It was lunch hour and the bank buzzed with people. There was a teller at every kiosk, customers were dotted about at the various paying-in machines, and the queues were at least five people deep. The hairs on the back of Daniel’s neck prickled—WPC Wilmott had phoned to tell him Lowell had left Thelma’s house approximately one hour ago, so Daniel was relying on Lowell coming straight back to the bank.
With a curt nod, he indicated for his officers to follow him toward the information desk. A smiling clerk greeted him.
“May I help you?”
“I wish to speak with Mr. Marcus Lowell, please.”
“Do you have an appointment, sir?”
“No, I don’t,” Daniel said, pulling his ID from his pocket and holding it up. “But I’d appreciate a moment of his time, anyway.”
Color darkened her cheeks. “I’m afraid Mr. Lowell isn’t here right now. He’s due back at three-thirty.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“He has a business meeting with managers from two of our other branches.”
“Where?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Where is he meeting them?” Daniel could feel himself
losing his patience. “It’s important I speak with him immediately.”
She stood and called out to an older woman walking purposefully toward a back office. “Sheila? Could you spare a minute, please?”
The woman came closer but Daniel stepped forward before the information clerk could speak. “Are you the assistant manager?”
She flicked a glance to the clerk before turning back to Daniel and smiling graciously. “Is there a problem, sir?”
Daniel flashed his badge. “Marcus Lowell. Where is he?”
“He left for a meeting in Salisbury this morning. He’s due back at three-thirty. If I can be of any help, Inspector...”
“Salisbury? But that’s over an hour’s drive away.”
“Yes, the meeting started at eleven.”
Frustration burned inside him. “I know for a fact Mr. Lowell never went to that meeting.” He turned to the other officers. “Go to Lowell’s house. Make sure he’s not there and make no mistakes. If he’s there, you arrest him. Take him back to the station and await further instruction. Is that clear?”
The officers nodded and quickly left. Daniel turned back to the assistant manager. “I want access to Mr. Lowell’s office. I am going to arrange for a search warrant to be brought over but I would very much appreciate your co-operation in the meantime. This is possibly a case of life or death.”
She paled. “Of course, Inspector. Right this way.”
Daniel followed her through to a back office, his mind racing. The piece of paper Julia had recognized and the scrap Suzie had found meant Lowell knew something. He might not have been the one to fire the shot that had killed Derek, but Daniel’s gut was telling him Lowell was in this up to his neck. Could Lowell feel the net closing in on him? Is that why he had paid a visit to Thelma this morning? To find out what she knew?
The assistant manager led him into Lowell’s office. Carefully, he closed the door behind them. She stood with her hands clasped tightly together in front of her.
“What can I do to help, Inspector?”
“I’m looking for anything mentioning a Mr. Derek Palmer, or loan agreements or any kind of abnormal paperwork.”
“May I ask what this is all about?”
“Believe me, all will be revealed soon enough.”
After an hour of searching through Lowell’s domain, Daniel had enough paperwork to know Lowell was, at the minimum, involved in after-hours money lending. The deputy manager confirmed the papers were not bank policy and they made no sense to her whatsoever. Upon further investigation, the two of them managed to conclude Lowell had been using the bank’s money to make high-interest loans of his own.
Lowell had had Derek Palmer right where he wanted him—broken and in debt. The rage Daniel had previously felt for the man was nothing compared to what pumped through his veins now. Daniel instinctively knew Lowell had arranged for Derek to be killed. His father had been killed by an assassin. Paid killers hired by cowards too damn scared to do their own dirty work, too afraid to feel the guilt of someone else’s blood on their hands. The man who had arranged his father’s death might still be out there somewhere, but Derek’s killer wouldn’t be for much longer.
Daniel left the bank and sprinted to his car. Once inside, he made a call to the station asking for a status report from every officer out looking for Marcus. As he waited for the information to come through, he looked out the windscreen at the workers, shoppers, mothers and children filing back and forth. Corkley Park was a place made for family, a place to settle in your twilight years or the perfect place for a proposal on the beach.
After everything Daniel had seen and done, never did he think a case like this would be the one to taint his record. He’d always assumed if a felon was ever likely to escape him, it would be when he was an officer in the city. It was every cop’s nightmare to have to trace a serial killer or a missing child, but to have the killer of an elderly man elude him in a sleepy coastal town? It made him look completely inept. He slammed his palm against the steering wheel just as the radio crackled.
He listened intently to the progress report but once it finished, Daniel would not have described it as a progress anything. Lowell was still on the run. Daniel closed his eyes and took a moment to think.
Jacob’s assistant at the boat hire company had said the man who had hired the boat had been tall with dark hair. Could it have been Marcus? Her description was sketchy at best but it was now a definite possibility.
Daniel pulled out of the parking lot, pressed hard on the accelerator and sped to the marina where they had tracked down Jacob’s boat. By the time he arrived, it was nearing six o’clock and several boats were coming in to moor. The sunlight glinted from the windows and chrome of the yachts, while the great sweeping sails of others could be seen far out on the water. Any other time the sight would have been breathtaking. But not to Daniel. Not today.
Lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as it neared the horizon, Daniel looked around the yard and spotted a woman in her early forties issuing orders.
“Excuse me, are you Lydia?” he asked, holding out his ID.
She glanced at it before turning back to the young lad she had been talking to. She promptly dumped a huge coil of rope into his arms. “Go put that in the warehouse and then get yourself home. You did a good day’s work today—I’m proud of you.”
She watched him walk away before rubbing the dust from
her hands on denim overalls before extending one to Daniel.
“Lydia Marshall, Inspector. Pleased to meet you. Why don’t you come into the office?”
In the tiny portable cabin, Daniel slid into a plastic chair. “I was there when Jacob spoke to you on the phone,” he began. “You told him you didn’t know either of the men who hired or took out the boat on the day Derek Palmer was killed. Is that right?”
“Yep, I’d never seen the man or the lady before.”
She may as well have punched him in the face. “Lady?”
“I didn’t recognize either of them.”
“What lady?”
“The lady who took the boat out. Never seen her before.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Jacob never mentioned a woman. Did you tell him it was a woman?”
“No, but he didn’t ask.”
“For crying out loud!” Daniel cried, leaping to his feet. “This changes everything.”
Lydia had jumped up too. “I’m sorry but it’s no good yelling at me or Jacob, Inspector. Isn’t it your job to be asking the right questions?”
Daniel glared at her. She was right. He should’ve been asking the questions but he had been too bloody busy worrying about spending time with Julia to think deeper about the case. How could he have not questioned Lydia himself?
“Describe her to me. The c
olor of her hair, build, anything.”
“Well, that was just it. She was obviously trying to dress like a man for some reason. Dressed all in black she was. Head to toe. I could just see a few blond strands of her hair at the sides but that was it.”
“Why didn’t you come forward with this information?”
“I meant to—”
“For Christ’s sake! Don’t tell me I can’t yell at you now. Do you know how important this is? I have wasted days assuming Derek Palmer’s killer was a man.”
“I’m sorry. I have a record, I didn’t want the cops—”
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut. “Save it. Did you personally know Derek Palmer? Was he there when the woman came in to get the keys?”
“He was there, yes. I didn’t know him, but after Jacob described him to me, I knew it was the man waiting out in the courtyard. He never actually came into the office.”
“Did he look anxious, on edge?”
“No, not at all—in fact, he looked like a kid in a candy shop. The lady who took him out the yacht was all smiles, saying it was a birthday treat for her dad.”
“And how did she explain the absence of the man who paid to hire the boat? Did she mention him at all?”
“She said he was her brother but had been called away on business. She was disappointed they wouldn’t all be sharing the trip.”
Daniel shoved a hand through his hair. “You need to think long and hard, Lydia. Try to describe everything you can remember about the man who originally hired the boat. What he looked liked, what he said. And then you need to think some more and tell me everything about the woman.”
Ten minutes later, Daniel bounded down the iron steps of the office. The man who’d hired the boat was Lowell. Adrenaline pumped through Daniel’s blood like oil through an engine. Surely nothing could stop him nailing the son of a bitch against the wall now. But as he slid behind the wheel of his car, his phone rang and a knot of apprehension settled low in his stomach.
“Ah, Inspector Conway. What a pleasure to talk to you at last.”
Lowell. “You’ve got some nerve, Lowell. Where are you, you bastard?”
“I see you and your pathetic police force have been running all over town looking for me.” He laughed. “It’s been so much fun watching you all.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “I know it was you who arranged for Derek Palmer to be killed, Lowell. You can bet your ass I’ll find you and when I do, you’ll pay.”
“And how are you treating my Julia? I hope you don’t think you’ll be laying your dirty hands on her. She’s mine. Have I not already made that perfectly clear?”
“You’re delusional,” said Daniel, looking up at the windows of the surrounding buildings and wondering whether Lowell was watching him right this second. “Julia does not love you and never will. How did it feel when you found out she’d seen Derek killed? That must have messed up your plans big time.”
“Not at all. It added to the thrill of it all, if you must know. Don’t you know her brother was killed by a police officer?”
“Yes, she’s told me.”
“She’ll never be with you, you fool. Julia already knows she’s mine. In fact, I’ve started taking steps to make sure she understands that completely.”
Chapter Twelve
Julia watched Daniel enter the club. At six feet two, his broad frame gave her the advantage of seeing him above the heads of the other patrons. His face was set in grim determination, his shoulders so tense they were bunched almost to his jaw. With her heart thundering hard against her chest, she concentrated on finishing her song and not alerting anyone to Daniel’s obvious agitation.
His eyes locked onto her like a human tracker beam and he came toward her with such purposeful steps, she was anxious he was going to march straight onto the stage—and he did.
“Daniel? What are you...?”
