Cornered by Cupcakes (3 page)

Running over to his motionless body, she checked his pulse, desperate for something, anything to respond to her touch. Nothing. She felt nothing. Resting her cheek over his mouth, hoping for his breath to mist over her skin, Hannah began to shake with fear. What was happening? Was she cursed? First her friend, now her boyfriend, and in such a short space of time! Touching Jay and still feeling no response or sign of life, she ran to the phone. Dialling 999, she felt her world had been torn apart. Jay, beautiful, kind, caring Jay. Why would anyone want to hurt him? He was the nicest man in the whole world. Was. Listening to the operator, she didn’t touch a thing; she knew that there would be an investigation; and she didn’t want to tamper with any evidence; she had read that in the crime novels she loved so well. Although, looking around… she could see the till was still locked. Turning to the displays, she could see that the alcohol, cigarettes and scratch cards were all in their usual places. That seemed odd. Looking around, the only unusual part of the scene was Jay’s dead body next to her on the floor. This hadn’t been a robbery; this had been a vengeful killing. What had happened? What had Jay been caught up in? What could someone’s motive have possibly been?

As soon as she hung up the phone to the emergency services, a brick smashed through the window. Screaming and sobbing with fright, Hannah ran outside. With a complete disregard for her own safety, she stared into the darkness; she only wanted to catch Jay’s killer. She saw nothing, the dark night swimming in front of her. She could see nothing and nobody. Making her way back to the shop, Hannah looked at the brick. On closer inspection, it had a note attached: “I hope this all stops with you, Jay. You have ruined so many lives; I’m only glad I ended yours. You deserved this, for what you’ve done.” Hannah was horrified; Jay was perfect, had this person killed the right man? What on earth had happened? If it weren’t for the name, Hannah was sure this was a case of mistaken identity. She felt she was living in a nightmare. Jay would never have ruined anyone’s life, at least not deliberately; he was the sweetest man she knew. Sweetest man she had known… She was going to have to get used to talking in the past tense. Again.

Staying until the police and ambulance arrived, a terrified Hannah showed the officers the brick and note. She had to give a statement before being allowed to call Jay’s parents. The police were very kind to her, wrapping her slight body in a blanket and fetching her hot drinks to try and stop the uncontrollable shaking she was experiencing. Adam met her at the police station, desperate to know what happened. Upon seeing him, Hannah burst into tears; Adam looked just like Jay, it was unsettling. For a second, she felt like Jay was right in front of her, the body on the floor a horrifying nightmare.

“Han, what happened?” Adam asked, a note of pleading in his voice. It could have been Jay speaking; they were so alike. Why was she being tortured like this?

“He’s dead. I walked in and he’d been stabbed. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe it.” Hannah collapsed into sobs as Adam hugged her. Crying silently together, Hannah wondered if Adam knew anything about Jay’s friends that she didn’t. She daren’t bring up the brick and the note. Adam had just lost his brother and friend. Knowing he was murdered was enough. Hannah couldn’t stop herself from wondering. Why would someone kill such a perfect man?

*** ***

Jay’s passing had a different effect on Hannah than Alfie’s did. She came to learn that Alfie’s death was not her fault; the autopsy results came back and he had been taking a lot of steroids, which had caused his heart attack. She was sad, but relieved that it wasn’t her fault; Jay had been telling the truth. Now, instead of weeping, Hannah felt angry, furious even. She couldn’t mourn when she felt like this. Why had Jay been taken from her? Why had someone killed her perfect wonderful boyfriend? She asked this question over and over in her head, and to Adam. She spent a lot of time with Jay’s family now; laying flowers with his mother and father almost on a daily basis. With Adam, she shared her anger and frustrations; the police weren’t working quickly enough, deciding this was another random stabbing, as was so frequent in Nottingham. They both felt that more could be done; the memory of Jay was being betrayed by the lack of action. Hannah secretly felt she could do a better job herself, but decided not to tell Adam. He drew his strength from Hannah and she didn’t want to harm him in any way.

