Three (Detective Alec Ramsay Series Book 7)

by Conrad Jones

  She heard them moving towards the cellar entrance to her right. One of them walked down the half a dozen wide stone steps to the water. His heavy boots clomped, each footstep echoed through the building. She heard splashing noises. Then she heard something else. A dull humming sound, distant and rhythmical drifted to her. As it grew louder, she realised that it was the low purr of an engine. She frowned in the gloom as she imagined it to be an outboard motor. What had they missed? The cellar was flooded, yes but a boat? Her view of the men was blocked by a thick support column. She craned her neck, desperate to get a better look. Mike gripped her elbow. She could hardly see his face but she sensed the warning. ‘Keep still’. The engine was coming closer, quiet but steady. The sound of water lapping at the walls below them grew louder. Something was happening below them but she couldn’t see a thing. The urge to stand up and get a better view was overwhelming. She had to see. The engine chugged for a moment longer and then the noise died to nearly a stop. The sound of something thudding reached them. Rubber against stone?

  “How many got through?” A gruff voice drifted to them. The accent confirmed Mike’s note. She was convinced that they were Russians.

  “Only twelve,” an English voice replied. He was from the south, maybe London, maybe closer to the coast. She couldn’t decide for sure. “We lost three on the way. The balloons burst inside them.”

  “Ivor won’t be happy,” the first voice growled. “He’s expecting fifteen.”

  “I’ve got the surgeon removing any recoverable parcels but it’ll take a few days.” The southerner ignored his moaning. “This isn’t a SAGA cruise you know, shit happens. It is what it is.”

  “And the zombie?”

  “All three kilos as agreed, in the case.”

  “He wants to be sure it will make ten kilos when it’s cut,” the voice asked.

  “Tell him that the manufacturer said that it’s tried and tested. Three kilos of this stuff cuts up to ten or fifteen if you want it to. Once it is compressed into tablets, you’ll sell them for thirty quid each all day long. This stuff is rocket fuel; there’s a reason why they call it zombie. Ivor knows the score.”

  “You had better hope that he does.”

  “You let me worry about Ivor,” the Londoner replied chirpily. “It’s swings and roundabouts. We’ll make up the amount we lost in the three girls on the next delivery. Now stop fucking around and get them out of my rib. I need to catch the next tide.”

  ‘Rib?’ she thought. Toni envisaged an inflatable dinghy with a rigid bottom, the boat of choice for drug smugglers and people traffickers. She had heard them called Zodiacs. Splashing and shuffling noises drifted up from below.

  “Get out!” A sharp slap was followed by a whimper and the sound of women sobbing. She couldn’t believe what she was listening to; drugs that she had never heard of being handed over by the kilo and women being traded like animals. This was way out of her league. She could feel cold perspiration covering her skin, the sweat of the terrified. The sound of multiple pairs of feet splashing in the water echoed through the mill as the women climbed the stone steps. She could hear hushed voices growling orders, each word coated in venom.

  She felt Mike nudge her arm gently. He held her digital camera in his hand. She had used it before to record undercover observations. It had an infra-red mode, which allowed her to film in the dark. Toni shook her head. It was a great piece of kit but it couldn’t film through iron and stone. He put his finger against his lips and then pointed to the column. She grabbed at his sleeve to stop him but he was gone, moving like a cat in the darkness. Toni felt her hands beginning to shake with fear.

  She wanted to shout after him. ‘Don’t risk it!’ echoed around her mind. ‘You bloody fool!’

  Her stomach was tied in knots and she closed her eyes to calm her nerves. When she opened them, Mike was out of sight too.

  “Move them to the van quickly,” a voice called.

  Toni heard the boat’s engine purring again. There was a splash and then the engine grew louder before fading away. The men came back into the main body of the warehouse. This time, they herded twelve smaller shapes between them. They were all dark skinned, some much darker than the others. She could make out afro hair, hunched shoulders, bruised arms and legs, some with jeans and trainers others with bare bloody feet. They moved as one huddled together without a sound, lambs to the slaughter; any protest or fight already beaten out of them. Toni could smell their despair. She wasn’t sure what she thought was going to happen at the mill but she hadn’t expected an exchange as significant as this. It was way beyond what she had wanted to witness. Had she suspected that this was going to happen, she would have gone to the police immediately but that option was no longer on the table.

  The men bundled the women past her hiding place towards the entrance in silence. She still couldn’t see the men’s faces, bar the odd flash of skin. White, Mediterranean, Black? She had no idea but what the hell did she expect? They were breaking so many laws that she couldn’t count them, so they were hardly likely to show themselves.

  The sound of the metal hoarding being pulled open bounced off the crumbling walls and she held her breath and waited for it to slam closed to signal their departure. She felt a gust of wind from the river blowing through the open door and then the sound of wood splitting snapped through the building. The loud crack was deafening in the darkness. It was followed by a muffled cry and a dull thump as something heavy hit the dusty floor.

