Peter Lovesey: The Headhunters

‘Gemma,’ he said.

‘Of course. Good old Gem. She’s in the book. She put you onto me. I really appreciate this call, Jake.’

‘Can we meet?’

‘Meet?’ Her pulse quickened. ‘I’d love to.’

‘To talk.’

‘I understand. All right. When? Tomorrow?’

‘Tonight.’

‘Are you sure? You looked out on your feet.’

‘A pub would do.’

‘What’s the one near the beach in Selsey? The Lifeboat Inn.’

‘I can come to Chichester.’

‘I won’t hear of it after all you’ve been through,’ she told him. ‘Selsey. Definitely Selsey.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Eight-thirty in the Lifeboat?’

He was already at a corner table with a pint in front of him when she arrived. The sight of him here, a free man again, was a huge reassurance. The dark rings were still around his eyes, but some of the strain had gone from his face. She said she’d have a tonic.

‘How long did they hold you at the police station?’ she asked when he put the drink in front of her.

‘Since yesterday morning.’

‘Oh my God. Is that legal?’

He nodded.

‘But you haven’t done anything.’

‘It’s a murder case.’

‘They told me you were seen by someone at the beach the day I found the body,’ she said. ‘Surely that isn’t enough for them to arrest you. Were you really there? I didn’t spot you.’

‘Thought I might get lucky,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You said… ’ The words stopped coming.

‘Go on.’

‘… you walk there sometimes.’

Her heart felt like Big Ben striking. ‘You were there because of me?’

He shrugged. ‘Anyway, it’s not a bad place to walk. Normally.’

If his remark was meant in humour, it escaped her. She was seized by the need to let him know she’d shared his idea. ‘That’s why I went, in hope of meeting you. How could we have missed each other? Jake, I’m sorry. If I’d known you were about, I wouldn’t have gone back to the car. Do you know who it was who spotted you?’

‘Some local guy.’

‘And what was he doing there?’

‘Walking his poodle dog.’

‘Him! In combat clothes. I saw him. I told the police about him, but they didn’t show any interest.’

‘He knows who I am.’

‘It doesn’t mean he’s in the clear. He could be shifting the interest away from himself. I was really shocked when I saw you in that line-up. Did they rough you up? You looked awful.’

His mouth twitched into a half-smile. ‘So what’s new?’

‘I don’t suppose you slept at all. They should have found out in the first two minutes that you had nothing to do with it.’

He sighed and stared into his drink. The broad shoulders sagged. ‘There’s something you don’t know.’

Her skin prickled. Were the new shoots of joy about to be trampled? She was so certain he was a decent man, unfairly accused.

He said, ‘I’ve got form.’

‘What?’

‘A record. Been in prison.’

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Tell me.’

‘When I was nineteen… ’ He primed himself with a sip of beer. ‘When I was nineteen, in Cornwall, there was a main road built near where I lived, a bypass.’

She nodded, but so much was going on in her own shocked brain that she was hearing his voice as a distant sound.

He passed a hand over his head and held it against the back of his neck. He was making a terrific effort to speak more than his usual few words. Gaps came between sentences, but he persevered and Jo heard him out. ‘I was against it. Habitats were under threat. Trees, ecosystems

… I joined the protesters. We set up camp, lived rough, in the trees. Said the developers would have to kill us if they felled the trees. That didn’t stop them… They sent in the police, then the army. Ordered us down through loudhailers. We refused, but they had the equipment.’ He paused for longer at this point. The words had been flowing more than anything he’d communicated before. ‘It was no contest. I’m lashed to a branch in a sixty-foot beech. Three squaddies come for me. I try to hold them off, but one gets a grip on my foot. I stick my free boot against his shoulder and brace my leg. He falls off. He’s on ropes, but he hits a branch and breaks his spine. Paralysed.’

Jo had a vivid picture in her head. She whispered, ‘What a nightmare.’

‘Lots of people saw. It was filmed. They got me down soon after. Threw me into a van with the others. Charged me. Grievous bodily harm. When it came to court… ’ He paused to summon up more words. ‘In court the judge said the injury warranted a long custodial sentence.’

‘Jake, how horrible.’

‘On top of that, I was acting unlawfully by resisting arrest. But he said there was doubt about the intent. I got two years.’

‘That’s awful.’

‘Not so awful as spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair.’

‘I suppose. But you didn’t mean that to happen.’

‘If I hadn’t put up a fight he’d be okay.’

‘You were young and idealistic. Committed to the cause.’

‘Impetuous.’

‘You must have gone through a terrible time in prison.’

‘Rather not talk about that.’ He sat back in the chair. ‘You serve your time, but your record is always there. Something violent happens.

… They pick you up and find you did time for GBH and they’re not going to pat you on the head and send you away.’

She reached across the table and put her hand over his. ‘I had no idea about any of this. You didn’t say.’

The skewed smile appeared. ‘Not much of a chat-up line, is it?’

‘Makes no difference. I still want to be friends.’

Gently, but firmly, he withdrew his hand from hers. ‘Better not.’

She felt the chill of rejection. ‘I don’t see why. They’ve freed you now. You’re entitled to meet anyone you choose.’

‘They see us together, they’ll think we cooked something up. Likely they’ll pull you in for questioning.’

‘So what? I can put them right.’

He shook his head. ‘It’s uncool linking up with an ex-con.’

‘We’re together right now, aren’t we?’

‘I asked to see you just so you’d know about me.’ He paused and then emphasised each word. ‘And we draw a line and no one is hurt.’

‘Jake, I’ll be far more hurt if I can’t even speak to you.’

‘They’re sure I did it,’ he said. ‘They only let me go because they don’t have the evidence yet.’

‘But that’s ridiculous. This woman was murdered, strangled by the sound of it. Your so-called crime was pushing a soldier out of a tree. That wasn’t murder, that was accidental.’

‘An act of aggression.’

‘I don’t accept that.’

‘The words of the judge who sent me down.’

‘Nuts to that judge. I don’t believe you’re a violent man.’

‘That’s good to know,’ he said nodding, ‘but it doesn’t change anything. It’s out of our hands.’

‘The police have their own agenda?’

‘Exactly.’

‘And you think they’ll arrest us both if you’re seen with me? That’s crazy, Jake.’

‘Crazy things happen to me. I don’t want you drawn into it.’

She bit her lip, on the verge of tears. She could tell he meant every word and truly cared about her. From his perspective, separation made sense. From her own selfish point of view what he was suggesting would be an outrage, a denial of freedom. ‘I’d rather take the risk and stay friends. Let’s at least exchange mobile numbers so we stay in contact.’

He looked startled, then acquiescent, then pleased. ‘Okay, but don’t put the number… don’t put it in the memory. The first thing they do is go through your directory.’