Heavy boot treads got louder as the men approached, coming towards the door. I held my breath, my hands shaking slightly, less from fear than from anticipation. I’d been terrified running down that scree with every expectation of tumbling to my death or getting shot in the back up on the moor, but now I was angry. Angry that Graham was dead and angry that Jake Collins was determined to kill me rather than let the truth of the investigation come out.
At least I had faith that if this went wrong, Gaskell and Kay would dig up the rest of this messy case and find out exactly what had happened that day Graham had had his nosebleed and then died in that old house.
No more innocents were going to die up in these moors, nor in Lockdale, and I gripped the shotgun with renewed strength, the pain of my side and my arm fading into the background.
The creaky floorboards on the landing made it easy to tell when one of the attackers stopped directly outside the door. He shoved it open, and I held my breath, watching. A second later, he stepped inside, and his eyes widened as he spotted me pressed up against the wall, at the same moment as I pushed forwards, raising the gun.
It was Jake, and though he already had his rifle braced against his shoulder, he couldn’t turn around fast enough to point it at me. It wouldn’t have been self-defence to shoot him when his gun wasn’t aimed at me, so I brought Danielle’s heavy shotgun round to club Jake hard in the face.
He cried out, his hands jumping up towards his face and dropping the gun instinctively. His nose was gushing blood as I kicked away his rifle, looking up to see the second man come barging in with a yell. Nudging Jake aside, the man ran at me like a bear, grabbing the shotgun and trying to wrench it out of my hands. I yanked it back again, pulling the attacker close enough that I could knee him between the legs and he went down like a sack of flour, groaning.
Panting, I looked up sharply, only to hiss a curse when I saw that Jake was missing from the room, and his rifle was no longer on the floor either. Dashing out onto the landing and over the window at the end, I saw Jake running away down the drive through the rain-spotted glass. I desperately wanted to go after him, but I had a semi-incapacitated suspect here and a civilian. Finding Jake would have to wait.
Jogging back to the guest room, I blinked to find that Danielle had gotten out from under the bed and her knee on the attacker’s back as she tied his hands with some kind of string.
“Good work,” I said.
“No harder than wrestling sheep.” She grinned.
“Wait, is that--?” I noticed that there on the floor beside her was Jake’s rifle.
She glanced down at it. “Yeah, I grabbed it when you grabbed it off him.”
“Brilliant.” It took a weight off my mind that Jake might still be loose, but at least he wasn’t running around with a rifle.
I scooped up the dropped shotgun and Jake’s rifle and put them on the bed.
“I’m glad you didn’t have to use it,” Danielle said, as she finished up tying the guy’s hands.
“So am I.” I looked down at the antique shotgun which didn’t seem too damaged after its adventure.
“Not least because it would’ve made an awful mess.”
That startled a laugh out of me. “Aye, true.”
Turning back to the suspect, I crouched down to look at him. He tilted his head up from where he was still sprawled on the floor and then tried to struggle up to his knees, his restrained hands setting him off-balance.
“What’s your name, then?”
He got up to his knees and tried to spit at me, only for it to run down his chin. I shook my head and got to my feet.
“We’ll have to try again at the station.” He just glared at me.
I’d intended to fetch the phone to update Kay and Gaskell on what had happened, but I heard police sirens approaching before I could. When I went to look out the landing window, I saw two police cars coming up the lane in quick succession, lights flashing.
“Here’s the back-up.”
Danielle headed downstairs to let them in whilst I grabbed the man’s arm and hauled him to his feet. He grimaced and whined but let me drag him down the stairs.
“Darren!” Kay said when I got down there. “Oh Christ, look at the state of you!”
I glanced down at myself and pulled a face. “I need a shower,” I agreed.
Gaskell wasn’t as exuberant as Kay, but he did crack a smile to see me before his attention turned to the snarling man whose tied-together wrists I was holding.
“Who’s this?” he said.
“No idea, sir.” I shrugged. “He and Jake Collins came in and decided it would be a good idea to attack us. Danielle was a big help.” I gave her a nod, and she smiled, looking pleased and relieved. “Collins had his rifle, but he left it behind when he ran.”
Gaskell nodded. “That’s good, at least. Let’s get this fella down to the station, I’ll send out a team to look for Jake, and you, Mitchell, can go home and shower.”
“Might be good to let the constables outside--”
“--the Collins’ farm know, I will,” Gaskell agreed. “Jake’ll probably run there.” I nodded.
Gaskell waved forwards a couple of officers I didn’t recognise, who stepped forwards to take the man who’d attacked us off my hands. Then Kay came over to put her arms around me, squeezing me a little too tight.
“Ow, Kay,” I grumbled.
She let go immediately with a sheepish expression. “Sorry, sorry.”
Gaskell took over directing the officers where he wanted them and gestured at Kay as she went to step outside with me.
“Drop him off, and then I want you back here, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kay ushered me out to the car like I was going to fall over at any moment. I might’ve been close to that stage, but I wasn’t there quite yet. Still, I knew her fussing was only from worry and so didn’t comment on it.
