Killing Mind: An addictive and nail-biting crime thriller (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Book 12)

by Angela Marsons

  Pieces of the puzzle started falling into place and Kim didn’t much like the picture they were forming.

  ‘So, Sheila identifies people inside with wealthy parents who you approach and offer your services for a fee?’

  Jesus, manipulation really was the name of the game.

  ‘Almost,’ he said. ‘Except Sheila’s criteria for selection isn’t based on wealthy parents, it’s about people who may be at risk. It may be someone who is out of favour because they broke the rules. It could be someone being consistently mistreated for whatever reason. It may be someone being pressurised to bring more funds to the farm. There are many reasons.’

  ‘Are you talking physical danger?’

  He nodded. ‘But, it’s not the only kind.’

  Kim now understood that he was referring to the long-term effects of joining a cult. ‘So, Sheila identifies people she feels are at risk, communicates this to you, you snatch them and bring them back to their senses?’

  He nodded.

  ‘But how does she let you know?’ Kim asked. Tiffany had already told her that people were not allowed their own mobile phone and Tiff’s own phone had been stolen.

  ‘One second and I’ll explain,’ he said, taking another sip of his drink.

  Kim waited patiently as the two women sharing a pot of tea got up and left the café.

  Kane reached over and lifted up the tea cup that was nearest to him. She and Bryant looked at each other as he retrieved a small square of folded paper.

  Kim’s gaze shot to the door.

  ‘That was Sheila Thorpe?’ she asked, unable to believe that the woman she’d been searching for in a lake had just been drinking tea behind her.

  He nodded. ‘She’s doing the weekly food shop, but as you can see, she’s never alone.’

  ‘So that’s a list of people she feels are in danger at the Farm?’

  He nodded and opened up the paper.

  He frowned.

  ‘What?’ Kim asked.

  ‘Three names but very little information on the last one. Apparently she’s worried about someone named Tiff.’

  Ninety-Seven

  Tiff shook the fatigue from her eyes as she headed to the front door of the farmhouse. It was barely one o’clock and she could easily have gone back to the room for a nap. It wasn’t because of any kind of strenuous activity, quite the opposite. She had been relaxed to within an inch of her life.

  After the meditation session Britney had taken her to barn number 5, to a woman named Violet who was learning Indian head massage and needed to practise. The woman had expertly kneaded sesame oil into her scalp; her strong fingers firmly working the pressure points all around her head. Tiffany had barely been able to form a thought as her mind had followed the rhythmic rubbing loosening tension and pressure. But she had made one decision before she’d given herself up to the experience.

  The first chance she got she was leaving and explaining to Britney would have to wait.

  Time to just get on with it, she thought, heading outside. It would be a few minutes yet until Britney realised she hadn’t just popped to the toilet.

  She had decided to leave the same way they’d come. She guessed it was a longer trek to the road but at least she’d had some sense of direction. As soon as she got to the road she’d call the boss and let her know she was out.

  Her stomach plummeted at the thought. Despite everything, she was leaving empty-handed but something inside told her it was more important to just leave.

  She headed across the courtyard towards the foot of the hill. There was no one around and she could easily slip away, but a sudden thought occurred to her and she slowed her pace.

  As she and Britney had headed in on that first night and stood at the top of the hill, she’d seen something glint in the wooded area. Was there a structure there? A building? Could Sophie Brown be in there?

  Her mind wrestled with itself. On one hand was a growing urgency propelling her back towards civilisation and her own life, but the other hand was trying desperately not to leave this place with nothing. She’d been sent in to discover more about the cult and to locate Sophie Brown.

  What if Sophie Brown had been here all along?

  The anxiety began to grow in her stomach as she realised that she couldn’t leave without at least checking it out.

  Instead of heading straight for the hill she turned right into the wooded area.

  Immediately the daylight receded as the trees entwined and arched above her blocking out the sun. The shrubbery on either side of the narrow walking path was dense. She moved forward slowly; the whole scene reminding her of some sinister turn in a fairy tale. If she was watching this on the TV screen at home creepy, ominous music would be growing in volume and warning her to stay out.

  She smiled at her own dramatics but the unease didn’t ebb away.

  She took two more steps forward, heading into the darkness. A stinger caught her bare ankle. She bent down and rubbed it knowing it was the worst thing she could do.

  She straightened and caught a glimpse of some kind of structure up ahead.

  She took a few more steps forward. The silence of the woods made way for the heavy beating of her heart, the blood pounding in her ears.

  Two more steps forward.

  The crack of a twig behind her.

  She turned, right into the chest of Jake Black who was only inches away.

  Her heart rose up into her throat.

  ‘Hey Tiff,’ he said, peering down at her with a questioning gaze. ‘What are you doing alone out here?’

  She tried to gather herself quickly and cover up the trembling of her limbs.

  Her heart thumped in her chest.

  ‘J… just getting a little air,’ she replied.

  He placed a warm, firm hand on her shoulder and turned her around.

  ‘I think it’s best if we go back to the house, don’t you?’

