Stalked By Shadows (17 page)

‘That must be Tess Maguire,’ Millie said.

‘She’s the other woman?’

‘She phoned to speak to Will while I was there. Lucy wasn’t impressed. Touch of the green-eyed monster, I think.’

Occasionally the two sang backing harmony to Leigh Hawkins, and when they did they shared the mic, standing close to one another, often Will’s hand at the young woman’s back, and as they moved back and forth across the stage, in and out of the songs, they exchanged frequent intimate glances.

‘He’s not behaving much like a newly married man, is he?’ observed Millie.

The performance ended at close to eleven thirty and afterwards, while Mariner went to find the gents, Millie queued by the table at the back of the room to buy a CD. She purposely joined the line nearest to Will, but had to wait some time, as the woman ahead of her was clearly a long-time fan.

‘Back again then, Sally.’ Will turned his pearly smile on her.

‘Of course,’ the woman twittered. ‘You were fabulous as always.’ She picked up one of the CDs. ‘Will you sign it for me. I’ve already got that one, but I can’t go away empty handed.’ Having paid for the CD, Sally produced a camera. ‘One for the album?’ Will dutifully posed, then she turned and handed Millie the camera. ‘Would you mind?’ Before Millie could respond, Sally was round to the other side of the table, her arm gripped tightly around Will, her face pressed close to his. Millie focused and snapped. To Will’s credit, he seemed totally relaxed about it all, though the woman must have been too close to be comfortable.

‘See you again soon, darling,’ she said, holding Will’s hand for much too long and squeezing it tight, until finally relinquishing it.

‘You take care now.’ Will smiled, turning to Millie, brows raised.

‘You have a fan,’ Millie observed.

‘Yeah.’ Will gave a wry smile. ‘Thankfully just the one. Sally’s pretty harmless though.’

Millie handed over the money for her chosen CD. ‘Your wife is Lucy, right?’

He looked up in surprise, the smile in place. ‘Yeah, you know her?’

‘Kind of. I’m the police officer who’s investigating the nuisance phone calls she’s been getting.’

There was a definite reaction in those dark eyes, but Jarrett recovered quickly. ‘I didn’t know she’d got you guys involved,’ he said casually. ‘You really think there’s something in them?’

‘I think there’s something bothering your wife, and I’d like to try to find out what it is,’ Millie said pleasantly.

The smile had faded somewhat. ‘That’s very conscientious of you.’

‘It’s my job,’ Millie said lightly.

Mariner caught up with Millie as she walked away.

‘Do you think that was wise?’

‘I wanted to make him squirm a bit.’

‘What if he goes back and takes it out on Lucy?’

Millie stopped and turned. The thought clearly hadn’t crossed her mind. ‘He wouldn’t, would he?’

‘It wouldn’t be very sensible, especially now that he knows we’re watching him,’ said Mariner. ‘But it might complicate things.’

Sally, Will’s fan, was hovering in the car park close to an ornately decorated transit van when they emerged from the pub. ‘Waiting for another glimpse,’ she confessed. ‘Don’t you think he’s just gorgeous?’

‘You know he’s married.’ Millie said gently.

‘Ah, but for how long?’ Sally grinned, a little manically Millie thought. ‘I mean, she seems like a nice woman but she’s bound to get fed up with the travelling, isn’t she?’

‘You’ve met his wife?’

‘Not met exactly. Will introduced her at one of the gigs. The novelty must have worn off, though - she doesn’t come along any more. A long way to come, I suppose.’

‘Have you come far?’ Mariner asked. ‘Can we drop you somewhere?’

‘Oh no, thank you. That’s my little car there.’ She pointed across the way to a light-coloured compact hatchback. They should have known it was hers. There were Leigh Hawkins stickers all over the rear window. ‘And I don’t live too far away. South Birmingham, in Kings Heath. Do you know it?’

‘A little,’ Mariner said.

‘It’s not far from where Will lives as a matter of fact.’

