‘Are you mad? It’s a public street.’
It was his turn to laugh. ‘And who the fuck do you think gives a shit?’ He told his men to get out the car. I thought back to what Gary Bilton had told me of his beating. The same thing was going to happen to me. I wasn’t walking away from this. But I had no choice. I got in the boot. The journey was uncomfortable. I curled up in a ball to reduce the impact of the blows as the car cornered. I had no idea where I was being taken, nor did I have any sort of plan. The car stopped, the sun dazzling me when the boot was opened. I was hauled out and thrown onto the ground. Any thoughts of escaping were soon driven away by the first kick to my stomach. I rolled over and vomited. Fitzjohn laughed and told his men to take me inside. We were in a disused factory of some sort. Maybe agricultural. I had no idea where I was, most probably out in Holderness somewhere. There were no landmarks I recognised. Just fields. I was thrown into a chair, my hands quickly tied behind my back.
‘The money’ Fitzjohn said.
‘I haven’t got it’ I said.
‘I don’t think you’re trying very hard.’
‘I’m doing my best.’
He smiled and took a step towards me. Took some leather gloves out of his pocket. ‘I don’t think you are.’ He nodded to one of the men, who stepped forward and punched me in the stomach.
I shut my eyes, waiting for the worst of the pain to pass.
He continued. ‘You know my name, so you know exactly who I am.’
We both knew the situation wasn’t my fault, but that was no help to me at the moment. ‘I’ve spoken to Major’ I said. I had to take deep breaths to get my words out. ‘He’s putting some deals together. He’ll have something sorted soon.’ I repeated his words. ‘There’s a lot of interest in the band.’
‘I dare say, Geraghty, but cash is king.’ Fitzjohn walked behind me, out of my eyeline. He grabbed my hair and pulled me backwards. I screamed in agony.
‘Can’t do it, I’m afraid’ he said, before releasing my head ‘Do you think I’m stupid? Are you trying to take me for an idiot?’
‘He just needs to sort the deals out and you’ll get your money’ I said.
He walked back around the chair to face me. He stepped forward and punched me in the mouth. I swallowed back the blood. A tooth was loose.
‘I think you’re taking the piss out of me’ he said. ‘I know your assistant isn’t in the country. Do you think I’m stupid? I asked her neighbour. He told me she’d gone away.’ He smiled at me. ‘Take that as a warning. I’m smarter than you, so you better shape up. Do I make myself clear? I want the money and I’m running out of patience. I thought you had more about you than that idiot who works for Major. Nearly shat his pants when I spoke to him.’
I said nothing.
‘Give me your finger’ he said to me.
I shook my head violently, desperately trying to move my wrists away from him.
He stepped closer, smiling. ‘Your finger.’
He held my wrist tight, undoing the rope.
‘Open your eyes. I’ve got all day.’
I opened my eyes. He leaned in, inches from my face. I waited for the pain to hit. I’d dislocated fingers playing rugby. I knew what it felt like. He smiled as he pulled my little finger back. This time I couldn’t stop the screams. Once he was done, he stood up and left his men to pick me up. Moments later I was back in the boot of the car. I curled up in a ball, willing the journey to be over. Eventually I was thrown out on the grass verge next to my flat.
‘Remember our problem takes priority’ he said before getting back into his car and driving off.
I kept a first aid kit in both the office and my flat. I wasn’t sure if it was commonsense or a damning indictment of how things were turning out for me. I found the antiseptic and went into the bathroom to clean myself up. The cuts on my face stung and my finger was bent out of shape, but ten minutes later I was feeling almost human again. I knew what I needed to do. Both my flat and office were now compromised. I found an old jiffy bag and went to work. I taped it up and addressed the contents to Sarah before heading out.
At the office, I sat at my desk and put my hands to my face before quickly removing them. The stinging was still intense. I started my laptop up and surfed the Internet for news. There was nothing new. Closing it back down again, I sat back in my chair and tried to make connections in my head. I looked up as Lorraine Harrison walked straight in and sat down opposite me.
‘I want to talk to you’ she said.
She didn’t mention my face, or stare at it for longer than necessary. ‘I’ve left my husband in HMV, looking at computer games.’
‘With Jay?’
