Under The Woods: a heart-stopping police thriller (The Forensic Files Book 4)

by K. A. Richardson

  * * *

  18th December, 0520 hours – Detective Inspector Alistair McKay’s home, Sunderland

  Detective Inspector Alistair McKay groaned as his phone rang on the bedside table. He reached for it as his fiancée, Marlo Buchannan, muttered quietly, ‘Yours or mine?’

  He dropped a kiss onto her forehead. ‘Mine, go back to sleep.’

  Ali had been living with Marlo for a while now – and her adopted daughter, Elvie Aquino. He didn’t want to disturb either of them so answered the phone, quickly checking the caller display – no caller ID usually meant the control room. Before the person on the other end could speak, he told them to hold on.

  Once standing in the kitchen, he put the phone back to his ear.

  ‘Sorry about that. This is DI McKay. What’s up?’

  When he heard nothing but silence on the line, he double checked that the call was still open.

  ‘Hello?’ he spoke again, a little louder this time.

  ‘I need to tell you something, but I don’t know that you’ll believe me. Will you believe me?’

  The voice was young sounding, but not one that Ali recognised.

  ‘I’ll definitely do my best. Who am I speaking to?’

  ‘Who I am doesn’t matter. There’s a dead body behind the burnt stable at Rainbow Riding Stables. I’ve seen it for myself. It was still there last night. He might have moved it now, though.’

  ‘Woah, slow down, kid. Did you say a body? And who is he?’

  ‘Barry – he works there. I swear down – there was a body. Please go there and catch him. He might still be there.’

  ‘Who are you? Is this some kind of Christmas joke? ’Cos it’s really not funny.’ He pulled the phone from his ear and glanced at the phone screen again. Definitely No Caller ID. Which meant limited chance of being able to trace the caller.

  Something about the voice was familiar to Ali. He’d definitely heard it before.

  ‘It’s not a joke. Hurry and you’ll see for yourself. Please.’

  It was the last word that was Ali’s undoing. He believed the kid. Quite possibly a big mistake, he was sure, but something about the kid’s tone was off. The receiver clicked down on the other end of the phone, leaving Ali half sat on the tall chair at the breakfast bar.

  He selected the speed dial for Alex, his brother and currently superior officer. He answered on the first ring.

  ‘Alex? Listen I need to run something by you. Might be a waste of time, but there’s just something… I believe what he told me.’

  ‘What who told you, bro?’

  Alex sounded awake – more than Ali had been when he’d answered the phone anyway. ‘You okay? You’re up early. Izzy or Marcus?’ Ali referred to his niece and new nephew – Alex’s kids.

  ‘Both,’ Alex sounded weary now. ‘They’ve got that sickness bug going around. There’s literally sick and shit on everything. Cass has them both on towels now in the living room. They’re a bit better now – but we’ve both been up all night. It was like they were doing it in symphony. You’ve never seen nothing like it. Anyway, what were you saying, bro?’

  Ali went on to explain about the phone call.

  ‘Isn’t it Jacob’s sister that has that stables? The fella from digital? You’re sure it didn’t sound like some kind of prank? It definitely needs checking out if not. Head to the nick and grab one of the uniforms to go with you. Ring me as soon as you get there. As soon as I’m sure the bairns will be okay, I’ll head out and meet you.’

  Ali agreed and snuck back into the bedroom to get his clothes. They were exactly where he’d thrown them – strewn over the chair and floor in the corner of the room. Marlo had moved position while he was in the kitchen – her dark hair was spread across both his and her pillows like an ink blot. He was surer about their upcoming wedding than anything else he’d ever made a decision on. She was his amazon queen. Fierce and protective. A force of nature in herself. He didn’t wake her to tell her he had to go – they’d lived together long enough now that if one woke and the other wasn’t there, it was assumed they were at work.

  She was a cop too – there was never any jip over him not being there when she woke. She understood completely.

