by M A Comley
Lorne ran towards her. “Carol. Thank heavens you’re safe.”
Silver Gaffa tape covered Carol’s mouth. Her eyes were wide with fear. Lorne quickly looked over her shoulder and felt something connect with her face before she lost consciousness.
“Lorne, Lorne… can you hear me?”
She heard Tony’s voice in the distance and moaned softly in response, finding it hard to form the words through her swollen lips.
“Don’t try to speak. How many fingers am I holding up?” Tony asked.
“That’s a pretty dumb question, mate, even for you. You just told her not to speak,” Joe chastised.
“Lorne. Are you with us? Nod if you can see us clearly.”
Even though her head felt like a lead weight, she found the energy to nod slightly. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tony’s hand covered it gently.
“Don’t try. Give it a few minutes.”
Without moving her head, she tried to look around at the faces peering down at her. She was relieved to see Carol was still there.
Their gazes met. “I’m here, love. I’m okay. How are you doing? I tried to warn you he was behind you. I guess I failed.”
Lorne reached out and grasped her friend’s hand as tears slipped down her cheek.
“Let’s try and sit you up,” Tony said, kneeling behind her and easing her gently upright.
Her head began to swim, then bile suddenly entered her mouth. She tried to turn sideways but was unsuccessful and ended up covering her legs with vomit. The acid made her wince as it passed through the open cuts on her lips. Relief came when she closed her eyes. Her head stopped spinning for the briefest of moments until she opened them again.
“Stay as still as you can for a few minutes longer,” Tony advised.
“We need to get her to hospital. She might have a concussion, mate,” Joe said quietly.
Lorne was desperate to say that she would be all right and that she didn’t want to go to hospital, but she found it impossible to speak. Bile filled her mouth again. Her legs took a direct hit a second time.
“Help me get her in the car,” Tony said.
Together, Tony and Joe carried her to the car and laid her flat on the back seat. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up in hospital to someone shining a tiny torch in her eye.
“Ah, there you are, back with us at last. How are you feeling, Mrs. Warner?”
“Like I’m levitating over my body,” Lorne said, not entirely certain she’d spoken the words and not simply thought them.
“That is to be expected,” the young doctor replied. “You’ve been through a terrible trauma. We’ve tidied up your wounds, and they should start healing in no time at all.”
“My friend, Carol. She needs help.”
“I’m here, love,” Carol said from beside her.
Lorne raised her hand for Carol to take. “Are you okay? Have you been checked over yet?”
“A few bruises here and there. Nothing too bad. You’re in a worse state than me, love.”
“Anything broken, doc?”
“Your nose, unfortunately. I’m not surprised. Not many noses I know can withstand being hit with force with a shovel.”
“The bastard. Good job I’m married to a man who loves me unconditionally.”
“I sure do. Nothing will alter that, either,” Tony said, appearing on her other side. He kissed her gently on the forehead.
“Glad to hear it. Did you get him, Tony?”
“Sorry, no. They must have taken the other exit. Joe chased after them, but he couldn’t catch them. I was too worried about what was going on with you and Carol to go after them.”
Her head felt heavy. In spite of that, she asked the doctor, “When can I get out of here?”
“I’m not willing to release you until tomorrow. It’s better to be on the safe side with a concussion. If you take it easy for the rest of the day, I’ll drop by first thing in the morning to give you the once over. If I think you’re up to going home, I’ll give you the go-ahead then. How’s that?”
“Not ideal when I have a couple of killers on the run, but the way my head is right now, I appreciate your decision.”
“I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll be around the rest of the day. Any problems, get the nurse to page me, and I’ll drop in to see you.”
“Thanks, Doctor. I’ll make sure I rest well because I want out of here tomorrow. I hate hospitals—don’t take that personally.” She grinned.
The doctor smiled. “I feel the same way when I’m a patient.” The doctor left the private room.
Lorne reached out for Carol’s and Tony’s hands. “I’m glad we’re all safe, but we need to put our heads together to try and catch these bastards before they continue on their killing spree. The gloves are off now that Carol is safe. One of the assistant site managers was knocked down by a car with two men in it, Carol, so we’re aware we’re after two of them. Did you see anyone else?”
“No, only the two men. It’ll be no good asking me to identify them as they wore balaclavas the whole time I was with them.”
“We need to inform Katy. Tony, pass me my phone, will you?”
“While I appreciate the need for you to do this, I want you to heed the doctor’s warning to rest up, love. I’ve had concussion several times in the past, and your body needs time to recover properly from it.”
“I know. Let me ring Katy to bring her up to speed, and then I’ll rest, unless you’ve already rung her.”
“Sorry, I was too concerned about you and didn’t think about getting in touch with her.” Tony picked up the phone off the side table and placed it in her hand.
Lorne dialled the number. Katy answered immediately. “Hey, you. I thought you were going to ring me last night. Is everything all right?”
“I’ve been a little bit tied up. I’m in hospital, but don’t worry—I’m all right. Needless to say, I won’t be in today.”
