Covet (12 page)

Detective Andy Flynn sat at his desk at Central Homicide, pushing papers around restlessly. His coat was tossed across the back of his chair. His sleeves were rolled up for no task in particular. Since he’d returned from his short coffee meeting he’d been stuck with distinctly unexciting paperwork. The seconds ticked by like hours. As if to amplify his sense of isolation, the office was almost empty. Most of the guys were still on lunch, and a chosen few of his colleagues were over at Long Bay where Andy wanted to be, tying up the tail end of the Stiletto Murders debacle they would all be happy to have behind them.

Andy had his mobile phone in front of him awaiting an update from Jimmy. So far there had been no word on what was happening. Where would Ed lead them? What would they find? It ate at Andy’s nerves to be left out of the loop on anything, worst of all this case. It smacked of history repeating itself. This time Andy wasn’t a suspect, as he had been eighteen months earlier, when his ex-wife Cassandra had been murdered. Now he was
merely a suspect for unchecked temper. It was an improvement, but still excruciating.

Come on, Jimmy, call me.

He thought about calling Makedde just to hear her voice. He planned to take her out to dinner when he was finished at work. Which restaurant should they go to? Nothing he could afford would really measure up to the previous night’s meal at Bondi Beach, but no matter. Despite being a model, Makedde was no prima donna.

Come on, Jimmy, give me some news.

Andy had one less problem to think about, at least. The meeting with Carol had gone better than he had hoped. He had been as friendly and honest as he could, and there were no tears or long faces from her when he announced that he couldn’t see her any more. Carol had offered nothing but uncomplicated friendliness and good cheer. She had never given him reason to expect anything different from her, but still, she was a woman and women were unpredictable. The seemingly sane, level-headed types threw wine over you at dinner without any notice, and the edgy ones who always seemed ready to crack shook hands and were happy to ‘just be friends’. Andy had decided long ago that there was no system for figuring out the opposite sex. Forget all that ‘women are from Venus, men are from Mars’ crap. Andy’s theory held that the sexes were probably several galaxies apart.

He felt he had done the right thing by breaking the news to Carol in person. He was giving it
another try with Mak and all other bets were off. He couldn’t afford any more complications. Considering the rocky path he and Mak had already travelled, there was not a lot of margin for error now. Especially if he wanted to convince her to stay with him in Australia.

Andy was relieved when the phone rang. He jumped on it eagerly, anticipating Jimmy with some news.

‘Flynn,’ he answered.

‘You’re an arsehole,’ came a voice on the other end.

‘What?’ It was not Jimmy’s voice, but a woman’s. Andy was confused.

‘I said, YOU ARE AN ARSEHOLE,’ the voice repeated as Andy sat stunned.

‘Mahoney, is that you?’

What the hell did Mahoney think she was doing talking to him like that? One minute she was a shy rookie straight out of the academy, and now she was mouthing off at him! Who the hell did she think she was—Jimmy?

‘You bet it’s me, Andy,’ Mahoney said. ‘Tell me one thing, why didn’t you just say that you and Carol were still an item?’

‘Whoa, whoa. Hold on…Excuse me?’ He looked around to see if anyone could overhear the conversation. He was still alone. ‘We’re not.’

‘Really? Well take a guess what I’ve been doing?’ she said. ‘I’ve been spending time with your girlfriend, taking her for lunch, showing her the sights. A nice little tour around
Kings Cross.
And
who do you think we saw in
Kings Cross
?’ She kept emphasising the words, as if they would give him some clue as to what the hell she was on about. They didn’t.

‘Who might we have seen in Kings Cross, in a café, kissing his pretty nurse friend? Hmmm?’

‘Oh, shit!’ Andy exclaimed, finally grasping what Mahoney was getting at. He scrambled to recall every move he and Carol might have made and how a bystander might have perceived things.

We didn’t actually kiss, did we? When on earth would we have kissed?

‘Oh shit is right, Andy. Mak seemed a tad put out, shall I say.’

‘Oh, Christ—’

‘Even he’s not going to be able to help you with this one.’

‘It wasn’t even like that!’ he protested.

‘Whatever, Mick Jagger. I just thought I’d let you know.’

‘That’s not how it was.’

‘Okay, Robbie Williams, Sam Newman, Casanova—’

‘Will you shut up?’

