With Deadly Intent

  The woods provided an ideal backdrop, secluded, no neighbours, no one to hear her scream. Yes, this would definitely do as a backup.

  Now he only had to decide how.

  It was only another seventeen days to his three-week deadline after all.

  He froze as he heard soft voices to the rear of the cottage and realised they were taking the dog out. Worried it would pick up his scent, he left his hiding place and made his way back to the car.

  He would look at Google Earth when he got home, see if he couldn’t find a better vantage point to keep watch from. If she was going to be his back up, then he would do it properly. He might get rid of Alex too as a bonus, after forcing her to watch him endure a slow painful death of course. Might as well enjoy it.

  Without the backup plan, Alex would have eventually paid for blanking him. No one did that, not any more.

  He got to the car and slipped the key in the ignition, listening to the engine roar to life, turned the heating on full, and set off home. He had taken a risk coming in his own car that evening, but he had just finished work and he didn’t really have time to pick up his mum’s car. He was confident he hadn’t been spotted though. The old logging track hadn’t been used in a long while.

  Tomorrow would come soon enough, and he would continue with his planning.

  16th October, 1105 hours – Ryhope Police Station

  Cass pulled at the collar of her polo top. It had been a cold morning, the first frost of the impending winter leaving fairy dust sparkles on every surface. In response the station’s heating had been cranked up the max, which was fine for all the warm blooded folk who ran for duvets and duffel coats at the first sign of a chill. Not for Cass though. The heat in the conference room was almost unbearable.

  The forensic strategy meeting had already been going on for an hour. She had heard the gist of the search team’s findings from Danny, a lot of generic evidence recovery from the cave and the surrounding beach which wasn’t surprising from a public area. Even Danny had admitted the likelihood of anything being of any substantial value was limited.

  Alex had already gone through the PM findings. Nigel’s report had come through that morning, verifying what he’d said at the time about cause of death, and she’d already been over the forensic evidence her team had found. It was limited but she was hopeful about the partial footwear marks recovered, and one section of bloodied rag which the lab had said they would examine for DNA other than belonging to the victim. Separating DNA profiles was difficult but not impossible, with new techniques being developed all the time.

  Cass figured it wouldn’t be much longer before the meeting would be wound up, and tugged at her collar again as Charlie took the floor to go into Albert’s history. She had just opened her mouth to speak, when there was a loud rap at the door.

  Everyone looked round expectantly as the door opened and the Chief Constable strode inside, quickly followed by the Assistant Chief and one of the Chief Superintendents. Cass watched as everyone’s mouth dropped open in shock. Plainly no one had known this visit would be taking place. She hadn’t heard the CC was in the nick today.

  ‘Morning everyone, I was in the area and just wanted to pop my head in and provide some reassurance regarding the money-saving initiatives we are all facing. I want you all to know that my priority is not to lose staff, I am aiming as much as possible for people to be deployed into alternate roles, however, you’re all aware that a lot of departments have been identified as being at risk. I trust everyone here has at least had their initial department meeting at this stage?’

  At the cautious array of nods, he continued, ‘Good. I’ve set up an email suggestion and comments filter. I want you all to know that your ideas matter, so send over any suggestions you have, or comments about the process, to Money Suggestions Mailbox. I know how hard this is on everyone, you all need to know that I am here and approachable. All emails will be answered. OK, so that said I’ll leave you to your meeting, I’m busy working my way round all the depots at the present time.’

  And as quickly as he had entered they left, leaving everyone a little shell shocked.

  Danny was the first to speak, ‘Our opinion counts huh? So I guess he’ll be taking a wage drop to save money then? A few less tens of thousands on his yearly wage? What a prick.’

  Several of the officers murmured their agreement, and Alex, sensing that things could potentially get out of hand, had to interrupt. ‘OK guys, odd time for the CC to visit but we need to crack on with the meeting ‘cos the room’s booked out for another one starting in forty minutes. Charlie, can you start again on Albert’s history please?’

  Chapter Twenty

  17th October, 1425 hours – Ryhope Police Station

  He was really annoyed; so annoyed he could actually see white spots dancing in front of his eyes.

  They thought he was dispensable; that they could just get rid of him; throw him out like a bag of rubbish on trash day?

  He felt his blood boil, who did they think they were? He would make every one of them pay; if he couldn’t work there he’d make damn sure no one else could. If it took him ten years to make that thought a reality, he would do it.

  Inhaling a deep breath, he tried to calm down. He still needed to ring Scott and find out what had happened at the police station. He’d tried to contact him yesterday but got no answer. He needed to know which plan he would be following. Confusion was not good.

  He punched the redial button and held the receiver to his ear. He was almost at the point of hanging up when Scott’s sullen voice answered.

  ‘Lo,’

  ‘Andy, it’s John. Haven’t heard from you in a couple of days, just checking you’re OK.’

  ‘I need some money. Pigs are chasing me. Need to get away, me and Kourt.’

  ‘I don’t know whether I can get anything together. When are you leaving?’ He asked carefully, knowing Scott would think he was stalling.

