“2016, eh? You’ll need the Road Policing Unit for that, not us lot. Give me a minute and I’ll see if I can help. Hold the line.”
“Thanks, Bec.”
Eva waited as the line went silent. She took another look around the street, and then peered back through the gaps between the neon posters to see Lauren queueing at the till with a basketful of groceries. A minute later Rawlins came back on the line.
“Sorry, Eva the RPU says there’s not much to say.”
“That’s less than helpful. Why not?” said Eva.
“May 2016. You meant the fatal accident at Witham, right? The one involving Mrs Blane?”
“That’s the one. Why can’t they help?”
“The Maldon and Witham stretch of the A12 was subject to roadworks back then. The plate recognition cameras and speed cameras were all out of service while the road resurfacing was carried out. Turns out there was an appeal for more witnesses to come forward after the incident. A few more people did, but still nothing conclusive came of it, aside from the usual dodgy driving.”
“Dodgy driving?” said Eva, scenting a hint.
“Some witnesses mentioned a blue Vauxhall Corsa being driven erratically, cutting in and out of traffic like a loony. Not uncommon.”
“I read a little about that in the North Essex Gazette.”
“Yeah, they put an appeal in the paper. Some witnesses saw the car, but no one got the plates for it. One witness even claimed the Corsa was directly responsible for the accident, but that was it. There were no prosecutions and the death went down as accidental. This is the right incident, I take it?”
Incident… that word again. “Yes, it is, Bec. Thanks for trying.” No good. That door had closed, and Eva badly needed another to one to open. The last angle to try was Reva Rentals for any CCTV. Eva was starting to feel desperate.
“No problem,” said Rawlins. “And the next coffee is on you, remember?”
“Once this is over, I’ll stand you something stronger than a latte.”
Rawlins laughed. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I’m banking on it,” said Eva.
Eva ended the call and tapped her phone against her lip. Mrs Blane’s accident was no such thing. But how could she prove it? Lauren appeared from the shop door, scanning the street before stepping out, and offering Eva a strained smile. She raised a bulky carrier bag. “I got us a couple of sandwiches and I spent the rest on drinks.”
“Drinks?”
Lauren’s eyes sparkled.
“I noticed you’re a bit partial to the white wine.”
“No thanks. My head’s still aching,” said Eva.
“Come on. You’re not quite so stiff-upper-lipped with a drink inside you. A little one might do us both some good.”
“Not for me,” said Eva. “I need to stay alert. Boothroyd, Ironvelvet, whatever his name really is – his future depends on stopping us from exposing him.”
“Which means you’re in the crosshairs as much as I am,” said Lauren. “We’re in the same boat, Eva. You need this finished as much as I do.”
Eva saw a hint of relish in Lauren’s eyes – a useful reminder that whatever boat they were in, they were still a good distance apart.
“I want it finished,” said Eva. “But finished well.”
“Finishing it well means dealing with Jamie too,” said Lauren.
“Yes…” said Eva hesitantly.
“See. You even agreed with me. I think that’s a reason to raise a glass even if you don’t.”
They were about to pass a crossroads as they headed back towards the office, still a good way off on busy Hamstel Road. But Eva sensed that Lauren’s mischief had returned and regarded her warily.
“Not for me,” Eva said again. Lauren shrugged, and stepped off the kerb of the crossroads putting one foot into the street. Eva’s eyes flicked past the traffic. A sharp, fearful feeling struck from nowhere. Between the gaps of the parked cars, she saw a flash of white and heard a growl of acceleration.
“Lauren!” she shouted. Eva lunged forward. She seized Lauren’s arm and yanked her away from the road, sending her careening against a garden wall. The car roared past at high speed and didn’t stop. The wine bottles clattered down with the sandwiches, one bottle rolling away from the carrier bag into the gutter as Lauren roared in pain, shock or both.
“Lauren!” said Eva. “Are you okay?!”
Lauren looked at her, her eyes full of fire.
“The bastard clipped my bloody ankle!”
