Playing Cat and Mouse by Nazia Jesberger

Author:Nazia Jesberger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nazia Jesberger
Published: 2023-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

16

‘WHY TIE YOU UP in his house and starve you almost to death for three days? What would warrant such hateful behaviour?’

Officer Ahmed is back. He has come to drop off my phone and the clothes I wore when I was taken, and he still has questions for me. They found the clothes in the upstairs bathtub, and they were stained with dried blood – my blood – but I cannot tell him why. I don’t remember. I presume the police want to close their case, and they need a reason, something neat and simple that can tie everything up. But life isn’t neat and simple, neither are people, and I can see that he knows it.

Three days; that’s what he said, but what about the other days before that? What about the black padded room? He doesn’t mention it. I want to know but don’t want to ask. The padded room was something else, something separate, something I am reluctant to reveal, especially if they don’t know about it.

‘Is that how long I was there, three days?’

‘Approximately fifty-five hours, according to the doctor. A few more hours without a drink and you could have died, but you may have been in Liam Cunningham’s home longer if we’re to believe a certain...’ He checks his tablet. ‘Taylor Robbins, aka Mouse, your... boyfriend, I believe.’ He hesitates and clears his throat on the word ‘boyfriend’, and it’s obvious he’s not comfortable with same-sex relationships.

‘Was there anything else?’ I ask.

‘They took your blood and ran some tests. There were traces of benzodiazepine in your system.’

‘I meant at the house; did you find anything?’

‘Drugs, LSD tablets.’

He doesn’t ask if I know where they come from, and I assume they’ve already ascertained their origin.

‘Anything else?’ I ask.

‘Like what?’

He watches me, and I put my poker face on.

They don’t seem to know about the padded room, and I can see what they’ve been thinking: if crime isn’t about money, then it’s usually about sex, especially if drugs are involved, and I can imagine the headlines. At worst: Lovers’ sex games go awry; at best: Lovers’ quarrel turns vicious. That’s why they asked about ‘a sexual relationship’, but they’d assumed wrong.

We might have gained some freedom over time and be allowed to live more openly, but there will always be prejudice. If I’d been a woman, things might have been different. They might have asked about a relationship, but they wouldn’t need a reason; the whole affair would have immediately looked suspicious. Did it even occur to them to question the age difference between Liam and me? But I’m being unfair; look who’s talking, I tell myself, what claim do I have when I fell in love with a teenager?

Liam wanting to hurt me does not sound far-fetched; he hated me. He could turn violent at a snap of the fingers, and I can think of three reasons why he’d want revenge. None of these reasons I want to disclose, but the officer won’t leave empty-handed, and I have to give him something.

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