Lucy crouched down to inspect the objects and papers that were littered all over the floor.
‘I’ll check the other rooms,’ Ruth said quietly as she went slowly through the rest of the annexe.
There was a small bedroom. The mattress had been thrown against the wall and the wardrobe emptied. Off the room was a bathroom with cupboards opened and the shower curtain pulled across the bath.
‘Anything?’ Lucy called out.
‘No ... Where the hell is Dudic then?’
‘If no one’s in, maybe he went out with his daughter?’
Ruth turned and headed back towards the living room. ‘I really hope so.’
‘I’ve found something,’ Lucy called.
Ruth entered the room and went over to Lucy, who handed her a photograph. It showed Dudic, Katerina, Mujic and Advic all sitting at a restaurant table. They were smiling and raising their glasses.
‘Do we know when that was taken?’ Ruth asked.
Lucy flipped over the photo and saw a printed date. ‘Three weeks ago.’
‘Not only was Dudic lying about how often he saw the others, but Katerina also said she hadn’t seen them for months.’
‘Why lie to us? There’s nothing criminal about meeting up with friends,’ Lucy said.
‘Exactly ... unless you’re planning to do something criminal,’ Ruth suggested.
‘The fact that they both lied about it suggests they had something to hide. Whatever they were doing scared them both.’
‘Mujic sees Petrovic at Waterloo just over three weeks ago and tells the others. They decide to meet,’ Ruth said gesturing to the photo. ‘They have lunch and agree to do something about Petrovic. Expose him or kill him. They can’t admit to meeting up because they know what they’ve chosen to do, and they’re scared.’
Lucy nodded. ‘Still doesn’t explain how Petrovic knew who they were and what they were planning on doing.’
Ruth shrugged. ‘It’s a small community in London. Someone heard something.’
There was a noise from somewhere in the annexe. It was either a movement or a groan.
‘What the bloody hell was that?’ Ruth asked, suddenly feeling tense.
‘Someone in here?’ Lucy asked.
‘I thought I’d checked,’ Ruth said, gripping her baton again as they made their way back towards the bedroom.
She got to the bathroom first.
It sounded like the noise had come from there.
She glanced in the mirror and spotted something she hadn’t seen the first time.
The reflection of a bloody smear across the white tiles of the wall behind the shower curtain.
Oh my God!
‘In here,’ Ruth said quietly. Bracing herself, she pulled back the shower curtain slowly.
A man’s body, drenched in blood, was laying in the bath. Lifeless grey eyes, wide open with fear, were staring up at her.
It was Safet Dudic.
Lucy took a step back. ‘Jesus Christ!’
‘Bastards!’ Ruth said looking at his blood-soaked clothes and hair. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.
Lucy looked at Ruth. ‘Katerina Selimovic ...’
‘You think they’ll go after her next?’ Ruth said, but she already knew the answer to that.
‘Yes. Of course.’
CHAPTER 24
Ten minutes later, Ruth and Lucy were hammering up the A3 towards London, weaving in and out of the traffic.
Ruth clicked her Tetra radio, ‘Alpha Zero to Dispatch, Alpha Zero to Dispatch, do you read me, over?’
‘Alpha Zero, this is Dispatch reading you, go ahead, over,’ came a voice.
‘Possible incident at 24 Crown Gardens, Mortlake. Occupant’s name is Katerina Selimovic. Repeat, Katerina Selimovic. I’m going to need two patrol cars and an ARV on stand-by, over,’ Ruth said. ARV stood for Armed Response Vehicle. After what they had seen at Safet Dudic’s home, they weren’t going to take any risks.
There were a few seconds of silence as the CAD operator checked the availability of nearby marked patrol cars.
‘Alpha Zero from Dispatch. I have one patrol car en route. ETA is ten minutes, over.’
‘Dispatch from Alpha Zero, out,’ Ruth said, looking over at Lucy and then at the road ahead. ‘You going via the Lower Richmond Road?’
Lucy nodded. ‘Yep. Putney Hill is a nightmare this time of day.’
