Guts for Garters

by Linda Regan

  As soon as she spotted the phone lying on the pavement, Sarah was immediately anxious that a youngster had lost it and their parents might be desperately trying to contact their child, so she bent down and retrieved it. At first, she was going to hand it in at the McDonalds – she felt sure whoever had lost it had been in there – but then she decided that the police station would be a better bet. The police could trace it quickly to its rightful owner.

  The police station wasn’t very far from where she lived. A short bus ride, but she had her pass, and she could see a bus coming up the road. She hailed it and climbed aboard.

  Stan Gayle was at the front desk when Sarah Petts handed the phone in. He knew Alison Grainger’s phone was a Blackberry Smart, just as this was. Growing excited, he thanked the woman, scribbled her details in the book, then pressed the intercom button through to the incident room.

  ‘Where was it found?’ Hank Peacock asked him.

  ‘Outside McDonalds, near Lambeth.’

  No sooner were the words out that Peacock was up and out of his chair and shouting to DCI Banham. Banham shot out of his office door, down the stairs and through the pass door in record time. He all but snatched the phone from Les as he recognised it immediately. Alison’s. It had a fair few scratches, cracks, and dents from wherever and however it had landed, but it was the crack on the side of the screen that confirmed it. Banham had been with her when she did that one. She had got out of her car in one hell of a temper, they’d been rowing about him criticising her reversing. She’d got hold of the car door, still shouting, and slammed it hard, catching the side of her hand which held her mobile in it. And then she had screamed that that was his fault too. He’d offered to buy her a new phone but she’d refused, the crack didn’t interfere with it working.

  Banham stood, staring at that same crack, and found himself swallowing the lump that had risen in his throat. This confirmed his worst fears. If she wasn’t in trouble, she would have rung to say she’d lost her phone.

  He thanked Les, and hurried back to the incident room.

  Georgia and Stephanie looked up as he stood, white as a ghost, holding the phone.

  ‘This is Alison’s phone,’ he said to Stephanie. ‘Get onto your friend in TIU, I need the SIM card, recent call history and texts, everything he can get.’

  Stephanie took the phone.

  ‘Now!’

  ‘Yes, guv.’ Stephanie quickly made the call and relayed the message. Her face then lit up as she listened to Ralph speaking on the other end and turning to Banham she said, ‘Hold on, he’s right here.’ She passed the phone to Banham. ‘There’s good news,’ she told him.

  ‘I’ve got a trace on the other phone, sir, the number that you phoned through a little while ago,’ Ralph was telling Banham.

  ‘Melek Yismaz’s phone,’ Banham said looking across at Georgia who had been perched on the side of a desk going through images from Zana’s computer prior to interviewing Wajdi Ghaziani, who was currently locked in a cell refusing to speak.

  Banham put his hand over the phone. ‘There’s a signal on the phone number you got from your informant,’ he told Georgia.

  ‘Melek Yismaz’s second phone,’ Georgia repeated. ‘That’s great. Where is it?’

  ‘At the moment they can only say somewhere in the Lambeth area,’ Banham relayed. ‘But he’ll stay on it. First priority is this one.’ He turned to Peacock. ‘Get this over to TIU, and run all the way,’ he told him passing him Alison’s phone.

  ‘The McDonalds is in Lambeth,’ Stephanie said, ‘Shall I send Barry and Eric over there again?’

  ‘Yes, right away. Any sightings of Alison’s car?’ Banham asked Stephanie.

  ‘Nothing reported, sir. All area cars are on it.’

  Banham turned to everyone in the incident room. ‘Listen up everyone, and leave what you are doing. Alison was last known to be on her way to McDonalds in Lambeth. Everything is on hold until we find her. We are all on this. I want every inch from Lambeth to here covered.’ He turned back to Stephanie. ‘Except you, you stay here. Give the location and Alison’s car registration to Indie 999. Tell them it’s on. They may be able to spot her car from the air. Keep in touch with TIU and keep me informed too.’

  ‘Sir.’

  As soon as Banham had disappeared into his office to grab his sheepskin jacket, Georgia looked at Stephanie. ‘Jesus, I sort of hope she really is missing now,’ she said. ‘Imagine if she’s having a quiet few hours in a park meditating on her future.’

  ‘Don’t,’ Stephanie said shaking her head.

  ‘Georgia,’ Banham yelled as a man might to a disobedient dog. ‘Now.’

  Georgia and Stephanie caught each other’s eye.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Georgia said, rushing to follow him to the car park.

  It was only a few more minutes before Stephanie had more information from TIU on both phones. She called immediately to Banham and Georgia, as they sped across London to Lambeth.

  ‘The SIM card in Alison’s phone,’ she told him. ‘I’ve got the call history, and traced the numbers.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘I’ll print it out sir, and leave it on your desk.’

  ‘Have you got it there, in front of you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Read it out to me.’

  ‘No, sir, it’s private and I don’t think …’

  ‘We haven’t got time for you to think or not,’ he shouted. ‘Just read it out.’

  ‘There was a call to my number, but it cut off before it came through.’

  ‘And, what else?’

  She paused. ‘There was a call to a clinic, earlier this morning.’

  ‘What clinic?’ Now his voice was nervous.

  ‘The clinic of St Celia.’

  ‘Did you phone it?’

  ‘Yes,’

  ‘And?’ The nerves were back in his tone.

  ‘It is a clinic for ladies’ problems,’ she said quietly.

  Georgia turned and looked out the window.

  ‘What does it do?’ he asked innocently.

  ‘Birth control and unwanted pregnancies, sir,’ Stephanie said quietly.

  There was a long silent pause and then he said, ‘Anything else?’

  ‘TIU have more on the other phone, the second number we have for Melek Yismaz. It is about two miles north of the McDonalds, nearer to Lambeth bridge.

  ‘Keep on that, and keep me in touch,’ Banham said, his voice flat.

  ‘Yes, sir, oh, and Indie 999 are on their way to that area,’ Stephanie told him, ‘and the dog team are on standby.’

  ‘Good.’

  Georgia had her own phone pressed against her ear. She was talking to Stan, the desk sergeant, telling him to ask Wajdi Ghaziani if he wanted a solicitor. She said if he did, to leave a message with the duty solicitor that she would be back when she could. She also told him, on no account, and no matter what Harisha Celik’s solicitor said, or what the DNA showed, was Celik to be released without her say so. She was frighteningly aware that she was running an investigation into four murders, and although a missing officer, and a missing rape victim, quite rightly, were taking priority, the murder investigation was still ongoing, and with the press on her back, and possibly her career on the line, she had to be seen to be doing her job, and the clock was ticking against the twenty-four hours she had to get a conviction on Harisha Celik.

  ‘OK, everyone, please listen carefully,’ Banham shouted into the police radio. ‘Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. This is an emergency.’ He turned to look at Georgia and his voice faltered slightly. ‘A pregnant officer and Melek Yismaz, a young Turkish girl are missing, and we need to find them, they could both be in grave danger.’ His voice cracked as he added, ‘It’s Alison Grainger. She is pregnant with my baby. Please, help me find them.’

  Georgia squeezed her lips together. She’d surprised herself. She rarely felt emotion at times like this, but the reference to them had really got to her.

 
‘Why are you rubbing your stomach?’ Melek asked Alison. ‘It’s not a baby, yet. And you don’t want it, you said so.’

  Alison stopped rubbing and listened. Melek’s speech was slurry, but she also detected a slight echo. The echo confirmed they were quite far underground; less likely that Melek’s phone would work, then, she thought. She knew she still had to bide time until her sight returned, but she didn’t have a clue how long that would be, as much as she didn’t have a clue how long she had been unconscious.

  ‘I didn’t say that,’ she said politely. She had no idea who else was down there or what kind of a state Melek was in, so she played it carefully. ‘I said I’m nervous of what lies ahead. I said that like you, I haven’t been pregnant before and I’m not sure about the responsibility it brings.’ She needed to keep her talking. Something wasn’t right with her speech which was slow and slurry. She needed to know what she was facing down here. She couldn’t see, she could only listen. ‘Isn’t that how you feel, about having a baby, Melek?’

  ‘No. I don’t want the bastard, simple as that.’ By her slurred tone either she’d been drinking or had taken something. ‘Anyway, it’s alright, cos, we’re getting out of it.’

