[Lorne Simpkins 01.0] Cruel Justice

by M A Comley

  “A wood. I can see hills or mountains in the distance. In this picture, it looks like the same place. You can see the edge of the cabin here. There are acres of gorse and thistles. I’m thinking Scotland—the Highlands, maybe?” Lorne turned to her boss. He seemed distracted by something. “What’s up?”

  “Just a suspicion.” He picked up the set of keys, one chunky and four Chubb keys.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Lorne glanced down at the keys.

  “Find the log cabin and see if these fit. But if he’s already on his way there with Jade, wouldn’t he have taken these with him?”

  Lorne shook her head. “Not necessarily. What if they’re a spare set, in case the siblings got separated?”

  “It might be a red herring of sorts, too. He’s a canny character.”

  “That’s true. So you think it might be some kind of decoy, left here on purpose for us to find?” Lorne nibbled the inside of her cheek, deep in thought.

  “We have no way of knowing what goes on in his warped mind. We’re talking about someone who waited almost thirty years to get revenge. And watched as his parents burned to death in a fire he, no doubt, set.”

  “Come on, Pete, where are you with that info?” Lorne called as Roberts’ words sunk in. The insecure, unstable man he’d just described had her sister’s life in his hands.

  Pete marched back into the room. “Here we are. Apparently, while the decision was being made whether to place the kids with the grandparents or not, they were involved in a fatal car crash. Despite the grandparents begging the authorities to let the kids live with them, the couple’s age was a contributing factor. Social Services thought the couple would find it a struggle bringing up two kids so young. Yet another reason for J.S. to blame the women who tried to help them.”

  “Those kids certainly went through the mill. I don’t suppose Molly had an address for the grandparents?” Lorne asked her partner.

  “She gave me two addresses, one near Leeds and the other a holiday home in Scotland.”

  “That’s it. It has to be. I bet he’s taken Jade there.” Lorne handed Pete the photo they’d found of the Scottish hideaway.

  “Did Molly have an address on file for the holiday home?” Roberts asked.

  “Yeah, it was a bit of a mouthful. I didn’t bother writing it down though.”

  Roberts patted Pete on the shoulder. “Not to worry. I think we better get back to the station anyway, just in case J.S. tries to contact you again, Lorne. We can study maps of the area there.”

  “Anything, Tracy?” Lorne asked, when they arrived back at the incident room.

  “He called a couple of minutes ago, ma’am.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He was angry, asked where you were. When I told him I didn’t know, he became irate—started calling you a lousy mother, ma’am. I couldn’t understand why and didn’t know how to respond. I told him to call back in half an hour.”

  “And what was his response?”

  “He said he might call back, or he might not. It depended how he was feeling. I’m so sorry, ma’am.”

  Lorne touched the young sergeant’s arm to reassure her. “That’s all right, Tracy. He’s obviously referring to the fact I neglected to pick up my daughter. I’m the only person to blame for this cock-up.”

  When J.S. called back, they were all standing around the desk studying the map of Scotland.

  He was angry and sounded agitated. “Where were you, Inspector?”

  “Out doing police work. Can I speak to Jade?”

  “Only if you ask nicely.”

  “Please, Mr. Scott, can I speak to my sister?” She glanced at her watch, realising he’d held Jade prisoner for four hours already.

  “Only if I can speak to my sister.” He laughed malevolently.

  “I’ve had a word with my boss, and he’s agreed to the swap,” Lorne lied under the watchful glare of the chief.

  “Has he, Inspector, or are you playing mind games with me?”

  “No, it’s true. Just tell me where and when, and we’ll be there?” Lorne hoped her voice sounded calm and in control, despite her inner turmoil.

  “I’ll call back in half an hour. You’d better be there this time or Jade might end up with a few bruises.” He laughed again, and she heard Jade squeal in the background as if he had hit her.

  “Please…‌Please, don’t hurt her any more,” Lorne pleaded, but J.S. had already hung up.

  Roberts shook his head. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Lorne. I haven’t cleared it with my boss yet. Until I do, I can’t agree to the exchange. Has he hurt Jade?”

