All I Want For Summer Read online

  The officer showed no reaction as she calmly moved the bag’s contents to one side, then to the other. Then the officer opened a side pocket, then the other, then the front pocket. She eyed Tori cautiously.

  “Maybe the dog just got a little over-excited. You don’t have any dog treats in here, do you?” she asked, grinning.

  “There might be,” Tori said. “It’s not mine, so I’m not sure.”

  “When did Jen say she was coming back, Tori?” Trudi asked.

  “Soon, I hope,” Tori replied.

  The other officer leaned forward. “Did you check all the pockets? Even that one at the back?”

  The first officer lifted up the bag. “These bloody rucksacks, too many pockets for their own good. How am I meant to know how many there are, eh, Tori?”

  Tori’s grin stiffened in return.

  The first officer unzipped the pocket, and peered inside, then brought her head back up, raising an eyebrow. “And you’re still saying this isn’t your bag?”

  Tori nodded. “Yes.” Then she stuttered. “I mean, no, it’s not my bag.” Her voice was a tiny bit more frazzled now.

  The police officer went back into the front pocket and pulled out the business card she found there.

  Time slowed down for Holly as she watched the action unfold. Life went into slow-motion and the edges of her vision all warped out of shape like a hot spoon over a blazing fire. That was Tori’s business card. Why did Jen have Tori’s business card?!

  Because Tori gave it to her yesterday.

  Oh, shit.

  This wasn’t going to turn out well, was it?

  As if confirming that, the officer continued. “Yet I assume this is your business card: Tori Hammond, Senior Account Executive?” The officer held up the card in front of Tori’s face. “Unless your friend is also called Tori?”

  Tori stalled, like she’d just run out of hope, fear clouding her eyes.

  Holly stepped in. “Her name is Tori, and yes, that’s her card. But that’s not her bag.”

  The officer held Tori in place with her gaze, before going back into the bag and pulling out a clear, plastic bag with around 20 pills in it.

  Tori glanced sharply at Holly, her face now panicked.

  Everything inside Holly plummeted downwards, including her heart. This wasn’t really happening, was it?

  “And I take it these aren’t her pills, either?” the police officer said to Holly. “Or perhaps it’s your bag, and your girlfriend is trying to cover up for you?”

  Then the other police officer stepped around Tori, snapping her handcuffs from her belt. “Now we can do this the hard way or the easy way,” she said. “You can come with me now, and we’ll talk more about this at the station—”

  “—It’s really not my bag!” Tori said, her voice shredded with frustration.

  All around them, the crowd were leaning in.

  “Like I said, we can do this the easy way,” the second, more surly officer continued, taking off her hat and smoothing down her dark hair. “You can come with me voluntarily to answer our questions, or I can handcuff and lead you away.” She nodded at Holly. “You want to come?”

  The injustice of the situation enveloped Holly; more than anything, she wanted to put an arm around Tori, to protect her.

  But it was a bit late for that.

  Her current girlfriend was being blamed for something her ex had done, on Pride weekend.

  She really was never coming to Pride ever again, no matter what anyone said.

  The initially smiling officer was now wearing a stony face as she addressed Tori. “We’ve just found a load of drugs in a bag at your feet. Even if they’re not yours, you’d be wise to cooperate if you don’t want a charge slapped on you. Understand? You were warned at the ticket check we weren’t tolerating drugs at Pride this year.”

  Holly opened her mouth to speak, but when she glanced up and saw Tori shaking her head, she swallowed down the words. The officer was right — they couldn’t say anything right now to change their minds. They’d have to do it at the station.

  “What’s it going to be?” the first officer asked.

  Tori shook her head. “You don’t have to cuff me, I’ll come with you.”

  “I’m coming, too, I’m not leaving you.”

  But Tori gave her a look. “There’s no point two of us being taken away,” she hissed. “Don’t be so daft.”

  “I’m not being daft!” Holly couldn’t watch Tori being led away, it just wasn’t in her make-up. She was Tori’s protector, and if Tori was getting arrested, she’d somehow failed in her duties.

