The Vine Cross (The Vine Series Book 1)

by S P Dawes

  “You OK?”

  She looked up at her dad, swirling the orange juice around in her glass, still sat at the table. Hayley just stared daggers at him.

  “He tried to send you a message.”

  Hayley looked over to the three talkers; consumed by his own conversation.

  “Who?” Asked Hayley quietly.

  “Darren.”

  She had heard no one mention her brother’s name since he had moved to London three years ago. Looking at her father questioningly, she hoped he’d continue.

  “He found you, tried to warn you.”

  She carried on looking at him to explain further.

  “He tried to let you know he was coming.”

  “You two all right over there?” Asked Frank, raising his glass.

  “Yes, just talking.” Hayley smiled, hoping they would just leave them a little longer. Picking up her own glass, she showed off the remnants of her drink, watching as they smiled and continued to talk between themselves.

  “What are you saying?” She hissed.

  “Darren found out what they were planning, he tried to get you out,” he explained.

  Hayley swallowed hard. There was so much she wanted to ask him, but she had to be careful. They continued to sip their drinks, unsure what to say.

  “I met him.”

  Hayley caught his eyes as he smiled.

  “Who?” She mouthed.

  “Hallam.”

  Hayley could feel the tears prick her lashes and breathed in hard as her bottom lip trembled.

  “He loves you.”

  “Yes, I do.” Demy planted a wet kiss on Hayley’s cheek.

  Her Dad carried on holding her gaze. “I was thinking we should name our son Igor Anatoly, after my brother.”

  She smiled vacantly; he could name it what he liked.

  Chapter 29

  The next morning Hayley woke to crashing and banging. Gingerly stepping into the front room to see what was going on, she witnessed Demy rushing around, like a nervous ball of energy. It was obvious to Hayley that something big was happening. She just hoped it had nothing to do with Jesse. But remembering yesterday’s dinner conversation, she wasn’t holding out much hope.

  There was a finality about his movements, and that scared her. Excited, he couldn’t keep still, and the look he kept giving her gave her chills. He’d hardly spoken a word, but he hadn’t needed to. She had seen him this way before. It was how he behaved when a business deal was coming to fruition. She hoped the guys in the surveillance van were picking up on it too.

  Hayley was returning upstairs when his mobile rang. Prising it from his pocket, looking towards her. She knew she couldn’t stop, so she carried on until she was out of sight, and then hovered on the landing, hiding behind the bedroom door.

  The exchange meant nothing to her, she couldn’t speak Russian. The harsh tones and quick barks sent shivers down her spine, though. Standing, cold sweat dripping down her back, waiting to hear something she could decipher.

  Then she heard the door close.

  Running to the window, she watched him enter a white transit van. It sped off the minute he stepped in. Her heart was thumping in her chest. Something bad was about to happen, she could feel it. She had to protect Jesse, get a message to someone.

  Demy sat in the back of a transit van with the team. It smelt of mud, sweat and fear. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his head from either side of his shoulders, shaking out the nervous tension laying there.

  He glanced to Liam, a tall guy with tattoos embalming his heavily muscled arms, “Everything on track?”

  Watching Liam smile was the only information he required. The last thing he needed was for something to go wrong. He had far too many plates spinning and was reliant on more people than he liked.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he checked the text, smiling again. Like taking candy from a baby.

  Looking around him, he noticed they sat silently. The other two guys contemplating the plan across from each other, heads down.

  “They’re in the case,” offered Liam after regarding him looking around.

  Demy nodded.

  “Paul’s meeting us there.”

  “He’s just text.” Demy said replacing his phone. “He’ll be off our backs shortly.”

  Demy was imagining Hayley’s face when he told her. How she’d crumble in front of him. He knew she was praying on a miracle; this would finally make her realise there really was no hope. Knowing he had taken all the fight away from her, it would be beautiful watching her fall apart. He just hoped it didn’t send her too limp. He was kind of enjoying the friction she caused. It set something off in her eyes when she was terrified. And the power that gave him caused him to feel like a king. She was an anomaly, a fighter. What she hadn’t realised was that made her even more attractive to him.

  “Did your guy get the stuff?” Interrupted Liam.

  Demy nodded. His men had made him aware they had planted it all earlier. They had transferred the information to its new home. Now that the ‘evidence’ was in place, it was only awaiting detection. “He’ll not know what’s hit him.”

  Liam laughed. He knew what a bastard Demy could be, but even he had to admit the revenge he’d plotted was impressive. “What about the girl?” Knowing there would be one last task to complete.

  “She either bends or she’s dead, her choice.” Demy curled his lip in disgust.

  Liam nodded his head slowly; he’d thought as much. “The Baby?”

  “It’ll come in useful,” he smiled with a dangerous glint in his eye. “One look at that bastard and she’ll be begging for more than her life.”

  “Five minutes, boss. The guys said they’d meet us a couple of miles away from the port, just checking the ground.” Offered the driver over his shoulder.

  “I’ve got to call Paul once the girls arrive. He’s been keeping them in a lockup, but apparently he won’t share the pin.” Liam answered, unsure how Demy would react to the news Paul didn’t trust him enough to offer it up without him being there.

