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

by Carla Kovach

  ‘One step at a time. Is there anything else I can get for you while I’m here?’

  I shake my head and blow my nose. ‘Make sure he doesn’t get away with it, any of it. The photos, the videos, I’ll help in any way I can. I’ll stand up in court and tell everyone what I know. He needs to pay for what he’s done.’

  ‘I’ll do everything within my power to do that and I’ll keep you updated all the way.’

  ‘Who killed those teenagers?’

  ‘I’m afraid we don’t have an answer to that question yet but we’re hoping to soon.’

  She swallows. I can tell she doesn’t believe what she’s just said. Maybe they’re not close to catching the killer. My eyelids begin to close. That short outburst has exhausted me.

  ‘Thank you for speaking with me. I can tell that you’re tired so I’ll leave you alone to rest.’

  She goes to stand. ‘Wait. Can you tell the staff here that my husband didn’t kill those kids and that he tried to kill me? I don’t want them to hate me. I really do care what people think. They don’t care that I haven’t done anything and I don’t want them to poison my food.’

  ‘Of course, although the nurse I spoke to before coming in said you were a nice lady so I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Nobody here will be poisoning your food. You’re safe now.’

  ‘Will you come and see me again?’

  I can see her stalling to answer. She’s here doing her job, visiting me again in this state isn’t the top of her list and maybe even crossing a boundary for her but I always think, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. She’s the only person who properly listens and doesn’t treat me like I’m dirt on their shoe. And, maybe, I’ll share with her just how cruel Frank has been in the past, when I can think straight. He should pay for the things he did to me too but I suppose trying to kill me would be the ultimate crime against me that he could pay for.

  ‘Of course I will. It may be in a few days but it will be lovely to catch up with you when you’ve had a chance to fully recover.’

  ‘Thank you. See you soon.’ She smiles and leaves. I know she’s not my friend, I’m not that naïve but I look forward to her visit.

  Everything begins to sink in. Frank has been arrested. He’s finally out of my life.

  Fifty-Three

  Gina grabbed her laptop bag and placed it on the incident room table. ‘Right, I’m heading home which is where I’ll be working through the evening. I want everyone back here for an eight in the morning briefing. Spend the evening going over everything again ready to start again tomorrow.’ O’Connor, Jacob and Wyre had a defeated look about them. Frank Meegan’s alibi had set them all back.

  Wyre glanced at her notes. ‘I’ve spoken to the families of the kids and we can see them all tomorrow in turn, except Oscar. His father said he’s had enough and doesn’t want us coming around.’

  Gina folded her arms. ‘Hmm. I don’t like the fact that Mr Spalding is trying to keep us out. We really need something that will get us through the door or get Oscar into this station. He knows something and with our other suspects eliminated, each one of those kids has to be at the top of the list now. It’s still too early to get all the forensics results back too and that includes toxicology. We’re working mostly on our detective skills here. Spend some time looking into Oscar and his father. They’re putting up too much of an obstruction. I believe the devil is in the detail. Look at everything. Read the notes on the system until you can reel them off as easy as you can when someone asks for your date of birth. Look at every photo, every little detail in the background. The answer is there, somewhere. Analyse every interview. Replay them. I know it’s a lot to ask but I saw the latest headline. We are being branded as incompetent. Three days, two murders. They keep asking who’s next. Regardless of what anyone asked for or wants – even Oscar’s father – I want drive-bys on all the kids’ houses overnight. If anyone leaves, put an alert out and we need to monitor their movements.’

  ‘Do you really think it could be one of them?’ Jacob stared blankly and let out a half yawn.

  ‘I hope it isn’t but what I hope doesn’t matter. They were all there. They had opportunity and any one of them could have overpowered Leah in the state that she was in. If Frank Meegan is to be believed, he stated that on the night of Leah’s murder he wasn’t alone in watching her. That doesn’t totally implicate the kids either. For now, we have to theorise as to who that person might have been and, as it stands, it could have been any of the others at the camp or an outsider. Also, who bit Leah? What was all that about? Not one of the teens has mentioned having any type of relationship with her so who did it and why?’

