No Mercy (17 page)

Maddie, unable to bear the sight of the poor dead creature, quickly shut the lid again. Her hands were shaking as she placed the box on the highest shelf in the cupboard, out of Zac’s line of vision and out of his reach. But out of sight wasn’t out of mind and she had to decide what to do next. Call the cops – wasn’t that the right thing to do? This was a threat, a blatant threat, and she didn’t have much doubt where it had come from. Lena Gissing had made her feelings crystal clear when they’d clashed earlier in the day.

Maddie pulled her phone out of her rucksack and began to dial. But no sooner had she started than she had second thoughts. What would she tell Zac when the police came round? How would she explain? She didn’t want him scared, but he was bound to be. No, maybe it would be better if she went down to Cowan Road. But then she’d need to get someone to sit with Zac. Not Shauna – she reckoned she’d exhausted any outstanding goodwill there – which meant that it would have to be Alisha.

Maddie put the phone down while she thought about it some more. If she asked Alisha, then she’d either have to tell her the truth or make up a damn good excuse as to why she had to leave the house for an hour. Neither of these prospects was especially appealing; she didn’t want to lie, and she didn’t want to stress her out either. There was no nice way, no good way, to explain the horror of a threat like this. Maybe it was better to wait until morning, when she could go to the police station after taking the boys to summer school.

Suddenly, Maddie was hit by a wave of panic. She dashed to the front door, opened it, ran down the path and stared up and down the street. But whoever had left the parcel was long gone. Of course they were. It could have been dumped on the doorstep hours ago. She tried to remember if they’d passed anyone when they were walking back from Shauna’s, but she’d been too distracted to be paying much attention.

Quickly she ran back inside, locked the door and pulled across the bolts. She leaned against it for a while, her heart pumping. Maybe she should call Solomon, but he’d be at work, and anyway, what could he do? What could anyone do? Her hands clenched into two tight fists. This was all Cato’s fault. Damn him! He’d dragged her into his war with Lena Gissing and placed her directly in the line of fire. While he was sitting safely in his cell, she was the one taking all the flak.

When her breathing had slowed, Maddie pushed herself off the door and walked through to the back. Try and act normally, she told herself. For Zac’s sake, she had to pretend that nothing untoward had happened. None too easy, she thought, when there was a dead sparrow lying in a box in the kitchen cupboard. Not to mention that chilling message:
RIP, Maddie Layne
.

For the next couple of hours, she went through the motions, making dinner, chatting, doing the dishes, watching TV – all the time trying to keep the strain out of her voice and off her face. It felt like for ever before Zac was showered and in his pyjamas and finally in bed. Only then, when she was alone, did she fully give in to the fear she was feeling.

Curled up on the sofa, Maddie clutched a cushion to her chest. Now that it was dark outside, she was beginning to wish that she had called the cops. She had checked three times that all the doors and windows were locked, but she still didn’t feel safe. What if someone tried to break in? Her hand reached for the phone and she stared down at the keypad. It was all very well trying to protect Zac, but what if she was putting him in even more danger by doing nothing? But still she hesitated, remembering what Lena had said about having contacts at Cowan Road.

She turned the phone around in her hand. Still no call from Cato. Maybe she’d never hear from him again. Maybe, so far as he was concerned, her usefulness was over. She’d done the job he’d paid her for and that was that. He probably didn’t give a damn about the fallout.

Maddie went back to watching the TV. Although she was looking at the screen, she wasn’t taking anything in. Scenes changed, characters came and went, but her mind was somewhere else. She thought of Lena Gissing’s face as she’d raised her arm to hurl the ring across the graveyard. Pure rage. And that was something else that had been down to Cato. He must have arranged for the ring to be left there, knowing she would find it. What he couldn’t have known, however, was that Lena would come along just as she was about to bury it again.

She still couldn’t figure out the triangle. Lena Gissing, Jay Cato and Lucy Rivers. What connected the three of them? What was it that fuelled such bitter and angry emotions? Was it Brendan Vasser? She understood the Lena–Cato conflict, but the rest remained a mystery to her. And now the death of her sister had become entwined in it all. She looked down at her phone again. If only Cato would call. She had to find out what he knew.

