The Collared Collection (33 page)

She needed to be absolutely certain – in for a penny, in for a pound she reckoned. ‘It’s just that Mike said he’s seen you together a few times and thought you looked really close.’ She wasn’t able to bring herself to quote Mike’s description of ‘lovey-dovey’.

‘Just because I can’t live with David and fell out of love with him doesn’t mean I don’t still like him a lot … and I value his advice. I expect Mike also told you I’ve separated from my latest policeman?’

She nodded.

Michelle half-laughed, ‘I think I should see the light and give up on cops, they don’t seem to agree with me – anyway, I needed someone to turn to, a shoulder to cry on, if you like. I won’t bore you with details, but my youngest brother got himself into a spot of bother and David called in some favours on his behalf. The two of them used to be very close.’

Callie felt ashamed. ‘I’m so sorry; I hope your brother will be alright?’

She looked her in the eye, ‘I’m sure he will – David has shown him the error of his ways in no uncertain terms and Joe, my brother, is back at college now. I’m hoping it’s all behind us.’

Callie put on a classical CD and they chatted some more, about nothing in particular – except Michelle was able to give her some pointers on Jocelyn, the pretentious madam she was destined to meet shortly. Armed with inside information, Callie felt more than able to rise to the occasion.

‘David’s taking a very long time,’ Michelle said, as she gulped down the dregs of her second mug of tea. The telephone rang. ‘There you are,’ she giggled, ‘he’s got himself lost and can’t find a policeman to ask directions.’

Callie lifted the receiver, ‘Hello?’

‘Callie, is Michelle still with you?’

She looked directly at her, seated on the sofa. ‘Yes, she is. Why?’

‘Good, don’t ask questions now, just get her to give you a lift to St James’ Hospital – A & E department.’

Her stomach flipped, ‘What’s happened, are you OK?’

‘I am, yes … it’s Elizabeth. She’s been attacked.’

Chapter Fifty-two

Four days later, Elizabeth and Callie settled into their seats in the First Class cabin of a US airliner, en route for LA – the fare paid courtesy of money borrowed against her inheritance. David had arranged for them to stay with his sister Megan for two weeks, possibly longer, depending upon how the investigation progressed in their absence.

‘This is my first trip to the West Coast,’ Elizabeth said excitedly. ‘I’ve only visited New York before and in rather sad circumstances – a dear friend of mine was killed on 9/11.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry, Elizabeth, I had no idea.’

She waved the plaster cast on her right arm in dismissal. ‘Perfectly alright – why would you?’

Callie averted her eyes while Elizabeth lifted the sunglasses that had replaced her eye patch, to dab away a tear. A flight attendant flounced over carrying a makeshift footstool for Elizabeth to rest her fractured ankle, which was also encased in plaster, and made sure her crutches were positioned so they wouldn’t fall to inflict further injury either on Elizabeth or other passengers.

She drawled, ‘There you go, ma’am – maa, don’t you look as though you’ve been in the wars.’

Elizabeth had the aisle seat for convenience – she glared up at the attendant and felt obliged to explain, ‘I took a tumble down a long flight of stone steps – not to be recommended.’

‘Is that right? Well now, ma name is Jade-Mercy and I’ll be waiting on you during this flight to LA. Anything you ladies need, you just holler or press that li’l ol’ button right there and I’ll surely come a-runnin’. Y’all have a nice day now.’

‘Thank you, Jade.’ The Mercy bit got stuck on her tonsils and refused to come out to play.

When she’d sashayed further along the aisle, Elizabeth grumbled, ‘What bollocks, she doesn’t give two hoots whether we have a nice day or not. All she’s worried about is landing safely at LAX so she can nip off to her Botox session and have another six inches of makeup surgically applied. And her hair doesn’t look at all natural, I’m sure she’s wearing a wig.’

Callie hadn’t noticed. ‘Poor thing probably woke up to a Bad Hair Day – it must be a dreadful strain, when you’re expected to look glam all the time.’

‘Bollocks! She should get a proper job. Did you notice she wasn’t even looking at us? Her eyes were focused middle distance.’

‘I’d take a wild guess she was ogling a member of some boy band sitting a few rows behind – I’m not sure who he is, but I’m pretty sure his ugly mug was on a poster in Alex’s room at the old house. I don’t imagine there are too many young men with tartan hair and a swastika intertwined with a butterfly tattooed on their necks.’

‘How devastatingly attractive! You’d expect for the price of our tickets, we’d be assured of some stimulating company, not a brain-dead wailer.’

