Divided House (Dark Yorkshire Book 1)

by J M Dalgliesh

  Confident that they were alone in the room, Caslin went towards him and knelt down, placing his improvised weapon by his feet. The captive flinched when he felt Caslin’s presence but relaxed a little as the policeman whispered to him in a reassuring tone. The response came not in English but, Caslin guessed, Chinese. Be it Mandarin, Cantonese or another dialect, he had no idea but interpreted it as a request for help. Turning his attention to the cable ties that bound him to the chair, Caslin realised he had no way to sever them. He would have to return to the kitchen and find a knife or scissors.

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” he said calmly, not knowing if he would be understood or not.

  Rising to his feet, he heard a click, not particularly loud but one that he recognised. It was unwelcome.

  “You are persistent, you really are.”

  “I try,” Caslin replied. Slowly, he turned to face the newcomer.

  “Not as bright as I first thought, though.”

  The figure stood in the doorway. Caslin couldn’t make out detail but from the silhouette alone, he knew who he was talking to. A brief glimpse of reflected exterior light caught on the rim of Lee’s glasses, as well as the metal of the rifle that he now pointed at Caslin.

  “A veiled compliment if ever I heard one.”

  Lee laughed, “Coming here all by yourself. You must be desperate for redemption.”

  “Far from it,” Caslin countered. “If I’m honest, I didn’t expect you to be stupid enough to be here.”

  “You were wrong.”

  “Indeed,” Caslin said quietly, never a truer word had been spoken. He pointed to the old man. “Your father?”

  Lee nodded, taking a couple of steps into the room. His eyes never left Caslin, indicating with the barrel of the rifle for him to step aside. Caslin did so, moving two paces sideways towards the window. A glance through the net curtains saw the street below beginning to fill with the morning traffic.

  “Yes, at least in name.”

  “I can tell that you don’t see eye to eye.”

  Caslin backed away another step, Lee’s face now visible in the rapidly approaching light. He looked younger than expected and Caslin was taken aback. Were it not for the piercing stare and the weapon he brought to bear, this boy could have been a geek, slightly built and rather effeminate looking.

  “Much like you and yours, wouldn’t you say?”

  Caslin shrugged, “I’ve never beaten mine to a pulp, though.”

  “You should consider doing so. It’s quite cathartic.”

  “Maybe I’ll pass, if it’s all the same.”

  “What’s that old saying, ‘you should walk a mile in a man’s shoes’?”

  “Again, I think I’ll pass on that. Was it also cathartic taking down Chloe tonight?”

  Lee sneered, “Bitch deserved to die.”

  Now it was Caslin’s turn to laugh, “Pity you can’t shoot for shit then, really.”

  “She went down, I saw her—”

  “Yes, she did. You nearly got her. Two-metre high plate-glass, industrial glazing. Thick stuff. It can change the trajectory of a high velocity round,” Caslin indicated the rifle with a nod of the head, “even from something as powerful as that. Of course, you’d be aware of that, what with you being a telecoms guy.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Well, she’ll be in recovery for a while,” Caslin shook his head. “But she will recover. It was a nice try, you bypassed us with ease. One step ahead every time. I’m impressed, in a twisted sort of way.”

  “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

  “You may not get the chance.”

  Lee took a couple of small steps forward. His gaze lingered on Caslin as he appeared to consider his next move.

  “What made you come here?”

  Caslin blew out his cheeks.

  “What you told me on the phone. That you were ‘cleaning house’, it got me thinking. You weren’t just talking about Chloe, were you?”

  Lee slowly shook his head.

  “I knew I should’ve just hung up.”

  “Probably,” Caslin agreed. “Is that what all this has been about, finishing off the loose ends?”

  “Since Garry, yes.”

  “Who’s left then?”

  Lee thought for a moment but his eyes never strayed from Caslin.

  “I thought I was virtually done. The trail, Chloe, my old man, that charity bitch—”

  “Claire Skellon?”

