Vanished Beneath: DS Lasser six (The Lasser series Book 6)

by Robin Roughley

  'Right I'll ask you again, where did Elliot get his shit from, because we know his regular supply had been cut off and yet he was still out there selling?'

  Dave pulled his hands away and Nick raised his fingers to his ruined mouth. 'I thought he was still getting it from the Mellor’s,' he managed to mumble.

  'No he fucking wasn't so think again or I'll find me a corkscrew and get busy.'

  Nick's eyes sprang wide as the threat slammed home, teeth could be fixed, split lips would heal, but a corkscrew rammed into an ear would spell the end for him.

  'Listen Dave,' he swallowed down a mouthful of bile. 'The last time I saw Elliot was two weeks ago, I...'

  'So what did he have to say for himself?'

  Nick felt the room tilt as his body threatened to close down, gripping the corner of the table he fought to stay in the here and now, afraid that if he closed his eyes then he would never get to open them again.

  'When I saw him he was in the Swan and well flushed. I mean, he was waving a wad of cash around and buying every fucker a drink.'

  Pitt narrowed his eyes. 'Was he now?'

  'I asked him where he'd got the cash, but he just grinned like the village idiot.'

  Pitt sighed as if getting board. 'Get on with it dickhead.'

  'Well the thing is he was well pissed, staggering about and...'

  Pitt slammed a hand across the side of Shaw's head which whiplashed right.

  'I said get to the fucking point.'

  Nick rubbed a hand across his head, his eyes frantic like a comic standing in front of a hostile crowd who somehow knows the punch line will anger rather than please.

  'Well the thing is he had this bird with him...'

  Pitt raised his hand and Shaw cowered back with hands raised.

  'No, no wait,' he gasped. 'This bird was the one holding all the cash.'

  Pitt frowned. 'What are you talking about?'

  'Elliot stuffed a load of money over the bar and told the landlord to let him know when it ran out. Every fucker went mad ordering whisky and fruit shots, Elliot bloody loved it, sitting there like a fucking king while everyone got rat arsed.'

  'So what's the bird got to do with anything?'

  Shaw dropped his hand to the table and then grimaced as it came away slick with his own blood. 'Well that's the weird part, she just sat there sipping an orange juice, didn't move a fucking muscle and then when Bill the Landlord came over and told Elliot that the cash had gone, she was the one who took another bundle from her bag and handed it over.'

  'So she was holding the cash, that's no big deal.'

  Shaw stretched out a hand and then yanked it back when he saw the scowl on Pitt's face.

  'No you don't get it, Elliot tried to stop her he didn't want her handing anymore cash over. I know he was pissed, but he was always a tight arse.'

  'But she handed the cash over anyway?'

  Shaw nodded and winced as the pain began to really kick in. 'I was sat at the same table and she told him to back off. She didn't shout or scream, it was well weird, she just looked at his hand and then he pulled it away and shot off to the bogs and then she gave Bill at least another two maybe three hundred quid.'

  Pitt frowned and nodded. 'Then what happened?'

  'As soon as she handed the money over she got up and left.'

  'Did Elliot go with her?'

  'Nah he was still in the shitter. I mean, he looked really annoyed when he came out and she'd vanished.'

  'So did he go after her?'

  Shaw tried to force his tongue against his teeth and then he realised that they were probably still in the hallway. 'I thought he would have done but he just sat there like a soft cunt and got pissed.'

  'You seen this girl before?'

  This was the question that Nick Shaw had been dreading the most. He tried to think up a name, any name but his brain couldn't separate rational thought from the throbbing pain.

  'Well?'

  In the end he was left with no choice. 'Sorry Dave I'd never seen her before.'

  Pitt frowned and Shaw thought he would shit himself with fear.

  'But do you think Elliot was shagging her?'

  Nick felt a sliver of hope ignite as Pitt stayed in his seat.

  'No way, I mean, she was a fit piece and Elliot was a scruffy bastard.'

  Pitt folded his huge arms. 'So what was she doing there with him?'

  Shaw shrugged. 'I'm fucked if I know but she wouldn't have touched him with a ten foot barge pole.'

  'Do you know if Elliot had another bird on the go?'

  'Well Beth threw him out months ago...'

  'I already know that, but if he wasn't staying with her then who was he shacked up with?'

  Suddenly a ping went off in Shaw's brain like an old style bell that tinkles when someone opens a shop door. 'Yeah, yeah he was fucking some scank...!'

  'Oh so you remember now do you?' Pitt moved in his chair and Shaw suddenly realised that the next sentence he uttered could turn out to be his last.

  'Her name's Kylie Frodsham, she lives out at Hag Fold.'

  'And you're sure Elliot was seeing her.'

  Despite the pain, Shaw nodded. 'Positive, he was in a cafe in town groping her arse, she looked stoned but they were definitely together.'

  A smile broke out on Pitt's face. 'If I traipse all the way out there and she doesn't exist then you know I'll come back here and kill you, don't you Nick?'

  'Yeah, yeah course,' Shaw muttered as the relief flooded through his system.

  'And if you decide to make a run for it I'll go and pay a visit to your mam, do you understand what I'm telling you?'

  All the tension came rushing back into Shaw's bedraggled brain as he realised this was far from over. 'I won't run Dave, honest mate.'

  Pitt stood up and cracked his neck from side to side. 'I'm not your mate you runt, now what about an address for this Kylie Frodsham?'

  'I don't have one.'

  Pitt shook his head. 'Fucking useless you are,' he said as he walked out of the kitchen.

  A moment later, Shaw heard the door slam, and then he went looking for his missing teeth.

  100

  Lasser and Odette sat shoulder to shoulder in the cramped broom cupboard of a room while Roger the tech guy pressed a few buttons and twiddled some knobs.

  After five minutes of watching people going in and out of various banks in town, and the shops in the Grand Arcade, Lasser lost the plot.

  'It's bloody typical, cameras everywhere and yet none on the shitholes, it's always the banks and fancy bloody shops. I mean, it's pathetic.'

  Rog treated him to a crooked smile, his boffin like head wobbled from to side-to-side. 'Well imagine if there was a bank job and we were busy watching Primark or the Market stalls they'd have our heads.'

  Lasser folded his arms. 'And when was the last time Wigan had a bank job?'

  Roger shrugged before turning back to the screen.

  Lasser could feel the need for a cigarette growing by the second.

  Odette suddenly leaned forward in her seat. 'Pause it there,' she pointed at the screen on the left and Rog tapped at a key.

  The people on the screen froze like bit part players in a tacky ‘B’ movie.

  'The guy in the denim jacket can we get a closer look?'

  'We can try,' Rog replied as his fingers danced over the keys.

  'You've spotted something,' Lasser whispered and then wondered why he was bothering speaking in an undertone.

  'I'm not sure,' she said as she leaned further forward.

  Suddenly the image on the screen leapt forward and both Lasser and Odette leant back to adjust their eyes.

  Roger fiddled with the focus and the image cleared.

  Odette nodded, a frown plucked at her forehead. 'I'm not sure if it's him or not,' she mumbled.

  Lasser looked back at the screen. 'Who are we talking about?'

  'When we left the car and were heading towards the pub a man stopped in front of us for no re
ason.'

  Lasser turned to look at her. 'I don't remember.'

  'That's because you were busy talking, but we had to move around him, you went right I went left.'

  Lasser pursed his lips. 'Well you'll find that happens a lot around here, people just grind to a halt for no reason, I reckon it's something they put in the water.'

  Odette smiled and shook her head. 'The thing is I'm sure I spotted him in the pub.'

  Lasser suddenly sat up straight.

  'You were talking to Bob and I looked in the long mirror behind the bar and I'm sure pretty sure it was him,' she pointed to the image on the screen.

  'So was he heading towards the bogs?'

  Odette shrugged. 'I haven't a clue, you know how dark it was in there and the mirror wasn't exactly clean, but he was wearing a denim jacket and the hair looks about right.'

  Lasser turned back to the screen. 'Any chance you can get this sent over to the station then we can print some off?'

  Roger's fingers flew over the keys before tapping enter. 'There you go.'

  Lasser scratched his chin. 'You mean you've done it?'

  'They should be printing as we speak; I've done thirty, but if you need more just give me a shout.'

  Clambering to his feet, Lasser clapped the tech guy on the back. 'That's my man,' he said with a grin.

  Roger looked at him as if he had gone mad.

  Outside the late afternoon sun was staring to fade, most of the shoppers had headed home for the day. Another couple of hours and the partygoers would hit the town, the lads in their fake Armani Jeans and the girls with their knock off Prada bags.

  Odette checked her watch and frowned. 'It's getting late.'

  Lasser stifled a yawn. 'So what do you want to do about the Frodsham girl?'

  Odette wrapped the scarf around her neck. 'How long would it take us to get there?'

  'Well I don't have her address yet, so that could take ten minutes, and then if we don't hit any traffic another half an hour to get over to Leigh.'

  Odette shook her head. 'Friday night, the chances are she's probably putting on the makeup as we speak.'

  'Sounds about right,' Lasser agreed.

  'So how do you fancy an early start tomorrow?'

  'No problem.'

  'Right that sounds like a plan to me. Now can you drop me at the Oak hotel?'

  'You're staying at the Oak?' Lasser asked in surprise.

  Odette slid her hands into her pockets. 'It hardly seemed worth going back and forward to Manchester, I mean, you know what the jobs like you never know what time you'll finish so it made sense to find somewhere cheap for a few days.'

  Lasser rubbed a hand across his bristle hair. 'Well listen why don't you come back to my place...'

  Odette whipped her head around the ponytail flying. 'What are you suggesting Sergeant?'

  Lasser could feel his cheeks begin to warm up. 'Don't be daft I'm talking about something to eat, if you'd sooner sit on your tod in some grubby hotel room than that's fine.'

  'So you think I'm incapable of spending time on my own is that what your telling me?' her face looked serious and Lasser could have kicked himself. She was a DI and a female to boot, which either meant she'd wormed her way up the ladder by arse kissing those in charge or she was a bright switched on woman who took no shit.

  From the look on her face Lasser could guess the answer. 'That's not what I'm saying, and...'

  'Listen I might not know the area but I do know what people are like, if I come to your place then tongues will wag and before you know it, according to the grapevine, we'll be in a relationship...'

  'Hang on I'm already spoken for so you don't have to worry on that score.'

  She blinked at him. 'Oh right.'

  'I know I might look like a sad loner...'

  'Now who's being daft?'

  'But Medea will be at home...'

  'Medea, that's an unusual name.'

  'That's good coming from someone called Odette, I mean, you two should get on brilliantly.'

  'Won't she mind me turning up out of the blue?'

  'Jesus, Odette, you're a work colleague.'

  'So you take Cooper and Chadwick to your place for beer and football is that it?'

  'I wouldn't give them my last Rolo let alone a decent beer.'

  'That's my point, you've never done it before so why do it now?'

  Lasser moved to one side as a group of lads went swaggering by, all of them eyeing Odette as they walked past.

  'Because Cooper and Chadwick live in the area, you don't. But like I said I'm not trying to twist your arm and if you feel uncomfortable then that's fine it was only a suggestion.'

  Odette thought for a moment and then she smiled. 'OK why not, as long as you're sure it's not a problem?'

  Lasser grinned. 'Chill out Odette, hey, if you behave yourself I'll even let you watch a bit of tele.'

  'That’s another thing Bannister warned me about.'

  'Oh aye, what's that?'

  'He said your jokes were rubbish.'

  'Fair enough, ' he smiled as they set off back to the car.

  101

  Albie sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, the piece of crumpled paper held tight in his sweaty grasp. When he'd seen the name written on the single sheet of A4 his stomach had lurched in terror.

  Now he watched, as the room grew dark around him, fading sunlight replaced by the pitiful glow of the streetlight outside his bedroom window.

  His head throbbed, the blood rushing through his skull like the sea in an empty shell.

