by Helen Fields
Elenuta stared at the railings that seemed to have swallowed Finlay. It had been inconceivable an hour ago to think that she might ever miss him, but now … The woman next to her handed a collar along the line. She ran her fingers over its rubbery length and wondered just how bad the pain would be if she crossed the wire.
‘How much electric?’ she asked. She hadn’t meant to. Her strategy had been to stay quiet and keep off Scalp’s radar. Her mouth had opened without her permission.
‘Do you want to be the first to find out?’ Scalp asked. She shook her head. ‘Sensible as well as pretty. We like that. Sensible means you can be trained. Let me put it like this. There are different settings. The lowest will hurt a bit like a bee sting. The top setting will put you on the floor where you’ll piss yourself and wonder why you can’t control your limbs, as you try to figure out what that nasty burning smell is. Let’s see, now. Who’s expendable?’
He looked up and down the row of women before selecting the oldest among them. She had a noticeable slouch, which was understandable given the life she was living. Finlay’s men called her the hag. Elenuta opened her mouth to protest before the woman next to her dug her sharply in the ribs.
‘Shut up, or it’ll be all of us,’ the woman hissed.
Scalp fitted the collar around his chosen example’s neck, then picked up another unit, fiddling with the settings. Elenuta knew better than to look away. He pressed a button. There was a split-second delay, then a yelp like an animal who’d been kicked with a steel-tipped boot. Scalp smiled and turned a dial. The next time he pressed the button, the yelp was a scream. Elenuta imagined what he’d look like after he’d been hit by a car twenty or maybe thirty times. The image made her feel marginally better.
‘So, does anyone want to join their former boss on the floor down there,’ he pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the ground floor of the flats, ‘or shall we agree that this is the start of something very special and that you’re all going to do everything I ask without complaint?’
Silent nods all round.
Elenuta looked down at her hands. With no Finlay there, her hands were free from the threat of amputation, even if the rest of her existence had just become even more perilous.
Chapter Eighteen
Ava’s car greeted the hospital lamppost with a squeal that was her paintwork crying out in pain as it left the metal. She cursed, stopped, and got out to stare at the damage. It was six thirty in the morning. She’d set her alarm to make sure she was back at Natasha’s bedside before her friend woke up. Hospital visiting hours were irrelevant. She would flash her badge to get in, then explain who she was and that she’d be on duty during the official visiting period. God help the person who tried to deny her entry to the ward. It had been ten o’clock by the time she’d got home last night, and by then she wasn’t hungry. Aware that she ought to eat – the exact date and time of her last hot meal not readily coming to mind – she’d grabbed a piece of toast, cutting the slightly mouldy crusts from the edge, and smearing it with the last of the butter. At some point, she’d have to remember to go shopping.
No one stopped her as she walked onto the ward, and as pleased as she was about that, the lack of security was equally maddening. Everything made her angry at the moment. That was the truth. It wasn’t going to get any better until she could hold her friend in her arms knowing that not one single cell of her was being invaded by a malicious bloody biological army. She paused at Natasha’s door to take a breath. Tasha needed her positive and calm. Not over the top, but not morose. She opened the door.
A figure sat at the bedside. Ava breathed in sharply. Luc was staring out of the window at the rows of street lighting, holding Natasha’s hand as she slept silently. Tears threatened and Ava bit her bottom lip as he turned his head to look at her.
‘I wasn’t expecting you this early,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t expecting you at all,’ she replied.
‘Flying visit. I caught the nine p.m. flight out of Charles de Gaulle airport and got here at eleven. She woke up a couple of times in the night and the nurse gave her more pain relief, but the dressing hasn’t needed changing. I’d stand up but I don’t want to disturb her.’ He nodded at his hand and Ava realised that Natasha’s fingers were intertwined with his.
‘She must have been pleased to see you,’ Ava whispered, pulling up another chair and sitting the opposite side of the bed.
‘Actually she gave me a bollocking for overreacting. Then she cried for a couple of minutes, so I countered with a bottle of champagne that we’ll save for when she’s through treatment, and she forgave me.’