  “Yeah, that’s what she called herself.”

  “What was your problem with Claire?”

  “Didn’t have one,” he shrugged. “She’d pissed Garry off somewhere along the line, never seen him so angry. He had been reading the paper when he just flipped right out. Anyway, seeing as he wasn’t able, I thought I’d take care of it for him.”

  “The family?” Caslin asked but Lee looked at him without understanding. “The ones in the car park.”

  “Oh, them. What can I say, wrong place, wrong time,” Lee was nonchalant. “Shame, shame.”

  At that point Lee’s father began to mumble something. It was barely audible to Caslin and he wouldn’t have understood even if he could’ve made it out.

  “What’s he saying?” Caslin asked, attempting to buy time as he sought a solution to this impossible problem.

  “Nothing,” Lee snapped. “Old fool.”

  The mumbling increased, momentarily taking the gunman’s attention from Caslin. He considered making a move but dismissed it as Lee’s focus swiftly returned to him.

  “Must be saying something?” Caslin asked again. The old man was repeating himself in a monotone voice.

  “Shut up, you old bastard!” Lee shouted at his father, turning the gun on him.

  “I made… a… man out of… you,” his father stated in halting, broken English, “… at last.”

  “Shut up!” Lee screamed, swinging the butt of the gun. It made an odd sound, a hollow thud, as it connected with the old man’s head.

  The mumbling ceased. Caslin made to throw himself forward but pulled up as the barrel turned back to him. The end was now barely an inch from his face.

  “Steady,” Caslin said in as reassuring a tone as he could manage, his hands raised in supplication.

  “You disappoint me, Inspector. I had such great plans for you and I,” Lee admonished him. Caslin’s stomach began to twist in knots. “But you had to ruin it.”

  “It doesn’t have to end in a bad way,” Caslin said. The barrel of the rifle was far too close for his liking.

  “Oh, it has to end. It has to end,” Lee stated with conviction.

  Any emotion appeared to have left him, to be replaced by a cold stare that conveyed nothing but emptiness. Caslin felt an end was certainly in sight. Surprisingly nothing came to mind. No thoughts of loved ones, either past or present. No images of his life leapt to the fore. He just stood there, staring straight ahead, waiting for someone else to make the decision. Reflecting on such a hypothetical event, he would have sworn blind that he would fight to the last. Now, here he was and there was nothing, no spark, no reaction, merely resignation.

  Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and Caslin’s gaze crossed to the street below. A patrol car was taking an interest in his illegal parking, pulling up behind the old Volvo. An officer stepped from the vehicle, his high-vis jacket appearing as a beacon from heaven. A colleague remained in the car, flicking on the blue lights to visualise their presence to passing vehicles. The lights flashed through the net curtains. Lee glanced over and Caslin swung his hand up and away from him, knocking the barrel from his face. The momentary relief from dislodging the weapon was replaced by a blow to his cheek from Lee’s elbow. The gunman’s forward momentum conveyed his full weight behind the connection. Caslin’s head flew backwards, his senses stunned. Determined to maintain his position in the struggle he reached for the gun, his hand closing on the barrel as Lee fought to bring it to bear.

  Caslin struck out with
his fist. Making contact with his opponent’s face, he extricated a groan of pain from the younger man. The two tussled for the upper hand. Caslin was surprised at how strong he found Lee to be. Somehow, they managed to knock the old man and the chair clean over, sending all three sprawling to the floor. A sharp intake of breath, containing a great deal of dust, made Caslin gasp as he struggled to find his feet. Sensing, rather than seeing an attack coming, he hurled himself forward. His head struck Lee’s abdomen and with all the force he could muster he shoved his opponent backwards. They picked up speed as they went. Off balance, Lee failed to gain any purchase on the varnished floorboards.

