To Catch a Rat

by S J Grey

  She gazed back at him, and then prowled to the other side where she sat and began to wash.

  Another female who did the exact opposite of what he said. Em promised to keep out of danger, and yet she was God knew where, with Caleb Bloody Rush. Was there something between them? Were they more than friends?

  Mark didn’t like the spike of jealousy that dug into him. It shouldn’t matter in the slightest. Emma was a means to an end. Should be the means to an end. Fuck. She’d messed with his head, and he wasn’t used to that.

  Focus. Continue reviewing the footage. There was something he’d missed, but what? The thought nagged at him. He rewound and watched the jagged stills from his backup camera again.

  Two sets of cameras. Why did that feel significant?

  Yes. There were two lots at the Rush house. One set that may or may not have originated from Russia, and one set installed by the Security Intelligence Agency, New Zealand’s equivalent of MI6. It was pure bad luck that when SIA planted theirs, they didn’t see the first set. The Russians must have been pissed off when they saw the kiwi team copying what they’d already done.

  So why didn’t the SIA cameras pick up the break-in at Joss’s house? A light bulb clicked on inside Mark’s head. That was what he’d been groping through his brain for.

  Whoever trashed the Rush house jammed the cameras, the same as they did at Emma’s. It was proof the events were connected.

  Mark thought, as everyone did, that smashing up Joss’s house was intimidation and an attempt to put pressure on Rush to cooperate.

  What if they were wrong? The way these guys ripped through Emma’s house made it blindingly obvious they weren’t just trashing for the sake of it. They were searching for something. And whatever it was, they first expected to find it at Joss’s house, but failed. Joss and Caleb led to Emma, and that was where they went. Where was next? Here, at Geoff and Sandra’s?

  Mark sat back and watched the rest of the footage play out. He saw the moment when one of the raiders grabbed Mark’s laptop from the counter. They wouldn’t get very far with it. It was locked down with state-of-the art encryption. Emma’s backup drives would be easier to break into, and he’d bet they weren’t even password protected. Her private documents and photographs would be in a stranger’s hands.

  These guys slashed the mattress and were fine with stabbing Mark. It was pure luck they didn’t finish him off. They killed Joss.

  If they found Emma, what would they do to her?

  No. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Only three people knew where Emma was, and two of them were in the other room. Mark could wait until they went to bed, and then do a covert search, or he could confront them with the truth—at least, a flavour of it.

  Fuck it. While he could barely walk unaided, he was sod-all use at doing anything covert. He gathered up the laptop, tugged out the useless earbuds, and slowly made his way to the door.

  Minerva followed and made a little chirruping noise. Sandra said the cat had to stay in here though, and Sandra’s rules applied.

  “Sorry, puss,” he said. What the hell was the matter with him? Talking to cats… Having long-term thoughts about Emma… The bang on his head did more damage than he expected.

  Making sure to close the door on the eager cat, Mark limped down the hallway, to the lounge and the sound of muted voices. They wouldn’t appreciate him eavesdropping, and he needed them to trust him.

  He cleared his throat. “I need to show you something. May I come in?”

  Sandra answered, her voice wary. “Come in.”

  He pushed through the open door and found Sandra sitting next to Geoff on the sofa. She held a phone in her hand. “I just told Emma you were here.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yes. She’s fine. She’s not happy about you staying here, and wants you to leave in the morning.”

  He glossed over that. “Did she text, or did you actually talk?”

  “I called her.”

  She was okay. The bubble of anxiety in his chest eased a fraction. “Let me show you something on my laptop, and then I want you to call Emma back and put it on speaker.”

  “She doesn’t want—”

  “Please. Look at this first.” He sank onto the free end of the sofa, next to Sandra, and opened the laptop. The footage was at the starting point, and he clicked Play. “This is what happened at Emma’s today. Watch.”

  Sandra made a shocked noise when they cut the mattress to ribbons.

