Standing behind Nicole, holding her hair in one hand and a big metal brush in the other, was the bitch from yesterday. Rather than recoil from the sight of a big black man with a knife running into her front room, she just glared at him with a face so full of hate and rage that it almost stopped him in his tracks.
‘What are you doing in here?’ she shouted, her voice harsh in the silence. ‘Get out! This is a holy place!’
‘Leave her alone!’ roared Ramon, marching over to her, full of fury at the way this bitch was treating Nicole.
The bitch let go of Nicole’s hair and, with a yell, threw the brush at Ramon’s head. He tried to dodge it but it hit his shoulder with a hard whack, and the bitch immediately grabbed for a vase on a nearby table and went to fling that at him too.
Ramon had to hand it to her. She had some balls. But she wasn’t quite quick enough. He slapped the vase out of her hands and backhanded her across the face, knocking her into a bookshelf. She lost her footing and ended up on her arse, a dazed look on her face.
Ramon looked over to Nicole, who was still half slumped in the chair. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her to her feet.
She didn’t resist as he led her from the room but he had to hold her up by the arm and almost drag her. It would have been quicker to go out of the front door but something stopped Ramon from going there and they went back the way he’d come in.
‘Is there anyone else in the house?’ he asked quietly as they stepped out into the garden.
Nicole looked at him with eyes that just couldn’t manage to focus. ‘There was a man here earlier, talking to her,’ she said. ‘I didn’t see him. Just heard him.’
‘When was that?’
‘Half an hour maybe …’
Ramon knew he couldn’t rely on Nicole’s timings but he didn’t think the guy was still there.
He pulled back the bolt on the gate, yanked it open and led her out into the undergrowth. ‘This way.’
‘I’m so tired,’ said Nicole.
‘It’s OK,’ said Ramon. ‘I’ve got you.’ He lifted her into his arms and, Jesus, he had to admit it felt good to be holding a woman like this.
A peaceful smile crossed her face, and she touched his cheek. ‘Thank you for coming. It’s not nice here.’
‘You’re safe now,’ Ramon told her as he carried her back to his car.
‘I know,’ she said, with real gratitude in her voice.
But Ramon knew that in the end you were never completely safe. There were always people out there wanting a piece of you. He’d feel a lot better when they were back in the city and booked into a hotel, somewhere where, for the moment at least, no one could get them.
He was panting when they reached the car. Nicole wasn’t quite as light as she looked. He set her down by the passenger door and the two of them got inside.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, her eyes closing as she made herself comfortable in the seat.
Ramon grinned at her and put the key in the ignition. ‘Let me worry about that.’
He felt rather than saw the movement from the seat behind him and just had time to see the face of Mr Bone underneath his hat, his face pale and ghostly in the half-light, before a hand grabbed his forehead, pulled it back, and he felt a sharp, hot pain in the back of his neck. He choked, unable to breathe properly, as his throat suddenly became clogged with liquid and, as he looked down, he could see the tip of the same blade that had been used to slash Junior’s face in two sticking out of his own throat like a bayonet. Blood dripped down from the tip on to his T-shirt, covering it in big droplets.
He heard Nicole scream but it seemed far away. He tried to look at her but his vision blurred, and he knew that he was dying. Dying fast.
And in a strange way he was pleased. It was a release. No one could hurt him again now. He was going to a place without fear. He tried to lift his hand but nothing happened. It was over. Nicole was on her own.
Ramon’s last thought was of him, Grandpa and Keesha, all of them together on the back step of Grandpa’s flat, when they’d still been a family way back before it had all gone so wrong.
Then his eyes closed and the darkness came.
Forty-six
The world can sometimes be a brutal place, and in my life I’ve seen some of the worst it’s had to give; but there are moments when things fall into place, and the tunnel ahead suddenly seems brighter.
Tonight was one of those nights. Tina was easy to talk to. She understood me and I understood her. After we’d finished discussing the case, we grabbed a bite to eat in her local pub, and my tension just seemed to fade away. I didn’t even have a drink, and when Tina asked if I’d like to grab a coffee before I drove home, I was always going to accept.
Home. My place didn’t feel much like home right now, not after the way it had been invaded by Cem Kalaman and his people. It also meant I was going to have to watch my back for the foreseeable future, as they were sure to pay another visit. I thought about picking up an illegal handgun in case I needed it. I have an old army friend who I know has contacts in the black market; he’d be able to find me something reliable. The problem was, if I was caught with a gun by my colleagues, or God forbid if I used it in anger, I’d end up going down for years. For the moment at least it wasn’t worth the risk.
Still, I didn’t fancy the drive back tonight.
We sat down opposite each other in Tina’s cramped little lounge with our coffees. She’d taken her shoes off and her feet were bare. She flicked her long dark hair and crossed her legs, and in that moment I thought she looked beautiful.
‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ she asked.
‘Course I don’t.’ I’d never smoked. Hated the smell. But I wasn’t going to complain now.
I watched as she lit up. She even managed to do that elegantly.
‘You know,’ she said, taking a drag and sipping her coffee, ‘I was so scared yesterday when I was lying in that ravine with Charlotte. I really thought I was going to die. I’ve been close to being killed before, but I don’t think I was as worried about it then. But that time’s gone now. I don’t want to die any more.’
