A Second Chance: A British Crime Thriller (A DCI Pilgrim Thriller Book 5)

by A L Fraine

  “I told you,” Emily barked again. “I knew something like this would happen.”

  “Was there something specific you were worried about?” Jon asked. “Did you see anyone hanging around?”

  Emily slumped back and looked away. “No.”

  “You’re sure?” Jon sensed she was holding back.

  She looked back at him and then sat up suddenly. “I’m a former kidnap victim, Mr Pilgrim, and that guy was never caught.”

  “You think it might be the same kidnapper?” Jon refrained from calling him a killer. He didn’t want to worry them too much.

  “I don’t know. Maybe? Why not? You lot didn’t get the fucker last time, did you?”

  “Calm down,” Jon said.

  “You escaped that, though, didn’t you?” Kate asked, looking up from the notes she’d been taking as Jon had spoken to them. “You led the police back and saved another child, right?”

  “That’s right. Yeah, I did.”

  “If Milo takes after you, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Jon added.

  Emily grumbled.

  “We’ll be looking into all angles of this,” Jon said. “If this is the same guy, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. But, what we need to do is to get as much information about Milo out there into the public eye, as possible.”

  “I heard that the first day or two are the most critical in missing person cases, right?” Darryl asked. “I heard that somewhere.”

  “That’s right,” Kate confirmed.

  Jon nodded. “I’d like you to make a statement to the press for us, please. We’ll bring you to the station where we can control it and get the media in. Then we can tell the country about Milo. Do you think you can do that?”

  Darryl nodded right away.

  “Sure, why not,” Emily said, sounding tired.

  “Okay, great. We’ll get a car to bring you in. You’ll need to make a short statement to the press, which we can help you with, and hopefully, we can get things moving. We’ll do everything we can for you. But if we move quickly, there’s no reason we can’t find him.”

  “I hope so,” Emily said, slumping back into the chair.

  “We’ll leave you be for now,” Jon said.

  “Our Family Liaison Officer will be here soon,” Kate added. “She’ll stay with you and relay any information to you about the case. She’ll be your point of contact, okay?”

  “Thank you,” Darryl said and led them out into the corridor.

  As he walked, Jon grimaced at some of the cliched slogans on the walls about home and happiness. He read another of them above the front door.

  Go safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring.

  Jon grimaced, aware that he’d not brought anything of the sort into this house. Although, he’d tried to offer them some hope that things might turn out alright.

  “Detective?”

  Jon turned to see Sue following them to the porch. “Yes?”

  “Look. I know Darryl said Milo could go cycling, but don’t misjudge him. He was only doing what he thought was right.”

  “I know that, Mrs Thorpe. Raising children is hard.”

  “It is, and Darryl has been a godsend for Emily. She’s had a troubled time, you know, after the kidnapping. Milo isn’t even his child, and yet he came into this family and took Emily on, helping her through her troubles. I dare not even imagine how she would have coped without him.”

  Behind her, Darryl blushed.

  “Don’t talk about me. I’m only in the next room,” Emily shouted from the lounge.

  Sue smiled, but there was no happiness there. “See,” she whispered.

  Jon nodded. “I understand. I hope we have better news for you soon.”

  4

  Turning into the main entrance of Horsley Police Station, Jon glanced right as the steadily assembling crowd of press, with more arriving all the time. Above them, the enormous concrete brutalist building loomed as if it was about to crush them under its boot.

  As they passed, making for the side entrance to the private police only parking bays at the back, several of the reporters started towards them, calling out, asking for soundbites.

  Jon rolled his eyes and drove around back.

  “You’re never going to give them a break, are you?

  “Nope. They have their uses, but for the most part, they’re just a nuisance,” Jon replied.

  “Yeah, I know the feeling,” Kate agreed. “But, we need them on this one.”

  “I know. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them to piss off on camera or anything.”

  “Maybe you should. It would really hit the headlines.”

