Watching You, Chapters Thirty-Nine & Forty

Chapter Thirty-Nine

 

Kelly caught her reflection in the hospital’s glazed double doors and frowned. Her hair looked ruffled and scraggly even though she’d brushed it quickly in the hospital toilet. She considered it the jewel in her crown, and even one strand out of place was usually enough to bother her, let alone a whole crop of them.

Right now, though, she was too hyped up to pay the matter more than passing attention. Joe’s animosity hadn’t diminished her feeling of guilt. She probably should have expected his reaction but coping with it was another matter. And now, on top of that, she had McCain to contend with, asking, no practically demanding to see her at eight in the morning. She sure as hell couldn’t understand what had got into the bloke of late, and his attitude and actions during the night had deeply unsettled her as if she hadn’t been unsettled enough.

Now she was expected to cope with his moods when clearly not at her best. She should have told him to get lost and pick a more civil time, perhaps not even bother her until they were both at work. Then, of course, things could easily degenerate to cause an uneasy working atmosphere, and that wouldn’t be accepted. Best to have it out now, rather than let it run on. She should take the opportunity to tell him to go to blazes, but would she? Could she?

And then there was Black’s ridiculous insistence that he was a serving police officer. If the look in his dark eyes hadn’t been so scary, she would have hit him. Perhaps even tried to force him over the edge. She allowed herself a faint smile at the knowledge she’d at least managed to run over his foot.

But between the three of them, Joe, McCain, and Black, her life was being made a misery. She’d reached her car, jumped in, and got to the car park exit, driving practically on autopilot. It alarmed her to think how much her problems were distracting her thoughts, disrupting her mind. As she left the hospital boundaries behind, she slipped up the gears, forcing concentration into her shattered nerves.

The rain didn’t help – it was coming down harder again; how was it that when you were at your lowest ebb, it always seemed to be raining? The journey home took longer than the journey down, and it wasn’t that anxiety for Joe had increased her speed to the hospital that caused the time gap – it was purely that she needed to account for her weariness, to concentrate, needed more time to see things clearly, and that meant driving slower.

Kelly turned into her street, saw McCain’s car immediately, parked at the end of the road when he could have parked right outside. Strange place to leave it, but everything he did right now seemed strange to her.

She saw him pacing back and forth outside her gate; he’d removed the band in his ponytail so that now he looked like a soaked American Indian, wild and disturbed. She pulled up opposite the kerb, feeling tentative, wanting to drive on, not able to equate this figure of late with the familiar one she knew. But he’d already seen her; he’d stopped his pacing and was striding across the road. There was a smile on his face, but it seemed transfixed, and his green eyes were wild. Something was happening to him, and she didn’t like it one bit. Could it be something to do with Black that was turning him into some kind of crazy man? Black seemed to affect everyone in some way or another.

She lowered the window, frowned at the sight of him. ‘McCain, what’s going on? What the hell’s got into you?’

‘Jees, Kel …’ McCain sighed, placed his big hands on the window. ‘I was concerned, that’s all. You seemed so stressed-out last night.’

‘Stressed out?’ She felt her temper rising. ‘Stressed-out? Is that any damned wonder the way …’

‘And your association with our Mr Black, Kel – Jees, I mean …’

‘What association, McCain? Just what are you harping at, eh? I cringe at the sight of him. If I could have pushed him off the top floor, I would. But you, McCain …’

‘Aw, of course, you would, Kel, of course, you would. You’re a right little spitfire, aren’t you?’ The smile on his face had gone for a second, his thick lips mashed together in a kind of grimace, and then he seemed to realise, and in an instant, the smile was back. ‘Aw, can we go inside? I’m getting awfully wet outside here in the rain.’

‘No, Joe’s inside,’ she lied, feeling a pang in the stomach at her husband’s demise.

‘Then let’s go for a little drive, shall we? Somewhere we can talk.’

Kelly slapped a hand against her forehead, gave a derisory smile. ‘McCain, it’s eight o’clock in the morning, it’s pissing down with rain, and I’ve been up all night. I just need some sleep.’

‘And that’s another thing, Kel,’ McCain’s voice so quiet now she strained to hear it. ‘I’ve been waiting for ages, where have you been, who have you seen?’

‘Not Black if that’s what you’re thinking,’ she snapped. ‘Now let me get some …’

‘After our little drive. I want to make you see I’m not the ogre you think I’m turning out to be. I want to be able to put my point, and then we can both relax. You’ll get your sleep, and I’ll be a much happier man, you’ll see. I’ll even drive.’

