‘It’s been twenty-four hours, sir, and I’ve received no further threat. This is just some wacko trying to get a reaction.’ Ava and Detective Chief Inspector Begbie were outside Callanach’s door. He was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening but failing, as were the other detectives who were gawping in the corridor.
‘DI Turner, that wacko managed to get into this building unnoticed and find your office. The threat was a very unpleasant one, as I’m sure you recall. Until we identify and arrest whoever is fantasising about killing you, the protective detail officer stays each day until you’re safely at home with your alarm on.’ The Chief was strident.
‘But I’m just meeting a friend for a drink in a pub. Nothing’s going to happen except for me feeling like a prize idiot with my not-very-well-disguised bodyguard escorting me.’ Ava wasn’t going to back down. Callanach glanced at the time. He was done for the day.
He stuck his head out into the corridor.
‘I’ll go with DI Turner, if that would assist.’
They both stared at him. Ava had a look of confused hopefulness on her face and the Chief simply looked sceptical. Callanach didn’t read too much into that. He suspected it was Begbie’s default expression.
‘That’s settled then,’ Ava said, pulling on her coat.
‘Just a minute. You don’t leave her side, Callanach, that’s an order. Until you’ve checked her home is clear and locked down, you’re responsible for my detective inspector’s safety. Interpol or not, you’d better not mess up.’
‘Got it, Chief,’ Callanach said, grabbing his keys from his desk.
‘Can I at least go to the ladies’ room on my own?’ Ava asked pointedly. Callanach took her arm and began walking her up the corridor.
‘What’s that saying you have? Quit while you’re ahead,’ he said. For once, Ava did.
Half an hour later they were in The Pear Tree, jostling for position at the bar.
‘Why is it so busy?’ Callanach moaned.
‘We’re near the University’s main campus,’ Ava explained, passing him a glass of red wine and pointing at a table where seats were just becoming free. They sat down, leaving coats on a third chair to secure it. ‘I appreciate you offering to come with me. I can’t stand being followed around as if I’m not capable of looking after myself.’
‘You understand that’s what I’m here to do? You may enjoy irritating the Chief but I’m not ready to fall out with him yet, so no running away.’ Ava rolled her eyes then grinned over his right shoulder.
‘Tasha! I’ve got you a gin and tonic already. Sit down. This is Luc Callanach, our newest recruit, fresh from Interpol, no less. Luc, this is a very old friend of mine, Natasha Forge, Head of Philosophy at the Uni.’
‘Pleased to meet you. How do you know one another?’ Callanach aimed the question at both women who began to speak at once.
‘Pony club,’ was the response from each at the same time, finished by howls of laughter. Callanach looked confused.
‘And this is funny because?’ he asked.
‘Hated it. Both of us. The result of pushy parents wanting to get rid of us at the weekends so they could play golf or shop or whatever. The first time I saw Tasha she was sneaking off round the back of the stables to have a cigarette. I recognised a kindred spirit and followed her,’ Ava said
‘We spent every weekend like that, putting on jodhpurs, riding hats and disappearing. I don’t think I sat on a horse the whole time. Bloody creatures. Whoever imagined they want humans sitting on their backs was seriously deluded. I got kicked once and never went near one again,’ Natasha finished.
‘Did your parents not notice?’ Callanach asked.
‘We got called into the riding school mistress’s office one day to explain ourselves. Ava promised we’d stay out of trouble if she told our parents we were doing fine. We got to see each other every weekend, our parents got rid of us and the riding school got outrageous amounts of money for nothing. When Ava got shipped off to boarding school and I was left here term time was dull but at least we got to spend holidays together. The summers seemed like they went on forever.’
Callanach watched them smiling at the memories and saw the carefree, rebellious girls they’d once been. A smashing glass made Ava whip round. She was jumpy, more nervous than she was admitting, and covered it up by bursting into conversation.
‘So, tomorrow night. I’ve got my lecture notes ready. How many people are you expecting? Is there a microphone? What should I wear – uniform or civvies?’
‘Wow. Have a drink,’ Natasha laughed. ‘It’s not that big a deal, not for you anyway. I’ve seen you on the news twice in the last fortnight. Wear whatever you like. Your main problem will be getting away at the end. I’ll have to sneak you out the back to avoid the endless questions.’
