Dead Lands

by Lloyd Otis

  The two men walked across the earthy cold landfilled ground and Troy began to drag his feet as a way of postponing the inevitable. He knew that everything would be over soon, a permanent over, so he needed to think fast.

  ‘I’m going to be sick.’

  Blondy’s grip tightened. ‘That’s the least of your problems.’

  ‘Come on, please! Give me a break.’

  Blondy paused, considered it, then relented to allow Troy a moment. A silly mistake and he glanced up at the sky in a show of arrogance, which gave enough of a window. Troy pushed him and sent an uppercut crashing into Blondy’s jaw. He watched him tumble then Troy straightened up and fled.

  He ran back along the way they came, worried that more men might soon be on his tail, so his next steps were simple. This was beginning to look like something he’d need more help with so he found a phone box and dialled the number he never ever wrote down. After five rings a man answered.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘I’d like to speak to Proctor please.’

  ‘Primary extension?’

  ‘It’s 445883221.’

  ‘Secondary extension please?’

  ‘Yes, it’s 900100134.’

  ‘Name?’

  ‘Alexander Troy.’

  ‘One moment please.’

  Proctor came on the line.

  ‘Alexander. Why have you called?’

  The greeting took Troy by surprise. He may not have expected a welcome party but he at least believed he warranted a warmer welcome.

  ‘My problem still exists.’

  ‘I’m aware but you need to give me time to fix it.‘

  ‘No progress?’

  ‘We think the other Troy has ventured to a northern European country. They can’t track him.’

  ‘That’s not so good for me.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘After I spoke to you last time someone followed me. I lost him then but he found me again, just now. It almost ended for me in a bad way but I escaped, so it’s a good time to get to that safe house in Cardiff.’

  ‘The address is on its way, just keep Ceinwen safe and don’t ring back until it’s is all over.’

  The line died.

  ‘Proctor! Hey, Proctor!’

  A furious Troy slammed the receiver multiple times against the inside of the phone booth littered with call girl business cards until he cracked it.

  Don’t ring back until it’s all over.

  What was Proctor thinking? Troy realised there was little he could do but something significant had changed. He needed to adjust too. Troy dialled the police switchboard and kept his message brief.

  ‘This is for Arlo Breck of Cransham Police Station. I’m Alexander Troy, wanted for Janet Maskell’s murder.’ He paused for a second as the word murder reverberated around in his head. ‘I’m innocent, didn’t do it, but I’ve gone and done your job for you. A man followed me to a pub in Blackfriars. I was able to evade him by hiding out in its upstairs gym but I think he could be the one setting me up.’

  The operator attempted to cut in. ‘Sir if you could just...’

  ‘Listen to me!’

  At that point the Capri crawled past with Blondy inside, and the words became wedged in Troy’s throat. The receiver fell from his hand and he eased himself out of the phone box after the car stopped on the other side of the road. The voice of the operator faded when Troy began to walk away with one thought continuing to warm his heart. He spotted the Capri before Blondy spotted him, otherwise he’d be dead.

  THIRTY SIX

  Troy tried to deal with his disappointment upon realising his message for Breck was vague with not much to go on. He blamed the stress of the situation and the fatigue for the loss of focus and noticed that Ceinwen had been downcast. When he pushed her on it she said she had visited a friend but he didn’t know who, if that friend was ill, or had if they fallen out about something.

  He travelled upstairs to find her camped in her bedroom and no matter how many times he asked, she refused to open the door. He wanted to know if she was OK but received no answer.

  ‘Ceinwen, say something. This is not right. I’m getting worried.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ he heard her say.

  ‘Listen, you don’t sound fine. What has happened and which friend did you go to meet?’

  After a few moments Troy gave up and moved away from the door, certain that she would reveal the crux of the problem in her own time.

  He used her telephone to notify Clarke about the Vespa and ended the call apologising, then considered leaving another message for Breck. He wanted to but convinced himself that trying to get the detective onside wouldn’t work. Breck would not act on the strength of the message alone.

