Squirrel & Swan Suspicious Things, page 23
Paige studied her then nodded. “Good. You make a perfect Damsel in Distress.”
“Yay. Lifelong dream achieved,” Sophie said wryly, but then brought nervous eyes back to Paige. “So what’s the precise plan?”
38
“You distract Laurie, I sneak up and grab the gun,” Paige said.
They stared at each other for a moment.
“Are we really going to just go in there? Gun and everything?”
“Yes.”
“Is it going to work?”
“Yes.” Paige lifted her chin. “Because if I can’t get the gun off him, then at least Roman can spring into action. He’s only tied to a camping chair and it’s only one hand. The way I see it, the only reason he’s not rushing at Laurie is because the gun is trained on him, right?”
“Right.”
“So while you distract Laurie then either Roman or I or both of us can get the gun.”
“Maybe the police will get here before anything happens,” Sophie said hopefully.
“Well they’d better hurry up,” Paige said.
They both fell silent, wide eyes searching each other’s.
Sophie swallowed the hard lump in her throat. “Not going to lie, I’m kind of terrified. But there’s no way I’m waiting here while Laurie does something to Roman.” She took a shaky breath. “Let’s do this.”
They crept back to the clearing. Laurie was nearly done with his beer, but far from finished talking, it seemed.
“I remember it,” Roman was saying. “Nearly two thousand people got food poisoning.”
“You’re forgetting the star athlete who died.”
“Right.”
“An Olympic hopeful. But that wasn’t the problem. As it turns out, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Negligent management had created a toxic work environment and very substandard health and safety regulations. They may have been a leading brand, but they didn’t have the operational processes to back it up. Or at least, not anymore. A bunch of deaths and accidents in the factory in the three years prior had all been covered up. It looked as if the same would happen for the most recent food hygiene issue but a whistle-blower brought the case to Terry.”
Roman sighed heavily. “And Terry was going to shine a light on the operation.”
“I tried to warn him but he wouldn’t listen. He didn’t realise how dangerous these people are. I told him not to go. Not to get on that boat.”
Roman sucked in a shocked breath. “You knew?”
“I tried to warn him.”
“You knew that if he got on that fishing boat he wouldn’t get off again and you didn’t stop him?’
“You’re not listening. I tried to warn him off.”
“Bastard,” Roman said between gritted teeth.
“It was a shame.”
Laurie took a sip of beer, then lifted his other hand to place it on the armrest. The gun was now clearly visible, loosely pointed at Roman.
“Who did the dirty?” Roman asked. “Who pushed him off the boat?”
Laurie shrugged. “They hired someone. He snuck on board and took care of it.”
Sophie turned to Paige who’d gone still. Tears streamed down her face, glinting in the moonlight above the trees. Sophie squeezed her arm. Paige kept staring straight ahead for a moment, then turned to meet her gaze. Paige’s expression was a twisted, anguished combination of rage, fear and grief.
“Are you okay?” Sophie mouthed.
Paige dropped her chin to nod once.
“What are we doing here, Laurie. What’s your plan?” Roman said. “What do you want from me?”
“They said to take care of it. So here I am, taking care of it.” Laurie let out a strangled laugh.
Sophie shot wide eyes to Paige. They both nodded. It was time. As Sophie walked—stumbled—directly into Laurie’s line of vision, Paige moved in the opposite direction.
“Please,” Sophie said as she staggered into the clearing, her voice shaky.
Roman turned shocked eyes to hers.
“Who are you?” Laurie lurched upright but kept his body side-on so that the hand that held the gun was concealed.
As Sophie got closer, reaching out to Laurie, Roman’s eyes found Paige, sneaking around the other side, behind Laurie. His mouth dropped open, his expression stunned.
“I’m lost,” Sophie took a shaky breath and made her eyes wide as possible. “I’ve been lost for a whole day.” She added a small pout and raised the pitch of her voice. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m so thirsty.” She tottered forwards. “Please, I need your help.”