  “She cried out in pain just before he ended the call. I’m not saying we’ll carry out an exchange, sir, but we have to dangle some carrot. How would you feel if it was your sister he was holding?”

  “I can’t begin to understand what you must be going through, Lorne. But I must reiterate: You shouldn’t be making him promises you cannot fulfil.”

  Lorne had no intention of listening to her boss. She was too busy hatching a plan of her own.

  The chief grew tired of waiting for Scott to make contact and returned to his office.

  When the follow-up call came in, Lorne asked Tracy to put it through to her office, where Pete joined her.

  “Yes, I know it. What time? We’ll be there. No, I swear it won’t be a trap. Just my partner and Katherine will be with me. Can I speak to Jade? Be brave, Jade. I’ll get you out of there.”

  “Where does he want to meet?” Pete asked.

  “Keele Services on the M6. Pete, I’m going to put you in an awkward position. It’s entirely up to you if you want to go through with this or not. I won’t hold it against you if you disagree with my plan.”

  “Hey, we’re partners, ain’t we? Come on. You can fill me in on the way. I take it we ain’t dragging his sister along for the ride?” Pete held out her coat.

  Lorne smiled affectionately at him and slipped it on. “You’re a good man, Pete. We’ve got to get out of here before Roberts spots us.”

  “Give me your keys. I’ll pretend I’m nipping to the loo. I’ll bring the car round the front so we can make a quick getaway.”

  “Okay, and I’ll tell the team I’m going home to check on Charlie. That should lay a false trail for a little while.”

  An eerie fog stretched before them as they headed north on the motorway to the meeting point. Pete insisted on driving. Lorne’s mind was full of What-if? scenarios. Her thoughts remained negative as the service station slip road loomed ahead of them.

  “He’ll be in the lorry park. It’s over there. I don’t want any heroics on your part, Pete. Let me do things my way, do you understand?”

  “Yeah, I understand. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with you, though, does it?”

  “Don’t jeopardise this for me, Pete. I just want my sister back.” She spotted the only car parked amongst the lorries. It was a white VW Golf—he’d changed cars. “When I get out, take down his registration number. It’ll help you later on.”

  “Will do, boss. Don’t take any unnecessary risks,” Pete said, gripping her forearm.

  Lorne covered his hand with hers. “I won’t, if all goes well. Take care of Jade, and I’ll see you soon.”

  “I’m holding you to that. I could do without having to mould another partner into my way of thinking at my time of life.”

  “See you soon, partner.” Lorne pecked him on the cheek, pulled the collar of her coat up around her ears, and got out of the car.

  The cold air made her shiver as she crossed the tarmac to the parked vehicle. Pete got out of the car and rested his arms on top of the open door.

  John Scott appeared and placed Jade in front of him. He held a knife to her throat and anxiously searched around him. “Where’s Katherine?”

  Lorne stopped ten feet away from him. She swallowed, hard. “She’s in the car.”

  “Don’t mess with me, Inspector. I can see your partner’s alone.
” He pressed the point of the knife into Jade’s throat, and she yelped as the blood trickled from the wound. Her bright blue eyes expanded in fear.

  “Okay, okay. Please, don’t hurt her any more. I’m begging you.”

  “You’ve tricked me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill her?”

  Keep your head, Lorne. Don’t rise to his threats. “If you do that, you definitely won’t see your sister again. I had trouble persuading my boss to swap sisters.” Scott opened his mouth to challenge her, but she raised a hand to stop him. “I have a possible solution for that.”

  “Yeah, and what’s that?” Scott tightened his grip around Jade’s throat.

  Lorne exhaled nervously. “We’ll do a swap of our own.”

  He tilted his head, apparently puzzled by her suggestion.

  She continued, “Set my sister free, and have me as your hostage. What do you say?” Lorne fought back the bile rising in her throat.

  “Who’s to say he’ll go for it, this boss of yours?”

  “If they don’t meet a deadline of seven o’clock tomorrow evening, you can kill me.”

