by Jade Winters
She told herself not to panic. There may be a very good explanation as to why her front door was left open. “Alexis?” she called again, hearing the edge to her voice.
There was a bang. “I’m here.” Alexis’ voice was pained and mournful.
Ashley pushed the office door fully open as Alexis flung back the ceiling to floor curtains in an aggravated flourish and stepped out from behind them.
Ashley resisted the urge to jump back in fright. She put a hand on her heart that was beating nineteen to the dozen. “You gave me a fright. Are you okay? Why are you hiding behind the curtains?”
“The bastards have been here, haven’t they?” Alexis looked behind her and peeped out the window, her eyes flicking from one end of the street to the other nervously.
“Has someone threatened you?”
“No. But my files on the child abuse cases have been taken. Everything! Every last one, right down to the written statement I had on the Nicola Coleman case. They were good –whoever they are,” her voice shook with emotion, “they even found my back up flash drive, strapped to the underside of my desk. Who would think to look there?” Alexis dropped into her office chair, putting her head into her hands. “It’s all over,” she mumbled forlornly, “all my months of work...gone!”
Ashley crossed the room and knelt down in front of her Alexis. There was something that she needed to ask her, it could spell trouble for her, and she hated asking at a time like this, but she pressed on. “Did you have the name of your sources in the files?”
Alexis dropped her hands and put one of them on Ashley’s shoulder as she said, “Don’t worry, you’re safe. I only used code names.” Then said almost as an afterthought, “Nothing can be traced back to you.”
Ashley got up and sat on the edge of the desk, her mind spinning with thoughts as to why someone would have stolen a reporter’s files. “So what now?”
Alexis threw her hands helplessly into the air. “Nothing. It’s over. I can’t recreate the information I had if I had a hundred years to do it in. A lot of it was thoughts and leads as much as the actual case files.”
“Was there any sign of forced entry?” Ashley asked, thinking that she hadn’t seen anything unusual as she entered the property.
“Nope, nothing. Whoever did this has done it before and knows exactly what they were doing,” she said bitterly.
“Have you asked your neighbours if they saw anything?”
Deep furrows creased Alexis’ forehead. “What’s the point? Even if they did, what can I do about it?”
Ashley knew she was right. Legally she doubted Alexis should have been in possession of whatever documents she had in the files. “Who else knew you kept your files at home, colleagues at work?”
Alexis shook her head. “No. No one.”
“Could your source have taken it?” Ashley was in detective mode, running through a list of possible suspects as she tried to get some answers.
“And why would I want to do that?” The familiar voice said from the doorway.
Both women froze as they slowly turned towards the door. Ashley’s eyes widened. In the sudden silence she held her breath. It couldn’t be!
“Dale?” Ashley said.
Chapter Fifty
Ashley’s gaze jumped from Dale to Alexis and back to Dale again. She stared wordlessly across at him. Her mouth opened to speak but the words failed her.
“Ashley,” he said evenly as he took a step towards her.
She held up her hand and he stopped in his tracks. She needed to process this. Her mind was spinning, all her thoughts blurring into one another. This made no sense whatsoever. Dale was Alexis’ informant? He had been so angry at her when he’d found out she had spoken to Alexis. Had made her feel guilty for doing what she thought was the right thing to do. When all this time he too was supplying Alexis with information. Why did he not just tell her? She felt betrayed. Stabbed in the back by the last person she would have ever expected it from. Ashley glanced at Alexis, who looked as guilty and as sad as Dale did. Stabbed in the back, not by one person she had trusted, but by two. Unbelievable! It took a long while before she summoned the composure to speak.
“You?” She pointed at Dale. “You’re her source?” She couldn’t keep the resentment and bitterness out of her tone.
“Ash, let me explain...” There was a desperate edge to his voice. He took another step towards her, but Ashley stood up and backed away from him.
She blinked rapidly, not wanting to let the tears fall that welled in her eyes. Not wanting him to see how deeply he had hurt her. “Explain!? Jesus Christ, who are you, Dale?” She swung around to Alexis. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me you were speaking to him? Were you two playing some kind of sick game with me? I trusted you both. Trusted you!” Her voice had risen to a shrill screech and she put a hand over her mouth, not trusting more hurt words to spill out.
Alexis straightened her shoulders and stared directly at Ashley. “I never reveal my sources, to anyone, that part you should understand. You don’t either. It’s the nature of the game.” Her voice trailed off and she let out a heavy sigh. “Look, I don’t know about you two but I need a drink. We can discuss this like adults in the kitchen if anyone cares to join me.”
She brushed past Ashley and gave Dale a sympathetic smile as she left the room.
Dale bowed his head slightly. “I’m sorry.” He held his hands clasped in front of him and his head drooped. He looked like a school boy who had been caught bunking class and was now facing the headmaster.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked in a small voice.
His head shot up. There was genuine concern and sorrow in his eyes. “Why do you think, Ash? I didn’t want you getting wrapped up in all this drama again. Look what it did to you last time. I want justice for Nicola Coleman as much as you do…”
“But?”
