Deadly Terror (Detective Zoe Finch Book 4)

by Rachel McLean

  “Is she alright?” he asked. “That car, it came from nowhere—”

  “Please stand back,” PC Ellers said. “We need everyone to stay clear.”

  Zoe’s vision blurred as she bent over the young woman. Her mouth was open, her black hair obscuring her eyes. She placed her hands on Andreea’s chest and pushed down, counting to thirty.

  Andreea didn’t move.

  Zoe pinched her nose. She covered her mouth with her own and pushed out two sharp breaths.

  She straightened up, her eyes on Andreea’s chest. No change. She started the compressions again. She was aware of PC Ellers standing over her, of the crowd staring.

  She heard an engine behind her: a police van. From the corner of her eye she saw Ian approach it with PC Hines and a group of children. She squeezed her eyes quickly shut then opened them again.

  “Come on,” she muttered. She bent over Andreea and breathed into her mouth. The woman’s body was still, unyielding.

  She sat up for thirty more compressions. Andreea’s body shifted beneath her hands but there was no breath.

  She felt a hand on her back. She shook it off and bent to continue the CPR.

  “Ma’am. Ambulance.”

  Zoe felt a rush of air as two green-suited paramedics swooped in. She staggered to her feet and backed away, her eyes not leaving Andreea.

  She thought of Sofia’s face in the hotel: where is my sister? How had these two women got mixed up in all this? What was their role in abducting those children?

  One of the paramedics stood up and turned to her. He shook his head.

  PC Ellers was right next to her. Zoe let the constable take her weight as the energy left her.

  Chapter Eighty-Nine

  Zoe turned back to where she’d left her car, her footsteps heavy. She needed to pull herself together. They still had to track down the driver of that Lexus. Find him, and they’d find whoever had set those bombs. And Kyle Gatiss: she still needed to locate him.

  “Are you OK, ma’am?” PC Ellers asked.

  Zoe nodded. “Thanks for your help. I can’t stay: you can finish off here?”

  The woman nodded. PC Hines had already fetched police tape from his car and cordoned off the section of road where Andreea lay.

  Zoe passed the bus that Andreea had been trying to enter. It was still at the stop, the crowd dispersing. The man who’d been shouting at Andreea sat on the grass next to the pavement, crying. Zoe stared at him. If he hadn’t got involved, where would Andreea be now?

  Two uniformed officers were shepherding the children onto a police van. They clung to one another, sobbing and shivering. Zoe approached them.

  “It’s going to be OK,” she told them. “We’ll call your parents. The school. You’re going home.”

  The children stared back at her, faces blank. She had no idea if they could understand her. And even if they could, what had they been through since Saturday? Would they be able to trust anybody in this country?

  She turned towards her car and stopped.

  It was gone.

  She turned back to the bus. Had Uniform moved it out of the way?

  She approached one of the constables.

  “There was a green Mini parked here. Do you know where it’s gone?”

  “A Detective Sergeant took it. He showed me his ID, I assumed it was his. He asked to borrow my phone, too, but he only used it for a moment.”

  Ian. What was he doing?

  Zoe’s phone rang.

  “DI Finch.”

  “You sound glum.” It was Adi.

  “My car’s been nicked. Well, not nicked exactly…”

  Ian, I’m going to bloody kill you, she thought.

  “What can I do for you, Adi?”

  “You asked me to check the last call to come into the hotel.”

  “You did it?”

  “I dialled 1471. Low-tech approach, but it gave me a number.”

  “Go on.” She grabbed a pen and wrote the number down.

  “Both your sergeants are here, by the way.”

  “Both?”

  “Yeah. Mo and Ian.”

  “What?”

  “Mo’s looking for some bloke from a photo. And Ian… I’m not sure what he’s doing. He’s disappeared upstairs.”

  “Is Mo with you?”

  “He is.”

  “Hand the phone to him.”

  There was a pause and then Mo’s voice came on the line.

