by Joy Ellis
‘Mea culpa, my friend. Too many hours in smoke-filled rooms plotting how to make a million and get one over on you guys.’ He tried to laugh, but the coughing took over, sending Joseph hurrying for the water that stood on the table next to him.
‘Don’t talk. Just rest for a moment and I’ll tell you why I’m here.’
Archie shook his head, coughed again then whispered. ‘I know why you are here. This will pass. Just give me a minute.’
Joseph watched as the man fought to control his failing lungs. In his mind’s eye, Joseph imagined them, blackened, like two old and decrepit inner tubes. Two pieces of perished rubber straining to hold in the precious air that seeped noisily out through ragged holes and worn patches.
As Archie began to recover, Joseph looked around the room, and suddenly realised where they were. His first distressing sight of the older man had totally blanked out everything else, but now he realised that the small room was a teenager’s bedroom. And as soon as he saw the fading pink wallpaper and old photos of laughing girls and tanned, good-looking young men, he knew that he was in Lisa-Jane’s room.
Lisa-Jane, Archie’s niece and ward. Until she was murdered four years ago.
‘Don’t worry. I don’t sit here all day every day and think morbid thoughts.’ Archie was more in control of his voice now. ‘I just come here sometimes to remember. She was so beautiful.’
Joseph knew, although he had only met her after she became a temporary resident in the morgue. ‘She was.’
Archie sat back. ‘Now, let’s talk about Stephen Cox, shall we?’
Joseph nodded. ‘We have come under threat from someone with one serious grudge.’ He told Archie everything and watched as the man’s face darkened. ‘Nikki is convinced it is Cox. I’m not so sure.’ He paused. ‘We know he’s back, and he’s been seen at Cyn City and here on the Carborough . . . and I find that puzzling.’
‘Because of the Leonard family and our threat to tear his balls off if he ever set foot here again?’
‘Absolutely. Surely, if he had any sense at all, he’d avoid Greenborough, and your backyard in particular, like the plague?’
‘You’d have thought so, wouldn’t you? But he’s certainly been here.’ Archie gave him a tight smile. ‘The family try to keep things from me these days, but I have an ally. One who keeps me very well informed of absolutely everything. A friend of yours, as it happens.’ The smile widened.
‘Mickey.’
‘Mickey. My eyes and ears.’ Archie gave a contented smile. ‘He’s not blood, you know that, but I couldn’t love him more if he were my true grandson.’
‘I saw him at Hannah’s funeral. He’s a credit to Peter and Fran.’
‘And to you. If Sergeant Joe hadn’t believed in him, then my son and his wife would never have had the chance to take him in.’
Joseph gave Archie an enquiring glance. ‘At the funeral? They were there representing you?’
‘I had a bad day. And with a cough like mine the vicar would probably have thought he was cremating the wrong person.’ His hands were folded in his lap, and he looked down at them. ‘I wanted to go, to be there for Nikki. But in all honesty I think she’s seen enough illness and death recently, don’t you?’
‘So she doesn’t know about your health?’
‘She does, and she visited me a few days after the funeral. It upset her badly, so I told her to stay away, until we were both stronger.’
‘I wish she’d told me.’ Joseph hoped there wasn’t a peevish tone to his voice.
‘I told her not to, Joseph. Good Lord, I’m old news around here, and we’ve all got to go sometime. You young ones have busy lives.’ A sudden frown ate up his face. ‘And now you are being threatened?’
Joseph nodded.
‘I heard about that young policeman dying. I talked to Mickey about it, wondering if there was some connection to Cox. Mickey said he’d heard that Cox was back to settle something. The moment he arrived in that flea-pit of a pub, the Fisherman’s Knot, the slimeball was sent a message, one he would have had no trouble understanding. My eldest son, Raymond, gave Cox two hours to get out of Greenborough, or he would never leave here again, well, not on two feet.’ He gave a little shrug. ‘Most of the family, especially Peter and Fran, wholeheartedly support the regeneration scheme. They are sick of the old ways, the feuds, the jail sentences, and the constant looking over your shoulder, but not Raymond. He remembers the old days, he misses the way things were, and if I’m honest, he resents the change.’