  He pulled his clothes on and ran a hand through his hair before creeping down the hallway to the bedroom at the bottom. The door was ajar – Elvie couldn’t sleep with it closed. She needed the hall light left on for comfort. With everything she’d been through, he was surprised she could sleep at all. She’d been brought into the country by human traffickers – with the aim of selling her into the sex trade. She was practically an adult now – sixteen going on sixty. She’d settled into her new life well – her English was amazing, and she had a good group of friends at college. She was going through the mandatory counselling that had been part of her adoption. He was so proud of her. As soon as he and Marlo were married in the new year, he planned to add his name to the adoption too.

  As he clicked the front door closed, Ali frowned, remembering the voice on the phone. It was so familiar – a haze in the forefront of his brain telling him for sure he knew who it was. But the name eluded him.

  The drive to the station was uneventful – and it hadn’t taken any persuasion to get a cop to go to the stables with him.

  The roads to the stables were dark, the snow thick on the ground though it had finally stopped falling. According to the dashboard, it was minus three degrees, which meant the snow would now be turning to ice. The main roads had been gritted by the council but that didn’t stop the black ice patches appearing from nowhere.

  PC Josh Carnell was silent as he drove – his eyes narrowed on the road in concentration. The radio played Christmas songs quietly, and Ali stared out of the window, trying to remember the source of the voice on the phone. He knew it would come to him sooner or later.

  Josh indicated right when the sat nav told him to, and they pulled onto a snow-covered lane. The back end of the 4x4 swung out on the ice, and Josh rectified it quickly, stopping further skidding.

  ‘These Beemers are shite in the snow – you’d think a 4x4 would have better grip.’ Josh flashed a grin at Ali as he spoke but didn’t move his eyes from the road.

  ‘Don’t know if any car is that good, to be honest. It’s never normally this bad here on the coast. It’s been a while since we’ve had a fall like this one.’

  ‘Aye, true enough. Is that the stables up ahead?’ Josh indicated at the building looming at the end of the long driveway.

  ‘Dunno, never been here. But I think so.’

  Josh pulled the 4x4 up alongside the other two cars present in what seemed to be the carpark. As he turned the key off, the front door opened, and Jackson and TJ stepped out.

  ‘Jackson? TJ?’ Ali stepped forward so they could see his face.

  ‘Ali? What are you doing here? Is it about Alan?’

  ‘Alan?’ Now Ali was confused.

  ‘Yeah, he’s gone missing. He’s from the farm down the track?’

  ‘Dunno anything about a misper – sorry. Shall we go inside? I’ll let you know why we’re here.’

  * * *

  18th December, 0625 hours – Rainbow Riding Stables

  Ali took the steaming cup of coffee from TJ gratefully. Caffeine was a definite necessity at this time of the morning.

  He took a long slurp then asked, ‘Have you had a barn or stable fire?’

  ‘Yeah – a few days ago, there was a fire in the stable block. How would you know that, though?’ TJ sounded scared.

  There was no other option for Ali but to come out with it.

  ‘I had a phone call a little over an hour ago – it was a young lad saying he’d seen a dead body behind the burnt stables. He said someone called Barry had killed them. Do you have someone called Barry working here?’

  TJ went white and glanced over at Jackson, who was sitting beside her, and reached for his hand.

  ‘Barry’s been here since before I took over. He’s worked here for years.’
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  ‘Is he due in today?’

  ‘Actually, no, he rang last night and said he was sick and wouldn’t be in today.’ She turned to Jackson. ‘I’d have noticed a body, surely. I’m down the stables at least three times a day. I’ve been helping with clearing up and everything. There was no body when I fed the horses last night. That was about seven. You were with me – you didn’t see anything, did you? And then, I checked on them at nine-thirty, like I do every night. It was all fine. I didn’t see any kid or any dead bodies. It has to be some kind of mistake. Or a prank, maybe? You know what kids are like.’

  ‘I didn’t see any bodies, alive or dead, when we were down. It does sound like it could be a prank, Ali. Someone with a grudge against Barry, for some reason?’

