Lorne whispered back, “I’m not sure. They might. If Derek comes out of this alive, he’ll be even more determined to shut this operation down—that’s what I’m really worried about.”
They chatted on and off for the next few hours until a doctor came by to speak to them. “Follow me, please.” The tall doctor in his mid to late-thirties led them into the family room a few feet away. “This is a little out of my comfort zone to be talking to you, especially as you’re not Mr. Croft’s immediate family.”
“I understand, Doctor. But I’m really all he has. Can I ask what the prognosis is?”
“The short answer is that he’ll survive. We won’t know if the surgery to sew his fingers back on was a success or not, it remains to be seen if they’ll be fully functional again, we won’t know until he wakes up. We patched up the wound to his stomach which wasn’t as bad as it had first appeared. Thankfully, all his vital organs were missed. He has a fracture in his right cheekbone. We’ll have to see how much damage has been done after the swelling has gone down.”
“I see. Is he awake? Can we see him?” Lorne asked.
“You can see him for a brief moment. Have the police been informed of the attack?”
“Oh, yes. I stayed behind to speak to them while the ambulance brought Derek in. Not sure if they’ll catch the bastards who did this, though.”
“Thank you—that saves me informing them. I’ll take you up to the ward now. We’ve put him in a private room. I imagine that he’ll still be unconscious.”
“That’s okay. He might sense us being there and come ’round. Is there any form of security on the ward?”
The doctor turned and studied her in surprise. “In an NHS hospital?”
“I know, I know. I thought it might be worth asking.”
“Why would you ask such a question? Do you think the people who beat Mr. Croft up will turn up here?”
Lorne shrugged. “I’m not sure. However, I think we should be aware of the possibility.”
They entered the lift and rode up to the next floor. After they exited the steel doors, the doctor said, “I don’t like the sound of that. I’d hate for my staff to be put in any kind of danger. The board of governors wouldn’t appreciate it either.”
Lorne smiled to reassure him. “I’m sure it won’t come to that, but I just wanted to make you aware of the situation. Maybe if you have any security guards on the premises, one of them could patrol Croft’s ward now and then—you know, to act as a deterrent.”
“Hmm,” the doctor mumbled, sounding none too happy with what she’d just told him. He pushed open the door to a private ward and allowed Lorne and Katy to enter the room before him.
Croft’s eyes were firmly closed. His face was puffy, and his right eye was a rainbow of colours. A thick bandage covered one of his hands and a drip was connected to his left wrist. Lorne stepped towards the bed and gently touched his arm. “Derek, can you hear me?”
“He’ll probably be out for hours yet,” the doctor reminded her.
They heard a slight groan, and Derek Croft inched an eye open to look at them. He swallowed several times until he’d moistened his mouth enough to speak. “Lorne, is that you?”
“Glad to see you awake, matey. Can you tell us what happened? Who did this to you?”
He shook his head fractionally from side to side, but the pain proved to be too much for him, and wincing, he whispered, “No idea. I think there were two of them…but I’m not one hundred percent certain. They jumped me outside the flat—everything’s a blur, really.” He glanced down at his bandaged hand and looked up at her questioningly.
“It’s all right, Derek, the doc here has done a fabulous job. You’ll be able to use your hand again for work,” Lorne assured him. She could feel the doctor’s eyes boring into the back of her head and she turned to smile at him. His eyes rose to the ceiling; he looked annoyed with her for misinforming his patient. But she could hardly tell him the truth. What kind of wakeup message would that be?
All of a sudden, his good eye fluttered shut and he fell back to sleep again.
“I think you’d better leave him to rest now.” He led them out of the room. “I hope your words don’t come back and bite you somewhere painful. I told you the jury was still out with regard to whether he’ll be able to use his hand again or not. I don’t agree with giving my patients false hope.”
“I’m sorry. Can you ring me when he wakes up properly? He might remember more then.”
“Give your number to the ward sister. I’m far too busy to contact you personally.” He turned on his heel and walked away from them down the echoing hallway.
Katy gently laughed. “Wow, that told you, didn’t it?”
“Hey, I can do without your wise-arse comments, young lady. Come on, I’ll give my number to the ward sister and then we’ll try and get a hold of someone at the agency.”
Katy looked at her watch. “It’s almost five on a Saturday afternoon. I doubt they’ll be around now.”
“We’ll give it a try anyway.” She handed a business card to the sister, who tucked it away safely in a desk drawer. Lorne and Katy left the hospital.
“Aren’t you going to ring first?” Katy asked as Lorne pulled out of the car park.
“No, I thought I’d surprise her. It’s only ten minutes up the road, and—” She was interrupted by her mobile ringing. She hit the button on the hands-free. “Hello, Tom, what’s up?” She was surprised to hear from her ex, as he didn’t contact her much these days—not unless there was a problem with Charlie.
He came straight to the point. “Is Charlie with you?”
Lorne’s stomach wrapped itself in knots. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Do I sound as if I’m joking, Lorne? Christ, just answer the bloody question, will you?”
“Hey, listen, Tom, don’t start getting shirty with me. Isn’t Charlie supposed to be staying at a friend’s house tonight?” Lorne brought the car to a halt at the side of the road amidst blasts of numerous of car horns. She gave the finger to the passing irate drivers.
“Yeah. She left her shoes here, and I rang her friend’s house to say I’d drop them ’round, but her friend said she wasn’t there.”
“What do you mean she wasn’t there? She hadn’t arrived yet, or she had no intention of turning up there this weekend?”
“Her friend said she was supposed to be there, but Charlie cancelled on Thursday, told her she’d made arrangements to go out with you over the weekend.”
Lorne let out an exasperated breath. “So it was planned. Has she been misbehaving at home lately? I told you to keep me informed if her character altered at all. It was the one thing the shrink told us to keep an eye on.”
“It hasn’t. She’s been as good as gold for months now. Otherwise, I would have informed you, as per your instructions.”
Lorne ignored the sarcasm in his tone. Even with their daughter missing, he was still goading her for an argument. Sod you, Tom!
“Well, give me some kind of clue, Tom, for Christ’s sake. Does she have a new boyfriend? A new friend she’s been going on about lately?”
“Not that I know of.”
She could imagine him shrugging his shoulders and putting on a hopeless face, and it made her heart pump harder and faster. “Have you been neglecting her in favour of that new girlfriend of yours? Charlie told me how besotted you were with her.”
“Piss off, Lorne. That’s got nothing to do with you or why Charlie has gone missing.”
“Really? You’re certain of that, are you? You can be so naïve at times.”
“Like I said already, piss off, Lorne. I’ve sacrificed everything—and I mean everything—for that girl. What exactly have you done for her? Except put her life in danger, that is.”
An unintentional heavy breath escaped her lips before she responded, “Change the damn record, Tom. I’m surprised it hasn’t been scratched to buggery by now.”
Lorne saw Katy fidget in the passenger seat
beside her and mouthed an apology. Katy whispered, “Arguing won’t find Charlie any sooner. What time did she leave home?”
Before Tom had the chance to answer Lorne demanded, “What time did she leave home?”
“What? Oh, about two hours ago.”
“Okay, I apologise for having a go at you. I have Katy here with me now; I’ll get her to ring the station to ask the patrol cars to look out for Charlie. Don’t go out, Tom—just stay there in case Charlie comes home. I’ll ring you if we hear anything.”
“Thanks,” was all he said before he hung up.
Katy’s mouth turned down. “I’m suspended, remember?”
“Damn. I’ll ring Roberts myself, see if he’ll help me out. But that’ll have to wait until after I ring Tony, maybe she’s turned up there.”
She dialled her home number and waited. The phone rang nonstop, and just before it went into answerphone, a breathless Tony picked up. “Hello?”
“You took your time,” she snapped at him uncharacteristically, immediately biting down on her lip in regret.
“One of the new pups was ill. I was outside checking on him. How did it go?”
“With Croft? He’s in hospital—”
“What?” Tony exclaimed, interrupting her.
“Mind if I fill you in later? Charlie has gone missing and I’m scared.”
“What? Isn’t she supposed to be staying at a friend’s house this weekend?”
“Yeah, but she hasn’t turned up. Tom’s just rung me.”
“Okay, I know what you’re like about Charlie; I’m sure it’s nothing. Don’t go getting yourself worked up into a state. Is there anything I can do?”
“Tell Dad for me and stay by the phone in case she rings. It’s just that the last time—”
“Stop it. Let’s not even think about that, all right? She’s getting on for sixteen now, she’ll be testing the water to see how far she can push you and Tom. And Lorne?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t even think of connecting her to this case. It’s a coincidence—a bizarre coincidence. Until you have evidence to the contrary, don’t waste your energy going down that route, okay?”
She expelled the breath she’d been holding in. Tony was right, he usually was. But it would never quell the niggling doubt she had worming its way into her stomach. Coincidence or not, the Unicorn’s vile face tormented her. She threw open her car door and vomited in the curb. Closing the door again, she took a tissue from Katy and wiped her mouth.
“Lorne? Are you there?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, I’m here. Look, Katy and I are going to search around for a bit. I’ll contact the station to ask them to keep an eye open for her. Ring me if she turns up, okay?”
“Of course I will.”
“I’ll ring later to let you know how we’re doing.”
“Okay. Hang in there. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She hung up and immediately rang Sean Roberts. “Sean, it’s Lorne. Sorry—haven’t got time for niceties; I need a favour.”
“Shoot. If I can help, you know I will.”
“Charlie’s gone missing, and I need the boys on the beat to keep an eye out for her.”
“What do you mean missing?”
“She was due at a friend’s house for the weekend, but she hasn’t shown up.”
“I thought she stayed with you at the weekend.”
Annoyed that he was delaying her getting on with the search, she snapped, “Ordinarily she does; however, she made other plans for this weekend. Sean, will you help or not? Katy and I are about to start driving around to see if we can find her, but the more people we have on the lookout, the better. If you’re not willing to help, please tell me now and stop wasting my time.”
“How to win friends and influence people the Lorne Simpkins way. Just kidding, before you snap my head off again. I’ll get the guys to keep an eye out for her. Do you have an up-to-date photo of Charlie?”
“Hold on.” She scrolled through the pictures on her phone and stopped at one of Charlie working in the kennels that she’d taken the previous weekend, then said, “Got one. Shall I send it to you?”
“Yep, send it through. I’ll print it off and get the desk sergeant to distribute it to the lads. And what’s all this about Katy being with you?”
Me and my big mouth. “It’s her birthday this weekend—nice timing on the suspension, by the way. I told her to spend the weekend with us. I hadn’t anticipated all this excitement when I suggested it, though.”
“Charlie going missing, you mean?”
“Yeah, amongst other things. You know I’m investigating the trafficking case, don’t you? Well, the criminals involved have just upped the ante. Once I know Charlie is safe, Katy and I will go hell for leather tracking this gang down.”
Sean sighed deeply before he replied, “Katy is a serving officer in the Met; she cannot be involved in this case, Lorne. Do you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Sean. So reinstate her or let her go.”
“It’s not as easy as that and you know it.”
“It’s as easy as you want it to be, Sean. It’s time to show the Met what you’re made of. Either stick up for one of the best serving officers you have, or lose her. I’d offer her a job in a heartbeat.”
Another heavy sigh. “Send over the picture of Charlie and I’ll see what I can do with regard to both matters. I promise. Ring me if you need anything else.”
“I might take you up on that. Let me find Charlie first, and I’ll get back to you with what developments I have on the case. It would be good to get some help on this one rather than come up against a brick wall, as Katy has.” There she went again, dropping Katy in the shit.
