Inescapable

by Saskia Walker

  She hadn’t rested for a moment. Watchful and alert, she’d pouted thoughtfully—and provocatively—all the way from London. Seth had felt her attention on him over the course of the journey, attention that was mutual. What was her role in this? She could be one of Carlisle’s people. That was part of the reason he’d kept her close. He didn’t want to think that, but he had to, because that was his job. Whatever their connection was, he wanted her under his watch so that he could monitor her.

  “Wales?” Adrian repeated, and moved around in the back seat as he peered out of the window.

  “Change of location,” Seth said.

  Adrian didn’t respond.

  Seth was relieved. He didn’t want to explain why he had changed the plan. The less the witnesses knew, the safer they would be. The less anyone knew, in fact. Out there on that fire escape outside of Adrian’s office, he’d caught sight of the assailant, and he’d recognised him. It was Emery Lavonne, a fellow officer in the force. That distinctive blond hair of his gave it away. Seth had just about kept a lid on his anger, but it had enraged him. He’d heard of good policeman being bought out, but he didn’t understand that. Never would. Whatever, he needed time to think and he couldn’t risk taking the primary witness to the designated safe house when Lavonne might already have got his hands on that address.

  Instead he had brought them to Hafod Y Coed, a country hotel nestled in a wood in North Wales, the place where he had grown up.

  Adrian attempted to read the sign as they passed, stumbling with the Welsh word structure. “What does it mean?”

  “Summer woods,” Seth responded. “It’s a small private hotel, out of the way, and it’s currently closed up for the winter season. We’ll be using it as our safe house.” Out of the way, that’s why he’d opted for it. They didn’t usually take witnesses into Wales, and it had seemed safer than booking into a regular hotel where the staff would be curious about who they were.

  He pulled the Land Rover up in front of the building and wondered what his parents would say if they were in residence and he turned up with two strangers in tow, two people who were under his witness protection. Thankfully his parents were in Spain for their winter break. He switched off the ignition, then reached for the keys at his belt and sought out the one he hadn’t yet used, the key his mother had given him.

  “You never know when you might need to pop home,” she’d said. They knew what sort of work he did. Maybe they thought someone would be on his back, one day, and he’d need to hide. “Keep it,” she insisted, when he tried to tell her it wasn’t necessary. “The alarm code is always the same, your birth date.”

  He’d never had to use it before. She’d always been at the door to greet him when he arrived on a visit.

  Two minutes later he had the alarm switched off, and both his witnesses together with all the supplies from the car were in the hall. He walked to the system’s control panel box and flicked on all the alarms and the heating. If he housed them in the rooms on this floor and at the back of the house, there would be less chance of the lights being seen by their distant neighbours.

  When he turned back he saw that Adrian had sat down in the tall leather porter’s chair—a much loved piece that his mother had found at a furniture auction—that stood in the reception area. The woman was peering up at the framed accommodation certificates on the wall and the brass plate that listed his parent’s names as the license holders of the premises. When Adrian pulled up his trouser leg and groaned, the woman dropped to her knees beside him. “Oh my god, your leg is badly swollen.”

  “It’s an old injury, a cartilage problem, but I think I’ve given it a jolt it as I went down.”

  Seth watched her tending Adrian. Once again he wondered what the hell the story was with these two. He’d been trying to figure it out all the way from London—that, and what the hell a cop was doing moonlighting for a lowlife like Carlisle.

  “Do you have a first aid kit, with bandages?” The woman looked at Seth as she eased Adrian’s shoe off. “This needs to be strapped for support.”

  Seth was already on it. He headed for the kitchen and was back a moment later, first aid case in hand. Setting the case down on the floor beside the porter’s chair, he nodded at the woman. “You should find everything you need in there. I’ll secure the place while you do so.”

  She was about to speak—and she looked pretty snippy—but he turned away before she had the chance to get started. Securing the place was his first priority. He checked the ground floor rooms, drawing closed the heavy curtains after he’d made sure the windows were locked. He lit the gas flamed log-fire in the residents’ lounge and then headed into his stepfather’s office, where he disconnected the phone and locked it in a drawer, pocketing the key.

  Jogging up the stairs, he thought back over what action he’d taken, as he went—as he had done several times on the journey from London. He’d had to act on instinct back there, because the normal avenues were no longer an option. Even though it had been the best thing to do, he had to be sure. He always played by the rules, but when it had come to the crunch he had to step outside the boundaries. He’d taken the option he’d been trained to do: always protect the witness. Their chief, Stephen Ward, had always been adamant about that. But Seth had to take action fast, and those actions were all beyond his remit.

  He checked the rooms on the first floor, assessing the security. The rooms were all dark and quiet. Taking them to the original safe house had no longer been an option. Lavonne would have access to the address. They could have gone to a hotel, but that involved other members of the public. That would have put more innocent people in danger, and every single person who knew where they were opened up a potential risks. He paused and scanned the road from a window, he saw no lights. Lavonne wouldn’t find them here. He squinted into the darkness. They had not been tailed, and he had no intention of using a phone that could be tracked by sat. His job –and his nature—didn’t let him rest easy though, not yet.

  On the top floor of the building his parents had their private living accommodation. He jogged up the next set of stairs, locked the door to that part of the building, and added the key to his fob. He’d done the best thing under the circumstances. Brooding on it, he wrapped his hand around the back of his neck. Pieces of a jigsaw were falling into place. His department had lost the last two high profile witnesses under protection. It had been devastating to their team, and now Seth knew why it had happened. Lavonne was a turncoat in their midst. It made Seth’s gut knot with anger.

  He could try to get word to his boss, when the time was right. He knew what Stephen would say, he would tell him that his priority was his witness, and the woman who could finger Lavonne. That’s why he had fast-tracked to a new plan. There was no way that snake Lavonne was taking these two out, no way. And if he knew she could ID him, he’d want the woman as much as he’d want Adrian Walsh, because she could identify him. And me. He’ll have to take me out, or be exposed.

  Each and every protection duty was life and death to Seth Jones, but this one had now become a challenge and a duty above and beyond everything that had gone before. He put his hand against the locked door to the private apartment at the top of the house. This was home, this was off the radar, and this location was entirely unknown to Lavonne. If they kept their heads down, they were safe. He’d done the right thing.

  Patting the door, he smiled to himself. Thanks Mum, he thought, before he headed back downstairs.

  By the time he got back down to the ground floor Lily had bandaged Adrian’s leg and had his foot raised up on a footstool. She was kneeling beside the chair and they were deep in conversation. Seth slowed down as he approached and tried to catch what was being said.

  “No, I arrived there maybe a minute or so early. When I got to your office there was a bloke hanging around in the corridor. He gave me a really filthy look, but then he went out of the window and I assumed he was a maintenance man. Obviously not.” She looked at Adrian, and he s
hook his head, his expression overcast.

  Seth noticed then how they were with each other, conversing like old pals. It was odd because there was a suggestion of closeness, and yet they can’t have met before because Lily had thought he himself was Adrian. Intriguing.

  “I knocked…” She paused and glanced towards the staircase. When she saw he had returned, her cheeks flushed and her eyelids lowered. “And your friend answered the door.” She nodded her head in Seth’s direction. “Then I heard gunshots and I was pulled inside the office.”

  Seth stifled a smile. She’d rather conveniently abbreviated her story to cover her error. He watched her, but she didn’t look back at him.

  Adrian reached out and rested his hand on her arm, squeezing it gently. “It’s my fault you’re here. I am so sorry you’ve got mixed up in this.”

  “I’ve put the fire on in the main sitting-room,” Seth interrupted. “If you’d like to convene in there, we’ll run through some ground rules.”

