Lee Weeks - Cold as Ice

Christian was waiting to talk to her.

‘You going out tonight?’

‘Yes. Joining Yan and a few others at the Pear and Peach on Holloway Road. Are you coming?’

‘Yeah. I’ll be there. How’s Archie? I heard he had chicken pox.’

Yep, thought Ebony, that’s the power of social media – word gets around.

‘Who told you that?’

‘Yan. He also said to leave you alone. LOL he wants you for himself. Take a photo of Archie’s spots. I want to see if it’s as bad as when Elsie got it.’

‘Okay – will do.’

Ebony was trying to work out if she could get Tina to paint some spots on Archie’s face when she babysat.

‘ Christian, can I ask you something?’

‘Ask away.’

‘Are you seeing anyone at the moment?’

‘Nope. I’m young free and definitely single.’

‘Yan mentioned you were seeing someone on the course named Danielle?’

‘Danielle who?’

‘Very funny – the Danielle who’s with you in several photos.’

‘You’ve been checking up on me? ;-)’

‘Not checking, just making sure I know what I’m dealing with. Julie has already staked her claim on you. I don’t want to be in a queue.’

‘No queue. Julie is a bit of a bunny boiler.’

‘She knew about Danielle.’

‘Yeah. I know who you mean but Danielle wasn’t my type.’

Ebony looked across at Robbo on the webcam. ‘I noticed he said “wasn’t?”’ she said to him.

‘Yes interesting,’ he replied. ‘Let me take over the typing for a minute.’

‘So you haven’t seen her? ’ Robbo typed.

‘No. I told you. She’s dropped out of the course. I think she’s left. She’s a nice girl but not my type.’

‘Do you have a type?’

‘I like dusky maidens with deadpan expressions who look like they trust no one.’

‘Can’t be many of those around.

‘LOL, tell you what. I’ll be happy to give my medical opinion about Archie. I make home visits. What’s your mobile number?’

Robbo signalled to Ebony to take over again. She typed in her number and then finished the conversation with Christian.

‘What do you think?’ she asked, looking back at Robbo on the webcam.

‘Yeah, he described you quite well. He is bright. Astute. He’s definitely keen. You have to keep it on the simmer, Ebb. There must be no sign of entrapment. Not that I think you’d allow it to go too far anyway.’

‘Absolutely no chance of that. He makes me feel slightly queasy when he comes near me.’

‘Does he make you feel scared?’

‘Not so much. But he’s good at this part – the chase.’

‘Yes. I guess if he is Hawk, he probably has this part of the game off to a tee.’ Ebony’s other phone rang from her bag across the room. ‘You answer that. I’ll take over for you,’ Robbo said, as Ebony got up to answer the call.

It was from the institution where her mother was being held. Ebony listened to the member of staff telling her that she needed to visit more often and that her mother had started self-harming.

Whilst Ebony was on the phone Yan came on to IM and wrote Ebony a note.

‘Still coming tomorrow night? How’s Archie?’

Robbo answered for her.

‘Archie’s not as bad as he could be – a bit miz, but I’ll make it tomorrow – you had a good day? You been talking to Christian about me?

‘Just general chitchat. He’s interested if you are!!! You and Christian? I said he had no chance; he seems to think otherwise. Which is it?’

‘Maybe,’ replied Robbo.

There was a longish gap with no reply.

‘Who’d have thought it?

Ebony finished her phonecall and came back over to her laptop as Yan replied: ‘Shame.’ And signed off.

Ebony looked at the screen and what Robbo had written.

Bugger , she thought. She knew Yan would wonder why she said that. Maybe he’d question whether he’d understood her at all. She was just as shallow as all the others then.

Robbo watched her reaction: he saw her face drop as she stared at the screen and what he’d written.

‘You understand what’s at stake here, Ebb? I’ve sent Christian and anyone else who’s interested, a clear message that you’re a maybe. If he’s the killer he’ll need it. He has to think you’re ready. He might like a bit of superficial competition but he also likes a conquest.’

‘Do you think Christian could be our man?’

‘Yeah, I do. He’s working a familiar pattern through picking up a certain type of woman attending the classes.’

‘Do you have an address for him?’

‘Yes. We can’t risk getting too close to it. I think he’ll spot surveillance if we’re not very careful.’

‘Do you think he’d risk keeping the women at his house?’

‘Not there. He could have a lock-up somewhere. We are having him followed. We have a surveillance team on him. The injuries on the women suggest that they didn’t get fed, looked after regularly: they were starved and dehydrated. Someone could be visiting them less than three times a week.’

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Gain his trust. Go so far. Keep a GPS signal transmitting and for God’s sake keep your wits about you. He loves to play games. He loves to hurt. He may say he does, but he doesn’t have a “physical type”, only an emotional one. All the women had in common was their circumstances in life. All of them deserved better than life dealt them and they were realizing it, they were striving for a better life and going it solo. They let their guard down with him. I don’t know why. Maybe his good looks, charm, some flattery that they never got. I expect most of them had trust issues like you. Most of them would have been wary. But as tough as these women had had it, they still craved acceptance, adoration from a guy like him. That’s the kind of women he goes for – ones where he understands their weak point.’

Tracy opened the door for Jeanie. Jackson went to sit at the table. Jackson picked up his crayons and began drawing. Jeanie called Tracy into the kitchen to talk. Tracy spoke first before Jeanie had chance to:

‘Can I go out? I need to go and see Steve. I’ll be about an hour and I’ll be back by the time Jackson’s ready for bed.’

‘Okay, Tracy, if it’s important to you then you must go, but take the phone and try not to stay out too long. It’s much better if Hawk thinks you are here when he calls. If he does call, try and quickly find somewhere quiet to speak.’

‘What should I say?’

‘Try and make him feel like you could be a friend – a mother figure. Try and think of him as a victim, Tracy. As hard as it is I need you to be kind to him. I need you to be motherly.’

Tracy nodded. She looked down to see Jackson, who had come into the kitchen and was mirroring her own worried expression.

‘Jackson needs some fresh air, I think. We’ll go for a little walk, maybe to the library to read some books,’ said Jeanie.

Jackson nodded his head but his eyes stayed on Tracy, worried.

Tracy watched Jeanie get Jackson into his suit. Even Tracy missed Scruffy. She was even thinking of trying to entice the neighbour’s cat in for Jackson to play with but she wasn’t sure if it had fleas. She went over to him and knelt down and hugged him.

‘Have a nice time with Jeanie. Nanny will see you when you get back.’ Jackson nodded, put his arms around her neck and gave her a hug.

Tracy waited until they had closed the door behind them and then she put some clean shirts and underpants in a bag for Steve and locked up. She picked up the phone with a sense of loathing. It felt like she was a prisoner on death row, waiting but never knowing when the call would come. She closed the front door behind her and got into her car, drove out of the driveway and headed towards Steve’s work. She thought about calling him but it was getting near to the end of the working day now. She thought he wouldn’t mind if she just turned up.