Virtual Justice (2 page)

“I better get on with the paperwork. The three new dogs have to have their check-ups with the vet this afternoon. Can you and Charlie handle that for me?”

Tony frowned and then smiled as if he’d remembered what else was going on that day. “Ah, yes, Jade’s trip to the shrink.”

“Don’t say it like that. You make it sound awful.”

“Sorry. Of course Charlie and I can handle things around here. Let’s hope this guy can work wonders on your sis, because let’s be honest—we’ve all tried for months without success. We all miss Sam a great deal.”

Tony’s eyes misted up, and Lorne swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
Don’t you dare break down!
“Come on, let’s make a brew.”

Lorne had barely opened the back door when the phone rang. “Can you get the coffee while I answer that?”

Tony grumbled good-naturedly as she left the kitchen without waiting for his answer.

She had a separate line for her private investigation business these days, and that was the one ringing. “Hello, Lorne Warner. How may I help?”

“My sister has gone missing.”

“Okay, Miss…‌?”

“Sorry. I’m Stacy Meldrew, and my sister is Karen Meldrew.”

“Can you tell me when you first noticed your sister was missing?” Lorne turned to a clean page in the notebook by the phone and made notes as she talked.

“Two days ago. We usually ring each other for a natter on Wednesdays and Sundays. However, Karen missed the Sunday call.”

“Maybe she went away for the weekend without telling you.”

“Never. Karen just wouldn’t do that. We tell each other everything.”

Lorne let out a small sigh. “I see. Well I’m inclined to leave it a little longer—”

“Well, I’m not,” the woman snapped back. “Ms. Warner, I know my sister inside and out. We’re twins, you see, and I can sense that something has happened to her.”

“Well, that does throw a different light on the subject. I think we should meet up then. I have to say that generally we don’t take on a case so soon, but I’m willing to make an exception in your sister’s case.”

“Thank you. I’m not sure about you, Ms. Warner, but as a woman, I rely on gut instinct a lot. That’s why I’m adamant about this. Do you want me to come and see you? I’m in London.”

“I have a meeting in London late this afternoon. I could drop by and see you after that if you like?” Lorne cringed. She should have cleared her suggestion with Jade first before mentioning it to Ms. Meldrew.

“Perfect. What time were you thinking of? I’m over in the East End, in Stratford, close to the new Olympic Stadium. Do you know it?”

“Yes, I do. We managed to get tickets to some of the Olympic events being held there. My appointment is in the City centre. I could be with you around six to six thirty.”

“That’d be great.”

Ms. Meldrew gave Lorne the address and then hung up. When she turned around, Tony was leaning against the doorframe, shaking his head slowly at her. “What?” she asked with a frown, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

“You know. You’re a bad girl not getting Jade’s say so before making an appointment like that.”

Lorne waved a hand in front of herself. “She’ll live. Anyway, it’ll give her something else to moan about for a change.”

“Nice. Very sympathetic of you,” Tony chastised before he headed back to the kitchen.

Lorne questioned her decision and pulled a face at herself in the hallway mirror as she passed it. “Not very wise, young lady.”

Tony was sitting at the kitchen table, cradling his cup of coffee in his hands. “I think you better ring her.”

“Who? Jade?”

“Yep. It’ll soften the blow later.”

“Let me think about it first. How’s the leg today?”

Lorne sat down beside him and rubbed the thigh to the leg the Taliban had kindly amputated for him out in Afghanistan a few years before. Every now and again, the wound gave him trouble, and he had difficulty walking on his prosthetic leg. This was one of those occasions. The doctor had warned Tony that the wound could possibly flare up once in a while. He hadn’t been wrong there. Lorne had noticed that a change in weather or seasons affected Tony’s ability to use his prosthetic limb. Most of the time, everything was fine, but every so often, she caught Tony wincing and limping, although he tried his hardest to hide his pain from her.

“It’s fine. I’ve told you not to worry about me. I’ve got a check-up next week with the specialist anyway.”

“I know you’re in pain, hon. Can you take a couple of painkillers?”

He smiled broadly at her. “Will it get you off my back?”

“Funny.” She left the table and went in search of his painkillers that she kept handy in one of the kitchen drawers. “Here you go.” She handed him two tablets still in their protective strip.

