Thursday's Child (16 page)

“She’s my niece, but yeah. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I woke and found this man standing by the bed. He had my Filofax in his hand. I screamed, and he hit me twice. When I came too, I rang Liam. Jared answered. Then he was here.”

“OK. Sit tight for a few. Can I borrow Jared to see if anything was taken?”

Niamh nodded, then raised a hand to her head. “That was silly…”

Jared glanced up, torn between wanting to help and not wanting to leave his wife. “I—”

Liam plumped down next to her. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t move. Go and help Nate as much as you can.”

He pushed to his feet. “OK.” Blue lights flashed outside the window. As he got to the door, two uniformed officers stood on the porch. “That was fast.”

“We can be,” Nate said dryly. He looked at one of the officers. “Ben, I want you to take Mrs. Harkin’s statement. Philip, you’re with me. Jared, where did you find her?”

“Collapsed on the floor half out of the bathroom. The trail of blood looks like it goes to the bedroom.” He gratefully let Nate take charge and then led Nate and one of the officers up the stairs.

“I’m not sure what help I’ll be.” He glanced at Nate. “We’ve essentially been separated a while now and the past couple of weeks I’ve been staying at Liam’s to help him redecorate.” He caught the glint in Nate’s eye. “I know, that makes me suspect number one, but I was with Liam all evening. Patrick also came over to help wallpaper the hall. He brought pizza with him.”

They went into Niamh’s room and Jared paused as he realized what a mess it was. “Besides, someone wants her dead, and that definitely isn’t me.”

In the mirror he caught the exchange of glances between Nate and the uniformed officer. Nate frowned. “I’m sorry? That sounded like someone wants her dead.”

“She’s been getting death threats at work. SOCO were investigating the car crash, but we haven’t heard anything back.”

“Check that out, will you?” Nate ordered.

The uniformed officer raised his radio, speaking rapidly into it.

Jared pushed a hand through his hair. “You didn’t know?”

“No,” Nate said. “Your address should have been flagged. Once we’re done here, I need to talk to you both about the threats.”

“I’ll tell you what I can, but Niamh doesn’t remember anything from before the car crash. That’s partly why I’m not living here—though I’ll tell you for nothing, that’s changing from tonight.”

****

Niamh glanced at Jared as he drove her into work. He’d done a lot of insisting since they got home from the hospital in the early hours of the morning. He’d insisted on sleeping in the spare room, and tried to insist she take the day off work. When she’d been adamant on going in, he’d insisted on driving her himself and cancelling her car.

Now he had a contemplative look on his face that probably meant he was going to insist on something else. Despite that, it was kind of cute.

“You look serious, Jared. What are you thinking?”

“I don’t want you working.”

“The doctor said it was a mild concussion. He didn’t say not to work. I’m not letting some goon scare me off. Something is going on, and I think it has something to do with work.”

“You think?”

She twisted in her seat. “Jared, I wish that blow to my head had brought my memories back, but it didn’t. But one thing I do know for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“I feel a lot safer having you around.”

“Safer?” His voice had an edge to it.

“Not just safer.” She backtracked a little. “I like having you around. I like spending time with you. I—”

He parked the car and turned his intent gaze on her. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and her heart pounded.

Is this what falling in love means? That giddy head over heels, wow he’s looking at me feeling I have right now? The intense bereft feeling when he is no longer by my side? Why did I let things between us get so bad? Will he ever take me back?

“I should go so you can get into work on time,” he said slowly. “I’ll come by the house later, if that’s OK?”

“Of course it is.” She reached for the crutches, ignoring the twinge in her heart and just going with the change of subject. “Should get rid of these tomorrow, or replace them with a cane or something. Assuming the cast comes off.”

“Can you get someone to drive you back home?”

“Yeah, the usual guy will bring me home. Will you be in later? I could cook.”

“I’d like that. Should be back around seven.”

“Sounds good.”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye.” She smiled and got out of the car.

Niamh made her way inside and went straight up to Alan’s office. She knocked and opened the door. “Are you busy? I need to talk to you.”