‘What’s this?’ Callanach asked.
‘I’m giving a guest lecture.’ Ava held her head loftily. ‘Very last minute, mind, to tell the truth. Who cancelled and made you so desperate you asked me?’
‘No one cancelled,’ Natasha said, shaking her head. ‘There may have been a slight oversight when our administrator was unwell but that doesn’t mean you weren’t my first choice!’
‘Who were the other choices then?’ Ava asked.
‘Some idiot tried to book Professionals Against Abortion, because that would have gone down well with our free thinking, well-educated, balanced students. Luckily you saved me and I’m eternally grateful.’
‘Professionals Against Abortion?’ Callanach asked.
‘A religious group pretending their views are professional rather than moral. They also run pregnancy advice centres where they scare teenage girls so badly they’re convinced they’ll become infertile or infected or die if they have terminations. The advisors don’t disclose their real agenda. They’re highly secretive and, as far as I’m concerned, completely poisonous,’ Natasha said. ‘Right, I’m braving it and pushing my way through to the bar. Same again?’
While Natasha fought the growing mass of bodies, Callanach drained his glass and looked at Ava. She was unusually quiet.
‘You okay?’
‘Mmm,’ was the response.
‘You know the Chief will want you escorted by a uniform again tomorrow night.’
‘Fine,’ she said, not really listening.
‘You need to tell Natasha about the threat. The University should have security on hand. If there’s a large crowd and you’re socialising afterwards, one officer may not be able to protect you.’
‘Are you after a promotion? Because you’re starting to sound an awful lot like Begbie.’
Natasha put drinks on the table.
‘What’s with the serious faces?’ she asked. Callanach decided to deal with it his own way. Ava was making it quite clear she wasn’t going to acknowledge the potential danger of the situation.
‘Ava received a death threat,’ he said. ‘Which is why I’m crashing the party tonight.’
‘Arising from your current case?’ Natasha asked.
‘Maybe,’ Ava said, ‘or maybe it’s one of any number of bored criminals with a hate-crush on me from the last ten years. Who knows? Nothing you need to worry about, Tasha.’
‘Why don’t you come and stay with me for a while?’ Natasha suggested.
‘Because you can’t stand my music taste and get ratty if I wake you up coming and going in the middle of the night. And because I love you and there’s no need for you to worry. We shouldn’t have said anything.’ The ‘we’ part of the sentence was pointed. He hadn’t given Ava a choice about it and she was mad.
‘Of course you should have told me,’ Natasha answered. ‘I’d feel better if you would stay.’
‘But I’d feel as if I’d let whoever did this win. You know me better than that. Listen, I’m going to have to cut the evening short,’ Ava said abruptly, grabbing her bag and thrusting her arms into her coat. ‘Sorry to be dull but I need to get home. Do you mind, Luc? See you tomorrow, Tash. I’ll try not to make a complete dog’s dinner of it.’
Natasha kissed her on each cheek. ‘You’ll be amazing. Good to meet you, Luc.’
Ava lived in a mid-terrace house on a quiet street west of the city. Callanach went back into police mode in a way that was hard to lose if you’d done it for enough years. He checked each room, switching on every light as he went, making sure the locks on the back door were fully engaged and that the downstairs windows were secure. Only then did he let Ava into the property and made her show him that the alarm was fully functioning.
‘You wanted to leave the pub very suddenly,’ he said, as he made sure he could hear a dialling tone on her landline.
‘Something Natasha said sent my mind back to the case. I need a good night’s sleep, and drinking with her never ends well. She liked you.’
‘How do you know?’ he asked.
‘If she hadn’t, you’d have known it. She doesn’t suffer fools. She always decides if a man can be trusted within two minutes, and to the best of my knowledge she’s usually right. More than I can say for her taste in women.’ Ava put the kettle on and threw her shoes towards the doormat.
‘Really?’ Callanach said.
‘Tasha’s a lesbian, although she doesn’t flaunt it. She’s always been obsessive about not letting anyone at the Uni know, doesn’t want to get labelled or stereotyped.’
‘I can understand that,’ he said. ‘Right, everything is secure. Call 999 then my mobile if there’s a problem.’ He listened as she locked the door and slid on the chain. For all her public bravado, she wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks.