Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘Let him go to her. Let’s step back towards the cars, away from the noise. We need to speak. The girl had better be alive.’

  The man indicated which direction they should walk in with the barrel of the pistol.

  ‘Where did you get that thing?’ Dodds asked, clearly scared that he’d got no effective way of dealing with this new situation.

  ‘We didn’t go far enough after Hungerford. You of all people should know that. It’s still easy enough to get hold of one of these things. And it’s my guess this is the only thing you’re going to listen to.’

  Tom had hung back on the beach with Meg. Her body was limp and seemed lifeless. He’d been taught resuscitation as part of his duties in the children’s home. It was one of the few things that Gary Maxwell had introduced which might actually benefit the children.

  Tom turned Meg’s head to the side. He didn’t care what was going on ahead. He was desperate to save his daughter. Her body was ice cold, her hair bedraggled and covered in sand. He began to push down on her chest. There was still a pulse. She was alive at least.

  The group of men had gathered by the concrete steps which led back up to the promenade.

  ‘We’ll stay down here,’ said the man carrying the gun. ‘I want you all in front of me where I can see you, with your hands behind your heads.’

  Simon looked as if he was about to make a grab for the gun, but Tony Dodds knew how to read a situation. He’d dealt with every form of criminal and thug that you could imagine. This man was the most dangerous kind: an intelligent man, one who would plot and plan carefully to get exactly what he wanted. He was capable of patience and, if necessary, pulling the trigger. They’d have to listen to him first.

  ‘The first thing you need to know is that I caught all of that on video camera. I have you taking the girl out of the boot of the car; I have the car number plates; I have your man here throwing her into the water; I have pictures of her being tossed about in the waves. Oh, and I have some lovely shots of the head of social services and the chief constable presiding over all it. Fairly damning, wouldn’t you say?’

  ‘What do you want?’ Tony Dodds asked. He could see where this was heading.

  ‘I haven’t finished yet!’ the man snapped. ‘Because I also have pictures of you and Mr Black here speaking to that poor young girl over there in a graveyard, along with her sister, in what has to be a highly inappropriate way, given that both of them may have been giving evidence in an investigation into the Woodlands Edge children’s home shortly afterwards. You can get very long lenses for cameras these days. Those pictures have developed beautifully. I’d be delighted to share copies with you if you wish?’

  ‘What do you want?’ Tony Dodds repeated, impatient that it was taking so long to get to the point. Further along the beach, illuminated by the thrown light from the street lamps, they could see Tom Yates desperately trying to revive his daughter.

  ‘This latest set of photos might prove to be evidence of murder,’ the man continued. ‘At the very least they’re proof of assault, intimidation, conspiracy ... Whatever it turns out to be, it’ll be the end of your careers. For your two men here, I suspect it’ll be a return to jail. Imagine how much fun the inmates will have with a former chief constable in the shower block.’

  ‘Get to the point. What do you want? We’ve got that you’ve been gathering evidence and that you’re going to blackmail us. What’s your price?’

  Tony Dodds looked weary. He knew how this played out. He was about to be squeezed. Very tightly. And he had no negotiating power. He’d need to see the photos, of course. He wasn’t stupid. But they were on the defensive now. The whole thing would blow apart if they didn’t comply.

  ‘We need to get her to a hospital. I can’t revive her!’ Tom shouted from along the beach. He continued to pound on Meg’s chest, moving between that and frantically blowing into her mouth to encourage her to breathe once again.

  ‘The murder of a young girl and the attempted murder of her father. That’s not going to look good on your CVs gentlemen. So let’s get to the point. It’s bloody cold out here and I’d rather be watching TV in my hotel room.’

  Russell Black was a changed man. Used to being in control and playing the role of bully, this was an unwelcome turnaround for him. He’d been protected and guided by Tony Dodds. He’d felt invincible with the power of the local constabulary behind him, but now he was just a scared man with a semi-automatic pistol pointing right at him.

  ‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’ the man with the gun continued.