  Those words made Alison immediately sit up. As she did she banged her head on what felt like a stone wall behind her. She sucked air between her teeth to take the edge off the pain. Her head was already throbbing. ‘What do you mean? Melek, what are you saying?’

  ‘I’ve dealt with it.’

  ‘How? Melek, are …’

  ‘I’ve taken pills, I’m out of here.’

  ‘What kind of pills?’

  Melek didn’t answer.

  ‘Melek talk to me.’

  ‘I don’t know, but loads of them. I’ll be dead soon, with a bit of luck. I’ve got some more if you want them.’

  Panic hit home like a hot branding iron. ‘Jesus, Melek. Tell me you’re kidding.’

  ‘Do you want me to feed some to you?’

  ‘No.’ Alison raised her voice. ‘Stop this.’ She was suddenly terrified, but she controlled it and continued talking. ‘You’re behaving irrationally. That’s natural. You really don’t mean this, Melek. It’s your pregnancy hormones.’ She started to get up, and banged her head again. ‘Jesus!’ There was definitely a brick or concrete ceiling immediately above her head, and yet she was sitting down. It must be a tiny tunnel. So how did they get down here? More to the point, how would she get out?

  ‘Melek, what is this place?’

  No answer.

  ‘Melek, I need to get you help.’ She raised her voice. ‘Melek, you said you trusted me.’ Her mind was now focused on her own baby. She wasn’t going to let this woman take it from her. If Melek cared nothing for herself, or for the tiny life inside her, then she wasn’t taking Alison’s baby down with her. Alison would fight tooth and nail to save it.

  ‘I don’t trust no one. I don’t want a baby. I want to die.’

  ‘No, you don’t. You have your life ahead of you.’

  ‘I don’t want this baby.’

  ‘OK,’ Alison managed to sound calm. ‘You can get a termination, that won’t be a problem. You don’t have to go through with the pregnancy. Harisha will go to prison and you can start your life again.’ Her eyes were itching now, that was a good sign she knew. She resisted rubbing them. She was het up, but she had to keep calm, all would be OK when the CS wore off, she could do something positive to get out of this cave. Christ, how long had she been unconscious? And how long since this girl took those pills? Alison just had no idea.

  ‘Melek, does your phone work?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Is there a signal on it? Can you look for me?’

  ‘Shut up.’

  ‘Please, Melek, I want to help you.’

  No answer.

  ‘Jesus!’ She nearly exploded with frustration. ‘It’s your hormones. It’s not surprising, you’ve been raped and you’re pregnant. You can’t kill yourself because of that animal. Melek, let me get you to hospital. I will speak for you, and I will help you.’

  Melek suddenly started to sob. ‘I deserve to die. I did it. I killed her.’

  Alison felt a shuddering chill through her whole being. ‘Who?’

  Silence.

  ‘Melek, who’s her? Melek, who did you kill?’

  ‘Zana. I burnt her. I wanted to see her suffer.’

  Alison became silent. She hadn’t expected that. If this was true, and if she was admitting it to Alison, then she clearly didn’t expect Alison to live and repeat it. Did Melek intend for Alison and her tiny baby to perish down here too? She had a fight on her hands. Alison would use every breath in her body to ensure that didn’t happen.

  She kept her voice even as she spoke. ‘You asked to meet me because Harisha raped you, and murdered Zana. Surely you’re not trying to protect Harisha now?’

  ‘I lied. I was going to dump it on him. But I want to get it off my conscience before I die. I burnt her.’

  Alison became silent again. She needed to think. Her brain was already racing.

  A couple of minutes later Melek broke the silence. ‘I killed Burak too.’

  Another chill ran through Alison’s blood. ‘Now I don’t believe you, Melek. Come on, let’s get out of here. We can have a coffee and talk about hormones.’ She was talking to her in a calm tone, and feeling anything but. ‘I won’t charge you with kidnapping me, and of course I won’t repeat what you’ve just told me, because we know it’s not true.’

  ‘We’ll never get out of here. I pulled the manhole cover down as we came in, and put the bolt on from the inside, so we can die in peace. No one can get in, even if they did find us, which they won’t.’

  Now Alison started to panic. ‘Where are we, Melek?’

