Crossing the Line (Kerry Wilkinson) (16 page)

‘Why?’

‘Because Debbie Callaghan had as good a motive as anyone to go after her husband, so if you were

giving her an alibi then we needed to make sure you were the person you claimed.’

‘Well . . . I suppose . . .’ Shane stumbled over his words before concluding: ‘I don’t have anything

to hide.’

‘Sure?’

‘You can’t make me admit to something I haven’t done, I know my rights and—’

Jessica held a hand up to stop him mid-flow. ‘Everyone knows their sodding rights nowadays,

except they actually don’t. You have far fewer rights than you might think. Anyway, do you know what

I thought when we first met? “Some woman somewhere is going to fall head over heels for this guy”.’

Shane stared at Jessica, unsure what to say.

‘Oh don’t worry, I’m not flirting with you – you’d drive me nuts. What I didn’t realise is that I’d

already met her. Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing Debbie Callaghan?’

His mouth continued to hang open but Jessica was happy to wait for the reply. When it eventually

came, it only confirmed what she already knew. ‘How did you know?’

‘I was out with my fiancé earlier and he was joking about getting matching dressers. My brain

works slowly but it gets there in the end. I remembered your T-shirt with a bird pattern. Debbie had

these little puffin ornaments everywhere. After a quick check with the RSPB, I found out you were

both members. Contrary to popular opinion, two plus two doesn’t always make four in this job – but

it does here, doesn’t it?’

Shane leant back against the storeroom door, his head sinking onto his chest. ‘After one of the

sessions here, we got talking. I’ve always been into birds and found out that she was interested too.

Her husband never let her out but she’d paint them and collect the ornaments. I said she should join. A

group of us go walking on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I suppose one thing led to another. I didn’t

take advantage – I told her we shouldn’t at first – it was all her. It’s very recent.’

Jessica shook her head. ‘What you do is your own business – but one of you should have told me.

We’re investigating a major incident and she has a motive. The fact you withheld information is

serious – if we’d found out another way, or at a later date, we could have had you both in –

fingerprints, lawyers, interview rooms, some idiot leaking your names to the media, all that.’

Shane gulped. ‘Does that mean you’re not going to do that now?’

‘I called the DCI earlier and he agrees with me. You told me the other day that you were in a

relationship and I forgot to write it down. Silly me. It’s in the documents now.’

‘So nothing’s going to happen?’

‘Not unless you’ve got something else on your conscience.’

Shane started tapping his chest, coughing. ‘Thank God, I’m so sorry . . . I was going to tell you but I

thought it would get her in trouble because it’d look like she left him for me and then you’d arrest us

both. She was on the phone crying the other night, thinking you’d find out.’

‘One of you should have said.’

‘I know and I’m grateful – but why would you change the statement for us?’

Jessica shrugged. ‘I don’t know – perhaps I’m going soft. Maybe it’s just because I know Debbie

has been through a lot.’

‘She really has. He was a shit to her.’

‘That doesn’t mean he deserved to have acid thrown in his eyes.’

‘I’m not saying it was. I—’

‘All right, don’t dig yourself a deeper hole. You can answer something for me though.’

‘What?’

Jessica turned to face the room. ‘The children. You say they’re “your kids” and I sort of get why –

but what’s it like looking after ones that aren’t yours?’

Shane bit his bottom lip, thinking. ‘Out of everything, I think it’s the most rewarding thing I do.

There are always those kids who slip through the net, who you want to help but they don’t want it.

Finding that one who goes the other way and turns their life around is enough. If you had your own

kids, you’d expect them to listen and learn. With other people’s, so many are broken and you end up

helping to put them back together again. You watch them becoming an adult.’

‘What’s it like when you see them leave each week?’

Shane began walking towards the main door, slowing so Jessica kept pace. ‘Good and bad.