  But instead, the second officer made up her mind for her. “We don’t often detain people we don’t need to. I wouldn’t make a case for it if I was you.” She gave Holly a look that chilled her soul.

  “You’ve got this all wrong, you know,” Holly said, staring at her, unflinching. “You’ll soon see that.” She paused, smiling at Tori as she was led away. “We’ll be right behind you when we find Jen, don’t worry,” Holly said, almost shouting. “We’ll get this ironed out, babe!”

  Tori, in return, simply gave her a half-hearted smile as she was led down the street, glancing over her shoulder.

  Holly watched her go, then turned to Trudi and Shauna, both of whom had faces the colour of snow. If any of them had been teetering on drunk after a day of partying, they were now very much stone cold sober.

  Nearly getting arrested did that to you.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  They couldn’t find Jen, despite searching every pub: she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Then getting to the police station had proved problematic, with the roads clogged and cabs at a premium. They’d ended up walking, and arrived nearly two hours after Tori had left them, tired, slightly hungover and in desperate need of food and water. But Holly couldn’t consider eating right now — she just wanted to see if Tori was okay.

  Scenes of various police dramas played out in her head: Tori in an investigation room, Tori being interrogated. She didn’t like the thought of that.

  Damn Jen, where the hell was she?

  The police station was as Holly expected: chewing-gum grey, institutional and tired. There were a smattering of Pride casualties hanging around the front desk, including a drag queen who’d been crying so much, his make-up was smeared down his face like his cheeks had suffered an avalanche. He was still sniffing when Holly, Trudi and Shauna sat down beside him, Holly having been told in no uncertain terms to sit down when she’d approached the desk. She offered him a tissue, and he took it gratefully.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “You’re welcome. Nothing worse when you’re crying than not being able to blow your nose.”

  The man nodded, a tiny fraction of a smile breaking out on his face.

  When Holly looked up a few moments later, one of the officers who’d arrested Tori was standing at the desk, talking with a colleague. Holly immediately shot up.

  “Hi, it’s me from earlier? I just wondered how you’re getting on and when Tori might be released?” Even uttering that sentence sounded wrong. How had they got into this surreal situation? Because one thing was certain: Holly didn’t fancy making that phone call to Tori’s mum, telling her Tori had been arrested for drug-dealing. Especially when it was all Jen’s fault. It wouldn’t come to that, would it? Holly wasn’t sure who or what to blame: herself for meeting Jen in the first place, or Pride for casting its evil spell. But she knew she couldn’t dwell on that: now was a time for focusing on Tori.

  “She’s still in questioning,” the officer replied, giving Holly short shrift.

  “But she’s done nothing wrong — it really wasn’t our bag.”

  “So she keeps insisting — even though it was at her feet, with her business card in it. She claims it belonged to a woman named Jen? But who’s to say that’s not Tori’s real name, or alias?” She paused. “Your girlfriend has no ID on her, which is odd again, almost as if she purposely didn’t bring it in c
ase anything like this happened. Happens quite often with dealers.”

  Holly threw up her hands in exasperation. “We had our stuff stolen last night! We went into the sea after Pride and somebody stole all our stuff — clothes, wallets, phones. Possibly those blokes who’ve been stealing stuff all weekend. That’s why she hasn’t got any ID.”

  The officer raised a well-trained eyebrow. “That all seems very convenient. But until you can locate this ‘Jen’ character, these were Tori’s pills in Tori’s bag.”

  Holly put her head in her hands, before shaking her head. They had to find Jen, they simply had to. But when they did, who was to say she’d confess? Oh god, this was such an awful mess, Holly wanted to sob. Only, that wouldn’t help Tori get out of jail, would it?

  “We were looking after the bag for our friend.”

  “Your friend who deals drugs,” the officer interjected.

  When she put it like that, it didn’t sound great, did it?