‘Of course she forgave you. You’re the only man she’s ever really loved.’
‘There’s no girlfriend on the scene at the moment?’
‘No, she’s single. I think that’s just as well. Natasha needs to focus on herself, and I’m here to take care of her.’
‘You two are useless at keeping your voices down. How the hell did either of you forge successful careers in policing? You’ll have woken half the hospital by now.’
‘Hey beautiful,’ Ava said, standing up and brushing the hair from Natasha’s face to kiss her forehead. ‘I found some random bloke at your bedside. They’ll let anyone in here these days.’
‘I know. I’m thinking about going straight. He held my hand all night. I’ve never been with a woman who did that.’ She tried to sit up, winced and gave in.
‘Do you need a nurse?’ Ava stood up.
‘Sit down, and stop panicking,’ Natasha told her. ‘They cut a bit of me out. It’s going to hurt. Luc, when are you coming home? Ava’s driving me crazy.’ She smiled.
‘I’m not sure yet. In fact, I have to get back to the airport already. My flight leaves in a couple of hours. Can you two agree to play nicely until I’m back to referee again?’
‘Can you tell her to be less bossy?’ Natasha asked. ‘Ava, drive the man to the airport, would you? I promise I’ll survive the day without you. If you’re good, I’ll let you give me a really long lecture when you come back this evening.’
‘There’s no need,’ Callanach said. ‘A taxi will be quicker, and that way Ava can stay here until it’s time for her to go to work.’
‘No, Ava’s taking you. That’s an order and you do not want to mess with me at the moment.’
He picked up the hand he was still holding and kissed Natasha’s fingers.
‘If you need me, I can be here within a few hours. Any time.’
‘If this were a romantic movie, every single viewer would be in tears right now,’ Natasha said. ‘But as it’s not I feel entitled to tell you to get your perfectly shaped, unfortunately male butt out of my hospital room and get back to France.’
‘I love you,’ Callanach told her.
‘I love you too.’ She sighed and closed her eyes. ‘Idiot.’
Callanach laughed, kissed her cheek, and left to wait for Ava in the corridor.
‘I won’t be long,’ Ava told her, doing her coat up again.
‘You know I wasn’t calling him an idiot, don’t you?’
‘Are you really going to start this now?’ Ava asked, sitting gently on the side of the bed. Her friend looked fragile against the backdrop of white sheets and grey walls.
‘Drive him to the airport. Walk in with him. Buy him a coffee. Then talk to him, Ava. Really talk to him. He deserves that much, at least.’
‘It’s too complicated, Tasha. And it’s not the right time, especially with you …’
‘Don’t you dare. You’re my rock, Ava. You’re always there for me and I know how much this is hurting you, but if you use what I’m going through as an excuse to hide behind, I’ll never forgive you. You and Luc are adults, even if you’re getting pretty good at disguising that fact in your private lives. He’s in love with you. Maybe he fucked up big time. Maybe you’ve done that a couple of times, too. Just make a choice, even if that’s only between being a coward and being brave.’
‘Are
you done?’
‘I am, but I’d like a cup of tea. Could you find the nurse before you go and ask her if she’d mind?’ Natasha smiled. ‘Please?’
‘After that lecture I’ve got a bloody good mind to say no.’ Ava stood up. ‘But as you said please.’ She walked to the door. ‘The thing is, I think the time for Luc and me has passed. I’m pretty sure I’ve screwed it – whatever it might have been – up.’
‘And I’m pretty sure you’re in charge of your own destiny,’ Natasha said. ‘If you want him, tell him. It’s that simple. Were you off to organise that tea now?’
Ava conceded defeat and went to find the nurse.
Callanach took a knee to inspect the damage to Ava’s car.
‘The lamppost won,’ he said. ‘It’s safe to drive though.’
‘Thanks for that. Do you want a lift or not?’
‘Are you sure you want to take me? Natasha will never know. You can go and get breakfast and just come back later. I promise I won’t tell.’
