One Left Behind: A completely gripping and addictive crime thriller with nail-biting suspense (Detective Gina Harte Book 9)

by Carla Kovach

  Gina swallowed the lump in her throat and stood tall. ‘Okay, thank you for getting back so soon. Jacob and I have not long arrived back from the river where we can without doubt say that the body found is that of Jordan Rolph.’

  Wyre grabbed a marker ready to write the updates under Jordan’s photo on the new board that had been placed next to Leah’s.

  ‘It’s early days for forensics but I’ve spoken to Bernard and it’s clear that there is a partial footprint on the boy’s back. There could be two reasons for this. He was standing high up on the steps and was kicked from behind, sending him plunging head first into the rocks below. The steps are steep and his skull has cracked so there was a lot of force, but the height alone could have caused that to happen. Secondly, someone could have placed a foot on his body as he lay dead or dying after he fell. We will know more after the post-mortem.’ She gulped as Terry’s body flashed through her mind again. This particular murder was too close to home. Turning, she grabbed the water jug in the centre of the table and poured a glass, taking a sip before continuing. ‘While I was with Bernard earlier, one of the assistants found some torn black cotton on one of the bushes. It looked like it came from some black clothing. The sample will obviously be analysed for trace evidence. We might get lucky with some hair or skin cells. Bernard will keep us updated in real time.’

  ‘Do we know what time frame the murder could have taken place in?’ Wyre waited for an answer as she held the pen.

  ‘We do. Between two and four this morning. We will need to re-interview everyone that has been flagged up in this case. Keep the kids at the forefront of your mind. We need to break down their wall. We need to know where they all were last night and pay special attention to anyone without an alibi or with an unreliable alibi. I put Sandra Meegan into that category. When Frank Meegan arrives in a bit for his interview, I’m going to head over to speak to her again. I feel she is in a vulnerable position because of her husband’s past, which is why I want a panic alarm set up in her home. That is something I’ll speak to her about. I don’t have anything concrete here, but she may be at risk with Frank. When I spoke to her, I felt as though she wanted to tell me more but she clammed up. She also kept flinching as she touched her head. Maybe she hurt it on a shelf like she said or maybe tensions are running high and her husband hurt her. Jacob, would you and O’Connor interview Frank?’

  They nodded.

  ‘Kapoor?’

  ‘Yes, guv.’ The tiny PC leaned forward over the table and bit the bottom of her pen. The end of her shiny black ponytail flicked the table.

  ‘How did you get on with Oscar’s father? We need someone to report back but be sympathetic to any concerns that they may have. I particularly want Oscar to be observed.’

  ‘I called and he said they’d be in this evening. He said he could protect his own son and didn’t need our help but he confirmed that I could come over to see him if I had to.’

  ‘Great. In that case, Wyre, can you attend with Kapoor and lead the interview? We’re spreading ourselves thin but we can do this. As for Oscar’s father, if he’s not going to accept you being there, we may as well at least get that interview in. Look for everything and anything while you’re in that house. If something seems off, no matter how small, note it down. Keep bearing in mind that Oscar is a different person when in the company of his father. Try to read between any lines if you can.’

  Wyre and Kapoor nodded.

  ‘Jacob, what did Ellyn say?’

  He sipped his drink and placed the cup down. ‘She has arranged for someone to be with Elsa’s family and Naomi’s this evening; both have accepted, so that was good. As for Jordan’s mother, she didn’t want anyone with her. She said that her sister was coming over and she wanted to be alone. I know the press have already got wind of the fact that Jordan is the latest victim and they have been hounding her for a statement.’

  ‘I’ll speak to her in the morning but in the meantime, I know budgets are tight and this is pushing us to our limits, but can we schedule in some drive-bys. I want to know she is safe from the press too. O’Connor, can you organise that? Also, please liaise with Ellyn and her team to collate any information that comes through.’

  ‘Got it, guv.’

