Miss No One

by Mark Ayre

  "Off-duty, are you?" said Abbie.

  Evans was wearing a white T-shirt and dirty black jeans. Black boots. His car was cheap, probably at least third-hand when he got it. He smiled like a man who had recently won the lottery despite not having purchased a ticket.

  "Day off," he said. "Except, a cop ain't ever really off duty. I saw you and had to call it in and wait around. Make sure you got the justice what's come to you."

  Closer and closer, the police cars came, just like earlier, at the school. This time, Abbie didn't intend to run. Not literally, anyway.

  "You're an honourable guy," said Abbie. "I decided in Christine's flat, if I was to serve time for killing a police officer, I'd like to at least earn that time by murdering one. That's why I'm here."

  Abbie got the impression Evans would have liked to hold a brave front. But he was young and corrupt, and fear came easily. His eyes widened, and his skin paled. He wanted to stand still in the face of Abbie's threat but took an involuntary step back.

  "You don't want to do that," he said.

  "False."

  "If you do, Orion'll kill Isabella."

  "Orion plans to kill Isabella no matter what happens. You either know that, and you're lying, or you don't, in which case you're a moron. I'd believe either."

  Evans’ jaw worked, but he had nothing to say. The problem was, he knew Abbie was right.

  She stepped forward. Evans took another step back and withdrew a knife. Short, dirty, but sharp enough to inflict severe damage to any gut.

  "You ain't armed," he said. "Come near me, and I'll knife you. Don't think I won't. I'll do anything to save myself, and I'll get away with it."

  "I'm sure you would do anything, and I'm sure you'd get away with it. But what makes you think I'm unarmed?"

  Evan's eyes darted to Abbie's hands, double-checking he hadn't missed something.

  "You had a weapon, it'd be out already."

  "Hmm," said Abbie. She tapped her chin. "You know, you're probably right. Except, I did have a gun. I'm sure I did. So where can it be?"

  Abbie patted her waist, then her jacket, but the gun was in neither location. She opened her coat and lifted her shirt so Evans could also see she was unarmed.

  "Where on Earth can it—“ Abbie clicked her fingers in a mock light bulb moment. "I remember—" Evans felt cold steel against the back of his skull. "—I gave it to my ally, so she could sneak up behind while I distracted you. Thank you, Ana."

  Evans twisted his head until he was staring into the barrel of the gun clasped in Ana's hand. The young lawyer smiled at the corrupt cop.

  The sirens grew louder.

  "I think you better get in the car, PC Evans," said Abbie. "We’ve got places to be."

  Knowing she didn't have long, the incessant sound of sirens all around, Abbie had stepped into Christine's bedroom. Walking to the bed, she had felt a choke of emotion upon looking into the dead eyes of the young detective. A good woman. A woman who had suffered for her job and to do the right thing. Christine was due her reward. She deserved to go home. To be with the people who loved her. Not this.

  Abbie had felt the anger bubble and burn. This time it was directed not at Ndidi or herself but at Orion and Rachel Becker. This was them. This was all them, and they deserved to pay.

  Forcing the anger down, Abbie leaned over Christine and gently closed the detective's eyes.

  "I'm sorry."

  If she stayed a second longer, she would lose herself either to grief or to fury, and neither could she afford to do. With one final apology, she turned, rushed from the room, and crossed the hall.

  Ana was face down in front of the sofa. There was a trickle of blood on the floor near her head but nowhere near as much as Abbie would have expected. This was the blood Abbie would expect from when Ndidi had smacked the lawyer. Not the blood earned by a gunshot wound.

  Then Abbie saw it, and everything clicked.

  The bullet hole in the carpet, a couple of inches from Ana's face.

  Given his ultimatum, Ndidi had knocked Ana down and pretended to shoot her in the head. Seeing his plan, Christine had screamed and called him a monster. Down the phoneline and in the room next door, the Becker siblings had made the natural assumption. Ndidi would have tried a similar trick with Christine, but Orion stopped him. Made Ndidi take the cop next door so Rachel could deal with her.

