by Carol Wyer
He hears the kid’s mother chatting loudly on her phone. ‘I know, hasn’t he grown?’
He rolls his eyes then something switches on in his head. He can use this moment. Fucking Cathy! She’s put him in this position but he can make this work. He throws a spanner onto the floor and curses loudly then picks it up and bangs it against the metal toolbox. ‘Fucking thing! Why won’t you untighten?’
‘Speak soon, babe.’ The woman hangs up.
He smashes the spanner against the box once more so it rings out loudly, and he curses.
The child is quiet for a moment and he hears the woman talking quietly to him. He’s attracted their attention. He wheels the bike to the gate. Cathy has fucked things up big time. This isn’t his fault. None of this is his fault. ‘Fucking bitch!’ he says loudly and opens the gate.
Natalie picked up her case files and cast a final look at Paul Sadler. He remained seated with his head bowed, as he had done ever since she’d revealed their findings to him and he’d finally confessed to killing Cathy and Habib. He was no longer a sobbing mess. He was blank-faced, sucked dry of all emotion, a defeated man – a killer.
His sole intention had been to destroy the Langs’ house and instead he’d destroyed lives – lives of those he professed to love, not to mention others affected by the deaths of Roxy, Cathy and Habib.
He’d murdered Cathy in cold blood, sent himself the text message from her phone, and then gone one step further to cover his tracks. He’d arranged to meet Habib, promising to pay him £500 to keep quiet about seeing him in Linnet Lane. The meeting point was the field, where he first strangled the boy with plastic aerial wire and then strung him up, unobserved and unnoticed by the people who lived on the street.
Natalie held the phone to her ear and let Gavin Lang rant. ‘What a vindictive and stupid bastard! Burnt down our house just because we threw him out of the club? I hope he gets locked up for a long time.’ She had told Gavin what he needed to know. Paul Sadler had torched their house and in so doing had accidentally killed his stepdaughter.
Gavin carried on, ‘Fucking Tucker. He’s to blame for this too. If he hadn’t broken in with those kids, nobody would be dead.’
Natalie understood his anger however, she was done with the Lang brothers.
‘What’s going to happen now? Do we even get an apology off you for hassling us?’
Natalie grimaced at the remark. ‘We conducted our enquiries and you assisted us. We didn’t hassle you, as you put it.’
‘Yeah, right. Like we had a choice. So that’s it, then? I’ll have to let the insurance company know about this. We’re still waiting for our claim to be processed.’
‘You can reaffirm that you were a victim of an arson attack and a person has been charged.’
‘Good. We need to get things moving along. All of this has been a right bloody nightmare.’
Natalie could imagine his face as he spoke, the superior attitude that irritated her each time she’d interviewed him. A woman and two teenagers were dead, yet Gavin believed he and Kirk were the victims in all of this. ‘Unfortunately, it isn’t quite over. I believe the vice squad are interested in what goes on at your nightclub.’
‘Oh, shit!’ Gavin fell silent at last then ended the call.
Natalie flopped back in her chair. She was drained. The investigation had been intense, dramatic and troubling. Paul had ruined lives and because of his actions, three young men were without their mother and sister. She hoped they’d recover from their loss – Seth would find it the hardest. She doubted if Seth or Ellie, for that matter, would ever get over what had happened, even with the counselling they were both now undergoing.
Thirty-Seven
Thursday, 5 July – Evening
Aileen was waiting for Natalie in her office. Paul Sadler had been charged and Aileen had been able to give the press a statement announcing that an arrest had been made. Natalie expected her superior to be pleased with the quick result, but one look at Aileen’s face told her otherwise.
‘Sit down, Natalie.’
She did as bid.
Aileen remained with elbows on her wide desk, fingers loosely interlocked. ‘First off, I’d like to offer my personal thanks for resolving this investigation so promptly, professionally and with such dedication. It’s an honour to work with such disciplined officers. I’m fully aware of how much energy and time went into this and I couldn’t have asked more from you or your team.’