  Troy walked away from the phone and swigged a bottle of beer he had taken from the fridge. He slumped down in a chair moments before Ceinwen entered the room. She moved away from him when he tried to touch her.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Everything is great. Stop asking.’

  ‘You were crying upstairs.’

  She ignored him and stared straight ahead. Troy shrugged and left the room to dispose of the beer bottle. By the time he returned Ceinwen had begun to wipe away fresh tears. She struggled to speak with any real clarity and Troy watched her begin to walk back out. Then she stopped, knowing that to leave him feeling guilty would be wrong.

  ‘What’s going on, why are you so upset? You can’t just leave without saying anything. What have I done?’

  ‘It’s not what you’ve done it’s what I’ve done.’

  ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘I went to visit Marcin, not a friend.’

  ‘Why did you do that?’

  ‘I went to see him because he promised he’d leave me alone if I did. Since it happened though, he’s threatened me again if I don’t return.’

  She began to cry so Troy sprung across and gave her a hug. She clung onto him for dear life, glad to have him near.

  ‘What happened when you met with him?’

  ‘He drugged me and the next thing I remember I woke up on a bed in one of his spare rooms.’

  ‘Did he touch you?’

  ‘No, I still had all my clothes on. He just wanted to show me would he could do.’

  The colour drained from Troy’s face. He knew of Marcin more than he cared to let on and his emergence at such a delicate time was not good news. In fact, he had become a serious threat to everything Troy planned.

  THIRTY SEVEN

  The paperwork piled sky high on Kearns’ desk but it didn’t matter. She had other things on her mind and would be off to Yorkshire soon.

  By her own deduction, they were a few steps behind with everything. She tapped Breck on his shoulder and gave him an update. ‘Beatrice has liaised with Ceinwen’s workplace Xenon, she’s registered as living with her husband so we sent an officer to their home address.’

  ‘What did they find?’

  ‘Ceinwen wasn’t at the home she shared with Richard Phelps.’

  ‘That means she and Troy are hiding together somewhere.’

  ‘That seems to be the case. Her return to work date at Xenon isn’t for a while yet so there’s no point in keeping her office under surveillance.’

  Breck’s phone shrilled so he picked it up. Molly sounded distraught so he signalled to Kearns to move away, and made sure there were no other officers within earshot before he felt comfortable enough to speak.

  ‘Molly what’s wrong?’

  ‘Arlo, it’s like the world is swallowing me up. Can’t take it anymore.’

  ‘You seemed brighter of late, baby.’

  Her voice escalated. ‘I don’t know what’s happening!’ I saw his face again as he pinned me to the ground.’

  ‘Calm down, try and get it out of your mind. Everything takes time.’

  ‘I can’t! Come home, please. I need you here now.’

  ‘Molly, I think we should see someone about this?’

  ‘No,
I don’t want anyone to think that I’m crazy. I won’t be strapped down and evaluated like a guinea pig.

  Her tone worried Breck. ‘That won’t be the case. You’ll have a conversation with someone that will listen.’

  ‘You better get here now, Arlo. It feels like my head will explode, I’m telling you it does.’

  ‘OK, I’m on my way, stay put.’

  Breck ended the call and asked Kearns to cover for him so that he could sort out his personal issue. He kept an eye out for Bashir while he made his way to his car. He started it up then sped home.

  Molly had no real family apart from an aunt so she depended on Breck quite a lot and when he arrived, he found her in the living room with the curtains drawn in broad daylight. She sat on the sofa and it took her a while to acknowledge him which didn’t help his confidence. He walked over to her and sat down.

  ‘Molly I’m here now, baby.’

  ‘It is you?’ she almost whispered.

  ‘Why are you asking me that? You know who it is.’

  ‘What happened to me in the hospital? I want to know.’

