Lottie and Boyd exchanged glances.
McNally laughed. ‘Ah, you had no idea, did you? Maeve was telling her drunk mother all about her cutting. Looking for attention. Told her all about your precious daughter too. And—’
‘Boss, come quickly. I’ve found them. Chloe and Milot.’ Lynch’s voice cut through the room.
Lottie froze. Blue silk shivering in her hand.
‘Alive?’ she whispered.
‘Yes,’ shouted Lynch. ‘Both of them.’
Lottie felt her knees give way, and as she sank with relief, Boyd caught her before she fell.
Eighty-Four
‘I’m okay. Let me go.’ Lottie twisted away from Boyd and ran. Slipping and sliding on the wet floor. ‘Arrest that McNally bastard. Cuff him.’
She followed Lynch back up the corridor, now lit with the fluorescent tubes hanging on chains from the high ceiling. Down the sloped floor she’d noticed earlier. Through a low, narrow passageway and into a room.
Chairs upside down on tables. Beds piled high on top of each other along the walls. Boxes and crates. A line of cupboards along the furthest wall. And sitting on the floor, Chloe with Milot asleep on her chest.
Blue eyes. Adam’s eyes. She smiled sadly. ‘Hi, Mam. Sorry about the fuss.’
‘I’m going to kill you,’ Lottie cried as she flung herself to the floor and folded her daughter into her arms. ‘Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine and so is Milot. We got a bit scared.’
‘Don’t you ever do anything like this again. You hear?’
‘I hear.’
Lynch hovered over them. ‘I’ve called an ambulance. Be here in a few minutes.’
‘I don’t need to go to hospital.’ Chloe looked up into Lottie’s eyes. ‘I want to go home.’
‘You’ll have to be checked over by a doctor. Milot too.’
‘I saved him, Mam, I saved Milot. I tried to fix it. I like to fix things, but I’m sorry if I messed up. I’m—’
‘It’s okay, darling. You did what you thought was right.’ But Lottie knew Chloe had run head-first into the arms of death rather than away from it. What mattered now was that both of them were alive and physically unharmed. She didn’t want to think of the hard journey ahead for Chloe. Not now. Not yet. And what would happen to Milot? Too many questions for the middle of the night.
‘Time to go,’ Kirby said. ‘Ambulance is here.’ He whispered in Lottie’s ear. ‘And so is the Super.’
‘For feck’s sake,’ Lottie said.
Kosovo, 2010
He lived with the image of his mother and sister. With the image of the bloody scene of their murder. But he had never tried to avenge their deaths.
He remembered the day he woke from whatever the mad doctor, Gjon Jashari, and his son, Gjergi, had done to him. He wrecked everything in the clinic. Movable and immovable objects. With his bare hands he tore it down. He found his clothes, dressed himself and walked out the door. Alone.
In his pocket he had his soldier friend’s badge. He didn’t know how long had passed, but he supposed the soldier had gone home to his family.
Over the years, he worked hard. Rebuilding his beautiful country. And then, one summer’s day, he saw her standing outside a brothel in Pristina. Long black hair, glistening in the sunlight. Big brown eyes. And he remembered her. He’d seen her before. That evening when the soldier had asked him to take the photo of the family. The little girl sitting on the floor.
He spoke to her, and they became friends and eventually lovers.
He loved her more than anything he could imagine loving. She was his world. He worked even harder after he rescued her from the brothel. She was the light at the end of every tough day.
Then one day: ‘I’m home,’ he said, walking into their apartment.
It was empty. He checked everywhere.
He ran to the stairs. Taking three steps at a time, he ran down the four flights and out the front door.
‘Have you seen her?’ he shouted at the girls on the outside step.
‘Your little concubine?’
‘Run away, has she?’
Ignoring an invective of abuse, he ran to the street. Cars honked and swerved. Frantically, he looked all around. Where could she have gone?
Rounding the corner, he ran into a darkened alley. Shadows emerged at the end and he sped towards them. So intent on finding her, he forgot his street-wariness.
The first blow knocked him straight to the ground. The next caught him on the side of the head. A heavy boot into his face followed. He saw the sheen of a slim blade slashing towards him.
Before he blacked out, he heard them say, ‘She is gone. Shipped away to make big money. Don’t give evidence at the trial.’
He didn’t know how long he lay there. Groaning, he pulled himself upright and leaned against the wall. The stillness of the night clawed at his heart; even the traffic seemed to have evaporated. He tracked back along the way he had run.
He dragged himself up the four flights of stairs. His door was swinging open.
The emptiness crawled from the corners of the room and settled into the chambers of his heart.
He would not be used again.
He would give evidence.
And then he would find her.
Day Nine
Tuesday 19 May 2015
Eighty-Five
After briefing Superintendent Corrigan, and once Chloe and Milot had been checked over at the hospital, Lottie drove to her mother’s house. She laid Milot beside a sleeping Katie in her own old bed. Sean was asleep on the floor wrapped in a duvet. Chloe had gone straight to the spare room and was asleep in seconds.
‘I’ll be back later, Mam,’ Lottie said. ‘I’m leaving the detectives on guard for the night until everything is resolved.’
‘Lottie, I need to talk to you.’ Her mother stood in the hall, blocking her exit.
‘Can’t it wait?’
‘It’s about Katie. She had a chat with me tonight. Told me she hasn’t been well these last few months.’
‘I noticed,’ Lottie said. ‘She’s grieving for Jason.’
‘It’s more than that.’ Rose pulled her dressing gown across her chest.
‘I’ll bring her to the doctor. Get her checked over.’ Lottie fiddled anxiously with her keys.
‘She’s already been to the doctor.’
‘What?’ Lottie stared at her mother.
‘Katie is pregnant. It’s Jason’s. She’s over four months gone and was afraid to tell you. She—’
‘Oh God. No,’ Lottie cried, dropping her keys. She bent to pick them up and her mother took her elbow and pulled her close.
‘She asked me to tell you. You go and do your job now. I’ll watch over your children and you and Katie can have a long chat tomorrow. Okay?’
‘I… I… Okay. I’m going. I can’t deal with this right now.’
‘And you need to sleep,’ Rose said.
‘I will, when all this is over. Thanks for looking after my children and Milot. I don’t know what I would do without you.’ Lottie leaned over and kissed Rose’s forehead. Rose reached out to hug her daughter, but Lottie was already out the door.
* * *