Overdue Justice

by M A Comley

  “Oh crap indeed,” Katy said, clearly equally numb by what she was witnessing.

  “Can you fast-forward the disc?” Lorne asked the assistant.

  After viewing the next five minutes on the screen, Lorne had seen enough. “Come on, Katy, we need to go.”

  “Wait. Do you know this person?” Will asked.

  “Yes. Thanks for your help. We’ll be in touch soon.”

  She and Katy raced out to the car, and Lorne spotted another man speaking with a uniformed officer.

  “Just a tick.” Lorne reached the man and the officer within seconds. “Did you see something, sir?” she asked the man, flashing her ID.

  “Not really. I was telling the officer here that I passed a young woman in the alley there. She was carrying a canvas bag.”

  “Which way was she heading?”

  “Away from the bank.”

  “Thank you. Get the man’s statement down, we’ll chase it up soon,” she instructed the officer.

  They returned to the car and Katy drove to the Frosts’ address. En route, Lorne rang the station and requested backup to meet them at the house. Another patrol car arrived the same time they did.

  “We need to be careful, lads. The occupants could be armed and dangerous,” Lorne warned.

  “Want to wait for an Armed Response Team?” Katy suggested.

  “That could take hours. We’re all wearing stab vests, let’s take a punt.”

  Katy yanked on Lorne’s arm and pointed to the neighbour hanging over the hedge between the two houses.

  Lorne approached the woman, keeping an eye on the Frosts’ house at the same time. “Hello, Mrs Lewis. Can we help?”

  “Hello again. When you left earlier there was an almighty ruckus inside, lots of shouting. Thought I heard a few yelps from the girls as if he’d struck them.”

  “Okay. Have you seen anyone leave the house since?”

  “Yes, the two girls. I reckon they’ve had enough of their old man and left him.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “They took the car—not before they loaded it up with a few bags, though. Why would they do that when they’ve only just got back off holiday?”

  “Why indeed. Thanks for your help. Please, go back inside. Things might get a little hairy around here in a moment.”

  “Oh dear. Thanks for the warning.” The old lady scampered inside her house and slammed the front door shut behind her.

  Katy nudged her arm. “What are you thinking?”

  “That we need to get in there, warrant or no warrant.”

  Two uniformed officers were lingering close by.

  “Break the door down.”

  The larger of the two men shoulder-charged the door, and it gave way on the first attempt.

  Lorne followed the officers into the lounge and immediately urged them back outside. “Cordon it off as a murder scene.”

  “Shit,” Katy said. “What about the girls?”

  Lorne was already on the phone to the station. “Mick, get me a location on a vehicle as soon as you can.”

  “Reg number, ma’am?”

  “I don’t know, you’ll have to look it up. The car will be registered to an Isaac Frost of five Goodall Road. Be quick, man.”

  “On it now, ma’am. Want me to call you back when I have the info?”

  “Do that.” Lorne hung up and raked a hand through her hair. “Damn, I had a feeling I should have trusted my gut.”

  “What? You thought the girls were the killers?”

  “No, not that as such, but something wasn’t sitting right with me. Bugger.” Her phone rang.

  “Ma’am, we’ve got a location on the vehicle. It’s fifteen miles from where you are now. Want me to get a patrol car to pull it over?”

  “Not yet, give me the location. I’ll shoot over there. Tell your lot to keep the car under observation for now. Give them my phone number and tell them to keep in touch.”

  “Will do, ma’am. Good luck.”

  She ended the call, bolted back to the car with Katy and set off. “Shit, my stomach hurts.”

  “Have you got any painkillers in your bag?”

  Lorne searched her bag with her fingers crossed. “Phew, yes. Can I have a swig of your water?”

  “Go for it. I hope it doesn’t taste tainted, it’s a few days old.”

  Lorne grabbed the bottle from the centre console, popped the pill and washed it down with the water. She shuddered as the pill eased down her throat.

  Katy again used the siren, and within a few minutes they received a call from the car tailing the Frosts.

  “Yes, where are you?”

  “Coming up to the junction for the M1, ma’am. Want us to intervene before they join it?”

  “You’re going to have to. We’re five minutes away.”

  “Roger that, ma’am.”

  Lorne ended the call and rested her head back against the seat. “Shit, I really am getting too old for this malarkey.”

  “No, you’re not. Once the pain subsides, you’ll be raring to go again.” Katy swerved around a car dawdling on the open road ahead of them. “Bloody Sunday drivers. Wrong day of the week, love,” she shouted, looking at the car in her mirror.

