Blood Sport (10 page)

Thirty-Two

It felt like he hadn’t had any sleep for days and his eyes felt gritty as he pulled his hands down across his face.
I need a shave, too,
he thought as his stubble scratched at his hands. He didn’t have time to worry about that right now, though. Despite bringing Kat and Daniel home safely, there was no time to celebrate. The monster was on the run and they needed to track him down before he had time to go underground again.

It had been a shock for the whole department when they’d discovered who had been respo
nsible, most of them having known Mark Flint at some point in their lives, and it was almost as if they felt even more determined to bring him to justice now, as if he’d wronged them personally.

He had a meeting scheduled in a couple of hours with them all to once again go over what they knew so far, and to establish the next course of action. The problem was, he didn’t know what the next course of action should be. Whether it was because he was too tired, or too personally involved, he just couldn’t seem to think straight. This case was getting more complicated by the day and, he admitted to hi
mself, he was out of his depth.

Grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair where he was sat in the
chief’s office, he slipped it on. He had a couple of hours before he needed to be back. Time to go and speak to the one person whose advice he trusted.

The
chief lived in a house in town, about ten minutes’ walk from the police station. While most people chose to live on the outside of town where the houses were larger, the chief had always told Finn that with his job he wanted to be close so he could get to the station in minutes if he needed to. The storms of the previous days had cleared and the sun was shining so he decided to walk the short distance rather than take the car.

As he pressed the doorbell
, he wondered if he should have called ahead. The chief had only just been released from the hospital and the last thing Finn wanted to do was disturb his rest. He needn’t have worried though. As his wife ushered him into the living room, he could see that the chief was pleased to see him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Bored.” The chief rose to shake his hand. “Please tell me you’ve come with some interesting news. The warden,” he indicated the kitchen where his wife was making coffee, “has banned me from getting over-excited so I’m limited to watching daytime TV and a bit of gentle gardening.”

“Well, I’ve come for your advice
, actually.” Finn spent the next few minutes filling him in on everything that had happened since he had been taken in to the hospital and where they now stood in the investigation. “So that’s where we’re at right now. And, to be honest, I’m not sure where to go next.” It felt good to share the load with his boss and he felt a bit of the tension leave his shoulders.

“You’ve done everything I would have done
, so don’t beat yourself up. I still can’t believe this has been going on under our noses all these years.” He shook his head. “But you’re right. I think this is too big for the department now, Finn. We just don’t have the resources. And besides, there’s no telling if he’s even still in the state.”

“You think I should call in the Feds
, don’t you.”

“I think you have to.
They should have been called in earlier and I take full responsibility for that, but if you don’t call them in now there are going to be a lot of questions if this turns out bad.”

Finn knew he was right
; he just needed to hear someone else say it. “So, when are you coming back to work?” he laughed. “Or are you going to wait until I’ve sorted this mess out before you do?”

“Well, we need to talk about that. But now is not the time. Once this is over, we’ll have a chat.”

“I don’t like the sound of that. You are coming back, aren’t you?” Finn could tell that he was keeping something from him.

The
chief sighed “Well, I wanted to talk to you about this when you didn’t have so much on your mind but no, I’m not coming back. I’m old, Finn, and this heart attack was a warning sign telling me it’s time to hang up my badge.”

“You’ve got to come back
. The department won’t be the same without you.” Finn tried to make himself smile. “Besides, I don’t want to have to train a new chief. It took me forever to get you just the way I like you.”

The
chief laughed. “Thanks! But no, I don’t think you’ll need to train a new chief. I think you should put yourself forward for the job.”

Finn shook his head
. “No. I’ve told you before I don’t want the responsibility, and this case has reminded me why.”

“Well
, promise me you’ll think about it? You’ve done a great job on this one, Finn, even if you don’t think so and the town would be lucky to have you. And you know, with my backing, it’s practically yours for the taking.”

“I’ll think about it but I’m not promising anything
, okay? I’d better get back. I’ve got a phone call to make.”

***

He felt somehow lighter as he made his way back to the station. The fresh air and sunshine had done him good, leaving him feeling invigorated. Settling behind his desk, he found the number for the local FBI field office in the chief’s rolodex and made the call. He knew he should have called them earlier; anything involving a kidnapping was under their jurisdiction, but it wasn’t a straightforward case. They wouldn’t see it that way, though, he was sure, and he fully expected to have to explain himself.

He hadn’t had many dealings with the FBI
; Brecon Point was not exactly a hub of criminal activity. But they had crossed paths before and he couldn’t say he was fond of them. The chief was right, though; they had access to resources he simply didn’t and they needed all the help they could get. Surprisingly, the Special Agent In Charge was able to take his call immediately and, as expected, put him through the wringer for not calling them in sooner. Nevertheless, he promised to get an agent there as soon as he could, certainly by the end of the day.