  Beyond the bedroom they stumbled together before clattering into the balustrade on the landing. The spindles creaked for a split second before splintering and giving way under the weight. Caslin fell to the floor, air escaping his lungs at pace. Meanwhile, Lee toppled through the broken wood to the stairs below, still clutching his rifle. Caslin hauled himself up and crawled over to the edge just in time to see the gun raised in his direction. All he could do was drop to the floor. For a fraction of a second he didn’t think the gun had gone off but then a bullet fizzed past his forehead, driving into the door frame above and behind him.

  He lay there attempting to merge with the surface and thereby make himself invisible. He knew he should move but he was frozen by fear. Listening intently, he could tell Lee wasn’t coming back up the stairs and he lifted himself up onto his haunches. Then there came several rapid bursts of gunfire. The echoes of which reverberated around the buildings outside. The draught of cold air told him the front door was open. Glancing back into the bedroom at the old man lying on his side, still bound to his chair, Caslin made towards him before changing his mind and running for the stairs. Cautiously, he glanced down the stairwell to ensure he was clear before descending.

  At the front door he poked his head out. Several pedestrians were sheltering behind parked cars. All were anxiously looking to Caslin’s left. He looked at the police car. Its windscreen sported several bullet holes and Caslin saw an officer lying on his back in the middle of the street. His colleague was crouched behind the offside door to the patrol car, radio to his lips, calling in the shooting. Another body lay on the pavement a few metres further up the road. A rapidly spreading pool of blood beneath her showed that she too, had been wounded.

  Caslin ducked low and headed down the path using the hedgerow to shield him from view, stopping as he reached the end. Risking a glance up the street he saw a struggle going on as one man was unceremoniously dragged from his car, a blue hatchback. The other was undoubtedly Lee Na Honn. Caslin called out to the officer taking cover, identifying himself as CID, and indicating there was another casualty inside the house. The constable appeared to accept the information with a brief nod. Caslin was unsure whether he had conveyed the message clearly enough. Another quick look and he saw that Lee was making off in the hijacked car. The owner stood in the street with a somewhat perplexed expression on his face. Caslin considered that he didn’t know just how lucky he had been. Three feet away lay the rifle. Caslin presumed the magazine was spent and was silently pleased that he wouldn’t face that again.

  Sprinting to his car he unlocked the door and got in. Not bothering with his seatbelt, he turned the key in the ignition, only for the engine to stutter as it turned over, before dying. Trying twice more, he found the car obstinate and it was on the fourth attempt that the engine engaged, roaring into life with his foot depressing the accelerator like a man possessed. The tyres screeched in protest as the car sped away from the scene. As an afterthought, Caslin reached across to the passenger seat to retrieve his phone. The action jerked the steering wheel and caused him to narrowly miss a parked car that he hadn’t seen. The shock saw him drop the phone which bounced into the nearside footwell, far beyond his reach. He cursed openly as he sought to make up the ground on the hatchback, roughly a quarter of a mile ahead.

  Chapter 31

  The traffic built as they sped through the outskirts of Hull. Caslin was well aware that he was partaking in an ill-advised pursuit. The speeds that they were achieving, often approaching sixty miles per hour in built-up areas, could become lethal at any moment. The Volvo strained to keep pace with the newer car. The engine bounced off the rev limiter repeatedly as he progressed up through the gears. Much to his frustration, the gap between them was still increasing. Blasting his horn at almost every intersection, he attempted to alert other road users and pedestrians to his approach.

  In contrast, Lee Na Honn accelerated through every hazard and held no truck with using the oncoming lanes, as well as the pavements, to facilitate his escape. Driving with an apparent belief that he was somehow charmed, he was reckless beyond measure. Nevertheless, his flight continued unabated.

  As the signs flashed by, Caslin figured they were heading south towards the Humber estuary. Finding it difficult to believe that Lee’s headlong flight was crafted by design, Caslin felt it was more likely that he was improvising. This made him even more dangerous. Desperation often led to extreme reaction and Lee Na Honn qualified on both counts. What he might be capable of once backed into a corner featured heavily in Caslin’s thoughts as he gave chase.

