The Dogs in the Street

by J M Dalgliesh

  Unable to find any evidence of injury, Caslin sought to lever her up and over, into a recovery position but strained to do so. His arms were weak and the exertion brought on wave after wave of dizziness. Shutting his eyes to try and avert the worst of the sensations, the pulses of pain in his head grew in their intensity. He knew what was coming and searched through Hunter’s pockets to find her radio. Locating it inside her coat, Caslin withdrew it only to watch the unit agonisingly slip from his grasp and into the bushes. Franticly scrabbling around in the darkness, Caslin sensed the periphery of his vision clouding over. His fingers touched against plastic and grasping it, he pulled his hand back. The forest floor was spinning towards him and, unable to check whether he had the ability to transmit, he managed to press the panic button before passing out.

  The brightness of the room was in stark contrast to his last memory. A moment of confusion passed as he realised he was safe. Movement to his left made him look. A nurse entered the room.

  “Good, you’re awake,” she said warmly, breaking into a smile. Caslin intended to respond but was thrown by the wires and tubes he found himself wrapped up in. The nurse checked the machine he was linked to and gave him a reassuring smile. “The doctor will be in to see you soon.”

  She left and Caslin took a measure of his surroundings. The tubes, providing air to his nose, felt awkward and unnecessary so he pulled them away from his face. Equipment monitoring his heart rate was clipped to his index finger and a nutrient drip was attached to the back of his right hand. Looking beyond the door, out into the corridor, he saw an armed police officer at the entrance to his room, with his back to him.

  The beep of the monitor caught his attention. Focusing on the medical apparatus around him, Caslin judged it to be overkill but resisted the urge to begin disconnections. He felt perfectly normal, if only just shy of exhausted. His thoughts drifted to Hunter and her well-being. She was alive when he found her, that, he remembered with clarity. A doctor approached, a large envelope in one hand. The constable opened the door for him, followed closely by Terry Holt. The latter, very pleased to see Caslin conscious.

  “I’m Doctor Theaker. How are you feeling, Mr Caslin?”

  “I feel fine,” Caslin replied honestly. “Is all of this really necessary?”

  “I’m afraid so,” the doctor replied.

  “Where’s Sarah? Is she okay?” Caslin asked, looking past the doctor towards Holt.

  “She’ll be alright, Sir,” Holt reassured him. “They hit her with a taser. Judging by her reaction to it, they may have zapped her twice.”

  “That could’ve killed her,” Caslin said. Holt nodded.

  “She’s doing okay, Sir.”

  “Foley?”

  Holt shook his head, looking down, “No sign. Hunter doesn’t know what happened to him. She didn’t even catch sight of them before they took her out.”

  Caslin closed his eyes, putting his head back against the pillow, “They were good.”

  “Who were they, Sir?” Holt asked.

  Caslin shook his head. “Right now, I don’t know who they were working for but I could probably narrow it down,” he said, unwilling to offer details. “Has Broadfoot been here?”

  “Aye. He left a little while ago, after speaking to Hunter. I’m to call him as soon as you are awake but I haven’t, yet. We’re looking for Foley. Nothing so far.”

  “Any chance you can give work a rest, for the time being?” Dr Theaker said politely, scanning Caslin’s medical notes and flitting his eyes between the two men. “Your colleague is recovering and I would like to focus on you, if that’s okay?” Holt indicated an apology, crossing the room to look out of the window, down into the hospital’s car park. Turning to Caslin, the doctor continued, “Any feelings of dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath…”

  “Since I woke up?”

  “Yes.”

  “No,” Caslin said, “I feel perfectly fine.”

  “And before?”

  “All of the above,” Caslin stated.

  “Often?”

  “Fairly,” Caslin replied. “What’s going on with me?”

  The doctor opened the envelope, taking out x-ray film. Crossing the room, he clipped the first onto a light box, mounted on the wall. Flicking the switch, Caslin’s chest x-ray was illuminated. Doctor Theaker used a pencil to indicate Caslin’s heart.

