26
‘Could it be possible that Jason took the device with him so the police would be able to track him?’ Martin asked.
‘That’s a very good question.’ She gave Sally an appraising look. ‘And a good pick-up.’ She looked round the room, at the search that was ongoing, then back at Sally. ‘Take one of the cars back to the office and make enquiries with the provider to see if we can get access to the GPS for it. While you drive back, we’ll look for any paperwork that might have a reference number for the device that will help you and them locate the one we need. Let them know how urgent it is, without letting them know exactly what it is we’re looking for.’
‘Yes, Ma’am.’ Sally turned to walk away.
‘And, Sally.’
‘Ma’am?’
‘Good work.’
Sally smiled at Gordon as she walked past him, receiving a cold hard stare in return. For once she didn’t care: she was returning to the incident room to do her job as she knew she could.
27
Sally
* * *
The debrief was quick and dirty. Everyone chipped in with what they knew. The phone Sally had given to Jason had been found beside the sink in the kitchen, and half a SIM card had been retrieved from the pipework underneath. It wouldn’t be of any use to them though.
The dog collar tracking company had been helpful, and the DI had ordered that the software they needed be downloaded so they could track the unit and locate Jason.
No other items of interest had been found at the address. No rapidly scribbled down locations, phone numbers or notes. His computer had been seized when he was arrested, and the DI had asked the department upstairs to take an urgent look at it. So far nothing useful had been found. It was roadblock after roadblock; but they did have the tracker, and it was now about to load.
The team gathered around the monitor as the map loaded up, and waited for the signal to show where the tracker was at this moment in time. Sally tried to loosen her shoulders as she realised they were ratcheted right up to her ears, she was so tense. She forced them down and took a deep breath, held and exhaled.
The group waited. Silent. Then a small blue dot started to bleep.
‘Where is that?’
‘Where the fuck is it?’
‘Let me look at the map.’
‘Can I get in and see!’
‘Oh my God.’
Everyone grabbed their coats again. If the tracker was correct, the offender was playing a serious game and Jason was in trouble.
28
Sally
* * *
The three cars looked like a hand of dice that had been thrown on a craps table, the way they had been left parked haphazardly rather than up against the grass verge. Doors slammed in a strange, even beat as the Major Crime Team raced from the vehicles towards their destination.
Sally’s heart hammered in her chest. Her mind and heart battled for supremacy, and she was not sure which one would win out. The panic she felt about what they would find screamed through her skull. Piercing. Sharp.
Cold.
Soles slapping against tarmac.
A strong breeze lifted the smaller branches of the trees that lined the path. It reminded Sally of her first visit, as the chill blew right through her. Who had been here before them, and were they too late?
The cold made her breath catch in her throat, ragged and short.
How the situation had changed from that first morning.
She overtook Gordon as they rounded the bend, his lumbering frame slowing him down.
From here she could see where they needed to be. She could see over the city, where the homes below looked small and where the people within continued to live their lives. The sky, a mottled grey with hints of blue, lay heavy over the image.
And there it was, in front of them.
Lisa’s grave.
There was something there. Something that shouldn’t be. Sally strained her eyes.
‘What?’ asked Martin. His voice was loud in the quiet of the setting.
Their steps faltered. There was no one else here, just something on the ground. Sally forced her focus. It wasn’t a person. It wasn’t long enough.
They’d slowed to a walk now.
Closer.
‘Shit.’ Martin started to run again.
Then she saw it. A pair of trainers. Attached to a pair of legs.
Martin was on his knees, arms wrapped around Jason, pulling at him as his arms and head dangled into the open grave, which had been left that way from when they had done the exhumation. Gordon dropped to the ground and grabbed hold of Jason’s coat collar, yanking on it, pulling him up. ‘Come on, mate, not here you don’t. Not your turn yet. Up you come.’
Martin and Gordon managed to get him onto the level ground at the side of the grave. His skin had lost all colour; his lips had a blue tinge to them.
Sally gasped.
‘Is he…?’
‘Call an ambulance. He’s still alive.’
29
Jason
* * *
Sounds filtered through the darkness.
Sharp. Jagged.
It was then he realised, as he tried to turn his head to listen, that he was carrying a skull full of razor blades and the sounds breaking in were jostling them, making them scratch against the inside of his brain.
He stilled. Tried to get his bearings. Tried to figure out where he was.
Where he had been last.
He opened his eyes.
Lisa.
One of the male cops he’d seen before was sat on a chair at the side of his bed. The grumpy-looking one. Bald head.
‘You’re awake.’
‘It looks that way.’ Jason gingerly touched the top of his head.
‘You have concussion; the hospital wants to keep an eye on you for a while.’ He looked bored. ‘How you feeling?’
‘Like a lorry ran me over.’ He closed his eyes again. It was too all too much.
30
The pain wasn’t as bad when the darkness lifted the third time. The feeling was now more like a dull roar than someone attempting to scrape out his brain with razor blades.