‘You know where he lives?’ Millie said.

‘Oh, I’ve driven past a few times, and seen his van on the drive. I couldn’t help myself.’

They left her standing outside in the freezing air.

‘Christ, she’s a bit scary,’ said Mariner, under his breath, when they were on the other side of the car park.

‘Will thinks she’s harmless,’ Millie said.

‘I’d say she’s got the motive and the opportunity.’

‘And now I’ve got her registration number,’ Millie said, snapping shut her notebook.

‘Good. I’ll see you in the morning.’

It was well after midnight when Mariner got home, but the house was dark and empty; Kat was still out. This was a first and, combined with what he’d seen earlier, it bothered him. Where the hell was she? Was she still with Giles? What were they doing? He moved on from that one. It had been a long day, but, even though he was shattered, Mariner didn’t want to go to bed. He paced around a bit then made himself a coffee, paced around some more, while it went cold, then tipped it down the sink.

‘This is stupid,’ he told himself. ‘She’s twenty years old, a grown woman.’ He went upstairs and brushed his teeth and got undressed, then came down and paced around yet again. Eventually, fatigue forced him into bed, but he couldn’t sleep and lay awake listening. Finally, at two fifteen am, he heard a car draw up outside, footsteps and voices, followed by the clunk of the front door closing. After that it went quiet, so at least Giles hadn’t come in with her. Mariner padded down the stairs and found Kat in the hallway, standing precariously on one leg, trying none too successfully to take off her left shoe without falling over.

‘Hello, Tom. You’re awake.’ She grinned widely, though she seemed to be having some difficulty focusing on him.

‘And you appear to be drunk,’ Mariner observed, stating only what was obvious.

‘I jus’ had a little drink.’ Concentrating hard, she held up her finger and thumb, half an inch apart.

That wasn’t all. The herby smell of weed wafted towards him along the hall. ‘Good night?’ he asked.

‘It was great!’ She straightened up, stumbling a little.

‘You’re late home.’

‘After we go to club we go to a guy’s house for party.’

‘Where?’

‘I don’t know. An apartment. It’s groovy I think, and wicked, very wicked.’ She giggled again. Dumping her second shoe with a clonk, she wobbled towards him, but at the last minute missed her footing and fell against him, giggling. Her hand slid under his T-shirt, landing on his bare stomach. Mariner drew breath involuntarily.

‘Oh.’ Kat gazed drunkenly up at him. ‘You like that? You like me to do something for you?’

‘No!’ Appalled, Mariner wriggled free and backed away from her. ‘Go to bed, Kat.’

Lucy Jarrett couldn’t sleep either. She had been sick again earlier in the evening; the anticipation of an evening alone enough to make her ill now. She’d spoken to her mother on the phone earlier, and the instant she’d replaced the receiver the phone had rung again; silence at the other end. She’d spent the rest of evening with the phones unplugged, but for the last couple of hours had been more jumpy than ever. Where was Will? Their gig tonight wasn’t exactly on the doorstep, but it was near enough for him to come home if he wanted to, and it must have ended hours ago. It was a long time since she’d seen him play. When they’d first met he was keen that she should go along; she felt that he was showing off to her, but then after the time he’d caught her yawning during a set he’d actively discouraged her from going.

‘You’re bored, of course you are,’ he’d told her. ‘One gig is pretty much like another, and you’ve been working all day. You don’t have to come along, really.’ At the time it had seemed like genuine empathy, though now she doubted that. But she’d taken him at his word and, even when he was performing just a few miles away, she stayed at home and waited for him. And it did have its upsides. Often when he came home after playing he was on fire, pumped to the brim with adrenalin. It was when their lovemaking had been at its most passionate, and that was saying something. But not lately. Not since the calls had started. Was that down to him, or her? DC Khatoon had planted the seeds of doubt about Will, making Lucy realise how little she knew about him. When they first met she’d been mesmerised by him, even she could see that. But it had seemed mutual. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. When had that changed?