“Yes, Doctor. And stop changing the subject. Seriously, you should ring Jade to warn her.”

“I will. I promise.”

Charlie came through the back door and plonked down in the seat next to Lorne. “I’m exhausted. Those dogs do seem to poop a lot.”

They all laughed. “Ah, the sound of someone happy in their work.”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, right. No, I don’t mind really. Hey, Mum, you know that spaniel that has just come in?”

“Yes,” Lorne replied warily. She recognised her daughter’s tone as one that came attached to a good idea.

“Well…‌I thought I might start training him.”

“Training him to do what exactly?” Lorne eyed her daughter with curiosity.

“Agility or that fly-ball thingamajig! What do you think?”

Lorne raised her eyebrow. “I think it’s a brilliant idea, but I have some reservations about it.”

“Oh, what’s that, Mum?” Charlie asked, disappointment showing on her face.

“First of all, I’m not sure you’ll have the time to train him, and secondly, what if you do all that training and someone comes along wanting to adopt him?”

Charlie thought about her mother’s suggestion for a while before she said quietly, “We could always keep him. Henry could do with a playmate around here.”

Lorne shook her head and smiled. It was the same old reply, which happened at least twice every couple of months when Charlie got emotionally attached to one of her charges. Rusty was indeed a sweet dog, but Lorne was loyal to her old pal, Henry. They’d been through some very rough times together, and he was devoted to her. She couldn’t do anything to upset their master-dog relationship.

“Mum, please?” Charlie persisted in a whiny voice.

“We’ll see. I’ll have a quiet chat with Henry later, see how he feels about your plan, all right? That’s the best I can do. Take it or leave it, girlie.”

Her daughter’s mouth turned down, and she bent to pat Henry on the head. “You wouldn’t mind having a playmate around the house, would you?”

Henry glanced up at her and whimpered. Lorne laughed. “I guess the mighty dog has spoken.”

Charlie left the kitchen in a strop.

“Poor Charlie,” Tony leaned in and whispered. “Hey, it might be good for her to have a new interest. It’s still dog related, after all. It wouldn’t hurt to think it over for twenty-four hours or so, sweetheart.”

“Hark at you, sticking up for Charlie.”

Tony lifted his shoulder. “She’s been really making an effort lately. It’d be good to give her a new interest and show her how much you trust her now.”

Lorne leaned over and hugged him. “You’re right, of course, as usual, oh husband of mine. I’ll make her suffer a little before I cave in though, eh?”

He pushed her away and tapped her on the backside. “You’re wicked. Shoo! You better get ready. Jade will only start panicking if you’re late.”

“The appointment with the psych is hours away, but I did tell her that I’d treat her to a late lunch in town first. I’ll grab a quick shower and set off. Will you be all right?” She motioned towards his leg.

He slapped his thigh and nodded. “It’ll be fine once the painkillers start to work their magic.”

Lorne went upstairs and was showered changed and ready to go after an hour. As she passed Charlie’s room, she heard her daughter talking to a friend on her mobile, laughing and joking. It sounded good to have her daughter back and enjoying life once more. She had a feeling she would be crowned Mum of the Year later, when she told Charlie the good news about Rusty.

“Don’t forget I’ll be back late. I have that prospective new client to see after Jade’s appointment,” she told Tony when she went back downstairs.

“Don’t worry about us. I’ll knock up something simple for dinner that doesn’t involve burning your pots. I think my cooking skills are up to beans on toast by now.”

Lorne kissed him on the lips. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, hon. I promise. See you later.”

“Say hello to Jade for me and tell her to keep her chin up.”

“I will.”

Lorne drove to Jade and Luigi’s house, which was about ten miles away. As soon as she laid eyes on Jade, she could tell her sister wasn’t in the best of moods. Her sister’s foul mood got significantly worse when Lorne told her about her appointment she’d scheduled to take place after Jade’s meeting with the doctor. Instead of stopping at a pub for lunch, Lorne found the nearest bakers and bought a couple of sandwiches to eat in the car. Continuing on their journey, Lorne tried her hardest to make small talk, but her attempts at conversation were met with the odd grunt and little else, until they parked in the psychiatrist’s car park. Jade turned to Lorne and uttered, “I can’t go in there.”

“Come on, Jade. We’ve spoken at length about this. You need expert advice on how to get over Dad’s death.”

“Why? Why can’t I do it in my own time? I’m not mad. You shouldn’t be forcing me to see a shrink.”

Lorne shook her head. “That’s not fair, and you know it. We all discussed this before the appointment was even thought about being made.”

“Did we?” her sister screeched back.

Lorne started the engine again. “Okay, we’ll go then, but when you get home, you’ll have to explain to Luigi why you didn’t keep the appointment. I’m not going to be relied upon to do that.”

Jade broke down in tears, and Lorne shut her eyes in defeat. The last thing she had wanted was to force her sister to do something she really didn’t want to do. She switched the engine off again, unbuckled her seatbelt, and swivelled in her seat to face Jade. Gathering her sister’s hands together, she settled them in her own lap. “Sweetheart, if you really don’t want to go through with this, then we can drive away now. Honestly, it makes no odds to me if you go in there or not. However, what does matter to me is that I get my sister back. I don’t want to keep walking on eggshells around you. None of us do.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Sorry that I’ve been such a bitch lately.”

“I’m not asking for an apology. I just want you to be happy again. Dad’s gone, and there’s little we can do to change that, Sis.” Lorne lifted her sister’s hands to her own chest. “But he lives on in our hearts. That’s the thing we must cling to. He was lost without Mum. You know that as well as I do. Think of how happy they must be to be reunited once more. They’re looking down on us now, holding hands. It would destroy them to know how hard you’re finding it to get through losing Dad.”

Jade looked out the side window and sighed heavily. “I guess. I want to be happy again. It’s just, I feel guilty.”

“Why on earth do you feel guilty?”

“Because I wasn’t there for him at the end. I knew he wasn’t very well…”

“That’s nonsense. If anyone should feel guilty about not being there with him at the end, it should be me.”

Jade looked back at her. “You were tied up, literally. At least you had a good excuse.”

“Yeah, I know. It was no fun being abducted by that madman. Look at it this way. I feel guilty for putting Dad under that added stress.”

“I never thought of it that way before. How do you cope with the guilt? Obviously, better than me. What’s your secret?”

Lorne’s mouth turned down as she thought. “I really don’t know, Sis. I guess we handle things differently. You were always the most sensitive one growing up.”

“Yeah, you have a point. I did, or do tend to, take things to heart a bit.”

“Everyone deals with life and death differently, hon. Come on, give this guy a go, eh?” Jade hesitated for a moment or two until Lorne added, “For me. Pretty please?”

Jade put her hand on the door handle and shrugged. “What have I got to lose?”

“That’s my girl.”

The young, attractive receptionist greeted them with the warmest of smiles. “Dr. Lamont is running a little behind, I’m afraid. He shouldn’t be too long. Please take a seat.”

“That’s okay,” Lorne replied, thinking the opposite. The last thing she wanted was to be late for her appointment at the new client’s house.

Lorne surveyed the waiting room with her designer’s eye. Seeing a waiting room decorated with such detail was unusual, and she suspected that the practice had hired a professional designer to make it such a welcoming, friendly, and even safe atmosphere. The walls had been painted a soft-coffee colour, and the doctor’s door was situated in the middle of a patterned feature wall that consisted of a subtle brown-and-beige leaf pattern.

“It’s nice here,” Jade whispered.

“It is indeed. Let’s just say if I were a patient here, I’d feel a lot calmer after sitting in this waiting room.”

“Actually, you’re right. I do feel pretty calm right now.”

The door to the doctor’s office opened, and a pretty young woman with flushed cheeks, walked out with her head bowed, then stopped at the receptionist’s desk with a tall distinguished-looking man in his early forties.

After scheduling another appointment with the young lady, the doctor turned and stood in front of Lorne and Jade. “Mrs. Bidnotti, I’m ready for you now.”

Lorne turned to Jade. “This is Mrs. Bidnotti, my sister. Go on, hon. You’ll be fine.”

“Follow me if you will?” the doctor said brusquely.

Jade looked panic stricken as she walked through the doorway to his office. The doctor glanced back at Lorne and offered her a slight reassuring smile, letting her know that her sister was in safe hands. She flipped through the pages of a
Homes and Gardens
magazine which had been sitting on the coffee table in front of her for the next hour or so, until the door opened again.