  “Always with the contingencies,” smiled Demy. “Can’t say I blame him. I don’t trust him either.”

  Liam swallowed hard. Being in the middle was dangerous. “It pissed him off about the girls.”

  The two men glanced up and tension fizzed. Demy glanced from one to the other, Leon looked desperate to be out of there, and the other young lad just looked petrified about the whole thing.

  “How’s your cousin Leon?” Asked Demy, unable to hide the amusement from his tone.

  The look of desperation still plastered on Leon’s face enticed him to play. “They’ve arrested her.”

  Demy’s smile broadened. She had been very useful in his plan, and he wouldn’t forget that. The van wobbled, so they braced themselves against the walls. “So, you not tapped her up, yourself?”

  Leon looked through his top eyelids, attempting to keep his scowl at bay; he needed this to be over without causing problems on the way there.

  “Pretty little thing. Got a mouth on her an’ all.”

  Leon glanced away, praying they would get to their destination quickly.

  “Lot of things you can do with that mouth.” Demy glanced back to Liam as they both laughed at Leon’s discomfort.

  As if deciding to give up on making Leon feel any more uncomfortable, he turned back to the trunk, opening it. He took out the gun and slipped it into his belt at the back of his jeans, securing it and then hiding it with his shirt.

  “He’ll have more than enough cash to make up for it.” he smirked.

  “But only if plan goes as it should,” answered Demy, getting back to the conversation with Liam as though they hadn’t missed a beat. “Where’s the gear?”

  “Already there, it’s been on the shipment all morning; they’re just waiting for us,” replied Liam steadily. That part had been his job, and he had ensured he achieved it under the cover of darkness. If this plan went tits up, he didn’t want to be t
he one responsible for it. He knew the Russians were unforgiving types. “Are you sure moving the gear and the girls is a good idea?”

  Demy didn’t like being questioned at the best of times, but by a cocky militant security guard, who was only in it for the cash made it even less appealing. “Let me deal with the planning, you just make sure the ground’s clear,” he scowled.

  Liam was all too aware of how risky this entire job was, too many variables and a couple of bosses that he neither trusted nor liked didn’t fill him with confidence. But the payout was huge, only if everything went to plan. The minute he had heard about Demy’s extracurricular activities, his teeth had set on edge. The last thing they needed was an eager bobby stepping into their paths just because they smelt something fishy. Arrangements before had always been to keep squeaky clean, raising no suspicion. It had served well for them in the past. So, the fact that had changed on the biggest deal he had ever worked on was less than comforting.

  Just then the ground shifted under the van’s wheels and they heard the crunching of the gravel as they came off the major road. The excitement and trepidation were palpable. His plan was finally coming together and this would make him for life.

  Liam opened the side door and scanned the nearby marsh. The cool air hit him in the face, but it made for a good wake up for the senses. The van was stuffy, and he needed to be vigilant and alert.

  The occupants of the van braced themselves for what was about to happen, giving one last nod as Demy gave the order.

  Ten minutes later Hayley was pacing the floor waiting for a response. She’d spoken into the kitchen radio, feeling like an MI5 agent from a terrible spy film, explaining that she needed to speak with DS Wells.

  When Martin knocked on the door, she checked through the glass before opening it. “Martin, something’s going on,” panicked Hayley, barely giving him time to step in. “He’s meeting someone...”

  “I know, we’re following now. We know where they’re headed.” Martin had mobilised the task force as soon as they’d heard arrangements of the meeting, and DCI Walker had requested the armed response unit.

  Martin sat on the sofa with a coffee in his hand that Hayley had made him once he had explained what they had translated. They were on a time sensitive operation. He couldn’t remove Hayley until they had news, just in case.

  “I need to speak to Jesse,” said Hayley finally.

  Martin chewed on his lip. The last thing he needed was Hayley passing over sensitive information.

  “Martin, I appreciate what’s on the line. I’ll not tell him anything about the case, I swear, I just need him to know…”

  “I’ll phone him,” he sighed.

  “Martin,” answered Jesse.

  “Jesse?”

  Silence.

  Her heart thudding in her chest and her throat feeling like a ball of yarn, she swallowed hard.

  “Hayley?” his voice was low, as though he dared not to believe it.

  Tears fell down her cheeks at the sound of her name on his lips.

  “Are you OK?” It felt like an absurd thing to ask, he thought seconds after the words slipped out. Jesse removed himself from his desk, discreetly leaving the conference room with his ear pressed to the phone and his shoulder while he passed through the corridors.

  “Yep,” she sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. “I’m safe, I’m with Martin.” She quickly glanced towards Martin, who stood with his back to her viewing the garden.

  “Oh, my God, you’ve no idea how long I’ve waited to hear your voice.” He sat down in an empty chair in the desolate diner.

  “About seven months?”

  Hayley heard him breathe out. “Jesse, I need to tell you something before I get out.”

  Jesse listened; he could hear she was holding in a sob.

