by Jaime Raven
‘Her?’
Rosetti tilted his head to one side. ‘That’s right. The officer was Sarah Mason.’
Adam felt a darkness move inside him. He licked his lips and tried again to swallow, but couldn’t.
‘The guy didn’t actually know that you two had got married and divorced while he was banged up,’ Rosetti said. ‘He was surprised when I told him. And he was even more surprised when I mentioned that you’d had a kid together.’
‘Why did you tell him that?’
Rosetti shrugged. ‘He was asking lots of questions and I had no reason not to answer them.’
‘But how come you knew so much about me?’
‘I’d made it my business to find out. You were the one leading the investigation aimed at putting me away. I was looking for some leverage to use against you.’
Adam took a moment to process what he’d heard. So far it sounded all too credible and that scared him. ‘So what makes you believe he snatched my daughter?’ he asked.
‘During our last conversation he said he’d come up with a plan to get back at Detective Mason. He wouldn’t elaborate and I didn’t push it because I didn’t really want to know. He said he was going to punish her, but that you’d both be in for a nasty surprise. They were his words, not mine.’
Adam stood there, shaking, as a chill spread through him.
‘So now you need to give me this bloke’s name,’ he said. ‘And if it’s one I don’t recognise I’ll know you’ve been lying to me.’
Rosetti was quick to respond. ‘His name’s Bobby Knight, a villain who was part of Tony Kemp’s gang south of the river. You got him for drugs and possessing a firearm.’
Any doubts Adam had about Rosetti’s story were swept away by the mere mention of Knight.
Bobby Knight was indeed a name that Adam recognised. The day they raided the man’s home and arrested him was scorched on his memory.
It was a collar that earned Sarah promotion and the respect of all her colleagues in Lewisham CID.
And now it seemed that what had happened on that day might have come back to haunt them both.
‘So that’s it,’ Rosetti said. ‘I’ve told you everything. Because of what Knight said I think it’s a fair bet that he’s the one who took your daughter. He was released a couple of months ago.’
‘Have you heard from him since then?’
‘No, and I didn’t expect to. We weren’t mates. We just got involved in some heavy conversations. It happens on the inside.’
Something stirred in Adam at that moment, something primal and dangerous.
‘Why didn’t you tell this to Brennan when he interviewed you?’ he said.
‘Because I didn’t want it to come back on me.’
‘So you were prepared to leave my daughter at the mercy of that psychopath just so you weren’t implicated in any way.’
‘It wasn’t like that. And anyway I can’t be certain that Knight has her. It’s up to you to find out.’
‘But you suspected that something was going to happen,’ Adam said, his voice rising almost to screaming pitch. ‘And when it did you kept your mouth shut.’
Rosetti was in full panic mode now. He started wheezing, as though the air was having trouble leaving his lungs. And his eyes were popping out on stalks.
‘You really are the pits,’ Adam said. ‘And no way do you deserve to live.’
There had been times in the past when he’d harboured murderous thoughts, but they’d never been as strong as those that filled his head right now.
The scumbag had withheld information that might have led the police to Molly. He’d been prepared to let the whole ghastly situation play out for purely selfish reasons.
‘Please don’t do anything stupid,’ Rosetti said. ‘You know you’ll regret it.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Adam said. ‘But I do know that if I don’t find my little girl soon then I will regret not having killed you when I had the chance.’
Adam held the gun in both hands and aimed it at Rosetti’s head. The Romanian started shaking violently, while pleading for his life.
Adam’s response was to smile as he pulled the trigger.
31
DCI Brennan
Brennan came awake with a jolt, his heart pumping furiously. At first he didn’t know where he was, but he was glad he’d left the dream behind, that damn recurring dream that made him feel empty and afraid. In it Grace no longer knows who he is and looks at him as though he’s a complete stranger. When he tells her that he’s her husband she gives him a cryptic smile and says, ‘No you’re not. I don’t know who you are. Get away from me.’
As always when he surfaced from the dream his brain was slow to engage. So it was several seconds before he realised that his mobile phone was ringing, the screen a throbbing rectangle of light in the darkened room.
As he reached for it, he felt Grace stir beside him.
‘Is that the alarm?’ she croaked.
‘It’s my phone, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll take it in the other room.’
‘Don’t be daft. It might be important.’
It had better be, he thought, as he pressed the answer button and saw that it was only just after midnight.
‘Brennan here,’ he said and was taken aback by the sharp, urgent tone of the voice that responded.
‘This is Adam Boyd. I’ve got a lead on Molly and you need to follow it up straight away.’
‘I’m sorry, Adam. I didn’t catch what you said. You woke me up and my brain’s not yet in gear.’
‘What? For fuck’s sake don’t tell me you’re in bed. You’re supposed to be looking for my daughter.’
‘Calm down, Adam. I was dead on my feet and needed a few hours’ sleep. But the team are working through the night.’
‘And you should be with them, not taking time out for a nap.’
Brennan had to consciously resist the urge to sever the connection.