‘And has Cox been seen since?’
‘Mickey reckons he’s gone to ground. He’s certainly not been seen around, but he hasn’t been seen leaving either.’
‘Do you know who he met in the pub?’
Archie gave a short rattle of a cough, then said, ‘Two strangers. Not locals. Mickey was told they had sharp suits and shoes that would have cost enough to feed a small starving nation.’
Joseph exhaled. ‘Not sure I like the thought of that. Sounds like a deal, or a meeting set up to plan something unholy.’
‘And Nikki Galena would be the only person that I know of who could draw that son of a bitch back here.’ His eyebrows drew together. ‘Despite our warnings.’
‘What’s your gut feeling, Archie?’
The older man sat back and rubbed thoughtfully at his chin. ‘In truth, I’m not sure. But watch that woman like a hawk, Joseph. Stephen Cox hates her and he’s risked everything by showing his ugly face on the Carborough. Whatever business he has here, it’s worth dying for.’ He pulled in a shaky breath. ‘So, as I said, watch her like a hawk.’
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As the evening shift began to settle in, Nikki sat in her office, wondering what the night would bring and staring at the notes she had just made. From what she had just heard from Holland, Operation Windmill was approaching the dénouement stage. It was all there and coming together fast. Which had sounded really good, until they realised that their combined efforts had opened an even bigger can of worms. Nikki’s joke about Rent-a-Crook was turning into something very unfunny indeed, and much bigger than one execution-style murder. The Dutch police had just told them that they had had a crack squad looking into the possibility of an international network with ‘specialists for hire,’ for almost a year.
She now understood how frustrated Joseph’s friend, Liam Feehily, must have felt, knowing that he was onto something huge, and then hearing the doors closing on him.
Nikki looked at her report. The two IT guys, Travis and Stuart had confirmed in their debriefing that the system used by the killer’s support team had been highly sophisticated. “Awesome” was their word for it.
She looked out of her open door and across to the CID room. Joseph was standing at his desk, pointing to his wrist watch and then waving a set of car keys at her. He mouthed the word, Cat.
Nikki nodded. Her head ached and she craved a long shower, a decent drink, and an even longer sleep. Not that she expected to get all three. It rarely worked out that perfectly. And she did want to see Cat. ‘Two minutes,’ she called back.
He gave her a thumbs-up and began tidying his desk.
Ten minutes later they were walking across the car park to where her father’s old car sat waiting. Thanks to Joseph it was now bug free, but just in case Snipe really had found a way to watch the peripherals of the police station, they played out a small charade for his benefit.
Joseph walked to his car and made to unlock it, then Nikki called out to him and pointed to the Countryman. ‘Leave yours here tonight. We don’t need two vehicles for one journey. Let’s take mine.’
Joseph nodded emphatically, then checked that his vehicle was locked and strolled across to her. Inside he said, ‘When exactly are the BAFTA awards?’
She threw him a disparaging look and said, ‘Sorry chum, but you’re not quite Hugh Grant.’
As they drove she told him about her meeting with the super, the Dutch Skype call and the debriefing of the IT team.
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‘Regarding Holland, they’ve also discovered some emails on Magda’s main works computer. Same thing, blocked IP address, so no way of tracing them.’ She smiled. ‘I think they were a bit miffed that we were already following the same line of enquiry.’
Joseph wiped a smear from the side window with a finger and said, ‘Mind if I pass on what we know about this Rent-a-Crook thing to Liam? I’m sure he’ll have no problem liaising with the Dutch police and sharing what intel he’s gathered. I don’t like the thought of some sinister underground network springing up with cells in and around major towns and cities, do you?’
‘No, and especially not if the damned organisation is mega-big, like worldwide, and we have an established cell right here in the Fens. No, go ahead and talk to him. I can give you the name of the Dutch detective in charge of the investigation. He sounded like he could do with a bit of help.’
They were almost at the hospital when Joseph told her that he had been to the florist who supplied the deadly flower bouquet, and afterwards called in on Archie Leonard.