  “Zo.”

  “What’s Ian doing?”

  “Says he’s checking the bedrooms. We’re looking for anything that might lead us to the missing women and children.”

  “I’ve got the children. They’re safe.”

  “All of them?”

  “All of them.”

  “Thank God for that. What about the women?”

  “Uniform are looking for two VW vans,” she said. “No sign of them yet. What’s this about a man in a photo?”

  “We found some guy who took photos at the airport on Saturday. Got shots of the vans leaving.”

  “Describe the man to me.”

  “Sheila says his name’s Adam Fulmer. He’s got red hair, a weaselly face.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Red hair?”

  “Thin on top.”

  “He was driving the car that hit Andreea.”

  “What car?”

  “He killed her. If it is him.”

  “So he’s a murder suspect now. I’ll tell Sheila.”

  “There’s already an all units call out to find him.”

  “Right,” Mo said. “Sheila says he was a suspect in Canary.”

  “I don’t remember him.”

  “He disappeared four months ago. Sheila thought he’d buggered off abroad.”

  “And now he’s back, and he’s given us another link.”

  “Don’t count your chickens just yet,” Mo said. “He might disappear again.”

  “We’ll find him. Mo, did Ian come in my car?”

  “Hang on a minute. Looks like it, I can see it outside.”

  “The bastard.”

  “You didn’t let him drive it?”

  “No I bloody well didn’t.”

  “Shall I tell him to come back and get you?”

  “No. You keep an eye on him for me, will you? Don’t let him leave with my car.”

  “Will do.”

  “Thanks.”

  She hung up and eyed the phone number Adi had given her, the number that, she suspected, had been used to warn the hotel that they were coming. It was a mobile number.

  She plugged the number into her phone. As the call connected, a name came onscreen. Her jaw tightened.

  “Boss?” came the voice at the other end.

  She closed her eyes. “Ian.”

  Chapter Ninety

  Zoe climbed out of the squad car. She’d spent the journey on the phone: one call to Carl, and the other to the DCI. Lesley had told her to get back to the office immediately, but she wasn’t missing this for the world.

  “Thanks,” she said to the driver as she closed the door. Her car stood in the hotel’s driveway, blocked in by another squad car. She took a deep breath and looked up at the building.

  As she approached the front entrance, two uniformed officers emerged. Between them, and handcuffed to one, was Ian. Zoe took a step back to let them pass.

  Ian glared at her as he passed. She looked back at him, hiding her anger.

  Ian had lied to them all. To her, and to Carl. He’d made them think he was working for Professional Standards, when in reality he was still working for organised crime.

  She turned at the sound of a car pulling up at the kerb. Carl emerged, DS Kaur behind him. Zoe allowed herself a smile.

  Carl approached Ian. He looked at the uniformed officers. “Have you read him his rights?”

  “We have, sir,” the one handcuffed to Ian replied.

  “Good.” Carl looked at Ian. “You lied to me, DS Osman. You put the lives of your collea
gues and the general public in danger. You won’t get away with this.”

  “I was working for you,” Ian hissed. “Keeping them sweet.”

  Carl raised an eyebrow. “We’ll see.” He looked over Ian’s shoulder and caught Zoe’s stare.

  She felt her chest clench. The investigation into the planting of evidence on Nadeem Sharif still wasn’t over. She knew there would be more questioning. She might even be suspected of working with her DS. She gave Carl a tentative smile.

  He returned the smile and turned to the car. Ian was being guided inside.

  Zoe watched as Carl slid into the back next to Ian and they drove away.

  Chapter Ninety-One

  Sofia was in an interview room, Connie sitting on a plastic chair outside it, having been assigned to keep an eye on her.

  “How was she?” Zoe asked. “When you interviewed her.”

  “The DCI’ll have a better idea, boss. But I think she just got mixed up with some very nasty people.”

  “She admitted to helping take those kids off the Wizz Air plane.”