The local field office was just over a hundred miles away so that gave him
, at absolute minimum, a couple of hours before they arrived.

Thirty
-Three

It was nearly six p.m. and his stomach was reminding him that he’d barely eaten all day. He was just considering whether to order take-out when there was a knock on the office door. Before he had chance to speak, it was opened and a man dressed in a suit walked in.

“It’s customary to wait to be invited in when you knock on a door.”
It was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He was in no doubt that this was the agent sent by the field office. He had all the telling features of an FBI agent; the suit and tie, the closely cut hair and the arrogant expression which seemed to come with the badge.

“I’m Agent Callahan, FBI
. Deputy Groves, I presume?” he asked, ignoring Finn’s comment.

“Acting Chief
Groves, yes.”

Agent Callahan looked around the office
. “This will do.”

“I’m sorry? This will do for what?”

“I’ll need an office to work.”

Who did this guy think he was?
“We have an interview room down the hall. You can use that.”

Finn met and held the agent’s eyes. He hadn’t expected the pissing contest to start so soon
, but he wasn’t about to roll over and let this prick march in here and start acting like he was the hired help.

“That’ll work
,” the agent finally said after a long pause.

“Can you bring everything you have on this case so far so I can get to work
, please?”

“Well, I was just going to get some food and then I can go
through it all with you.”

The agent held up his hand. “Thanks
, but no. I always go through everything on my own first. If you could make yourself available if I have any questions, that would be great.”

And with that he turned and left the office
, leaving Finn standing there.

Following him out of the office, he saw that Deputy Carver was at his desk doing paperwork. “Carver,
get all the information on the case so far and take it in to Agent Callahan, will you? He’ll be in the interview room.” Deciding against the take-out, he told Carver that he would be back in an hour and to contact him if he was needed and left the building.

Thirty
-Four

He’d grabbed Chinese food from the restaurant in town and had just settled down at his kitchen counter to eat it when his cell began to buzz on his belt. With a sigh, he put down his fork, his meal untouched, and checked the screen. It was work.

“Yes
,” he answered, probably sounding brusquer than he intended.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but if it’s not too much trouble would you mind coming back to the station?”
The sarcasm in Agent Callahan’s voice was obvious and it was all he could do not to rise to the bait.

“Of course, after I’ve had something to eat. Unless it’s urgent
, of course?” Finn said with an equal amount of sarcasm.

“No, take your time. We’ve only got a bunch of missing kids
. I’m sure they can wait.”

Finn glared at the phone as Callahan disconnected. He’d barely left the office at all for the past few days and this guy was implying he wasn’t taking the case seriously. Taking a deep breath
, he returned his attention to his food but found that after a couple of mouthfuls he’d lost his appetite. He put the cartons in the fridge, though he had no idea if he’d get back to eat them any time soon, and left.

***

“Ah, you decided to join us. Thank you.” Finn ignored Callahan’s sarcasm as he walked into the squad room, surprised to see the other deputies gathered there.

“Take a seat please
. I was just about to start my briefing.” Finn looked at the other deputies who all looked equally baffled.

“Right. Now that you’re all here
, let’s get on with it.” He looked around the room. “I’m Agent Callahan, FBI, and I’m here as this investigation is now a federal matter, as it should have been from the beginning.” Finn smarted under the blatant criticism but held his tongue.

“I’ve gone over the case notes and I feel there are a couple of things that are worth revisiting.”
He looked down at his notes. “The first thing is the farmhouse. I want it searched again to make sure you haven’t missed anything. If this has been going on for as long as this kid says it has, there has to be something there that could give us a lead. The second is the kid.” He looked directly at Finn. “Are we sure that he’s told us everything? Have we pushed him hard enough?”

“He’s told us what he knows. All of it.” There was no way Finn was letting this piece of work near Daniel if he could help it. The rest of the briefing was more of the same and by the end of it Finn was left in no doubt that Callahan thought his department was completely
incompetent.

“Can I have a word?” Finn was trying very hard to control his temper.

“What about?” Callahan didn’t even look at him, preferring to carry on gathering his papers together.

“In my office, not out here.” Callahan didn’t move. “Now
, please.”

Looking at him
, Callahan smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

Finn closed the door gently before turning to face him. “How dare you
.”

“How dare I what?”

“How dare you walk in here and just take over the investigation like that without even discussing your plans with me first.”

“I think you’re mistaken. I don’t have to discuss my plans with you first. This is now a
federal investigation and, as such, I’m in charge.”