  Scrubbing both hands down his face, he pushed himself up from the crumpled bed and shuffled to the bathroom. While taking a leak he caught sight of his face in the mirror, haunted eyes glared a back at him from a face he barely recognised.

  When he'd arrived home another envelope had been waiting on the welcome mat, this time there had been over three grand inside and the name scrawled on the paper. The money had felt like a gipsy-curse in his hand, the name had dropped him to his knees.

  The words twenty-four hours had been scribbled at the bottom of the sheet, Albie knew what they meant, what the consequences would be if he failed to carry out the order.

  The problem was, if he failed in his task then the police would be the least of his worries, and if by some miracle he managed to succeed then he could already guess who the next target would be.

  Albie closed his eyes and stuffed his dribbling member back into his boxers before wandering back into the bedroom.

  Whichever way he looked at it all he could see was disaster a choice between a lifetime in the nick, or beaten to death and fed into the mechanical crusher.

  When his phone began to ring, he reached for it with a sense of inevitability.

  'Well done Albie you did a good job.'

  Albie flopped back onto the bed. 'Listen I can't do the name you sent me.'

  'Your reason being?'

  'Because the Mellor’s are fucking nutters.'

  'So you're turning the job down, I'm disappointed but as long as I know where I stand, goodbye...'

  'No, no wait, I mean, what are you going to do?'

  'You know the answer to that, so if you want my advice you'd better get your running shoes on.'

  Albie shot up from the bed in fear. 'No wait, please don't go!' he sounded like a love struck teenager on a sex chat line.

  'You've changed your mind?'

  Albie licked his lips. 'Look, I might need more than twenty four hours; I need to be careful, you know if they catch me then I'm fucking dead!'

  He heard a sigh drift from the mobile. 'You have forty-eight hours, no more, no less.'

  'If I do manage it then what, I mean, is this going to carry on forever?'

  'So that's what your worried about, you think when one brother is gone I'll ask you to repeat the task?'

  'Well yeah and, I mean, it just ain’t possible not the two of them...'

  'Let me put your mind at rest Albie. If you do this thing
for me then the next envelope will contain ten thousand pounds and more importantly no name.'

  Albie blinked in the gloom. 'But I thought...'

  'I know what you thought, but I'm telling you how it will be.'

  Albie sat back down on the corner of the mattress. 'But what about the coppers?'

  'If you keep your word then I'll do the same, no police banging on your door, no need to run.'

  Albie felt the confusion seizing his brain, the thought of actually trusting someone was an alien concept.

  'How do I know you'll keep your promise?'

  'You don't but if I'd wanted to get the police involved I would have done it by now.'

  'Bollocks.' Albie snapped.

  This time when the voice spoke there was a hard edge to it. 'Take the job, don't take the job it makes no difference to me, but if you decide not to then I guess you'll never know whether you could have trusted me or not.'

  And there it was, all laid out in black and white, no shades of grey, no ifs and buts.

  'OK look I'll try.'

  'I thought you'd see sense, now shouldn't you get busy, you don't want to waste the few hours you have.'

  'I...'

  The voice vanished the screen flashed and then went blank

  Albie took a huge shuddering breath before reaching for the pile of clothes on the floor.

  102

  Lasser stood in the empty kitchen with a look of confusion on his face.

  Odette stood with hands on hips. 'Are you sure Medea actually exists Sergeant, or is it just a ploy to get me on my own?'

  'I'll put the kettle on,' he said.

  Odette shook her head and looked around the room, in the kitchen window was a vase filled with colourful blooms, two cups on the drainer a handbag hung from one of the chairs.

  Filling the kettle, Lasser dropped it back onto the cradle before flicking the switch.

  'Now do you want tea or coffee?'

  'Are you any good at brewing up?' she asked.

  'I spent years on my own so the answer is probably no.'

  Pulling out a chair, she sat down. 'I'd better play it safe then, have you got any fresh orange juice?'

  'I've got Vimto.' Lasser replied before pulling out his phone and sliding a finger down the screen.

  'I haven't had Vimto since I was about ten.'

  'You'll love it,' he gave her the thumbs up as he listened to the phone ring. 'Hi Med where are you?'