  “She was scared. She thought she was rescuing them.”

  “Hmm.”

  Zoe gazed at the interview room door then turned towards Lesley’s office. The DCI was behind her desk, stockinged feet up on its surface. She was on the phone.

  Lesley raised a finger as Zoe walked in: hush.

  “Where are they now?” she asked. She nodded as the caller replied.

  “Bring them here,” she said. “I want to interview them myself.”

  She hung up. “We got them.”

  “Fulmer?” Zoe asked.

  “And Gatiss. An unmarked response vehicle found the vans and followed them to an address outside the city, in Dorridge. There was a woman there, a Margaret Brooking. She’s in custody along with the woman from the hotel. Fulmer showed up in the Lexus a few minutes later, walked right into it all and had the cuffs on him before he realised what was going on. They’ve found some of the women, too, we’re not sure how many are still missing.”

  “What about Hamm? What about Shand and Petersen?”

  “No sign of Hamm. Petersen was at his niece’s wedding and Shand was in London.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re not involved.”

  “No. But let’s start with what we actually have, eh?”

  “Hamm has to be behind all this. Sofia gave us his name.”

  “We’ve got links between them all,” Lesley said. “But it’s not enough.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Zoe said. “Hamm killed his wife…”

  “Irina’s death was ruled misadventure.”

  Zoe raised an eyebrow. “He was the man who provided the kids in Canary, and now he’s taken advantage of a bomb on a plane to traffic women and children.”

  “Not to mention the New Street bomb. Please tell me you’ve identified that woman?”

  “We’re talking to the woman she sent the selfie to, Ana-Maria. But she’s terrified, won’t say a thing.”

  “So was she put up to it by Hamm, or the Pakistani gang that put the bomb on the plane?” Lesley asked.

  “If she was one of the women from Hamm’s brothel, we have to assume he was behind it. An extra distraction. Maybe he was paid to do it, by the Pakistanis.”

  Lesley whistled. “Trevor Hamm. He has moved up in the world. Scuzzy fucker.”

  “Surely we have grounds to prosecute him now?”

  “Even for the things he is guilty of, we have to convince the CPS. And they have to convince a jury.”

  Zoe dropped into a chair. Lesley winced and fingered her neck.

  “But before all that,” Lesley said. “We have to find him.”

  Zoe sat up. “I’ve got an idea.”

  Chapter Ninety-Two

  Zoe opened the door to the interview room. She forced herself to slow down. Her present adrenaline-fuelled state wasn’t what was needed right now.

  Sofia looked up at her. “You find Andreea?”

  Zoe swallowed the lump in her throat. She took a seat next to Sofia.

  “Sofia, I’m very sorry.”

  Sofia’s eyes widened. She started shaking her head. “You lose her!”

  “Andreea is dead, Sofia. I’m so sorry.”

  Sofia yelped. She leaned back in her chair, staring at Zoe. “You lie! She has run away!”

  “I was with her when she died. She was hit by a car. I tried to save her, but it was too late. I’m so sorry.”

  “No! What car? How she hit?”

  Zoe wanted to grab the other woman’s hands, to take her in her arms. Sofia stopped moving and stared into Zoe’s eyes, her face full of hope that she might be imagining this.

  “Some men were chasing her,” Zoe said. “Men who we believe were working for your boyfriend, Trevor Hamm.”

  “Which men?”

  “A man called Adam Fulmer. Do you know him?”

  “Adam.” Sofia collapsed into herself. “I know him. Why he hit Andreea?”

  Zoe leaned forward. “I don’t think it was deliberate. He was chasing Andreea, trying to catch her before we did. She ran into the road.”

  Tears ran down Sofia’s face. “No. She cannot be dead. She only just arrive in England. She rescue children.”

  “We have the children. They’re safe.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes.” Zoe grabbed Sofia’s hand. “And that’s thanks to you and your sister.”

  Sofia’s brow furrowed. “Tell me where Andreea is. I want to see her.”

