by J. A. Kerr
Eating his food slowly, Nick mulled over the problem. It would be more convenient if Anna was dead. He’d just need to get rid of her body, something he’d already thought about. But if she wasn’t he’d need to be prepared. Nick knew he should run…get as far away as he could, but the thought of torturing Guy Walker was too good an opportunity to pass up. He would never find her body if Nick returned and carried out his plan. Nick smiled as he thought of his anguish. He suddenly remembered his drugs. Of course, the answer was there all along. A morphine overdose was the perfect solution. He suddenly felt calm. Anna would drift off forever. There was no need to get rid of her body. There was a chest freezer in the floor above. It would stop any unpleasant smells. Preserve her and give him some breathing space. He must be careful his DNA was not found at the garage. There must be no link to him. He had his body suit, gloves and booties in preparation.
Nick opened his laptop. He couldn’t face going back to the garage today. He would deal with Anna tomorrow. His plan meant he could simply walk away. The rent was paid for a year and he would keep the utilities going for at least that time. The electricity must remain on to power the freezer. However, it would not stay that way forever. When he decided Guy Walker had suffered enough, then disconnection for non-payment would follow. The freezer would stop working, the body would decompose and smell, but by that time, Nick would be long gone.
Chapter 45
The Braille Club Reborn
Guy
Guy stared at the man in front of him before he left Evan alone to get on with his work. The police had no leads and no information. The wait for Evan to return had been excruciating. He’d not slept or eaten properly since he discovered Anna was missing. A living nightmare he could not escape from. It was a relief to be active at last. The lost hours were frustrating and long. Guy had accomplished very little. No one knew anything. No one had seen anything.
Something about Evan had changed but he wasn’t exactly sure what. He knew he’d had his first sensory lesson at the Braille Club and wondered if it was that. His nerves were strung out and he was in shock. Guy was acting on autopilot. Anna’s disappearance hadn’t really sunk in. The whole situation he was in hadn’t really sunk in. He returned to the conference room, and a grim-faced Benedict.
“If anyone can help us it’s Evan,” said Benedict, his face troubled. “He’s the best. Why would Nick Waters target Anna?”
Guy rubbed his hand over his face. “I never told you this…but I arranged for Nick Waters to be roughed up in prison.” Benedict’s mouth opened but Guy held up his hand. “I wanted to hurt him; to inflict some kind of retribution. The prison officer went too far...broke bones. It was a mess but Waters recovered. He had quite a set up in prison from what my source told me. The prison governor seemed completely under his spell as did a number of inmates. It was bad luck that my source was on holiday when his parole was approved and he was released. I didn’t think to ask for cover in his absence.” Guy saw Benedict’s astonished expression.
“You didn’t need to do that,” he whispered.
Guy shrugged. “I wanted to. After what he put you both through, it was the least he deserved.”
“Why would Waters think you were behind the attack?”
Guy sighed heavily. “The prison officer who assaulted him was brutally attacked a couple of weeks ago. He was an unpopular guy with inmates and colleagues alike. I didn’t see the link before but now I’m wondering if the officer told Waters I was behind it. That knowledge would give him a motive to take Anna.”
“Maybe. But Siena thinks you could be a target because you were with me...I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this,” said Benedict, regret in his voice, “and thank you for getting that bastard. I owe you so much already.”
“You don’t owe me a thing. I did what anyone would do in my position. The only person at fault here is Nick Waters. He needs to be stopped and together we can do that.”
“Can we?” Benedict’s face was serious. “I’m positive he’s behind the abduction but I can’t prove it.”
“Trust your gut,” said Guy. “This time we’ll get him. I don’t care what it takes.”
“We need to be smart about it too,” said Benedict. “Neither of us is going to prison.” His expression darkened.
They were disturbed when Benedict’s mobile rang.
“It’s Siena,” he said and excused himself.
