‘Ruby, come in,’ Frances Crosby said, giving her arm a squeeze. ‘Isn’t this a dreadful business? Still, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until you can sort it out.’
Ruby nodded, unwilling to commit to an answer. ‘How’s Cathy?’ she asked, glancing up the stairs.
‘Out with her friends. I don’t expect her back until late. It’s been good for her, having some stability in her life, someone who can give her what she needs.’
Ruby knew the barbed comment was aimed at her. Frances would never forgive her for giving Cathy up for adoption, but she was in no position to offer her a stable home.
‘Oh, it’s just that I was hoping to see her,’ Ruby said, unable to let the subject go.
‘Well then you need to be patient, my dear. She’s a Crosby through and through. And Crosbys find it hard to forgive.’
Ruby set her jaw. She and Nathan had been loved-up teenagers, living rough on the streets. Life had been different then, and they had given Cathy up because they had no choice. Now she had returned, Frances would waste no time in pouring poison in her granddaughter’s ear.
‘I’ve just got to make a phone call.’ Frances imparted another sharp smile. ‘You head into the drawing room, and I’ll be with you in a minute.’
To an outsider looking in, it would appear that the diminutive woman had offered Ruby the warmest of welcomes. She looked almost cute, with her blonde bobbed hair and pink designer trouser suit. But beneath the smile Ruby envisioned the sharpest of teeth, capable of ripping a person in two. The nicer Frances appeared, the more guarded Ruby became. Her footsteps echoed down the vast corridor, the hairs on the back of Ruby’s neck prickling as she walked.
Fresh from briefing, she had journeyed to the luxurious Crosby residence in Chigwell in the guise of making some urgent enquiries. Not that she had to hide now that Downes had given her free rein. It felt strange for her visit to the family of gangsters to be above board for once. She should have come double crewed, but there were a few reasons why she had chosen to attend alone. For one thing, she did not want anyone else knowing about her relationship with Nathan Crosby. For another, Frances would not speak quite so candidly with another officer in the room, and it could compromise her position as sergeant when their close acquaintance became apparent. How she had managed to keep it under her hat this long, she did not know, but there was no way she was going to jeopardise her job now. As always, when she thought of how much she valued her role, the scales tipped the other way. Her emotions were a continuous see-saw. Since joining the police, she had never known it any other way. She’d think about her job, the driving force in her life, then she’d imagine Nathan, the type of man she would usually put behind bars. Growing up next to the Crosbys had given her an insight not afforded to many and brought with it added complications when it came to her job.
She wondered what he was doing and if he was OK. Unlike his brother, Nathan had done well to avoid prison all these years. The only time he came close to being discovered by the police was when his movements were orchestrated by his brother, Lenny. The brothers had both grown up the same way, both victims of their father’s heavy hand, yet they couldn’t be more unalike. The only thing that kept them together was the sense of family loyalty their mother had embedded since an early age.
Ruby slowly opened the heavy drawing-room door. It was just as she thought: Lenny was waiting for her, and Frances’s phone call had been a ploy to give the two of them some time alone. Her stomach tightened at the sight of him. She gathered up her reserves of strength as she confidently pushed her way through. Lenny would be keen to impose some of his more persuasive tactics to get what he wanted, and Frances had no problem in turning a blind eye.
Dressed smartly in trousers and shirt, he sat next to the blazing open fire, his crossed leg bobbing as nervous energy overrode his senses. Lenny was jittery, Ruby thought. Probably on a comedown from the last lot of coke he had shoved up his nose. He stood as she entered, his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets. His hair slicked back, he wore a tight expression, offering Ruby a glare which suggested she had been the bane of his life. That was the trouble with Lenny. He could never take responsibility for his actions.
‘Well? Have you sorted it out yet?’ he asked, wrinkling his nose at Ruby’s presence as if she had just walked in dog shit and come swanning in.