  ‘I’m going to get this latest set of pictures developed and, along with the first set of photographs and their negatives, these are going to be placed in a safe-deposit box at a location in London. This safe-deposit box forms a part of my last will and testament. If anything happens to me, the contents will be released to my estate and will therefore become public, along with my handwritten notes with names, dates, times and locations. So don’t get any ideas about sending your tough guys after me, okay?’

  Tony Dodds and Russell Black nodded. They were caught. Even if they killed him now and destroyed his camera, the first set of images were in circulation.

  ‘Now to the good bit,’ the man continued, ‘because this is where we get to what I want. I know that both of you gentleman have property and leisure interests dotted throughout Blackpool – and I have no guilt about this, because I know exactly how most of those deals came about. I reckon you all know this stretch of beach pretty well, right?’

  ‘Come on, Meg!’ Tom shouted in frustration. He was tiring now, and beginning to despair. He looked helplessly towards the men. Were they just going to let her die?

  ‘Every month, on the twenty-fifth day, you’re going to make a transfer to my bank account of two thousand pounds: that’s one thousand pounds each. Those payments are going to continue in perpetuity, and the photos are going to remain hidden.’

  ‘A thousand pounds! That’s too much money—’

  ‘Shut the fuck up!’ the man shouted. ‘Don’t you think I’ve done my research? You have several lucrative and bankrolling properties around this resort as well as your large salaries. One thousand pounds each will be fine for both of you. It won’t cause too many problems.’

  ‘You piece of shit!’ Tony Dodds cursed.

  ‘I’m sorry if you’re annoyed, but there’s more to come. Should one of you die or be unable to make up your share of those payments, the other will be expected to make up the difference. You’re a team, right? I’ll expect you both to stay in the black. Ha! Good joke eh, in the black! What do you think of that, Mr Black?’

  Russell Black said nothing. He knew that they were beaten. This had come completely left of field. Why hadn’t they been aware of this man before? Where had he come from?

  ‘There’s one more thing that I want from this, gentlemen, but don’t worry, it won’t have to come out of your pockets. I’m a journalist and I want a story. My wife is about to screw me for a divorce so I’m going to be in real need of your money and I’m also going to need my job. I have to leave this godforsaken place with a story. I want a fall guy. The only one of you buggers without any money is that toad Gary Maxwell, so let’s make sure something sticks with him and you two and your mate Ray Matiz get to walk away. Matiz is lucky. I haven’t got anything on him. Not yet, but I’m looking. But that’s the deal. I walk away from your lovely seaside town with a great story; you make sure Gary Maxwell takes a hit, and you sign direct debit forms for my easy payment plan. Easy! Alright?’

  Tony Dodds and Russell Black looked at each other. They turned towards the man and nodded resentfully.

  ‘I’ll want to see copies of the pictures,’ Tony Dodds said, ‘and if they don’t exist, you need to know that I’ll throw you from the top of the tower myself.’

  ‘You’ll receive a copy of the photos in the mail tomorrow. I took the precaution of posting them earlier in case our meeting didn’t quite work out.’

  ‘If
you ever break this deal, if those pictures ever surface, you need to know that I will have you killed,’ Tony Dodds hissed, ‘even from prison. I have the contacts. I’ll kill you if you ever break this deal.’

  ‘I won’t. I’m not a greedy man. Your secrets are safe with me. I’ve taken the liberty of writing down my bank details so that you can set up those direct debits. Copies of tonight’s photographs will be posted to your home addresses before the first payment is due. If the first payment doesn’t arrive, Gary Maxwell won’t be the only national news story coming out of Blackpool. Understood?’

  Tony Dodds and Russell Black nodded. They had escaped with their careers and their livelihoods, they knew when they were beaten. Russell Black surveyed the piece of paper in his hand.

  ‘Charlie Lucas. You’re that bastard from the tabloids.’

  Further along the beach, Tom Yates pounded one final time on his adopted daughter’s chest. She caught her breath, coughed out the seawater that had filled her lungs and slowly began to take in her surroundings. Kneeling over her was the man she’d once feared would betray her because he simply wasn’t strong enough.

  Over the howl of the wind and the roaring of the waves Tom Yates heard a word that he doubted he’d ever hear from his daughter’s mouth.