  Holly sighed again. “We didn’t know that. And if you’re going to arrest Tori, you might as well arrest me, Shauna and Trudi as well, because we were all looking after it.” Holly indicated her friends on the chairs opposite, Trudi clicking her tongue stud against her teeth like an incessant drumbeat.

  And then Holly paused, before snapping her fingers together.

  “What about if we could give you some information on the whereabouts of the blokes you’re after for the Pride robberies? Would that help Tori?”

  The officer’s eyes widened. “You’ve been supplying Brighton with drugs and you know the wallet snatchers? My, haven’t you had a busy weekend?” The sarcasm rippled through her voice. “When were you planning on telling us this little gem?”

  “Tonight, actually,” Holly said, defiant. “We just saw the image before you walked up to us, and we were going to let you know. We think it’s two guys from our campsite.”

  The officer looked at her colleague at the front desk, then back to Holly. “Are you just saying this to get Tori out? Because believe me, it won’t look good on either of you if that’s the case.”

  “Of course I’m not!” Holly said, emotion getting the better of her.

  She wasn’t helping matters, she knew that. What would her mum do in this situation? She’d take a deep breath, explain precisely what she knew, and then hope the police would believe her. It hadn’t worked so far, but it was the only way Holly could think of to approach this. She had to have faith in truth and the UK justice system, otherwise she was in way over her head.

  She gripped the front desk and looked the officer straight in the eye. She was human, she simply had to listen.

  “These guys fell on our tent on Friday, they were drunk and we weren’t too happy about it, obviously. They’re staying at our campsite, but we didn’t think too much of it.” Holly paused — the officer was listening at least, now she’d calmed down. “Then my mate showed us that CCTV shot you put out a couple of hours ago, and we all thought it looked a bit like them — they had the same clothes on and the same hair, at least.” Pause. “Might be worth getting someone to the campsite to check it out?”

  The officer sized Holly up, and Holly never wavered in her eye contact.

  “You’re being serious? This isn’t just a ploy of some sort?”

  “Do I look like the type of person who’d give the police the run-around?”

  The officer went to say something, then stopped.

  “What’s your name?” Holly asked.

  The officer hesitated before answering. “Rachel.”

  Holly held out her hand, and Rachel took it. “Nice to meet you, I’m Holly. I can take to the campsite if you like, and the general direction of their tent. And then, please, can you let Tori go? She’s done nothing wrong.”

  Rachel sighed. “Stay there, I’ll grab my partner and get some back-up.” She paused. “You’re definite this is real and not a wind-up?”

  Holly nodded, fighting back the urge to scream. Now wasn’t the time, she got that. “You have my word.”

  Rachel took a deep breath, then gave Holly a curt nod. “Okay, then. Wait there.”

  Holly watched her go, then went and sat back down with Shauna and Trudi. Trudi was still clicking her tongue stud against her teeth, but when Holly gave her a look, she stopped.

  “Did you hear that?” Holly asked. “I’m going to take them up to the campsite. Seeing as the police aren’t going to do it, can you go back and look for Jen? She’s less likely to run away if she sees you than me. Then drag her up here so we can sort this out.”

  “Of course,” Trudi said. “I’ll feel better doing something rather than just sitting here and worrying.”

  “Thanks,” Holly replied, her insides numbed with worry. “You think she’ll tell the truth?”

  Trudi shrugged. “Who the hell knows? But she’s the best hope you have right now.”

  Holly let out a long breath. “I guess we just have to keep everything crossed. Because even if those blokes turn out to be at the campsite and I’m the hero, they’re still hell-bent on arresting someone for drugs.”

  “All the more reason to go and find Jen,” Shauna said, taking Trudi’s hand. “You going to be okay?” she asked Holly.

  Holly nodded. “I’ll be fine when this is over. I just don’t want to have to print up T-shirts with ‘Free Tori Hammond’ on them.”

  “I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Shauna replied.