He stood back from the car, an imploring look on his face, the wild look in his eyes had gone. ‘Please, Kel?’

‘Oh, very well.’ She gave the steering wheel a heavy slap and then sighed. If this was the only way she was going to get some sleep, then so be it. ‘I don’t want to go far. I’ve got to work again this evening, remember?’

‘Of course. Don’t I realise that.’ He followed behind her as they walked to his car. So close behind he was almost tripping her up.

As she reached the passenger side of McCain’s car, Kelly’s mobile phone rang. Immediately her mind clicked on to Joe. ‘Hello …’

‘Kelly, sorry to disturb you, love, but I’ve an urgent request for your presence …’

‘Arthur, can’t it wait?’ Kelly had one eye on McCain; he’d reached the driver’s door and stopped, eyes watching her intensely.

‘I’m afraid it can’t, Kelly. There are senior police officers here, and they want your presence as of yesterday.’ Arthur paused. ‘Sorry, love, you’ve had a long night, but it’s either that or they call around, I’m afraid.’

‘No, I’ll come.’ Her eyes were on McCain; he’d started pacing again. It was as good a reason as any to get away from him.

She slipped her phone inside her coat and increased her stride, looking at McCain over her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. Something’s come up. I have to go.’

‘No, Kel, wait, what is it?’ What’s happened? His arm stretched out, caught her sleeve, but she managed to shrug it off.

‘I’ll call you later.’

She clicked her remote, reached her car, immediately switching on the ignition. ‘It’s him, isn’t it?’ she heard him shout. ‘He must have been out, and now you’re off to see him. I won’t have it, Kel!’ The roar met her ears as she saw his face loom in her offside window; it looked eerily distorted. She pressed on the accelerator, saw the face receding. McCain was running without any hope of catching her. She was glad her own fleet of foot had outstripped him to the car, but just what was going on in her life?

And what did the police want with such urgency?

 

 

Chapter Forty

 

There were more police vehicles outside than staff cars when Kelly arrived at the control room, feeling tense and uneasy, her agitation fuelled by lack of sleep. Arthur was standing outside, wearing a full-length beige raincoat, engaged in conversation with a tall, middle-aged man wearing a dark suit, who looked in her direction and nodded as she got out of the car. Arthur walked forward and placed an arm around her shoulders, guiding her towards the waiting man. ‘Sorry to drag you out, love, but it is important. This is Commander Preston.’ Arthur gestured with his right hand and lowered his voice, ‘He’s from Central Intelligence in Whitehall.’

Kelly widened her eyes at the smartly dressed man. ‘What on earth do you want with me?’

‘Simply to ask a few questions, Mrs – ah – Shefford, isn’t it? Mind if we go inside?’

‘Better than standing in the pouring rain.’ Kelly nodded, tension increasing. What the hell was this all about? With Arthur at the front and the commander at the rear, she felt like a human sandwich as she made her way into Arthur’s office.

‘Sit down, Mrs Shefford.’ He extended his arm courteously, Kelly thought. Considering it wasn’t his office in the first place. ‘I’ll come straight to the point; time is of the essence. Thank you for coming so quickly.’ Preston coughed, the bark of a smoker’s cough it seemed to Kelly. He sat himself beside her, drawing up a chair, crossing one long leg over the other.

‘I understand from one of your colleagues, Mr Patterson, that you were involved in an altercation with a man outside this building last night.’

‘Yes, that’s right.’ Kelly looked sideways into the enquiring eyes of a man who seemed more of a psychiatrist than a policeman. ‘Carl Black, he’s a local yob. I thought he was going to have a real go at me. He told me he was a police officer.’ She gave a short laugh. ‘How’s that for front?’ Ah, so that’s it. Someone’s done him in; that’s why I’ve been brought here, to see if I’d seen anything.

Preston took a deep breath, his slightly reddened face expressionless. ‘Mrs Shefford, he told you the truth, that’s why I’m here. Inspector Withers was operating alone on a major assignment.’

‘I see.’ Kelly flushed; she felt she’d been hit over the head with an invisible hammer. She couldn’t take it in. Found it difficult to accept that what the commander said was true. She felt him regarding her a moment with his deep, piercing eyes. ‘Mrs Shefford, what caused this altercation?’

Kelly stared down. ‘He came towards me. It was dark, and he looked threatening.’ She raised her head, met his gaze head-on. ‘It would have helped if we had been briefed. I didn’t know he was a police …’

‘Did he not try to tell you?’

