‘We’ve left the scene uncontaminated, Sarge. No one in, no one out. SOCOs are on their way.’
Marie gazed around the bright, airy room where she and Leah had so recently been chatting. She glanced at her watch. Was it only an hour ago? ‘He’s never stopped watching this house. He was just waiting for us to let our guard down. He knows an awful lot about our routines, doesn’t he?’
‘How did he force the doors without alerting Leah to the threat?’ Carter seemed to be slowly returning to earth from wherever he’d been for the last half hour.
They walked around the house, looking for something to help them. Then Marie saw Leah’s mobile phone plugged into a charger on one of the kitchen units. ‘Just as I left her she said she needed to charge her phone.’ She peered at the battery icon. ‘Not fully charged. And there’s music playing in here. If he was quick and quiet, there’s a good chance she came to plug this in, and never heard him at all.’ She exhaled loudly then clenched her fists. ‘That poor kid! I really let her down.’
‘No! You haven’t! I let her down, not you,’ Carter shouted. ‘But I’ll get her, by God. I’ll get her back by nightfall.’
Marie stepped back, shocked.
‘I’m taking the car. Get uniform to run you back, or ring Max or Charlie.’
‘Where are you going?’ Marie was beginning to be afraid.
‘I’m not sure, but I think I know someone who might just point me in the right direction.’ He swallowed, then gripped her arm. ‘Trust me, Marie. I’m going to sort this.’
Marie made to follow him, then stopped. Whatever he was going to do, he clearly didn’t want her along. For a moment she had no idea what to do. Then she pulled out her phone and called Jackman.
*
‘I’ve never seen him like this,’ Marie told Jackman.
Jackman knew Marie very well. He’d seen her in a dozen different frames of mind, but he’d never seen her as confused as she was now.
They were sitting in his car, waiting for the forensic team to arrive, and Marie told him of Carter’s strange reaction to Leah’s abduction.
‘Do you know, just before this happened I was about to give him the go-ahead to talk to us about Suzanne and Tom Holland. I’ve had Laura Archer bending my ear about his final task.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Now I’m really not sure what to do.’
‘I was going to ask you the same thing. He’s been going on and on about helping with the Holland inquiry. He knew the Hollands. Tom was his best friend. We need his help, and he wants to give it. If he has a major setback, it could happen over anything. Maybe this is it.’
Jackman sat back, stared out of the window and watched the uniformed police officers securing the scene and knocking on neighbouring doors. ‘Maybe this outburst actually stems from his frustration about the Holland investigation.’
‘That, and the fact that Ruth Crooke asked him for help, and he believes he failed her.’ She grunted. ‘The super really tore into him, sir. And he just stood there and took it.’
‘I’m very twitchy about him going off like the Lone-bloody-Ranger. I’ve never liked having a loose cannon on the team, but I thought I could handle him.’ He looked at Marie. ‘Any idea where he might have gone?’
Marie shook her head. ‘Not a clue. All he said was someone he knew might have information that would help him find Leah. A snout, I guess.’
‘Do we have a list of names?’
‘I do, although he’s been office bound for quite a while now, so it might have changed. Street people do move on.’
‘Anyone you can recall who was well in Carter’s pocket?’
‘Not especially.’ She looked up. ‘SOCOs are here.’
A big white van with “Crime Scene Investigation” emblazoned on the side was pulling up outside the property.
‘Okay, let’s go sort this, then we’ll see if we can get a fix on our masked avenger, shall we?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Danny Hurley paced the big empty storeroom.
His heart raced. For the tenth time in as many minutes he checked his watch. They had said two hours. And those agonising hours were now up.
He listened for the sound of an engine, but all he heard was a tractor churning up and down some distant field.
Had something gone wrong? Had the police changed their observation routine? He doubted it. They had been doing their checks on the dot. He checked his phone, then shoved it angrily back into his pocket.
They should be here.
His own car sat waiting, ready to carry his girl away from this horrible town. They were going to a place where they could be alone and get to know each other properly. He laughed, and it echoed around the high, timbered ceiling. There was very little he didn’t know about Leah Kingfield, but she had a lot to find out about him.
He laughed again, then resumed his pacing. He checked his watch one more time.
*
Carter drove across town and drew up outside a seedy-looking house on the edge of Saltern’s only council estate. The place was pretty rough, but not too bad, considering. The residents tended to be older, and they did their best to keep it looking reasonable.
Carter slammed his car door shut and locked it. He loped up the garden path, skirting a rusty wheelbarrow and a rustier bike, and hammered on the door.
The moment it opened, he pushed his way in and grasped the man inside by the shirt front, propelling him back into the hallway.
‘A word, my friend, and I’ll be gone.’ The man was short and overweight, and he put up no resistance. Carter bundled him inside and threw him down onto a tattered sofa.
‘I’m in a hurry. I haven’t got time to mess around.’
The man stared up at him open-mouthed. Carter never behaved like this.
‘I need to find someone, and fast. I’ll give you a name, and you tell me exactly where I can find him and do not say you don’t know, because I know you do.’ He leant closer and smelled sweat. ‘This is no joke, so don’t piss me about.’ He whispered a name.
The man licked his lips nervously. ‘He’ll be at Ramsey’s Bar. The snug.’
Carter believed him. ‘And the other one, if you please?’
This time the man looked worried. ‘He doesn’t have a regular routine. I’ll tell you where he lives, but that’s all I know.’
‘That will do.’
The man reeled off the address of a small house on the edge of the estate.
Carter nodded and backed off. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a note. ‘For your troubles.’ He flung the ten-pound note onto the sofa and strode out of the house.
He started up the car and thought for a minute. He had to get this right. His fingers beat out a tattoo on the steering wheel. Why had this happened? He had been so sure. His face was set hard as granite. No point in recriminations now. He needed to sort this bloody cock-up before Leah got hurt.
*