Between Two Thieves

by Solomon Carter

But he still had that number, didn’t he? He pressed the number to dial it. At the other end the phone started ringing. It rang no more than four times before the call was answered. But the nature of the voice shocked him.

  “Lauren...? Lauren. What’s up? Lauren, is that you?”

  He breathed but didn’t say a word. A woman’s voice. Young-ish, maybe? Concerned too.

  “Lauren?”

  He listened to her voice, trying to read the unknown woman on the other end, but then he cut the call as soon as the bathroom door opened. Jamie turned around. It was too late.

  Lauren stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around her body, her hair dry. The remnants of a smile dropped away from her face. Lauren saw the phone in his hand, watched as it dropped away from his ear. There was no shame on his face, only accusation.

  “Jamie. That’s my phone. What are you doing? Are you... are you checking up on me again? Jamie... we’ve been through this.”

  “Only because you keep so many damn secrets from me.”

  Lauren blinked at him and tightened the towel around her body.

  “There are no secrets,” she said. But there was a hint of a lie in her voice. “You won’t let me have any.” Lauren looked at her phone.

  “Who is she?” said Jamie.

  “What?”

  “The woman you’ve been calling for the last three days. Who is she? Where did you meet her?”

  Lauren shook her head.

  “Tell me,” he snapped. “Tell me, or God help me I’ll—”

  “Jamie – she’s just an old friend. Someone I used to know when I was a kid.”

  “Really? A friend you’ve never mentioned before. Never called before either, until now. And so you call her seven times. And after that you delete all your messages so that I can’t read them. Some crazy kind of friend that is. A secret friend. Funny, Lauren. I don’t think I ever had you down as a dyke. Not until now.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Secret calls, secret meetings, deleted texts. Like any normal affair. Except this one’s a woman. It even makes sense, in a way. That’s why you haven’t seemed happy for months.”

  “Happy! You don’t want me to be happy! You want me to just exist...”

  “I want you to be happy, Lauren. But I want me to be happy too. Turns out that’s not compatible with your newfound love interest. Least that explains the lack of condoms in your handbag. Don’t suppose you need any.”

  “Jamie, you’re being disgusting. What the hell are you even talking about? I said she’s a friend.”

  “You’re lying again.”

  “Damn you, Jamie. I don’t care if you believe me. You make it all up. It’s all in your head. Whatever I do, I’m wrong.”

  “There you go again. Your same old easy way out. I warned you to stop using that against me. And I warned you not to keep any secrets, or to cheat on me, and guess what. You’ve done both, haven’t you? You’re destroying our life together.”

  “What life?!”

  “Don’t say that, Lauren. You know there have to be consequences.”

  Lauren stayed silent. Jamie Blane saw eyes full of emotion and a mind full of unspoken secrets. He ground his teeth and charged at her. Lauren backed away and tried to close the bathroom door to block his way, but Jamie reached it too soon.

  “Consequences,” he said. Blane pushed her back and shut the door behind him. The steam from the shower had filled the room like a cloud trying to blot out what was to about to take place. Outside Lauren’s mobile phone buzzed on the chair.

  Twenty-four

  “Who was that?” said Dan.

  “Lauren,” said Eva, looking up from hr phone.

  “Our next case. Keen, isn’t she?”

  Eva nodded. “Hmmmm. Weird though. She answered the call but didn’t say anything even though I’m sure she could hear me. I heard her breathing.”

  “You’re sure it was Lauren who called? Or maybe it was one of those mistake calls. A call from her pocket.”

  “No, no. It was her name on the screen, and she was breathing into the phone. I heard her.” Eva looked at Dan, understanding his meaning. New worries began to percolate in Eva’s mind. “She’s in a bad domestic situation, Dan. Lauren says the guy’s a totally controlling psycho. Hopefully it was nothing. Maybe she couldn’t hear me after all.”

  Dan shrugged. “Don’t panic. She’ll call back. She’s been pretty good at that so far.”

