by Jane Isaac
‘Are you suggesting Scott fled to avoid the debts?’ Beth asked.
He ignored her question. ‘The brothers were angry. They had a reputation to maintain.’
‘I’m not with you.’
‘People didn’t mess with them, not like this. Scott was different somehow. Nothin’ seemed to bother him.’
‘What do you mean?’
Another cough. It was several seconds before he continued. ‘They had this tactic. If someone failed to pay what they owed, they went after loved ones: partners, siblings, aunties, uncles, friends, even parents. Let’s just say, it was effective.’
Nick angled his head. ‘Women too?’
Jimmy shrugged.
If this was the case, the individuals affected were unlikely to report the attacks, afraid of repercussions. And witnesses would be frightened about coming forward. Beth narrowed her eyes. ‘What about children?’
‘Children were supposed to be exempt.’ He pushed himself up the bed again, wheezed and took a sip from a water bottle beside him.
‘Supposed?’
He looked away, didn’t answer.
‘What did they do to Scott?’ Nick asked.
Carvel shifted uncomfortably. ‘Look, I’m no grass but I haven’t long to go and, for the record, I didn’t agree with them going after folks’ nearest and dearest.’ He pulled a face. ‘Thought they took it too far. Sometimes, the wives, girlfriends, cousins didn’t even know their loved ones were in trouble. I wouldn’t admit that to the brothers, mind you. Wouldn’t dare.’
‘Were you involved in executing this?’ Nick asked.
‘Let’s just say, they knew I didn’t approve.’
Beth pulled on her knowledge of the Owen family. There were no police reports of violence to family members around the time when Scott went astray. ‘Are you saying they abducted Alicia to make a point about Scott’s debts?’ she asked.
‘Not them. They wouldn’t get their hands dirty. But someone they hired might. It was no secret that Scott idolised that child. There were rumours… rumours they’d staged her disappearance to flex their muscles, make a point.’
‘A baby?’ Beth could barely believe her ears.
‘Like I said, I can’t be sure. They never told me. If they were responsible, they brought help in from elsewhere. But there were whispers they’d taken her to give everyone a fright and meant to give her back. Then with all the fuss it was too risky.’
‘Where is Scott now?’ Beth asked.
He took a breath. ‘You think they’d let him live after all that fuss?’ His words cascaded into a flurry of coughing and wheezing.
A nurse put her head around the doorframe, raising a brow. ‘Okay, I think that’s enough.’
*
Pete rang as Beth stepped out of the prison entrance. ‘Still no news on Daniel Owen,’ he said.
‘He’s not back yet?’
‘Hasn’t checked his return load in.’
She paused, pressing the phone to her ear. It was now after two. Daniel was due back at lunchtime. ‘Lorries don’t disappear. Isn’t there a tracker on it?’
‘Apparently not this one. We’re looking out for it on it the ANPR cameras. We’ll keep trying.’
Beth thanked him and fed back her meeting with Carvel, along with the request to trace his ex-partner and daughter. Frustration itched at her as she disconnected. ‘What do you think?’ she asked Nick as they crossed the main road and made their way back to their car. Bedford Prison was located close to the centre of town and with their own car park at capacity, they’d been forced to park in the side streets nearby.
‘I don’t know. It seems a stretch to abduct a child, a baby at that.’
The supermarket on Link Road skipped into her mind, servicing the local residential estate. ‘Might explain why there were so few witnesses. The McNamara brothers were well known.’
‘Their death in 2008 was well publicised. If there were witnesses, they could have come forward afterwards.’
‘Maybe. Although members of their inner circle are still around, keeping the gang going, like Sherwood. Terror’s an interesting deterrent. It’s almost more frightening when you don’t know who you are fearful of. And if the McNamaras panicked, sought to get rid of the child, it might explain why they’d gone to such extreme measures to conceal her.’
‘We’re talking about a baby here. I find it hard to believe someone wouldn’t let something slip. I mean, this scenario is every parents’ worst nightmare. Especially if, as Jimmy suggests, they killed Scott anyway.’