Ruby held back from rolling her eyes as she walked towards him. Her childish reaction came from a lifetime of deflecting his annoying traits. It may have worked when she was eight, but they were adults now. Lenny was unpredictable, and the fact he both fancied and disliked her in equal measures left her uneasy.
‘That’s what I’m here for,’ she said, ‘in an official capacity. I don’t think Nathan is responsible for this any more than you do, but we need to work together. Someone has had access to his home. I’ll need a list of suspects, people you’ve angered over the years. Then I’ll need. . .’
‘No, no, no, that’s not how this works,’ Lenny said, his finger moving from left to right in a tick-tock fashion. ‘I tell you what to do.’ Seizing her by the shoulder, his fingers bit into her flesh.
‘Get the fuck off me,’ Ruby said, shrugging her shoulder free.
He licked his lips, his hand falling to her forearm. Smiling, he tilted his head to one side and stared deep into her eyes. She could smell the stale tobacco lingering on his breath, hear the click in his throat as he swallowed, but his eyes were icy-cold. She fought the urge to turn on her heel and leave. She hated being in such close proximity to Lenny. Every time they were together he had to lay hands on her, making no secret of the fact that he wanted to get her into bed. Had it not been for Nathan, he could have forced the issue, and Ruby could tell that there were plenty of times when he had been tempted. The sexual undercurrent was entirely one-sided, and Ruby despised him more now than ever.
She broke his grip, taking a step back. ‘Touch me again, and I’m out of here. Then you can explain to your mum why I’m not investigating the case.’ She placed her hands on her hips, the heat of her anger growing. She was a detective sergeant, and this visit was on job time. ‘I’m the best person to clear Nathan’s name because nobody else will be interested in his innocence. If you don’t start treating me with a bit of respect, I’m off.’
‘And you better listen to me,’ Lenny said, jabbing his finger in Ruby’s chest. ‘Because if you don’t get Nathan off, I’m gonna slit that pearly white throat of yours, and your daughter will be left without a mother for the second time. Do I make myself clear?’
His voice was like grease on her skin. Ruby found her temper rising. She glowered. ‘You know what? I don’t need this. I came here to help, and all you can do is threaten me. I’ll take my investigation back to the station.’ She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but she knew where to draw the line.
She strode towards the double doors, pushing them open. Just as she guessed, Frances had been waiting outside all along. But while Lenny had been upfront about his feelings for Ruby, Frances worked with a smile. It was almost like good cop–bad cop, except they were both on the wrong side of the law. They were working a routine on her. Ruby had done it herself enough times to know when she was being played.
‘Sweetheart, where are you going? I’ve just sent down to the kitchen for tea.’ Taking her gently by the forearm, Frances ushered Ruby back inside.
It was as if she held power over her. As much as she mistrusted Frances, Ruby respected her as a mother figure in her life. Frances and her mother, Joy, had been best friends since their teens, and she had grown up to the background of their kitchen table conversations. Both women’s lives had changed beyond recognition but, in Ruby’s mind, a part of them was still there, gossiping over a strong cuppa tea about ‘’er next door’, and blowing smoke rings at the kitchen table.
It was the changing of the guards: as Frances entered the room, Lenny left. Taking a seat, Ruby reminded herself that she was the one holding all the power. Frances may have had servants to make her tea, but what she wanted more than anything was the safe return of her son. Checking her watch, Ruby reminded Frances that her time was limited. As the two women worked on a list of suspects, the tension began to drain away. Lenny had been there to issue a warning, and Frances could work now the game rules had been made clear. But threatening to leave Cathy motherless, was that really part of the plan? Surely Frances would not allow such a thing to happen. But Frances had taken over as a mother figure to Cathy, determined to take Ruby’s place. Was she setting up Lenny to finish her off so she could bring up Cathy her way? With Nathan in prison, she would be free to do what she wanted. Ruby dismissed the thought. Frances would never want Nathan imprisoned, and Lenny would be too much of a loose cannon without him.
Still, her unease rose, and as she drove back to the station, she prayed for a quick resolution.