by Gwyn GB
‘He’s heading towards Thornley,’ a voice said on the radio. ‘No visuals yet.’
The journey was agonising. How long could Joseph keep driving for and where was he headed. Did he even know where he was going? Had he already hurt Annabelle? From the CCTV, it looked like he’d hit her. Annabelle’s pale, frightened face came into Harrison’s mind. They had to reach her before it was too late.
‘Car abandoned,’ came through on the radio. ‘Suspects are missing. We’re on the edge of Hamsterley Forest, they’ve headed in there.’
‘Shit. That place is huge.’ Emily said, ‘and there're caves and stuff in there too.’
‘The boss will get some eyes up. We should be able to track them with the thermal camera.’
‘Not if they go into caves, you won’t. How long until the helicopter gets here?’ Harrison asked.
‘Don’t know, maybe fifteen minutes, possibly longer. We’re almost there.’
They came round a bend and in front of them were two police cars in the middle of the road alongside a small red Fiat. David, Emily and Harrison jumped out of their car.
‘DS Urquhart. Any idea which way they went?’ David approached the uniformed officers, showing his ID.
‘No idea. They’d bailed before we got here. Could be in any direction.’
Harrison looked around. They were surrounded by huge trees on both sides of the road.
‘Has anyone tried to go into the woods to find them yet?’ He asked.
‘No, we were waiting for back-up. We’ve called for dogs.’
‘Leave it to me. I can track but I need you all to stay well behind, do you understand?’
‘You serious?’ David asked, looking incredibly impressed and incredulous at the same time.
Harrison didn’t answer. He just turned his eyes to the ground. Annabelle was out there, and he knew that Joseph fully intended to kill her. They didn’t have fifteen minutes to wait for the helicopter or dogs to tell them where they were because they’d be so far ahead that it would be giving them a good half an hour or more start. That’s if they hadn’t already made it to the caves. He needed to find them now.
‘I’m not sure the boss will be happy about you heading in there,’ he heard David say, but it was half-hearted, and Harrison was already striding ahead.
The first problem was to see what direction they’d gone in. He stopped and looked around at the undergrowth. There were two natural ways into the woods, not tracks as such, but breaks in the bushes which would allow a person to walk in. He chose the nearest one to the car. The bushes were undisturbed, no branches snapped or bent, the ground was also clear of any disturbance. They didn’t enter there.
Across to the next possibility, and it was obvious immediately that this was where they’d gone. He was going to have an advantage because there were two of them and Annabelle was an unwilling participant. There was plenty of scuffing on the floor where she’d obviously tried to resist being pulled into the forest, and one of the bushes showed fresh signs that somebody had been pushed into it, breaking twigs.
Harrison dived under the canopy of trees, eyes to the floor, and followed the two sets of footprints that led him deeper into the woods.
Joseph had about fifteen minutes’ advantage on him, but with Annabelle, his progress would be much slower. Harrison wasted no time. Where the tracks were clear, he ran, crashing through the bushes and ignoring the shouts of David and the others as they tried to keep up.
He was also aware that Joseph could at any time stop or hear him coming, so he couldn’t just keep his eyes on the ground. He had to have every one of his senses on high alert.
He went as fast as he could, weaving through the trees. None of it was on footpaths, but that was good. It meant there was no confusion with the footprints. They didn’t merge with any other walkers; it was just the two of them.
Around twenty minutes in, Harrison stopped and listened. He could hear water, some kind of waterfall up ahead, and he thought he also heard voices. The other officers were a way behind, crashing through the undergrowth in his wake. He strained to hear. There was birdsong. A wood pigeon.
‘No.’
He heard it. A young woman’s voice. Not too far ahead.
He needed stealth as well as speed now. Everything Joe, his step-father had taught him, came into play. He was back in Arizona, tracking and hunting.
Harrison carried on, but now he crouched down and used the undergrowth for camouflage, a coiled spring ready for action. The voices grew louder. He could hear what sounded like a fight. Annabelle was telling Joseph to get off her.
Then he saw them and all stealth disappeared and was instead replaced with rage. Joseph had Annabelle pinned to the ground. He was sitting astride her, and she was trying to fight him off. He punched her hard around the face. Harrison launched himself forward.
Before Joseph could even register the big man hurtling straight towards him, Harrison had knocked him off Annabelle and onto the ground. He was winded and shocked, but scrambled to get up.
Harrison had seen red.
As Joseph got back on his feet and tried to get away, he threw a punch that made Joseph’s jaw crack and his head fly back, flinging his whole body a few feet away, back onto the forest floor.
He was flat out this time, not moving, so Harrison turned to Annabelle.
‘Are you OK?’ he asked, walking over to her.
‘I think so,’ she replied, tears streaming down her face. There was blood coming from her lip and he could see swelling starting around her left eye.
He could hear the other officers approaching through the undergrowth.
‘Over here,’ he shouted, waving to ensure they’d seen him. ‘You’re going to be OK,’ he said to Annabelle, trying to reassure her.
Behind him, Joseph was coming round.
‘Harrison!’ Annabelle said, a look of fear on her face. She was pointing behind him to Joseph.
