Huntress

by Amanda Radley

  “It was only a few days ago,” Julie continued. “She’d called the police about it. But they were useless.”

  Claudia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This potentially critical piece of information was still swimming around the antiquated police database. She wondered how long it would have taken to reach her if she hadn’t used her initiative and come to visit Julie Hewitt herself.

  “Yes, they often are,” Claudia agreed. “Do you know anything else about Cara? A surname? Anything that I could use to find her?”

  Julie thought for a moment but shook her head. “No, just that she was older than Amy. In her thirties. A bit exotic, I think. Maybe Spanish? Other than that, nothing. She came in every day, they spoke. One day she stopped showing up.”

  “I see.” Claudia filed the information away. Something told her that it was relevant. “Would you mind if I ask you some other questions about Amy?”

  An hour later, Claudia got back into her car. She threw her phone into the drinks holder and waited for the Bluetooth connection between her car and her phone to be established. She started to drive away from the Hewitt house, pressed a button on the steering wheel, and asked it to, “Call Mark.”

  The car filled with the sound of a ringing tone.

  “Hi, how did it go?” Mark asked.

  “She thinks her little girl is an angel who can do no wrong. I didn’t learn a lot, in fact I think we already know more about Amy than she does. But I did find out one thing,” Claudia told him. “I need you to look for a needle in a haystack.”

  “I enjoy nothing more. What is it?”

  Claudia smiled. “A woman in her thirties, possible Spanish origin. Her name is Cara. She went to Tom’s every day, early in the morning, before suddenly stopping a few days ago. Amy reported her missing to the local police.”

  “Anything else?”

  Claudia chuckled. “I thought you liked a challenge?”

  She could hear Mark typing. “I’ll see what I can find... Hold on...”

  There was the sound of a mouse clicking and more typing. He changed tacks. “I have a hit on the facial recognition. They were at Kings Cross. Tracking their exact movements now.”

  “Kings Cross? That means north,” Claudia surmised. She accessed her satellite navigation system and plotted the nearest route to the M1, the quickest route to the north of the country.

  “I... I can’t follow them,” Mark said. “I see them, but then they walk out of sight. Dammit, they’re looking at the cameras, they are actively avoiding them.”

  “So, they know we are using the cameras to find them. The fact that they are avoiding them is good information in itself.” Claudia turned the car around, following the route to the motorway.

  “The last I see of them, they are heading down towards the platforms. There’s three platforms there, I’m just going to get the train data for those platforms at that time.”

  “What time were they there?” Claudia asked.

  “The first sign I see of them is just after six, hiding in the commuter crowds. They head towards the platforms at eight forty-two.”

  “They were waiting a long time,” Claudia mused. “Sitting in a mainline London station for nearly three hours, you don’t do that in the most surveilled state in the world. Not unless you are waiting for a very specific train.”

  “One platform wasn’t used during that time, one was running trains to Cambridge, the other to Edinburgh.”

  “It’s Edinburgh, has to be,” Claudia concluded. She had no further evidence than her gut telling her that the girls wouldn’t be going to Cambridge. Edinburgh seemed like the best bet. Far from the original scene of the crime. Most suspects seemed to feel that distance made them safer.

  “Ha!” Mark exclaimed. “They’re clever. Oh, this is good. The Edinburgh train was old rolling stock. These trains were withdrawn from service in 2005, but some still operate on the East Coast line. It was built between 1975 and 1988, and has no linked CCTV.”

  “Perfect, well done, Mark.” Claudia smiled. “So, Edinburgh. What time should they arrive?” She started to set a new journey on her satnav.

  She heard a few keystrokes. “Twenty past one in the morning.”

  “I’ll be arriving between seven and eight in the morning. That gives them quite a head start. I need you to keep on the CCTV footage in Edinburgh. We need to know if they make an onward journey or if they leave the station.”

  “I’m requesting that data now. I’ll watch it live, and I’ll let you know what I see.”

  “I have a good feeling about this, Mark.”

  Mark chuckled. “I’m glad you’re feeling positive. You’ll need that considering the journey you have in front of you. Make sure you stop and eat something.”

  Claudia rolled her eyes. She ignored the mothering from a man ten years her junior.

  “Did you get anywhere with the footage from the services? I’ll be interested to see more details of the initial getaway.”

  “No,” Mark sounded perplexed. “I’m finding that strangely difficult to get hold of.”

  “‘Strangely difficult’ sounds intriguing. Stay on it.”

  “I will,” Mark agreed. “I’ll call you with an update within the next couple of hours.”

  Claudia revved the car up as she joined the motorway. “I’ll be here,” she sighed.

  10

  First Night

  Amy stomped in Kerry’s footprints so she didn’t get bogged down in the sticky mud. She blew strands of sweaty hair away from her forehead and let out a sigh. They had realised that the train line would be swarming with police following Amy’s stupid decision to call her mum and agreed that best course of action was to get off the train and away from the entire line.

  Two hours ago they had disembarked the train in Darlington. Darlington was big and loud, even at eleven o’clock on a Thursday night. They decided to start walking out of town, randomly choosing a north-easterly direction. Since then they had walked as far as possible; hoping to put distance between themselves and the railway line.