  ‘Tomorrow. I’m not staying in this stinking town a day longer than I need to.’

  He felt panic rise like bile from his stomach – how would he complete his plan if Scott left? Yes, he had a backup, but Scott was and would remain his first choice. He wanted to see the jumped up little squirt beg for his miserable life. Thinking he could play him. Just like they thought they could play him. He knew he was being irrational, lumping Scott with them like they were one. They weren’t, but they were rapidly becoming intertwining acts in this great show of his. Scott couldn’t just leave. He needed him to stay.

  ‘How much do you need?’

  The question hung as Scott contemplated his answer.

  ‘I had this mate once, made friends with an older guy like you. This mate wanted like a grand, and the old guy had to give it to him cos he threatened to go to the police, tell ‘em this bloke had been touching him and stuff. See, the bloke didn’t have a choice really. He gave me mate the money, and me mate got the bike he wanted. He did it a few times after that. Not me though, I don’t need to go to the police. ‘Cos you’re my real mate aren’t you, John? You’ll help me out.’

  He almost fell over in shock, the jumped up little prick was trying to blackmail him. For the first time that day, he felt his anger dissipate and a feeling of control took over.

  ‘Yes I’m your friend, Andy. I’ll do what I can to get you some money. I can spare maybe £30 until payday. Will that be enough?’

  ‘£30 measly quid? Come on, John. I know you can do better than that. I need more than £30.’

  ‘Well if you can wait ‘til the first of the month I can spare £500. Will that be enough of a loan to get you and Kourt started wherever you end up? You can just pay me back whenever,’ he purposely kept his voice neutral, knowing that Scott had no intention of paying him back. Would his offer would be enough of a carrot to make Scott stay?

  ‘I’m due back at the nick on the 2nd to answer bail. You get me the money by then, yeah?’

  He bit his own cheek, hard, needing to sound a little nai
ve and weak. ‘OK, Andy, no problem. What’s mine is yours. I trust you’ll let me know your location so I get the money back? When you’re sorted of course.’

  ‘Yea you’ll know. I’m going to the park tonight. You wanna meet us and have a few smokes?’

  ‘I’m working tonight, but I’ll see you soon, Andy, OK? We’ll have a catch up. I’ll bring the beer.’

  He hung up the phone thoughtfully. Shame they couldn’t be manipulated as easily as Scott. He shook his head and pushed back the wave of anger threatening his composure. The anger peaked again as he suddenly realised what he’d done. He’d gone and called Scott’s mobile number from the work phone, not his mobile.

  He grabbed the van keys, left the office and jumped in the van, pulling in at the service station round the corner to refuel. If ever he was questioned he could just say he had been out of the office – the CCTV at the services would put him there. Not that he thought for one second it would happen, he was brighter than they were. He knew how evidence got missed and misplaced within the police, how easy it was.

  He ought to after all. He worked for them.

  17th October, 2350 hours – Cass’s Cottage

  Cass had had a busy day. She never understood why they were defined as ‘rest days’ when not one person she knew ever used them for resting. She had seen Alex off that morning as he left for work. They had become more comfortable in each other’s company in the past few days and he’d stayed at the cottage every night since that first night. It made her feel special, and a little naughty, because nobody at work knew what was happening. It was like they were two different people at work. No one had guessed they were dating.

  Is that what this was called? She wasn’t sure.

  Smiling to herself for the millionth time that day, she acknowledged she was falling for him. Since he had left that morning she’d tackled the daunting task of pruning the trees surrounding the garden and cottage ready for the autumn. She’d done all the boring household tasks like her washing and ironing, sorted out the bills, walked Ollie twice and had made dinner.

  It had been 8 p.m. when Alex had finally arrived from work, only to sit down at the table to eat and promptly be called back to the nick to deal with an armed robbery.

  Her head now firmly back in ‘work-mode’, she sat at the table thinking. The proposed job cuts affected everyone; Cass had heard the day before they were cutting the handymen, the cleaners, even the front office staff were at risk. A lot of the stations were going from 24:7 opening to daytime only, which meant money saving in not having to run the station round the clock, and also from other things such as shift allowance. It was all just happening too fast. Cass could already see the implications if the cuts went ahead after the consultation period.

  She knew of several people jumping ship before it sank; Greg had opted to take his redundancy a few years before his thirty years of service was up. It saddened her. Greg was one of the best CSIs in the whole force, let alone in her area command. When she had been promoted to CSM and asked to manage the Ryhope depot, she’d heard rumours from the other supervisors about Greg. He was reported to be gobby and unpredictable, and didn’t like women. Cass had held her reservations in check and found it all to be complete bollocks. Greg was a hard worker, he liked being treated with respect and would say when he didn’t agree with something. But she’d never had a problem with him.

  She often wished some of the other CSIs would take his lead, be a little more headstrong and say what they were thinking.