Callanach stood, hands in pockets, his dark brown eyes shining in the lamplight. It began to rain, droplets catching in his hair and running down his cheeks. He didn’t move. Ava felt a rush of regret streak through her with all the fury of lightning.
‘Is there time for us to have breakfast together?’ she asked.
He smiled slowly, gently, the way she always pictured him when she was too tired to distract herself from the truth, late at night.
He walked around the car to the driver’s side where she stood, his jaw clenching and releasing as he drew nearer. Ava realised she was holding her breath. He opened her door and stepped back to let her in.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
Half an hour later they were sitting at a table inside Edinburgh airport, clutching steaming cups of coffee.
‘Thank you for coming,’ Ava said quietly. ‘It would have meant so much to Tasha, waking up and seeing you there.’
‘Of course I came. What did you expect?’
‘I didn’t really think about it. You’re in the middle of a case and it’s not cheap to get a flight at the last minute.’ She added unwanted milk to her coffee for something to do with her fingers.
‘Why didn’t you phone me as soon as you found out?’ he asked.
She frowned briefly, then shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I suppose I figured there was nothing you could do, and I didn’t want you feeling that you needed to make some grand gesture, like … well, like this.’
‘It’s not a gesture, and it was as much for my sake as for Natasha’s if I’m honest. Are you sure you weren’t more worried that you’d have to see me if I came back, because you can tell me. I know things aren’t great between us after everything that happened.’
Ava took a sip of her coffee, realised she’d ruined it and pushed it away. He was right, of course. As was Natasha. Apparently everyone but her had a pretty good understanding of just how much she was deluding herself and messing everything up. She and Luc had been on the verge of starting a relationship that had been in chrysalis form for a couple of years. Then there’d been a night she didn’t like to remember. She and Luc had become intimate, physically and emotionally, and at a make-or-break point she’d found an item he’d taken from her. Stolen, she corrected herself. He had removed it from her house without her knowledge or consent while she was being held hostage by a psychopath, and secreted it away as some bizarre trophy. He’d done his best to explain it but by then the damage had been done, and Ava had decided that whatever future they might have had was dead in the water. It meant she wasn’t going to get hurt longer term and that was good. Better speedy disappointment than a broken heart that might take years to mend. Only now she’d slept with someone else to try and get Luc out of her head, and she hated herself for it. She’d sent Luc away when what she’d really needed to do was face her own fears. Detective chief inspector by day, hormonal teenager by night. It was time to grow up and take a risk. Natasha was right.
‘Luc, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘We should have had this conversation a long time ago, but I was so …’
‘Don’t,’ he said, putting a warm hand over both of hers. ‘You don’t have to. Sending me back to France as Interpol liaison was the right thing to have done. I’ve faced my demons there and I’ve had time to get what happened between us in perspective. It wasn’t easy, but I think you did the right thing for us both. I’d missed France at a much deeper level than I was admitting. We should never have let ourselves get carried away. There’s the difference in rank to consider, we’d have had to lie to everyone on the squad, and sooner or later it would have caused problems. I wish things had happened almost any other way than they did, but now we can be friends like we were before. I’m hoping you can forgive me and that we can start again? I hadn’t realised how much your friendship meant to me until I lost it. I’m sorry for taking you for granted.’
Ava constructed the mask of a smile on her face. Friends, he’d missed France, sooner or later it would have caused problems, difference in rank. Friendship. She felt the single sip of coffee she’d taken rise, sour, in her throat.
‘That’s exactly what I was going to say,’ she said. The words came out high-pitched and strangled. ‘It was all just a misunderstanding. I overreacted.’
‘No, you didn’t, but maybe it all happened for a reason.’
‘Yeah, I think you’re right. And Natasha will be so glad we’ve sorted all this out.’ She uncovered a bare wrist. ‘God, I’m not wearing my watch. It’s probably time I got going anyway. Um, so email me an update about Malcolm Reilly as soon as, yeah?’
‘I will,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘We’ve got some leads to follow up when I touch down later this morning.’
‘You haven’t slept,’ she said, sticking her hands into her jacket pockets and making fists.