‘When we saw you and Carol you were all over each other in the window of that café and you should have seen the look on Makedde’s face. You’d think someone had died. Friend to friend here, I’ve gotta say I never picked you for throwing away the only good chick you had a chance with. Excuse me for saying that you are stupid, Andy, but Andy, you are stupid.’

‘Carol and I were not
all over each other
,’ he said, genuinely confused. ‘We might have hugged goodbye at the most. She probably gave me a peck on the cheek; I can’t even remember. I was telling her that I couldn’t see her again. I was trying to do the right thing…’ He trailed off, realisation hitting him.

My God, Makedde must hate me.

‘I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation with you,’ he said. He had spoken with Karen Mahoney about a lot of things, but never his private life.

‘You should have seen her, Andy. It was not good.’

‘I’ve got to talk to her. Where is she?’

‘I’m not sure she’d want me to tell you,’ she replied.

‘Hey, fuck off, Mahoney, this is me. Is she at the hotel?’ he demanded.

‘Do you promise you’ll be good to her?’ she asked, now obviously playing it up.

‘Come on.’

‘Yes. She’s at the hotel. I just dropped her off. She should still be there.’

‘I’m heading there now. If you happen to speak to her before I do, tell her it wasn’t like that, okay? Tell her I’ll explain when I get there.’

‘No probs. Geez, I sure wish I was a fly on the wall for this,’ Mahoney said. ‘I’d
really
like to see you talk your way out of this one.’

Andy didn’t bother to explain any further. He scooped up his jacket and left as fast as he could.

He ran into Hunt and Deller in the elevator. ‘If anyone comes looking for me I’m heading out for about an hour,’ he told them.

Constable Hunt looked alarmed. ‘You’re not thinking about—’

Andy read his mind. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere near our star prisoner. I’ll be back in an hour.’

Andy parked near Mak’s hotel, and wasted no time sprinting up to her room. He knocked lightly on the door three times.

‘Makedde, it’s me,’ he announced, standing in the hall.

He knocked again when she didn’t answer.
Please be here. Come on…

‘Mak?’

Eventually he heard slow footsteps and saw her peer through the peephole at him.

‘It’s me, Andy,’ he said. ‘Please open up.’

‘This isn’t a good time, Andy,’ came her voice through the door. ‘Can I call you later?’

Fuck!

‘No, no, no don’t do this,’ he pleaded. ‘I need to talk to you now.’

There was a pause. She still had not opened the door for him.

‘Come on, don’t make me do this through the damn door, Mak. Open up.’

Nothing. No response.

It was hardly a surprise that she was upset if she thought he had gone on a hot lunch date with someone else straight after leaving her in bed. With regard to situations like that, men and women were predictably the same. Unfortunately, things between them had been shaky as it was. He had made a lot of mistakes in the past, he knew that. But meeting with Carol should not have been a mistake—that was the most maddening thing. He had been trying to do the right thing. Should he have first told Mak that he was meeting Carol? He wasn’t sure.

Andy wasn’t going to budge from that door until he had the opportunity to explain what had really happened. Otherwise, Makedde might convince herself never to see him again.

‘Mak,’ he implored. ‘Please open the door. Come on—’

‘I’m doing it. Hold on.’

Finally Makedde undid the chain and opened up. The first thing he noticed was her red, but dry, eyes. It was clear she had been crying earlier but was composed now. The impassive expression on her face was as impenetrable as a sealed bank vault, and she had her arms tightly crossed. He knew the look well. This was not the first time he had inspired it.

‘Hi,’ she said simply, and stepped back so he could come in. She closed the door behind him.

He walked up to her and took her by the elbows. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t flinch away. ‘I want you to know that I am not seeing Carol,’ he said.

‘That’s fine, Andy.’

‘I’m serious. I know what you think you saw. Mahoney told me.’

‘Yeah, well…’ Mak said, her words trailing off. She shook her head and stepped away from him.

‘I just don’t want you thinking that Carol and I are dating any more,’ he insisted. ‘We’re not. We haven’t been seeing each other for a while.’

Yeah, like since this morning
, he could imagine her thinking.

‘If that is what you want me to know, I believe you.’ She had turned to face the window.

‘Come on, Mak.’

‘I don’t know if I can do this right now.’