They turned into a side street. An engine revved nearby. ‘It’s all speculation, isn’t it?’ Beth said. ‘I mean without the McNamara brothers or Scott Owen to question, and with no other evidence, we can’t prove anything.’
Nick pulled down the corners of his mouth. ‘Perhaps we’ll never know.’
47
Nick and Beth were back in Northampton, cruising towards the town centre, on their way back to headquarters, when they heard the sirens. Nick pulled over to allow a police car with lights blazing to pass. It was quickly followed by another, then an ambulance. They watched the brake lights flicker as they navigated a sharp bend in the road, and disappeared. The empty boxes of the takeaway they’d picked up on the way back, shifted along the back seat as he steered back onto the road.
‘Looks urgent,’ Beth said. She was wondering whether to follow and offer a hand, when Nick’s mobile rang. He answered it on open speaker.
Pete didn’t bother with preamble. ‘Where are you, guys?’ He sounded breathless, as if he’d been running.
‘On the A428, heading towards the town centre,’ Nick said.
‘We’ve got a jumper, off the multi-storey car park beside the theatre. It’s Daniel Owen.’
Beth jerked forward. ‘What?’
‘There’s a uniformed officer already on scene. He recognised Daniel from the photos in the news.’
‘We’re a few streets away,’ she said. Nick flatted the accelerator and she flew back into her seat. ‘We’ll head straight there.’ They steered into Victoria Promenade. ‘Oh, and Pete?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Get someone to pick up Cara and bring her over. If anyone can talk Daniel down, she can.’
Beth cut the line as Nick took a sharp right at the roundabout to a kaleidoscope of flashing lights. Police vehicles were parked at angles, blocking off Swan Street. He parked up at the kerb and they raced through the line of stationary vehicles that had reached the roadblock. Drivers were making U-turns in the road, others getting out of their cars, trying to see what had caused the commotion.
Beth and Nick held up their cards at an officer standing beside the cars. His colleague was unwinding a roll of police tape, setting up a cordon.
The multi-storey car park loomed in front. Beth looked up to see a figure teetering on the edge of what appeared to be the top floor. Faces were pressed to windows on the low building opposite.
‘Move these cars back,’ Nick said to the officer with the police tape, waving at the vehicles behind them, ‘and take the cordon wider. We don’t want anyone injured if he decides to jump.’
An officer beside the top entrance to the car park was talking into a radio. Beth recognised him as Sam Bert, or Berty as he was known to colleagues. They’d done their first aid training together only last month. She introduced him to Nick. ‘We’re working on the Owen case,’ she said to Berty. ‘What do you know?’
‘Not much, we’ve only been here a few minutes. The first responders are already up there with Mr Owen.’
‘You’re sure it’s Daniel Owen?’
He nodded his head. ‘Sure as we can be without checking his ID. We’re just trying to get the area emptied. It’s a bloody nightmare, the car park has numerous exits and entrances.’
Nick nodded a sympathetic thanks. ‘We’ll head up, see what we can do.’
‘His sister is on her way,’ Beth said. ‘Can you make sure she’s guided through the cordons please
.’
Berty’s attention was taken by a voice on his radio. He nodded and waved them through.
Beth knew the car park. She’d parked here only last week when she’d brought Lily to the pantomime. It was busy, they’d had to drive up to floor eight. She’d never quite made it to the top though.
Beth dashed up the stairs, one flight after another, her knees burning, the metal rail cold in her hand. She could hear Nick’s breaths, thick and fast, as he followed. Did Daniel know about the DNA results, the paternity? They’d only been shared with Bishop Bryan and the Russells, and only then out of necessity to the investigation. She’d sworn them both to secrecy. But while she churned this over, a nasty prospect sunk into her like a stain. Vic had argued with Marie on the night he discovered Daniel wasn’t Alicia’s father and spent much of the evening in the pub in a drunken haze. What if he’d let something slip? He was drinking at The Windhover in Kingsthorpe, close to where both men were raised. Perhaps someone had heard him and contacted Daniel.