  “Get us there in one piece, but put your foot down,” Lorne ordered, the pain subsiding in her tummy. Her phone rang again.

  “Ma’am, it’s PC Jobbs. We’ve used a stinger and stopped the car. Two women are inside the vehicle.”

  “Okay, we’re here now. We’ll take over.”

  Katy yanked on the handbrake, and they leapt out of the car to join the uniformed officers trying to persuade the girls to leave the vehicle.

  Lorne’s gaze fixed on Claire’s.

  She finally opened the window to speak with her. “You, you have to help us.”

  “Why, what have you done, Claire?”

  “We want to leave. These officers won’t allow us to do that.”

  “Why do you want to leave?”

  “Kathryn and I are going to start a new life.”

  “A new life, now that your father is dead?”

  “You know?”

  Lorne nodded. “All the names on that list are now dead, aren’t they, Claire, and you did it, am I right?”

  Claire bowed her head in shame. “They deserved it.”

  “Why? What did they do to you?”

  Claire shook her head slowly. “I can’t say it. I live with the nightmares every day. I had to prevent myself from going insane. Kathryn had nothing to do with the murders. I used to sneak out when father was asleep. Please, you don’t know what we’ve had to contend with over the years at the hands of these men.”

  “You have my word that we’ll try and get a deal for you, Claire. You were in an intolerable situation, one that most people wouldn’t have survived.”

  Tears puddled onto her cheek. “Our mother left us with him, and he…he pimped us out. Starved us most of the time. I had to protect us. Kathryn needed protecting, and I was only too happy to take on that responsibility when I was younger.”

  “I admire you for sticking up for your sister; however, you still killed the abusers, Claire. That will carry consequences. Get out of the car, please.”

  Claire glanced at her sister. Kathryn nodded and began sobbing. Claire opened the door and stepped out. One of the officers rushed to put the cuffs on her.

  “Hey, take it easy, she’s suffered enough.” Lorne smiled at Claire, an understanding of what it was like to be raped swimming through her.

  Claire travelled with the uniformed officers while Kathryn rode back to the station with Katy and Lorne. The car was silent except for the sound of Kathryn crying in the back. Lorne swallowed down the knot of emotion tearing at her throat.

  She meant what she’d said. She would do anything in her power to ensure the girls got a lesser sentence—if Kathryn was charged, that was debatable given the evidence against her.

  Epilogue

  The interviews with Claire
and her sister proved to be both revealing and heartbreaking at the same time. Lorne spent most of the time emotionally wrought and on the verge of tears. It was evident that not only Claire’s spirit had been broken by these despicable men, but her whole life had been destroyed beyond recognition.

  As for her sister, Kathryn, it would appear that Claire had sacrificed so much more in order to protect her. Lorne figured that had the men only abused Claire from a young age, she could have lived with that and not have been tempted to set out on a trail of revenge. Claire revealed how devastated she’d felt the first time her sister had been raped. She’d almost slit her own wrists with her father’s razor blade but didn’t have the courage to leave her sister, knowing what the bastards would do to Kathryn if she wasn’t around to fend them off.

  To Lorne, there were two types of serial killer in operation in this world: the predatory serial killers and those who became serial killers out of necessity. The only way they could save their own lives was to rob the people, who had either raped or abused them over the years, of their own. Which left Lorne wondering how many more Claires there were in this world who had been driven to such lengths to free themselves.

  Lorne’s heart went out to the girls as she and Katy watched them being loaded up in the van and heading off to the remand centre. What a contrast this had been to the previous case where the perpetrator had knifed her, putting her in hospital. Claire and her sister seemed decent enough people who’d been driven to kill by the circumstances inflicted upon them by their own wicked father. She would do everything in her power to get that message across to the Crown Prosecution Service, if it was the last thing she ever did as a serving police officer in the Met.

  The team’s celebrations at the pub that night had been somewhat subdued, everyone realising what tragic conditions the girls must have lived in all their lives.

  Even Sean Roberts was quiet at the pub that night.

  Lorne leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Are you okay?”

  He turned and smiled at her. “I suppose so. More upset about saying goodbye to you if you must know.”

  “I’ll still be on the end of the phone, Sean. It’s time I moved on. Solving this case has taught me that.”

  “We’ll miss you. I know you’ve resigned in the past and come back. Retirement is different, though. There’s no going back this time, Lorne. I just want to emphasise that point to you.”

  She smiled. “I appreciate your concern. There’s no need for you to worry. Tony and I are definitely doing the right thing going to Norfolk.”

  He raised a glass and shouted, “To Lorne Simpkins/Warner, one of the best coppers the Met has ever had the fortune of having.”