She heard Katy tut, and turning, she mouthed an apology. Katy gave her a brief nod and glanced out the windscreen again.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, Lorne. I’ll be in touch if we find out anything. You do the same if Charlie turns up, yes?”
“Sure thing. Thanks, Sean.”
She hung up, sent the picture through to Sean and then pulled away in a gap in the traffic. “Sorry, Katy.”
“No worries. Where are we going to look first?”
“I thought I’d drive around the park where Charlie and her friends used to hang out. I’m out of touch what her favourite haunts are now, and there’s no point in asking Tom, I doubt he’d know. Damn…why haven’t I taken more interest in her friends lately?”
“Hey, you can pack that in. I’m not going to listen to you droning on, blaming yourself.”
“Reprimand accepted and appreciated, thank you.”
For the next hour or so, they drove around the area closest to Tom and Charlie’s home, but drew a blank. They were just about to set off on foot to ask the cashiers in the local shops if they had seen Charlie when Sean Roberts rang.
“Here’s our initial findings: we managed to track down a few of Charlie’s friends. At first they were reluctant to speak to the uniformed coppers, but after a few idle threats, they finally told the officers that your daughter was seen getting into a car—”
“Oh my God! Not again, please not again.” They were lucky Lorne had pulled the car over to the curb; she dreaded to think what would have happened had she still been driving.
“Now, Lorne, hear me out. The kids said the car belonged to her new boyfriend. Any ideas who he is?”
She shook her head, as if he was sitting beside her in the car. Katy elbowed her in the ribs. “Sorry, Sean. I had no idea she had a boyfriend. The question is why she felt the need to keep him a secret.”
“Not sure. The kids didn’t seem to know she had one, either, if that helps.”
“So it might be a new boyfriend, but then again, it might not?” she asked, confused.
“Look, I’m just passing on what I know. I hoped it might put your mind at ease a little.”
“Thanks, Sean, it’s appreciated.”
They ended the call. Lorne punched the
steering wheel a few times and then plucked up the courage to ring Tom back.
“It’s me, and no, we haven’t found her yet.”
“Christ, it’s been hours. Where the hell is she?”
Lorne detected the anxiety in his tone and almost pulled out of asking the question. “Tom, has Charlie said anything to you about having a boyfriend?”
“No! Why?”
“She was last seen getting into a car with a lad.”
“Shit! She hasn’t told me anything. Hasn’t she mentioned it to you in one of your mother and daughter chats?”
Here comes the part where he lays the blame firmly at my door.
“No, Tom, she hasn’t. Okay, I’m hanging up now so I can continue looking. I’ll keep you up to date.” She hung up and said to Katy, “Why the heck do I bother? I know he thinks I’m a shit mother. Every opportunity he gets, he takes pleasure in flinging it down my throat.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing much, but I could tell by the tone of his voice that the inference was there. Agh…he’s such an arsehole.”
“Yeah, and you’re well rid of him. Concentrate on finding Charlie. I have a plan—want to hear it?”
“Of course.”
Katy had a smug look on her face. “Think back to when you were a kid, in your teens, and you had a new boyfriend—what did you do?”
“Not applicable, I’m afraid; the only two men I was involved with in my teens were Sean Roberts, who was a workaholic, and boring Tom, whose idea of a cracking night out was spending hours down at his local pub playing on the one-armed bandits.”
“Yikes, and you went on to marry him?”
“Yeah, I also went on to regret it and got a divorce eventually. What are you getting at, anyway?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.
“We’re in the big city. If he’s just bought his car, he’ll be desperate to show it off.”
“Crap, don’t tell me that—my nerves are frayed enough as it is.”
“Listen. Youngsters never think of saving their petrol, so my guess is he’s heading into London to show her the sights.”
Lorne contemplated Katy’s idea for a few minutes. “You could have something there. Let’s go! We’ve wasted enough time around here.”
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