Grind Their Bones (9 page)

She scowled and kicked the door back shut in my face. Count yourself damn lucky that I'm otherwise engaged, missy, or I'd have you in the cells tonight for that.

I took a deep breath and moved on to the other two with no luck on either, then gave it up as a bad job and decided to head back out towards the door staff I'd seen lurking in the lobby.

As a general rule I try to avoid prejudging the diverse range of people that I meet, having long since learned that they have a tendency to spring all manner of surprises on you when you're least expecting it. However, as I approached the group of bouncers for help, all of whom had no necks and shoulders that appeared to sprout from out of their ears, watching them nudge each other and snigger, I doubted somehow that they were discussing the finer points of neuroscience and astrophysics, and my guard shot straight up.

'Hi, my sister Emily was in here with me and now she seems to have disappeared from view, I was wondering…'

Before I could finish what I was saying the head doorman cut in.

'She probably went home, or to somebody else's home, but I could always keep you company now if you're left all alone?'

He leaned his arm across behind me in a move that could be interpreted as either protective or as preventing my retreat, and my inbuilt moron detector virtually exploded.

I pulled out my warrant card and thrust it up into his face, holding it there for long enough for him to register that I was no mere beat bobby, and catching him wilt slightly as he took his arm back out of my way.

'That's better. as I was saying, she looks like me, but brunette with shoulder length straight hair and wearing a tight red dress. I'm sure you'd have noticed her, since you'd have had to retrieve your piggy little eyes from her cleavage when she passed.'

I smiled sweetly and without sincerity, watching him exchange a worried look with two of the other gorillas.

'What?'

I asked impatiently, waiting to be let in on what they knew.

'She headed into the gents about five minutes ago with a group of guys.'

His expression burned with dawning realisation at the whole world of shit he was about to land in, and he suddenly found it hard to meet my stare.

'Just so we're clear. You watched an obviously drunk woman being led into the male toilets by a group of guys, and you didn't do anything about that? Say goodbye to your licences gentlemen, if that term can be applied to low lives like you.'

His eyes suddenly flicked up and past me, and I tensed as I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, relaxing again when I heard a familiar voice.

'It's okay Zara, I'm fine, I just want to go home now,' said Emily, and then threw up all over my shoes.

Chapter 28

'Just when I was beginning to believe that we were making progress, she went and screwed it all up royally again.'

I was over at Lee's ultra neat rented house mouthing off about Emily and her antics again, noticing how this was rapidly becoming a feature of my life at the moment. Lee was fresh faced and chipper this morning, in stark contrast to my current condition, and his evident enjoyment of that fact was doing nothing to help my mood. I was nursing the kind of hangover that made anything more strenuous than blinking painful, and I was pretty sure that I looked like the bride of Frankenstein right now.

'Not that I necessarily approve of what she did, but it's not exactly a hanging offence in this day and age, and she's hardly the first person to seek a little solace in strangers, is she?'

He took a gulp of coffee and reached for a slice of buttered toast, smiling as my stomach performed a spin cycle and I glared at him belligerently.

'For the record, if you ever find yourself seeking solace in the arms of a stranger then make sure that you really, really enjoy yourself. Because, by the time I'm through with you, it'll be the last time that you're physically able to perform that particular act.'

I could feel the heat of indignation rising up in my face.

'Don't worry, in that department I'm more than happy with my lot.'

He flashed me another boyish grin and took a big bite out of his toast.

'What am I going to do with her, Lee? She's in her early thirties now, a wife and a mother, and she's out behaving like a teenager. I thought she'd been assaulted to begin with, you know? Then when we got outside and she finally started to make sense, it turned out that she'd been quite happy to oblige a group of strange men like some streetwalker, and that it's apparently not the first time she's felt and acted on that particular urge.'

I sighed in frustration and chewed at the ragged corner of a fingernail, pushing my unruly hair back with my spare hand.

'And that's her choice, Za, so don't take responsibility for that on your own shoulders.'

He put down what was left of his toast and moved around the table to hold me, enveloping me in the sweet smelling scent of a new Issey Miyake aftershave that I'd bought for him.

'She'll be just fine in the end, you'll see. She just needs this time to find herself before she'll be ready to be a mum and resume all of the related responsibilities again. All you can do in the meantime is listen when she wants you to and bite your tongue until she asks for your opinion.'

He played with a loop of my hair as he spoke and I almost forgot about my hangover.

‘You’re probably right as usual, but it’s not going to be easy to keep my mouth shut about her recklessness last night.’

I closed my eyes as a heartbeat took up residence in the centre of my forehead, pulsing at double the rate of the steady rhythm in Lee’s chest. I tried to blank out the pain, but it felt absurdly like I was being punished for the fact that I was keeping some details of the previous night back for now. I wanted to mull them over some more before I invited anybody else in.
             

Does he suspect what you’ve been doing? I’d asked, referring to Emily’s husband, David. Good God, no! He’d kill me if he did know…actually murder me. It’s in him somewhere, I’ve seen it in his eyes sometimes. She’d said, and then passed out, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the darkness.

Chapter 29

The girl was absolutely perfect in every possible way. A study in blossoming grace and femininity, with long wavy chestnut coloured hair and bright blue eyes that might have been piercing if it wasn’t for the warmth that radiated from her expression. The Grey Man would have taken her for one of his private dinners a long time ago given the chance, but there was one crucial detail that had made that an impossibility in the past. The girl worked for him, and as such knew who he was and had seen the face that he chose to wear like a mask for the world that existed outside of his fantasies and desires. He had always been careful to ensure that there were no clear links between his real self and his victims. Well, almost always his inner voice corrected. You nearly learned that lesson the hard way very early on in your career, didn’t you?

