Danielle Ramsay - Broken Silence

It was enough to make him sweat.

‘I … I didn’t realise you were back …’ Brady muttered. ‘Or I would have kept out of your way.’

‘Really?’ questioned Claudia scornfully. ‘Doesn’t sound like you, Jack.’

‘Maybe I’ve changed,’ he replied quietly.

She contemptuously flashed her green eyes at him.

‘Please Claudia … take a seat? Yeah? Just so we can talk?’ asked Brady, desperate for the atmosphere in the room to change.

‘You expect me to talk to you! For fuck’s sake, Jack! Remember, you were the bastard in all of this! If I hadn’t walked in on you screwing that young, dark-haired slut in our bed then none of this would have happened,’ she angrily pointed out.

She was still furious, enough to want to hurt him badly. And she had succeeded. Brady felt the punch straight to his gut. It was just a desperate, drunken shag. A pointless, senseless, empty, pathetic act that had cost him everything. Even his reputation at the station was destroyed because of it. Admittedly, before he got together with Claudia he had been known for playing around. But there was something so unique and unattainable about Claudia that when they had got together he had never imagined cheating on her. Yet he did with DC Simone Henderson. It was no more than a drunken, egotistical shag, but it had led to the end of his marriage. He couldn’t even remember much about it. Fuelled by a lethal cocktail of alcohol and self-pity it resulted in him destroying the best thing that had ever happened to him.

‘I didn’t know that you’d walked in …’ Brady said uncomfortably, hating himself.

‘Believe me, I could tell!’ she replied sharply.

Disgusted with himself, Brady looked away.

‘Let’s just say that little acrobatic stunt with your juniorcolleague finally did it for me. I always promised myself the day you brought your work home would be the day I walked out!’ Claudia scornfully replied.

Brady kept his mouth shut. There was nothing he could say in his defence.

To know that he had hurt her was more painful than even her most cutting words. She was the only person he had ever felt comfortable with, and yet when she had needed his unfailing support he had bailed. He had supported her as she built her career as a respected lawyer, but it wasn’t enough for her. She wanted more despite the detrimental effect on their relationship. When he argued with her that the only time he ever saw her was when she was acting Duty Solicitor at the station, she promised to cut back on the hours. But if anything she became more resolute about focusing all her energy on her career, resulting in him looking for comfort elsewhere.

But he knew the obsession with her career was her way of coping with the fact that they couldn’t have children. Or more specifically, she couldn’t. They had tried for a year before being referred to fertility specialists. His results had come back normal, whereas Claudia’s showed that it was highly unlikely she would ever conceive naturally.

Then they went down the IVF route. But after the second and third attempt had resulted in early miscarriages, Brady refused to try again. He couldn’t live with the devastating effect that the fertility treatment was having on their relationship, or more to the point, on Claudia. She couldn’t understand his decision and had made it clear she could never forgive him. His punishment was to be excluded from her life as she dedicated every hour she could to her work.

He looked at her and wondered what would have happened if he had let her continue torturing herself with the IVF. How many attempts would it have taken for her to realise it just wasn’t going to happen? Not only had they found out that Claudia could not conceive naturally, but an investigation into the two miscarriages had shown that her body’s immune system was attacking the embryos. Yet, despite being one of the cleverest people he knew, she had convinced herself that if they just kept trying she would eventually have their baby. He didn’t know what was worse, her leaving him or the alternative which was to watch as Claudia slowly drove herself insane fighting for something that just wasn’t possible.

Claudia shot him a scornful look.

‘What? Got nothing to say after all this time? I’m surprised that you still haven’t thought of some lame excuse by now for sleeping with a junior colleague in our bed!’

Ashamed, Brady lowered his eyes.

‘When you got shot the following night I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you had got what you deserved.’

‘Bet you did,’ Brady stated quietly as he met her disdainful eyes.

‘Oh come on, Jack! When the hell are you going to take some responsibility for your own actions? You fucked up! You, not me. On both accounts. With that girl you screwed and with the drugs case you were working on,’ she pointed out as her eyes sparkled with emblazoned fury.

Brady slowly swallowed. He looked at her as she stood with her hands defiantly on her hips waiting for him to respond. But he couldn’t. All he could think about was how much his body ached to take hold of her and remind her of why she had been so attracted to him in the first place. But more than that, he ached to touch her again. To breathe in the delicate scent of her soft skin and bury his face in her unruly red hair. He wanted her now more than he had ever wanted any woman.

Before he had a chance to act, a knock at the door broke the spell.

Brady cleared his throat.

‘Come in,’ he ordered.

The door opened and Jenkins walked in.

She stopped when she saw Claudia, stood with her arms folded, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were busy. Conrad told me I could find you here,’ Jenkins apologised.

Brady couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by Jenkins’ intrusion. He didn’t know what she was playing at. The last time he talked to her she had said she was no longer part of the investigation.

‘It’s all right, Dr Jenkins, we’re done here, aren’t we?’ Brady said awkwardly as he looked at Claudia.

‘Are we?’ asked Claudia caustically.

Self-conscious, Brady stood up.

Claudia turned round to face Jenkins and then turned back to Brady, making a play of sweeping her red hair back off her face.

‘Well, aren’t you going to introduce us?’

She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead she turned round and walked slowly and seductively towards the door.

‘I must apologise for Jack. He can be so rude at times,’ she said as she held her hand out. ‘Claudia.’

‘I’ve heard a lot about you, Claudia. It’s good to finally meet you,’ Jenkins answered, smiling. ‘Amelia Jenkins.’

Claudia shook Jenkins’ hand, returning the smile.

‘Yes, good to meet you, Amelia. I’ve heard a lot about you too,’ Claudia replied.

She then turned to Brady.

‘Don’t keep me waiting, Jack,’ warned Claudia. ‘I think you’ve messed me around enough already. Don’t you?’

Embarrassed, Brady watched as she turned and left the room.

‘So, what brings you down to the station then?’ he asked, getting straight to the point. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk. Especially with his ex-shrink.

‘Shane McGuire,’ Jenkins answered, sitting down.

Brady sat back and tried to focus. His head was still reeling from the shock of Claudia’s unexpected appearance in his life.

‘His mother, Trina McGuire, rang me,’ Jenkins explained.

Brady frowned, curious as to why Trina would be calling Jenkins.

‘I gave her my number just before I left The Sunken Ship. I realised Adamson had blown any chances of her coming forward with Shane’s whereabouts and so I thought I’d leave my contact details with her. And it’s just as well that I did. She said Shane knows something that could be crucial to the murder investigation.’