As Laurie took an uncertain step towards Sophie, he dropped the hand that held the gun to the side of his body, as if it was more important that he hide the gun from her than use it to control the situation. At this moment, Roman lurched upright, but Paige was faster. Before Laurie even knew she was there she’d crept up behind him and yanked the gun out of his hand.
He whirled around and lunged at her but she darted back and held up the gun. “Don’t move, dum-dum.”
“Give me that,” Laurie growled.
Paige brought her other hand up to grasp the gun with both.
“You won’t do it.” Laurie sneered and took a menacing step towards her. “You don’t have the—”
“Don’t I? Wont I?” Paige hissed. “I would love to shoot you. Even if it’s just in the leg. I’m not much of a crack shot, though. Maybe it’ll end up in the groin.”
She tightened her grip and lowered her aim a little. “After what you did to my father, I’d welcome the opportunity to shoot you.”
Laurie recoiled, clearly only now realising who she was. “Paige?”
“Take another step, lunge at me, do your best. Come on.” Paige’s voice was cold but her eyes were ablaze, and in that moment she looked entirely capable of anything.
Laurie raised his hands in defeat and stepped back. In the distance, sirens became audible. Roman’s shoulders sagged with relief. Sophie ran over to where he was in the camping chair with one hand still tied, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing herself against his back and burying her face into his neck.
“Oh, thank god,” she said, her voice muffled.
“No, thank you,” Roman said, letting out a sigh, leaning into Sophie.
The wail of sirens got louder.
“The police are here,” Paige said unnecessarily. She turned to focus a death stare on Laurie.
“And you’re going down for the murder of my father.”
39
Outside the door to the hypnotherapist studio, Sophie stopped Paige before she rang the buzzer. “Are you sure about this?”
“That depends. How sure are you?”
Sophie made a face. “Pretty sure.”
After thinking about the two sessions she’d attended with Cassie, the not-at-all-subtle suggestion that she should trust tall blond men, and then the even less subtle appearance at their office with her brother in tow, a tall blond man, Sophie had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
“It could be an actual crime to try to implant ideas into people’s brains for personal gain,” Paige said. “At the very least she’s getting a piece of my mind and you’re getting your money back. You went to them because you needed help and look what she did!” She pressed the buzzer angrily, her mouth set in a line. After a moment they were buzzed upstairs.
Behind the reception desk was a middle-aged woman Sophie had never seen before. “Hello, can I help you?” she said pleasantly.
“We’re here to talk to Cassie,” Paige said.
“I’m sorry, Who?”
“Doctor Meadows?” Sophie added, starting to feel a little unsure.
“She’s writing up clinical reports at the moment. What’s this about?”
“The crime of improper use of hypnosis, that’s what,” Paige said haughtily. “Implanting suggestions for personal gain.”
The woman drew back. “Excuse me?”
“And she wants her money back,” Paige added, thumbing at Sophie.
Just then, a woman emerged from the clinical room, frowning as she took in the scene in front of her. “What’s the problem here?”
“They’re accusing you of improper conduct,” the receptionist said.
“They are? Who are you?” the woman asked, looking from Paige to Sophie.
“Oh, um, I’m Sophie Swanephol. I came in a couple of weeks ago, but….”
The woman frowned. “But what?”
“Who are you?” Paige said to the woman.
“Doctor Meadows.”
“That’s who I was supposed to see,” Sophie said quietly. “But I saw someone called Cassie. I thought she was you. Doctor Cassie Meadows.”
“Do you have another hypnotherapist working here?” Paige asked.
“No. Just me.” Suddenly her face changed. “Oh, Cassie. The temp we hired. She’s gone. Did you need her for something?”
“Cassie was a temp?” Sophie said. “A temporary hypnotherapist?”