“Your ankle?” said Eva.
“It’s okay. It’s not broken.”
Eva pulled her to her feet.
“You see?” said Eva. “I told you we have to be ready for anything.”
Lauren took a long breath and tested her weight on her ankle. She looked at Eva with a bitter smile. “I guess that makes us even, eh?”
“What?”
“I saved your life. You just saved mine.”
“Can you walk?” said Eva.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good. Then walk fast as you can. And if you still have access to Blane’s emails, I need you to do one last thing.”
“His work emails?” said Lauren. “But they caught you on there! There’ll be nothing left worth looking for. Jamie will have deleted the lot. If he has any sense, he’ll have changed his password too.” Eva was already on the move. Lauren grabbed the stray wine bottle from the gutter, stuffed it into the carrier bag and hurried after Eva, shaking off her limp as she went.
“Maybe we don’t need the emails…” said Eva. “Does Jamie have a contact list? Is there a contact list available through Blane Recruitment’s intranet?”
“Um, yes, in theory. But if he’s blocked my access, I still won’t be able to find what you’re after.”
“We’ve got to try, Lauren. And we’ve got to do it now.”
Eva sped up, and Lauren jogged to catch up until they were side by side, their eyes roving the street the whole time. Lauren was probably right, but Eva was hoping for a break. Without one, the situation was out of their hands. But if she was right, there was a slim chance of seizing the initiative back.
Ten minutes later, they were locked back in the office, the shutter pulled down. Lauren Jaeger sat at Eva’s laptop, with Eva crowding around her. Lauren looked up at Eva and shook her head. “I told you, he was bound to have changed the passwords after catching you in there.”
“It was a long shot anyway,” said Eva, but the defeat felt worse than she was prepared to admit.
“What now?” said Lauren.
“The contacts list. Blane’s contact list. Would he have kept it private?”
Lauren’s eyes narrowed in thought.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“What assignation he gave the client data form. Each client was logged on a separate form on the database. I should know because that’s how I started there, doing the grunt work.”
“Hmmm. So he would have assigned Boothroyd as a very confidential client, presumably,” said Eva, sounding forlorn.
“I’d say so. But I can try the general records, if you want. I can’t access Jamie’s account, but no one’s gone to the trouble of locking me out completely yet.”
Eva sighed. “Okay. Worth a try.”
“What should I type?”
“Adam Boothroyd. Try that.”
Lauren’s fingers rattled across the keyboard then she hit the enter key. She shook her head again. “Nothing there, sorry.”
“It’s okay. It was worth a shot. Wait a minute…” Eva turned back to face Lauren, her eyes narrowed again. “Type this in the search bar. Type BoothroydAAX.”
“What? Why?”
“Because Boothroyd A-A-X was the name in his email address. I don’t know what the AAX means but I’m guessing it—”
Lauren started typing before Eva had finished speaking. She hit return and looked up at Eva.
“Eva!” said Lauren, “We
got something. Boothroyd AAX – I’ve found that email address right here in the general database,” said Lauren.
“Brilliant,” said Eva. “And what about the rest of his contact data? His name, address, client type, that kind of thing?”
“Nothing like that. In fact almost every field is empty. Jamie hardly entered any information at all for this one.”
“What?” said Eva. Lauren tilted the screen to provide a better angle. She saw a grey box full of empty white boxes on the screen. “But look,” said Lauren, tapping the screen with her fingernail. “We can see the person who created the record was Jamie – see the corner code JB, and that the record was created in January 2016.”
Eva nodded as she followed Lauren’s pointing fingernail. The record date suggested that Jamie Blane had been planning his wife’s demise for long months before the fatal incident.
“The last thing here, scrolling down the screen, I can see there’s a mobile number,” said Lauren.
“What?” said Eva. “Are you sure? Let me see.”
Lauren pushed her seat away from the laptop and Eva moved to see it. The number was an 07006. Eva shook her head.
