Chapter 31
31
When a white van came into sight Liv had a sinking feeling she knew who would be driving it, and when it pulled up next to her she was right. A weight hit the bottom of her stomach like a frozen haggis as Fraser buzzed down the window. ‘Get in,’ he said and she was too cold to do anything else. She crunched her way along the icy pavement and got in. Inside the van was quite small and Fraser was a bear of a man so she was very aware of how close together they now were.
She put on her belt and found herself leaning slightly away from him. Thoughts of their earlier conversation made her grimace. Conversation was probably pushing it. She’d called him out for ghosting her and he’d denied it. Pretty much nothing about her trip to Scotland had gone to plan. But then had she ever had a plan in the first place? Maybe that was at the root of her problem. They were both silent while he turned the van around. Liv wasn’t a fan of silence. ‘I’ve told the police and now I’m telling you that I had absolutely nothing to do with whatever this graffiti is on the hotel sign.’
‘They let you go didn’t they?’
‘Yeah.’
‘So it wasn’t you.’
She guessed it was a fair logic. ‘I’m glad you agree. And thanks for picking me up.’
‘It’s okay.’
They both stared straight ahead out of the windscreen. It was dark so there wasn’t much to see apart from occasional car lights. The snow was thawing a little although there were still great mounds of it on the sides of the roads. There weren’t many cars about but then the conditions were still quite iffy and Liv reasoned that normal people would already be in Christmas mode with a large glass of their tipple of choice and their face in a tub of chocolates. The roads were awash with water as they made their way back to Glendormie, and the rhythmic sound of the tyres in the puddles was almost sending her to sleep. She had that horrid sensation of her head dropping forwards a couple of times. She’d need to wake herself up before she drove all the way back to Blackburn. Maybe she’d stop at the first garage and stock up on energy drinks and crisps to keep her going.
Liv had never been so happy to see her sister’s car as when Fraser pulled up alongside it. ‘Did you want to get a hot drink or something before you set off? I can find some scran for you for the journey.’ He shrugged. ‘You know, if you like.’
‘Scran?’ It didn’t exactly sound appetising whatever it was.
‘Snacks. I was thinking there’s some leftovers from the dinner. I can make you a sandwich.’
With everything that had happened she’d almost forgotten it had been Fraser’s big night. ‘How did it go?’ she asked belatedly.
He nodded. ‘Good. I think. A couple of people seem serious about meeting up in the new year. But I need a far bigger investment than I first thought now that I’ll need premises as well.’ They looked at each other and then quickly away.
‘I hope that all works out for you. Anyway…’ She pointed at the car. ‘I’d better go. Thanks for the offer of a snack, but I’ll probably stop on the way home.’ He didn’t say anything. ‘Right. Bye then.’ Liv reached for the door handle but something stopped her. She turned back and Fraser pulled away slightly. Was he expecting her to take a swipe at him. She knew she probably came across as unpredictable but really? ‘Look it’s only you and me. There’s nobody here to overhear anything. Please tell me straight: was it just me or were there loads of women that you did it to?’
Fraser frowned. ‘Did what to exactly?’
‘Ghosted. When you ghosted me was I the only one or was it some sort of revenge on English people because of Lizzie?’
‘Honestly, Liv, I’m hearing the words but I canny make any sense of them.’
‘You’re still going to deny that you were ever on that dating app and that we connected. You can’t just say, “Hands up, yeah you got me. I led you on and then I deleted my account.”’
He shifted in his seat so he was looking straight at her. ‘Do you really believe that I knew you before you came here?’
‘Yes! Because you did.’
‘Right and what? We went out and then I chucked you?’
‘No, it was only on the dating app. We were a match. We messaged for a few weeks and then a few days ago you deleted the account…’
Fraser’s eyes were getting wider and wider. ‘I deleted my account over a year ago because I didny match with anyone. Callum said it was because I’d used Ginger as my profile picture. I thought it was funny but apparently it’s not.’
Either he was an exceptionally good actor or she had to face the fact that Fraser Douglas really didn’t seem to know anything about having the account she’d been interacting with. ‘You really don’t know what I’m going on about do you?’
He waved his hands about. ‘Have I not been saying exactly that?’
‘You have but quite honestly I didn’t believe you. Until now. But it was all of your details and your photo that was on there.’
‘Well it wasnay me. Can you show me on the app?’
‘No because you del— Someone deleted the profile and when that happened I lost all the messages log. And before you ask, no I didn’t take a screenshot.’ Not that she hadn’t thought about it, but it had seemed a bit sad to screenshot someone when it was barely a relationship. Although talking about it now brought back those same feelings. She looked at Fraser. He was a pain in the arse but there was something about him.
‘I’m a bit pissed off that someone used my details. I hope that doesn’t mean I’ve been hacked somewhere. I’d best check my bank accounts when I get back.’
