to talk to, to get the buzzing out of her head.
She set up her computer on her old desk, illuminated it with her desk lamp, plugged in the phone charger and then turned on her mobile telephone, intending to connect to her ISP. She took the gun out of her waistband and placed it next to the notebook. As she did, the mobile phone rang. She let it ring until it stopped. Then, as she was about to pick it up, it rang again. She looked at it for a few moments then answered it.
‘Yeah,’ she said. As she had expected, she heard the preacher’s honey voice in reply.
‘Lucy? Is that you? You sound very different.’
‘Hi, Graeme,’ she said in an unconcerned tone. ‘Do I? I don’t know why, I’m just the same as I was yesterday.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. I was wondering how you were. I’ve been thinking about you every single moment since I found you gone.’
‘I bet you have. But everybody always worries about me so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t as well. I’m fine. Great, you know,’ she replied. There was a moment of silence. ‘What do you want? I guess you want something. That’s why you’re calling me.’
‘Yes, Lucy, I do want something. I want very much to see you. I’ve been trying to ring you all day but your phone’s been switched off. I don’t think you should have done that.’
‘Don’t you? Gee, it’s too bad I forgot to turn it on.’
Lucy sat on the bed among the scattered goods that she had emptied out of her pack. She dragged her sleeping bag across her knees in the cold room.
‘Do you know Greg is in custody?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, I heard.’
There was a pause.
‘You have good information. You obviously know who to ask. And where to find things.’
‘Yeah, I’m good at that,’ she said.
‘I’m going to get him bailed into my care, Lucy.’
‘Are you? I don’t think you’ll be able to do that. They won’t want to let him go this time.’
‘I can certainly try. I have contacts too. In fact, I think I’ve got a very good chance of doing just that.’
Lucy bit her lip.
‘What do you want, Graeme?’
‘I want to see you. I really think you should come and meet with me.’
She did not answer. ‘I don’t think you can get him bailed,’ she said instead.
‘We’ll see. Ria has told me he is likely to be charged with being an accessory to murder.’
‘Did she ring you?’
‘She left a message on my answering machine. The sort of message Ria Allard usually leaves on my answering machine. But fortunately, I won’t have to hear from her again.’
‘Greg doesn’t know anything about it,’ Lucy said, dismissively.
‘You said he did, Lucy.’
‘Yeah, but not like that, I mean. He wasn’t involved or anything.’
‘I don’t think that will make any difference to the police. I think you’ll find that being an accessory is exactly what he is. Apparently they have assigned a policewoman to deal with him. She will be interviewing him regularly from now on. We’ll see what happens, won’t we? Whether or not he lives up to your expectations and really does keep his mouth shut.’
‘It’s not murder anyway, Graeme. You said it was a cleansing.’
‘I’m talking about how the police will see it,’ he replied, speaking sharply. Lucy smiled to hear the irritation in his voice.
‘What do you want?’ she asked.
‘Lucy, I’ve already told you. I want to see you. Soon. Somewhere private.’
There was a knock on Lucy’s door. She reached for her gun and slipped it out of sight under the sleeping bag.
‘There’s someone here, I’ve got to go. Even if you can get Greg bailed, he won’t go with you. So it doesn’t matter.’
‘He won’t have any choice. None whatsoever. The police will hand him over directly to me. He’ll pass from one sort of custody into another. After all, the only way he can avoid that is to tell them about you. Isn’t that so?’
The preacher’s voice had dropped to a strange, low whisper heard as a rustle within the inner ear. Lucy was silent for some time.
‘Are you still there?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, I’m here.’
‘Good. Because if you are so concerned about him, you should be very careful what you do from now on. And very careful who you talk to and what you say to them. Because I don’t think Greg could be stopped if he decided to do something foolish while he’s in my care. Do you? And I can’t be held responsible for a suicide or an accidental death, can I? I’ll ring you tomorrow, Lucy. Leave your phone on.’
‘You can’t make me do anything, Graeme,’ she said, and hung up, tossing the phone on the bed. She opened the door and saw Stephen standing there, carrying a small two-bar heater.
‘I’ve got a heater for you. I thought it’d be cold in here,’ he said.
‘Yeah, it is pretty fucking cold, Stevie,’ she replied. ‘Thanks.’
He stood hesitantly in the doorway as she plugged it in.
‘Were you talking on your phone just now?’ he asked.
‘Yeah. But it’s no one worth talking about.’
‘Want your tea?’
‘Yeah.’
He went outside and picked up a plate of food from a sideboard in the hallway.
‘What’s Dad doing now?’ she asked as he handed it to her.
‘Mel’s given him his shot for the night so he’s pretty out of it. Please don’t ask about anything now, Luce. Wait till tomorrow when you’ve both calmed down a bit. I’ll have a talk to him and see if I can’t sort something out. You told me you wouldn’t argue with him.’
‘Did you tell them I was working in a shop?’ she asked.
‘What?’
‘Did you tell Mum and Dad I was working in a shop?’
‘Lucy, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Not now, okay?
Look, I’m not going back to work until this is over. I’m going to be home tomorrow and you can talk to me then if you want to. But I’m too tired now,’ he said, and was gone.
Lucy shut the door and pushed her bedside table against it. She turned off the overhead light and sat at her desk next to the heater, which filled the room with the odour of burning dust as the bars glowed with red heat. Liar, liars, liars, she said to herself as she logged on, thumping the keys. Everyone lies, don’t they? Fucking, fucking bastards, that’s all any of them are. Why do that to me, Dad? Did I ever do anything to you?
Between mouthfuls of Melanie’s food, she went out on the Net, in search of Turtle, moving into their own particular space where she usually met him.
Turtle, are you out there? It’s me, Firewall.
You don’t want to know.
No, you don’t. Because I’m right down here in the dirt now. Right here in the shit. We don’t ever treat each other like this. It’s like we’ve always said — we always talk to who we really are, don’t we? No lies, nothing like that.
You talk turtle to me, don’t you? You never lie to me?