  “The bastards,” said Geoff. Like Mark had, he leaned closer to peer at the screen. “Are they looking for something?”

  “I believe so,” said Mark. “It’s a fair assumption to say these are the same people that did this to Joss’s house, and then they killed her. They probably thought I was dead, or as good as.” He rewound the clip, to play from the beginning.

  “They want something of Caleb’s. They didn’t find it at Joss’s house or Emma’s. They might come here next, and I want you to be ready if that happens.” He paused and rubbed his eyes. His head ached, but he still had work to do. “You can see these guys are ruthless. When they catch up with Rush, they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want, and they won’t hesitate to use Emma to get to him.”

  It didn’t escape Mark that he was doing exactly the same.

  “You think Caleb should turn himself in? Go to the police?” Fear flickered in Sandra’s eyes.

  Mark could imagine Gordie’s reaction if Caleb handed himself over to the police. Gordie had been incensed to learn that someone else had eyes in Joss’s house without his team’s knowing, and Mark still felt the blast from that tongue-lashing. Nope. He had to get to Rush first.

  Thinking swiftly was one of Mark’s key skills, so why was he struggling to come up with a plan? Oh yeah. Because he was worried about Emma’s personal safety and was putting that ahead of his mission objectives.

  “I think Emma is in danger.” He spoke slowly, to emphasise the message. “Every minute she spends with Rush increases the risk for her, quite apart from the ramifications of being charged as an accomplice. Imagine if she’d been at home this afternoon. If Emma had been in the same situation as Joss probably was.”

  He let that visual sink in, and saw the expressions change on her parents’ faces. They were paying attention.

  “You fitted a supposedly secure alarm system. It didn’t work too well, did it?” Geoff was blunt.

  Mark nodded. “That goes to show how skilled these guys are. They aren’t thugs. This was a professional job, if they were able to jam the feed.”

  “So what do you suggest? Where would she be safe?”

  “Don’t forget,” interrupted Sandra, “Caleb is good at staying off the grid. If they can’t find him, it’s best for them to stay together.”

  Her reasoning was sound. Mark needed a good counter-argument, but right now, he had nothing. “I think Em needs to know what happened today. It’s her home. Will you call her and put it on speaker, so that I can update her?” He looked at Sandra first, and then Geoff. “If it was your home, wouldn’t you want to know?”

  “Okay,” said Sandra, but she was hesitant. “It’s late, though. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow?”

  “You said she just called, and that was only a couple of minutes ago.”

  Sandra clearly wasn’t happy, but she tugged a phone from her pocket and dialled a number, before placing it on the coffee table. Interesting. Sandra had a smartphone, but this one looked like a burner too.

  All Mark needed to do was get the number of this new phone and trace Emma’s location. Hey presto, that would give him Caleb Rush.

  Sweet baby Jesus, was it really that simple? If she was definitely with Rush, then yes.

  This might be the culmination to a two-and-a-half-year exercise, so why wasn’t Mark more excited?

  He must be tired.

  “Hi, darling,” said Sandra. “You’re on speaker with me and your dad, and
Mark.”

  Mark listened hard. He wanted to focus on background noises or anything that might help pinpoint where Emma was. Correction—where Rush was.

  “What do you want, Mark? I thought I made things clear in my voicemail.”

  The quality of the line was good, but she sounded slightly muffled. There was a faint buzz of what might be voices in the distance. A television show? Laughter rang out and then receded, as though someone walked past.

  “Hey, you.” He injected as much warmth as he could into his greeting. “I watched the footage from the security camera in our house, and I think you need to know about it.”

  There was a brief pause.

  “I think you mean my house. I asked you to move out.”

  He ducked his head in silent acknowledgement. “Touché. I still think you should see this. I’d rather not email it, though. Can we meet somewhere?”

  “No. Have you shown it to Mum and Dad?”

