A Clamour of Rooks (The Birdwatcher Series Book 4)

by European P. Douglas

  A horrible new thought rose in her mind and she knew at once that this would be how it looked to everyone else too! Any investigation would find out about all she had done with Tyler, the information sharing, the secrets kept and now the final nail in her own coffin she had given Tyler a reason to flee justice.

  She could go to prison for some of the things she’d done!

  Sarah stumbled to her feet and went to the kitchen where she produced a bottle of Red Breast Whiskey and looked at it. It was one she’d picked up not that long ago in a moment when she felt Tyler might someday be an overnight guest in her home for once. How bitter the idea was now. She unscrewed the cap and took a fiery hot mouthful and recoiled from the intensity of it. She drank again, hoping the horrible mouthfuls would occupy her mind but it wasn't working. She ran to her room and brought back some sleeping pills. They had belonged to Marcus and had been in the bedside drawer for a few years now. She was sure they would still be potent though, especially if she took all of them.

  There was no other way out. Everything was over. She put a handful of pills in her mouth and washed them down with the whiskey and then repeated this four more times

  Everything she had worked towards was gone, ruined. It was the end.

  Chapter 38

  Freeman couldn’t reach Sarah by phone but through his contacts he was able to get her address. He knew she wouldn’t be allowed in work right now due to the death of her partner, but he also thought he knew her a little. She would still be working, just not in an office or a police station. That put the best bet at home. He tried her phone one more time in the hope she would pick up but once again it rang out without answer.

  Late that afternoon, Freeman had made phone contact with Charley Brunswick and he’d agreed to look at some mug shots and video footage of the suspect. The only trouble was Charley had been in an accident last year and he was unable to travel much and it meant Freeman would have to go to his house to talk to him. That didn’t bother him at all, and it was the reason he’d been calling Sarah. He thought this might be just the thing to take her mind off her troubles for a time and be part of the possible solving of the case.

  Freemen went to the door of her apartment block and rang the bell. It didn't make any noise and he tried again, still no sound. He waited a moment in case it was only audible in the apartment, but no answer came. He pressed another apartment's buzzer and this time he heard the buzz. No one said anything but the mag locks on the door suddenly clicked and Freeman entered the building. Security was pretty lax here, he thought, wondering how Sarah would feel about how easy it was to get inside the building. He took the stairs, thinking he’d been on his ass or just standing around for the best part of the day. A little exercise wouldn't kill him.

  When he got to Sarah’s floor, he tried her phone one last time. Still no answer, but this time he could hear it ringing just down the hall. As he approached her door, he noticed the lights were on, a thin beam under the door spilling out into the dim hallway.

  “Agent Brightwater,” he said as he knocked, “It’s Detective Freeman, I've tried you on the phone but couldn't get through.” There was no hint of movement from behind the door and Freeman instantly got a bad feeling. It was possible she was just asleep, exhausted after the day she’d had, but Sarah was working a few high-profile cases and he’d seen how easy it was to get up to her apartment. He knocked again, a little louder this time.

  “Sarah, are you in there?” He pressed his ear to the door in the hope of catching even the slightest noise from within but could hear nothing. He stepped back and made one of his department wide famous split-second decisions. If she was fine, he’d pay for the door, but if she wasn’t...

  Freeman ploughed his heavy frame at the door, and it gave after one lunge. He’d done it plenty of times over the years and had it down. He stumbled as he regained his footing and scanned the room quickly. He saw the files on the table, the open laptop and then over by the kitchen area he saw the pills bottle on the counter. He made his way towards it, someone in the hallway shouting out, “I’m calling the cops!” and picked it up. As he did, he saw Sarah on the floor, smashed glass, and whiskey on the floor around her but no sign of blood.

  “Sarah!” he cried as he rounded the counter to get to her. He kneeled and took her pulse. It was faint but still there. He stood up pulling his phone from his pocket as he ran the cold tap in the sink and tossed a hand towel into the flowing water.

  Freeman dialed 911 for an ambulance as he rubbed at Sarah’s skin with the wet towel. She was going to need to have her stomach pumped but he didn’t know how to do that. He lifted her head and slapped her face lightly, and then a little harder and then he splashed some water on her. There were some signs of her reacting to all of these things, which gave him hope, but he knew each second it took the ambulance to arrive might the second he lost her.

  “Come on, Sarah,” she said. “We have this case cracked; you can’t miss out on it!”

  To this she tried to make some kind of response, but it was deep in her throat and her eyes remained half closed and unresponsive.

  At last, he heard the crashing of the EMT workers coming along the hallway.

  “In here!” he called out and they were with him then and Freeman stood back to let them do their work. He took a few steps away, the small area of the kitchen made it so he wasn't able to see her anymore and there was nothing he could do besides.

  He looked out the window and then let his eyes fall on the table to the files she’d been working on. There were a load of newspaper clippings that didn't seem to add up to the same case there.

  “We’re taking her in the ambulance now,” one of the EMT men said, and Freeman nodded.