  ‘Dad.’

  ‘Can you call her from here?’ I asked. ‘Is the signal good enough?’

  ‘I think so. Do you want to do it? Alex replied.

  I pressed the call button on Skype. Hannah was showing as Away but at least that meant she was connected.

  It dialled. We sat in silence as we waited for an answer.

  ‘Alex?’

  It was Hannah’s voice.

  ‘It’s Pete, Hannah. What’s this about?’

  ‘Why couldn’t I get you on your phone, Pete? You’ve wasted a lot of time. Meg is in danger. I’ve received a threat.’

  There was silence in the car. Jan’s radio control crackled.

  ‘Where are you, Pete?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘I’m in a taxi. We’re at Woodlands Edge.’

  Silence. She’d muted her microphone. I could tell. You don’t work in radio for as many years as I have without being to spot every change in sound quality.

  ‘What’s happened with Meg, Hannah? Come on. Spit it out. I need to know.’

  More silence.

  ‘You know all the deaths surrounding the home?’

  Her voice was crystal clear over the speaker in the mobile phone.

  ‘Whoever is killing those people has found Meg and me. They must be looking up whoever was there at the time. They don’t want to hurt her, but they want something from me. Well, from you actually.’

  ‘Jesus, Hannah. What’s this about? Somebody grabbed Meg in town. I saw it myself. What do they want with her?’

  ‘I don’t know who’s behind this, Pete. They called me anonymously. But they have to be from our time in the home in the nineties. They want to get to you through me. They must have known that I know you – I have no idea how. They want you to do a job for them. They need you to reach Russell Black.’

  ‘Why me? I don’t even know the man.’

  ‘They want you to use your influence to get to him. He’s too clever, they haven’t been able to get near him.’

  ‘And then what? I get to Russell Black and they kill him? You know we can’t do that, Hannah.’

  ‘They have Meg, Pete, and they’ll hurt her. They want Russell Black, and you get Meg back in return.’

  It was my turn to mute the speaker on Skype.

  ‘We can’t do this. We have to get the police involved. We can’t do this on our own.’

  ‘You do what you have to, but this taxi is yours as long as you need it. My friend’s told me about that Russell Black. He’s a slimy git.’

  ‘Thanks, Jan,’ I said. ‘I appreciate that. What do you think, Alex? Time to call in the police?’

  ‘See what she has to say first,’ Alex said. ‘Find out what they want you to do.’

  I unmuted the speaker.

  ‘Okay, so tell me more,’ I said. ‘What am I supposed to do? And how do I know that Meg is safe?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ Hannah replied, ‘but they’ve assured me this is about Russell Black. It’s the main men they want: Ray Matiz, Russell Black, Tony Dodds – that’s what they said. They got to Meg to get to you.’

  ‘So why did Bob Taylor get hurt?’ I asked. ‘What did he have to do with anything?’

  Hannah’s microphone was muted again.

  ‘Has she got someone with her?’ I asked.

  Alex shrugged.

  Jan turned off the car engine.

  ‘Bob Taylor must have been an accident,’ Hannah replied after a short wait. ‘Wrong place, wrong time. It’s a dangerous job being a crossing guard. That’s what they said in the papers.’

  It seemed an unlikely answer. My gut instinct told me that Bob Taylor was connected with the other deaths, but I didn’t push the issue.

  ‘They were quite clear about what they wanted, Pete. No police. Nobody else but you. You need to bring Russell Black out into the open for an interview and they’ll take care of the rest. You won’t even know anything is going on. You’ll be completely in the clear.’

  ‘And if they kill him? Am I in the clear then?’ I was getting angry.

  ‘Look, Pete, don’t shoot the messenger,’ Hannah snapped back.

  ‘I’m sorry. I know she’s your sister and you must be as scared as I am. Who could be doing this, Hannah? Think. Who could it be?’

  ‘Pete, if I knew, I’d tell you. I’m scared about Meg. They want you to contact Russell Black tonight—’

  ‘Hannah, I can’t just waltz in there and get an interview with Russell Black. For one, he’s not even in post anymore. He’s under no obligation to talk to me. And secondly, he doesn’t know me.’

