The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land

by A. J. Carella

  Stunned, Kat just sat there for a moment before standing up and making her way outside. What was that all about?

  Forty

  “Did you have a good time?” Kat asked as Daniel came barreling in and threw his arms around her neck. The change in him was incredible. As soon as he’d been told that Flint was in jail, it had been as if a switch had been flipped inside him and he felt safe enough to be a kid again.

  “It was the best! Look what I got!”

  Kat acted suitably impressed by the goldfish in a bag that he was holding out for her inspection. “Well, you’d better go to the kitchen and see if you can’t find a bowl to put him in, then.” She smiled as she watched him go, talking to the fish.

  “He’s a great kid, Kat, truly a great kid,” Jamie said, also watching him go.

  Once Kat was happy he was out of earshot, she turned to her. “You were right. Something’s going on with Jake.”

  “I knew it. Did he say anything else today?”

  “No, but something’s obviously happened.” She filled her in on what she’d seen.

  “So, what do we do?”

  “I’m going to talk to Finn and see what he suggests. Something is telling me that I shouldn’t talk to the prison directly, but I don’t know how else to approach this.”

  She had another reason to talk to Finn. Something was bothering her. It was probably nothing, but she had the feeling they were missing something.

  “I’ll go and talk to him tomorrow. I’ve got to head into town in the morning anyway, so I may as well pop in while I’m there.”

  The conversation ended there as Daniel returned with the goldfish, the bag and a small desert bowl. “Will this one be okay?”

  Looking at each other Kat and Jamie both laughed. “I think he might need a bit more room than that. Come on, we’ll help you look.

  Forty-One

  Leaving Daniel at home with Jamie, Kat put the land records in the back seat of her car and headed into town.

  After dropping the files off and thanking the property records clerk, she walked to the police station where Sandy told her to go in to the squad room. She could see Finn sitting behind the chief’s old desk in the office, talking to Callahan, and made her way over.

  “Hi, sorry to interrupt,” she said as she knocked on the open door.

  Finn waved her in. “You didn’t. We were just going over some last stuff about the case. Tying up a few loose ends.”

  “Well, that’s one of the things that I wanted to see you about. I don’t know how I’d forgotten it before, but something happened when I was held at the farmhouse.”

  “What, Kat?”

  “Well, at one point he had me upstairs, trying to find out information about the investigation.”

  “Yep, you told us that.”

  “Yes, but what I forgot to tell you was that while I was there he took a phone call and from what I could tell at my end someone was giving him information on what the police were doing.”

  She watched as they exchanged a look. “What? What’s going on?”

  “Well, we figured he was getting his information from somewhere because that’s the only way he could possibly have known we were coming and have gotten out of there so fast.”

  “Do you know where he was getting it from?”

  Callahan shook his head. “No, that’s the bit where we’re stumped.”

  “He won’t tell us,” Finn chimed in, “and whoever it was was using an untraceable cell phone so we can’t get it from his phone records.

  “Well, maybe this will help. I looked at the land records before I took them back and there was a woman’s name listed on the title.”

  “Really? Can you remember what it was, Kat?” Finn sat up straighter in his chair.

  “Jayne Flint.”

  “What? I didn’t think he had any family? He’s never been married that I know of and he doesn’t have any kids.” Finn looked confused.

  “I don’t know but maybe he does have family that we just don’t know about?”

  “Well, it’s certainly something we need to look into. Thanks, Kat. I’m not sure how we missed this.”

  “You didn’t. You had no way of knowing.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, that’s not why I came to see you. I wanted to talk to you about Jake.”

  “Would you like me to give you some privacy?” Callahan asked, preparing to stand.

  “No, not at all.” Kat reassured him.

  “How’s he coping?” Finn had known Jake all his life and although they hadn’t been close, they’d been friends.

  “Not well.” Kat told him about Jamie’s visit and then her own. “Something’s going on but he won’t tell us what.” She paused. “I think it has something to do with one of the guards but I’m not sure, that’s why I don’t want to go to the prison directly.”

  “Do you want me to go and talk to him?” Finn offered.

  “Yes, please, Finn. Thank you, that would be great. Are you sure you don’t’ mind?”

  “Not at all. Once this case is all wrapped up, I’ll get it organized.”

  “Great! Okay, I’d better head back.” Feeling happier about the Jake situation, Kat left. She was looking forward to spending a peaceful afternoon at home with Jamie and Daniel now that this was all over. For them at least.

  Forty-Two

  “Thank you for meeting me.” Kat closed the door to the doctor’s office behind her. It seemed strange being back here. This is where it had all started what seemed like such a long time ago now.

  “No problem. You said it was about Daniel?” Sally led Kat into her consulting room and made herself comfortable behind her desk. “How’s he doing?”

  “Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. He can’t seem to stop having nightmares and I was hoping you’d be able to give me something that would help him sleep. He really needs the rest. He’s nowhere near well yet.”

  “Shouldn’t you be talking to his therapist about this? It’s more an issue of dealing with what’s causing the nightmares than trying to resolve the symptoms with drugs.”

