by M A Comley
Libby inclined her head. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I…”
One look from Libby put a stop to Brittany’s whining. Her full red lips twisted out of shape, and tears surfaced in her eyes.
Libby shook her head. “Excuses don’t wash with me, just so you know.”
Libby then thumped her hard in the face. Brittany didn’t see the strike coming and sank heavily onto the thick carpet.
In one easy movement, Libby hitched Brittany onto her shoulder and carried her down the two flights of stairs. She placed her against the front door, one hand at her chest holding her upright, and peered out. After making sure she wasn’t likely to be challenged by one of the neighbours, Libby made her move. Ensuring the front door was secured behind her, she hooked Brittany’s arm around her shoulder and half dragged her to the car. Any onlookers would have thought Brittany had passed out and Libby was just being a Good Samaritan, assisting her to her car. She placed the woman in the back seat, slammed the door shut and drove to a local beauty spot she knew a few streets away.
There, thankful that there were no other cars in sight, she got out of the vehicle, yanked Brittany out and shoved her in the boot, just in case she regained consciousness during the drive back—less dangerous that way. Libby returned to the car and drove back to the lockup. She had a busy day looming, and time was of the essence in order to fulfil her plans. There, she heaved Brittany’s body out of the boot, hoisted her slender frame onto her shoulders and carried her through the building to her designated cell.
“Hello, who’s there? Please help us. Please let us go,” came the cries from Jennifer and Amanda.
Libby suppressed a giggle and left the lockup again. She had enough time to get home before she had to pick up her fourth victim at around five-forty-five. She smiled at the thought and drove back to the house. All the time wondering if the women had introduced themselves back at their temporary prison and if they’d had the brains to figure out what was going on yet. She doubted it. They had always been self-consumed, shallow individuals during the time she’d known them.
They aren’t so brave now, though, are they? Only a few more hours and the fun can begin. I’m going to enjoy what lies ahead of them, however, I doubt they will.
5
Sara left the chief to deal with Gary and returned to the incident room to catch up on her team’s progress. There really wasn’t much to hand, which was another cause of frustration for her.
In need of caffeine, she stopped off at the machine, bought the rest of the team a drink and asked Craig to hand them around. Then she went into her office and rang Mark.
“Hello, you. Everything all right?” he asked, ever intuitive.
“Not really.” She briefly recapped how her day had panned out so far with regard to Carla.
“Jesus. What is wrong with these men, abusing their partners like that? Hey, if she needs somewhere to stay while she finds other accommodation, don’t hesitate offering her our spare room.”
She smiled. He truly was the most kind and considerate man she knew, apart from her father and her neighbour, Ted. It gladdened her heart to know there were men out there who still treated women as equals. It balanced things out, made up for those who preferred to knock women down at every given opportunity. “You’re so sweet. I’m glad you said that. I told her the same. I’ve given her my key. I was ringing up to pre-warn you, in case you got home early tonight. Umm… try not to react when you see the state of her, she’s far from her usual beautiful self at present.”
He let out a large sigh. “That’s going to upset me, seeing her all battered and bruised.”
“I know it will, which is why I wanted to warn you, love. Anyway, how has your day been?”
“Not bad so far. I should be home relatively early this evening. I’ll stop off and pick up a couple of bottles of wine on the way, shall I?”
“Would you mind? I’ll pay you when I get home. I might be a little late, depends if I have to do a conference tonight, or not before I leave. I need to chase Jane up after I’ve finished speaking to you.”
“Hey, you go. We can chat later.”
“Thanks, Mark, you’re such a sweetheart. I never have to consider what it was that made me fall in love with you.”
“You say the nicest things. We’re two of a kind, Sara. Don’t ever forget how much I love you.”
“I won’t. I treasure every minute of the day I spend with you. Too gushy, right? I’m going now.”
He laughed. “Maybe a touch. See you later, darling.”
She ended the call and chased up Jane right away.
“Hey, I was about to call you. I couldn’t manage to cobble things together for this afternoon, so I’ve gone full hog for tomorrow morning at ten, how’s that?”
“Brilliant. You’re amazing, but then I always end up giving you praise on a job well done, don’t I?”
“You do. It’s my job, Sara. Sorry I couldn’t deliver for this afternoon. This way, at least you can have some extra time to prepare what you want to say. That’s not always the case, is it?”
“Too true. Thanks, Jane. Have a good evening, I’ll see you in the morning, around nine-fifty?”
“I’ll be there. Take care, Sara.”
She hung up, finished off her coffee which was on the verge of going cold and joined the team again.
“I was about to come and see you, boss,” Craig said, crossing the room towards her.
“Sounds ominous. What have you got for me?”
“Uniform have reported they’ve located Jennifer Moore’s car. I’ve arranged for someone from the lab to pick it up. I hope I have done the right thing, boss?”
“You have. That’s great news, where was it found?”
“This is the strange part: outside a house which can only be described as derelict. Which is probably why our guys haven’t managed to locate it until now.”
“Very strange. Let’s see what SOCO can find, hopefully it’ll help us. God knows we could do with the assistance on this one. Anything else?”
