Angels Bleed (Fallen Angels Book 1) (13 page)

‘Really sorry for interrupting Sir, Phyllis.  It’s just that one of the PNC checks we did earlier came back with a company of the same name, registered office Grey Street, Newcastle.’

‘Which means,’ started Saul. ‘That the company who own this property also own a black limousine seen leaving Edinburgh on the night Michael died.’ he finished, looking at Strange.

Strange nodded his head, looking around the room as he did.  ‘Great work everyone, we might just have found a link to prove the existence of Madame Evangeline.’

10:00 am

‘I could end up anywhere.  On the night I took the bus trip, the final destination was near to the Scottish Parliament Buildings at Holyrood.  There are flats next to the main parliament buildings which the politicians stay in when in session.  I had to wait for her on a park bench down from the flats, in Holyrood Park, with King Arthur’s Seat, the large hill right in the centre of Edinburgh, just in front of me.  I had no idea what she had planned for us that evening.  It was about eleven, so very gloomy, but there was a gibbous moon that evening, high in a cloudless, crisp sky, its stark glow defining the hills in front of me.  That glow also invaded the shadows, making the darkness at the base of the hill penetrable if you sat and watched long enough.’

‘I sat there for about twenty minutes waiting for her. The first few minutes were spent watching night time revellers walking by on their way home, or onwards to parties.  In the gaps between watching passers-by, my eyes became accustomed to the gloom and started to see into the shadows at the base of the hill.  Behind the bushes I saw the odd movement, the odd flash of flesh.  I concentrated on one particular area for a while and eventually made out what was happening.  There was a couple to the side of one particular bush, and from what I could make out, they were having sex, with her on top, her breasts bouncing up and down as she rode him.  There was man in a suit on the other side of the bush. I could tell he was masturbating while watching them.  There were at least another half a dozen such encounters taking place in amongst the bushes, under the mesmerising glow of moonlight.  I surreptitiously snaked a hand inside my coat and started to stroke my tingling skin as I watched, waiting for Madame Evangeline to arrive.’

‘I was so engrossed in what was happening in front of me, it took me a few seconds to realise the warm breath on my neck wasn’t as a result of my voyeuristic fantasising.  I turned and she was there, kneeling down behind me and gently blowing on my neck.  ‘Mmm.’ I said, ‘Don’t stop that.’ She didn’t, her lips moving closer to my neck, tenderly kissing my tingling skin.’

‘‘Have you recognised anyone in the bushes?’ she asked, pulling the collar of my coat down, little kisses coursing down my neck and onto my shoulders.  She slid a hand inside the front of my coat and cupped one of my breasts, caressing the curve, stroking the swell.  People passed us by, some smiling in acknowledgement, some looking away. I was oblivious to them.  She just stared them out.  ‘They are too far away to make out any faces.’ I said.  ‘I wouldn’t expect to know any of them anyway.’ I continued, raptured by her touch. 

‘’Oh, you do.  Let’s take a walk.’ she said, standing up and coming around to the front of the bench.  She stood in front of me, wearing a knee length leather coat, exactly the same as the one I was wearing.  She put her hands in its pockets and tantalisingly opened it, exposing her naked body underneath.  I could see the luscious shadow of her cleavage, part of her breasts visible, just stopping short of exposing her nipples.  Her toned, flat stomach rippled as she fervidly breathed in and out.  My breathing echoed hers, simmering with excitement.  My eyes strayed down from her stomach.  She was standing with her legs slightly parted, and from where I was sitting, her gorgeously shaved vagina was right in my eye line.’

Rebecca looked up at Dr Hanlon.  One of her hands was gently stroking her breast as she relived the memory.  She pulled it away quickly.  ‘Sorry.  I get so engrossed in the memories of her, they are so vibrant and vivacious.’ 

‘It’s alright Rebecca, you don’t need to apologise.  The more you can relive the intensity of the memories, the more you will remember.’  Dr Hanlon replied reassuringly.

