Driven by Fear (The DS Lasser Book 27)

by Robin Roughley

  Five minutes later they were sitting in the Range Rover, it was gone midnight, the stars were out in abundance, the air chilly.

  'It has to be the same guy who took Draper,' Lasser said.

  Bannister nodded slowly. 'As bizarre as it sounds, I agree with you, the question is what possible link could there be between Mark Draper and Clifton Nash?'

  'I have no idea but there has to be one.'

  'Did you believe Erin about never seeing the prick again?'

  Lasser thought long and hard before answering. 'Julie Emmeret was kept alive for four months and although we think she was being chased, her actual death was Draper's doing. Rea was taken but was that done as a replacement for Julie?'

  'Possibly,' Bannister grunted.

  'And if that's the case then it stands to reason that whoever took her questioned her about what she was doing on the road, she names Draper and hours later he's taken.'

  'We already know that, but what's happened to him since and why the hell has Nash been taken? We know he's a wife-beating scumbag but what the fuck is the link between him and Draper?'

  Lasser tried to think of a way forward, but the truth was he felt worn out, his mind seized with fatigue.

  When the lighter clicked in the darkness, he took the offered cigarette and blew smoke out through the open passenger window. 'Perhaps Draper and Nash knew one another.'

  'That's what we have to find out, you muppet.'

  Lasser clicked the door open and stepped out into the night. 'Well, I can't function with no sleep.'

  'Wuss,' the DCI spat and then sighed and nodded. 'OK, we get some rest, and start again in the morning. I've relayed the information to Carole so she will pass it onto the team, though I tend to believe Erin, Nash won't be found alive.'

  Lasser flicked ash to the ground, thinking of the woman on the sofa, her eyes bemused and fear-filled, and then a strange kind of calm had appeared on her face as if on some primal level she had known that she would never see her hated husband again, almost as if this was the first day of her new life, free of abuse and fear.

  'One good thing to come out of this is the fact that Erin is shut of that bastard,' Bannister said as Lasser flicked the cigarette into the gutter.

  'Every cloud has a silver lining,' he said before closing the door and heading to the Audi.

  Bannister watched him get inside and raised a hand as he pulled away from the kerb, seconds later, the DCI followed.

  58

  Early morning and the sun was slowly rising in another clear blue sky as they travelled down the M56, destination North Wales. Traffic was light and they were making good time, Odette behind the wheel, flicking the visor down as the sun flared at the windscreen.

  'I can't believe that someone snatched this Nash character, I mean, you told me how big the guy is, so who would be capable of doing something like that?' Roger asked as he turned his head to face her.

  Odette thought about the confrontation at the front of Nash's house and how one well-placed kick had dropped the towering man to his knees, but this was different, and Roger was right. It was one thing to knock a man down but to then haul someone like Nash over your shoulder and carry him away was another.

  'The harder they come the harder they fall,' was all she could think to say.

  'Do you think it's linked to Draper's disappearance?'

  Odette checked the mirrors before answering. 'Well, despite the fact neither Gemma Fox nor Erin Nash were able to give a detailed description it certainly sounds like the same guy,' she paused as she changed lanes, 'let's face it, I can't imagine that we have two giants stalking the town and grabbing people from their homes in the dead of night. The question is can we find the link, and does it help us to get to Rea Lomax?'

  Roger looked pained as Odette moved back to the left, the cruise control set at seventy.

  The petrochemical plant appeared on the right-hand side seeming to stretch on for miles, pipes and huge grey metal tanks holding and carrying the fuel for as far as the eye could see.

  'What are Lasser and the boss up to today?' he asked, resting his head back.

  'Hopefully, they will still be asleep, it will have been late by the time they got things sorted.'

  They fell into an easy silence, Roger looking left, turning his gaze from the giant chemical plant to fields dotted with sheep.

  He tried to see a way forward, to forge links that he knew must be there, though nothing was forthcoming, nothing surged to the forefront of his mind.

