Hunted on the Fens

by Joy Ellis

  He logged on and waited for the PC to load. As he waited he slipped a small white card from under the tablecloth and stared at his details. Ridiculous, wasn’t it? He was an old-fashioned copper, and one with a pretty good memory, all things considered, but when it came to his own passwords and memorable dates, he was rubbish.

  After what seemed like an eternity, the machine stopped chuntering and he was good to go. Dave accessed his bank site, then carefully followed the onscreen instructions to log in to his account.

  He always felt huge relief when he was finally in, but tonight his relief was short-lived. He had three active accounts, a current account for utilities and day to day stuff, and a saver reward for bigger things like holidays or emergencies, and an account that held their savings, and as he watched the screen, he saw that they were all almost empty.

  He stared at the monitor for a full minute before it sunk in. When it did, Dave let rip with a string of swear words and scrolled down the page to the Contact Us emergencies only number.

  Getting through was a nightmare, but after listening to recorded messages and tapping number after number, he finally found himself talking to a human.

  Somehow he managed to get his befuddled mind back into police mode and explained that he was a detective constable with the Fenland Constabulary, and gave the operator the details of what had occurred as clearly and concisely as he could.

  ‘There have been significant online transactions recently, sir.’ Dave could hear the sound of the young man’s fingers on a keyboard. ‘Are you sure that you haven’t made any transfers of large sums in the last few days?’

  Dave gritted his teeth. ‘In the last few days I have written only two cheques, both under fifty pounds, and used my debit card twice, once at Sainsbury’s and once at the petrol station. I have made no transfers.’

  ‘And no large withdrawals?’

  ‘Bloody hell! I’ve just told you! No!’

  Dave didn’t want to ball out the kid. He didn’t want to be shouting down the phone at anyone. But he was scared. Shit-scared. And he had every reason to be, because police officers cannot have debts. The bottom line was that he could lose his job. He swallowed hard. He understood why, and he’d always agreed that it was quite right. An officer with money problems could be open to bribes. A broke officer could easily become a bent officer.

  Dave let out an exasperated sigh, then tried to concentrate on what the young man was saying. It was all a bit of a blur. His account would be frozen and his cards all cancelled. The bank’s fraud division would contact him.

  After a few minutes, he replaced the phone. He needed to talk to the sarge and the boss. He glanced at the ornate mantle clock that he hated but kept only because it had belonged to his wife’s mother, and saw that it was half past eleven. No way could he ring them now.

  Dave slowly dragged himself up from the chair and switched off the computer. It was going to be a very long night.

  * * *

  Cat was also suffering, but her discomfort was purely physical. She was now on intravenous antibiotics for the infection in her leg, and she was feeling wretched. Earlier she had phoned her mother, and for fifteen minutes had had to keep up the pretence of the whole thing being blown out of proportion and that she was fine really, just in for observation.

  The well-meant farce had drained her, and being in a small room with a closed door was slowly sending her stir-crazy. She was still desperate to see her face, but at the same time, scared to death to know what was under the dressings. For two hoots she would have discharged herself. The thought still lingered in her mind, but she knew that she would be letting her specialist down and also diminish her chance of that vital second operation, the one that would change her from John Merrick into Keira Knightley in the flash of a skilled scalpel. Well, that was the plan anyway.

  She pulled Travis’s laptop closer to her. Maybe he was right. She should play games. Catapult angry birds and stupid zombies. Move brightly coloured candy into rows and watch them disintegrate into even brighter showers of colour. She sighed. The pain in her leg was making concentration almost impossible. She needed more than just mind-numbing games.

  She looked at the piece of paper that Travis had left, and decided to take a look at one of his iffy info sites. It was part of the dark web and first she had to download a Tor browser. Then Cat tapped in the URL address and waited. For a while there was only a dark screen, there was obviously a lot of data being downloaded, then a box appeared mid-screen. It opened very slowly and flame-coloured letters spilled out. As they landed, they spelt out the words, Sophia’s Key. Wisdom at your fingertips. Press to enter.

