by Graham Smith
The silent phone nestled in a compartment between the seats of the standard issue Astra diesel. Lauren had made sure the phone had a decent charge and was showing four bars’ worth of signal reception. Victoria’s eyes hadn’t left the phone since they’d parked. Nicholas’s head peered between the seats from his position folded into the back of the car. Between Victoria’s fingers was a picture of her children.
A shrill ring startled them all from their individual reveries. Lauren’s hand shot out to grab the phone.
‘Yes?’ She listened for a moment. ‘We’re on our way.’
‘What did they say?’ Victoria searched Lauren’s face in the half-light.
‘They’ve got them. They’ve rescued your children and have arrested the kidnappers. Both Samantha and Kyle are shaken up but largely unhurt.’
‘Thank God. Thank God my babies are OK.’ Victoria’s words gushed out as Lauren started the car.
At the farm, Lauren showed her warrant card to the PC standing guard at the gate. The PC directed her to the shed where the children were waiting. Victoria ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She burst inside and looked around wildly until she saw Samantha wrapped in a blanket with a man’s jacket over her shoulders and Kyle cuddled against her side.
Harry Evans stood beside them in the role of protector.
‘Sam! Kyle!’ Victoria raced across to her children and swept them in her arms. Tears flowed down her face as she let go of the pent up tension she’d contained all week. ‘Are you OK? Did they hurt you?’
Nicholas approached them and joined in with the group hug. Kyle detached himself from his mother and sister to wrap his arms and legs around the father he idolised.
‘We’re fine, Mum.’ Samantha raised her left hand and showed her mother the broken pinkie. ‘Well, a couple of bumps and scrapes but nothing that won’t heal.’
Victoria’s eyes ran over Samantha’s face, taking in the black eye, the cut and swollen lips. ‘Are you sure? Oh, my poor babies.’
‘We’re fine Mum.’ Samantha nodded towards Evans. ‘If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be.’
Evans gave a self-conscious shrug. ‘Just doing my job.’
‘You saved my children. Thank you. Thank you so much.’ Victoria strode across and hugged Evans, laughing at his embarrassment when Samantha came to join her.
Victoria watched as Nicholas unwound Kyle and passed him back to her. He reached for Samantha, who pulled her father close, before holding him at arms length and fixing him with a fierce glare.
‘It’s your fault we were kidnapped, isn’t it?’
Unable to answer, Nicholas just nodded.
‘Bastard.’ Samantha drove her knee deep into her father’s crotch.
Victoria left her husband lying in the filth and held her children. Samantha apologised for hitting her father, but Victoria waved it away. A knee in the bollocks from his daughter was the least he deserved.
Victoria felt the heat of Samantha’s breath at her ear. ‘Kyle’s loose tooth fell out. I didn’t have any money on me so I told him the Tooth Fairy would have put it under his pillow at home.’
The whispered words threatened to melt Victoria’s heart. Despite everything they’d been through, Samantha had done everything possible to protect her brother and to avoid shattering childhood illusions. When Samantha told her just how close she’d been to facing the blowtorch, Victoria’s lips went thin.
Ushering her children towards the arriving paramedics she returned to where Nicholas lay by the gas bottles. Picking up the blowtorch she walked towards her prone husband. Hoisting the lance over her shoulder like a baseball bat, Victoria tensed her muscles, ready to swing, but the sight of Nicholas cowering at her feet brought her to her senses. Her children were safe. They were alive and intact. Punishing Nicholas didn’t matter any more. Samantha’s knee had done far more damage than she ever could. The pain of the contact would heal in a few short minutes. The disgust that had fuelled her action would prey upon his mind for years. It would eat into the depths of his psyche.
Victoria threw the lance down, feeling nothing but contempt for the man she’d once loved.
‘Get up, you worthless piece of shit. They’ve suffered enough because of you. The least you can do is stand up and face them.’
Chapter 76
Evans uncrossed his feet and took a sip of the fifteen year-old Balvenie he kept in his drawer for celebrating results. The whole team were gathered around him and each had a glass of the delicate Speyside malt.
Standing up, he raised his glass high. ‘Lady and gentlemen. I’d like you to join me in raising a toast to Samantha Foulkes, one of the gutsiest young women I’ve ever met. You’ve all heard her story and I have to say her bravery astounds me.’ He raised his glass above his head. ‘Samantha Foulkes.’
Every member of the team joined in with the toast and echoed Evans’s sentiments with toasts of their own.
The family liaison officer had called from the hospital to say that Samantha and Kyle had undergone a full examination. Apart from Samantha’s broken finger and a few minor scrapes and bruises, they were nothing more than a little undernourished. Kyle would see a child psychologist for a few months, but the report indicated he was coping remarkably well.
Evans, for once, felt satisfied. Lauren had made short work of extracting a full confession from the lecherous fool who’d been wearing the Tony Blair mask. The other three had refused to speak without a lawyer, but the evidence they had against them would ensure none of them would escape a lengthy jail sentence.
Chisholm had documented proof the money had ended up in the account of a Stephen Harper from Lancaster. The Home Office Large Major Enquiry System had identified Harper as a dubious businessman. The accompanying surveillance pictures of Harper matched those of the man calling himself Keith Morgan. After talking over some options with Chisholm, Evans decided to leave the money in Harper’s account. To remove it would weaken the case against him. Armed with a name and address, Chisholm had run some traces on Harper, and found another bank account in his name. He used this account as the source for the £95,000 that would be returned to all the contributing bank accounts. Learning from his earlier mistake, he set the programme in motion and once the money was taken from Harper’s second account reduced the usage figures so that there would be no red flags raised at the server farms.
Tempted as he was to go down to Lancaster and arrest Harper himself, Evans knew doing so would cause friction with Lancashire police. Instead he’d agreed with Campbell and had asked the Lancashire CID to make the arrest. They had been delighted to have the opportunity.
‘Right then. You buggers listening?’ Evans stood and four sets of baggy eyes looked his way.
‘I’m gonna call in the brass and lay the whole thing out to them. As far as the money’s concerned I’ll tell them it’s from an anonymous benefactor. All you need to say if you’re asked is that I arranged it. I’ll deal with any questions after that. Understood?’ There was a murmur of acknowledgements. ‘And thanks for trusting me with your careers. It wasn’t an easy decision for any of you, but it paid off.’
Evans knew he wouldn’t be popular for calling Greg Hadley at three in the morning, but still he picked up the phone.
A sleep filled voice answered him. ‘Hadley. Who is it?’
‘Greg, it’s He-Man. You’re never gonna believe what I’ve got to tell you.’
A Novella from Graham Smith featuring DI Harry Evans
ISBN: 978-1-910720-28-8
£4.99
Table of Contents
Chapter 1Good Friday
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4Saturday
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8Easter Monday
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14Tuesday
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32Wednesday
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38Thursday
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55Friday
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76