  They hadn’t said a word to each other during the entire hike down narrow country lanes and through parkland. Anger radiated off Kerry in waves and Amy had given up trying to get back into her good books. Amy was relieved when Kerry finally pointed to a field and mumbled something about finding a spot to set up their tents.

  The silence had caused Amy’s mind to drift. It wasn’t long before she started to think about Cara, and the whole reason they were in a darkened field, tired and exhausted. Not for the first time, Amy wondered where Cara was and what she was mixed up in.

  Cara had seemed so nice, so innocent and kind. Amy was leaning towards the assumption that Cara was being blackmailed or coerced in some way to do something illegal. She recounted their previous conversations, searching for clues or even a subtle cry for help. Nothing immediately came to her. She cursed herself for being too swept up in her crush to see anything else.

  She looked up at the sky. It was almost pitch black, only the dim glow of the full moon lit their way. Wispy clouds skittered over the moon’s surface, casting spooky shadows.

  Amy’s legs felt like lead pipes, and she couldn’t even feel her toes anymore. Her hands and feet were cold while her torso was burning up from all the layers and the pressure of the rucksack. She had to stop. She had to rest.

  “Here’s good,” Amy shouted towards Kerry. She was convinced that Kerry would walk for another two hours if she wasn’t stopped.

  Kerry turned around and regarded the spot where Amy stood. She shrugged and released the straps of her rucksack.

  “Are you going to speak to me ever again?”

  Kerry trudged back towards her. “Maybe. When I don’t feel like every other word will be a swear word.”

  Amy removed her own rucksack. “That’s never stopped you before.”

  Kerry hid a burgeoning smile behind her hand as she scratched at her cheek.

  “I’m sorry,” Amy said. “I know I�
�ve said it already, but I want you to know that I really am sorry. I know that calling my mum was really stupid, and I should have spoken to you. We have to stick together.”

  Kerry glared at her. After a few seconds, she heaved a large sigh.

  “Fine,” she mumbled, unable to maintain her anger any longer. “But seriously, don’t pull any stupid shit like that again.”

  Amy felt a grin form on her face. She launched herself at her best friend and wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you, thank you. I’m sorry. I’ll stop being an idiot now. I promise.”

  Kerry put her arms around her and squeezed. “Well, let’s not make promises we can’t keep.”

  Amy laughed. They pulled apart and Kerry shrugged her rucksack off her shoulders. They stood beside each other, their bags on the muddy ground. They both looked around the field.

  “So, I’m guessing you have no idea how to put a tent up either?” Kerry eventually asked.

  “Pitch.”

  “What?”

  “Pitch,” Amy repeated. “You don’t put a tent up. You pitch a tent.”

  “Well, excuse me.” Kerry tucked her hands into her coat pockets. “Do you know how to pitch a tent? Because it’s bloody freezing.”

  Amy opened her bag and dug around inside. Her hand latched onto smooth metal. She grabbed onto the torch and handed it to Kerry. “Hold this.”

  Kerry switched the torch on and pointed it into Amy’s rucksack. Amy peered into the bag and shuffled the contents around as she looked.

  “Ah, here it is. I was going to read this on my tea break at work, but we were kinda busy.”

  “Running away from the police, yeah, I remember.”

  Amy pulled out a big yellow book and waved it towards Kerry.

  “Camping for Dummies? Really?” Kerry shivered and stomped her feet on the ground.

  Amy stood up and opened the book to the first marked page. “Well, we don’t know anything, so we might as well consult the experts. I’m sure it will tell us everything we need to know.”

  “It better,” Kerry said. “Because I think our chances of survival rest on it.”

  “If it doesn’t, it will make excellent kindling for a fire.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Kerry shone the light onto the book, and between them they started to read about the basics of camping.

  They read like they had done for years, each holding a half of the book. Amy skimmed to the bottom of the page and waited for Kerry’s small nod that she too had finished. Then Amy would turn the page.

  “Sorry I’ve been a moody bitch,” Kerry mumbled.

  “It’s okay, it’s my fault we’re even in this situation,” Amy admitted.

  “I’m glad I arrived when I did,” Kerry said. “If something happened to you, or if you were doing this on your own…”

  “I’d be caught within half an hour?” Amy joked.

  Kerry chuckled. “Maybe. But I’m glad I’m with you. It’s kind of hitting me how serious this is.”

  Amy licked her dry lips. The thought had occurred to her as well. The further they travelled, the more the invisible noose around her neck seemed to tighten.

  “We’re doing the right thing,” Kerry announced, as much for her own sake as for Amy’s.

  “We are. I’m not giving up this USB until I know I’m handing it to the right people. Or until someone takes it from my cold, dead hand.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Kerry said. “I’m not explaining that to your mum.”

  11

  First Clue

  Claudia bit into the sandwich and ruffled her nose at the strong, unpleasant flavour. She put the sandwich back into its packet and threw it into the plastic bag on the passenger seat. She was hungry, but not that hungry. She swallowed down some water to get rid of the taste, wondering how a simple sandwich could go so wrong.