  “Can you see this?” he asked, holding the end of the pen at a specific point. Caslin could make out a dark object, alongside a narrow sliver, depicted as white, on the film.

  “What am I looking at?” Caslin asked. There was a knock on the door and it opened. Caslin glanced to see the arrival of Karen, his ex-wife. She entered, shock etched on her face. Caslin felt a pang in his chest. The reaction surprised him. He and Karen barely spoke outside of matters regarding the children.

  “I’m sorry. I had to come, when I heard,” she said, sounding flustered. Caslin smiled. He was pleased to see her. She approached the bedside and he reached out. Karen took his hand, gripping it tightly. Turning back to the doctor, Caslin indicated for him to continue.

  “I am afraid this is left over from a few years ago,” Dr Theaker said. “Three years ago, you experienced a severe trauma, when you were shot.”

  “How could I forget?” Caslin said under his breath. Karen squeezed his hand.

  “As you’ll remember, the bullet glanced off your ribcage, ricocheting around your abdomen before exiting to the rear. Now, Lady Luck was shining on you that day, the bullet missing your vital organs, it did however, shatter one of your ribs. Fragments of which were removed at the time, apart from those-”

  “That were considered too close to my heart,” Caslin finished. The doctor nodded.

  “And therein lies your problem,” he continued, putting up a second film, only this time an enlargement of the first. “A sliver of bone has been on the move, along with a fragment of the aforementioned bullet. They’ve managed to work themselves into a position where pressure is being exerted on your heart, between your left atrium and the murmor. This is causing erratic movement in your aortic valve, thereby intermittently restricting blood flow. This is why you’ve been experiencing the issues that you have.”

  Caslin took it in, “What does this mean?”

  “You need surgery.”

  “Can it wait?”

  Doctor Theaker shook his head, “I wouldn’t advise it. Should you over-exert yourself, physically or come up against a particularly stressful situation, there is every chance you could face a rupture. You would bleed out, internally, in a matter of minutes.”

  Caslin sighed, “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “I must advise you, that with any surgery, there is an inherent risk attached, arguably more so now, than three years ago. To be honest, it’s lucky that we found out ahead of time. A rupture could occur at any moment. At least now, we can do something about it,” Dr Theaker said. “We’ll schedule the operation to begin as soon as the team is assembled. Provided you have no objection?”

  Caslin shook his head slowly, meeting Karen’s eye. She appeared on the verge of tears. He squeezed her hand gently. “It’ll be okay,” he said with as much confidence as he could muster. The doctor excused himself and Terry Holt also headed for the door.

  “I’ll give you two some space,” Holt said awkwardly. Caslin smiled as he watched the DC leave.

  “Well,” he said, blowing out his cheeks. “I can’t say I saw that coming. Listen, Karen…thanks for-”

  “Nate,” Karen said, cutting him off. Nervously looking over her shoulder, towards the door, she struggled to remove something from her coat pocket. “When I got home tonight, I found this,” she said, putting a mobile phone on the bed next to him. “It had a note taped to it, with your name on telling me to bring it here. Nathaniel, it was on the breakfast bar…in the kitchen. At first, I couldn’t see how it got there but then…”

  “Then what?” Caslin asked, sensing Karen’s nerves stemmed from something far g
reater. She met his gaze. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it aside as if it would reveal something precious, buried deep within her.

  “Nate, I don’t know where Sean is.”

  Caslin felt his chest tighten, “It’s Friday night, he’s probably playing computer games at a friend’s house.”

