Death Count: A Kat Munro Thriller (The Kat Munro Thrillers Book 1)

by SL Beaumont

  “What about needing a search warrant and all that?”

  “True, but hear that?” He paused and cocked his head as though listening. “I’m concerned that someone inside could be in grave danger.”

  Kat smiled and shook her head. “Do you have an answer for everything?”

  “Usually,” he said as the lock gave a click and popped open. Adam returned the tools to the pouch, unhooked the padlock, and pulled one of the doors across. He peered into the interior. It was empty.

  “Wait here,” he said and slipped inside.

  Kat looked around. Apart from the sheep, who were ignoring them and going about their business, they were alone. The scene would have been peaceful, had it not been for the strong sense of foreboding that tugged at her.

  “See anything?” she called.

  Adam returned a few seconds later. “Nothing. The little office is practically empty, just a desk, chair, and a few flight charts on the wall. I expect they store the plane here when they’re not using it, which means they might be coming back, so we need to hurry.”

  “We’ll see them coming, from the lane, right?” Kat asked.

  “Yeah. If we do, make for the trees behind the shed and work your way back to the car.”

  She nodded. “I’m glad you’ve thought that through.”

  “You should always have an escape route.”

  After closing and re-securing the padlock, they approached the aircraft. Adam pulled the passenger door of the plane up and peered inside. He felt Kat come up behind him and look around him into the interior.

  “Have you been up in one of these?” she asked.

  He nodded. “As a passenger, not a pilot,” he said. “I’ve flown in a lot more helicopters, though.”

  He moved to one side so that she could see further inside. The aircraft had two seats side by side. The passenger seat was tilted forward to allow easy access into the cargo bay, which was now empty.

  “This type of aircraft normally has four seats,” he said. “Removing them will allow the transportation of more cargo.” He pointed to grooves in the floor and redundant harnesses hanging on the walls. Adam took a few photos on his phone and stepped back, crouching and looking under the fuselage.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “The unique aircraft registration number,” he said. “It’s an alpha-numeric sequence beginning with the letter G.” He moved toward the tail and snapped a photo. “There,” he said standing, and tapping his phone, sending the picture. “We’ll see if Mary owns this beauty.”

  “So, what do you think was in the crates those guys just unloaded?” Kat said.

  “Heroin, if I were to hazard a guess.”

  “Really? William Huntly-Tait doesn’t strike me as a drug dealer.”

  “You’d be surprised the people who run these things.”

  “It’s not a very large cargo space, even with the seats removed,” Kat said, peering into the cabin once more. “How much would they transport?”

  “In one flight? 50 to 100kgs,” Adam said.

  “That doesn’t seem to be a lot for such a big risk,” she replied.

  “Kat, 100kgs of heroin powder would have a street value of around £10 million.”

  “Oh,” she said. “And that’s just one flight.”

  Adam nodded and reached into an inside pocket.

  “So, what now? What else do you have in your bag of tricks?”

  Adam held up what looked like a small piece of black plastic. He leaned over and slipped his hand beneath the tilted passenger seat and pushed it into place. He stepped back and lowered the door, closing it.

  “Now let’s get out of here,” he said, removing the gloves and dropping them in his pocket.

  “Not so fast. Hands where I can see them,” a voice called.

  Chapter 29

  Adam swore under his breath. He raised his hands, turning towards the voice and stepping in front of Kat. The move would have irritated Kat, had she not seen the Glock being pointed at them when she spun around. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Two men were standing in front of the hangar. Where had they come from? There had been no cars on the lane the whole time they’d been there. The larger of the two men held the gun, but it was the other man who spoke.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Mate, we were just admiring the plane,” Adam said, adopting an overly friendly tone. “I wasn’t planning on stealing it or anything. I’m in the market to buy one. We were just over at the Surrey Flats Aerodrome talking with Annabelle and Harold about it.”

  The two men looked at each other with uncertainty.