One day, as she was with Adam, like she usually was, she brought up the corner shop.

“What’s going to happen there now? Is it going to stay shut until someone takes over the lease?”

“Oh Han, I almost forgot,” he said. “There’s loads of unopened post at Jay’s shop for you. I didn’t want to open it; I know that some of the post will be for Kupcake; it’s yours too, not just Jay’s.”

Hannah looked at her feet; she had been desperate to go back since the police had finished checking for fingerprints. It was the place she associated with Jay most; laying flowers outside hadn’t been quite the same. She wanted to find something that the police had missed; she wanted to kick-start the investigation again.

“Do you mind if I go there?” She asked Adam. “I’d like to go back, but I don’t want to cross any boundaries with you or your parents.”

“Han, I think you should go. I don’t mind, I think you should do what feels right for you. Mum and Dad don’t want to go inside; they don’t want to imagine Jay lying there. I kind of feel the same as them to be honest. Will you be okay going in?” Adam asked.

Hannah was grateful for Adam’s response; she had come to rely on him since Jay’s death and really appreciated him as a friend. “I’ll be fine thanks, unless you want to come and wait outside?”

“No thanks; I don’t think I can bring myself to go near the place. I miss him so much. Let me know if you need anything though, I can try and help,” offered Adam.

“I promise; I’ll let you know if I find anything that could be useful. If there’s anything your parents might need, I’ll bring that back too. Thanks, Adam.”

“Han, before you go. I know this is going to be hard for you; I just want you to know Jay loved you very much. You were all he talked about. I think you’re really brave to be going back. I don’t think I’ll ever be strong enough.”

Hannah smiled weakly as she left; her mind already on the shop. She felt bad for Adam, but she needed to do this. Walking purposefully down the street, everything reminded her of Jay. Why would anyone want to hurt him? He was perfect. As she spied the familiar shutters, her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to, but she knew she had to do this; there was no backing out now. Hands shaking, Hannah pulled out her keys. The police had done a good job of tidying; the shop looked ready for opening. She could almost call Steph to begin a shift. Other than the boards on the window, there was no evidence of the horrors that had happened here.

Picking up piles of post, wading through leaflets for the fair and local takeaways, Hannah made her way to the office to make a start on the mountain of letters. Opening one envelope after another, she began sorting the letters from bills; marking certain ones for Jay’s accountant. She could almost do the shop accounts herself; she’d had loads of practice. Jay preferred to pay an accountant though; he had a lot of businesses. Opening the next letter, she scanned the contents looking for finances or bills. One word unexpectedly jumped out at her.
Clenbuterol.
She had learned about Clenbuterol in one of her modules at university. It was a drug usually used to treat asthma, to help regulate breathing, but it was often traded on the black market as a weight-loss drug. She carried on reading.
Nolvadex.
Danabol. Tren 75.
She didn’t know the others, but was certain they were similar to Clenbuterol. Illegal steroids. Why was Jay receiving invoices for those? She checked the address; it was definitely to the shop. What was going on?

Oh God, Alfie. With a start, Hannah realised this must have something to do with Alfie. He asked for Jay the day he died; she had noticed Alfie was getting steadily bigger. With a sickening feeling, she realised he must have been buying steroids from Jay. Hannah recalled feeling so impressed he lost weight and gained muscle so quickly. It couldn’t just be Alfie. She thought back to all the strangers that came in, vanishing when meeting her eyes. They were all massive. It never happened to smaller, weedy guys or girls. Jay was a drug dealer. He was dealing illegal steroids to people. Hannah didn’t know her boyfriend at all. It seemed so obvious now; how he always vanished to do paperwork, but actually sent it all off. How he seemed to know all her male school friends, despite being older and from a different area. How he always had cash and didn’t mind closing early sometimes. He was making his money from the drugs, not the shop. The shop must have been a cover; he must have been using the shop to hide his dirty money! With a sick feeling, Hannah realised he was probably using Kupcake to hide his money too. She had been dating a drug-dealing, money-laundering murderer. But he was still a nice person. Why would someone stab him?