  None of it made sense.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to focus, Julie Emmeret had been killed on Hamley Road, Rea Lomax spirited away and now they had Draper and Nash. They knew of the link between Draper and Lomax, but how was Nash tied in with all this?

  He sighed heavily.

  'Are you OK?' Odette asked as she flicked him a glance.

  'Sorry, I didn't think you'd heard that.'

  'Listen, you know what the job is like, we act on what we have, and we search for clues that help us to move forward, but sometimes it's hard going, and I know what's at stake but letting it mess with your head serves no purpose.'

  He looked at her profile and felt the love bloom inside. 'You're right, I need to focus.'

  'No, you need to stop being so hard on yourself,' she replied. 'That's an order.'

  He smiled. 'Yes, boss.'

  She nodded before turning her attention back to the motorway, in the distance the Welsh mountains slowly came into view.

  59

  Lasser munched on the slice of toast, the phone on the table in front of him, the loudspeaker on. 'Well, what about checking the local gyms, I mean, Erin will know which he used so it might be worth going to visit a couple?' he asked.

  Jackie appeared from the bedroom, wearing jeans and one of his old T-shirts, the small wooden case that contained her paint brushes held in her right hand.

  'Why?' Bannister's voice droned out of the phone.

  'Look whoever took Nash is a big sod and he must be strong with it, so perhaps he came into contact with Nash at some gym.'

  'How many straws are you going to clutch at?'

  Jackie frowned at the DCI's response, and Lasser looked at her and shrugged.

  'You don't think it's worth checking then?' Lasser asked.

  'I never said that.'

  Jackie shook her head as she walked past, and Lasser watched the gentle sway of her hips as she moved toward the front of the boat.

  'So, what are you saying?'

  'I don't have a bloody clue, I can't seem to see a way forward,' Bannister admitted.

  'Well, you never know, Odette might have some luck over in Wales.'

  'Yeah, and she might not.'

  'Dr Doom is in the house,' Lasser said in a low voice though he knew it was just loud enough for his boss to hear.

  'We could have another word with Brewster and Gemma Fox, see if they've thought of anything else.'

  'And you accuse me of grasping at straws, you know as well as I do that Brewster would tell us nothing, even if he knew the name of the gorilla, he would keep it to himself.'

  'I hate that man.'

  'Everyone hates him.'

  'And what about Jepson, have you given his lordship any more thought?'

  Through the open window, Lasser could hear the sound of the ducks kicking off with one another. 'I have, but there's nothing to prove that he's involved in any of this, yeah, he's loaded and owns land all over the place, but that isn't a crime.'

  'I know that, but you have to admit that it's suspicious that Julie Emmeret worked at the garden centre that he just happens to own, and then she turns up dead seventy miles away, again on Jepson land.'

  Taking another bite of the toast, Lasser grunted a response. 'OK, but what can we do about it, how can we follow it up?'

  'We could have another word with the man.'

  'Truth is we can't accuse him of anything without proof.'

  'Proof has never bothered you before,' Bannister goade
d.

  Lasser said nothing as he finished the toast.

  'I'll go and see Brewster and that editor, what was his name?'

  'Karmen.'

  'That's the bugger, he got his information about Rea Lomax from somewhere and I want to know who told him.'

  'I doubt whether he will tell you something like that,' Lasser rose from the chair to wash the crumbs from his fingers.

  'I'll do that, and you check which gym Nash used and have a nosey.'

  'I thought you said that was a waste of time?' Lasser questioned as he dried his hands on the towel.

  'It probably is but what else are you going to do today?'

  Leaning down, Lasser picked up the phone. 'OK, I'll see what I can find out.'

  'There's no need to shout, I'm not deaf,' Bannister complained.

  'Catch you later.'

  Ending the call, he glanced right as Jackie moved towards him along the narrow passageway.

  'You're painting today?' he asked.

  'I'm heading up to Rivington, I've found a view and want to get some sketches done,' she explained with a smile.