“Tell me this, Ash. Why didn’t you tell me when you first spoke to Alexis?”
“Because I wanted to protect you!”
The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was saying. She hadn’t told him for the exact reason he hadn’t told her.
“Exactly!” he said fiercely and then went on in a voice that was almost tender, “Because that’s what friends do. There are so many times that colleagues can’t protect each other – just because of the way the job is, but this was something that I didn’t want you getting involved in again. It almost broke you last time and I didn’t want to reopen the can of worms and pain for you again. That’s why.”
The two of them stood looking at each other, his words hanging heavily in the air.
“Is anybody coming?” Alexis called out from the kitchen.
Ashley looked at Dale’s contrite expression. How could she have ever doubted his loyalty? She smiled a small smile at him and the charged atmosphere evaporated instantly and Dale smiled back.
“You forgive me?” he asked.
“Only this time,” she said with mock severity and followed the sound of the tap being run in the kitchen.
“Whisky okay?” Alexis asked as they walked in.
Dale smiled shyly and nodded his head. “Thanks.”
Alexis motioned for them to take a seat around the small dining table. She poured a shot of whisky into each of the three glasses and passed them around.
Ashley took a sip of hers, wincing as her drink sent a hot trail of fire down her throat. “We can’t let them get away with this.” Her voice was once again efficient, the emotion packed away.
“What do you suggest? All the evidence Dale gave me is gone. I’ve got no proof of anything. My editor won’t touch this with a bargepole.”
Ashley turned to Dale who was staring at Alexis with a twinkle in his eye. She could sense an attraction brewing between them.
“Where did you get your information from, Dale?” When he hesitated she said with exasperation, “Please enough with the secrets now! What’s said is this room stays in this room, ri
ght?”
Dale tore his eyes away from Alexis and looked at Ashley. His eyes sent her a private message. “You know who I got the intel from, Ash. They worked with us on the Coleman case,” he said quietly.
Ashley frowned momentarily until it dawned on her. Barbara – her friend at social services. She nodded.
Both remained silent.
Alexis looked from one to the other. “Oh come on guys. Spill the beans. I’m on your side remember.”
“This is your call, Ash.” Dale shrugged.
Ashley looked across at Alexis. “I’m sorry Alexis. I can’t out this person, not until I speak to them. It’s just too sensitive and it wouldn’t be fair.”
It was one thing putting her own neck on the line, but it was completely different getting her friend involved. She had some serious thinking to do before she made her next move.
Chapter Fifty-One
“Why didn’t Barbara come to me?” she asked Dale as they walked back to the car an hour later.
“She wanted to, but with all this stuff going on with Nathan and Tasha I told her I’d deal with it.”
There he went, trying to protect her again. She put a hand on his arm. “I appreciate your concern, Dale, but you’ve got to stop treating me like I’m a fragile figurine. Shit happens and I deal with it. I’m not going to break.”
The two detectives got back into the car. It felt like it was weeks ago since they had stopped in front of the apartment block. Time was strange that way, and emotion could twist and drag it out.
“I know. I just care about you. I look at you like my family.” He covered her small hand with his big one and gave it a squeeze.
“You know I feel the same way. But I’d tell you if things were too much for me.”
He cocked his head, raising an eyebrow at her. “How long did it take you to tell me Tasha had gone?”
Ashley shook her head, there were still times when she forgot that Tasha wasn’t waiting at home for her. “That was different. I couldn’t believe it myself.” She moved on, getting away from that emotional quicksand that was Tasha. “So fill me in with what Barbara told you.”
He twisted around in his seat to face her. “It’s big, Ash. She had a stack of reports for kids in care who said they were being abused by VIPs. She reported it to her superiors who involved the police. The kids were interviewed. When she chased it up she was told there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. Barbara didn’t like the sound of that so she went back to talk to the children. Only this time they all clamed up and refused to speak to her about it. She thinks someone leaned on them to keep their mouths shut. She said everyone she approached with her findings didn’t want to know; that she’d never seen anything so swiftly swept under a rug. One of the kids even said there was more than one man who took Nicola Coleman, but that too was just swept away.” He made an angry sweeping gesture with his hand, as if he could see all the witness’ files being swept under the carpet he was talking about.
Dale continued, his forehead creased into deep lines. “Anytime she called for an investigation to be opened it was shut down pretty sharpish. She kept pushing and pushing and then she got scared, Ash. She doesn’t know what to do. The fact that someone has stolen the files from Alexis only means whoever is involved is getting nervous. And nervous criminals are dangerous criminals.”
“Why was this information never passed to us at the Major Investigation Team?” Ashley asked.
“Exactly, why wasn’t it? What were the local police thinking?”
“Did Barbara give you the original copies of the reports?”
“I don’t know.”
A thought dawned on Ashley. “Does anyone know you and Barbara have been in touch?”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. We were pretty careful where we met.”