‘Good shout. We might even beat the woodentops there,’ Ruth said as Lucy undertook three cars and then pulled back into the outer lane. Ruth gripped her seat. ‘If we get there alive.’
‘Do you want to drive?’ Lucy asked raising an eyebrow.
‘Bit touchy,’ Ruth said. She put her left hand up to the grab handle above the passenger door and held it tightly as they zig-zagged through the traffic again.
The blues and twos were on full. As Ruth looked up, she could see the traffic in the outer lane indicating left and pulling over.
As they turned into the right-hand filter to Roehampton Lane, Ruth felt the back tyres skid a little.
I am now officially scared by Lucy’s driving.
Crossing the southbound lanes of the A3, Ruth saw a huge articulated lorry coming across their path.
‘Lucy?’ she said under her breath.
‘Shit!’ Lucy growled as she stamped on the brakes.
The car skidded but kept moving forward.
This is not good!
‘Jesus!’ Lucy said as she flinched.
The car stopped.
The lorry came thundering past with about an inch between it and the front of their car.
Lucy blew out her cheeks. ‘Now that was fucking close!’
‘Too close.’
Before Ruth had time to process what had happened, and think about just how close they had come to being killed, Lucy had slammed her foot on the accelerator. The wheels squealed as they tore off down Roehampton Lane.
A minute later, they swung left onto Lower Richmond Road, snaking in and out of the traffic as cars pulled over for them. Taking a right, they were soon screeching to a halt outside Katerina Selimovic’s house.
Leaping out of the car, Ruth scanned the road for anything suspicious. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as she could see.
‘Anything?’ Lucy asked.
‘Clear,’ Ruth replied.
They dashed across the road. There was no sign of the patrol car yet.
I pray that we’re not too late.
Ruth knocked loudly on the door while Lucy went to the ground floor windows and peered in. It was all too similar to their visit to Dudic’s house an hour earlier. And look how that turned out.
Come on! Come on!
Ruth looked anxiously over at Lucy. ‘Anything?’
‘Nope. Nothing.’
‘Shit!’
Maybe we’re too late?
Ruth knocked again – this time more urgently. Then she crouched down and pushed open the letterbox. ‘Mrs Selimovic? It’s the police. Can you open the door please?’
Ducking lower, Ruth squinted through the letterbox into the hallway. Nothing.
Then she heard a noise. She put her hand up to signal to Lucy that she had heard something.
They both moved back cautiously from the front door.
‘Someone in there?’ Lucy said in a virtual whisper.
Ruth nodded.
Suddenly, she heard a voice. ‘I’m coming ... I’m coming.’
Ruth looked at Lucy – Bloody hell! That’s a relief.
The door opened. Katerina looked at them in puzzlement. ‘What is with all this fuss?’
‘Can we come in?’ Ruth asked in a tone that left her no option.
‘If you must,’ Katerina said irritably as she ushered them in.
How are we going to tell her that another of her friends has been killed?
They followed her to the living room where Katerina sat down on a large, jade-green armchair.
‘We have some bad news I’m afraid,’ Lucy said gently.
&nbs
p; Katerina looked up at them nervously. ‘Safet?’
For a moment, Ruth and Lucy said nothing – but the silence told Katerina everything she needed to know.
‘I’m afraid so. I’m so sorry,’ Ruth said.
Katerina shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. We all came here because we thought it was safe.’ She took a tissue from the sleeve of her cardigan and dabbed her eyes.
‘We are really sorry. We also think that you are in a great deal of danger,’ Lucy explained.
‘Me? No. I cannot believe that,’ Katerina said as she sniffed. She looked shaken and confused.
Ruth and Lucy went and sat down on the sofa.
‘Katerina, we need you to tell us the truth. We know that you met Safet, Hamzar and Mersad a few weeks ago. Just after Hamzar saw Simo Petrovic at Waterloo,’ Lucy said.
Katerina looked at them but said nothing.
‘Can you tell us what you talked about when you met?’ Ruth asked softly.
There were a few more seconds of silence.
‘Please ...’ Lucy said.
‘What do you want me to say? That we agreed to track down that man?’ Katerina asked.