  Eva’s frown of concern stayed in place, but she resolved to wait. She really didn’t want to start dancing to Lauren’s tune when she’d already said that they were on another case.

  And with things finally seeming to be slotting into place, they couldn’t abandon it now. With the sudden progress came that familiar old anxiety. One part thrill of the chase, one part fear – and the fear was always inseparable from the excitement. Something told Eva they were getting closer to a truth neither of them were going to like, and Joe Clancy was the one who held the key.

  It was early evening. The sky was still bright, but the sun was getting low, stretching shadows to near ridiculous lengths. When they arrived at the Clancy house they were more than pleased to see the jeweller’s black Lexus absent from the driveway. He was their de facto boss. And with little progress on his case, it was a relief not to have to make excuses again. Or to explain why they wanted to interrogate his son a further time.

  “It’s awfully quiet here. You think anyone is in?” said Eva. She looked through the living room window from the garden path. The TV was black and silent, the room dim with the shadows of evening. Dan glanced into the reception room on the other side of the front door. It was empty too.

  “They’ll be in the house. Joe’s quiet anyway. And he’ll be suffering. The only other place he could be is losing his wallet again while he tries to find a replacement dealer.”

  “Let’s hope not. He’s really too soft for that kind of action,” said Eva. “He’d get mugged in a heartbeat.”

  Dan shrugged. “Good point. Maybe that’s how he lost the wallet in the first place.”

  Eva pressed the bell and they waited on the step. A short time later, a vague shadow appeared in the hallway. Georgie opened the door looking both sleepy and emotional, like it had been a very long day, and her tears had only recently dried. She wiped her eyes and looked at them.

  “Not more bad news I hope?” she said.

  “Uh. I don’t think so,” said Dan. “Just a few more questions, that’s all. We’re getting closer, I promise.”

  Closer to what, Eva couldn’t say. Her suspicions were taking her in a direction Georgie really wasn’t going to like. “Is Joe okay?” she said.

  Georgie opened the door wide and let them step inside. She nodded. “Kind of. But he’s really in pieces. Not that his dad ever seems to give a damn. No doubt he’ll probably have booked another of his little shindigs abroad before he asks if Joe is doing okay. At least Carl was good for that. He cared. Even if Joe didn’t like the religious stuff, Carl really cared.”

  “Yes,” said Eva. “It sounds like he was a good man.”

  “You want a drink? Juice, coffee?”

  “Water would be good. It’s still hot out there.”

  The girl led them to the smart kitchen at the rear of the house with its black marble worktop and matching floor. She poured them a glass of water each, and stared out into the back garden, vacant and quiet. As she stared out onto the lawn, the girl spoke again.

  “After you told Joe what happened earlier – after you left – he became really upset and withdrawn. And I mean a ton more than usual. I tried my best to make him feel better, to see that he had a second chance and all that, but he wouldn’t have it. He literally threw up from the shock and grief. I told him to get a doctor but then he shouted at me that I didn’t understand and never would. Like he’s so damned special. Sometimes I wish I didn’t love him like I do. He’s so infuriating.”

  “Yes, relationships can be hard like that,�
�� said Eva. Dan raised a questioning eyebrow.

  “And he kept saying this one thing over and over. That he’d ruined things for everyone. That he’d ruined things for me, for himself, for Carl Renton, and his father too. His father! Can you believe that?! What a joke. As if his father would even notice whatever his son had done.”

  Eva and Dan shared a knowing glance. “Who knows, Georgie? We all have our secrets. Our shames. Things we know we shouldn’t have done. Maybe Joe is talking about those kinds of things.”

  “And sometimes people make really big mistakes,” said Dan.

  Georgie shot Dan a look. Dan shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying, you may not know the full story. It happens.”

  “I think I know enough to trust Joe over his father.”

  “And that’s good,” said Eva. “It’s good that you’re here for Joe, because soon I think he’s going to need you more than ever.”

  Georgie forced a smile. The girl probably thought Eva meant she was needed to help the boy grieve. But that wasn’t what Eva meant at all. “We’ve got to ask you a few more questions. Just to run over a few details. The closer we get to finding the truth, the more we need to be sure.”