  ‘Caro and Anthony, the two teens that didn’t go to that particular party. At the moment, I don’t think we need to offer them any protection. We can definitely rule Anthony out as he was out of town with his parents for a family funeral. Caro’s family have confirmed that they were all at home that evening and overnight. But Caro, there is something I can’t put my finger on. Bear her in mind and Anthony too. I’m convinced that they still know more than they’re letting on. Maybe something happened at the last party and they’re holding back.’

  The room silenced and rain began to thrash at the window. Gina undid her top button. The storm wasn’t clearing the stuffiness from the air. A stickiness was building in her armpits and her face felt clammy. Maybe it was the heat or the stress of what she and Briggs were hiding. ‘Lastly, one for you, Smith. I know we’ve stretched uniform to the limit this week, especially as you’ve been busy too, but I need some more door-to-doors. There are two quiet estates that have entry points to that part of the river. If our culprit was on foot, they could have taken either.’ Gina pointed to them on the map. ‘We need to speak to the residents, collect CCTV and ask them if they saw anyone out of place passing through or hanging around.’

  ‘I’ll get on to that, guv.’ The other uniformed officer nodded.

  ‘Right, don’t let me keep you another minute. Let’s plough on. I don’t want any more dead teenagers turning up.’

  Annie stood. ‘What about the press? They’ve been on the phone all day since we released that there was a body by the river. We gave them a holding statement but they’re hounding us for more.’

  Gina swallowed. ‘I have more for them. Somehow we need them to stop harassing our witnesses at their homes. A few of the parents have complained that a new reporter called Pete Bloxwich keeps hounding them and he’s quite pushy.’ She sighed. That wouldn’t go down well because they needed the press right now. ‘DCI Briggs might have a more diplomatic approach in mind.’

  Gina sat down and Briggs moved to the front of the room. ‘The holding statement is enough for now as far as information goes. No details should be given such as the shoe print on the back of the victim’s back but what we do need to put out is an appeal for witnesses. I’ll prepare a press release in a minute and I’ll speak at say…’ he looked at his watch, ‘… four this afternoon. It will be a basic appeal for any witnesses to come forward with time frames and expressing our condolences to the friends and family of Jordan Rolph.’

  Annie finished scrawling a few notes as she twisted one of her blonde curls around her finger. ‘Great. I’ll get that arranged.’

  The silence was soon filled with chatter as everyone in the room discussed what they were doing next. Slowly the room began to empty. Gina followed Briggs back to his office and closed the door behind them. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Just being there.’ He was right, neither of them had told anyone a thing. It was some chancer trying to play mind games with them.

  ‘I’m always here, you know I am.’ He stroked her hair and smiled. ‘Now, go and catch that murderer.’

  ‘I’ll call you later.’ She checked her watch. Mr Meegan was due in an hour. That gave her time to stare at the board and browse the system to look for links while she grabbed a sandwich. Then, she’d head off to speak to Mrs Meegan.

  The anonymous messages to Briggs, and Hannah wanting to talk then refusing to answer her calls, was a coincidence; that was all. Hannah surely couldn’t be the messenger. She wanted to shake her head and tear at her hair because she didn’t believe that for one second. The more she thought about it, the less she believed it.

  Thirty-Eight

  Caro began to dish up the pizza that her mother had left out for her and Jake. She phon
ed her dad again but his answerphone clicked on. He was meant to be home by now but no, he was late as usual and she was stuck looking after her little brother when she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed.

  ‘I don’t like onions.’ He scrunched his button nose up as she slid the pizza from the baking tray onto the chopping board.

  ‘You ate onions last week.’

  ‘Yeah, and I didn’t like them. They were disgusting.’ He pulled a face.

  ‘Just pull them off.’

  He picked up a slice and dropped it back on the board. ‘It’s yuck! Not eatin’ it.’

  ‘Whatever.’ She wasn’t in the mood to battle with him when all she could think about were the messages and the person following her. Her mother would have threatened to send him to bed or maybe taken his favourite toy if he didn’t at least try to eat his dinner but Caro really didn’t care. He stared up at her from the stool at the worktop gripping a plastic dragon in one hand, his little shoulders hunched over. ‘Fine. Mum and Dad aren’t here and I don’t care if you die of malnutrition or all your teeth drop out.’ She turned to the freezer and pulled a huge tub of chocolate ice cream out and gave it to him with a spoon.