‘Well, yes.’ Kelly laughed without mirth, drumming her fingers on the table. ‘Like you would expect me to believe him. Oh yeah, right, of course, you are. Besides, he didn’t show any ID.’

For the first time, she saw the steely exterior relent as the commander’s brow etched into a series of channels. ‘No, I know. He doesn’t carry any, no matter how much he’s rebuked for it. One of his little eccentricities.’ He drew a notebook from his suit pocket and made a quick note, then returned his attention to her, the intensity back in his eyes. ‘Have you any idea what made Withers come to this location, Mrs Shefford? We need to know this – it’s very important.’

Kelly opened her mouth to speak, shook her head instead. How could she tell them what he’d claimed? That it was some insane idea that her life was in danger, that Black, or Withers as his name was now, claimed he ‘saw things’. How the hell could she do that? And how could she tell of the nightmares she’d suffered, and every one of them had him trying to throttle her.

Preston’s mouth twisted minutely; he didn’t look satisfied. His gaze remained hooked on her. ‘So there’s no connection between you and Withers whatsoever. You’ve no idea what brought him here. No idea why you should have acted so violently towards him. You’ve no idea where Withers might have been taken?’

‘Taken?’

‘Yes, taken, Mrs Shefford. That’s why I’m here. The whole place is buzzing with police if you haven’t noticed.’

Kelly swept her hair in frustration, gave him a glare. She didn’t care if he was some high-ranking copper from London – he was practically accusing her of deceit. How dare he?

‘It wasn’t violent. I wasn’t aware you were a spy on the wall.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arthur wince and mellowed her tone. ‘I might have driven over his foot as I drove away, felt a bit of a bump, but that’s all. Put yourself in my position … I was agitated, worked up … I regarded him as a creep and acted accordingly …’ She paused; the commander was holding his brow.

‘You ran over his foot?’ Preston glanced at Arthur. ‘That cuts his chances down no end.’

‘I didn’t know who the bloody hell he really was!’ Kelly leaned forward, smashed her fist on the desk, and startled them both. ‘Look, I’m sorry, alright. Like I say, I was uptight; there’d been some men on the roof earlier, McC – I mean, we thought they were revellers, but at first, I thought they had guns.’

Preston cupped his chin in his hand, looked at Arthur, who took advantage of the momentary silence. ‘You said ‘we’, Kelly, weren’t you working alone until Clive took over?’

‘Just a figure of speech, Arthur,’ Kelly said tiredly. Despite his erratic behaviour, she was determined to keep McCain out of this. Besides anything else, she couldn’t be doing with the hassle of trying to explain his presence that night.

Preston twisted his mouth again, more noticeably this time. ‘Why didn’t you report this incident, surely …’

‘Because our police force is stretched, we don’t have the unlimited resources that government has.’ Kelly bared her teeth at Preston, rising to the challenge, impervious to Arthur’s expression. ‘Our force is undermanned. You can’t just snap your fingers here.’

‘I take your point, Mrs Shefford.’ The commander steepled his fingers, actually smiled for an instant, and his tone mellowed noticeably. ‘I’m sorry if I’m being hard on you, and it seems you’ve had a tough night, but I’m concerned for the welfare of a good officer.’ His glance shifted between Kelly and Arthur. ‘I’m sure you’re wondering why Inspector Withers was acting alone – it’s because it’s the only way he will work. It’s also the best way to get results, and to have informed you of him would have been to prejudice both the operation and his safety. We all have flies in the woodwork; I’ve long suspected our own department has them.’ He slapped his hand on the desk. ‘Well, if there’s nothing further you can tell me, Mrs Shefford, I won’t detain you. I’ll let you get some rest.’

‘Listen.’ Kelly bit her lip, looked hard at Preston, she wasn’t making it any easier for him than he was, her. ‘It might be a long shot, but I stopped at this remote pub in the fens once for a drink. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. There was something very iffy about the place – it was creepy, didn’t seem like a real pub at all. You know, as if there was another purpose to it.’

Preston took his hand off the door handle, took a step back inside. ‘Such as what?’

Kelly half-smiled, half-grimaced. Why did you always have to spell things out to coppers? ‘Such as it might be a cover for something more illegal – if you get my drift.’

Preston raked his hand through a head of hair dark and thick for somebody she judged to be around fifty. ‘What makes you think it bears any relation to our officer’s abduction?’

She shook her head, screwed her mouth. ‘I don’t know, some kind of sixth sense, I suppose. I just hope it helps you find your man.’

Preston sniffed. He looked doubtful, but he’d called a couple of officers from the corridor as he turned back to her.

‘Where is this place?’