  Georgie sniffed and folded her arms. “I’ll tell you whatever I can. I’ll do my best.”

  “I’m sure you will,” said Eva. “That night – last Thursday night. The night of the burglary. Do you know what time you heard that window break?”

  “I didn’t look. But when Joe came back he said it was one am.”

  “When Joe came back?” said Dan, “Back from where?”

  “He’d gone for a pee, remember? He said he was sleeping badly, probably because of his argument with Carl. I knew it was bothering him. He kept getting out of bed that night, but then the glass smashed downstairs and he came rushing in right away. He was in a panic. He said we needed to be quiet because there was someone in the house downstairs. He put the chair against the bedroom door, and then he took out one of his old cricket bats and laid it by the bed. He got back in beside me, put an arm around me and we just lay there waiting, hiding.”

  “So the whole not hearing anything was a total fabrication,” said Dan.

  Eva shot Dan a sideward glance. “And did you hear anything after that?”

  “Not really. Joe was so good. He told me to relax and not to worry. He stroked my head. He was a real hero actually.”

  “But you didn’t hear anything else? No noises downstairs. No one coming upstairs...?”

  “No,” said Georgie. “I guess we didn’t. I stayed awake a while, but I must have fallen asleep in Joe’s arms. Much much later, I heard the front door slam. It was still really early, but there was light outside. I suppose it must have been around five, maybe later. Joe stirred, but I soon went back to sleep. Funny thing was, I noticed that the chair had been pushed away from under the door handle. It was still leaning against the door, but it almost looked like someone had tried to force it open and had given up. I could be wrong. I was a bit panicky the next morning. The chair might have just slipped.”

  “To be crystal clear, you didn’t hear anybody downstairs... and Joe was out of the room when the window got broken... Damn,” said Dan.

  “Why? What’s the matter?” said Georgie. “Joe wasn’t out of the room long. I told you everything that mattered the first time.”

  “It’s okay, Georgie,” said Eva. “That’s why we’re asking again now. We need to get a really clear picture.”

  “You heard the front door slam at five am,” said Dan. “That’s when you noticed the chair behind the bedroom door had been moved?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Did you hear anything or anyone else later that night. Anyone who could have tried the bedroom door?”

  “No. After the panic I slept through.”

  “What about Joe? Did Joe get up again?” said Eva.

  “No. That would have woken me up for sure. He was with me the rest of the night. He made me sleep behind him, closer to the window and the wall. Partly because he wanted to protect me, partly from habit. I always slept there so he could hide me in case his dad came in. His dad never switched on the light, so it always worked. I’m pretty petite compared to Joe.”

  “Then you think Aaron Clancy opened the door?” said Eva.

  “Probably not,” said Georgie. “He must have come home and slammed that front door at five am. He’d been out at his girlfriend’s place all night. Not long after that he must have found his stuff missing because he started ranting and raving about the broken window. That woke me up. It must have woken the whole neighbourhood. He blamed Joe, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Eva.

  The nature of the robbery was becoming clearer, though there were minor creases to be ironed out, such as the chair propping against the bedroom door. Had it slipped? Or had the girl been too afraid to think clearly? As Eva was thinking, a loud thud shook the ceiling, and reverberated through the light fitting. Georgie looked up, her eyes filled with panic.

  “Joe! That’ll be him. He’s not been right at all...” She ran out of the kitchen into the corridor and bounded up the stairs. Eva and Dan followed closely behind. “Joe!” called Georgie. But there was no answer. She ran into his room slamming the door wide open. They found Joe sprawled in the middle of the floor, one arm folded awkwardly beneath his body, one arm splayed at his side. Eva saw the piles of neat new packets of clothing stacked around his room, some knocked over in his fall. The young man’s eyes were closed, his lids flickering as if in dream sleep. Eva’s eyes darted around the room and found a small creased piece of manila paper on the boy’s bed, and a bottle of Isotonic sports drink spilt beside him, its dark stain spreading across the carpet. Eva pointed at the torn scrap of brown paper and Dan nodded. Eva moved to the boy’s side and checked his pulse, pressing her fingers to his neck. His pulse was racing way too fast and he was hot to the touch and sweating profusely. Dan looked down at the shred of paper on the bed. He saw a couple of crumbs of white tablet matter left in the creases.