  Ninety-Eight

  ‘Where do you want me?’ Penn asked, sliding into his chair.

  Stacey breathed a sigh of relief to have her colleague back. She had multiple screens open on her computer and was flitting between them all.

  ‘Can you find out whatever you can about Jake Black, cos I might have a possible contender for our guy in the lake.’

  ‘On it, boss,’ he said.

  Stacey chuckled. He was higher in rank than her but ranks meant nothing to Penn. He went where the work sent him. Sometimes that was pounding the streets and other times pounding the keys.

  She turned her attention back to Derek Noble, the man who had flitted on to her screen right before Penn had called.

  Of his thirty-eight years he’d been known to them for fifteen. From the age of seventeen he’d been arrested over twenty times for offences that had escalated over the years. The last seven offences had been drug related, culminating in a violent episode where a man had been blinded. Derek Noble had been put away for his longest stretch of six years in 2012 and had maintained radio silence ever since. The records stated that he’d been released from prison late 2018. Had he been murdered as soon as he walked out of prison? Was it somehow related to his previous crimes; revenge perhaps, and nothing to do with their murders? His life had been anything but normal and he must have made a few enemies along the way.

  If this guy wasn’t connected to their case, they needed to rule him out straight away. For all she knew this wasn’t even the guy they were searching for. She could be wasting time passing this on to the boss. She made up her mind. She’d pass the information on and keep looking.

  Ninety-Nine

  ‘Anything back, yet?’ Bryant asked, as he headed towards Hayes Lane, and the address given to them by Stacey. The constable hadn’t sounded convinced this was their man and Kim could understand why. There was no indication of him having any link to their other victims or to Unity Farm. But they were close to the trading estate, so it was worth a shot, even if it was to rule him out.

  ‘Nothing since the first message
,’ she said, glancing down at the phone that hadn’t been out of her hand since they’d left Kane sitting in the café.

  She had texted Tiff immediately after seeing her name on that piece of paper. Just a short message asking if she was okay. Her heart had been hammering in her chest waiting for a response. It was only minutes until she received a reply saying

  Fine, speak soon.

  Kim had sent a further message asking where she was but nothing had come back.

  ‘She’ll be fine,’ Bryant said. ‘She knows what she’s doing. If she senses any danger, she’ll let us know.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ Kim said, as Bryant pulled up outside Neeley’s Auto Shop on the Forge Trading Estate.

  ‘So, the owner of this place reported our guy missing?’ Bryant asked as they got out the car.

  ‘Yep, George Neeley himself,’ she said, pushing open a heavy glass door into a small reception area. The space was tidy with two chairs and a self-serve coffee machine. A plug-in air freshener was doing nothing to mask the odour of petrol, grease and diesel fumes, thank goodness. It was a blend of smells that made her feel right at home.

  The reception area was unmanned but a bell was attached to the desk. Kim pressed it and heard it sound in the workshop behind.

  A man appeared from beneath a ramp and peered at her through the glass window.

  He shouted something to a colleague and walked into the reception wiping his hand on a dirty rag. A blast of lunchtime traffic news filtered through the door behind him from a radio blaring somewhere in the workshop.

  ‘George Neeley?’ Kim asked, holding up her ID.

  ‘Depends. If he’s in trouble I ay sid ’im for months, if not I’m yer mon.’

  Kim worked her way through the thick Black Country accent to understand they were talking to the owner of the business.

  ‘Mr Neeley, we’re here to talk about a man named Derek Noble.’

  He frowned and glanced up to his left as though that’s where he’d find the information.

  ‘You reported him missing.’

  ‘Ah, yow mean Nobbie?’

  Okay, Kim thought. Close enough.

  ‘Was he a friend of yours?’

  George shook his head. ‘Employee. I gid the chap a job when he gor out of prison. Doin me bit for the community and he wore ’alf bad to be fair.’

  ‘Go on,’ Kim said.

  ‘Took ’im on to do a bit of sweeping and fetching and carrying, to free up me blokes a bit. Grunt work, really, but for a little ’un he ’ad some stamina and was a bloody hard worker.’

  ‘You knew of his past?’ Kim asked, trying to marry the two images of the same man. His life prior to prison read nothing like the picture George was painting in her mind.

  ‘Yeah, yeah but it was a scheme, wore it? It day cost me a penny to employ him for six months. The government paid and I got free labour.’

  Kim was beginning to change her opinion on this man’s charitable motivations.

  ‘So, you kept him for six months?’

  George shook his head ‘Nah, by the time the scheme ended Nobbie was wuth his weight in gold. He was driving customers to work, opening up, closing up, keeping the place tidy, the machines clean and valeting the cars before they went back out. We wore never goona let ’im goo.’

  Her opinion warmed again.

  ‘Listen, I dow put much faith in our prisons but Nobbie surprised me. He wanted to change. He wore ’alf sorry for all the shit he’d caused and all the folks he’d hurt. He was trying to mek amends.’

  Kim just let him talk.

  ‘In fact the last day he was here he was gooin to see somebody. A wench he’d hurt in his past. He day give me no details but showed me the mek up present he’d bought. Lovely it was. A silver necklace in a red velvet box.’