  “Is she going to be okay?” he asked.

  “We hope so,” was the reply.

  Freeman watched them leave and then called to have someone come and look at the door he’d broken down. He tidied the files on the table and put them together in a neat pile. He didn’t know how sensitive the information was but thought it best to cover it just in case. Though he doubted Sarah would be working for a while yet. He was going to have to report this to her superiors. The idea didn’t give him any joy, but it was just the way it was. He picked up her cell phone, if she woke up, she would likely want to have that nearby.

  When a uniformed officer arrived on the scene, Freeman left him to watch over the place until the door could be fixed and went to the hospital to check on Sarah. He had a feeling she was going to pull through, but you never knew. You just never knew.

  Chapter 39

  The thudding pain in her head reminded Sarah of the first time she’d ever drank alcohol as a young teenager. She and Patty Samson, her neighbour, drank a bottle of red wine each while they were babysitting Patty’s little brother. Thankfully, he was asleep, and the girls spent the few hours until Patty’s parents got home getting sick over and over again. Sarah went home and got into bed so her mother wouldn't catch her, but she lay there for hours with a throbbing headache that was still there when she woke again in the morning.

  This was different though, more intense and when she tried to open her eyes, the light hurt them.

  “What’s happening?” she said, though her voice didn’t sound like her own. She tried to sit up, but her stomach was very painful, and she felt restraining hands on her pushing her back down,

  “Don’t try to get up, sweetie,” a woman’s voice said. There was more than one person holding her down. Sarah felt so weak she imagined even a child would be able to hold her down right now.

  “Where am I?” she asked, her eyes blinking fast in the light as she tried to make sense of what was before her.

  “You’re in the hospital,” the woman’s voice said again, “You’re going to be fine, but I need you to lie back down and take it easy.” With these words Sarah could suddenly see the things before her for what they were. The metal rail at the edge of the bed, the IV-line drip bag above her, the blue of the pulled cur
tain behind the head of the nurses. Sarah lay back unafraid now but still terribly confused.

  “Was I shot?” she asked. She saw the two nurses exchange a brief glance.

  “The doctor will be back to talk to you very soon,” one of them said.

  “Is everyone else okay?” Sarah asked, still trying to recall what had happened.

  “Everyone else is fine,” the nurse said. “Rest now until the doctor comes.”

  It was while she was alone, laying there and listening to the sounds of the busy hospital around her that Sarah remembered what had happened. The sick feeling of betrayal and nausea rushed through her again and she did her best to sit up.

  “Hey!” she called out. “I need my phone; I have to contact the FBI!” It was like there was a brief pause in the world outside her curtain and then everything went on as before and on one came. “I need to report something to the police!” she called out.

  “Can I go in there?” a familiar voice said. Sarah didn’t hear a reply to this question but a moment later the curtain slid back a little and Detective Freeman stepped inside pulling the curtain closed behind him. “Good to see you awake,” he said.

  “Tyler Ford is the ‘Birdwatcher!” Sarah said. She saw a momentary confusion on Freeman’s face and then something like recognition.

  “The articles on your table at home?” he asked, and she nodded.

  “I just figured it out,” Sarah said. “I have to talk to my bosses, to let them know.”

  “Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll move it along for you?” Freeman suggested. His look told her he didn’t expect her to go anywhere soon. Without trying to draw attention to the fact, Sarah moved all of her limbs and neck and arched her back a little to see that everything was working fine.

  “I just need a phone and I can do it myself,” she said. Freeman looked at her for a moment and sighed,

  “You’re not going to be able to work for a while, Agent Brightwater,” he said. Sarah noted the formal address and shook her head in disgust.

  “You’re a cop,” she said. “You know I have to see this through.”

  “You just tried to kill yourself,” he replied.

  “A moment of weakness, of horror,” she said. “I’m past that now, it was stupid, and I regret it.” She could feel the anger, but she wasn't sure she fully believed what she was saying.

  “What was it?” he asked.

  “I’ve been working very closely with Tyler for the last couple of years,” she said. “I can’t believe I was taken in so much.” Freeman nodded like he understood,

  “You saw your whole career, your whole life go up in flames for a minute there?”

  “Everything gone, my chance to make amends for my mother, my duty to Delgado, all gone in an instant,” she agreed. Freeman looked at the ground like he was weighing things up in his head. He looked back to her,

  “I think I have a break in the Mansion Murders case,” he said, “Spalding has nothing to with it, he was just playing with it.” His hand came out of his pocket and he handed her a phone. Sarah saw with surprise that it was her own phone.

  “Who do you figure it was?” she asked, nodding her thanks as she took it.

  “All three, and they've done it before.”

  “You’re a good cop,” Sarah said.

  “Not so good a person though,” he said shaking his head. “I should be reporting you, for your own good.”

  “I’m close to the end with Spalding,” she pleaded. “I can feel it, you know what that's like! Someone else can take the Tyler case, I won't be allowed to work that one anyway.” She knew she’d work her ass off to solve that one too though from behind the scenes.

