Behind the Walls: A British Crime Thriller (A DCI Pilgrim Thriller Book 4)

by A L Fraine

  With a sigh, Jon collapsed onto his sofa and let out a long, weary sigh as he shook his head in disbelief. He’d been played, he was certain of it. And now he owed her a debt that he might struggle to ever pay off.

  Yeah, it was definitely a pizza night.

  In fact, it was probably a pizza, chips and beer night. He pulled out his phone.

  26

  Driving to Kate’s and then the hospital the next morning after a fitful night’s sleep, Jon did his best to keep his eyes open. If it hadn’t been for the frankly crazy thoughts that were spinning around his head, he felt sure he’d have fallen asleep at the wheel.

  After being attacked and ordering his pizza, he’d spent the rest of the night stewing over whether he should tell Kate about what had happened. The whole thing seemed absolutely crazy and almost didn’t seem real. It was too weird to be real, and yet, the dark red stain on his carpet said otherwise.

  A man had been shot in his front room, leaving him with a smashed window—that he’d boarded up—and a ruined carpet.

  Well, he’d thought about having the carpet replaced anyway, so this just gave him another reason to get on and do it.

  As far as he saw it, he had several options. Tell Kate nothing and hide what had happened, tell her he’d been attacked but had fought the man off himself, or tell her everything, including everything about Ariadne as well.

  Hiding it would probably be more way more hassle than it was worth, and might even be impossible. After eating, Jon had attempted to clean up the blood after looking up the best method for getting it out of carpet. He’d made a good go of it, and while the worst of it was gone, the stain was still visible, and he felt sure Kate would notice.

  The window was harder to deal with, and for now, he’d settled for hammering a wooden board into place. He’d get that replaced soon enough, but Kate was sure to come over at some point before he’d fixed everything up.

  Besides, he hated lying to her, and that was no way to build a relationship. But telling her the truth about Ariadne carried its own issues. For one, he wasn’t sure how Ariadne would feel if he was to tell Kate everything. Ariadne was not someone to be trifled with, and she might take exception to him telling people about her. Ariadne might do something to hurt him, or worse still, she might hurt Kate.

  The previous night's antics were both harrowing and suspicious, and to Jon’s mind, just a little too neat to be pure coincidence. But how much had Ariadne planned? Had she set up the whole thing, or had she just taken advantage of the situation that had been presented to her? Because, if she had set it all up, and had planned for this man to attack him, what was to stop her from getting someone to attack Kate? He certainly wouldn’t put it past her to hurt someone who knew more than she was comfortable with, and if Jon caused Kate to get hurt or worse, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself. He’d already lost one partner to the actions of a crazed killer. He couldn’t lose Kate too.

  He couldn’t put himself through that.

  And so he’d settled on the only choice he felt he could make, and chose to go the middle route.

  “Mornin’, you dirty stop out,” Jon said as he picked Kate up from her flat, on the way to East Surrey Hospital, just south of Redhill. “How you feeling?”

  “Good morning, and I’m fine, thank you,” she said, leaning over and kissing him briefly. “I didn’t go crazy, and we were eating anyway, so…”

  “Fair enough,” Jon replied with a smile, pleased that she’d been enjoying herself. “You had fun then?”

  “Yeah. It’s always good to catch up with Harper. We get on so well. I’ll have to introduce you sometime. I’ve told her all about you.”

  “Oooh, not everything, I hope,” he said.

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t want to scare her off with tales of gravy on chips or deep-fried Mars Bars.”

  “I think you’ll find that’s Scotland.”

  “Whatever, it’s all north of the Watford Gap,” Kate said with a smile. Jon laughed and met her gaze briefly. She was so full of life with her big green eyes twinkling in the morning light. He knew he’d come to the right choice. There was no way he could ever put her in danger. He just couldn’t do it.

  She did not need to know about Ariadne. It was just too risky, as far as he was concerned. Was he lying to her? Only by omission, maybe, but this was to protect her, besides, he could always re-evaluate things later. But for now, this was the best course of action. He was sure of it.

  “What about you? Did you do much?”

  Jon sighed. “Actually, yeah, I had a bit of an eventful night.” He met her gaze again, and she must have seen something behind his eyes. The jovial attitude she’d been in just a moment before fell away in an instant to be replaced by a look of concern.

  “What happened?” she asked before a look of sudden realisation flashed over her features. “Oh, it wasn’t that man, was it?”

  Jon nodded. “He attacked me.”

  “What?!” Kate sounded shocked. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  “He jumped me on my doorstep, and we fought for a bit. He pulled a knife.”

  Kate gasped.

  “But I got it off him and cut his leg. He ran off, but not before putting a rock through my window.”

  “Jesus, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I was a little shaken, but… I’m okay.”

  “What did Nathan think?”

  Jon blinked at the reply. “I’ve not told him,” Jon said, feeling sure he knew where she was going with this.

  “What? Why? You did call it in, right?”

  Jon shook his head. “Um, no. I didn’t.”

  “Jon! You have to. You have to log this. You can’t let this go. You were attacked by a man with a knife. Are you crazy?”