  Cat pressed. All that came up was a plain black screen with a centralised white search box. ‘Ah,’ she whispered to herself, ‘What do I really want to know about?’ She thought for a moment, then remembered something that the sarge had told her earlier when he and the boss had visited her. Apparently Lawrence Carpenter had filled in some more background on the beautiful victim of Operation Windmill.

  She stared at the keyboard and then typed in Man jailed in Magda Hellekamp Stalker case.

  She had barely lifted her finger from the Enter button, when a massive list hit her screen. Discussion boards, blogs and God-knows-what trailed down the page. ‘Wow!’ This was impressive, although some of the site names made Cat’s warning bells jingle a little tune. Maybe she should tread carefully.

  After an hour Cat had forgotten about the pain in her leg. It might have been the painkillers, or it could have been the fascinating journey that she had just taken around the Netherlands’ cyberspace (fortunately the sites were either in English or Google translate did the job, with a bit of cutting and pasting).

  I need a damned printer, she cursed silently, as she scribbled down some of the best sites, then murmured, ‘This is extraordinary stuff. And this is only the first of Travis’s alternative sites. What the hell are the more sensitive ones like?’

  ‘Talking to oneself is not a good sign. I think maybe you should endeavour to get some sleep, don’t you?’

  Cat had not even heard the door open, let alone one of the night nurses approaching the bed.

  She looked up at the wall clock. It was almost one o’clock. ‘Sorry. The pain was getting to me so I tried some distractions.’

  The man looked at her with interest. ‘You’re the detective, aren’t you?’

  Cat nodded. This was a new nurse, and his uniform was different to the others.

  ‘It’s alright.’ He seemed to read her mind. ‘I’m agency. My name is Todd. Is there anything I can get you?’

  My old face back, thought Cat. Or maybe two strong legs to chase the bad guys with. ‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’ She closed down the laptop, placed it in her locker and eased herself gently down the bed. ‘You’re right, it is late. Good night.’

  * * *

  It had taken Nikki a good five minutes to bring the distraught Joseph to his senses and get him refocussed.

  The first thing they did was go outside to the car and phone Vinnie on the safe phone. They told him what had happened and, unlike Joseph, Vinnie was instantly geared up.

  ‘Right, there are nine services on the A1M, and if you think she said she was about an hour away, that would make it either Baldock, or more likely Peterborough. Get one of your guys to ring them and ask . . . oh hell, you don’t need me to tell you what they should ask.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I think you two should stay put, in case she calls again. Meanwhile I’ll drive up to the junction of Cloud Fen Lane and the main road in. It’s late for a cab to be out this way. When I see it turn off, I’ll flag him down and check all is well, okay?’

  Joseph nodded, and Nikki said, ‘Thank you, Vinnie, we appreciate it.’

  ‘No problem. And tomorrow we strip out everything the bastard put into your places, and sod the fact that we will be giving away our hand. It’ll piss him off, but at least I can rig things up so he can’t spy on you again.’

  ‘Let’s talk tom
orrow when we’ve sorted out this scare with Tamsin.’

  ‘Will do. And, Nikki? Tell Joseph I don’t think Snipe will hurt his girl. Don’t ask me why, but I get the feeling that if he is involved with what has happened to Tamsin, this is a scare tactic not a real threat to her life.’

  ‘I’ll do that, and thanks again.’

  Joseph then called the station and asked them to make all relevant enquiries and ring him back on his temporary number.

  The call came in less than five minutes. A young woman fitting Tamsin’s description had been at the Extra Service Station at Peterborough and had been picked up by a local cab company. The company was kosher, and the uniformed sergeant had asked their control to radio the cab in transit and make sure that the driver stopped for no one, other than the man with the Land Rover stationed at the Cloud Fen turn-off.

  Knowing that, Joseph visibly began to unwind.

  Nikki felt for him. He had been treading on eggshells with both Tamsin and his ex-wife for years, and just when things were beginning to come together, this happened. She knew for a fact that since being injured on duty, Joseph had made a mammoth effort to make Tamsin understand that he was no longer the dedicated career soldier who put Queen and country before wife and daughter. He was a very different man to the one who went to away to fight. But things like that took time, and the slightest upset could tip the balance and destroy all that he had done.