  ‘I just want Meg back safe, Pete. Do what you can. I’m on Skype if you need me.’

  She ended the call.

  ‘This is really odd,’ I said. ‘Why would they get in touch with Hannah?’

  ‘She told you. They couldn’t reach you so they contacted her,’ Alex replied. ‘How else would they do it?’

  ‘But how did they even know that Hannah was in the UK? She’s hard to reach at the best of times. She prefers it that way—’

  ‘What happened to Gary Maxwell?’ Alex interrupted.

  ‘What?’ I replied.

  ‘You know, Gary Maxwell, the guy who ran the home. He was in the newspaper articles. What happened to him? Why is nobody looking for him if they’re killing all the people who were involved in that inquiry? Where is he in all of this?’

  ‘We never found out, did we? Jan, do you know?’

  ‘I don’t know where he is now, but I do know that he went to jail – for quite a stretch, if I remember rightly. He was having a sexual relationship with one of the girls at the home. The big inquiry may have been dropped, but at least they managed to get to him. He was the one that all the kids hated. My friend used to call him the bogeyman.’

  ‘Is he living in Blackpool?’ Alex asked.

  ‘I don’t know. I doubt he’d dare to return here, not after that. It was a big scandal. It was all over the papers.’

  ‘How did we miss that?’ I asked Alex.

  ‘Because we weren’t looking for it, Pete. When did it happen, Jan?’

  ‘The nineties, probably 1994 or 1995, something like that. I was still at school, I know that much.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Alex asked. ‘Are you going to speak to Russell Black? What about the police?’

  ‘Yes, I’m going to see if I can get to Black, but I’m also going to ask DCI Summers to tail him to make sure nothing happens to him. That will lead us to Meg. The minute we know Meg is safe, DCI Summers can alert the local police teams. What do you think? Worth a try?’

  ‘You can use this taxi as long as you want,’ came Jan’s voice from the front of the vehicle. ‘I’ll do what I can to help. And
I’ll see if we can get a home address for Ivy. I bet someone has picked her up before. She’s had that café for years – one of the guys must know where she lives.’

  Jan picked up her radio microphone and started talking to the chap who was on radio duty.

  ‘What shall I do?’ Alex asked.

  ‘I’m going to use you to flatter Russell Black and bring him out into the open. It’s time we exploited your TV fame a bit. I’m going to tell him you’ve approached me to feature him in a documentary. He’s a vain prick – his sort usually loves that kind of thing. I’ll make it about something totally unconnected with what went on at the home. He’ll fall for it. But you’re going to have to switch on your best TV charm. Okay?’

  Alex smiled.

  ‘Of course, Pete. I’ll do my best. We need to do this tonight. Meg must be scared out of her mind.’

  I thought back to Tony Miller and Meg’s terrible experience after he abducted her, fearing for her life, petrified that he would assault her, maybe even rape her. But Meg could look after herself. She’d killed Tony Miller when her chance came – she was tough. This wasn’t about sexual intimidation, it was about revenge. If I could deliver Russell Black, I’d be able to get her out of there safely.

  ‘Can I use your phone, Alex? I need to call the guys in the office. They should have Russell Black’s phone number on the contacts database.’

  I dialled into the news desk and Amy picked up the call. That was good. Amy was experienced and was taking her turn on late-night producer duties.

  ‘Hi Amy. It’s Pete Bailey. Can you do me a favour?’

  ‘Hey Pete! Great interview the other day. Loved it! Yeah sure, how can I help?’

  ‘I need a number for Russell Black. He used to be social services head. I don’t know when he retired, but it can’t be that long ago. He’s not very old. Can you find it?’

  I heard tapping over the phone line.

  ‘I’ve got a house number for Ivy!’ Jan whispered. I put my thumb up to her.

  ‘Hi, Pete. Yes, it’s an old contact. The last time it was updated was 2007 so it might be out of date. I’ve got a mobile and a home phone. Have you got a pen and paper?’