It was another half-hour before her mobile finally sprang into life. She snatched it up, checking out the caller. Number unavailable. Could that be a prison payphone? She had no idea of the times that inmates were allowed to use them.

‘Hello?’

She waited, but there was only a thin crackling at the other end of the line.

‘Hello?’ she said again.

Still nothing. Maddie waited a few seconds and then hung up. Had that been Cato trying to get through? If so, then hopefully he would keep on trying. She kept the phone in her hand, willing it to ring again.

It was another five long minutes before she got her wish. ‘Hello?’ she repeated for the third time. But again she was greeted with silence. Except it wasn’t quite silence. It took a moment for her to realise that someone was actually there. That sound… breathing… deliberate heavy breathing.

‘Who is it?’ she asked sharply, a thin shiver of fear running through her. When there was no reply, she jabbed at the button to end the call. But still the sound echoed in her ears, soft and cruel and malicious. Someone trying to scare her to death. And it was working. First the sparrow and now this.

Two minutes later, the phone began to ring again. The same unavailable number. Well, she just wouldn’t answer it. Let them breathe into her voicemail if they wanted to. But then she wondered if this time it might actually be Cato. Could she take the chance of missing him? It could be ages before he tried again.

Reluctantly she answered the call. ‘Yes?’

But of course it wasn’t Cato. Just that dark, threatening breathing again. In and out, in and out. Steady, monotonous, nasty. She hung up and threw the phone away from her, towards the far corner of the sofa. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she rocked back and forth. ‘Leave me alone,’ she muttered.

And then, as if to defy her, the phone began its menacing ringing again. She put her hands over her ears. No, she’d had enough. She couldn’t take any more. But the phone kept on ringing until something snapped inside her. Leaning forward, she grabbed it and in an explosion of anger yelled down the line, ‘Listen, I don’t know what your bloody game is, but I’ve had enough. It stops, right? It stops right now.’

This time she heard a different sound, an intake of breath that was more surprised than intimidating. And then a voice that she recognised. ‘Maddie? Is that you? Are you okay?’

It was Rick Mallory. She had snatched up the phone in such a hurry that this time she hadn’t even checked who the caller was. She was instantly hit by a mixture of relief and embarrassment. ‘Oh God, sorry, I didn’t realise…’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Sorry, I’ve been… been getting crank calls. The whole heavy-breathing bit. I thought you were… And it’s not just that. There’s been other stuff too.’ She could hear her voice starting to break and quickly tried to pull herself together. ‘I thought…’

‘You want me to come round?’

Maddie hesitated. She swallowed hard, still trying to get some control of her voice. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I’ll be there in five minutes,’ he said firmly.

She didn’t argue with him. ‘Okay, thanks. But don’t ring the bell or it’ll wake up Zac. I’ll watch out for you.’

‘Five minutes,’ he said again. ‘Don’t worry.’

Maddie immediately turned off the phone. If she missed Cato’s call, she missed it. She’d rather that than have to listen to the breathing again. She went out into the hall, climbed the stairs and looked in on Zac. He was fast asleep, his eyelids flickering, his right arm flung across the duvet. Carefully she closed the door and went into her own bedroom. It was at the front and overlooked the street. From here, she’d be able to see Rick when he arrived.

As she stared anxiously along Morton Grove, she wondered if her sick caller was out there somewhere. Her eyes raked the parked cars, searching for one that might be occupied, but in the thin orangey light from the street lamps she could only see shadows. She lifted a hand to her mouth and chewed on a fingernail. Had she done the right thing in asking Rick to come? Well, she hadn’t actually asked, he’d volunteered, but she’d said yes and so it amounted to pretty much the same thing. It wasn’t in her nature to go running to a man for help – she dealt with most things on her own – but this, she decided, wasn’t most things. Anyway, that was just her pride talking. Sometimes the wise thing, the smart thing to do was gratefully to accept the help that was offered.

It was only a couple of minutes before she saw Rick jogging along the street. There was something touching about his sense of urgency. She ran down the stairs as quietly as she could, pulled across the bolts and opened the door. A moment later, they were face to face.

‘Hi,’ he said softly. ‘Are you okay?’

The relief at seeing him was almost too much to bear. She felt the tears prick her eyes and tried to wipe them away. Even as her hands rose, she was aware of him moving forward and of the gentle, reassuring tone of his voice. She wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but suddenly, somehow his arms were around her holding her tight, and for the first time all day she felt safe.