  ‘If I’d told her not to come here over the phone, at the one time when she needed me, I’m willing to bet I’d never have seen her again.’ Joseph ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. ‘It’ll be bad enough doing it face to face, but at least she can’t slam the phone down on me.’

  ‘So where will you take her?’ Nikki asked.

  ‘I’m still trying to work that one out. First I need to know what happened to her “travel plans,” and why she’s in this area at all. Her mother lives in Edinburgh now, and Tamsin shares a flat with two other uni students in Exeter, so what she’s doing in Peterborough, I have no idea.’

  Nikki gave it some thought then said, ‘I think we should take her to the nick.’ She stared at him. ‘Would you say she’s a sensitive girl?’

  Joseph nodded vehemently. ‘That’s why we are where we are now. Unlike other kids in army families, Tamsin took every tour of duty as a personal rejection of her and her mother. Plus, in her world, killing people does not make you an acceptable human being. Whenever her dad came home, while all the other fathers were hailed as heroes, I was just a killer who put my vile job before my family. ’

  ‘That must have been pretty tough.’

  ‘I can’t tell you how much it hurt. But I love her. I always have.’

  ‘Then I think maybe I should shoulder some of the blame for what you are going to have to tell her. And if you say she’s sensitive, we’ll give her a chance to notice the photos on the whiteboard, so she can see that Greenborough is not exactly Shangri-la at present. She’s no kid anymore. She needs to know that keeping her safe is your one and only directive.’

  ‘Even so, I predict a riot.’

  ‘Then allow me to wade in with my two-penny worth. I’m sure I can make her see reason.’ She gave him a Machiavellian smile. ‘One way or another.’

  Joseph gave her a wan smile. ‘Best of luck. As you say, she’s no kid anymore, but she’s still a feisty one.’

  ‘How old is she now?’

  ‘Coming up to twenty-three.’

  Nikki thought about Tamsin. She had met her only twice and was struck on both occasions by the resemblance to her father. Tamsin was tall and willowy, had the same fair hair, and had inherited Joseph’s incredible eyes. Eyes that could have belonged to a poet or an artist. Or, just as easily, an Olympic gold medal winner or a soldier. Whatever, they were always full of commitment. For Joseph, that meant loyalty to his work, his team and his daughter. Apparently, in Tamsin’s case, it meant saving the planet and righting all the wrongs in the world.

  ‘Is she still fighting for the rainforests and snow leopards?’

  ‘Oh yes, but now you can add the polar ice cap and every known endangered species.’

  ‘I don’t remember Hannah having such high ideals.’ Nikki felt a lurch in her chest when she thought about her daughter. ‘She was an emotional and driven teenager, but sadly most of her energies were wasted on trying to impress the wrong people.’ Anger and a feeling of being cheated out of Hannah’s best years threatened to overwhelm her, but she pushed them away. Hannah was gone, but Joseph’s daughter was still very much alive, and right now she was heading into dangerous territory. This was no time for morbid thoughts and recriminations.

  Joseph looked at his watch. ‘They should be here in half an hour and I agree about going to the police station, but where then? I want her as far from Greenborough as possible.’ He chewed anxiously on the side of his thumb. ‘But I want her to trust me, and not think that I’m just trying to get rid of her because I’m too busy with work.’

  ‘Leave that to me.’ Nikki adopted a firm expression. ‘She’ll understand, when I tell her what happened to Cat and the young copper who was standing next to her.’

  ‘I’m sure you’re right, but I’m just terrified of rocking the boat. I want my daughter back.’ Joseph’s face creased up into a mask of pain. ‘Oh, Nikki, I’m sorry! That was one hell of an insensitive thing to say to you. I didn’t think before I opened my stupid mouth.’

  ‘It’s alright. I know how important it is for you to heal the past with Tamsin.’ Nikki smiled gently at him. ‘And you have the chance to do it. It’s too late for Hannah and me, but that doesn’t mean I resent you getting it right with your girl.’

