CHAPTER 34
I knocked on the door to the physio's room.
“Come in,” they said.
I opened the door, and clocked Hilary's reaction when she saw me stood with DeShaun. “We bumped into each other in the car park,” I insisted.
Hilary shrugged.
“Hil, you got an update on McAllister?” DeShaun asked.
“He twisted his ankle bad yesterday, boss,” they said.
I felt Hilary was deliberately addressing him as boss to undermine me, but I let it go. They were leaving their job for another club in a matter of days anyway.
“Twisted?” DeShaun said.
“Yeah, boss. He'll not be playing again this season.”
DeShaun clenched his fist. “What about MacKenzie? What's the latest on him?”
“Definitely out, boss.”
DeShaun put his hand across his forehead.
“It means you're our only striker for the two legs of the final,” I said to him.
“I'm not match fit, am I, Hilary?”
They pursed their lips. “Your fitness isn't my concern, it's the pain associated with your injury recurring.”
“DeShaun, you need to play,” I said. “You're our goalscorer... We're playing Twin Knox Town.”
“Twin Knox Town,” DeShaun repeated.
I felt my face flush red.
“That's Joe McDonald's team, right?”
I nodded.
He stared at me. “What're you looking so guilty about?”
Hilary stared at me too.
“Nothing,” I lied, my embarrassment only magnifying.
DeShaun's mobile vibrated. He looked at the message and smiled.
I was certain it was the waitress.
“Yesterday proved I can't even last forty-minutes anymore,” he said, slipping the phone into his slacks without replying.
Hilary nodded.
“Leo Martin will have to start as a makeshift striker, but I dunno if I'll even be able to come on as a sub.”
“You have to, DeShaun,” I said. “Look what you did yesterday. You turned that game on its head. We need you to do it again on Wednesday.”
“Sasha, I think I'm finished... I think my career's over.”
DeShaun and I both looked at Hilary.
They said nothing.
It might've been the middle of May, but Monday's weather was horrible with thunderous rain and I decided to work from home.
I took calls, answered emails and collaborated with Eddie Mayne over Zoom to ensure the posts I made on the club's social media accounts aligned with the video clips he was preparing for the run-up to the first leg in two days.
Yet I couldn't help watching my personal mobile like a hawk, wondering if I'd get the call I desired and knowing I'd go running for whatever scraps he tossed my way now.
My phone vibrated seconds after ending a chat with Eddie on my laptop.
JOE - I'm hearing crazy rumours coming out of your ground today, can you confirm? x
I hesitated. I wasn't expecting anything like that.
And then it started.
My work phone began to ring. The number was that of the receptionist at Lady Macbeth Park.
“Hello?” I said, my voice already wavering.
“Ms Liu... Er, something's happened down here.”
“What, exactly?”
She exhaled. “The police are here. You better come in.”
The police?
There was chatter – or, rather, a commotion – in the background. “I can't really speak. Just come in.”
My mind was a mess as I drove the Porsche through the countryside in heavy rain, the wipers turned up to the max.
I was no longer worried about whether a phone call from lover boy was going to arrive, instead my concern switching to the missing wedding ring on my finger.
Why were the police there? What'd happened?
My gut instinct was already speculating, but I refused to believe in the worst.
How had news reached Joe before it'd got to me?
I couldn't let my paranoia lead me any longer. I eased my foot off the accelerator and let the car coast around a blind corner. Whatever I was driving to face, I was going to face it in one piece.
The late afternoon sky was overcast as I pulled into the car park and killed the engine.
The receptionist came marching across the tarmac, frantically waving her arms as if I hadn't already seen her.
“What is it?” I asked calmly.
“They're at the building site, Ms Liu,” she answered. “Where they've been laying the groundwork for the new stand.”
I took a deep breath.
“Would you like me to go with you?”
I shook my head. “Just you man the reception, keep any prying eyes away.”
“Prying eyes?” she asked.
“The press,” I said bluntly.
I approached the building site opposite the main stand, where The Aroon Liu Stand would take prominence in the future, and found the entire area cordoned off.
There were already approximately 15 to 20 uniformed police officers at the scene, while two gentlemen in suits turned in unison with DeShaun and his assistant Lee Browne as the sound of my stilettos hitting the ground drew their attention.