‘He’s at his grandparents. It’s just me and Jason in town.’
‘Right.’
‘How’s Steve?’ she asked me. ‘I saw it on the news.’
‘On the mend. I’ll pass on your regards.’
She ignored my comment. ‘My husband didn’t kill Greg.’
‘You said.’ I didn’t mean to sound rude, but I wasn’t hearing anything new from her. ‘But somebody did.’
‘It wasn’t him.’
‘I’m not really in the mood’ I said. ‘Why have you really come, Lorraine? We’ve been through this before.’
‘Greg was doing really well, happy within himself for the first time in ages. He’d made his mind up. He said he was going to tell Siobhan he was leaving her, whether or not I wanted him. He wanted to release his new music and start again.’
‘Were you tempted to start again with him?’
She hesitated. ‘Of course I was. I might have done it, but it was Greg. He doesn’t live in the real world. He only knew how to please himself. I was worried he’d get bored of us. What would he do if Jay was ill? Would he take him to the doctors? Would he go to the supermarket for me? He wouldn’t be able to change, and deep down, I knew it.’
‘Did you speak to your husband about it?’
‘No, but he knew something was wrong. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t bear him touching me. I needed some time to think it through properly.’
‘He hated Greg. Surely you can understand that?’
‘Of course he hated him. I’m not stupid.’
I said nothing and waited for her to continue.
‘DI Robinson spoke to me earlier’ she said.
She had my attention. ‘When?’
‘This morning.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said you’d been asking questions about Jason. That you thought he might have killed Greg.’
Robinson had certainly been busy. ‘It’s not a secret.’ I didn’t think his alibi really stood up. He was still a decent suspect to my mind.
‘He was fishing. Seeing what you were up to.’
I could buy that. ‘What did you tell him?’
‘Nothing.’
‘What did he tell you?’
‘That he wasn’t interested in Jason. He told me a witness had come forward. She heard Jason shouting outside of Greg’s flat, just like he’d said. This woman had been away on holiday and didn’t realise that what she’d seen was important.’ She smiled at me. ‘He was where he said he was. He wasn’t at the studio. It wasn’t my Jason who killed Greg.’
‘Right.’ I sat back, surprised. Harrison had been a legitimate suspect. He had to answer the questions.
‘There’s nothing to say, is there?’ she said. ‘We’ve sorted everything out. There’ll be no more police coming to the house, nothing. I want you to stay away from me and my family. You don’t bother me. You don’t bother my husband. You certainly don’t bother Jay. Do I make myself clear?’
I understood. Jason Harrison walked in. He told her he wanted to speak to me. Alone. We sat in silence until she left. He said nothing, just staring at me.
‘Join the queue if you want to hit me’ I said.
‘I don’t want to hit you.’
That was something at least.
‘My record is a long time in the past. I hit the kid when I was pissed in town. I can’t justify it, but stupid arguments sometimes happen, especially when you’ve had a drink. I was young and stupid. I was lucky, I suppose. No real harm done. I think. I paid the price and took my punishment. It’s people like Lorraine’s mother who can’t let it go.’
He’d been luckier than whoever had killed Tasker with a single punch. Luck of the draw.
‘Do you think I don’t know?’ he said.
‘Know what?’
‘About Jay. I’ve always known.’ Harrison shrugged. ‘What can you do? He’s my son. I’ve tried to put all that stuff with Tasker to the back of mind and move on. Why do you think I was out drinking so much, acting like an idiot? It took me a long while to work out that it doesn’t make any difference to me. It really doesn’t. It wasn’t important until you came along, raking it all up again. I knew I couldn’t compete with Tasker. How could I? I’m a car-mechanic, he’s a rock star, but he wasn’t around when it counted. It was me who picked up the pieces and put Lorraine back together again and took care of Jay. But I didn’t kill him. Why would I? We don’t want him back in our lives. We just want to put this behind us, before Jay realises something’s wrong.’ He stood up. Looked at me. ‘I didn’t kill him.’
I looked up and met his eye, difficult though it felt. ‘Had to ask the question.’
‘Whatever the consequences?’
I turned away from him, nodded. Was I doing the right thing or not? How could I weigh up trying to find answers for Tasker’s parents against the damage I’d caused Jason Harrison and his family? I’d walked into the man’s life, turned it upside down, and now I was just going to leave him to clear up the mess. I watched as he headed towards the door.
