he lit the first one and threw it to the top of the stairs where it exploded, and everything erupted into a huge fireball. The noise it made was horrific and he moved back into the kitchen, lit the second one and smashed it at the bottom of the stairs.
Then he ran.
He didn’t hang around to see the outcome; he guessed it might make the newspapers.
10
The fire service didn’t recover the two bodies until the early hours of the day, so intense was the fire. News of the devastation reached Mouse when a friend rang her to find out if she was okay. They initially had crossed wires because Mouse thought she was asking following the shooting.
Kat immediately rang Tessa Marsden, who hadn’t been told about it; she explained it came under Sheffield and not Chesterfield, but she would get back to them with any news.
Mouse felt sick. She knew she had been targeted; it was her house. Whoever had left her for dead wanted to really finish the job.
Ten minutes later, DI Marsden rang with the news that the fire had started around one in the morning, and two bodies had been recovered; both females, and both had died from smoke inhalation rather than burns.
‘No,’ Mouse moaned. ‘This can’t be. They’ve died because of me, because I did this bloody stupid job.’
Kat pulled her close and held her. There was nothing she could say.
Kat and Mouse stared at the smoke-blackened shell of the little house. It was an end-terrace property, and the fire service had been able to contain it sufficiently to stop it spreading to the adjoining house, but to Mouse’s eyes it looked destroyed. Like her.
Three deaths since the night of the Alhambra function, and once the press published the names of the victims of this fire, whoever was doing it would know she hadn’t been at home.
‘I’m scared, Kat,’ Mouse said quietly.
Kat took her hand. ‘And I’m scared for you. I want us to go now, just to be on the safe side. I’m pretty anonymous because I’ve never lived and worked in Sheffield, so even if somebody is watching you they’re not going to know who I am.’
‘What shall I do about my car?’
‘Where is it?’
‘It’s across the road on a side street. Couldn’t park any closer the last time I was out in it.’
‘Is it okay where it is? No parking restrictions?’
Mouse shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine.’
‘Then we’ll leave it for now. You’re not fit to drive yet, your shoulder is still stiff, and you’re still in varying degrees of pain.’
Mouse smiled. ‘I’m trying to run before I can walk, aren’t I?’
‘You are. We’ll come back in a few days when everything is moving a bit easier on you and get it then. Let’s go home. You’ve an insurance company to ring. This needs fixing.’
11
He was angry. He’d been smiling when he saw the headlines, and the picture of the blackened house, but then he’d read the accompanying article and the smile had stopped.
The slag hadn’t been there. Two other bints had, so he had a partial thrill knowing they would have been friends of the slag, but he felt as though it had all been a wasted effort.
Why the fuck hadn’t he made sure she was dead before he left that alleyway? And where the hell was she now?
He slapped her across the face. Fran Drummond’s head rocked back on her neck and she cried out. ‘I don’t know where she is. Perhaps she’s gone to her nan’s, that old woman who used to come and see her.’
‘Christ almighty. What’s the old tart’s name? Stop pissing me about or I might have to hurt you.’
‘Doris Lester, I think. I heard her say it a couple of times to the policeman sat at the door.’ She was crying, he was scary when he was like this.
‘Address?’
‘No idea, but she caught the same bus as me one time, the 120, and got off at the Birley Hotel.’
‘I’ll fucking find her,’ he growled. ‘Get dressed, you’re going home. And stop bloody crying, I can’t stand it.’
‘You hurt me,’ she sobbed.
‘I’ll hurt you more if you don’t shut up. Now let me think. And get out of here.’
She grabbed her clothes and ran for the bathroom. She tried splashing water on the redness in her cheek, but it had no effect – another door she would have to have walked into. She dressed quickly and silently opened the door. He was on his laptop, searching for Doris Lester, she guessed.
Fran let herself out the house without saying another word to him, clutching on to her bag that held the small amount of cocaine he had given her for the “seeing to” she had given him.
She tried not to think about the trouble she had just hefted on to the slight shoulders of Doris Lester.
12
‘How could they know my address, Kat?’ Mouse had been deep in thought on the journey back to Eyam. Nothing was making sense. ‘The police knew it, and so did the hospital, but that’s all.’
‘If somebody wants to know an address, it’s not difficult to find it, unless you’re an idiot like me and can’t work the Internet. I tried to find Jackson’s address in Eyam and couldn’t, but Leon did.’
‘Can’t work the Internet?’
‘No, it stops working when I touch it.’
‘Then it’s a good job you’ve got me in your life,’ Mouse responded with a grin. ‘In fact, as soon as I’m up to doing a bit of online shopping, I need a new laptop. Mine
was in the house.’
‘Was there a lot of work on it?’ Kat’s troubled expression made Mouse laugh.
‘Oh, you do cheer me up, Kat. Yes there was all the work from my uni course, and lots of personal stuff but it doesn’t matter. It’s all saved. As soon as I log in to my various accounts, it will all come tumbling back to earth out of a cloud.’
Kat nodded as though she understood. ‘That’s what Leon says.’
‘And Leon’s right. It’s not difficult, but I do believe you need a mind that enjoys technology to benefit from it properly, and clearly you’re not into it.’
‘You’re good at it then?’
‘It’s the thing I love most. And it’s going to give us answers for this trouble I seem to have found myself in.’
‘How?’
‘Because I’m good. Or bad, depending how you look at it. I’m not telling you any more, not yet, because of who you are, that’s not fair. So maybe this afternoon, if you don’t mind, I’ll borrow your laptop, buy one in your name so that it doesn’t show me at your address, and transfer the money into your bank. Is that okay?’
‘Of course. We’ve also got an appointment with my husband later.’
‘What? With Leon?’
‘Yes.’ Kat tried to keep her face straight. ‘At the kitchen table, around four o’clock.’
‘He doesn’t want me there.’ Mouse’s voice was flat.
‘Rubbish. That’s not it. I’m saying nothing more, and don’t worry, he’s absolutely fine about you staying with us.’
Kat watched the lights change to amber and put her foot down. She had been constantly watching her mirror all the way home, but there had been nothing to suggest anyone had followed them from the burnt-out house.
Tibby strolled to the car as they pulled onto the drive. Mouse bent down to stroke her and the cat rolled onto her back. ‘Floozy,’ Mouse remarked. ‘Get up, cat, and I might feed you some treats.’