  The woman, Lily, was on her feet in a flash, pulling her short coat around her as if readying to leave. “I don’t want to convene anywhere.” She spoke tersely, but that embarrassed flush was still on her cheekbones. “How long are you going to keep me here?”

  “At the outside, until Adrian gives evidence at trial.”

  “When is that?”

  “Two weeks.”

  Her eyes rounded. “I can’t stay here for two weeks!”

  Seth noticed how sexy she looked when she was outraged. Would she look that way if he reminded her about their first encounter? The idea of it turned him on. He had to stifle a smile in order to concentrate on getting her on board, which was the number one priority right now. Anything else could wait a while. “Unfortunately you’ve seen too much. None of us want to be here, but there’s an issue of safety and justice involved. Adrian is giving evidence at a trial. He’s in danger, and now you are too, because of what you’ve seen.”

  “I could go home. Nobody knows me or where I live.”

  Seth looked at her. He hated to see anyone this uncomfortable with the set up, but there wasn’t a choice. Lavonne’s status was his burden. Trying a different tactic, he shrugged. “Adrian here is a friend of yours, yes?”

  Maybe that wasn’t a good move. Heat flared in her face and she shifted uncomfortably. He had to get to the bottom of this. It set a thread of doubt loose. What was it with these two? Was it anything to do with Carlisle? He had to know, and soon.

  “Yes, we are friends.”

  That was carefully worded. “Consider how he feels. He doesn’t want to be here either, this is a stressful time. Your support would be helpful.”

  She glanced at Adrian and quieted. Adrian lifted his hands in a silent apology.

  “Adrian is my charge,” Seth continued, “but you have inadvertently become a secondary witness and you can ID the man who made an attempt on Adrian’s life.” He looked at her to gauge her understanding. She seemed to be taking it in. “My duty is to protect you both until the danger has passed.” He gestured towards the sitting room door and gave her an encouraging smile “If you’d like to come this way, we can have a chat and get settled in.”

  She didn’t return his smile. Instead, she shook her head dismissively. “Do I have my own room here?”

  He’d made a slight inroad with her, but she was still reluctant. “You do, but before I show you to your room, I need to request you hand over your mobile phones to me. Both of you.”

  Her eyebrows drew together and her lips tightened.

  This was the worst part—people and their mobile phones were inseparable. It was their last little bit of independence and it was always hard for them. “It’s for your safety. The house phone is also disconnected.”

  Adrian rummaged in his trouser pocket. A moment later he handed his phone over. Seth took it and put it on the sideboard that stood against one wall in the hallway. The guest ledger was there, and he closed it as he put the phone down. He put out his hand to the woman. She had a small bag over her shoulder that rested on the opposite hip. It was large enough for a phone and a wallet, maybe some make up. She glared at him for the longest moment, then reluctantly opened the bag and handed her phone over. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered.

  “Thank you. I assure you that it’s standard procedure and it’s done with your safety in mind. Now, I can show you your room, or if you’d like to take a seat in the sitting-room, I’ll organise some tea and sandwiches. Your rooms will be on this floor, and the radiators will have them warned up in just a few minutes. Meanwhile, let’s relax in front of the fire.” He looked back at the woman. She was his main problem.

  She pulled her coat closed around her. “I’m tired. I’d like to go to my room now.”

  Seth studied her. She didn’t look tired at all. In fact she looked wired. Was this because she’d embarrassed herself, or was there another reason? There was only one way to find out—give her a little bit of leeway and she might relax enough to talk about it. He nodded at her.

  Gesturing at the nearby doorway for room number three, he selected the room that was almost opposite the sitting-room. He could keep an eye on her from there, just in case she had any dubious plans of her own. “Oh,” he said, when she began to move in the direction of the doorway, “please don’t attempt to open the windows. The alarm is set to go off if anyone enters…or leaves.”

  When she reached for the door handle, she flashed him an annoyed look.

  Seth turned away. “Let’s get you into the sitting room,” he said as he put his arm around Adrian’s shoulders and lifted him bodily from the chair. “I think there are a couple of walking sticks in the office, I’ll fetch you one later. Right now I want to get you comfortable.”