  “Jesse, I love you. I love you so much and I just need to tell you something before you see me. I’m—”

  Suddenly the canteen doors burst open, his current supervisor DCI Morgan and two uniformed officers marched up to him. One officer took the phone from him, turning it off, and the other one lifted him up from the chair, spinning him round. His DCI read him his rights while the officer with his hands on him slapped cuffs around his wrists.

  “Jesse?!”

  Martin spun round to see Hayley holding the mobile out, looking terrified and in shock.

  Five minutes earlier.

  Lynnie lay in the hospital bed, with two female police officers by her side. A doctor checked her notes, making sure she was all right before the police could continue their questioning. The doctor nodded, then pulled the curtain around them for some privacy.

  “Did the man say anything?” inquired the blond female officer, gently.

  Lynnie nodded and went to speak, but she found it was easier to hold her throat while she tried. “He was going to kill me,” her scratchy voice revealed.

  “Did he say why?”

  “Just that he already killed my sister,” she sobbed.

  The officers shared a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry to ask you all these questions, but do you have any idea who he is?”

  Lynnie nodded, and the officers moved closer to her as she touched her rasping throat. “Jesse Hallam.”

  “OK, and who’s your sister?”

  “Hayley Timpson.”

  The female officers looked to one another then exited the room hurriedly, explaining they’d be back.

  “Bravo, Bravo!” Said Paul, pushing the two curtains back from the cubicle beside hers. “You should have won an Oscar for that performance. Demy will be pleased.” He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. “The last piece of the puzzle.”

  “What do you mean they have arrested him!?” Shouted Martin on the phone. He was staring directly at Hayley who’d been crying since they had cut the line. “This is a fucking joke! What witness?”

  Hayley was studying him, panic rising in her throat.

  “I’m coming now; I’ll be there as quick as I can.” Martin shoved his mobile into his trouser pocket while marching over to the door. “I’m sorry, Hayley. Something’s gone wrong, we need to get to the station.”

  “What have they arrested him for?” She panicked, knowing the threat Demy had made to her.

  Martin stopped at the door, holding it open while looking at the floor. He was contemplating lying to her, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  “Murder.”

  “Martin, its Demy, I know it is.”

  Martin had thought as much, but he needed to find out how.

  “There’s proof!” She shouted.

  Martin looked at her in disbelief.

  “There are pictures upstairs in the attic.”

  “What? Why...”

  “I tried to show the camera, but it went dead. Your guys outside had to come in and fix it, but I couldn’t tell them what I had found.” She said rushing to the stairs.

  “You have sat with me for an hour?”

  “I know, it slipped my mind, I’m sorry.”

  Martin slammed the door shut. He wasn’t sure how something like that could slip anyone’s mind, let alone someone who had a reason to get Demy arrested as quickly as possible. Maybe baby brain was an actual thing.

  Hayley made her way upstairs with Martin in toe, and she pointed to the attic door. He looked around while Hayley retrieved a metal nail file from the bathroom, handing him it. He shimmied it open, pulling down the steps and running up them until he found the light and switched it on.

  “There’s nothing here,” he shouted down to her.

  “There must be, there are loads of boxes, just open one you’ll see.”

  “Hayley, there are no boxes.” Martin made his way back down the steps and Hayley rushed up. She couldn’t believe him until she got to the top and saw for herself. They had cleared the entire attic out, it was empty.

  “They were right here,” her voice trailed off as the space came into view. “I don’t understand.”

  “
Did you pick any of them up?” She peered down at Martin’s worried face, nodding, unsure why it made any difference. “Has he cut you in any way?”

  Hayley looked away to compose herself.

  “Hayley, does Demy have anything with your blood on?”

  “I’ve no idea,” she said making her way back down the steps, “Why?”

  “Because I think he’s got your fingerprints and DNA and probably just had you murdered.”

  Hayley stared at him in shock.

  “Take me to my dad’s.”

  Martin frowned. That was the last place he thought she would want to visit.

  “Now!” She ran down the stairs as quickly as she could and swung the door open. Then she stopped, paralysed.

  “What?” Asked Martin, watching her tremble.

  “I’ve not been outside for seven months,” her chest tightened.

  “OK, just breathe, you’re going to walk out with me, OK?”

  She nodded but felt less than confident about the mammoth task awaiting her. She couldn’t let Jesse down now, though.

  Martin gripped her arm and prised her from the threshold. The sunlight was bright, screwing her eyes up to protect them. The cool air surrounded her, causing her to shiver. Martin wrapped his arms around her tighter and coaxed her to his car. Her limbs felt heavy, and she cursed them. Once inside Martin’s car, he pulled away. Hayley tried to watch out of the window, but everything was travelling by too quickly. It was making her dizzy, so she resorted to holding her palms over her face.

  “Are you OK?”

  “I just feel sick,” came the muffled reply. He could see her hands were shaking.

  “Do you need me to stop?”

  “No, keep going,” she urged, “How can me being out feel so bad?” Hayley sighed, holding her eyes shut, trusting the driver to get her there in one piece.

  “Agoraphobia?”

  “Great! All I need.” Hayley was trying to breathe slowly to stop her rapidly growing heartbeat from ripping through her.

  “I should take you to the hospital,” Martin mused.