Bridge to Burn

by Rachel Amphlett

  ‘It doesn’t sound like anything untoward, guv,’ said Carys. ‘Hill confirmed that Brancourt and Sons will receive the plans, but at the moment they’re going through a final approval process and his document controller only works three days a week. With all the redevelopment work he’s been involved with, they’ve got a backlog of something like nine weeks. Those as built plans won’t be finalised until the end of March.’ She jerked her chin at the paperwork littering Debbie’s desk. ‘We did get printouts of the plans from the original council building approvals process, though, and those will get logged in over the weekend.’

  ‘I had a quick look at them earlier, guv,’ said Gavin, ‘but there’s nothing unusual marked on them in relation to the kitchen and break area or the office above it.’

  ‘Okay, thanks,’ said Kay, fighting to keep the disappointment from her voice.

  ‘How did you get on with the boss of Sutton Site Security?’ said Carys.

  ‘He’s definitely a person of interest,’ said Kay. ‘He answered all our questions a little too smoothly for my liking, as if he’s spent the past six months rehearsing his responses. I know the discovery of our victim has been all over the news this week, but it felt like Mark Sutton was ready for us. Then there’s the fact that Gary Hudson is working for him since being released from prison. And the bloke who was the receptionist – Wayne Markham. Have you come across him before?’

  ‘Can’t say the name rings a bell,’ said Gavin. ‘Got a photo?’

  Kay reached into a folder on the desk next to her, and then pinned up a colour image she’d printed off moments before. ‘I managed to get a shot while Barnes was pulling out of the car park. It’s a bit out of focus. I checked HOLMES, too. He doesn’t have a record, and we’ve never interviewed him before.’

  Barnes reached into his jacket for his reading glasses, then perched them on the bridge of his nose to better see the picture. ‘I thought he looked worried, myself. He kept quiet while we were speaking to Sutton but his eyes were busy.’

  Kay waved them back to their seats. ‘All right. Gav – have a word with some of our colleagues in East Division. See if anyone can shed some light about this chap and Mark Sutton. He looks established, so he’s obviously been keeping his nose clean until now.’

  ‘Will do.’

  A desk phone interrupted Kay’s thought processes and Carys leapt from her seat to hurry across the room and answer it.

  The detective constable’s voice fell to a murmur when she plucked the phone from the cradle, and Kay turned to Philip Parker.

  ‘How are the statements going from the office workers at the software company?’

  ‘They’re all in HOLMES, guv,’ said the young police constable. ‘I’ve cross-referenced them with the statements we got from the other businesses opposite, but no-one saw anything suspicious at any time. We also got hold of CCTV footage from the council for the period between April and October when the software company took over the lease.’

  ‘Nothing?’

  ‘Sorry, no.’

  ‘Guv!’

  Kay caught sight of Carys hurtling between the desks towards her. ‘What’s up?’

  Before the detective constable had time to answer, and to Kay’s astonishment, Adam appeared at the doorway to the incident room, his face ashen.

  Carys beckoned to her. ‘Guv, I need a word please. It’s urgent.’

  ‘Barnes, can you take over?’

  Kay didn’t wait for a response and instead pushed past one of the uniformed sergeants on the team and hurried to where Carys hovered behind a row of chairs.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  In reply, Carys thrust Kay’s handbag at her, and then shoved her coat into her arms. ‘You need to go, guv. Now.’

  Kay let herself be ushered from the room by the younger detective, her thoughts only catching up with the woman’s words as she reached Adam.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Abby’s been trying to phone you for the last thirty minutes. We need to go. It’s your father,’ he said. ‘He’s had a heart attack.’

  Fourteen

  Kay sniffed, then turned her head to watch the side of an articulated truck as Adam accelerated past it, so that he wouldn’t see her cry.

  He had enough to worry about; the traffic on the M25 was atrocious, the wind whipping debris across the eight lanes and into the verges on either side.