Natalie bowed her head in acknowledgement. She couldn’t take all the credit. Murray, Lucy, Ian and Mike had all played their part.
‘This will soon become public knowledge but I wanted you to hear it from me. I’m being moved on. It’s been on the cards for a while and there’s a new rising star who’ll be replacing me. I wanted you to know that I think you have huge potential. You are an outstanding officer and I see no reason why you shouldn’t consider furthering your career. Your children are getting older and increasingly independent. You should make the most of this time and opportunity. Your success rate hasn’t gone unnoticed.’
Natalie sat numbly. She’d heard rumours and whisperings that Aileen was going to be replaced but they’d been quashed in recent weeks. This was a shot out of the blue and she realised how much she’d grown to respect the quiet, no-nonsense woman. She would undoubtedly miss her.
‘That’s all I wanted to say. There’ll be a formal announcement in the next day or two. You capturing Paul Sadler in record time has at least allowed me to leave with my head high. Thank you for that. Please keep this information confidential until it becomes official. That’s all.’
Natalie stood up, unsure of how best to react. She wanted to say something meaningful or even embrace the woman, but all she could do was extend her hand and say, ‘It’s been a great pleasure to work with you, ma’am.’
The lights were off in her house. At least tonight she wouldn’t wake up concerned about the investigation. The loose ends had been tidied up. It had been a tough but mercifully brief investigation and she could keep her promise to Leigh. They would go to the cinema this coming weekend. She also had some bridges to build between her and Josh. It was almost half past eleven and the house was in darkness. She tiptoed upstairs and stopped suddenly by Josh’s room. The door was ajar and his bed empty.
She checked the bathroom and downstairs, and even glanced in Leigh’s room but she was alone, curled up under her duvet. She tried Josh’s mobile number. It went straight to answerphone. She rooted around his room to see if anything was missing and if her son had, like his sister earlier that year, run away.
She hastened to the bedroom she shared with David. The smell of stale alcohol pervaded the suffocating room. David was flat on his back, mouth open, deep in slumber. She bent over him and shook him hard. He came to with grunts of confusion.
‘David, where’s Josh?’
David could barely focus on her; his eyelids blinked furiously, his face fuzzy with sleep. ‘Natalie?’
‘Josh isn’t in his room. Where is he?’
David sat up, his face reflecting the confusion. Natalie noticed he’d buttoned up his pyjama top incorrectly and the collar was skew-whiff. A half-empty tumbler of whisky was on his bedside table. It didn’t take great powers of deduction to work out he was still half-cut. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Was he in his room when you came to bed?’
‘I assumed he was. He went up to his room after dinner. I thought he was on his computer, as usual.’
‘But you didn’t even go in and say goodnight to him?’
David rubbed his hand over the top of his head. She knew the answer without him having to say it.
‘For fuck’s sake! You knew I was worried about him. You said you’d keep an eye on him.’
David didn’t reply.
‘Did he say anything to suggest he was going out anywhere or that he’d run off?’
‘No.’
‘Did you two argue?’
‘No. He’s hardly spoken to me
today.’
She left him and headed back to Josh’s room, where she fired up his computer and prayed he hadn’t logged out of his social media sites. He hadn’t and she was able to access his Facebook profile, where she found messages from his friend Alex. She only read the first few, the most recent sent that evening at eight:
Alex: Got the details. Starts at 10. You still up for it?
Josh: You bet.
Alex: Gonna be wicked.
Josh: Can’t wait.
It sounded like they could be going to a party, but the fact Josh had sneaked out rather than tell them where he was actually going, suggested he was up to something that she and David would disapprove of. Alcohol, drugs and teenagers could be a bad combination, and while she was no prude, she only had to think of Roxy, Ellie, Tucker and Habib to be concerned for her own son. It was the dishonesty that set her pulse racing.
She shut off the computer and started downstairs.
David was on the landing in bare feet, his face contorted in confusion and despair. ‘Where are you going?’