Hopefully they learn things here which you want them to take away and act upon. They can’t do that if

they’re supervised every minute of the day. When they come back the next week and you can see the

slow changes, you know it’s actually them and not just something happening because you’re with them

all the time. There are always kids you have soft spots for – that you worry about because you know

they’re going home to an environment that’s not safe, or they’re back on the streets with older kids

who’ll push them to do things they shouldn’t. That’s the other side because you’d love to be able to

make sure they stay safe but you can’t.’ He paused as he reached the door, an icy chill creeping

through the opening. ‘Do you have children?’

‘No, I was just wondering.’

Shane thanked her twice more before locking up and saying goodbye.

Because of the abundance of parked cars around Ancoats, Jessica had left her vehicle at the back of

the Northern Quarter. It was only a five-minute walk but the wind was whistling between the tight

buildings, biting viciously through her coat. The dusting of snow from before had been trampled into

the pavements and started to refreeze, so Jessica walked in the road. The yellow-white street lights

cast a spooky erratic glow around the surroundings, long shadows stretching into the night. Jessica

could feel the cold air tickling the top of her lungs as she rounded the final bend onto the street where her car was parked. She sighed as she saw the rear window had already frosted over, hoping the de-icer on the back seat hadn’t run out.

As she was contemplating calling Adam, Jessica heard a low groaning from the cobbled alley

running off the main street. The breeze flitted along the passage, carrying the noise a second time and

sending a sodden carrier bag spiralling past her into the side window of her car with a splat. Jessica

patted her pocket instinctively, even though she knew her pepper spray wasn’t there.

Armed with only a mobile phone and her own stupidity, Jessica edged into the shadows of the

alley. The moan was there again. It definitely sounded like a person, probably a man, someone in

pain.

‘Hello?’

As soon as the word left Jessica’s mouth, it was gobbled up by the wind and gone again. The

narrow trail of light made barely an imprint on the gloom but Jessica could see a small patch of

yellow almost glowing a short distance in front of her. She took another step ahead, crouching but

leaning back on her heels, ready to spring away if needed.

‘Hello?’

The figure rolled onto its back; definitely human, definitely a man. As her eyes adjusted, Jessica

could see the thick padding of the once-shiny jacket. Along a slit in the side, yellow foam was

spilling out.

‘Shite.’

Jessica knelt, the freezing cobbles rubbing on her knees through her jeans. She rolled the figure

back onto his side, brushing the hair away from his face, and used the light from her phone to

illuminate his face. Toxic Tony’s eyelids twitched, before a deep gurgle erupted from his stomach,

closely followed by its contents all over her lap.

16

‘Eeew. Tony, you dirty bast—’ The smell hit the back of Jessica’s throat, making her gag. ‘God’s sake,

it’s everywhere.’

Tony’s lids flickered open but his eyes flopped lazily to one side. Vomit clung to his chin, dripping

onto the ground. The stinking, chunky liquid was already soaking through Jessica’s trousers and she

could feel it on her freezing thighs.

She patted his cheek gently, getting more of the mush on her fingers. ‘Come on, Tony, wake up for

me.’ He slumped onto her lap, mashing the bile into his hair and deeper into the denim of her jeans.

‘Muuh.’

Jessica turned her head to the side, taking a gasp of cleanish air, stifling the swearing. ‘Tony, what

happened? I only saw you a few days ago and you were fine.’

She helped him sit against the wall, manoeuvring him away from the puddle of sick that was

already beginning to crystallise between the cobbles. He giggled to himself as Jessica shone her

phone into his eyes, trying to get them to focus. The pupils were pinpricks, staring past her into the

distance.

‘Tony, I’m going to take you to the hospital, all right?’

He began struggling but his frail arms were so weak that she could barely feel them flapping

against her. ‘No.’

More vomit dribbled down his chin, his lips hanging limply. ‘Have you got a key for your flat

anywhere?’ she asked. He motioned towards the pocket of his coat but it was hanging open, filled

with lumpy stomach stew.

‘There’s no way I’m reaching in there, buddy.’

His eyes drooped closed again. ‘Muuh.’

‘Hospital?’

‘No!’

Jessica supported his head, peering along the alley towards the street, where the carrier bag was

still stuck to the side of her car. ‘Bollocks. Adam’s going to kill me.’

