Pop Goes the Weasel: DI Helen Grace 2 (Dci Helen Grace 2)

by M. J. Arlidge

  ‘Put her down and get out of here.’

  ‘I can’t do that, Ella.’

  Ella flinched at her name.

  ‘PUT HER DOWN!’ she screamed.

  The baby started whimpering now, scared by this noisy face-off.

  ‘It’s over, Ella. I know what you’ve been through, I know how you’ve suffered. But it’s finished. For your sake, for your baby’s, it’s time to hand yourself in.’

  ‘You give her to me right now or I will stab you through your fucking eyes.’

  Helen held the baby close to her, as Ella took a step forward.

  ‘What’s her name?’ Helen asked, backing off, but maintaining eye contact.

  ‘Don’t fuck with me.’

  ‘Tell me her name, please.’

  ‘Give her to me.’

  Her voice was threatening, unstable, but she halted her advance. Her eyes flicked between her baby and Helen, weighing up her options.

  ‘I am not going to do that, Ella. You’ll have to kill me first. My only concern is for you and your baby’s welfare. You’re not well and you both deserve better than this place. Let me help you.’

  ‘You think I don’t know what’ll happen? As soon as we’re out of here, I’ll be in cuffs and I’ll never see her again.’

  ‘That’s not what’ll –’

  ‘You think I’ll fall for that? Well, forget it. She’s not leaving here and neither are you.’

  As Ella advanced, Helen turned to shield the baby from attack. Ella’s eyes were black, she was panting with anger, and in that moment Helen knew she had made a fatal mistake.

  113

  Charlie hurried away from the Fairview estate, struggling to keep up with her superior. Harwood was spitting blood, furious that their ‘lead’ had turned out to be a waste of time. They had sped to the estate, with Tactical Support and most of the station’s CID team in tow – all of which was quite a surprise for the sixteen-year-old girl who was hiding out in her mate’s flat, following her clumsy attempt to steal some make-up from Boots. She did look passingly like Angel, but she was far too young and, besides, her long black hair was genuine. Once she and her mate had recovered from the shock, they’d started to get lippy, asking if they always called out guys with guns to pick on young girls – none of which improved Harwood’s mood. In another light, in another world, it would have been funny. But the stakes were too high for that, so Charlie followed behind, her heart in her boots.

  ‘What the hell is he doing here?’

  Charlie snapped out of it to see Harwood gesturing towards Tony, who was chatting to a uniformed officer he was friendly with. Harwood stared at Charlie, her eyes full of suspicion, but for once Charlie was innocent of all charges.

  ‘No idea.’

  They hurried over.

  ‘You can’t be here,’ Harwood announced without introduction. ‘Whatever you think can be gained by coming down here –’

  ‘Would you shut the fuck up?’ Tony barked back at her, silencing her instantly. There was something in Tony’s eyes that brooked no argument.

  ‘Helen knows where Ella is. She’s gone to find her.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘She wouldn’t tell me where she was going. Or how she knew where she was. But I think she’s in danger. We’ve got to help her.’

  The words poured from him, forced out at speed by his anxiety.

  ‘How the hell did she know?’

  ‘She wouldn’t say. I came to the seventh floor to hand in my report and then … She told me not to say anything … but I can’t do that to her.’

  ‘Get uniform onto it. I want to hear from anyone who’s seen her or her fucking bike. Check the traffic cameras – see if we can trace her route,’ Harwood said, turning to Charlie. ‘Get McAndrew back to the nick. Get her to go through Helen’s write-up. See if there’s anything in there.’

  ‘What about her phone? If we can triangulate that –’

  ‘Do it.’

  Charlie hared off, Harwood following close behind.

  ‘What about me? What can I do to help?’ Tony asked.

  Harwood paused, then turned:

  ‘You can go to hell.’

