Marie stared at a long list of names. ‘When he and Bill were working together he always had a lot of people on the ground. He used to say that if you managed them right, they’d save you a lot of legwork.’ She gave a half smile. ‘Carter’s motto was “speculate to accumulate.” My Bill wasn’t all that happy about the way he manipulated some of them, but he did get results.’
Jackman stared at the list and shook his head. ‘There’s too many. We can’t go tearing round Saltern hunting them down on the off-chance. We’ll be better off getting some vehicles and bodies out there watching for a sighting of him or his car.’
‘I’ve already told uniform. They are all aware he’s done a caped crusader, but I have told them to back off if they see him, and ring us. If he really is onto something, we don’t want to gatecrash his party.’
Jackman massaged his temples. ‘What the hell is he doing?’
‘My best guess is that he’s mobilising his informants. I reckon he’s calling in old favours, big time.’
‘Has he got that much clout with the villains?’
‘He certainly had back then. Carter was never snow-white. But now?’ Marie shrugged. ‘Who knows?’
‘Maybe we’ll find out. By nightfall, is that what he said?’
She nodded. ‘By nightfall.’
‘Not too long to wait, but we have to go by the book. Grab the team and we’ll try to find her the regular way, shall we?’
*
Danny was beside himself. He’d finally received a text saying there had been unforeseen holdups, but all was well. They just needed to lie low for an hour or so, then they would meet him as arranged. The merchandise was safe and secure.
Dark thoughts crept into his head. If they had harmed one hair on his girl’s head, he swore he would kill them.
Danny sat down on a pile of plastic storage boxes and put his head in his hands. Never in all his life had he been so utterly consumed by desire. This waiting was purgatory. He wanted to touch the face he had photographed so many times, the skin that looked so much like porcelain. He pulled a crumpled photo from his jacket pocket and stared at it. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Soon . . . oh, soon . . .
He straightened up. An engine!
He ran to the big double doors and peered out. The security lights came on, illuminating the grey VW hire van that was pulling in. Danny pulled back the heavy doors and waved the vehicle inside.
As soon as the truck came to a halt, the driver and passenger doors opened and two men almost fell out. ‘Money!’ hissed one.
‘When I see that she’s unharmed.’ He took two fat envelopes from his pocket, but held them close to his chest.
‘Money. Now. The girl’s in the back. We need to get out of here.’
Danny gritted his teeth. ‘If she’s hurt, you can forget the money.’
‘She’s not hurt. See for yourself.’ The driver nodded towards the back of the vehicle.
Danny glared at them, took hold of the back door handle and pulled it open.
Carter’s body struck him with the force of a steam train.
Together they hit the floor with a thump that took the breath from his lungs. Before he knew what was happening, his wrists were in cuffs and he was face down in the dirt.
‘I’m DS Carter McLean, and you are nicked.’ He picked up the two envelopes from where they had fallen, and tossed them to the driver and his mate. ‘Here. Now beat it!’
They were gone in seconds. Danny lay on his back and watched as all his dreams came crashing down around him. The man read him his rights. Then he was on the phone telling the police that two IC1 males were on their toes from a yard in Cray Lane and making off towards the east end of the town on Fendyke Road.
Danny tried to stand, but a boot smashed into the lower part of his back, and he crumpled, gasping in pain.
Helpless, he looked on while the man jumped into the back of the van and gently carried out his girl.
‘Leah!’ Danny cried. ‘I love you!’
‘Love?’ Carter McLean glared at him, and his face contorted. ‘You don’t know the first thing about it, you twisted little creep!’
He drew back his clenched fist, and Danny tensed, waiting for the impact, but Carter turned aside and spat.
The two-tones screamed to a halt outside the building. To a chorus of sirens, Danny Hurley’s dreams of running away with the most beautiful girl in the world faded away forever.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have gone off alone, sir,’ Carter said to Jackman.
Carter looked apologetic, but Jackman didn’t believe for a second that he really meant it. ‘Well, you’ve certainly put the super in a difficult position. Half of her wants to tear you limb from limb, and the other half will forever be in your debt.’
‘The girl is safe. I’d like to leave it there as far as Ruth Crooke goes. The fact is, I should have listened to her, and to Marie, but I didn’t.’
‘Sit down, Carter. We have to talk about what happened.’
Carter sat, still looking contrite.
‘How in heavens name did you find the abductor so quickly? We had half the station watching that girl twenty-four/seven, and found nothing. You found nothing either, before the balloon went up. So what changed?’
‘I changed, sir.’ He puffed out his cheeks. ‘I was so involved with my own problems, and with worrying about the Holland case,’ he shrugged, ‘I just never took the threat seriously. I was never really committed to it.’
‘Well, I can’t argue with that. But how did you manage to nail Danny Hurley?’
Carter looked down. ‘I’m not proud of this, sir, but before the accident I wasn’t averse to bending the rules to get a good result. Back then we had a pretty free rein with our informants. We can’t work that way now, there’s a form to fill out for every single bloody thing. But I’ve kept in touch. I’ve got a long memory, sir, and I know a lot about the bunch of thieves I used to work with. And I know who will grass up who, and who has old scores to settle.’
‘Marie thought as much. Although she put it rather differently.’
Carter nodded. He looked up at Jackman. ‘I found someone who knew that Danny was throwing money around, using gofers and runners for something devious. Danny’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he didn’t cover his tracks or pay well enough for his hired help to pledge him eternal loyalty. After two house calls I had the full story. I caught up with his drivers en route to their rendezvous at the storage yard.’
‘Danny is saying some very odd things about how he got his info on Leah.’
‘I heard, although he’s not exactly reliable, is he? I don’t think he’s the full shilling. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that Leah might not actually want to run away to fairyland with him.’
‘I agree, but some of the things he’s implying are cause for concern,’ said Jackman.
‘I haven’t heard his exact words, but he’s saying that it wasn’t him who started the whole thing. Is that right?’
‘He swears he was paid to do it.’
Carter looked puzzled. ‘But he admits he was going to run away with her. From the way he was yelling his undying love as they took him away, I don’t think there is any doubt that Danny was the one obsessing over her.’