  Wyre scrunched her brow.

  ‘Have you got an idea?’

  ‘I don’t know. There’s just so much going through my head right now.’ Wyre pressed her lips together.

  ‘Like I said, go through the files again and again. If you get a light-bulb moment, call me any time. Right, head home and get some food. It’s late and I need you all here with your best game faces on tomorrow. Don’t speak to the press either. That is an order from above.’ Gina nodded and they all stood, talking as they began to disperse.

  Wyre came over to the boards, brows furrowed as she scanned everything.

  ‘Go home and clear your head.’

  ‘Okay. See you first thing.’ Wyre packed up her belongings.

  ‘See you tomorrow.’ Gina watched as they all left.

  Briggs entered. ‘Bloody journalists. They just don’t stop. This new one, Pete, is being a right nuisance. At least he’s stopped calling every five minutes since his interview. Have you looked out of the window?’

  Gina walked over and glanced down at the car park. ‘When did that lot arrive? There were only three of them last I looked. There must be twenty now including the nationals.’

  ‘They’re branding the murderer, the camp killer. Making it sound like some eighties B-movie. They’ve also mentioned the other kids. Headline – Two down, three to go. It’s scaring everyone. We’ve had callers galore. If a kid is more than five minutes late home or doesn’t answer their phone, the parents think they’ve been killed. I suppose it will pay for everyone to be cautious given that we don’t know what’s happening next, but that doesn’t help us. The team taking the calls are stretched to their limits. They’ve had to bring in people who are off today.’

  Gina swallowed. ‘First murder, early hours Sunday morning; second murder, early hours Monday morning. This morning, no murder and no reports of anything untoward happening in the night. This killer barely left a gap between the first and the second murder. Can we make sure those drive-bys are every fifteen minutes?’

  ‘Yes, it’s going to inconvenience uniform but we can’t risk another teenager turning up dead.’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘Do you want company tonight?’

  Gina shook her head. ‘Thank you but my mind is all over the place. I also can’t keep thinking about Hannah and I know that’s all we’ll talk about. I’ll call you though, keep you posted.’ Gina grabbed her bag, smiled and left with a churning stomach.

  As she pushed through the sea of journalists and photographers, Pete Bloxwich stared across at her as she nudged through. His grin almost made time feel as though it had stopped. ‘Lyndsey Saunders sends her regards. If you have any fresh info, you should let me in.’ He placed a card in her hand. ‘The Herald. Local paper for local people. Lyndsey said you were really helpful in the past so maybe you and I can work together. I can help… I answered your questions, didn’t I?’

  ‘Mr Bloxwich, no. You will be informed of any updates along with anyone else. Harassing me outside my workplace won’t do you any favours, neither will harassing witnesses to give stories. Look what happened to Lyndsey. Carry on like this and you will end up like she did. Please step out of my way!’ He frowned and stepped aside. Gina hurried back to her car, her breaths shortening. The messages to Briggs and Hannah wanting to speak, was it all down to
the rogue reporter trying to rebuild her almost failed career. The very mention of Lyndsey Saunders’s name filled Gina with both fear and rage. Lyndsey spent her last moments trying to bring Gina down in a previous case and the journalist had been suspended for how she’d acted and now she’d simply passed the baton on. Gina loosened her top button then dropped her car keys from her sweaty hands. Fumbling, she gripped them tight and turned back to see that the reporter was staring right at her grinning. Between him and the messages, she felt like she was suffocating.

