Chapter Forty
A Long Distance Call
“There’s a phone call for you Matthew,” Nurse Kaye said as she wheeled the phone trolley over to his bed and plugged it in.
“Not my mum again?” he asked, levering himself up in bed.
“No, it’s a woman,” the nurse announced with a smile. “Got a secret admirer have you? And there’s me thinking you were all mine!”
Matthew blushed, and the nurse giggled as she walked away.
Teasing Matthew had become a pass time for all the nurses on the Surgical Ward of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. And no matter how hard Matthew tried, they always got the better of him. But this time his blushes were due to more than just the teasing.
His hands shook as he picked up the phone. “Hello?” he said, nervously.
“Hello, nerd!” a cheeky voice with a very strong Oldham accent replied. “Did you miss me?”
“Jayne!” Matthew’s heart leapt. “Are you alright? What happened? I thought you had died in the fire! Where are you?”
“Shut up, Matthew! Gosh! You never did let me get a word in, did you? I’m fine. Not a scratch. I took a dive into the river from the second floor. What about you? I thought you were dead.”
“I nearly was! It was Sandra. She shot at me and I fell in the river, too. But the bullet must have got caught up in my lap-top, and it didn’t go in very far.” Matthew rubbed at his chest as he spoke. It was still very sore. “The doctors said I was very lucky not to have drowned before the firemen pulled me out.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Jayne said softly. “I would have been very upset if you weren’t. I would have missed you, Matthew.”
There was a slight pause while Matthew thought of something to say. “You know the MedTec building burnt down, don’t you?” he finally said, immediately wishing that he hadn’t.
Jayne chuckled. “I had noticed.”
“Did you get my message?”
“Yes, and thanks. I always seem to be saying that to you, don’t I? But it was important. Until then, I was always a bit confused by my two personalities. It was as if I always had to be either the one, or the other. I think the Jayne side of my mind couldn’t quite accept Julia because of the possibility that she might have killed my mum and dad. It happened after the download had taken place, so I wouldn’t have known. When you told me about Sandra, I knew that it must have been her that did it, and all of a sudden, everything sort of glued itself together in my head. Sandra was working for Casarotto all the time. Not even Ben Watkins or Julia knew about her.”
“Who’s Casarotto?” Matthew asked.
“Nobody you need to worry about. She went for a swim a short time after you.”
“She must have been the woman full of holes they found in the river.”
“Yes, that’ll be her.”
“I’ve had a devil of a time explaining things, you know. The police never leave me alone. And they’re looking for you. They think you killed all those people in Exchange Quay. You didn’t did you?”
Jayne could hear the concern in Matthew’s voice. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “I only killed Casarotto and Sandra. The rest of them killed each other long before I got there. What have you told the police?”
“The truth. Everything I know. For a while I think they thought I was nuts. And I’m still not sure that they believe me. Was that alright?”
“Yes, it was probably for the best.”
Then Matthew said something that Jayne was expecting. “They said Julia was killed too.”
“You liked Julia, didn’t you?”
Matthew was glad that Jayne couldn’t see him blush. “I like you more,” he said.
“You’re blushing aren’t you? Admit it!”
Matthew went even more red. He looked around quickly. “Can you see me? Where are you?”
“No, Matthew, I can’t see you. I’m miles away. And don’t be too sorry about Julia, because in a way, you’re talking to her right now.” As if to emphasise the point Jayne’s voice had changed, and Matthew could now hear the perfect tones of Julia’s very upper-class accent. It never changed back. “And you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve repaired the car,” Jayne went on. “The parts cost me a fortune! I don’t know! I leave you alone with it for five minutes and you fill it full of holes!”
“It wasn’t my fault! It was Sandra!” Matthew sounded hurt.
Jayne chuckled on the other end of the phone, and Matthew couldn’t help himself.
“I love you, Jayne.”
“It’s nice to hear you say it rather than reading it on the computer,” Jayne replied. Then her voice took on a more serious tone. “Look, Matthew, you’re the only friend I’ve got, so look after yourself, won’t you?”
Matthew suddenly became desperate. “You’re not going, are you? When will I see you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve dealt with the Corporation for now. They’ll leave you alone. They have to, I’ve made sure of that.” Jayne remembered how quick Grant had been to agree to her terms. It wasn’t surprising really, he had read them on his personal computer by his bedside. “Anyway, there’s nothing more you can tell the police, so there wouldn’t be much point.”
