SECONDS TO DIE a totally gripping serial killer thriller with a twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book 2)

by Rebecca Bradley

  He picked up his pace. He didn’t want the cop inside the house to come and look for her. He had to get her out of here.

  Once at his car he pushed her onto the backseat, slammed the door shut and climbed into the front.

  Then he slowly drove away with DI Claudia Nunn, his job quietly done.

  CHAPTER 67

  Dominic made a couple of hot drinks for him and Claudia. She’d been so busy thinking of the cops outside when she made their coffees that she hadn’t thought to make four drinks.

  What the hell was he going to do with her? She’d backed down on the Lawton and Tyler thing, but for how long? His nerves were strung out. How long could he keep this up? He was in it for the long haul. It had been the choice he’d made the moment he’d laid his hands on his wife and decided to kill her.

  He’d not realised how stressful the after-effects would be.

  He took a deep breath.

  It was only Claudia who was questioning the outcome.

  His own daughter.

  He couldn’t have foreseen this.

  But for now she was going to accept things as they presented themselves. He would try to relax and hope it all went away.

  What else could he do?

  Sitting at the table with his coffee, he realised he’d been there for longer than he should have been. Claudia should already have handed the drinks over and returned. Even accounting for her having a chat with the cops guarding her, she should still have been back by now.

  A cold chill gripped his shoulders. His knuckles whitened around his mug handle. Something sinister crept down his spine.

  He rose from his chair.

  Of course, it was likely she was still chatting. It was possible she knew one of the cops from earlier in her career and was standing there oblivious to the time and how worried he would be.

  Dominic was going to check anyway.

  Leaving the drinks on the table, he left the house and strode down the small pathway to the road.

  The marked police car was where he’d seen it parked when he looked out the window. Two cops in place. But there was no sign of Claudia.

  Sickness overwhelmed him in a sudden surge.

  He raced to the car and pulled open the door to question the cops, ready to tear their heads off for not keeping Claudia safe.

  Then things took a turn for the worse, and Dominic’s world turned upside down. The cops were out cold. Their laps were sodden with spilt drinks.

  No one was guarding them.

  He turned away from the car and looked blindly each way down the street. It was empty. Quiet. She was gone. His daughter was gone. Claudia was nowhere to be seen.

  Panic crushed his chest, and Dominic gasped for breath, bending double in the road.

  He couldn’t lose Claudia. She was his only child. She was everything to him.

  If that monster had hold of her, he was going to find him and he was going to kill him. He would slice him apart and make sure he felt every single wound. He would regret putting a hand on his child.

  The thought of raining vengeance down on the head of the person who had taken her brought Dominic back up to a standing position.

  That was it. He had to act. Do something positive. He couldn’t curl up and weep. That wouldn’t do Claudia any good at all.

  Staring at the two cops, Dominic pulled his mobile out his pocket and dialled Sharpe. She picked up immediately.

  ‘What is it?’ Her tone businesslike and blunt.

  ‘He has her.’

  ‘Tell me.’ There was no messing around.

  ‘It looks like he’s given the cops outside something to drink that’s laid them out cold. They’re okay,’ he quickly reassured her. ‘Claudia had come out to give them a drink, actually.’ He barked out a dry, bitter laugh. ‘I let her come out alone, thinking she was walking across the road to two cops. What harm could she come to?’ He pulled himself up short. He needed to stop rambling, to stop feeling sorry for himself. This was about getting the investigation team moving into locating Claudia. They needed all the information, quickly and neatly. He cleared his throat and continued. ‘When I realised she’d been longer than I thought she should have been . . .’ He paused, thought about it a few seconds, then gave Sharpe a timeframe. ‘About ten minutes. I’d been clearing away our dinner plates and making drinks for us. I came outside to make sure she was okay, to call her back in. She was gone and the cops were down.’

  ‘An ambulance is on the way for the uniformed officers, as is a CSI team.’

  He thought he’d heard her tapping at her computer as he’d been speaking.

  ‘Stay there, Dominic. Update the CSI team when they get there. Then you can come in and help with the investigation. There’s no point in telling you to stay at home. I know that. But you follow direction, do you hear me?’

  ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to get my daughter back,’ he said in response.

  Sharpe sighed down the phone. ‘I’ll see you soon, Dominic. We’ll get her back.’

  The CSI team arrived a couple of minutes before the ambulance. They’d put their foot down, knowing what was at stake.

  Very gently they removed the drinks mugs from the laps of the two officers and bagged them up then stepped aside for the paramedics, who lifted the officers onto stretchers and carried them off to the ambulance and away. No one had any idea what had been administered to them, so it was urgent that they get treatment as quickly as possible.

  Dominic thanked the CSIs, grabbed Claudia’s car keys and drove into work as fast as he dared. He’d had one beer, but he’d also had a decent meal. He wouldn’t usually drive even with one drink, but today he was making an exception. His daughter’s life hung in the balance. He would stop at nothing.

  CHAPTER 68

  The incident room was a hive of activity when Dominic entered.

  Sharpe was standing in the middle of the room like a maestro controlling her orchestra. All information coming in to her and commands leaving her with ease. Not a ruffled feather in sight.