‘It’s working.  I’m remembering things.  Madame Evangeline had the most beautifully dark and delectable tattoo.  It was right at the top of her vulva, coming out on either side of the skin covering her clitoris.  It was a forked tongue, quite literally snaking up around three centimetres from her clitoris towards her belly button.  It was coloured a deep cherry red.  She called it ‘Her Temptation.’  I put a hand forward as she stood in front of me, tracing one of my fingers down from the fork of the tattooed tongue, all the way down to the skin covering her pulsing button.  She laughed and took a step back.  ‘Patience, my darling.’ she teased, turning to her left just as two men coming from the field passed on her right, one staring straight at me with a lewd, penetrating glare.  It was Dr Ennis, his gaze staying on me as he and the other gentleman passed by.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but now I wonder if he also saw Evangeline?’

‘‘Let’s go and see who’s in the bushes.’ she said.  We linked arms, looking like twins, dressed in the same coat and boots, hair done the same.  She kept leaning over and kissing me deeply, her tongue exploring my mouth as we approached the line of bushes.’

‘That gentleman there, wanking,’ she whispered into my ear, nibbling the lobe as she did, ‘Is the one of the Under Secretaries for Transport.  He is the SMP for Renfrewshire.’  I was swooning as she was sucking my lobe, but managed to take a look at the gentleman in question and did recognise him.  ‘Jesus!’  I cried under a whisper.  ‘It’s a bit open here isn’t it, a bit close to home.’  I said, motioning back to the parliament buildings behind us.  ‘That’s part of the thrill, isn’t it?’ she said, a wicked glint in her eye.  ‘The possibility of getting caught just heightens the already euphoric state of voyeurism.’ she finished, stopping and turning to me face on.’

‘We were standing out in the open, albeit in the shadows, and she asked me, ‘What did you imagine the women on the bus wanted to do to your naked body?’ her eyes simmering with an urgent desire.  ‘I think they wanted to play with my hot wet cunt!’  I replied, my voice deep and sensual.  She grabbed one of my hands and pushed it between her thighs.  ‘Show me!’ she instructed, her smouldering gaze overflowing with passion as she leant forward and started to forcefully kiss me.  She put one of her hands between my thighs and started to vigorously stimulate my clitoris, her other hand behind my head, forcing it onto her wanton lips.  I did the same, and for the next few minutes we kissed rapaciously, hands below gratifying each other.  We both moaned and groaned as we kissed, the growing crescendo of orgasm causing us to bite lips, to scratch necks, to slide fingers inside and to hug tightly as we erupted.  She looked at me with an iniquitous smile, beads of sweat evident on her forehead and surreptitiously whispered.  ‘They are watching us, take a peek and give them a wicked grin.’  I did, noting the incorrigible stares, the frantic wanking hands.  ‘Now.’ she said.  ‘That is control, that is real control.’’

‘Is that how you felt, in control?’ asked Dr Hanlon.

‘I certainly felt emancipated.  I did feel a certain kind of power.  It was more influence than control.  It was liberating the think that I could do that, and people would be even remotely interested, would stop what they were doing and watch me: watch us.’ she reflected, a yawn escaping as she finished the sentence.

‘It might be time to take a break now.  We have been going since midnight.’ he said, standing up and plugging the drip tubes back into her cannula and switching the drip on again.  ‘Don’t worry, this is just a light sedative to help you sleep.’

‘It’s alright Doc, I trust you.  Mind you, a nice soft bed with clean sheets and a big fluffy duvet would be the ticket right now.  Do you think if I let you watch me, I could control you into getting that for me?’ she said, smiling, her eyes getting heavier.

‘Rebecca, I can honestly tell you, trying your feminine wiles on me will definitely not work.  I’ll see what I can do on the bedding.’ he finished as her eyes closed in front of him, her body gently slumping into the chair.

‘Sleep tight Rebecca, we will talk again later.’

He rearranged Rebecca into a more comfortable position in the chair.  He then took off his cardigan and placed it over her torso.  He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and then limped out of the cell, locking the door behind him as he left.

