‘Did Bex say people were being kept here?’ Fran asked, though she already knew.
‘Somewhere.’
Jessica headed for the bales of straw, rounding them and finding herself facing even more. There was no space behind it, let alone room for people. She kept looking.
‘There’s no one here,’ Fran said.
‘Shhhhh…’
Jessica held up a hand and then lowered herself to the ground and pressed her ear against the ground. There were wooden planks lined diagonally across, but everything was covered with a crust of straw, dust and sand.
‘Can you hear that?’ Jessica whispered.
Fran dropped to her knees close to Jessica. ‘Actually, I can.’
It was very low, almost completely lost to the sounds of the night, but there was a murmuring. Jessica had once lived in flats with her friend, Caroline, and their downstairs neighbour used to leave his television on overnight. It sounded exactly the same, a low mumble of voices as opposed to any specific words.
‘There must be a hatch somewhere,’ Jessica said.
Her phone was basic and had no flashlight, but the screen did have a backlight. It was feeble, but Jessica ran her hand along the grain of the wood, using the light in an attempt to find the hidden door. Fran separated away, using her better phone to do the same as they crawled along the width of the barn.
‘Here,’ Fran called eventually. She was sitting next to the tractor, not needing her phone as the natural spotlight created by the moon glimmered onto a spot on the floor next to the enormous back wheel. Unless a person was specifically looking for it, the hatch would have been hard to spot. It was made of wood and covered with the same gritty sand as the rest of the floor. Fran swished away a coating of dust to reveal a thick circular clamp that was bolted to the ground by a heavy padlock.
‘We’re never going to get through that,’ she said.
‘We bloody are.’
Jessica hurried to the window and leaned through, picking up the stone that had spent the best part of an hour digging into her side. It was a little bigger than her fist, with one sharp edge. She returned to the padlock and then rocked back, lunging forward and thrusting the stone against the metal, trying to do it quietly.
Nothing happened, other than that her finger joints clicked painfully.
‘Shall I have a go?’ Fran asked.
Jessica passed her the rock and then it was Fran’s turn to fail. She smashed the stone against the join of the padlock four times in a row, each with more ferocity than the last, but it didn’t give. She held her palms up to show a small cut. ‘Your go?’
With a grunt of effort, Jessica smashed the rock against the arch of the padlock. Once, twice, three times. She paused, catching her breath and then hammered it once more. This time, mercifully, there was a satisfying clink of metal.
Jessica dropped the stone and pulled the shattered padlock apart, tossing it to the side. ‘Thank God for that,’ she whispered, showing Fran the slice across her fingers.
She looped her index and middle fingers through the hoop attached to the hatch and then pulled up. The door was far heavier than it first seemed, needing both Jessica and Fran to lift it. The reason was quickly apparent: it might have been wood on top, but there was a solid layer of metal underneath. Once they’d lifted it a certain amount, gravity took hold and the hatch flipped backwards, until it was fully open, locking into place with a clank.
The area below the barn was fully illuminated, the light blazing vertically up like a pillar to the top of the barn. A ladder stretched downwards and Jessica descended, pausing halfway down to peer over her shoulder, where there was a group of people huddling against the far wall. There were around fifteen of them, men and women, clinging close to one another, each eyeing Jessica with suspicion. The man at the front was the biggest, holding his arms wide, protecting the others as he peered past Jessica, no doubt expecting either Max or Vince to be on their way down.
Aside from the metal roof, the room seemed to be made of concrete – some sort of custom-created bunker, the type of which was usually found in Hurricane Alley, not in the north-west of England. It had been built deliberately, possibly for this purpose. There were no actual beds, though there was a line of air mattresses against one of the walls, along with threadbare blankets. A single light hung from the ceiling, but Jessica could see her breath. It was really cold, somehow cooler than it was in the barn.