She was Daniel’s liaison officer; she’d assured Cara she’d keep him safe.
By the time they burst on to the top floor of the building, Beth’s heart was pounding in her chest. She looked this way and that, frantically searching the empty tarmac. Where were they? She dashed to the edge, where she thought she’d seen the figure earlier. It was empty. She peered over. There was a ledge below. It was impossible to jump off here to the ground.
‘Down!’ she cried to Nick.
They raced down a level, to the floor above where she’d parked last week, and she flashed her badge at an officer she didn’t recognise, guarding the exit of the staircase. In the distance, she could see a figure in denims and a hoody, despite the close to minus temperatures, standing on top of the wall. He was facing away from them, a shoulder leaning against a concrete pillar to the side.
‘How long has he been there?’ she asked, her eyes glued to Daniel. He only needed to slip his footing, lean slightly…
The officer’s brow furrowed. ‘We’re not sure exactly. He was spotted by a passer-by below who called us.’ He checked his watch. ‘We arrived twelve minutes ago.’
Nick made to move forward, to go and relieve the young officer standing close to Daniel. Beth put out a hand to stop him. ‘I’ll go. Daniel knows me.’
‘You sure?’
Beth nodded. If her actions in any way contributed to this situation, she owed it to Daniel to get him down. And she owed it to herself too.
It was icy cold, the air still.
The other officer was eight metres or so away from Daniel. She walked over to him and introduced herself. Another face she didn’t recognise; there were so many new recruits these days, she was losing touch.
‘Has he said anything?’ she asked in a low voice.
‘Nothing, apart from warning me not to come any closer. We recognised him from the media photos, called it in straight away.’
‘Thanks.’ Beth gave a sideways nod for him to retreat. She’d only been in this situation once before when a young mother had threatened to throw herself off the top of the shopping centre car park in the middle of town. Beth was a rookie at the time, just out of training. Single-crewed because they were short-staffed. After much to-ing and fro-ing, and much to Beth’s relief, the woman stood down before backup arrived. But Beth had never forgotten the drill. Keep it basic. Clear the area. Give the victim one point of contact, one voice. The last thing they needed was for different tones and accents to cause confusion, or, worse, panic.
She waited for the officer to join the others and moved forward. Gently does it. Slow paces. ‘Daniel,’ she called. ‘It’s Beth.’ First name terms. Keep it personal.
He tossed her a fleeting glance and turned back, unspeaking.
She inched forward. ‘Daniel, is it okay if I come a bit closer?’
The air swished around her. If he’d heard her, he didn’t respond.
Another tentative step. And another. She was only four metres away now. A few more and she’d be within grabbing distance.
A siren bellowed in the distance. Daniel looked down. She recalled the crowd gathered below, watching with bated breaths.
Beth stilled, waited for the siren to fade, then held out her foot again.
‘That’s enough.’ He was watching her out of the corner of his eye.
‘I just want to speak to you, Daniel,’ she said gently.
‘I don’t want to talk.’
‘I’d like to help.’
He was quiet a second. Staring out at the tufty clouds filling the sky. It was a surreal picture. The rear view of a man standing with a backdrop of sky behind him. ‘You know, don’t you?’ he said eventually.
‘What?’
‘About Alicia. You’ve had the test results back.’
‘Daniel, why don’t you come down and we can discuss this?’
‘Discuss what?’
Beth paused. She needed to tactful here. She couldn’t afford to lose him. ‘Discuss everything.’
‘There’s nothing to discuss. I don’t want to know.’
Keep him talking. ‘What?’
‘The test results. I don’t what to know whether or not it’s Alicia.’
He didn’t know. About the DNA results or the paternity. The shot of relief Beth felt was short lived by the pithiness in his voice. He’d made up his mind.
‘Daniel, come down. Please. I’ll get rid of everybody here and we can talk, just you and me.’
He ignored her question and looked out at the sky. She tried again to persuade him, plead with him. Every time in the same gentle voice. But he didn’t answer.
