Mel Sherratt - Hush Hush

Grace ignored Leon again, choosing to look at Jade who hadn’t said a word yet. She was crying, soft sobs and tears pouring down her face.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

Jade nodded. ‘It’s such a shock, that’s all. I was only talking to him on Monday. It doesn’t seem possible.’ She blew her nose loudly.

‘What time did you all leave last night?’ Grace glanced at each one of them in turn.

‘Half past six,’ Eddie said.

‘Did you go straight home?’

‘Yes. My son can vouch for me. I took him to football training at seven.’

‘I wasn’t here yesterday,’ Jade said.

Grace looked at Leon. ‘What about you?’ she asked when he didn’t come forward with anything.

‘I’d say about eightish.’

‘I’d say be more specific.’ Grace’s voice was just as curt as his.

Leon sighed. ‘It was about ten past eight.’

Grace nodded and then turned back to Eddie. ‘I was also told that Josh was your right-hand man?’

Eddie’s glare alarmed her slightly and her left eye began to twitch under the strain of it. But she didn’t want to look away. She wanted to see if grief was washing over him. She was watching them all to see if their reactions were real or put on especially for her.

Eddie swallowed. ‘He was my best friend. I’d known him since junior school.’

‘You all knew him well, I presume?’ Grace looked at the others.

‘Yes,’ Jade said before wiping her nose loudly.

‘You might have known him too,’ Leon taunted.

‘I didn’t go to your school. I would have remembered that.’ Embarrassed by the reference, Grace looked at her notepad again. ‘Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to harm Josh?’ she asked no one in particular.

‘Probably half of Stoke at one time or another.’ Leon folded his arms. ‘But no one would have messed with him if they’d seen him before he was toast.’

‘Leon!’ Jade’s sobs grew louder.

‘Sorry.’ Leon had the manners to bow his head for a moment. ‘Bit of a bitch, though. Tough to lose him.’

The room dropped into silence again as they remembered their friend. Grace took the opportunity to get out her contact cards and hand them round.

‘Is this for when we go out for a family meal?’ Leon took one from her.

‘Show some respect, Leon,’ Eddie warned.

‘I think I’ve given her enough of that already’ – Leon folded his arms – ‘so don’t tell me what to do.’

Surprised by the reference to their connection to her, Grace was desperate to get out of there and rejoin her colleagues. But she had to have her say first.

‘I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell my colleagues how we know each other.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I think it’s best that we investigate Josh’s murder without any hindrance.’

‘Better the devil you know, and all that?’ Eddie smirked. Leon and Jade both opened their mouths to speak, but he held up a hand and shook his head.

‘I’ll find out who is overseeing the house-to-house enquiries and ask them to keep you informed of anything that comes up while we continue with our investigations,’ Grace added. ‘We’ll be in touch shortly.’

Once outside the room, Grace breathed a sigh of relief. It had surprised her that they’d accepted her request to keep her identity to themselves, perhaps even given her reason for concern as to why. She would have expected them to stir things up, cause trouble for her straight away.

Yet even though she had felt intimidated by the encounter, a feeling of anticlimax washed over her. She’d wanted to meet them all for many years, despite her job and their reputation. Secretly, she’d hoped they’d be friendlier with her. In an ideal world, she might have got to know them, but today had shown that wasn’t likely to happen.

There was one thing she had learned, though; from that meeting alone, she sensed that the Steele family were unnerved about something. Grace had seen the looks flicking between them. Were they trying to put up a united front that didn’t exist? Or was it meeting her that had made them feel so uncomfortable?

She went to join Perry.

‘We’ve just busted Parker’s locker open,’ he told her. ‘There’s the usual stuff in there – spare workout clothes, a towel, pair of trainers and some protein shakes. But we also found a leather bag full of sex toys, condoms, lubes, et cetera. And this.’ He held up a key ring. Attached to it was a luggage label, a key and an electronic key fob. The numbers 171794 were written on the label in black pen.

‘Playing away?’

‘It’s possible.’ Perry paused. ‘What did he mean back there?’

‘Who?’ Grace questioned.

‘Eddie. When he said “Well, well, well”?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ she replied, spotting Nick returning. ‘You?’

Perry shook his head. ‘I just wondered, with it being a really strange remark.’

‘It was,’ Grace said quickly. ‘I’ll go and update Nick.’ She walked away, hoping he wouldn’t see the blush she could feel forming on her face.

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to punch out, hit the wall, throw the desk across the room, anything to rid himself of the feeling in his chest. He wouldn’t let his grief show in public, not even to his family. But Josh had been his friend since they were young boys and he trusted him more than he ever had any member of his family.

‘What the hell went on here last night?’ he yelled, slapping his hand down on the desk.

Jade visibly jumped. ‘Don’t look at me!’ she pouted.

‘I’m not. But someone knows something and I intend to find out who by the end of the day.’

‘Ed, I’m sorry.’ Leon walked round the desk to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

‘Yeah, I’m sure you are.’ Eddie shirked it off.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Well, there was never any love lost between the two of you. I also know what’s been going on. Josh told me what you’ve been doing to make more money on the side. I was as pissed off with him getting involved as I am with you. It’s stupid. And would you stop with the snivelling, Jade?’ Eddie snapped.

Jade pulled herself upright. ‘I have feelings!’ she shouted. ‘Josh was my friend too. I can’t believe he’s gone.’

‘I can’t believe someone would kill him at the gym.’ Leon ran a hand through his hair. ‘And what the hell is she doing turning up here?’

‘Grace?’ Eddie said, noting his brother had evaded his accusations. His informant at the police station had told him she was back. He hadn’t been too pleased about it at the time, and had hoped their paths wouldn’t cross so soon. He’d wanted to get a handle on her before deciding whether they needed to get her on side, to recruit her to their team.

‘Yeah,’ Leon responded. ‘As a fed, she’s a threat. As a person, she’s not welcome at all.’

‘I think she made it perfectly clear she didn’t want anything to do with us.’ Eddie reached for his phone. There were already seven messages waiting for him – news was getting around.

‘I didn’t get that impression,’ Jade said. ‘I think she was shy, maybe overwhelmed to meet us all in one go. Aren’t either of you intrigued to see what she’s like?’

‘No, and you aren’t going to find out either,’ Eddie remarked. ‘She isn’t family and never will be.’

‘But that’s—’ Jade began.

‘But nothing.’ Eddie glared her way. ‘You’ll do as you’re told.’

Jade folded her arms and stuck out her chin. ‘You might think you can still bully me – both of you – but you can’t tell me what to do now that Dad isn’t here. If I want to see my sister, then I will.’