Chapter 1

I first met the lovely Jackie nine years ago at her husband's funeral and I was instantly struck with her poise and dignity.

We only spoke very briefly when she thanked me for attending and she even managed a smile when I said that had I not attended, the old sod would probably have come back to haunt me,

"Yes" she said softly, "He probably would"

I'd been in his patrol in Belfast on the night he was shot (See Rainy Night in Belfast by Hotwetnshaved) and I'm proud to say that I was one of only two surviving patrol members who shot and killed the terrorists that night, I was awarded a medal for my actions, but after what happened to Dave, I thought it was meaningless!

By the time of Dave's death I was out of the RUC and running my own small (very small) haulage company and I was actually doing all right.

It was almost five years to the day after his funeral when I bumped into her again in a small north midlands town called Matlock, there'd been a smash on the main A6 going south out of Matlock and after an hour of sitting fuming in my cab I got out to stretch my legs at the same time as Jackie got out of her car in front of me!

We looked at each other and both smiled, ""It's Joe isn't it?"

"As ever" I laughed and we shook hands warmly, we spent the next hour or so chatting and catching up before swapping phone numbers and promising to keep in touch, just before we parted I said that my legal driving hours would only allow me as far as Derby and I asked her if she knew of any good, clean bed and breakfast places there?

"Are you a mad rapist Joe?" she asked with a smile to which I pretended to think about an answer,

"Well I'm slightly mad or I wouldn't be doing this for a living, but I can't remember the last time I actually raped anyone"

"Good enough" she laughed and gave me her address,

"Steak and chips do?" she asked just as the road began to clear and my two thumbs up in the air gave her my answer.

It was abut two hours later when the taxi dropped me outside her house, I'd parked my truck up in a city centre lorry park for the night and had a wash and brush up before leaving,

"Wow" she smiled as she opened the door, "What happened to that scruffy fella I spoke to earlier?"

"I could ask you a similar question" was my retort, she wore a summery dress and her hair was gleaming, she looked gorgeous,

"You're staring" she said with a smile,

"Sorry, if you don't mind me saying so you look lovely" and I handed her the bunch of roses I'd bought on the way,

"Oh thank you, how gallant" and she reached up on her toes to kiss me,

"Don't be embarrassed Joe, it was a nice gesture" she said when she saw how red I'd gone, then it was her turn to blush when she realised we were still standing at the front door,

"Come in, come in" she laughed and she showed me into her home, it was nicely furnished and very clean, my room was opposite hers at the top of the stairs, the bed looked twice as comfortable as my own at home,

"Look are you sure about this?" I asked, "You know, the neighbours"

"Stuff the neighbours Joe" she said and then corrected herself, "No that's not fair, most of them were really good to me after Dave's accident, they're nice people Joe"

"They've got a nice neighbour Jackie" I said and she laughed again,

"Yeah, I remember Dave telling me you were a sweet talker"

"Dave said that about me?"

"That and other things" she said mysteriously, "Look let me put the steaks on a very low light and we can go down the road to the pub for a drink, they'll take ages"

"Sounds good to me"

It had a garden so we sat outside in the early evening warmth enjoying our lagers and our cigarettes,

"So tell me Jackie, what else did he say about me, I didn't think he liked me?"

She looked at me for a second or two then smiled, "He said if there had been more coppers like you in the province, the troubles would have been over long ago"

"Wow"

"He also said that if he had to pick one man to watch his back, he'd pick you and he was right wasn't he?"

"Well I, er I"

"Don't be modest Joe, I've still got friends in what passes now for the R.U.C. I know what you did that night!, cast your mind back to the ambush, Dave was hit, Mike was killed instantly, Kevin dropped down and stayed down, what did you do?"

"Jesus Jackie I was scared stiff, absolutely terrified"

"I bet you were" she said, "But I was told that you turned to where you thought the provos were hiding, emptied your magazine at them, reloaded quickly, emptied that one, took Dave's SLR and went looking for them, they couldn't run Joe because they knew they'd be exposed, you killed all three of them and that Joe, was why they gave you the medal, because you were terrified, but the last thing on your mind was hiding"

I didn't know what to say, she was making me out to be a hero!

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Okay but one last question please"

I nodded although I knew what was coming,

"Where's that medal now?"

I felt the tears pricking my eyes as I answered her quietly,

"You know where it is"

"You put it on Dave's grave didn't you?"