As he walked down the empty corridor, his footsteps echoing off the parquet flooring in the silence of the building, the limp seemed to ease, and by the time he had reached the end of the corridor, it was gone completely.  He passed a number of cell doors and then came to a normal office door, opened it and entered the room.

There was a bank of monitors on one wall as he entered the room, different images playing on them, some moving, some static.  A single desk sat in front of the monitors with a keyboard and mouse and two mobile phones on its surface.  He sat down at the only chair in the room, which was in front of the desk.

‘Now, Rebecca, what did you get up to in that toilet?’ he asked rhetorically as he altered some video controls via the keyboard, and one of the screens in front of him started to rewind.  He stopped the video when he saw her in the cubicle, then set it to play, watching as she undid the screw from the toilet roll holder.  He smiled and said ‘That’s my girl.’

One of the screens had a red light flashing on its bezel.  The image on the screen was a room.  The angle of the camera took in a piano in the forefront behind which were some sofas.  On a wall at the rear of the image, above a fireplace, could be seen a plasma TV showing the same video feed that was on this screen.  He rewound the image, watching in reverse as a man entered backward and started to move around the room.  He stopped it just as the man was about to leave the room backwards and let it play.  He listened as DI Saul talked into the camera.  He watched him intently as he sat at the piano, nodding his head gently and smiling as Saul moved to the crate and started to talk again.

He picked up one of the mobiles from the desk in front of him, a silver iPhone which was sitting next to a white phone, and called a number at the top of the call list.

‘She’s asleep now.  She trusts me, at the moment.  There may come a point when she tries to gouge my eyes out with a screw, but not just yet. How are things at your end?’ he asked, listening intently to the reply.

‘I don’t think it will be long.  John has just been back into the drawing room.  They have found the evidence linking the Hall to Michael’s murder and they are working on the premise that Madame Evangeline is real.  I don’t think it will take too long to find out who owns the property.’ he continued.

He nodded as he listened, watching Saul pause at the ‘Basket Of Fruits’ picture before leaving the room on the screen.  ‘I should be there in about an hour.  I’ll take over from you then.  Be careful.’ he finished, then hung up.

He dropped the iPhone into his pocket and picked up the white phone, toying with it in his hands for a few second before placing it next to the keyboard.  He looked around the small room, pointing to the various contents one after another until he seemed satisfied with everything that was in there.

‘Right.’ he announced.  ‘Lets’ see if we can’t find you a nice crisp, clean comfy bed Rebecca.  God knows you deserve it.’

10:37 am

The silver spoon irritatingly clinked off the side of the half empty coffee cup over and over again.  Sarah was lost in her own thoughts as she absentmindedly stirred the triple shot Americano, gazing through the window and gazing through the people who passed by on their way to the important things in their lives.  Her pupils reflected the frosted windows in the Georgian sandstone buildings on the opposite side of Grey Street to the café she was sitting in, her eyes tracking the shadowed silhouettes moving on the other side of them.    Everyone apart from those silhouettes were background noise to her, as was the spoon clinking, as was her friend, who had just entered the coffee shop and was standing beside her, trying to attract her attention.

‘Earth to Sarah, come in Sarah.’ Allie said in a raised voice, waving a hand in front of her friend’s distant eyes and putting a concerned hand on her shoulder.  ‘Are you okay Baby Girl?’ she asked. 

Sarah looked up toward her, but her eyes still didn’t show any sign of recognition, still lost in their own world of contemplation. 

‘Sarah?’ Allie questioned in a concerned tone. ‘Are you alright?’ she finished, sitting down in the empty seat next to Sarah and grabbing her friend’s hands.  Sarah’s bottom lip started to quiver and Allie could feel her hands shaking.  Sarah’s bloodshot, red rimmed eyes started to glisten with the tears that were welling up.  She looked down at Allie’s hands over hers and took a deep breath, then turned back to Allie, a smile forced on to her face as she clasped her fists together hard.

