by M A Comley
“Mum, Dad’s home.”
Hero whisked the happy child up into his arms and hugged him. “Hello there, cheeky chappy. Are you pleased to see me?”
“Of course. How many criminals did you arrest today, Dad?” Louie asked, eagerly searching Hero’s eyes.
He placed his son back on the ground and ruffled Sammy’s head. “None today, son. Hopefully, I’ll put that right tomorrow. How was school?”
Easing himself back into family life was just the tonic he needed to combat the awful images he’d dealt with at the crime scene. The four-year-old twins, Zara and Zoe, were in the lounge, playing with their numerous dolls on the floor. They barely noticed him when he rushed into the kitchen, where his gorgeous wife, Fay, was preparing their evening meal.
“Hello, darling. You’re earlier for a change.” She frowned.
He smiled tightly and marched across the room. He said nothing and hugged her. At first, she was apprehensive, but after a few seconds, she melted into his arms.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered against her ear.
Fay pulled away from him slightly and studied his handsome face. “You’re worrying me. What’s wrong? Has something happened at work?”
He silenced her with a long kiss.
Fay slapped his arm and pulled away again. “Tiny people around, in case you’re thinking of getting amorous.”
“I’m not. I just wanted to show you how much you and the kids mean to me.”
“What’s this about, love?”
He kissed her again, released her, then began to lay the table for dinner. In a hushed voice, so the children couldn’t hear, he said, “We lost two guys at work today. Horrendous injuries. They were shot by an assailant.”
“Oh no, how dreadful. Were they married?”
“One was married, expecting his first kid, and the other was engaged. I had to break the news to their kinsfolk today. The thing is, Chris was also a member of my TA team.”
“Oh, Hero, I’m so sorry. Have you caught the suspect?”
“Nope, we’ve got people out there searching for him now, but all we have is that he was driving a blue Laguna. It’s going to be near impossible to find him with just that snippet of information to go on.”
“You’ll do it, I’m sure, especially as the victims are coppers.”
Hero stopped laying the table to look at her. “I can’t believe you said that.”
Fay placed a hand over her chest. “Good Lord, I didn’t mean anything damning by that. I just meant that I know you’ll be working harder to find the culprit, that’s all.”
“I know what you meant, and I think you’re being a bit unfair, Fay. My team and I always give a hundred percent to a case, no matter who the victims are, wealthy or poor, copper or civilian.”
Fay walked across the room and rubbed his back. “I didn’t mean anything by that, I promise. It was a stupid observation that I should have kept to myself. Friends?”
Hero shook his head. “I could never fall out with you, love. It hurts that you should think that about me, though.”
“I’m sorry. Let’s call it a bout of temporary foot-in-mouth syndrome. Dinner won’t be long. Can you get the kids washed for me?”
He finished setting the table and drifted into the lounge. “Who’s hungry?”
Three sets of hands rose in the air, accompanied by shouts of “Me, me, me!”
“Well, you know what to do.”
Louie stood at the front of the line, followed by his beautiful siblings, Zara, and then Zoe, while Hero joined them at the rear.
“Right, left, right, left,” Hero shouted while Louie led his sisters up the stairs to the bathroom.
Sammy followed them, barking as they marched into the bathroom. Louie put the plug in the sink and ran the water. Hero tested the temperature before he allowed the twins to dip their hands in the sink. He dried all their hands and faces, and without saying a word, the three children formed a line again and marched back down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Hero pulled out each of the chairs, and one by one the kids hopped onto them. Then he stood beside Fay and handed her the plates so she could dish up the dinner. The delicious smell of steak and kidney made him realise he’d missed lunch. His tummy rumbled loudly. “Looks and smells scrummy, doesn’t it, kids?”
Once they were all seated, he turned to his wife and smiled. “Thank you for taking care of our family so well, love.”
Fay’s nose wrinkled, and she tutted. “Don’t be daft. You don’t have to thank me. Although it is wonderful to feel appreciated. I know many mothers and wives who complain that they’re always being taken for granted.”
“What do you say, kids? Mum’s a pretty awesome lady, eh? For putting up with us lot, I mean.”
Three heads bobbed up and down as the kids hungrily tucked into their food.
“I guess that’s your answer.” Hero laughed.
The evening meal ended half an hour later, when all the plates were clean. The kids settled back in the lounge in front of the TV while Hero helped Fay clear up in the kitchen.
“I want to apologise,” Fay said shyly.
“For what? There’s no need if you’re talking about what you said earlier. It’s forgotten.”
“Good. Any thoughts about what you want to do regarding the Easter holidays?”
“Crap, when is it?”
“Mid-April, I believe. I thought we could book a caravan down in Cornwall.”
“I think it’ll probably be too late for that, love. My guess is that everywhere would have been booked up months ago.”
“I’m open to suggestions. Haven’t you got the week off?”
Hero winced. The cases had overwhelmed him lately, and he’d neglected to book the time off as Fay had suggested back in February.
Fay shook her head. “You’re bloody hopeless. I knew I should have reminded you to book the time off. What are we going to do now?”
“I’ll check the holiday rota in the morning when I get into work.”
“Put a reminder on that damn phone of yours.”
“Do I have to? I hate using that bloody thing,” Hero complained.
“If you want to spend time with me and the kids, then yes, you have to do it. What about inviting Cara? The kids would love their aunt coming on holiday with us.”
He wagged his finger at her. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You just want her there as a built-in babysitter.”
Fay’s face flushed. “I never thought anything of the sort. Good idea, though, yes?”
“We’ll see. I’ll give her a call tomorrow before I book the time off. It’ll be good for all of us to get away together. She’s been doing well with her new team in the fraud squad, so I’m hearing on the grapevine.”
“That’s a relief after all the hassle she had with that disgusting instructor at training college.”
“That’s all in the past now. Thankfully, her spirit was strong enough to overcome all that crap. There aren’t many women who would have bounced back after being touched up by their instructor at training college. We have to be thankful for the confidence the TA has instilled in her, I suppose. Damn, I almost forgot—I need to spend half an hour ringing around the boys in the TA, if that’s all right with you?”
Fay kissed his cheek. “Of course. I’ll leave you to it and go and sort out the kids’ lunches for tomorrow.”
He smiled and watched her walk out of the room, then picked up his mobile. Sighing heavily, he rang his commanding officer. “Hello, Sergeant Milton. It’s Hero Nelson.”
“You’re ringing late, Nelson. Anything wrong?”
“You could say that, sir. I have some bad news concerning Chris Portman—he was killed in the line of duty today.”
“What? Goodness me. Killed, you say? What happened?”
“Both he and his colleague were gunned down on the outskirts of Manchester. I’m just going to ring the rest of the team now.”
“Horrendous
. Have you apprehended the bastard?” Milton asked.
“Not yet, sir, but you have my word that we will.”
“That’s good to hear. Thanks for informing me. I’ll organise a gathering at the weekend. Are you up for that, Hero?”
“Of course. See you Saturday morning, Sergeant.”
Hero ended the call then rang the rest of his TA colleagues. Everyone was deeply shocked by the news they had lost a colleague and agreed to attend the TA on Saturday, whether they had plans or not. Not for the first time, Hero felt proud to be part of a caring and understanding team.
Chapter 2
After a restless night, Hero drove into the station at eight in the morning. In spite of reassuring Fay that he was all right, every time he tried to close his eyes, he saw either Paul’s or Chris’s bloody image before him. Eventually, rather than disturb Fay any more, he spent the night on the couch with Sammy.
“Morning, all,” he addressed his team brightly, covering up his true feelings. “I want to hit the ground running this morning. Lance, I want you to search the database, see what crimes were reported yesterday afternoon before the incident took place with Wilmot and Portman. The suspect was in a rush for a reason. Let’s find out what that was.”
The stout detective sergeant put aside the large doughnut he was stuffing down his neck. “Yes, boss.”
“Jason, I want you to try and piece together Wilmot’s and Portman’s final hours, just in case Lance’s search comes up blank. Perhaps the boys saw the car up to something suspicious and decided to investigate before the chase began. Let’s cover all the angles here and quickly. I want the answers within a couple of hours, got that?”
“Sure, boss. On it now.”
“Sally, I want you to concentrate on the car. All we’ve got is a blue Laguna. I know it’s a big ask, but let’s try and find out how many are registered in the Manchester area.”
“Want me to broaden the search, boss? Say a ten-mile radius of the city, just in case?”
“Why not? It can’t hurt. I’ll be in my office. Let me know what you find out ASAP, everyone.” He searched around him, suddenly realising Julie was missing. “Where’s Shaw? Any idea?”
Sally avoided his eyes. “She rang in sick today, sir.”
Puzzled, he asked, “What’s wrong with her? She seemed okay to me yesterday.”
“She didn’t really say, just said she was a little off-colour.”
He turned on his heel and stomped into his office, mumbling under his breath, “A little off-colour…at least she’s alive, unlike Wilmot and Portman.” He slammed his office door behind him. Before he delved into the daily paperwork clogging up his desk, he rang his twin sister, Cara. “Hey, sis. How’s things?”
“Hero? It’s unusual for you to contact me at work. What’s up?”
“Needed to hear a friendly voice and to know that you’re okay. Have you heard about the incident I dealt with yesterday?”
“Two men down—is that the one?”
“Yes. If you go out there, be careful. Who knows? There could be a cop killer on the loose.”
“Really? What proof have you got to think that?”
“We haven’t, apart from the shooting yesterday. Just stay vigilant. Anyway, that’s not why I’m ringing. Fay and I are trying to organise a holiday and wondered if you’d like to tag along. The kids would love to spend some quality time with their favourite aunt, sis.”
Cara laughed. “Nice try. Their only aunt! You’re asking me to ‘tag along’ to be your babysitter, right?”
“Well, that would be a bonus of course, one I hadn’t thought of.”
“Who are you trying to kid? That said, I’d definitely be up for it. Depends when, as I’m already committed to one holiday to Spain in July with a few of my girlfriends.”
“Get you! Since when did you get to be so popular?”