‘Good idea. We probably need to find out who it was.’ Liv was going into Miss Marple mode.
‘I doubt we can do anything. And if the account’s been deleted that’s probably the end of it.’ He checked his watch. ‘Sorry, I should be getting back as I left everyone else with the tidying up. Have a safe journey home.’
‘That’s it?’
Fraser threw up his palms. ‘What were you expecting? Hell, woman, you accuse me of all sorts, expect me to come out and collect you from the police station and now what? I don’t know what you want from me.’
She didn’t really know either but it just didn’t feel like this was how it was meant to end. ‘We kissed,’ she blurted out. She wasn’t sure where it came from.
Fraser opened his mouth a number of times, making him look like a just-caught trout.
Liv waited but no words materialised. ‘Nothing?’ she prompted.
‘I don’t know what you want me to say.’
‘Forget it,’ said Liv and she got out of the van, slammed the door closed and got straight in the car.
The BMW was literally freezing: the inside of the screen had ice on it. She needed to put on an extra jumper until she got the heater going. But she needed Fraser to clear off because she didn’t want to get out of the car to go to the boot in case that meant she’d have to have another excruciatingly awkward conversation with him. Liv just needed to get away from Glendormie and Fraser as quickly as possible. She put the key in the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened. Had she done that wrong? She pulled the key out and peered around the side of the steering wheel. There was only one place to stick it so she tried again. Nothing. ‘Shit.’ She glanced over at the van and saw that Fraser was leaning forward and watching her. She waved at him. He buzzed down the passenger window and indicated for her to do the same. ‘Oh great,’ she muttered to herself. The window was too iced up so she opened the door.
‘Everything okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah. All fine and dandy.’ Dandy? Who the hell said dandy? Nobody in this century, that was for certain.
‘You sure?’ Fraser seemed suspicious.
‘Yes. Perfect. Just working out what tunes I’m going to listen to and then I’ll be off. You can go. I’m fine.’
He paused and then shrugged. ‘If you say so.’
‘I absolutely do.’ She just wanted him to leave.
‘Bye then,’ he said.
‘Bye,’ replied Liv and she closed the door. The van pulled slowly away and she let out a sigh of relief. ‘Right, car, listen to me. I don’t know what you’re playing at but it’s not funny. You have a new tyre that cost me a week’s wages and you’ve had a rest sat here for five days and now it’s time to go home. Ready? One, two, three.’ She turned the key but nothing happened. She frantically tried it over and over again but it was completely dead. ‘What am I meant to do now?’ She gave a shiver. She was getting cold again, not that she was sure that she’d fully defrosted from standing outside the police station. ‘Right, last chance.’ Maybe it would be like it was in the films when the escaped dinosaur was bearing down on them and the car wouldn’t start, but in the last moment it burst into life.
She took a breath and turned the key. Still nothing. That was when she noticed a shadow out of the window and she froze, staring straight ahead. Was it a person or Janet come for her soul? That was all she needed to finish things off. A tap on the window made her jump and squeal at the same time.
Fraser’s face appeared. ‘It won’t start, will it?’ She shook her head. ‘We can get someone out to look at it first thing tomorrow but for now you’d best come back to Lochy House,’ he said opening the car door.
For a moment she considered her options. There was only one she could think of, which was for her to sleep in the car, but her chattering teeth reminded her that there was no heat in the thing. She was out of options. She’d have to swallow her pride and accept Fraser’s offer. ‘Thanks,’ she mumbled. Liv got out as he held the door open for her, and she went to the boot to retrieve her bag to find a smiling Plastic Stan looking up at her. She didn’t know if the mechanic would need to go in the boot but she really didn’t need any further humiliation, so she hastily folded up Stan who expelled a bit of air but otherwise didn’t complain as she rammed him in her bag. She shut the boot, locked the car and got in the van.
‘It’s all been a bit shit, hasn’t it?’ said Fraser.
‘I think that’s a fair summary,’ she said putting on her seatbelt.
As they trundled along the track the sign came into view and for the first time Liv saw the graffiti scrawled across it. In large spray letters that almost obliterated the Bonnie Scott’s logo it read: The food’s shite. Avoid like the.
At least it explained Robbie’s very cryptic questioning earlier. ‘That’s not good and obviously not true,’ said Liv. ‘Did they get interrupted? Or is it like a competition? Finish the sentence and send answers on a postcard to a PO box.’ Fraser glared and she stopped talking.
‘Look over your shoulder now,’ he said as they passed the sign.
Liv checked behind her and on the back of the sign was scrawled the word ‘plague’. ‘I’m guessing they’re not professional graffiti artists then. I wonder who did it.’
‘I’ve got a couple of ideas,’ he said, his jaw tensing up. Maybe there were still a couple of mysteries that needed solving at Lochy House Hotel.