Thorn In My Side (23 page)

'You mean that
you believe?' Smiler asked in amazement.

'Why wouldn’t
I? I’ve lived long enough to see many a strange thing with no
logical explanation. And you aren’t the only one who sees things,
Smiler. Rest assured, son, you aren’t alone… I used to know someone
who swore she saw the Virgin Mary on a regular basis.'

'Did you?'
Smiler leaned forward eagerly.

'Yeah. She
ended up in the nuthouse, though.'

Smiler’s face
fell. Aunt May reached out and patted his hand. 'Just kidding, son.
Actually, to tell you the truth I don’t bloody well know what
actually happened to Edna Byers. I think she married and moved
away... Anyhow, always keep an open mind, that’s what I say, and
that’s what I kept telling my boys. Bet Mike doesn’t believe,
though.'

Smiler shook
his head ruefully.

'Don’t worry,
it’s his policeman’s mind. He likes cold hard facts. So tell me,
what have you seen?'

Smiler sighed,
and did his best to explain. At first he found it hard, and
stumbled awkwardly trying to find the right words. But gradually
some of his life story began to emerge.

Cassie walked
along the street towards the school. The bus had dropped her off
earlier, but she’d backtracked to look in the shops. She’d caught
the earlier bus to do just that, leaving Jayne to get the regular
one. It was her mother’s birthday in two days time, and everyone
seemed to have forgotten. Even Mum.

She smiled,
thinking of her mum. It had been exciting watching her go up in a
helicopter this morning, and, knowing that she was nervous of
flying, Cassie had been proud of her.

She looked at
her reflection in a jewellery shop window. Everyone said she looked
just like Dad, and Jayne looked like Mum.
That's
true,
she supposed.
I’ve got Dad’s dark hair and eyes
while Jayne has Mum's red hair. Well, she had Mum's hair yesterday
morning before she dyed it. Which really was a pretty stupid thing
to do,
Jayne’s hair is gorgeous. I always wish mine was that
colour, instead of black.

She spotted a
pretty red flower brooch surrounded by sparkling stones, and looked
closer. She gasped when she saw the price. 'One hundred and
fifty-five quid?' she muttered. 'No chance.'

She sighed,
knowing her Mum would love it.
Will Uncle Billy
be able
to lend me the money?

She doubted it.
Uncle Billy was kind, but he she knew he didn’t have that sort of
money to spare.
Anyhow
,
I’ve got no way to pay it
back, and Dad certainly won’t cough that much up, not if he
thinks it's for Mum.
Moving on, deep in thought, oblivious to
the traffic around her, she didn’t see the car coming her way do a
swift turn and pull up slightly in front of her.

She recognised
the voice though, a moment later, when she heard, 'Come on, kid,
jump in.'

Cassie leaned
forward, as Maria opened the door and poked her head out. 'Did you
hear me? You’re gonna be late. Might as well grab a lift to the
school gates when it’s offered. Come on, kid -- don’t just stand
there, get in.'

Cassie
hesitated. She glanced at her watch, and got a shock. Two minutes
to go!
Must have been daydreaming.

Still she
hesitated. She knew enough not to get in a stranger’s car, but
Maria wasn’t really a stranger -- she was Jayne’s best friend.
Even if I don’t really like her, I know who she is.

'You coming, or
what?' Maria urged.

Making her mind
up, Cassie moved towards the car. The school was only along the
road, but the car would be quicker. And she hated being late.
Everyone stares at you as if you’re some sort of freak
.
'Thank you,' she said as she got in.

Mike took
Jill’s coat and hung it in the closet before they entered the
morgue.

'Thanks,' she
muttered, walking over to the body, which was laid out with a white
sheet covering it.

Mike stood
close as she slowly folded the sheet away. The body was lying face
down. His back, from his neck to his heels, was in the same
condition as the previous one. Both Mike and Jill shook their heads
at the sheer depravity of it all.

'Help me turn
him over.' Jill handed Mike a pair of gloves. Silently he moved
round to the other side, slipping the gloves on as he went.

As they were
about to turn him, Kristina walked in. 'Jesus, not again,' she
gasped. 'All I was told was to get myself over here, there was a
body that might need fingerprinting – not that the poor sod was
like this. Oh, dear God… It’s so much worse in the flesh.' She
grimaced as Jill and Mike looked at her. 'You know what I
mean.'