Rick leaned forward with his elbows on the counter, gazing down at the dead bird. It was half an hour since he’d arrived, time that Maddie had spent explaining the whole sorry story. Now he knew everything. He knew about Greta and Bo, Cato, Lena Gissing and the mystery surrounding Lucy Rivers.

He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘And you haven’t called the cops because…?’

Maddie was trying to avoid looking at the tiny corpse. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on Rick. ‘I thought about it. I almost rang them. I don’t know. I didn’t want them to come while Zac was here. And I was hoping that Cato would call.’ She folded her arms across her chest. ‘And then there was what Lena said, about having friends at Cowan Road. If I report it, I might make things even worse. What do you think? Do you reckon she might have that kind of influence?’

‘Hard to know, but she could have contacts. Her sort usually do.’

‘Her sort?’

‘Gangsters, criminals, whatever you want to call them. I’m sure she’s bribed a few officers in her time. If nothing else, she might get to hear that you’d been to the station.’

Despite the warmth of the kitchen, Maddie gave a shiver. ‘That’s what I’m worried about. And I can’t prove that she did this.’ Although she didn’t want to look, her gaze automatically slid down to the dead bird. It was the long silver nail that made it so much worse, the nail that pierced the centre of the body. It reminded her of a crucifixion. ‘It’s sick. What kind of person…?’

‘The kind of person who’s worried about what you might know – or say.’

‘Which is ironic, seeing as I hardly know anything at all. And I still don’t get why Delia Shields had a go at me. Where does she figure in all this?’

‘She’s a friend of Lena Gissing.’

Maddie frowned, surprised by the revelation. ‘What? Delia? Delia and Lena? How do you know that?’

‘Because I’ve seen them together. And because Eli says they go way back, went to school together apparently. Maybe you should ask him about Lucy Rivers.’

‘Or you could,’ she said, not relishing a conversation with the strange Eli Glass. ‘He’s more likely to talk to you.’ She turned her back to the counter so she couldn’t see the bird. ‘I’m still trying to get my head around Delia and Lena Gissing. I mean, Delia always seems so… prim and proper. It’s hard to imagine the two of them being friends.’

‘Although it accounts for how Lena knew where to find you this morning. Delia must have called her as soon as you got there.’

‘That’s true.’ She rubbed her face, exhausted by the day’s events. ‘God, what am I going to do? What do you think I should do?’

‘It’s your call, babe.’

‘Would you go to the cops? If you were in my shoes?’

‘I’m not sure. I suppose you have to weigh up the pros and cons. If you report it, then they’ll probably go and talk to Lena Gissing. But of course you can’t prove anything, and she’s bound to deny it, so…’

‘So it’ll be a waste of time.’

‘Well, I know you don’t want her to get away with it, but once she sees that you haven’t gone to the cops, she might back off and leave you alone. And if you’re not tending the grave any more, then she’s got no reason to keep hassling you.’

‘Except she thinks I’m in league with Cato.’

‘Like I said, it’s your choice. You have to do whatever feels right.’

Maddie ran her fingers through her hair and released her breath in a long, low sigh. ‘I wish I knew what felt right.
Nothing
feels right.’

‘Maybe you should wait and see if Cato gets in touch.’

‘And what about…?’ She gestured with her head towards the box. ‘What do I do with him?’

Rick leaned in closer to the bird, examining the body. ‘Looks like its neck got broken. It was probably a cat. Wrong place, wrong time and all that.’

‘Yeah, but the cat didn’t skewer the poor thing to a piece of card, put it in a box and leave it on my doorstep.’

‘Seems unlikely,’ he agreed. ‘You want me to bury it, or are you going to keep it as evidence? Doubt there’s any fingerprints lying around. They wouldn’t have been that careless.’

Maddie sighed again. She had pretty much decided that she wasn’t going to the police, at least not for the moment. What would it achieve? They could hardly offer her twenty-four-hour protection. In fact, the only thing they probably would offer was a promise to ‘look into it’
.
And in the meantime, Lena Gissing would find out that she’d been to talk to them. ‘Would you mind? And would you, you know, take the nail out before…?’

‘Sure,’ he said.

