Mel Sherratt - Hush Hush

‘Tell me,’ Leon mocked, ‘why hasn’t she been in touch before?’

Jade lowered her eyes momentarily. ‘I don’t know.’

‘And why didn’t you get in touch with her?’

‘Because of Dad, and you.’ Jade pointed at Eddie. ‘You were always threatening – like you are now – exactly what you would do to me if I did. If it wasn’t for that I would have got in touch with her years ago.’

‘But that doesn’t alter the fact that she never got in touch with you,’ Leon scoffed.

‘She probably hadn’t wanted to while Dad was alive,’ Jade said, adamant. ‘But now he’s gone and she’s back in Stoke. Well, I think I might like to get to know her.’

‘No,’ Eddie said.

‘You can’t stop me.’

‘You wouldn’t have seen her if she hadn’t come here this morning!’

‘Like I said, I’m curious!’ Jade leaned back and folded her arms.

‘I don’t want anyone to find out she’s related to us, either,’ Eddie stated.

‘Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like she is too keen to tell anyone,’ Leon remarked. ‘It was clear that Perry didn’t know who she was. We could use that to our advantage.’

‘No one finds out,’ Eddie warned. ‘I’ll tell our mother the same when I see her later.’

‘But—’ Jade started.

‘Stay away,’ Eddie warned. ‘She’s blue and she can’t be trusted.’

‘I’d trust anyone over you, so I can’t see why not.’ Jade raised her voice. ‘And losing Josh like that makes me realise how precious time is. If I want to see her, I will.’

‘Who’d want to see you?’ Leon sneered.

‘Why do you always have to be so nasty?’ With two strides Jade was out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

It was Eddie’s turn to run a hand through his hair. ‘ Do you know anything about this?’

Leon came to stand by his brother. ‘No, I’ve told you that already.’

Eddie still didn’t believe him. He clicked a file on the screen. ‘We need to take a look at our security cameras to see what the cops will find on them.’

‘Shouldn’t we leave it to them?’

‘We sort out our own business.’ Eddie stretched up his arm, put a hand behind Leon’s neck and pulled him down until they were eye level. ‘If I find out you’ve had anything to do with this, you’re on your own, brother or no brother, do you hear me?’

For once, Leon didn’t try to resist his grip. Instead, he leaned on the desk with clenched fists, his eyes never leaving Eddie’s. ‘I hear you.’

‘And the girls, Leon.’ Eddie knew his brother would know exactly what he meant. ‘It stops, right now. I’m not covering for you again, especially for something so exploitative. What were you thinking? What was Josh thinking?’

‘Okay, okay!’

Eddie could mostly tell when Leon was lying, but he wasn’t quite sure this time. His brother seemed sincere, but, then again, he’d been fooled by him before. ‘I’ll check the cameras.’

‘I can do that.’

‘I want it done properly.’

‘I can do it properly!’

‘And quickly.’

‘Fine. Take control as usual.’ Leon shook his head as he left the room too.

Once on his own, Eddie pulled up the backup camera footage on his computer. The police would be looking through what he had given them but he needed to see what was on there too. Starting from when the gym was closing, he watched to see if anyone slipped back in after going outside. It seemed impossible to think that just an hour later Josh would be dead.

There was a lull, he presumed, while Josh did his workout. The first time his friend came into view, it was 22.45. Eddie watched as he checked over everything before setting the alarm and then leaving through the front entrance. From there he would head to the car park at the back of the building.

Eddie froze the frame and looked to see if he could see a shadow, an image, a shape that would suggest anyone was there. Purposely, their cameras didn’t catch every angle of the car park, and lots of their members knew this. Josh had been on his own when he left the gym and locked up, but as Grace Allendale had insinuated earlier, it also showed that whoever had attacked him might have realised exactly where to do it. This could have been a very calculated kill.

He sat back in his chair and stared at the photo of him and Josh on the wall until he couldn’t see through his watery eyes. Josh had been his stalwart. He was going to find out who had murdered his best friend and God help them when he got his hands on the bastard.

Visiting the families of the deceased wasn’t a part of Grace’s job that she enjoyed, but it always gave her a sense of the family dynamics. She’d worked on several cases in Manchester where spouses had feigned grief after having killed their loved ones and then tried to cover it up. It wasn’t hard to spot. The cracks started to appear once the pressure mounted, mistakes were made, little white lies turned into inconsistencies.

But people could be manipulative, so Grace felt she needed to know everyone involved for that reason too. It was why she’d been the one to speak to the Steele family at the gym. She could have asked Perry to question them; she was his manager. For now, they were all persons of interest until any evidence came back. Which was also why Grace could understand Nick being keen for her to go to the victim’s family home with him.

Josh Parker lived in the south of the city, on the southern edge of Stoke-on-Trent in an area called Meir Park, bordering Longton. Grace parked her car in a cul-de-sac of around twenty detached houses, surprised to see that he lived in such a nice area. Most of the gardens were tidy, lawns cut and looking healthy, flower beds and the odd tree a riot of autumnal colours.

‘At least we know it is him because of his tattoos,’ Nick sighed. ‘Although we will need formal ID from Mrs Parker once the body is in the morgue.’

‘Is there anything I need to know about Parker before we go in?’ Grace asked Nick once the engine had been killed.

‘He’s married with two children. Five and eight, something like that.’

‘Caleb and Mia? The names on his tattoos.’

Nick nodded. ‘I think so. His wife is Christa, and despite her beauty she’s a foul-mouthed layabout. Be prepared to be sworn at as she hates the police too.’

‘Charming,’ Grace muttered. ‘What about work stuff?’

‘He’s always been with the Steeles doing something or other since he left school. Him and Eddie were as thick as thieves, literally. When the gym opened twelve years ago, Josh trained as an instructor.’

‘Criminal record?’

‘A bit for dealing and ABH in his teens, and a stretch for robbery in his early twenties, but he’s stayed on the outside since, even though we know he isn’t clean.’

‘Oh?’

‘Well, he mixes with the Steeles.’

‘Ah.’

Nick smiled to acknowledge her discomfort. ‘None of them have been trouble-free, but nothing really stuck for long. And they’re all pretty pissed off that we haven’t found out who murdered their father. I hate unsolved cases.’ He unclipped his seat belt. ‘I’m sure you’ve done your research on the family, but I’ll be happy to go through anything with you at the station.’

At the front door, they showed their warrant cards. PC Warren introduced himself to Grace as the family liaison officer and showed them into a living room. He pointed to the garden through a large picture window.

‘She doesn’t want to speak to me,’ he explained. ‘Her mother is coming over, but she lives in Derby. She’ll be here soon.’

‘Shall I try, sir?’ Grace wasn’t certain she could get the woman to cooperate, but she would give it a go.