‘Did you? Did you agree that you would try to find Petrovic?’ Ruth asked.
Katerina waited for a moment and then nodded slowly.
‘And did you find him, Katerina? Do you know where he is?’ Lucy asked.
Katerina shook her head.
Their attention was drawn to a noise outside.
What the hell was that?
Lucy looked over at Ruth with concern.
‘Uniform?’ Ruth suggested, getting up and heading for the window that was obscured by net curtains.
‘What was that noise?’ Katerina asked anxiously as she got up from the chair.
Ruth spotted a dark figure through the opaque material.
The figure stopped, turned, and looked directly at her.
They were wearing a balaclava.
Jesus Christ!
CRACK!
A bullet splintered the window.
Ruth instinctively flinched and ducked.
Dashing across the room, she dived towards Katerina and, in a rugby tackle, threw her to the floor.
CRACK!
Ruth glanced up at the window.
Another bullet came through the glass which shattered noisily.
‘Jesus!’ Lucy shouted. ‘Keep down!’
Aware that she was on top of Katerina, Ruth rolled off onto the carpet and looked over at her. Katerina groaned through trembling lips.
Glancing towards the window, Ruth could see that the figure had now gone.
‘Katerina? Are you all right?’ she asked.
‘Alpha Zero to Dispatch, Code Zero, I repeat Code Zero. Officers under fire at target address. Require AFO now!’ Lucy shouted into the radio.
‘What happened?’ Katerina mumbled under her breath. Blood was trickling from her mouth.
Oh God! Has she been shot?
‘Are you okay?’ Ruth asked, moving closer towards Katerina.
There was no response.
RUTH AND LUCY HAD BEEN in St George’s Hospital for an hour. Katerina had regained consciousness in the ambulance on the way in. From what the paramedics told them, she was just suffering from a split lip, cuts and bruises, and shock.
Ruth looked up to see a young doctor heading their way with notes in hand.
‘How’s our patient?’ Lucy asked.
‘She’s going to be fine. Nothing more than a few bumps. She’s in shock so I have sedated her. I’d like to keep her in overnight for observation, but I can’t see why she can’t go home tomorrow morning.’
‘Thanks,’ Ruth said.
The doctor frowned as he looked at Lucy. She had two cuts on her face. ‘Are you okay?’
Lucy pointed to her face. ‘What, this? I just cut myself shaving.’
The doctor gave her a sardonic smile. ‘I understand that Mrs Selimovic will need some kind of protection?’
Ruth nodded. ‘Yeah. We’re going to have to post an armed officer on her door, I’m afraid.’
He shrugged. ‘We’re a South London hospital. It’s not the first time. Bit scary for some of the other patients though.’
Ruth watched the doctor walk away and noticed Lucy checking him out.
‘Hmm ... I would,’ Lucy said, raising an eyebrow and tipping her head towards the doctor as he went.
‘Lucy! We both just nearly got killed, for God’s sake!’
‘I know. I think all that adrenaline has made me horny.’
‘And that’s way too much information, thanks all the same,’ Ruth said with a smile as she shook her head.
Ruth glanced up at the television that was mounted to the wall. The BBC News was on.
‘Christ, the election is in a couple of days, isn’t it?’ she said as she watched footage of Tony Blair shaking the hands of the general public.
Lucy looked at the television. ‘I can’t stand him,’ she said.
‘Well he’s going to increase our budgets and probably give you a pay rise.’ She thought that’s what she had read in the New Labour manifesto.
Brooks came marching into the ward. Next to him was a tall, thick-set firearms officer in a black uniform with a large pistol holstered on his hip.
‘Bloody hell! Are you two all right?’ Brooks asked.
‘Yes thanks, guv,’ Ruth answered.
‘Where is she?’ Brooks asked of Katerina.
Lucy indicated the corridor. ‘The single room down there. She’s sedated but she’ll be discharged tomorrow morning.’
Brooks looked downcast. ‘I’ve arranged for her to go to a safe house while we sort out this mess.’ Ruth could see he wasn’t happy.