  ‘Under the river, in an old tunnel. Harisha has made it so you can get in and out. There’s a few rats around but no one else. He hides his weapons here. Water drips in, too. So if we don’t die from the pills, we’ll drown. Eventually.’

  ‘Melek, listen to me …’

  ‘Leave me alone, I’ve admitted to murder. Now I’m tired and I want to die in peace.’

  ‘Melek, do not go to sleep. Melek. Melek!’

  Alysha and Tink were on one side of the road, Panther and Lox on the other. They had been walking carefully down all the side roads and alleys from their estate to Lambeth, and were now approaching the road that led to the tunnel. So far there had been no sign of SLR soldiers. Alysha turned to Tink and shook her head.

  ‘Not a soul around. Somefing ain’t right,’ she said to her.

  ‘Yeah, just what I was finking,’ Tink said looking over to Panther and Lox on the other side of the street.

  As they turned the corner into Keepers Street, the road that led to the tunnel, Alysha pressed Panther’s number into her phone. ‘I’m gonna run ahead,’ she told her. ‘We reckon somefing’s wrong. Watch my back, I’m goin’ right up as far as I can to the manhole an’ check the padlock.’ With that she sprinted up the road at the speed of an athlete.

  A helicopter appeared overhead, then dropped lower and began circling the area.

  ‘Fed ’copter,’ Panther shouted to Alysha, who was now by the entrance to the tunnel. Alysha got a good look at the manhole cover before turning and running back and joining the other three girls who had dived out of sight behind a few large recycling bins that stood on the pavement at the end of the short road. They flattened their bodies and slid to the side of the bins as the helicopter dipped and took in the area. It then heightened its flight and moved on.

  ‘Someone’s down there,’ Alysha said to the others. ‘Lock’s been opened and tunnel’s bolted from the inside.’

  ‘Ain’t no sign of no SLRs,’ Panther said. ‘And that was a fed helicopter, that was Indie 999.’

  ‘There’s trouble going on, I’ll put corn on it,’ Alysha said. ‘An’ I’ll bet that ’copter’s looking for Alison Grainger.’

  ‘Who was wiv Melek?’ Tink add
ed.

  ‘If the padlock ain’t been broken, then it’s been opened wiv the key, an’ the only person could have that new key is Melek. So, she has to be down there wiv that Alison Grainger, but why, what the fuck’s she playing at?’

  ‘That’s what we’d all like to know,’ Alysha agreed pulling her phone from her pocket. ‘What the fuck’s she playing at.’ She shook her head. ‘Cos I ain’t got a clue.’

  ‘Our weapons are down there,’ Lox said. ‘If that fed is down there, she’ll know that.’

  ‘Maybe that’s it,’ Panther said. ‘Melek has taken her to the weapons, so she can get the reward corn.’

  ‘And we’ve lost out,’ Lox said.

  ‘Not yet we ain’t,’ Alysha said, reassuring her. ‘Not if we phone Georgia Johnson now, an’ say we was out looking for Melek and we reckon we’ve stumbled across a hiding place for them weapons, and someone is down there, possibly ’er missing detective.’

  ‘Do it,’ Lox said, as Panther and Tink nodded their agreement.

  ‘If she’s turncoated us,’ Panther said, ‘can I kill ’er?’

  ‘Depends whether you wanna go back to prison or make the estate a good place to live,’ Alysha said, turning to hold each girl’s gaze, and then grinning as she pressed a number in her phone.

  The sound of police sirens in the distance made them all turn again.

  Georgia was in the car with Banham. They were driving around the streets near McDonalds when her phone bleeped. It was Alysha, giving her the address of a street near the bridge at Lambeth where, she told Georgia, they had discovered an old tunnel which might be the South London Rulers’ weapons stash. She also said it was possible people were down there, trapped.

  Banham was listening and immediately reeled off Alison’s registration number and told Georgia to ask her snout if there was a green Golf anywhere around with that registration.

  Within minutes Alysha could confirm the car and the registration number, telling them it was parked in Keepers Street. She even described its broken wing mirror.

  Georgia turned to Banham. ‘It’s a yes,’ she told him. ‘And, remember, TIU said Melek’s phone was near water. Alison and Melek …’