  His face lit up. ‘Love you, sis. Can I eat it in front of the TV?’

  ‘Go.’ She smiled at him.

  He didn’t need telling twice. Before she’d even picked up a slice of pizza and pushed it into her mouth, he’d left the kitchen. She checked her phone again and tried her mother this time. Again, no answer. She jumped as it rang in her hand. ‘Ant. What’s up?’

  ‘Have you seen Facebook?’

  ‘No, not this afternoon. I’ve been trying to entertain my stupid little brother all day while my mother has decided to join a protest against some paedo. I’m stuck in and bored and I hate everything and everyone. What have I missed?’

  ‘Body down by the river. Jordan’s mum rang me early this morning askin’ if he was with me. Well he weren’t so I told her that, then I called back just to see if he was around as I couldn’t get him on his phone and she said it’s him, the body. Jordan is the body. He’s dead.’

  ‘Shit! No way.’ Caro dropped the pizza and licked her greasy fingers. ‘Did they say how?’

  ‘No, not yet. It might be on the news in a bit. That’s all I know. What if everyone else in the group is in danger? What if we’re next?’

  ‘But we weren’t at the party. Leah and Jordan were both there on Saturday night. We were nowhere near it so I’d say we were fine.’ She felt her throat closing a little as she thought about the messages.

  ‘So! We were at the last party. It’s one of them. It has to be Oscar. He can be horrible at the best of times.’

  Caro glanced out of the kitchen window, wondering if her stalker was watching from afar. She focused on each small gap in the back fence but couldn’t see anything out of place, then she shivered as she thought of the figure she’d seen when leaving the field. ‘Do you seriously think someone is after us all?’

  Anthony paused. ‘Just be really careful. ’Kay?’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Look, I’ve got to go. Things to do.’

  He hung up before she could answer.

  Jake ran back in with the ice cream. ‘Had enough now. Can I have some crisps?’ Caro passed him a family bag of cheese and onion then gently pushed him back towards the living room. If he had a bad stomach later, it would be her mum and dad’s fault for leaving her alone with him all day long. Besides, she had a lot on her mind and she didn’t need the aggro from Jake.

  As she thought about Jordan, her heart started to pound. She ran upstairs and looked out of all the windows in turn and finally, she entered her parents’ room. She pushed one of the two home-made banners aside. Save our children from paedos. Her mother really was on one. She opened the laptop on the dressing table and waited for it to boot up and there was a picture of the man her mother was targeting with her protest. She thought back to the night she saw a figure lurking at the last party. Was it him? Maybe, but she couldn’t be sure. Voyeurism? She read a bit more, not quite understanding what that term meant. There was no claim in the article that he was a paedophile but she shivered when she read that he’d been secretly filming people in public loos. ‘Sicko.’ She closed the lid on the laptop. Maybe he did deserve her mother’s wrath.

  Sitting on her parents’ bed, she tried calling her mother again, then finally, an answer.

  ‘Not now, Caro. Can’t talk. I’ll call you back.’ That was all her mother said before she cut her off. Caro threw her phone onto her mother’s side of the bed and lay back, closing her eyes until a moment flashed through her head.

  Jerking up, she couldn’t breathe. A flash so brief, it barely made sense. A naked body, Oscar’s body. She’d seen Oscar naked on the night of the party. Clenching her hands, she jerked up and took a couple of deep breaths. She’d trusted Oscar totally and he let her down. Everything that had happened at the party had been his idea. The police knew she was hiding something, and she now was. First it was the missing memories of the evening, now it was the fact that Oscar and Jordan roofied her. Then they all drew on her and did things to her for a laugh, some of it she had no recollection of. She saw something else there; that had been as clear as anything but she wasn’t going to think about that, let alone speak of it. No, the time wasn’t right. She needed the police off their backs, after which she could have it out with Oscar when they were alone. Her phone beeped with a Snapchat message. It was from the anonymous messenger.