  ‘Why are you going back to that when we’re trying to move on from it?’

  ‘I want to know, please.’

  Breck felt the time had come to be honest with her. ‘You were in a coma Molly for a week and I thought you’d never wake up but you did. I visited every day, didn’t leave your side at all.’

  ‘You told me I was unconscious for a few hours.’

  ‘A few hours, a few days, what’s the difference?’

  ‘Plenty, why hide that from me?’

  ‘To spare you the trauma of it.’

  Molly shook her head. ‘I don’t believe any of this is real right now. It can’t be.’

  Breck outstretched a hand. ‘That man is not here, but I am and I promise you that I’m searching for him. I’m always searching for him.’

  ‘Make me believe you.’

  ‘I’m closing in, Molly. He won’t be able to evade me for too long.’

  Breck felt no guilt at his blatant lie. He had little idea where to find her attacker but his lies were what his girlfriend needed to hear. Hot warm tears trickled down Molly’s face.

  ‘What did he do to me?’

  ‘Nothing, you were saved in time. Let’s stop this now and go upstairs. You can get some rest.’

  Molly nodded. Breck guided her to the bedroom and coerced her into sitting down.

  ‘I don’t feel tired enough to sleep.’

  ‘Is there anything that I can get you?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, a new head. Christ, I need a new head.’

  ‘Stop it. What are you saying?’

  ‘I’m saying, maybe you should send me away and let them lock me up. You know something’s wrong with me.’

  Breck refused to entertain the extreme idea of sectioning Molly. She’d get better, he just didn’t know when. Right now, he didn’t have a choice but to leave her alone for the journey to Yorkshire. There was little he could do but it seemed as if Molly’s ordeal had taken a firm hold of her all over again. Before Molly’s attack, their conversations were carefree and light. She’d talk about her job but he wouldn’t mention his because he needed a place to hide away from the violence and the trauma of murder cases. Home provided it. Breck never believed that he’d hanker after those days again but he did now.

  Breck went downstairs and made a phone call. It didn’t take him long.

  Upon his return he had a surprise. ‘We’re going to take a ride.’

  ‘A ride to where?’

  ‘You’ll see. I’m dropping everything to do this now. I’ve just had a thought and I’m going to act upon it so help by trusting me.’

  *

  The car journey had been pleasant and Molly still didn’t know where they were heading to. Although she wasn’t quite herself Breck felt that a short trip would do them the world of good.

  ‘Why won’t you tell me where we’re going, Arlo? I know it’s not to a picnic.’

  ‘You’ll see when we get there. It might turn out to be the most important thing we do.’

  ‘I want it to be something romantic like a picnic.’

  ‘I can’t promise that but I’ll make a note of it for next time.’

  They drove for another mile before Breck spotted a service station and pulled over. He felt peckish. Molly felt hungry too and was glad for the stop off. They left the car and made their way to the service station which was quite clean inside but carried a strong smell of petrol if one stood at the wrong end. A trucker with hands covered in grease, eating an egg sandwich, seemed to be the culprit so Breck chose to sit away from him at a table further down.

  ‘Arlo, it’s strange spending this time with you and unexpected, because I’m not used to you staying put for more than five minutes.’

  ‘Hey, I’m not that bad am I? Anyway, what do you fancy?’

  ‘A cup of tea and…’

  ‘A full English? You can leave what you can’t manage. Better to have the choice.’

  That seemed to swing it. ‘OK.’

  Breck went to the counter to order but the woman behind it directed him to the waitress. He pointed across to her serving a couple of indecisive guys.

  ‘I have no plans to wait here for the next couple of years. She’s busy.’

  The woman relented and took his order but her annoyance with his attitude didn’t worry Breck in the slightest.

  He returned to Molly.

  ‘What’s bothering you, Arlo?’

  ‘Not sure what you mean.’

