Blinding Lies Read online

  It was dark now, and she drew the curtains, shutting out the world, ready to retreat to the sofa. Snow was falling lightly, and Anna thought of Christmas and her niece Chloe. It was a time she looked forward to. She eyed the boxes of decorations in the hall – she’d invite Chloe over soon to get started.

  Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had slept most of the day, and not eaten much before that. She moved into the adjoining kitchen and pulled out a pizza from the freezer. Once it was heating in the oven she prepared a salad, finding comfort in the mundane tasks.

  Switching on the radio, she selected Lyric FM. It wasn’t Bach, her mother’s favourite, but the music was soothing and calming. The process of moving around her kitchen and checking the cooking food soothed her nerves. While the pizza cooked, she read a report of Harris’s arrest online on her laptop – she was surprised it had made the papers already. She also read the mayor’s statement on the city’s preparations for the political conference.

  The finding of two dead bodies in a car boot and the shooting of David Gallagher no longer dominated the headlines. Those stories were pushed to the second page by more grisly news – four bodies had been discovered in a burnt-out car just outside the city. Anna’s eyes widened as she read the article. She thought of Chief Superintendent Janet McCarthy, and all the detectives in the station, trying to maintain law and order in the run-up to the political conference.

  She settled on the sofa, her pizza and salad in front of her on the coffee table. She poured herself a glass of wine and had just taken her first sip when the doorbell rang. Rolling her eyes, she rose wearily and went to the door, preparing to scold Alex for calling around to check on her.

  But it wasn’t Alex. It was a woman, bundled in winter clothes. A red satchel was hung over her shoulder, her lips were slightly blue and her skin so pale it was almost translucent. But it was her eyes, her bright-green eyes that watered in the freezing wind, that almost stopped Anna’s heart.

  “Kate!”

  Her childhood friend smiled hesitantly.

  “Anna – please, can I come in?”

  Anna stood in shocked silence for a few moments. So, here she was, her old best friend, one of the closest she had ever had. She had so many wonderful memories with Kate at the heart of them. So much had happened in their lives since they had parted ways.

  And now Kate was standing on Anna’s doorstep.

  It was only when Anna noticed Kate’s lips quiver from the cold that she regained her thoughts and her manners. She stepped back and held open the door.

  “Of course! Come in!”

  Leading the way into the living room, Anna gestured to the sofa and Kate sat down. Slowly she peeled off her coat and scarf, then finally her hat, revealing her short, dark hair. Anna studied her, looking for the resemblance to the child she had known. She had high cheekbones and pale smooth skin; Anna had no doubt but that she was a beautiful woman when she wasn’t on the run from a murderous gangster. The red satchel caught Anna’s eye – Kate clutched it to her as though it were a lifeline.

  Anna remembered the night Kate had drop-kicked a much larger man in the alleyway outside the Mad Hatter. She momentarily wondered if she should be on her guard, then quickly brushed aside her concern. This was her old friend, and she had come to her for help.

  It occurred to Anna that she should really phone Elise Taylor – there was, after all, a murder suspect warming her hands at the stove. She debated calling the detective over and back in her mind, before quickly deciding against it. Instinct told her Kate needed help, and Anna wasn’t in the mood to be barked at by Elise – the woman was perpetually angry lately.

  Seeing Kate now, Anna was sure she was innocent – that what had happened was self-defence. What mattered was that she was safe, off the streets, and somewhere Gallagher’s men wouldn’t know to look. What harm would it do if she stayed here in the warmth and safety of her home for a few hours?

  Anna decided she would speak to her about turning herself in, and convince her it was the best option, her only option. Once she had explained her side of the story, Anna had no doubt she would be a free woman. David Gallagher was a violent criminal; anyone could see Kate would have had no choice.