  “It’s fine. I’m okay, I’m not hurt, and I don’t think it will happen again.”

  “What? Why? How can you say that?”

  “I just have a feeling. The guy seemed pretty scared.”

  Kate sighed and slumped back into her seat. “You can’t do this, Jon. You need to tell someone. I can’t have you acting like this. It's madness.”

  “Okay, okay,” Jon replied, suddenly feeling stupid for not calling the police, or at least Nathan. “No, you’re right. I should have told someone, but I’d like to keep this internal. Just within the SIU, okay? I don’t think I’ll be attacked again, so.”

  “Ugh!” Kate shook her head. “You can be so stupid sometimes, you know that? I just… aagh, men. It’s not big or clever to do this, you know. You’re not helping yourself. You’re just going to make me worry.”

  Jon realised that she was probably right. He needed to do more than just keep it to himself, even if he did leave out the Ariadne stuff.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll tell Nathan, okay?”

  “Good. Do it today, please, or I will.”

  “I’ll do it, I promise.”

  “So, what happened? Who was he?”

  “I… I don’t know. I’ve got no idea.” That wasn’t strictly true of course. He’d heard Ariadne call him David, but who was to say that was actually his name? “He didn’t exactly give me his life story.”

  “Shite. And there’s nothing else? He didn’t say why he was there?”

  “Sorry, no,” Jon said, fully aware of how much he was lying. He thought he knew why he was there, but he wasn’t sure how much he believed it. These facts came from the man himself, and he could just as easily have been lying for all Jon knew. Besides, if he mentioned that the man had been sent from Vassili, Kate would only worry, and he didn’t want that.

  He needed to protect her and Nathan and the others.

  The thing was, he wasn’t lying when he said he had a feeling that Vassili wouldn’t send any other would-be assassins to kill him. Ariadne was watching, and in the depths of this murky ocean, he got the feeling that Ariadne was a pretty big shark, much bigger than Vassili and ready to eat him alive.

  No, he felt sure Vassili
would not try this again, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t tell Kate that. The best thing was just to downplay it, he thought.

  “Jesus, Jon, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I just worry for you when you tell me things like this.”

  Jon shrugged and gave her a smile. “I’ll try to lead a less eventful life from now on. I’ll put a sign on the front door, ‘No assassins or hired goons’, okay? That should do the trick.”

  She smirked. “Good, you do that.”

  The trip to the hospital didn’t take that long. They were soon parked up and making their way inside, when Jon spotted someone walking out that he recognised.

  “Mr Woods?” Jon called out.

  Lenny stopped and looked over, he looked shocked. “Oh, detectives.”

  Jon eyed the bandages on his nose and the black eyes that he sported.

  “Are you okay, Mr Woods?”

  “You look like you’ve been in a fight,” Kate said.

  “No, no. Nothing like that,” Lenny replied. “I just… fell, you know? I tripped up and smashed my face into something. It’s silly, my own fault really.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? That looks pretty nasty,” Kate said.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “How’s your daughter?” Kate asked.

  “She’s fine. She’s with her Nana.”

  “And your wife?” Jon said.

  “Oh, um, I think she’s with them.”

  “You think…?

  “No, she is. She had to pop out for something. Then I was trying to look after Gracie and things got a little hectic and, I fell.”

  “I see. Well, I hope you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine. How’s the case coming along?”

  “We’re following up on some leads, I think we’re close to finding the killer.”

  “Oh good, that’s great news. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” Jon replied. He seemed massively distracted, like he just wanted to get away. Jon wasn’t sure why, and as for him falling… Well, Jon had seen broken noses before, and he had a feeling that Mr Woods was not being totally honest here. As for why, he couldn’t say, but they didn’t have the time right now, and if Lenny wasn’t going to be honest, then there was little they could do. Letting him go, they made their way inside and soon found the Ward they were looking for.

  Introducing themselves to the duty nurse, she kindly informed them that Helen had responded well to their treatments and could probably talk to them.

  Within moments they were walking into the ward where Jon spotted Mark sitting with his sister. She was looking much better than when he’d seen her being pulled from the wall.

  “Detectives,” Mark said in greeting as they walked over.

  “Hello, Mark,” Kate said.

  “Good morning,” Jon said to them both.

  “Is this is a bad time?” the nurse asked. “You don’t have to talk yet.”

  “No, I want to, thank you,” Helen replied.

  “Okay, well, call me in if you need me, okay?” the nurse said, before leaving them.

  Helen smiled up at them. “Are you the ones who found me?”

  “Kind of,” Jon answered. “I’m DCI Jon Pilgrim, and this is DS Kate O’Connell. I’m pleased to see you alive and well.”

  “Thanks, me too,” Helen smiled.

  “And me,” Mark added.

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “We didn’t. But we did find your purse in the basement, hidden behind some other things in there. And when we were interviewing Mark, he called you on your private phone, which happened to be discarded in the concealed partition. The officers doing a forensics sweep of the basement heard it ring, and that led us to you.”

  “Aaah, okay. That was lucky.”

  “I know. So I suppose the person you have to thank the most is your brother. If he hadn’t called you, we might never have found you.”