  114

  She was trapped. Helen had backed into the tiny bedroom to escape Ella’s advance, but was now boxed into a corner. For days she had been praying for this moment – when she would finally come face to face with their killer – but now it was here and death would be the only outcome. Helen hugged the baby closer to her chest, as Ella took another step towards them.

  Had she deluded herself that she might be able to save Ella? That there would still be some residual humanity within her? She had to engage her if she could. Look past the madness and find a way in.

  ‘So you kill me, then what? The whole of the Force is out looking for you. They know your name, what you look like. They know you have a baby. Swampy downstairs knows I’m here, knows who you are, so you can’t stay. What are you going to do – go on the run with a baby?’

  ‘She’s not coming with me.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I don’t know what’ll happen to me, but it ends here for her. She’s been through enough.’

  ‘You don’t mean that.’

  ‘Why do you think I got the fucking formula?’ Ella shouted back. ‘I’ve got the pills. I was going to give them to her today. It could all have been so … right.’

  ‘She’s just a tiny baby. For God’s sake, Ella, you’re better than that.’

  ‘Stop saying my name. Ella is dead. The kid is going to join her and if I have to kill you to get to her, I bloody will.’

  She took a step closer. She was only a foot away from Helen now. Helen tensed, expecting her to strike at any moment. Then:

  ‘Do it then. I’ll make it easy for you.’

  Helen bent down, placing Amelia on the bed.

  ‘If you really want to kill her, I’ll make it easy for you. There she is. Do it.’

  Surprised, Ella looked from Helen to her baby and then back again. The baby kicked out on the bed and – freed from Helen’s warm embrace – started to cry.

  ‘GO ON!’ Helen shouted suddenly.

  Still Ella hesitated. Helen had been coiled tight, ready to spring if Ella made the slightest move towards the baby, but she didn’t. And in that moment, Helen knew she had an opportunity.

  ‘Ella, listen to me. I know, ok? I know that you are in Hell, that you feel the world is against you, that it’s full of vicious, violent men who want to hurt you. And you’re right. It is.’

  Ella eyed her suspiciously, unsure if this was a trick. Helen took a deep breath and continued:

  ‘I was raped when I was a kid. More than once. I was sixteen, trying to find my way out of care, but I made bad choices. And I paid. I’m still paying. So I know where you are right now. I know you believe there is no way back, but there is.’

  Ella paused, staring intently at Helen.

  ‘You’re making shit up.’

  ‘Would you look at me?’ Helen replied, suddenly angry. ‘My bloody hands are shaking … I’ve never told a soul about this, not a single soul. So don’t accuse me of lying.’

  Ella didn’t break her stare. Her hand gripped the knife tightly.

  ‘I can’t pretend to know you,’ Helen continued. ‘I don’t know what your dad did to you, what those men did to you, but I know this doesn’t have to be the end. You can get through this. Whatever you’ve done, you did for a reason and when Amelia is older she will want you. She will need you. Please don’t abandon her, Ella, I beg you.’

  For the first time, Ella dropped her gaze to her baby.

  ‘I know you have goodness inside you. I know you can do the right thing by your little girl. So please, let me help you. For her sake.’

  Helen reached out her hand. She knew in that moment that it all came down to this. Her last shot at redemption. Her final chance to save Ella.

  115

  They were floundering in the dark – hapless
figures scrabbling for a foothold as the ground kept giving way beneath them. Racing back to the station, Charlie had taken the lead. Harwood might be the boss, but she had the operational experience and she refused to trust anyone else with this – there was too much at stake. But they were getting nowhere.

  McAndrew had read Helen’s files twice already but had unearthed no clues as to Ella’s whereabouts. They had tried triangulating Helen’s mobile phone signal, only to find that her phone was turned off. It had last been used six hours ago, when she was at the nick, so would be no use to them now. Traffic cameras had picked Helen’s bike up speeding north, but then lost her as she left the city centre. Where the hell was she? What had she seen that no one else had?

  Charlie marched along the corridor, then down the stairs and out of the station. The team would continue to do their work as directed, but Charlie felt she needed to be out doing something. And as she neared her car, she slowed. A thought was forming, a past conversation coming back to her. Slowly an idea took hold and, electrified, she jumped in the car and roared off. Suddenly she knew exactly where to go.

  Heads turned as Charlie marched between the line of desks, making a beeline for the office at the back. The security guards and receptionists, whose protests she’d ignored, hurried after her, but she had too big a lead on them and she was in Emilia’s office before they could get to her. Slamming the door shut, she rammed a chair under the handle and turned to face the startled reporter.

  ‘Where is she?’ Charlie demanded.

  ‘Where’s who?’

  ‘Helen Grace.’

  ‘I have no idea and frankly I’m not sure what you think you’re –’

  ‘How do you do it?’

  ‘Do what? Make sense, please, Char—’

  ‘You know where she is, you know who she is with –’

  ‘For God’s sake, why would I –’

  Charlie was across the room before Emilia could finish her denial. Grabbing the reporter by the throat, she thrust her hard against the brick wall.

  ‘Listen very carefully to me, Emilia. Helen’s life is at stake here and I promise you that if you do not tell me what I need to know right now, I will nail your head to this wall.’

  Emilia was choking now, Charlie’s hands growing ever tighter round her throat.

  ‘I have been through too much to let her down, so tell me how you do it. Are you bugging her phone? Intercepting her messages?’

  Emilia shook her head. Charlie cracked it hard against the wall.

  ‘TELL ME!’

  Emilia made a gurgling noise as if she was trying to speak, so Charlie loosened her grip. Emilia mumbled something.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Her bike,’ Emilia croaked.

  ‘What about it?’ Charlie demanded.

  ‘There’s a tracking device on her bike.’

  So there it was.

  ‘How do you follow her?’

  ‘It’s linked to my phone. As long as she’s within a five-mile radius of me, I can find her.’

  ‘Good,’ Charlie said, releasing her victim. ‘Take me to her.’

  116

  The baby shrieked wildly on the bed, working herself up into a frenzy. Neither woman made a move to comfort her. They were frozen in time, on the cusp of salvation or destruction. Helen’s eyes remained glued to Ella. She had refused to take Helen’s hand or drop her knife. She was just staring at her screaming baby as if trying to penetrate some insoluble mystery. Helen thought that if she moved suddenly she could disarm Ella, now that she was distracted, but she daren’t risk it. Not now that she seemed so close to bringing her round.

  ‘I didn’t mean for this to happen.’

  Helen was startled when Ella spoke.

  ‘I didn’t want this to happen.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘It’s his fault.’

  ‘I know your dad was a cruel man –’

  ‘I’ve done those other kids a favour.’

  ‘The twins?’

  ‘And Carrie. I’ve freed them.’

  ‘You’re right, Ella. He was a bully and a sadist.’

  ‘And a fucking hypocrite. Do you know what he said to me? He said I was evil. Dirty. He said I had a black heart.’

  ‘He was wrong.’

  ‘After those guys … did what they did, I was on booze, drugs, pills, whatever I could get … I was killing myself, I … I’d vowed I would never ask for their help again. I hated him. And her.’

  She shot a glance at Amelia.

  ‘But I was seven months gone. And I … I begged for their help. Begged them to find a home for her. Somewhere away from me. And they shut the door in my face. Told me that being raped was too good for me.’

  The words shot out, fractured and bitter.

  ‘He looked me in the face … and said the most diabolical things and then … and then …’

  ‘You saw him again, didn’t you? Later on? You saw him picking up a prostitute.’

  Ella turned and now her eyes were full of rage.

  ‘It was only a few weeks later … And they knew each other. He was a bloody regular. And then I got it – every Tuesday night for God knows how long he’d been … After everything he’d said, after everything he’d done …’

  ‘He lied to you, he lied to your mum.’