On hearing his words she clamped down on her jaw and bit back rising anger. Then she realised how stupid it was. Why shouldn’t he visit Archie? She was more in the wrong than he was, for not telling him that the old man was ill.
‘I suppose you think I’ve been underhand, about Archie being sick.’ She pulled into the main gates of the hospital. ‘I should have said something, I know. It’s just that . . .’ She stopped, not knowing how to finish the sentence.
‘I understand, Nikki. You’ve had enough on your plate recently. You don’t have to justify anything.’
‘I do, because we’re a team and we don’t have secrets. It was stupid, but . . .’ She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t handle it. I’m sorry, Joseph, but I don’t think I’d cope if I lost someone else who is important to me.’ Nikki felt, and was sure she looked, wretched. She parked and pulled on the handbrake. ‘And Archie is important. Maybe he shouldn’t be, but he is.’
Joseph nodded and she knew that he felt the same. Okay, it was something of an unholy alliance, but they had been in some tough situations over the years and it had forged a bond, one that was hard to describe.
‘Come on.’ He gave her a smile and placed his hand on the door handle. ‘Enough of this, let’s go see our Cat, shall we?’
* * *
They stayed for half an hour. The visit began with tears, and ended in hilarity.
Totally against her wishes, Cat had been moved to a private room and was being barrier nursed. Not because she had contracted something nasty, but to protect her wounds from incoming infections. Seeing how low she was, Joseph used the gown, mask and gloves to do some very bad impressions of a demonic doctor hell-bent on stealing as many of her vital organs as he could. It did not take long for the tears to disappear.
When it was time to leave, Cat said, ‘I had another visitor just before you came in. Professor Wilkinson called in for a chat. He wondered if you’d go down to his department before you go home. He’s working late and might have some new results ready for you.’
‘Then we’d better get a move on.’ Joseph looked at his watch and frowned. ‘I’d like to get back to Cloud Fen before nightfall.’ Visions of what Snipe might have prepared for them suddenly crossed his mind and he became acutely grateful that they had Vinnie Silver close at hand.
They said goodbye and hurried down to the lower level of the hospital where Rory Wilkinson attended to the less fortunate inmates of Greenborough General.
Rory looked tired and exasperated. ‘Sorry, my dear little friends, but I’ve got you here on a wild goose chase.’ He stared at his computer as if he hated it. ‘I was faithfully promised the DNA result on the blood found in the boot of your car, but you can trust no one these days.’ He put on a peeved expression. ‘They’ve probably all gone home to a delicious cooked dinner, a cool glass of Chablis and a soft comfortable bed.’ He threw up his hands dramatically. ‘And here am I, starving to death, and up to my armpits in someone else’s entrails and gastric juices! Sometimes I think that life’s not very fair!’
‘Ditto,’ said Nikki with feeling. ‘But entrails apart, don’t worry about our wasted trip. It’s good to know that those results are imminent.’
‘You will have them the moment some lazy sod gets off his pretty little arse and sends them to me, I promise.’ Rory yawned. ‘And now I’m giving up the ghost and going home, before I get too tired and mix up my post-mortem findings.’
Joseph grinned. ‘Ah, not a good idea.’
‘Certainly not when you have two guests on your slabs, one a twenty stone, ninety-year-old above-knee amputee, and the other, a stick thin woman who’d been knocked over and killed whilst running for a bus.’
Nikki winced. ‘See your point. Maybe it is time to throw in the towel.’
* * *
It was an uneasy drive back to Cloud Fen, and as they drew closer, anxiety began to gnaw at Joseph’s guts. Snipe was devious, and there was no telling what his twisted mind had conjured up for his next vile surprise. Luckily, just as they were approaching Knot Cottage, Joseph had a text message from Vinnie, telling them that he had done a late recon of the area and as far as he could ascertain, all was quiet on the Eastern Front. He would ring them later on their safe phone and discuss his proposed plans.
Joseph unlocked the front door and put on the lights. He was naturally suspicious of what might lurk there, but it was as Vinnie had said, all quiet.
