‘I don’t think anything. I know it is.’ Helen looked at him.
‘And you’re just going to give me the names of your colleagues? You know what that means for them, right?’
‘I’m selling you information. Whatever you do with it is down to you.’
‘Jesus. That’s proper cold.’
Sol nodded to one of the other men, who leafed through the contents of the envelope. The man then walked towards the door, still holding the papers. He kicked the lad as he walked past him.
‘Get up, you fucking idiot, there’s work to be done.’ The lad scrambled to his feet.
‘Do we have a deal?’ Helen kept her eyes on the man still seated in front of her.
‘We’ll see how this one goes. I need to be sure you’re not giving me duff information. In the meantime, I have a place you can stay, right out in the woods, perfect for what you need. I’ll have someone take you there.’
Helen shook her head. ‘I have a few things to sort. I will be back in touch in a few days. I need to be away from here, this place gets a lot of attention. It’s the last place I want to be seen.’
Sol smiled. ‘Stay here for the night then. Your only chance of getting away clean is to blend in with the traffic during the day.’
Helen nodded. He was right. Moving after dark she would be more visible.
‘Fine. I leave tomorrow after you open.’
Sol nodded at the remaining man, who beckoned to Helen. He led the way out of the room and back down the steps.
‘We’ll need to take a car,’ he said, tugging at the door of a parked Isuzu truck.
Helen turned towards her Jeep. ‘I’ll follow you down.’
‘In this one.’ The man held the passenger door open. Helen knew it would be pointless to argue. She was in their hands.
* * *
Sol Alcani watched the rear lights of the truck disappear and put his phone to his ear.
‘Yeah?’
‘It is her.’
‘Okay. What have we got?’
‘She’s got information for us. The cunts who brought us down.’
‘All of them?’
‘Possibly. She’s drip-feeding us. She needs some things in return, money mainly.’ The man on the other end was silent for a few moments.
‘We need what she has.’
‘I agree.’
‘She doesn’t get a penny though. I suggest we ask her again, but this time we can be a little more persuasive. She might be playing us.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ Another silence.
‘This seem right to you though? I mean, she’s playing a risky game coming here, talking to us. She must know that we don’t have to play ball.’
‘She’s desperate. Trust me, I saw it first-hand. She’s run out of options.’
‘She must be desperate. Where is she now?’
‘I’m putting her in the rat run. I can’t have her getting nicked. But don’t worry, she won’t be leaving.’
‘Did she give us anything yet?’
‘A name. I’m sorting it.’
‘You do that.’
Chapter 6
At the front counter of Langthorne House, the two middle-aged women were almost hidden behind a high desk. They both wore Police Support Staff badges stitched to their breast pockets. One busied herself at a computer terminal, and the other was leaning on the desk, going through some paperwork with a man who seemed out of breath.
George Elms stood in front of the seated woman. It took her a while to raise her eyes, and then she started.
‘Oh, hello.’
‘Hello, Joan.’
‘Jane,’ she corrected him, looking even more uncomfortable.
‘Close.’ George shrugged. ‘I wanted to speak to Darren Lewis.’
‘Will he be expecting you?’
George grinned. ‘I don’t think he’ll be surprised.’
Jane picked up her phone. ‘Hello, sir, sorry to bother you. Are you still on station at Langhorne House? Only I have a gentleman down at the front counter who has asked to speak to you. He says you’re expecting him.’
George shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The other woman, whose customer had stomped off, was now staring at him.
‘It is, yes. Okay, sir, I will let him know.’ Jane put down the phone.
‘He was expecting me then?’ George said.
‘Someone will be down shortly to collect you.’
George sat down to wait. He had wondered what it would be like, walking into the place after all this time, and on his own terms. He had thought he would still be angry. He was even worried that he wouldn’t be able to control it. Or that he’d be nervous, conscious of his former colleagues’ reactions. But he sat staring at the posters and messages scattered across the wall, feeling nothing. Nothing at all.