  “Yes, he has,” said Geoff. “It’s distressing to watch. There are three masked men, dressed in black, and they look like they’re searching for something. They have a knife, and they slash your mattress. They stabbed Mark in the leg. Mark said they used a jamming device on his security setup. These aren’t kids, breaking in for kicks; they’re professionals.”

  Emma made a shocked noise, and Mark figured it was time to jump in.

  “I don’t want to freak you out, love, but I think it was the same people who trashed Joss’s house. Do you know what they’re looking for?”

  There was a rustling noise, and a muffled conversation which Mark couldn’t make out. Was she conferring with Rush?

  “Yes,” she said eventually. “I know what they want.”

  “Does Caleb have it?” Mark was careful to use his first name, to make himself sound less threatening.

  “No.”

  Did he believe her? Maybe. “What are they looking for? What’s so important that someone will go to these lengths to find it?”

  There was a pause. “I’m not telling you. We don’t have it, is all you need to know.”

  “But they think you do. You need to be very careful. Em, I know you’re getting mixed messages at the moment, and don’t know whether you trust me or not, but you need to know I love you. I don’t think you should be out there with Caleb, and I’d rather you were here with me, but I respect it’s your decision. You can call me any time. And if you need help—if you need anything at all—let me know. I’ll be there, okay?”

  He gave his best humbled-face to Sandra, and she squeezed his arm. “And Em,” he continued, “I exaggerated to you when I said I was friends with Caleb. He was in my year, and I knew him, but he probably never noticed me. I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember me.”

  “He says he’s never seen you before,” she replied, but she sounded less sure of herself.

  “I want you to be safe. That’s all that matters to me.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer to the phone. “I love you, Em. You’re everything I ever wanted, and I told you before, I’m in this for the long haul—the rough and the smooth.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  That was almost a yes. Mark wanted to punch the air, but he settled for a soppy smile and saw Sandra making gooey eyes at Geoff. He had them onside at least. “That’s good. Can I call you tomorrow? Check you’re okay?”

  Emma sighed. “I guess. But use Mum or Dad’s burner. We’re keeping our phone numbers locked down.”

  Geoff had a burner too? This was a well-planned operation. Also, it gave Mark another opportunity to check Emma’s number. He could be patient. One of them would leave it accessible before long.

  “You got it. And thanks for speaking to me. I can’t wait to get this all sorted out. G’night,” he told Emma.

  A rumbling, burbling sound drifted down the line, followed by muffled shouts of greeting. Were they outside? What was that noise? It sounded familiar.

  “G’night,” Emma echoed, and then disconnected.

  Mark sat back and sighed. “Thank you,” he said to her parents. “That meant a lot to me. May I call her again in the morning?”

  “Yes,” said Sandra.

  The deeply buried part of Mark that might have been his conscience twisted in discomfort. Sandra was too trusting. Because Mark sat here with pretty words and a mournful expression, it didn’t mean he was telling the truth. He was just angling to get Rush. Wasn’t he? Get Emma, get Rush.

  So why did he feel like a stone had been lifted from his chest after talking to her?

  He said his goodnights and walked slowly back to his room, careful not to release Minerva. Something he overlooked earlier was how Rush and Emma had gotten wherever they were. He knew from driving past her house that Emma’s car was still there, as was Sandra’s. Geoff had a car too, but if Emma took that, it left her parents with no transport. Also, she had a sprained wrist and might not want to drive.

  The background noises on the call were muted. It didn’t sound like she was in a pub or hotel bar, or inside a car. The connection was too clear for them to be driving at the time. A hotel room seemed most likely, with a TV playing softly in the background.

  What about timing? He knew what time Emma left the breakup voicemail, and he was still in the hospital then. If they left right after making the call, that was over two hours ago. They could have driven a long way in that time. Either Rush had acquired a car, or he had the motorbike back.

  That was what the noise was. A motorbike engine, and it sounded like a Harley. Had they gone to a campground?