‘I’m not a bad person, Mr Geraghty, but I’d do anything for my family. To people like you, you think it means I’d kill someone. But it’s not like that at all. To me it means I say nothing. It means I push it all to the back of mind and try to forget about it, say nothing, even if it cuts me up inside every single day.’ He looked at me. ‘That’s what it means.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I called
Julia. She was working from the new Hull Truck Theatre cafe on Ferensway. I decided I could use the fresh air and walked across the city centre to meet her, stopping at the small florist’s booth outside of Princes Quay. I hoped the flowers would say sorry, without making me look like I was trying too hard or was too desperate. I understood how things stood, but I had to put that to one side. I was going to need her help.
She was hard at work on her laptop when I arrived. The cafe area of the theatre was busy, filled with people eating and drinking, talking and laughing. It was my first visit to the place, not that socialising was top of my list of things to do at the moment. Julia had already ordered drinks and found us a quiet corner. She closed her laptop down as I approached.
She pointed at my face. ‘What happened this time?’
I smiled and pulled away. I couldn’t bear the thought of it being touched. ‘I’m not flavour of the month.’ I told her what had happened to me before trying to offer some kind of apology for the previous night.
‘I overreacted, too’ she said, taking the flowers off me. ‘It’s a difficult situation. We need to be able to respect each other’s position.’
‘We’re ok?’ I asked. I was expecting it to be more difficult.
‘Mates’ she said.
I nodded, understanding. I told her about my visit from the Harrisons. ‘He didn’t kill Greg’ I said. ‘If this witness had come forward quicker, it would have saved us all a lot of bother.’
‘Did you really see him as a suspect?’ she asked.
‘He had motive.’ He knew Greg Tasker was Jay’s father, but he’d kept it to himself, saying nothing. I wasn’t sure it was something to be admired or be saddened by. It wouldn’t have surprised me, but I was still thinking things over. Something else was nagging away at me. I needed to think it through properly, but I was sure I was beginning to get closer to the truth.
‘Any word on Priestley?’ she asked.
‘He’s improving. I’m going to speak to him again a bit later on.’ He was another unhappy man, but he still had questions to answer. I walked to the bar and ordered a sandwich before sitting back down.
‘This is very cosy.’ We both turned around. Max Fitzjohn walked up to our table. He pulled up a chair. ‘Can’t say I rate your choice of venue.’
‘What do you want?’ I said, my appetite gone. It was only a couple of hours ago that he was taking me out for a drive. He was following me.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?’
‘No.’
Julia smiled at him and introduced herself. ‘I wondered when we’d meet.’
He looked her up and down. ‘I should have made it sooner.’
‘What do you want?’ I repeated to him.
‘Take a guess.’
I nodded. I’d had enough. It was time to finish things. Whatever it took. ‘Give me twenty-four hours. I’ll call you.’
The offer took him by surprise. He eventually relaxed and smiled, gave me his mobile number. ‘It’ll be good for the rest of the day, so I’m going to trust you on this. I like to think a man’s word should count for something. Don’t let me down or I’ll be disappointed.’
Julia waited for him to leave before asking me what I was playing at.
‘It can’t go on forever’ I said. ‘I’ve got to sort this out.’
‘How?’
It was a good question, but I was getting closer. I could feel it.
I left Julia at Hull Truck, collected my car and drove to Trevor Bilton’s flat. It was a mess. The damage looked extensive, the windows boarded over. There was no way he was staying there. I pulled over and flicked through the sports pages of the newspaper, looking to see if the horse racing had already started for the day. It had, so I hedged my bets and headed towards the bookies in the shopping precinct. I pulled up right in front of the shop. No windows. It looked like an old school kind of place, nothing like the light and airy ones you see in the city centre. I was prepared to wait it out, but I hadn’t had the chance to read past the headlines before he walked out of the shop. I smiled. Betty Page was right. He was a man of habit.
I locked the car up and followed him on foot. He turned left and disappeared behind the shops. I caught him up and shouted his name.
He turned around. ‘What the fuck do you want, Geraghty?’
‘A word.’
‘How about two – fuck off.’