Bad Sister(56)

‘So he appeared just after the guy bumped into you?’

‘Yes. He helped steady me. That’s what the photo captured.’ Maybe she wouldn’t have to tell Lindsay about the memory stick after all.

‘Right.’ Lindsay sat back, appearing to contemplate this information. ‘That seems plausible …’ she said, almost to herself. ‘But,’ she sat forward again, ‘what did he give you?’

‘Nothing.’

‘In the photo it looked like you had something in your hand, an item that Jones had given you.’

Damn. Here we go, then.

‘No. It wasn’t Jonesy who gave it to me.’

‘Oh, the man that knocked into you gave it to you. What was it?’

‘I was unaware of what it was at the time – I was hiding it from Jonesy. I don’t even know why. It wasn’t until I was in the taxi that I realised it was a memory stick.’ Connie kept eye contact with Lindsay, and quickly added, ‘It has nothing to do with the Hargreaves murder, though. It was personal.’

‘At this point, everything is to do with the murder case. You were seen with an ex-prisoner. Now, if we find that Jones has links with Hargreaves, then it really doesn’t look good that a previously successful employee in the prison service, whose career was cut short because of our murder victim, is known to be associating with a criminal – revenge is sweet, as they say. And you may have got someone else to enact that revenge.’

‘NO! Absolutely not. Look, I’d got on with my life. Yes, I’d been disgraced, and yes, my career and personal life took a dive. But I would not even consider taking any kind of revenge. Only that of showing him I could survive, that I could rebuild my life despite him. Why the hell would I risk further damage to my reputation, not to mention my health? Jesus, Lindsay, I’d suffered enough.’ Connie’s face burned; her chest tight.

‘Calm down, Connie.’ Lindsay stretched a hand across and touched Connie’s. ‘Shall we go and get a coffee?’

Connie pushed the chair back and stood up in a swift movement. ‘Yes. I need to get out of this room.’

She was out of the door before Lindsay had responded. She needed breathing space, and some time, before the inevitable questions came about what information the memory stick contained.





CHAPTER SIXTY


Connie


‘I was just outside here with Mack,’ Lindsay said, as she passed a white polystyrene cup to Connie.

‘Yeah? Talking about me, was he?’ Her patience with Mack was wearing thin. Who was he to judge her?

Lindsay smiled, a straight-lipped one. ‘He was pretty upset.’

‘Because I slept with his son?’ Her tone betrayed her disbelief.

Lindsay’s eyebrows lifted. ‘So you already knew that Mack was his father? Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘No. I didn’t know. Not until just now. God, what a mess.’ Connie threw her head back, looking skywards.

‘Ah. Right. Well, yes – it is pretty messed up. But it was more than that, Connie. Apparently, Gary was pretty cut up about it all.’

‘Oh, really! Well, not as cut up as I was. It might’ve only been a one-night stand, but he got away with more than me, didn’t he? He didn’t have to go to the hospital, he didn’t have the repercussions to deal with.’ Connie turned her face away from Lindsay, not wanting her to see the pain that still resided in her.

‘That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? I mean, he didn’t even know about your pregnancy until it was too late for him to have a say?’

This was unreal. Who did Lindsay think she was, sticking her nose into this? It had nothing to do with her. Her anger flared, but then extinguished, Lindsay’s words suddenly sinking in.

‘Have a say? What “say” would he have liked?’

‘I guess whether you kept the baby or not?’

‘I didn’t get the opportunity to discuss that with him. You do know I lost the baby, don’t you?’

Lindsay took a step back. ‘Oh. Um … I’m sorry, I – I thought you’d had it terminated.’

‘That’s what Mack told you?’ Connie was livid again. ‘No. I didn’t terminate the pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. With the stress of everything going on …’ Tears choked her, a tight band restricted her throat. She couldn’t get any more words out.

She felt an arm around her shoulders.

‘I’m so sorry, Connie. I jumped to conclusions.’

They were silent for a moment, the two of them semi-huddled in what was almost an embrace. Connie took some deep breaths, composing herself.

‘It’s okay. Easy enough to do, given the circumstances.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘You’re doing your job, I know that.’

‘Yes. I am. Which means I also need to ask you about the content of the memory stick you were handed.’ Lindsay gave an apologetic smile.

‘It really doesn’t have relevance to the case, Lindsay. It’s literally a couple of documents referring to something that happened over twenty years ago. A personal tragedy. Someone clearly wanted to hurt me, bring it all up again.’

Lindsay nodded. ‘Well, we’ll take a look anyway. Sometimes things don’t always appear linked at first, but later down the line you get a eureka moment. Best to have it anyway. No stone unturned and all that.’