Driftnet (12 page)

He didn’t look
surprised.

‘No Hail
Marys?’

‘No Hail
Marys,’ she agreed.

He shut the
curtains but daylight still seeped through, bathing the room in
lazy light. The bed sheets were white and when he threw back the
covers the whiteness leapt up at her.

‘I changed the
bed,’ he said, reading her face.

Chrissy looked
at the bed, then at him.

‘Too risky,
eh?’ His voice was without accusation.

Chrissy ran the
risks over in her mind like a good scientific officer, then
dismissed them.

‘I haven’t
changed my mind,’she said.

He took off his
clothes and stood naked while he undressed her. His body was
boyish, waist and hips narrow, chest smooth. She felt embarrassed
to touch him so she tried to make it into a joke by telling him she
hadn’t been to bed with anyone since she gave up for Lent a year
before.

‘Then I’ll have
to make it worth your while,’ he murmured.

He found her
mouth and touched it lightly, then slid slowly down circling her
breasts, pulling at her nipples, down down to breathe softly
against the springy hair until her body rose towards him. Then he
lifted her legs and lay between them and his tongue began to
explore her. When she called out in pleasure, he pulled himself up
beside her.

‘Okay?’

‘Better than
okay.’

He reached
under the pillow and pulled out a condom, tearing the packet open
with his teeth.

He slipped
inside and rocked her like a baby until she cried, the tears
running saltily down her cheeks and into her mouth.

‘You were right
to wait for me,’ he said as he wiped the tears away with his thumb.
‘I wasn’t this good in second year,’ and she laughed and cried at
the same time.

Afterwards he
propped the pillows up and they sat side by side watching the
breeze teasing the curtain’s edge into fluttering motion. Chrissy
felt happy. It was an unfamiliar feeling.

‘My toes are
tingling,’ she said.

‘I get to the
parts other guys can’t reach.’

She elbowed him
jokingly in the ribs and he made a show of rolling off the bed in
agony before padding over to the bathroom. Chrissy folded her hands
on her belly and didn’t want to be anywhere else.

Chrissy had
first opened her legs, as her mother put it, when she was eighteen.
It had been a great disappointment. It had been after a dance at
the Catholic Social Club with some random guy. Chrissy was fed up
saving herself for some future husband. Virginity had lost its
currency, however Father Riley whinnied on about hell. From what
her friends told her, Father Riley was heading there himself.

‘Stop it.’ Neil
was peeking round the bathroom door at her, dripping all over the
floor.

‘What?’

‘Thinking.’

He sounded like
her mother.

‘Come on,’ he
shouted, heading back into the shower, ‘I’ll give your back a
scrub.’

They stood
together, the water parting above their heads and running down
their backs. He put his nose to hers and she could see the water on
his eyelashes.

‘I’m starving,’
he said, ‘are you ready for that curry or do you fancy another
go?’

‘You or a
poppadom you mean?’ she said.

He caught her
eye and bent to lift her nipple into his mouth.

Chapter
15

The flickering
computer screen was the only light in the room. Gavin was absorbed
in responding to line after line of commands, none of which meant a
thing to Rhona.

‘You really
like this sort of thing, don’t you?’ she said.

‘Sad. Isn’t
it?’ He pulled a face.

‘It’s not that
different from what I do. Find clues and want to know what they
mean.’

‘Yes, I suppose
it is.’

Rhona had
broached the subject of making a computer search during their
second meal together. When Gavin had asked her out again she had
agreed, ignoring the internal voice telling her that finding Liam
wasn’t her only motive for accepting.

‘Maybe we can
get to the sweet, this time,’ he said. ‘The ice cream’s great.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Only
joking.’

She had been
deliberately vague when she raised the subject, between mouthfuls
of blueberry sorbet. If she gave him some information, might he be
able to trace someone’s current whereabouts?

Gavin
transferred his attention from his chocolate chip and banana.

‘That
depends.’

Her face
fell.

‘I mean, it
depends onwhat you have to go on and how long you’re prepared to
search.’