‘Shh! He’ll hear you!’

‘Good.’

As soon as they were airborne, they endured the usual demonstration of safety equipment and saw what to do in the ‘unlikely’ event the aircraft crashed. Callie didn’t pay much heed to the recorded lecture – if you’ve seen one life jacket or oxygen mask, you’ve seen them all, she reckoned – instead, she took a few moments to send a silent au revoir to Sam and Alex, with David thrown in. It was him who’d insisted on them leaving town and in so much of a hurry, she hadn’t had time to buy any holiday clobber. Rodeo Drive, here we come, she thought – she could already hear her credit card screaming as it melted into oblivion.

They watched a movie – a superfluous remake of a perfectly good classic – on their individual screens, while Jade-Mercy kept them well irrigated with soft drinks and bottled water. Callie visited the toilet several times – each time she entered the small cubicle, she marvelled at how anyone could contort their way into membership of The Mile High Club. After they’d eaten, she dozed fitfully, despite taking advantage of her complimentary earplugs and eye mask, tastefully emblazoned with the airline’s logo. When she gave up the struggle and opened her eyes, Elizabeth was wide awake.

‘Never could sleep on planes,’ she whinged. ‘Do you think they’ll feed us again soon?’

She laughed, ‘Wasn’t the plastic duck a l’orange enough to put you off?’

‘I’ll eat anything I don’t have to prepare myself.’

Callie flicked through the in-flight magazine for the third time.

‘Did you mention the Joanne Clack and Ben Ellison connection to David or Mike before we left?’ Elizabeth asked.

‘No, I didn’t in the end. I toyed with the idea and probably should have, but after Balaclava Man pushed you down the court steps, everything became such a nightmare rush. David went into overdrive, arranging this trip and I suppose it just slipped my mind. I could always telephone – no, it would be better to send him an email.’

‘There’s always the chance Mike will dig up the relevant information all by himself, and maybe he’ll be able to tie those two in with Christine Jones. Then we’ll know where the goalposts are placed, hopefully.’

‘I’m not holding my breath – our boys in blue don’t exactly inspire confidence, do they?’

Elizabeth shook her head. ‘Sadly, no.’

Jade-Mercy rustled by. ‘Anything I can get you, ladies?’

Elizabeth’s mouth formed a wry smile. ‘A parachute?’

‘Well now, who’s being a li’l ol’ cross patch? Shame on you! How about I get you both a glass of Southern Comfort – ma dear ol’ daddy always swears by its therapeutic properties.’

‘Not for me, but thanks anyway,’ Callie said, thinking she could well live without the alcohol-induced dehydration.

Elizabeth showed more enthusiasm. ‘OK, make mine a double, with lots of ice.’

‘Comin’ right up, y’all.’

A mischievous grin spread across Elizabeth’s face. ‘If she ever loses her job with the airline, she could hire out that voice of hers as a cheese grater.’

The Southern Comfort went down well – and fast. A refill followed. But very soon, Elizabeth complained of feeling nauseous and she looked ghastly. Initially, Callie assumed she had drunk too much strong alcohol too quickly, but her skin was the colour of putty, sweat poured down her face, and she was fighting for every breath. She realised her companion really had been taken ill – and it looked serious. She couldn’t spot Jade-Mercy and so called over a male attendant.

‘Sorry,’ she said, though why she was apologising, she didn’t know, ‘my friend here doesn’t feel at all well and I can’t see Jade-Mercy. Could you help us, please?’

He looked puzzled. ‘Who’s that, ma’am?’

Her patience was about to snap. ‘Our flight attendant. Jade-Mercy.’

‘I’m sorry, ma’am, you must be mistaken, I don’t believe there’s anyone by that name assigned to our crew today.’

Chapter Fifty-three

They’d been in LA for what seemed a very long thirty-six hours when Megan said good-bye to her brother and handed the phone to Callie.

He sounded breathless, ‘Good news about Elizabeth – will they discharge her soon?’

‘Tomorrow, if she continues to improve.’ An unexpected lump caught in her throat, ‘I was so frightened she would die, David … she was dreadfully ill …’ She felt Megan’s hand squeeze her shoulder and turned to smile at her, to signal she was OK.

‘Damned lucky you had two doctors on board.’

‘Tell me about it, their swift treatment saved her life – the triage nurse told me so. They made her drink gallons of water, for a start, whereas my first instinct was to make her sick. If you’re ever going to be really ill – get yourself poisoned, for instance – make sure you don’t do it when I’m around!’ She could hear her voice wobbling with the emotion she was trying and failing to control.