  Rain beat against the windscreen, a persistent stream of water that fought against the wipers and caused rivulets to escape across the passenger window.

  Her body leaned into the seat belt she wore as Adam applied the brakes, a soft curse under his breath.

  After turning up at the incident room, he’d taken her by the arm and steered her towards his vehicle that was parked outside on double yellow lines, then stuck his finger in the air at a driver who honked his horn as they ripped open the doors, before pulling away from the kerb at such speed that Kay’s head had slammed into the seat rest before she’d had a chance to fasten her seat belt.

  ‘I can’t believe she didn’t call my desk phone,’ said Kay.

  ‘She was probably panicking.’

  Kay choked back her anger. She wasn’t going to take out her frustration on Adam.

  She turned around to see his jaw set, his eyes focused ahead on the traffic that streamed before them.

  ‘The bloody Leatherhead junction never changes,’ he said under his breath. ‘Come on. Move, people.’

  ‘I can take over when you get tired. We’ve got a long way to go yet.’

  ‘I’m not letting you anywhere near this steering wheel the state you’re in.’

  Kay exhaled, and closed her eyes.

  She knew better than to argue, and he was right after all.

  Her mind was a jumble of tasks she hadn’t had time to delegate to her investigation team and coaching tips she should have given to Barnes to help him in her absence. Like a torrent of water underneath it all was the thought that she’d never thanked her father for what he had done for her; that she might not get the chance.

  She opened her eyes and sat forward. ‘Who’s looking after Cornflake?’

  ‘Scott’s taken him home with him. I was at the surgery when Abby called me, so I gave him my house key and used the spare one to get indoors and grab our stuff. Stop worrying about the gerbil, Kay. He’s going to be fine.’

  Kay mumbled a response and then checked her mobile again.

  As she’d hurried from the incident room, she’d realised her sister had phoned three times, each call going through to voicemail as Kay led her team through the late afternoon briefing. She’d tried to phone Abby as they had left Maidstone once she’d gulped back the sobs that had wracked her the moment they’d reached the M20, but her sister hadn’t responded.

  Instead, she’d had to listen to a cheery voicemail to leave a message after the tone, the noise from Kay’s two nieces screeching with laughter in the background tearing at her heart.

  Was it a bad signal, or was her sister ignoring her?

  Since then, the screen remained blank. No new messages, no missed calls.

  ‘They’re probably in a part of the hospital that doesn’t have a mobile signal.’

  Adam’s voice cut through her thoughts, and she dropped the phone into her bag.

  ‘Maybe.’

  The satellite navigation system in the car beeped once, and Kay’s eyes fell to the display on the dashboard. ‘It says to avoid the M4. There’s a multi-vehicle accident.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘East of Newbury.’

  ‘All right.’ Adam indicated and swerved out into the overtaking lane, the vehicle picking up speed. ‘We’ll go via Reading and cut cross-country. By the time we sit in traffic and work our way over to Swindon it won’t make much difference anyway.’

  Kay watched the traffic in the slower lanes pass by in a blur of taillights, the rain only ceasing to thunder against the roof of the 4x4 when they went under bridges, blue sig
n posts pointing out destinations she hadn’t visited in years.

  She closed her eyes.

  When had she last seen her father?

  She had spoken to him on the phone only weeks ago; they had drifted into the habit of him calling her on a Tuesday afternoon when her mother went out with a friend of hers as a way to talk freely without her mother’s knowledge.

  Her mother hadn’t invited them to Christmas dinner.

  A year ago, she had told her parents about the miscarriage she had suffered while being subjected to a Professional Standards investigation that had been unjustified. The problem was, she had kept it from them for a year before that, and the already tumultuous relationship she’d had with her mother had deteriorated to the point where they no longer spoke to each other.

  Kay clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm to fight against the sickness that threatened to engulf her.

  Her mother knew how much Kay’s father meant to her, and it was obvious that she had deliberately chosen to keep her eldest daughter in the dark about his health.