‘To find our son.’
‘Wait for me.’
She stopped mid-stride and without turning around said quietly, ‘No, David. I don’t want to be with you at the moment.’ She descended rapidly and he raced after her and pleaded with her as she put her shoes back on, but she ignored him. She picked up her car keys again and left without saying another word. She didn’t trust herself to speak to him. What she really wanted to say would ruin everything.
She jumped into her car and headed towards Alex’s house. She’d try and raise his parents and see if they had any idea where the pair had gone. She tossed her mobile onto the passenger seat and it flashed as it landed, notifying her of an unread message. She picked it back up and, steering with one hand, opened it. Mike had sent the briefest of texts:
Excellent result.
Congrats.
Mike
It was enough to make her ring him. He’d been there for her when Leigh had gone missing and he would be the one person who could probably help her find Josh. He picked up immediately and she explained the situation.
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m almost at his friend’s house. I’m hoping his parents know where the boys are.’
‘You think he’s at a party?’
‘A party or maybe even a rave. The message from Alex said he’d got details and it started at ten.’ The house was within sight.
‘Whatever it is, it can’t be too far away, unless the boys got a lift to it. I’m still at the lab so I’ll get in touch with the technical division and pick their brains. If there’s a rave going on, we might be able to find out where it’s taking place.’
‘Would you? Thank you, Mike. I’ll try Alex’s folks and ring you back.’
She tumbled out of the car and raced towards the dark house. Her footsteps set off the neighbour’s dog, who began woofing – a bored, repetitive bark. She rang the doorbell. Soft chimes reached her ears and the dog increased its yaps. It was a clear night and a cool breeze coiled around her, chilling the bare skin on her arms, causing the hairs to rise. She rubbed at them and rang the bell once more. There was no reply. She tried a third and final time, and when no one appeared, she hastened back to her vehicle and drove towards Samford.
‘Mike, Alex’s parents aren’t in.’
‘Don’t panic. We’re on it.’
‘I don’t know where to start.’
‘Come to HQ. We’ll fathom it out together. We’ve got the technology here. I’m trying to get a triangulation on Josh’s phone.’
She drove, heart pounding, towards Samford. She hoped she wasn’t having a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden change in Josh’s temperament, but he was her child and she had a duty to protect him. It was not only the strong maternal instinct that was driving her, it was the reminder that drug abuse could have terrible consequences.
Mike was waiting for her in the car park and jumped into the passenger seat. ‘We got a hit on his phone. He’s in Samford. I’ve got one of the lads hunting on social media. We suspect it’s one of those pop-up raves where the location isn’t given out until the last minute so it can’t be raided or shut down. Somebody will have blabbed on social media. They always do. They get stoned and start posting about it. Head towards the Omega Industrial Park. That’s the area where we picked up the last transmission from his mobile.’
She drove at speed, the road a black blur punctuated with traffic lights that were all on green.
‘I’m reacting badly, aren’t I?’ she said as she floored the accelerator along a derestricted section.
‘I don’t think so. He slipped out, late at night, without telling you where he was going. He’s put himself into a potentially dangerous situation, and at the end of the day, he’s sixteen. I think you’re completely right to hunt him down. If it were Thea out there, I’d have the entire station searching for her.’ His words hit home and she was grateful for them.
His phone rang. He answered it and grunted thanks. ‘One of the team thinks he’s located a warehouse party on the Omega Industrial Park. There’ve been some photos posted on Twitter, and he’s certain that’s where they were taken.’
They were only three minutes away. The estate was enormous, with vast warehouses spanning several acres each. It would be quite a task to work out which side road to take and locate the warehouse being used. However, Mike was on it. He spoke assuredly, instructing his colleagues to check for empty warehouses then obtaining directions. He kept a level head when they drew a blank at the first warehouse and directed her around the labyrinth of the roads around the estate to another warehouse, and then a third where they could hear loud music.
