Strange Encounter
Chapter Fifty Four
Owen and I walked up from the cells in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. In the work area, Ianto had laid out a large plate of sandwiches and the shortbread Toshiko had brought back from Glasgow. I realised it was only the day before – Saturday – that she'd brought it in; it seemed an age ago. I assume Ianto had been keeping watch for our return because he emerged from the kitchen with a large tureen of steaming vegetable soup which he placed on the table before ladling generous portions into large mugs.
No one spoke as we ate. Toshiko and Owen sat at their desks while Ianto and I were on the sofa. The only sound was Owen's slurping; he's always been a noisy eater. I thought of starting a conversation but couldn't think of anything to say, seemed the others couldn't either. We couldn't go on like this forever but for now I felt it best to let them assimilate what had happened in their own way.
"Anyone want that last sandwich?" I asked, hoping no one did. Our lunch at Bellini's had been a long time ago and I was hungry, besides I hated seeing food go to waste. My hand was already stretched towards the plate when Owen spoke up.
"Yeah, actually."
"I'll cut it in half then you can share it," said Ianto matching actions to words. He's good at ensuring peace in our little team. I took my half of the sandwich – tuna – and bit into it.
"Why did she say she hadn't killed those people then admit it?" asked Toshiko out of the blue. She looked troubled by what she had witnessed through the CCTV link; Suzie's betrayal was hitting her hard. It would be Toshiko's way to try and make sense of it, to find an explanation for the change in her colleague.
"I don't know. But I'm hoping it's a good sign," I replied, swallowing my mouthful of tuna and washing it down with the last of the water.
"Don't bank on it," put in Owen. He looked angry, his way of coping. "More likely the signs of psychosis or paranoia. Or both."
"Thanks for those cheering words." I smiled wryly to show I wasn't disagreeing with him. I leant against the back of the sofa, resting my head and closing my eyes. "I'm hoping Duncan Strachan will help us get to the bottom of Suzie's behaviour."
We were quiet again. With my eyes still closed, I felt Ianto shift beside me and stand up and then heard the gentle clink of mugs being stacked on the tray. He'd not said much so far this evening and I hoped the situation wouldn't worsen his PTSD. The next few days were going to be difficult for all of us and it was my job to be there for each of them, to support them in whatever way was necessary. After all, I was the one who had got us into this mess by leaving Suzie to use the Glove unsupervised. I should have spotted her obsession and realised what it was doing to her.
I heard Ianto's footsteps as he walked to the kitchen with the tray and the gentle tapping of keys on Toshiko's keyboard. Both sounds epitomised the people who made them and I was smiling when I opened my eyes and sat up again. This was no time for sleep, not that I needed any. But the others probably did. It was 2:10am on Monday morning; they would soon have been up for twenty four hours. I waited until Ianto returned for the remaining supper things before speaking.
"I'm going to check out Suzie's flat shortly, make sure she's not taken anything else out of here, and seal it. Do any of you need me before I go?"
"I'm finding nothing about her background," replied Owen immediately, swinging his chair round. "I've gone through all we have on file and the bits Ianto found in the desk and basically it's bugger all. Maybe there's more at the flat; photos, documents, stuff like that."
"I'll check. Anything else?"
"I've activated the cell scanners to start an analysis but there's not much more I can do right now."
"In that case, while I don't want you go home, get some sleep if you can. Same goes for you, Ianto. I see you've finished the desk." Four large boxes were placed neatly on the desk where the muddle that had been Suzie's workspace had been.
"I've emptied it but I've still got to sort the stuff properly and record it," he told me. "There's some artefacts I don't recognise." His way of coping would be attempt to stamp order onto chaos.
"That can wait 'til the morning. Get a few hours sleep, you need it." He nodded reluctant acceptance. "Tosh, sorry, but I really need you to complete the security changes."
"I know. It's coming on but it'll take another four or five hours to finish." She smiled. "I'll be okay. I can keep an eye on things while you're out and the others get some rest."
"I'll crash on the sofa," volunteered Owen. "Be handy if she needs me."
"Thanks. Anything on the Rift predictor?" I asked, standing up and moving towards the office.
"An opening around eleven. Nothing until then," reported Toshiko having turned to double check the screen.
"Good. I won't be long, a couple of hours at most."
