Owning Jacob - SA (29 page)

And facing up to the fact that there wasn't one.

He had come to the end, without accomplishing a thing.

Kale wasn't going to change. He might appear to if he was forced, but only until he was left alone again, and then Ben would be in the same position as he was now. The closest he would be able to get to Jacob would be through a telephoto lens.

He'd already been down that route.' Two weeks after he had visited Ann Usherwood he was no nearer a decision. He hadn't been in touch with her again. There was no point. He was stil only going through the motions of his life when the phone cal came through to the studio. Zoe answered it, then cupped her hand over the receiver.

'Guy for you. Won't say who he is, but says it's important.' Ben was on a pair of stepladders, replacing a light. 'Tel him I'm busy.' He heard her repeat it. The model finished checking herself in the mirror. 'Do you think this top needs pinning at the back?' she asked, pul ing it between her shoulder blades so it was tighter across her breasts.

He didn't real y care but tried to apply himself to the question.

'He says to tel you his name's Quil ey,' Zoe said from behind him.

Ben's mind emptied.

'Come on, Ben, do you want to talk to him or not?' He climbed down from the stepladders. When she held out the phone for him he realised he stil had the light bulb in his hand. For a moment he couldn't think what to do with it. He put it on the window ledge and took the receiver. f 'So am I pinning this, or what?' asked the model.

He motioned vaguely for Zoe to sort it out. She gave him an odd look before she moved away. He put the phone to his ear.

'Hel o?'

'Hel o, Mr Murray. Long time no see, as they say.' The anger seared through him without warning. Its strength was debilitating, like a fever. 'What do you want?'

'Just a chat, that's al . Are you stil there, Mr Murray?' There were so many insults and accusations clamouring to be shrieked they closed his throat. If the detective had been in the same room as him Ben would have gone for him. 'I've got nothing to say to you.' His voice was thick.

"You're stil a little worked up, I can tel . You shouldn't have taken what happened personal y. It was a simple business matter, that's al . Like I told you, I'm in the information business.

If one person doesn't want to buy, then you take your wares somewhere else.'

'I don't give a fuck. You're scum. You're a piece of shit.' He was dimly aware of Zoe and the model staring over at him. He turned his back.

"You're entitled to your opinion, of course,' Quil ey said.

'But before you get too carried away I'l come to the point.

While we're on the subject of information, I've come by some

that I think wil interest you. In fact, it's fair to say that I know it wilL' Curiosity won over the desire to slam down the receiver.

'About Jacob?'

'Indirectly, I suppose. Or perhaps directly, depending on how you look at it. Let's say it has a bearing on the current situation.'

'What is it?' He heard Quil ey chuckle. 'Ah, now that's the question, isn't it? And of course the next one is how badly do you want to find out?'

'Why should I believe you know anything?'

'I'd have thought you of al people wouldn't need to ask that, Mr Murray. You should know from personal experience that I'm rather good at digging around. Particularly when I think there's something there to be dug up, as it were.'

'So why have you waited al this time?'

'Let's say I found myself in something of a quiet patch, professional y speaking, so I decided to tidy up some loose ends.'

"You mean your work's dried up.' Ben couldn't keep the satisfaction from his voice. 'Stopped getting recommendations, have you?'

'I wouldn't worry yourself about that, Mr Murray. The fact is that I've got something to sel . What we need to establish now is whether you want to buy.'

'I don't know until I've got some idea what it is.'

'If I told you I'd be putting myself at a disadvantage, wouldn't I? I'm afraid you'l just have to take it on faith.' The detective's regret was cheerful y insincere.

Ben chewed his lip. 'How much do you want?'

"Wel , now, that's open to negotiation, isn't it?'

'I've not said I'm interested yet. I know what Kale's been doing, if that's al you're offering.' There was a momentary pause, then another chuckle. "Who said it was anything to do with him? But I tel you what,' Quil ey went on as Ben was absorbing this, 'you have a think about it for a day or two. Ask yourself how much your stepson is worth to you. And then when you've decided give me a ring.' The detective let this sink in. 'A word of advice, though,' he added. 'I wouldn't leave it too long. Nice talking to you, Mr Murray.'