  Deena wasn’t too bad on that front. Years of experience had taught her when she could say no effectively, but she was still a bit of a follower. Faith was wrapped up in her own problems and was an emotional person. Cass liked her a lot and had respect for how well she did the job, but often found herself a little out of her depth when Faith got upset at over something her police colleagues had said or done. She also had a habit of bringing her personal life to work. For all Cass needed to learn to handle Faith’s emotional outbursts a little better, she couldn’t help but think Faith needed to develop a thicker skin. Thick like Fred’s would be good; Fred had been in the department almost as long as Greg. He was confident and has no qualms about saying no to anyone of any rank if what they were asking was outside of the CSI remit.

  Productively though, all the CSIs who worked from Ryhope were marked among the highest in the area command. Certain statistics were monitored – primarily identifications from fingerprints, DNA and footwear. It would be hard for anyone trying to make a case to cut the number of CSIs, but she knew it would happen.

  Pulling her thoughts away from work matters, Cass decided it was time to take Ollie for another walk. She had a week off scheduled and was intending to work on her latest paper for the Forensic Journal, on the implications of using technology at crime scenes, as well as meeting her mum at Rockliffe Hall for an overnight spa break starting the next day.

  It was cold outside, and she shivered, pulling her jacket closer as she and Ollie navigated the stile at the bottom of the garden. She’d invested years before in a head torch, and she adjusted the angle slightly before heading off at steady pace, her breath leaving wisps in the night air as she walked. She loved nights like this, when it was cold and fresh and the woods came alive. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that the night-time sounds in the woods were completely different to the day time ones. She listened carefully as she walked, with Ollie bounding ahead scrabbling for rabbits. She heard the trees whisper to each other in the breeze, the hoot of a barn owl in the distance, and ducked as moths danced towards the beam of light on her forehead. She had never found the woods scary though she knew a lot of people would. It was alive with wildlife and it never failed to amaze her.

  She paused as her light picked up a small roe deer, frozen in momentary fear at the approaching beam. And she smiled as it turned on its heels and gracefully bounded away. Ollie had his head down a rabbit hole and didn’t notice it. Normally he would woof in surprise and look at Cass as the deer ran off. He’d never been one for giving chase, and Cass was grateful. He really was a pleasure to walk.

  They walked another fifteen minutes down the faint path, then turned back towards the cottage. Ollie was tired now, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he walked beside Cass.

  Suddenly he stopped and stared intently into the darkness of the wood. Surprised as he growled softly, Cass paused too, feeling the hairs stand to attention on the back of her neck. She instinctively put her hand on Ollie’s collar, slowly moving her head from side to side to illuminate the path ahead and get her bearings. They were still about ten minutes from the cottage. Cass didn’t know what had startled the dog, and wasn’t used to feeling fear in her woods. She let Ollie’s collar go and said, ‘Home, Ollie. Go,’ and followed at a fast pace.

  It was probably nothing more than some animal Ollie had perceived as a threat, but Cass wasn’t taking any chances. Both she and Ollie made their way back to the cottage at a hasty speed and, once inside, Cass bolted the back door.

  ‘You OK?’ came Alex’s voice from behind her.

  Cass jumped and turned, her hand clutched to her chest.

  ‘Jesus, Alex, you scared me. I thought you were still at work. We were in the woods and Ollie just stopped and growled but I couldn’t see what it was and I panicked and we both ran...’

  ‘Whoa, slow down, Cass. It’s OK, you’re safe. Come here,’ interrupted Alex, pulling her into his arms.

  Kissing her gently on the forehead, he whispered, ‘It’s OK. Now tell me what happened.’

  Cass looked up at him.

  ‘I don’t know, Alex,’ she sighed. ‘Ollie never growls at anything. He scared me. I thought, I dunno. I guess I thought someone was out there. I’m probably just being jumpy.’

  ‘I’d have jumped too. Shall I make us a hot chocolate? Nothing like a bit of chocolate to sooth fear so I hear?’

  Cass smiled at him and nodded.

  ‘How’d the robbery go?’

&n
bsp; ‘We got two arrests. They entered the garage and threatened the cashier with a knife. Nicked maybe £60 out of the till and a crate of Fosters. CCTV showed them leaving the forecourt and one of the officers recognised one of the lads. We found them both in his flat, both onto their second can with a takeaway on their plates.’

  ‘Quick result. Nice one.’

  ‘What day did you say you were going to Rockliffe? I’m off for four days from tomorrow but was thinking of going up and seeing Mum and co. You don’t mind do you?’ Cass heard the hint of vulnerability in his voice as he asked.

  ‘Mind? Why would I mind, Alex? I think it’s great you’re going up to see your family.’

  Alex smiled at her, and then slowly took her cup from her hand and placed it on the table.

  ‘Let’s skip the chocolate,’ he said quietly, ‘I can think of something better to ease fear,’ and took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

  He leaned in and placed his lips on hers, filling her with the promise of things to come, before leading her off to the bedroom.

  18th October, 0025 hours – Woods, Cass’s Cottage

  He froze as he heard the dog growl. Realising he had got too close and the mutt had picked up his scent, he stood still, hidden behind the tree.

  He saw the glow of her torch move quickly over his position and held his breath in anticipation. Acting right now was not on his agenda. He would if he had to, but he hoped that if he stayed still she wouldn’t see him.