  ‘When I did him, he never even knew me. A bloody black wig and a few nose rings … but I could have been wearing my school bloody uniform with a big smile on my face. All he could think about was what he was going to get, what “Angel” would let him do to her. He was a pig and he got what he deserved.’

  Helen said nothing. Amelia was growing puce now with crying, a barking cough racking her body.

  ‘We need to pick her up, Ella. You need to pick her up.’

  Ella snapped out of it, casting a suspicious look at Helen.

  ‘We can’t leave her crying like this. She’s going to choke.’

  The volume of Amelia’s cries rose still further, then the barking cough started up again. Ella hesitated.

  ‘Please, Ella – put the knife on the bed, pick up your baby and let’s all walk out together.’

  Ella looked at Amelia, then at the knife in her hand. This was it then – do or die.

  ‘Let’s end this.’

  117

  Up, up, up. The Tactical Support team mounted the stairs at double speed, climbing to their vantage point on the top floor of the crumbling building. The stairs were broken and unstable and Harwood had to pick her path carefully, as she followed in their wake. Behind her she heard McAndrew put her foot through a board, cursing loudly as she did so.

  ‘Be quiet for God’s sake,’ Harwood hissed at her.

  Before long they were in place. Looking down, Harwood could see Helen’s bike parked outside the squat opposite. Charlie had already entered it – the dossers living there had confirmed that Ella Matthews lived at the very top of the building. Across the way, Tactical Support were now in place and searching for their quarry.

  ‘What’ve you got?’ Harwood demanded, her nerves jangling.

  ‘Two females.’

  ‘Grace?’

  ‘And another.’

  ‘What’s happening?’

  A long pause.

  ‘I can’t see. They are kind of locked together. It’s hard to get a good angle from here.’

  ‘There’s nowhere else to go, so work with it. Can you see a weapon?’

  ‘Negative.’

  ‘Can you get a clear shot?’

  ‘Negative.’

  ‘Well what the fuck can you give me?’

  ‘You want to be hauled up in front of the IPCC, be my guest,’ the irritated sniper replied. ‘But I can’t get a clear shot and I’m not doing anything until I can. You know better, then take over, please.’

  He spat the words out without once looking up, his vision locked on the drama playing out across the road. Harwood scowled inwardly. She knew he was right but it didn’t make it any better. She had staked a lot o
n this investigation and it had to turn out right.

  What the fuck was going on in there?

  118

  Helen refused to drop her gaze. Ella was virtually eyeball to eyeball with her. Helen could smell her rank breath, could feel the cold steel of the knife pressing against her leg. Still Ella refused to relinquish it.

  ‘Why do you want to save me, Helen?’ Ella asked suddenly.

  ‘Because I think you’ve been wronged. Because I think the world owes you.’

  ‘You think I’m good?’ A snarl came and went in her voice.

  ‘I know you’re good.’

  Ella smiled bitterly.

  ‘Well then, you listen to me. I want you to know something.’

  She was about to speak, then paused, distracted by a sudden squeak from the living room. A board creaking. Helen knew immediately that they had company. Charlie? Tony? Tactical Support? Helen wanted to scream at them to stay the fuck away, but she stayed stock still, not breaking eye contact, not breathing. Ella hesitated for a second, then leaned in closer.

  ‘I don’t regret it, Helen. Whatever I say afterwards, I want you to know. I don’t regret a single thing.’

  Helen said nothing. Ella’s pupils were dilated, her breathing unsteady.

  ‘Those men … those hypocrites … they deserved to be exposed,’ she continued. ‘They were happy enough to flaunt their wedding rings, play the husband and father. They weren’t so happy to be seen with girls like me. Well, I changed all that. I showed them up for what they really are. Sometimes the world needs a wake-up call, right?’

  She looked at Helen fiercely for a moment, then the fire seemed to die in her eyes.

  ‘But I want to do right by Amelia. So I’m going to trust you. Can I trust you, Helen?’