Jayne let herself into Dan’s apartment, using the keys he’d loaned her, just in case he was called out to the police station. She’d rung the door buzzer so that she wouldn’t arrive unexpectedly, but there’d been no answer. At least it gave her the rest of the evening to go over the notes Doreen had given her.
As she went into the living room, she stopped, shocked.
Dan was lying on the sofa, his mouth open, his breathing heavy. There was a bottle of wine next to him, still half of it left.
That wasn’t what shocked her though. It was Dan’s face. It was bruised, worse than her own.
‘Dan? You all right?’
He didn’t budge, so she nudged his shoulder and said louder, ‘Dan?’
He groaned as he moved. He tried to raise himself up but instead put his head back and smacked his lips. ‘What time is it?’
‘Nearly nine. How are you like this? All beaten up and drunk.’
He opened one eye and rubbed his face. As his eyes focused, he sat up. ‘This is only the half of it.’
‘Wait there,’ and she went to get him a glass of water.
He gulped it down and took a few deep breaths before taking in Jayne. As he did so, he said, ‘What the hell?’
‘I wasn’t lying. That was then. These will fade and we’ve got work to do.’
He put his head back. ‘Don’t bother.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s over. All of it. Some bastard burnt my office down. The same bastard who did this to me. I’m done.’
Jayne put her hand to her mouth before kneeling on the floor in front of him. ‘Burnt down? How? I mean, why?’
‘It’s just a shell now. Whatever we were doing, we upset someone, and I’ve got the message loud and clear.’
‘Oh no, you haven’t, Dan Grant. You’re better than this.’
‘Jayne, don’t you get it? I’ve nothing left.’ He reached down for the wine. ‘Anaesthetic?’
She took it from him. ‘You’ve had enough.’
‘I thought you liked annihilation.’
‘I do, but that’s me. This isn’t you. Damn you, Dan, you’re the sensible one. I’m the one who does stupid stuff.’ She went to the kitchen area and got herself a glass. ‘I’ll help you get rid of it, if it will stop you being like this.’ As she filled her glass, she said, ‘Where’s all the material for Nick Connor’s case?’
He waved his hand towards the corner. ‘Over there.’
‘Good, so you can still work on it.’ He went as if to say something, but she held up her hand. ‘I don’t want to hear you complain. The trial starts on Monday and the judge is expecting you to be there, ready and eager. If you want to say that you’re not ready because you spent the weekend getting drunk and feeling sorry for yourself, go ahead, but how do you think that will go down?’
‘Should I care? Really?’
‘You’ve said that you always wanted to be a criminal lawyer, and look, that’s what you are. You’re not fit for anything else, and if you don’t turn up ready on Monday morning, the judge might report you to whoever people like you get reported to, so stop it with the self-pity.’
He sat back. ‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. I’m the one who keeps you from ruining your life. I’m the one in control.’
‘It’s my turn.’
‘And I know you’re right. Tell me then, what’s got you so excited?’
She grinned. ‘That’s better. That’s the Dan Grant I know, and I think I’ve worked out what Mark Roberts discovered that brought him to Highford. He was going to write about Rodney’s daughter, Leoni.’
‘Why?’
‘When I was in Brampton, everyone said he was writing about Rodney being innocent, but then he followed the same trail I did, and he’ll have found out the same things I did, which included that Leoni moved here, to Highford. Dan, he was going for Leoni.’
‘For his daughter’s perspective?’
‘No, that’s an interview. It could be done by phone or email. He was staying here though, which means he was doing more than that. I think when he learned about Leoni, he changed tack and decided to write about how murder runs in the family. Can you imagine what a great book that would be?’
Dan drained his water and went to the sink for a refill.
He took another long drink before saying, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m just not getting it. Murder? What are you talking about?’
Jayne reached into her bag and pulled out a bundle of papers. ‘When she was fifteen, Leoni talked a vulnerable boy into hanging himself.’
Dan put his glass down. ‘That’s interesting. It’s a crime, but it isn’t murder though.’
‘The police or the prosecutors didn’t think there was enough evidence of any crime being committed.’
‘How could Mark write about murder running in the family then, if there’s no murder?’