  Ndidi should have acted. Thinking only of his daughter, he watched Rachel slaughter Christine.

  Rachel might have checked Ana, but Ndidi and Christine's act had been enough. The cop and the crook had left. Ana remained on the floor in front of the sofa.

  Abbie had woken her. Ana was groggy, her head was pounding, and Abbie had to shake the lawyer to draw some sense back into her.

  "There's no time," Abbie had said. "We need to act, and we need to act now."

  Evans was in the driver's seat. Somehow, Abbie and Ana had crammed into the back of the crappy little car. The corrupt Constable was taking a suspiciously long time to start the engine.

  Ana placed the gun to the back of Evan's neck, and Abbie spoke.

  "If the police corner us, rest assured, you'll die before they get us in cuffs."

  At that, Evans seemed to remember how this rust pot of a vehicle worked. He started the engine, hit the gas, and sped across the carpark and out the gate. They made a left, and as they progressed along the road parallel to Christine's block of flats, flashing lights spun around a corner behind them. Abbie watched the police vehicles speed onto the block of flat's carpark as Evans took a right and moved them out of sight.

  "Well done, Evans," said Abbie. "Now head west. Get us out of town."

  The cop stayed silent, his jaw tight until Ana removed the gun from the back of his neck. The cold steel gone from his skin, he sneered and spoke as though the weapon had pressed a secret button which suppressed his voice box, and now he was free.

  "You can't believe you'll get away? The cops think you're getting worse. You punch Ndidi, then shoot Kilman, now this. Right now, they're theorising what you might do next. Shoot up a station, probably."

  "I think first I might dismember a cop while he screams," said Abbie, absently. "I have a candidate in mind."

  Evans’ skin paled, but he fought the fear.

  "They'll get you," he said. "You can't run for long."

  "No," said Abbie, "but running is reactionary. I hate being reactionary. I'm more about action; about keeping on the front foot. That's why I'm not running from the police but charging towards the Beckers. I'm not trying to escape my incarceration but ensure their destruction. They'll pay for their actual crimes before I'm punished for the ones I didn't commit."

  Evans glanced in the rearview mirror as Abbie took the gun from Ana, and Ana retrieved her phone, unlocked it. He stared at Abbie as though trying to decide if she was unhinged.

  "You can't think you can take on Orion Becker?"

  "I've dealt with worse," said Abbie. The gun was in her lap. Maybe she should put it to the back of his neck and see if the cop would shut up again.

  "Whatever you believe you could do, don't matter cause you won't find Orion. If you think I'll tell you where he is, you got another thing coming. I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't blab.”

  Abbie smiled. "I believe you don't know, which is lucky because I don't believe you wouldn't tell me if you did. You're a coward, Evans. Give me five seconds on a deserted highway with you and this gun, and you'd tell me whatever I asked."

  A snort that was supposed to sound derisive met this claim. Unfortunately, the tremble of fear in the sound and Evans' eyes gave away the truth.

  "Don't worry," said Abbie with a sweet smile. "We don't need anything from you in terms of locations."

  At Abbie's side, Ana's phone beeped. The lawyer directed her screen towards Abbie, who glanced at it and nodded.

  "What's that?" said Evans.

  "Nosey, aren't you?" said Abbie. "But if you must know, it's the readout from the tracker we hid in
the lining of Ndidi's coat. Orion's determination to have the poor detective present when Isabella dies will be his downfall. That's why I don't need to torture you for the information you probably don't have anyway. More's the pity. Now..."

  Abbie leaned forward, and, despite himself, Evans flinched, afraid of what she might do. Giving him a big smile that masked her fury towards the Beckers and her grief regarding Christine, Abbie snatched the Constable's phone from a dusty cupholder by his knee.

  "What are you doing?"

  Abbie pressed a button, and the screen flashed to life. A prompt for a passcode popped up.

  "Nothing," she said. "But you have a job to do, don't you?"

  "What?"

  "Orion's orders. Did he not tell you to call the moment I was in police custody? Well, here I am, sitting behind a big strapping police officer. Time to follow your orders. Make the call."

  Outstretching her hand, Abbie waved the phone next to Evans.