  The more he heard, the more Ali started to believe TJ and Jackson, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew the voice, and that it had sounded genuine.

  ‘Mind if I go and have a look around? It’s probably nothing – but I could swear the kid was telling the truth. He sounded… sure. And nervous about ringing. And he rang on my personal mobile. How would he have got that? It seems a lot of trouble to go to for a prank.’

  ‘Your personal number?’ interrupted Josh. ‘Who do you give your personal one out to? You’d normally give your work one, wouldn’t you?’

  Ali nodded slowly. ‘Yes. I only give my personal number to people who I have a connection to – in case they need something and I’m not at work. Let’s go check the stable area, and I’ll think on it some more. You’re definitely right on that one, Josh.’

  The path to the stable was white – the path boundaries not visible. TJ knew the route, though, and her steps were sure, sinking into the snow by a good few inches. The others followed, huddling close together. She had a bright torch lighting the way – the sun didn’t rise this early in the dead of winter.

  The stable yard was also covered in the soft white snow – no visible footprints, though the snow did look disturbed beneath the freshest fall. TJ led them past the burnt stables and round to the rear.

  ‘Doesn’t look like any dead bodies to me,’ said Josh after scanning the area. ‘Some of the snow has been disturbed, but you live in the country. It could be a fox or anything.’

  Ali wanted to agree – it could have been an animal of some kind, but his gut was telling him otherwise. ‘Do you have a shovel I can borrow?’

  TJ nodded, handing the torch to Jackson, and heading for the tack room. She returned moments later with a snow shovel and a spade.

  Ali used the snow shovel to move the snow off the large area that seemed disturbed. The thickness of the snow on the soil was thinner than everywhere else, and it dipped in the middle, which when he’d moved the snow off revealed freshly upturned soil and a large hollow.

  ‘Something could have been hidden in this dip, maybe?’ His voice was low, but TJ caught what he said.

  ‘It’s a trench – Barry is in the process of laying new pipes. He’s had to stop ’cos of the snow, but that trench was already dug before the snow came. It was fully hollow, though, not covered with the soil like now. That was a few days ago, though – I’m not sure if he’s done work on it since.’

  A glint caught the torch light, and Ali leaned in closer to have a look. A shard of metal came into view. It wasn’t very large but was bent with a sharp corner jutting upwards, the edges smooth, as though they’d been cut with a tool.

  He held his hand out for the torch off Jackson and scanned the light over the area, looking for anything that stood out of place. Under the boughs of a nearby fir tree, the light caught a footwear mark. Clear as a bell and definitely not one of theirs, since none of them had been over that way.

  ‘Do we have a cadaver dog in the county?’ He’d never had cause to ask for one before and genuinely didn’t know the answer – the dogs were specially trained to be able to sniff out the odour dead bodies gave off.

  Josh shrugged his shoulders and moved away from the group to ring the control room and ask them.

  ‘You really believe this kid was telling you the truth?’ asked TJ.

  ‘I can’t explain why I do, but yes, I believe he was telling the truth. If there’s a body here, the cadaver dogs will find it.’

  ‘In the meantime, let me grab some scene tape from my car. We’ll put a cordon in place. Everyone here currently can move back off the area, please. At least we’ll be preserving the scene if the cadaver dog shows something here. No harm, no foul if not.’ Jackson made perfect sense, and they all stepped back around into the stable yard.

  Josh came to join them moments later, while Jackson and TJ headed back up the track towards the house.

  ‘Cadaver dog is on duty. Comms have dispatched them to our location – they’re asking do you want a job opened up?’

  Ali sighed. ‘Yeah, tell them to open it on this location as a suspicious, for now. Have them put me down as dealing and note that DCI McKay is aware, also.’

  19

  18th December, 0645 hours – Sunderland Royal Hospital

  Sally groaned and tried to open her eyes, instantly regretting it as bright lights made her blink rapidly as her eyes adjusted. She felt the soft sheet beneath her, and the blanket on top of her – every sense was prickling, and she was aware of the fact she was in a bed.