Someone pushed at the door through to the main station. Barry Lance stretched out a size-twelve boot to wedge it open.
‘George,’ he said. ‘We need to go see the boss.’
* * *
George walked a few paces behind Barry, who ushered him into a conference room. Emily Ryker, was waiting for him at the long boardroom table.
‘Ryker.’ George nodded and sat down facing her.
Darren Lewis arrived carrying a tray of hot drinks. Emily and Barry stood when he entered. George stayed where he was.
A sharp-featured woman bustled in behind Darren, found a seat at the end of the table and readied a notebook and pen.
The boss set down the tray. ‘I’m told you like your tea, George. Thanks for coming in.’
‘I’m just here to tell you what I know. I can give you someone to chase, but I can’t promise I’ll be around for anything more than that.’
Darren took a seat and leant forward on his elbows. ‘Well, okay then, it’ll be a start.’
George nodded towards the unknown woman. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Lisa Jones,’ she said. ‘I’m the intel DCI. I was in the north of the county, working closely with your friend Detective Constable Ryker here as a matter of fact. Mr Lewis asked me to come down and lead the intelligence for this operation.
‘You vouch for her?’ George said to Emily.
‘Yeah, if that still means anything to you.’
George ignored the dig, accepted the sentiment. If Ryker trusted her, it was at least something.
‘So what can you tell us, George?’
‘Nothing without tea.’ George poured five teas, took one for himself and held it in both hands. The others waited.
‘The man you are looking for is called Kane Forley. He’s changed his name though, his surname at least. He did tell me what it was but I forget it now. It was a stressful time . . .’ The image of his friend, Sam, came into his mind. Her curly blonde hair was plastered to her forehead, and she was trussed to a chair with her eyes wide in terror. She was pleading with him not to kill her. ‘Kane won’t be known to you — us. He isn’t on any system, never been nicked, never had his DNA taken and he knows that gives him power. We’re chasing someone who doesn’t exist. His DNA and fingerprints match no one.’
‘He’s been sloppy, though.’ Darren Lewis was suddenly full of himself. ‘We got DNA hits from a number of the scenes. He practically left us a trail when he abandoned his bike on a towpath in Hythe so we could pin him to an area, and then ditched his helmet practically outside the address where he murdered Ed Kavski. We’ve been left with all the pieces for a very simple puzzle.’
‘He’s not sloppy.’ George looked straight at the boss. ‘Whatever you’ve found, it’s because he wanted you to. It’s all part of what he’s trying to do. He thrives on control and on fear. Think about it. We attend a murder scene, find DNA and we’ve won, right? It’s all we need. But Kane knows that this has led us nowhere. We still don’t have him in our custody, in our control.’
‘We know who he is, though,’ Darren said.
‘Doesn’t matter. Kane Forley knows that I’ve been released and he�
�ll expect me to talk to you. He’s very clever, and we are very predictable. Us cops have standard operating procedures for just about every incident, and guess what? They’re all readily available if you just know where to look.’
‘So he’s clued up on how the police work and he’s using that to avoid us?’
‘He’s using that to taunt us. He’s rubbing it in our faces. The man’s doing pretty much what he wants. He shot the chief of police dead, for fuck’s sake. In broad daylight, and then he disappeared.’
‘So how do we find him?’
‘We don’t.’
Darren shook his head. ‘You must have a better answer than that, George. I came to you because I thought you might be the one to bring him in. Are you telling me you can’t?’
‘No one can. Whatever he’s planning, it will happen soon. Sure I could find him, given enough time, but he knows that.’
‘So we just wait? And for what? More police deaths?’
‘We need to be less predictable. He wouldn’t expect me to come back here, and we can use that.’
‘Shit!’ Barry Lance got to his feet suddenly, waving a vibrating mobile phone. ‘I have to take this!’
The spell was broken. ‘Now?’ said Darren. ‘You need to take it right now?’