  Zoe shifted her seat closer. “I know this is hard for you to hear, but Trevor is responsible for her death.”

  Sofia stared at her, her eyes filling. “No. He cannot be. Was accident.”

  “We need to find him, Sofia. He hurt a lot of people. Killed people. Including Andreea.”

  Sofia shook her head. “Titi is good man. Never kill.”

  Zoe sighed. This woman was the best link they had to Hamm. She had to get through to her.

  “I can take you to your sister.”

  “You can?”

  “Yes.”

  Sofia’s head sank into her hands. “Thank you.”

  Zoe nodded, her jaw firm. She let the young woman collapse into her arms, her body shaking. “Of course you can see her.”

  Chapter Ninety-Three

  Zoe stood in the kitchen, staring out of the window that gave onto a brick wall. She turned as Lesley came in.

  “How is she?” the DCI asked.

  “In a bad way. She holds herself responsible.”

  “She was the one who took up with Trevor Hamm. She’s partly liable.”

  “There’s no criminal liability on her part, ma’am. She was taken in by him, just like the other women were.”

  Lesley pulled a face. She gestured at the kettle and Zoe stood back to let her fill it.

  “I came to tell you they’ve checked, and they’ve got all the women now,” Lesley said. “Some of them ran. Looks like they thought our officers were with Hamm and his men, and took off as soon as the vans got stopped, but they’ve been tracked down.”

  Zoe felt relief course though her. “How many women?”

  “Eighteen. Plus Sheena McDonald, who we already arrested. She claims she owns the hotel.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what the paperwork says. And she’s going along with it.”

  “She’s not the person behind all this.”

  “She’s no innocent victim, Zoe. She kept those women and kids locked up. She coordinated their movements, worked with the men to take them to locations around the city where they would meet customers.”

  Zoe shivered. “The children have only been here four days. Please tell me they hadn’t got to that stage.”

  “We’re still trying to work that out. They’re all minors, and none of them speak English. We need to contact their parents, and take things from there before we can conduct any interviews.”

  Zoe thumped the wall.

  “I kno
w,” Lesley said. “But we got them out. You tracked Andreea down, and you got those kids to safety.”

  “It doesn’t feel like it. Not till we find Hamm.”

  “I thought you had a brilliant idea.”

  The kettle clicked and Zoe poured two cups of coffee. “Have you got any biscuits?”

  “In my desk.”

  “I think a pack of them might help me with this.”

  Chapter Ninety-Four

  Zoe placed the packet of digestives on the table and put a coffee in front of Sofia.

  “I thought you might need this.,”

  “Thank you.” Sofia wiped her eyes and sipped the coffee. “When will I see Andreea?”

  “I’ve spoken to the pathologist. We can go now, if you’d like?”

  Sofia put down the coffee. “Please.”

  “Why don’t you bring those biscuits?”

  Sofia frowned at the biscuits then picked them up. The woman was thin, not as thin as her sister but she looked like she didn’t eat properly. Zoe imagined Trevor Hamm insisting she stayed skinny, like all his women.

  They got into her car and pulled out of the station car park, heading for the hospital and the morgue in its basement.

  “Where will I go?” Sofia asked. “Afterwards.”

  “Your home is that house in Dorridge, yes?”

  “Dorridge. I do not know name, but it is big house in countryside. Trevor’s house.”

  “Our forensics team are there. We’ll find you somewhere to stay, don’t worry.”

  “I want to go home.”

  “I’m sorry, it’s just not—”

  “No. To Romania.”

  Zoe nodded. “Of course. Do you have money, for a ticket?”

  The woman shook her head. “He have passport too.”

  “I’m sure something can be worked out.”

  “Where we go?”

  “To the hospital. Andreea is there.”

  Sofia sniffed.

  “I was hoping you might be able to tell me something,” Zoe said.

  “Yes.”

  “Where can we find Trevor, if he isn’t at the house?”