She turned the heat up in the car before heading off down Danielle’s drive back towards Lockdale. I knew I was making a mess of the car seat, but I sank back into it and lay my head back, feeling almost disconnected. Despite being with Kay and in our car, I was expecting something bad to jump out at us, because that’d been the reality recently.
“You’ll feel better after a wash and some sleep,” Kay said quietly as if she could read my thoughts. Or maybe just judged my unease from the way my leg kept bouncing and my hands pressed down on my thighs.
A thought occurred to me suddenly, and I groaned, putting a hand to my head.
“What?” Kay said sharply. “What’s wrong? Darren?”
I waved a hand at her. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Can I borrow your phone?”
She looked confused but dug her phone out of her pocket and handed it over. I patted at the pockets of my coat, which had partially dried off in the warmth of Danielle’s house and in the car and was now shedding mud everywhere.
I found the fell race card in one of the upper pockets and fumbled to type the number on it into Kay’s phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” I said. “I was taking part in the fell running race but got off-course-”
“Darren Mitchell?” The woman’s voice went disapproving.
“Yes,” I said tiredly. “DI Mitchell. I was pursued by two men, one with a rifle.” The woman inhaled sharply. “I’m fine now. I apologise for any inconvenience.”
“Oh right, well, I’m very glad you’re alright. Do we need to call the race off? Are they still out there?”
I tried to kick my tired brain into gear and found myself falling into the standard, slightly vague reassurances that came with talking to civilians. “They’ve been disarmed, and there should be no interaction with the race. We don’t believe anyone else is in danger, as they were after me specifically. Alarming the racegoers over a problem that’s been mostly solved isn’t in the public’s best interest at the moment. We’ll call with any updates.”
There was a brief silence. “I see. Thank you. I’ll le
t the organisers know.”
“Thanks,” I said, before hanging up.
I handed Kay her phone back, before leaning back into my seat with a sigh. “I’d been making good time too,” I grumbled. “Would’ve been a good record for me.”
Kay shook her head with a chuckle. “You can take another shot at it another time. When’s the next one? Next year?”
“Half a year. Six months.”
She nodded. “There you go then.”
Even in the time that it took to drive into Lockdale and down past the station to Darren’s house, his legs stiffened up badly enough that he gritted his teeth as he dragged himself out of the car.
“Will you be okay?” Kay asked worriedly, leaning over the centre console to look at him where he was standing on the pavement, leaning on the open car door.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be too stubborn to go to the doctor if you need to.”
I gave her a look. “I’m fine, Kay.”
“Sure,” she said, sounding decidedly unconvinced.
I shook my head and pushed the car door shut, only to sigh when I saw my front door. My house keys were in my car, which was still up at the race starting point.
Kay wound down the car window. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to get my spare keys off my neighbour. Go, Kay, I’ll be fine. Go catch Jake Collins for me and I’ll buy you a nice red wine.”
I wasn’t looking at her as I went to knock on my neighbour’s door, but I could picture her eye roll.
“Call me if you need anything!” she called before she finally drove off.
My shoulders sank as she disappeared around the corner and I dragged a hand through my hair, which had mostly dried but was sticky with sweat and mud and was probably indistinguishable from a birds nest.
To my relief, my neighbour opened the door, staring at me in shock.
“Hi, Tom,” I said. “Can I borrow my spare keys?”
He looked me up and down, apparently lost for words. “You’ve had a day of it then, aye?” he said finally.
“Sure have,” I agreed.
He went off to fetch my keys, and I thanked him, letting myself into the house and heading straight for the shower.
The hot water was absolute bliss, even if it did soak through the dressings Danielle had put on my side and arm. I peeled them off and looked them over. They’d begun to scab, but the hot water was making them open up again. So, as much as I wanted to spend an hour under the spray, I kept the shower just long enough to get the dirt off me.
After digging out a dusty first aid kit, I was struggling to bandage up my arm when the phone rang. I abandoned the attempt and went downstairs to answer it, hoping that it’d be Kay, Gaskell or even Hogan with good news for me.
“Darren Mitchell,” I said, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes. I struggled to hold back a yawn and reckoned I was about ready to fall asleep after the hot shower. My stomach was threatening to eat itself, I was so hungry, but I wasn’t sure I was going to be awake long enough to eat.
“Darren?” It was Alice, and I woke up a bit. “Are you alright?” She sounded worried, and I wondered what she’d heard so fast. I was about to reply when she rushed on, “It’s probably silly, it’s just you weren’t answering your phone and after what happened before I…”
“It’s not silly,” I said when she trailed off, seeming embarrassed. I sighed. “I had another run-in, up on the moors--”
Alice audibly inhaled. “Are you alright?”
“I’m okay, yeah.” I glanced down at my slowly bleeding arm as I said it. “Mostly. Cuts and bruises. We got one of them but not the other, a Jake Collins. Do you know him?”
She paused. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Or a Maisy or Henry Collins? We’re looking into all three of them.” Maybe I shouldn’t be telling her this, but it worried me that James or Maisy would come after her. I wanted her to be at least in the loop. Plus, I was on the brink of being too tired to care.
“I… don’t think I know them, no, I’m sorry.”
“Alright,” I said. “Just don’t answer the door tonight, please.”