“Okay. You need to meet with her again and tell her you’ve told me everything. Then arrange for a time for us three to meet.”
“What can you do now?” Dale asked, “If the files are gone, there’s nothing left to use.”
“Yes, there is. The truth. The kids. We can start again from scratch. We’re police officers. We know the law. What’s to stop us from building our own case?”
Dale looked doubtful and scraped his hand over his chin.
“Well?” she asked. “Are we doing this?”
“I’ll talk to her first thing tomorrow,” he said.
Ashley gave a small shake of her head. “No, not tomorrow. Give it a few days. You don’t know who’s watching you.”
“Alright.” He started the engine. “Do you want me to drop you home?”
Ashley slipped on her seat belt. “No, to the station. I’m still looking through some files.”
“Do you need some help?” he asked.
“Haven’t you got a home to go to?” Ashley pulled a face at him, their earlier upset long forgotten.
Dale grinned. “Don’t you?”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Ashley sensed, rather than saw something was amiss in their office. It took a few moments for her to fully realise what she was looking at. She ran her eyes over her work area. Her desk was empty. The files were gone.
“What the?” she started, and then stopped mid-sentence.
Dale looked at her questioningly. “What’s up?”
“The box of files I was looking through is gone.” She gestured to the now empty desk.
Dale shrugged. “Someone probably took them back downstairs. Don’t worry, I’ll go down and find them. Do you want to make us a coffee while I do?”
“Yep, I’ll do that.”
They both left the room together and walked off in different directions. As she neared the kitchenette at the end of the hall, she could hear Colleen and Mike’s voices. She cleared her throat as she pushed open the door. They both spun around, their conversation ending abruptly.
“Ashley.” They acknowledged in unison.
“Colleen, Mike.” She nodded her head then walked over to the wall cupboard. Grabbing two mugs, she heaped a spoonful of coffee into each of them. Silence hung in the air like a winter mist. Whatever they had been saying definitely was not for her ears.
“Please, carry on, don’t let me interrupt you,” she said turning around to them.
“We were only talking about a case I’m working on,” Mike said, just a tad too quickly.
She poured boiling water into the mugs then walked towards the door. Colleen opened it for her. Ashley gave her a brief smile.
“Have a good evening,” Colleen said.
Ashley felt the two sets of eyes following her. I wonder what they were really talking about before I interrupted them? She made her way back down the corridor slowly. Straining to hear if they had restarted their conversation, but only silence followed her.
Dale was sitting at his desk when she arrived back at their office. She looked at her own and the box of files was nowhere to be seen.
“No luck?” she asked putting the coffee down in front of him.
Dale shook his head. “I spoke to Bob. He said no one took it back to him.”
“Crap. It couldn’t have just walked off on its own. This is strange. Colleen and Mike are hanging around in the kitchen, do you think they could have taken it?”
“What would they do with it?”
Ashley shrugged. “A practical joke?”
“Does Mike look like he even knows what a joke is?” Dale asked with a laugh. Mike was a sullen, taciturn man with a nasty verbal streak in him. Humour was not one of his attributes. “And Colleen? I don’t think so.”
Ashley shook her head in frustration. “This is ridiculous. So where the hell is it?”
“Maybe the cleaner took it. I don’t know. Did you find anything of any worth in there?”
She dropped into her chair. “A couple of things. It’s just very odd, that’s all. There were three suspects. Two guys sort of fitted the description. Both were over six foot. One worked in a hospital, the other was unemploy
ed. The victim’s boyfriend was short, so I ruled him out. I’m not going to hold my breath about the other two, but I would have still liked to have checked them out further.”
She looked at her desk again, just in case the box had magically reappeared. It hadn’t and she sighed in frustration.
Dale got to his feet. “Come on. Forget the coffee, I’ll treat you to a curry. You don’t look like you’ve eaten properly for days. We’ll find the files tomorrow, there’s nothing we can do now.”
Ashley had no appetite, and the newly missing files gnawed at her, making her feel nauseous. Food was the last thing she felt like. “Another night perhaps? I think I’m just going to go home and crash.”
A PC with sleek black hair stepped through the open doorway and said with a whimsical smile. “Not yet I’m afraid, McCoy. Got Helena Thomas downstairs wanting to see you.”
Ashley exchanged a quick glance with Dale. This was just what she didn’t need at the moment.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Dale asked.
Ashley frowned. “No, it’s alright. I’m sure she just wants some information on her mum.”
Dale walked towards the open door. “Okay, see you tomorrow then.”
“Yep.” Ashley waited a few minutes before she made her way down to the reception area. She was dreading having to face the girl. The desk officer nodded to an interview room at the side of the corridor. As she entered the room, Helena’s head shot up.
“Helena,” Ashley said softly as she closed the door behind her.
Helena leapt to her feet. “You’ve got to let my mum go.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she said kindly. “Your mother committed a crime Helena. She has admitted–”
“–No, no she’s lying. She didn’t knock Abbi over.”
“If she isn’t responsible Helena, who is?”
“I am!”