  She blushed as the whole team stood and raised their glasses amidst, “To the guvnor, to the boss,” from all the team except Katy.

  She was staring at Lorne with tears welling up. “To my dearest friend and colleague, you’ll be sorely missed.”

  Those words set them both off.

  Lorne hugged Katy hard. “You’ll go on to fill my shoes, love. I have no doubt about that.”

  Half an hour later, and Lorne said her farewells to her team. She left the group, throwing over her shoulder, “Don’t forget the barbecue on Sunday, folks. I’m looking forward to meeting all your families.”

  Sean’s head dropped, and Lorne groaned, realising she hadn’t invited him because of the debacle with the retirement form.

  “You know the address, Sean. Two o’clock at our gaff.”

  His gaze met hers. He beamed and raised his glass. “I’ll be there.”

  On the drive home, Lorne struggled to hold back the tears. When she walked through the back door of the house, Tony rushed across the room and hugged her.

  “My God, are you all right? Is it your stomach?”

  “No. I’m fine. Me being foolish, that’s all.”

  “Ah, I get it. Your final farewell drink with the team.”

  “Yep, one never to be repeated,” she replied sullenly.

  “You’ll see them all in a few days. Let’s make this barbecue one they’ll never forget. The forecast is good, and I began buying the food today, trying to get ahead.”

  “You’re amazing. Thank you, love.”

  They shared the longest of kisses.

  It was chaotic on Sunday morning. Charlie and Brandon arrived around ten to lend them a hand with setting up the barbecue and all the tables outside in the paddock. Tony was right, the sun was ensuring that the day was a glorious one from the outset.

  Everything was in place for when the guests started turning up at five minutes to two. Katy, AJ and Georgina were the first to arrive.

  Lorne found it an emotional day but also one filled with love and happiness.

  Somewhere around six, Sean disappeared. Lorne saw him reappear and stand at the end of the table. Someone switched the music off, and everyone’s attention turned his way.

  “Lorne, if you’d care to join me.”

  Tony kissed her on the forehead when she glanced up at him, puzzled. “Go.”

  She was feeling a little tipsy. She’d only had a couple of glasses of wine what with her still being on the course of painkillers. “Sean? What’s this all about?”

  He reached behind him and picked up some form of trophy from the table. “It is with the greatest of honour, I present to you a long service award from the Met. The police force will never be the same without you, Lorne Simpkins/Warner.”

  Her mouth gaped open, and she struggled to hold back the dam which had burst. Finally finding her voice, she said, “Oh gosh, I never expected this. Tony, I hope you’ve saved some of that bubble wrap for this beauty?”

  The crowd laughed.

  “It’s all in hand, don’t worry,” he shouted back, his expression full of pride.

  “Thank you. None of this would have been possible without the best team around by my side. Take a bow, the lot of you. I’m going to miss you all; however, I’m passing over the baton to someone more than capable of filling my shoes.” She held out a hand for Katy to take.

  They shared a hug.

  Charlie joined them for a group hug, her own tears flowing freely. “Mum, we have one more surprise for you.”

  Lorne frowned and waited for her daughter to continue.

  Sean moved position and stood between Katy and Charlie, an arm around each of their shoulders. “Welcome to the new A-Team. Katy will be filling your shoes, and Charlie has agreed to join the team and work alongside her.”

  “What? Why didn’t someone tell me?” She shot a glance in Tony’s direction.

  He was laughing and raised his glass.

  “It was only a matter of time before another Simpkins joined the team,” he shouted.

  As much as she tried to stem the flow of tears, she found it impossible. Pulling Charlie into her arms, she whispered, “I’m so damn proud of you, young lady. You’ve come a long way in such a short time.”

  “Enjoy your retirement, Mum. We all love you and wish you the best with the challenges that lie ahead of you.”

  Tony and Brandon joined them for another group hug.

  Lorne’s heart was ready to explode; she was surrounded by people who loved her. She truly was the luckiest woman alive.

  THE END

  NOTE TO THE READER

  Dear reader,

  I hope you enjoyed the final ever Justice book, it’s time for Lorne and the team to go their separate ways, but watch out for a spin-off series starring Katy and Charlie early 2020.

  If you enjoy my work, perhaps you’ll consider reading some of the other series I have penned over the past few years. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the Ellie Brazil PI series. The first book is SOLE INTENTION

  As always, thank you for choosing to read my book out of the millions available today. If you could find it in your heart to leave a review, I’d truly appreciate it, I read every single one of them.

  M. A. Comley

  nbsp; M A Comley, Overdue Justice