“What? Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine. A broken nose, in case you picked up that I’m talking funny, and a slight concussion. Not sure who my head belongs to right now, but it ain’t me. Look, we’re definitely looking for two guys, even though it’s been the same guy ringing me. They escaped after one of them clouted me in the face.”
“Damn. Did either Tony or Joe get the plate number of their vehicle?”
“I’ll ask. Tony, did Joe happen to see their number plate?”
“He got a partial. The final three letters were OLY.”
“Did you hear that, Katy?”
“I did. Was it the same type of car?”
“I’ll ask. What car was it, love? Did Joe see?”
“He said it was a dark one, hard to make out, but he thought it was either a BMW or an Audi Quattro. He couldn’t see for definite.”
“Did you get that, Katy? Sounds like the same vehicle to me, from what I can remember.”
“Yep, sounds like it. Graham is still trying to track down the vehicle to get a better look at the plate, but now we have the last three letters, hopefully things will start looking up for us. I’m dreading asking this, given what’s happened to you, but was Carol okay when you got there?”
“She’s fine. A little battered and bruised. She’s with me now, looking after me when it should be the other way around.” She smiled at Carol, who touched her face with her cold hand.
Katy exhaled the breath she’d been holding in. “I’m glad you’re both okay. Send her my best wishes.”
“I will. I’m getting tired now. Good luck with the search.”
“Take care of yourself. Ring me when you’re back home.”
“I will. Oh, and will you tell Roberts for me?”
“Of course, I’ll go and see him now. Speak soon.”
Lorne hung up and dropped the phone on the bed beside her, tiredness overwhelming her. “Sorry, I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.” Her words came out a little slurred.
“We’ll go and come ba
ck this evening. You rest.” Tony kissed her on the forehead and pulled the covers up to her chin.
“Sleep well, love,” Carol said, groaning a little as she stood up to leave.
“Do your thing with the spirits if you’re up to it, Carol. We need to find those men.”
“Leave it with me. See you later.”
Lorne drifted off to sleep before they’d even left the room.
The following day, she was ten times brighter and was sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed eager to leave, when the doctor entered the room.
“One final check. I’ve made an appointment for you to see someone in ENT. You’re going to need surgery on your nose within a week or two.”
“Great, just what I wanted to hear. My head feels a lot better today.”
He carried out several tests with his fingers to ensure her sight was up to scratch, then he nodded. “You’re good to go. Is there any point in me telling you to take it easy over the weekend?”
“I will. I promise. I need to be a hundred percent by Monday morning. All this has given me an extra incentive to go after these killers anyway.”
“Okay, you’re free to go. I hope you find the men responsible soon.”
Tony entered the room, carrying a bunch of flowers. “Is the walking wounded ready to be discharged, Doc?”
“I’ve just this minute said as much. Good luck, Inspector.”
“Thank you to you and your staff for looking after me so well, Doctor.”
He smiled and left the room.
Tony kissed her and gave her the flowers. “Morning. Thought these would brighten you up a little.”
“Very thoughtful. Thanks, love. Let’s get out of here. We have a kennel to rebuild.”
“No way are you getting involved in that this weekend. You hear me?”
“We’ll see,” she said, walking towards the door, wiggling her backside at him.
Chapter 16
After an eventful, not restful weekend, as the doctor had suggested, Lorne drove into work on Monday morning, happy that both her family and Jade’s had rallied around over the weekend to get the kennel back up and running. Cindy was going to collect all the dogs from their temporary accommodation during the day, so by the time Lorne got home from work, everything should be one hundred percent back to normal.
She was physically tired, but mentally, she was raring to get on with the investigation. She checked herself in the mirror before leaving the car. Her nose was still a mess, but she’d done her best to cover the bruising around her eyes with heavy makeup.
As she walked into the station, Ray smiled at her warmly. “Morning, ma’am. Good to have you back. Sorry about the trouble you experienced. Give me a shout if you need any help catching the culprits.”
“Thanks, Ray. Hopefully, the team will have some good news for me on that front when I get up there. I guess I won’t be entering any beauty contests any time soon, eh?”
He winked at her. “You always look good in my eyes, ma’am.”
“You old charmer.” She chuckled and was surprised to feel the colour rise in her cheeks.
She entered the incident room moments later to find the rest of the team already hard at work. “Gosh, I’m not late. Don’t tell me you guys have been here all over the weekend?”
Katy gave her a gentle hug. “Ouch! That looks painful.”
“It’s bearable right now. I still have to go under the knife to get it fixed. I’ve never been happy with the shape of my nose, but I would never have chosen to go under the knife to alter it. Shit happens, eh?”
They both laughed. “Well, Karen, Graham and I decided to come in early as we didn’t get very far on Friday.”
“All quiet over the weekend? No new murders on the wire yet, Karen?”
“I checked when I got in, and nothing has shown up yet, boss.”
Lorne let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good to hear. Any news on the car, Graham?”
“I’m running the final checks today, boss. Hope to have something for you soon.”
