Heck trudged across the sparkling wet car park towards the Motel-With-No-Name. He wasn’t sure how late in the evening it was, but he was so drained that all he wanted to do was strip off his damp clothes and fall into bed. Though he was hungry, he lacked the energy or inclination to look for food. His room was at the top of a half-stair leading up from the first floor. It was located at the end of a short passage, onto which only two other doors opened. Even though the entire SCU was billeted in this building, he’d never yet seen or heard anyone else on that level.
Until now.
Claire was sitting at the top of the half-stair, head bowed, arms wrapped around her knees. From her posture, he at first thought she was asleep. She was wearing a bathrobe and a pair of fluffy slippers; her hair was damp and stringy, as if she’d recently showered. But when she glanced up, she looked far from relaxed. Her eyes were red and puffy; her lips quivered.
‘Hi,’ he said.
‘Hi,’ she replied in a small voice. ‘You’re very late. I’ve been waiting ages.’
‘Sorry. It’s a job that won’t rest. You okay?’
‘Not really.’ She chuckled at the thought. She clearly wasn’t falling drunk, but he could smell alcohol. ‘I really blew it today. At the press conference.’
‘I heard a bit of it on the radio,’ he said, feeling indifferent about it. Claire’s honest confusion might now have dire consequences, but in truth he was too tired to be worried.
‘What a performance, eh? No wonder DCI Garrickson tore such a strip off me afterwards. He was absolutely hideous. I’ve never had such a telling-off.’
‘Ignore him.’
‘I’ve let you all down.’
‘I told you … headlines are a one-day wonder.’
‘Perhaps it’s one day too many?’
‘Why are you sitting out here?’
‘Why do you think?’
He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s nearly ten …’
‘That prostitute’s going to die because of me, isn’t she?’
‘Claire, that prostitute is going to die because she’s in the hands of a bunch of sick weirdoes who get their kicks from hurting people.’
‘I signed her death-warrant. That’s what DCI Garrickson said.’
‘The chance of saving that girl’s life by lying that we were onto the bastards responsible was the longest of long-shots. There’s absolutely no way in hell you should beat yourself up about it.’
She gave a brave but wry smile. ‘Now … that’s what I came here for. After a really shitty day … a bit of Mark Heckenburg wisdom. I thought if the man I was warned could sell STD cream in a nunnery can’t show me how to put a positive spin on all this, no one can. And yes …’ She half-stumbled as she stood up. ‘I have had a couple of drinks, before you ask.’
‘All I was going to ask was if you fancied another one? Little nightcap? I’ve got a bottle in my room.’
Such a suggestion might have seemed ultra presumptuous even as recently as a few days ago, but an awful lot of fire and water had passed under the bridge since then.
‘Sure.’ She sniffed and scratched at her brow. ‘Why not?’
Heck’s room in the Motel-With-No-Name was not much to write home about: whitewashed brick walls, felt carpet tiles, a desk, a chair, a single bed, a blind on the window (which gave a dull view over the M62), an insipid painting, and a small en-suite containing a shower so narrow that some men he knew would only be able to enter it sideways.
‘Seriously, don’t let the press conference bother you,’ he said, closing the door behind them. ‘None of us are bloody perfect, least of all our swaggering ape of a DCI.’
‘You never let things get you down, do you?’ she replied, slumping into the chair. It didn’t sound entirely like a compliment.
He produced a bottle of Bushmills and two paper cups.
‘Even in the middle of this bloody nightmare, you’re somehow managing to keep your cool,’ she said. ‘Ploughing on, determined to crack the case.’
He shrugged as he poured them three fingers each. ‘It’s what I have to do.’
‘All I had to do was keep a lid on this thing, and look what happened there.’
He handed her the drink, then sat on the bed. ‘It’s not your fault the word got out. It’s a nasty game, this. Not all our enemies are on the other side. Even me and Gemma, who’ve been doing this for years, haven’t totally learned that yet.’
‘Nice speech.’ She sipped disconsolately. ‘But I know what you two think of me.’
‘Garrickson doesn’t speak for me or Gemma …’
‘It doesn’t matter what Garrickson said. He’s just gobbing off because he’s an oaf and an office bully. You two are more discreet but you all think the same.’
‘How do you know?’
Claire took another long sip; her three fingers were gone already. ‘Because I’d think it too, if I was you. I’m a complete liability … a weak link in the chain, and even one weak link can’t be tolerated when you’re trying to catch a bunch of murderers. Isn’t that true? Everyone in this team needs to be on top of their game, and I’m way off that.’
‘It was a ridiculously big job to give you in your first month.’
‘Interesting.’ She held out her cup for a refill; he duly obliged. ‘You’re not prepared to lie to me … to tell me that everything will be alright.’
‘I wouldn’t be doing you any favours if I lied to you.’
‘Exactly. Which is why I’m tendering my resignation first thing in the morning.’
Heck had been expecting something like this, yet somehow it failed to move him. He’d grown to like Claire, and admire her spirit – his initial thought about her, that she was primarily a pretty face, now made him feel ashamed. But he’d also watched her wrestle to keep it together. If she found violence upsetting, which she clearly did despite her most strenuous efforts, she was in the wrong place here.
‘I see you’re not trying to talk me out of it,’ she commented.
‘It’s your decision.’
‘It wouldn’t make any difference if you did.’ She stood up, crossed the small room and plonked herself down next to him. In the process, her robe flopped open, revealing that she was naked underneath. It might have been an erotic moment, but she barely seemed to notice. She shuddered and leaned her head on his shoulder. ‘I never knew such evil could exist in the world.’
He placed his arm around her; the peck he planted on her hair was gentle and platonic. ‘It’s not this bad all the time, you know.’
‘I thought you weren’t going to lie to me.’
‘That’s not a lie.’
‘This department chases the worst of the worst. That’s its purpose.’
‘We also catch them; we protect society from them.’
‘I agree, and maybe that gives you a boost from time to time. But don’t try to sweeten something that can’t be sweetened. Are you any closer to catching them?’
‘We have a few new leads.’
‘In other words “no”. You see, Mark … even you have a skill for being economical with the truth. More than I do, and I’m the one who gets paid for it.’
‘Claire, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Not everyone can stomach this kind of work.’
‘They treated me like an enemy out there.’ Fleetingly she didn’t just look hurt by that memory, she looked stunned, dazed. ‘I was trying to give them information, and … it was like I was the criminal … not the killers who are doing all this. Me.’
‘No one responds well to horrific situations like this. Not the public, not the press … they lash out. If we’re in the firing line, which we often are because we’re usually the only ones there, we’ve just got to take it on the chin.’
‘Well I haven’t got as good a chin as yours, I’m afraid.’ She turned her head as though to assess his physiognomy – and then kissed him on the side of the mouth.
‘What are you doing?’ he said warily.
Slowly, she twined her arms around him. ‘Heck, we may not see each other again after today.’ Her voice was breathy, husky. ‘So why don’t we end things on a high note, eh?’
‘Claire, you’re upset …’
‘Come on, you want it as much as I do.’
‘And you’re drunk.’
‘So what …’
Even as their lips met Heck knew this was a bad idea, but her curvaceous form melded against him, and though it might be slightly tainted by alcohol, the sweetness of her tongue was undeniable.