  “No, no, that’s not it,” she said, desperately trying to control her emotions. “I picked him up from school. He was at home. I left to take Lizzie to Claire’s for a sleepover. I hadn’t seen her mum for a while and…we had a glass of wine and…got talking. Sean’s mobile was still in his room when I got back. He never goes anywhere without it. Sean must have let them in. Nate, what if-”

  “Calm down,” Caslin said, reassuring her. Glancing towards the door himself, he could see they weren’t about to be interrupted and so he turned to the mobile, Karen brought with her. Picking it up, he gave it a cursory examination. Powering up the phone, it came out of hibernation. Opening the contacts list, there was only one number programmed in. No name was attached but the number was of UK origin. Taking a deep breath, he met Karen’s eye and dialled it. The call connected and, after two rings, another voice came on at the other end.

  “Inspector. I have to admit I thought you would’ve called sooner,” the voice said.

  “I was sleeping,” Caslin replied. “Who is this?”

  “If it matters to you, to have a name, you can call me…Will. I won’t beat around the bush, Nathaniel. There’s something we need from you.”

  “And what might that be?”

  “Emily Coughlan’s notes. Everything she had that documented her investigation.”

  “You think I’m going to give that to you?”

  “I believe so, yes,” Will said, with confidence.

  Caslin smiled, “Even if I was to do so. How would that help you? Now we know what it means-”

  “Except you haven’t had much of a chance to pass your information onto anyone else, have you? You only figured it out today.”

  “You sound sure. What makes you think that?”

  “Your visit to see Callum, this evening. Had you been fully aware of his participation you’d have most certainly done more than just watch him. No, Inspector. The knowledge is in your head and yours alone. We want the hard evidence.”

  “What use is it to you? Everyone’s already dead.”

  “We will ensure that’s the case.”

  “It all seems academic now, though. Why not come down to Fulford Road and we could have a chat about it?” Caslin said.

  “Amusing, Inspector. I had another meeting place, in mind but don’t worry, I’ll give you enough time to get dressed and get yourself there.”

  “Bringing me back to why you think I’m going to help you?”

  “There’s someone here, wishing to speak to you,” Will said. There was an audible transfer of the handset. Caslin’s blood ran cold as he heard the next voice speak.

  “Dad…” Sean said, his voice cracking immediately as he burst into tears.

  “Sean!” Caslin replied, his own voice wavering. “Sean…it’s going to be-”

  “Now you see from where my confidence stems,” Will replied, taking control of the call, once again. “By now, I’m sure you understand the level of resource we have at our disposal, having experienced it yourself, this evening. Open the satellite navigation app, on your phone, and you’ll see directions to our meeting point along with a route for you to follow. You have one hour to obtain what we want and get there. If you do not arrive at the requested time, make no mistake, I will kill your son.” Caslin glanced to Karen, sitting alongside him with tears streaming down her face. “If you do not follow the assigned route or if there is any indication that you are not alone, I will kill your son. Needless to say, should you show up without what I have asked you for, I will kill your son.”

  “If you hurt him I will fucking kill-”

  Will laughed, “No hollow threats, please, Inspector Caslin. I’m not a monster. This isn’t personal, it’s business. That said, I’d advise you not to underestimate our resolve. If you don’t fulfil your end of this, I might just start mailing your son back to his mother, one piece at a time.”

  The line went dead as the call dropped. Caslin closed his eyes, moving the handset up and touching it to his forehead, not wanting to meet Karen’s expectant look.

  “Nate,” she said quietly, “I don’t care what you have to do but promise me…. promise me, you’re going to get our boy back. Even if you don’t believe it, I need you to say the words.”

  He looked into her eyes, “I’ll get him back. I promise.”

  Chapter 26

  Karen opened the door and attracted the attention of the officer, on guard. He followed her back inside, acknowledging Caslin, lying in bed.

  “Sir?” he asked.

  “Do me a favour and get a hold of DC Holt, for me. I lost my phone this evening.” Caslin asked, smiling.

  “I’m not to leave you, Sir,” the officer replied.

  Caslin dismissed the concern with a flick of his hand, “That’s okay. I think I’ll be alright for a couple of minutes. Terry’s probably gone for something to eat.” The protection officer was nonplussed but reluctantly agreed. As he stepped from the room, Karen drew the blinds across, to the window facing into the corridor. The door was barely closed before Caslin was on his feet.

