Bone and Cane (27 page)

Nick phoned the hospital. Caroline had already been sent home. In Sherwood, his brother answered the phone.

‘It’s mad here,’ he said. ‘When are you coming round?’

‘Tomorrow, I guess. I’m with somebody.’

‘You pulled last night? Lucky bugger.’

‘Did you straighten things out with Caroline?’

‘In a manner of speaking. I’ve had to agree to let Nas go. Turns out she’s known about it for months.’

‘She doesn’t miss much, Caroline.’

‘Baby’s crying. Come to lunch tomorrow. Gotta run.’

Perhaps fatherhood would make a new man of Joe, though Nick doubted it. While Sarah made more calls, Nick prepared her dinner: cold chicken with potato salad, vine tomatoes and crusty French bread, washed down with Sauvignon Blanc. They ate with gusto.

‘What am I going to do with you?’ Sarah asked, as she finished her meal and poured each of them a third glass of wine. ‘I can’t be seen with you here. Everybody knows you’re fresh out of prison.’

‘Take me to London with you,’ Nick suggested.

‘And find you a job, with a serious criminal record? Not easy.’

‘I could be a house-husband,’ Nick said, not entirely joking, ‘taking care of your every need.’

‘I’ve got a tiny one-bedroom flat in London. There’s barely room for one, never mind two. And you’re hardly the house-husband type. Even if you were, we can’t go leaping into that kind of a relationship.’

‘I could,’ Nick said.

‘You’ve got less to lose than I have,’ Sarah said, softly, apologetically.

‘I’ve got nothing to lose,’ Nick told her.

‘Except your freedom. Again.’

‘Oh. That.’

33

S
omehow it got to be midnight on the second of May and Nick was still there. Sarah knew he expected to spend the night with her, as he had the one before. When the phone calls finally fizzled out, and the TV coverage finished, Sarah found herself exhausted. The campaign had caught up with her. She would prefer to sleep alone, but couldn’t throw Nick out. He’d think it was a rejection. Easier to make love to him.

Yet they couldn’t stay together. The papers would have a field day –
RISING BACKBENCHER DATES CONVICTED DRUG DEALER
. For Sarah to be with Nick, she’d have to steer clear of law and order issues, or the media would attribute her liberal leanings on penal policy to her relationship rather than her principles. Nick must realize this.

As she stared at the weather forecast, he got out his brother’s tobacco pouch.

‘A smoke to help you sleep?’ he offered.

‘I don’t think I’ll need much help. But don’t let me stop you.’

He put it away. ‘Do you want me to go?’ he asked, tenderly.

‘No. Yes. I don’t know.’

‘Glad I’ve got such a decisive MP.’ Nick stood up. ‘I’d best leave.’

Sarah reached over and squeezed his hand. ‘It’s just that I don’t know whether I should sleep with you.’

‘Has something changed since last night?’

‘I’m sober. I won an election I wasn’t expecting to win. I know I said I could see you if I won, but I was fooling myself.’

‘I could be your back-door man,’ Nick argued, trying to inject some humour into his voice. ‘Your secret bit of stuff in the constituency. In time, I’ll become more respectable. I’m not quite sure how, but I will.’

‘I’m sure you will,’ Sarah said. ‘But that doesn’t change now. The tabloids would tear me apart.’

‘I shouldn’t be here,’ Nick said. ‘I’ll go home.’

‘Not like this.’

‘There are no journalists camped outside.’

‘We can’t leave it like this,’ Sarah said. ‘And there’s still something we both want to work out.’

‘Is there? I’m nearly past caring who killed Terry and Liv Shanks.’

‘Can we talk it through one more time?’ she asked.

‘Okay,’ Nick told her. ‘Maybe I will have that joint after all. Weed helps me think.’

Maybe a joint would help her think, too. They smoked on the balcony of her flat, overlooking the gardens of the Park and, beyond, the outskirts of the city: County Hall, Colwick Park, the football grounds.

‘Suppose,’ Sarah said, ‘Polly was playing an elaborate bluff. She was with Ed all along and only came protesting to me because she felt it would look bad if she didn’t?’

‘If she was with Ed all along, why did she start seeing me?’ Nick asked.

‘Because you’re irresistible,’ Sarah said, stroking his face. ‘What bothers me is why you started seeing her.’

‘An attractive woman was offering commitment-free sex,’ Nick said, adding, ‘at the time, she was the best I could do.’

‘I find that hard to believe. What’s she like in bed?’ Sarah asked.