‘That’s what the plane journey’s for,’ he said. ‘No news on your other missing person?’
‘Nothing yet, and three more dead bodies. I’m off to see the forensic anthropologist now. It’s a joint meeting with the deputy pathologist. Never rains but it pours, right?’ Callanach tilted his head to one side. ‘That probably doesn’t translate very well. Have a good flight. Tripp will call you soon to talk about Bart Campbell. He’s running a reconstruction of the night he went missing, which includes getting all the people in the restaurant back together again.’
She fumbled reaching forward to kiss his cheek, bashing her nose into his ear.
‘You okay?’ he asked, holding her shoulder.
‘God, yes, fine. Just in a hurry. Take it easy. So glad we’re good.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Callanach said, picking up his bag. ‘I’ll call Natasha every day, but let me know if there’s any news she’s not telling me, will you?’
‘Of course,’ Ava said. ‘Let’s chat soon.’
She turned and headed for the exit. Let’s chat soon? she repeated in her head. Nice retreat into corporate speak. She stopped at her car, dropping her forehead onto its roof. He was fine. That was good. All the tension and agonising over what had or still might happen between them was gone. Life was simple again. Callanach was over her. The raindrops on her face were the camouflage she needed to pretend she didn’t care.
Chapter Nineteen
By the time she arrived at Edinburgh City Mortuary, Ava was soaked to the skin. Having a raincoat in her car was second nature, but worry for Natasha had resulted in sleeplessness that was taking a toll on her normal routines. She’d found her car keys in the fridge the previous day, and her last load of washing had sat wet in the machine for forty-eight hours before she’d remembered to take it out. Now, no raincoat. They were small things, but Ava knew her brain was elsewhere.
A slight figure sat completely still in the postmortem suite that Ava was directed to, hands in her lap, staring at a computer screen, head to one side as if she were contemplating a sunset rather than images of a skull. Ava had met her once before at a forensics conference. Dr Liena Chen wa
s one of the most admired forensic anthropologists in Europe. The deputy pathologist hustled in behind Ava, shutting the door noisily behind them.
‘Morning,’ he said. ‘Do you two know each other?’
Dr Chen stood up and extended a small hand that was cool in Ava’s still damp fingers.
‘DCI Turner,’ she said softly. ‘Pleased to meet you again. Shall we sit?’
They convened around a table with the computer screen central to them. The two skull sections from the pig farm sat in covered trays to one side.
‘Time has been limited, so these are preliminary findings,’ Dr Chen explained, handing out copies of a report that was several pages long. If that was preliminary, Ava thought, Liena Chen was thorough to the point of obsessive. Exactly what was needed. ‘These skull sections are both current, meaning they’re from recently living humans. This isn’t an accidental unearthing of historic bodies or a cold case. They’re both from females. Male skulls tend to be heavier, and while we did not have the full skull, we performed a pro-rata weight comparison. The bone is thinner than we usually find in male skulls, and there are positional and scale differences in the eyes and forehead.’
‘We’ve been able to confirm that,’ the deputy pathologist added. ‘The pigs weren’t able to get all the way inside the skull bones to completely clean out all the tissue. Even though it wasn’t visible at first sight, there were sufficient cells left for DNA testing. Both were definitely female, as is the trachea. No matches have come up on the police database though.’
‘Can we tell if the deceased are related?’ Ava asked him.
‘They’re not,’ he confirmed.
‘Rough ages and cause of death?’
‘The first skull belonged to a woman I would estimate as being in her mid-thirties. The second, which is the less complete skull section, is between late teenage and early twenties. The more intact of the two had no skull injury at all. The less complete skull belonging to the younger woman had one completely healed fracture, which I would say is historical, maybe from ten years earlier, but also a recent blunt force trauma which left an indent and a small fracture.’ Dr Chen picked up one of the skulls from a tray and indicated an area at the rear. ‘It’s not a complete injury area as the pigs had started to consume this part of the skull, so I am unable to give precise parameters for the damage. It’s possible that this injury was the cause of death, but far from definite.’