  Her memories came flooding back at once, and she jerked into a sitting position, panic-stricken. He’s got me again!

  She took in the details of her location – registered the pulse monitor on her finger, the fact that she had bandages on her feet, and the way she felt hazy, as though sitting on a cloud.

  It clicked slowly – he hadn’t caught her. She was in a hospital.

  Sally lowered herself back down, feeling the soft pillow beneath her head. She had to tell them what had happened, who she was.

  But her eyes didn’t want to obey – they fluttered closed, and she sank back into a drug-induced sleep.

  * * *

  18th December, 0650 hours – Sunderland Royal Hospital

  Barry had finally had the results of his x-ray – it confirmed what he and the doctor had both suspected. He had two broken ribs. The doctor had been pretty blunt in explaining there was no real treatment, other than pain relief and taking it easy. They’d even taken the straps off his chest and chastised him for putting them on in the first place.

  When he was growing up, straps were always applied. Now, though, the NHS thought they would restrict the ability to breathe. They’d discharged him telling him he was a manual worker and that he should take a few days off sick, if he needed it.

  He’d already rung in, anyway. In fifteen years at the stables, he’d taken about four sick days. Right now, he needed to focus on finding her – TJ would have to manage without him for the time being.

  He was now hanging about the hospital under the pretence of waiting for a taxi – they hadn’t asked if he’d driven there, so he hadn’t volunteered the information. He needed to find out where they’d taken Sally. When he’d returned from x-ray, her bay in the emergency room had been empty – sod’s law they’d moved her, and he hadn’t been there to overhear where to!

  He wandered from A&E towards the lifts at the bottom end of the hospital – he’d been there once or twice over the years and knew the lifts led to all wards. The board outside of the lifts showed all the different floors.

  He discounted the stroke ward, maternity and a couple of the others immediately.

  It was possible she’d need surgery for something – maybe she’d hurt herself more when she’d ran or been hit by a car or something. If luck went his way, maybe she’d be in ICU and die there, with no-one ever any the wiser.

  But he wasn’t one for believing in luck.

  The wards were closed to visitors until 10am, if the board was to be believed – he really couldn’t do anything until then. He rubbed his callused hand over his face – he was exhausted. A sleep would mean he was more alert, and in a position to do something when he found where they�
��d taken Sally to.

  Can I afford that, though? Can I leave the hospital? What if she talks?

  …and tells them what exactly? That she’d been kidnapped and held somewhere in the middle of nowhere?

  She doesn’t know who you are. She doesn’t know where she was. She can tell them bugger all.

  He nodded to himself – decision made. He’d go and sleep for a couple of hours. Then, come back, find her and make sure she understood what being an Angel really meant. Angels weren’t living, after all. When I find her, I will kill her. She’ll pay the ultimate price for her lack of trust.

  * * *

  18th December, 0645 hours – Rainbow Riding Stables

  TJ had made a huge flask of coffee and some sandwiches for Jackson and his colleagues – it felt like the least she could do seeing as how they were all waiting around in the tack room for the cadaver dog.

  She shuddered at the thought – wondered momentarily how hard it would be to train a dog to smell dead bodies. She was about to leave the house and take breakfast to those waiting, when there was a loud knock at the door.

  ‘TJ Tulley? I’m here with the dog to see DI McKay.’ The cop was uniformed with a hi-visibility jacket on for warmth. His dog, a german shepherd, sat to his left as he spoke.

  ‘Yeah bring him through. You can follow me down. Will he be disrupted with the smell of coffee or toast?’

  ‘He’s a she. Nah, she’ll be fine. Once she goes into search mode, she knows exactly what she’s looking for. She won’t stop for toast. Now a roast chicken – that would be a different matter.’ The cop winked at TJ before clicking with his tongue for the dog to follow.

  ‘What’s she called?’

  ‘She’s called Adler – ’cos she’s an evil cow, when she wants to be, but loves her fella – me, obviously. I’m Billy by the way.’