He hesitated by the door to get his game face on. What he needed to do, more than anything right now, was keep any animosity away from his team. The gulf between him and his parents couldn’t impact on the investigation, no matter how difficult that might be. Taking a deep breath, he followed Compo inside and nearly sagged with relief when he saw who his unexpected visitors were.
Taking in the three faces that smiled at him – well two smiles and a sullen frown – would be more accurate, from their chairs in between Alice and Compo, Gus’s taut expression relaxed into a welcoming grin as he strode over to greet them. He hadn’t seen Imti Serafina and Shahid for ages and was surprised by how pleased he was to see them. The trio had been involved in one of his cases a few years back and they’d stayed sporadically in touch since then. Imti and Serafina ran The Delius Club on Leeds Old Road and Imti’s older brother Shahid, although once one of Bradford’s biggest gangsters, had turned over a new leaf. Although Gus uncharitably thought on occasion that it was easy to go straight when you had the money and various businesses behind you.
‘What the hell brings you three here?’ Gus, ignoring the Covid instructions, knowing all three would have been temperature tested on entry, hugged both Imti and Serafina, but settled for a grudging handshake with Shahid. Now stepping back from them, he saw that all was not well in their world. Imti’s face carried an uncharacteristic frown and Serafina wrung her hands in front of her, glancing anxiously at her boyfriend as she did so. Even Shahid’s usual impenetrable glare was fiercer than usual, and his eyes darted anywhere but at Gus.
Alice rose and guided Serafina back to her seat and Gus waited while Imti and Shahid followed suit. It was Imti who eventually spoke. ‘Got a favour to ask, Gus. We wouldn’t normally. But we’ve got no choice.’ Imti glanced at Alice who nodded reassuringly in response.
Grabbing a chair, Gus joined the little circle and sat down. ‘Come on, Imti. We’re friends. If I can help, then I will.’
Shahid sniffed and looked away. Ordinarily Gus would have interpreted this as disdain, but studying the other man’s profile, with his Adam’s apple moving convulsively, Gus realised Shahid was distressed. Imti looked at his brother and when no support came from that direction, he glanced at his girlfriend. Serafina sighed and linked her fingers through his. ‘What Imti’s trying to explain is that. Well – it’s Jess.’
‘Jess?’ Jessica was Shahid and Imti’s half-sister. She was in prison for murder and Gus had no idea what they wanted him to do about that after all this time.
‘She’s dying.’
‘Dying?’ Gus frowned, aware that repeating the last words of each of Serafina’s statements was not the way to move forward, but at least now he knew what was wrong with the brothers. Despite their differences, they loved their sister, even after everything she’d put them through. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
‘She was shivved in the shower.’
Gus heard Alice’s gasp. This was just a bit too close for comfort for Alice, who had had a similar experience. Despite himself, Gus shuddered, at the thought of what could have happened to Alice. While Alice had ended up in hospital, Jess, it seemed wasn’t going to be able to recover from her injuries. Still, he wasn’t sure what they wanted from him. So, he waited till Serafina spoke again.
‘She’s in BRI. She’s on machines to keep her alive, but she insists that she won’t let any of us be with her at the end. She made her solicitor write a contract.’
Biting his lip to prevent himself from repeating Serafina’s last words, Gus sighed. Jess had hated Shahid for a long time and although he had his reasons to hate Jess in return, somehow, he’d found the strength to rise above it. Shahid’s face was tense as he stood up and stalked over to the window, unwilling to meet anyone’s gaze.
‘I’m still not clear what you want me to do, Serafina.’
‘Well, we can’t go in and they’re turning off the machines tomorrow at noon.’ She glanced at Imti before continuing. ‘She can’t die on her own – she just can’t.’ Tears rolled down her cheeks and at last Gus had an inkling of what they were asking of him.
‘We want you and Alice to be there with her. Please.’
The final word was Gus’s undoing. Uttered in a plaintive tone, he’d have had to have a heart of steel to say no. So, heart sinking, trying not to wrench up all the memories from that period in his own life, Gus nodded. His eyes met Alice’s and she too nodded, conveying the silent message that this would be difficult, but they would do it – for their friends.
Shahid turned from the window, his eyes red, and walked over to Gus. When he spoke, his voice was gruff. ‘I owe you. Big time. Anything … I mean anything.’
Imti and Serafina hugged Gus and left, leaving Gus desperately attempting to drag his thoughts back from a time when he thought life could be very different for him.
Chapter 31
Bradford
The Man in Black supposes they’re getting all hot under the collar. Nearly a week and no other killing – well not one they recognised as being his work. Are they wondering if it’s all over? If they can start to wind things down? Gus is clever, he’ll have spotted the links and that profiler will make them expect another death. The thing is, they’re equally well aware that some killers leave it for months or even years between kills. They’ll be beginning to wonder if that’s what he’ll do. Of course, they’ll be conflicted – on the one hand they need the next victim to extend their profile, to give them more clues, but that means another death and they’re duty bound to try