  “What was that?” One of the men hissed.

  “There’s someone else in here!”

  “Get them in the van,” an angry voice snapped. “You come with me!”

  She heard heavy boots running towards her. Torchlight reflected from the walls, searching and scanning the nooks and crannies. She could hear them breathing and smell their sweat as they ran by. They reached the cellar entrance and paused. A low moan came out of the darkness to her right. Was it Mike? Her breath caught in her lungs. She was frozen with terror. A beam of light flickered between the wooden steps above her. She ducked and squeezed her eyes closed, her hands covered her face and she curled up, her knees against her chest. The sound of their breathing was close and she waited for the touch of rough hands to grab at her. She heard the moan again.

  “There!”

  She heard the men running away from her but she still couldn’t look. Her body would not listen to her brain. She was unable to move an inch.

  “Who are you?” A voice growled. She heard a slap and then a cry of pain.

  “I’m no one,” Mike’s voice crackled. “I was sleeping in here.”

  She heard shuffling and the sound of a body being dragged.

  “Search him.” More shuffling. A groan of pain.

  “I’ve broken my leg,” Mike pleaded. “I was sleeping up there and fell, please. I’m just a homeless drunk. I didn’t see you,” he babbled. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Really?” The voice sounded sarcastic. “You sleep with a digital camera stuffed in your boots?” Toni listened and slowly uncurled. She peered from her filthy hiding place and watched as one of the men flicked through the last few images that the camera had captured. The light illuminated his eyes and lips. He was white. Toni could see his mouth twist to a sneer. “This fucker was filming us!”

  “Are you police?” A powerful kick to his face followed the question.

  “No,” Mike gurgled through broken teeth. He spat blood onto the floor. “I’m no one. I was just here. Take the camera.”

  “If he was police, he wouldn’t be alone and we would be in handcuffs by now,” the foreign man said shaking his head. “Grab him. He’s coming with us. Ivor can decide what happens to him.”

  “Please!” Mike groaned. Toni felt tears welling in her eyes as the man pressed a Taser to the back of his neck. She heard the electricity crackle and saw the blinding blue light as fifty thousand volts silenced Mike’s protests. Her vision blurred as she watched them drag him away. The metal d
oor screeched once more. She was so frightened that she waited forty minutes before she thought about moving. The urge to pee was excruciating and she squatted and sobbed as the smell of her own urine drifted to her. When she was done, she tiptoed from the warehouse and then sprinted the half a mile to her car with tears running down her face. She was breathless as she opened the boot, took out her handbag and grabbed her mobile. Toni dialled 999 but she had no idea what she was going to tell them when they answered.

  CHAPTER 5

  Toni was cold, tired and afraid. The waiting room at the police station was basic and smelled of stale sweat, mingled with disinfectant. Six hours had ticked by slowly since she made the 999 call and she had recounted her story to many different faces thus far and made a formal statement. The Drug Squad, River Police and detectives from other syndicates had all spoken to her since then. Uniformed officers had responded to her call first but when they realised the urgency of the situation, they were quickly backed up by detectives and an Armed Response Unit. She was unclear at first if they believed her or not but eventually they had taken her word for it and searched the mill. She felt panicked at first, desperate to help Mike but as the hours ticked by, numbness had crept in. The police were talking at her, not to her.

  They had been kind and sympathetic at first but once they had established her identity, their attitude towards her changed dramatically. The detective constable, who was dealing with her couldn’t get out of the room quick enough, mumbling something about ‘making her DI’s week’. On the way out, she had slammed the door closed behind her and over an hour had gone by since. They had taken her mobile ‘for her own safety’ and she began to wonder if she was going to be placed under arrest, although she couldn’t imagine what the charges would be if they did. Despite her innocence, Toni felt terribly guilty. She tensed when she heard the door handle rattling.

  “I’m sorry for the delay, Miss Barrat,” an attractive female with short dark hair and elfin features said, as she breezed into the room. Her grey suit and open necked white blouse gave her a look of professionalism. A man the size of a house followed her though the door. His close cropped greying hair and leather jacket gave him the appearance of a bouncer. “I’m Detective Inspector Annie Jones and this is Detective Sergeant Jim Stirling.” He nodded silently in greeting as he closed the door. There was no warmth in his expression. His eyes looked her up and down discreetly before he looked away. She could feel him scrutinising her. “We’re from the city’s Major Investigation Team.”

  “At last,” Toni sighed with relief. They had sent the big guns to see her. At least she knew that they were taking her seriously. Toni appreciated the cut of the DI’s suit as she sat down opposite her although her shoes looked to be on the cheap side. “Have you found Mike?”

  “Not yet. I need you to explain what happened last night.” The detective frowned and shook her head as she spoke. “We’re a little bemused by what exactly went on.”