He met Colin in a pub that evening. It was crammed with after-work City drinkers. There were no seats left but he found a corner to stand in by the cigarette machine and the bar.

He ordered a pint while he waited. Colin was late. When he pushed through the pub doors his hair and overcoat shoulders were dappled with melting snow. 'First fal of the year and it isn't even Christmas yet,' he complained, brushing it off.

Ben didn't say anything. The prospect of a Christmas without either Sarah or Jacob made him feel as if he had stepped out into a black void. It had been something else he had avoided thinking about It seemed to be a day for having things thrust on him.

'I can't stay long,' Colin said, shucking off his overcoat.

'I'm, uh, meeting somebody in an hour.'

"You mean Jo?'

'Er, yeah. Do you want a drink?'

'I'm okay. I'l get you one.' Ben turned to the bar, giving Colin a chance to get over his discomfort. The affair showed no signs of dying out, but he stil seemed to find it embarrassing to talk about.

'So what did Quil ey actual y say?' Colin asked, taking the lemon from the tonic he'd requested and nibbling at it He'd told Ben it was an appetite suppressant. If nothing else infidelity had made him cut down on drinking and lose weight The cigar habit had been quickly snuffed as wel . Ben wondered if Maggie was as unsuspicious of the sudden change as Colin appeared to believe.

He outlined the conversation with the detective. Colin sipped his tonic as he listened attentively, every inch the solicitor. "Wel , you've got two choices,' he said when Ben had finished. "You either tel him to fuck off, or pay up and hope he real y does know something useful. If you do that you've got to decide how much you're prepared to fork out, and how to make sure Quil ey doesn't stiff you completely.'

"You think it might be worth taking a chance, then?'

'Can you just ignore it?' Ben reluctantly shook his head.

'So there's your answer. But make him give you some idea what it is he's sel ing before you pay him, otherwise he might just take the money and tel you that Kale has Al -Bran for breakfast If he real y does know something, and he's as strapped for cash as he sounds, he'l give you some sort of clue. If he won't then he's probably just trying to rip you off.'

'If he is I'l fucking kil him.' Colin dropped his lemon rind into an ashtray. 'That'l certainly help you get Jacob back, won't it?' The anger died as quickly as it had appeared. After the vacuum of the past two weeks the sudden onslaught of emotions was like eating over-rich food after a fast. 'There's no guarantee that what he tel s me'l help anyway,' he said, despondent again.

"No, but there's only one way you can find out.' Ben stared into his beer but found no inspiration.

'If you decide to risk it you stil shouldn't let him think you're too eager. He'l only try to screw you for as much as he can if you do.'

'He warned me not to leave it too long.'

'He's hardly going to tel you there's no rush, is he? I'd make the bastard sweat for a day or two. Play it cooL' Colin looked at his watch. 'Sorry, I'm, er, going to have to go.'

'Where are you meeting her?' Colin tried to hide his awkwardness with activity, putting his glass on the cigarette machine, slipping on his overcoat. 'Just some restaurant in Soho.

Not Lebanese,' he added, wryly.

'What have you told Maggie?' He regretted the question immediately. Colin looked momentarily stricken. 'She thinks I'm working late. What a cliche, eh?' He smiled wanly. 'Let me know what happens.' Ben said he would. He watched him walk out of the pub, the expensive coat stil wet on the shoulders, the thinning hair now becoming an actual bald patch, and hoped he hadn't spoiled his mood. Then he thought about Maggie, at home with the two boys, and felt sorry for her too. He hoped for Colin's sake the girl was worth it. He began feeling sorry for her as wel before he caught himself.

Fuck it, he thought, resisting the drift towards self-pity.

Who am I to feel sorry for anyone? .

He finished his beer. Then, because it was stil snowing outside and he had nothing better to do, he bought himself another.

He fol owed Colin's advice for a whole day before he gave in and phoned Quil ey. The resurgence of hope had unsettled him, and when he heard the mechanical tones of an answerphone the anticlimax was kil ing. He waited ten minutes and tried again, with no more success. He continued trying throughout the afternoon, but each time was greeted by the secretary's recorded voice tel ing him to leave his name and number. He hung up without speaking. When there was no answer by the early evening he accepted that he would have to wait until the next morning.