“No, a temporary receptionist. Both myself and Miranda here got a terrible flu at the same time and it came on rather suddenly so we hired a temp for a few hours each day to deal with all the cancellations and rescheduling etc. We were out for nearly two weeks. I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“So just to be clear, Cassie has no hypnotherapy qualifications at all?” Sophie said.
Dr Meadows shook her head.
Paige turned to Sophie. “Oh my god, you were hypno-catfished by the temp.”
Leo and Zelda sat side by side on Leo’s couch in his small studio apartment. Leo cleared his throat, feeling weird. Why was the atmosphere so tense all of a sudden? When he shifted his eyes to Zelda, she was looking straight at him.
Zelda tilted her head. “You’ve got a funny expression on your face.”
“I do?” He coughed. “Um….”
Emmitt suddenly meowed loudly.
They both looked over to see Emmitt, previously prowling around the garden looking for excitement or perhaps just conducting a perimeter inspection of his territory, nosing his way through the cat flap. He strolled into the living room and stopped right in front of them. He tucked his bottom down and curled his tail over his front paws, then proceeded to regard Leo and Zelda as they sat there.
“Dude, what’s up?” Leo said. “It’s not even close to dinner time.”
Emmitt continued to look from Leo to Zelda, then leapt up onto the couch and began the elaborate process of inserting himself into the less than six-inch space between them. Zelda scratched the top of his head and Emmitt let out a happy purr in reply.
“What are you thinking about?” Zelda said, continuing to stroke Emmitt’s head.
“Odds are pretty good he’s thinking about his dinner,” Leo said.
“Ha-ha. I meant you,” Zelda replied.
“Oh, just that….” He took a breath. “It’s cool that Emmitt likes you.”
“He doesn’t like other people?”
Leo thought for a moment. “I guess I haven’t really tested that out.” His cheeks felt warm.
“Huh.” Zelda said. “I guess he’s picking up on my vibes.”
Leo swallowed. “Your vibes?”
“Yeah. Pets can tell when people like their owners, right?”
His face suddenly felt very hot. “Like, as in….”
Zelda looked up to smile at him. “You don’t know?”
For a moment they held each other’s gaze.
No immediate head-over-heels for this one. No rushing in headlong. He would take it slow and give it a chance to be a proper relationship. He would let things unfold at their own pace.
A smile crept onto Leo’s face. “I guess maybe I do.”
Sophie put down her wine and leaned into Roman. They were snuggled up on his couch but it was okay because he’d recently replaced several items of furniture, getting rid of the more intimate pieces that he’d shared with Anya.
“You know I always wondered how S and S Investigations solved their cases so quickly and easily,” Roman said into the silence. “I know most of it is down to two brilliant psychological minds, but now one more piece of the puzzle has officially slotted into place.”
“Leo and his not-totally-legal hacking skills?” Sophie, making an uncertain face. “Can you pretend you don’t know that bit?”
“I’m going to have to, I think. It saved my life, right?”
“It did.”
“Along with you and Paige, of course. Employing the classic S and S move.”
“Distract And Ambush,” Sophie finished, smiling as she nestled into the crook of his shoulder, enjoying the easy warmth and his closeness. “So what’s next for Laurie?” she asked.
“He’s currently at the station singing like a bird,” Roman said with a chuckle. “He’s spilling the beans on everyone.”
“Thank god for that. I would have hated for there to be a long and protracted court case or something. For Paige and her mum to have to go through that.”
“I mean, there still could be a few hiccups. A major foodstuffs brand like that is going to lawyer up and throw the best legal team in the country at this problem. I suspect the way it’s going to go down is the actual guy who, ah, took care of Terry, will be offered like a sacrificial lamb. He will take the fall and Laurie will also go down for covering it up.”
“And the big bad behind it all will get away.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the way life works, right? We just have to fight the battles we can win.”
“And find some happiness along the way,” Sophie added before reaching up to kiss Roman on the cheek.