  Fifty-Four

  Thursday, 5 August

  The rustling of a fox at the back of Oscar’s long garden sent Caro’s heart banging in her chest. Now all she could hear was the thumping of blood as it pumped through her head. She’d sent Oscar the message a couple of hours ago and he’d messaged back, agreeing that they had to see each other. He was going to tell her everything. She trusted him. Oscar had hurt a lot of people. Beating them up if he didn’t get what he wanted. She knew Anthony didn’t really want any more to do with him after the fight and she could understand that. Caro and Oscar had been friend’s forever and best friends on and off. He’d never hurt her. She gulped, wondering if just because he hadn’t hurt her yet, he couldn’t hurt her now. She shook her head as a hint of doubt crept in. No, she trusted him. He was going to fill in those final gaps and with the police monitoring his house, it had to be in the middle of the night. He knew she’d come and vice versa.

  She felt along the back of the fence in the moonlight for the gap she and Oscar made years ago. Oscar’s father had never found it. Caro knew this was how Oscar sneaked out to all those parties he was never allowed to attend in the past, but now he’d simply lie and say he was staying with friends like they all did. His father was the strictest. Ruled their household like he was still in the military and since Oscar’s mum had died, he’d been obsessively holding on to Oscar like he was still a little kid.

  There, she felt the gap and dropped her rucksack on the ground. As she crept through, she caught her leg on a piece of sharp wood and felt a trickle of blood slide down to her ankle. Then it stung. ‘Oscar,’ she called in a loud whisper as she crept around the back of the summer house, breathing in as the gap was so tight. She lit up her phone and it flashed off just as she caught the time. Five past one in the morning. She was late and he still wasn’t ready. She squeezed out into the bottom of the garden and sat on the decking. She wiped the blood from her calf, flinching as she pulled out a splinter. Where was he?

  She stared up at the huge garden with the sectioned off areas and veggie patch that was bigger than ten gardens on her row of houses. The main house was elevated with a huge patio area and sofa style seating everywhere. Glancing up towards Oscar’s bedroom window she wondered if he’d forgotten about their meet up and fallen asleep. She grabbed her phone but it wouldn’t come back on. The battery had completely gone. If he wasn’t out in five minutes, she was going back home and calling it a night.

  She almost screamed as she stood and took a few steps back and felt a hand on her shoulder. That’s when she saw Oscar’s grinning face lit up with his own phone. With all that was going on, he was trying to scare her like this was all a Halloween trick.

  ‘Got ya!’ He laughed and turned the light off his phone.

  ‘You idiot.’ She hit his arm as she tried to calm down her breathing. ‘What the hell took you so long? I’ve been waiting forever.’

  ‘The police have just passed. They come every fifteen minutes, on the dot.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘I’ve been watching them from the landing with my dad’s binoculars. They probably wouldn’t have noticed me leaving out the back but I didn’t want to risk anything. I waited until PC Plod had passed and then hurried to the back, then I remembered the security light and the CCTV. I had to quickly disable both. My dad’s a light sleeper so I had to escape like my life depended on it.’ He grinned.

  ‘Good for you. My dad was snoring the house down when I left, so I’m okay for a few hours but I need to get back before it gets light.’

  ‘Let’s go.’

  She followed Oscar behind the summer house and through the gap in the fence, grabbing her rucksack on the way. They both half ran until they were far from Oscar’s house. Caro went to turn right onto a path that led to the golf course. ‘Not that way.’ Oscar pulled her by the arm.

  She shook him off. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘You’ll see.’

  She stopped under a street light. ‘I’m not following you without knowing where we’re going.’

  He stopped and sighed. ‘You always want to know everything. Nothing is ever a surprise with you. Boring.’ He made a yawning motion and laughed. ‘We’re going to our hang-out.’

  ‘Isn’t it closed?’

  ‘Has that ever stopped us getting in?’

  Caro scrunched up her nose. ‘I guess not.’

  ‘Come on, let’s hurry, then I will tell you everything you want to know.’

  ‘Can’t you tell me here?’

  Oscar looked both ways and laughed. ‘No. Either come to the hang-out or buzz off back home. Since when did you become such a scaredy-cat?’

  ‘Since I was attacked the other night and I found out you roofied me at the last party.’ She folded her arms and stood still.

  ‘I can explain and I will. All will be revealed at the hang-out. Who attacked you?’

