By
Jan
Chapter 9
“Ma’am!
DI Stewart!”
Helen
was just crossing the police station car park when she realised she was being called.
She stopped and turned and waited until DC McAllister caught up with her.
“’ve
just got back from the Lark Hall Hotel,” he informed her a little breathlessly.
“I had a word with Monica Lindsay and Barbara Hunt, she’s the partner. They
both denied seeing anything of Wade.”
“They’re
hardly going to admit to it, are they?” she demanded sarcastically.
“I
ran a check like you said.” He took out his notebook and flicked it open. “Wade
owns a fifty-one per cent share of the hotel. She’s been a silent partner for
about three years.”
“Fifty-one
per cent?” Helen echoed. “Then why would they need a loan if she has that sort
of money?” He shrugged and she glanced at her wristwatch. “I’ve got to be
somewhere but keep me informed if you find out anything else.”
“Yes,
ma’am.”
She
climbed into her car and raised her hand to him as she drove past. Jim had been
in touch; Nikki was on the loose! She felt sure Nikki hadn’t told her
everything, that she was holding something back and she hoped she wasn’t going
to take the law into her own hands.
Zandra
cast an anxious sideways glance at her friend. They had been driving around in
silence for almost an hour since Nikki had dropped her bombshell about Helen.
“Take
me to Fenner’s place!” she said suddenly.
“You
can’t go there!” Zandra exclaimed.
“Helen
doesn’t know I’ve sussed her out so I’ll be safer there than anywhere. She
showed her hand too early,” she finished bitterly.
“Nik,
are you sure?”
“Zan,
don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” she replied confidently. “If she tries anything
else I’ll be ready for her. Right now, I need some clean clothes or these will
be able to stand up on their own if I wear them any longer!”
“Do
you want me to take you home first?”
“No,
I want you to drop me off at Fenner’s then go to my place and get some stuff
for me. You’d better take my key in case Trish isn’t in.” She fished in her
pocket, took out a bunch of keys and placed them on the dashboard. “But if she
is in, don’t tell her where I am.”
“What
if she asks?”
“Just
tell her you’re meeting up with me later and don’t come straight back to
Fenner’s in case someone follows you.”
“You
don’t have to spell it out!” Zandra retorted. “Is this the face of a fool?”
“Do
you really want me to answer that?” Nikki laughed
“Ah,
bloody, ah!”
“After
you’ve got my stuff I want you to go to the cop shop and wait for Helen coming
out then follow her. I need to know where she lives. Turn left here.”
They
drove along bickering at each other, Nikki periodically giving out directions,
until they reached their destination.
As
she started to climb out of the van Zandra grabbed hold of her arm. “Be
careful, Nik. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
She
laid her hand over the younger woman’s. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll be
fine.” As Zandra drove away she pressed the intercom buzzer and smiled at
Shell’s feigned posh voice.
“Fenner
Investigations, may I ‘elp you?”
“It’s
Nikki Wade.”
“You’ve
got a bloody cheek coming back ‘ere after what you did to my Jim!” Shell
retorted. “’E can ‘ardly walk.”
Nikki
grimaced. “Sorry. Can I come up?”
“If
you must.”
She
opened the door and went upstairs, feeling as if she was walking into a lion’s
den because she didn’t know how involved Fenner and Shell were in all of this.
Shell
was waiting for her at the top of the stairs and laid into her as her foot hit
the top step. “You should be ashamed…”
“Leave
it, Shell,” Jim called out from the living room.
Nikki
followed Shell into the room and found Fenner sitting on the settee, a pained
expression on his face. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened,” she said
apologetically. “I guess I panicked.”
“Well,
the next time you’re going to panic give me a bit of warning,” he replied
sarcastically.
Nikki
sat down in an armchair and leaned back nonchalantly. “What time did Helen
leave?”
“Same
time as I did,” Jim replied. “She had to get back to the station. She wasn’t
too pleased when she found out you’d legged it.”
“I
bet she wasn’t,” Nikki muttered then looked at Shell. “Did you get my stuff?”
Shell
tutted and flounced out of the room, returning seconds later holding a carrier
bag which she flung at Nikki. “Do your own shoppin’ in future!”
Nikki
caught the bag with a wry smile. Shell was obviously none too pleased with her.
“I’d
better let Helen know you’re back,” Jim commented and started to rise.
“No!”
she exclaimed then, as he looked at her questioningly, continued quickly, “I
mean there’s no hurry, is there?”
“Probably
not.” He sank back down and looked pitifully at Shell. “Do you fancy rustling
up some grub, love? Just something light.”
“Soup
okay? I got you one of them begat things as well.”
Begat
things! Nikki mused as Shell left the room.
“You
know, when I first started seeing Shell, Helen warned me off her then when the
proverbial hit the fan she was the only one who stood by me.”
“So?”
