Chapter Forty-Two

Greg was disturbed by the noise of a key turning in the lock of his cell door. As the door swung open a custody officer spoke.

‘You have a visitor, there’s someone here to see you,’ he announced.

‘Who is it?’ Greg asked.

‘A Miss Karen Hogan… Do you want to see her?’ the custody officer asked. His sarcasm showing that he did not have time for this as his Cup-a-Soup was now getting cold.

‘Yeah, why not…’ Greg replied, standing up.

‘I’m going to have to put these on,’ the officer said, holding a pair of handcuffs. Greg simply offered his hands. ‘Behind your back, O’Hara,’ the officer smiled.

Once Greg had been cuffed, he was told to follow the officer. As Greg followed the officer, he noticed that two other custody officers had been waiting outside his cell. They were simply back-up. Was he regarded as a dangerous prisoner?

‘Nah. It’s standard procedure,’ he thought.

Greg walked with the three uniformed officers being directed where they wanted him to sit. Once they had reached their destination, Greg was directed to a chair.

‘OK, take a seat,’ the officer stated.

Karen was already sitting on the opposite side of the table.

‘There is to be no contact, no kissing, voices are to be kept at an acceptable level. If you feel that your safety is being jeopardised, Miss Hogan, please let us know. There is to be no spitting or other vulgarity…’ he placed his hand on Greg’s right shoulder, his grip tight. ‘Please behave sonny!’ he said in an undermining tone.

Greg looked up at him and smiled, ‘Be seeing you!’ he said. Karen had not seen this side of Greg before – it frightened her, making her feel uneasy. ‘Good to see you,’ Greg said.

‘Why, Greg?’ Karen asked, her eyes filled with sadness. Half of her didn’t want to come here and do this, but she needed to know.

‘You wouldn’t understand!’

‘I loved you, I gave you…’ Karen started to cry.

‘Everything all right, Miss Hogan?’ one of the uniformed officers asked.

‘Yes. I’m fine!’

‘Why did you grass me up?’ Greg enquired softly, he needed to know.

‘I had to… what would you have done if I had confronted you about it? You wouldn’t have stopped,’ her crying abated, her sadness transformed to anger. ‘When would you have stopped?’

‘Not until I was caught. I would never have hurt you Karen,’ tenderness echoed through his words.

‘That won’t work anymore Greg! I saw what you had those people do… We sat next to each other in bed watching the news flash. You drugged me. You fucking bastard, you evil fucking bastard!’ Karen swung her left hand, slapping Greg across his face. The noise sounded like the clap of hands, ‘you evil piece of shit,’ her anger even more evident.

‘Miss Hogan, no physical contact, please,’ a uniformed officer shouted as he ran to Greg’s aid.

‘Don’t worry about it, mate. I deserve it. I’ll get worse once I’m inside,’ Greg said calmly.

‘That’s not the point. You’re safety is our responsibility. Would you like us to remove Miss Hogan?’ the officer asked.

‘No,’ Greg replied shaking his head.

‘Would you like to see a doctor?’ the officer continued.

‘No, mate, I’m perfectly all right.’

‘OK… I won’t warn you again Miss Hogan, and O’Hara, I’m not your mate,’ the officer grunted.

‘I’m not sorry for slapping you,’ Karen said remorseless.

‘Don’t you ever lose that fire.’ Greg looked at Karen, he had always admired her, ‘Don’t wait for me, find happiness and forget about me…’ he spoke softly.

‘You must be fucking mad if you think that I’d be waiting for you. For fuck’s sake Greg! You’re a fucking nutter. Do you think I wanna be associated with a fucking nutter?’

‘You said you loved me!’

‘Yeah, loved, in the past tense, time gone by, not now, and never in the future! Have they checked that you aren’t fucking mental?’

‘You didn’t come here for an argument. If that’s what you want, then you’re wasting your time. I have no remorse for what has been done and I never killed anyone, nor did I order or force anyone to take the lives of others. So, if you came here today thinking that you would see me crying and whimpering, sorry you’ve had a wasted journey. If you came here to say good bye then I can accept that and we can both move on, draw a line finally. Well then, what have you come here for?’

‘To say good bye, I needed to know that you understood why I told the police. If you hate me, then fair enough, I really couldn’t give a fuck what you think of me. I don’t hate you Greg, I loathe you, and it makes me sick to the pit of my stomach that we made love. I made love to a fucking homicidal maniac! That’d make a great story, hey I could make some money out of this,’ Karen was on a roll, ‘a film even.’

‘Karen, I have forgiven you for this, but only for this…’ Greg removed the pleasant look he had been wearing on his face. ‘Please don’t make me regret it. Don’t force me to change my mind Karen.’

‘Don’t threaten me, you mug. You don’t frighten me. Soon you’ll be locked up and I’m going to watch them throw away the key.’

‘Remember, Karen, everything begins with choice… your next choice will shape the rest of your life.’

‘Goodbye Greg,’ Karen said as she stood up and walked away, without looking back.

‘So long Karen.’