by D. S. Butler
“Why? I’m a law-abiding citizen. I know my rights. I forbid you to enter! You can’t come in here.”
“We can, Mr Khan. That’s what the warrant is for,” Charlotte explained patiently. “And I think you know why we are here.”
Badar licked his dry lips and folded his arms over his chest, blocking the doorway. Was he really going to try and stop them entering the property?
Sergeant McDougall gave him a hard stare, which caused Badar to have second thoughts. He lowered his arms and shuffled to the side.
“I don’t know what this is about. It’s persecution,” he said as the officers filed past him into the flat.
“We are looking for, Aleena, your missing niece. You know where she is, don’t you, Badar?” Mackinnon said.
Badar was sweating now. “No, I don’t. And you won’t find her here. You should be out there looking.” He waved his arm in the general direction of the landing window.
“We just need to have a look around your flat to satisfy our curiosity,” Mackinnon said. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“That’s not how it works! The police target us because of the colour of our skin. You should be out there chasing real criminals.”
Mackinnon ignored him and stepped inside the flat.
It was spacious, more so than he’d expected. He knew from the plans they’d quickly downloaded before leaving the station that the flat had three bedrooms. The hallway was wide, and the rooms were bigger than most of the modern flats on the Towers Estate.
Mackinnon walked down the dark hallway towards the brightly lit kitchen at the end of the flat. Charlotte had already started to search one of the bedrooms, and three uniforms were in the living room.
“Found anything?” Mackinnon asked Sergeant McDougall, who was pulling open kitchen cabinets.
“Not yet.”
Mackinnon frowned. Had they been too late? The tip-off had only been twenty-five minutes ago at most. And they had a unit stationed outside, watching the tower block. There were only two routes out of the block of flats and both were visible from the road.
The only other possible exit was out of a window or the balcony, but they were eight floors up. Surely, Asad wouldn’t have risked trying to escape that way?
He left the kitchen and walked through the living area, opening the balcony doors. The balcony was small, six by four foot. A dried-up, shrivelled pot plant sat on the floor, but other than that it was empty.
Mackinnon leaned on the railings and looked down at the small square of grass below. There was no way Asad could have escaped this way. The balconies were too far apart. He’d have to be an extreme athlete to make the jump, and even then, it would be risky.
He heard laughter and looked down to see the young boy they’d run into on the stairs. He was alone, staring up at the balcony, waving.
Mackinnon sighed. It looked like his advice had been ignored.
“I’ve found her!” Charlotte called out.
Mackinnon walked back through the flat.
Charlotte poked her head out from one of the bedrooms. “She is in here, Jack. She was hiding behind the wardrobe.”
As Mackinnon walked through the doorway, the young girl shivered and took a step back, pressing herself against the wall as though she hoped to disappear.
She was small and slight. Glossy black hair hung either side of her face, and her dark brown eyes looked haunted.
Mackinnon stopped a few feet away from the child. The last thing he wanted to do was traumatise Aleena any more than she had been already.
He attempted a reassuring smile. “Aleena? We’ve been looking for you. Your mum will be very glad we found you.”
Aleena didn’t speak. She just stared at Mackinnon, her eyes big and shiny with tears.
Badar burst into the room. “That’s not Aleena! That’s her cousin, Liann. She is my daughter.”
Mackinnon turned just as Aleena’s uncle pushed his way past him.
“What lies are you telling them, child?” he asked fiercely, putting an arm around Aleena’s shoulders and pulling her tightly against him.
The little girl froze.
Mackinnon shot a glance at Charlotte. The girl looked exactly like Aleena.
Charlotte shook her head. “I’m sure it’s Aleena.”
“Nonsense,” Badar said through gritted teeth. “I’ll have to ask you to leave. You’re upsetting my daughter.”
Mackinnon noticed a slight shift in Badar’s gaze. It was merely a momentary flicker, but it was enough.
Badar had looked at the bed. Why?
Mackinnon kneeled on the carpet and lifted the duvet, exposing the bottom of the divan bed.
It had storage beneath in the form of two large drawers.
“What are you doing?” Badar’s voice was panicked.
If he hadn’t been sure he was on the right track before, Mackinnon was convinced now. He yanked open the first drawer, only to find it filled with spare bedding and towels. Then he tugged the second drawer. It was harder to open, stiffer, and definitely had something heavier inside.
Mackinnon pulled the drawer open wide, revealing Asad’s hiding place. Aleena’s father was curled up in a ball. He blinked at the sudden light.
“So that’s where—” Charlotte started to say, but before she could finish her sentence, Asad launched himself out the drawer, barrelling into Mackinnon and sending him off balance.
Mackinnon crashed back into a chest of drawers, which smashed against his ribs painfully as Asad made a dash for the front door.
He’d taken them all by surprise and managed to leg it down the hall before anyone stopped him.
Mackinnon gave a growl of frustration. He’d been caught napping, but there was no way he was going to let Asad get away. He pushed himself to his feet and ran after him.
Chapter Five
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Charlotte said, holding out her arm to block Aleena’s uncle’s exit from the bedroom.
Badar had grabbed the child by the arm and pulled her along behind him, intending to follow his brother out of the flat.