‘Sorry Allie.  Just lost in a dark place there.  Thanks for coming.’ she said in a pained voice.  Sarah reached over and gave her friend a huge hug, pulling her in tight, taking solace in the intimacy of the embrace, in the intimacy of their friendship.

‘It’s alright Baby Girl, that’s what I’m here for.’  Allie replied, letting Sarah hold the embrace as long as she needed, feeling the tension in her ease slightly until she let go and sat back, a more composed expression on her still fraught features.

‘Well, you are the first woman to have a good snuggle up to my new boobs.’  Allie said, rearranging her breasts in a low cut top under her silver Jacques Vert jacket.  ‘What do you think?’ she finished humorously, sticking her chest out, pulling her shoulders back and posing with her head to one side while pouting her collagen filled lips.

A genuinely warm smile broke through the pain ingrained on Sarah’s face as she looked down at the ample cleavage.  ‘A little big and far too hard for my tastes, but I’m sure the men will love them.’ she answered.

‘Oh they do.’  Allie retorted playfully.  ‘Watch this.’ she added, turning around and attracting the attention of a waiter who had just finished at another table.  She looked at his name badge as he came over, his gaze immediately drawn to her thrust out chest.

‘Hi Philippe, how are you doing today?  Could I get a double shot caramel macchiato, with a double squirt of cream, please?’ she teased.

‘Of course madam.’ the waiter replied in a faux French accent, blushing as he tried not to look at her breasts, failing miserably.  ‘Is there anything else I can get you?’ he asked, slightly flustered.

‘Not for now Philippe, but maybe later.’ she answered, winking as she did.

He turned quickly, taking his eyes off the temptation as fast as he could.  Sarah let out a quiet chuckle under her breath as he left, enjoying the distraction Allie was orchestrating, and leaned over to Allie surreptitiously.  ‘You are a whore, a brazen, unadulterated whore.’

‘Hey, less of the unadulterated, there’s been plenty of adultery in my life, I’ll have you know.’ she corrected, playfully petulant.

In an instant, the joviality was gone from Sarah, the introspection invading again.  ‘Yes, I know.’ she quietly said, reaching out her hands and placing them on top of Allie’s.

‘It’s a mess Allie.  I’m a mess.’ she said, looking at her friend imploringly.

‘I can see that.  I can see it’s not just from one three bottler either.’  Allie looked down at Sarah’s hands, and lifted them up to eye level, stroking the bitten nail on one of the fingers.  ‘I haven’t seen you bite your nails this bad since we were at high school and that thing we don’t talk about happened with that trampoline coach we don’t mention.  What has John done?’

‘It’s about a lot of things.  What he has done, what he hasn’t done and what he has stopped doing.  You know John, you know how he reads people.  He just doesn’t do that with me anymore.  He always used to instinctively know my moods and what I was thinking even before I knew myself half the time.  That’s gone, totally gone.  All I get now is indifference. For such a long time now it’s just been indifference.’

‘Have you talked to him about it?’ asked Allie.

‘I’ve tried.  On the odd occasion he is around.  And that’s what he hasn’t done: be around.  I know it’s mainly to do with Jacob.  No, sorry, that’s not fair on Jacob.  I know it’s to do with the circumstances of Jacob’s illness.  I know John can’t cope with the lack of responsiveness from Jacob.  I know that.  But try and talk to John about it and he shuts down.  He becomes less emotionally responsive than Jacob.  I know he can be like that, he has always reacted the same when I have probed him about his past. He just shuts off and there is no talking to him.’

‘But you guys have been battling with Jacob’s illness for years.  What’s so different now, what has changed?’ 

‘We used to argue, we used to fight like wailing banshees.  We used to be up all night sometimes, battling, disagreeing on the best way to try and help our beautiful little son.  We both had hope, we both had an unwavering conviction that there
was a best way
to help, that we had choices.  Time moved on and the choices became less and less. John doesn’t think there is any way to help him now.’  The tears were back in Sarah’s eyes, gathering in the corners, ready to fall.

