“Jim, do as he says, please,” Ellen slurred.
When Fallon glanced up at them, Jim saw Ellen wink at him. Good girl, she’s faking her state for his sake.
Brian tugged on Jim’s arm. “Come on, mate. We’ll wait outside for the reinforcements to arrive.”
With Fallon momentarily distracted, Ellen raised a knee and caught him full in the face. He stumbled back, and Jim pounced on him. Jim raised the tyre lever and brought the heavy bar down on the back of Fallon’s head. He slumped to the floor, out cold. Brian sat on Fallon, in case he regained consciousness, while Jim untied Ellen and tore the drip needle out of her arm.
Ellen sobbed and hugged her brother. “I’ve never been so glad to see you.”
“What’s that?” Brian asked, tilting his head.
Jim heard some kind of crackling noise, and it wasn’t long before smoke drifted into his nostrils. Ellen shoved her brother away, then grabbed her jeans and jumper, which were lying in a pile beside her. “Quick, he must have set the place on fire, go and help the others.”
Brian faltered before he jumped off Fallon. Ellen dressed as Jim and Brian left the stable.
Thick smoke billowed through the barn, hampering Jim’s vision as he searched the stables for any other occupants. “Here. I’ll get this one. Try and find the others, Brian,” Jim said as he hurled himself at the naked girl and yanked the drip out of her arm. He covered her chilled body with a nearby hessian sack and lifted her over his shoulder. Carrying another unconscious girl, Brian joined him outside the stable. They ran to the opening, placed the girls gently on the grass outside, checked their pulses and then turned to run back in.
Jim pulled Brian’s arm. “Stay with the girls. Ring the emergency services—all of them.”
“Okay. Get Ellie out of there, Jim.”
“I intend to,” Jim called back over his shoulder, already halfway to the barn.
He could feel the heat intensifying, singeing the hairs on the back of his hands as he protected his face when he entered the barn. He made his way back to the stable where his sister had been, but she wasn’t there. Neither was Fallon.
“Ellen? Where are you?” Thinking he’d made a mistake and the smoke was playing havoc with his vision, Jim searched the rest of the stables with the same result. Ellen and Fallon were nowhere to be seen.
Above the sound of crackling wood, Jim got down on all fours and crawled back to the entrance, constantly checking above him, afraid the roof would cave in. When he retraced his steps back out into the open, he found Ellen in Brian’s arms. Fallon had his back to Jim and was holding a shotgun, aiming it at Ellen and her partner.
Brian was calmly talking to Fallon, trying to dissuade him from using the gun. Jim got to his feet and searched the area for some kind of weapon. A rusty pitchfork was propped up against the wooden boards. He slowly made his way over, picked up the fork, and gingerly walked towards Fallon, stepping on the tufts of grass, rather than the gravel.
He gestured to the others to ignore him, but it was too late. Fallon turned and pointed the gun at him. Jim dropped the fork. Ellen screamed and jumped on Fallon’s back, while Brian and Jim tried to tackle the gun from the madman’s grasp. At the sound of the gun firing, everyone stopped. Fallon grinned and looked down at his chest as blood soiled his clothes. Brian tugged the gun from Fallon’s hands as Jim eased him down onto his knees.
“Will he be okay?” Ellen shouted. “We need to find out what he’s done with the other girls.”
Fallon’s grin broadened. “You’ll never find them. I’ll take the location where they are to my grave.”
Ellen smacked him around the head a number of times. “You, bastard. Tell us!”
But it was too late. Fallon fell forward and landed facedown on the gravel. Jim checked his pulse and shook his head. “He’s gone.”
Ellen buried her head in Brian’s chest. “Those poor girls. Now we’ll never find them.”
Brian rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. “Have faith. Jim and I thought we’d never see you again… plus we managed to rescue at least two of the girls.”
Ellen pushed away from him, tears sitting on her cheeks. She smiled a weary smile. “Thank you.” She turned to her brother and held out a hand. “You’re both my heroes.” Ellen looked over at the unconscious girls and nodded satisfactorily.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Jim ran to his car and drove it into the opening next to the barn so the emergency services could get to the scene.
Two police cars and a fire engine stopped alongside them, and an ambulance brought up the rear. Happy to be alive, Jim linked arms with Ellen and Brian, then stood back to watch the emergency services get on with their respective jobs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
After tossing and turning all night, Ellen finally got up at six on Monday morning. Before the others surfaced, she snuck out of the house and drove to work. Only the early morning delivery vans joined her on the roads.
The past thirty-six hours or so were all still a crazy blur. The local news channel had run the story—their story—directly after the national news. They had portrayed Ellen, Jim, and Brian as heroes. Funny that. She felt anything but heroic. All she could think about were the missing women whom they had failed to find—not the ones they’d managed to save.
She opened the office door, switched on the lights, and dropped the latch on the door behind her. After making a strong black coffee, she laid out all the girls’ files on the desk in front of her. She had a feeling she was in for a busy day of answering calls from the girls’ relatives.
The headlights of a car pulling into the car park set her on edge. She peered through the darkness to see who was there. A relieved smile touched her lips when Brian unlocked and walked through the front door.