‘A name, a date
of birth and place of birth. Would that be enough?’

‘Might be.
Depends how old the person is. If they’re paying tax...’

‘No. This
person might not be paying tax.’ She was embarrassed. ‘Not yet,
anyway.’

‘Mmm.’ Gavin
tactfully ignored her evident discomfort. He was interested.
‘Parents paying tax?’

‘Probably.’

‘If you think
this person...’

‘It’s a
boy.’

‘If you think
this boy still lives at home, then we might be able to find him
through his parents.’

‘Oh.’

‘Is there
anything that might make him special? Something that would be
documented somewhere?’

‘Yes. Yes there
is.’

Gavin was
explaining how, after they met in the taxi, he’d spent an hour
tracking her contact details down on his PC.

‘You’re on a
police file. Did you know that?’

She shook her
head.

‘You must have
been vetted when you got your job.’

‘Yes,’ she
remembered. She’d had to sign some sort of form when she accepted
the post at the lab.

‘I could have
looked at the contents of your bank account if I’d wanted, but I
didn’t.’

‘What?’

‘Only joking.
Besides I don’t chase women for their money, only for their
brains.’

Rhona told him
that that was just as well.

‘So what have
you got?’ he said.

Rhona handed
him the piece of paper with Liam’s date of birth, place of birth
and his adopted name.

‘This could
take a while.’

‘That’s
okay.’

‘You want to do
the whole thing tonight?’

She realised he
had hoped to spend at least part of the evening on other
things.

‘I’m sorry. If
it’s a lot of trouble...’

He would either
do it because he was nice, or because he wanted to have sex with
her.

‘Okay,’ he said
and touched her arm. ‘But you might as well go home. I’ll let you
know if I find out anything.’

‘I’d rather
stay,’ she said.

She watched for
a while, her chair close to his. At first he explained everything
he was doing. He started with the main tax centre in East Kilbride
to see if he could find a reference to the adoptive parents in the
tax records. When she looked askance, he told her he had clearance
because he did cyber sleuth work for the police.

‘I don’t want
you to get into trouble.’

He grinned.
‘You won’t. I’m good at this, remember?’

As he became
more absorbed, he gave up explaining what he was accessing and
cross referencing and Rhona drifted off into a light doze. Gavin
must have got her to the couch, because she woke up there later,
feeling very disorientated.

‘Sorry,’ she
said guiltily.

‘Never mind.
Come and see what I’ve found.’

James and
Elizabeth Hope had registered the adoption of a child one month
after the nurse had removed Liam from Rhona’s arms. The baby had
been named Christopher Liam Hope. Edward was right. Liam had no
connection with the murdered student.

Gavin was
struggling to smother a yawn and Rhona suddenly realised how tired
he must be.

‘I’m sorry,’
she said, standing up.

‘What for?’

‘For making you
stay up half the night.’

‘Is this what
you wanted to know?’

She nodded
gratefully, ‘Thanks.’

He met her eyes
speculatively.

‘I’ll get you a
printout.’

There was an
awkward moment while they waited for a taxi to arrive.

‘I’d appreciate
it if you write down what you need then tear up the printout,’
Gavin looked slightly embarrassed.

‘Of
course.’

At the front
door, Gavin kissed her lightly on the cheek. For a moment Rhona
wished she wasn’t going home. Then the moment passed. She thanked
him and climbed inside the cab. Gavin’s warm hand slipped from
hers, the door was shut and she was alone.

Travelling
through the dark and silent city, Rhona thought how quickly Edward
had come up with the evidence she’d asked for. When she’d asked
how, he’d brushed her off. He was a lawyer. Dealing in legal
documents was his business. His voice had been firm but Rhona had
detected an underlying note of alarm. She had rattled Edward and he
wanted her off his back, fast.

The sky was
streaked with dawn as she climbed the stairs to her flat. Her awol
week was nearly over. She would have to go back to work on Monday,
and she would have to admit she hadn’t been in France. Turning the
key in the lock, Rhona wished Sean was asleep in the big bed and
she could climb in and wrap herself round him.