  “Cheers mate,” Adrian said, and hopped alongside him.

  As they passed room number three, the door closed.

  While Seth got Adrian propped up on a sofa with a bunch of cushions holding his leg up, it occurred to him that the knee injury would keep this one exactly where he wanted him. Lily, the woman was not going to be so easily grounded. He flicked the TV on and then nodded at Adrian. He looked a bit washed out but not too much worse for wear. There was a bit of discoloration where he had knocked his forehead, but it could have been way, way worse. “I bet you could use a cup of tea?”

  Adrian smiled. “That would be great, thanks.”

  As Seth wended his way to the kitchen, he made a mental list of what had to be done. First up he had to find out the nature of the relationship between these two. Secondly, he had to get the woman on board. Then he had to figure a way to let his boss know about Lavonne, without revealing their new location. He couldn’t risk it leaking in the office. He didn’t know Emery Lavonne well enough to be sure of his next move, but Seth could guess. If Emery knew that he’d been spotted, he’d been even more determined to do the job and cover his tracks. That was why he had to let his chief know they had a mole in their midst, but he had to do it carefully.

  * * * *

  “Tea up.”

  Adrian groaned as he woke up. He’d dozed off in the armchair and now Seth was holding out a mug of tea to him.

  “Thanks.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine. Just tired.” It was a lie. He hurt like hell. His head throbbed and his knee had seized up. Every slight move was painful.

  “I’ll fetch you that walking stick, then I’ll get you some painkillers and make us some food.”

  “Got any whisky? Or brandy?” He seemed to ache everywhere and his knee was shot to hell, pain burning up the length of his thigh.

  Seth, the witness protection officer, nodded at the back of the room. “We do indeed have access to a small bar here.”

  Adrian glanced over the back of the sofa. In the far corner of the room he saw a hand built oak bar. There were shelves on the wall filled with bottles, a rack of wine bottles and a couple of kegs of beer. Adrian beamed. “Ace. You didn’t mention that when you were trying to talk
me into this. That would have made your job a whole lot easier.”

  Seth gave a dry laugh. “It’s a small residential hotel. The place is shut up for the winter, but it’s secluded. That comes with pros and cons.”

  Adrian put his hand up. “The bar is a pro. Don’t bother me with the cons right now. It’s been a long day.”

  Seth nodded, and drank his tea. After a moment he nodded his head at the door to the hallway. “What’s the situation with you and the woman?”

  Adrian shook his head. “Shit, I feel so bad about Lily. I’d completely forgotten she was due to arrive.”

  “Blind date?”

  Adrian frowned. How did he know that? For all he knew they’d already discussed it. He’d been fading in and out all evening. “Kind of. Well…put it this way, we hadn’t met before this evening.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair, mentally kicking himself that he’d forgotten.

  Seth nodded. “Is she involved in any way with Carlisle? Is that how you met?”

  Adrian half sat, amazed that the officer had even thought that. “God no, not at all. We’ve known each other for longer than that.”

  “I didn’t think there was a connection,” Seth commented, “but I need to check everything, you know?”

  “Yes, I see.” He frowned, working back in his mind. “There’s no connection. Lily and I met on the net, in an online chat room, way back, before Carlisle employed me. We’d arranged to meet properly tonight, that’s all.” Adrian sighed and sank back into the cushions. He was gutted that Laidbacklady been dragged into this because of him, and he wished he could turn back the clock. “Was she really in danger, I mean, did you really have to bring her here with us?”

  Seth took another deep swig of his tea—eyes fixed on the flickering flames of the faux log fire—before answering. “I’m afraid so. She clocked the bloke who was sent in for you, I couldn’t risk leaving her in London.”

  Adrian waited for more information, but apparently the man said as little as possible. Adrian thought about what little he had said, and a tsunami of guilt washed over him. “Christ. What a mess.”