Joseph still erred on the side of caution and insisted on doing a careful walk-around check of every nook and cranny, something that fortunately didn’t take long in his small cottage. ‘Safe,’ he breathed. ‘For now.’
And then the house phone rang.
Every muscle in his body suddenly tensed to snapping point.
Snipe? He looked swiftly at Nikki and she seemed to have been carved from stone. A wide-eyed and hardening expression set on her face.
He moved across to the table and slowly lifted the receiver.
‘Dad?’
Relief flooded through him. ‘Tamsin?’
‘You have more than one daughter?’
He laughed out loud. ‘No, sweetheart, I’m just surprised to hear your voice.’
‘I hope that’s not a knock about how little I phone you?’
This was going to be tricky. Already she had him on the defensive, but that was hardly surprising, considering he had been expecting a psychotic killer.
‘Of course not. Hey, how are you?’
‘In a bit of a jam, actually.’ She gave an irritated snort. ‘That’s why I’m ringing. Oh, and I tried your mobile, is it switched off or something?’
Joseph’s earlier delight at hearing his daughter’s voice faded rapidly. ‘It’s an iffy signal, that’s all. What’s wrong?’
There was a short delay, then she said, ‘Can I crash at your place for a couple of days, Dad? I know it’s short notice, but I don’t have anyone else to turn to.’
Confusion and alarm swept over him. How could he let his only child walk into a situation as dangerous as this? Well, he couldn’t. Simple. But how the hell did he tell her, without her mind screaming one word, over and over. Rejection! Again.
After years of tearing down the wall of hurt, brick by brick, their relationship was slowly healing. Whatever happened now, he couldn’t afford to jeopardise it.
‘I’d love to see you, Tam. So tell me what’s happened?’ He spoke quickly so that she didn’t detect a ‘but’ in his voice.
‘Massive cock-up in my travel plans.’ She paused. ‘Look, Dad, can I explain when I get there? I’m on a friend’s PAYG mobile and there’s not much money on it.’
Joseph felt a stab of panic. ‘Where are you now?’
‘In a service station on the A1M. There’s some numbers on the wall. I’m going to try to get a cab.’
‘No. Don’t do that. Tell me exactly where you are and I’ll pick you up.’
‘Sorry . . . can’t hear y . . .�
� A crackling noise filled his ears.
‘Tamsin! Listen!’
Through the static he heard something that sounded like, “See you in an hour.”
A dozen scenarios flashed through his brain, and none of them was good.
Joseph dialled 1471 and pressed recall, but there was no service. He lowered the phone and looked helplessly at Nikki. ‘What do I do now? She can’t come here.’
Nikki looked at him nervously. ‘I know that. This place is about as safe as a haystack in a bushfire. But frankly, I’m more worried about something else.’
He felt a shiver as he saw her staring directly at the telephone. ‘Oh, shit! Tamsin rang on the house phone, didn’t she?’
Nikki nodded. She didn’t need to say any more, because they both knew that Snipe could still be listening to every word that was said.
And if he was, then he knew that Joseph’s precious daughter was on her way to Cloud Fen.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As Joseph tore himself to shreds worrying about Tamsin and their fragile relationship, Dave Harris was also worried sick.
He sat at his kitchen table and stared at the three opened letters that lay in front of him. One was a demand for settlement on an outstanding credit card account, the second was a polite reminder from the residential nursing home where his wife was being cared for, and the other, far less polite, was from a finance company that dealt with a hire purchase agreement that he had taken to buy a new three-piece suite.
He did what he always did in a crisis, and sipped at his mug of tea. As he did he decided that it had to be a horrible bank error. He had funds to pay for everything, and he was a stickler for paying his bills immediately they came in, especially where his wife’s care was concerned. It had to be some glorious bloody mistake.
Dave got up and walked through to the dining room where an old desktop computer sat on one end of the dining table. He hated doing this, but Cat had assured him that it was perfectly safe and had helped him set up online banking. At least he could check his bank account, even if it was almost eleven o’clock at night.
