Eeny Meeny

86

‘Stay away from me.’

Mickery hissed out the words, but Whittaker ignored her, advancing upon her.

‘You lay one finger on me and I’ll scream this whole place down.’

She’d been put in the station infirmary overnight. There she could rest whilst being protected 24/7. The callow PC on duty for the late, late shift hadn’t picked up anything unusual in being allowed a fag break by the station chief. It was yet another sign of what a good bloke he was. Whittaker knew he had five minutes max and intended to make the most of it.

‘I need to know what you’re going to do.’

‘I mean it. Don’t come any closer.’

‘For God’s sake, Hannah, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s me, Michael.’

He attempted to reach out to her, console her, but she pulled away sharply.

‘This is your fault. This is all your -’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You came to me.’

‘Why didn’t you find me?’

The vulnerability in her voice shocked him.

‘I was in hell, Mike. Why didn’t you find me?’

Suddenly all his anger dissipated and he was filled with pity. He felt a lump in his throat, a sudden welling of sadness. He had first met Hannah in the aftermath of the botched shooting that ended his front-line career. She had counselled him, healed him, and the pair had fallen in love. He’d kept her existence secret because he didn’t want the world to know he had a shrink, but his feelings for her were sincere.

‘We tried, Hannah, my God we tried. We threw everything at it. Every uniform I could spare without arousing -’

Hannah looked up sharply.

‘Without giving yourself away?’

It was said with real bitterness.

‘I tried, believe me. I really, really tried. But there was no trace of you. Or Sandy. You’d vanished off the face of the earth. I don’t know if this killer is human… or a bloody ghost. But we couldn’t pick up her trail. I am so, so sorry. If I could have swapped places with you I would have, believe me…’

‘Don’t say that. Don’t you dare say that.’

‘What do you want me to say?’

The question hung in the air. Whittaker knew he only had moments left – everything was telling him to leave.

‘I want you to tell me it never happened. I want to have never met you. I want never to have fallen in love. I want you to have kept your killer to yourself. I want it all to go away. I wish I wasn’t here any more. I wish I didn’t exist.’

Whittaker stared, lost for words in the torrent of her despair.

‘But you needn’t worry. I’m not going to tell them about you. I’m going to keep quiet. I’m going to do as I’m told and then maybe I will live.’

She returned to her bed and faced the wall.

‘Thank you, Hannah.’

It was inadequate, grossly so, but time was pressing, so Whittaker slipped out. Moments later, the young PC reappeared, stinking of cheap cigarettes and Whittaker slapped him on the back and departed. Back in his office, Whittaker exhaled. The original plan had been to retire together with millions in the bank. That was screwed now, but at least he was in the clear. It had all gone horribly, horribly wrong, but he was going to be ok. He’d been up all night and was shattered, but as the sun began to rise, Whittaker felt a surge of energy and optimism.

Which is when there was a sharp knock on the door. Before he had a chance to respond, Helen entered – flanked by two officers from Anti-Corruption.