  “Where did you park your car?” he asked Karen, shutting down the heart monitor and shaking off the finger clip before removing the drip feed from his other hand.

  “It’s out front, in the car park,” she said, passing him her keys. Pulling on his trousers, he dropped them into his pocket as she passed him a shirt.

  “You have to leave at the same time or they’ll put pressure on you to know where I am. Think of somewhere to go where they won’t look for you.”

  “I’ll go to Claire’s, be with Lizzie,” Karen said. Caslin put on his jacket, crossing to the window and moving the blinds aside to see into the corridor. It was clear. “Nate,” she said as he reached for the door. Turning, he looked back at her. “What the doctor said. This could-”

  “I’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “Doctors always err on the side of caution, you know that. Besides, this is Sean. I’ll call you when it’s over.”

  “Be careful,” Karen said. Caslin read the expression on her face. It was as if she didn’t expect to see him again. He cracked open the door, glancing out into the corridor.

  “They just want what I have, that’s all. As long as I give it to them-”

  “But what about Sarah?”

  “They didn’t kill her,” Caslin countered. “They could’ve done, quite easily but they didn’t. They know what kind of a storm they’d bring down on them if they killed a police officer…let alone…,” he paused, considering whether or not to finish the statement, “let alone, a kid.”

  “Okay,” she said, wiping away tears.

  “Are you ready?” he asked and she nodded fervently. “Let’s go,” he said, opening the door and moving into the corridor. Karen followed and taking her hand, he led her down the corridor to the ward’s exit. Stopping before they reached the nurse’s station, Caslin checked around the corner. The area was unattended. Being the early hours of the morning, there was only a skeleton crew on the nightshift. They hurried to the exit, Caslin eyeing the security screen set high above the nurse’s desk, depicting the corridor beyond, as they passed. Their path was clear and, releasing the magnetic lock, they were off the ward.

  The stairwell was ahead of them, signage indicated the elevators were off to the right. Caslin pointed Karen in that direction.

  “I’ll take the stairs,” he said. “Switch off your phone and only turn it back on in an hour. That way they probably won’t be able to track you.”

  “I love you,” she told him. Leaning in, he kissed her passionately for the briefest of moments and then he was off, onto the stairs without looking back.

  Arriving at
Fulford Road, a little after 2 a.m., Caslin slipped through the custody suite unnoticed. Two men, arrested for a drunken brawl in one of the city-centre pubs, were causing havoc as the nightshift tried to incarcerate them in their cells. The sense of guilt gnawed away at him, as he descended towards the evidence storage rooms, in the bowels of the station. All his training encouraged him to go straight for DCS Broadfoot while experience told him that to do so, would mean he might never see Sean again. Shoving the thoughts aside, he arrived at the storage rooms. Punching in his access code, Caslin walked through, flicking on the lights. The fluorescent tubes flickered into life and he found the archive box relating to the Coughlan case.

  Lifting it off the shelf, he put it down on the floor and took off the lid. The notebook came out first and he stashed it in his jacket pocket, followed closely by her mobile phone. The access card he’d used in Dublin came next and then he replaced the lid, returning the box to its rightful place. Pushing it back from the edge, Caslin stopped and stared at it. Lying to Karen had been easy but he couldn’t deceive himself. In no doubt they wanted the physical evidence of Coughlan’s investigation, he was far less confident regarding the assurances he was given.

  Copies of the codes were taken but, judging by Nelson’s potential connections within British Intelligence, they could always disappear at a later date, particularly if the case was closed down. Caslin, they assumed, had cracked it or at the very least, had pieced enough together to warrant kidnapping his son in order to bring him under control. The rationale behind leaving Hunter alive was debatable. Had they killed her, their credibility with regard to bargaining would’ve been shot. Would they allow someone with his knowledge to walk away? If so, what of his son? Without answers to comfort him, Caslin left the evidence room, turning out the lights and heading back upstairs.