  Only a few months ago, her father had been rushed into hospital with chest pains. He had been lucky that time – the doctor treating him had put it down to an elevated case of heartburn, but if Abby hadn’t phoned her to tell her, she’d have never known. Her mother kept to her vow of silence when it came to freezing out Kay from her life, and her father never talked about his health.

  She groaned, realising she was becoming paranoid.

  Adam reached out for her hand and clutched her fingers for a moment before his hand wrapped around the steering wheel once more.

  ‘Hang in there.’

  Kay closed her eyes and nodded, a fat tear rolling over her cheek.

  Fifteen

  Kay hurried towards the automatic doors of the emergency wing, and paused with ill-concealed impatience as the glass swished open.

  The atmosphere struck her as one of fear tinged with an irrepressible undertone of efficiency as staff worked to calm traumatised patients and family members alike.

  ‘Over here.’

  Adam wrapped his fingers around her arm and steered her across the tiled floor to a reception desk, the administrative personnel doing their best to direct people towards the right wards and deal with an onslaught of paperwork at the same time.

  The moment a woman put her phone down, Adam turned on the charm and smiled.

  ‘I can see you’re busy, so I’ll keep this brief. We have a family member, Phillip Hunter, who was rushed here earlier today with a suspected heart attack. We were wondering where we might find him?’

  The woman provided directions, and Adam spun away from the counter, pulling Kay along with him.

  He set a fast pace through the maze of corridors that weaved through the large hospital complex, but Kay’s height gave her the advantage of being able to keep up with him as they negotiated gurneys with patients and hospital staff dashing from one ward to the next.

  As they rounded a corner, a cry of surprise reached her ears before her sister, Abby barrelled into her.

  ‘You’re here.’

  Kay pulled her into a fierce hug, then raised her gaze to see the rest of her small family standing outside a set of double doors.

  Her mother’s mouth twisted into a moue of disappointment. ‘So. You made it here, then. Are you sure they can spare you, back at the police station?’

  ‘They’re fine.’ Kay pushed down her anger at the barbed comment. ‘Why didn’t you phone me to tell me he was so ill?’

  ‘I never know if I have the right number for you. You’re always working. I doubt that you’d have dropped everything to be with us anyway.’

  ‘That’s enough, Marion,’ said Adam, his voice dangerously low. ‘We’ve driven six hours to be here.’

  He turned his attention to Abby and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before turning to her husband, Silas, and shaking his hand. ‘Any news?’

  ‘The doctors are with him. We’re waiting for an update,’ said Abby, reaching for Kay’s hand.

  Kay felt the familiar squeeze of her fingers, something Abby had done since they were kids whenever she needed reassurance. They didn’t speak for a moment, and then Abby drew back and wiped at her cheeks.

  ‘Where are the girls?’ Despite the urgency of the situation, Kay couldn’t help wonder where her two nieces were, and whether they were aware of their grandfather’s plight.

  ‘Liz is looking after them,’ said Silas.

  Kay exhaled. Her father’s sister would be a perfect companion for the girls while they waited for news. ‘What’s going on? Why did he get rushed here?’

  ‘They say he needs a pacemaker. That he was lucky.’ Abby sniffed. She flapped her hands in front of her face. ‘Oh my God, he scared us, Kay.’

  ‘What happened?’ Kay turned to their mother, who shrugged.

  ‘Well, if you’d been here you would’ve known.’

  ‘Mum—’ Abby began.

  ‘Marion, please,’ said Adam. ‘Now isn’t the—’

  Kay’s mother spun to face him and jabbed at his chest with a manicured nail. ‘Stay out of this. You’re not even family, so I don’t know why you’re here. Unless you two have finally got married without telling me?’

  A shocked silence followed her outburst, broken only when Silas cleared his throat and placed his hand on his mother-in-law’s arm.

  ‘Stop it,’ he said. ‘That’s out of order.’