This time when he opened his eyes he saw Sally on the chair. She was reading a book. He took more notice of his surroundings. He was in a private room. The door half closed, he could hear the noise of a busy ward beyond.
‘Hey.’ She had noticed.
‘You look different from when I woke up last time.’
She laughed. ‘Gordon has gone back to the office, it’s my turn to sit with you a while.’
‘Babysitting? What did you do wrong?’
She paused. ‘Nothing.’ She rubbed the end of her nose. ‘Making sure you’re okay is important, plus…’ Another pause.
Jason closed his eyes.
‘We need to know what happened, Jason.’
She sounded so sincere.
‘Is Lisa…?’
‘Yes, she’s there still. We’ve had her laid in her coffin.’
‘Is she…’
‘Yes, she’s… Okay…if you know what I mean…’
‘Okay. Good.’ His eyes stayed closed and he started to talk.
31
He’d walked through the graveyard. The breeze nudged his clothes, taking the heat from his skin, the sweat of fear, and freezing him to the bone. He was fraught. But he was determined.
One foot in front of the other.
He didn’t know what he would find but he moved forward until he was there. In front of Lisa’s grave again. He looked down and he saw her. Thrown in. Discarded. Jumbled.
Clothes twisted and dirty. Hair matted and caked in mud.
Face down.
He’d dropped to his knees and wept. His wife was back, but he wept for her and for what she had been through. He never wanted to leave her side again.
He didn’t know how long he’d been there when the voice behind him asked if he’d brought it. Rising to his feet, he wa
s met by two men in masks. One never spoke, though even without a voice he seemed familiar somehow. Maybe in the way he stood or the way he moved. Maybe it was in his height or build. Jason couldn’t place it. He was too distracted, too focused on getting Lisa back to pay close attention to the men in front of him. He knew he should consider the details because if they did let him go, then, yes, Sally and co. would ask these kinds of questions; but he just couldn’t, at that point. It was Lisa who had all his attention. Everything else was like when you had a word stuck on the tip of your tongue but couldn’t quite get a hold of it. There, but impossible to reach.
One of the men, the one that wasn’t familiar, asked for the software. Jason pulled the USB drive out of his pocket and handed it over. No thought for what might happen next. He turned back to his wife and then there was a flash of movement in his peripheral vision.
A dark shadow crossing the leaden sky.
A loud crack that reverberated through his head.
Then silence.
32
Sally
* * *
Sally entered the building on Cheapside, the security as high as a low-level prison. As a visitor to the offices, her bag and all electrical items were stuffed into a small locked box, to be returned on leaving. Their trust had been breached, and she didn’t know if this was the norm or if it had been implemented post-arrest of a staff member.
She’d left Jason with a uniformed officer for an hour when she went out to complete some enquiries. It was all hands on deck now. And as far as she could tell, it didn’t feel as though they had enough hands for the potential crisis that could occur. The list of actions the DI had reeled off was vast, and she was desperate to do the jobs she knew she was capable of. Talking to witnesses was a job she could do in her sleep so she’d stepped up for this with no qualms. Even if the two owners of the company weren’t happy about the visit, she could put on her friendly face and act as though she were no threat to anyone. Not that she felt like a threat. More like threatened; and she needed to get to grips with that.
Sally felt bare without all her usual paraphernalia. She was allowed to take her pocket-book and pen through with her, and she held them in front of her like a shield.
DI Robbins wanted brief details of all staff present the afternoon Jason had been arrested, a full list of employees and a list of personnel who had direct access to the software that was the target of the theft. They might not want to play ball in relation to the software at the moment, but in the DI’s words, ‘They can damn well provide details of everyone who works there.’
She was shown into an open-plan office that had a beautiful exposed brickwork feature wall, and was filled with what she thought looked like children. They all looked so young. And she wouldn’t class herself as any age at all. There didn’t seem to be any kind of dress code. She mentally checked the day to see if it was possibly dress-down-Friday, but it was Wednesday; and yet she had even spotted a young woman in a pair of jeans. Yes, she’d paired it with a shirt, but still – jeans in an office. The woman looked across and smiled.
Damn, she’d been caught staring.
Sally was desperate for her bag because if she had it with her, about now would be the time she would be rummaging in it for something she didn’t need, in an effort to look busy and to distract herself from her embarrassment.
‘Through here.’ The young woman, Donna Dickson, who had shown her into the building, indicated a separated-off section of the large room. Impressive sheets of glass hung from ceiling to floor, acting as the wall between this dramatic office space and the outer area.
Donna Dickson was slim, in an underfed kind of way, and had acne covering the lower half of her face. A pretty face. Bright blue eyes sparkled. Sally smiled at her. She rubbed her jaw as though understanding what Sally was seeing, and tried to hide it with her hand.
‘Thank you. Have you worked here long?’
About a year. Masaaki and Paul have been good to me and it’s a great place to work. I’m so lucky.’