  “You’re still very young,” Freeman said. “You should think about taking a step back, voluntarily. Don’t let these things get so deep inside or else they’ll destroy your life.”

  “It was destroyed for me,” Sarah said, meeting his eye. She opened her phone to call Bobrick and broke eye contact with Freeman to do so. Another moment of horror gripped her world as she saw there was a message from Tyler on her screen.

  “What is it?” Freeman asked, telling her she must have had some visual reaction. She shook her head like it was nothing and clicked into the message.

  I’m sorry Sarah. This won't make it up to you, but this is where I think Ellie is.

  There was a link to map location in rural Virginia.

  “He knew where she was,” Sarah muttered as she forwarded the message on to the FBI task team.

  “Who?” Freeman asked but Sarah wasn’t listening to him now. She looked around, she was in wet and dirty sweat clothes, but they would have to do for now. She tried to get up as she dialed Bobrick’s number. Freeman could tell there was something big going on and he tried to help her up despite his concern for her. “You shouldn’t be going anywhere,” he said.

  “This might be my last chance to go anywhere,” Sarah replied.

  Chapter 40

  Her stomach muscles ached as Sarah changed in the tactical unit van into some FBI gear. Freeman had driven her to a rendezvous point to meet the van but there she had to leave him. She thanked him for his help and wished him luck in closing the Mansion Murders case. It would have been nice to have him tag along but she had work to do. She hoped he didn’t have a change of heart and report what had happened to her late the previous evening.

  Her talk with Bobrick had been terse and furious. He told her to get Ellie back safe and then they would talk again. Another team would begin the hunt for Tyler Ford right away, starting with a search of his home.

  Getting Ellie home safe, that was her task and her goal. Getting everyone else home safe was also a part of it. Everyone was nervous after what had happened at the last Spalding hideout. Sarah came up to the monitors and looked at the maps.

  “How was this place missed in the earlier searches for sites?” Sarah asked.

  “It wasn’t,” a female commander named Kylie replied. “Local PD checked out the house. They didn’t find anything and said there was no sign of car or tyre tracks on the property apart from their own.”

  “Well, they came out of there in one piece, I guess that’s something,” Sarah said.

  Sarah had ordered that no one was to set foot on the property until she had personally arrived at the scene. Her own boss, Dan Martin the lead agent on the secret Spalding case, was overseeing things remotely from New York, where he was at a separate hearing today.

  “Are you okay,” Kylie whispered to Sarah as the van sped along the highway. Sarah looked at her. “You don’t look so good,” Kylie finished with a look of concern on her face.

  “I’m just out of bed,” Sarah said. “Was coming down with something but duty calls.” She tried to sound peeved but didn’t think she was pulling it off. Kylie looked at her doubtfully and then turned back to the screens. The main team had arrived, and they were sitting in their van while a drone did circuits of the house from the air, making sure there was no one else hiding around the trees or long grasses.

  “The coast is clear, no people on the land,” Kylie reported.

  “Can we see inside the house with the thermal camera?” Sarah asked. Kylie flicked a few switches and they looked as one of the screens changed as the drone moved back towards the house. Sarah saw right away, one person in the place, a girl with hair not unlike Ellie’s. She was sitting down, perhaps restrained but it was hard to be sure with the image.

  “Seems to be only one person here,” Kylie said, sounding bemused.

  “We have to get her out of there,” Sarah said, though she was talking to herself.

  “Tactical teams are running scans and making visual assessments of the route to the house,” Kylie said. “So far, nothing to report.”

  “There was nothing to report the last time either until the bombs started going off,” Sarah said grimly recalling the event.

  “Same rule applies, no one on the ground until I arrive,” Sarah reminded everyone. She had a plan that the h
ead of the tactical team was not going to like, but she was in charge here now. She was calling the shots and if there was only one way to get through to Ellie without getting everyone killed, Sarah thought she knew what it was.

  She was going to have to be the one to walk up to the house herself. Spalding would have the place rigged with explosives, of that she had no doubt, but if it were, she and she alone who approached the building he couldn’t blow it all up, not if he still wanted her to be part of his game.

  That was what she hoped at least. No one else was going to understand this, so she didn’t plan on having a discussion about it.

  The unit pulled up on the street at the entrance to the driveway to the house. Sarah was surprised the house was so close to the street, though a bend in the driveway hid it mostly behind some trees. There was no gate to the property, and anyone could have walked or driven in there at any time. It was a strange choice for hideout for Spalding. The fact that only Ellie seemed to be here, assuming it was her of course, was suspicious too. It had a trap written all over it. Was Tyler in on the trap or was he passing the information on in good faith? Was there any such thing as ‘good faith’ with Tyler Ford?

  “We’ve picked up explosive devices but we're not sure how they are activated,” the head of the tactical team told Sarah when she got out of the van. She looked at the scene before her.