Andy went to her and squeezed her hands in his. ‘Mak.’

She did not respond to him. Her eyes were on his, perhaps searching for whether or not he was telling the truth.

‘Come on, Mak. I don’t want you thinking that what you saw was some kind of date, because it wasn’t.’

She was exhausted. She was without the playful buoyancy he had seen that morning. Her shoulders were hunched, her head hanging.

‘I feel…confused,’ she said. ‘I really don’t think this is a good time for us to talk about things. Just give me a little time.’

Damn!

‘Despite what you might think, I’m not angry with you,’ she went on. ‘I just want to be alone for a little while. It’s been a very eventful couple of
days and I really need some time to myself. Things are probably…moving too fast. I know that is my fault, not yours. I’m not blaming you.’

Andy felt powerless. What could he say?

‘Can I call you later, Andy? I’m sorry to do this, but I don’t want to say or do anything that I might regret later.’

That sounded ominous.

‘When’s your flight booked to go home?’ he dared to ask.

‘My ticket doesn’t have me returning for another week,’ she said, and his heart lifted. That meant he still had time.

‘If you came here wanting me to know that you aren’t dating that woman any more, that’s fine. I believe you,’ she said. ‘I have to admit it was a bit of a shock to see you with her, especially so soon after…but it’s none of my business, really. You’re entitled to do whatever you want. I don’t want you thinking that just because of last night…and this morning…that I suddenly think we have some kind of commitment to one another, that I think you owe me some kind of exclusivity. I don’t.’

Andy listened and watched, his heart sinking. She had clearly been jealous and upset over Carol in the first place, and now she was closed off, protecting herself. He knew what she was like when she shut down like that. In some ways he wished she would just blow up at him, pound his chest and slap his face, maybe. He knew she wouldn’t. Makedde wasn’t the type. She would be maddeningly
nice
instead. Logical, nice,
closed
…

‘I see,’ he replied, unsettled by her cold words. ‘So let me get this right. You’re saying that it didn’t mean anything to you? One last fuck for good luck, was that it?’

‘Andy!’ Her head snapped up to look at him with surprise. ‘No, I’m not saying that. Don’t be like that. That’s not fair. I’m just saying, well…’ She paused and took a deep breath. He could see by the moisture in the corners of her eyes that her armour was slowly breaking down. ‘I’m saying it was wonderful to be with you again, but really, it was probably a mistake, wasn’t it?’

‘No, Mak, don’t say that. Say what you want, but just don’t say it was a mistake. I don’t think it was a mistake at all.’ Her brow was pinched. ‘You don’t believe me about Carol,’ he said.

‘If you’re telling me that nothing was going on with her today, then I have to believe you. I trust you. It’s just that this is all a bit sudden. You were involved with someone else. I don’t want to get in the way.’

‘In the way! Carol and I aren’t together any more, I’m telling you.’

‘And when did you break up? Today?’

She had him there.

‘I thought I should tell her in person…’ he faltered.

‘Do you see what I mean?’ Her eyes were glittery now, her cheeks flushed. ‘It seems like every time we get together, something happens. Like today when I saw you with Carol. And like that phone call a couple of months ago when you said
you wanted to see other people. I don’t think it should be like this.’

‘Wait…did you just say that
I
said we should see other people?’ Andy asked, surprised.

‘Well, yes.’

You’ve got to be kidding me.

That wasn’t how he remembered it. He thought
she
was the one who’d suggested they see other people. Hadn’t she said it first? Was it another of their damn misunderstandings? She must have thought he suggested it just so that he could be free to date Carol. No wonder she was hurt when she saw them together.

Andy felt his body tense up with frustration. He was angry, though not really at Makedde. It had not exactly been a smooth road for them, not by anyone’s standards. He supposed that was what he was pissed off about the most. They had such bad luck together. It wasn’t fair. He paced the hotel room, frowning. What was he supposed to say to her? ‘I’m sorry’? For what? He couldn’t beg. That wasn’t in his repertoire, and besides, he doubted it would have much effect on her. And he hadn’t done anything wrong!
She
suggested they see other people, and he had. Or at least that was how he remembered the conversation. And then he was meant to feel guilty about it after she had suggested it herself? And when he tried to do the right thing and break it off with Carol in person, he got to be a bad guy for that too?