Maddie went to the living room while he was carrying out the procedure. She pulled a handful of tissues from the box and took them back to Rick. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘You can wrap him in these.’

They went out into the yard, where there was just enough light from the kitchen for them to see what they were doing. Maddie got a spade from the garden box and passed it to him. Then she found a nice spot near the roses where the bird could be buried.

While Rick was digging, she kept glancing up towards Zac’s bedroom window. She prayed that he was still asleep, that he wouldn’t hear the soft sound of the spade cutting through the earth. She wondered if she was making a mistake, burying the evidence like this. But she didn’t want Zac finding the bird. And anyway, unless she put it in the freezer, there was a limit on the time she could keep it before the body started to rot.

It didn’t take long for Rick to complete the job. He bent down, laid the tiny parcel in the hole and glanced at her. ‘You want to say a few words?’

Maddie looked at him. ‘Like what?’ she whispered. ‘It’s not a funeral.’

He grinned back at her. ‘Well, it is, kind of.’

‘Just cover it over.’

Rick filled in the hole and patted down the soil. ‘There. All done.’

‘Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it.’

They went back inside, where Maddie closed the door and bolted it. There was no direct access to the back of the house, but she wasn’t taking any chances. ‘God, you must be regretting the day you ever met me.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘All this,’ she said, nodding towards the box that was still sitting on the counter. ‘And everything else. It’s not exactly normal, is it?’

‘And is any of it your fault?’

Maddie gave a shrug. ‘That’s not the point.’

Rick bent down and kissed her on the top of her head. ‘Course it’s the point. Now, have you got anything stronger than coffee in this house? I don’t know about you, but I could do with a real drink.’

Maddie went to the fridge and opened it. ‘There’s only wine,’ she said. ‘No beer, I’m afraid.’

‘Wine will do fine.’

She took the bottle and a couple of glasses through to the living room and they sat down at either end of the sofa. Although the poor bird had been disposed of, the threat still loomed large in her mind. She poured the wine, passed him a glass and then pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. ‘Thank you,’ she said again, ‘for coming round and everything. Thanks for dealing with the…’

‘No need to thank me. It was a tricky burial, but fortunately I’m a highly trained gravedigger.’

‘I picked the right guy for the job, then.’

‘You picked the right guy full stop.’

Maddie smiled. ‘You think?’

‘Who could doubt it?’ Rick sat back and sipped on his wine. There was a short but not uncomfortable silence. ‘So you and Greta,’ he asked. ‘Were you close?’

‘When we were kids, but not so much as we grew older. And I think that was my fault. I was so wrapped up in my own life, my own career that I didn’t really make time for her any more. By the time she died… was murdered… we were almost like strangers to each other. And now I’m finding out this stuff and…’ She stopped. ‘But you don’t want to hear about all that. You’ve had enough of my life story for one night.’

‘Not true,’ he said. ‘I’m interested. So did the cops find any link to the Gissings back then?’

Maddie shook her head. ‘Not as far as I know, but then they didn’t tell us much. I think they pretty much wrote it off as some kind of gangland killing. Bo worked for the Streets, but I’ve heard he was close to Adam Vasser too.’

‘Vasser?’ Rick said, his eyebrows shooting up. ‘Jesus, he certainly picked his company.’

Maddie reached for her glass and drank a little wine. She’d have liked to drink a lot of it, to drown her fears and sorrows in alcohol, but was aware of having to get up early in the morning to take Zac to summer school. ‘How long did you say you’ve lived in Kellston?’

‘A few months,’ he said. ‘Why?’

‘Because I’ve lived here for six years and I’d never heard of him. I’d never heard of Lena Gissing either.’

Rick laughed. ‘Ah, well, there’s a good reason for that. You don’t waste your time sitting around in the Fox, listening to the local gossip. It’s amazing what you hear in that pub.’

‘And what have you heard about Vasser?’

‘That he’s a nasty bit of work, but then that goes with the job description. And being Lena’s flesh and blood can’t do much for the personality. Rumour has it that she runs a high-class escort service – beautiful girls for men with large bank accounts.’

‘Really?’

‘That’s what they say.’

‘But if you know that, then why don’t the police?’

‘Maybe they do,’ Rick said. ‘Maybe they just don’t want to go there. You start turning over stones in that kind of business and you never know what’s going to crawl out – or rather,
who
is going to crawl out. And a scandal is the last thing they want, especially if it involves some of their own.’

