“I can’t prove it, but I’ll bet you a pound to a penny that it was you she was thinking of, and what Jaff had done to you, when she pulled that trigger. She was shooting him for what he did to you.”
Annie reddened. “Well, we’ll probably never know, will we?” She let go of Banks’s hand for a moment and reached for her water. Banks saw her grimace in pain as she turned, so he passed it to her. “Thanks,” she said.
“We won’t know unless she tells us, which I doubt she ever will,” said Banks. “Why should she? I’d be the first to admit that it probably doesn’t even matter to anybody but me, and to people like Chambers and Trethowan, who seem to want to make her lesbianism an issue here.”
“And you don’t?”
“I don’t care whether she did it for a man or a woman. What matters is that she didn’t do it for the reasons she said she did. She did it for revenge. It was personal.” Then Banks rubbed his hand over his eyes. “But it was personal for a lot of us, so I’m not saying she should be crucified for it.”
“And she saved your life.”
“Yes.”
“And there was no other way?”
“No. Look, I know I’m not making a lot of sense. I’ll get it all sorted out in time.”
“So what happens to Nerys?”
“If she has any sense she’ll get out of North Yorkshire as fast as she can, lie low for a while, then she might well make some clandestine counterterrorism squad or other. They’re not always so fussy about who they take on, depending on the level of threat, and she is a good shot. She won’t go to waste. Who knows, maybe even the Americans will take her? She suits their style.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”
“On whom? Nerys, or the Americans?”
Annie laughed. “Touche. What about The Farmer?”
“Who knows?” said Banks. “We’re building a case. The CPS is enthusiastic. But he’s got good lawyers. Still, there’s some interesting stuff in his Jersey and Cayman Island files. We got Victor Mallory, too, by the way. Found his lockup with the lab and cache of Baikals. The clever bastards were using one of McCready’s father’s old shell companies. That’s why it took so long to track down.”
“What’s going to happen to Erin?”
“I’ve recommended a good solicitor. She’ll plead guilty, with extenuating circumstances. I think that, given her previous good character and the circumstances surround the whole affair, she’ll probably get away with a suspended sentence. At least, that’s what the solicitor says.”
“And Tracy? How’s she doing after her ordeal?”
Banks sipped his latte. “She’s young, resilient. She’ll recover in time.”
“You sound uncertain. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” said Banks. “She was raped, you know. McCready raped her.”
Annie said nothing at first. Banks wondered if she was remembering her own experience of rape several years ago, before she came to North Yorkshire. “Good God,” she said finally. “I’m so sorry, Alan. If I can help in any way…If you want me to talk to her, just let me know. I do wish I could remember more about what happened before the shooting, how she was, what she said. I just can’t. All I have is the impression that she was scared and she was trying to get rid of me quickly.”
“Well, that would make sense if McCready was waiting in the wings, wouldn’t it? She wanted you out before he hurt you. She knew how unstable he was by then.”
“Not before?”
“Annie, I don’t really know how to say this, but I think Tracy was lying to me when she told the story from her point of view. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of experience listening to people lie. There are just too many inconsistencies.”
“Did you challenge her on them?”
“Of course not. It’s nothing, really, but she just seemed to shade everything so she came out sounding like the victim all the time.”
“She was the victim.”
“I know. But I don’t think McCready forced her to go with him. I think she fancied him and she went willingly, and suggested my cottage as a place to hide out. I think it was an adventure to her at first, maybe a form of rebellion, of payback…I don’t know…We haven’t been very close lately. She may blame me. She felt that I favored Brian and that I was disappointed by her exam results and her lack of a promising career. I don’t like to be suspicious of my own daughter, Annie, but…”
“Alan, if Tracy was playing down her role, she was doing it because she was feeling guilty and ashamed of what a fool she was, and the last thing she’d want is for you to think even more badly of her. Don’t you see? She’s afraid of your judgment. You’re not just her father, you know. You’re a policeman, too. You have no doubt that she became a victim and hostage later on, do you?”
“No. I think there came a point when the relationship changed. Maybe when you got shot, or even before.”
“Well, then. She might have gone along with McCready in the first place for some sort of misguided romantic reasons. She’s young. But she didn’t pull the trigger. She didn’t steal the coke and the money. McCready did all that. Just give her time to heal. Build some bridges. Try to understand what she must be feeling. She’ll tell the truth when she’s ready.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Where is she now?”
“She’s staying in London with her mother for a while. I’m so deep in the doghouse with Sandra now that even my feet aren’t sticking out.”
Annie laughed at the image. “For not telling everyone what was going on?”
“What do you think?”
“What a mess.” Annie shook her head slowly and took his hand again. “I was so scared when I realized what was happening. There on the floor, in your conservatory, before it all went dark and I could hardly catch my breath. I was convinced I was going to die. I missed you so much at that moment, Alan.”
Banks swallowed and squeezed her hand. “I missed you, too. You’d have loved it over there. The desert nights. The Grand Canyon. The Pacific Coast Highway. Fisherman’s Wharf. The Golden Gate Bridge. Magic.”
“I wish I’d been with you, but it sounded like the kind of trip you had to take alone.”
“It was,” said Banks. “This time. But who knows? One day…”
“If I can still walk.”
“You’ll walk.”
“You know,” Annie said. “You’ve told me plenty about Nerys and Tracy and what happened and all that, but what about you?”
“Me?” Banks shrugged. “What about me? I’ve had plenty of practice being in the doghouse where Sandra’s concerned. And it matters a lot less when she’s a couple of hundred miles away.”
“No. I didn’t mean so much about your family. I meant the other stuff. Job. Career. Future.”
Banks finished his latte and dropped the cup in the wastebasket. “Well, Chambers is out for blood and I’m right in his sights. He’d love to throw me to the wolves. I broke every rule in the book, probably more even than poor Nerys, and he knows I’d do it again in the twinkling of an eye.”
“But?”
“I still have a few friends in high places. They’re pushing for a spell of gardening leave until I sort out my ‘personal problems.’ Emotionally distraught father, understandably overtired, daughter abducted, that sort of thing. The saving grace is that if the powers above did throw me to the wolves, most of them would have to fall on their own swords for allowing the situation to arise in the first place. Cold comfort, I suppose, but there you go. In the end, they’ll either sack me, put me in the nuthouse or promote me to Area Commander.”
Annie laughed. “But what will you do? Aren’t you worried? Seriously. You don’t sound too concerned.”
“I’m not.” Banks looked at the beeping machines with their wavy lines and numbers, then back to Annie. “Maybe the trip put a few things in perspective for me. What will I do? Seriously? I don’t know. Come back and fight another day, like I always do, I suppose. But sometimes I think I’ve had enough. I’m getting a bit tired of it all, to