“Those aren’t standard mobile numbers. I’ve seen those zero seven zero numbers before. It could be one of those business-divert numbers. Businesses use numbers like that to pass calls around to different staff and keep their personal numbers secret. They can also be used to disguise fraudulent businesses, among other things…”
Eva took her phone from her bag.
“You’re going to call it? But the number is four years out of date. It was probably cancelled ages ago.”
“Maybe. But what have we got to lose?” said Eva. She dialled the number on screen and heard the usual dialling tone. Which didn’t mean anything other than the number wasn’t dead. Eva’s heart started to race, thudding harder with every ring she counted along the way. When she’d almost given up, on the ninth ring, the call was answered and a male voice came on the line, soft yet hard edged. Eva heard the sound of traffic behind it.
“Hello?” said the man.
“Hello, Adam,” said Eva, feigning confidence. “You’re still on the move, aren’t you?”
“Who is this?” said the voice.
“You know full well who this is. Your name is Adam, isn’t it? Or do you prefer Ironvelvet. I’ve seen your emails, Adam, all of them in fact. And it’s an interesting name, by the way. Ironvelvet I mean. An iron fist in a velvet glove, I suppose? Didn’t work out that way last night though, did it? Or just now on that crossroads. Maybe you should think of changing the name to something more fitting. Like Butterfingers. How about that one?”
“You’ve got the wrong number.”
“Wait, Mr Boothroyd. I’ve got something you need to hear,” said Eva. “We’ve got your name. You already know we found your base of operations. We have your fingerprints too,” said Eva, lying. “And there’s more. Would you like to know how we got onto you? I’m sure you would. Because we’ve got enough to bring your world crashing down and you know it. Do you believe me, Adam? I would if I were you?”
The man’s voice came back on the line with an edge of anger. “What do you want?”
“To come to an arrangement,” said Eva.
“An arrangement?” said the voice. Lauren frowned at Eva’s side. Eva knew what Lauren was thinking, they’d been here too many times before. But Lauren had it wrong.
“Yes,” said Eva. “An arrangement for you to stop pursuing Lauren Jaeger, so we can all concentrate on dealing with the root of our problems. The root is Jamie Blane. I know you feel the same. I heard you talking to him last night. His emails were where I got your name.”
The man coughed to hide his irritation.
“You’re wasting your time,” said the man.
“That’s not true. We could meet to discuss terms, think about it. A truce would be good for both of us. I suggest we meet somewhere safe. Somewhere nice and neutral, too. You need to hear us out. If you don’t, you’ll never know what we have. You do want to meet, don’t you?”
“Okay,” said the man. “I’ll meet you.”
“Thought you might,” said Eva. “Give me a little while to think of a suitable location. Hold tight. I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Hey—” said Boothroyd.
But Eva cut the call.
“Go you!” said Lauren, with exaggerated admiration. “But you’re taking risks again.”
“Don’t worry. We’re calling the shots. If we’re there before him, I think we can trap him.”
Lauren nodded in thought. “I like it. That could work,” she said, becoming quiet and thoughtful. Eva saw a familiar glint in her eye before Lauren stood up and walked away from the desk, heading for the apartment door at the back of Eva’s office.
“Where are you going?” said Eva.
“To get my things… I need a lift back to my mother’s place before we meet this guy.”
“I’ll take you back to your mother’s place but I think you should stay there. I never said you’d be coming along to the meeting.”
“Coming along? Of course I am. I saved your backside the first time round, Eva. You might need me again.”
Eva narrowed her eyes. “It’s too risky. What about your ankle?”
“I’m walking, aren’t I? I’ll grab my stuff then you can take me back.”
“I don’t get it. Why do you want to go back to your mother’s if you’re coming to the meeting?”
“To clean up. Maybe to grab a few things too. Besides, things could go wrong. I need to see her before I go.
Lauren’s words didn’t ring true. She was being evasive, and Eva knew it. But Eva was past jousting with Lauren. Getting rid of her for a few hours sounded like a very good idea. But whatever Lauren had in mind, Eva knew it wouldn’t be good.
