The Elemental (Blair Dubh Trilogy #1) (6 page)

Craig didn
’t know what to say. She sat there looking at him uncertainly and his mind was a complete blank. However he did get the feeling she was keeping something back from him, she hadn’t explained why she was scared of police.

“
Still so keen to help me now?” she said after a protracted silence.

“
Yes. None of this is your fault. If your mum hadn’t died everything would have been so different.”

“
Would it? No one forced me to drink. The first thing I learned in the support group was to take responsibility for my actions and I have. I chose to go down that path and now I’m dealing with the consequences.”

“
No,” he said heatedly, “I’m not having that.”

She cut him off before he could continue.
“Your clothes are dry,” she said, getting up and pulling the items out of the tumble dryer.

“
Freya…”

“
You’d better get dressed and go before your mum wonders what’s happened to you.”

“
I’m not eleven anymore.”

“
I know but please…this has been hard for me,” she said, biting her lip as tears spilled down her face. She was on the verge of disintegrating and didn’t want him to witness it. She was still smarting after the humiliation of him seeing her collapse at the castle.

“
Okay,” he said. “But before I go just tell me one thing. Is your health okay? Are you on any medication?”

“
I’m not on anything but I did register with the GP practice in West Kilbride, just in case.” West Kilbride was the nearest town just over a mile away.

He nodded, took his clothes from her and headed back into the bathroom to dress. The clothes were soft and warm and smelt nice. When he returned to the kitchen she was once again in control, sat at the kitchen table gripping her mug tightly.

“Thanks Craig,” she said, staring into her drink.

He bent over to kiss the top of her head.
“You’re welcome.”

She kept her gaze fixed on her mug, waiting to hear the bang of the front door before bursting into tears. So much for not crying anymore.

CHAPTER 4

Craig decided to go into work early to do a bit of research. Freya’s story haunted him. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, appalled by what she’d endured.

There were thirty five hospitals in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. He managed to round that down by eliminating the mental health, maternity, dental and specialist units and tracked down Doctor James Pierce, a Registrar in General Medicine, to one of the general hospitals.

“Hello?” said a deep voice after the secretary put him through.

“
Doctor Pierce, my name is Sergeant Donaldson from Strathclyde Police. I’m calling about Freya Macalister.”

“
Is she alright?” he said with genuine concern.

“
She’s fine Sir and she’s not in any trouble. I’m sorry to alarm you.”

“
Thank God for that.”

“
She’s here in Blair Dubh”

“
So she finally went home. She told me she was considering it.”

“
Aye she has. She’s told me everything about her life and I’m concerned about her medical condition.”

“
I appreciate that but I can’t tell you anything, it’s confidential.”

“
Of course but she’s under a lot of pressure here and I want to know what would happen if she did weaken and have a drink.”

“
She can’t, there’s no two ways about it. Did you say your name was Donaldson?”

“
Yes, Craig Donaldson.”

“
Her best friend. She told me about you.”

“
She told me about you too.”

“
And you’re a police officer? She must really trust you to open up to you like that after what PC Docherty did to her. She was terrified of police after that bastard.”

“
PC Docherty?”

There was a hesitation on the other end.
“She didn’t tell you about him?”

“
No.”

“
Oh Christ, what have I said?”

“
Could you tell me about it?”

“
Absolutely not. If Freya hasn’t told you then she must have her reasons.”

Craig didn
’t want to press the issue in case he ended the call. “Like I said, I’m more concerned about her medical condition.”

“
I know she acts tough and independent but she does need someone to lean on. She pushed me away but I hope you’ll be there for her.”

“
I will.”

“
She’s fought against the alcohol so hard and she’s winning, but it will be a lifelong battle, she must always be on her guard. Hopefully her homecoming will help her finally get over the past but it might go the other way and break her. I’ll give you my mobile number, you can call me any time. I can be there in under two hours.”

Craig scribbled down his number as he rhymed it off.
“I’ll let you know if there are any problems.”

“
I appreciate that.” He hesitated before adding, “Freya thought I only wanted to help her because I felt guilty about introducing her to drink and even though I do, that’s not it at all. I truly do love her but she’s so buried in self loathing she can’t see any good in herself.”