As Jessica turned to take in the group properly, she put her finger to her lips. ‘Does anyone speak English?’ she whispered. Chances were at least one of them did – but nobody was risking it, not with the chance of Vince or Max following her down. ‘I’m here to get you out,’ Jessica added.
A woman’s head poked around the side of the large man at the front, locking eyes with Jessica as they recognised one another immediately. It was the maid from the hotel, still wearing her uniform. Her eyes were wide with fear and bewilderment.
Jessica breathed in and noticed the smell. There was a hose in the corner hanging over a grate, with a bucket at the side. She had to turn away because it was too horrendous to contemplate.
‘Come on,’ Jessica said, nodding towards the ladder, hoping at least one of them would follow and then the rest would take the hint.
‘Hey!’
Jessica turned to see where the noise had come from. Built into the corner was a series of criss-cross metal bars that had been bolted to the wall to create a cage. Behind the bars were two people that Jessica recognised instantly. She walked across to them, eyes boggling.
‘Henka?’ she said. ‘Jacek?’
The young couple stared back at her in confusion and then looked to each other. ‘You know us?’ Henka said.
‘It’s complicated but… yes. Your parents and Maryla are still looking for you.’ There was a noise from behind and Fran dropped down from above. She turned to take in the horror as the other group of captives backed away, still expecting one of their captors to arrive.
‘Can you get us out?’ Jacek asked.
Jessica looked at the large padlock clamped to the door. ‘I don’t know.’
There was another noise from behind and this time Jessica turned to see the larger man advancing on Fran. He wasn’t being aggressive as such, but he was bigger than her and frightened.
Jacek shouted something at him in Polish and the man stopped where he was, turning to the far corner.
‘Tell him to follow us upstairs,’ Jessica said.
Jacek shouted something else and the man continued to stare at Fran, before dropping his arms.
‘How did you end up here?’ Jessica asked.
‘We were at this hotel,’ Henka said. She had a slight accent, but her English was perfect. ‘We stayed overnight and then, in the morning, Celina was there.’ She nodded across the room.
‘The maid?’
‘Right. We said something to her in Polish and she replied. Then the owner guy started shouting at her, telling her to go upstairs. Jacek started to say something, but the owner had this stun gun thing. The next thing we know, we’re in this van – then we’re here. He’s using them as slaves.’
‘That’s why we’re getting them out of here.’
‘What about us?’
Jessica glanced at the padlock again. The rock might do it, but they didn’t have time. ‘We’ll have to come back,’ Jessica replied. ‘Please trust me. I won’t leave you.’
Henka reached out, taking Jacek’s hand and squeezing. ‘Just get them safe.’
Jacek called out something else in Polish and then the remaining prisoners started to move towards the stairs. Jessica stepped across to them, about to lead the way up when she noticed four small plastic boxes attached to the ceiling, next to the hatch. There were no wires, but they were aligned to face each other, each with a blinking red light.
‘What’s that?’ Fran asked, pointing up.
Jessica was about to answer but there was no need as a man’s voice sounded from above.
‘That,’ he said, ‘is a silent alarm.’
Forty-Two
Jessica shrank back as the tip of a shotgun poked through the hatch, followed by Max’s face.
‘I think you should come back up here,’ he said, snarling with a mix of confusion and amusement.
Fran’s eyes were wide with terror as she stared at Jessica, wondering what the plan was.
‘Now,’ came Max’s command from above.
Jessica had no choice but to climb. She pulled herself up onto the floor of the barn, where she was met by the hulking figures of Vince, Max and Axel towering over her. The lights were on and each of them was carrying a shotgun, levelled directly at her. She held her hands up, fingers splayed wide as she shuffled towards the tractor’s back wheel, giving space for Fran to haul herself out. When they were both clear, Max poked his head back through the hatch and glanced around before satisfying himself they’d done no damage to the room below. He slammed the lid with a thunderous clang and then advanced on Jessica, shotgun barrel pointed at her head.
‘Where is she?!’ he boomed.