He turned just in time to see Joseph uncap a small bottle he’d taken from his pocket. He looked at Harrison as he pulled the lid off and raised the bottle to his lips. Harrison launched himself forward, covering the twenty feet between them as fast as he could. He knocked the bottle from Joseph’s hand, but not before he’d already swallowed some.
He guessed what it was. It would be more of the Monkshood poison that he’d given George. Joseph had nothing left to live for now except facing justice.
Behind them, he heard David and the other officers reach Annabelle.
‘He’s swallowed poison,’ he shouted back to them, but didn’t wait for a response. He grabbed Joseph by the collar of his jacket and dragged him towards the sound of water.
‘You are not going to die. You are going to face the justice you deserve,’ he said as he dragged him through the trees.
Harrison knew Joseph could die before the ambulance reached them. He needed to get as much of the poison out of his system as possible by washing his mouth out and inducing vomiting. The only way he could think to do it, without getting his hand bitten, was to get large quantities of fluid in him so that he took in as much water as possible which would make him feel sick and dilute the poison as he did so. It might not be textbook poison treatment, but it was his only option until the paramedics arrived.
Within about fifty yards, they arrived at what would have, under other circumstances, been a beautiful natural waterfall and pool, surrounded by rocks and trees. Right now Harrison didn’t see its beauty, it was simply a means to an end.
He dragged Joseph to the edge of the pool and putting one hand over his nose, squezing his nostrils closed, he held his jaw open with the other hand, plunging him back first into the water. With his jaw broken, the pain was intense, and Joseph screamed as he went under. Harrison knew what he was doing was risky. He had to get enough water in him to make him retch but not so much as to drown him, although there was that temptation.
He held him under, the image of him pinning Annabelle to the forest floor in his mind. A pa
rt of him wanted to keep holding him under, but he didn’t. He yanked him out and then flung him over on to his stomach, using his knee to push into his solar plexus. Joseph retched involuntarily, coughing and throwing up the water.
Harrison repeated the actions. Flipping Joseph backwards again and filling his mouth with the water. Behind him, he heard the sound of police radios and crashing feet. As he pulled Joseph out of the water and flipped him back onto his stomach and made him retch again, David Urquhart reached him.
‘Harrison, stop,’ he shouted.
‘He’s swallowed poison. I’m not drowning him, I’m saving him,’ Harrison said to the panicked detective who had grabbed one of his arms. ‘We need an ambulance. It will be his heart that’s going to be affected. Find out if there’s a defibrillator anywhere near, just in case he goes into arrest. I think he’s swallowed Monkshood, the same as he gave George.’
Harrison wasn’t sure who looked more shocked, Joseph or David, but the detective did as he was told.
Joseph moaned, he was beat. Harrison dragged him away from the water and put him on his side in the recovery position. The poison was starting to have an effect, and the fight had gone out of him. David returned to stand with Harrison.
‘Ambulance is on its way,’ he said.
‘Where Annabelle was, you’ll find a small bottle that contained poison. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Monkshood, but the ambulance crew will need that for toxicology just in case, as well as us needing it for evidence.’
David sent two of the officers back to look for it, and in the distance they heard the sound of a helicopter and sirens.
‘You checked in case he’s got any more?’ David asked.
Harrison shook his head.
The DS knelt down beside the moaning Joseph and searched through his pockets. He pulled out a small padded envelope and peered inside.
‘It’s a mobile phone,’ he said to Harrison.
‘That must be what he got from the locker. He gets his victims to stay silent by taking compromising photographs and videos which he threatens to share. That’s probably how he takes them.’
He sat back on his heels now, suddenly tired. The adrenaline was disappearing. Through the trees, he saw Annabelle being supported by a uniformed officer. She would be OK now. She’d get the victim support she needed and Christopher’s family would get their answers.
David was reading Joseph his rights. He was regaining his senses again, and so he’d cuffed him, just in case he decided to try anything else. Harrison’s efforts to stop him from drinking the poison and then getting it out of his system seemed to have worked. He didn’t look great, especially with his broken jaw, but he certainly looked like he’d survive.
Harrison stood back up and went over to Joseph.
‘You thought George was the ghost monk, didn’t you? Thought he was the one betraying you,’ Harrison said to him.
Joseph glared at him, hatred in his eyes.
‘Well, apparently the rest of them are singing like canaries back at the nick,’ David said to them both. ‘They appear very keen to tell us how Mr Goode here has been coercing them.’
Harrison looked into Joseph’s hate-filled eyes. ‘So, looks like your little group is disbanded. You were never one of them and never will be. They’ll close ranks and you’ll be left as the outsider you always were.’
24
‘Assume that the triumph in Durham is at least in part down to you?’ Harrison was pleased to hear Jack Salter’s friendly voice. It was gone 9am, and he was still in his hotel room where he’d crashed last night, shattered after the day’s events and the hours of statements he’d needed to give. Joseph had been kept in hospital for observation. His broken jaw had been wired, but there was insufficient poison left in his system to do any significant damage. He was not going to be able to escape justice. They had found seven skin triangles in his book, and the team was now working at identifying all the victims.