Guy sat alone with only his thoughts for company. He didn’t believe this was a coincidence. He should have foreseen Nick might target him or Anna but he hadn’t. Caught up on the abduction case with Benedict, it had never entered his mind. But Nick Waters had a pattern. Guy now understood how he operated. He went for his victim’s nearest and dearest. He couldn’t imagine Anna going with anyone against her will. His stomach lurched. Had he hurt her? Guy got up, no longer able to sit as his agitation increased. As he paced around the room, he knew one thing for certain; Anna would have fought. But so far no one had witnessed anything. No disturbance had been reported which led Guy to believe Anna had been drugged. Perhaps the same way Waters had drugged Lizzie. Like Benedict, he believed it was Nick Waters behind the abduction and not Katie Burns, despite the evidence.
Benedict suspected Nick Waters had planted the evidence against Katie. The more Guy thought about it the more it made sense. He didn’t have all the answers, like Katie’s prints being on the hire car keys, however, her hair and coat would have been easy to plant. Nick Waters was a devious and clever bastard. It was exactly the kind of thing he would do. Waters could have staged the entire crime scene. Alone with Katie, he could easily have taken hair. Now that Guy thought of it…he had access to her shoes too. From the start the case had felt wrong. He glanced at his watch wondering how long Benedict would be. Approaching the whiteboard he methodically put down his thoughts. Standing back he read over what he’d written and could feel his pulse increase. Yes, he thought excitedly. Apart from a few holes it made sense. He applied the same logic to Anna’s disappearance. He wrote down…
Nick Waters had motive. He had opportunity. He has done it before.
He watched Anna’s flat to find out her routine.
How did he know she was alone? Had he been inside their building waiting?
He approached and drugged Anna—seems the most likely as no disturbance was reported.
How had he carried Anna?
Where did he take her?
His hand shook as he wrote. He was finding it difficult to concentrate and think logically. He was desperate to do something and he felt useless waiting for the police to call, so continued with his list.
Where is he holding Anna?
Will he harm her?
That was the hardest part to write. Swallowing, he jumped as he heard Benedict re-enter the room. He joined him at the white board and Guy felt his hand on his shoulder.
“Guy, I know exactly what you’re going through. It was your timeline and logical thinking that saved Siena. We will find Anna and God help that bastard when we do. This is good work.”
Guy wanted to cry. His taut emotions were in danger of breaking down.
“If I had to make a guess of how he carried Anna,” said Benedict grimly, “I’d go for a wheelchair. It’s what he used with Siena.”
“Yes,” said Guy, nodding. He updated the board. His mobile rang and he rushed to answer it. He listened and after five minutes ended the call.
“That was DI Clark. They are working through CCTV footage to establish if Anna was caught on camera and triangulating her mobile phone. Everything takes time,” he sighed.
Benedict was still at the whiteboard.
“Guy, do you really think the evidence could be planted?” said Benedict.
“Yes, it’s a possibility I’ve been considering.”
“I think it’s more than a possibility. We need to speak to Katie Burns,” said Benedict, his tone urgent. “She is the key to all this.”
“I agree,” said Guy. He pressed his fingers
over his eyes. “But right now I’ve got to focus on Anna.”
“Of course…I didn’t mean…”
“I know,” said Guy. “Let me make some calls.”
Benedict held up his hand. “No, Anna is the priority, I can ask Evan.”
Guy knew the first forty-eight hours in a missing persons case was crucial. Why had he not realised she was missing? If anything happened to Anna he would be too blame. She might already be dead. His thoughts tortured him. Where was she? The questions swirled around his head as he waited on Evan.
Benedict’s question broke into his thoughts. “Are the police going to question Nick Waters?”
“DI Clark said the investigation was still in the early stages. He didn’t rule it out but said he had to be careful. Waters’ lawyer was threatening to sue them for harassment. He didn’t want to go after him until he had hard evidence.”