  Jon laughed. “Yeah, and I’d lose my job.”

  “I’d look after you,” Kate said, putting her hand to his cheek. “You can be my kept man. I’d buy you an apron and everything.”

  “I could rock an apron,” Jon said and then gave Kate a look. “An apron and nothing else.”

  “You’re not exactly a Chippendale, Pilgrim.”

  “You’d never be able to resist me.”

  “You keep telling yourself that, sweet cheeks. Come on, let’s see what Nathan’s dug up.”

  Jon climbed out of the car and walked with Kate up to the main Special Investigations Unit office on the second floor. As they walked in, the Superintendent appeared at his office door and waved Jon over.

  “I’ll get the team together,” Kate said and walked away, leaving Jon to wander over to Detective Superintendent Ray Johnston.

  “Sir,” Jon said in greeting.

  “Nathan brought me up to speed, Pilgrim.”

  “Very good, sir. We’ll do our best to find the boy.”

  “You do that. With his mother being a past victim, we need to bring this one home without incident. And if it’s the same killer who took the boy’s mother, then maybe we have a chance to clean off that particular stain from the Surrey Police’s history. So, you do this right, Jon. Got it?”

  “Will do, sir.”

  “Go on then, get to it.”

  “Sir,” Jon said and walked off, making for the incident room Kate had just commandeered and where his team was already assembling. Stingray always liked to make his presence felt, it seemed, and that little chat was him telling Jon that he was watching them. Still keeping them under his thumb. Their record was good as the SIU, so far. There were a few instances where things might have gone better, and they’d stepped on the toes of the top brass a few times, but Jon didn’t care.

  His first duty was to the victims and solving the crime. He had no interest in the politics of the organisation, and while he’d do his best to stay inside the lines, he’d not got this far and brought in the number of criminals he had by doing everything by the book.

  Jon felt that as long as he wasn’t outright breaking the law, and everything was done in the general spirit of the law and in the pursuit of justice, some rules could be bent, just a touch. Besides, he was a very hands-on detective, preferring to be out there, taking interviews and being on the front line rather than being stuck in an office somewhere.

  Jon strode into the incident room as the team settled themselves into their seats. “Right then, you all know the score, right? We have a missing boy, presumed kidnapped. His bike was found in a cut-through between two streets, along with his helmet, just minutes after he’d been allowed to cycle around a small crescent just up from his house. We have officers going door to door, taking statements, and looking for camera footage. But, apart from privately owned security cameras, I’m not sure how much there will be. Dion, can you look into what traffic cameras are around the crime scene and see if anything stands out?”

  “Will do, guv,” Dion replied.

  “Rachel, can you dig up what you can about the family. Work with Nathan, as he’s pulled the previous case. Nathan, do you want to tell us about that?”

  “Yep. So as soon as I heard about the case, I recognised the name of Milo’s mother, Emily. She was Emily Thorpe back then, and when
she was eleven years old, she was kidnapped by a prolific child killer. He’d kidnapped five other children before Emily and killed all of them. According to Emily’s statement at the time, she survived by doing exactly what the man wanted of her and not fighting back, as that angered him, leading him to kill the others. But Emily was resourceful and managed to escape, at which point she led us to the hideout where we found one other survivor, Travis Young. Travis was five years old at the time but is eighteen now, and according to his record, he’s had a few scrapes with the police. He lives in Croydon.”

  “We’ll pay him a visit,” Jon said.

  “Did you catch the killer?” Rachel asked.

  “No. He got away,” Nathan replied. “We have no idea what he looked like, as he always wore a mask, and used a device to distort his voice.”

  “Clever,” Rachel said.

  “The grandmother mentioned that Darryl, Emily’s husband, isn’t Milo’s father,” Kate said. “What do we know about that?”

  “She’s right,” Nathan replied. “I did some digging while you were out, and it turns out she had Milo with a man called Jake, when she was just sixteen, meaning she was underage when she fell pregnant. At the time, Jake was eighteen, and between that and some drugs offences, he was sent to prison. She met Darryl three years later and married him two years after that.”