  “Move away from the plane,” the shorter man spoke again.

  Kat and Adam stepped out into the open from beneath the wing and moved towards the men.

  “Why is she wearing gloves?”

  “Oh these,” Kat said, lowering her arms and turning her hands over. “It’s for my prosthesis, makes both hands look the same.”

  The men looked confused. Kat moved closer to the unarmed one, and both men looked at her. “Here, I’ll show you,” she said. She raised her arm.

  Adam took advantage of the gunman’s momentary distraction and launched himself at him, grabbing his gun arm and twisting. There was a shriek of pain, and the gun clattered to the ground. Adam kicked it away under the plane’s carriage as the man swung a massive fist at him. Adam ducked and tackled his much larger opponent, taking them both to the ground, where they rolled, trading blows.

  Kat landed a solid kick to the unarmed man’s knee, spinning and catching his nose with the heel of her right hand as his knee buckled, and he staggered forward. The man cupped his hands to his face as blood spurted from his broken nose. She kicked out again, catching the man in the groin. He groaned and collapsed onto the ground.

  She raced to the plane and retrieved the gun, pointing it towards Adam and the man he was wrestling with shaky hands. “Stop, or I’ll shoot.”

  Adam’s assailant’s eyes went wide, and he released Adam, who scrambled to his feet. He rushed to Kat and relieved her of the gun.

  “Get their phones,” he said.

  Kat approached the two men who were still on the ground nursing their injuries and, she suspected in the case of the man she’d seen off, his pride. She held out her hand, and they gave her their phones.

  “Let’s go,” Adam said, shoving the gun into the waistband of his jeans and taking the phones from her.

  They jogged back across the field, scattering a few grazing sheep.

  “Where did they come from?” Kat asked, pulling off the gloves as they ran.

  “Probably from my escape route,” Adam said. “They weren’t behind the building when we arrived, so they must have circled from the tree line.”

  “But how did they even know we were there?”

  “I suppose there was a camera that I didn’t spot,” Adam said.

  They reached the gate and were climbing over when the sound of a fast-approaching vehicle reached their ears. Seconds later, the black SUV from earlier rounded the bend and screeched to a stop.

  Adam cursed.

  All four doors of the car opened, and three men and a woman got out. The men used the car doors as cover and pointed guns at them.

  “Drop any weapons,” the woman instructed. She cut a menacing figure, dressed in black from head to toe. Her eyes were cold.

  Adam raised his left arm and, using the fingers of his right hand, reached into the waistband of his trousers and removed the stolen Glock, holding it out in front of him before tossing it on the ground at the side of the road.

  “You?” The woman turned her attention to Kat.

  Kat shook her head. “I’m unarmed.”

  “Search them,” the woman instructed with a flick of her head. Kat watched as one of the men holstered his gun and approached them.

  He patted his hands down Adam’s sides, reaching under his jacket and checking around his waist. He eased a mobile from an inside pocket on
Adam’s jacket and dropped it on the ground before crushing it with his boot.

  “Oops.”

  Adam didn’t react. The man removed the lock-picking kit and Adam’s warrant card from his back pockets and tossed them to the woman before he crouched and patted down each leg.

  “Keys,” he demanded and held out his hand.

  Adam retrieved his car keys from a front pocket and handed them over. The man tossed them to one of his colleagues.

  “Bring his car, Rich,” he said.

  Rich caught the keys with a grin and sauntered down the lane toward the Ford Capri.

  “Be careful with it,” Adam called. “It has a dodgy clutch.”

  “I think that’s the least of your worries at this point,” the woman said.

  The man frisking Adam stepped towards Kat. He gave her a leery grin before running his hands around her abdomen and down her legs. It took all her willpower to resist the urge to knee him in the face. He moved to stand behind, invading her personal space. He slipped his hand into her back pocket, retrieving her mobile, dropping and crushing it too.