Thirteen
Eva waited until Lauren was safely back inside the bungalow before she started the engine. As soon as the woman was gone Eva felt a few tons lighter. The stress was still there, but now there was no spiky companion to add to her problems. Better still, there was no sign of Boothroyd’s big white Sportage in the vicinity. It was entirely possible the man had changed his car at Reva Rentals, or gone to a completely different car hire firm for a replacement but Eva doubted it. Nursing a head injury, with his entire future on the line, Mr Boothroyd would have enough to think about already.
Eva had agreed to return and pick Lauren up from her mother’s in a couple of hours, but in truth she had already decided to be late. Two hours away from Lauren sounded like a treat. Three of four sounded better still. Eva still hadn’t called Boothroyd either. She planned to keep the man waiting for as long as she saw fit. In disrupting Boothroyd, by pushing him around – Eva hoped to keep the man wrongfooted. To beat him they would need every edge they could find. At first, taking Dan along to the meeting seemed like a good idea. But Eva didn’t want to put him at risk – either from Boothroyd or Lauren, who was becoming increasingly unpredictable, her moods and behaviour harder to manage. The woman always acted is if she was the strong one but Eva now knew the truth. She was damaged goods – the fiery attitude and the mind games nothing more than an attempt to compensate for all her flaws. Flaws which Jamie Blane had fully exploited. But Blane had gone too far. No matter what Lauren had done, hiring a hitman was nothing less than evil. No less evil than what he had done to his wife in 2016… Eva festered on Blane as she drove, seething that she’d spared him and almost died as a consequence. Jamie Blane was owed a day of reckoning.
When Eva got back the office was empty. There was no one to offload on, no one to reason against any bad decisions and Blane was still driving her mad. The man liked to pick on women, and then killed them with impunity. Eva wanted to make him suffer. Just a little. Didn’t Blane deserve to know that she was on to him? Before long, she gave in to temptation and dialled Blane’s home number, ready to give him both barrels. But a silky female voice answered the call: Suzie Appleby. Eva had almost
forgotten she would have to get past Blane’s new gatekeeper.
“Is Jamie there?” said Eva.
Appleby hesitated. Eva could hear the cogs of her brain whirring.
“Who’s calling?” she said.
“Just put him on, will you?”
“Is that the sour-faced private investigator?”
“I’ve got plenty of reasons to be sour, Miss Appleby. Now why don’t you do us both a favour and put Jamie on the line?”
“No thanks,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll put you through. Part of my job here is to keep Jamie’s life free of hassle and unnecessary complications.”
“And we both know what the other part of your job is, don’t we?”
“Jealous, Miss Roberts?”
“Quite the opposite in fact,” said Eva. “I wouldn’t wish that man on any woman. But seeing as it’s you, Miss Appleby, I could make an exception.”
Eva had no chance of Suzie Appleby putting the call through to Blane.
Before the young woman could reply, Eva thumbed the red button and ended the call. Her eyes dropped to the wine bottles sticking from the top of the convenience store carrier bag. The sandwiches were still tucked at the bottom, but the booze looked a lot more appetizing. Eva screwed her eyes shut, but the battle was already lost. Just a little sip… a half glass couldn’t hurt, could it? Just enough to take the edge off. As her hand reached for the bag, the front door opened and the bell sounded a shrill ring. Eva slid her hand quickly past the wine and picked out the first sandwich she could find. Eva looked up to see Joanne walking across the threshold, lugging a heavy bag in each of her hands.
“Joanne?” said Eva.
“You seem disappointed,” said Joanne.
“It’s been a rough day,” said Eva. “I was hoping to see Dan.”
“This rough day anything to do with Lauren Jaeger?” Joanne’s eyes trailed to the wine bottles in the bag but she didn’t pass comment.
“It usually is,” said Eva. Joanne was clutching two large brown jute bags stuffed to the brim with an assortment of crumpled papers and office junk.
Play With Fire Page 20