She was actually dozing off when the headlight beams swept across the lounge and she heard the sound of Will’s transit pulling into the drive. Weak with relief, she was at the front door before he had even got out of the van, but she could tell as soon as he got out that something was wrong.

‘Good gig?’ she asked as he brushed past her and into the hallway.

‘It was different,’ he said, dumping down his things. He turned to glower at her before going into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and took out a beer.

She trailed him in there. ‘How do you mean?’ Lucy asked. This sounded personal, though she couldn’t imagine what it could possibly have to do with her.

‘Thanks to you, I’ve been under surveillance from the police all night.’

‘What? How do you know?’

‘One of them introduced herself to me at the end and said that she knew you.’ His voice was even but the fury was evident in the twitching muscle in his jaw. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you went to the police? I hate being put on the spot like that.’

‘Because I didn’t -’ Lucy whimpered. ‘At least I did, but then I thought about what you said, about it probably being just kids, and realised how stupid it all was and I asked them to forget it.’

‘So what were they doing there?’ Will demanded.

‘Maybe it was just coincidence.’ She gave a nervous laugh. ‘Maybe they like folk music.’

Will just looked at her. ‘You think I was born yesterday?’

Lucy capitulated, her resistance gone. ‘Someone reported us to them,’ she said listlessly.

‘What? When?’

‘When we had that row on Tuesday night,’ Lucy said weakly. ‘The police got a phone call from someone saying that I was being attacked. Someone must have been watching. Someone
is
watching me, Will. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. The policewoman, Millie -’

‘An Asian woman?’

‘Yes, she came to see me. I’ve been getting all these things in the post, and all these emails. They think there’s something going on.’
They believe me,
she wanted to say, but something in Will’s expression stopped her.

‘And what exactly do they think is “going on”?’

‘That someone is trying to frighten me!’ she exclaimed.

‘And they think it’s me?’

‘Of course not!’ Did the denial sound as false to Will’s ears as it did to her own? ‘They’re talking to everyone I know. It’s what they do.’

‘Well, now they’ve talked to me,’ Will said. ‘And it’s not going to happen again any time soon.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘This situation is getting too crazy for me. I need to get some stuff off the computer then I’m out of here.’

‘You can’t.’

Will regarded her coolly. ‘I think you’ll find that I can.’

‘No, I mean the computer. They’ve taken it away to look at.’

‘What?’ Will took a step back and Lucy couldn’t help it, she flinched in anticipation.

‘It’s because of the emails I’ve been getting,’ she said. ‘They had to take it away to trace them.’

Will’s expression had changed subtly. Could she see panic in his eyes now? ‘The details of the band’s itinerary, the confirmations are on there.’

‘Is that all?’ Instantly she regretted the question.

‘What kind of a fucking question is that?’ He moved towards her, but then changed his mind, turning and storming out into the hall, where he picked up his bag and jacket again. ‘Jesus, Lucy, I don’t know what’s got into you. Or maybe you always were this way but I didn’t see it before.’

‘Where are you going?’ Lucy pleaded, hating the desperation in her voice. ‘I was going to run you a nice hot bath.’

‘I’m going some place I can relax,’ Will said. ‘Where I don’t feel persecuted.’

‘Back to Tess?’

He stopped in his tracks and turned back to her. ‘Oh, so that’s what this is all about. You’re jealous, of Tess?’

‘No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -’

But he didn’t wait for her explanation. He marched out of the house, slamming the door hard behind him.

Wrenching the door open again, Lucy called after him. ‘Will, please, I didn’t mean it! Come back so we can talk about this!’ But he was already reversing out of the drive. As she watched the tail-lights of his van disappearing round the bend in the road, Lucy shuddered. A gust of wind blew up and, feeling suddenly exposed, she stepped back in and slammed the door, then leaned her back against it. Was he out there? Were the police about to arrive on her doorstep again? Part of her hoped they would, because at least then for a moment she’d feel safe again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN