Killer on the Run

by M A Comley

  “And have you managed to arrest anyone yet? I caught the appeal this afternoon. You looked so frustrated.”

  “That’s what is bugging me the most. It is such a frustrating case—they both are. We did stumble across something today that I think will lead the investigation in a different direction.”

  “Sounds intriguing. Are you going to share or leave me dangling?” Annabelle grinned, raising an eyebrow.

  After another sip of wine, Kayli relaxed into her chair. “The first victim’s boyfriend was also best friends with the second victim.”

  “Wow! Are you thinking the boyfriend is behind both crimes?”

  Kayli shook her head. “I suppose most officers would go down that route. I’m thinking more along the lines that someone has deliberately set out to punish him by venting their anger on those close to him.”

  “Blimey, your police brain really takes you on a wondrous journey at times, doesn’t it?”

  Kayli chuckled. “It definitely does. We’ll be keeping an eye on this guy all the same. We’ve been conned before. What’s for dinner? Shall we get another takeaway?”

  Annabelle placed her hand over her heart. “I’m mortified that you should say that. Can’t you smell it?”

  Kayli sniffed the air. “Sorry, too exhausted even to do that today. I can smell it now. What is it?”

  “Cottage pie with a twist.”

  “Sounds intriguing. What’s the twist? It won’t be ready until ten tonight?”

  Annabelle laughed. “You’re a scream. No, actually, I’m not going to tell you. It’s one of Giles’s favourites.” Her head dropped to her chest, and Kayli covered Annabelle’s hand with her own.

  “They’ll be home in a few days. Let’s not get all maudlin about this. Hey, did you get your results?”

  Annabelle looked up with watery eyes and nodded. “It was confirmed. You’re going to be an auntie again.”

  Kayli leapt out of her chair and hugged her sister-in-law. “Spectacular news. I’m sure Giles will be over the moon when you tell him.”

  “I hope so. I thought maybe we could arrange another family barbeque over the weekend. I could keep him in the dark until then and announce it to everyone. What do you think?”

  “Brilliant idea. I’ll give Mum a ring. She revels in a good family get-together.”

  “Do it after dinner. I’m going to dish up now. I can’t remember if you like cauliflower or not?”

  “I do. Did you manage to get any sleep yourself during the day?”

  Annabelle removed the plates from one of the cupboards and placed them at the bottom of the oven to warm up. “I catnapped. Bobby has been on top form today, vying for my attention most of the day. I was relieved when he zonked out just before you got home. No doubt he’ll make an unwanted appearance later.”

  “Crikey, I think once I’ve had dinner, I’ll be falling into bed soon. Not sure how I’m managing to keep my eyes open, to be honest.”

  “Dinner will revitalise you. I can guarantee that.”

  Kayli narrowed her eyes. “I’m detecting there’s a little spice in this secret recipe of yours.”

  Annabelle gave an innocent shrug before she pulled the dish from the oven. “My lips are sealed. Don’t judge it until you’ve tasted it.”

  Kayli peered over her sister-in-law’s shoulder as she served up the food. The smell was heavenly. “That looks delicious. You’re such a good cook. I get by with the dinners I make, but my attempts are pretty dismal in comparison to your results. I can’t wait to try it. Why is the topping so yellow?”

  “Let’s hope we both enjoy it. I won’t be offended if you leave some, okay? I’ve made enough to feed a small refugee camp.”

  Kayli’s phone rang before she could reply. “Hi, Mum, how’s it diddling? I was going to ring you later.”

  “Hello, dear. Just thought I’d ring up to see how you are. I won’t keep you long if you’re about to eat. What were you going to ring me about?”

  “I’m at Annabelle’s. And yes, she’s just about to dish up dinner. The boys are due home on Friday, I thought maybe we could have a family barbeque over the weekend at your place. We’ll all chip in, of course.”

  “How wonderful! What a fabulous idea! Nonsense, your father and I will handle everything. Shall we say Sunday?”

  “Sunday would be great, Mum.”

  “Good. Okay, I have lots to prepare before then. Say hello to Annabelle and that gorgeous grandson of mine. I’ll love you and leave you to get on with your meal, darling.”

  “I’ll do that, Mum. See you Sunday. Say hi to Dad for me.”

  “I will. Goodbye, dear.”

  Kayli hung up as Annabelle deposited the plates on the table. She took a moment to observe the plateful of food. “Is that bolognaise?”

  Annabelle laughed. “Stop scrutinising it and tuck in.”

  She savoured her first mouthful. Different spices and tastes exploded in her mouth. Annabelle watched her with trepidation etched on her face. “Good Lord, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. How on earth did you come up with this concoction?”

  “Simple. I had some leftover bolognaise sauce one time and wondered what I could do with it. Giles suggested using sweet potato for the topping, and then I came up with adding breadcrumbs and cheese to finish it off.”

  “Wow, it’s delicious. If this doesn’t give us our appetite back, then nothing will. My compliments to the chef.”

  They devoured the delicious meal, cleaned up the kitchen, then went through to the lounge and collapsed on the couch, Kayli with her glass of wine and Annabelle with her glass of apple juice. The conversation flowed until both of them started to feel the effects of their long days. At eight o’clock, and with Bobby still fast asleep, they decided to give in and go to bed.

  Sleep came quickly. The glass of wine she’d downed had likely helped, but Kayli was woken up at ten past four by her mobile ringing. Dazed, she answered the call. “Hello, DI Bright.”

  “Sorry to disturb you again, ma’am, at such an early hour”—the tone of the control room operator’s voice made her stomach clench—“but we’ve had another shooting incident.”

  “Okay, I’m fully awake now. Where?”

  “In the centre of Bristol on Temple Way.”

  “Damn. Another drive-by? Was there a bike involved?”

  “Yes, to both those questions, ma’am. The pathologist and her team are at the scene. Will you be attending?”

  “Try and stop me. I’ll be there in approximately thirty minutes. Do me a favour and relay that information to the pathologist on call and ring my partner, Dave Chaplin—no, wait. On second thoughts, leave him out of this one. I’ll assess the scene myself and ring him from there if I need him.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

  Kayli ended the call and rushed into the bathroom to have a quick wash. She regretted not showering before she’d fallen into bed, but truthfully, she’d been too exhausted to do even that. She hunted through the bag she’d left at Annabelle’s the previous evening and pulled out a slightly creased blouse and a pair of black trousers and slipped them on. After running a comb through her long hair, she tied it in a ponytail and was out the door, sitting behind the wheel of her car, within ten minutes of receiving the call.

  CHAPTER TEN

  It was drizzling heavily when she dipped under the cordon tape at the scene. As Kayli walked towards Naomi and the rest of her team, the pathologist pointed to the rear of her car. “You’ll need to don the paper,” she said, meaning the white paper suit they wore to keep from contaminating the scene.

  “As per. I’ll be right back. Are you putting up a marquee?”

  Naomi tagged along with her. “No point. The incident took place inside the woman’s car.”

  “Any ID on her yet?”

  “Yes, I found her bag untouched in the footwell on the passenger side. Her driving licence indicates that she is Brenda Godfrey, fifty-five years old and local.”

  “Damn, anoth
er woman! Not that it makes one jot of difference if the victims are male or female, but you know what I mean.”

  “I do. Shocking. I reckon the offender pulled up on his bike alongside her and shot her through the passenger window. She didn’t stand a chance.” Naomi pointed at the traffic lights. “Maybe there’s a traffic camera to corroborate my theory.”

  “Don’t worry. That’s usually my first port of call. Why? It seems such a senseless act to pick out a member of the public like that ... unless the offender knows the victim.”

  “Of course there’s a good chance of that ... Is there something you’re not telling me, Kayli?”

  Kayli zipped up the suit and motioned for Naomi to lead the way back to the crime scene. “Something came to light during the investigation yesterday. The first victim’s boyfriend knew both victims.”

  “Interesting. I suppose he’ll be the first person you’ll contact about this victim then, right?”

  “Yep, it’s a no-brainer. Damn. I need to get this bastard off the road. The people of Bristol are already coming down heavily on me and my team.”

  “It’s hardly your fault if you haven’t caught this guy yet. He could be carrying out the hits and then covering his tracks really well.”

  “Wait a minute ... How do we know a bike was involved?”

  Naomi’s neck disappeared into her hitched shoulders. “Sorry, I should have said, there’s a witness over there.”

  Kayli’s eyes found a young man talking to a uniformed officer under the protection of a nearby tree. “Excellent. Do you mind if I have a word with him first?”

  “Go for it. I’m not going anywhere for a while yet.”

  Kayli punched her fist against Naomi’s. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Glancing into the car as she passed, Kayli winced. There was blood all over the windscreen. The woman had been shot in the head. Barely managing to hang on to the remains of the delicious dinner Annabelle had served up, she approached the witness and the officer, who stood aside once she’d introduced herself.

  “Hello, ma’am, this is Stuart Nicholls, who witnessed the incident,” the constable said.

  “Thanks, Constable. Hello, sir. I’m very sorry you had to witness such a dreadful crime. Can you run through what you actually saw?”

  The man’s eyes were bulbous with trauma. “I was driving on the other side of the road. The lights had just turned green. These lights were red, and the woman’s car had pulled up. Not sure what made me look her way, but when I did, I noticed a Harley-Davidson draw up alongside her. He extracted a weapon from his coat and blasted her through the passenger window. Shit! Why would someone do that? She was just minding her own business, sitting there waiting for the lights to change,” he rattled off his account rapidly.

  “I have no idea, but I intend finding out. What happened next?”

  “The driver looked around, saw me, and put his foot down. The lights were still red, and he was lucky no one was coming in the other direction. Otherwise, he would have been hit. As soon as I thought he was out of sight, I stopped my car and ran across the road. I was going to try and help the woman. I was too late, though. She was already dead.”

  “It was good of you to stop. Most people would rather not get involved.”

  “The thought crossed my mind, Inspector. Don’t worry about that. Had the driver not driven off and remained at the scene, gloating at his work, I would have continued on my route and rung you from farther up the road.”

  “We appreciate you calling us. Can you give us any details about the driver?”

  “I’ve just told the officer. He was wearing a silver helmet that shielded his face from me, so I can’t give you any more details on that front. He had on a red zipped-up leather jacket and wore black leather trousers—at least I think they were black. Not quite sure in this light, and I only got a brief glimpse.”

  “That’s brilliant. Hopefully, the traffic camera will be able to give us a close-up of this individual. Thank you for calling us.” Kayli turned to the constable. “Can you continue taking down Mr. Nicholls’s official statement?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Kayli extended her hand to Mr. Nicholls. “Thank you, sir. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”

  “My pleasure. I hope you get this lunatic off the road soon.”

  “So do I,” she said before turning and walking back to Naomi.

  Her pathologist friend was inside the car, extracting pieces of evidence from the dashboard and from the woman’s head.

  Kayli crouched beside Naomi, forcing herself to look at the victim. “Have you found the bullet?”

  “Bullets, you mean? Yes, there are a few here. Definite overkill to me.”

  “As if the victim is known to the offender?”

  “In my experience, yes, that would be my assumption.”

  “Shit! I need to get on to Lincoln James first thing to see if he knows her, in that case. A bloody mindless act whether he knows her or not. If it is connected, we’re in the serial killer territory now, and by the looks of things, his crimes are becoming more heinous. Whatever next?”

  “My suggestion would be lock down the city.”

  Kayli snorted and shook her head. “Like that’s about to happen. I’d do it in a heartbeat, but I can’t see that suggestion going down too well with my superiors. I’ll have a word with my DCI, see what she thinks. Any idea what kind of gun?”

  “I don’t see many gunshot wounds. I’ll need to get a second opinion from a specialist when I get back. I’ll let you know later.”

  “The witness said she was dead before he got to her.”

  “Not surprised. She would have died instantly for sure. I’ll be another half an hour or so, and then I’ll get her transported back to the lab.”

  “Okay, let me know when you can. I’ll go to the station, see if I can organise the CCTV footage. Hopefully, that will flag up something we can sink our teeth into. If not, we’re screwed again.”

  Naomi looked her way and smiled. “Good luck with your DCI.”

  “Thanks, I’m going to need it. I’ll leave my suit beside your vehicle.”

  “Okay, I’ll be in touch soon.”

  Kayli stripped off the suit and left it lying in a heap outside Naomi’s car. On heavy legs, she walked over to her own vehicle and slipped behind the wheel. She placed her head on the steering wheel, feeling distraught that another person had lost her life—the third in the past seventy-two hours. Pull yourself together, girl. We have to catch the bastard causing all this havoc and swiftly.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  By the time the rest of the team arrived at work, Kayli had sourced the CCTV footage. She instructed her colleagues to gather around while she walked them through what had occurred overnight.

  “Jesus, another one?” Dave asked, shaking his head in disgust. “What time did you get the call?”

  “Around four this morning. Let’s watch the footage carefully, see if we can pick out something useful.” Kayli hit a key on the keyboard, and the footage began playing. She winced, wishing she’d shielded her eyes when the bullets struck the woman’s head and it exploded.

  “Jesus! What the fuck! This guy is a nutjob,” Dave said, his face paling.

  “I agree, which is why we need to get him off the road and soon. Can you tell what type of gun it is, guys?”

  Dave and Graeme shook their heads, and Donna shrugged.

  “The pathologist thinks the victim was known to the offender again. I didn’t see any recognition such as a wave, but then would she have known who it was with him wearing a helmet? Maybe she didn’t know the offender rode a bike. The victim looked a tad confused to me.”

  “I agree,” Dave said. “What time did the incident occur?”

  Kayli leaned in to view the time on the screen. “Just after two in the morning.”

  “What was the woman doing out at that time of the morning?”

  “Either going to or coming home from work, perhaps. We won’t know
that until we’ve spoken to the next of kin. Donna, can you find out the details for me?”

  “Want me to start on that now, boss?”

  “Yes, please. Dave and I should visit them ASAP. I also need to have a word with the DCI first thing.” Kayli swept a stray hair behind her ear.

  “Why don’t Graeme and I go and see the next of kin while you deal with the DCI?” Dave suggested.

  Kayli’s inner control freak screamed that she didn’t want to go down that route, but then she chastised herself and relinquished. “Good idea. Be gentle, though, Dave.”

  He tutted. “Despite what you think, I can be caring and sensitive when the need arises.”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to cast aspersions, Dave. I know you can. All right, let’s get this show on the road. Wish me luck with the DCI.”

  “Luck!” the three other team members shouted as she left the room and started the journey along the corridor to her boss’s office. Fiona frowned and looked down at her diary when Kayli entered the room.

  “I don’t have an appointment, but it is urgent,” Kayli said. “Any chance she can squeeze me in?”

  Fiona smiled and left her chair. She tapped on the DCI’s door and entered the room when she was summoned. “DI Bright to see you on an urgent matter if you can spare the time, ma’am?”

  “Very well. Show her in, and hold all my calls for the next fifteen minutes,” DCI Davis replied abruptly.

  Fiona stepped away from the door and gestured for Kayli to enter the room.

  “Sorry to disturb you, DCI Davis.”

  “Come in and sit down, DI Bright. Is there something wrong? You look like shit, if you don’t mind me saying.”

  Kayli stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn’t been expecting the DCI to be so blunt about her personal appearance. She continued to walk to the seat and dropped into it. “Thanks for that boost to my confidence. It would be nice to get some sleep, but duty calls and all that. I started work at one a.m. yesterday and was back on duty at four a.m. this morning.”