  Anna would call Elise Taylor, but first she would allow her friend some time to rest. She couldn’t imagine the terror the woman had been living under these past few days, fearful that Gallagher’s men were around every corner. She thought back to the images of the crime scene DS Taylor had been looking at on her computer at work – the violence in the house that night had been horrifying. Poor Kate had been ambushed there by Gallagher – Anna was sure of it.

  She had been through so much. She must have passionately hated David Gallagher because of how he had abused her sister. But just because she had motive to kill didn’t mean she had intended to do it.

  Kate was perched on the edge of the sofa and looked up at Anna, her green eyes scared.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I came here. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  Anna sat down beside her old friend and placed her hand over hers. “Of course not! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

  Kate’s eyes shone with tears, and she quickly hugged Anna, before wiping her eyes with a shaking hand. “Thank you! You’ve no idea how much this means to me!”

  She sounded relieved. She sat back into the sofa, her body sagging.

  “Do you want some food?” Anna asked.

  She shook her head. Anna gestured to the wine bottle open on the coffee table, but she shook her head again and smiled softy.

  “Maybe just a coffee.”

  Anna busied herself in the kitchen, leaving Kate to sit near the stove. Her mobile phone rested on the countertop. She glanced at it. She would call DS Taylor very soon.

  She brought two coffees to the living-room coffee table. Kate watched her carefully, a warm comforter around her shoulders. Once Anna had sat down opposite her, they eyed each other warily, neither sure how to begin the conversation.

  It was Kate who broke the silence.

  “Again, I’m sorry to just turn up like this.”

  “Don’t worry. We always said we’d be there for each other, remember?”

  Kate nodded, her bottom lip trembling, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. She sat still, her shoulders stiff against the back of the sofa. Her skin was ghostly pale. She had dark shadows under her eyes and her lips were cracked at the corners.

  “I’m sorry to hear your dad passed away.”

  “Thank you. And I’m sorry about your parents … I heard it on the news.”

  Anna nodded and looked away. Silence stretched between them again.

  Kate sipped her coffee, her hands wrapped around the mug, savouring its warmth.

  Anna picked at a slice of pizza, not really hungry anymore. She wondered if she should tell Kate that she knew the shooting case inside out. Normally, she would never discuss the details of a case with anyone, but the main suspect in a shooting had never been sitting in her living room drinking coffee before! Anna reasoned that if she wanted Kate to turn herself in, she would have to gain her trust and share what she knew.

  “You should know I work in the Lee Street Garda Station, Kate. I’m clerical staff. I know all about the shooting. I know you’re on the run.”

  Kate’s green eyes flashed into focus and met Anna’s.

  “The Gardaí are searching for you. Detective Sergeant Elise Taylor is heading up the investigation.”

  “What does she have to do with this?” Kate asked quietly, her voice cracking.

  “Well, as I said, she is leading the investigation into the death of David Gallagher. And by the way … er … Tom Gallagher has put a price on your head.”

  Kate’s eyes widened in alarm.

  Anna continued. “Thirty thousand euro dead, fifty thousand to bring you in alive.” She paused before adding, “Sorry to be so blunt about it. It’s just that your best option is to turn yourself in to the Gardaí. It’s r
eally the safest thing.”

  Kate put her mug on the coffee table and her head in her hands. Christ! Gallagher had put a bounty on finding her. No wonder his men had been everywhere she went. She knew he was watching her house, and she was convinced Tom Gallagher had a source in the Garda station, so he would know she wasn’t in custody. He wanted to kill her; she knew that. He wanted to avenge David’s death.

  Anna gestured towards the coffee and the pizza, cut into slices. “You should drink. And eat.”

  She did what she was told. It was the easiest thing she had done in almost a week. Her hands shook as she picked up the mug. She began to eat the pizza and drink the coffee, keeping her eyes downcast. Anna was right; she felt better as she consumed the hot food.

