‘Because… because what if I’m wrong? What if there’s nothing there?’
‘Megan broke off the engagement. She threw her ring back at you. Doesn’t that tell you there was something going on?’
‘But… maybe that was all because I refused to listen to her side of the story. Maybe I’m the one who’s to blame here.’
Franklin goes silent for a while, and again Parker tries to divine his thoughts. He sees no anger there, no consternation. Perhaps this admission of guilt is exactly what was needed. Could that be it? A test? Was Franklin waiting all this time for Parker to accept that he was in the wrong?
‘This is very good,’ Franklin says.
Good? That’s positive, right? Hopeful.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Your introspection. The self-analysis. Very good. But the fact remains…’ He leaves it hanging.
‘What fact?’
‘Well, you two are apart, aren’t you? Whoever is at fault, you’re not together as you should be. We need to fix that.’
Parker’s hope dies, and in its wake, anger pushes up.
‘We can’t fix it! Don’t you understand? The relationship is over. Done. Finished. You and I both need to accept that. You have to call an end to this now and let me go.’
Franklin closes his eyes. Opens them again slowly. ‘I can’t do that. Not until we’ve tried everything.’
‘What else is there to try? You can’t force someone to be in love. That’s not the way it works.’
‘Ah, but Megan isn’t just someone, is she? She’s not a random person you hardly know. She was in love with you. She was engaged to be married to you. She can’t just turn off that love like a light switch. All we need to do is… rekindle it a little.’
Parker feels like he’s banging his head against a brick wall. Franklin just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see the futility of his actions.
‘And how do you propose to do that?’
‘Yes, I’ve been giving that much consideration. You were very inspirational earlier.’
Parker casts his mind back, re-running the earlier conversation. It hadn’t seemed especially profound at the time.
‘What did I say?’
‘You talked about the things that are drawing Megan back to Cody. I particularly like the story of how they saved each other’s lives. If I could set it up so that you could rescue her from certain death…’
The notion of Megan at any kind of risk sends a jolt of terror through Parker. ‘No! Please don’t hurt Megan! I’m begging you…’
‘The problem I have with that is a logistical one. It would be very difficult to arrange such a scenario.’ He pauses. ‘Not to worry. There’s a much simpler option.’
But Parker is worried. There’s an undercurrent here. A shark beneath the waves.
‘Which is?’ he asks.
‘Pity.’
Parker is puzzled. He’s not sure if Franklin is answering his question or expressing his dissatisfaction with it.
‘What?’
‘You said that Megan probably pities Cody. She feels sorry for him because of what he’s been through. His torture in the warehouse. The loss of his toes.’ Another pause. ‘I think we need to go one better.’
And then Franklin reaches behind his back as he did last night, and Parker thinks, No, please, not the scissors again, please don’t make me less of a man…
But Franklin doesn’t produce the scissors again.
He brings out a junior hacksaw instead.
26
I Just Called to Say I Love You
– Stevie Wonder
Alone in his car after making some more routine enquiries on the Wirral, Cody heads along Meols Drive, past the golf course, and then over the Hoylake roundabout with its circular bronze sculpture of interlocked seabirds. He has every intention of continuing on to the M53 and through the Kingsway Tunnel back into Liverpool.
And then his eyes drift to the shops on his right. He notices a bar in particular. A friendly little place called The Black Toad. He is reminded of the last time he was in there, and who he was with.
That’s when the compulsion hits him. He makes a sudden left turn and drives down a quiet residential street. Ahead, he can make out the promenade and then the white-tipped waves of the Irish Sea.
He pulls the car over, just as he has done so many times at this spot in the past, but pauses before killing the engine.
I should go back to the station, he thinks. I don’t need this in my head right now. Another time, maybe, when I’m less busy.