  Friday 14 December

  Chapter Thirty

  Mark knew Rush was a biker, so was it possible he was lying low as part of a large touring group? The country was filled with foreign bikers doing scenic tours every summer, and what better way to hide than in plain sight? Would Emma ride pillion? That didn’t sound like fun, with a sprained wrist. He spent some time running searches of local motorbike tours and groups, and found many options. It was too wide a search area, and too vague to be worth following up without more information.

  He was tired, and every part of him ached. He gulped back some painkillers and fell into an uneasy sleep, too weary even to push Minerva away.

  He awoke in the morning to find her draped over him like a blanket. His eyes itched, and sneezing wasn’t far away. Would Sandra have any anti-histamines? It was worth asking. Showering wasn’t possible unless he could rig up a waterproof cover for his dressing, and his leg simultaneously ached and burned. Feeling thoroughly miserable, he dressed in the too-stiff jeans and a fresh shirt, and made his way into the kitchen, following the sound of voices.

  “Good morning.” Sandra nodded to him. “Coffee or tea? I have Earl Grey.”

  She knew his kryptonite. “Tea, please. And I don’t suppose you have anything for allergies?” He waved a hand to his puffy eyes and red nose. He didn’t look his best today.

  “Sit down, and I’ll grab it for you. There’s toast and cereal on the table. Help yourself.”

  He was hungrier than he thought, and his stomach rumbled just looking at the food. The bread was homemade, and the first slice made him crave more.

  “Hay fever meds. Should do the trick.” Sandra handed him a blister pack.

  “Thank you.” There was a God. Mark added the anti-histamine pill to his new medication routine, and knocked the tablets back with a gulp of hot tea. Yeah, Sandra would make the perfect mother in law to some lucky guy.

  It wouldn’t be him. When this job was over, he would move on and go wherever Gordie sent him. The toast suddenly felt like sawdust in his mouth.

  “I’ll give Emma a call when you’ve finished breakfast.” Sandra claimed the seat opposite him. “And then Geoff is going to drive me back to her house, to pick up my car. Is yours still there too? Will you be able to drive?”

  He felt a millisecond of panic that he was being kicked out, but then Sandra rolled her eyes. “It’s okay, you can stay here again tonight, if you’d prefer. We don’t
mind,” she said.

  He made sure his calm, unflappable expression was in place before replying. “Yeah, I might do that. Stay here, I mean. Thanks.” What the fuck was wrong with him? He was babbling, his mouth running off without thinking, and he never did that. Random conversations and giving out the wrong information could get him killed.

  Must be the painkillers, which still hadn’t kicked in.

  “Do you think you can drive?” Sandra continued as though he hadn’t spoken. “Geoff has deliveries to collect this afternoon, and I have some errands planned. If you want to rest up for the day, that’s fine, but I thought you might want your transport back.”

  Was he in a fit state to drive? He could walk, more or less. “Yeah, I’d appreciate a ride back to Emma’s. I need to check in with my office this morning. Thanks, Sandra.” He finished the mug of tea, and smiled his gratitude when she refilled it from a quirky, cat-shaped teapot.

  “Don’t you need to feed Minerva?” he asked.

  “Geoff did that when you came into the kitchen. Refilled her litter tray in your en suite. I plan to let her out tomorrow, to mingle with the existing boys.”

  Mark racked his brains to remember their names. “Jake and Elwood?”

  “Well done. I’m sure Min enjoyed the company last night. Cats are very sociable creatures. Emma’s always planned to have a cat of her own when she can talk her landlord around.”

  “I like them,” he said. “I’m just allergic to them.”

  “You’ll survive. Should we call Emma now?” She pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and dialled.

  As soon as Emma answered, Sandra warned her about being on speaker again.

  Mark jumped straight in. “Hey, you. I’m still here and planning to go check on the house soon. If I can get in. How are you today?”

  “Tired.” She yawned. “It’s noisy where we’re staying, and I didn’t sleep well. I missed my bed.”