‘Team work, of course,’ said Harrison.
‘Well, glad to hear you’ll be returning to us soon. I just wanted to let you know something. I received a safe deposit box key this morning from Freda Manning.’
An icy hand clutched Harrison’s heart at the mention of her name. He was jolted out of his tiredness, as though somebody had slapped his skull with an iron fist. His nerves jarred at the very thought of her.
‘You OK Harrison?’
‘Sure.’
‘I’ve informed Sandra. We will get forensics in to help us with the retrieval of whatever is inside. It could be the answer you’ve been looking for.’
‘I doubt that. Freda Manning is not going to do anything to help me, it will be more likely to cause trouble.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind and also keep you informed, of course. I got an update on her condition, she’s still going. They’re giving her another two weeks yet.’
‘OK, well maybe chance for me to chat through what it is she’s going to reveal to us then,’ said Harrison sarcastically.
Jack knew when to call it quits.
‘Safe journey home mate and see you soon.’
Harrison needed to hear a friendly voice, and there was one in particular that he’d missed.
‘Harrison, good to talk to you at last. I’ve missed you.’ Tanya’s soft voice filled his ears and curled around his bones, making him relax back onto the bed.
‘Sorry,’ he said to her. He found himself feeling emotional, and he heard it in his own voice. The stress of the case and Freda Manning had taken their toll on him in the last forty-eight hours.
‘It’s OK, we’re both as bad as each other. So wrapped up in our jobs, but I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.’
‘How was the black-tie event?’ Harrison suddenly remembered that it had been last night.
Tanya’s voice brightened.
‘It was fun, actually. I’m a little jaded this morning.’
‘Did you know many people?’
‘The guy who took your ticket turned out to be someone I had done my training with. Hadn’t seen him for years, it was fun.’
Harrison felt a tendril of jealousy creep its way around his heart. He admonished himself, and he hated the feeling. That’s what relationships did to him. They made him feel vulnerable. He had to fight that feeling.
‘I’m coming back to town today, it’s been a busy week.’
‘I bet,’ Tanya replied.
He hadn’t told her anything about Freda Manning yet. He’d save that joy for when they were together properly.
‘I have to work late the next couple of nights, but shall we hook up at the weekend?’
‘That would be nice,’ Harrison replied. ‘I enjoyed our day in Oxford, perhaps we can make another day of it and tick off another bucket list item.’
Tanya laughed. It tickled his ears and made him smile in return.
‘It’s a date. Gotta go, have a good trip home. Love you.’
Harrison hesitated, shocked.
‘Bye,’ was all he could muster.
More silence and then Tanya ended the phone call. Had she meant to say that to him? Love? That was a big word in his world. Maybe she said it to all her friends. Some people were like that. For him it was a huge word, full of emotion and responsibility, but it was a word of hidden nuances that was different shades to different people. Some loved ice cream and dancing, others loved their friends and their pets, and then there was the partner kind of love. The one that came with a deeper connection still.
He’d not really seen her socialising with her friends before. They’d always met each other alone, drinking in each other’s company like parched desert creatures. There was a whole side to Tanya that he’d never seen. He knew the professional Tanya, the private Tanya, but not the social Tanya. He had to remedy that.
For now, her parting words had enveloped him in some kind of warm haze. He liked the feeling. He’d deal with the rest another time.
Harrison went back into the Durham station f
or one final visit to tie up any loose ends before heading home. David was sitting at his desk with a huge smile on his face and a McMuffin breakfast was fast disappearing into it.
‘Never knew you could track like that, you were awesome yesterday.’
‘Thank you. I learned as a child.’
‘Such a cool skill. Apologies for thinking you were trying to drown Joseph, you can see what it looked like.’
‘I can and that’s no problem.’
‘Mind, wouldn’t have blamed you. There’s been a fair few over the years that I’d have wished to hold under.’ David smirked at Harrison and polished off the last of his McMuffin. ‘John’s been in some big wig meeting. The University has sent all its top people to see what they can do to get the mess sorted out. All the families’s suits, apart from Joseph’s, are suddenly being incredibly accommodating.’
‘I bet they are.’
‘Yeah, trouble is, we reckon the rich kids are going to get off lightly. They’re pleading victim status, saying Joseph coerced them and there’s some evidence on that phone of his that he did indeed have incriminating photos which he could have used to blackmail them.’
‘I hope they get to pay in some way. They were a part of his sick culture, although I’ve no doubt that he was the truly rotten apple in their barrel. I think you’ll find all sorts of dark secrets when you start digging. He’s the product of a dysfunctional childhood that unfortunately corrupted him, mind and soul.’
‘Do you believe in all that stuff?’ David suddenly asked.
‘What stuff?’
‘Satanism, souls, and ghosts. It’s what you investigate all the time, isn’t it?’
Harrison gave a wry smile.
‘I learned very early on that there are evil people who hide behind religions, myths, spiritualism and all manner of human fears and hopes. I’ve yet to prove any of the cases I’ve investigated are anything but damaged people like Joseph.’