‘Yeah. Five minutes and I’m back.’
Darren waved his hand. ‘We’ll carry on.’
* * *
Barry ran down the corridor and answered the call.
‘Don’t leave me fucking waiting again, Barry, or I’ll get angry. I get very fucking careless when I’m angry.’
‘I couldn’t help it.’ Barry was almost encouraging, just like he had been trained to be. ‘Let’s be calm. I had to get out of a room full of people.’
‘Other people don’t matter right now, Barry. There’s no one more important in your tiny little world than me. Do you understand?’
‘Of course I do. Now, please, how’s my wife?’ Barry felt suddenly weak, and his hand shook. But he knew what to do. Stay calm.
‘She’s safe, Barry. And she will stay safe as long as you do what you’re told, understand? Your wife says you’re good at doing what you’re told.’
‘I’ll do whatever you need. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. Tell me what you need.’
‘Well, I must say I am liking your attitude, Barry. George Elms was a lot less cooperative.’
‘George Elms?’ Barry’s voice shook slightly. The man had confirmed his worst fear. ‘Kane,’ he said. A mistake, but he couldn’t help it. His wife was in the hands of Kane Forley, a man who had already killed indiscriminately, and who sought total control over his prey. Barry knew that was exactly what he was.
Kane chuckled loudly. ‘Seems I’ve earned myself a reputation over at Langthorne House! I assume that’s where you are. And George Elms has told you all about me, has he?’
‘I know you’re angry, Kane. I’m starting to understand why. It must have been so hard—’
‘Don’t you fucking dare! Don’t you fucking dare try to talk to me like that!’ Kane lowered his voice. ‘I’m not some attention-seeking fucking kid standing on a cliff edge, Barry. Don’t try talking me down. I’m no amateur. I killed your colleagues, Barry, and you need to help me with the next stage or I am going to cut your wife into pieces. Do you understand that?’
Barry’s voice was breaking now. ‘I was just trying to—’
‘Don’t. Don’t try and do anything other than what I say. No one gets to know about our situation, no one. If I get even a sniff that you’re talking about it, I will use someone else, and that means you and your wife are no longer any use to me. And I don’t need to spell out what that means. You don’t fucking talk me down.’
The call ended. Barry put his hand on the wall, and lowered his head.
It took him a few minutes to regain his strength. He stared at the phone. He knew he had to go back to the meeting or someone would come looking for him. He walked in, mumbled an apology and sat down.
* * *
George was in full flow, and barely noticed Barry. He was talking about Kane’s family, and particularly Kane’s brother. George had been part of one of the interview teams when Will Forley was first brought in for sexual offences.
Will Forley liked children, especially girls aged between five and thirteen. His interest in them had escalated to the point where sharing images on the internet was no longer enough. Detective Constable Samantha Roberts had led the interview. Will sat still, his head down and his hands in his lap. Sam asked him the standard questions. She ended by asking for his computer passwords and Wi-Fi code, and whether anyone else had access to his property. Will responded to every question with a terse no comment. Eventually Sam sat back and looked at George. He took it as a sign to change tack.
Are you sexually attracted to children, William?
George liked to be direct. He would make the interviewee uncomfortable in order to provoke a reaction, even a negative one.
Are you going to be able to control those urges? Or are we just waiting until you rape a child, Will? And then maybe you’ll kill her to hide what you did? Should we lock you up now, Will? Make the world safer?
George had been in no mood to mess about. He’d hardly given Will time to answer. He knew he wouldn’t. A scared, middle-aged man ripped out of his comfort zone and facing two angry coppers was only ever going to follow the instructions of his legal advisor.
Tell me, Will. What sort of a man sits there, accused of these terrible things and says nothing to defend himself? I’ll tell you this, Will, it isn’t an innocent man. An innocent man is outraged, appalled. An innocent man can’t wait to tell me how wrong we are.