“Good, good. I’m in dire need of a coffee. Anyone else?”
“I’ll get them. You’ve got a shitload of paperwork to attend to on your desk. Sorry, I didn’t get around to going in there on Friday.”
“No problem. I would have been annoyed if you had got caught up in that dross anyway.”
“Do you think you should go and see Roberts first thing?” Katy asked tentatively.
Lorne shrugged. “Not sure it’s necessary.”
“Whatever you think is best. My bet is that he’ll descend on us around nine, either way.”
“Something to look forward to,” Lorne grumbled under her breath.
Much to Lorne’s relief, Roberts didn’t show his face. She immersed herself in paperwork until Katy came rushing into the office around ten fifteen. “We spoke too soon.”
“What? Another body?”
“Yep. A man’s body was discovered in a porter loo on-site at Brentwood Homes in Canary Wharf.”
“Brentwood Homes? I don’t recall us going there. Can you get the coordinates for us, Katy? I’ll finish replying to this letter and be with you in five minutes or so.”
Katy left the room, and Lorne shook her head in despair. When the hell is all this going to end, and why didn’t they kill Carol? If it is these guys who are to blame for taking Carol.
Lorne and Katy arrived at the small site as Patti was walking back to her car for some equipment. “Morning, both. Holy crap! What happened to you? And before you ask—yes, I think the crimes are related. It would be foolish not to connect them. It ain’t pretty, girls.”
“I had a fight with a shovel and lost.”
Patti frowned and handed them each a set of paper suits. They followed her back towards the crime scene.
Inside the small porter loo, the victim was lying on the floor. He was a young black man. His throat had been cut, and his high-vis jacket was covered in blood. His eyes had been gouged out and were lying on the floor beside him.
“Tell me that was done after his death,” Lorne said, screwing her nose up in distaste.
Patti tutted. “Nope, before his throat was slit.”
“That’s gross. Why would they do such a thing? What’s possessing them to carry out these crimes in such heinous ways?”
“If anyone can figure out that, I’m guessing that’ll be you, Lorne. I’m at a loss on this one, just like all the others.”
“We are too, at present. They abducted a friend of mine.” Lorne pointed at her face. “And this is the result of that encounter.”
“Oh, heck, and yet you lived to tell the tale. I’m hoping your friend is still alive, right?”
“She is, thankfully. We need to find these guys soon. We need you to give us some kind of clue. All we have right now is a partial plate we’re running on a dark car, which we suspect is either a Beemer or an Audi. It’s been weeks since this investigation began, and my frustration levels are tipping the maxometer now.”
“My team are doing their best, but there’s just nothing being left to analyse. Whoever is responsible for these murders is bound to trip up soon, though.”
Lorne sighed. “That’s got to be a definite, but how many more lives will be lost in the meantime?”
Patti shrugged. “It’s what it is, I’m afraid. You know we do our best, but if the evidence isn’t there to begin with, then we’re at a loss how to proceed.”
“I understand. I wasn’t having a go, I promise.” Lorne placed a hand on her friend’s arm. “Do we have an ID for the victim?”
“Stuart Wallace. He’s another plumber, on-site this time.”
“Well, that’s different. We’ll have a word with the site manager and get back to you.”
“I’ll be leaving soon.”
Lorne and Katy left the scene and went in search of the manager. They didn’t have to look very far—at the edge of the cordon, a group of builders were shuffling their feet, looking over at the scene.
A man in his forties with a cast on his right arm stepped forward. “That’s me. Len Dickinson.”
“Is there somewhere we can have a chat, Mr. Dickinson?”
“My office is over here.” He pointed behind him and set off in that direction.
“It would be better if your men got back to work, sir,” Lorne suggested, trotting to keep up with his long strides.
“Back to work, men. Dwayne, see to it.”
A young black man nodded and issued the other men with a bunch of orders. Lorne and Katy entered the makeshift office, which was no more than four feet by four feet wide, and stood in front of Dickinson, who had flopped into his chair.
Seemingly in a state of shock, he removed his hard hat and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Never had anything like this happen on-site before, and I’ve been in the trade for twenty odd years. Shocking, it is.”
“The man was an employee of yours, I hear.”
“That’s right. He’s worked for me for about five years. Good worker too.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Late Friday afternoon. He usually locks up on a Friday, so he would have been the last one to leave the site.”
“Was anything missing? Any form of machinery, anything along those lines?”
“Nothing as far as I can see. One of the lads went to use the loo this morning after having a curry last night—sorry too much information for you there—and that’s when he found him. Why would someone kill him like that if robbery wasn’t involved? The damn gates were even locked when we got here.”
Lorne looked at Katy. “Can you tell Patti that? There might be a print on the padlock.”
“On it now.” Katy rushed out of the office.
“Loads of people have handled that lock. Doubt if you’ll get anything off it,” Dickinson said, leaning back in his chair.”
“It’s worth a try. We’ve got very little else to go on right now. Are you aware of the other murders that have occurred lately in this area?”