‘You what?’ Nick said. ‘You must be stoned, to ask me that.’

He was right. This stuff was much stronger than the hash they used to smoke together. Nick answered regardless.

‘We didn’t do it much in bed. Carpet, sofa, standing up, leant over the cooker, you name it. She likes to be treated rough. She scratches, and hits, and kisses like a vacuum cleaner. It never lasts long.’

He paused, as though realizing that he was using the present tense.

Nick’s description of the relationship was the same as the one Polly had given her, albeit with changed nuance. Polly might be over Nick, but he still had some feelings for her. He was even jealous of Ed. Sarah stubbed the joint out on the terrace railing then threw the roach onto the soil below. Smoking dope had always made her randy, never more so than tonight. The stuff made her brain rush too.

‘I can’t believe Polly was acting when she protested about Ed, when she started seeing you. Something happened to change her mind. Ed must have given Polly a really compelling reason to stop seeing you and take up with him again. She wouldn’t explain it to me, beyond saying that Ed had told her who really killed Terry and it wasn’t him.’

‘I thought that everybody else who had a motive for revenge was inside at the time?’

‘Contract killing?’ Sarah suggested.

‘If so, why wait until Ed was released?’

‘Maybe . . .?’ Sarah was on the verge of grasping something, then a wave of tiredness overcame her. ‘I think I’d better go to bed.’

‘You look exhausted,’ Nick said. ‘I’ll go. Can I see you tomorrow?’

‘Yes, please.’

He kissed her on the cheek, then left, like the gentleman he had always been.

34

T
here was a message on Nick’s answering machine. His probation officer. He’d missed a meeting. Tough. Sarah hadn’t said anything about having plans for Saturday evening. Nick decided to cook. Maybe they could rent a video. There were tons of films from the last five years that he hadn’t seen and he’d bet an MP didn’t get to the movies often. He and Sarah used to go to the cinema each week. They’d spend ages discussing the latest Lynch or Altman in the pub afterwards. There was a place that rented videos just off the top end of the Park, on Derby Road, a shop that used to be an off-license. He and Sarah used it often when they were students.

First, food. In the old days, he’d have checked a recipe, but most of his cookery books had been given away when he was sent down. There was a limit on how much stuff you could ask your brother to look after for you. Nick decided to take the simplest option. He bought two sirloin steaks, an onion, mushrooms and baking potatoes.

He rang her a couple of times before setting off. Engaged. He decided to risk Sarah having made other plans and go straight round. If Sarah wanted to go out tonight, the ingredients would keep until tomorrow. She didn’t have to be in London until Monday at the earliest. Maybe by then he would have persuaded her to give their relationship another chance, on whatever basis she chose.

He stopped at the video shop on the way over, but they wouldn’t let him join because he didn’t have the requisite credit card or multiple proofs of address to establish his identity. If he’d given an address in the Park, rather than scruffy Alfreton Road, they’d most likely have treated him differently. Never mind. Sarah probably belonged. They could go later, if she fancied it.

It was ten past six when he got to her flat, a bottle of wine in each hand. The car was still outside, so she hadn’t gone anywhere. When he rang the bell, however, she took a while to answer. The door opened on the chain. Sarah was dressed smartly, fully made up, about to go out.

‘I thought I’d cook you dinner,’ he said, giving her his broadest smile. ‘But if you’ve got other plans . . .’

‘Nick, you should have phoned first. I have to go out this evening, a celebration meal with the constituency officers.’

‘Maybe I can leave this stuff here and we can have it to morrow.’

‘Sounds good.’

She took the chain off and he stepped into the hall. He reminded her where his flat was.

‘If you want to call by on your way back, I’ll be in. Or if you need company. It’s not far.’

He saw from the look on her face that he was being overeager.

‘I could do with a little space, Nick. It’s been a huge few days.’

‘No bother.’ He turned to go, not even pushing his luck for a kiss.

‘Wait.’

For a moment, he thought she’d changed her mind.

‘There’s something I need your help with. Do you think you could find out what shift Ed Clark’s working on Monday?’

‘Sure,’ Nick said. ‘No problem. But how does it fit with what we discussed last night?’

‘I’ll tell you later,’ Sarah promised, then gave him a kiss, followed by a small hug. ‘I’m not pushing you away, Nick. I need a little space, time to take things in.’