He watched her through his office window, able to observe her bathed in glorious morning sunlight without her being able to see him in return due to the angle of the blinds, but she glanced up at the glass from time to time anyway, as if a sixth sense had alerted her to his scrutiny, and each time she did she smiled shyly before resuming her work.

He’d already done some research into her life, unable to completely let go of his desire to own her, so he knew that she was single and living with her widowed mother, who was suffering with the onset of dementia or some other similar ghastly ailment. The absence of a boyfriend seemed to be a consequence of her duties in caring for mum, giving her very few opportunities to mix with her work colleagues or friends outside of the office. That kind of isolation tipped the balance back in favour of dinner slightly.

He gave up on work and shut down his laptop, running his gaze back over her for the twentieth time, drinking in the details of her curves and noticing how there was only one other worker in the large open-plan space with her at the moment. Eventually, his frustrated scrutiny gave way to his desire, and he decided to see whether the scenario in his mind might play out after all. It wasn’t like the police were getting close to catching him yet anyway.

She looked up from her desk as the door to his room clicked open and he emerged, and she smiled demurely with the ghost of a blush drifting up into her cheeks as he made pointed eye contact with her. He knew that even though he was old enough to be the girl’s grandfather, she was attracted to him on some level, and why not? He remained in impeccable physical condition, having retained good habits from his time served in the navy all those years ago, and he was very affluent. The years had been kind to him, making him look more distinguished than weathered, and he had excellent manners and a good natured welcome for each and every one of his employees when their paths crossed. In his line of work it paid to be an exceptional actor, and he was one of the best, living out the vast majority of his time playing this role, with only the one or two people closest to him having ever glimpsed one of his other faces.

‘Good morning Elizabeth, in bright and early as usual I see.’

He smiled broadly showing off neat white teeth and slid casually into the seat next to her own, lowering his voice even though the only other person present was comfortably out of earshot at the far side of the room.

‘Your diligence and dedication have not gone unnoticed, and neither have your wealth of other assets, and I’d like to discuss a unique proposition with you tonight, if that’s okay? The only condition is that if you accept, then you must promise to exercise complete discretion, and tell absolutely nobody else about it for now.’

He placed subtle emphasis on the words ‘assets’, ‘proposition’ and ‘discretion’ as he spoke, testing the water and allowing for possible naivety. If it all backfired then she would simply assume that he was fishing for some extra-marital entertainment and turn him down flat, and then he’d walk away and choose another companion instead.

‘I’d very much like to hear your suggestions,’ she replied instead, and rested her slim hand on the top of his thigh underneath the desk, maintaining steady eye contact and smiling considerably less shyly now, just for him.

Chapter 30

I'd not really planned it, but when I finally left Lee's place I wasn't yet in the mood to tackle Emily back at home and I soon found myself walking along Hallie's road. As her neat red brick house came into view I saw Mike and one of the boys out on the drive washing the car, Mike accidentally-on-purpose spraying the bare-chested boy with the hosepipe and then ducking out of the way as a sponge was thrown in retaliation. The scene was pleasant and peaceful, so utterly removed from my world at the moment that I briefly entertained the thought of turning back around, but then Mike looked up and spotted me, waving me over with a loud and cheery 'good morning.'

'Hallie's just headed to the shops for milk, but she'll be back pretty soon so you've only got a couple of minutes to try to seduce me if you find yourself overcome by desire at the sight of my manly torso!'

He hugged me tightly, grinning, and then let go to ruffle his son's wavy brown hair, sending him on his way to put the kettle on.

'Cute as you are, I'll try to restrain myself this time for Hallie's sake.'

I replied, starting to feel slightly more like a human being again after my late morning walk.

'Come on, let’s go inside and I'll sort out coffee; I would suggest something stronger, but I think you already beat me to that one.'

He turned and led the way indoors and I realised I was grateful for the chance to get back in out of the sun, since it was beginning to feel like intense dehydration looming large again.

'Guilty as charged, Mike. Don't suppose I could get a vat of water to go with that coffee too, please?'

I grimaced sheepishly and he nodded as he disappeared from view to organise the drinks, whistling loudly and tunelessly and clanking cups together as he did so.

No sooner had he walked out then Hallie arrived back looking effortlessly immaculate in a cream coloured maxi dress and a sparkly headband that matched her painted finger and toenails. I found myself contemplating how you can easily go off a person.

'Woah there! No offence Webby, but you look like you went swimming in a barrel of gin last night! What's up?'

She handed milk to Mike when he emerged briefly at the sound of her voice and he kissed her gently as he took it from her, and then leaned over to pass me a large glass of water.

'Thank you. I owe it all to a heavy and eventful night laden down with sister trouble.'

She shared a look of sympathy and took a seat opposite me.

'Want to talk about it hun?'

'Maybe later. I actually wanted to run some ideas about the murder investigation past you while I sober up away from Emily. Sorry, I know it's not exactly the most pleasant choice of conversational matter for a social call that you'll get this week, but I don't want to go back there yet and my minds running in circles as ever. I've already been over to Lee's this morning, and he's so disgustingly fresh and cheerful that I might just have killed him if I'd stayed in his company for another minute.'