by Liz Mistry
He laughed as he walked. Things had gone so well. Daughter dear wasn’t aware that her slut of a mother had contacted him – begging for forgiveness, begging to come back to him. Okay, she might have been prompted by a desire to save the rest of her dysfunctional little family from his wrath, but it had still felt so good to have her grovelling at his feet. What was disappointing though was that Nikki had failed to make the link between the three deaths. Call herself a copper – bloody gormless piece of crap – that’s what she was. Couldn’t investigate her way out of a paper bag, that one – had clearly inherited her mother’s brains.
He chuckled. Maybe he’d have to send her an address – a birth certificate – yes, that’s what he’d do. No more diary excerpts. They were clearly too subtle for her to work out – but official documentation – now that might be a different story altogether. Good job, he had the foresight to deposit all his paperwork with his solicitor before he got banged up. Not that he’d imagined all those years ago that he’d have a use for those stupid diaries the kid had left behind. Not that he could have predicted that any grandson of his could be in a position to blow up that particular hornet’s nest. He laughed again. God that was a juicy bit of information he’d been given – too juicy not to savour.
He had intended to sit on it for a while, consider his various options. Never in a million years had he considered that the chain of events that led him back to Bradford would be activated. At first he was shocked … then his plan had begun to form. He could capitalise on this, no doubt about it and of course, so far, things had progressed in his favour.
He got into the car that was waiting for him, and phoned the guy he’d planted outside Lazy Bites. ‘She still there?’
‘Yep, eyes on the clock or on me – but she’s behaving herself, so far. I’ll let you know when she’s on the move.’
He laughed. Images of his wayward daughter sitting on her hands, letting him escape into the ether, whilst her precious mother was in his safekeeping, was exhilarating. Her frustration would be killing her and he revelled in that thought. She deserved all the shit that was coming for her, that one.
Chapter 67
Lalita could hardly believe it when Downey got out of the car near Trafalgar House, but she had an uneasy feeling about it. If there was one thing she’d learned during her time with Downey, it was that he never did anything for no reason. She had a sinking feeling that his reason this time was to do with her and Nikita and, not for the first time since she’d entered the car, she wondered if she was up to pulling this off. With tender fingers, she prodded her temple. The lump was sore to touch, but he hadn’t broken skin – not with that punch.
Her fingers moved to her swollen lip. Whilst they’d been driving, he’d taken the opportunity to punish her and in the confines of the back seat Lalita had had no option but to give in to him. She wiped the blood away and then cradled her twisted left arm gingerly. She’d screeched when he broke her finger, but he’d only laughed, his eyes flashing and her only respite from the series of jabs and punches came when he got out of the car.
But that hadn’t been the worst of it. Minutes after he left, his driver started up the car again, and stopped just opposite the Lazy Bites café. Inside, Nikita, her precious daughter, was sitting opposite Downey. Lalita’s unhurt hand reached out to touch the window, her lips parted and a groan left them. No, not Nikita – not my baby.
The tortured look on Nikita’s face was ingrained in Lalita’s mind. The last thing she’d wanted when she started all of this, was for her daughter to see her, beaten and subservient – she’d seen her that way too many times in the past. When the driver had started up the engine and driven away again, Lalita had been unable to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks. Every thought was with her daughter. And she prayed once more to Lord Ganesha to keep Nikita safe.
Hardly aware of her surroundings, Lalita was surprised when the car eventually pulled into a potholed yard with a few cars parked outside a building. She thought she might be in Barkerend, but wasn’t entirely sure. There was a sign proclaiming the cavernous metal building to be a garage. The driver, maintaining the same silence he had all day so far, helped her out of the vehicle and showing more care than she’d experienced all day, helped her inside. Apart from a car, bonnet open, an oily rag hanging from its bumper, the room contained a range of mechanical stuff. Chairs were positioned in a semi-circle as if some sort of meeting had been held there. Two were occupied by the sort of thugs Lalita had come to associate with Downey and strewn over the floor were empty crisp packets and squashed soft drink cans. From behind a cloud of smoke, the two men nodded at the driver and continued playing on their phones as he escorted her past them to a partitioned-off room towards the back of the garage.
He opened the door and pushed her through. ‘Make yourself comfy.’
He left her standing there, staring into the room, only to return seconds later with an empty bucket and a plastic bag containing a few chocolate bars, crisps and some drinks.
‘In case you need to go,’ he said, placing the bucket in the corner of the room. Then, darting a glance to the men outside, he slipped something into her hand before walking out and slamming the door behind him.
The sound of a padlock being engaged and his footsteps fading brought Lalita to life. She sighed and then looked down at the square box he’d placed in her good hand. Ibuprofen. All at once Lalita didn’t feel quite so alone.
Chapter 68
As soon as Downey was out the door, Nikki picked up the package Downey had left on the table and peered inside. She tipped the contents onto the table with a frown. A box of children’s playing cards – what the hell was he playing at? Then she read the title: Happy Families. What message was he trying to send her? She couldn’t think about that now, so she slipped the packet of cards in her pocket and Nikki spent the next twenty minutes trying to pretend that nothing was up. The last thing she needed was for the spy on the opposite side of the road to think she was somehow contravening Downey’s orders. He’d managed to get through Ali’s men to her mother and Nikki wasn’t about to risk him getting to her kids.
She tried to summon up the calming breathing techniques her psychiatrist had taught her, but her nerves were too jangled. Her mother’s pale, anguished face kept swimming into focus in front of her and she dreaded to think what exactly she might be enduring whilst Nikki waited for the minute hand to reach the twenty-minute target. For a nanosecond she was tempted to signal to Grayson – but a quick glance round the café told her that she didn’t know the clients. Any one of them could be one of Downey’s men and the stakes were too high for Nikki to risk anything. The time passed with frustrating slowness, whilst Nikki’s mind worked at breakneck speed. Her imagination knew no bounds, because she was more than aware of what Freddie Downey was capable of. She alternated between fingering her scar and twanging the elastic band on her wrist, but none of that made time speed up.
The clock on the Lazy Bites wall had no sooner signalled that the twenty minutes specified was up than Downey’s thug held up Nikki’s phone so she could see it. He then placed it on the small knee-high wall that divided the pavement from the grass verge on the opposite side of the road. Nikki jumped to her feet and hared from the café, determined to give it her best shot to catch him, but as the door jangled shut behind her, a black car drew up next to the thug. Before Nikki could launch herself across the road, he’d got in and it had driven off, leaving Nikki kicking the wall in frustration as she realised the car had no visible number plates. Fucking Downey.
Breath catching in her chest, frustrated tears threatening, Nikki snatched her phone up and taking to her heels, she ran back to Trafalgar House, speed-dialling Sajid as she went. There was no time to be lost – they’d already lost too much. Panting as she ran up the steps, pausing only to use her ID to open the doors, Nikki updated her partner. Seconds later, she burst through the incident room doors and saw that Saj already had Springer, Williams, Archie and Anwar
lined up. She held up a finger and waited for the call she was making to be answered. ‘Charlie, that you? Are you okay? Where are you?’
‘Chill, Mum. The Rubster and I are waiting for Marcy to collect us. What’s up?’
‘No time to talk now, just tell Marcus to bring you, Sunni, Ruby and Haqib to Trafalgar House. It’s not safe at home.’
If she hadn’t been so stressed, Nikki might have taken a moment to tell Charlie how proud she was of the way she just stood up to the mark and agreed to pass the message on to Marcus without fussing. Her little girl was growing up. A glance at Sajid told her he was speaking to Anika on the phone. He flicked it to speaker so she could hear.
‘Of course Ali’s men are still out front. Where else would they be when Lady Nikita has ordered them to be there?’ Anika’s tone was bored – uninterested.
Saj rolled his eyes, but betrayed none of his frustration when he replied. ‘Ani, your mum’s been abducted by Downey. I need you to get Ali’s men to bring you here, right now.’
