by Deborah Lucy
He’d so wanted to get China the help she obviously needed, she’d been through so much, but instead she’d run into Tarek Sulaj. If only he hadn’t been left on the ground for Brian Porten to find, he felt certain China would still be alive. But then he wouldn’t have discovered Porten’s evil and twisted actions at the abattoir, which would have left Porten free to continue killing. It was a bitter payoff. The press had wanted to interview Temple, they wanted to declare him ‘the hero cop’ for stopping Porten in his tracks, but he knew he was no such thing. Given a choice, he’d rather have saved China Lewis and left Porten for another day.
* * *
It was a beautiful scene. A horseshoe-shaped bay with endless golden sand and turquoise waters. Ko Sukorn was idyllic. He especially liked the sunsets. There was something about watching the sun go down here that really settled a sense of peace on him. It was like watching a phenomenon. This was a place where he could leave the other world behind him. He looked out to sea and felt the sand beneath his feet. A soft, warm breeze off the lapping shore welcomed him back. After the long journey, he was home.
Barefoot in the sand, he turned away from the sea and into the vegetation of the tall palm trees. He found the familiar track and made his way towards a typical wooden house, albeit it was larger than most. He wondered how near he could get before they would see him.
He loved Thailand. It gave him his freedom. This time, it had given him his life. For this he had to thank Bangkok. He loved its chaos, its vibrancy, the noise, the smell. Most of all, he loved its street life. The food sellers, leather sellers, gold sellers, the sex sellers. If you knew where to look, as he did, it would cater for your every need. But after being there a while, he found out there was more it could offer. He discovered that there was a street in Bangkok where you could enter as one person and by the time you’d walked to the other end, you were someone entirely different. At least, that’s what your passport said. When you know these things, a whole new world opens up.
As a consequence, he could move about as Edward Read, John Herriott, Robert Cardman or Simon Dew. He had passports for all these names and identities. Luckily, they had been safely hidden to enable a quick getaway. He had managed to order his ticket with EVA Air on his phone in the back of the car when he was with Temple. When he left the hospital, he was in a taxi to Heathrow within the hour. He was in the air before they even knew he was missing. Sweet.
He always knew it would come: a time when he would be unlucky. He had hoped he could last out a few more years, rake in a few extra grand, but it didn’t matter. His freedom was far more important. He could always make more money. The trick was knowing when to get out. And having a plan for that eventuality.
‘Ah, Mr Edward, you’re back!’
Sloper walked towards the open arms of a tiny Thai woman. He easily morphed from Simon Sloper into Edward Read – until he got tired of being him. That’s what he loved about this place.
* * *
Prayer Taylor lay on her bed. She couldn’t help but go over events, even though over a week had passed. She could do this in the confines of her bedroom without being watched over by her parents. To them she had to appear as normal as possible; she didn’t want them to know anything untoward had happened to her. As far as they were concerned, she had met her biological mother and they could now move forward.
She hadn’t told them anything of what had really happened. She hadn’t told them of the night that men in grotesque Halloween masks had burst into Gemma’s flat and abducted her. How they had driven her to a flat and taken her to an upstairs room and pushed her inside. She hadn’t confided to anyone how terrified she’d been on that journey, how she knew that she had to keep her wits about her in order to survive. Something had kicked in that night, something she hadn’t known existed within her.
They’d told her to undress or they would do it for her. It was then she knew she had to do something to save herself. And that had worked. But now she felt the need to go over the events again and again. From when he’d found her. Rescued her. Her biological father. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Thinking about them, her real parents. They weren’t real, the people she lived with. She felt she no longer belonged to them.
Chapter 54
Temple pulled up outside the lychgate. His mobile buzzed as he locked the car, but he ignored it. He wanted to go inside the tiny cottage where he could see the welcoming lights and spend some time with Ben before he went out for the evening. As soon as he crossed the threshold, Ana was waiting for him.