“You have no right to detain me here. This is my daughter.” His voice was higher pitched than usual, and the tendons in his neck strained as he shouted.
“If this child is your daughter, then you’ll be able to provide some evidence. Where is her mother?”
“At work,” he snapped.
“Do you have your daughter’s birth certificate? Passport?”
He started to shake his head, but then his eyes lit up and he nodded. “Yes. I have her passport.”
“Good. Can I see it?”
Badar nodded but didn’t let go of the little girl’s arm.
Charlotte had been searching for Aleena for the past eight days. She’d looked at her photograph so many times the girl’s face was imprinted on her brain.
It wasn’t possible for two girls to look so alike, was it? Badar claimed this young girl was Aleena’s cousin. But they looked identical. Charlotte could have sworn this was the missing child. But Badar was insistent, and if he did have a passport that proved this girl was his daughter, they would be back to square one in their hunt for Aleena.
Charlotte walked past a couple of officers, who were looking through notes and scraps of paper on the telephone table, as she followed Badar and the girl into the kitchen.
Badar opened the second drawer beneath the kitchen counter and then lifted his hand and crooked a finger at Charlotte, beckoning her closer. She suppressed a shudder. He gave her the creeps.
The little girl was shivering even though they were in the heights of a heatwave and the flat was sweltering. Was she scared of Badar?
He rifled through the drawer, pushing aside takeaway menus and an instruction manual for a microwave, and then proudly pulled out a burgundy-coloured passport.
He handed it to Charlotte with a smug grin. “There you go. Is that proof enough? Perhaps you could gather your colleagues t
ogether and get out of my flat. It’s a disgrace that you’ve come here at such a time. You’re persecuting my family when we are the victims. My poor niece is missing. You should be looking for her.”
Charlotte glanced at the child, who was looking at the floor. Even if this child wasn’t Aleena, there was something seriously wrong. She was scared. Anyone could see that. But if this was her home and Badar was really her father, then why would she be afraid?
Sergeant McDougall’s voice carried through from the hallway as he instructed one of the officers to remove the sofa cushions.
Charlotte flicked through the passport, looking for the photograph page, and was surprised to see the same young face staring at her. So this was Aleena’s cousin. She was the spitting image of Aleena.
Unless…
Charlotte frowned, snapped the passport shut and looked Badar directly in the eye. “You and your brother planned this all along, didn’t you? It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, at all. You’ve been planning this for months.”
The smug smile had left Badar’s face, and he blinked at her, licking his dry lips. “What are you talking about?”
Charlotte held up the passport. “This. You got this passport five months ago to help your brother smuggle his daughter out of the country. What better way to do it than under the name of your daughter. Where is your real daughter? At school?”
Badar opened his mouth and muttered something incomprehensible.
Charlotte kneeled down, so she was at eye level with the child. “Is your name Aleena? I need you to tell me the truth, so we can take you back to your mum.”
The child slowly raised her head and gave a small nod.
It was enough for Charlotte. She stood up. “We’re going to be taking Aleena back to her mother. If you keep up the pretence that she is your daughter, then we will do DNA testing to prove otherwise. Of course, we will also check with your daughter’s school and ask your neighbours.”
Badar pushed past her and slammed the kitchen door. Charlotte looked up to see him brandishing a knife. He must have taken it from the kitchen drawer.
She carefully pushed the child behind her, blocking Aleena from the knife, and put her hands up. “Don’t do anything stupid, Badar.”
It didn’t take Mackinnon long to catch up with Aleena’s father. Asad’s smoking habit made him tire quickly. For Mackinnon, it was the most satisfying collar he’d had in a long time.
As he slammed into Asad, sending him sprawling onto the ground, whoops and heckles sounded from group of teenagers hanging around a souped-up BMW, but he ignored them, pulling Asad roughly to his feet and reading him his rights.
“Was that Aleena in your brother’s flat?”
“No comment. I’m not saying anything until I have a lawyer,” Asad wheezed.
“Suit yourself,” Mackinnon said. “Just so you know, her mother’s been worried sick.”
“Why should I care about that old slapper. She isn’t fit to be Aleena’s moral guardian. Did you know she had affairs with not one but two men while we were married?”
Mackinnon did know that, only because Aleena’s mother had tearfully confessed. Over the past eight days he felt he’d learned every murky secret in her life.
Rather than take Asad back to the flat, he led him straight to the squad van, so he could be transported straight to the station.
As he handed Asad over to the officers, one of them said, “It’s all kicking off upstairs. The uncle’s got a knife.”
Mackinnon felt a stab of panic. He’d been so intent on chasing down Asad, he’d underestimated the brother. They had nothing on file for Badar. He had no history of violence.
“Has anyone been hurt?”
“No, but there’s a tense stand-off. He’s in the kitchen with the kid and DC Brown.”
Mackinnon took off at a run.
Sergeant Brian McDougall hammered on the door. “You all right in there, DC Brown?”
“We are okay at the moment,” Charlotte said, trying to keep calm.
She had stepped back, getting as much distance between her and Badar as possible in the small kitchen. With enough space, if Badar attempted to stab or slash at her with the knife, she had room to move and a chance to grab his arm.