In the office, Ianto was waiting with the greatcoat held out for me to slip on. I'm not sure where he'd found the time but the worst excesses of the night had been brushed off and it had been partly dried out on the radiator. Only the gash in the sleeve remained as a stark reminder of what had happened in the alley a bare four hours earlier. I shut the door behind me before donning the coat.
"Ianto, make sure you get some rest. We're going to be stretched over the next few days and I need to know you'll be there to support us." I was standing in front of him now, my hands on his arms and looking into his eyes.
"I will, sir. I'll load the dishwasher then go downstairs." He smiled, one of those he reserves for our private moments.
"Thank you." I was still wearing my Webley and with my mobile and Suzie's keys I was set. Giving him a peck on the lips, I left the office. "I'll leave you the SUV and pick up Suzie's car. Call if you need me. I mean that!"
"I will," promised Toshiko as Owen groaned and rolled his eyes at my insistence. He was sitting on the sofa removing his boots; a pillow and throw were ready for his makeshift bed.
"Make sure you do. Won't be long."
The rain had cleared and the city smelt fresh after the downpour. I headed out of the Plass and up James Street heading for the bridge. It would not take long to walk to Suzie's, twenty to thirty minutes maybe, and I was looking forward to it. The cool air cleared my head and I let my mind wander. A few late clubbers passed me as I strode along and there was some traffic but mostly it was quiet. The half moon was reflected in the puddles and wet pavements and I thought of The Doctor, out there somewhere no doubt saving someone in trouble. I envied him his freedom to travel at will, not for him the responsibilities of a team that relied on him; he abandoned his companions whenever and wherever the fancy took him. I should know. I wondered what poor sap was travelling with him now and if he or she knew they would be dumped.
I stopped on the bridge over the Taff and leant on the parapet, gazing down into the swiftly running water below. Then I looked over the city before me, to the new housing estates and the city centre with the cranes and other paraphernalia of development obscuring the skyline. I would miss this place when it was time to leave and I would miss my team. The loss of Suzie meant I'd have to work harder to ensure it was strong enough to survive without me. I'd been relying on her to take over as leader and that wouldn't happen now. Should I appoint a new second in command? Not yet, perhaps, but soon. Owen was the logical choice but he was far from reliable while Toshiko did not have the personality or will to lead. One of them would have to bite the bullet and be trained up for the role. And longer term we needed another member of the team, someone to take on the huge number of tasks Suzie had done so effortlessly. I groaned as I realised the budget was going to fall to me again. If anything made me anxious for The Doctor to appear as soon as possible it was the thought of that monthly purgatory.
Walking on, I arrived at Corporation Road and looked around for Suzie's car, a Toyota Rav 4; practical and yet fun to drive. I spotted it parked fifty metres or so down the road. Leaving that until later, I went into the old house that had been converted into flats back in the sixties and climbed to the top floor and let myself in. The place was quiet, just the humming of appliances in the background. Work had been done on the flat in recent years and it was now a modern, open-plan space. A compact kitchen was on my right with the living area on the left, near the large windows which led onto a small rooftop deck with a view over the river. Beyond the kitchen was the sole bedroom and the bathroom.
It took me only half an hour to realise that Suzie's home held little more personal information about her than had the Hub. Sitting at the small table which held her laptop, I found two photographs, snaps really; one of her as a child with her hair in bunches – cute – and another with an older man I assumed was her father. The latter photo looked strange, like it was put together out of two separate images. I pocketed both of them along with her passport and a few financial documents. The bedroom was as neat and tidy as the other room and I paused, looking down at the bed where we had made love once, the only other time I had been in the flat. She'd been drunk or I'm sure I'd never have been invited here; our other couplings had been in the Hub. After thoroughly scanning the place, I was confident there were no other pieces of alien technology here and left. Walking down the stairs, carrying her laptop, I wondered how a thirty four year old woman could give away so little of herself. I had worked with her for nearly five years, slept with her, gone through her possessions and yet she was still a mystery. One I had to solve if I was to help her.
Driving the Rav 4 was like being in a mini-SUV without the added Torchwood technology. I enjoyed the novelty and took it for a little spin out on the by-pass. At four on a Monday morning the roads were clear and I opened her up to see what she could do before heading back to the Bay and Mermaid Quay. I was close to the entrance to the car park when the comms crackled into life.
"Jack, get back here," came Toshiko's voice. "She's hanged herself!"
"What!? Tosh, what's happened?" I swung the car through the entrance and fumed at the seconds it took for the barrier to rise.