  “And where’s Jake now?” Kate asked.

  “Funny you should ask,” Nathan said with a smile. “He’s been in prison. Got out two years ago. Ended up going back again, and just got released again a few weeks back.”

  “Has he?” Jon asked. “Does Emily know this?”

  “I don’t know. But I’d assume that she was informed, given their relationship.”

  “If the system worked,” Jon said, rolling his eyes.

  “Yep, if it did,” Nathan agreed. “You never know. There’s always that outlying chance she was told.”

  “And if she did know,” Kate said, extrapolating, “then that might tell us why she didn’t want Milo going out.”

  “But she didn’t mention it,” Jon said. “Do you think she told Darryl?”

  Kate shrugged.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I got the feeling she was holding something back from us at the house. Maybe it was this?”

  “But why?” Kate asked. “Why would she hide this?”

  “I don’t know. Okay, tell me more about Emily and Jake. What happened there?”

  “I’ve been doing a little digging into her record,” Rachel said. “Emily has been in some very minor trouble with us for drug possession before. Nothing major, but the pictures we have of her from that time show her in a bit of a mess. From what I can gather, Jake had her strung out on drugs most of the time and was basically ruining her life.”

  “So, this was early to mid-teens, when she was rebelling, following on from her kidnapping.”

  “Right,” Rachel said. “We have records of her mother calling the police, worried about her. She went off the rails basically, which given her experience at the hands of that child killer, is not that surprising, I guess.”

  “And then Jake went to jail.”

  “From what I can tell, it was her saving grace. She went into rehab, got therapy, and sorted her life out,” Rachel explained.

  There was a sudden knock at the door. Jon looked up as Debby Constable stepped inside. “Sir?”

  “What’s up, Debby?”

  “The Kays are here, downstairs, and the press is assembling in the briefing room. I thought you should know.”

  Jon got up and nodded. “Right then, Nathan, keep digging into that old case and see what you can find. There might be a clue in there that we’ve missed which might tell us who’s doing this. Everyone else, you know what to do.”

  “Sir,” they chorused.

  “Kate, come with me. Actually, Nathan, do you want to come down and see them too? You were on that previous case.”

  “Sounds good, guv,” Nathan said, picking up his stuff.

  Jon walked out and caught up with Debby. “Thanks, Debby. How are you? Kate said your divorce came through.”

  “I’m alright. Yeah, it did. Freedom at last!”

  Jon laughed. “Let me know if there’s anything we can do to help. I know it can be hard on your own.”

  “I’m alright, actually,” Debby replied. “I’m fleecing him for everything he’s got.” She winked at him.

  “Jesus, remind me never to cross you!”

  Debby smirked. “I think that’s a wise policy.”

  “Same goes for me,” Kate said, hot on his heels as they made their way downstairs.

  “Christ, I’m getting it from all angles.”

  “Us girls need to stick together,” Debby said.

  “Damn right,” Kate agreed. “Fight the patriarchy.”

  They laughed, making Jon smile as he enjoyed their banter.

  “Us guys need to stick together as well, hey Jon,” Nathan remarked from the back of their little group.

  “If you like,” Jon said. “I don’t much fancy our chances, though.”

  “Me neither,” Nathan agreed. “But, you know, at least we could get a beer.”

  Jan laughed. “Aye, we could do that.”

  “Is that your answer to everything?” Kate asked, sounding disapproving.

  “Not everything,” Nathan said.

  “No, not at all,” Jon agreed.

  “That’s right,” Nathan continued, “just some things, you know?”

  “Yeah,” Jon said. “Like, maybe, just ninety-nine point five per cent of things?”

  “Steady on, Jon,” Nathan said. “Let’s not go overboard.”

  “Oh, sorry, was that too much?”