‘You enjoy it?’
The girl gave Sally an incredulous look. ‘Of course. I barely even see it as work. I think I’d come here if they didn’t pay me.’
Sally furrowed her eyebrows.
‘Not only are they doing good with the software they create and continue to work on,’ she explained, ‘but just look at the place. They want their employees to have a relaxed environment to work in, to get the best out of them. Copied it from the States, and who are we to complain. We love it.’
‘So, happy employees?’
‘Totally.’ Something crossed her face that Sally couldn’t figure out. ‘Can I get you a drink while you wait?’ she asked, once again rubbing her chin.
‘I’m fine, thank you.’ She wasn’t about to let her go without asking. ‘So, what about Jason? Why do you think he did what he did, if things are so great here?’
The narrow, slightly glowing face was rubbed again. Blue eyes flicked to the outside space and back to Sally. The acne was flaring up and Sally felt anxious for her.
‘It’s okay – Donna, was it?’
She nodded.
‘You can tell me. I’m not going to run straight to your bosses to tell them.’
She rubbed some more. ‘No, it’s not that. It’s…I don’t know. I really don’t. Jason is a great guy and this is a great place. We all want to please Masaaki and Paul and can’t work hard enough for them. We don’t understand what happened with Jason.’
Sally nodded. Through the glass behind him she spotted two smarter-dressed guys walking towards them with purpose. ‘Thank you, Donna.’
The two men walked into the well-lit room, their looks sombre, their handshakes warm and welcoming, though Paul did remind Sally that under no circumstances were they to discuss the software. They were here as a courtesy to Jason, who they were still in shock about.
Paul was tall, slim and gangly. He looked awkward in his body, like it was too large for him. He seemed to fold it in as he seated himself in a chair at the large oval desk that took up much of the room. Arms and legs narrow, elbows and knees like sharp objects under his clothing.
Masaaki on the other hand was softer, gentle. His tone was even and mellow when he stated how shocked and disappointed he was by the recent events.
‘Did he indicate he was in any trouble prior to that day?’ Sally asked as they all settled at the table. Donna bustled away to fetch drinks that Paul had requested, even though Sally had again said she wasn’t in need of any.
‘No, Jason never said anything to us, and we were pretty close. I just can’t believe it,’ Masaaki reiterated.
‘How close?’
‘Well, nothing like that,’ Paul shot out.
Masaaki gave him a look. ‘I don’t think she meant it like that. Let her do her job, Paul.’ He turned back to Sally, who had given them the space to work this question out for themselves. ‘We were close. Jason was the first person we teamed up with, straight out of uni, when we got finance to start the company. He believed in us and believed in what we were doing. He has mean wicked skills, even for his age, and has been a cornerstone of the business.’
Sally was still stumped by the fact that this young lad had called Jason old.
‘I am rocked by what has happened,’ he continued. ‘I could never have predicted it.’
Donna walked back in and dropped a tray on the table with a pot, jug of milk, and three cups. Without a word, she was gone again. Masaaki thanked her retreating back.
‘We used to meet up outside of work, socially. With him and his wife, Lisa.’ Masaaki’s eye’s filled up. ‘They were so obviously in love. They always made an effort for each other and not just the way they looked, there would always be that random touch to let the other know they were still there and present. Lisa would leave notes in Jason’s briefcase for him, and he regularly sent her flowers for no reason other than he could.’
Sally nodded.
Paul picked up. ‘They were a great co
uple. Lisa was adorable. She was so sweet. Open, friendly. Supportive of Jason, even when he worked ridiculous hours here with us.’ He paused, dropped his head, and his voice to match. ‘How does it come to this?’
‘That’s what we hope to find out, Mr Keel.’
33
Sally
* * *
Climbing the stairs to the incident room, Sally heard Gordon before she saw him. Her chest tightened. He was on his way down the stairs from above her. Gossiping like an old woman to someone who wasn’t engaging but was allowing him to talk and talk. Something he liked to do. Something he believed he was good at. He liked the sound of his own voice. The arrogance about his own ability was outstanding. Whether he was capable of what he believed himself to be, Sally didn’t know, but to behave as if you were that good brought you down a level or three in her eyes.
She didn’t know whether to turn round and jog back down the stairs, or run out onto the next landing in the hope she could avoid him. She was being childish though: she had to work with him and had to deal with this. She took a deep breath, attempted to level her breathing, and counted to five in her head, Gordon’s voice getting louder and more irritating as she did.
‘My God, she’s such a klutz. Honestly, mate. They let anyone in nowadays. She won’t last long though. The boss’ll eat her for breakfast. You mark my words.’
Her strength left her, and she turned to run back down the stairs, but it was too late. ‘Ah, DC Poynter. Catch our grave robber yet have we?’ He laughed. The sound reverberated around the stairwell. His colleague, a slender man Sally hadn’t seen before, had the decency to look uncomfortable.
Three Weeks Dead Page 5