"Yes" it was barely audible, she leaned over to me and kissed me on the lips,

"Joe?"

"Yes?"

"I'll have another glass of lager please"

That was it, any awkwardness between us was gone, I was having a drink in a pleasant evening with a more than pleasant young woman, she asked me about my business and I told her, she was genuinely interested and asked how often did I get up to Matlock?

"Well that was the first drop I'd done there, but I'm hoping for a regular run of at least three loads a week, it's a good price I've got for the job and if I can get a return load that would be sheer profit"

"I think I might be able to help you there" she smiled, "I'd been up there this afternoon to see a very good friend of mine, she knew Dave as well, look I may as well tell you, we were lovers for a while, but she's decided she wants to be married and raise a family, so we've split, amicably I might add, but the guy she's going to marry has just started a fruit and veg wholesale business, he supplies the top London hotels, it's very top of the range stuff, but the thing is that he's hiring a lorry three times a week and he reckons it'll break him, let's go back and eat and if you're interested, I'll give her a ring"

"Dave said you were a very unusual girl"

"Bisexual Joe, lot's of modern girls are into it occasionally nowadays"

"Wow"

"What?"

"Well I was just trying to imagine you and another girl, you know"

On the short walk home she slid an arm through mine, somehow it felt right, no not right, it felt perfect!

The steaks need a while longer so she poured us both out another drink and got on the phone to Maureen her friend while I walked out into the garden,

"Joe?" I heard her calling me so I ran back in, "Can you manage sixteen tons?"

"No chance" I said, "Just the steak with a few chips will do for me"

"You clown" she laughed, "Maureen's fiance wants to know if your wagon will carry sixteen tons"

"Yes" I said and laughed at her giggling,

"Can you go up and see him tomorrow with your truck?"

"Yeah, but is it all boxed and packaged and will it go on pallets?"

"Yes to both" she said and arranged that she would go with me in the morning,

"Who's a clever girl then?" I smiled, "I can see you having to become my freight manager"

We sat down then and ate our steaks chatting all the time, I'd never felt so much at ease with a woman before, she was dead easy to talk to and very easy on the eye as well.

"Hadn't you better phone your wife?" she asked me and I was sure I saw something in her eyes when I said I didn't have one of those,

"Just never met the right woman" I said and we both smiled, it must have been the booze because I added, "Yet"

"I've been in a couple of long term relationships though"

"Nice" she commented neutrally,

"Well they both started off that way, but the first one wanted a family and I didn't, so that was that and I caught the other one in bed with her boss"

"OH" She said, "Not nice"

"It could have been, her boss was a very sexy lady, but they weren't interested"

"Poor Joe" she said and I think she meant it.

We went and sat out on the back decking then enjoying a smoke and chatting about our lives in general, she told me how she'd heard of Dave's death and how much Maureen had supported her, then she asked me about the pub! (War and Peace by the same author)

"Why d'you think Dave never told you about it Jackie?" I asked and she replied that it was still probably too fresh in his mind,

"Please Joe, it's the only part of his life I don't know about, help me Joe"

"Have you got any brandy?"

She poured out two large ones, very large and I asked her just how much she knew about it, she said that she'd been there with him, the place was in ruins by then and all he'd told her was that the provisionals had got an under cover WPC in there having their idea of fun and games before they decided to kill her.

"Well I presume he told you we were officially on leave?"

"No, I don't understand"

"Well as you know touting was rife in the province then, it's how we learned where she was, our boss said we couldn't go for her, but he also said that if we all wanted to take some leave, our request would be granted, you have to remember Jackie, it's only Southern Ireland, but it's still a foreign country, we had an agreement with the Garda that we could follow in hot pursuit, but this wasn't even lukewarm pursuit, if we were apprehended we'd be on our own, basically we were going into a foreign country armed to the teeth. We borrowed a couple of cars, non job cars and nipped over the border, Peter went in first with me behind, I fired a burst from a sterling into the floor and ordered that nobody move, one young guy started gobbing off about pigs so Pete dropped him hard, the idiot was bleeding all over the place, Dave and Mike had gone in through the yard and I sat down at the bar just watching while they did the business upstairs, she was there all right, in an old room they were renovating, but the kindest thing we could have done would have been to shoot her, she was a mess Jackie, Dave sent Mike down and he asked me to go upstairs to join him, I went in and the tears came immediately Jackie, she was propped up against the wall, stark naked and the only thing supporting her was the six foot scaffolding pole shoved up her rectum"