She was beginning to think she’d lost him when he eventually said, ‘I almost stayed there, you know.’
‘Where?’
‘In Poland. I wondered if I could make a life there. Genuinely considered it. The truth is, I can’t make a life anywhere. My life ended fifteen years ago when I lost my kids and my marriage.’
Beth swallowed. She called upon her training. She needed to work harder, find his Achilles heel, bring him back to reality. ‘Daniel, Cara needs you.’
‘Cara’ll be fine. She’s independent. Can look after herself.’
‘She loves you.’
He shifted position and wobbled, grabbing the pillar to his side to steady himself.
Beth’s heart was in her mouth. ‘What about Bailey?’ she said, picturing the Jack Russell on his lap, staring up at him. ‘She adores you.’
‘Cara will take care of her.’
Beth wracked her brains. She was digging deep, desperately working through the case file in her head, trying to think of something else when she heard a sharp gasp behind her.
Cara called out, ‘Dan!’
The voice of his twin sister caught Daniel’s attention. She’d dashed forward and was struggling against the steely arms of Nick, restraining her, twenty metres or so back.
‘Please, Dan!’ Cara wailed. ‘Come down. Talk to me.’
Daniel wavered. He looked back at the sky.
‘I can help,’ she said. ‘I always help you, don’t I? We’re a team, you and me. From the same mould.’
‘I’m beyond help.’
‘Don’t say that! We can go away someplace. Me, you and Bailey. Away from everyone. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Just the three of us.’
He turned back. Met her gaze and for a moment it seemed like only the two of them were there, immersed in their own world together. His face softened. The corner of his lips curled into an affectionate smile. A longing. Then froze.
His eyes widened as he swayed, leaned back, held out his arms, and fell into the air.
*
By the time Beth emerged from the car park, a pair of paramedics were beside Daniel Owen, their feet carefully placed to avoid the pool of blood around him. They parted as she approached, giving her a clear view of his body.
Daniel’s remains were smaller, concertinaed by the force of the fall. One arm was wedged underneath hi
m, a leg stuck out at an awkward angle. The right side of his face was pressed into the tarmac, his head split open and bits of bone and grey matter were merging with the blood continuing to spill out. But it was the eyes that really caught her. Open wide, glassy.
The same eyes she’d seen only minutes before, when he’d been standing above them, breathing air into his lungs. Alive.
Guilt clawed at her. Was there something else she could have said or done?
Cara’s screams rolled around her head like a song on replay; she’d lunged forward when he’d fallen, and it had taken all Nick’s might to hold her. That wasn’t a lasting image any loved one should be left with. The thump as he hit the ground, surprisingly loud at nine floors up, had brought a rush of bile to Beth’s throat.
Beth tore her gaze away from Daniel’s broken body and forced herself into work mode, noting down her actions in readiness for the statement she’d have to make later. She could hear Nick talking about CCTV nearby, and witnesses. A paramedic was unravelling a body bag. The scene being processed.
Berty joined her. ‘We found his car on the eighth floor,’ he said. ‘Looks like he drove here.’
Beth looked up at the multi-storey car park. Slats of concrete marked each floor. Stairs at either end paired up with lifts. She imagined Daniel Owen arriving earlier, taking a ticket at the barrier, driving in. A ticket he was never going to redeem. He’d ignored everybody’s calls over the last few days: his company, the police, his sister. Had he been planning this? Or did the desperation grow, minute by minute, until he could bear it no longer. He didn’t want to know if the child they’d found was Alicia. After all these years, it was easier to live with hope than face the reality. And when he could no longer avoid that reality, he could no longer cope.
A voice behind her broke her abstraction. ‘Ma’am?’
Beth turned to see the uniformed officer who’d been guarding the top floor earlier. ‘Cara Owen’s asking for you,’ he said. He pointed at an ambulance parked at the bottom of the road. ‘She said it’s important.’
Beth nodded her thanks and made her way down to the ambulance. The sound of Daniel’s body thumping the ground replayed again in her head. She pushed the image of his broken body out of her mind. Stay professional.