‘Oh Sarah, he can’t think that.  Look at everything he does to raise funds for Jacob.  If he thought that, why would he do it?’ Allie encouraged, holding Sarah’s hands tightly.

Sarah shot Allie a scathing glare, her next words fiercely whispered.  ‘He does that to distract himself.  He does that so he doesn’t have to come home.  He does that so he doesn’t have to spend time with me.  He does that so the outside world thinks he is a caring, considerate father who would do anything within his power to help his son.  He does that because he can’t stand being around Jacob.’  The sentence ended sibilant, the hiss dissipating on the echo of her hostile breath.

‘Baby Girl, it’s not me you are angry with, remember that.  I’m here to listen, but less of the attitude.  I will ask questions, not because I don’t believe you, but because I don’t understand.’ Allie replied with a firm voice married to sympathetic eyes.

Sarah visibly wilted in her seat, the ferocity ebbing from her body as diffidence descended upon her.  ‘I’m sorry.  I know it’s not you.’ she apologised, stroking Allie’s hand affectionately as she regained a little composure. 

‘It’s John and the things he has done.  He came home the other night and wanted to talk.  He wanted to talk about Jacob.  He said…’ a sudden single sob caught in her throat, making her pause to catch a breath.

‘He said that we should start to think about the possibility that there may be no cure for Jacob’s illness.  He said…’ this time her chest started to wrack, sobs making her words a shrill sing song.

‘He said that if there was no cure, we should think about, we should at least consider the possibility of…’  she was taking deep inward gulps of air with each sob, lungs burning with the intensity, finding it almost impossible to say the word: almost.

‘The possibility of euthanasia.’ she blurted out, letting the final word ride on the exhalation of her collected breath, adding a whispered ‘Shush…’ as she finished.

‘Fuck.  Did you just say euthanasia?’  Allie said incredulously.  ‘John wants you to think about killing your son!’ her mouth opened and closed as she looked for something else to say, shock side-lining speech.

‘Madame, your double shot Caramel Macchiato.’ said Philippe, breaking the silence as he placed Allie’s drink on the table in front of her.  His false smile changed into a rictus stare as he saw the salty tear trails flowing from Sarah’s puffed up eyes.

‘Yes.  Could you leave please, we are having a private conversation.’  Allie replied curtly, waving him away with her hand.

‘Okay, now I understand.  Jesus Baby Girl, what did you say?’ asked Allie, shock still rumbling in her tone as she spoke.

‘Just about every expletive I know.  It was a very one sided argument.  I swore at him for half an hour, screaming and shouting, then threw him out of the house.’ 

‘Where the fuck did that come from?’  Allie asked, still shaking her head.

‘I have no idea.  But I want to find out.  I’ve only seen him for about an hour since then, what with the shift he was on and him being away this weekend.  I was hoping that we could have a civilised conversation about it last night, or perhaps today, when we had time to ourselves, so I could understand why he has given up on us.’

‘God, you really need to talk to him about this.  It’s just….it’s just fucking mental.  I can’t get my head around it.’ said Allie, gulping down her drink to calm her nerves.

‘When I see him, I will.  And not just about that.  About the other thing I have found out as well.’  Sarah said, reaching down and removing an A4 size brown envelope from her Louis Vuitton bag at the side of their table.  She took several black and white photographs out of the envelope and handed them to Allie.

‘What are these?’ Allie asked, perplexed, flicking through them.  ‘It’s John.’ she added.  ‘With a woman?’ she continued.  ‘Kissing a woman!’ she finished, dumbfounded once again.

‘I had him followed.  I got these yesterday.  She is called Jessica.  Jessica Seymour.  She’s beautiful, you can see that.  A very successful business woman in her own right, but has also inherited her dead husband’s business empire.  No children, no immediate family.  They met running, apparently.  Her offices are over there, third floor up.’  Sarah said, looking out of the café, past the passers-by, to the building opposite: to the silhouettes moving behind the frosted windows.

‘That’s just a few of the details the Private Investigator found out.  The most devastating thing he uncovered, is that they have been having an affair for more than two years.’