Ben Cheetham - The Society of Dirty Hearts
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- Название:The Society of Dirty Hearts
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“You know how Christine likes a clean kitchen.”
“Christine might not even be coming home today.”
Wanda wagged a remonstrative finger. “Ah, come on now, think positive.”
Robert turned to Julian. “You coming to the hospital?”
Julian nodded. The silence resumed when they set off, but he hardly noticed it now. All his thoughts were concentrated on his mum. When they arrived at the hospital, Christine was awake, but droopy-eyed. “How are my two favourite boys?” she asked, smiling, her voice mushy and drugged.
“We’re good,” answered Robert.
Christine looked at them meaningfully. “Really?”
“Really. Everything’s fine.”
Julian smiled to reinforce his dad’s words. “So what’s the verdict?”
“I’m fine too,” said Christine. “Just waiting to be discharged.”
A short time later, Robert wheeled his wife to the car. Now that Julian knew his mum was okay, his thoughts returned to Mia. After helping his mum into the front passenger seat, he said, “I’ll see you later. I’ve got some stuff to do in town.” He found a taxi and told the driver to take him to The High Bridge.
There was a crowd of journalists and gawkers strung out along the bridge’s walkway, watching the police drag the river. A TV camera crew was setting up. Spotting Mike Hill, Julian approached him. “Have they found anything?”
“No. If Mia did jump, it could take days to find her. The currents here are strong and unpredictable.” Mike gestured with his chin and Julian followed him to a quieter spot. “So, any new developments?”
“There is something,” Julian began hesitantly. “But it’s nothing definite. So you’ve got to promise to keep it to yourself until I know for sure.”
“I only print the facts.”
“I’m not just talking about the newspaper, I’m talking about the police.”
“Whatever you say is between us alone.”
Reassured, Julian told Mike about his encounter with Jake. The journalist frowned when he mentioned The Outlaws. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re involved in this somehow. A lot of the bad stuff that happens around here’s to do with them. You know, Julian, you really should go to the police with this. These are dangerous people.”
Julian said nothing, but the look on his face made it clear he had no intention of doing as Mike suggested.
“You’re not still thinking the police might be involved in all this, are you?” asked Mike.
“I never said I thought they were,” Julian responded, a defensive edge to his voice. “I may be paranoid, but I’m not stupid.”
“I don’t think you’re paranoid or stupid, Julian. I think you’re way out of your depth, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I don’t intend to get hurt. Look, if I find out this Ginger is the woman I saw in the Merc, I’ll go to the police. I just want to be sure first.”
“Well, it’s your choice, but consider this, if Mia is still alive, the longer you keep this information from the police, the more you’re putting her at risk.”
These words gave Julian a jolt. “You mean like someone could be holding her prisoner somewhere.”
“Anything’s possible, although that seems unlikely. I was thinking more along the lines of her being with people she shouldn’t be with, doing things she shouldn’t be doing.”
Julian stopped listening after the first few words, his gaze moving past Mike to the police divers plunging into the water, a picture forming in his mind of Mia bound and gagged in some basement. The thought of her suffering because of the choices he made caused the weight on his heart to grow even heavier. He fingered the phone in his pocket, thinking, for fuck’s sake, Jake, ring! For a second, he considered going in search of Tom Benson, but a nagging uncertainty held him back. He exhaled a long, helpless breath.
“Go home, Julian,” said Mike. “You shouldn’t be hanging around here. If my fellow journos catch on who you are, they’ll be all over you. I’ll call you if they find anything.”
With a final lingering glance at the river, Julian trudged away from the bridge. He walked all the way home, knowing that when he got there there’d be nothing to do but sit and wonder about Mia, and wait for Jake to call. He had a strong, almost desperate, desire to see Eleanor and pour his fears into her sympathetic ears, but he knew it wasn’t possible. Not while there was even the slightest chance of endangering her. He couldn’t have lived with himself if he’d done that. When he got home, Mia’s disappearance was on the news. “Do you know about this?” asked his mum, turning shocked eyes on him. “Another girl’s gone missing. Her name’s Mia Bradshaw. Apparently, she was good friends with Joanne Butcher. They think she might’ve jumped off the bridge.”
Julian nodded. “They’re talking about it all over town.” It wasn’t an outright lie — people almost certainly were talking about it all over town — but it wasn’t the truth either, and so it left an unpleasant aftertaste. He looked at the TV so as not to have to look at his mum. The screen showed footage of the police scouring the river. A diver surfaced holding something aloft, and suddenly Julian’s heart was beating like he’d snorted coke. Relief took over as the camera homed in to reveal a slimy, bulging black plastic bag. If Mia was dead and someone wanted it to look like suicide, they’d hardly have stuffed her body into a bin-liner.
“Fifteen,” said Christine, shaking her head. “What a waste, what a horrible, horrible waste of life.”
“How are you feeling?” asked Julian, changing the subject.
“A bit groggy. I think the sedatives the doctor gave me are still washing round in my system.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s got a headache. I told him to have a lie down. He spends so much time worrying over me, he forgets to look after himself.”
“I think I’ll go for a lie down, too.”
“Okay, darling.”
As Julian headed for his bedroom, Robert poked his head into the hallway and beckoned him into his room. His hair looked as if he’d been running his fingers through it. There was a telltale moist sheen on his pupils. Robert shut the door and, his drinker’s eyes narrowing, asked, “What do you know about this missing girl?”
Julian’s nose wrinkled slightly at the sour smell of whisky on his dad’s breath. “She was friends with Joanne-”
“Yes, yes, I know that,” Robert interjected. “What I’m asking you is, do you think she’s really jumped?”
Julian shrugged, his mind swaying between concern over his dad’s increasing drinking and wondering what his interest in Mia’s disappearance meant. It flashed through his mind that somebody had told his dad about him and Mia.
“So you don’t know this girl?”
“Only…only by sight.” Julian stammered over the lie. Faking a yawn in an effort to conceal his agitation, he started to turn to leave. But his dad caught hold of his shoulders, not letting him squirm away from his questioning gaze.
“You’re lying, Julian, I can tell. You know what I think? I think all this nonsense that’s being going on with you lately, the way you’ve been behaving, it’s got something to do with this girl.”
Julian blinked, taken aback at his dad’s insight. So someone has been talking, he thought — most probably Kyle out of spite, or maybe Eleanor out of concern. Hoping he was wrong, he said, “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve seen her in The Cut a couple of times. That’s all.”
“So why were you at The High Bridge today?”
“Who told you I was there?”
“It doesn’t matter who. You were seen.”
That didn’t surprise Julian. His dad was an influential man with a lot of eyes around the town. “I went because I wanted to see for myself what was going on. Have you forgotten that I found Joanne Butcher?”
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