A Sea Change (Quick Reads 2013) Read online

  A few moments later, Craig couldn’t believe his eyes as she approached someone’s empty rug, reached under a towel, found a bag and took out a purse, all in one fluid movement that took less than five seconds. Then she walked calmly away, back up the beach towards him.

  He didn’t know why he was so shocked. After all, he was used to this sort of behaviour. He arrested people like this girl every day of the week in the town centre. Admittedly, they usually worked in gangs rather than on their own. There would be one on lookout, and one causing a distraction. Maybe he was shocked because he viewed Everdene as an escape. He’d built it up in his mind as some sort of romantic hideaway where nothing bad ever happened, but of course it did. A crowded beach was the perfect place for a petty thief.

  He followed her progress back up the beach. He watched her take money out of the purse, stuff the notes in her pocket, then ditch the purse in the bins as she walked past. His heart sank as he realised that this meant she was definitely guilty, although if he was going to confront her he needed proof.

  He felt a sour taste in his mouth. He didn’t want to deal with this, but now that he had seen it happen, he couldn’t ignore it, even if he was off duty. Of course, he could just turn a blind eye, but that wasn’t in Craig’s nature. He’d never been one to stand by and let people do wrong. Even after what had happened to him lately, he was still a policeman, first and foremost.

  Or maybe he’d just imagined what had happened. It was certainly hot enough to make you see things, and the heat of the sun made everything hazy. He’d had a beer as well, from the fridge, which might have impaired his judgement. Maybe he should just carry on reading. It was too beautiful a day for trouble. Then he sighed and picked up his binoculars. He would sit and watch her to see what she did next. If she just sat on her towel and did nothing else, he decided, he would give her the benefit of the doubt and leave her alone.

  Jenna drank half a bottle of water and lay back down in the sun. She couldn’t believe how easy it had been. She mustn’t get carried away, though. Word might start spreading on the beach. She would just do one more today, then go to the other beach around the point tomorrow. One thing she had learned from her family as she grew up was never go back to the scene of the crime.

  The other thing she knew was that even if someone did call the police, they wouldn’t come out. They weren’t going to bother to respond to a crime where the victims had been stupid enough to leave their stuff unattended. On a busy Saturday in the summer, when they were already understaffed, there were far more important things they could be dealing with.

  She just had to hold her nerve. There was over a mile of beach to choose from. She was anonymous. Everyone looked right through her. If Jenna needed proof that she was a nobody, this was it. She sat up again. The heat was intense, as if the sun was burning a hole in the sky. It was hard to look at the sea without squinting. The light reflecting off the water was almost white.

  One more, Jenna decided. She’d spotted a family. Earlier she’d seen the dad take his wallet out and give the three kids money for ice creams. They looked well off. They had all the kit. UV tents and thick, plush beach towels and a sleek spaniel on a lead, as well as a cool box brimming with all manner of treats. Jenna’s stomach rumbled and she realised that she still hadn’t eaten anything. She watched as the mother opened the cool box and rummaged inside, handing out drinks.

  She wondered if they knew how lucky they were. She’d never been on holiday. ‘What do you want to go on holiday for?’ her mum had asked. ‘We live by the sea. People pay to come here. Why would we want to pay to go somewhere else?’

  Jenna knew she shouldn’t sit there feeling sorry for herself to justify her actions. This wasn’t about self-pity, or feeling bitter. This was about survival. Besides, thought Jenna, this family could definitely afford to lose a few quid. She watched while the mother zipped up the children’s wetsuits and gathered up the towels to take down to the water, then applied suncream to the backs of their necks. The dad shoved his wallet in the cool box, obviously thinking that no one would look in there for something to steal. She shook her head in disbelief.

  The tide was at its lowest, so the family had a long way to walk to get to the sea. She watched until they were three-quarters of the way there, then made her way over to their encampment. She plonked herself casually down on the rug, then lifted the cool-box lid. She rummaged about inside, looking for all the world like a young girl finding the best thing to eat.