  One Hundred

  ‘Stacey, he’s our guy,’ Kim said when they were back in the car.

  ‘Find out everything you can about him. We’re on our way back in,’ she added, before ending the call.

  ‘No obvious link, is there?’ Bryant asked, as he headed towards the town centre.

  ‘There’s something, Bryant. It’s too coincidental that he was found in the same lake as Tyler Short. He must have some kind of link to Unity Farm.’

  She turned her attention to the phone still in her hand. Still no further messages from Tiff.

  ‘Stop here,’ Kim said, taking off her seatbelt.

  She hadn’t lied to Stacey. They were on their way back, but she had just one stop to make first.

  She strode around the building to the front car park of the college.

  Students were streaming out of the entrance, taking an early mark on a Friday afternoon.

  Kim stood on the wall trying to pick out a redhead and a blonde.

  She tuned out the excited pre-weekend chatter of the students and looked in every direction.

  The crowds began to thin and her suspicions were correct.

  Not only was she receiving no contact from the undercover police officer.

  She no longer knew for sure where Tiffany was.

  One Hundred One

  Tiff took a deep breath as she sat down on the bed.

  As they’d walked back from the edge of the woods she had talked nonstop about the Farm and all the things she had experienced in her time there. Whether her efforts to distract him from any suspicion of her wanting to leave had worked she had no idea. She wasn’t even sure why she was concerned about him knowing that she’d been thinking of leaving but she was.

  Jake had told her to go and take a bit of time for herself in her room while he tracked down Britney.

  She resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to let the boss know she was coming out. Yes, she’d failed but right now that mattered less to her than getting away from this place and back to some kind of normality.

  She’d take the opportunity to text now while she waited for Brit to come back, and later she’d eat her meal, pretend everything was normal and then find a way to slip out and head to the hill. And this time she wouldn’t stop.

  She reached into her back pocket for the phone. The cardigan she was wearing was longer so she’d been able to move it from the front of her jeans.

  It wasn’t there.

  She checked her back, left pocket but already knew she wouldn’t have put it there.

  She stood up and looked around the bed. Maybe it had come out as she’d sat down. She moved the quilt around and checked the floor feeling the heat flood her face.

  Damn it. Her one link to the outside world. Gone.

  She paced the room as she retraced her steps after sending that short message to the boss.

  Just after the Indian head massage they’d headed to the toilets.

  Oh no, she remembered now. She’d taken it from her back pocket and placed it on the sanitary bin so it didn’t fall out as she undid her jeans. Damn, if Brit had found it she’d know everything. She’d know that Tiff had been lying to her the whole time. She intended to tell her friend the truth but not until she was safely away from Unity Farm.

  Tiff headed out of the room and walked quickly to the toilets, waving and smiling as she went. She had to find the phone. She had no other way to let the boss know she was coming out.

  She pushed open the door. Thankfully it was empty as people were making their way to the food hall. She went straight for the middle cubicle. The phone wasn’t on the sanitary bin where she’d left it. Maybe it had fallen and been kicked along the floor.

  She entered each cubicle, moving the bins and looking around.

  By the time she reached the end cubicle her heart was hammering in her chest and the sweat was forming on her forehead.

  The phone was no longer here.

  Her one link to the outside world was gone.

  One Hundred Two

  Kim glanced at her phone again while she waited for Bryant to re-join them in the squad room. Still no reply from Tiffany, but the tick and the timestamp told her t
he messages had been read. Why the hell was she not replying?

  Kim took a moment to pour coffee while the other two were tapping away furiously at their keyboards.

  She glanced outside as the light on the car park began to fade. She peered more closely at the figure pacing and waving his arms around as he spoke on the phone.

  Shit, what now? she wondered, although she had a sneaking suspicion she knew, had known what was coming all day.

  ‘Be back in a sec, guys,’ she said, leaving the coffee for now.

  Kim stepped outside just as Bryant ended the call.

  ‘They’ve fucking charged him,’ he bellowed at her. His eyes were ablaze, his body tense as he continued to pace back and forth.

  Yep, that’s what she’d thought.

  ‘They know they have the wrong man. He didn’t do it, Kim. They’re charging the wrong man. We can’t let this happen.’

  Kim ignored the use of her first name during work hours. It only demonstrated how emotional he was about the Peter Drake situation. She’d given thought to it herself throughout the day.

  ‘Bryant, there’s nothing we can do.’

  ‘You’re joking?’ he asked, incredulously. ‘You who believes wholeheartedly in justice?’

  She knew this was going to be a difficult sell, especially coming from her. He knew she was a firm believer in the right people being punished for the right crime, but Travis wasn’t her and he was never going to entertain anything Bryant had to say.

  ‘Look, you got nothing from Harrison. What do you expect Travis to do? He has a victim and a confession and physical evidence that links the two. How is he not going to put them together when the man you suspect is now dead?’

  Every word was leaving a bad taste in her mouth but she had to do what was right for her friend. He had to let it go.