“Cheeky git. I’ve always been popular. You’re begging to spend time with me, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t quite put it in that context.”
“When are you thinking of going on this wonderful family adventure and where?”
“Nothing too adventurous—thought we’d book a caravan in Cornwall at Easter.”
“Next month! Give us a break, Hero—have you tried to book somewhere at such short notice?”
“Ah, no. Okay, maybe we should explore that and get back to you. Would you come if we can find somewhere?”
“I’d love to. Doubt it’s going to happen, though.”
“I’ll run it past Fay when I get home this evening. It would be great to extend the invitation to mum and dad, but I know how much discomfort dad is in with his hip.” Their dad had retired from being a colonel in the army a couple of years before, and not long after, he’d needed a hip replacement. Unfortunately, the operation had gone wrong and left their father riddled in permanent pain. He’d had several operations since to try to relieve that pain, but nothing to date had worked. They both regarded their dad as the inspiration behind them signing up for the TA—neither of them would have entertained working in the military full time, so joining the police and working with the TA at the weekends appeared to be the perfect compromise. “Take care out there, all right?”
“My job is ninety-nine percent a desk job, Hero. There’s no need for you to be concerned about me. Make sure you practise what you preach, though.”
“I will. Speak soon.” Hero hung up, gazed out the window at the cloudy dark sky, and sighed. It would be nice to get away from the doom and gloom of Manchester if we can. He spent the next couple of hours tearing his hair out with the mundane task of going through dozens of police procedural changes and dreary nonsensical informative letters from head office, which were crying out for his immediate attention.
Sally knocked on his door at nearly eleven. “Do you have time for an update, sir?”
Hero pushed back his chair and followed her out of the room. “Of course. What have we got?”
“I’ve taken the liberty of writing things on the whiteboard. It’s not much so far: our two victims, Wilmot and Portman, and the car involved.”
“Thanks for that, Sally. What about the car? Any leads on that?”
She shook her head. “It appears to be one of the more popular colours and makes of vehicle for people to own in the Manchester area. Would you believe there are over two thousand registered around here?”
“Great, that’s not exactly welcome news. What about any crimes reported in the vicinity yesterday afternoon? Anything there, Lance?”
The sergeant shifted in his chair to face Hero, picked up a sheet of paper from his desk, and proceeded to count. “I’ve got around fifteen crimes that were reported yesterday afternoon, boss. A hit-and-run, four burglaries, a GBH, an ABH…the rest are anti-social behaviour incidents.”
“I take it they’re all in the area close to where our friends were gunned down.”
“Within a couple of miles’ radius, sir. Want me to keep checking?”
“Yes, concentrate on the crimes closest to the B5229. I could be wrong asking you to do that, but that’s all we’ve got at the moment. What about the CCTV footage in that area? Anyone looked into that yet?”
“I can do that for you, sir,” Lance said.
“Did you find anything out regarding where and what Wilmot and Portman were up to before the chase began?”
“Nothing, sir. The control room said they were just cruising the area, minding their own business.”
Hero chewed on his thumbnail as he thought. “So something spooked the driver. Perhaps he spotted the boys in his rear-view mirror and thought they were on to him, he put his foot down and sparked their interest—and bingo-bango! Let’s see what the CCTV cameras in that area show up, Lance.”
“Leave it with me, sir.”
“Give me the list of the crimes that were reported.”
Lance handed him the sheet of paper.
As he read, nothing really grabbed him as being significant or out of the
ordinary. He was at a loss where to search next for clues but he owed it to his lost colleagues to keep digging.
The team continued their exasperating search until lunchtime. Hero sent Jason out for sandwiches for the team, and by the time he’d returned, Hero had received a call of interest.
“Okay, gather around, team. I know it’s lunchtime, but I think that’ll have to wait for now. I’ve just received a call to say that a postmaster at a small post office on Eccles Old Road has been found murdered.”
“That’s close to where Wilmot and Portman were found, sir,” Lance said.
“It is indeed, and looks likely to be our link. I’m going to head over there now. I would normally take Julie with me. I’m not going to ask any of you to fill her shoes; I need you to keep digging into things around here. Concentrate on the CCTV cameras in that area for me, Lance. Sally, get me any background information you can find on the postmaster—sorry, I can’t give you a name for now. Let’s see if he had any enemies before we start linking this madman to the two crimes. I’ll be back shortly.” Hero grabbed his sandwich and rushed out the door as if a tornado had overtaken him.
With the aid of his siren, he made it to the scene within fifteen minutes. He slipped on a fresh set of white overalls and plastic shoes before entering the building. Scenes of Crimes Officers were already carrying out their preliminary examinations in the back room of the post office.
“Have we got a name for the victim?”
A female member of the SOCO team stood beside him. “Donald Millward.”
Hero stared at the victim, who appeared to be in his fifties, and shook his head in disgust as he surveyed the multiple stab wounds to his torso. “The bastard tortured him before killing him. Is there anyone else here? His relatives, perhaps?”
“Nope. A member of his staff reported for duty at twelve and found him. Shock took a toll on her, unsurprisingly. The pathologist arranged for an ambulance to take her to hospital.”