  She pulled out an egg roll, oozing with mayonnaise, and a giant chocolate-chip cookie. She looked down to the shoreline where the family had reached the water. It would take them at least ten minutes to walk back, even if they remembered that they had forgotten something vital. She devoured the roll, then rifled through the wallet as she munched on the biscuit. There was over a hundred quid in there. Three credit cards. A photo of the family, the kids in posh uniforms outside a massive house. For some reason this made her feel better. They weren’t going to miss the money.

  She might as well take the whole lot. There was no point in leaving them any. They were obviously loaded. The man would be furious for about an hour, then he’d go to the cashpoint and get some more money. It was no big deal. It was his own fault for leaving his wallet unattended. She folded up the notes and stuffed them in her pocket, then put the lid back on the cool box. She felt slightly sick from eating so fast in the heat of the sun. Then she stood up and walked away.

  Chapter Six

  Craig’s heart was thumping, which was crazy. This wasn’t some stake-out on a dodgy estate where things could go badly if he made the wrong move. So why was he worried? He should just march over, collar the girl and make people aware that this kind of crime could happen, even somewhere as carefree as Everdene. That might make them take more care of their valuables.

  Something was stopping him, though. He’d felt drawn to the girl the moment he had bumped into her in the café. He wanted to know why she was doing this. Instinct told him this wasn’t her usual behaviour. She didn’t have the air of a hardened pickpocket, and the way she had taken food out of the cool box told him she was hungry. Although being hungry didn’t excuse what she was doing, far from it.

  Craig knew that if his mates were here they wouldn’t give her a chance, and that they’d call him soft. Well, maybe he was soft, softer than he admitted even to himself. In fact, he had to face up to it now. He’d lost his killer instinct. He’d been dragged over the coals, and even though he’d been cleared of blame, the experience had soured him. Where once he had felt it was his duty to see justice done, now he was asking himself questions. And a good cop shouldn’t hesitate.

  He sighed, put down his binoculars and got out of his deckchair. He could see her without them now, weaving her way among the holidaymakers back to her towel. He paused for a moment, and watched as she sat down, then put her head in her hands. He could see by her body language that she felt guilty. Her shoulders were hunched and she moved slowly as she started gathering her things up ready to leave. Smart move, thought Craig, because it was about time she moved on. That last family looked as if they would cause a fuss, and it would be better for her if she wasn’t around when they raised the alarm.

  He watched as she stuffed the last of her things in her bag and stood up. He walked down the last few feet of the bank and made his way towards her as she moved off. He fell into step beside her and put a hand on her arm.

  ‘Hey,’ he said, not loudly, as he didn’t want to cause alarm. She stopped.

  ‘What?’ She looked straight at him. There was a moment of confusion, then she recognised him. ‘You were in the café.’

  ‘I saw what you did,’ he told her.

  ‘What?’ she repeated, frowning this time, and he saw that her eyes were amber speckled with gold. ‘Spilled my tea, you mean?’

  For a moment, in the heat of the sun, he doubted himself again. He felt awkward. This was far more difficult than an arrest, when he was in uniform. He wasn’
t quite sure what to say.

  ‘No. I saw you nick that wallet out of the cool box. And take that purse out of that woman’s handbag earlier.’ He pointed back down the beach.

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  She moved away and carried on walking. He walked beside her.

  ‘I’ve got photos.’

  She hesitated for a moment. ‘Of what?’

  ‘Good enough evidence for a court of law.’

  She turned on him. ‘Go and hassle someone else, will you? You’re being weird.’

  ‘I should have you arrested.’

  ‘I should have you arrested. You’ve been following me since this morning, taking pictures. That’s stalking.’

  He was impressed by the way she stood her ground. On the surface, she seemed defiant. A passer-by would believe her innocence, but Craig had been trained to read body language. Her fists were clenched, and she refused to make eye contact. He was going to have to be more forceful to get her to admit her guilt. Yet somehow his heart wasn’t in it.