  ‘Do you think I’m not going to notice you getting ready for an interview when you put on a suit that you haven’t looked at in months, or a tie I last saw you wear to a funeral?’ Breck was surprised by the fact he had been so obvious. ‘So how did it go?’

  ‘Not great. It was for a head of security position. The boss man, Garsdale, wanted me to go into detail about the work I currently do, to measure my suitability for the role. He didn’t get it.’

  ‘Did you tell him you couldn’t talk about some of that stuff?’

  ‘Yes but he didn’t appreciate that fact.’

  Their order arrived, a full English for Molly and a fried egg sandwich with a black coffee for Breck. He stuffed the sandwich into his mouth and drained his coffee, and while referring to Garsdale said, ‘I didn’t want to scupper my chances but I couldn’t tell him anything much, you know that.’

  ‘Yes, I know that you’re some secret super cop.’

  Breck smiled. ‘The interview finished a bit quicker than I thought so now I’m just waiting to hear from him.’

  ‘Do you even care if you don’t get it?’

  ‘Not sure. The SCU frustrates me at times but I wonder what else is there for me to do. Anyway, I need to tell you that I’ll be off to Yorkshire soon, although I don’t want to leave you alone.’

  ‘Stop it. Make sure you go. You’ve got a job to do.’

  ‘I guess you’re right.’

  ‘When are you off?’

  ‘Next few hours.’

  Molly rolled her eyes. ‘Thanks for the notice.’

  ‘I considered not going because I didn’t want to leave you alone.’

  ‘Alright, I’ll let you off.’

  Molly held Breck’s hand and began to reminisce. ‘Remember when we used to visit the lions down at the zoo?’

  ‘When we were younger and carefree you mean?’

  Breck glanced at the wall clock in the service station. ‘We need to get going.’

  ‘Where to?’

  He almost told her then but held back. ‘Get your coat on.’

  They returned to the car and Breck sensed her growing frustration at being kept in the dark. He moved off and drove for a bit, before taking a turn up a dirt road. They were moments away from his surprise.

  ‘You have to close your eyes,’ Breck told her but Molly didn’t cooperate and they were at the last hurdle. He pictured himself on his knees begging, so asked her once more. �
�Please.’ This time she played along.

  ‘This better be worth it,’ she warned.

  Breck parked the car and led her out over the rocky ground, to where a swell of noise could be heard. Her pace quickened from the excitement. Then he allowed her to open her eyes and when she did, Molly saw the circus. Music and cheering emitted from the huge ivory tent.

  ‘I can’t believe you’ve taken me here.’ She wrapped her arms around him. ‘What are we going to see?

  ‘The lions of course!’

  ‘I just mentioned it in the café, this is mad.’

  Breck felt that he had done something good at last by springing the surprise as they queued behind others waiting to get in.

  ‘What about work? How did you sort this time off?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m taking care of it all. This is important.’

  Breck didn’t want Molly to feel any guilt at him being with her. He made the decision but hoped his half-truth wouldn’t come back to haunt him. He had taken legitimate time for the extra hours he had worked. Hours that were never logged as overtime. He believed that he had a right to claw some of that back and Molly deserved a moment out of the house to free her mind. He realised something else too. He needed time away from the case. Whether it be a few minutes, an hour. Whatever time he could grab.

  THIRTY EIGHT

  Yorkshire

  The murky Yorkshire air became blurred by thin sheets of silver mist and Kearns sat in a cafe staring out of the window, while the sound of sizzling bacon crackled. Breck went to the toilet, which left her to battle her own demons. Of which amplified, because she had returned home. This would be a fleeting visit without seeing any of her family. Dad died a few years ago but her ‘mam’ was still around. A jealous woman and a master of put downs with a sharp tongue to boot. No wonder she didn’t want to call home. Her sister could fuck off too.

  Kearns took a sip of tea with a strained face because she had forgot to ask for sugar then Breck swaggered back in. He pulled out the money to pay for the tea and sandwiches, by which time, Kearns was already waiting outside.