There was a brief quiet where I could only hear her breathing. “Darren?” she said in a small voice.
“Yes?”
“Can I come round? My parents are away again. I don’t think I want to be alone.”
“I don’t think I’ll still be awake in ten minutes,” I warned.
She laughed gently. “That’s okay.”
“Sure, then,” I said. “I’ll text my address.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
I hung up, putting the phone back on its stand before I headed upstairs to get my arm wrapped up before Alice arrived. I was still struggling with my fatigue-clumsy fingers when she arrived ten minutes later, and I let her in with my arm clumsily wrapped in an already blood-stained bandage.
“Oh, Darren.”
I smiled tiredly. “Come on in.”
She moved into action, shucking off her coat and beanie hat before ushering me upstairs and gently nudging me to sit down on the bath.
“You hurt your side too?” She put gentle fingers to the bandage on my side that I’d made a decent job of. I nodded. “You’ve made a mess of this one, though,” she said, not unkindly, as she carefully unwrapped my arm and set to redoing it. Her slender fingers were deft and confident, and I watched her as she worked.
“You should’ve been a nurse or a vet or something.”
She gave me a soft smile. “Hardly. My heart couldn’t have dealt with that. Come on. You’re falling asleep.”
I was, and I gratefully let her shepherd me down the hall and into my bedroom.
“You don’t have many things, do you?” she noticed, looking around my tidy but sparse room. It was true. A lot of my things from when I was a teenager or student were up in the loft in boxes, never unpacked even after I’d been here for years. I’d just never felt the need to.
I didn’t have the energy to summon up an answer for Alice just then and instead fell into bed, crawling under the covers with a shiver. My side and arm throbbed, and my legs were so heavy and tired it felt like they’d sunk three inches into the mattress. I didn’t think I could move again even if a bomb went off right by me.
The mattress shifted as Alice sat down on the edge beside me, combing my curls out of my face with her fingers. I fell asleep almost immediately afterwards.
Twenty-Two
When I woke up, I was being shaken lightly but persistently by the shoulder. I groaned.
“Darren?” It was Alice, sounding apologetic. “The station’s called. They said it’s urgent. You’ve got to wake up.”
“Urgent?” I croaked, reluctantly lifting my head from the pillow and cracking open my eyes. Everything ached. Even just rolling over made me want to sink into a hot bath for several hours.
“Yes.” She offered me the phone, and I sighed as I dragged myself up to seated with a grimace and took it from her. I expected I looked a sight, but Alice just touched my shoulder lightly before leaving the room.
The curtains were still closed, the only light coming in through the open bedroom door. Judging by the light from the hall, it was well into the morning.
“H’lo?” I cleared my dry throat.
“Mitchell?” It was Gaskell, and he sounded deadly serious. “We’ve got a situation. We need you down at the station.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry to drag you out, but it’s serious.”
“Alright,” I managed. Gaskell sounded grimmer than I’d ever heard him and it woke me up fully. “I’ll be there in ten.”
He hung up, and I scrubbed a hand through my hair. Just that movement made my side throb, and I gave myself a second to feel miserable before I threw back the duvet and got myself going. Exhausted and battered or not, I had a job to do.
I dressed, washed, downed a cup of coffee and shoved a piece of toast in my mouth before
dragging my boots on and lacing them up.
“We keep seeming to part like this,” Alice said. She’d made my toast and coffee and didn’t seem annoyed that I had to rush out again, despite her words. She looked more worried than anything. “You running off to be the hero. Be careful, won’t you?”
I paused to kiss her on the cheek, squeezing her shoulder. “I’ll be alright. I’ve got a good team. Thanks for caring, Alice.”
“Anytime.”
We parted, and I hurried down the pavement towards the station, my face set into a scowl, both at the bright morning light giving me a headache and my body’s nagging aches and pains that currently made me feel like I’d fallen down ten hills, not one.
The station had a tense quiet hanging over it, and even Lexi didn’t come running up to meet me, curled up in her bed with her dark eyes watching over the station.
I headed towards Hogan’s office, where Gaskell, Kay, Hogan and a couple of York officers were talking. Maha wasn’t there, and I wondered if she was up at Sarah’s. I hoped so.
“What’s going on?” I asked, for once not knocking before I opened the door. The fact that Hogan didn’t even send me a disapproving look was worrying.
Gaskell turned to me with a look I didn’t like one bit. The look of a man who not only had bad news but had bad news personal to me. Kay’s face wore the same expression, plus concern. But I’d left Alice safe and well just minutes ago so-
“Sarah’s missing. We still haven’t located Maisy or Jake, and the third brother is gone too. The constables at the Collins’ farm--”
“Wait, wait,” I said. My heart was thudding. “Sarah’s missing? Who was watching her?”
Gaskell glanced at Hogan. “Ahmed was,” she said, her lips pressed into a line. “And she’s missing too.”
I pressed a hand to my face and took a breath, trying not to think of Maha who was brave and clever but still so young. “What else?” I said because they’d needed me here specifically and I didn’t think it was just because I’d known Sarah best, though still not very well.
DI Mitchell Yorkshire Crime Thrillers: Book 1-3 Page 21