Maggie woke up and saw that it was after midnight. She could still hear voices, but it sounded as though they were going downstairs. She sat up and was relieved to hear Jack laughing.
Ridley had waited until he was being shown out before pausing to use his mobile to order an Uber. Jack looked surprised and said that he had assumed Ridley was driving. Ridley smiled.
‘I did drive here, Jack, but I need to get a cab to take me home because these are yours.’ He held up a set of car keys.
‘It’s not a Mercedes, I’m afraid, but hopefully you won’t be disappointed. It’s the new electric four-door Tesla saloon, insured and in your name. You don’t need to know how I got it for you; just call it a thank you from an old friend.’
Jack took the keys and went outside to inspect it whilst they waited for the Uber to arrive. He knew it would take a bit of explaining to Maggie, but as he sat at the steering wheel, he couldn’t help grinning like a schoolboy. The interior even smelt amazing. Ridley sat in the passenger seat and looked on with an almost fatherly expression.
Jack turned to him. ‘Tell me one thing, sir. You know you said you had the house under surveillance. Did they use gas works vehicles as their cover?’
Ridley laughed. ‘Hell, no. We had officers in the house opposite, and one in a house at the rear. You have very accommodating neighbours. They thought it was something to do with the council. By the way, we also knew about your mother’s friend; we had him checked out, seems to be a very decent, hardworking chap.’
Jack was still speechless when Ridley’s Uber drew up. Ridley got out and walked to the car, moving slowly like an old man, and then bending painfully to get into the back. Ridley waved briefly, and then they were gone. Jack knew then that he might never see Ridley again, suspecting that his mention of going to the Caribbean was yet another lie. He was obviously a very sick man.
Maggie had been standing at the window, watching them. By the time Jack came back to the bedroom she was sitting up in bed.
‘I have something to tell you,’ he said, smiling.
‘I know, it’s that amazing car outside! Ridley let you have it as he’s going abroad, right?’
Jack laughed, pulling off his t-shirt.
‘You, my beloved, are always right. It’s fully insured and it’s ours; well, until he wants it back.’
Jack went into the bathroom to clean his teeth.
‘He made one major proviso about the car — no learner drivers. So Penny will have to learn in yours, I’m afraid.’ He closed the bathroom door and sighed, relieved that he wouldn’t have to tell any lies about the car. He then stared at his reflection in the wash basin mirror.
He felt a deep sadness, thinking that he’d perhaps seen the last of Ridley. Ridley was the only person he had respected and loved as much as his adopted father, and in his own way he had become a father substitute. He had been best man at his wedding, godfather to their daughter. But Ridley had told him so many lies that even when the truth had emerged, the trust had gone for good. Jack knew their relationship was over and a hard lesson had been learned: never to put so much trust in another person again.
Tears started trickling down his cheeks and he quickly splashed cold water over his face and patted it dry. He needed to stop thinking about Ridley and focus on what he had to do. Jack had all of tomorrow to prepare for Monday. Then he would be ready to take on the devil and attempt to get inside Rodney Middleton’s twisted psyche.
Jack switched off the bathroom light and went to get in bed beside Maggie. He lay next to her warm, beautiful body, which moved closer into the curve of his own. Just by being with her the sadness about Ridley lifted, and with her love entwined with his own, he was no longer alone.
He shut his eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Waking early, Jack quickly dressed and collected the things he needed to work on from his home office. He was just getting ready to leave, standing in the hall writing a note for Maggie, when Penny came down the stairs in her dressing gown.
‘You’re up early,’ she said.
‘I know. I’m going into the station. I didn’t want to wake Maggie so she can have a Sunday lie-in. Will you tell her I should be home around noon? I just have to get a few things sorted for Monday.’
‘Have you had breakfast?’
‘No, I’ll grab something from the canteen.’
‘Did you do what you said you were going to do?’ she asked.
He looked puzzled. ‘What?’
‘Book a table for you two to have a dinner together.’
‘Not yet, but I’m on it. I’ll maybe get it together when I get back today.’
‘Do you want me to do it for you?’
‘No, no, I’ve not thought where she’d like to go yet.’
Jack was gone before Penny could ask anything else, eager to drive the Tesla, and then get what he needed done quickly so he could return home.
He sat in the car with the manual beside him and started the engine. It was so quiet that for a minute he didn’t think it was turned on. He then drove very slowly and nervously down the road. Gradually he gained confidence and picked up speed, enjoying his luxurious new wheels. It was certainly a big improvement on the pea-green Micra.
Carefully parking in one of the allocated bays at the station, he got out and then stood back to admire the car. Hendricks wheeled his motorbike past him and stopped.
‘Wow, that is some car, Jack. It’s a Tesla, isn’t it? It’s beautiful, but I always wonder if there are enough recharging points. Is it yours?’
‘No, belongs to the wife; she’s a surgeon. But I’m allowed to drive it at the weekends.’
Hendricks moved off as Jack took another admiring glance at the car before heading into the station. The canteen was half empty and he was able to get a fry-up and coffee with two rounds of toast. As he was eating it at one of the empty tables, Laura stopped by with an armful of Sunday newspapers.
‘Have you read these?’
‘No, I left before the papers were delivered.’
‘Well, the cat is well and truly out of the bag. The DCI was throwing a fit a minute ago. The headline is “Teenage Killers” and they’ve already got interviews with Mrs Delaney, the bloody caretaker, and...’
‘Just give me the papers, Laura.’
‘Here you are. The Sun and the Mail on Sunday, plus the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph...’
Jack took the papers from her as she went to the counter to order her breakfast. He quickly skimmed through the articles. It was the usual sensational, speculative stuff.
He tossed the papers aside. He felt an added pressure on him to get a result with Rodney Middleton, knowing that DCI Clarke would not be able to hold out on giving a press conference for much longer. Laura came back with a coffee and a toasted bacon sandwich.
‘Hendricks said you’re driving an amazing car.’
‘Yep, it’s the wife’s, a brand-new Tesla.’
‘Gosh, they cost a fortune. Hendricks said they’re about seventy grand.’
‘It’s just on lease for her to try out. But it’s definitely a step up from the green goblin car I was driving around in.’
He was unsure why he was lying about the car being Maggie’s, but as Hendricks was already gossiping about it, he thought it best to try and shut them up.
Jack finished his breakfast, then went to his desk in the incident room with all the newspapers. He made a list of priorities for the team, then wrote on the incident crime board who he wanted in the boardroom. By 9 a.m. he was sitting waiting as Laura, Sara and Leon came in, then lastly Hendricks, carrying a coffee and toasted sandwich.