For the first time in years, he hung up the suits and lay casually in a pair of brown cord trousers and an extra-large navy blue NYPD t-shirt which he’d bought on a family vacation in the Big Apple. Now that he had the place to himself for a few hours, he could sort out his belongings, lovingly dumped on Vanessa’s porch earlier in the day.
He went through a box of paperwork and ordered it into three piles; one for Vanessa to continue with the Lincoln case, a second for himself which was compiled of non-sensitive mementos from his time in the force, and a third to be destroyed, deemed too sensitive and yet useless to any current case. Amongst the chaos was a receipt from the Sleep Tight Hotel in Indiana. The invoice detailed a reservation of one room, mistakenly listed for two guests despite Vanessa having her own, and included two bottles of wine, which they’d consumed during their evening meal and billed to his room for ease, whilst she bought him lunch the following day to cover her half. Vanessa had her own receipt for her room, minus the wine, no doubt already expensed and filed away.
‘So that’s where Jasmine’s accusation regarding the Indiana hotel came from. No wonder she thought I was cheating if she read this.’ Darnell slapped his palm against his face as he scrunched up the evidence of a night he would rather forget. Jasmine’s presumption had not been far wrong. There was no smoke without fire, that’s for sure. They had fumbled around on Vanessa’s bed. He wouldn’t have gone through with it though. It was a drunken kiss; his clothes hadn’t even come off. Surely not enough to end nearly twenty years of marriage?
He had considered telling Jasmine the truth but Vanessa had talked him out of it. ‘It’ll only hurt her, and for what?’ He didn’t know if she really was thinking of Jasmine; ignorance is bliss after all, or whether she was scared for herself as a facedown with Jasmine could be quite daunting. He had his own experience of the latter.
The vibrations from his cell phone distracted him from his woes. Surprised by the late-night call, he answered to discover a flustered Vanessa.
‘I’m trapped. Please help me!’
‘Where are you?’ Darnell’s heart raced.
‘I’m at Springfield Structures and I’m locked in a cabin. I broke in.’
‘What the hell? Why would you do that?’
‘I’ll explain later, but you must come quick and get me outta here! And bring a safety pin, there will be one in my stationery drawer.’
‘My God, what did I do to you? I’m supposed to be the reckless one!’
Jackson collected a safety pin and a black hoodie before jumping in his car. As he switched on the engine, his head began to wobble. Raising his hand up towards his mouth, he forced out a breath into his palm and took in the odour of his scotch. Looking around the empty neighbourhood, he opened the window, took a deep breath and carefully drove out into the night. Each time a patrol car passed, he pulled over to the sidewalk and turned off his engine as if he had arrived home, and moved on as soon as the car drove past and out of sight.
Arriving at Pine Street, he rolled over to the entrance of Springfield Structures. The metal fortress formed a barrier to the cabin, which he could see only metres away on the other side of the fence. He tried the safety clip in the locks of the gates but it wouldn’t wriggle. Taking out his phone, he sent Vanessa a text message.
‘How did you get inside? This mesh is unbreakable.’
‘Climb over,’ Vanessa replied.
‘You’re kidding right? I’m 50.’
‘I’m 28 and I managed it.’
‘Exactly I’m nearly twice as old as you.’
‘Then you have nearly twice as much as experience as me. You’ll be fine.’
Darnell sighed and began to climb the mesh. His extra-large feet struggled to slip through the gaps in the fence but he managed to get to the summit. Swinging his body over the top, he missed his footing and fell to the ground. A sharp pain shot up his arm and leg, and he bit onto the hood of his jumper to avoid screaming. He rolled over, taking the weight off his arm, and was pleased to find he was at least on the inside of the fence. He stood up and shook himself to, rubbing down his arm as if he could brush away the pain.
The dusty yard had a white cabin making up the centre with cranes and vans surrounding it. A security light came on, sending shock-waves down Darnell’s spine. He ran to the shadows and crept along a dark path until he met the entrance of the cabin. Tapping lightly on the door, he mumbled Vanessa’s name.
‘I’m here,’ she said in a whispered reply, cautiously knocking back.
Darnell took out his wallet and retrieved the safety pin, which he twiddled in the lock until he heard a click. The door swung open and Vanessa ran out, grabbing her chest and gasping for air.
‘Thank you!’ She ran over and embraced her saviour. ‘Now come on! Let’s get the hell out of here!’
On the drive home, Vanessa rocked back and forth like a soldier returning from a prisoner of war camp. Given how much they had both drunk that evening, they risked the journey in one car instead of two. Vanessa appeared too pent up to drive and left her car near the site to collect the following morning. Darnell watched her patiently until she relaxed before beginning his