  “Get in the car,” the woman instructed.

  The man gave Adam a shove forward with one hand and grabbed Kat’s right wrist bringing it around behind her back; he reached for her left one and let her go with a surprised noise.

  She spun around and glared at him. “What, you’re worried it’s contagious?” she snarled, waving her left hand in front of his face.

  The man looked uncomfortable for a moment.

  “Kat,” Adam said, his voice carrying a warning.

  She looked over at him and registered the slight shake of his head. With a last glare at her assailant, she followed Adam to the car. They slid into the back seat with the larger man squeezing in beside Adam. The driver climbed behind the wheel, and the woman returned to her position in the front passenger seat.

  “Where are you taking us?” Adam asked.

  No one replied.

  Kat shuddered, and Adam reached for her fingers, squeezing them and not letting go.

  Outside, the sound of a propeller filled the air. They looked out of the car window to see the small airplane bumping along the makeshift runway before turning, gathering speed, and lifting off.

  Adam cursed under his breath.

  The woman in the front seat laughed. “Can’t have anyone else coming to check the plane.”

  The driver started the car, did a U-turn, and headed back along the lane to the main road. Several minutes later, they drove through the gates leading to South Hill Manor with Adam’s car following close behind. Both vehicles drove down one side of the property and around to a back entrance, where they pulled to a stop one behind the other. Across a large yard behind the house and at the edge of the forest was a long building with four roller doors.

  “Take them upstairs,” the woman said.

  Kat and Adam were led to a back door by two of the men. They walked through the mudroom, along a corridor, and up a narrow staircase. Kat glanced around, getting her bearings. Although she’d visited South Hill Manor on several occasions when she was going out with Gabe, she hadn’t been in every part of the house. It appeared that they were in the staff quarters at one end of the east wing.

  Turning right at the top of the staircase, they were pushed along a narrow corridor to a room at the far end. One of the men opened the door and ushered them inside. The sparse furnishings included a wooden table, two chairs, and a sofa with several tears in its fabric. Curtains were drawn across the room’s only window, but still let in some of the fading light from outside.

  “Benny, you secure them, and I’ll cover you. Don’t want a repeat performance of the airfield.”

  Adam smirked. “At least you’re learning.”

  Benny released Adam’s arm and backhanded him across the face. “And it’s time you learned to shut up.”

  Adam stumbled but kept his balance. He scowled and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, and it came away with a smear of blood.

  Kat pulled against the hand holding her, and the man pushed her towards Adam.

  “Run and help him, then,” he sneered and stood in the doorway with his gun trained on them.

  Benny dragged two of the chairs from the table and placed them back to back in the middle of the room. The first man produced cable ties and tossed them to Benny, who pulled Adam’s hands behind his back, tied his wrists, and pushed him onto the chair. He hesitated for a moment before pushing Kat onto the other seat and securing her right hand to the style of the chair. He avoided her prosthesis as though he were a little scared of it. He crossed the room to a wardrobe and removed a coil of rope, which he proceeded to wind around their middles, securing Kat’s left arm to her side.

  He stepped away to join his colleague in the doorway and admired his handiwork.

  “Okay, Steve, let’s go. You two make yourselves comfortable, and we’ll be back later,” Benny laughed.

  Steve shoved his gun into his holster and pulled the door closed. Seconds later, Kat and Adam heard the lock engage.

  “Are you okay?” Kat whispered as the men’s footsteps retreated.

  “Yeah, you?”

  “I’m a bit scared. My last memories of this place aren’t great, well at least the ones I can remember aren’t,” Kat said.

  Adam wiggled his hands so that he could grasp her fingers.

  “I would say that I won’t let anything happen to you, but I’m not sure that I can promise that.”

  “Sugarcoat it, why don’t you,” she said with a weak laugh.

  “They didn’t tie your left hand, are you able to work it free?” Adam asked.