Maddie took another sip of wine while she thought about this. ‘So it’s okay to break the law so long as you’re dealing with the rich and the powerful?’

‘Hasn’t it always been that way?’

‘Doesn’t make it right.’

‘No,’ he agreed. ‘It doesn’t. But that’s how it is. And it’s what gives her protection. So long as she’s discreet, she won’t get any bother.’

Maddie was sure now that she’d made the right choice in not going to the law. ‘And what if she did have something to do with Greta’s murder? What happens then?’

‘It gets complicated.’

‘It’s already complicated.’ She leaned her head back against the sofa. ‘I wish Cato had called. He must know something. He has to or he wouldn’t have gone to all the bother of hiring me.’

‘Give him time. It’s only been a day. It’s not always easy to get on the phone in those places.’

Maddie threw him a look. She hardly knew anything about his past; perhaps he had some dark secrets of his own. ‘Is that from personal experience?’

‘If you’re asking if I’ve ever done time, then no. But I’ve had mates who’ve been in for the odd short stretch. Never fancied it myself, so I try and keep out of trouble.’

‘You’ve come to the wrong place, then.’

‘Ah, but this is a righteous sort of trouble. Not the same thing at all.’

‘Seriously, though, I don’t expect you… don’t
want
you to get involved in all this. It’s not fair. It’s my problem, not yours.’

‘Now you’re just being selfish.’ He leaned forward, took hold of the bottle and topped up both their glasses. ‘Didn’t your mother ever teach you about sharing?’

‘All my mother ever taught me was how to pack a suitcase. I’m exceptionally good at that.’

‘Lots of practice, huh?’

‘Lots.’

‘But getting back to the point, it’s too late to dismiss me now – I’m already involved.’

Maddie peered at him over the rim of her glass. ‘Digging a hole in the ground doesn’t count as being involved.’

‘I’m shocked,’ he said, placing a hand on his heart. ‘That wasn’t just any old hole. It was a highly professional piece of digging.’

‘For which I’m very grateful, but it doesn’t mean that you’re obliged to do anything else.’

‘What, not even moral support?’

Maddie hesitated. ‘I suppose there wouldn’t be much harm in that.’

‘Good, that’s settled, then. Now, about all this packing you did as a kid…’

An hour later, when the past had been shared, the wine finished and a cup of coffee drunk, Rick glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better make a move. Will you be okay?’

‘I’ll be fine.’ Maddie forced a smile. She hadn’t been looking forward to the time when he’d leave and she’d be on her own again. ‘Really I will. Thanks for coming round. It was good of you.’

He stood up. ‘No problem.’

She rose to her feet too, trying to appear perfectly calm about him going.

‘Unless…’ he said.

She gazed up at him, her eyes locking on to his. ‘Unless…?’

‘I could stay if you want.’

His words hung in the air and for a moment Maddie was tempted, but she knew she’d be doing it for all the wrong reasons. Fear and gratitude weren’t good motives for going to bed with a man, no matter how attractive he was. She made a vague flapping motion with her hand. ‘Er… I don’t think… you know, with Zac and everything. I do like you, of course I do, but it’s probably not a good idea.’

He put his hands on his hips and stared at her. ‘Hey, I wasn’t… I was just offering to kip on the sofa if you’d feel safer having someone around.’

‘Oh, right.’ Maddie, feeling foolish, glanced away and then back at him. ‘Well, this isn’t awkward or anything.’

‘You think I’m the kind of guy who’d try and take advantage?’

She studied him closely, watching the corners of his mouth twitch. ‘Now you’re just trying to make me feel bad.’

‘Is it working?’

‘Yeah, pretty much.’

Rick grinned. ‘So, what do you reckon? To be honest, you’d be doing me a favour. It’ll save me the walk home. And I’ll make myself scarce before Zac gets up – he won’t even know I’ve been here.’

Maddie didn’t need much persuading. With Rick in the house, at least she’d get some sleep and not be lying awake listening for the slightest noise. She pretended to think about it some more even though her mind was already made up. Then she gave a light shrug as if she was the one bestowing the favour rather than the other way round. ‘Okay, I’ll get you some blankets.’