“I gather you couldn’t sleep, either?”
Ellen shook her head. “Impossible task. I’m bracing myself for a busy day.” She glanced down at the neatly arranged files.
“Sure to be a busy one. I’ve been constantly thinking, trying to figure out what we’ve missed. He must have another location tucked away. Maybe his mother can shed some light on that?”
“Maybe. I’m going to let Jim deal with her. I’m not sure I could be in the same room as that woman again.”
“I can understand that. Wonder when the police will be finished with Fallon’s car?”
“Not sure. I hope they make it a priority. With Fallon out of the way and the missing girls untraceable, I fear they won’t last long. If they’re not dead already, that is.”
“Is that what you think?” Brian slipped his jacket off and draped it over his chair before he sat down at his desk.
“I think some of them are dead, just by what Fallon said in front of his mum. I can’t remember the exact words, but he intimated that he regretted killing and not holding some of the girls captive. Look at the devastation he has caused all because Abbie dumped him. We’re hearing more and more cases like this now. People dumping their partners, then going back for revenge. It’s as though their mind-set is if I can’t have her, then no one can.”
“You could have a point.” Brian paused thoughtfully for a second or two, then added, “I have a few things I want to work on this morning. Mind if I make a start? I don’t want to appear rude or anything.”
Ellen frowned. It was strange for Brian to change the subject so quickly. “Go for it. I could use some thinking time myself. I’ll make you a coffee.”
She halted her exit when Brian asked, “What time does Jim start work today?”
“I don’t know. Around nine thirtyish? Why?”
“I just want a little chat with him. Let me do some research on the matter first, and then I’ll fill you in.”
She tutted. “You can be such a tease.”
________
At nine thirty on the dot, Brian telephoned Jim. Ellen listened in with interest as he put the phone on speaker.
“Jim, it’s Brian. Listen, has there been any n
ews on Fallon’s car yet? Have forensics finished with it? Do you know?”
“They should have by now. Why? What’s up?”
“Can you let me know when I can see it? There’s a little experiment I want to try.”
Ellen frowned and mouthed to him, “What?”
Brian winked and grinned in response.
“I’ll chase it up now and get back to you.”
Brian hung up, and Ellen eyed him with suspicion. He tapped his nose. “You’ll see soon enough.”
They waited, both seemingly on tenterhooks, until Jim called back five minutes later.
“The car’s been released. Do you want to come over?”
“I’m on my way.” Brian hung up and shrugged into his coat.
Ellen did the same. “Hey, I’m coming with you.”
“What about this place?”
“I’ll put the answerphone on. This is too important to miss out on. Can’t you give me some kind of clue? Forensics would have tested for physical elements, such as different types of soil inside the car and on the tyres.”
“It’s nothing to do with that. Will you stop bugging me and let me dazzle you with my brilliance once we get there?”
“All right, you win. Your car or mine?”
“Mine. I’ll need to take certain equipment with me.”
________
Jim was waiting alongside Fallon’s car when they arrived at the police station car park.
“What’s all this about, Brian? What do you think you’re going to find that the forensics guys couldn’t?” Jim asked as he unlocked the car. Then he stood back to allow Brian access to the vehicle.
“I’m not saying I will find anything, but it’s got to be worth a try.” Brian set up his laptop and hit a few keys, then plugged a cable from his computer into the car’s GPS system.
Ellen and Jim both watched in fascination, with hope lingering near the surface, too. “I take it your boys haven’t come up with anything new regarding the case over the weekend?” Ellen asked her brother.
“Nothing. Forensics tested some soil samples, but they match the area around the farm. If he’s keeping the girls stored at a different location, it’s going to be nigh impossible to find them. His mother has been questioned on and off, and she’s still claiming to know nothing. I suppose she did lead us to the barn. For that, we have to be grateful, I guess.”
Before Ellen could answer him, Brian leapt out of the car and did what she could only describe as a little rain dance.
“What have you found?” Ellen asked, her enthusiasm matching his.
“He thought he was being so damn clever.”
“What?” Jim demanded out of frustration.
“The GPS history. He thought he had deleted it all, but it’s all there, every journey he’s made since it was installed.”
“Jesus! Really?” Ellen asked, astounded.
Jim clapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road, folks. People’s lives are in danger here. Where are we heading first, Brian?”
Brian got back in the car and went through the downloaded file on his computer. “This location was visited numerous times at the beginning of the year. I say we start there.”
“And where exactly is there?” Ellen asked, her pulse quickening.
“Somewhere up near Cannock Chase.”
“Really? Why there, I wonder?” Jim asked.
Brian clicked his fingers together. “I think I read in his background check that he grew up around there. Maybe it was a childhood haunt.”
Ellen nodded. “You’re right. We haven’t got time to ask his mother. Let’s just get out there, see what we find, and then go from there, eh?”
EPILOGUE
Jim’s friend who was a police dog handler in the West Midlands Police Force owed him a favour. Sergeant Steve Milton and his German shepherd, Zeus, joined them on the hour-long trip. Following the exact coordinates in the GPS history led them to a dense wooded area.
