Chapter 10

"I've decided to tell you everything I know. I'm worked out that it won't be long before they get me, so someone needs to know-"

"Don't say that!" protested Nikki, but Harry placed his hand on top of hers, silently telling her to let Bridges continue. She tried to take her hand away, but he held on, squeezing it as a warning to not let anything get to her. She searched his eyes which gave no help at all before sharply looking towards Bridges again.

They sat in what appeared to be his living room, while one policemen sat a couple metres away. It was sunny outside, but the sunlight wasn't shining in the right direction. Harry felt cold. Truth was, he held Nikki's hand partly to reassure himself. But he wouldn't be caught dead admitting such a thing to her.

"I'll start then with Barnes, who I am sure the inspector is not too pleased with right now. Yes, she told that she had gone to see him. I don't know about you, but I don't like that inspector's methods. She's too direct, and when faced with someone like Barnes, well, let's just say that you won't get a lot out of him," said Bridges humorously, laughing to himself.

"What do you mean? Does Barnes know something?" asked Harry bluntly, a contrast to Bridges, who seemed somehow at ease with himself.

"I've known that boy for quite some time. I remember him starting out fairly well. I was one of the main journalists in the department, and I remember being told to keep a close eye on him when he first came. Caused quite a lot of squabble in the department; his methods were so different to the Chief's. Gradually, he created impact, and soon he was at the top of his game. Over time, he went from being an ambitious, naive but hard-working new boy, to Head of Foreign Affairs, in what seemed like no time at all. You see, it didn't surprise me in the least that the Chief decided, when he retired, that Barnes should take his job. He was a natural leader, and he was good at making decisions. He was popular, handsome, charismatic but at the same time ruthless and at times cruel in his ways. Sometimes, he's fire someone with no warning at all, simply because they were late giving in a report by half an hour! But over time, I noticed that he grown a cold exterior. He started to distance himself from the staff, not as friendly as before, more "business" like," said Bridges sarcastically with a huff, before taking a sip of water.

Nikki's hand had slid from Harry's. Neither noticed. Bridges was giving them information that technically he should have been giving to the police! It baffled and troubled them. They were not exactly the detectives here. Of course, they tended to become so in difficult cases, and over the years they had kept asking themselves why, never reaching a convincing answer.

"That's all very well, but what has this to do with Susan Frost?" asked Nikki.

Bridges smiled. "Everything. I overheard something, something I probably shouldn't have heard-"

"You're referring to the tape?" asked Harry.

"Oh, so Barnes told her about that, did he? Well, I didn't expect him to," said Bridges, talking to himself with a surprised look on his face, but he carried on.

"No actually, something else. It's probably nothing but…. Well, it concerns Susan's employment. When she first arrived, Barnes had immediately offered her a part-time job. I only knew because he told me, but he said that not many would know anyway because she wouldn't come into the office that often, she would only took very small assignments. I asked him how he knew her, but he dodged the question, which he's very good at. I only realised this after I had left his office. I was told, very much like with him, to keep a close eye on her, make sure that she wouldn't "stray" where she oughtn't. I had never seen her before in my life, and at the time, she looked barely seventeen. I thought that it was severely odd that a seventeen year old girl should suddenly be employed at a major journalism company. But I found my answer. I can confirm that what I am about to tell you is valid, because I questioned her about it, and she admitted it," he stopped, looking outside wearily.

"Could you close the curtains?" asked Bridges, and the policeman obliged, shaking his head with a smile directed towards the pathologists, behind Bridges' back. They gave no reaction. They felt anticipation growing inside of them.

"Barnes at the time was engaged, to a very beautiful woman, though slightly his senior. She was a American screenwriter, quite new in the business, but she looked like she would thrive fairly soon. But I don't think Barnes quite felt so sure about her. Maybe he did, but anyway, one day, I was passing the car park in the basement, when I heard whispering. Now, I'm a journalist, so you'd have to forgive me for poking in other people's business. I recognised who it was, Frost and Barnes! From what I could hear, Frost was threatening Barnes to give her a good assignment next time so that she could get good pay. She lived with a single, recently unemployed mother in London, the dodgy end, and needed money for University, so she would tell me later in Berlin. She had blackmailed him and quite cleverly. She said that she and Barnes had met at a bar a few weeks previously before she had appeared at the Daily Mail. Barnes apparently had had a bit of a fight with his fiancee, and as a result was severely drunk. Now, Frost was a very attractive young woman, and so it's wasn't too difficult for her, seeing that he couldn't see straight anyway. They slept together, and he had let it slip that he was due to be married. Biggest mistake he would ever make. Do you know what she did? She took his number and his fiancee's while he was sleeping, left, and later called, threatening to expose the truth to his fiancee. At first, he wasn't too worried, and he told her to just leave her alone. She then told him that she knew who he was, and would give the story to another newspaper company unless he offered her a job at the Daily Mail. What was worse was that she then proceeded to tell him her real age. To his horror, he realised that he had in fact committed a crime. She was only fifteen, and he was twenty eight," said Bridges gravely.

"He runs the risk of a statutory rape charge. The legal right for consent in the UK is-" started Nikki in a monotone voice.

"Sixteen. That's right. So unfortunately for our Chief, he was in a bit of a sticky situation," said Bridges.

"But that's monstrous. How could she do such a thing?" asked Nikki, while Harry scrutinised over the picture of Frost that Bridges had passed over.

True, she was beautiful, and if Harry hadn't known any better, minus the uniform, and put a suit on her, she could easily have looked like a college student.

"What would you do Nikki? Frost was desperate, she wanted to have a journalism career, and in order to do so, she needed a part-time job that payed well, which would help her get into University. Barnes was stuck, and so, he had no choice. I remember Frost in the car park, threatening to expose the "truth". At the time, I didn't know what she was on about, but after helping her with a couple assignments, which she did very quickly, we slowly became friends, and she relied on me whenever she needed help. Eventually, she told me the truth, and she sort of became a bit of a god-daughter to me. She managed to get into a good university, and although at first Barnes treated her coldly, and deliberately made her feel inferior, as I supposed he would, gradually he noticed that the girl truly had talent, and like with him, had potential to be a great journalist. They had common ground surprisingly, in the way at which she worked, and though he never admitted it, I was aware that he was aware. She was going to graduate this year-"

He stopped, as something got caught in his throat. He took another sip of water.

Nikki eyed him wearily before saying, "Would you like a moment?"

"No," he said curtly, before looking at Nikki again with a smile. "I hope this is helpful, or will be at some point."

"It has been, but really I think for today that is enough. We will talk again soon," said Nikki, getting up to shake his hand. Bridges shook Harry's first before turning to Nikki slowly. Harry was already walking towards the door.

Suddenly Bridges pulled Nikki close towards him before shoving something into her coat pocket.

"You'll need this later," he whispered before leaning back, shaking her hand. Harry hadn't noticed the exchange.

"Good bye Nikki," said Bridges with a smile. "And good luck."

Author's note: a longer chapter there for you, more plot stuff, and again, not a lot of H/N, sorry!