Jessica knew she shouldn’t but couldn’t stop herself. ‘Who?’
‘Rebecca! You know who!’ He raised his gun, ready to smash the butt into Jessica’s skull, but thick fingers gripped his shoulder and pulled him back.
‘Not yet, Max.’ Vince nodded towards the cage that was built into the wall on the far side. Max took the hint and grabbed the scruff of Jessica’s collar, hauling her partially to her feet and then dragging her across the barn. She tried to keep up, to stop her legs scraping on the ground, but he was moving too quickly. Her cheek thumped into the wall as he slung her inside, closely followed by Fran. The door was slammed closed and Vince clamped a padlock into place. He rattled the metal door back and forth to prove the point that they were trapped.
There was just enough space for Jessica and Fran to stand next to one another. Even if they’d wanted to, there was no room to sit. Jessica’s back was pressed against the hard wall, cheek throbbing. There was no way out, nowhere to go.
Max levelled his gun again, focusing on Jessica. ‘Where’s Rebecca?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You’re lying.’
‘I’m not.’
Max stepped forward. He was so furious that the veins in his eyes were red, raw against the whites. ‘I won’t ask again,’ he said. His arm was trembling, finger resting on the trigger. He was bare-armed and Jessica could see the spider’s web tattoo that matched Bex’s. There was writing on his hand, too: passwords or other information he couldn’t remember otherwise. She stared back at him, trying to stand firm but worrying about Fran. She’d come here because Jessica had asked and now they were both trapped.
‘Max!’ Vince’s tone was firm. ‘Step away, Max.’
‘No, Dad.’
Max wrenched his son’s shoulder backwards and then shoved him sideways. ‘I said step away.’
Father and son glared at one another, neither wanting to give way until, eventually, Max took a step backwards, lowering his weapon. Vince turned to face Jessica, moving closer to the vertical bars and stooping until he was almost eyeball to eyeball with Jessica. She could smell alcohol, see the small pocks of hair that he’d missed shaving.
‘You are lying,’ he said. ‘You’ve seen her. Your face was everywhere this morning and I know she’d have seen it. She’d have come looking for you. I can see it in your face. I know you’ve seen her and I want to know where she is.’
Jessica held his gaze, speaking slowly and deliberately. ‘I don’t know.’
He nodded slowly. ‘You know it’s all over, don’t you? You walked right into everything.’
‘I’ve seen Peter. I know he isn’t dead.’
‘So?’
‘So who was the body you dumped?’
Vince shrugged, confused. ‘What does it matter? I dunno. One of them.’ He thrust a thumb towards the hatch.
Jessica stared past him towards the tractor and the hidden basement. ‘How can you do all of this?’
‘All of what?’
‘They’re people you’re keeping down there. Real, actual people. They have families. They deserve a life.’
Vince’s forehead rippled with wrinkles. He stared at her as if she was speaking a different language. ‘They owe me,’ he said.
‘How?’
‘Who do you think paid for them to come over here? They could be living in some shitty little village in the middle of nowhere. I paid for them to be here and they owe me.’
‘They’re people.’
Axel sniggered and Jessica peered around Vince to see the hulk of a man smiling at her. He scratched his head with the shotgun. ‘Just shoot her,’ he said, accent a little thicker now he wasn’t addressing a crowd. ‘Quick.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Max said, barging forward, only to be batted away by his father.
Vince thrust a thick finger towards him. ‘You’re on thin ice, boy. This is all because you wanted your little toy. You’re the one that let her go.’
‘I didn’t let her go.’
‘Same difference.’
Vince turned back to Jessica. ‘Your little friend took something of mine and I want it back.’
‘Tough.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘You’re not getting what you want.’
Vince stepped away, one eye cocked, grin fixed. His teeth were crooked and yellowing, with a rickety filling obvious at the front. ‘That yer final answer?’
