Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) (9 page)

Sarah struggled, but the man
straddled her waist and was too heavy to move.  
“
Let
me go,
”
she begged. 
“
Who are you?
”

The young man ejected a bullet
from the magazine and caught it in his palm.  He held the brass casing in front
of her face. 
“
My name is Wazir Hesbani and I am going to help you, English.  Close
wound, stop infection, no?
” 
He placed the rear end of the bullet between his teeth
and clamped down, twisting at the jacket with his fingers and unscrewing the
cap. 

Sarah blinked as blood from
her face made her vision red.  With the man sat on her chest it was hard to
breathe.

Wazir spat the brass cap into
the dirt, then stared down at her with soulless brown eyes. 
“
This might hurt little bit.
”
 He upended the
bullet casing over her face.  Sarah spluttered and moaned as the gunpowder
covered her wound, stinging and burning; but the pain was nothing compared to
what followed.

Wazir pulled a lighter from
his pocket and ignited the powder on Sarah
’
s
face.  The entire left side of her skull crackled, and for a moment all she
could see was flashing whites and yellows.  The agony was immense, like a
thousand push pins shoved into her exposed, scalded flesh.

Finally, a numbness came and
everything faded to grey.  Sarah knew she was about to pass out and wished she
could fight it, but it was impossible, like trying to fall upwards. 

Wazir levelled his face with
hers. 
“
There,
”
he said. 
“
It is not pretty, but
at least bleeding has stopped.
” 
He stood and turned to the crowd.
“
Take her to Al-Sharir.  He will want to talk with her before he
hands her over to me.
”

“
Y
ou
’
re sure the man in the video is Wazir Hesbani?
”
Palu asked.

Sarah nodded. 
“
Hesbani was Al-Sharir
’
s right-hand man in
Afghanistan.
”

“
As part of a terrorist cell?
”

“
Yes,
Shab Bekheir
. Although, this still doesn
’
t feel like Al-Sharir
’
s work.  Bombing
innocent civilians, working with westerners
…
it
’
s not who he is.
”

Howard frowned. 
“
You keep saying that, but the man is a terrorist.
”

“
He
’
s also a man of rules and principals.
”

Dr Bennett hissed. 
“
A terrorist has no principals.
”

Sarah expected nothing less
from an American.  To them, the world was full of good guys and bad guys, just
like their movies; but this was real life, where there were points of view
other than the white, Christian hero
’
s. 
“
Most terrorists believe themselves to be warriors,
”
Sarah said.  
“
Principals are
all
they have.  We may not understand them or
agree with them, but they believe their actions are just.  To them,
we
are the terrorists.
”

Dr Bennett smirked
patronisingly.  Sarah chose to ignore it.

“
What do you know about Hesbani?
”
Bradley
asked Sarah.

Sarah thought about her
dealings with the man and felt sick. 
“
He
’
s a monster.  As much as Al-Sharir has principals, Hesbani has
none.  His role in Shab Bekhier was to do the things that Al-Sharir would not. 
Hesbani is not a terrorist, he
’
s a psychopath.
”

“
What
’
s his motivation?
”
Dr Bennett asked. 
“
Typical
psychopaths lack the ability to plan and calculate.  There seems to have been a
lot of thought gone into these attacks.
” 

“
Do you think Al-Sharir may still be pulling Hesbani
’
s strings?
”
Palu asked Sarah.

“
I don
’
t know.  Al-Sharir attacks soldiers, not civilians.  I can see
Hesbani acting alone if he had the chance, though.  He and Al-Sharir would
often disagree on methods, so perhaps the cell split up.  Al-Sharir wanted to
nullify the West
’
s presence in the Middle East.  He believes in the rules of war
—
he wouldn
’
t attack civilians intentionally
—
but
Hesbani lives for revenge.  Hesbani wants to hurt the West and have the Middle
East rise up as a consolidated superpower.  He sees himself fighting a great
war and emerging as the first true Muslim leader since Saladin.
”

“
But that doesn
’
t tally with what he said on the tape,
”
said
Bradley. 
“
He wants the West to withdraw.  It sounds like he
’
s trying to
stop
the violence.
”

“
The only way the Middle East can rise up,
”
said Howard knowingly,
“
is if the West relinquishes its hold on the region first.
”

Palu nodded. 
“
So, do we believe that Hesbani
’
s
goal is truly what he speaks of?  He wants Western forces to withdraw from the
Middle East?
”

“
I
think so,
”
said
Sarah. 
“
But it wouldn
’
t end there. 
Hesbani was raised on hatred for the West. 
Even if he got what he wanted, he could never live a peaceful life.  Without
violence, he
’
s nothing. 
Killing is all he knows.  It
’
s his
philosophy.  Sometimes death is the only way to ensure life.
”

“
Then how do we stop him?
”
asked Bradley. 
“
Do we know where he is?
”

“
He
’
s here in the country,
”
said Sarah.

“
How do you know that?
”
asked Palu.

“
Bring up the video again.  I
’
ll
show you.
”

Palu turned on the television
and played the video again.

“
Pause it there,
”
Sarah said, a few seconds in.