  She shrugged. ‘I had a message to meet someone in the woods and they came from behind. I stabbed them with my nail file.’

  Oscar stared at her, his smile dropping. ‘That’s awful, babe.’ He stepped closer and gave her a friendly hug.

  ‘Yeah, almost as awful as being roofied. Why should I trust you?’

  He let go and his gaze met hers. ‘Because it’s always been you and me against the world. We stick together, like we always have done through school. Come on before we get caught and someone calls the police and reports us for loitering. I could do without my dad on my back right now.’ He walked away with a slight limp.

  ‘What happened to your leg?’ She swallowed the mass in her throat.

  ‘Oh, it’s nothing.’

  ‘So you didn’t attack me?’

  ‘What is this? I thought we were friends. Why would I attack you? If you must know, my dad did this.’ He pointed to his leg.

  Her shoulders slumped and she began to play with the end of her hoodie. ‘Things still hard at home?’

  ‘The bastard kicked me in the leg earlier. He’s still angry that I brought the police to his door. Big bloody bruise, an all. I don’t even feel like it’s my home. I hate him and I hate that house.’

  ‘I’m so sorry.’ She knew Oscar had endured a few beatings from his dad and this was just another. She’d spent years dismissing his weird behaviours because of what he’d suffered since his mum’s death but Oscar always said his mother was in a better place. She held his hand. ‘Let’s go to the hang-out but you have to promise that you’ll tell me everything.’

  ‘You know I will. I trust you. Do you trust me?’

  She stopped dead. Refusing to take another step. ‘I want to see your leg.’

  Oscar stared right at her, standing rigid. All friendliness in his tone now gone. She’d seen his sudden change in mood many a time but it had never occurred because of something she said. He reached out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to the ground. ‘You had to go and ruin it, bitch.’

  Fifty-Five

  Still half asleep Gina’s dream continued. She saw Hannah’s long blonde hair waving in the wind as her daughter was about to push her off a bridge in the same way that Gina had pushed her father down the stairs all those years ago. As she toppled back, eyes wide, hands windmilling, knowing that she was about to crash into the rocks that stuck out of the shallow river but she didn’t fall into water, she fell into a seat in a courtroom and the judge’s voice boomed out. ‘How do you plead?’ Guilty, guilty, guilty. Those words kept repeating over and over as Judge
Peter Bloxwich stared at her.

  Gasping for breath, Gina jolted up in her bed, drenched with sweat as her phone buzzed on the bedside table. Ebony purred before stretching on the end of her bed. Grabbing her phone, she answered. It was Briggs. ‘Gina, we have another missing teen on our hands. Everyone’s been called in. Hurry.’

  ‘On my way, sir. Who is it?’

  ‘Oscar Spalding. His father just called to say that his CCTV and security lights had been tampered with. No sign of a break-in and the doors were locked. It looks like the boy left of his own accord. His phone is turned off too.’

  ‘We need the dogs out in the woods covering the area of the two other bodies and beyond.’ Gina touched her throat and swallowed.

  ‘Already sorted.’

  ‘I just hope we don’t find another body.’

  ‘Me neither.’

  ‘I’ll call Ellyn, see if she’ll be able organise for someone to be with Mr Spalding if he’s amenable to having a FLO at hand. Given that his son is missing, I suspect he’ll want someone with him this time. What happened with the drive-bys?’

  Briggs took a sip of something and cleared his throat. ‘They all went ahead as planned. Every fifteen minutes without fail. The same PC drove past all three of the kids’ houses constantly. During his breaks, another officer took over. They didn’t see any activity coming from the house. As Mr Spalding refused any help, that’s all we could do to protect his son. What we couldn’t do is walk around the house all night. His father did find something when he went out to explore in the back garden.’

  ‘What?’ Gina grabbed a tissue and dabbed her damp forehead. Six thirty in the morning and the sun was already beating through her thin curtains.

  ‘He found a trail of blood by his summer house and followed it. Behind the outbuilding there is a cut in the fence. That’s how his son must have got out without using the main security gate.’