Authors: Stuart Keane
"Really cool! We got to chop up a sheep's heart."
"Ugh, that's gross."
"Not gross, it's sick! So cool!"
Dani smiled at her younger brother, bemused by his morbid curiosity. The red school bus – a wheezing, chugging behemoth – pulled away behind them. Dark, acrid smoke filled the air, making Dani cough. She waved a hand in front of her face as Teddy skipped ahead on the cracked pavement, full of energy and youthful abandon. His rucksack slapped his back as he twirled and danced. Dani stopped coughing and frowned. "Did you have a Coke for lunch?"
"Yeah, of course, duh! I had
two
cans! Why?"
"You know that stuff is bad for you."
"Yeah well, one won't hurt."
"If Mum finds out, you're in trouble."
"You gonna tell her?
Dobber
,
dobber
,
dobber
!"
Dani smiled. "Teddy, calm down. I'm not going to
dob
you in. You'd better take it easy though, or she'll figure it out for herself." She thought about it. "Actually, carry on; you might as well wear yourself out."
"Wooo." Teddy spun around a rusted lamppost, his trainers scraping on the concrete, his small frame twirling down to the ground before bouncing back up. Dani smirked, thinking she'd seen that in an old movie once, and removed her mobile phone from her pocket.
No text messages and no calls.
Slipping the device back into her pocket, she gazed across the street. Several children were returning from the school day; walking in couples and groups. The occasional child was alone, the familiar string of headphones draping their chest. Groups convened on street corners. Some were laughing. Others, accompanied by street-cred crippling parents, looked at the ground as they ambled home, ashamed by their accomplices. The street, otherwise, was quiet. The occasional car drove by. In the distance, a train clacked through the local station, not stopping, heading to an unknown destination.
Distracted, Dani didn’t see Teddy speed along the pavement. He plowed into her midriff, knocking her sideways, and sent himself toppling to the dusty pavement. Dani straightened her jacket and groaned. "For God
sake
, Teddy! Get up."
"You took the Lord's name in vain!"
"Yeah, so fucking sue me.
Up!
"
"You said a swear!"
"Don’t get me started." Dani was no longer smiling, irritated, wanting to get home. She grabbed her brother by the arm and hoisted him to his feet. She brushed him down with her coat sleeves, not wanting to ruin her nails, and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go, Mum's making dinner. It's your favourite tonight, a picnic!"
Teddy's eyes widened and lit up. He towed the line, falling in beside his sister.
He gazed up at Dani, his green eyes narrowing with childlike innocence. For a moment, he said nothing, taking in his sister's attire. Under her leather jacket, she wore a crinkled, blue chamois blouse, assembled with a mid-thigh black skirt and a pair of white trainers. The brightness of the trainers accentuated her tanned, smooth legs. Today, a ponytail dangled over her left shoulder, flapping in the breeze.
Teddy knew his sister was pretty because she had a boyfriend. Only pretty girls got boyfriends. But, to him, she was his
sister
. She had girl cooties. Anyway, he preferred the woman on Nickelodeon;
she
was pretty. He looked up at Dani again. "Why don’t you go to school?"
Dani glanced down and continued looking forward. "Me? You know why."
"Everyone goes to school. David told me that everyone has to, or the police go to your house and arrest your parents."
Dani chortled. "That's not strictly true. Anyway, I finished school, I go to college now."
"What's college?"
"Grown up school. For older people."
"How old are you?"
"Don’t you know this?"
"I forgot. I'm just a kid,
remember
?"
Dani chuckled. "Seventeen. A whole nine years older than you." Dani tapped her brother on the tip of his nose. "I finished school a year ago."
"I can’t wait to finish school. I want to cut up more sheep's hearts."
"So you want to be a butcher?"
"What?"
"Never mind." Dani walked for a few steps and they arrived outside Kambo'
s
, the local corner shop. The smell of baked goods and candy piqued her interest. Dani looked across the street and saw their house. Her Dad's black BMW was parked in the driveway.
He's home early
, she thought.
"Can I get some sweets?"
Dani said nothing for a second, distracted by her Dad's potential presence, and turned to Teddy. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Can I get some sweets?"
Good idea
, she thought.
Hide the fact he had Coke. The better of two evils
. "Yes, you got your pocket money?"
"A whole two whole pounds. I'm rich!"
Dani smiled. "Go on then. Be quick, moneybags."
Teddy pushed into the shop door, the bell ringing as it spun inwards. Dani glanced into the store and saw Mr. Kambo behind the counter. He shot her a dirty look, as if to say
'mind your fucking kid.'
Dani sneered and looked away.
She took her phone from her pocket. Again, no text messages.
What was he playing at?
"Dani!"
She turned around and saw Ben approaching. Relief washed over her and she grinned, opening her arms for a hug. Ben scooped her into his muscular arms, squeezed her gently and swung her around. After two spins, he placed Dani back down and kissed her softly. Their lips mashed, tongues flicking against one another. She pulled away, blushing. "You scared me. I've been checking my phone all day."
Ben smirked. "Sorry, my battery died. I thought I'd pop over and see you instead. Can't have you missing me too much, how would you cope?"
"Yeah, I think I'd be okay. There are plenty of other handsome boys to date." Dani playfully punched Ben, knocking him back a little. Secretly, she missed him like crazy. A warm feeling of happiness spread throughout her. She cuddled into his muscular arm.
"What are you up to tonight?"