“Christ,” said Benedict. “A woman is missing here.” He clenched his fists. “Fuck his lawyer.”
Guy held out his arms. “DI Clark is a good guy. He won’t let that stand in his way but doesn’t want to be accused of bully boy tactics. It would damage the case. He just wants to be sure before he brings Nick Waters in.”
“Did you tell him why you think he’s taken Anna?”
“I will not incriminate myself, Benedict. Getting locked up won’t help Anna. I’ve told him my thoughts on the abduction of the twins, and how Anna’s disappearance is linked. I’ve told him the similarities between Siena’s abduction and the twins’ abduction. The possible use of drugs as a sedative. DI Clark has taken it all on board but until he finds evidence of Waters involvement…”
“This is ridiculous,” Benedict exclaimed. “He’s running rings around us.”
They were interrupted again by the ringing of Guy’s mobile. He snatched it up and answered. The conversation did not improve his mood.
“DI Clark has Katie’s computer, they should know more in a few days. They’ve taken her into custody.”
Guy saw Benedict deflate. “All the evidence is pointing at Katie…maybe we are barking up the wrong tree. Maybe she is the guilty party. I mean, finding a shovel in her car is pretty conclusive.”
“It could be planted,” said Guy but secretly he was thinking the same.
“We can’t speak with her until she’s released.”
“Do you think they will charge her?”
“I’m not sure. They may want to wait until all the trace evidence has been recovered and processed but it’s looking more and more likely.”
“You know she stalked someone in the past,” said Guy. “I checked out that story in the paper and it’s true. She was never charged but a complaint was made against her.”
Benedict sat down. “I could understand if she had gone after Siena, considered her to be a rival, but why go after the twins?”
“Exactly,” said Guy, moving around the room, his anxiety mounting as time went by. “It makes no sense because Katie didn’t have a motive to take the twins. That’s where it all falls down.”
Guy didn’t understand his resistance to the growing evidence against Katie. It all seemed...to pat, he’d even begun to feel a little sorry for her. Sure, on balance she definitely seemed like the guilty party but Guy smelled a rat. When something seemed to be too good to be true—it often was.
Although the discovery of Katie’s car complete with shovel and other trace evidence was another nail in her coffin, Guy wondered what he was missing. He still believed Katie had been framed. His experienced background refused to accept the mounting evidence against her. Benedict was right to check the authenticity of the DNA results. His experience had identified that results could be tampered with, but DI Clark assured Guy they were correct and he believed him.
“We’ve got to keep digging,” said Benedict.
Guy was finding it harder to concentrate. “Yes,” he said. What the hell was keeping Evan Radley? He thought desperately.
As Guy sat impatiently with Benedict at his side, he understood how he felt when Siena went missing. Their roles were reversed now. It was Benedict that was calm and collected while Guy fought the impulse to look for Anna himself. However, he knew it would be more productive working with Evan Radley and he hoped to God he could help, but the clock was ticking. Waiting on Evan, he decided he’d pay Nick Waters a visit. It was probably Guy’s only hope of finding her. He’d give Evan another ten minutes and then he’d go.
Chapter 46
The Braille Club Reborn
Nick
Nick awoke the next morning feeling exhausted. He had barely slept all night, certain the police would arrive at any minute but they hadn’t. He smiled; perhaps they had not connected him with the case, after all Anna Dunbar didn’t know him. He relaxed a little. He’d been so tense since the incident in the cellar. Now that his nerves were not so strung out, his mind was clearer. Panic had made him lose perspective. Nothing had changed, he still had Anna. He was still in control. Switching on the television, he turned the sound down and busied himself with his morning routine. As he stepped back into the room from the shower, he saw Anna’s picture on the screen and froze. He rushed to turn up the sound and stood rooted to the spot.
“Top London barrister Anna Dunbar has been reported missing and abduction is suspected. Responsible for several high profile criminal cases, police cannot rule out a revenge attack. Officers are doing all they can to locate Ms Dunbar and urge members of the public to contact them with any information. Ms Dunbar was last seen leaving her office.”
