Human Frailty, a Detective Mike Bridger novel (17 page)

"I'm not sure it would be my cup of tea
Jonas as I see the real thing often enough, but thanks for the
offer".

"Anything I can help you with Sergeant just
call me, we all want to see Marion back safe and sound".

Back in the car, Bridger turned to Jo,
"What did you think of Jonas then?
”

"He is a bit pretentious for me, but then
I've never been the academic type, the deepest I ever think is what
to wear in the morning, then this job took that choice away as
well. There's only so many ways to wear blue trousers and a stab
vest".

"Well for the next few weeks at least,
you will have to think a bit harder about what to wear in the
morning
”,
Bridger said smiling.

Jo looked down at her jeans and tee shirt,
"I was sort of caught out this morning Sergeant, I was not
expecting to have to wear civvies. I will wear something more
appropriate tomorrow".

"You look absolutely fine in what you've got
on", Bridger said glancing over at her. This time it was his turn
to go red as she caught his eyes involuntarily straying to the
tightness of her shirt.

Jo did not say anything as Bridger quickly
turned away and fumbled with the keys.

"What exactly does the phrase, 'Going
to hell in a hand-basket', actually mean anyway?
”
Bridger said to deflect his
previous indiscretion.

"I think it's something to do with the
baskets used to catch decapitated heads from the guillotines", Jo
said. "Most of the people decapitated were criminals so were
destined to go to hell, hence the saying".

"Sounds like a reasonable explanation",
Bridger said, wondering why she would know that piece of
information.

"More likely it
’
s just a colorful way of
saying we are all destined for disaster", she added.

"That's Beth over there getting into
that car with Jonas isn't it?
”
Jo said pointing down the street.

Beth looked more than friendly with Jonas as
she rubbed up against his arm while he opened the door for her.

"That's strange", Bridger said, "I would not
have picked them for a couple, especially the way he was talking
about having to make do with her now that Marion's missing. Not to
mention the age gap, it must be at least 15 years".

"Some girls like an older man", Jo said, "It
offers a stability that you don't get with someone younger".

Bridger realised that he did not know
anything about the personal circumstances of his new member of
staff; she may be going out with an older man herself. She could be
a lesbian for all he knew. "Something's a bit off there", Bridger
said more to himself than Jo. Some things just did not sit right
with Bridger and this situation was an example.

Bridger caught Jo looking at her watch,
realizing that he too would like to go home he suggested they call
it a night. Maybe it was time for a serious heart to heart with
Laura. Jonas's little speech was playing on his mind.

They hardly spoke on the drive back to the
police station, Bridger happy to lose himself in his thoughts, Jo
staring out the window.

Dropping Jo off at the front door of the
central police station, he watched her jog up the front steps and
through the doors. He realised with only a little bit of guilt that
he was looking at her backside as she disappeared through the front
doors. Maybe it was the problems he was having at home having a
subconscious effect on his behavior. Bridger thought of his
conversation with Jonas earlier, was he a victim of his
circumstance?

He would have to watch himself, I do not
want to be getting a reputation, he thought.

Bridger couldn't be bothered going through
the hassle of driving around the back and parking the work car in
the basement garage then walking the ten minutes to reach his own
car, so he made an executive decision and decided he would risk
taking it home for the night. If anybody asked, he would just tell
him or her he had a late enquiry to make. He would just have to be
in early the next morning.

He was actually looking forward to seeing
Laura this evening, he knew they were long overdue for a proper
talk about the last week's issues, if he was being honest with
himself, he thought, there was probably more to talk about than
just the last week of their relationship.

With this in mind, he made a stop at the
liquor store just off the Octagon to pick up a nice wine. Paying
more in the smaller shop always gave him the pretence of better
vintage.

Pulling up outside his house Bridger saw his
wife's car in the driveway, a red Mini Cooper that she had always
wanted and had purchased a few years ago after a blazing row over
something long forgotten. She had told him guiltily after she had
brought it home that she had only bought it to prove to herself
that she was still in control of her own life. Lucky she did not
have a penchant for cars with bigger engines, he thought.

Opening the door, he could smell something
cooking, thinking that it was a good sign he went into the lounge.
Laura was on the couch with a glass of wine already in her hands.
There was a huge bouquet of flowers sitting on the table in front
of her. Laura looked up and tucked something into her pocket. It
looked to Bridger like a card, the type sent with flowers.

"They sort of put these to shame",
Bridger said nodding towards the flowers, holding the wine and
cheap chocolates lamely in his hands. "Who are they
from?
”

"The boss", Laura said quickly, "We landed a
big client...; it was sort of a thank you".

Bridger had met her boss, a very severe
looking fifty-year-old woman called Cynthia; somehow, he did not
see her giving flowers to anyone. They looked more like the ones he
would have chosen to send to his wife as an expression of his
feelings. Putting that thought aside he sat down beside her and
patted her knee. "Dinner smells nice", he said.

Laura did not look him in the eye when she
got up saying she had better serve it up before it went to
waste.

Sitting at the table it seemed to Bridger
that Laura was being unusually quiet. He tried to open up the
conversation he knew they had to have. Before he could start, Laura
burst into tears.

"Laura what is it
…
, what's
wrong?
”

Beth was warm in the car beside Jonas,
something was playing quietly on the radio, Jonas was whistling
tunelessly along with the music as he drove through the dark
streets. She could not quite hear what it was, but the tune was
slightly familiar.

One of those annoying pop tunes that always
stick in your head, she thought. Never mind she would not have to
put up with it long, she just wanted to score and go home. Jonas
was always good for that, he could get his hands on whatever she
wanted... usually, all she had to do was flirt a little, touch his
arms when she spoke with him, that sort of thing, putty in her
hands.