He looked at the officer and gestured down the corridor. ‘Officer, if you go and grab a chair outside her room, I’ll be with you in a minute.’
As the officer made himself scarce, Brooks gave them both a withering look. ‘I gave you twenty-four hours and it nearly got you both killed.’
‘What happens now, guv?’ Ruth asked, trying to appease him.
‘What happens now? I’m taking everything we’ve got to the Chief Super tomorrow. Whatever is going on, it’s far too dangerous for us to deal with on our own.’
‘You do know we’re this close to finding and nicking Petrovic,’ Lucy said, using her fingers to demonstrate.
‘I don’t care. Whoever is protecting him and this Tankovic chap are happy to kill people. You are not going to get yourself killed for this, Lucy.’ Brooks took a breath – he was getting worked up.
‘We understand, boss. It’s just hard to hand this over to someone else now,’ Ruth said meekly.
‘Well that’s what’s happening, Ruth. Where are you staying tonight?’ he asked.
‘I’ve got a friend, Shiori. She’s putting me and Ella up for a bit.’
‘Good.’ He turned to Lucy. ‘And you’re at your sister’s?’
‘Yes, guv. She’s going to her boyfriend’s tonight, so I’ve got her flat to myself.’
Brooks looked at them both. ‘Please, please be careful. No unnecessary risks. Keep a low profile for the next twenty-four hours until I can sort this out.’
CHAPTER 25
Ruth walked up Battersea Rise with Ella singing and chattering in her pushchair. She had been to buy Ella some new ‘princess’ pyjamas as they were staying with Shiori in her swish, four-bedroomed Victorian house in Clapham. That’s the type of house you can afford if you have a husband who works in finance, she presumed. Even though the circumstances of her asking to stay were frightening, there was also part of her that got a little tingle at the thought of staying over at Shiori’s home. She knew it was all fantasy in her head, but it made her feel better – so she didn’t care.
An hour earlier, Ruth had received a text from Dan to say that he was now out of hospital and that he would like to see Ella in the next few days. Maybe he could take her to the swings. There was no mention of Angela, or the
fact that she had caught him with another woman by his bedside. She could feel her body tense as she thought of it now. The next thing is that he’ll be moving with Angela to Australia. Even though it would deprive Ella of a father figure as she grew up, there was part of Ruth that felt relieved at the thought of Dan being thousands of miles away.
As she headed for the multi-storey car park in Clapham Junction, her mind wandered fleetingly to the image of Safet Dudic’s blood-stained face in the bath. His darkened opaque eyes showing that all life had gone. At that moment, a red London bus slowed at the adjacent bus stop and its air brakes hissed loudly. It made Ruth flinch.
God. I really am quite jumpy.
Having paid for the parking ticket, Ruth went to get the lift to the fifth floor of the multi-storey. Yellow tape across the doors signalled that it was out of order.
Bloody great. Five flights of stairs with a pushchair and a toddler.
Folding up the pushchair, Ruth leant down to Ella. ‘Ella, we’ve got to go up all the stairs to the top. Is that going to be okay?’
Ella nodded. ‘Yep.’
‘Good girl,’ Ruth said, guiding her with her free hand and tucking the pushchair under her other arm.
This is going to be fun, she thought ironically.
Ella started going up the stairs one by one, then stopped for a moment and took one step back down.
It’s going to take a while.
‘Do you need a hand?’ said a voice.
Ruth looked back to see a tall man with a shaved head, and wearing a bomber jacket. He had some kind of accent, but she couldn’t place it.
I don’t like the look of him one bit.
Instantly, Ruth could feel herself tense. She felt incredibly vulnerable on the stairs with Ella and no one else around.
She looked at the man and shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine thanks.’
The man raised his eyebrow and smiled. ‘Really? I’ve got a son about her age. I know what it’s like.’
‘Thanks, but we’re okay,’ Ruth said, feeling increasingly uneasy.
‘Come on. My wife and son are waiting for me in the car. She’d never forgive me if I didn’t help you,’ he said as he gestured for her to hand him the pushchair.
He isn’t going to take no for an answer. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.
Diary of a War Crime Page 16