  ‘I just can’t believe how bad the timing was for her to ring me. You know how long I’ve waited to have her stay with me, even just for a day.’

  Nikki stiffened. It really was one heck of a coincidence. She exhaled noisily and tried to quell the thought. She was in danger of becoming neurotic about Snipe. It would be very easy to blame everything that happened on him and forget that life had its own way of throwing spanners in the works, without the aid of a vengeful psycho. She sighed. ‘I know. She couldn’t have picked a worse time.’

  For the next twenty minutes they talked about anything and everything in an attempt to keep from wearing a track in the sitting-room carpet. To say that they felt jittery was an understatement, and in the end they fell into a silence, one that was loaded with tension.

  ‘Let’s wait outside,’ said Nikki, anxious to lose the feeling that the walls were closing in on her.

  Joseph was at the door in three strides, then paused. ‘Don’t forget Snipe still has surveillance on the front and back doors.’

  ‘Then he’ll see her arrive no matter what.’ That’s if he didn’t organise the whole shebang in the first place, she thought. ‘And we are not staying, are we? As soon as we see that Tamsin’s safe, it’s into the car and off to the nick.’ She stood beside him and listened to the hushed sound of the night wind off the estuary. ‘I think we should all stay at the station tonight. There’s a futon in my office. Tamsin can have that, and you and I, well, we can doss down somewhere, can’t we?’

  Joseph sucked in air. ‘I guess that’s best. And it would give us until the morning to sort something out for her.’ His voice fell to almost a whisper. ‘It’s in my head to put her on a train up to her mother. As Snipe is so busy terrorising us, he won’t want to take time out to travel to Scotland.’

  ‘Let’s find out why she’s here in the first place, before you pack her off to the glens. She may not take kindly to being bundled out of the way and back to Mummy. She’s old enough to decide for herself where she’d like to go, within reason.’

  Joseph straightened. ‘My phone.’ He slipped the mobile from his pocket and pressed the loudspeaker button as he answered it.

  ‘She’s safe, mate.’

  Vinnie’s voice and what he said was the best they could have hoped for.

  ‘Thank you, Vi
nnie.’ Joseph let out a little whoop of relief. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.’

  ‘She’ll be with you in no time, Bunny, and you can see for yourself. And hey! She’s a cracker, isn’t she? Even if she did give me the evil eye for flagging down her taxi.’

  ‘We’ll see you tomorrow, Vin. I’ll ring you early, okay?’

  ‘Sure thing. We’ll talk then.’

  ‘Thanks again. I owe you one.’

  ‘The bill is going up by the day, mate, but you’re welcome.’

  The phone clicked off, and as it did Nikki heard an engine. ‘She’s here.’

  Together they walked to the edge of the drive and waited beside the road. Soon the two bright headlights turned into the dark shape of a big old Toyota. A second or two later, it ground to a slow halt and the driver cut the engine.

  ‘Blimey! Where is this? World’s End?’ A short, stocky man with a bald head and a badly moulded face got out and opened the rear door for Tamsin. ‘Give us your bag, love. Apparently this is home sweet home!’

  The young woman stepped out and again Nikki was amazed by her looks. The girl was simply stunning.

  Joseph was paying the driver, and from the wide-eyed expression on his funny face, giving him the kind of tip that doesn’t come along too often.

  As the car turned and drove back up the lane, Tamsin looked around in surprise.

  ‘What’s going on, Dad? Who was that tall man who stopped us? And . . .’ she looked at her watch, ‘Inspector Galena? Why are you here? It’s almost one in the morning.’

  Before Joseph could answer, Nikki grasped Tamsin’s hand. ‘We’re really glad you’re safe, Tamsin, but something has happened, something serious, and we can’t stay here. We are going back to the police station, then we’ll get you some food and explain, okay?’

  ‘No, actually it isn’t.’ The girl stood up straight and used her inch or two of extra height to look down on Nikki. ‘Look, I’m totally knackered. I’ve had a dreadful day, and if it’s all the same, I’d like a shower and a bed, not a drive to a police station.’