He had tried it on once, but she had pushed
him away, playing hard to get. Some things she would not do, still
there was no harm in letting him think he had a chance. She had
even found herself praising him to other people on occasion, what
that was about she had no idea.

"It was good of you to give me a lift home
Jonas, I am always forgetting my jacket, silly really in the middle
of winter, but it was actually quite warm when I came in this
afternoon".

"No need to thank me", Jonas said, with a
sleazy smile on his lips, "I just need to make a stop to get the
stuff you wanted, it's on the way to your place anyway".

Jonas turned into the wharf area surrounded
by large warehouse buildings, Beth could see the Forsyth Barr
stadium all lit up over towards the Marina. She did not think she
had been in this part of town before, at least not at night. It was
quiet and no one else was around. She looked at Jonas, his demeanor
had not changed, was he planning something. Rumors at the
university were that Jonas had his favorite students in every year;
he had more than one if the rumors were correct. Of course there
were rumors of a heavy hand on occasion, Jonas pushing things a
little too far with the wrong person. She had not seen that side of
him, when she rejected his advances he had not taken it any
further. Was this what he did, waited until he could have his own
terms, a place no one would be. A place he could take what he
wanted. She tried not to think about it, what could she do anyway,
she just had to go with it.

Looking about at her surroundings it
was just streets of faceless buildings. She had no idea if they
used the warehouses during the day, as most of them had no signage
on them. It was an eerie feeling being here at night, with Jonas.
She shivered involuntarily as he pulled the car to a stop outside a
large rundown building with orange wooden sliding doors on the
front. What in the hell was this, she thought. "Do you know someone
here?
”
she
queried Jonas.

"No one, it
’
s my building. Wait here I will just
go and get what you wanted".

"Can't I come in with
you?
”
Beth
asked, feeling slightly nervous left outside on her own.

"I don't think that's a good idea", Jonas
said, as he got out of the car and went over to the doors.

Beth watched him unlocking the heavy padlock
on the front. Seeing Jonas disappear inside, she thought of getting
out and making a run for it. All this for a bag of weed, he could
be doing anything in there. She looked at her surroundings but did
not recognize the road where they had parked. Where would she go
anyway? Sighing, she sank back into her seat and fiddled with a
button on her shirt.

Jonas returned a short time later making
Beth jump slightly as he opened the car door and threw the small
bag onto her lap. The familiar smell of her chosen vice permeated
from inside the plastic. "It's the good stuff", Jonas said licking
his lips and staring at her breasts, "Lot's of head".

"You know how I like a lot of head Jonas",
Beth said silkily, playing along with his disgusting dialogue.
Inside she managed to hold back an involuntary gag at the thought
of what Jonas was implying.

"We could share that one", Jonas was saying
as he pulled away from the curb. "Heads always better with a
partner..., you know..., to share the high".

Beth felt the bile rise in her throat.

"I know Marion's not home at the moment", he
added with a perverted smile on his face.

She could almost see the sexual tension
leaching out of every pore in his body.

"Not tonight", was all Beth managed to say,
fighting back the urge to tell him to 'get fucked'. She could be
hard when she needed, and she could not afford to lose what Jonas
provided. Moreover, she was still hoping to take Marion's place in
the play; she had worked bloody hard for that.

She could see the whites of his knuckles as
he gripped the steering wheel tightly, pushing the accelerator
slightly harder than he had to, causing the car to surge forward.
It looked like he was not going to stop at the approaching
intersection.

"Better get you home then, I would not want
to mess up your night", Jonas said tightly, as he jumped on the
brakes at the last moment and swung the car violently around the
corner.

Almost immediately, the darkness lit up with
flashing lights, blue then red. A short burst of a siren pinpointed
where the lights were coming from.

"Bloody police, where in the hell did
they come from?
”
Jonas said. He looked like a nervous schoolboy as he pulled
the car over. "Throw that shit under the seat", he said
urgently.

Beth looked over her shoulder and saw
a blue uniform approaching, hips weighed down by all sorts of scary
looking things. Panicking, she shoved the plastic bag into her bra,
straightening her shirt as the police officer knocked on the
driver
’
s
window. The person was huge; his arms were as big as her thighs,
his blue shirt stretched over his biceps to the point of
ripping.

The whole thing seemed surreal to her,
surrounded by darkness, blue and red flashing lights blinking,
giving glimpses of this officer standing beside the car looking
sternly at Jonas as he remonstrated about his driving. Panic was
making her thoughts clouded, she could not make out much of what
was being said, words like 'Speed' and 'Dangerous' morphing into
words like 'Cannabis' and 'Search'.

The next thing that happened was the
passenger door opened and another police officer beckoned her out
of the car, this time it was a female. Beth had not had much to do
with the police before, apart from the Detectives earlier that
morning. This police officer was reciting something to her from in
her notebook. Words like Lawyer, Search, and Cannabis. Did she hear
Marion's name in that, bloody hell, what did she have to do with
it.

Beth started to panic even more, reaching
into her bra she pulled out the bag she had stashed there and
handed it to the female police officer.

The officer was touching her shoulder now,
talking to her, words she did not hear, did not understand. Tears
had welled up in her eyes, as she was lead over to the police car
and placed in the rear seat. The officer was saying more to her,
things she did not listen to, she was watching Jonas. She could see
Jonas getting back into his car. The car started moving and then
Jonas was leaving. It was his stuff, why did they allow him to
leave. The huge police officer got into the driver seat of the car,
the female officer was sitting beside her. Beth completely shut
down with fear. The car began to move. Lights began to flash by
faster and faster until they became a solid line of light. Beth
closed her eyes as she sank deeper within herself, into her safe
place.