‘But … I don’t wa …’
Sajid’s reply was razor-sharp. ‘I don’t give a flying canary about what you want, Anika. Just get into the car with Ali’s men and get your arse down here. NOW!’ and he hung up.
Archie stepped toward Nikki. ‘Aw no, Parekh. Cannae believe he’s got your maw. I’d have bet my proverbials on Ali’s men keeping you safe, until we manage to get official surveillance set up.’
Nikki shrugged; no time for guilt or apologies. ‘Here’s what I know …’
For the next ten minutes she filled her bosses in on Downey’s appearance at the café and her mother being in the car with one of Downey’s thugs. ‘We need the CCTV from the surrounding area. I need to know where that bastard has gone. We need to get him before it’s too late.’
Springer looked ready to step in, but Archie threw her a look. ‘Let Parekh deal with this her way. She knows what needs doing.’
As her team swung into action, Nikki yelled instructions. ‘Get officers back out to re-question Downey’s acquaintances. Tell them to press hard this time. Some of them know where he’s holed up.’
Williams ran over, his flushed face telling her he’d got something for her.
‘Go on, quick. Tell us.’
Williams dived right in. ‘Two of Ali’s men took her to her work. They waited to see her go inside before driving off. They’d arranged to pick her up at five o’clock, but here’s the thing. Her manager says that your mum never started her shift. She says she was seen leaving the library through the front entrance.’
Nikki’s forehead furrowed as she tried to work out what that meant. Her mum had voluntarily left the safety of the library and that made no sense. She knew better than anyone just what Downey was capable of. Then it dawned on her – of course! She should have considered this before. Her mum had taken it upon herself to meet with Downey. Downey hadn’t snatched her; Nikki’s mum had gone willingly. Nikki could think of only one reason for that – one that would end in tears. Her mother had no experience of these things, so if she hoped to get the better of Downey, she was delusional. ‘She must have contacted him through someone she knew from back then.’
Pacing the floor Nikki racked her brain. There was someone. Who was it? Someone her mum had seen. It had upset her mum so much she’d told Nikki about it. It was a plumber – he’d come to the house when she had a leaky cistern and her mum had been shocked to recognise the man. Then they’d bumped into each other a few times since. Nikki remembered now. ‘Jimbo something or other. He’s a plumber – he knows where Downey is – locate him now.’
Chapter 69
With sirens screeching, they converged on the Spring-A-Leak offices in Wibsey – three marked police cars, Sajid’s Jag, Archie’s Land Rover and a SWAT team bringing up the rear. Saj had barely pulled to a stop when Nikki was out the car and running for the gate that led into the premises. Truth was, it was a side gate leading to a shed at the back of a domestic bungalow where Jimbo Lane conducted his plumbing business.
He was dressed in dungarees, and as soon as he saw Nikki flanked by uniformed officers and detectives, he splayed his arms in front of him. Before Nikki had a chance to be persuasive, he spoke. ‘This about Downey?’
The wind was bashed from Nikki’s sails. She’d expected silence, and had geared herself up to pressurise him in any way she could. She’d assumed, that like Downey’s other contacts, he would be resistant, then Nikki caught sight of a couple of Baby-gros and a baby blanket on the washing line and she got it. Jimbo had turned straight – settled down.
‘Look, I don’t want any trouble with your lot. I knew Freddie years ago and I got into trouble myself back then, but I’m clean now. I’ve got a legitimate business, a wife, kids. No way I want to fuck that up for the likes of Downey.’
He glanced at Nikki. ‘Besides, I like your mum – she didn’t deserve to be treated the way Freddie treated her.’
Nikki’s brief nod acknowledged his words. ‘All we want from you is his whereabouts.’
Jimbo shook his head. ‘I think he’s been staying in folks’ spare rooms and in a hotel since he’s been back. Got a load of money, he has, and he’s been splashing it about a bit.’
If Sajid hadn’t stepped forward, Nikki would have taken Jimbo by the arms and shaken him till he spat out an address.
‘All we want, Mr Lane, is an address for Downey. That’s all.’