  Up ahead the hatchback swerved out into oncoming traffic to pass a slower vehicle. The startled occupants seeking to maximise the width of the road as Lee powered between the two, delivering a glancing blow to the side of the car he was overtaking. The driver of that vehicle struggled to maintain control and the impact sent him towards the verge. The car snaked from left to right before finally reducing speed and coming to a standstill. Caslin eased off but didn’t stop as he passed. The shocked man stared blankly ahead, trying to comprehend what had happened.

  Lee Na Honn was nearly out of sight as Caslin crested the next hill, bringing the Humber into view. The road before him swept down and away before widening into a dual carriageway. Pressing the accelerator to the floor he encouraged his car to find something extra as he tried in vain to gain ground. Looking up, he saw a helicopter in the sky and believed he could make out the yellow and blue livery, thus identifying it as that of Humberside Police. Reassured that he was no longer alone he returned his focus to the road, negotiating his way past the vehicles that he came to.

  Passing signs that indicated they were heading for the Humber Bridge gave him renewed confidence. Should Lee maintain that course there would be an opportunity to contain him there. Glancing over to where his phone lay he felt helpless to make the suggestion. He would have to rely on his colleagues to reach the same conclusion.

  Their arrival at a roundabout where several high-volume roads converged, brought the two cars to the closest they had been in the previous fifteen minutes. Lee entered at great speed, far too quickly to maintain his course, putting the car into a barely controllable four-wheel slide. He only managed to correct the manoeuvre at the last moment. Commuters around them came to a stop and Caslin had to thread his way through the stationary vehicles to an accompanying chorus of blaring horns. Pleased to see his quarry maintain course towards the bridge, Caslin looked skyward to ascertain where the support was but could no longer see the helicopter.

  Pushing the doubt from his mind he accelerated hard, willing the car to hold out as he did so. The distinct smell of burning was permeating through to the interior. Several warning lights came on in front of him. The oil pressure indicator was one and some of the others he could only guess at. Ignoring them, he pushed on. Traffic began to build once again as they passed the last exit before the bridge. Both cars flew over a mini roundabout, hurtling onwards. The giant suspension cables, rising far above them into the harsh brightness of the low winter sun becoming ever more present.

  Lee weaved his way between the vehicles, jockeying for position to access the toll booths or to take the central express lanes. Misjudging the available space, Caslin watched as Lee’s hatchback clipped a van as he cut in front, putting him into a sideways slide. The van driver broke off, swerving to
the right and colliding with another car. The resulting impact flipped him back into the side of Lee’s car. Forced up onto two wheels, the car threatened to be upended, at any moment. All four wheels came crashing back to earth, Lee battling to keep the car under control as it snaked from left to right. The open express lanes were no longer a viable option and he careered headlong towards the toll booths, approaching at an impossible angle. The barrier descended but Lee accelerated and drove through the bar at speed, splintering it into pieces. The vehicle’s trajectory caused the rear to mount the kerb as it passed, blowing out a tyre on impact. The momentum pitched the car sideways, elevating the rear end before coming back down fiercely, Lee, still wrestling with the steering wheel.

  Caslin anticipated that the chase was now at an end but to his dismay the car continued on. Sparks showered from the rim as it bounced along the carriageway, albeit at a greatly reduced speed. Caslin picked his way through the now stationary vehicles, whose passengers were already getting out to inspect the damage, and pulled up at the booth with a screech of his tyres. The attendant was on her feet within, a phone pressed to her ear, as she watched the fleeing car. He had to shout to get her attention.

  “Close the bridge!”

  She turned slowly towards him. In total shock, she appeared not to understand what he had said. Caslin brandished his warrant card, holding it at full stretch towards her as she strained to read it.

  “I… don’t—”

  “Close the bloody bridge, now,” Caslin reiterated.

  “I don’t have the authority. I’ll have to speak to the Bridge Master.”