I nodded. ‘Me neither. I was scared out of my wits last night in that estate. The way the mob were acting I thought they were going to tear me apart limb from limb.’
She smiled. ‘I guess it’s a good thing we’re both single. Our other halves would have heart attacks worrying about us.’
‘That’s for sure,’ I said, although I remembered that when I’d been married I’d taken far fewer risks.
‘Have you ever been married?’ she asked, as if she’d been reading my thoughts.
‘Yeah. Once.’
‘What happened?’
I hesitated. I didn’t know what to say. The truth was grim.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t meant to pry.’
‘No, it’s OK. I think my wife found the whole police thing too difficult. It was a hard break-up though. She had two daughters, twins, who were seven when we met, and I became very close to them. Probably too close.’ I sighed. ‘We were happy. Really happy. Then we weren’t. It hurt a lot.’
I should have stopped talking then but the words just seemed to tumble out as if they’d been waiting there all this time.
‘I remember in our last year together, it was Halloween. We used to live out in Surrey in a little village near Egham and all the young kids used to dress up for trick or treat. The girls were well into it, as you can imagine. We were too. I dressed up as Count Dracula; Jo, my wife, was a witch’s cat; and the girls were both witches. It was a Friday night and I’d finished work for the weekend. We went round the houses, doing the trick or treating, and it was like the whole village was out. The girls were laughing the whole time, their sweet bags were full, and we all ended up in the local pub where they were doing food for all the kids, and all the parents, myself included, were at the bar drinking and chatting, without a care in the world.’ I sigh
ed. ‘You know, I remember it as one of the best nights I’ve ever had. I was so damn happy because I had a family I loved, and a normal life.
‘We broke up in September of the following year, and I’ll never forget that next Halloween. I was living alone in a loft near King’s Cross, and I was home that night, drinking on my own, and, Jesus …’ I took a deep breath. ‘It was the most lonely night I’ve ever had. It was like I was the only man left alive, cast adrift in this huge city where no one gave a shit about me, and where no one ever had.’
The tears stung my eyes as, for a few moments, I relived the twin memories of those two vastly different nights, and emotions that I worked so hard to keep hidden came simmering to the surface.
‘I thought about killing myself then. I even had the gun in my hand.’ I held up my thumb and forefinger so they were millimetres apart. ‘I came this fucking close.’
Tina didn’t say anything. Instead, she stubbed out her cigarette, put down her coffee, and walked over to where I was sitting.
Forcing away the tears, I got to my feet. We looked at each other for a long time. We didn’t speak.
Then, with an inevitability that had been there since I’d arrived at her home, we kissed.
At first it was slow and gentle. But slow and gentle wasn’t what either of us needed and within seconds we were tearing at each other’s clothes as passion took hold. I don’t know who dragged who up to the bedroom but that was where we ended up, and, as we fell naked into each other’s arms, the world instantly became a better place.
Although I think I knew even then that it wouldn’t stay like that for long.
Day Five
Saturday
Forty-seven
I was woken from a blissfully dreamless sleep by the sound of my mobile phone.
Sitting up in bed, it took me a couple of seconds to realize where I was. Sunlight streamed through the window and a clock on the wall I didn’t recognize told me it was 7.40 a.m. Then I turned and saw Tina Boyd lying next to me, her dark hair splayed across the pillow, her freckled shoulders bare above the covers, and I remembered.
Tina opened one eye. ‘Is that yours?’
On those occasions in recent years when I’ve slept with women, the next morning has always been an awkward, guilt-ridden time for me, as if I know I’ve somehow betrayed myself and led them on, and that’s usually been followed by thoughts of how to escape as soon as possible. I didn’t feel anything like that as I looked down at Tina. I felt good.
‘Sorry,’ I said, bending down and kissing her forehead. ‘I’ll sort it.’
The phone was in my jeans. I pulled it out and saw that the call was from Dan Watts.
‘Hold on,’ I whispered, tiptoeing out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
‘Where are you?’ Dan asked.
I wasn’t going to tell him about Tina. ‘With a friend.’
‘I didn’t know you had any, Ray.’
‘Yeah, thanks. Good morning to you too.’
‘We’ve got a problem,’ he said.
‘Give me a moment.’ I went into Tina’s kitchen, poured myself a glass of water and took a big gulp. ‘Go on.’
‘I’ve just got word that they’ve found my informant’s body dumped on waste ground up near Watford. He’d had his throat cut.’
‘Shit. When was the last time you heard from him?’
‘When I was with you. His tracker was still on him though. It travelled with him up to Edmonton yesterday, then to an area round an isolated house near Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire.’
‘That’s where he delivered the trafficked girl on Thursday night.’
‘I know. And then from there it travelled directly to where they found him. So he may have died there.’
‘The house belongs to an offshore company but a car belonging to Lola Sheridan, Kitty Sinn’s cousin, was there yesterday.’
‘How the hell do you know that?’
‘I just do. Have you got enough to raid the place?’