Alan put the phone down. “Good morning, Niamh, Likewise. Sit down. You first.”

She eased into the chair. “The house was broken into last night. I got hit over the head, spent a couple of hours in the ED.”

“I heard. That was DS Holmes on the phone. You shouldn’t be here.”

“That’s what Jarrie said. But like I told him, I’m not being scared off here. There’s something going on, and I’m not going to sit idly by and let it happen. God will keep me safe.”

“You can take that too far. What if God decides now’s the time for you to join Him in heaven? He didn’t stop you being hit over the head last night.”

Niamh bristled. “Maybe so, but the bloke who broke in didn’t do anything other than hit me. Besides, if He wants me, I could die in my sleep at home. Or He could have let me die in that car crash.”

A wry smile crossed Alan’s face. “Good point. OK. SOCO finally got back to me. It seems a certain DS Holmes got someone up in the middle of the night to chase up your case.”

“He said he would. And?”

“I didn’t like what I heard. Nor did he and neither will you. It confirms what the CCTV images showed. Someone tampered with your car and cut the brakes about fifteen minutes before you got into your car and left. Had I not caught you in the lift and delayed you, it’s likely you’d have caught them doing it.”

“I thought the only people with access to the car park were people who worked for the CPS. Everyone else has to use the public parking facility at the front of the building.”

“It is. Hence this case is now in the hands of the police.”

Niamh folded her arms. Why hadn’t the CCTV images come up before this? Or had they just not told her about them? Either way she wasn’t going to push it, so long as they were being taken into consideration now. “Fair enough. What I don’t understand is why, if the Acre case was over, did someone decide to cut my brakes? Surely it’d make more sense to do it before I got him locked up?”

“You were pursuing another line of enquiry. Files were going missing, and you were making progress on finding out who was taking them. Have you remembered anything about that?”

Her brown creased in thought. “I don’t think so, no. So, what happens now? I assume I’m back in the firing line.”

“The police will arrange for an officer to either stay in your place or outside it. A car will continue to drive you to and from here and to the court.”

“OK, but the police stay outside. Jarrie stayed in the spare room last night, and I’m going to get him to move back in. It’s his home, too.”

Alan smiled over the file.

“What?”

“You called him Jarrie. That’s the second time since you walked in here.”

“And? It’s his name isn’t it?”

“You’re the only person to ever call him that. You came up with the name shortly after you got married.”

Her heart leapt. “Really? I…no one told me that.”

Alan’s smile grew. “Yeah. You see there is hope for the rest of your memories yet.”

“Yeah.” Niamh took a deep breath. “Anyway, back to these threats.”

“You also received another death threat this morning. It came to the office, addressed to me.” He handed over the letter. “This is a copy. The police have the original.”

You should have let things be, Mrs. Harkin. You leave this case alone or you will die. Last night was a warning. We know where you live, where you work. We’re watching you
.

She read it and shivered. She had no idea why someone would want her dead. Thick slanting handwriting, probably a calligraphy pen she decided. Possibly a left hander from the way the letters were smudged, but that wasn’t any help.

She gave it back to Alan. “Friendly person, isn’t he? What kind of paper was it written on?”

“The same paper as all the others. From one of the yellow lined legal pads we use all the time.”

“But why?” Her brow furrowed. “What did I ever do that was so wrong? Is it really this case or did I send his mother down for speeding and he’s just out for revenge and he’s using this case as a convenient excuse.”

“We have no idea. They started with the Acre case—the one you won the day of the car crash. Obviously whoever is sending them, knows you’re back at work and is afraid you’ll catch them.”

“Who knows about the letters?”

“I do and Toby does. And now the police.” He held out a file. “This murder case came in late last night. Toby and I want you to take it. He’s going to work with you, but you’ll take the lead.”

Niamh took the file. “Is that a good idea?”

“I thought you just said you weren’t bothered by the death threats.”

“I’m not. I was thinking more along the lines of what you said about not trusting someone who can’t remember last month.”

