by David Menon
She didn’t notice the team of plain clothes and uniformed police officers heading her way until they were beside her.
‘Grace Undobe?’ asked the plain clothes female officer at the front of the pack. She held up her warrant card. ‘I’m detective inspector Melanie Friars, metropolitan police. I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of six teenage girls in the north of England and ...’
‘Oh no you’re not’ said Grace, calmly. ‘I have diplomatic immunity’.
‘Not anymore you don’t. It’s been revoked’.
The scene which then played out turned very ugly. The officers had to literally drag Grace across the floor whilst she screamed and kicked and punched.
Once they’d got her cuffed in the back of the police van, after she’d been spitting in their faces and trying to bite them, DI Friars rang Inspector Ron Tempest at the NCA. ‘We’ve got her, sir. We got her before she managed to get on the flight’.
‘Excellent’ said Tempest. ‘Good work and thank you. I’ll call DSI Barton of the Greater Manchester force. This really will make his day’.
LANDSLIDE FOURTEEN
Barton had decided to take some leave and take Toby on holiday. He couldn’t give a fat fart about taking him away in school time. The poor kid had been through a horrific experience and Barton needed to spend some exclusive time with him and make sure he was okay. So he’d booked them a week in Gran Canaria which his brother-in-law Seamus had assured him was lovely at this time of year and they were flying out tomorrow. He’d also given Brendan the same time off and some money for him to go away on holiday if he wanted to. He also gave Brendan the option of leaving if he wanted to considering all that had happened, not just with the kidnapping but also having been betrayed by his lover Jaime. But Brendan didn’t hesitate to reject Barton’s offer. There was no way he wanted to leave and Barton was relieved. He didn’t want Brendan to go and was so glad he wasn’t going to.
Tonight Barton was having all the family round for dinner. His sister Annette and his nephew Kyle, his brother Lewis and his husband Seamus. They were all staying over so they could free themselves in terms of alcohol and Barton was really looking forward to it. He wouldn’t be doing any cooking. The local Indian takeaway would take care of the starters and main courses, he’d bought a large lemon tart for dessert and half a dozen cheeses to finish things off. And there was enough wine to sink the Isle of Man ferry. Still, the flight to Gran Canaria wasn’t until three tomorrow afternoon so he’d have plenty of time to work off his hangover.
It was just after four and Toby was engrossed with something on the CBBC channel when the doorbell rang. Barton thought it may be his sister Annette because she often comes to things early but then he remembered that she had a key so why would she ring the bell? When he opened the door he got the shock of his life.
‘Hello, Jeff’ said Collette Ryan in her Australian drawl. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m … I’m fine’.
‘Only I rang you at work and Ollie Wright told me you’d taken some time off?’
‘Well it’s been a little dramatic round here lately but look, what are you doing here?’
‘I was just passing, you know’.
Barton smiled. ‘Just passing? You live on the other side of the world’. He was mightily pleased to see her. More so than he ever thought he would be. And she looked awesome in her ripped pale blue jeans, white t-shirt and black leather jacket. There was still masses of that wonderful auburn coloured curly hair that rested on her shoulders.
‘Well okay, Melbourne to Singapore and then Singapore to Manchester was a bit of a slog however nice they are on Singapore Airlines. But look, I’m parched. Are you going to let me in?’
‘Wait a minute, what’s that?’ said Jeff pointing at the cot that Collette was carrying.
‘God, nothing gets past you does it Einstein’ She lifted the cot up higher. ‘It kind of looks like a baby’.
‘Well yes I can see that’ said Jeff who then stroked the baby’s cheek with the end of his finger. ‘And what a cutie. And those eyes’.
‘Yeah, I’m lucky. He’s a happy little soul most of the time’.
‘How old is he?’
‘Six months’ said Collette who suddenly became nervous. His name is Oliver. I hope you don’t mind’.
‘Mind? Why should I mind what you call your baby?’
‘Because he’s your baby too, Jeff. He’s our son’.
THE END
BUT DSI JEFF BARTON WILL BE BACK IN 2018 WITH ‘WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN’.
.