  She was very much aware now that she had few choices. Anna was Garda staff. She was encouraging her to turn herself in. She had put Anna in a terrible position and Anna was unlikely to help her in the way she had hoped. But she had to trust Anna – she had welcomed her into her home after all and was offering food and shelter. There was no sign of a threat, or that she had phoned the Gardaí. She told herself she had to relax. She felt better the more she ate, and the coffee was helping to revive her. She eyed her old friend as they ate – Anna really hadn’t changed that much. Her brown eyes were still almost too big for her face, her hair still a light blonde, but shorter now, not long down her back like when they were kids.

  “How did you know where I was?” she asked. “In the Mad Hatter, I mean.”

  “Elise Taylor got a tip-off – from a source, I guess. She said one of her street informers told her you had been in the Mad Hatter, looking to buy a passport. She sent Gardaí to your hotel today too – I don’t know how she knew about that.”

  Kate was horrified. The Gardaí knew she was at the hotel too? How? When she had scarcely left the place? She shuddered at the mention of the Mad Hatter. She realised how foolish she had been to go there, running around the city thinking she was invisible. She had made so many mistakes. But she needed a passport or some other way out of Ireland.

  “I take it you’re trying to leave the city?” Anna asked.

  Kate nodded as she chewed more pizza. “The country! I want to be with Natalie and the girls. They’re in France waiting for me. They’re depending on me. But, you see, the night I fled my house I left my passport behind – it was with my suitcase.”

  “I know, Kate, I know. But please turn yourself in! You’ll be treated well, and they’ll believe that it was self-defence! How could they not?”

  Kate’s green eyes met Anna’s.

  “It was self-defence, wasn’t it?” Anna asked nervously.

  Kate nodded quickly. “Of course!”

  It was so long since she’d had a conversation like this with anyone, and it was exhausting her. But she felt at ease here; it was as though the years had melted away. There was an easy flow to their conversation, the way there always had been. She felt comfortable, despite the topic of conversation. She felt safe. She could explain to Anna, make her understand.

  “I don’t want to go to the Guards. I’ve always felt Tom Gallagher has a man on the inside, in the Garda station. And I don’t like Detective Taylor.”

  “You know her?”

  “I reported David’s abuse to her a few times, and to other detectives as well, but I’m familiar with her. She always seemed interested and wanted all the details, but she never did anything.”

  Anna nodded sympathetically. “You know there was little she could do if Natalie didn’t press charges?”

  “I know! But David Gallagher was an animal who treated my sister like a piece of dirt! Every time I reported him to the Guards for beating her up, he knew about it, he knew every detail. Detective Taylor was kind initially, but I think Natalie annoyed her – maybe she considered Natalie was wasting her time, always refusing to file a report against David. I’d swear he had someone on the inside. Tom Gallagher has the Guards in his pocket and David seemed to be particularly well-informed. I had to run after David was shot. Gallagher has a niece in Limerick prison – if I get sent there, I’ll be dead within days. And if I don’t get sent there, it’s just a matter of time before I get handed over to the Gallaghers. I can’t imagine what John would do to me.” She shuddered at the thought of David’s older brother. David had always been violent and unpredictable, but John was … different. John had a feral side to him that instinct had always warned her to avoid.

  “John is missing as far as I know,” Anna said. “Detective Taylor was concerned about the possible involvement of a German gang that flew into the city last week. John’s been missing for a few days now – it was in the report.”

  Anna watched Kate carefully as she spoke and saw the enormity of her words settle on her friend’s face. Kate’s green eyes grew huge, and the little colour that had come into her face now drained away. This was a story that ran deep, and again Anna found herself questioning whether Kate’s role in it was completely innocent. She felt conflicted. She could empathise with her in one respect, yet she eyed her now with measured suspicion. She was a woman who had desperately wanted out of her situation. Was she desperate enough to kill a man? And what was it about the mention of the German gang that had scared her so much?

  Anna decided to cut to the heart of the issue.

  “Why did you shoot David Gallagher when you are a kickboxing champion and could have knocked him out?”

  Kate met Anna’s eyes again, and alarm flashed in them.