“And you don’t think it would have been a common courtesy to speak to me about it first?”

“I would have if you had been here. But you weren’t. Besides, my priority is finding these kids, not treading on eggshells around you.”

He was right
, of course. Finn realized that. He would just have to put up with him for now. It didn’t mean he had to like it, though, and he most definitely didn’t like it.

Callahan checked his watch. “So, do you want to stay here and discuss it some more or shall we head out to the scene? My search team will be there by now and I don’t want to leave them waiting.”

***

He was still angry as they pulled up at the farmhouse to search it for a second time
, but he was determined to keep a lid on it. “I don’t know what you expect to find. We’ve searched the house already,” he told Callahan after his car pulled up behind him and he stepped out.

“I’m well aware of that. But my team,” he paused as he nodded to where
a group of men were gathered around an unmarked van, “are specially trained and if there’s anything to find, they’ll find it.”

Finn knew he was right. They couldn’t afford to miss anything and his deputies were simply not trained for this sort of stuff.

“Who else have you invited to the party?” he asked as another van pulled up alongside the other one. “I’ve brought our own CSI team. Just in case we find anything.”

Finn hated to admit it but he was impressed. He didn’t have to like him but he did seem to be throwing a ton of resources at this.

Following the search team into the house, he watched as they methodically started their work. They were like a finely-tuned machine and each room was carefully examined with very little unnecessary chatter. They’d worked their way from the top of the house down and hadn’t found anything by the time they’d reached the ground floor. They’d just started in the living room, though, when a ripple of excitement could be felt. He followed as Callahan stepped through the door.

“What have you found?”
Callahan asked before Finn had chance to speak.

“This
, boss.”

They both watched as one of the search team pressed a panel that was concealed in the back of a bookcase set against the back wall. As he did, the whole panel slid sideways
, revealing a staircase which descended underground.
Not again!
Finn groaned to himself at the thought of another small, dark place.

“I’m guessing you didn’t know about this as it’s not in your report?”

“You know full well I didn’t,” Finn snapped. “Try not to be so happy about it.” Resisting the urge to wipe the condescending smirk of Callahan’s face was getting harder by the minute.

“Go and let CSI know what we’ve found and that they’re needed
,” he instructed one of the search team. “We don’t have any time to waste on this so I suggest we limit it to just you and I down there until CSI have done their bit.”

Great
, just me and mouth almighty. What a treat.
After Callahan had turned on a light by pressing a switch at the top of the descent, Finn gingerly followed him down the stairs which were made of wooden treads placed on steps carved out of dirt. There were only about a dozen to negotiate before the walls opened and they found themselves standing inside a room the size of a large office.

Unlike the fight
ing arena, there were no pillars holding up the ceiling here; it simply wasn’t big enough. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in comfort. The floor of the room was almost entirely covered in a massive rug on which rested a huge, black leather couch. That wasn’t what drew their attention, though. It was the enormous, flat screen TV hanging from the wall directly opposite it. To the right of the TV there was yet another bookcase, but unlike the one upstairs which had been filled with books, this one was filled with DVD’s.

Pulling a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and slipping them on, Finn reached forward and pulled
a DVD from one of the many stacks. It was just a disc in a clear plastic case. Turning it over in his hands, he found that there was writing on the reverse. A date. Pulling another one off the shelf, he checked that one, too. It was exactly the same, unmarked except for a date.

“We’d better
take a look.” Finn knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to see as Callahan took one of the discs from his hands and, removing it from its case, inserted it into a slot on the side of the TV. Finding the remote on the arm of the couch, Finn turned the TV on and they both stood and waited for the disc to load.

There was absolute silence in the room as
the first disk started to play. Neither of them moved as they struggled to take in what they saw on the screen.

“Turn it off.” Callahan told him.

For once, Finn agreed with him and he flicked the switch on the remote, returning the screen to blackness.

“I’ll get a specialist team to go through the discs
to see if we can identify any of the people who are on them.”

Finn didn’t envy them their task. He didn’t think he could cope with having to sit through hours of watching them.
Returning his attention to the room, he looked at the rug thoughtfully.

“Help me get this table out of the way
,” he called out to Callahan, waiting until he had grabbed it at one end. This guy clearly had a penchant for hiding things underground and Finn wanted to see if his hunch was right. Sure enough, once they’d moved the table out of the way and rolled back the rug, a floor safe was revealed.

“I
t’s locked.” Finn pulled uselessly at the handle.

“
We’ll get it transported back and our tech team will get it open.”

There was nothing else for him to do down th
ere so he made his way back upstairs to observe the rest of the search.