by Dan Latus
To quieten the stream of abuse that followed, I let Tom say a few words to shut her up. Then he told Julie he was OK. I took the phone back and switched it off.
‘Will they turn back?’ I asked.
He just shrugged.
That’s what I thought, too. Who could tell?
‘What’s your aunt doing with Julie?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Are they friends?’
‘I really don’t know. I don’t know anything any more. I’ve been out of circulation a year, remember?’
‘Well, at least you know Julie isn’t on her own. So you don’t need to worry about her.’
I didn’t think he accepted that any more than I did myself. Realistically, there were now two potential hostages out there somewhere. I just hoped they had the sense to give up and turn back before they ran into trouble.
The cottage didn’t look any better than the first time I’d seen it. Cold, dark, damp and miserable was how I summed it up, but I kept those thoughts to myself.
‘First, we’ll get a fire going,’ I said cheerfully. ‘Then we’ll sit back and take stock.’
Tom took himself off to explore, while I set about getting some kindling going and then feeding the flames with well-chosen logs. Fortunately, the pile of logs beside the hearth seemed drier than the building itself. It would be a while before the fire did much to dispel the cold and the damp, but the sight and sound of it gave me a psychological boost.
‘Two bedrooms,’ Tom said, when he returned from his inspection of the upper floor.
I nodded.
‘I’ll get our stuff out of the car,’ he added. ‘Is it locked?’
‘Yeah.’
I fished the keys out of my pocket and tossed them to him.
‘It’s going nicely now,’ he said, looking over my shoulder.
I grinned at him. ‘Ex-boy scouts all know how to make a fire.’
‘Is that what you were?’
‘Briefly. They chucked me out before I learned much else.’
‘What for?’
‘Chiefly, for starting fires in places they didn’t want them.’
He liked that. He humphed with amusement, and left me to nurture the flames.
It was only when I heard the car engine start a minute or two later that I realized Tom still wasn’t on my side, after all.
Chapter Seventeen
The phone rang. Blue glanced at it and pressed the button.
‘Yes, Eddie?’
‘The girl? She’s been picked up by that other woman – the wife’s sister.’
‘Steele’s sister-in-law?’
‘Yeah – whatever. They’re going somewhere. The girl had a bag.’
‘What kind of bag? A shopping bag?’
‘No. A leather thing.’
‘Overnight bag?’
‘Something like that. What do you want us to do?’
‘Follow them. If they look to be heading anywhere interesting, let me know and I’ll catch you up.’
Afterwards, he wondered if this might be the lead he’d been waiting for. It might be. The two women together? They were probably just going shopping, whatever Eddy thought, but … you never could tell.
Just as well, after the fiasco at the motorway service area. The guy with the Steele kid, the PI, had been pretty good. He had to give him that. They’d had him cornered but he’d reacted quicker than them, and got away with it. God knew where they were now.
That bloody PI! He should have just shot the bastard when he had the chance. Trying to scare him off hadn’t worked worth a damn. What did it matter if he was friendly with the cops? If the guy was dead, what difference did that make?
Still, with a bit of luck, the women Eddie was following might let them catch up. They needed that, a bit of luck. Logan was getting impatient, and he wasn’t the only one. They had to get things moving. Otherwise heads would roll – literally.
He couldn’t really give a damn about Logan but there were people he didn’t want to upset, and they were not the most patient or understanding people in the world. Even he, with his record, had to be careful where they were concerned.
‘Is he always like that?’ Manny asked Eddie, after he hung up.
‘Like what?’
‘You know – pushy.’
Eddie smiled and focused on driving for a few moments.
‘He’s good,’ he said eventually. ‘The best I’ve ever worked with. He gets things right, and he gets them done.’
Manny pushed the cigarette lighter in and took out a packet of Marlboros. ‘Too bossy for my liking.’
‘He is the boss. Nobody better than Blue.’
‘Yeah, well. That’s another thing – his name. What’s his first name?’
Eddie was stumped. He didn’t know.
‘It’s a funny name,’ Manny persisted. ‘Blue? Where’s that come from?’
‘No idea.’
Eddie wasn’t comfortable with this conversation. It felt disloyal.
‘And the other day,’ Manny said, ‘he was talking in a foreign language – French, I think – on the phone. That’s another funny thing.’
Eddie had to agree. That was strange. But then again, he had no idea where Blue had come from, or what his history was. He was a clever bloke, though. He knew that much. Tough, as well.
‘Intelligent people tend to speak more than one language,’ he said loftily.
‘Yeah, right,’ Manny said. ‘So why don’t you and me?’
Eddie laughed and shook his head.
‘Where are these two going?’ he asked, a little worried now, as they headed ever deeper into the darkness of the countryside.
‘No idea. Not shopping, anyway. We haven’t seen a single light anywhere for the last half hour.’
‘I’d better call Blue again.’ Eddie nodded to himself, decision taken. ‘Maybe this is what we’ve been waiting for.’
Chapter Eighteen
There was no doubt about it – the little bastard was gone. Shit!