  She saw Dominic enter and waggled a finger in his direction. He moved towards her. His mind focused on the task at hand.

  ‘What’s happening?’ he asked.

  ‘We’ve taken the image we received from the Artist and we’ve placed it on the front page of the intranet asking if anyone recognises the location she’s sitting in. We have a large and varied staff, Dom, and between them they have a variety of interests. It’s possible someone will know the place. And as soon as they log on they will be confronted with the drawing asking for help. I’m also doing a press conference in fifteen minutes asking for the same thing, for anyone who knows the spot.’

  Dominic looked at the drawing up on the large screen, where it had been since they’d received it. It had no clock. No time of death. ‘We don’t have a timeframe to work to. No idea of his plans,’ he moaned.

  ‘We’re working as fast as we can, regardless of what his plans are. We work to our own timeframe, which is flat out.’ She let out a small sigh and placed a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry, Dom, I can’t even begin to imagine how you’re feeling, going through this again.’

  And as if remembering how it had worked out the last time, she apologised again. ‘We’ll get her back. And she’s one tough woman. Don’t underestimate her, Dom. We also have teams out doing house-to-house on Claudia’s street to see if any of her neighbours saw anything that could be of any help. Anything recovered by Forensics from the marked police vehicle will be submitted and fast-tracked.’

  She looked at her watch. ‘I have to get ready for the press conference. Your team are on their way in. Some have already arrived. Plus we have extra staff here, as you can see. It’s all hands on deck.’

  At that point DCI Adam Blackwood pushed his way through the doors.

  ‘I’ve emailed you a full update, Adam,’ she said as he approached. ‘Thanks for coming back in.’

  His face was serious. ‘I’m here for the duration. Whatever it take
s.’ He looked at Dominic and nodded.

  Dominic responded in kind. He felt useless. There was a lot of waiting around. He wanted to do something active. To be out there. Hunting down this killer. Breaking bones. Causing pain. Bringing his baby home.

  ‘I’m sorry this has happened,’ Adam said.

  Dominic nodded again. His words choked in his chest.

  ‘We’ll get her back.’

  ‘We will,’ snapped Sharpe. ‘And on that note, I’m going to get sorted for this press conference.’ She looked to Dominic. ‘Do you want to be there, Dom?’

  He thought about the excitement of the press pack. The throng of reporters who would be champing at the bit to get this story down. How he would feel in the room with them. It would be gruesome. But if having a grief-stricken parent to stare at got more eyes on the piece when it ran on the TV, then he would put himself through it. ‘I’ll do it.’

  She peered up at him. ‘You’re sure? I don’t want to put you through anything unnecessary.’

  She was obviously thinking back to what had happened when Ruth had gone missing. They had arrested him and it had turned out a serial killer had her all along. Or so she thought. And now she was sensitive to how she handled him, now his daughter was missing.

  ‘I’ll do anything that might help get Claudia back, and if I have to play a role on TV for more people to pay attention, then I’ll do that.’

  ‘Okay then.’ She was appeased. This was his decision. Not something they were forcing on him. She looked to Blackwood. ‘Keep at it, Adam. And let me know the moment you have anything.’

  ‘Absolutely. You’ll be the first I come to.’

  Dominic glared at him.

  Blackwood coughed. ‘The pair of you will be the first to know.’

  Sharpe narrowed her eyes at Dominic. ‘What did I tell you? You’re here so long as you follow directions. This is being run the proper way, not like some cowboy case where you get to run off and do whatever you feel like doing. Adam will relay information to me, and if I’m happy for you to know, then either he or I will inform you. The rank structure applies as always. We won’t keep anything pertinent from you, of course, but neither will I have you dictating to a DCI what they will and won’t be doing. Am I clear?’

  Dominic seethed. His body tensed. He wanted to wrap his hands around her neck. He had no idea how he was being so restrained. But it was the only way he was going to be allowed in the middle of the investigation, and that was important to him. He had to know everything. They wouldn’t lock him out. She was simply showing her strength.

  He gritted his teeth, quietly took a deep breath, then answered her. ‘You’re clear. But let me be clear, this is my daughter we’re looking for. I won’t back away like a good little boy. Not like last time.’ That was it, he’d rub it in, remind them how they had screwed up last time. It would help his cause. ‘But I’ll run with the investigation team as is proper.’

  Sharpe looked suitably slapped but shuffled the paperwork in her hands and tried not to show it. Showing weakness was not in her playbook. ‘Okay, let’s go and do this press conference. Get the drawing out there. See if anyone recognises the location.’

  Dominic followed her out of the incident room, leaving the hum of the team working behind him. He knew these people. They would do everything they could to make sure Claudia returned.

  It just wasn’t enough.

  * * *

  It was getting late, but the press were crammed into the room. To get them here, they’d been told someone had abducted an officer. There was no other way to bring them out at this time in the evening.

  They’d been greedy for the Artist story since the news had broken that he had been sending drawings to the police. A killer playing with the police this way was unique and they were all over it. A cop had been taken, and now they were salivating for the full story.