  “Lorne, no!” Tears trickled down Jade’s cheeks.

  “Hush, Jade. I know what I’m doing. Sean won’t let me down.”

  “Only one way to find out, Inspector. One false move, Jade, and I’ll slit ya bloody throat, you hear me?” Scott snarled, reaching out his right arm. “I’ll let her go when I’ve got you by my side.”

  Lorne went to him. She kissed Jade on the cheek as she passed. “Run, Jade.” Scott grabbed Lorne in a chokehold and carried out a body search for a possible concealed weapon. She went rigid under his touch and her heart sank as she watched her sister run into Pete’s outstretched arms.

  After finding nothing, Scott guided Lorne roughly to the Golf and threw her on the back seat. He put his knee on her tailbone and tied her hands behind her, then pulled a cloth bag over her head. The bag smelt of petrol and made her heave.

  Pete dialled the office. “Tracy. Yeah, it’s Pete.”

  “Hold on a minute, boss,” the sergeant said.

  “Where are you, Pete?” Roberts bellowed.

  “I have Jade. I’m on the M6 at Keele Services. Send a vehicle to pick her up ASAP. I need to stay on Scott’s tail, sir.”

  “Pete, where’s Lorne? What the bloody hell are you playing at?”

  “With J.S. I’ll fill you in when you get here, Chief.”

  “Stay where you are,” the chief ordered sharply. “We’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

  “With respect, sir, we’ll be inside, in the warm. I’ve got a young lady who’s cold and hungry.” Pete smiled at Jade and patted her hand.

  “Okay. See you soon.” They hung up.

  “Come on, Jade. Now stop worrying. That sister of yours is made of strong stuff. It’s not like we don’t know where they’re heading.”

  Jade gave Pete a weak smile before they both turned to see the white car exiting the car park.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  A few hours into the long trip, Lorne drifted off to sleep.

  “Wake up, Inspector. We’re here,” Scott whispered in her ear.

  The cloth bag remained over her head until they were inside the building. An orange glow lit the room and cast shadows off objects she guessed were furniture. When he tore off the bag, her eyes stung and were slow to adjust.

  At first glance, the cabin appeared primitive, but on further inspection, it had everything they needed. Threadbare blankets layered a hand-carved bed. A two-seater sofa was positioned next to the tiny cast-iron wood-burning stove. A small slatted table with two dining chairs sat in the centre of the room. A small kitchen—if Lorne could call it that—was at one end, a two-ring stove running off a propane gas bottle, the only form of equipment in the tiny area. An old earthenware sink was precariously propped up on two wooden pillars.

  A curtain had been pulled across one wall, which Lorne presumed hid the bathroom or toilet. A few red scatter rugs added warmth and comfort, while velvet curtains, more suited to a Victorian parlour, hung at the two windows.

  “Welcome to your temporary new home, Lorne.” Scott laughed nastily and untied her hands. He forced her into one of the two dining chairs, then retied her hands around the back of it.

  “Where are we?” Lorne asked, feigning ignorance of their location.

  “In a forest, north of where we started off from, that’s all you need to know, Inspector.” J.S. headed out the door.

  Lorne frantically played with the ropes around her wrist, wriggling first one way then the other, but it proved hopeless. Her skin shredded painfully at the slightest movement.

  Pete prepared himself for a dressing-down when he spotted the chief enter the café. “Hello, Chief. You made good time.”

  “We’ll talk about this later, Pete. Let’s get Jade out of here. Tracy’s waiting outside to take you back to London. Did he hurt you, Jade?”

  Her hand touched her throat where the knife had cut her, but she pulled her shoulders back, and her gaze met his. “It’s good to see you again, Sean. Lorne said you were back. No, he just nicked the skin, I think. But I doubt if Lorne will be so lucky. Please, get her back quickly.”

  “Jade, I don’t often say this, but you have my word on that.” Roberts cleared his throat and escorted Jade out to the waiting vehicle.