“They could try and make me do it again,” Matthew pointed out.
“They could. But with me still running around, they know that would be a non-starter. That’s why they’re never going to give up on me. And that’s why you and I can never meet. The two of us together in one place would make it too easy for them. You do understand, don’t you, Matthew?”
Matthew didn’t understand. “No! It’s not fair! I want to see you! I love you Jayne! I want to be with you!”
“We can’t! It’s too dangerous!” Jayne insisted.
“Then why did you phone me?” Matthew demanded. “Why didn’t you just let me go on thinking you were dead?”
“Because I wanted to hear your voice, okay!” Jayne burst out. There was a slight pause as she steadied herself, then she went on more calmly. “I know I was wrong, but I wanted to be sure you were alright, that’s all.”
“You do love me, don’t you? You always make jokes about me, and you never say it, but you do.”
“Stop it, Matthew! I’m doing this for you! You still have a chance! You can go back to a normal life and forget about all this! You can have a life without worrying that someone is hunting you and trying to kill you all the time!”
“But I don’t care! I want to be with you!” Matthew insisted.
“Do you? Do you have any idea what it would be like? Do you think I’m talking to you on a phone?”
Matthew was puzzled. “Well, of course you are.”
“No! No, I’m not! I’m talking to you through the socket in the back of my head! I’m sitting in the dark in an empty office I’ve broken into, and I’m plugged into a computer terminal that’s connected to the Internet through a modem. I’m connected to you on the phone line through three different computer networks on two continents. And I’ve changed networks twice! My voice is being electronically reproduced. And all the time we’ve been talking, part of me has been keeping an eye on the line, making sure that no one tries to put a trace on it. Is that how you want to live? Is it?”
Matthew didn’t hesitate in his reply. “Yes! If it means living with you!”
“And what about your parents? Or your friends? I have no one to worry about, but you do!”
“I don’t have to see my parents all the time. I can talk to them on the phone. And I don’t care about my friends. I just care about you!”
“You’re being stupid, Matthew!” Jayne told him. “It won’t work! They’ll be watching your parents! They’ll use them against you! And they’ll use you to get to me!”
“They’ll do that anyway! You said yourself that the only way to be safe was to beat them! You’ve made a start, but you haven’t finished it yet! I can help you! We can work together, Jayne! We’re the only two that know about t
hem, so it makes perfect sense! And you know I’m good! I helped you before!”
The more Matthew went on, the more he realised he was on the right track. But Jayne still wouldn’t give in.
“You know, Julia always thought you were an arrogant little git,” Jayne said tartly. “She was right! You’re far too confident for your own good! You’re not a spy, Matthew! And in case you forgot, you got shot on your first outing!”
“Alright! So I’ll be better next time!”
“Matthew!”
“It makes sense, Jayne! If we don’t work together we’ll just be making it easier for them! You know I’m right!”
Matthew sensed victory in the silence that followed. His heart was bursting, and his hands were sweating as he held on tightly to the telephone. It was his only connection to her. Finally, Jayne spoke.
“Ah, nuts!” she exclaimed. “Oh, alright! It might be fun, anyway!”
Matthew was ecstatic. “When will I see you? What are we going to do first?”
“I’ll surprise you. But the first thing you’re going to do is get well. And when you leave hospital, do exactly what you were planning to do. Remember, the police are after me as well as the Corporation, so stop smiling, or you’ll give the game away.”
Matthew couldn’t help it, he was smiling. He was so happy. But there was one thing he still needed to do.
“I can’t wait to see you, Jayne. I want to tell you that I love you face to face. Not on the phone, or with my computer. I want you to hear my voice when I say it, and I want to hear you say it. I want to see you and hold you! And I want to—”
“Alright! Alright! I get the picture!” Jayne interrupted him. “I love you. There! I’ve said it! We can think about all that, and playing hide the sausage, once we meet! Now let’s stop this conversation before the lines go all mushy!”
“What’s ‘hide the sausage’?” Matthew realised what she meant almost at the moment he said the words. “Oh.” He went bright red and glanced around quickly.
Jayne chuckled softly on the phone. “Oh, Matthew! You really are a nerd!”
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