‘Look, I know you’re upset, Adam. And I realise that the pressure you’re under is enormous. But yelling at me won’t make you feel any better. So if you’ve got something urgent to tell me then please get on with it.’
Adam exhaled heavily into the phone. ‘OK, sorry. But look, I’ve got a name for you. It’s a bloke who Sarah and I arrested four years ago when we worked at Lewisham together. He recently got out of prison, but while inside he told Victor Rosetti that he was going to get his revenge on the both of us.’
Brennan was at once alert. ‘Rosetti! Are you serious?’
‘Yes. He lied about not knowing anything, just like I told you.’
‘How do you know this? Have you been to see him?’
‘Never mind that. You’re wasting time. The guy he spoke to in prison is Bobby Knight. You need to find him. He’s a crazy fuck and he used to be part of Tony Kemp’s firm.’
Brennan knew of Bobby Knight, and he remembered his trial which took place before Sarah moved from Lewisham to work in Wandsworth. But he was more familiar with Tony Kemp, one of the main villains operating in South London.
‘I’ll get right on it,’ he said. ‘But first I need to know that you haven’t done something stupid, Adam – like approaching Victor Rosetti after we let him go.’
‘So what if I did? At least I got him to fucking talk, which is more than you managed.’
‘Oh, Christ, Adam. You’re not supposed to be getting involved. You know that.’
‘All I know is that some lunatic has my little girl and I’ll do whatever I have to do to get her back.’
Brennan felt a stab of apprehension.
‘So what exactly have you done?’ he said.
‘Nothing I’m ashamed of.’
Brennan shook his head. These cryptic responses were making him more anxious by the second.
‘What does that mean, Adam?’
‘It means I’m not prepared to say any more about it because it’s not important. Finding Molly is. So please just do your job and go get Knight.’<
br />
Adam hung up then and Brennan let loose a string of expletives, which prompted his wife to lean across the bed and put a hand on his shoulder.
‘What’s wrong, my love?’ she said, her voice quiet and tentative.
‘It’s nothing for you to worry about, but I have to go to work.’
‘Then while you get dressed I’ll make some tea.’
‘You don’t have to, Grace.’
‘I know, but I want to.’
He touched her hand and smiled as she got up and slipped on her dressing gown. When she left the room he switched on the bedside lamp and called the incident room. DC Amanda Foster answered. He told her to track down Bobby Knight who he believed had just been released from prison.
‘Pull out all the stops,’ he said. ‘This is a credible lead and there’s a strong possibility that he’s the guy who has Molly Mason.’
Before ending the call he gave Foster Adam Boyd’s mobile number.
‘At the same time I want an urgent trace on that phone. I need a location and I need it pronto. So ring me straight back.’
Brennan’s eyes felt gritty and heavy even after he had showered. But at least he didn’t feel so tired. Those three hours of sleep had been so desperately needed. Exhaustion had begun to blunt his senses and slow him down. Pressing on regardless had not been an option.
DC Foster called back while he was getting dressed.
‘We’ve got a location on the phone, sir,’ she said. ‘The signal was triangulated to a property in Fulham.’
When she told him the address he recognised it immediately as belonging to Victor Rosetti.
‘Send a patrol car to pick me up right away,’ he said. ‘I need to get to that address as soon as possible.’
It was only a couple of miles from his home in Battersea to Rosetti’s place in Fulham. But given that he didn’t know what he was going to find when he got there – or how long he’d have to stay – he thought it best to be chauffeured rather than have the hassle of taking his own car.
Grace was waiting for him in the kitchen and a lump rose in his throat because he was reminded of that awful dream in which the dementia had wiped all memories of him from her mind. But the lump became dislodged when she smiled as she handed him a mug of steaming tea.
‘Get that down you before you go out,’ she said.
He thanked her and watched as she sat down at the table and sipped her own tea. She was flushed and her eyes looked tired, her skin sallow. He wanted more than anything to take her back to bed and perhaps even make love to her for the first time in weeks. He could tell from the way she looked at him that she was thinking along the same lines. But they both knew it wasn’t going to happen. As had been the case too often during their marriage, his job was going to have to come first. But that would change as soon as he retired and made it his business to spend every waking hour with her.
She asked him what had happened that sounded so serious. But as he started to speak the pulsating light of a police car splashed against the curtains.
‘I’ll tell you about it later,’ he said. ‘I have to go.’
She smiled again. ‘Let me know when you’ll be home and I’ll make something to eat. Stay safe and don’t take any risks.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ he said.
32
DCI Brennan
As Brennan sat in the back of the patrol car his head was filled with a mix of hope and fear. He hoped to God that this was a genuine breakthrough in the case, and that they’d be a step nearer to finding Molly Mason. But he was also fearful that her father may well have stepped over the line by confronting Victor Rosetti in his own home.
It was easy to imagine Boyd beating a confession out of the Romanian. How else would he have got him to open up? But if that was what he’d done then he’d be in deep shit, despite the circumstances.
Brennan was halfway to Rosetti’s house when he received another call from DC Foster. She wanted to let him know that the phone traced to the address in Fulham was now on the move.