  'Wish I could come with you.'

  Moving to him, she brushed her lips across his. 'The week off already seems like a distant memory,' she admitted.

  'I still have holidays owed, I might book another week off, how do you fancy heading up to the Lakes for a few days?'

  'That would be wonderful.'

  'You can even bring your brushes and I could watch you paint.'

  Her smile widened as she nodded. 'Do you want me to try and find us somewhere to stay up there?'

  'I'll sort the dates out but yeah you might as well see what's free.'

  'Anywhere in particular?'

  Lasser thought for a moment before answering. 'Ambleside is nice.'

  'Right, I'll concentrate on that area then.'

  'OK, happy sketching and I'll catch you later,' he kissed her again and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and this time, she was the one watching him go.

  60

  Nash cracked his eyes open and then immediately screwed them closed again as piercing sunlight blasted into his face.

  He could feel the heat beating down on the top of his shaven head, the nagging pain rattling around his skull.

  'Back amongst the land of the living at last.'

  The voice came from his left, but he kept his eyes closed, he could hear a strange sound, a rhythmic creaking and in the background was the chatter of birdsong.

  When he tried to move his right arm to wipe the sweat from his brow, he frowned as he discovered that he couldn't move.

  'Your arms and legs are tied; you're a big man and I would hate for you to go on the rampage,' the voice said, the tone friendly.

  Nash licked his dry lips and cracked his eyes open again, keeping them narrowed as he looked down at his feet anchored to the chair, then he turned and squinted at the tall man sitting easily in the rocking chair in front of what looked like a derelict house, gently moving back and forth, a smile on his face.

  'I would imagine you are wondering what you are doing here?' Jepson asked.

  'Who are you?' Nash croaked.

  'I'm the man who saved you from a lot of trouble.'

  'What the fuck are you talking about?' Nash's hands tugged hard trying to break the bonds that held his arms behind his back.

  'You can't break free so I would save your energy.'

  'I'm going to get out of this then I'm going to kill you,' Nash snarled.

  'Well, there's gratitude for you,' Jepson replied, the smile growing wider.

  '''Gratitude''?' Nash parroted in disbelief as his hands tugged again at the restraints.

  Jepson tilted his face to the sky enjoying the sun on his face. 'You were heading for a fall, I mean, attacking your wife like that, the police would have grabbed you and…'

  'She's my fucking bitch!' Nash suddenly bellowed, the trees swallowing the sound, the birds continued to sing.

  Lowering his head, Jepson watched as the big man pulled and tugged his arms for all he was worth, huge muscles bulging.

  'Strange how a man as powerful as you can be suddenly so helpless thanks to a bit of rope.'

  'Cut me free and you'll see how helpless I am,' Nash demanded, spittle flying from his twisted mouth.

  Jepson laughed again, a good-natured sound of merriment. 'All in good time, but thanks to me you are still a free man.'

  'How can you call being tied to a fucking chair ''free''?'

  Jepson shrugged. 'It's all a matter of perspective. Now, you have spent time behind bars for beating your wife and perhaps that is not an issue for the likes of you.'

  'I'm going to kill you and then her.'

  Jepson rose slowly from the chair and walked over to where Nash was sitting in the full glare of the spring sun. 'You have a lot of anger inside you, but your words are misguided, the truth is you are in no position to make idle threats.'

  'It's not a threat, it's a promise.'

  When Jepson lifted the knife from his pocket, Nash tensed, his narrowed eyes widening with sudden fear.

  Then the knife was cutting the rope at his ankles.

  Jepson stepped back, the smile still curling his lips. 'Are you a fighter, Clifton, or do you prefer to beat a woman who is half your size and probably weighs less than your left leg?'

  'I do what I like,' Nash spat.

  'Well, last night you didn't fair quite so well against Max, did you?'

  'Max, who the fuck is Max?'

  'The one who stopped you in your tracks, the one who picked you up and brought you here to me.'