Christine raised her hand, and Sara walked over to her desk. “What have you got?”
“I’ve been checking into the women’s social media accounts. I have an association with them through Facebook.”
“An association? Can you clarify what you mean?”
“Sorry, yes, they’re on each other’s friends’ list but nothing more than that. I’ve scrolled back through several months of posts. They’re both quite active on the site, and my assumption would be they’re not really that close.”
“How odd.” Sara paused and thought things over for a moment or two. “What about schools, they’re of a similar age, aren’t they? Did they go to the same school? Maybe that’s the connection here.”
“Let me have a look at their profiles. Hang on, Charlesworth School for Jennifer, and yes, the same for Amanda.”
“Okay, let’s add that to the board. It might come in handy later. At least it’s a step in the right direction. I’m fed up with going backwards all the time. I much prefer it when the information we gather drives an investigation forward.”
“I agree, boss. Can I ask what happened with Carla?” Christine asked.
“Sorry, yes. You guys should know that the chief and I visited Carla to try to persuade her to rethink her resignation. Whilst we were chatting, Gary came home.”
Christine winced.
Sara nodded. “Yep, it wasn’t pleasant. He’s downstairs being questioned by the chief now. He assaulted me.” She waved away the gasps. “I’m fine. Carla finally saw what he was like. She’s left him and will be staying with me until she finds alternative accommodation.”
“Excellent news. You didn’t have to do that, boss,” Christine replied.
“I know. I couldn’t see her on the streets. It won’t be for long. Hopefully, being out of his clutches will make her regain some of her confidence. Upon reflection, I believe she’s been lacking in that department for
a while.”
“What’s this?” a voice sounded behind her.
She spun around to find DI Des Williams from Worcester standing in the doorway. He had been the one called in to take over the previous case when it had led to Carla and Gary being abducted, although the investigation they had been working on hadn’t really been connected in the end.
“Hey, stranger, what are you doing here?” Sara stepped forward and hugged him. Even though she hadn’t got on well with him initially, being an outsider, she’d come to think of him as a friend in the end. “Wait, let me grab a couple of coffees, you can tell me all the gossip in my office.”
“How could I refuse such a tempting offer? White with one for me, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Cheeky, I hadn’t. I made enough of them while you were with us last month.”
Coffees bought, they went through to the office.
Once they were both settled into their seats, Sara asked, “What are you doing in our neck of the woods again, so soon?”
“You avoided answering my question, we’ll get back to that one in a sec. I’ve been called in to assist another team with a gang-related issue. Some of the action has taken place on my patch, so we’ve agreed to work together to try and trap the buggers. Should be fun. You’ll be seeing more of me over the next couple of weeks. Back to my question.” He grinned, persistent as always.
“You never let anything drop, do you? Okay, this is between you and me, I’m counting on your discretion here.”
“You’ve got it. Before you say anything else, I noticed that Carla was missing. Is there a connection? Were you talking about her?”
“You’re very astute, for a copper.” Sara laughed. “She’s got herself in a mess, but we’re sorting it now.”
“What sort of mess? Does this have something to do with her boyfriend? The one who was abducted?”
“Yes.” Sara went on to explain what Carla had been dealing with over the last few months. She watched his expressions change from concern to anger and back to concern, all in the space of five minutes.
“What the actual fuck? Sorry, excuse my language. I hate it when I hear accounts like this, especially against a fellow officer. What gives a bloke the right to hit a woman in the first place? Let alone a serving police officer. He must be dense if he thought he’d get away with it.”
Sara hitched up a shoulder. “The problem is, he did almost get away with it. She handed in her resignation. If it hadn’t been for our DCI visiting her, and then hauling my arse round there to talk some sense into Carla, I think he would have succeeded. The idiot ended up assaulting me. That proved to be his downfall and made Carla realise just who she was involved with.”
“Sounds to me like she’s had a lucky escape. Where is she now?”
“In the process of moving her stuff into my house. I’ve told her she can have our spare room for a few weeks until she finds alternative accommodation. She seemed relieved by the offer.”
“I’m not surprised. What about her family?”
Sara paused to think. “She doesn’t really speak about them much. Only in passing. God, what kind of partner am I? I don’t even know her mum’s and dad’s names or where they live. It’s never really cropped up, and yet, she knows everything about my family. Shame on me.”
“Don’t do that. I’m sure there’s a reason why she hasn’t told you. Maybe she’s ashamed of them.”
“What? Why?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. Something to discuss in the future. Being her superior, you have access to her personnel file, don’t you?”
“Hmm… if I snooped, I’d feel I was intruding on her privacy.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Forget I mentioned it. How was she when you left her?”
“Apart from the dozens of bruises she’s sporting, she seemed to be okay. Possibly relieved it was over. Who knows what she’ll feel like this evening once she’s had the chance to reflect on how things turned out? I know she feels guilty about involving me.”
“That’s understandable. You’re a kind person, you know, to offer her a place to stay.”
“You’d do the same, wouldn’t you?”