‘I understand.’ He returned to his flat, disappointed but not dejected. In her situation, he’d need space, too. And, since he wasn’t seeing her tonight, he could get a few cans, smoke some weed, get wasted and watch TV. Not too wasted. He had to do two hours’ teaching before he cooked Sarah her dinner tomorrow. Why did Sarah want to know Ed’s schedule? Nick rang the Cane Cars switchboard and got Nas, which meant that Joe hadn’t sacked her yet.

‘Ed’s on tomorrow from two till eight, then he’s on holiday for three weeks. His compensation came through. Why you wanna know?’

‘A friend of mine needs to see him,’ Nick said. ‘But do me a favour, don’t tell him I asked.’

‘I don’t talk to that baldy-head fascist unless I have to,’ Nas said. ‘I’m sorry you don’t work here any more, Nick. I won’t be around much longer myself. Let’s have a drink soon, yeah?’

‘Yeah.’ Nick’s reply sounded unconvincing, even to himself, so he added, ‘That’d be nice.’

‘You know where to find me.’

Nick hung up. Nas was about to be sacked. She would be vulnerable and she was into him. He liked her too, but wasn’t going to see another of his brother’s cast-offs, not even if Sarah blew him out. Nick reminded himself that he might be reading too much into the offer of a drink. After so many years without female company, he saw sexual nuance in everything. If Sarah could read his mind, she’d run a mile.

He went out onto the fire escape and listened to the city: cars, conversation, wailing sirens and snatches of song. The endless clatter of everyday life blended into an exhilarating hum. When he was sure nobody was looking, Nick removed a brick from the wall, pulled out the tin containing his stash, and went back inside to skin up.

35

S
arah phoned Andrew Saint mid-afternoon on Sunday. He answered his mobile on the third ring.

‘Sarah! Well done.’

‘Thanks for the flowers. I appreciated them.’

‘Called to invite me to dinner?’

‘Afraid not. I’m still in Nottingham. But we’ll meet up soon, I promise. In the meantime, I have a favour to ask you.’

‘Anything.’

She had deliberated all day over whether to do this. ‘It’s for a mutual friend.’

‘Intriguing. What mutual friend would this be?’

‘Nick Cane. I . . . happened to run into him this week and we’ve been catching up. I don’t know if you’re aware, but he’s had some serious bother.’

‘I was aware,’ Andrew said, in a different, more formal voice. ‘But I didn’t want you getting drawn into it. You and Nick are ancient history.’

‘Maybe so, but I still care about him. And he used to be your best friend.’

‘What’s the favour?’ Andrew asked, tersely.

‘He needs to get out of Nottingham, make a fresh start. London, ideally. I wondered if you could find him some sort of job.’

There was a long pause. ‘Did he tell you he’d been to see me?’

‘No. We haven’t discussed you . . . there’s not been time.’

‘He came to see me almost as soon as he got out, hit me up for a few grand. So I feel like I’ve discharged my obligations to him. In my business, Sarah, clients have to depend on your integrity. Nick’s blown his. There are a lot of police checks. I’m not sure I could have him on my books. This is probably making you think badly of me and I’m sorry, but I have to be straight with you.’

‘That’s all right. Like I said, Nick doesn’t know I’m calling you. Let’s pretend this conversation never took place.’

‘Agreed. I’d keep your distance from Nick if I were you. He got involved in some heavy stuff. Remember, you can’t change your family, but you can change your friends. You’re not bound together unless you choose to be.’

‘That’s good advice, Andrew, thanks. I’ll see you soon.’

Sarah hung up. She shouldn’t have called Andrew without first asking Nick how things stood between the two of them. It didn’t sound like Nick, pressuring his old friend for money. But people changed. Prison must change people. Parliament had changed her. Sarah had become more ruthless and, according to Dan when they split, she had steadily become less playful, less take-people-as-they-are. She wanted to be relaxed, but a necessary uptightness went with the life. Last night, despite the exhilaration from the victory, none of the constituency officers really let go, even after a few drinks. They wanted to gossip, and made sure they remained sober enough to remember what was said the next morning.

Afterwards, it would have been wonderful to have a lover to come home to. She had walked back from town, looked up at what she presumed was Nick’s flat and nearly rung the doorbell. But that would have been so, so weak. Instead, unwilling to walk through the Park’s badly lit streets so late, she had hailed a cab for the three-minute ride home. Having talked to Andrew, Sarah was relieved she hadn’t succumbed to temptation. It was only just beginning to sink in. She was still an MP. For the last few weeks, she’d had the wobbles – certain of losing, obsessed with the Ed Clark affair which, when put in perspective, was just one out of hundreds of cases she had on her plate. She couldn’t get them all right, no matter how hard she tried.