  “I think you were a little generous there,” Nathan said. “Point five per cent of things aren’t answered at the bottom of a beer glass?”

  “No, you’re right,” Jon agreed.

  “It’s more like, maybe point one per cent, I think,” Nathan suggested.

  “Of course, silly me,” Jon said with a grin as they walked down to the first floor. Debby brought them to a back room where Emily and Darryl were sitting, waiting.

  “Thank you for coming,” Jon said as he walked in. “I really appreciate it.”

  “Of course. Anything we can do to help,” Darryl said.

  “Emily.” Jon focused on the young woman. “We were wondering if you remembered Nathan? He was one of the detectives on your kidnapping case thirteen years ago.”

  She looked over at Nathan, who briefly smiled at her.

  “I wish the circumstances were better,” he said, “but it is good to see you again.”

  “I remember you. Yes,” she said, as tears made her eyes sparkle. “Are you helping with this case?”

  “I am,” Nathan answered. “We’ll find Milo, I’m sure of it.”

  “I hope so,” Emily replied. “It’s good to see you.”

  Nathan nodded.

  “Now, are you prepared for this?” Jon asked.

  “He’ll do it,” Emily said.

  “I’ve written a short speech,” Darryl said, holding up a piece of paper.

  “Good. I presume you don’t want to take any questions?”

  “No,” Emily replied quickly.

  “I don’t think so,” Darryl added.

  “That’s fine. I might take a couple, though,” Jon said. “But once you’ve finished your appeal, you don’t need to say anything else. In fact, it’s best if you don’t. Just read from your prepared script, and don’t say anything else.”

  “Of course,” Darryl answered.

  “Good. But, before we go in, I do have a couple of things to talk to you about. Firstly, can I just confirm that you’ve had no contact with the other child who was kidnapped with you? Is that right?”

  “Travis? No, I’ve not seen him in years. Why, should I have?”

  “No, not at all. So, he wouldn’t know where you lived, necessarily?”

  “No,” she answered
, as she started to understand why he was asking.

  “Okay, good. And secondly, what about Jake?”

  “What about him?” Emily asked.

  “Have you had any contact with him?”

  “No,” she answered, her reply clipped and offended almost.

  Jon nodded, watching her expression to see if she gave any hint away that she might be lying. “Okay, so did you know that Jake is out of prison?”

  “What!” Darryl barked. “You’re kidding.”

  “Unfortunately, I am not. He’s been out a few weeks. Were you informed of this?” Jon directed his question at Emily. She sighed and lowered her head.

  “Yes, I knew.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me,” Darryl yelled. “He was out? You knew he was out and didn’t tell me? Are you insane? I would never have let Milo out if I’d known. Why didn’t you tell me? Huh? Why? This is… This is madness.”

  “Please, Darryl. Let Emily speak.”

  “I’m sorry, I just… I can’t wrap my head around this.”

  “I understand. Emily?”

  She stood up and walked across the room, her arms crossed. “I just… I didn’t want to worry you…”

  “Worry me? Worry me?” Darryl raged. “This is Milo we’re talking about. Of course, this would worry me.”

  “Darryl, please,” Jon cut in. “Calm down.”

  He grunted and slumped back into his seat, his head in his hands.

  “I know how you feel about him,” Emily said. “You hate him.”

  “Well yeah, because of what he did to you.”

  “I know. But that was a long time ago. He doesn’t know where we live…”

  “Are you sure?” Darryl asked.

  “I…” Emily began but faltered. “I don’t think so…”

  “Perfect.”

  “See, I knew this was how you’d react,” Emily continued. “I knew you’d freak out. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. He’s not a part of our lives anymore. As far as I’m concerned, he’s not even Milo’s dad. You’re more of a dad to him than he ever was.”

  Darryl’s face seemed to buckle under the emotion of her words.

  “I thought if we could just keep Milo with us, watch him and keep away from Jake, we’d be okay.”

  “And look where that got us,” Darryl said.