  There are things you need to know. You have to meet me, alone. Time and place will be sent later. Tell anyone and you die. Don’t turn up and you die. Your choice.

  The message vanished and Caro stared at the wall, trembling. Dangerous? Yes. But she had to know who was doing this to her.

  Thirty-Nine

  Sweat droplets cloud my vision. A few moments had passed since Lara had shouted through the letter box. I can’t believe we were ever friends. You disgust me. I think she’s gone now. I shuffle a bit further along the floor then I finally make it to my destination with burning arm muscles. My wheelchair is next to the lounge chair. I need to pull my body up, then I can struggle my way into the chair. I didn’t think this through very well, there’s just nothing I can properly grip and I don’t have the strength needed to get off the floor. After several failed attempts, my breathing is rapid and I’m exhausted to the point where I’m ready to give up. I just can’t do it. Failed again and if I can’t find my way out of this one, I’ll suffer whatever Frank wants to dish out when he comes home.

  Maybe I can get to the kitchen. My phone has to be in there as it’s not in here. I drag and shuffle, taking short breathers along the way and, finally, I am at the entrance to the kitchen. I spot my phone on the worktop, way out of reach. I’ll need something to hit it with. Maybe I can flick it down with something in the cupboard. A low rumble of thunder makes my heart skip a beat. Maybe once the storm has passed the humidity will too. This weather is giving me a thick head and the fact that it’s swollen with so many thoughts isn’t helping.

  I shuffle along the crumby floor tiles. When Frank is mooching around in here having alone time, I hear him getting something out of a cupboard or drawer. He’s not in here cooking, cleaning, or making a drink at these times. He’s in here for another reason and I’m determined to find out why. When you’ve been with a person as long as I have with Frank, you know when they’re hiding something and I’m going to find out what, even if it kills me.

  As I reach the cupboards, I displace a pile of dust and crumbs that Frank must have swept and not picked up. Opening the corner cupboard, I see nothing but pots, pans and plates. Then I shift a little further until I can open the cupboard under the sink. Again there’s nothing there but cleaning fluids and old cloths. There’s the drawers, maybe I should check those. I pull open the bottom drawer and see an old tin box, one that I remember being in the shed of our old house. I assumed that Frank kept screws in it or something equally
as boring. I strain to reach up, my arms jellied and weak from all the stress I’ve put on them. With a bit of effort, I roar as I grab it and drop it on the floor. It flies open, spilling its contents all over the kitchen tiles. I shift onto my side as my bottom is numb, keeping my right hand free to pick up the items. Photos of women and teenagers. The teens in the woods are squatting to pee; getting dressed; skinny-dipping in the river and making out. He has photos of the girls and the boys. I feel acid burning my throat. I want to vomit or scream with rage. I trusted him and he’s betrayed me in the worst possible way.

  My phone. What can I use to get hold of it? I still have that detective’s number in my pocket and I’m going to call her. Frank went out on the night of the girl’s murder and I have to tell the truth now that I have all the evidence I need. Tears flood my face. I don’t know what will become of me. I can’t manage on my own in this house and the thought of receiving home care makes me feel useless but this can’t carry on. Doing the right thing is what I need to do and I have to do it now before he hurts someone else. I’m convinced he killed that girl.

  I lift up some of the photos and my gaze rests on a memory stick. That and a few photos go in my pocket with the detective’s card. If Frank comes back, he’ll know I’ve seen his dirty secret unless… I place the box back in the drawer. This might buy me some time.

  Grabbing an old spatula from another drawer, I reach up, trying to hook it behind my phone but it’s not long enough. Tea towel. Reaching for the towel hooked in the cooker door handle, I manage to grasp it. Attempt after attempt at flicking the phone off the worktop exhaust me. I’m seeing dots and I’m so hot, so very hot and stuffy. I want to curl up and cry. That would be the easy thing to do. Cry, wait and accept whatever Frank will do to me when he sees what I’ve been up to.