“I
owe Helen. She was there when no one else wanted to know.” He leaned forward in
his chair and looked at her menacingly. “So mess her around and you’ll have me
to answer to.”
Nikki
glared at him for several seconds before replying. “Why was she working
undercover at the club?”
“You’ll
have to ask her,” he replied evasively.
“Was
she investigating me and Trish?”
“Like
I said, you’ll have to ask her.”
“What
was it…fraud, drugs?” she continued relentlessly.
“I
can’t tell you anything!” he said impatiently.
“Fair
enough,” she replied, seemingly satisfied. She knew it was no good pushing him
any further; she wasn’t going to get anything out of him.
At
that moment Shell bustled in carrying a tray. “Yours is on the table!” she
snapped at Nikki then proceeded to fuss around her partner.
Nikki
raised her eyebrows then made a hasty exit to the kitchen and sat down at the
table. It seemed ages since she had last eaten and the tomato soup smelled
good. There was a fresh baguette too. She chuckled to herself. Or should that
be ‘begat’!
She
was just putting her dirty dishes in the sink when she heard the intercom buzz.
She stiffened, hoping it wasn’t Helen because she didn’t know if she could act
naturally with her knowing she had tried to kill her but at least she couldn’t
try anything with Jim and Shell present. She smiled with relief when Zandra
walked into the room.
“How
did it go?” she asked the younger woman in an undertone.
“I
got your things. They’re in a bag at the top of the stairs. Your keys are in
there as well.”
“Did
you see Trish?”
“No,
she wasn’t there.”
“And
Helen?”
“She
was just coming out of the cop shop when I got there so I followed her and…”
she hesitated and looked at Nikki guiltily.
“And?”
“I
lost her!”
“Zan!”
Nikki exclaimed.
“She
drove like a bloody stunt driver! I think she knew I was following her.”
“Yes,
she did!” Helen spoke coldly from the doorway.
Nikki
forced a smile. She couldn’t let Helen suspect there was anything wrong. “You’d
better get back to work,” she told Zandra somewhat reluctantly. She was loath
to see her leave but didn’t want to get her any more involved than she already
was.
“Will
you be alright?” Zandra asked pointedly.
“Yes,
of course. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. See you later.” She smiled to herself
when she saw her friend give Helen a wide berth as she passed her in the
doorway.
“So,
was it your idea for her to follow me?” Helen asked as she came all the way
into the kitchen.
“Yes.”
“Any
special reason?”
“No.”
She turned away. Just because Helen was a liar didn’t mean she felt comfortable
lying to her.
“Nikki.”
Her
flesh started to tingle and she knew Helen was right behind her. She only had
to turn round and they would be in each other’s arms but she moved away before
turning round to face her. “Is there any news?”
“They
haven’t found out who did it, if that’s what you mean.”
“Guess
you wouldn’t be standing here if they had.”
“Meaning?”
You’d
be behind bars! Nikki thought to herself but said aloud, “We’d both be living
our normal lives.”
“And
that’s what you want?”
Nikki
nodded but she knew that wasn’t what she wanted. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted
now but she did know she wasn’t in love with Trish anymore. As Helen took a
step towards her she took a step backwards. She noticed Helen was carrying a
shoulder bag and wondered if the gun she had tried to shoot her with was in
there unless of course she had used a rifle. Being in the police force she
probably wouldn’t have any difficulty getting hold of either weapon, legally or
illegally! She remembered the times bent coppers had come into the club
threatening to close them down with some trumped up charge. She had always
stood up to them, however, because the club was clean and they couldn’t prove
otherwise.
“What
the hell is wrong with you?” Helen demanded, a hurt expression in her eyes.
“You’re like a cat on hot bricks! Have I done something wrong?”
“You
tell me!” Nikki replied caustically then her voice softened when she realised
no good would come of antagonising Helen. “I’m sorry, I feel all strung out but
it’s not your fault.”
“That’s
okay. I understand,” Helen replied gently. She moved forward until she was
within touching distance of Nikki then reached out and tantalisingly traced the
outline of Nikki’s lips with her fingertips. “Do you know how much I care about
you?” she said harshly.
Nikki
groaned and crushed Helen to her. The onslaught of her mouth quelling the sweet
lies that fell so readily from Helen’s lips. Keeping Helen moulded to her with
one hand in the middle of her back, she opened the shoulder bag and slipped her
hand inside where her fingers curled round the cold steel of a revolver! She
slowly withdrew the weapon then brought her hand round and pressed the barrel
against Helen’s ribs just below her left breast.
Helen
broke away breathlessly, shock masking her lovely face when she realised what
was happening.
“Don’t
make a sound!” Nikki hissed. “We’re going to go into the other room and say our
‘goodbyes’ and if you say one wrong word, I’ll kill all three of you! Now,
smile and remember I’m right behind you!”