  Trembling, the Constable shook his head. "No chance. I ain't calling."

  The fear had hitched up, and Abbie knew this was no longer primarily fear of her but of Orion. Evans knew with whom he was dealing and was afraid of the consequences of displeasing the monstrous crook.

  "I understand your reticence," said Abbie, "but we don't need to waste each other's time. Like I said, you're a coward. We know what you're going to do, but if it'll make it easier for you to proceed, allow me to layout your choices."

  Abbie withdrew the phone. Held it in her lap as she spoke.

  "Option one: You refuse to do what we say. We put a gun to the back of your head and force you to pull over. Maybe you refuse, but that's okay; you can't drive forever. Eventually, I'll be in a position to put a bullet through your brain, assuming you have one, lowering the veil of darkness forevermore. And before you suggest I won't do it, I want you to know when I put the gun to your head, I'll be thinking of Christine, what happened to her, and your part in it."

  Evans made a slight, involuntary sound. It said he was terrified of the prospect and believed Abbie was true to her word.

  "Option two: You take us to Orion. When we arrive, I let you go, and I kill the Beckers. If I fail, Orion will probably forget all about you. If he doesn't, you'll at least have a chance to survive. Orion and Rachel will be fugitives. They'll be too busy hiding to spend undue effort tracking you. So..."

  Reaching forward, Abbie put the phone next to Evans again.

  "The choice is yours, friend... what's it going to be? Possible survival or certain death? It's a toughie."

  Evans stared ahead. No doubt, he had always been a bully. He wanted to seem strong. Wanted to call Abbie's bluff, maybe tell her to go screw herself. He wasn't used to being pushed around. But it was a show. He couldn't call her bluff because he was afraid of the consequences. Without looking back to Abbie and Ana, he snatched the phone, unlocked it, searched for Orion's number.

  Abbie reached forward when he found it and clasped her hand over the phone before Evans could hit call.

  "Hang on a second," she said. "You don't know what to tell the boss."

  "I'm not an idiot," he snapped. "I'll tell him you're in police custody. You gave yourself up and confessed to the crimes, as specified."

  "No," said Abbie. "That isn't right at all."

  Confused, Evans looked in the rearview, meeting Abbie's eye.

  "I want you to ring Orion," she said, "and tell him I got away."

  Thirty-Seven

  "He's stopped."

  Ndidi had left just over an hour before Abbie, Ana and Evans, so they knew they had about that long left to go once he reached his destination.

  The drive had already been long. By the time Ndidi stopped, the sun was dropping beneath the horizon. The dark of night was swallowing the light of day. Day two. If Isabella was still alive, she didn't have long left.

  Evans had made his call hours ago, and Orion had lost his temper. Abbie and Ana had heard him screaming down the phone as though he were on speaker. Evans had flinched again and again as if Orion was with him, lashing fists.

  So far as Orion was aware, Evans was part of the effort to capture Abbie. He was to call the elder Becker the moment Abbie was in cuffs.

  Evans wouldn't be calling Orion again.

  Abbie knew she was taking a risk. A huge risk, maybe, but that was the point they'd reached. Orion held all the cards. Abbie had a pair of twos, and he a straight flush. When that was the situation, even bluffing wouldn't work. You had to do something completely unexpected.

  Like set fire to the table cloth.

  But Abbie still held hope. Not much, a tiny flicker, like a damp match that has come to life but looks as though it might go out any second. But something was better than nothing, and even the tiniest flame could be encouraged to grow under the right conditions.

  While sitting in Christine's flat, trying to decide whether to hand herself to the police, something hadn't felt right to Abbie. She was sure she was missing a vital thread of this tapestry. It was only when she found Ana alive that it clicked. She realised why she was uneasy.

  Why did Orion want Evans to watch Christine's flat and Ndidi to call Abbie with those demands when she arrived? What was he hoping to gain?

  After Evans had hung up the phone earlier, his hands shaking following Orion's roar, he had glanced again in the rearview.

  "This is pointless," he said. "They got a massive headstart. Orion will have his sister back an hour before we arrive. Then he'll kill the detective and the kid and disappear. You'll never catch him."