Brennan felt a trickle of dread as he made the decision to carry on to the house.
It took them ten more minutes to get there and the first thing Brennan noticed were the lights on inside. It was one a.m. and the rest of the houses in the street were in darkness.
The patrol car pulled onto the empty driveway and Brennan jumped out along with the two uniforms. A sensor light came on as they approached the front door.
Brennan stuck his finger on the bell push and felt a shiver of unease when there was no answer after thirty seconds. But just as he was about to instruct one of the officers to check the rear of the house, the door was jerked open suddenly and they were greeted with: ‘Why the fuck can’t you leave me be?’
It was Rosetti and he was standing in the doorway with a swollen bottom lip and blood on his open white shirt.
‘I think you know why we’re here,’ Brennan said, somewhat relieved to find that Rosetti wasn’t more seriously hurt. ‘We need to have a talk.’ Brennan didn’t wait for an invitation. He stepped over the threshold. ‘Please lead the way to somewhere more comfortable, Mr Rosetti.’
The Romanian gave a resigned shrug, much to Brennan’s surprise, and then stomped along the hallway into the living room. There, Brennan told him to sit on an armchair and asked him if he needed an ambulance.
Rosetti shook his head. ‘All I need is to be left alone so that I can go to bed.’
Brennan narrowed his eyes and said, ‘I received a call from Detective Boyd who I believe was here until a few minutes ago. Is that correct?’
‘He was waiting for me when I got home.’
‘And is he responsible for the injury to your mouth?’
‘No he isn’t.’
‘Then how did you—’
‘I drank too much vodka tonight and fell down the stairs.’
‘Was that before or after Detective Boyd came here?’
‘Before.’
Brennan didn’t believe him. He leaned forward, elbows on knees.
‘If you were assaulted by Detective Boyd then you should tell me,’ he said.
Rosetti managed a weak smile. ‘What I’ve told you is the truth. If you want me to make up a story that won’t be a problem. I can say that he came here and threatened me with a gun that turned out to be a replica, and that he smacked me around a bit. But if I do that we’ll all be dragged into a long drawn-out investigation and I’m sure that wouldn’t please you and your superiors.’
Brennan smiled inwardly. He didn’t condone what Molly’s father had done, but he understood it. Rosetti had got what had been coming to him. That in itself was a result. And the fact that he did not want to press charges against Adam was doubly satisfying.
Brennan cleared his throat and took out his notebook. ‘So let’s get down to the serious business of what you told Detective Boyd,’ he said. ‘It’s my understanding that you lied to us when you said you knew nothing about his daughter’s abduction.’
‘I didn’t lie,’ Rosetti said. ‘I just didn’t remember what Bobby Knight had told me until I got back here and Boyd started asking me questions.’
Brennan blew out a sigh. ‘Well I suppose we should all be grateful that the memory surfaced eventually.’
‘Yeah, I reckon we should.’
Brennan could have hauled him in for withholding information, but he knew it would be more trouble than it was worth. Instead he chose to go with the easy option. ‘So now I want you to tell me exactly what you told Detective Boyd,’ he said.
Twenty minutes later Brennan walked out of the house, having listened to Rosetti recalling his conversations with Bobby Knight. He’d advised the Romanian that he would have to make a formal statement later in the day and then be expected to testify in court against Knight if it came to it.
Rosetti was subdued and compliant, and Brennan could only think that Adam had put the fear of God in him. He just hoped that Adam wouldn’t go off on his own again because it migh
t not work out so well for him the next time.
As Brennan was getting back into the patrol car his phone rang. He fumbled it from his pocket and saw that the caller was DC Foster.
‘I’m about to head back to the station,’ he said. ‘Have you got anything on Knight?’
‘Indeed we have, sir. He was released from prison two months ago and went to live with his mother in Peckham.’
‘Have you got an address?’
‘Yes, sir, but first there’s more you need to know.’
‘Oh?’
‘Well Knight’s mother actually reported him missing two weeks ago. What’s more she told the officers who went to see her that she’s convinced her son has been murdered.’
33
Sarah
It was almost two in the morning and I was still wide awake. For the past hour I’d been sitting on the floor next to Molly’s cot, my brain grinding away at a multitude of memories.
A pale, vaporous moon lit the room, throwing all of Molly’s things into sharp relief.
Forcing myself to think about the joyous moments I’d had with her was the only way I could stop myself asking the same questions over and over.
Was she awake? Was she crying? Was she thinking about me? Was she being abused?
Not knowing the answers was becoming increasingly unbearable. It was like having my brain squeezed in a vice. I just couldn’t see myself holding it together for much longer. The mental anguish was crippling me.
I tried telling myself that other mothers whose children had gone missing or been abducted had managed to cope despite the pain. They’d dug deep within themselves to find the strength to carry on.
But they hadn’t been forced to look at pictures and video clips of their children. So in that sense my situation was terrifyingly unique. I had seen what the kidnapper had done to Molly’s hair. I’d seen him holding Molly upside down and smacking her. And I had no doubt in my mind that there was worse to come. Much worse.