  Helen smiled and looked up at Mark, taking his hand in hers. “Thank you.”

  Mark shrugged. “I couldn’t not call you,” he said, before they hugged.

  “Can we ask you a few questions?” Jon asked, as Mark pulled away.

  “Of course,” she replied.

  “I’ll get out of your hair,” Mark said, moving away from the bed.

  “You don’t need to go,” Helen said.

  “It’s fine. I need a drink anyway. I’ll be back when they’re done, okay?” Mark said and left with a smile.

  “How are you feeling?” Kate asked her.

  “I’m okay. As good as can be expected, I suppose. The doctors say I should make a full recovery.”

  “That’s great news,” Kate said, as Jon noticed the bruising and the bandages on her wrists. She had a way to go yet.

  “I saw him,” she said.

  “What? Do you mean the person who did this to you?” Jon asked.

  “Yes. I saw his face. I know what he looks like. I’d recognise him. I know it.”

  “You’re sure?” Kate asked.

  “Positive.”

  “Okay.” Kate glanced up at Jon. He nodded to her, knowing what she was thinking, and as he watched, Kate pulled out several photos of the main suspects on the case and placed them before her. “These are the main suspects. Do you recognise anyone?”

  She nodded and pointed to the photo on the right. “It was him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “One-hundred-percent. I’ll never forget that face, it will haunt my nightmares. It was him.”

  “You have to be totally sure,” Jon said.

  “I am, completely. It was him. What’s his name?”

  “I’d rather not say right this moment,” Jon replied. “You’ll find out in due course, though.”

  “Okay, thank you,” Kate said, and picked up the photos.

  “Why were you there?” Jon asked.

  “I was looking for Mark. He’d rented that house just weeks before, and I’d seen him there. But he was getting all obsessed with Duncan again, and it just wasn’t healthy, so I went to see if I could talk him out of it.”

  “But, Mark wasn’t in?”

  “No. But the front door was open, and so was the basement door, so I went to have a look. There was no one there, though, so I turned out the light to head back upstairs. That’s when he jumped me. I was in and out of consciousness until I suddenly woke up in that wall, with those other bodies.”

  Kate reached out and took Helen’s hand in hers to help comfort her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  “I know, thank you.”

  “We’ll be talking to you much more over the next few days,” Jon said.

  “That’s okay. Anything I can do to help. Anything.”

  “Okay, rest up,” Jon said, as he heard a raised voice from the corridor outside. Turning to look, he saw Mark had returned with a coffee and was standing facing his parents, Robert and Rose. They did not look happy.

  Saying a quick goodbye, Jon strode from the ward, out into the corridor and reception area.

  “She doesn’t need you here,” Robert said to his son, venom in his words.

  “She needs me more than you and your hate,” Mark snapped back.

  “Hey,” Jon said, putting as much authority into his voice as he could. Nurses were heading over, but he waved them back as he lowered his voice without losing any of the steel he’d put into it. “Be quiet. No one in here wants to hear you arguing. If you want to shout and scream, go outside. But I can tell you that Helen does not want to hear it. She has been through a literal nightmare and came within touching distance of death. What she needs right now is all the love and support you can give. She does not need any fighting or squabbling, and neither does anyone else in here. So grow up and put your differences to one side for once. And if you can’t do that, I’ll drag you outside myself. Understand?”

  They all nodded, looking sullen as if they
were kids again being told off by their teacher.

  “Good, now I’ve got a killer to catch, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with that. Is that okay?”

  27

  The drive across the county seemed to take three times as long as it usually did, but Jon knew that this was all in his head. It was an illusion brought on by his need to get to the killer as quickly as possible and make sure that he never did any of this again.

  They needed to find him and stop him before he killed again. He had to admit to being a little surprised by Helen’s statement and who she said had sealed her up in the wall, but she’d been certain, and he was not in the business of second-guessing someone who’d stared death in the face and come away alive. Helen said she recognised him, and Jon believed her.

  As he drove over there, he wondered what they would find.

  Would he know they were coming for him? Would he be prepared for them, and how would he react? He had to be prepared for violence, which was part of the reason why they had coordinated with base to meet up with several marked cars and officers to do this properly.

  He didn’t fancy storming into this one half-cocked and run the risk of getting either himself or Kate hurt in the process. Plus, there was the issue of the complaints he’d had over the last few days, and making sure there was nothing else that might rear its head and ruin the case for them.

  Stingray would be most unimpressed with any heroics.

  As they got close, they met up with the other officers and made their way over in convoy, complete with a warrant to search his house.

  Eventually, they pulled up outside the house and walked the short distance up to the front door and knocked. Jon felt the familiar feel of adrenaline rush through his system, filling him with energy as he waited for the confrontation with this killer.

  Moments later, the door opened and a man appeared.

  “Duncan Reid,” Jon said, noting how he was wearing only his underwear. “Would you mind just stepping outside for a moment?”

  “Um, of course, what is this about?” he asked as he stepped out from the house. As he moved, Jon picked up a distinct whiff of something coming from inside. It was a smell he knew well. The smell of death.