‘Him wanting to write about it doesn’t mean that he was getting it all correct. This is research he was doing, not the final draft. No one’s found any book he’d finished.’
‘His laptop was taken, remember.’
‘Wait until you see the messages then. They’re not pleasant reading. Here, look.’ She passed over a sheet of paper where she’d underlined something.
Dan squinted as he read, his eyes not yet focusing properly.
Always smile but you’ve got to do it. You’ve got everything you need. Today is the day. It’s now or never.
She passed over another sheet. ‘And then this one, because he’d started to back out, so she came back with, “You’re not going to do it then? All of that was for nothing? I’m confused. You were so ready for it”.’ She held out her hands. ‘Don’t you see? She pushes and pushes and he tries to back out each time, but then she complains how he’s letting her down. Here, look,’ and she passed over another piece of paper.
He read.
I’m not mad but I don’t get it. You go on and on about how you’re going to do it, but then right at the end you bottle it. Last night, I knew you really wanted to, but again, here you are, for another cycle of misery.
He put the paper down. ‘She’s baiting him.’
‘Exactly. See what you make of this one then.’ She passed over another sheet, jabbing at where she’d made notes in the margin.
Just make a noose and stand on a chair. Once you start swinging, you can’t back out. A couple of minutes and it’s all done. No pain, except all the pain you’ll no longer have.
Dan raised it in the air. ‘How long after this did the boy kill himself?’
‘The same night. His parents went out, so he acted. Looped a tow rope around a beam in the garage, made a noose, and kicked himself off a chair, just like she instructed. And he was on the phone to her when he did it. That’s probably what stopped her from being prosecuted, because she told the police she’d been screaming at him not to do it, but he wouldn’t listen.’
‘And your guess is?’
‘She was encouraging him. But how can you prove it? She’s the only witness to the conversation. The rest got written off as two outsiders making stupid chatter. That’s not what his mother thinks, and it led to Leoni leaving the estate, which is when she moved to Highford. That’s why Mark Roberts was here. He was following Leoni’s trail, and I totally understand why. It’s a great angle, murderous genes. He’d been to see her mother, Rodney’s ex-wife, and he found out the same things I did. It makes total sense.’
‘And someone wanted to stop him.’
‘Exactly. And who’s the obvious person? Leoni Walker, that’s who. If he was pursuing her, she might have told him that she wanted to keep her identity a secret, so she’d meet him somewhere quiet and dark. It all fits.’
‘And it would explain why the laptop would go missing,’ Dan said, more animated now, his mind clearing. ‘Didn’t you say that a woman had been to the cottage where he’d stayed? We’d assumed that it was Barbara, but it might have been Leoni, looking for whatever evidence he’d found. She was getting rid of the evidence.’
Jayne grinned. ‘Damn, we’re good.’
He smiled. ‘We are,’ and then, ‘I’ve missed you. Us, I’ve missed us.’
That surprised her. ‘Me too, but there wasn’t really an us. Just me and you, separate.’
‘I don’t want it to be like that anymore.’
Jayne’s eyes narrowed. ‘This is the wine talking.’
‘No, it’s me talking because of the wine, but it’s what I think.’
Jayne thought of the previous times she’d tried to seduce him, and he’d always pulled away. She’d felt rejected, hurt. She didn’t want to feel that again.
But the desire had never gone away.
Jayne moved to stand next to him. ‘We’ve been close to this before. How do I know you won’t back away?’
He kissed her.
His lips were soft, tasted of stale wine, but she could feel his need in the urgency of his kiss.
She responded, her hand in his hair, the yearn inside wanting to make it happen too quickly.
She pulled away. ‘If you back off again, I’ll never speak to you again.’
‘Are you threatening me into bed?’
‘If that’s what it takes.’
‘This is a big step. It’ll change us.’
‘There’s something you’ve got to know first. About Chris and me and last night.’
‘I don’t need to know anything. If we do this, everything changes from now. The past won’t matter. Our past. Your past.’ He walked ahead and took her hand. ‘Come with me.’
She hesitated for a moment, before following him to the bedroom.
As he took off his top, she undressed slowly, strangely nervous.
This time, there was no going back.