George left a long pause. The pauses were every bit as important as the questions, even more so.
But to tell the truth, admit you’re guilty? To say out loud what you are, maybe even for the first time? That takes bravery, a bit of backbone. You don’t have that, do you, Will?
The legal advisor cut in, and told George that he was bullying his client into an admission. The weasel. Of course George was bullying him. That was how you got to the truth. Back then, George had been naïve enough to think that the truth mattered.
He wasn’t sure now.
Darren brought him back to the present. ‘So we know plenty about his brother, but nothing about Kane. Where’s his brother now? Can we get to him, see if he will help us out?’
George shook his head. ‘Dead. His mum too. That’s what kicked this whole thing off. Will Forley served a short sentence and was then released on conditions, and I found him breaching those conditions. He was hanging round outside a school — my daughter’s school. I put him back in prison and he hung himself soon after. His mum took it badly. The story got out, and she suddenly became the centre of a lot of unwanted attention. She did the same thing, hung herself in the bedroom Will had occupied for most of his life. A terrible story really, a whole family suddenly gone. Except for Kane.’
‘So he blames you?’ asked Darren.
‘Me, Lennockshire Police, the chief constable. Everyone but his brother. It’s become an obsession. He wanted to hurt me. He said he wanted to give me the same choice his brother faced, to go to prison as a marked man or to take my own life. He got part of his wish, but it clearly wasn’t enough. I’m still here.’ George gave a wry smile.
‘And the chief? Why him?’
‘It wasn’t about him personally. It was about the organisation. He blames us all for hounding his family, for making their lives a misery, and for not doing enough to protect his mother. She pretty much suffered in silence. There were some fairly unpleasant incidents, but I don’t think she called us once. She had windows smashed, her car defaced, she was spat at and assaulted in the street. Kane holds us all responsible for it.’
Darren looked grim. ‘Not a man to be reasoned with, then.’
George shook his head. ‘He never was. He wanted Lennockshire Police to be afraid for their lives, every man and woman w
earing that uniform or in the offices back here. He was pretty damned successful too. He’s highly intelligent. He can interpret patterns of behaviour and manipulate them to his advantage. That’s how he set me up. He knew you would take the easy way out, and you did.’
‘So how do we catch a man like that?’ asked Darren.
‘His behaviour has escalated,’ said George. ‘He progressed from shooting a young lad and an elderly PCSO to taking out a sergeant on a bike. Then, on police premises, he hit the detective sergeant who was in charge of the investigation. That was much more of a challenge.’
‘Then he did away with the chief constable himself,’ added Darren.
George nodded. ‘In broad daylight, at an official function. It’s true that Helen Webb assisted with that one, but we don’t know exactly how. We do know that he relies on information that’s leaked to him, and Helen isn’t the only source.’
Darren looked shocked. ‘You think he’s still getting information from someone within Lennockshire Police?’
‘He’ll have a plan B,’ said George. ‘Who’s to say it wasn’t him behind Helen’s vanishing act? She could be part of it. But I’m certain there’s a plan. He’ll be back.’
‘So where do we start?’ Darren looked helpless.
‘The first thing I need is a team I can work with, and this bloke won’t be included.’ George gestured at Barry, who had been staring at the table since his return. Now he looked up.
‘Well, that’s not your choice,’ Darren said quickly.
‘It is, or I walk.’
Barry looked at George, his expression hard. ‘What? Because my team were a bit fucking rough when you got nicked? Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same! I should have put a fucking bullet in you, and then maybe this prick would have left us alone a long time ago.’
George and Barry stared at each other, and then George nodded. ‘At last, some honesty.’
‘I’ve not been anything but honest. I don’t think you should be in this building at all, let alone this office. You may not have done what you went to jail for but you’re not innocent, George Elms. A lot of people were killed or badly hurt, just for being close to you.’ Barry shook his head.
END GAME a gripping crime thriller full of breathtaking twists Page 4