Afraid Read Online Free PDF Page A

you?’
    ‘I’ll try not to.’ The nurse smiled.
    Jeff groaned when two police officers walked up to his bed a couple of minutes later. He’d never met the first one before, but the second, PC Andy Jones, had attended several domestics at his place in the past, and he was one of the cuff-happiest coppers Jeff had ever come across.
    ‘Well, this is a turn-up.’ Jones peered down at him with a hint of a smirk on his lips. ‘I always knew one of you would end up in hospital, but I never guessed it’d be her putting you here.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’ Jeff stared coldly back at him.
    ‘Oh, here we go,’ Jones drawled. ‘ Jackanory time.’
    ‘I’m PC Dean,’ the second officer introduced himself as he pulled a chair up to the bed. ‘We’d like to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay?’
    ‘Whatever,’ Jeff muttered.
    ‘Can you start by telling us what happened this afternoon?’
    ‘And don’t bother telling us it wasn’t her,’ Jones chipped in. ‘She’s already confessed.’
    Dean shot a hooded look at his colleague, and said, ‘We just need to hear your account of what happened, sir – in your own words.’
    Jeff’s mind whirred. It was a shock to hear that Andrea had confessed, but if Jones thought that Jeff was about to grass her up then the bastard was in for a long wait.
    ‘My wife’s ill,’ he said.
    ‘Are you saying that’s why she did it?’ Dean asked.
    ‘No, I’m saying that’ll be why she’s confessed. That’s if he ’s telling the truth and she has.’ Jeff cast a scathing glance at Jones. ‘Wouldn’t put it past him to have beaten it out of her, knowing him. If he thinks you’re guilty, he’ll do anything to make it stick so he can up his arrest rate, him. Hasn’t worked out too well so far, though, has it?’ He directed this at Jones. ‘Still only a plod, after all this time.’
    Unfazed, Jones’s smirk widened. ‘I’m fine where I am, mate; gives me a chance to keep the druggies and dealers in line. And the wife-beaters,’ he added pointedly.
    ‘Okay, let’s just get back to this, shall we?’ Dean cut in. ‘Are you saying that your wife didn’t stab you, Mr Benson?’
    ‘Course she didn’t,’ Jeff lied. ‘She wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
    ‘Whatever!’ Jones scoffed.
    ‘Then can you explain why she would say that she did?’ Dean persisted.
    ‘The only reason I can think of is if he was the one who questioned her,’ said Jeff. ‘’Cos if he did, he’ll have put the fear of God into her.’
    ‘And why would I do that?’ Jones drawled.
    ‘Because you get off on it,’ Jeff shot back. ‘I’ve been on the receiving end, don’t forget; I know how you operate.’
    No longer in the mood for playing games, Jones dropped the smirk and looked Jeff square in the eye. ‘Look, Benson, we haven’t got time for this, so quit the bullshit and let’s get real, eh? We know she did it. She’s admitted it, and she still had the knife in her hand when we got there.’
    ‘So why are you bothering to question me?’ Jeff challenged him. ‘Why haven’t you charged her already if you’re so sure she did it?’
    ‘It doesn’t work like that,’ Dean interjected. ‘There has to be proof; preferably a witness statement. Your daughter was the one who found you and called us, but she arrived home after the incident, so that’s why we need your account.’
    ‘Okay, fine,’ said Jeff, thinking on his feet. ‘I got jumped in the alley on my way home from work. I heard them running up behind me, but they got me before I could turn round, so I didn’t see who it was. I just know it was a bloke. Maybe more than one, I’m not sure.’ He shrugged.
    ‘What a crock!’ Jones sneered.
    ‘It’s the truth,’ Jeff said evenly. ‘And I don’t give a toss if you believe it; that’s what happened.’
    ‘So, let’s get this right,’ said Jones. ‘You were coming home from work, and someone jumped you and stabbed you. But they didn’t take your