  ‘You know what? Enough of this. Mum – if you can’t be civil, then I suggest me and Abby speak alone.’ Kay turned to Adam. ‘Care to join us for a coffee? I think I saw a vending machine down the corridor.’

  ‘Sounds good to me.’

  Kay turned her back on her mother and Silas, then looped her arm through Adam’s and set off, not waiting to see if her sister was joining them.

  She relaxed slightly at the echo of Abby’s expensive heels on the tiled floor behind her as she pushed through the double doors away from the emergency ward, then slowed as she reached the corner next to the nurse’s station.

  ‘If you’re going to storm out, then at least do it slowly,’ Abby grumbled. ‘These heels are killing me.’

  Kay loosened her grip on Adam and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

  ‘What the hell is the matter with her?’ she exploded. ‘You’d think that after everything Dad’s been through, she’d be able to rein it in.’

  ‘It’s probably the stress.’ Adam jostled his jeans pocket before extracting a handful of change and proceeded to feed it into the vending machine.

  Abby snorted. ‘It’s probably the fact she’s a bitch.’

  ‘It must’ve been bad lately, for you to say that,’ said Kay.

  ‘Honestly, I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She should be grateful you two travelled half the night to be here.’

  ‘Maybe she’s scared,’ said Adam, handing them both a plastic cup filled to the brim with a dark viscous liquid. ‘Fear can bring out the worst in people, and she’s probably not coping that well.’

  Kay took one of the drinks from him. ‘Thanks. And you’re being too gracious – especially after what she said to you.’

  He winked. ‘I can handle her. What happened to your dad, Abby? Has this been going on for a while?’

  ‘He’s been having regular checks with his local doctor,’ said Abby, her voice dull with shock. ‘He’s always told us that it was nothing though. Then, he collapsed today while he and Mum were out shopping. Someone from the supermarket phoned for the ambulance. I spoke with the paramedic who was on the crew that brought him in – they’ve been back here twice more tonight with different patients. If the manager of the place hadn’t had the foresight to use the defibrillator they have there, he wouldn’t… he might have—’

  Kay passed her coffee to Adam and wrapped her arms around her younger sister’s shoulders.

  ‘He’s here though, so he’s in safe hands, Abby. You mentioned a pacemaker?’


  Abby nodded as she drew away, then fished into her jacket for a paper tissue. ‘Yes. They say he’s stable now and talking with the care team who are looking after him. Apparently they’re going to monitor him overnight and see if they can operate in the morning.’

  ‘Can we see him?’

  ‘Mum’s been in, about an hour ago. The doctor told me and Silas it’s probably better to let him rest tonight and then we can see him in the morning after the operation. Do you want to do the same?’

  Kay turned to Adam, who nodded.

  ‘Absolutely. I’ve got to make arrangements at the clinic for the rest of the weekend, but we can find a motel nearby and come back in the morning.’

  ‘And I’ll have to phone the station,’ said Kay. She reached out for Abby’s hand once more.

  ‘But, we’re family. And we’re staying.’

  Sixteen

  Kay stood on the threshold of the motel room, her mind working overtime.

  Somehow, in between fielding the phone call from Abby and picking up Kay from the police station, Adam had had the foresight to pack an overnight case.

  ‘I don’t know if I’ve picked the right things for you,’ he said as he swiped the key card across the door handle and pushed it open. ‘I wasn’t thinking straight.’

  She ran her palm over his back as he led the way into the room. ‘It doesn’t matter. Whatever’s in here will be fine. Thank you.’

  Adam stepped across to the window and pulled the curtains to shut out a night sky lashed with heavy rainfall, then ran a hand through his wet hair.

  ‘I’m going to give Scott a call, let him know he’s in charge for the time being. At least until we know how your dad’s doing.’

  ‘Will he be okay on his own?’

  Adam shrugged. ‘He’ll have to be. There’s nothing we can do about it, is there?’ He smiled to soften his words. ‘You should do the same. Write off the weekend with your lot so you can concentrate on what’s going on here.’