David Belbin - Bone & Cane

Yet they couldn’t stay together. The papers would have a field day – RISING BACKBENCHER DATES CONVICTED DRUG DEALER. For Sarah to be with Nick, she’d have to steer clear of law and order issues, or the media would attribute her liberal leanings on penal policy to her relationship rather than her principles. Nick must realize this.

As she stared at the weather forecast, he got out his brother’s tobacco pouch.

‘A smoke to help you sleep?’ he offered.

‘I don’t think I’ll need much help. But don’t let me stop you.’

He put it away. ‘Do you want me to go?’ he asked, tenderly.

‘No. Yes. I don’t know.’

‘Glad I’ve got such a decisive MP.’ Nick stood up. ‘I’d best leave.’

Sarah reached over and squeezed his hand. ‘It’s just that I don’t know whether I should sleep with you.’

‘Has something changed since last night?’

‘I’m sober. I won an election I wasn’t expecting to win. I know I said I could see you if I won, but I was fooling myself.’

‘I could be your back-door man,’ Nick argued, trying to inject some humour into his voice. ‘Your secret bit of stuff in the constituency. In time, I’ll become more respectable. I’m not quite sure how, but I will.’

‘I’m sure you will,’ Sarah said. ‘But that doesn’t change now. The tabloids would tear me apart.’

‘I shouldn’t be here,’ Nick said. ‘I’ll go home.’

‘Not like this.’

‘There are no journalists camped outside.’

‘We can’t leave it like this,’ Sarah said. ‘And there’s still something we both want to work out.’

‘Is there? I’m nearly past caring who killed Terry and Liv Shanks.’

‘Can we talk it through one more time?’ she asked.

‘Okay,’ Nick told her. ‘Maybe I will have that joint after all. Weed helps me think.’

Maybe a joint would help her think, too. They smoked on the balcony of her flat, overlooking the gardens of the Park and, beyond, the outskirts of the city: County Hall, Colwick Park, the football grounds.

‘Suppose,’ Sarah said, ‘Polly was playing an elaborate bluff. She was with Ed all along and only came protesting to me because she felt it would look bad if she didn’t?’

‘If she was with Ed all along, why did she start seeing me?’ Nick asked.

‘Because you’re irresistible,’ Sarah said, stroking his face. ‘What bothers me is why you started seeing her.’

‘An attractive woman was offering commitment-free sex,’ Nick said, adding, ‘at the time, she was the best I could do.’

‘I find that hard to believe. What’s she like in bed?’ Sarah asked.

‘You what?’ Nick said. ‘You must be stoned, to ask me that.’

He was right. This stuff was much stronger than the hash they used to smoke together. Nick answered regardless.

‘We didn’t do it much in bed. Carpet, sofa, standing up, leant over the cooker, you name it. She likes to be treated rough. She scratches, and hits, and kisses like a vacuum cleaner. It never lasts long.’

He paused, as though realizing that he was using the present tense.

Nick’s description of the relationship was the same as the one Polly had given her, albeit with changed nuance. Polly might be over Nick, but he still had some feelings for her. He was even jealous of Ed. Sarah stubbed the joint out on the terrace railing then threw the roach onto the soil below. Smoking dope had always made her randy, never more so than tonight. The stuff made her brain rush too.

‘I can’t believe Polly was acting when she protested about Ed, when she started seeing you. Something happened to change her mind. Ed must have given Polly a really compelling reason to stop seeing you and take up with him again. She wouldn’t explain it to me, beyond saying that Ed had told her who really killed Terry and it wasn’t him.’

‘I thought that everybody else who had a motive for revenge was inside at the time?’

‘Contract killing?’ Sarah suggested.

‘If so, why wait until Ed was released?’

‘Maybe . . .?’ Sarah was on the verge of grasping something, then a wave of tiredness overcame her. ‘I think I’d better go to bed.’

‘You look exhausted,’ Nick said. ‘I’ll go. Can I see you tomorrow?’

‘Yes, please.’

He kissed her on the cheek, then left, like the gentleman he had always been.

34

There was a message on Nick’s answering machine. His probation officer. He’d missed a meeting. Tough. Sarah hadn’t said anything about having plans for Saturday evening. Nick decided to cook. Maybe they could rent a video. There were tons of films from the last five years that he hadn’t seen and he’d bet an MP didn’t get to the movies often. He and Sarah used to go to the cinema each week. They’d spend ages discussing the latest Lynch or Altman in the pub afterwards. There was a place that rented videos just off the top end of the Park, on Derby Road, a shop that used to be an off-license. He and Sarah used it often when they were students.

First, food. In the old days, he’d have checked a recipe, but most of his cookery books had been given away when he was sent down. There was a limit on how much stuff you could ask your brother to look after for you. Nick decided to take the simplest option. He bought two sirloin steaks, an onion, mushrooms and baking potatoes.

He rang her a couple of times before setting off. Engaged. He decided to risk Sarah having made other plans and go straight round. If Sarah wanted to go out tonight, the ingredients would keep until tomorrow. She didn’t have to be in London until Monday at the earliest. Maybe by then he would have persuaded her to give their relationship another chance, on whatever basis she chose.

He stopped at the video shop on the way over, but they wouldn’t let him join because he didn’t have the requisite credit card or multiple proofs of address to establish his identity. If he’d given an address in the Park, rather than scruffy Alfreton Road, they’d most likely have treated him differently. Never mind. Sarah probably belonged. They could go later, if she fancied it.

It was ten past six when he got to her flat, a bottle of wine in each hand. The car was still outside, so she hadn’t gone anywhere. When he rang the bell, however, she took a while to answer. The door opened on the chain. Sarah was dressed smartly, fully made up, about to go out.

‘I thought I’d cook you dinner,’ he said, giving her his broadest smile. ‘But if you’ve got other plans . . .’

‘Nick, you should have phoned first. I have to go out this evening, a celebration meal with the constituency officers.’

‘Maybe I can leave this stuff here and we can have it to morrow.’

‘Sounds good.’

She took the chain off and he stepped into the hall. He reminded her where his flat was.

‘If you want to call by on your way back, I’ll be in. Or if you need company. It’s not far.’

He saw from the look on her face that he was being overeager.

‘I could do with a little space, Nick. It’s been a huge few days.’

‘No bother.’ He turned to go, not even pushing his luck for a kiss.

‘Wait.’

For a moment, he thought she’d changed her mind.

‘There’s something I need your help with. Do you think you could find out what shift Ed Clark’s working on Monday?’

‘Sure,’ Nick said. ‘No problem. But how does it fit with what we discussed last night?’

‘I’ll tell you later,’ Sarah promised, then gave him a kiss, followed by a small hug. ‘I’m not pushing you away, Nick. I need a little space, time to take things in.’

‘I understand.’ He returned to his flat, disappointed but not dejected. In her situation, he’d need space, too. And, since he wasn’t seeing her tonight, he could get a few cans, smoke some weed, get wasted and watch TV. Not too wasted. He had to do two hours’ teaching before he cooked Sarah her dinner tomorrow. Why did Sarah want to know Ed’s schedule? Nick rang the Cane Cars switchboard and got Nas, which meant that Joe hadn’t sacked her yet.