“This is Ms Liu now,” DeShaun said.
“What's going on?” I demanded, agitated at the wind and the rain interfering with my normally impeccable hair.
The white-haired of the pair in suits took one step forward and put his hand out to stop me in my path. “You can't go any further,” he said.
“And you are?”
“Detective Constable Richard Moore.”
“I'm Sasha Liu, and I own this football club,” I said firmly. “Would you mind telling me why I can't step on my own property?”
“It's a crime scene,” said the second man in a suit, younger, ginger and bearded. “Detective Constable Sammy McIvor.”
Lee Browne grimaced.
McIvor, I thought to myself, and wondered if he could be the brother she'd spoken of. “A crime scene?” I asked.
“Your builders here,” started Moore, gesturing to several labourers stood back from the cordon amongst members of my own staff, “were undertaking excavation work today.”
I nodded.
“They uncovered a body.”
“A body?” I said, feeling the blood drain from my face. “You mean... A dead body?”
“That's correct,” McIvor added.
I instinctively covered my wedding finger with my other hand.
Both cops stared at me.
“How... How did that get there?” I asked.
“That's what we intend to find out,” Moore answered.
“This doesn't make any sense... Why would there be a body in the soil?”
McIvor looked to Moore.
“I mean, who put it there? How long has it been there?”
DC Moore inhaled. “It'll need to be removed today and a post mortem conducted to establish the cause of death.”
“And to identify it, if possible,” added DC McIvor. “Would you be willing to help us with our inquiries at this stage, Ms Liu?”
“Of course.”
He nodded.
“Tell her,” DeShaun said.
I looked at the cops. “Tell me what?”
DeShaun looked pissed off.
Moore scratched above his eyebrow. “The corpse appears to have died in suspicious circumstances.”
“What?” I snapped.
“There's evidence of ligature marks around the neck,” McIvor added.
“Oh my God.”
“And...” McIvor hesitated, yet his eyes never left mine. “We've already determined the gender.”
“Uh-huh, and?”
DC Moore took another step towards me. “It's male.”
I was shivering as I sat in my office.
“You're in shock, Sasha,” he said, holding my hand in his and rubbing the back of it. “Drink your coffee and you'll feel better.”
“A body, DeShaun?” I said. “Why was I the last to hear about this?”
He shrugged.
I remembered Joe suddenly. I needed to text him, and slid my hand away from DeShaun's to retrieve my mobile. I didn't want him to see who I was messaging, never mind what I was typing.
ME – Don't text me about this again. Delete x
“It's a shock, DeShaun,” I said softly, slipping my hand into his again and adopting that victim role I played so well. “I can't believe it.”
“I wonder how long it's been there. Like, is it from decades ago?”
I stared blankly at him.
“Or is it more recent?”
I had to change the subject, and quickly. “The police better be swift, DeShaun. We need this matter dealt with in time for our next home match.”
“The second leg, on Saturday,” he said, nodding. “Sasha, I don't think this is gonna go away any time soon. The way they were talking to me and Lee before you showed up... This is a murder inquiry.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He massaged my hand. “You're not wearing your wedding ring.”
I froze.
“Maybe it's about time.”
There was a firm knock on the open door.
DeShaun pulled his hand from mine.
DC Moore and DC McIvor were stood in the doorway.
“Yes, officers?” I asked, my voice suddenly angelic.
“We need to speak to you,” said Moore.
“That's not a problem, come on in.”
DeShaun stood. “I'll give you guys the room.”
“We need a statement from you, Ms Liu,” Moore continued.
“Okay then.” My breasts heaved in my tight top as I took a deep breath. “Well, sit down, I guess there's no time like the present-”
“No, Ms Liu, not here,” DC McIvor said.
“It'll need to be down at the station,” DC Moore added.
DeShaun looked at the three of us in turn. “Sash-”
“It's fine, DeShaun. I'll go with the gentlemen-”
“Guys,” DeShaun interrupted, “does she need a lawyer?”
Moore said nothing.
“Will I?” I asked, making eyes at McIvor.
He sighed. “That's your prerogative, Ms Liu.”