  She’d been driving for two hours, and the roads were completely empty, allowing her to push the speed limit just enough to make good time. It wasn’t her first time driving across the country in the middle of the night, and it certainly wouldn’t be her last. But it was tedious, and the nagging worry that she might have made the wrong call itched at her brain. Driving to Edinburgh only to find that the suspects were actually in Cornwall would be a nightmare scenario that she couldn’t cope with. Especially with the case being such an important one.

  She accessed her phone directory and called Andrew at MI5. It was getting late, but she knew he’d be in the office non-stop until the case was closed.

  “Claudia,” he greeted.

  “Andrew, what have you got?” She didn’t have time for pleasantries. Her abrupt greeting was also more likely to throw him off course and cause him to give out information that perhaps he shouldn’t in the heat of the moment. Andrew was stuck in his ways; he was getting a little older and a little slower. Claudia wasn’t above using that to her advantage.

  “A complete mess, that’s what I’ve got,” he replied gruffly.

  “Nothing new then.” Claudia looked at the satnav screen. She was approaching Sheffield, a little under halfway into her journey.

  “We had report of a sighting, all our people converged on the location, and it wasn’t them.”

  Claudia held back a snort of laughter as Andrew sounded like he was having a total sense of humour failure.

  “And where was this location?”

  “Fucking Brighton,” Andrew said. “Now we have a report of a mobile phone being used in Shipton by Beningbrough. In case you’re not up on your backwater villages of the United Kingdom, that’s in North Yorkshire. Two hundred and seventy-five bloody miles away.”

  Claudia sat up a little straighter. “A mobile phone was used?”

  “Yes. Amy rang home. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

  I knew it, Claudia thought. Julie Hewitt must have just got off the phone with Amy when she’d arrived. Her anger at Julie’s withholding of information was short-lived as the confirmation she was heading in the correct direction came as a relief.

  “My lips are sealed.” Claudia tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m actually just by Sheffield, South Yorkshire, if that makes you feel any better.”

  “That does make me feel a lot better.” Andrew let out a breath. “Always a few steps ahead of the others, aren’t you, Claudia?”

  “Not always.” Her voice wavered at the admission.

  She heard Andrew swallow nervously. She rubbed her eyes. “Anyway,” she said, changing the subject. Old wounds didn’t need to be dredged up just because she was tired. The unspoken thing had permanently shaken her confidence. Not seeing something that was right in front of you could be devastating. More so when you had built a career around seeing through other people’s crap.

  “I never did apologise to you,” Andrew blurted out.

  Claudia shook her head and briefly looked heavenwards. “You never needed to.”

  “She’s my daughter, I feel... I feel responsible.”

  “You’re not responsible for your daughter’s wandering eyes.” And hands.

  “Well, still, I’m sorry. I set you both up.”

  Claudia felt her throat dry and her eyes water. “It was a long time ago. Anyway, I really do need to go if I’m to bring these two in. I’ll keep you updated.”

  She terminated the call and sucked in a deep breath, gripping the wheel a little tighter as she did. It was all water under the bridge. But that didn’t stop her heart from pulsing a little harder when she thought about it. In hindsight, she didn’t know whether she was more angry at the betrayal of the affair or because she hadn’t been able to read the signs.

  She brushed her fingers through her hair and blinked a few times to clear her vision. Now was not the time to dwell on the past or become emotional. She had a job to do.

  She pressed the call button on the steering wheel to ring Mark for an update.

  “Hi, I was just about to call you.” He sounded muffled.

  “Are you eating?”<
br />
  “Yeah, a halloumi burger from the twenty-four-hour place across the street.”

  Claudia felt her stomach rumble with jealousy. “I think I hate you.”

  “I won’t mention the cheesy chips then.”

  “You’re fired.”

  “Does that mean I can go home, have a life, sleep in my own bed?”

  Claudia grinned. “You’re unfired. What have you got?”

  “They didn’t get off the train at Edinburgh. I checked every camera twice and nothing. I’m really sorry, but this might be a wild goose chase.”

  Claudia shook her head, despite knowing that Mark couldn’t see her. “I just spoke with Andrew. Amy called home, they tracked it to Shipton by Bening-somewhere? In North Yorkshire. I knew Julie Hewitt had spoken to her, I could see it in her eyes.”

  “Shipton by Beningbrough,” Mark said. “I have it on a map here, it’s about five miles north of York.”

  Claudia narrowed her eyes as she evaluated the new information. She reached into the open bag of crisps atop the dashboard and started to eat a few.

  “The train did make a stop at York. The question is, was she on the train passing through Shipton by Beningbrough or had they already left the train?” Mark pondered and Claudia heard the sound of keystrokes in the background. “This place has a population of less than a hundred people.”

  “What’s the next station stop after York?” Claudia asked.

  “Darlington,” Mark replied. “You think they got off there?”

  Claudia stared ahead at the road. She pieced together the information they knew so far and attributed most likely assumptions where appropriate. “You think they got on the Kings Cross to Edinburgh. A call was made in North Yorkshire. They didn’t get off the train in Edinburgh, which means they got off somewhere before. What stops are between Darlington and Edinburgh?”