  “For God’s sake!” Toni sighed. She rolled her eyes and stared at the ceiling, her jaw hanging open. Tiredness was fraying her temper. “I’ve made a formal statement,” she said with a deep intake of breath. She looked at her watch impatiently and tutted. “I’ve been over this a hundred times.” She looked from one detective to the other with her eyes wide open in question. “Don’t you speak to each other?”

  The detectives were unruffled as they exchanged glances. “Yes. We’ve spoken to all the officers that you have but I’m still unclear because you’re not telling us everything.”

  “I have told you everything in my statement.”

  “I’ve read it several times but we need to hear it from you, Miss Barrat,” the DI said curtly. She smoothed her skirt with her palms. Toni noticed something strange about her eyes. “I know it’s frustrating for you and a little annoying but I need you to work with us here.”

  “I’m sorry. I am just so worried about Mike,” Toni said with a sigh. “It’s been a long night and I’m tired. Have you found them? Is there any sign of Mike?”

  “All we found at the mill were footprints,” the DI shrugged, “which goes someway to corroborating your story. It must have been traumatic for you.”

  “Yes it was,” Toni said. She relaxed a little. The detective had calmness in her voice, which put her at ease. “It was frightening to say the least. I should have done something to stop them.” Toni bit her lip to stop herself from crying. “I was so bloody terrified that I just froze to the spot. I should have done something.”

  “If you had,” Stirling leaned in as he spoke, his voice gruff but reassuring, “You wouldn’t be here now and we wouldn’t know that two people were missing until it was too late. There was nothing that you could have done.”

  “It all happened so quickly. The whole thing feels like a bad dream.”

  “I’m sure it does.” Annie sympathised. “What I don’t understand is why you were there?”

  There was a change in the detective’s tone. Toni hesitated before she answered. “I had a tip from one of my sources. We were there to observe what was happening.”

  “You had a tip?”

  “Yes.”

  “About what exactly and who gave you this information?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” Toni said in a shaky voice. “But it wasn’t what I expected. If I had known what was going to happen then I would have come straight to you.”

  “What did you think was going to happen in an abandoned mill after midnight?” Annie asked calmly. She looked at Toni and waited patiently for an answer but none came. Toni shrugged and shuffled uncomfortably in her chair. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time but I’m curious why two seemingly intelligent journalists would put themselves in a situation like that?”

  “Obviously, we didn’t expect it to be so dangerous,” Toni said meekly. Guilt flooded through her mind. She was finding it hard not to break down. The muscles in her thighs were twitching with nervous energy. “There’s always an element of danger in what we do. We know that it’s part of the job.”

  “Oh, come on be honest,” the DI sighed. “I don’t think that your friend realised how dangerous the situation was, do you?” Toni didn’t answer. She couldn’t think of anything to say. “Didn’t it cross your mind that your lives were in danger?”

  “Of course not,” Toni said deflated. “I never would have gone there if I had thought for one minute that that would happen.”

  “So your informer gave you specific information that something was going down but it was non-life threatening?” Annie asked sarcastically. “Without knowing the whole story there isn’t much to work with. Did you think that the story was so good that it outweighed the risk?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Why go there then?”

  “I told you,” Toni sighed, “I had a tip and we acted on it. If I had thought that we could be in danger then I wouldn’t have gone. We were working on a story, that’s all.”

  “Why all the secrecy when we’re trying to work out who could have taken your colleague?” Annie shrugged. “We know what you write about. You need to give us something to work with here. Was it related to anything that you’ve covered before?”

  “I keep repeating myself. I had a tip that something was going to happen at the mill.” Toni looked away as she spoke. She felt the big detective staring at her, scrutinising everything she said and analysing her body language. “I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen. That’s the truth.” Toni felt caged. Her guilt was painful and being pressurised by the police wasn’t helping. The woman inside wanted to tell them everything but the professional inside knew that she couldn’t.

  “I can’t see a journalist of your reputation sneaking around in the dead of night because an informer thinks that something might happen?”

  “That’s the way it happened. I got a call. We went to the mill and it all went tits up.”

  “But who did you think you were going to be observing?”

  “I had n
o idea.”

  “You must have thought that there was an element of safety there, like a policeman for instance?” Stirling asked. There was an edge in his voice. Toni felt her stomach knotting. She wanted to curl up and cry. They weren’t actually saying that she was responsible for Mike’s abduction but the intent was obvious.

  “Did you go there looking for another story about bent coppers?” Annie Jones smiled thinly. “Not that it matters to us,” Annie said nudging Stirling with her elbow. He shook his head in agreement. “We just need to know.”

  “I knew that would come up!” Toni rolled her eyes. “It had nothing to do with that.”

  “I think you thought it would be a nice safe payoff,” Stirling said. “Take a few pictures of some money changing hands and you’ve got another front page expose about police corruption, but you stumbled into something much worse?”

  “I know what you lot think of me but it has nothing to do with this,” Toni said defensively. She looked the DI in the eyes. “I do my job just like you do. I expose the truth, nothing more and nothing less.”