‘Can you still smell it?’ Jessica could tell from the slight curl to Adam’s top lip that he could. ‘Shite, I’m going to have to burn everything I was wearing.’

Adam held a blanket out towards her. ‘You’ll have to burn that too. Who is he?’

Jessica wrapped the cover around herself and sat at the kitchen table being careful not to touch

anything unnecessarily. ‘Half an hour I spent in the shower too – someone’s going to have to clean up

in there.’ Adam raised his eyebrows knowingly. ‘All right,’ she added, ‘I’m asking if you’ll clean up

in there. I don’t think I can take any more. The car reeks of it too. I might petrol bomb the bloody thing and claim the insurance.’

Adam sat waiting for a reply, sipping a cup of tea.

‘Tony Farnsworth,’ Jessica said, drinking from her own cup and pulling the blanket tighter,

covering her bare shoulders. She was wearing clean underwear and yet the vomit smell was still

there. ‘I’ve known him on and off for a while. He’s one of those people you see around; junkies,

alkies, often in trouble.’

‘Why have you brought him here?’

Jessica shook her head, sighing. ‘I don’t know. I saw him the other day and he was fine. He said he

was thinking about moving out of the area and that he’d turned his life around.’

‘He didn’t look fine when you dumped him in the bath with his clothes on, covered in his own

sick.’

Jessica wrapped her fingers around the mug, letting the warmth flow into her hand. ‘Is that your

qualified medical opinion? “He didn’t look fine”.’

‘Call me Doctor Compton.’

‘Anyway, you’re right – he’s not fine. I hosed him down with the shower and got rid of his clothes

—’

Adam was grinning, mock-outraged. ‘You undressed another man?’

‘We had a nice romantic moment in the bathroom; lights, candles, soft music, puke-covered clothes

– the works. Anyway, he wasn’t really with it. He has track scars on his arm but there was bruising

too.’

‘So he’s been using again?’

Jessica nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I used gloves. It looks like the skin had been growing back because

the mark in his vein is wider than it should be, like he had to go hunting for it.’

‘Is he still up?’

‘No, it must’ve worn off a while back – there was alcohol in his stomach too. I would’ve taken him

to hospital but every time I mentioned it, he started panicking. I couldn’t leave him on the street, he

would have frozen to death.’

‘Did he say anything?’

‘He kept muttering “sorry” in the car but most of it was gibberish. He’s sleeping it off in the box

room. I managed to wash the worst of it out of his hair and threw a couple of duvets over him. I

borrowed one of your tatty old jumpers and a pair of jeans I never liked and left them in there too.’

‘Borrowed?’

‘If you want them back, I could probably arrange it.’

‘You’re all right.’

Jessica finished off her tea, pulling the blanket tighter again. ‘Thanks.’

‘For what?’

‘Not throwing a wobbly. I’d guess that if most women brought home a drunken, high-as-a-kite

bloke covered in sick, their fiancés would probably have a word or two to say about it.’

Adam shrugged. ‘I trust you. I’d rather it didn’t become a regular thing, though. Wednesday night:

pizza. Friday night: curry. Sunday night: spew-covered stranger.’

Jessica grinned narrowly. How could she not be in love with him when he could say things like that

and make her giggle when she felt so awful?

‘Will you tell Georgia?’ she asked.

‘I’ll wake her now and let her know we’ve got a mate staying overnight.’

‘And will you—?’

‘Yes, I’ll clean it. Go to bed and I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m not firebombing the car for you

though.’

Jessica flitted in and out of sleep, the Callaghans, Shane’s kids, Izzy, Adam and Tony peppering her

dreams. For once, it had been nice to think that someone had turned their life around. When she’d seen

Tony the other day, she wanted him to get away from Manchester – not because it would have any

effect on her workload but because it was comforting to think that he’d come out the other side. She

remembered Shane’s words: ‘Finding that one who goes the other way and turns their life around is

enough.’ He’d been talking about his children but it was true of Tony as well. She’d been thinking it