Chapter 121

Detective Lee.

“We shouldn’t be here. What if someone recognises her?” hisses Tequila, helping me forget about these screwed up memories. I went through years of therapy to be normal again, to have the life that I always wanted, so there is no need to think about the hurtful past, but sometimes I can’t help myself. In the past two weeks I slipped back to my old ways, anxiety coursing through my veins, as I wait for the right moment to strike back.

Firemen are running up and down the street. I hear the police sirens close by. More and more people are filling the streets.

“Just shut up for a second. I need some time to think,” Micah snaps back at her, rubbing his face in frustration.

“Don’t you fucking dare talk to me like that. You betrayed her, so you have no right to even make any decisions here,” Tequila bites back. Then Kiki adds her own five cent and I can’t listen to them arguing.

I take a few steps back, trying to clear my head. The police arrive, pushing people further down the road. One of the officers is evacuating the back streets too. The air is filled with smoke, and it’s getting difficult to breathe. A group of East Asian families that are standing a few meters away are arguing in Urdu. One of them looks really pissed, pointing at the house ahead. My head still hurts, so I press my finger to my temple and start massaging it, as a knot of unease settles in my stomach. Micah and Tequila keep shouting at each other. She is in his face waving her hands and he looks like he is ready to punch her.

A second later, I get pushed and I lose my balance, nearly landing on the concrete. Someone catches me, and a second later a strong hand covers my mouth. Panic whisks through me and I try to scream, jerking away. Suddenly everything goes dark. I’m drifting fast, not knowing what is going on.

***

The voices—someone is talking. I lift my head slightly, but my muscles refuse to comply, my lids feel heavy. I feel the throbbing pain in my head that keeps mounting, escalating fast. The burning smell has finally faded away. I moan loudly, trying to remember what happened on the street earlier on.

I hear someone talking. Finally after several long and uncomfortable moments I flutter my eyes open, realising that I recognise that voice.

“They won’t find her … no … of course not. The plan was excellent, simple.”

There is a pause, and then the voice speaks up again.

“Yeah, mate … good shape. No one saw me, no. So there wasn’t any problem.”

I open my eyes and blink, looking around. My heart skips a beat when I don’t recognise where I am. It’s not the house where I was staying. Everything looks new and fresh. Pulsing pain shoots down my body, numbing my legs. My thoughts start racing. Someone must have hit me when my friends were busy arguing.

“Good, you’re awake.”

I turn abruptly facing Lee, my Lee, and a sudden wave of relief washes over me. The agent that set me up in the protection programme three years ago is standing in front of the sofa, staring back at me. A sense of unease flutters in my stomach. Something is wrong. Why is he here? Where are Micah and Tequila?

“Where am I?” I ask, rubbing my face.

Lee smiles, puts his phone into his pocket, and brings the chair from the corner closer.

“In a safe place. I managed to get you out of Thomson’s sight. The moment he helped you, he screwed up everything, his career and his life,” he says, looking at me intensely, like he used to when he was working with me three years ago. He was at the station when Micah brought me in.

“I couldn’t stay in the psych. I had to get out, before Rudolf got to me. He is alive; he set me up,” I tell him, looking around, and trying to figure out why I’m not in prison or at the police station. Something is definitely not right here. He should have arrested Micah. We both know that he broke the law by helping me. On top of that, Lee didn’t believe that Rudolf was alive. He wasn’t buying my story, so why the hell am I with him right now?

“I haven’t got time to discuss any details with you now. I need to be somewhere soon,” he says, standing up. “It’s the apartment that belongs to the unit. You will stay here for a couple of days until I’ll figure out what to do with you.”

“What to do with me? You’re kidding me, right? Aren’t you supposed to be calling the police in Braxton or taking me back? And what about Micah?” I ask, trying to get up, but I feel instantly dizzy. Lee or one of his people must have smacked me pretty hard, because I have a giant lump on the back of my head. Over the years I learned that Lee could be a lousy cop, but right now he seems apprehensive, reluctant to explain what the hell is going on here. Micah and Tequila are probably freaking out or maybe they are already in custody somewhere in London. I will never forgive myself if my best friend got into trouble because of me.

“That’s the orders that I have from my boss. We are keeping this quiet, checking the facts. At the moment there is no one else involved. You’re going to stay here until I come back, help yourself to the food in fridge. Don’t do anything stupid, like trying to get out. We both know that if Rudolf is alive he’ll come for you,” he warns me, then picks up his jacket and heads to the door.

I’m baffled, trying to dismiss the pain, not getting his logic.

“You can’t leave me here. What about Micah? He doesn’t know what happened to me?”

Lee smiles, shaking his head like I said something really funny.