  Dominic could hear them as he waited to go out front and talk. They were like a pack of hounds circling a meal.

  Sharpe turned to him. ‘You’re okay?’

  ‘Let’s get this done, shall we?’

  She strode out behind the desks and took her seat. Dominic followed and sank into his chair beside her.

  Cameras flashed in front of him, the reporters mere outlines behind the bright lights in his eyes.

  Sharpe was silent until the room came to order. Then she jumped in, straight to the point. ‘Earlier this evening, DI Claudia Nunn was abducted from her home address, we believe by the man the press are calling the Artist.’

  Cameras continued to flash.

  Dominic clenched his fists in his lap.

  ‘Prior to this abduction DI Nunn received a drawing, as has been the norm during this whole investigation, showing the location where she, as the next victim, will be found. It is this location we are asking the public to help identify. If anyone recognises the site, please contact the helpline at the bottom of the screen.’

  The helpline would also be reported by those journalists who were here with print and online outlets, along with the drawing. They had provided the drawing to each journalist as they entered the room. A digital copy had also been emailed to them for ease of use.

  ‘If you have any other information on the abduction, please also use the helpline and let us know. No matter how small or insignificant you feel your tip is, it could help build a bigger picture.’ She paused. ‘We’ll take a few questions.’

  She’d used the word we rather than I. She’d opened it up for Dominic to be involved as well.

  Arms shot up. The first question was fired at them. ‘How long ago since Claudia was abducted?’

  Sharpe checked her watch. ‘It’s been roughly an hour. Every minute counts.’

  All the arms. Another question. ‘Why didn’t she take preventative action if she had prior warning?’

  Dominic sensed Sharpe tense.

  ‘Two uniformed officers were harmed while protecting DI Nunn. Their current status is still being assessed at the hospital.’

  There was a buzz in the room as they took this information in.

  ‘Time for one more question,’ Sharpe said. ‘As you can imagine, we are eager to get back to the incident room and the investigation.’

  Arms shot up again. Sharpe pointed to a journalist in the middle of the room.

  He looked at Dominic. ‘DS Dominic Harrison, yes?’

  Dominic straightened in his chair. ‘Yes.’

  ‘DI Nunn, is she related to you?’

  How did they know this? They really were sharks. But this was why he’d come out, in case he was needed as her father. ‘Yes. Yes, I’m her father.’

  ‘And it was your wife who was abducted and murdered earlier in the year?’

  Sharpe jumped in. ‘Do you have a point? A relevant question?’

  ‘To DS Harrison, do you feel you are to blame as the women in your life are abducted by serial killers? It really is rather sloppy of you to lose another one like this, isn’t it?’

  There was utter uproar as Dominic bounced over the table and threw himself into the crowd.

  Arms were clawing at him. People screaming his name. A red rage clouded his head. The confusion of having killed Ruth and now Claudia being abducted swirled around him and messed with his thought processes.

  Then strong arms had him in a hold he couldn’t escape from. With no nonsense, he was yanked backwards and out of the room. Two uniformed officers had a tight grip of him. He’d stopped fighting, allowing himself to be manoeuvred into another office space.

  Then he was facing Sharpe. She was livid. ‘You think that helped?’

  He scowled at the officers who were holding him.

  ‘You can let him go. Thank you.’

  They frowned but cautiously released him.

  Dominic bent his head.

  ‘The story tonight and all day tomorrow will focus on your outburst, not on Claudia’s abduction. You do realise that, don’t you?’ Her voice was low. It was scarier than if she’d been shouting.


  The problem was, she was right. ‘I’m sorry. I saw red.’

  ‘That journalist was out of order. He won’t be at another briefing.’ She studied Dominic. ‘I should send you home.’

  ‘You can’t do that.’

  ‘Give me one good reason.’

  He rubbed at his upper arm where one of the cops had held on to him a little too tightly. ‘You feel guilty for what happened last time.’ It was his only card. He had no choice but to be blunt and play it.

  She watched him silently.

  He bristled. Had he stepped too far over the line? He was, after all, only a detective sergeant and she was a detective chief inspector. Two ranks higher than him. No matter the truth of the matter.

  Eventually she spoke. ‘That may well be true, Dominic, but let me tell you this. You’ve played that card now. From now on, you’re under my thumb. Do I make myself clear?’

  Dominic nodded. He was under no one’s thumb. He was here to learn what information they had, and then he would go and fetch his daughter.

  CHAPTER 69

  Claudia’s eyes were heavy. Her head fuzzy. Her body leaden.

  She had no concept of where she was or what was happening. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. She wasn’t at home or at work. This wasn’t her bed. Something rigid was sticking into her neck, which was at a weird angle.

  She clawed through her mind for her last memories. The killer they were investigating had targeted her. Her father had come home with her for protection. She’d made dinner.

  Pain sliced through her forehead. She winced. Whatever her location was she was moving. Rolling and bumping. But it was dark. She still couldn’t open her eyes. They were heavy, weighted down in the fog of unconsciousness. Her shoulders were killing her.

  She remembered the police car. Something was wrong with the cops inside. They were supposed to be protecting her, but they were too still.