He smiled down at her then raised one hand to gently stroke the side of her face. “I’m so glad we found our way to each other, Sophie Swanephol. I don’t even know how to find the words to explain it.”
“You don’t need to,” Sophie murmured in reply. “I already know.”
Paige raised her hand to knock on the door, but then dropped it. This was so weird. this was her house. Her home. It had been for years now. So why did she feel so uncertain about going inside? About whether she belonged here anymore?
The door swung open. “Paige?” Tim gave her a shaky smile. “What are you doing standing out here?”
“I, uh, wasn’t sure….”
Paige had never, ever, found it this hard to find the right words.
Tim opened the door wider, half-smiling and half-frowning as she stepped inside.
They walked awkwardly down the hall towards the living room.
“Do you want a drink? Tea, coffee, wine?”
Paige swallowed. Tim was treating her like a guest.
“Sorry, I… you obviously can make a drink or whatever. You know where everything is and….”
Silence fell.
“Let’s just go into the lounge and talk,” Paige said, the words coming out in a rush.
“How have you been?” Tim asked as they sat about a metre apart on the three-seater couch.
“Uh, you know….”
But he didn’t know and they were both excruciatingly aware of that, it seemed.
Part of her was desperate to tell Tim all about the recent cases; to chat about work and the mystery they’d solved like it was a normal day. A bigger part yearned to tell him what they’d discovered about her father. But before any of that, there was something else to discuss. And it couldn’t wait any longer.
“I’m scared,” she said suddenly, her voice cracking.
Tim’s eyes went wide and he moved closer to her but Paige held up a hand. “I just need to get this out or I’ll never say it.”
Tim sat back and nodded.
“I know I’m not very good with people. I know I’m rude, tactless, thoughtless sometimes. I say the wrong thing. I do the wrong thing. I get caught up in myself and what I want, or completely absorbed in the case and the mystery and I forget everything else. I don’t know how to be a mother, Tim. The idea is terrifying to me. I’d screw the kid up. How could I not?”
“But—”
“Please. Let me finish?”
“Okay.”
“When I’m honest with myself, that’s not even the biggest problem.” She looked down and took a deep breath. “What if something goes wrong? What if something happens to them. To you? I can’t do it again. I can’t go through that. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose a child.”
Suddenly tears were streaming down her face. She sniffed them back and wiped them away but still they came, flooding down her cheeks and eventually she just let Tim take her in his arms and rock her gently until she was done.
“I get it. At least, I understand. But that can’t be the reason, Paige. It just can’t. We can’t live like that. In fear of something that might never happen. It’s not living at all.”
I know,” Paige said sniffling into Tim’s shoulder. “But it’s hard to get past.” She took a big shuddering breath and looked into his eyes.
“What if I turn out like my mother?”
Tim suppressed a smile and stroked her hair. “Come on, she’s not nearly as bad as you make out. You two argue because you’re too similar. And you’re both stubborn,” he added under his breath.
Paige made a small noise.
“And what about me?” Tim said into the silence.
She pulled out of his embrace. “What do you mean?”
“We’d both be parents. You and me. I’d be at least half of the equation. Because once the first baby breast-feeding stuff—”
“You can’t assume that I’m going to—”
“I can be the primary caregiver. In fact, I’d love it. I mean I can’t have the baby, obviously, but after that I can take more of the responsibility if your business is still doing well and it pays the bills.”
Paige stared at him. “Yeah?”
“Yes. House Husband. I love the idea.”
They shared a smile.
“I found out something about Dad recently,” Paige said after a while.
“Yeah?” Tim reached out and squeezed Paige’s hand.
“There’s so much stuff I have to tell you, actually, but the bit that is relevant now is… I think I’ve gotten some closure. I didn’t know I needed it, but I think that’s what happened. It feels as if I had been holding onto something, but not in a good way. Not in a helpful way. I’ve released something. And for some weird reason, now I feel like I can start a new journey.