  That was tempting logic. It sounded as though it could be true, but Abbie didn't believe it.

  The moment Rachel and Ndidi drove away from the flat, they would have phoned Orion and explained where Abbie was. If Orion’s plan was to kill Ndidi and disappear when his sister arrived, Abbie would have been no concern.

  Maybe he would have left Evans to watch the flat and call the police when she arrived, but why worry over whether she was arrested?

  Only one explanation made sense. Even once Rachel reached Orion, they couldn't make good their escape immediately. There would be a delay. Enough of a delay that Orion knew even an hour's headstart wouldn't be enough. It would still give Abbie time to reach him before he and his sister disappeared.

  Probably, Orion believed he could deal with Abbie, but he was clever. He was like her. He didn't believe in taking risks. Abbie had already killed three of his people at the dealership and had evaded Smoker on two separate occasions. She had also escaped a team of armed police. Orion thought he could kill Abbie if she arrived, but he'd sooner not test himself. If Abbie was locked up, imprisoned, he could relax.

  The landscape slipped by as they travelled further North. They'd left the last big city behind, and now fields stretched out on all sides, far as the eye could see. They carried on, moving closer to their now fixed destination.

  Ana had been confused by Abbie's instructions. Like Abbie, she had theorised Orion would be more relaxed if he believed Abbie was in police custody. This would make him easier to kill because he wouldn't be expecting an ambush.

  This was also Abbie's opinion. Evans' call would have put the elder Becker on high alert. He wouldn't know how Abbie could find him, but he would prepare for an eventuality where she did. Evans' call had made Abbie's job far harder.

  In Abbie's opinion, it was worth the risk. Orion would post people around his hideout, with instructions to watch for Abbie and, if they saw her, to shoot to kill. But if he was as keen to cover his bases as he seemed, he'd also need a plan B.

  With Abbie in custody, the elder Becker had no incentive to keep Isabella alive. His kidnap victim would become a useless burden. Someone to be disposed of the moment her father arrived.

  But with Abbie on the lose, with a plan B required, maybe the kidnap victim transformed into something else. The same thing Abbie had believed Rachel Becker could be.

  Leverage.

  Abbie watched the fields race past. With Evans' call,
she had made her task of infiltrating Orion's current base and killing the Beckers, plus anyone they were with, far more complex. But on the flip side, maybe Abbie had brought Isabella a few more hours of life. Perhaps she had given herself a chance to save the little girl.

  And that wasn't only the main thing.

  That was everything.

  Sixty-five minutes after Ndidi had reached his destination, Abbie tapped Evans on the shoulder and pointed off-road. The Constable took the hint. Flicked on his indicators, though they were in the middle of nowhere with no one around to signal to, and pulled off the road, over the verge, and onto the grass.

  "Everything off," said Abbie.

  A twist of the key in the ignition, and the engine went quiet. A light flashed on above their heads. Abbie looked to it, and Evans reached up, flicked it off. As darkness swallowed them, Abbie heard Evans retract the keys from the ignition. Heard them jangle.

  She jabbed the gun into the cop's ribs and listened to his low squeal.

  "Give."

  He hesitated. Trying to decide whether to pretend he had misunderstood or maybe whether he should run. Abbie didn't believe this guy was anything close to a genius, but nor was he foolish. After a few seconds, he twisted and held out the keys.

  Ana took them. Slid them away.

  "How far?" Abbie asked, into the dark.

  Another light as Ana turned on her screen. The phone bathed her face in a soft glow, and Abbie saw fear. Twice in two months, the lawyer had come within inches of death. How long before she decided it was probably sensible never to see Abbie again?

  "Three miles. Five K. Pick your measurement system. We're facing north, and you'd need to walk north-west to reach Ndidi's tracker."

  "Good."

  The phone went dark. Blackness claimed them once more. Silence too.

  Ndidi hadn't stopped here. He had travelled a little further up the road Evans had recently departed. There was a left turn not far along. Moore had driven Ndidi and Rachel along this road until they reached their destination.