'Afraid so,'
Mike said, as he and Jill carefully turned the body. Mike winced,
thinking the same as he had when he’d first seen Alicia.
No
way
could anyone be comfortable lying on that horrendous
mess
. It was one of those ludicrous thoughts that were
impossible to shake off.

For a few
moments, all three of them stared at the dead young man. Finally,
Kristina said, 'Anyone know who he is?'

'Never seen him
around before,' Mike replied, as Jill shook her head. 'Er, he
hasn’t got hemathidrosis, has he?'

'No,' Jill
replied, still staring down at the body.

'OK. Guess I’d
better fingerprint him, then.' Kristina took her kit out of her bag
and got on with the job, while Mike and Jill stepped back to give
her room.

'Ohh,' Kristina
said a moment later, quickly dropping the man’s hand.

'Rat bites,'
Jill said.

'Jesus…
There’ll be no fingerprints off that hand, then.' Pulling a
disgusted face, Kristina walked round to the other side.

'Where’s the
piece of paper that was found in his hand?' Mike asked.

'In the
office,' Kristina replied. 'Though it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
A few wiggly lines and circles.'

Mike frowned.
'Haven’t got a clue.'

Twenty minutes
later, Kristina waited until a large truck passed before pulling
out onto the main road. Mike was in the passenger seat, staring at
pictures of the dead man.

This close, he
could smell Kristina’s perfume. It was different from the one Jill
wore, more flowery. He knew the name of this one. He’d bought it
for her a few times. For a moment, it took him back four years to
another hot sultry summer. Then he wondered why she never mentioned
her husband.

A moment later,
a loud bang on the windscreen, and Kristina’s sudden harsh braking,
caused his seat belt to nearly throttle him. 'What the..?' he
yelped, looking around him.

'A kamikaze
pheasant!' Kristina breathed deeply.

'That’ll do it
every time.' Mike looked over the car bonnet. There were a few wing
feathers captured in the window wipers, but no sign of anything
else. 'Looks like you’ve been lucky,' he observed, easing the seat
belt away from his shoulder.

'Yeah, well, he
hasn’t,' Kristina said, staring at the dead bird through her rear
view mirror. 'Bloody damn good job there was no one behind me.'

'Poor
thing.'

'It was him or
us,' Kristina said frostily, giving Mike a scathing glance.

'Yeah, OK.'
Mike nodded his agreement as Kristina set off again. She was right,
no argument there, but he still felt sorry for the poor bird. He
was looking at it out of the side mirror and didn’t see Kristina
smile and shake her head.

A few minutes
later they reached the station. Kristina got quickly out of the
car, slamming the door behind her, and with Mike’s help, gave the
bonnet a thorough examination.

Mike was
pleased they didn’t find any damage. He knew, if even one of the
avian kind had marked her beloved car, Kristina was quite capable
of conducting a personal vendetta against anything with
feathers.

He followed her
into the station where they were met by chaos.

Mike recognised
Shelly’s brothers. The shorter one,
Gary,
he thought, looked
about ready to strangle the desk sergeant. Glancing up, the
sergeant heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted Mike. 'See, here
he is,' he said, pointing at Mike. 'Told you.' Transferring his
gaze to Mike, the sergeant added, 'He didn’t believe me when I said
you weren’t in.'

Gary spun
round. 'You, at last! What the hell’s going on here? My sister is
still missing and so is that fucking prick of a boyfriend of hers.
And you lot are doing sweet fuck-all about it.'

'If you would
like to come through,' Kristina said placatingly, putting herself
between Mike and Gary as she led the way through the double
doors.

When they were
seated in the interview room, Kristina said, 'I would like to
assure you that we are doing everything we can to locate your
sister.'

'Yeah, well, it
ain’t fucking well enough,' Gary interrupted.

'Excuse me,'
Mike snapped. 'I’m the complaints department round here. Raise your
voice once more, or use any more fucking foul language, and I’ll
toss you out on your ear. And that ain’t a threat.' Mike had spoken
quietly, but the menace in his voice was very clear.