“That was five weeks ago,” he winked. “Seriously, I trust you. You’re the best person for this one. But Gina Luckett was found dead the day after your car crash. She’d been hung, drawn and quartered.”

She shuddered. That was the traditional death reserved for criminals who committed treason against the crown, with parts of the body being sent as a warning to each of the four corners of the kingdom. But no one had died that way for over a hundred years. At least legally. “That’s a nasty way to die. Who is she?”

“She was the main witness in your last case. As soon as you produced her in court, the defendant, Jonathan Acre, changed his plea. You put away a mobster for life, with no chance of parole for forty years. Miles Kingsman was the defense barrister on that case, and he’s been assigned this case, too. This time the accused is Barry Jankowski. We have CCTV footage that places him outside Gina Luckett’s house, DNA evidence that places him near the body at the time or just after she died.”

“Are Acre and Jankowski connected?”

“So far the only link anyone can find is the same defense barrister. But something doesn’t sit right with either Toby or me. This is another reason we want you to handle it. You have a nose for this sort of thing. If something smells, you track it down like a bloodhound.”

She shot him a slight smile.

“Something else you should know. I had a phone call from Judge Matheson yesterday. He heard Kingsman threaten you in court after the case finished. Someone then tried to kill you. He can’t be sure the two are connected, but we’re not taking any chances.”

The intercom buzzed. “Yes, Mary?”

“Miles Kingsman is on line three for Mrs. Harkin.”

“Put it through. You take it on speaker phone,” he said.

Niamh nodded and waited until the call came through. “Hi, Miles.”

“Niamh, I hear they’ve given you the Jankowski case. Fancy meeting for lunch to discuss it?”

Alan shook his head.

“I’m busy for lunch.”

“Then tomorrow?”

“Thing is, I probably shouldn’t see you socially right now. Not if I’m your opposition on this case.”

“It never stopped you in the past.”

“I’m not the same person as I was then.” ‘Coffee?’ she mouthed. As Alan nodded, she spoke aloud. “I could make coffee the day after tomorrow. Give me time to read the files and so on.”

“Sure. Usual place?”

“Ummm, how about…” She read the piece of paper Alan slid across the desk. “…my office, say about eleven?”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you then.”

“Sure. Bye.” Niamh hung up and looked at Alan. “And the fact my office will probably have moved to an interview room with a one way mirror, or the office across the hall with the glass walls, is beside the point?”

Alan laughed. “You read my mind, lassie. Read my mind.” He paused, his face hardening. “And if you do remember anything about those files, anything, no matter how small a detail it may seem, I need to know immediately. Or tell Toby and he’ll let me know.”

****

Back in her office, Niamh pulled out her mobile and rang Jared at work. Surprised he answered the phone, she wasn’t going to question why he was at the reception desk. “Hi, Jared. I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“For you, anything.”

She put the file on her desk and lowered herself into the chair. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to move back in permanently. In separate rooms, of course.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, hon.” His smile echoed down the phone.

“Hon?” She pulled a face at the phone. “I thought I said don’t call me that. For now at least.”

“Sorry.”

She yanked open the drawer, pulling out a yellow legal pad and her pencil. “It’s fine, Jarrie, just don’t make a habit of it.”

“I’m not a priest. No wait, they don’t wear habits. Nun’s do.”

She laughed. “You’re silly.”

“Thanks. Uh, did you call me Jarrie?”

“Yes. That is your name, right?” She opened the file and angled the paper on the desk to write on.

“Yeah it is. I love you.”

“I’m glad you do. Now go do some work. I’ll see you tonight. Bye.”

He laughed. “Bye.”

****

After dinner that night, Niamh knew without a doubt she had started to fall in love with Jared and that scared her more than she wanted to admit. It terrified her because she didn’t remember how she’d behaved with him before. What if she was too changed for him now? Or did things differently? What if he didn’t like the new her? Either way, she had to know.

She took a deep breath as he closed his Bible and looked up. “Jarrie, what if I’ve changed too much?”