He got the answerphone then as wel .

This time he left a message, brusquely tel ing Quil ey to cal . After that he felt better for a while, knowing he had committed himself. It was up to the detective now.

But Quil ey didn't get in touch.

Ben waited another day before he rang again. He phoned from home, and then from the studio, where he and Zoe were preparing for a shoot. He was so accustomed to hearing the recording that it took him by surprise when someone answered.

The secretary sounded even more truculent than he remembered.

'He's not here,' she snapped when he asked for the detective. She didn't enlarge.

'When wil he be back?'

'No idea.' Wil it be later today or tomorrow?' Tve told you, I don't know.' He tried not to lose his temper. 'Is there another number where I can get hold of him?' There was a bitter laugh. 'Not unless you want to ring the hospital.'

'He's in hospital?' Some of his paranoia receded at hearing there were no darker motives behind the detective's absence.

'What's the matter with him?'

'He got beaten up.' The paranoia returned. 'Who did it?'

'How should I know?'

'When did it happen?'

'I don't know, a couple of days ago,' she snapped. 'Look, it's no good asking me anything. I don't work for him any more. He owes me two months' wages, and I bet I'm real y going to see that now he's stuck in there. I've only come in to col ect some things. I don't even know why I bothered to pick up the phone.' He sensed she was about to hang up. 'Just tel me which hospital he's in.' She gave an irritable sigh, but told him before she broke the connection. Ben slowly set down the receiver. There were probably dozens of people who would like to give Quil ey a

kicking, he told himself. It didn't necessarily mean anything.

He could have been mugged, even.

But he didn't believe that.

The shoot wasn't scheduled for a couple of hours. He promised Zoe that he'd be back in plenty of time and drove to the hospital. It took him a while to locate Quil ey's ward.

He'd been prepared to make up some story so he'd be al owed to see him, but it was al -day visiting. No one stopped him as he walked in.

The detective's bed was half screened by striped curtains.

He didn't appear to notice Ben. He was lying flat on his back and wore a creased blue hospital gown. A drip fed into his arm from the chrome stand beside him. His face was so blackened with bruising it looked as though he'd been burnt. A dressing was taped across his nose, and another covered one ear. The hair around it had been shaved. An old man's silver stubble frosted his hol owed cheeks and the loose wattles of his throat.

He was staring at the ceiling. He glanced briefly at Ben when he reached the bedside, then away again. He showed neidier recognition nor interest.

"Your secretary told me where you were,' Ben said.

Quil ey didn't respond.

'It's Ben Murray,' Ben added, not sure how aware the man was.

'I know who you are.' The voice was a weak croak. Quil ey's gaze remained fixed above him.'Some of his front teeth were missing, Ben noticed. He sat on the armrest of the vinyl chair. 'Have you told the police?' There was no response. You told him you'd found something out, didn't you? What did you do, say you'd tel me if he didn't pay you? Then what? Were you going to go with whoever offered the most, or take money from both of us? Except Kale beat the shit out of you instead.' Quil ey didn't look at him, but his chin was quivering.

Ben leaned nearer. A smel of antiseptic and unwashed body came from the bed. What did you find out?' The detective stared resolutely at the ceiling. The tremor in his mouth grew more pronounced. His Adam's apple looked as though it would break through the skin as he swal owed.

Til pay you,' Ben said.

Quil ey closed his eyes. A tear ran out from the corner of one and ran sideways towards his ear.

'Please. It's important. Was it something about Kale?' It seemed that Quil ey was going to ignore this also. Then he moved his head fractional y from side to side.

"What, then? His wife? I know she has men round while Kale's at work. Is that it? Or is it something else?' There was no further movement Ben took a deep breath, trying to control his frustration. Why won't you tel me? Because you're frightened of him?' The detective turned his head away.

Ben stood up. He'd thought he'd feel some satisfaction in seeing the man broken. He didn't, but he didn't feel any pity either. He walked away from the bed without another word. On the way out he stopped at the nurses' station. A plump young nurse was writing behind it. She looked up as Ben approached.