The video froze.  Sarah
pointed at the screen. 
“
Look in the background, behind the desk, next to the lamp.
”

Palu shrugged. 
“
What?
”

Bradley tutted loudly,
obviously annoyed at himself for not spotting it sooner. 
“
The plug socket.  The lamp is plugged into a three-pronged socket.
”

Sarah nodded.  The three black
holes were a familiar sight in Britain.  They were not something you
’
d find in the Middle East.

“
That narrows it down to several countries,
”
said
Palu,
“
but I would say it
’
s likely a safe bet that Hesbani is in the UK.  We need to check
flight manifests and Interpol records.  See if we can find out when he entered
the country and under what name.
”

Bradley nodded. 
“
Before I do that, I
’
ve got some background on Jeffrey Blanchfield.
”
 

“
Let
’
s see it,
”
said Palu.

Bradley zipped his laptop
’
s display over to the television screen and went through the
information with them. 
“
After his wife
’
s death, Jeffrey was involved in several altercations, including
assault of a minor, public affray, and reckless endangerment with a motor
vehicle.  There are numerous reports of him lashing out, particularly at the
youths he blamed for his wife
’
s death.  He and his wife filed numerous reports of anti-social
behaviour around their home prior to her death, but the police were able to do
very little.
”

Despite his monstrous actions,
Sarah felt bad for Jeffrey Blanchfield.  Sometimes anger could consume a person
until there was no room left for things such as compassion or remorse.  Sarah
knew.

Bradley clicked onto a new
screen. 
“
This is where it gets interesting.  Jeffrey was brought before the
courts for his consistent offending and was ordered to attend grief
counselling.
”

“
Why is that interesting?
”
asked Dr Bennett.

“
Because Caroline Pugh was in court-mandated grief counselling, too.
”

Palu leaned on his elbows and
smiled. 
“
Excellent work,
Bradley.  Do we have anything more on the woman?
”

Bradley nodded. 
“
Caroline Pugh, thirty-eight.  She lost her
daughter to a drunk driver, picked up a drug habit, and was eventually arrested
for making a scene at
…
a local
pub.  The
Barley Mow
, the same one she blew up.
”

Bradley continued. 
“
In a prior incident,
the pub
’
s
barman called the police after Caroline Pugh collapsed on the floor during a
cocaine bender.  When she refused to get up, he apparently kicked her so hard
that he broke her ribs.  He dragged her outside, in front of the whole pub.  He
was given a slap on the wrist for his callous behaviour, but Caroline Pugh was
forced into grief counselling, to help end her drug addiction.  She was sent to
the same court-appointed psychiatrist that Jeffrey Blanchfield was.
”

Palu hit the desk with his
fist. 
“
That
’
s our link!  What
’
s the doctor
’
s name?  They have to be connected.
”

Bradley looked over his notes
and brought a medical license up onscreen. 
“
Wesley
Cartwright, MD, Ph.D.  He works out of Oxford
—
I
have an address
—
but conducts court-appointed grief clinics up and down
the country.  His file is squeaky clean; he lives a quiet life alone.  No
misdemeanours, no points of interest.
”

“
I don
’
t get it,
”
said Howard. 
“
Why would a
psychiatrist be involved with terrorists?
”

“
Perhaps he doesn
’
t realise he is,
”
said Sarah. 
“
We can
’
t assume anything yet.
”

“
It may just be a coincidence,
”
said
Dr Bennett. 
“
The link may be that both suspects were angry, and in trouble with
the law.
”

“
Perhaps,
”
said Howard. 
“
But somebody got
Jeffrey Blanchfield and Caroline Pugh involved in this.  Somebody is bringing
these people together and brainwashing them into blowing themselves up.  Who
’
s behind it all?
”

Sarah looked down at her
chipped fingernails. 
“
I think the United Kingdom is,
”
she
said. 
“
Terrorists didn
’
t make Caroline Pugh and Jeffrey Blanchfield broken and angry.  We
did that; society did that.  Terrorists are just taking advantage of what was allowed
to happen to these people.
”

Dr Bennett scoffed. 
“
Nobody did anything to these people.  Life is life.  We all have the
same hardships to deal with.  If we all went and blew ourselves up, there
’
d be none of us left.
”

“Pain can make people do bad things,”
said Sarah.
 
“
And contrary to popular belief, some people have it worse than
others.
”

“
I don
’
t believe that.  These people are just insane.
”

Palu waved his hand. 
“
Stop bickering.  It doesn
’
t matter why these
people have done what they
’
ve done.  Our only focus right now is making sure nothing else
happens.
” 
He turned to Howard. 
“
I
need you to track down this Dr Cartwright at his office.  So far he
’
s our only solid lead.
”

“
I
’
m going, too,
”
said Sarah.

Palu probably wanted to argue,
but he didn
’
t.  Maybe it was the look on his face that told her not to. 
“
Fine.  You and Bradley can provide support if Howard needs it, but
you
’
re to stand down until then.
”

Sarah snapped off a mock
salute. 
“
Aye, Cappin.
”

Everybody stood.  Palu rubbed
his hands together and put them against his face pensively. 
“
Dr Bennett and I will work intel while you
’
re
gone,
”
he said as the others left. 
“
Stay
on the wire.
”