  Maybe he should just let her go and be done with it. Thinking she had been caught would probably put her off doing it again, and this was supposed to be his week off. He just wanted to chill and get things straight in his head. This was like being back at work, if not worse. All he really wanted to do was sit back down and have a beer and maybe fall asleep again.

  Craig nearly gave up and let her go, but something inside him wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know why she was on the beach nicking money. He never had time, when he arrested people, to go into the whys and wherefores, and he was interested.

  ‘I don’t want to make a big scene,’ he told her. ‘But I can’t just let you walk off with all that money.’

  She spread her hands, laughing. ‘There is no money. I haven’t even got enough for an ice cream.’

  He held her gaze.

  ‘Open your bag. Let me have a look.’

  ‘Leave me alone. Or I’m going to call for help.’

  He looked around and then took his wallet out of his shorts. ‘You better take a look at this.’

  He flipped it open and showed her his police identification.

  She stared at it for a good five seconds before she finally dropped her eyes to the ground. She sighed and turned away.

  ‘I didn’t have any choice,’ she said, her voice tight with tears.

  ‘We all have a choice,’ he replied. ‘I’ve got a choice right now. I can take you into the nearest station. Or we can talk about it.’

  ‘What are you, my counsellor, all of a sudden?’ she asked, crossly.

  He raised an eyebrow. ‘Normal girls of your age don’t come to the beach on their own and spend the day nicking money.’

  ‘You think I don’t know that?’ She raised her voice, and he realised that people were looking.

  ‘Look,’ he said. ‘I’m a cop. By rights it’s my duty to turn you in. But I’m on holiday. I don’t want a load of hassle.’ He looked at her. She was staring down at the sand. The fight seemed to have gone out of her. ‘And I bet you don’t either.’

  She looked up and put her hands on her hips. ‘So what are you going to do? Give me some big lecture? It’s not as if I don’t know it’s wrong.’

  ‘So why did you do it?’

  She stared at him. Her eyes were huge in her face. He reached out a hand and touched her arm.

  ‘Come on. Come inside and have a drink. We can talk about it.’

  Jenna stood there. She didn’t know what to do. All she knew was that the heat was suddenly unbearable and she felt sick. She wasn’t scared. She didn’t feel like running away. In fact, she almost felt a sense of relief. Her future was now going to be out of her hands. Someone else was going to be in control.

  She looked up at the bloke again. He was going to decide her fate. She didn’t have to make the decisions any more. She couldn’t read the expression in his silver-grey eyes. She’d expected harshness and accusation but they seemed almost understanding.

  ‘Come on,’ said the man, nodding his head up towards the faded blue beach hut behind him. ‘We don’t want to have this discussion in public.’

  For a moment Jenna was tempted to run. She was wearing flip-flops, which were impossible to run in, but she could kick them off. How far would she get? Not far, she knew. And he looked fit.

  She followed him obediently up the slope towards the beach hut. He had broad shoulders tapering down to a slender waist. He was wearing red surfing shorts decorated with flowers although there was nothing girly about him. He was lightly tanned, and his skin glistened where he’d put on suncream. Despite her heart thumping, she managed a smile to herself. Nice work, Jenna – you’ve been caught red-handed by the hottest cop you’ve ever seen.

  Chapter Seven

  Jenna followed her captor up to the beach hut. She could see where he’d been sitting, in a red and white striped deckchair. There were a couple of empty bottles of beer, and a pair of binoculars.

  ‘I’ve been watching you all afternoon,’ he said.

  Jenna said nothing. She knew from experience that was the best policy. Don’t confess or deny anything.

  He led her into the hut. Inside it was surprisingly cool. He poured her a glass of water without asking, and she drank thirstily.

  ‘So do you do this a lot?’ he asked.