"She's hanged herself. In the cell. Owen's gone down to help."
"He mustn't go down alone!" I shouted, speeding down the ramps to our garage. "It could be a trap."
"I know, Ianto's gone too." Why Ianto, I wondered, he was supposed to be asleep in his bed. "They're just getting into the vaults."
"I'm almost at the garage, Tosh, tell them to wait until I get there." I sped round the last corner with a squealing of rubber and punched in the code to raise the final barrier, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel as I waited for it to open.
"We can't," came Owen's voice, "she could die."
"Owen, just wait!" I ordered but I knew even then that he wouldn't. He was too good a doctor to hold back when someone was in danger and too reckless to heed my warning. I raced into the garage and abandoned the car near the door, blocking in the other cars and the SUV. I really didn't care. "What's happening!?" I demanded, jumping from the car and inserting the code in the lock. It didn't work. Of course it didn't, Toshiko had changed it! "Damn! Tosh, what's the new code?" I banged on the shut door in frustration. "Tosh!"
"I'll open it for you."
There was a click and I pulled the door open and was through. It's only a short passage to the door into the Hub but it felt like miles. I ran along it and fell through the door, turning left by grabbing hold of the railing and swinging round and up the steps to the work area. No one was there.
"Tosh!"
"She's not dead!" came from across the Hub. I looked up and saw Toshiko emerge from the armoury, Glock in hand. "It was a trap!" she shouted again before heading through the archway to the vaults. What the hell was going on!?
Taking a moment, I checked the CCTV on Toshiko's screens and saw Owen crumpled in a corner of the cell and Suzie advancing slowly on Ianto who had his back to the wall facing the cell that had recently held our erstwhile colleague. The boy was holding a gun in the standard two-handed, stiff-armed grip and it was trained on Suzie but even from this angle I could see it wavering as he stood, paralysed by fear.
"Fire, Ianto!" I shouted into the comms but it had no effect. He stayed, rooted to the spot, as Suzie took another pace and then another until she was close enough to reach out and … snatch the gun from his unresisting grasp. Shit!
I had to get down there. I sprinted for the archway, almost falling head over heels down the steps. Pounding along the corridors I imagined what was happening, could see Suzie place the gun to Ianto's head and fire. She wouldn't hesitate to kill a colleague, not now. What was one more death to her? A hell of a lot to me, I thought as I ran. This was Ianto and I couldn't bear the thought of him lying dead. He was young, he had so much promise, he deserved to live a long and happy life. I did not want to lose him like I had lost all the others over the years. Rounding the last corner I saw Toshiko at the door to the cell block. She had her ear to the door, trying to hear what was happening inside. As I came up beside her she started back, the report of the gun loud to both of us.
Her appalled yet determined gaze met mine. "They've got her," she said with feeling.
"Suzie got the gun off Ianto," I told her brutally, pushing her aside and entering the code into the door. In my agitation, I entered the old code and cursed as I had to wait for it to recycle before I could try again. This time I got it right and the door swung inwards.
With my Webley in my hand I stood in the doorway, the smell of gunfire and blood wafting out to me. Searching the space before me, I saw Owen with his back to me crouched over Ianto who was sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall and presumably cradled in Owen's arms. I was too late, too late to save another lover from death. The grief took me hard, harder than I had expected it to. I had only known Ianto for a few weeks and yet he had become so very important to me in that short time, so important that I didn't register what was missing.
"Where's Suzie?" hissed Toshiko from behind me. She had her gun in her outstretched hands, eyes searching the three cells, only one of which we could see into.
Owen looked over his shoulder at us then, his face bloody from a wound on the temple and tear-streaked. He gestured with his head to the middle cell before turning back to Ianto who was still hidden from my view; I could only see his jeans-clad legs.
Moving into the block, slowly, I looked into the middle cell, the one we'd used for Suzie. She was lying on the floor, a huge hole under her chin where the bullet had entered. Blood and brain matter were spattered over the wall, the shelf-bed and the floor under her; evidence of the bullet's exit from the top of her head. She was dead. But how? The gun lay a metre or so away from her right hand – suicide? Why? Why kill Ianto then herself? Why not make her escape while she could? It made no sense whatsoever. Still staring at her, I holstered my Webley, unwilling to turn and look at Ianto.
Oh I am so wicked!
Ianto dead? How will Jack cope? The next chapter will reveal all and I'll post it earlier if you leave some reviews (hint hint) - Jay