He spoke quietly and intimately, which gave her comfort shivers. ‘Come on, Callie, she’s recovering well.’

She pulled herself together. ‘Kyle has used his considerable clout to fast track her test results through and we should hear what caused all this some time this afternoon.’

‘That’s good, but the main thing is she’s out of danger.’

‘Oh, definitely. And St John is flying out tomorrow …’

‘Just don’t be tempted to buy any more of his paintings!’

‘Ho, ho, ho! He means to take Elizabeth home, but I don’t think she’s too keen. She wants to stay on and see some sights, have a bit of a holiday.’

‘What about you? Are you happy to stay?’

‘I think so, for a while at least … Megan and Kyle have been so kind and supportive.’

‘Are Lorie and Eric still away at camp?’

‘Yes, for another month, so I’ll miss meeting them, unfortunately. I must say, sending your kids off for the entire summer is an excellent idea.’

He laughed, ‘Get out of here, think how much you’ve pined for Sam and Alex over the last few weeks … How are you feeling, physically, I mean?’

‘Fit as a fiddle, thanks – and I have my very own MD on call 24/7, should I need him … which I won’t. Any developments at the LAPD?’

‘No, no trace yet of the person masquerading as Jade-Mercy, the flight attendant, apart from the wig and uniform being found stashed under a seat. But you knew that already. Airport security questioned all the passengers and legitimate members of the crew, but came up with a big, fat zero. It wasn’t a crowded flight, so people moved seats at will and nobody noticed their neighbour disappearing for any length of time.’

‘I can’t understand how the crew could suddenly gain an extra body and not notice.’

‘Me neither. But it seems they work with a different team almost every trip – none of them ever really get to know each other too well. I guess they just accept an unfamiliar face.’ David asked, ‘Do you think it’s conceivable Jade-Mercy was Balaclava Man in drag? It seems a bit far-fetched to me.’

‘I don’t know so much … Elizabeth spotted early on that she was wearing a wig – I just didn’t think anything of it. And her makeup was ladled on with a trowel, but again …’

‘I have the flight manifesto and I’m checking everyone with a British passport against our data bases this end, to see if anything flags up. So far, there are a couple of iffy names I’ll investigate further …’ she heard papers rustle, ‘Let me see … oh yes, Mimi Hammerton and Jess White – it’s strange I don’t have any indication to whether the latter is male or female. Do either of the names mean anything to you?’

Even though he couldn’t see her, she shook her head, ‘No, nothing at all, except my granny used to have a Siamese cat called Mimi. Long deceased, I’m afraid.’

‘Granny or the cat?’

‘Both, you callous beast.’

‘Sorry – you’ll have to forgive a policeman’s graveyard humour. I’ll liaise with the LAPD if I find anything incriminating. Meantime, I suggest you accept Megan’s hospitality and have a good time, relax. Have you taken a dip in the infinity pool yet?’

‘Yes, it’s absolutely fabulous, isn’t it? Must be at least as big our local swimming baths – the pool guy isn’t bad, either.’

‘Mmm … no doubt he’s an out of work actor; “resting”, as they say. Enjoy it while you can, because my salary won’t run to a pool.’

‘We’ll do that – speak to you again soon. Oh, I nearly forgot, I’m sending you an email – it’s just some information I meant to give you before, but it slipped my mind.’ She had her fingers crossed behind her back as she spoke.

As Callie entered the hospital room, she was so relieved to see Elizabeth looking very much better. ‘You look great, Elizabeth! Rosy pink cheeks and all.’

‘I feel very well, Callie, and I can’t wait to get out of here and start enjoying myself. Shame about the plaster casts, they’ll mess up my all-over tan somewhat.’

She grinned, ‘I suppose they will.’ Glancing at the door she went on, ‘Before Megan joins us, I’ve sent David an email about Joanne Clack and Ben Ellison, telling him everything we know. I hope he doesn’t insist on knowing where I got the names; I promised Susan.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that, I’ll tell him Keith gave them to me, or something like that. Trust me, I’m an excellent liar. Ha! That was a bit of a contradiction, but you know what I mean.’

‘You won’t go to Heaven, Elizabeth!’

‘Actually, I came rather too close for comfort to finding out where I’ll end up.’

Callie patted her good hand. ‘David’s looking closely at our fellow UK passengers, to see if he can dig up anything remotely dicey. He’s only interested in two names so far; Jess White, who could be of either sex, and Mimi Hammerton, who is obviously female. My Gran used to have …’