He shifted in his chair. “Umm… not sure that would have come across too well.”
“You being a man, you mean? Or is there something else you’re not telling me?” Sara’s eyes narrowed, and she gasped. “Jesus, I can see it written all over your face. You bloody fancy her, don’t you? Go on, make my day and admit it.”
The colour appeared in his neck and quickly gained momentum to settle in his cheeks.
Sara smiled and sat back.
“Do you have to be so smug?”
She laughed. “I love being right, it’s true. Want me to have a word with her?”
“Pack it in. After what she’s bloody been through, it wouldn’t surprise me if she ended up hating men and being turned off us for life.”
Sara shook her head. “Bollocks, she enjoys sex too much. Oops… too much information, right?”
He placed a hand over his eyes, dropped it and reached for his drink. “You’re, what’s the word…?”
“Amazing? The best DI to ever walk the earth?”
“Nope, incorrigible, that’s the word I was seeking.”
They both laughed.
“Joking aside, I think you’d make a fabulous couple. Two good-looking specimens such as yourselves, I can visualise what beautiful children you’d produce.”
“Jesus Christ… slow down, woman. In five minutes flat, you’ve gone from trying to set us up on a date, to marrying us off and having bundles of joy, or ankle biters. Give me a break.”
“Hey, let’s face it, neither of you is getting any younger, and her body clock is ticking, if you get my meaning.”
He covered his eyes again, the smile twitching at his lips as he considered her suggestion.
“Enough. This conversation remains between us, right? If I hear you’ve been spouting your mouth off, I’ll…”
“You’ll what? Thank me for intervening? I thought so.”
“You’re bloody unbelievable. How does your fella put up with you?”
There was a knock on the door, and both of them fell quiet, aware of the subject they’d been discussing.
“Come in,” Sara shouted.
Marissa poked her head into the room. “Sorry to interrupt, boss. I thought you should know straight away.”
“Know what?”
“We’ve received a call from an estate agency manager in town who has reported one of their female agents missing.”
Sara shot out of her chair. “Sorry, Des, you don’t mind, do you? It could be relevant to the investigations we’re working on at present.”
“Go ahead. I’ve stayed longer than anticipated anyway.” He rose from his chair and followed Sara out of the office. He patted her on the back and said, “Good luck.”
“Thanks, you, too. Stay in touch. We should go for a drink after work one day.”
He rolled his eyes, picking up on her inference. “We’ll see. Take care.”
“Ditto.” She turned her back on him and asked Marissa for the details.
“I’ve got the phone number. It’s Jackson’s in town. I’ve told the manager that you’ll be in touch soon.”
“I’ll drop over there now, it’s not like I’m doing anything else. Craig, come with me.”
Marissa handed her a note with the address on, and they set off.
During the trip, Craig said, “Nice to see DI Williams again.”
“It was. He’s helping out on a gang-related case which covers Worcester and Hereford.”
“Interesting. He seems a decent chap.”
“He does,” Sara agreed, unsure where Craig was heading. “Something you want to say, Craig?”
He slapped a hand to his chest. “Me? No. Genuinely interested in what’s going on around me, that’s all, boss.”
“A probing mind we call it. Either that or you’re nosey.”
&
nbsp; “Charming. I prefer to think of it as the former.”
They reached the estate agency ten minutes later and parked in the only available space in the car park. Sara locked her vehicle, and they entered the office via the main entrance. Three females were sitting at the desks, two of them on the phone.
The redhead who was free approached them. “Hello, can I help?”
Sara produced her warrant card. “I’m DI Sara Ramsey, and this is my partner, DC Craig Watson.”
“Oh, thank goodness you’ve taken my call seriously. I’ve been fraught with bloody worry.”
“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Miranda Richards. I’m the branch manager. I’ve never been under this much stress before.”
“Okay, try and remain calm. Is there somewhere we can talk without being disturbed?”
“Yes, my office. Come through. I didn’t want to be alone so sat out there with Shell and Jackie. I feel a lot calmer than I did when I made the call to the station.”
They each took a chair in the large windowless office. It felt stuffy to Sara, she hated not being able to browse out of the window during the day. She was lucky, back at the station, to have magnificent views of the Brecon Beacons to brighten her working day, unlike Miranda Richards.
“Mrs Richards, perhaps you can run through what happened?”
“It’s Brittany Dawson, one of our top negotiators, she’s gone missing. And before you say it, yes, I’ve tried ringing her phone and I’ve also tried my best to contact the person she was due to meet.”
“I take it you’ve been unsuccessful with both?”
“Yes. I didn’t know what to do next so I rang the police in the hope you could offer me some advice. After the Suzy Lamplugh case, well, we were all instructed to change our systems.”
“And that’s worked out for you up until now, I take it?”
“Yes. Oh God… please, we’re wasting time. You have to put out a bulletin to say she’s missing. Get every available police car and officer on the alert for her. I can’t bear to think of anything awful happening to her. I’d feel so guilty if something were to go wrong and she got hurt.” The woman’s shaking hand swept back a stray hair that had slipped out of the French knot.