‘Stay with me,’ said Mike. ‘We’ll find him together.’
They entered through a side door and straight into a seething mass of bodies. The air was thick with perspiration and sweet, sickly aromas she associated with cannabis. The noise made her eardrums vibrate. Mike grabbed her hand and leant into her ear, cupping it and shouting, ‘Stick with me.’
Together they pushed past the throngs of young men and women catapulting themselves around the floor to a manic beat. Mike’s hand was warm and large and enveloped hers. She drew comfort from his presence and strength and turned her head this way and that, attempting to locate her son. They attracted little attention from the party-revellers who were too engrossed in the music and dancing to notice two adults in their forties. A wild-eyed young man chugged a large bottle of water, the contents spewing down his neck and missing his mouth. It was unbelievably hot in the warehouse and damp patches were once again forming under Natalie’s armpits. Mike glued his fingers around hers and pulled her deeper into the warehouse. The tempo of the music quickened and there were cheers from the crowd, who raised arms and bounced as if on a giant trampoline. She looked up at grim-faced Mike, who stood head and shoulders above most here and who was scouring the room for Josh. It was hopeless. They would never find her boy here. As those thoughts crossed her troubled mind, her eyes locked onto a figure she recognised and she tugged at Mike’s arm. ‘Alex!’ she yelled and pointed.
The boy was loose-limbed, his arms flinging up and outwards like an uncontrollable marionette’s as he danced on rubbery legs in front of two girls who grinned and prodded each other and laughed at his antics.
Natalie dropped Mike’s hand and made a dash for the boy, seizing him by the wrist. ‘Where’s Josh?’ she shouted.
He stared with glazed eyes.
‘Where is he?’
One of the girls tapped her on the shoulder and yelled, ‘Are you looking for Josh?’
‘Yes.’
‘Toilets.’ She made a sign with her hands to indicate it was because the boy had drunk too much alcohol and pointed to the far side of the room.
‘You know he’s only sixteen?’ said Natalie of Alex whose birthday was a month after Josh’s.
The girl spoke to her friend and they backed away, disappearing swiftly int
o the crowd. A blinking Alex spun around 360 degrees and back.
‘Where’d they go?’
‘They left. You’re coming with us,’ she said to Alex, and once again, taking his wrist, she manoeuvred him in the direction the girl had indicated. He’d become instantly subdued, head low. Mike walked the other side of the boy protectively as together they shuffled past the revellers.
Mike waited with Alex while Natalie shouted Josh’s name and thumped on each of the cubicles. The last door opened to reveal her son, on his knees, hands on the cistern, head over the bowl.
‘Fuck. Josh! Speak to me.’
He emitted a groan then heaved noisily. She squeezed in beside him, pushed his fringe away from his face as he heaved again. There was nothing left to bring up.
‘What’s he taken?’ she yelled.
Mike shook Alex’s arm to make him reply. ‘Nothing.’
‘Don’t bullshit me. What’s he taken, Alex?’
‘Just a popper.’
‘Do you mean Ecstasy?’
‘Yes.’
‘How many has he taken?’
‘One’
‘Josh, can you hear me?’
‘Yeah. I’m okay.’
‘Can you walk?’
‘Yes.’
She put an arm under his armpit and helped him to his feet. She couldn’t stop the hot, angry tears from running down her face. Her resolve and calm had abandoned her. Mike came forward and helped Josh out.
‘You gave us a scare,’ he said.
Josh managed to look shame-faced. ‘I’m really sorry, Mum.’
She couldn’t speak for sorrow. He was all right but a line had been crossed and he was no longer her little boy. She’d found him this time but how much longer would she be able to look out for him? He’d be studying for A-levels in a few months and then probably going on to university, and she’d have no control over what happened to him. She’d warned him about the dangers of drugs yet still he’d taken them. What more could she do? She wiped the tears away and drew a breath. He was safe and there was still a chance for them to talk this over and establish why he’d been so rebellious. He might yet respond to reason.