“
She told me she loves you too.” There was a long pause and Craig could picture the good doctor on the other end pressing a hand to his head, attempting to control his raging emotions. “Do her a favour Doctor Pierce, don’t mess her about. You’re engaged.”

“
I wouldn’t hurt her for the world.”

Craig felt sorry for both James and Freya. He could only imagine what the pair of them had endured at such a young age, forced to destroy something they had created together then torn apart by ambitious parents. It had traumatised them both.

“Keep her safe, won’t you Craig?”

“
I will, I promise.”

After he hung up Craig wondered why James had opened up to him so readily about his feelings for Freya. Maybe because there was no one else he could discuss them with and he needed to unburden himself?

Next Craig rang round a couple of colleagues who worked in the Glasgow force. The first had never heard of PC Docherty or Freya Macalister, but the second had. Sergeant Williams knew them both all too well.

“
So Freya’s back home, is she? I’d heard she’d got clean and I was pleased for her. I know about what happened to her mum when she was a kid and I always felt sorry for her. Give her my best.”

“
I will. What happened with PC Docherty?”

“
That prick? He was one dirty bastard. Although it took time to prove the case against him, we all knew what he was doing.”

“
And what was that?” said Craig, trying to contain his impatience.

“
He was a sadistic arsehole who liked to terrorise women. He thought he had the right to beat the shit out of them. Freya was getting into lots of trouble at the time, namely fighting and stealing. Unfortunately she did it on his patch. The first time he arrested her for drunk and disorderly she spent a night in the cells and was released the next day, no big deal. But the second time he nicked her for fighting she made the mistake of back-chatting him. He cuffed her and beat the crap out of her. Of course he didn’t dare bring her back to the station in that state so he just dumped her under a railway bridge. She made a complaint but it was just her word against his and guess who the powers-that-be believed? So when he did it again she didn’t bother reporting it, but that didn’t stop him doing it.”

“
Jesus.”

“She wasn’t his only victim, he liked to attack good looking women and Freya was so pretty with her blond hair and green eyes. He got his rocks off beating them, liked to hear them beg him to stop. Really twisted shit. For a period of about six months Freya had permanent black eyes and bruises. She even lost her job because she kept turning up looking like hell and ringing in sick. She started dying her hair black to try and disguise herself to try and get away from him. I caught her nicking a bottle of hair dye from a shop and I felt so bad for the poor little cow I let her go and keep the bottle, told everyone she’d got away. Whenever I asked who was hurting her she just looked terrified and refused to speak. When I realised it was the uniform she was scared of I knew it was one of us.”

Craig recalled her extreme reaction to his jacket and thought that explained a lot.

“Freya was one of Docherty’s favourite victims and after a few months of this she really started to disintegrate, constantly drunk, fighting. It was probably an effort for her just to keep breathing. Anyway, Docherty was caught dealing. Apparently he was taking drugs from suspects and selling them on himself. They tried doing him for the assaults too. The DCI here finally managed to persuade Freya and two other women to testify against him. It was brave of them because they were terrified. The defence tore the other two girls to pieces on the stand, they had records, troubled pasts. But Freya was determined to see him go down for it. The defence counsel tried every trick in the book to trip her up but she stuck to her story and he couldn’t break her. Docherty was found guilty of attacking her and the other two women as well as the drugs charges. He was chucked off the force and into Barlinnie. Good fucking riddance.”

Craig thanked his friend then hung up, feeling sick.

“Sarge, are you okay? You don’t look too good,” said a young PC.

Without bothering to reply Craig got to his feet and rushed into the bathroom. After checking it was empty he locked himself in one of the stalls and buried his face in his hands. No wonder she hadn
’t wanted to tell him about PC Docherty, being a police officer himself. It was because of that bastard that she’d started wearing all the black clothes and make-up, building up her defences against the world just to make herself feel a little safer. Then some small-minded moron had taunted her because of it and she’d ended up inside. Craig suddenly felt furious at the whole crappy world. He thought of that little blond girl who was always full of smiles and laughter, who’d been so clever and helped him with his schoolwork. That beautiful wee bairn had been annihilated by violent, disgusting people and he determined to do all in his power to help her put that horrible past behind her.