  “How do you …?”

  “I saw how you handled Gallagher’s guy in the alley outside the Mad Hatter. I found your friend Pauline Forde’s Facebook page and saw photos of you receiving your trophy. Don’t lie to me, Kate!”

  Kate sat back in the sofa again, having put the remains of her pizza slice back on the coffee table. Fear tingled in her veins. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. Anna knew so much about her. Even though she had been in hiding, the Gardaí and the Gallaghers knew where to look for her. Leaving Cork and living in peace with Natalie and the twins seemed like such an impossible dream now.

  “I never meant to kill him!” she answered, her eyes on the tabletop, her voice barely a whisper. “He wasn’t supposed to show up … neither were the Germans!” She covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders began to shake. “It’s all such a mess!”

  Anna sat still. She dared not break the tension by speaking. Kate’s shoulders were shuddering, but she made no sound. Anna heard her take a deep breath, and she finally removed her hands.

  “I don’t know where to begin.”

  “I find the start to be the best place,” Anna said, parroting William Ryan’s words – had it only been Friday that she had sat in his office and wondered if she was on to something with her theory linking the sexual-assault crimes? So much had happened since then. She rubbed at her temple, at the familiar pull of a forming migraine.

  Kate smiled weakly. She knew now was the time to tell her story.

  “David Gallagher has made my life a misery ever since Natalie met him. It’s almost four years now, but he cast a curse on us, and I just couldn’t break it! Natalie was completely enthralled by him from the start. She slept with him the first week they met – which was completely unlike her – and got pregnant. It was a nightmare. David was the worst excuse of a boyfriend … everything you’d hate someone you care for to be involved with. He questioned why she needed to work, why she had friends of the opposite sex, why she spoke to me every day. He said we had an unhealthy bond and that I was obsessed with her!” She rolled her eyes at this. Her hatred of David Gallagher was etched in the tight lines of her face and the thin line of her lips as she spoke of him. “As I said, Natalie got pregnant really quickly. Gallagher was thrilled, and they moved in together. Whenever we met for coffee or a catch-up, he’d call her twenty times on the phone, really annoyed if she didn’t answer immediately. She and I argued over him, about how possessive he was, about how fast they were moving – but she was pregnant
and she said she loved him.” She shrugged. “There was nothing I could do. But then she began to have bruises and burn-marks, and marks on her legs as if she had been kicked. I argued with her over it, but it was useless – she wouldn’t hear a word against him. After the twins were born he started bringing women to the house while Natalie was at home nursing the babies … he had no respect. I tackled him in the end. He tried to hit me then. He had no boundaries.” She laughed, a brittle sound. “He was a complete animal. I nearly broke his arm. Oh, that gave him a fright alright! But nothing changed. I reported him to the Gardaí over and over, but nothing worked. Natalie refused to press charges, and just went in and out of hospital, sorting her wounds and caring for the girls. It was as if she had switched off. She was lost inside herself. I was attacked in the street by some of his men, but it was as if she didn’t care. My sister was gone, trapped by him.”

  Anna reached across the small space between them and squeezed Kate’s hand. Her story was heart-breaking. And a motive to murder, Anna thought, her heart sinking.

  Kate wiped her face, aware now that there were tears on her cheeks. She hadn’t realised she was crying again. “Things changed in the last few months. Gallagher was high all the time … he took drugs every day. One day Natalie threatened to leave him, and he snapped. He took the twins. She rang me, hysterical. I was almost used to those calls by then.” She smiled sadly.

  “I remember that from the file at work,” Anna said softly.

  “He threatened to drive off the quay with the girls in the back of the car. Natalie was beside herself. While David was whisked off by his father for a psychiatric assessment, only to keep him out of jail of course, she and I had a chance to speak. Something had changed for her. She’d had enough. I had sensed a change in her over the previous weeks, but this was it – David had threatened the twins, and for her a line was drawn, and she wanted out.”

  “That’s great!”