"Dinner with the folks." Dani glanced at her house again, the BMW sinking her stomach somewhat. "Dad's home tonight so I don’t think I can get away."
"You sure?"
"I don’t know, Ben. I'll let you know, okay. What you
can
do is charge your bloody phone."
"I will when I get home."
"Good. If not tonight, we can hang out tomorrow?"
"I had a nice romantic evening planned for you too. Candlelit dinner, some wine and…well, you know."
"I do know. I told you, not until I'm ready. I want it to special."
"Not too long I hope. A man can only wait so long…"
"If you love me, you'll wait as long as it takes."
Ben went to reply, but said nothing. Dani raised an eyebrow. "You
will
wait, right? I said I didn’t want to rush this. Respect that, okay?"
Ben nodded. "Sure thing, snugglebum."
Dani blushed bright red and looked around. "Not in public…"
Teddy ran past and swatted his sister on the rump. "Snugglebum? My
God
, get me a puke bucket,
urghhhhh
!" He stuck a finger in his mouth and pretended to vomit. Dani looked up at Ben and scowled. "See what you did?"
Ben chuckled. "I'll see you later…snugglebum." He chuckled, leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She sighed, closing her eyes. His lips tasted of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, the sweet flavour made her smile. Ben pulled away and walked down the street, back the way they'd come. She watched him go. A sense of loss began to spread through her heart.
Dani turned towards her house. Teddy was opening the front gate.
"I hope you looked both ways before crossing the road, you little shit." Dani walked quickly across the road, took a cautious look at the BMW and entered her house.
*****
Detective Inspector Scott sighed, a plume of grey cigarette smoke escaping his chapped lips. He scratched his forehead with the butt of his palm and groaned. He stared at the yellow crime scene tape in the dark, dingy alleyway and closed his eyes. Rain fell on the floor beside him with an infinitely patient pitter-patter. The crime scene tape flapped loudly in the breeze, poking at the migraine forming at the base of his skull.
It was his night off. He'd been sharing drinks with his girlfriend at the local nightclub. Date night, she called it, which, in some relationship binding way, meant he was obligated to attend. They did it twice a month, mostly on weekends. This time, it fell on a Wednesday. Tanya said it showed they were in love and it meant the relationship wasn't growing stale. He believed it; they'd been together six years.
A miracle in his opinion.
She mentioned the six years too, like making a subtle but obvious point. That's when he necked the first whiskey. He loved spending quality time with the woman, sure, but her need to label everything irked him. Before she got her next sentence out – as she examined the complicated layout of her red and orange cocktail, complete with umbrella, curly straw and strawberry décor – he necked his second. She talked about her day, her career, how things were going. A promotion had occurred, which he remembered her mentioning a while ago, but absently forgot until it became a topic of conversation. Then she asked him about his job before realising it was a no go. Classified information. He couldn’t discuss his job. Which made him the silent one in this relationship.
It didn’t do him any favours.
"Maybe we can catch a movie after this? The new Sandra Bullock movie is out."
He necked his third whiskey.
"You're very quiet tonight, something the matter?"
"No, just…well, I'm not in the mood. Long day."
"I'm sorry. We can leave if you want?"
"No, it's fine. You shouldn’t ruin your evening for me."
He wanted to walk out and go home, shut off his phone, and slump on the sofa with a cold beer and some chicken wings. He wanted to scream it in her face.
She didn’t deserve that. She deserved the best, more than he could give.
Therefore, he remained quiet and half-smiled, counting his lucky stars that he had someone so beautiful and understanding. Radiant brunette hair, sparkling cerulean eyes, a face that could adorn any fashion magazine in the world, and
that
smile, the one that melted his cold dead heart. She loved him for whatever bizarre reason and he regretted it every day. The danger involved in his job could ruin her life at any moment.
"You're not ruining my evening, honey. This is our evening; we can do whatever you want to do. Name it." The sparkle was present in those amazing orbs, as always. He couldn’t help but smile.
Scott necked his fourth whiskey and realised he'd only been at the club an hour. His drinking pace startled him. Scott said nothing, staring into the empty tumbler before him. His eye caught a reflection of Tanya in the glass. She was gazing at him, concerned, her face twisted like the result of some funfair mirror experiment.
"I'm fine here. Seriously," he lied.
"I'll get us another." She smiled and scooped up the empty glasses. As she walked to the bar, he watched her go, her rump caressed by the tight dress that ended at the top of her silky thighs. Her long, bronze legs flexed as she crossed the dance floor with poise and elegance. Her brunette hair flapped and waved on her back. Scott observed the men around her, their gazes pulled from their drinks and their own girlfriends by her presence. He saw the scornful looks on the female faces too, and smiled for the third time that evening.
That's when he got the call.
Shit
, he thought.
Why didn’t I turn off my phone?
After a long thirty seconds, he swiped the screen and answered. "Scott."
"Scott, its Davidson. We need you to take the crime scene in Soho. The Italian restaurant with the homicide."
"Mamma Sue's? I thought Jarrett was on it?"
"Apparently he has the flu, the pussy can't come in today. Besides, we can't have him coughing and spluttering all over the evidence. I want you on it. I know it's your day off but hey, we don’t get days off. You in?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"That's the spirit."
Davidson hung up. Scott pulled the phone from his ear and grunted, putting it back in his pocket. As if perfectly timed, Tanya returned with their drinks. She saw the look on his face and groaned. "Work called, didn’t they?"
"Yep."
"It's your day off."