  Whatever she said was going to sound like a line. If she told him this was the first time she had ever nicked anything, he would say, ‘Of course it is’, in that nasty voice coppers kept specially for such occasions.

  ‘Easier than getting a job,’ she told him defiantly.

  ‘How much did you get?’

  ‘I don’t know . . .’

  He held out his hand to take her bag. She had no choice but to give it to him.

  ‘So,’ she asked him. ‘Where are your handcuffs? Are you going to march me back up the beach past everyone?’

  He pulled out the money. When he saw how much there was, he raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Quite a bit,’ he said, and started to count it. Jenna felt sick with humiliation. Seeing all that money that belonged to other people made her feel even worse than she already did. She just wanted to lie down and curl up into a ball, then go to sleep for ever.

  He was nodding as he counted.

  ‘Two hundred and seventy-five quid,’ he remarked. ‘Beats working for a living, I suppose.’

  His cool grey eyes stared at her.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Actually, I’d much rather be working.’ The stress of the last couple of days boiled up inside her. ‘Do you think I want to do this? Do you think I felt good about myself, sitting there on the beach, looking for the people who I thought wouldn’t miss the money?’

  Suddenly her knees went weak and she saw black dots at the corners of her eyes. She swayed for a moment and shut her eyes. She was going to throw up. She looked around in a panic, her hand on her stomach.

  ‘Here.’ He grabbed the washing-up bowl from the sink and thrust it at her just in time. She took it from him and vomited, her cheeks burning. She wiped her mouth, sweat breaking out on her forehead. It didn’t get any worse than this. Meeting a hot guy, then him catching you stealing, then puking up in front of him.

  What a class act, Jenna thought. She couldn’t look at the bloke. She wanted to crawl away into a corner and die.

  ‘Sorry . . .’ she managed at last.

  ‘You’ve had too much sun,’ he told her, and took away the bowl. ‘Go into the bathroom and clean yourself up. There’s mouthwash.’

  She did as she was told. In the tiny bathroom she gripped the edge of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and her cheeks were burning. Her head felt as if it was held in a vice. She felt too terrible to worry about what was going to happen to her. She washed her face with cold water, rinsed out her mouth and found the mouthwash. Then she ventured out again, not sure what was going to happen next.
/>   While she was in the bathroom, Craig looked at the money and tried to decide what to do. He should turn her in, but what good would that do? She’d go up before the magistrate. Even if they were lenient she would have a record that would make sure no one gave her a job.

  When she came back out she looked terrible. She was shivering, even though it was hot. He thought it was probably a mixture of sunstroke and shock. He went over to put the kettle on. What a cliché, thinking a nice cup of tea could solve anything, but it seemed the best thing to do.

  She sat down on the settee without being asked, then leaned back and shut her eyes. Her hair was damp where she had washed her face.

  ‘I’m Craig, by the way,’ he told her. ‘Do you want to tell me your name?’

  ‘Jenna . . .’ she replied, faintly. He thought she was telling the truth.

  ‘OK, Jenna,’ he replied, opening the cup-board to find the tea bags. ‘What do you think we should do about this situation?’

  She shrugged. ‘You’re the policeman.’

  He lobbed a couple of tea bags into two mugs.

  ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘It’s a pretty rubbish thing to do, don’t you think? Nicking people’s money when they’ve come for a day out on the beach?’

  She stared into the middle of the room, sullen.

  ‘Where do you suggest I go, then? Up to the hospital, where people are having a shit time anyway? So my nicking their money won’t make any difference to how they feel?’

  He had to hide a smile at her logic. He poured water onto the tea bags, got the milk out of the fridge and added a splash to each mug. He walked over and handed her one. She took it from him without a word of thanks, just held it between her knees, her shoulders hunched again. Her hair had come loose from its ponytail, falling onto her shoulders, and he thought again how pretty she was.

  ‘How about not doing it at all?’ he asked.

  She slammed her mug down on the coffee table in front of her.