Looking at
Mike, Gary saw a man whose build was nearly equal to his own.
Although he knew the man in front of him was a good few inches
taller, it was the way he was staring at him that made Gary back
off. There was no fear in those dark eyes, just a blank statement.
Don’t mess with me.

'OK,' he said
after a moment. 'I apologise. I may be overreacting, but can’t you
see we’re worried sick about her? She happens to be a diabetic, and
time is important. She could be anywhere, needing help. That prick
of a boyfriend of hers told us last night that he hadn’t even
reported her properly as missing, and now he goes AWOL.'

'Danny’s
missing now?' Mike frowned. 'Since when?'

'Well, his mate
Evan, poor sod, says he’s never seen him since last night, and his
f… his car’s gone as well. Evan’s car, not Danny’s. Didn’t think he
had enough common sense to drive.'

'How well do
you know your sister?' Mike asked.

Gary frowned.
'What sort of question’s that?'

'A simple
enough one.'

'I…' He
gestured towards his brother Liam. 'Me and my brothers, we brought
her up after our parents died. She was only five years old. I think
I know her pretty well.'

'Would she get
involved with anything shady?'

'No.' The
answer was sharp, indignant even. Gary glared at Mike.

'OK.' Mike
stood up. 'If you’ve nothing further to tell us, leave your mobile
number at the desk and I’ll get back to you as soon as we hear
anything.'

'Is that it,
then?' Gary frowned.

Kristina threw
him a warning glance. Reluctantly Gary stood up, pushing his chair
out as he did so. It made an irritating scraping sound. Liam did
likewise. Mike winced. At the door, Gary turned to face him.

Before he could
say anything, Mike said, 'Trust me. Your sister will be top
priority.'

For a moment
their eyes locked. Then Gary nodded, trusting his instincts that
this man would do his best to find Shelly, pleased that something
was at last going to be done. Leaving the door to Liam, he turned
and walked away. Liam gave them both a brief smile, then headed
after his brother.

Simmonds'
knuckles turned white as he squeezed the phone. 'I want you up
there by tomorrow at the latest. I need someone on hand to make
sure the job is done properly. Those fucking morons will go in
half-cocked and kill the wrong man. The smooth bastard can easily
persuade one of his followers to take his place. I know how he
works… What?'

Simmonds
frowned as he waved a young, beautiful, scantily-clad black girl
out of the room. His frown deepened. She seemed to hover a lot,
this one. Better keep an eye on her. Plus she wasn’t that good a
pet, she still had a spark in her, although he had to admit it did
make things interesting now and then.

'What?’ he
asked again, his concentration having wavered for a moment.

After listening
for a few minutes, he snapped, 'You’re frightened you’ll blow your
cover? Who gives a shit! Get in there, and kill the fucking lot of
them if you have to, then get back out. Simple. OK… Early train.
Got it?'

He put the
phone down without waiting for an answer. Rising, he walked over to
the window. From this high he could see most of London – or rather
his part, the money part, the part that mattered. All else was
superficial.

Power and
money, that’s all that counts, it’s all that ever counts. And those
peasant ants running around down there exist only to serve.

But Simmonds
was worried, even if he wouldn’t fully admit it to himself. For the
first time in his life, as he surveyed his kingdom, he felt a
twinge of fear – fear that the madman in Northumberland could bring
everything they had built over the centuries crashing down around
them.

Brother David
lifted the young man’s head up and gently fed him water,
admonishing him to take only a sip at a time. When he’d judged the
man had drunk enough, he laid his head back down on the pillow.

The man’s eyes
flickered open. 'Thank you,' he said quietly. 'Where am I?'

'The
monastery.'

'Safe?' His
eyes begged Brother David to say yes.

'Sorry. None of
us are safe here. Our lives are held in the grip of a madman… What
is your name?'

'Danny. My… my
girlfriend, Shelly… Is she all right?'

Brother David
frowned. 'She is with the man who calls himself The Leader.'

Danny struggled
to sit up, helped by brother David who put cushions behind him. 'I
fucking hope not, I’ve heard enough of that bastard… Sorry, Father.
How the he… how was this allowed to happen, what’s the coppers
doing?' Danny shook his head and regretted every movement, as pain
shot like a buzz-saw along his scalp. He didn’t know what hurt the
most, his head or his ribs.