Lizzy waddled up the road like a penguin, her heavy body encased in a white coat, the hood pulled up, only her eyes and nose visible.

“
Why are you all standing out here like lemons instead of getting into the warm?” she asked the crowd assembled outside Catriona’s cottage.

“
She’s not opening up,” replied Howard, a short rotund man with shaggy dark hair. He was one of Catriona’s most ardent admirers. “I’m getting a bit worried. The Blair Book Club meets here every Friday evening, regular as clockwork. She’s never missed a meeting yet in two years.”

They all groaned in unison.

“We know Howard, we’ve all been coming since it started, remember?” said Martin Lynch, the local GP, a handsome man with light brown hair, hazel eyes and a smile that drew his female patients back again and again with the most minor of complaints.

“
She’s probably hiding from you,” the fourth member of the group said, addressing Howard. Toby was the opposite to Howard; tall with sparse grey hair and a hooked nose. He was also Howard’s main rival for Catriona’s affections, although in years of trying neither of them had got anywhere with her. She treated them more like favoured pets than potential partners.

“
Let’s just get in there,” urged Brenda Miller, a large middle-aged woman shrouded in a bright pink coat. She had a constant wheeze due to her chronic asthma. “She knows we’re coming, she probably lost track of time.”

“
I don’t think you should, Catriona is very specific about her space,” replied Howard firmly, placing himself before the front door like a sentry.

“
She won’t mind, she knows we’re coming. Get out of the way,” said Lizzy, shoving the little man aside with one big arm and opening the door.

“
Catriona really won’t like this,” huffed Howard, managing to remain upright and straightening his tie in an attempt to salvage some dignity.

“
She’ll be fine, stop fretting,” said Lizzy, stepping inside. “Hello Catriona, just us,” she called.

Silence greeted her.

Lizzy remained on the threshold, for some reason not wanting to venture in any further. The house was too quiet and it made her uneasy. The lamps were on, casting a welcoming honey glow, the fire was lit warming the house, but the place felt empty.

“
What’s going on? Come on, it’s freezing out here,” complained Brenda, wrapping her arms about herself and stamping her feet.

Lizzy stepped aside, allowing the others to enter.

“Catriona, I’m sorry about this, I told them you wouldn’t want anyone to come in but they wouldn’t listen,” called Howard, striding through the house as though he owned it. He entered the kitchen and frowned, convinced he’d find her in there organising the buffet she always put on for their meetings and nonplussed when she was nowhere to be seen. The food however was; a couple of flans and some vol-au-vents still in boxes waiting to go into the oven.

Brenda walked in and frowned.
“I
knew
she didn’t make the food herself.”

“
Why isn’t it in the oven? Catriona is always ready. This isn’t like her,” said Toby.

The others entered the kitchen too, followed by Lizzy, who had finally plucked up the courage to delve deeper into the house.
“I don’t like this. Something’s wrong,” she said.

The five of them stared at each other in silence.

“Catriona,” yelled Howard, panicking and causing everyone to jump.

“
Stop it you arse,” scolded Toby, putting a hand to his heart. “You scared the shite out of me.”

“
Lizzy’s right, something’s wrong,” replied the little man, bobbing out of the room. “Catriona.”

He rushed down the hall towards the bedrooms, the cottage all on one level, the others following. When he came to an abrupt halt the rest of the group almost fell over each other as they were forced to abruptly stop.

“What if she’s in her bedroom?” whispered Howard. “It wouldn’t be seemly for me to…”

“
Jeezo, I’ve had enough of this. Move it,” said Brenda determinedly, pushing past him and opening the first door they came to. It opened into a sumptuous room, the big dark wood sleigh bed swathed in deep red satin covers, scarves draped everywhere. It smelt of her perfume, an unusual but very pleasant scent distinctive to Catriona. Howard and Toby gazed into the room with awe, as though it was the promised land, the place they’d always aspired to be.

“
Bathroom next,” said Brenda quietly. Now they all knew she hadn’t just fallen asleep and forgotten the time they realised something was very wrong. “What if she’s slipped in the shower and banged her head?”