  “I’ll try,” Kat said, attempting to pull her arm up by lifting her shoulder. “It’s very tight.”

  Adam used his feet to turn his chair on an angle. “Try now.”

  Kat continued to wriggle and tried to lift her arm for a few minutes but to no avail. “The trouble is my hand is damaged, so it’s not responding as it should.”

  “That’s okay, keep trying,” Adam said. “Suck in a deep breath and go again.”

  They both held their breath, and this time Kat managed to get her elbow between the layers of rope. She pushed down, but only succeeded in tightening the top bond.

  “Take a break for a moment,” Adam said, sensing her frustration. “Let’s go over what we know.”

  “Okay,” Kat said.

  “So, we’re being held at the country home of William Huntly-Tait, prominent barrister, who has been retained by CIP. Which makes him connected to Mary McFarlane, partner of CIP and owner of a small aircraft, possibly the one we just saw.”

  “And you think that someone is bringing heroin into the UK via small aircraft and using this place as the storage and distribution point?” Kat said.

  Adam nodded.

  “Do you think they know who we are?” Kat asked.

  “They have my warrant card, so they know I’m a cop, which is a worry since it hasn’t put them off. They must be serious about keeping things hidden if they are prepared to kidnap a police officer. Huntly-Tait will know who you are. You dated his son, and if we are to believe him, it was his father who arranged for your visitor last night.”

  Kat was quiet for a moment. “But what if Huntly-Tait isn’t involved? I mean, someone else could be using his house.”

  “But he was here the night of your accident, the same night Jake went missing in this area.”

  “I don’t think I’m a reliable source. I may be remembering different occasions and putting them all together,” Kat said.

  “Perhaps,” Adam said. “What about Gabe?”

  “Gabe?”

  “Could he be the one behind this?” Adam said.

  “No,” Kat said. “Gabe is a sweet guy; a little easily led perhaps, certainly not a criminal mastermind.”

  “It takes all sorts.”

  Kat was silent for a few minutes digesting everything Adam had said. She wriggled her left arm again. The rope
was cutting into it above her elbow and sending shooting pains into her stump. She redoubled her efforts, sucking in her breath and shifting her weight to the chair’s right side. At the same time, Adam worked his chest and shoulders back and forwards, inching the rope higher. The pressure eased, and the top line went slack around their shoulders. Kat pulled her left arm free and lifted the rope off her neck. Twisting, she lifted it over Adam’s head, and together they pulled so that the second coil around their middles loosened. Adam stood and stepped out of the rope. Hands still secured behind his back, he crossed the room to the wardrobe and began sawing the cable tie back and forth against the metal door handles. Kat stood with difficulty and shook the rope free so that it pooled around her feet. She stepped out, still connected to the chair by her right hand. Sitting down again, she began picking at the cable tie, trying to break it.

  “I hope they’re taking care of my car,” Adam said.

  “We’re in this predicament, and you’re worried about your car,” Kat said, shaking her head.

  “It’s a genuine concern. It’s a modern classic.”

  “What happened to the two mobiles we took off those guys at the plane?” she asked as a sudden thought popped into her head.

  “You saw one get crushed on the road, and the other I dropped by the gate when the SUV appeared.”

  “And yours?”

  “That’s by the gate too.”

  “Smart,” Kat said. “So, does that mean someone is coming to get us?”

  Adam shook his head. “No, it just means that when I fail to check in at the end of the day, someone will hopefully locate my phone and our last location.”

  “Then help could be a long way off,” Kat said.

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Kat abandoned her attempt to break the cable tie and instead carried the chair with her to the window. She pulled the curtain aside a fraction and looked outside. The sun was beginning to set. The view was over the kitchen garden at the side of the house. The forest on the hill beyond the garden looked uninviting in the gloom.

  “Do the windows have locks?” Adam asked from across the room, still sawing at the cable tie.

  Kat moved the curtain a little further open. “Unfortunately.”