‘I’ve been trying to get through to you. I rang and texted you. There was a message from Richard here when I got back this afternoon. On a piece of paper through the letterbox – he must have called by. Now where have I put it?’
As Ana looked around, Temple looked for Ben, distracted by the need to spend time with him. He had to get Richard a phone and show him how to send texts.
‘OK, I’ll look at it later.’ He found Ben, took him for his bath and read him a story before showering and changing to go out with Callie.
As he drove back to Huish, his thoughts were full of her. They’d spent last night together. After the last few days, what with finding China and Sulaj being arrested, being with her was just what he’d needed. Every murder investigation he encountered seemed to take something from him, something he never quite recovered. Every time he altered a little. That was certainly the case in respect of China, but being with Callie last night had made all the difference to how he’d felt today.
And he was becoming more and more enamoured of her. She’d made a big impression on him in a short space of time. He couldn’t understand why she was still single, but he was glad she was and glad their paths had crossed. He had started to tell her about his mother, about Leigh and Daisy. She knew about Ben of course, but not all the circumstances.
Over dinner tonight, he planned to tell her about that and about Prayer. He’d made so many decisions recently and was feeling much more positive about the future. He didn’t want to hide his past from Callie and felt it was only fair to tell her everything – that way, whatever the outcome, she would have had it all.
If she felt she didn’t want a relationship with him once she knew, then at least he’d know where he stood. He felt confident though; she seemed to take the news of Leigh’s pregnancy in her stride. It hadn’t seemed to faze her at all. The sooner she knew everything the better. And if she knocked him back – well, he’d deserve it.
He was also pleased that he’d made the decision to step back from Op Acre. He was sure it was the right thing for him to do. In fact, he knew it was – ever since he’d made the decision, he’d felt as if an enormous weight had lifted from him. His life felt lighter. It started to make sense. Things had to change, and when he looked back, the murder of his mother had impacted in one way or another on most of his life and on Daisy. Well, no more.
He would tell Richard that they should stop the quest the next time he saw him. The peace of mind he had found since making his decision and coming to terms with the fact he would not know the identity of the killer was a peace worth having after all these years. He was no longer going to let a killer control him or impact on the people in his life. The collateral damage was too great. He’d make a point of seeing Richard in the next few days and agree with him to put an end to it, for both of them.
The car rumbled over the cattle grid and he pulled up at the front of the house. He heard his mobile sound an incoming text. Temple pressed the horn and Callie waved from a window, indicating she’d be out. As he waited, Temple looked at his phone: there was the text that Ana had sent him earlier to tell him of the message Richard had left him and another now from DC Paul Wright. He had forgotten to read Richard’s message before he came out, not wanting to be late for his date with Callie.
He looked at Wright’s text. Clicking on it, he saw that there was a photo attachment. He wondered at first what it was on the screen. He tilted his phone on its side for a bett
er view. The screen showed an image with four lines of numbers contained inside symbols arranged like a series of spikes, like bleeps on a heart monitor. The spikes were of varying heights. Then he realised what he was looking at.
It was the DNA sequence from the blue T-shirt. He’d almost forgotten he’d asked Paul Wright to see if he could get it for him. After all this time, there it was. He now had the DNA profile from the blue T-shirt. He recalled the words on his mother’s death certificate: ‘Unlawful Killing. Killed by person or persons unknown.’ He was holding the killer in his hands. Temple felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle.
Looking up, he saw Callie heading towards him. He closed the message and quickly opened the previous text from Ana, relaying the content of the note left by Richard.
‘Hoped to catch you in. Need to see you urgently. New development.’
Callie sat next to him in the car and he kissed her. ‘Change of plan,’ he said to her. ‘There’s something I need to do.’
THE END
DI TEMPLE BOOKS
Book 1: WATCH HER DIE
Book 2: DEAD OF NIGHT
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GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH SLANG FOR US READERS
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
<
br /> Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police