In the gloom of
the hall the dot of green light flashed from the phone but she
didn’t touch the play button. There was already too much to think
about. Any messages could wait till morning. There had been a lull
of three days since she’d heard from Sean and she wondered if he’d
given up on her. Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to call him.
She had to straighten her head out. And she couldn’t do that until
she traced her son.

Rhona locked
the front door and went through to the empty bedroom. Chrissy’s
message, delivered in a high-pitched frightened voice, was left
unheard.

Chapter
16

Chrissy peered
along the road, praying another taxi would appear over the hill,
this time with the orange light on. Two had swept past her in the
last fifteen minutes. After the second disappointment she was so
agitated she began to walk. Her brain was in overdrive, going over
the same ground again and again. She couldn’t help it. She kept
telling herself it didn’t make any difference. She should have told
someone about the welts on Neil’s neck earlier. Rhona, the police,
anyone. But she hadn’t. And now it was too late.

She spotted a
black shadow in the distance and waved wildly. The taxi disappeared
down a dip in the road and when it reappeared fifty yards away, the
‘for hire’ light was off. Chrissy swore in desperation, convinced
it was headed for a phone booking. She was wrong. The taxi drew in
and Chrissy said a silent thank you, threw in her bag and climbed
in.

‘Where to
hen?’

It was eight
hours since Neil had phoned. He had told her not to go near the
flat before midnight. ‘You might meet one of the customers,’ he
said. ‘Get a taxi as far as the pedestrian precinct, then walk the
rest. If anyone bothers you, tell them to fuck off, but don’t go up
the close if anyone’s hanging about. And check for cars. Okay?’

She had
listened in silence, her mind turning somersaults because he
sounded so scared. That made her scared, too.

‘Chrissy?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll see you
soon. And remember, just sound normal, right?’

‘Right.’

She tried. She
left work (ignoring Tony’s quizzical look), went home, had her tea
and said she was going camping for the weekend.

‘That’s new,’
her mother said, giving her a hard look.

Thank God her
father and brothers weren’t there. It was Friday and they were out
on the bevy, as per usual.

She left the
house at nine and went round to a friend’s house until eleven.
Claire was curious about the bag, but Chrissy told her the same
story. She was going camping with some mates from work but they
couldn’t leave until late. She was beginning to believe it
herself.

‘But how will
you manage to put a tent up in the dark?’

‘Oh, there’s
folk up there already,’ she lied.

After she left
for Neil’s, she took it into her head to phone Rhona’s flat,
whatever Neil had said. It wasn’t any use. Rhona wasn’t back
yet.

When Chrissy
asked the taxi driver to stop, he looked concerned as he took the
fare.

‘It’s gey late
to be walking round here hen. Will you be alright on your own?’

She paid him
his fare making a stupid joke about wandering round the red light
district of Glasgow in the early hours of the morning.

‘You and half
of Glasgow, hen,’ he replied with a snort.

Neil’s street
was empty. Chrissy walked past the close entrance as far as the
first side road, just as Neil had told her. She relaxed a bit and
started to walk slowly back. The big expensive engine was so quiet,
the car was beside her before she heard it.

‘Hey lady. You
looking for me?’

She was one
door away from Neil’s close. She swithered. To walk on past might
mean this car following her or...

‘Come on doll.
Help me out.’

The driver
pointed to his bulging crotch.

She shook her
head and turned in at the close entrance.

‘Bitch.’ He
spat after her.

At least the
light had been fixed. Chrissy quickly climbed the stair hoping the
guy in the car wouldn’t take it into his head to follow her. Two
filled condoms lay in the corner of Neil’s landing. This was a
regular venue for someone, maybe the woman he was looking for.

Chrissy reached
up and swept her fingers along the ledge and found the key, where
Neil had said it would be. It turned easily in the lock. As she
pushed the door open Chrissy heard the click of stilettos in the
close and a high pitched giggle of anticipation. The Audi had
struck it lucky.