Lane’s eyes clouded and he bit his lip. Clearly the thought of dobbing in his friend to the coppers was a hard one to make and although Nikki sympathised, they just didn’t have time right now. Who knew what her mother was suffering at Downey’s hands?
‘He’s got my mum, Jimbo. You got to tell us, if you know.’
Running his fingers over his head, Lane’s cursed. ‘Well, it’s only rumour like, but, last I heard, he’d beaten up a lad who owns a garage over Barkerend way. Seems like he’s taken it over as a sort of headquarters.’
Nikki nearly snarled from over Saj’s shoulder. She didn’t want a bloody tale – she only needed an address. ‘Address, for God’s sake.’
Jimbo, startled by her venom, took a step back and then shrugged. ‘No address, but you could google it. Garage is called Clive’s Body Work. I always remember it because Clive’s such a wanker na …’
But he was talking to thin air as Nikki spun on her heel, phone out already googling the address on the way back to the vehicles.
Chapter 70
It had been even harder to see Downey than she’d expected. She’d thought her fear would resurface and she’d collapse into a jabbering wreck, but that hadn’t happened. It would have been easier for her in some ways if it had. Instead, she had to pretend to be in awe of him – petrified – still the weak little girl he’d beaten and pimped and abused. She was still scared – who wouldn’t be? The man was a monster, but whilst he hadn’t changed – not really – she had and that’s what made the difference.
Her lip where he’d punched her was swollen and bruised, her entire face throbbed as did her finger, despite the four Ibuprofen tablets she’d taken earlier. Somehow the pain made her feel stronger. She’d survived a lot worse at his hands. However, if her plan worked out, this time she might be lucky enough to walk away with only a busted-up face and a broken finger – that was what she was hoping for anyway. That’s what she had prayed for.
For now, she was alone. After he’d returned from his conversation with Nikita, he’d glared at her through the dim light, but he hadn’t bothered to tie her up and he hadn’t said anything. She’d blubbered and blabbered like a baby, demeaning herself, begging him not to hurt her and all the time he’d laughed – getting off on her distress – but that was what she’d planned for. It was shadowy and the room had the oily smell of a garage. There was nothing in there except for a bundle of rags in the corner and bottles of oil and polish and stuff on a metal shelving unit along the long wall. The window had been boarded up from the inside, and a yellowy bulb that gave off barely
a circle of light hung in the middle of the ceiling.
She’d hung on as long as she could before using the bucket, but then decided she was better to use it before Downey came back in. She could hear them talking outside the room. Downey laughing, other men joining in. She tried to count the different voices – three men and Downey. The odds were not in her favour. There was nothing in the room she could use as a weapon – no metal wrenches or knives or anything and of course, the bastard had taken the weapons he’d found in her bag.
Lalita smiled and shrugged. She’d just have to make do then. After what seemed like a long time, she heard the outer door of the garage open and shut. From beyond her cell all she could hear was silence. Had they all gone?
Lalita sat on the single chair beside a rickety desk and waited, her breath held. The telltale rattle of a key being inserted in a lock told her she wasn’t alone and her heartbeat accelerated. This might be the opportunity she needed – Downey was coming to exact the revenge he’d waited years for.
With the door open, he stood there, a monster silhouetted against the light. Lalita was sure he could hear her heart pounding, as she waited for him to make his move. He was so much bigger than her – bigger than she remembered, now he was standing before her. What could she do against such strength?
‘Time to even the score, whore.’ His tone was conversational and sent a chill right to Lalita’s marrow as she licked her lips, dreading what was coming next. He stepped forward, crowding her, accentuating the difference in their sizes. ‘You’ll regret ever arranging this meeting. Did you really think you could strike a deal? Did you really think that hurting you was going to be enough for me? How naive.’
He reached out and traced his finger down her mascara-stained cheek. ‘I’m going to make you a promise. As soon as I’m done with you, I’m going for your daughters and then, your grandkids. You should have known better than to betray me. This time, my revenge will be sweet.’