Feeling curious, Hannah grabbed as many papers and documents relating to the steroids as she could; the Kupcake invoices and the letters to the accountant could wait. This was far more important. Her senses heightened as she stuffed stolen papers into her bag, Hannah decided to turn detective; she had learned more in 5 minutes than the police had in weeks. If she could catch where all the drugs were coming from, maybe she could prevent another death like Alfie’s or Jay’s.  Perhaps she could even find out who killed Jay; despite her discoveries, she still loved him and was devastated by the loss of his life. She could fix this, she knew it. Maybe she was completely wrong about the drugs and money-laundering. There was only one way to find out.

*** ***

The next day, Hannah dressed in her most inconspicuous clothing; she would be talking to some dangerous people and didn’t want anyone to recognise her. Grabbing her rucksack, armed with a photo of Jay, Hannah ran out of the house. Not knowing the names of the people she wanted to speak to, but knowing where they would be, Hannah headed to the DIY store. Guys her age took cars there to show off to one another in the car park. Jay had liked cars and sometimes came here to meet other petrol-heads and swap tips, tricks and ideas.

Feeling nervous, she sized up the nearest group of men. They all seemed huge to Hannah, but she decided they would know nothing; these men were covered in fat, not lean muscle. They were probably genuine car enthusiasts. She glanced at the next group, but quickly disregarded them too; they were teenagers, showing off their mother’s cars, too weedy to be taking anabolic steroids. They probably still had curfews and bedtimes. The third group looked the most promising as well as the most intimidating. These were the men she needed to talk to. Edging over, she could hear them talking about the gym. Bingo! Her new-found detective instinct kicked in. She had this.

“Hi!” She greeted them, in a falsely happy voice. “How are you?”

The men swapped suspicious glances, before seemingly deciding that Hannah was harmless. Although they all looked confused, she received a reply from the largest man.

“Good thanks,” one offered gruffly. “How about you? Are you lost?”

“Oh, I’m lovely thanks for asking; I came here looking for someone actually. Can I ask you for help? I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“What do you need?” The gruff voice asked, whilst the rest of the men looked intimidatingly at her.

“Well, I was meant to buy a car from some guy I met here a few weeks ago. His name is Jay. Have any of you seen him? I can’t get hold of him,” Hannah garbled, as she handed the photo around. “Please can you help?”

“Wait a minute. If you only met him here, why do you have his photo?” Asked another, eyebrows furrowed together in undisguised suspicion.

“I… er, got it from his Facebook page!” Hannah invented wildly. “I can’t get in touch with him and I really wanted that car. Have you seen him?” She repeated.

“No, we ain’t seen him, I think he owns a corner shop near the high street though. Works there sometimes, with his pretty little girlfriend,” came the reply.

Hannah blanched visibly. “That’s great, well, I’ll try there. Thanks then guys.” As she made to leave, she felt a hand on her arm. Turning with fright, she saw the man who held her had the photo in his hand. Don’t forget this, Hannah. We know who you are; be careful.”

“I just want to find out what happened to my boyfriend,” Hannah stated, chin up in defiance.

“Don’t ask us, we’re just here for the cars. If I were you, I’d go to the gym; your Jay was mixed in some terrible things. I’d ask the gym manager.”

The man let her go with a laugh, as Hannah ran away. The gym! Of course, why hadn’t she thought of trying there, first? Kicking herself for being so oblivious, she made her way to the gym, psyching herself up for her second interrogation. When she got there, she suddenly became scared; if the first set of men were massive, what would bodybuilders look like? Making her way through the lobby, dodging the receptionist, Hannah wandered around until she found the weights area. Going up to the largest man in the gym’s uniform, Hannah cleared her throat.

“Excuse me, are you the manager here?”

“Er, hi. Yes I am. Can I help? Inductions are down the hall,” he pointed.

“Oh, thanks. I was actually wondering if you wanted any Clenbuterol? I heard you might be interested,” Hannah lied.

“Ssh, stupid girl! Don’t say that here. Where did you hear that, who told you?” He snarled.