  Trudi shook her head. “Flyers and posters, maybe, but not T-shirts.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Spending the night in a police interrogation room wasn’t how Tori had imagined her Sunday going. A few drinks, perhaps a cocktail, some dancing in the street, and then their last night under canvas. Still, if it came to it, at least being in the police station wasn’t a tent and it was spider-free. She was trying to look on the bright side, but her brightness was dimming by the second, like an energy-saving bulb in reverse.

  The sterner of the two police officers had been questioning her, but they hadn’t got very far, as Tori had already told her all she knew in the police car on the way there. She wasn’t hiding anything. However, her lack of ID was somehow making them suspect her more; why, she had no idea.

  The officer had eventually got frustrated and left her in the room, which is where she was still sitting. Presumably, the officer thought if Tori had enough time to stew, she’d come to her senses and tell them where she bought the drugs. She’d told them repeatedly they weren’t hers, but she had no idea whether the officer believed her.

  But, come on — did she really look like a drug-dealer? Having said that, Jen wasn’t your archetypal dealer, either. She was a dentist. What the hell was she risking her job for?

  Tori stretched out her legs under the table and placed her forehead against the cooling grey tabletop. Everything in this small, windowless, airless room was either grey or beige, with an aggressive striplight glaring overhead. A single fly was buzzing around, too, but Tori was trying to tune it out, a bit like the last few hours.

  Brighton Pride had not worked out exactly as she expected.

  Tori’s sole hope was that Holly was outside, fighting for her. She was pretty sure she would be, but if they couldn’t find Jen, where did that leave her? She began to hum a song in her head, and it took a few seconds to realise it was Radiohead’s High And Dry. That pretty much summed up where she was at right now.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the key turned in the lock. In walked the nicer of the two officers, whose name was Rachel. The sterner officer hadn’t revealed her name.

  “Right, on your feet,” Rachel said, walking around and grabbing Tori by the arm in a less-than-friendly manner.

  “Am I being arrested?”

  “We’re a bit busy with it being Pride, so you’re going into cells for now. We’re off to investigate something, but till then, we need to lock you up.”

  Her grip was firm, and Tori winced. “I’m not going to put up a fight.” Tori tried to s
hake her arm free.

  The officer increased her grip. “Not what it feels like to me.”

  Then Tori was being herded out the door and into a brightly lit corridor. Police officers in full uniform walked past her as she was walked through a set of grey double-doors, then left to where a row of doom-coloured cell doors lay in wait. Another officer stepped forward and greeted Rachel, looking through Tori as if she wasn’t there.

  “Short stay, Dave, although it might be an overnight,” Rachel said, letting go of Tori’s arm.

  Overnight? Tori went to say something, then thought better of it. Right now, it was probably best to comply, seeing as the police already thought she was being difficult.

  Dave led her to a cell and ushered her in. “There’s water and a cup there if you want some.” Then he shut the door and everything was still.

  Tori’s stomach lurched, then dropped as far as it was possible to fall. She glanced around her new surroundings. A thin, grey concrete block with blankets neatly folded at one end. A small sink in the corner with a plastic cup. Enough room to lie on the floor.

  Reality hit her: she was in jail. Honest-to-god, in jail. This was not Orange Is The New Black, this was real life.

  She sat down on the concrete block and a chill rippled through her as she put her head in her hands.

  Hurry up, Holly.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  It was around 11pm when the police car pulled up at the campsite. Rachel and her partner, Gabby, unlocked the back door to let Holly out, before both putting on their hats. It’d been a quiet, tense ride.

  “This way,” Holly said, pointing in the direction of their tent. Holly got the impression that, under different circumstances, she and Rachel might even be friends. Her and Gabby, however… not so much. If they’d planned their ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine, she had to hand it to them — they were working it beautifully.

  The campsite was alive with noise, lights and laughter — the complete opposite of Holly’s mood. Leading the way with Rachel’s strong torch, she navigated the maze of tents, already thinner than it had been this morning, some campers having already headed back to reality. As she walked, people gave her smiles followed by worried glances as they spied the two police officers following her. Packages were quickly hidden from view as they passed one tent, and at the next, two men offered the officers a drink.