  When Roberts returned, he turned on Pete as they watched Tracy drive Scott’s latest victim away. “Right. Now she’s out of the way. Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”

  “It’s easy, really, Chief. Lorne felt she’d have more control over Scott if she was with him.”

  “And you went along with that? I can’t believe you did that, Pete.”

  “You don’t know how persuasive the inspector can be, sir. I’ve got every confidence in her negotiating skills.”

  “Fill me in. There’s not a lot I can do about it now, but I’m warning you, when this is all over, you and Inspector Simpkins will regret leaving me out of the loop. It was a reckless course of action and totally against procedure.”

  “Yes, boss. Well, we already know where the grandparent’s cabin is. We’re banking on Scott taking her there. We’ll organise an ART unit and surprise them in the morning. Lorne—sorry, Inspector Simpkins—is gonna feed him a line that a swap is still gonna take place. Hopefully, he won’t be suspecting any movement from our end.”

  “What makes you so sure he’ll head for the cabin?” Roberts looked angry at what had transpired, glaring at Pete.

  “Seemed like it was the only place the kids felt secure and happy. That’s the impression the boss got after seeing the scrapbook, anyway. You know her instincts are usually pretty good, sir.”

  “I’ve yet to see any evidence of that, Sergeant, or have you forgotten that I’m the new kid on the block?”

  “I know, sir. But then it ain’t the first time you’ve worked together, is it? She’s also bloody-minded—you’ll remember that trait, too. She’s had that since I’ve known her.”

  “I sense you’re fishing, Pete. In the past, the inspector wasn’t the type to rush in and ask questions later, which is exactly what she’s done here. How’s Scott going to contact us? Have you thought about that? Do you know if he has a mobile? Do we have evidence of that? If he’s still stuck in the seventies, I doubt he’ll be up-to-date with gadgets from this century.”

  “Um, no, Chief. Didn’t really think about that.” Pete dipped his chin, embarrassed by the admission.

  “Perhaps that’s why I’m the DCI, and you’re still a sergeant, Pete. It’s my job to assess situations thoroughly before rushing in like…‌Oh, I don’t know, amateur sleuths on a murder mystery weekend.”

  “Yes, Chief.”

  They dashed across the car park and stopped outside the chief’s car.

  “We’ll get in touch with the armed response team and contact the local police. You better come with me. We’ll leave Lorne’s car here. She can drive it back to London herself i
f everything goes according to plan.” Roberts shook his head as they both got in the car.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  John Scott returned to the cabin carrying half a dozen freshly cut logs for the stove. Lorne shivered but was relieved he’d thought about fighting the chill of the damp, cold cabin.

  After he stuffed the wood into the stove, Lorne asked, “Why? Why now, John?” Now will be an ideal opportunity to get a conversation going with him and hopefully gain his confidence.

  Ignoring her, he continued blowing and poking the fire.

  Lorne tried again, using a much softer tone. “Why wait all these years, John?”

  The fire roared into life. He closed the door and stood up. He pulled the sofa closer to the fire and sat on the edge, his elbows resting on his knees, rubbing his chilled hands together. “Why not?” He stared into the fire.

  “Come on, John. Something must’ve triggered the feelings you’d suppressed for years. What was it?”

  Still staring at the blaze, his fingers interlocked as though he was fighting something back. “Okay. If you must know, Inspector, I started working for Toni about six months ago.” He fell silent again.

  “And?” she prompted, quietly.

  “And I picked up a fare, a woman I recognised from my not so happy childhood.”

  Lorne knew it. “That would be Belinda Greenaway?”

  “That’s right. Only I thought it was her sister, Doreen Nicholls. I picked her up from one of the ranks in town, so I didn’t have a clue what her name was. Picked her up a few times after that, and the more I saw her, the more annoyed I became.”

  “So, when did you realise you’d made a mistake?”

  “It was in the paper. I didn’t know they were identical twins. I thought I was going mad. I realised I must’ve killed the wrong woman.”

  “How did that make you feel?”

  “Angry. Foolish. Determined to right the wrongs.”

  “You took a risk turning up at Doreen’s house, didn’t you? You nearly got caught?”