Nick watched the grainy images of Anna flash across the screen and his heart lurched.
“A number of CCTV cameras captured Ms Dunbar on her journey home. Although police believe Ms Dunbar did arrive there, it appears she may have gone out again. Police are pursuing a number of enquires,” said the newsreader.
Nick giggled in relief. They had nothing...it was better than he hoped. They were linking her disappearance with some disgruntled criminal she had put away—Nick was in the clear. He got dressed and made himself a coffee. Opening his laptop he Googled Anna Dunbar and read everything the media were saying. A revenge attack from organised crime seemed top of their lists. There was no mention of Guy Walker either. Nick felt a wave of fresh enthusiasm wash over him. Okay, so Anna might be injured, but he had the solution to that. An overdose of morphine and a chest freezer solved that problem. Meanwhile, Nick was free to pursue other areas of interest—Guy Walker. He would enjoy twisting the knife. Siena was another. He missed the surveillance photographs and updates. He hated the loss of access to her. Unsure where she was, he suspected Siena was holed up in the club they owned. He finished his coffee and went down for breakfast.
His appetite had returned, he was hungry with a busy day ahead. Lifting his laptop, he left the room with no clear plan. Preoccupied as he ordered eggs and bacon, he thought it over. Nothing came to mind and it infuriated him. But he wasn’t a quitter, he’d think of something. He would deal with Anna first. Guy Walker was an ex policeman and he would not be so easy to dupe and observe. He was used to being on his guard and he was close to Benedict Harrison. Nick had got lucky with the Harrison surveillance. The small thicket of bushes near his home was the perfect cover for his team. However, no such cover existed at Anna’s flat, perhaps it was the same with Walker. Nick couldn’t risk his surveillance team being spotted by Guy Walker, but his need to witness his suffering was overpowering. Where was the fun in taking Anna if he couldn’t see the devastation his actions caused?
Like always Nick applied logic to the problem. He could find out Guy Walker’s address, it had been easy enough to get Anna Dunbar’s and get his contacts to check the area to see if concealed surveillance was possible. Thoughts of Siena soured his mood. He was missing her more than ever. His time in prison bearable because he thought they would be together again. He shook himself. First things first, he had to deal with Anna Dunbar before he could concentrate on his next move to secure Siena.
Chapter 47
The Braille Club Reborn
Evan
Evan sat working in the conference room. He was completely focused. At last he was doing something productive. He understood what Benedict wanted, but that wasn’t what he provided. Although his career had started on the seedier side of life, he’d quickly moved on. He found he enjoyed protecting people. He got the prostitutes a better set up but ceased to be involved himself. Then he got into the debt recovery business; nothing sinister, just finding people and informing the Sheriff Officers or Debt Company—protecting their interests. His fee was small but his reputation for results grew. His big break was the lucrative insurance world. Once he concluded his first assignment successfully, he got a steady stream of cases. His business grew and now he specialised in all types of security and protection. Cyber security was a huge area he’d tapped into and again it was extremely lucrative but boring. Evan took on a small number of cases every year that provided him with a challenge. That was exactly what Benedict Harrison’s case was; a challenge. He needed to stay sharp.
Benedict wanted Evan to find out how Nick Waters could have orchestrated his crime from prison and then in person. It was an unusual request and one he had decided to accept, perhaps the secret Braille Club had been a factor. His sensory lesson was like nothing he’d ever experienced and he couldn’t wait for further lessons. With Chloe he had achieved what seemed impossible before—a good sexual relationship. Leaving her today to come and help Guy Walker had been a wrench he’d never known before; she was constantly on his mind. He had only been working on Benedict’s case for a short time before he was called away on urgent business abroad. Now his surveillance teams were in place, he at least knew where to find Nick Waters. That was always a good start.