Ellen, Jim, and Brian let Sergeant Milton and Zeus take the lead, marching through the picnic area just off the car park and into the wood. Due to the time of year, the bare trees gave Ellen the eerie feeling of entering a petrified forest.
They crunched through the crisp fallen leaves until Zeus started clawing at a patch of ground underneath a large oak tree.
Milton looked at Jim and then removed the leash from the dog. “Find ’em, boy.” Zeus seemed a little confused. He raised his head and glanced up at his master, as if to say, “Er… you might want to start here first.”
Jim tentatively started digging in the spot where Zeus had dug. A few moments later, his shovel hit something solid. The four of them eyed each other with a knowing look while Zeus sat and howled.
Jim said, “I better call it in. Get forensics out here before we go any further.”
Ellen gave her brother a pleading look. “Can we continue digging or at least let Zeus continue to check around for more potential sites? Fallon did return to this location several times. To me, if that is a body down there, then I’m inclined to think there’ll be others in this vicinity.”
“Your sister has a point, Jim. Call it in, and I’ll set Zeus off searching again.” Milton put his hands either side of the dog’s nose and whispered, “Find ’em, boy. Do your thing.”
The dog set off, his nose snuffling through the leaves. Zeus hadn’t gone far when, once again, he started clawing at the ground. After ringing the station to report their findings, Jim started digging the ground where the dog had indicated something might be buried.
With her fingers crossed, Ellen watched her brother dig. She had a feeling they were about to uncover the unmarked graves of all the remaining girls, including the body of her client’s wife. Her mind was already toying with the words, trying to put them in some semblance of a statement that she could say to the distraught families—not an enviable task by any stretch of the imagination.
As soon as Jim hit an object, Milton sent Zeus off to search another area. In no time at all, Zeus had led them to five sites within an area of roughly forty metres square. The revelation proved to be too much for Ellen. She sat down heavily on a nearby tree stump and covered her face with her hands. Brian placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.
“The families will be grateful come the end, love. It’s better to know they’re gone than to be left wondering if their loved ones might come back one day.”
Ellen sighed, and with tears threatening to fall, she turned to look at him. “I know. I just wish the outcome could have been better. What a bummer!”
“There is one consolation that you need to hang on to. If it wasn’t for your tenacity, we wouldn’t have found the other two girls or these bodies.”
“You’re so sweet, Brian, but you did this.” Ellen swept the area with her arm. “If you hadn’t had the foresight to tap into Fallon’s GPS history, none of this would have been possible.”
“It’s teamwork. We’ll go on to future cases knowing that our foundation is one that most firms would envy.”
In spite of their gruesome surroundings, Ellen smiled. He was right. Teamwork was the very foundation that their working partnership was built on, and it would, in the end, help their business to grow and succeed. If this case had shown her anything, it was that her determination for a better outcome would be paramount going forward.
Thank you for reading Sole Intention; I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.
If you liked it, please consider posting a short review as it’s wonderful to get feedback from readers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M. A. Comley is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling British author who settled in France around eleven years ago, turning her hobby into a career. When she’s not tapping away at the keyboard creating her latest thriller, she enjoys gardening and has recently carried out several renovations on the farmhouse she bought last year.
Keep in touch with the author at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MelComley/264745836884860
http://melcomley.blogspot.com
http://melcomleyromances.blogspot.com
Subscribe to newsletter
Find Mel’s Books On Amazon
NIGHT PREY:
A NIGHT SERIES NOVEL
CAROL DAVIS LUCE
Copyright © 1992 by Carol Davis Luce
Sudalu Media publication: 2010
1st Printing: Kensington Publishing Corp: 1992
2nd Printing: Kensington Publishing Corp: 1993
Audio book ACX 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author.
With love and kisses to Alex, Cody, and Cory…
little bits of heaven on earth.
PROLOGUE
Gigantic pines, white fir, and quaking aspen passed along each side of him, casting deeper shadows across his boots and the deer trail he followed. The creature sounds in this shadowy stretch of the woods seemed more guttural. Birds shrieked. Predators growled low in their throats. Prey screamed in the throes of death.
The large man moved stealthily through the thickets of chokeberry and manzanita. He bent his head to avoid the low-hanging boughs, hunched his shoulders, his arms swaying apelike as he lumbered down the worn path.
In the heat of the afternoon, when the air smelled of roasted pine nuts, baked earth, and granite, he would find her in the cool waters of the pond. His pond.
He slowed. He was close. Once he spied the pond he would have to move more cautiously. This was the hardest part. For at this point he always wanted to rush ahead and join her in the sweet, cool water. But he must not reveal himself. Not yet.
At the edge of the darkness, through a tunnel of brush, he saw sunlight glitter off the water’s surface.
From tree to tree he advanced furtively to the fringe of the woods. Still deep in the concealing shadows he became a watcher.
Her horse was tethered to a clump of dry brush. Her clothes lay scattered over a large flat rock. He scanned the pond for her, seeing only distorted reflections of the tall trees lining the western shoreline.
Mortal Crimes 1 Page 68