“He wasn’t my concern. I had to get you into safety. You’re more important than ex-detective Micah Thomson,” he says, and then shuts the door in my face and locks it from the outside. I hear steps and then another door somewhere downstairs. I look around, wondering what the hell is going on here. This apartment looks like it hasn’t been used much. The furniture is new, and the kitchen is high spec, hardwood floors. Slowly I get up and go to the window and back down as I glance outside. I must be on the fifteenth or sixteenth floor. The view is mesmerising. There is no way that I can get out of here in the state I’m in now. The doors have complicated locks and I’m too dizzy to try to break them. I might be stuck here for a while, at least until Lee comes back. When I feel like I have enough strength, I start looking around in the cupboards and drawers, hoping to find something that can help me get out of here. I find nothing. There is some cutlery, with sharp kitchen knives on the corner and ready-made meals in the fridge, a sofa, table with chairs and a plasma TV.

I leave marks on the window and pace around wondering why Lee brought me here in the first place. This can’t be his standard procedure. I find the remote for the TV and switch it on. I attacked the nurse in prison, so he should have me under observation, back in psych.

I switch the channels and wait for the news. My head hurts, and my limbs are stiff. I get up and go to the fridge and take out the bottle of water. Several minutes later the reporter starts talking about the fire in East London. It looks like a number of houses have been burned. Almost the whole street was evacuated. I have a feeling this is not a coincidence. Someone planned this.

There is no way I want to be stuck in this apartment for days. Lee needs to come and explain what exactly is going on. I go back to the kitchen and find some pills on the counter.

“For the head.” I read out loud the note that I missed earlier on. I recognise Lee’s handwriting. I take the pills to help with the pain and sit back on the chair, wondering if I will ever see my friends again.

Micah

The crowd thickens and that girl Tequila is still screaming into my face. I’ve had enough of being treated like the fucking bad guy.

“She is still fragile. You of all the people should know that. She has gone through a nightmare,” she shouts, bringing attention to us. Other people are staring at us. Tequila needs to keep her voice down.

I’m tired, tired of fighting and arguing about what to do. Maybe bringing Tequila in wasn’t such a good idea after all. I drag my hand through my hair, thinking about this morning. Tahlia and I slept together, and she let me touch her, and I know for a fact that she liked it. The night before, she got drunk and brought up the past. I couldn’t help myself and I asked her about the stories about me that were floating in the papers in Braxton. T must have been wrong. She had no idea what I was talking about. God, I was so stupid to believe that she had betrayed me.

“Hey, twat, are you even listening to what I’m saying to you?” Tequila says, poking me with her long finger. I look past her to check on Tahlia, but she isn’t standing next to Kiki.

“Shut up for a second. Kiki where is Tahlia?” I ask, looking around. She couldn’t have gone far. Maybe she had enough of our arguments. Tequila turns around. There are more people gathering and the odour of smoke is overwhelming. My heart starts jackhammering between my ribs. Tahlia is nowhere to be seen.

“I don’t know. She was standing next to me,” Kiki replies.

“I’ll go look for her. You take care of the kid,” Tequila orders, and starts walking towards the other direction. I grab Kiki’s hand and start moving through the crowd of people. Everything is blurry, and I start to panic, wondering if Tahlia has run away again. My eyes are everywhere, walking past people, trying to find the storm of pink hair. I reach the other side of the street, looking around in panic.

This is no the time to attract any attention. I listen to Kiki and decide to check the opposite street. I stop, dig out my phone and check for messages, but there are none.

“Where are you? Please don’t do this to me now,” I whisper. We reach the other side of the street, passing the shops and other people that come out to watch. I don’t know what I’m expecting. She is gone, but why? It doesn’t make sense. Her friend is here and she has nowhere else to go. Someone could have started the fire to get us out, waiting for the right moment to snatch her. Shit, this is all my fault. I should have realised that this was the perfect opportunity to get her away from me.

After an hour of walking around, I’m shaking with anger and frustration. Tahlia is nowhere to be seen. She is gone.

We are finally allowed back in the flat once the firemen take care of the main fire. Kiki is talking. The words are pouring out of her, but I’m not listening, trying to figure out what to do.

The guilt is burning through me. I promised her that I would never leave her, that I would protect her. I start hitting the wall with my fists, roaring with anger. The world is spinning all around me and she is probably locked up somewhere. Rudolf has his hands on her, but how did he track us down?

“Hey, Detective, pull yourself together. She is going to be all right,” Tequila shouts at me, slapping my face.

I stop and look down at her. My knuckles are bleeding, but I don’t feel any pain, none whatsoever. The pair of bright eyes are staring at me.

“Someone must have taken her when we were distracted with each other,” Tequila says.

“We need to go out there and look for her,” I shout.

“Clam down, just calm down. It’s our fault, mine and yours. We didn’t care. We were too busy arguing and we lost her. Someone must have known that you guys were staying around this area.”

I slide back to the floor, wanting to cry, but what’s the point? Nothing will change this. I have to find her, save her and move forward. That bastard won’t touch her, no one will.