  “He’s taken whatever he had left. We need to get an ambulance here right away.”

  “What?” said the girl, looking up at Dan. “Taken what? What do you mean?”

  “Just call an ambulance now,” said Eva. “Tell them it’s a suspected drug overdose.”

  The girl mouthed the words as she stood up. She ran out of the room and headed for Clancy Senior’s study to use the phone.

  “If he’s taken all of those at once, then he’s taken the same amount that killed Norman Peters,” said Dan.

  Eva knelt down beside the young man and slid a hand beneath his head.

  “What have you done, Joe?” said Eva. “What did you do?”

  .

  ***

  In the bright white of the frenetic A&E department, white-coated doctors and blue-gowned nurses rushed around looking as focused as Olympic athletes; only here the stakes were greater, and the results of failure much more immediate. Eva, Dan and Georgie stood beside a trolley-bed in the temporary cubicle where Joe Clancy was stationed. There was a monitor attached to him, giving a reading of a fast but stable pulse with an elevated blood pressure. Life and death was happening all around them, but thankfully they were no more than onlookers, even Joe. His stomach had been pumped. He was on a drip to clean out his body and replace lost fluids, and other medication had been provided to stabilise him. His face was grey, much worse than they had ever seen him. His open eyes were dark circled and his lips were pale. But he was alive, and he was awake. Tears still streamed down Georgie’s face. Eva was pleased he’d survived but incensed too. Joe Clancy had put Georgie through hell in more ways than any girl deserved. Still she looked at him with earnest, loving, but hard eyes. Even in weakness, Joe Clancy seemed to sense her accusation. He held the girl’s hand as she wept.

  “How could you?” she whispered. “How could you do that to me?”

  “Sorry,” he said. His throat sounded sore and weak from t
he vomiting and the stomach pump.

  “Never again,” said Georgie. She looked at him, squeezed his hand, and made him swear it.

  “Never again,” he promised.

  “I was so, so stupid,” said Georgie. “I never knew you were taking that horrible stuff. But of course you were. It’s the only thing that makes sense of it all.”

  Joe turned his head towards Eva and Dan.

  “He’s not here is he?” said Joe, his voice frail and croaky.

  “Not yet,” said Eva.

  The boy nodded his head. “When can I go home? I’m not dying. I shouldn’t be in this bed. Not with so many other people who might need it...”

  “They’ll want to keep you in,” said Eva. “To make sure everything is okay.”

  The kid shook his head. “I don’t deserve to be looked after. I’m eighteen years old. If I want to I can discharge myself, right?”

  “Joe,” said Eva, with a voice of warning.

  “Soon as I can, I’m going home. No matter what they say.”

  Eva grimaced. She looked away to the huddle of doctors working on a patient in a cubicle nearby. One of the nurses saw her looking and they swept the blue curtains shut around them.

  “You know when it started, don’t you?” he said. Joe looked at Georgie as he spoke.

  She nodded. “With the clothes,” she said. “You did all that to hide it from me. You were taking those Ubers all that time?”

  Clancy nodded again. “I kept buying the clothes for appearances sake. I needed a reason for him to keep coming around. I knew you thought I was hoarding the clothes. But I had to let you think what you liked, just so I could get what I needed. Ubers. I tried normal ecstasy once. They were fun. But they’re nothing like Ubers. The rush is so nice, you just want more. And if you break them up like I do, you can get little rushes all the way through the day without anyone even knowing you’re on them.”

  “People noticed, Joe. People noticed you were looking ill,” said Dan. “Everyone knew something was up with you.”

  “Maybe. They do wreck your appetite. And your sleep. That’s when you start looking rough.”