He took the microphone from her hand and pushed it back into its stand, then took her hand and pulled her down the steps and off the platform.
“Daniel!”
He ignored both Julia’s and the crowd’s protests. Angry indignation quickly replaced her initial fear of more bad news. She snatched her hand from his iron grip and only then did he stop and face her. She fisted her hands at her hips.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? How dare you drag me around the place like a bloody caveman.”
“I haven’t got time for this, Julia,” he said, through clenched teeth.
“Time for what? Time to stop you from breaking my arm?”
His gaze locked with hers and despite her outrage, she instinctively took a step back. Fire burned and fury stormed in his eyes and a faint pulse beat at his temple. His breath escaped in short, sharp pants from his open mouth. She swallowed. Something had happened. Something serious.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Didn’t I ask you to stay with Suzie until I had Lowell under arrest?”
Julia’s hand shot to her chest. “Oh God, is she all right?”
Daniel lifted a hand to his head. “How the hell would I know? I’ve got officers trying to track her down right now. But what about you? It’s you I’m talking about!”
“But, I’m—”
“No, Julia, no buts,” he said. “Jesus.”
Her own anger clawed at her throat. He was acting like Marcus, acting like he owned her. “Now hang on a minute...”
Jacob’s appearance at her side cut her off mid-sentence.
“Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?” Can you hear that lot?” he asked, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the audience behind him. “I’m going to have a riot on my hands if you don’t get back up on that stage and finish what you started.”
After a long moment, Daniel broke his gaze with Julia and turned to Jacob.
“Julia will be going back out there tonight. She’s coming with me.”
Julia laughed wryly and crossed her arms. “Am I really?”
He reached out and wrapped his fingers firmly around her elbow. “Yes. You are.”
She yanked her arm from his grip. “Not until you tell me what’s going on, I’m not.”
He turned away from her and looked at Jacob. “There have been certain developments in Derek’s case and Julia needs to come with me right now. I have to get her out of here.”
Julia stepped in front of him because apparently Daniel could no longer see her. “I’m not going anywhere, Daniel.”
“Damn it, Julia—”
“I can only assume by this act of macho bullying, police tactic that I’m in danger. Am I right?”
The two of them glared at each other.
Jacob cleared his throat. “Why don’t you take the Inspector up to the office, Julia? Get changed and then get out of here? It seems to me Inspector Conway isn’t the type to come in throwing his weight around unless it was necessary.”
She spun around to face Jacob. “He’s a cop, isn’t he? What else do you expect?”
With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the stairs. She walked into her dressing room, knowing Daniel was right behind her. She flinched when the door slammed shut and he began pacing the room in front of her like a caged animal. Julia’s own body was wired with tension as she watched him.
“Well? What’s going on?” she demanded.
Abruptly he stopped. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, and for the first time since he’d stormed into the club, she looked properly into his eyes. It wasn’t anger burning behind them. It was fear, fear for her. Her anger melted into comprehension. She saw now that he was there because he cared enough to insist she listen to him.
“It’s Lowell,” he said. “He’s still on the run. He’s going to come after you, Julia. I know it.
Julia swallowed her own dread, and took a slow step forward. “He can try but there’s no way he’s going to get close enough to hurt me.”
Daniel looked at her. “And how do you figure that when we have no idea
where he is? He could—”
She smiled gently, lifted a hand to his locked jaw. “Because I’ll be with you, won’t I?”
He exhaled a breath, a faint smile briefly touching his lips. “Yeah, I suppose you will.”
She reached up and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “I’m sorry. I should’ve stayed with Suzie.”
He smoothed a hand down a length of her hair. “Yes, you should have.”
“She told me she was going straight to her mom’s. Let me get changed and we’ll get out here, OK?”
She turned and walked into the bathroom, stripping off her pirate clothes as she went. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt and as she was pulling her hair back with a bandanna, ventured back out into the room.
He stood with his back to her. His head tipped forward, his strong hands splayed above the pockets of his jeans. She went to him. Dropping her head to his back, she clasped her hands around his waist and offered her strength. Slowly she felt the tension seep from his shoulders. He turned around so she was standing within the circle of his arms and lowered his hand to the curve of her waist. After a few moments, he broke the silence—his voice quietly controlled.
“Lowell arranged for Derek to be murdered.”
Her breath caught in her throat but she bit back the urge to scream out, to rant and rave, to punch and kick.
“I don’t have proof yet but I’m sure Derek was lured to the boat either by the temptation of an exclusive poker game or maybe a promise of wiping out his debts forever. We’ll probably never know exactly what got him there.” He paused and Julia felt him shudder. “Lowell has been using the bank’s funds to organize high interest loans for people who are in dire need of money. People who have no security, no way of borrowing money from an organization that will do their best to help them. In short, Lowell is the lowest of the low.”
He dropped his hands and turned to face her. His fingers softly cradled her chin and she reached up to cover his hands with her own.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “Marcus arranged for him to be killed? But the man with the gun...?”
Reluctant Witness Page 18