I stood outside the cottage and swore savagely as the tail lights of the Volvo faded and finally disappeared. This was all I needed. Whatever had possessed me to give him the bloody keys? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
I glanced up at the blackness overhead but there was no comfort there. Not a star in sight, less still a moon. If it hadn’t been for the dim light escaping from the cottage window behind me, I would have been able to see nothing at all now the car was gone.
What to do?
I went back inside and took out my phone, intent on hiring a car from somewhere. No chance. There wasn’t even one bar visible. No reception at all. I cursed that, too. I would have been better off in the middle of the Sahara than here in the hills of Northumberland.
There was only one thing for it. I propped a fireguard in front of the blaze I had created in the hearth, collected my still unpacked bag and blew out the candles. Bad night for it or not, I was walking.
It started to snow, and within a few minutes it was coming down heavily. Backed by an easterly wind, the snow was driving hard into my face. I pulled the hood of my jacket up. Then I got my head down and concentrated on the walking.
Visibility was next to non-existent. Even staying on the road was difficult. It was hard to see where it was in places, there was so little difference between the single-lane strip of tarmac and the ground to either side now the whole lot was covered with an inch or two of snow. I battled on at a derisory pace, often uncertain if I was walking on road or moor.
Then I bumped into something big and soft that moved, and I froze with shock. The thing snorted and twitched, knocking me sideways into something similar. That, too, moved, as did something behind me. I stood stock still, pulse racing, my senses paralysed for a moment.
Awareness returned. And my sense of smell. I realized I was in the middle of a herd of cattle spread across the road.
Not a good situation to be in. Cattle are big and heavy, and fiercely protective of their young,
and I had disturbed them. They had been standing quietly, stoically, packed close together for defence against wind and snow. Now they were restless, sensing my intrusion but not knowing what or where I was. If I stirred them into moving en masse, they would make mush of me.
I edged sideways gingerly, scarcely daring to breathe. A blast of hot, moist air in my face told me I was close to one end or the other of something big. I froze again.
The thing lurched away, creating a small space. I moved on, heart pounding. I couldn’t see a thing. There was just blackness before my eyes, and a swirling, hissing fusillade of sharp particles driving into my face.
At last I reached a point where my outstretched left hand felt nothing but space. I kept going and with relief found I was free of the herd at last. I stumbled into a ditch, and icy water gurgled and soaked my lower legs. Grimly, I scrambled out and pressed on until I sensed the herd was well behind me and I could reclaim the road.
Soon after that the snow eased and I was able to make better progress. But I had a long way to go still. Ten miles from the cottage to the village? I reckoned I had encountered the cattle three or four miles along the road. At least six to go, then. Nothing for it but to bash on.
Nearly three hours after setting out, I saw my first light. Just the one, from an isolated farmhouse, but it gave me hope. Another twenty minutes and I was entering the outskirts of the village. I was pretty knackered by then but adrenaline kept me going all the way to the pub where Tom and I had briefly set down our bags. The Volvo was parked right outside. I scowled and headed for the entrance.
Things were quiet inside. A couple of middle-aged working men in hi-vis jackets occupied high stools at the bar. Two young women I recognized sat at a table nursing drinks. That was it. There was no one else. I made straight for the women.
‘Where is he?’
Senga looked up at me uncertainly and then peered hard. ‘Oh, it’s you! The great bodyguard and private detective.’
‘Where’s Tom?’
She shrugged. Julie, beside her, burst into tears.
‘Is he upstairs?’ I asked, leaning down towards Senga, feeling very confrontational.
She swept her hair out of the way. Then I saw the bruising on her face and the eye that was swollen nearly shut. I glanced sideways at Julie, and saw a girl who was in a state of near collapse. Something bad had happened here.
I shook more snow off my jacket and sat down.
‘What happened?’
‘They took him,’ Senga said in a monotone.
‘Who did? Logan’s people?’
She nodded. ‘I tried to stop them, but …’
But they had flattened her, obviously. Thrown her aside like a crumpled crisp packet.
‘How did it happen, and how long ago?’
‘There were three or four of them. They just came up on us, grabbed Tom, smacked me out of the way, and bundled him into a car. Then they took off.’
‘How long ago?’ I repeated.
‘An hour?’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t really know.’
Then she wheeled round on me as if telling the tale had released her from the paralysis of shock. ‘You were supposed to prevent this!’ she hissed. ‘You were paid a lot of money to protect Tom.’
‘Short of putting him in handcuffs and leg-irons, I did what I could,’ I assured her. ‘He stole the car and took off when I wasn’t looking. I’ve had a ten-mile walk through a blizzard just to get here.’
She looked unconvinced. To hell with her!
‘Anyway,’ I added, ‘it was you two that led Logan here. If you’d stayed at home, or gone back, like I told you, they’d have had no idea where Tom was.’
She glared at me then as if she wanted to cut my throat. I held her gaze for a long moment. Then I said, ‘So they got Tom. Has anybody done anything about it?’
‘The landlord phoned the police,’ Senga said. ‘That’s all that’s happened.’
She seemed fatalistic about it, as if she didn’t expect anything to come of that.
‘What did they say?’