‘You might say I’m done for, and maybe I am, but as soon as that laptop finds its way into the hands of the police, you’re toast as well.’
He nodded in apparent agreement. ‘Hey, boy.’
Max stepped forward, peering between his father and Jessica. ‘What?’
‘Go open that hatch over there. She’s going to tell me where my property is and, if she don’t, yer gonna start shooting people one by one.’
Forty-Three
‘No!’ The shout had escaped before Jessica could stop it.
Vince grinned viciously through the bars at Jessica. ‘Yer choice,’ he said. ‘Now, where’s yer girl and where’s my records?’
Jessica’s mind was racing. She couldn’t give up Bex and the laptop but neither could she allow those poor people enslaved under the barn to be hurt either. All she could do was stall. Try to delay and delay until…
The lights went off.
It wasn’t simply a flicker. The barn went from being bathed in the artificial light from above, to cloaked with darkness. The moon was still throwing spotlights down through the ceiling, but the instant change was such a shock that even Axel growled.
‘What is this?’ he said. Jessica couldn’t see him, couldn’t see any of them, but the accent was clear.
There was a clang on the bars that made Jessica jump. She could feel Fran at her side, clinging to her arm for comfort, but Vince was somewhere ahead. She could smell him.
‘What have you done?’ he shouted.
Jessica backed against the wall as much as she could, but there was no real escape. She felt flecks of his spit landing on her. ‘I’m in here,’ she replied.
‘Boy!’ Vince shouted.
In the darkness there was a clatter and then Max gasping an ‘oof’ as he stumbled over something. ‘Dad…?’
‘What’s going on?’
‘I dunno.’
‘It’s that Salisbury. I knew he’d done a botch job on the electrics. Wait till I get my hands on him.’
Fran squeezed Jessica’s hand. They knew the truth. It wasn’t Greg Salisbury’s dodgy wiring at all. If Ellie was smart enough to get the power working at the Shanty, then she was definitely clever enough to stop it at a rickety old farm. She’d left it a bit late, but late was always better than never.
From nowhere there was a bright white blazing light and a ferocious bang. Jessica clamped her eyes closed so tightly that it hurt. Fran was still holding her hand and they huddled near.
By the time her senses started to work again, it was all over. Blue lights were spinning on the yard, spilling a ghostly glow through the door and windows. Vince, Max and Axel were all lying face-down on the floor, hands cuffed behind their backs, weapons off to the side. A tactical firearms team had stormed in, each of the members wearing night-vision goggles, weapons at the ready. One of them said something and then they hauled the trio to their feet.
There was a ping – and then the overhead lights burned bright again. Everyone seemed surprised, especially those in night-vision goggles. Max, Vince and Axel could do little given they were cuffed, but there was a moment of confusion until the firearms team regained their senses and led the trio towards the exit and the awaiting police cars.
Jessica was still struggling to regain her own senses. There was a pink-green glow around the edges of her eyes and a low buzzing in her ears. To complete a trio, her nose was running, too.
‘That was a bit tight,’ Fran whispered.
‘I’ve been in tighter.’
‘Really?’
‘I’ll tell you one day.’
The barn was empty and, for a moment, Jessica thought she was going to have to shout to have somebody come and get them. Unsurprisingly, it was DCI Fordham who rode to the rescue, swishing his way through the doors, hands in pockets, coat-tails flapping behind him. He strode across the floor, heading directly for the cage in which Jessica and Fran were trapped. He stopped just short of the door.
‘I’ve been looking for you,’ he said to Jessica.
She nodded past him, towards the tractor. ‘Can we do this in a bit? There are people down there.’
He plucked the radio from his lapel and uttered a quick set of instructions. Moments later, officers poured in. They wrenched the hatch open and then a couple descended into the gap, ready to start bringing the captives to safety.
Silent Suspect: A completely gripping crime thriller with edge-of-your-seat suspense (Detective Jessica Daniel thriller series Book 13) Page 25
