Yvonne nodded. “His abductor came up and asked if he needed help. Chris would have told him about his sick daughter.”
“The sick daughter the abductor already knew about, as he’d made the call.”
“Right. And he offered him a lift. Chris probably thought he could pick the car up from here another time.”
“Walking straight into the trap.”
“But who?” Yvonne turned to Jenny, whose eyes glistened, as she stood listening. “Jenny…”
“Yes?” She sounded choked.
“You’ve spent more time with Chris than anyone.”
She nodded.
“Besides us, who knew that Chris has a daughter who occasionally gets sick and spends time in hospital?”
“Well I…I don’t know…er.”
“Did you see him tell anyone? Talk to anyone about it? Did he tell you that he’d talked to anyone? Did you talk to anyone?”
“Me? No. I wouldn’t have talked to anyone about Chris’s personal life. I don’t think he…no, wait. He did tell someone about it. It was a casual conversation. We’d gone for a drink in the bar of the hotel we’re staying in.”
“The Elephant and Castle?” Dewi asked.
“Yes. The Elephant. Some guy was sat in there on his own. He came over to chat to us. We’re talking a few weeks back, now.” She looked from Yvonne to Dewi and back. “I can’t remember everything that was said. I remember feeling uncomfortable about the way he had intruded on our conversation.” She shook her head. “ But, Chris seemed pretty relaxed about it. Like he felt sorry for the man.”
“What did Chris tell him?” Yvonne’s eyes were soft and encouraging.
“That he had a daughter that he didn’t see as often as he’d like. I don’t think he went into that much detail but he did tell him she had been hospitalised a number of times.”
“Jenny, what was the man’s name?” Yvonne’s eyes were earnest but, she remained patient, keeping her voice steady and even.
“I don’t recall him giving it.”
“What did he look like?”
“He was dressed in dark clothing. Er, black trousers, White shirt and dark jumper. He was quite tall with dark hair, beginning to grey. A long nose. I remember a long nose. Dark brown eyes.”
“Did he say he worked in a bar?” Yvonne’s eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.
“Yes. Yes, I think he did.”
“The Sportsman?” Dewi straightened up.
“It rings a bell.”
“Geoff Griffiths.” Yvonne ran back to the car. “Let’s go, I’ll drive. Dewi, get a call out to all officers in the Newtown area to be on the lookout. Get a duty assigned to the river and ask the DCI to get an ARV unit to Geoff Griffith’s house as soon as practicable. We’ll meet them there.” She fired up the engine as the others clambered in. “Dammit!” She sighed, as the wheels span into motion. “Why the hell didn’t we go into his house when we were there earlier?”
No-one answered. Dewi was busy making calls. Jenny sat in the back, in silent shock.
Yvonne whacked on the siren and blue lights.
41
Race against time
Chris Halliwell had listened intently but had not heard anything of what transpired outside. When his captor returned to the house alone, all hope left him. It was some time, however, before the man came back to the attic. Sunken eyes followed him, as he heaved two watering cans over to the bed. Water sloshed everywhere.
The PC was sore from lying in his own filth. He could feel his bed sores oozing. He was nauseated and knew this man was going to kill him. He should probably just get it over with.
His captor dumped the two cans and grabbed the hood.
“You can’t dump me in the river. You know that.” Chris summoned up one last little bit of fight. “There isn’t a scenario that would fit with this. I’m not a drinker. I don’t take drugs. My car is in some garage somewhere and I have sores all over my body. No-one is going to buy accidental drowning.”
“No one needs to. You’ll be buried. Lots of wild places around here. I doubt you’d be found for decades.” With that, the hood was placed over his head.
Chris readied himself for the onslaught. He had thought that he might just breathe in the water. Get it over with. In the end, his body’s reflexes kicked in. He spluttered, gurgled and fought against it, just as he had done previously.
In the garden, a team of heavily armed and armoured men poured like ninjas from a police van, just prior to Yvonne’s car arriving on scene. The DCI had also confirmed he was on his way.
The DI skidded to a stop behind a tall hedge and waited. She had a tight knot in her stomach, wanting to be in that house, now. She strongly believed that Chris was in there and she desperately hoped he was still alive. At least now, they had a chance of rescuing him. If he wasn’t here? She didn’t want to think about that.
She looked across at Jenny Hadley. Tears were streaming down her face. Yvonne realised, for the first time, that she must have feelings for him. She put an arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be alright”, she whispered.
“Yvonne.” The DCI was on her left shoulder.
She jumped and put a hand to her chest, her breathing fast. “Chris. I hope I’ve got this right. I’m sure he’s in there. I’m sure he’s been taken by a killer.”
“I should have listened to you.” The DCI placed a hand on her back. “Let’s let those guys do their job.”
Yvonne’s eyes searched around. Dewi had gone back to the car, and was on another call. They moved to where they could see through the vegetation. “I don’t see a negotiator.”
The DCI shook his head. “They’re going to storm the place. He doesn’t have a gun licence and we’ve no reason to think he owns one. Once they’re in position, it’ll be all systems go. They know what they’re doing.”
Her gaze was back on the house. She marvelled at how silent and focussed, those heavily armed men could be. Well-trained and dedicated, they surrounded the house before forcing the door. She held her breath.
In the attic, Chris had endured one of the watering cans. He was still spluttering, when he was ordered to shut up. He’d wet himself again. He felt wretched, but did as he was told and quietened down. He couldn’t hear anything. The hood amplified his breathing.
Chris knew he was going to die. His torturer had not yet returned to his bedside. Was there someone down there? Were armed police looking for him? He called out, as loudly as he could. Muffled as the sounds were, they still carried a little until his captor hit him hard across the head with a blunt object, rendering him unconscious.
He didn’t see the hatch smash up, as a heavily armed officer burst up the steps, followed by several more.
Geoff Griffiths put his hands up. There was no point in trying to run.
One of the heavily armed officers ran to the window and opened the curtains to signal to those in the garden. Another officer pulled the hood off Chris Halliwell and began reviving him. Ambulance staff ran across the garden with a stretcher.
Yvonne paced, biting on her fist. She couldn’t settle until she knew the young PC was okay. Dewi was back with her, looking up at the house.
As the stretcher came out, she saw Chris trying to look around him, grimacing in pain. One of the ambulance staff carried a drip, attached the PC’s arm.
“Thank God.” Yvonne hugged Dewi, the DCI and Jenny Hadley. There were tears. They had come so close to losing one of their own.
“Well done.” Dewi put a hand on Yvonne’s shoulder. “You were right. You’ve saved more than his life.” He nodded in the direction of the disappearing ambulance.
Geoff Griffiths was brought out in cuffs. His head hung down, he appeared a far cry from the vicious killer they knew him to be.
“I don’t know if this is the right time.” DCI Llewellyn addressed Yvonne, running a hand through his hair. “They found traces of DNA and fibres from Callum Jenkins in the grill on Kenny Walters burned-out car.”
&
nbsp; Yvonne turned to him, eyes glistening. “Kenny killed Callum.”
“Looks like it. The garage confirmed that Kenny had taken his car to be fixed. They hadn’t seen blood. Kenny must have wiped off anything obvious.”
“I should talk to his parents.” She nodded.
“Yes, but not yet. There’ll be time tomorrow. You need rest. Hell, we all need rest.” The DCI motioned to them all. “Come on, we’re finished here. Let’s let SOCO through to gather the evidence. I want Geoff Griffiths put away for a very long time.”
The End
Afterword
Thank you for reading.
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Watch out for Book 6 in the DI Giles Series (out this spring) ‘Vanished Children’
DI Giles BoxSet Page 86