‘Not much. They took details, but they can’t do anything right now – they can’t get here because of the snow. I shouldn’t have blamed you,’ she added wearily, motioning towards Julie. ‘We’re just exhausted.’
‘I can see that. Are you booked in here?’
‘We are now.’
‘Why don’t you get Julie to bed? Give her some paracetamol and a hot drink.’
Senga looked at me as if I wasn’t right in the head.
‘The girl’s in shock,’ I said patiently. ‘She needs to sleep.’
That got through to her. She nodded and began to move.
‘Do you need me to help you get her upstairs?’
‘No. We’ll manage. We can both still walk, thank you very much!’
I stood up and took off my coat. I was beginning to warm up.
‘What are you going to do?’ Senga asked.
‘I’m going to have a word with the landlord first, and then with the police.’
‘Are you going to let Josh and Anne know?’
‘Not yet. Not until the situation is clearer.’
She nodded and began to manoeuvre Julie towards the exit from the bar. I was thinking Senga seemed more reasonable now. That was a relief. One woman in an angry rage and another in a state of collapse would have been more than I could cope with.
The landlord was in a little cubby hole of an office behind the bar. He was just putting the phone down when I knocked on the door.
‘Can I help you?’ he asked with a weary smile.
‘I’m a friend of the lad that just got abducted. Where do things stand?’
He looked at me with more interest. ‘I’ve just been on to the police again. They say they won’t be able to get here for a while because the snow’s too deep over Alnwick Moor. Six-foot drifts, apparently. They’ll have to wait for a plough to make a way through.’
‘Is that the only way in and out of the village?’
‘Well, put it this way. If the main road to Alnwick is closed, there’s no chance at all of any of the alternatives being passable.’
I grimaced. That didn’t sound good.
‘Did anybody manage to get the licence plate number of the car Tom was taken off in?’
‘Tom? Oh, yes. Tom Steele, isn’t it? One of the women got the number. I’ve passed it on to the police.’
I wondered if they might be able to spot the car and intercept it. Maybe. It was possible, although the weather wasn’t going to help. I couldn’t believe visibility would be much better than it was here anywhere in the region.
‘How long has the Alnwick road been closed?’
He shrugged. ‘A couple of hours? I don’t really know.’
So Logan’s gang might not have got clean away, I thought. They could be stuck in a snowdrift on the moor, freezing to bloody death. It was a comforting thought. Pity about poor Tom, of course, but he deserved to be there with them. He was the one who had created this mess. He couldn’t blame his father for this one.
But it really wasn’t a laughing matter. Logan had Tom. What now?
If he’d just wanted him dead, Tom could be gone already. I decided to work on the assumption that he was still alive.
I phoned the police. They told me the main road out of the village had been closed for a couple of hours, as the landlord had suspected. When I mentioned the abduction, and how urgent the situation was, the officer I spoke to retreated into defensive mode.
‘We’re doing the best we can,’ he told me. ‘There have been no reports of a vehicle with the licence plate we were given.’
‘What do you know about the vehicle?’
‘All I can tell you, sir, is that this is a police matter – and it’s in hand.’
Great. I swallowed the retort that came instantly to mind. Then I gave him my name and phone number, and asked to be kept informed.
‘Your interest is?’
‘I’m a friend of the fa
mily.’
He wasn’t impressed. We didn’t get any further. I couldn’t blame him. He was right. It was police business. But it was also family business – and my business.
So I called Josh, and had a difficult conversation with him.
‘All I can tell you for sure, Josh, is that Tom left the cottage where we were going to be staying and drove into a village a few miles away. That’s where Logan’s people picked him up.’
‘Jesus Christ, Frank! How the hell did you let that happen?’
‘I don’t feel good about it, Josh. I can tell you that. But Tom fooled me. I thought we were on the same side. Evidently, we weren’t. He took the car keys and beat it, leaving me with a ten-mile hike through a blizzard to the nearest village. That’s where Logan’s people caught him.’
‘So it’s his fault, is it? That’s what you’re saying? It’s all my son’s fault?’
I said nothing to that.
‘And how did Logan find where you were, anyway?’ Josh demanded angrily.
‘It wasn’t difficult. Despite my repeated warnings and threats – and despite my confiscating his phone – Tom found a way of contacting his girlfriend and letting her know where he was.’
There was a big sigh at the other end then. Josh was starting to get the picture. ‘Tom’s got more than one phone,’ he said in a resigned tone.
‘So I’ve realized.’
‘Then what?’ he added. ‘Julie is on his side for crissake! She wouldn’t have told anyone where Tom was.’
‘She didn’t have to. She just came to visit him, despite me telling her not to. Guess who was waiting for that to happen? Guess who followed her all the way here?’
‘Oh, shit!’
‘There’s more you need to know.’
‘What?’
‘Julie didn’t come alone. She came with Anne’s sister.’
‘Senga? What the hell for?’
‘I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her. But they’re both here now.’
Josh took a moment to digest that. Then he said, ‘What about Tom? Where does all this leave him?’
‘I don’t know, Josh. I’m just guessing. But I don’t think they’ll have done anything to him. If they’d just wanted him dead, they would have shot him on the spot, not kidnapped him.