“This isn’t going to end well unless you put that knife down,” she told him. “There’s no way you can get away with this. Your flat is crawling with police officers. Your brother will have been caught by now. It’s over, Badar.”
He scowled. “You’re just saying that. He’s probably escaped.”
Charlotte shook her head. “No, he hasn’t.”
She spoke with confidence, knowing that Mackinnon would run himself into the ground before letting a suspect escape. He’d worked this area for a long time and knew all the cut-throughs and alleyways where a suspect could hide.
“Aleena doesn’t need to see her uncle holding a knife. Put it down,” Charlotte said.
He still held the knife in front of him, though not as aggressively as before.
Charlotte sensed he was weakening. “Aleena’s mother just wants her little girl back. How would you feel if someone had taken your daughter?”
“It’s not the same. Her mother is a disgusting…” He broke off shamefaced as Aleena began to cry.
Charlotte was still tense. He wasn’t angry any more, but he was still holding the knife. She needed to get him to put it down.
“Just put the knife on the kitchen counter and we’ll both leave the kitchen, okay? If you don’t, today’s going to get a whole lot worse for you very quickly.”
With a sigh he put the knife down, and Charlotte felt a rush of relief.
She opened the kitchen door. “We’re going to cuff you now, Badar, and take you to the station to answer some questions.”
Badar nodded as Charlotte stood back to let Sergeant McDougall do the honours.
Aleena’s small hand gripped Charlotte’s. She smiled down at the child. “Everything’s going to be all right now. We’re going to take you home.”
Sergeant McDougall had handcuffed Badar and was leading him along the hallway when Mackinnon appeared in the entrance to the flat.
“They told me there was a knife incident. I thought…” He trailed off and then added, “All under control?”
“Yep,” Sergeant McDougall nodded at Badar. “I’m taking him downstairs now.”
Mackinnon turned to Charlotte as Aleena closed her eyes and turned her head into Charlotte’s waist. It must have been overwhelming for the poor kid.
“What happened?”
“I found a passport with Aleena’s picture and her cousin’s name. It looks like Maria was right. They were planning to take Aleena out of the country,” Charlotte said, wishing her hands would stop trembling.
“I’m glad everyone’s okay,” Mackinnon said. “For a minute there, I really thought…”
“Yeah, things escalated pretty quickly.” She tried to smile, but her face felt numb.
After Aleena had been reunited with her mother and the initial reports had been filed, Charlotte and Mackinnon grabbed a takeaway coffee, intending to walk back to Wood Street Station together in the sunshine.
He was concerned Charlotte was putting a brave face on things. Though, she insisted she was fine.
He took a sip of his steaming hot coffee, and as the hot sun beat down on the back of his head, he wondered whether he should have opted for an iced coffee like Charlotte.
“Nice?” he asked, nodding at the fancy whipped cream concoction Charlotte was holding.
“Very nice. Creamy and extremely sweet, and it probably contains my entire recommended calorie allowance for the day.” She grinned.
Mackinnon delved in his pocket for his mobile phone when it began to ring. He glanced at the screen. “It’s DI Tyler.”
“Nice result, Jack,” Tyler said when Mackinnon answered. “It didn’t go down the way we expected, but it was a good result all the same.”
“Yes, it got a bit hairy there
for a while when the uncle decided to wave a knife around, but DC Brown handled the situation. Aleena is back with her mother, so we’re calling it a win.”
“And so you should,” Tyler said. “I think a celebratory drink is in order.”
“So do I, are you buying?”
Tyler muttered something about feeling unwell and then hung up.
Mackinnon laughed. “Tyler’s pretty pleased with the outcome. Probably not pleased enough to put his hand in his pocket though.” He took another sip of coffee. “How are you feeling now?”
He was, of course, referring to the incident with the knife. Events like that tended to stick with you. They might not result in a physical injury, but mentally they could still scar an officer.
Charlotte shrugged. “I’m not going to lie, it was terrifying. But I don’t think he really intended to hurt me. He was panicking.”
Mackinnon nodded. Sadly, in many cases of knife crime, the incident wasn’t preplanned but the result of someone lashing out due to panic or anger.
They were almost back at the station when his phone rang.
“I bet that’s DI Tyler again. He’s probably just thought up a great excuse as to why he can’t buy the drinks this evening.” Charlotte grinned before taking a slurp of her fancy coffee.
But when Mackinnon looked at his phone, he saw it wasn’t DI Tyler. “It’s DCI Brookbank.”
He answered the call. “Are you calling to congratulate us, sir?”
“Sorry… for what?” The DCI’s voice was gruff.
“The Aleena case, sir. We’ve just reunited the young girl with her mother.”
“Oh, yes. Well done. Very good. But unfortunately that wasn’t why I was calling, Jack.”
Mackinnon frowned and shot a glance at Charlotte, who was busy draining the last of her coffee.
“DI Tyler’s been taken ill, and I’m short of officers at the moment. I need you to be SIO temporarily on a case.”
“I hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Food poisoning. It’s come on very suddenly. I just hope it’s not norovirus. Officers will be dropping like flies.”