  “You’re probably right. I just thought I’d ask as he hasn’t got another appointment with her for a week.”

  “Have you tried talking through what’s causing the nightmares with him?”

  Kat sighed. “Yes, it’s usually the same thing. He dreams about this girl that was with him in that place, Jayne. They haven’t been able to find her body and he dreams about her being alone out there somewhere. It’s quite awful for him.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it must be. Well, as I said, it’s really a matter for his therapist so I’m afraid I really can’t help.” She stood up and came around the desk and opened the door. “I really must get going. It’s late already and I’ve got an early shift at the hospital tomorrow.”

  Kat stood to leave. “Okay. Thanks, Jayne.”

  “No problem,” she replied before immediately realizing her mistake. Her face quickly became hard. “Very clever, Kat.” She closed the door again.

  Kat watched as she carefully walked back to her desk, sitting down once more. “It is you, isn’t it?”

  “You seem to have it all figured out. Why don’t you tell me?”

  “Jayne Flint, daughter of Mark Flint. You’re the one who made the phone calls tipping him off, aren’t you?”

  Jayne clapped. “Well done, Kat. How did you figure it out?”

  “She didn’t, I did.”

  Kat watched Jayne’s eyes open wide as the door to the office swung open.

  “How?”

  “I didn’t want to think it,” Finn answered, “and I’m not sure what triggered the suspicion, but every time I asked you about your background you got very cagey.”

  “What? That’s it? Just because a girl doesn’t tell you her life story doesn’t mean she’s hiding anything, Finn.”

  Finn nodded. “No, you’re right. But I asked you about whether you had any family here and it seemed to hit a nerve.” He shrugged. �
��Far-fetched, I know, but I had to follow my hunch. So I reached out to the hospital who gave me your personnel file. That, in turn, led me to your medical school.”

  Jayne had gone pale now as she listened to him. “They had no record of a Sally Crichton having ever attended there, but a Jayne Flint did.”

  Kat watched as Finn read her rights and handcuffed her before turning to look at her. “Thanks, Kat. We needed to hear her admit it but if I’d have done it, any good defense attorney would have got it excluded at trial because of my relationship with her.”

  Kat just nodded before turning to Jayne. “How could you do it? How could you help him get away with everything he did to those kids?”

  “He’s my father. He raised me single-handedly. He sent me to the best boarding schools, paid my college tuition and for medical school. He’s the only family I’ve got and I owe him. What choice did I have?”

  Kat felt sad as she watched Finn take her away. She could have stopped him, could have saved all those children, but instead she chose to help him.

  Forty-Three

  Neither of them spoke as they sat on the deck. It was over at last. “You want another?” Finn asked raising his beer bottle

  “No, I’m good, thanks.” Kat smiled. She’d missed this.

  “So how’s Daniel doing?”

  She beamed; he was her favorite subject. “He’s doing great. The therapist is really happy with his progress. And, I’ve got an announcement to make.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

  “I’m going to adopt him, if they’ll let me.”

  “Really? That’s fantastic news.” Finn seemed genuinely pleased. She’d been a bit worried about telling him, not knowing how he would take it seeing as she’d given up their son for adoption but his reaction told her she’d worried about nothing.

  The chime of the doorbell interrupted them and Kat sipped happily at her beer while Finn went to answer it. He returned quickly with Callahan in tow.

  “Beer?” Finn offered.

  “Yes, please.”

  Finn disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a bottle for Callahan and another one for himself.

  “How did the raids go?” Kat knew they’d been due to take place earlier that day.

  “Fantastic, exactly as planned. All of the clubs are now out of action and we’ve recovered hundreds of kids.”

  “That’s great news. I’ll sleep better knowing those bastards have been put away,” Kat said with feeling. “It’s strange, you know. Jayne was the same age as we are and I don’t remember her from high school.”

  “I might be able to shed a bit of light on that.” Callahan took a sip of his beer. “We couldn’t find any birth records for her so I told them to dig deeper.” He reached into his back pocket and took out two sheets of paper, one for each of them. “This is what they found.”

  The sheets were copies of a missing person flyer from thirty years ago. On it was the picture of a young girl, no more than about eight years old. Her name was Rita. “From what we’ve learned, it seems that Rita was a bit of a tomboy. Dressed like a boy, acted like a boy. She was cycling to a friend’s house and just vanished.”

  Kat was confused. “Sorry, you’ve lost me.”

  “It’s her isn’t it?” Finn spoke up and Callahan nodded.

  “Yes, it is. We think that she was taken because she looked so much like a boy. A mistake. We’re going to try and get confirmation from Flint if he’ll talk to us, but it looks like he decided to raise her as his own.”

  The enormity of what he was saying hit home and Kat felt sick. Despite what Jayne had done, she had ultimately been just another victim. “Has her family been told?”

  “It’s in process.” Callahan sighed. “That’s not a visit I would want to make.”

  They all sat in silence for a minute, taking it all in.