‘No,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘You remember, this whole op with the informant was unofficial. I’m going to have a hard enough time trying to explain away the tracking device.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘The other tracker, the one my informant gave the girl, went on the move at five-thirty this morning, just over two hours ago, and it’s been moving ever since, first up the M40 to Birmingham, then the M6 north. They’re now on the M54 heading west towards Wales.’
‘Can you get some surveillance on them?’ I asked, knowing the answer to that one before I’d even asked the question.
‘No way. You know the size of my team, and I haven’t got a prayer of getting authority from anyone else. Right now I’ve got to concentrate all my resources on damage limitation.’
‘So, why are you calling me?’ I knew the answer to this question too.
‘I want to know where that girl’s going. If I keep you updated on the tracker’s location, can you follow it and see where it ends up? I know you like a bit of an adventure, Ray, and you never know where this one might lead you.’
It was an unorthodox request, and frankly pretty cheeky, but I was never going to say no, despite the beautiful woman asleep in bed upstairs.
‘OK, Dan, I’ll do it. Can you send me the codes to the tracker so I can follow it myself?’
‘No problem. And thanks, Ray. I appreciate the help. But don’t go getting yourself in any trouble. It’s purely a reconnaissance trip. Anything looks fishy, just report back and we’ll take it from there.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I told him. ‘I’ve had enough trouble for one week.’
Forty-eight
‘Is everything OK?’ Tina asked when I walked back into the bedroom. She was propped up on her pillows, her hair falling down over her shoulders, the sunlight dappling her pale skin through the window.
The desire to jump back into bed with her was almost overwhelming.
‘I’ve got to go,’ I told her.
‘Where?’
I paused for too long, not wanting to lie to her, but not wanting to tell her the truth either.
Her expression darkened. ‘Don’t tell me, you’ve got a girlfriend.’
‘No, course I haven’t. I’ve got a lead. One I need to follow up.’
‘Fine. I’ll come with you.’ She got out of bed. ‘We’re in this together now.’
‘Look, Tina, I almost got you killed the other day and, you know, this is hard for me to say, but I’ve got feelings for you.’
‘Don’t fucking patronize me,’ she said, stopping in front of me. ‘I told you before, you didn’t almost get me killed, and I am not your responsibility. We’re going to work together on this, and as far as I can see, right now you need all the help you can get.’
She was absolutely right, but that didn’t stop me feeling protective. I’d developed strong feelings for her already, and it was such a rare thing for me to experience that I didn’t want to do anything that might jeopardize that.
In the end, though, there was no way Tina was going to get fobbed off.
‘It’s just a reconnaissance trip,’ I told her, ‘and we need to make a brief stop at my place, to pick up a few things.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.’
Which made me like her even more.
By ten, Tina and I were in my car heading north on the M40 towards Birmingham when I got another call from Dan Watts.
‘I don’t know if you’ve spotted it yet,’ he said, ‘but the tracker’s been stopped for the last half an hour at a farm in mid-Wales, a place out in the middle of nowhere.’
‘Yeah, we’re heading towards it now,’ I said, glancing over to where Tina sat with a laptop open on her lap, ‘but we’re still at least a couple of hours away. Have you got any idea who the farm belongs to?’
‘An offshore company called Blankford Associates. So far I haven’t got anything more than that, but it’s probably another Kalaman front compa
ny. If you can, just check the place out. See what might be going on there, who’s in residence, take some photos and send them back to me. Then we can work out what the next move is.’
‘If they’ve taken the trafficked girl there, and it looks like they have, she could be in real danger.’
‘If things look bad, we’ll call in the local police. But don’t take any risks yourself, Ray. You’re in enough crap as it is.’
I told him I wouldn’t and we agreed to speak again when we arrived.
From the M40, we took the M42 and M6 across Birmingham before taking the A458 into Wales. The traffic became lighter as we crossed the border, and when we came off the main road, heading north, the landscape became one of rolling hills and thick patches of woodland. The traffic thinned as the roads grew narrower and more potholed, and as we crossed a bridge over a fast-flowing river, Tina told me to take an immediate left.
I turned on to a single-vehicle, heavily pitted lane that climbed upwards through thick pine forest, directly parallel to the river, for about half a mile before turning away as the woodland thinned and the pines turned to oak and beech trees.
‘About fifty metres up here on our left is the track that runs directly down to the farm,’ said Tina. ‘The distance is about a quarter of a mile.’
So we were almost there. If this place did indeed belong to the Kalamans I knew they’d take precautions to keep out visitors, which would probably include security cameras. So I pulled off the lane, weaved between a couple of trees, and parked the car behind a large tangle of brambles and ferns so we were out of sight of anyone driving past.
‘Whereabouts are we on the map?’ I asked, leaning over.
‘Here,’ she said.
I looked at where her finger was placed on the laptop screen. A satellite map of the area showed we were on the edge of a large wood that ran down to a valley at the bottom of which was a cluster of four buildings, reached by the dead-end track. A red light was pulsing from the main building – a large stone house – as it showed the location of the tracker. Beyond the buildings more woodland rose up on the other side of the valley. There were no other buildings, houses or otherwise, in any direction, making it totally isolated.
The Bone Field Page 27
