He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, and they started up the stairs, the floorboards groaning under their combined weight.
Slowly, Tina followed, feeling like a condemned woman. If they caught Ray in here, then that would be it for her. He no longer had a gun so he couldn’t hurt either Mike or Mo, but he could still threaten them and make a break for it, leaving Tina behind. She’d be sentenced to the maximum ten years for harbouring Ray, there was no doubt about it. She had plenty of enemies as it was, and they’d want to make an example of her. She’d serve at least five, and because she was an ex-cop who’d pissed off the wrong people, it would be hard time, like Ray’s.
Frankly, the thought terrified her.
When they got to the top of the stairs, Mo turned left into the bathroom while Mike checked in the spare room. Tina had closed her bedroom door when she’d gone downstairs to answer the front door and she tried not to stare at it now. When Mike came out of the spare room, he asked if she had a loft. It was as if he wanted to avoid going in her bedroom and being reminded of something he’d rather forget, which ordinarily might have upset her, but not now.
She pointed out the hatch and gave him the pole to open it with, while she watched Mo open the main bedroom door and walk inside.
The curtains had been drawn and the window was open, the bed was neatly made, and Ray’s clothes and cup of tea were gone.
‘Don’t make a mess,’ she said as Mo got on his hands and knees and looked under the bed.
He didn’t answer, and she watched as he climbed slowly to his feet and went to the cupboard where she’d told Ray to hide.
Tina stiffened as he opened it, aware of Mike coming slowly back down the loft ladder, knowing that this was the moment of truth. If Ray was in there …
But the cupboard was empty bar Tina’s clothes neatly hanging from the rail.
Mo poked his head inside – just, it seemed, to make doubly sure – then closed it, and turned round.
‘I’m assuming you don’t want to check if he’s hiding in my drawers, do you?’ Tina asked, finding it hard to mask her relief.
‘We’re just doing our job, Tina,’ Mo said, stopping at the open window and looking out across her garden before walking past her back into the hallway.
‘Well, you’re looking in the wrong place,’ she told them. ‘Now, if you’ve quite finished, I’d like to get on with my day.’
‘Thanks for your help, Tina,’ said Mike, motioning for Mo to follow him down the stairs. ‘It’s good to see you again. You look well.’
She felt like saying that it wasn’t so good to see him but she resisted. Even now, she still had a soft spot for him. ‘Thanks,’ she said, walking down after them. ‘You too. How’s life treating you?’
‘I got married,’ he said as they stopped at the front door, showing her the ring she hadn’t even noticed. ‘A few weeks back now. It was only the two of us in Barbados. We didn’t really want any fuss.’
‘Well then, congratulations are in order,’ she said, forcing a smile, and ignoring Mo’s triumphant look. ‘I hope you’re both happy together.’
She opened the door for them and they stepped out into the morning sunshine.
Mike smiled at her. He did look genuinely happy and she was pleased for him. He was a good man. Which was probably why it hadn’t worked for them. ‘Thanks, Tina. And if you do hear anything from Ray Mason, please do the right thing and call us. It’ll be a lot easier that way.’
She nodded and closed the door, and it was only when she was back in the kitchen that she allowed herself a huge sigh of relief. She felt a little hurt that Mike had got married without telling her, but that paled into insignificance compared to the fact that she’d just dodged the possibility of a long prison sentence. But where the hell was Ray hiding? He must have got out of the bedroom window but there weren’t really any places to hide in Tina’s garden, plus they would have heard and seen him from the kitchen.
She stubbed out the cigarette and opened the back door, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face. Her garden backed directly onto a hill that rose up to woodland at the top. It was a lovely view, and was the main reason she’d bought this house. It soothed her to look at it, even though, in truth, it made her home less secure because there was direct access to it from the back. But it was a trade-off she was prepared to tolerate. She kept the gate double-locked, and the fence around it was high and overgrown with thorn bushes she’d planted herself several years earlier, so it was hard to get in. It was also hard to get out, so there was no way Ray would have made it out that way either.
She’d been standing there a good five minutes and was still trying to work out what Houdini-like escape Ray had managed when she heard a whisper from above her.
‘Have they gone yet?’
She looked up and there he was, lying flat like a lizard on the cottage roof, his head poking over the guttering.
‘They’re gone, so get down from there quickly,’ she hissed back at him. ‘The neighbours might see you.’
He nodded, crawled on his front along the edge of the roof, and manoeuvred his way feet first back inside her bedroom window.
Tina couldn’t help but smile as she went back inside the house. Ray was bad news in so many ways but she had to admire his resourcefulness.
When she got back to the bedroom, he was sitting on the bed. He opened his