  Suddenly it all came flooding back, he'd had Erin in front of him determined to make her pay for having the nerve to disobey him, he had intended killing her and had given scant thought to what would happen afterwards. All he had imagined was waiting in the house until lover boy returned, then he would show him Erin's body on the kitchen floor, make him look at what he had done, knowing that Joy would no doubt blame himself for interfering in another man's marriage. That had been the plan but then he had been hit and his legs had buckled, legs that were capable of bearing massive weights, weights that would have crushed lesser men.

  Now, he looked up at the man and glared at him.

  'He sucker-punched me.'

  'Really?' Jepson asked in mock shock.

  'I'm telling you…'

  'Max, do you have a minute?'

  Nash winced and seconds later, the man emerged from the derelict house and Clifton Nash felt the doubt rear in his mind.

  'Now, tell me what you see?' Jepson said.

  Nash dragged his eyes back to the tall man with the wide smile.

  'What are you talking about?' he asked.

  'It's a simple enough request, take a look at Max here and describe what you see.'

  'Fuck off, I'm not doing that.'

  'Well, let me help you. You recognise strength, after all, you spend a lot of time in the gym don't you, lifting the weights, pumping the iron, and would I be right in thinking that you take copious amounts of steroids as well?' Jepson asked.

  'I'm warning you; you had better let me go right now or so help me God I will…'

  'What do you think, Max, does Mr Muscles here take steroids?' Jepson asked.

  'He takes them,' Max replied, his dead-eyed gaze fixed on Nash's sweating face.

  'Which means that a lot of this overblown bulk is false,' Jepson waved a hand at Nash who fumed in the chair. 'All this mass is manmade rather than natural.'

  'You can't get to that size without taking shortcuts,' Max said with certainty.

  'But why would someone want to do something like that?' Jepson asked as if perplexed by the notion.

  Max shifted his feet slightly in the grass. 'They do it because they are basically weak.'

  Nash opened his mouth with the intention of spitting out a denial and then he slowly closed it as he looked at the one called Max and he felt the sense of fear increase, there was a blankness
in his eyes that matched the rest of his face.

  'They do it to compensate for something they lack?' Jepson asked as he turned fully to Max as if warming to the subject.

  Max nodded. 'In this case I'd say that impotence was one of the side effects of all the steroids.'

  'Ah, right, then that would explain the anger he feels towards his wife?' Jepson nodded philosophically.

  'SHUT UP!' Nash roared as he strained against the rope.

  Both men looked at him almost as if they had forgotten he was there.

  'Does that touch a raw nerve?' Jepson asked as he tilted his head slightly.

  'Just shut the fuck up!'

  Jepson said nothing as he handed the knife to Max.

  'Cut his hands, let's see what the real man is made of,' he said, the smile vanishing from his face in an instant.

  Taking the blade, Max moved around to the back of the chair, and seconds later Nash was free, his huge arms flexing as he glared at Jepson.

  'Queensbury rules?' Jepson grinned as he took up a typical pugilist's stance.

  'It's easy to be the big man with that bastard backing you up,' Nash growled as he rolled his head on his shoulders.

  Jepson watched closely as Nash rose to his feet, his hands closing into fists.

  'Listen to me, Max, to alleviate Mr Nash's concerns you are not to intervene no matter what happens,' Jepson said.

  'Understood,' Max replied.

  Nash glanced over his shoulder and his bravado seemed to shrink as he recognised the look in Max's eyes, it was a look he recognised well enough, after all hadn't he seen it often when he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, it was a capacity for violence and one that made his stomach roll.

  When he turned around the tall man was smiling again.

  'Ding, ding, round one,' Jepson said as he darted forward.

  61

  After phoning Erin Nash to find out which gym her husband used, Lasser had headed across town and now he was inside Moore's gym talking to the owner, a man who looked nothing like a bodybuilder, he was about five-eight and looked to be around ten stone wet through.

  'I haven't seen Nash in months,' Danny Moore said with a scowl.