  “I think I’ll have that beer after all.” Kat stood up and went inside to grab one.

  Closing the fridge door, she jumped. “You scared me!”

  Callahan stood there grinning at her. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make you jump!” he said, not looking at all sorry. “I just wanted to ask, now that this is all over, if you’d like to have dinner with me sometime?”

  Taken aback, she wasn’t sure what to say. Things were on a better footing now with Finn but she didn’t think they were ever going to get back together. He’d given her no indication that that was something he was even considering. And here was a handsome, smart man asking her out. “Yes,” she said, making up her mind. “Yes, I’d like that very much.”

  Neither of them noticed Finn by the door and he turned and went back outside before they did.

  Forty-Four

  Pick up, pick up! He’d been trying Kat’s cell for the last ten minutes but it just rang before switching to voicemail. Shivering, Jake wrapped his arms around his middle to try and warm himself up. At least it’s not raining!

  He’d walked miles before coming across this gas station with what was probably the only working payphone round these parts. Unfortunately, it was out in the open so he ducked back into the trees that lined the rear of the property after trying her phone one more time. At least they provided some protection from the prying eyes of the nearby road. But he couldn’t stay here long, he had to keep moving.

  He’d had no choice; he wouldn’t have made it out alive if he’d stayed in that place any longer; they would have made sure of that. A tragic accident, or killed by another prisoner maybe, but somehow they would make sure he didn’t talk.

  He would stay here for another half an hour and then he would have to move on. He’d considered calling Jamie when he couldn’t get hold of Kat but had quickly dismissed the idea. After everything he had put her through, he wasn’t dragging her into this now. No, he needed to get hold of Kat. She was the only one who could help him now.

  The EndHard Time

  A.J. Carella

  PUBLISHED BY:

  A.J. Carella

  Copyright © 2014

  One

  To anyone looking at him, it would seem that he was barely breathing but he was, his breaths coming very slow and steady. His heart rate was now satisfyingly slow and his hand steady as a rock. He wasn’t aware of the wet grass underneath his body as he lay on the ground, or of the slight drizzle that had started to fall. His focus was entirely on why he was here. There was no more than a gentle breeze which suited his purposes perfectly, a strong wind would have made his job much more difficult. All he had to do now was wait. He stayed in that position, completely still, for the next two hours until, at last, the reason he was here came out of the house he was watching. From where he was, on a ridge a few hundred yards away, he watched as the man closed the front door behind him and made his way to his car. He was juggling a suitcase and his car keys and wasn’t paying any attention to the environment around him. Not that it mattered; he wouldn’t have seen the danger even if he was.

  He felt no emotion, no excitement, no fear, no sadness. He just squeezed the trigger gently and hit his target perfectly, the bullet entering the man’s brain just above his left ear.

  He’d started crawling backwards before his target had even hit the ground. He stayed low until he was out of sight of the house before coming to a crouch and quickly and efficiently packing up his weapon. He carried out a quick scan of the area, double-checking he’d left nothing behind before making his way to the truck that was waiting for him. It was concealed in some trees about half a mile away, across some rough terrain but nothing he couldn’t handle, even in the dark.

  “It’s done?” asked the man sitting behind the steering wheel as he opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.

  “Of course.”

  Nothing else was said as the driver started the engine and, keeping the lights off, carefully maneuvered the truck out of the trees before joining the nearby road and putting the lights on. They traveled in silence for the next ten miles until they came to a bridge spanning a fast-mo
ving river. Checking no one else was on the road, the passenger climbed out, taking the rifle with him. He’d wiped it clean of prints in the truck and now he flung the individual parts into the river before once again getting into the truck and driving off.

  By the time the police arrived to find the gruesome scene at the house they’d just left, they were already far away and the separated parts of the weapon had settled into the silt at the bottom of the river.

  Two

  The sound of doors opening and closing filled the house as Kat stood in the kitchen in her pyjamas, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed. Jamie and Daniel were there, too, though they were sitting on stools, each nursing a hot drink. Coffee for Jamie and hot chocolate for Daniel. The kitchen had already been searched and so they were waiting there until the police had finished with the rest of the house. Kat knew they were only doing their job, but it still irritated her.

  “And you haven’t heard from him?”

  “I’ve already told you that I haven’t, Finn,” she snapped.

  “I’m sorry, Kat, but I have to ask, just like we have to check the house.”

  Kat sighed and uncrossed her arms. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just struggling to take it all in. Why on earth would Jake escape? More to the point, how did he escape?” She’d been at Finn’s house earlier in the evening when the call had come in. She’d headed straight home and told Jamie what had happened but she hadn’t been expecting a knock on her door a few hours later, in the middle of the night.

  “I wish I could tell you, but right now I know about as much as you do, which is nothing.”

  They both turned as the kitchen door swung open. “We’re done here, boss.” A deputy stood in the doorway. “No sign of him.”

  “Okay, thanks. You guys head back to the station and I’ll meet you there shortly.” He waited until the door had closed behind him before turning and speaking again. “You will let me know if you hear from him, won’t you?”