As he walked from her flat she called out shakily, ‘Don’t you forget my comp. I want it before you’re trashed, thank you very much.’
‘One thing I will give Mal, she knows how to get round a bloke, Pat. No wonder poor old Duggan was like he was, listening to that going all hours of the day and night.’
‘We are well in the shit, Willy,’ said Patrick hollowly.
Willy unlocked the door to the Rolls. ‘That’s one way of putting it, I suppose.’
‘Where’s the latest Russian hang-out?’
‘Girlie Girls, from what she said, mate,’ Willy told him, starting up the engine. ‘Perhaps you should show your boat there at some point. Save all the hag of looking for them, like. Let them find you.’
‘They’ll find me when they want me.’
‘Wise words. Good job you fell out with Kate. They would love to get their hands on her, Pat. They live by bent Old Bill. Any bent Home Office, in fact. I mean, they do everything now. Passports, guns, you name it. They call parts of Notting Hill “Moscow” these days.’
‘Willy,’ Patrick’s voice was low. ‘Why don’t you shut the fuck up?’
They drove out of London in silence.
WPC Hart put a mug of coffee on Kate’s desk.
‘You look tired, ma’am.’
Kate stretched. ‘I am. Anything I need to know?’
‘You had a phone call earlier,’ the girl informed her. ‘Robert something or other. Social Services - about Regina Carlton. I said you would call him back tomorrow.’
Kate yawned. ‘Thanks, pet. Get yourself off home.’
The WPC nodded and said gently, ‘That’s what you should be doing.’
The phone rang and Kate picked it up. ‘Hello, Lizzy. How’re things?’
There was joy in her voice to receive the call and, smiling goodbye, the constable left her alone.
Kate listened to all her daughter’s doings in Australia. It was Lizzy’s third visit there and Kate had a strong feeling she wasn’t going to come back this time. She didn’t mind. Australia fitted Lizzy like a glove and Kate knew that she was happy out there. In the sun, in the land of youth. She so wanted her daughter to be happy.
‘How’s Granny?’
Lizzy laughed. ‘Loving it as usual. Going to the beach all day, then getting ready for a barbecue.’
‘Sounds good. Any nice boys about?’
Lizzy quietened. ‘A few, nothing spectacular.’
Since Kate had read her daughter’s shocking diary entries all those years ago when she was a schoolgirl, any mention of boys, men or sex always left them both feeling uncomfortable. Kate was again reminded of how you could never fully know someone, not really. It seemed to be the story of her life.
She had thought she was lucky with her teenage daughter and then found out that Lizzy was on drugs and sleeping with anyone who had a joint, a pleasing face or a nice car to offer. Afterwards Lizzy had taken an overdose; Kate had picked up the pieces as best she could and they had all somehow got on with their lives.
Nearly losing her daughter had been a turning point for Kate. She had turned to Patrick Kelly.
Now she listened to Lizzy rabbiting on and thanked God her child was better again. But the sound of her voice, echoing down the phone line, made Kate feel lonelier than ever.
Her eyes strayed to the picture of the little Nike trainer. It was an image she knew she would never forget.
‘I miss you, darling.’
‘I miss you too, Mum. How’s Patrick?’
‘Oh, he’s fine. You know Pat - nothing fazes him.’
Lizzy missed the sarcasm in her mother’s voice. ‘Give him my love. ’Bye.’
And she was gone.
Kate stared at the receiver for long moments, then replaced it gently. What she ought to do was get back to her own house and air the place. Lizzy would miss living at Pat’s, that was for sure. Another reason for her to stay on in Australia. Kate chided herself for thinking such things about her own daughter but inwardly acknowledged they were true. Lizzy always looked after number one. It was something she had been taught by her father. Dan had been the same. Only interested in what he wanted, needed, cared about.
Kate sighed heavily. Why should Lizzy worry? She was young and the young had no real cares. Life seemed so long still, and they had no idea how quickly it passed by.
Kate sipped her lukewarm coffee, grateful for the rush of caffeine. She was missing Patrick so much it hurt.
She had been the same after Dan had gone. Dan the womaniser. Dan who thought he could get through life with a set of white teeth and a big cock. She knew how to pick them all right.
She could hear phones ringing, people talking, lives being lived. It all seemed separate from her. She had had everything she’d wanted stripped from her by a few choice words from Ratchette and she knew she could never take Pat on again.
No matter how much she might want to.
Chapter Five
‘Forensically, we can put both mothers at the scene.’
Kate nodded, then commented, ‘You could put them with the children at any time, surely, because they are in such close contact.’
‘That’s true, but I can only report what I’ve found and that’s evidence to suggest that both mothers were at the scenes too.’
Kate wiped a hand across her face.
‘Any good brief will shoot you down in flames,’ she said. ‘Was there anything at all from the sites that was found on the mothers’ clothes or shoes?’
‘Nothing too positive,’ Leila told her. ‘We have taken dirt samples from where they live to get comparisons. I bet they’ll be near enough to rule them out.’
She stared at her friend. Kate looked terrible. ‘You should think about getting help on this one, Kate.’
Kate took a long drag on her cigarette. ‘Ratchette thinks so too. What he wants, though, is me out of the way. It’d make his life a lot easier.’
Leila sat down and said gently, ‘You can choose someone yourself, Kate. Someone who has dealt with this type of crime before. Face it, they would be working
with
you, not against you. Choose the person yourself and you guarantee that. If Ratchette chooses, they’ll row you out.’
Kate’s eyes scanned the small office. ‘It’s a dump, Leila, but it’s
my
dump. Ratchette is worried about my relationship with Patrick. He thinks shit will stick . . .’
Leila smiled, showing crooked white teeth. ‘Which it will, love. But you’ll weather it. You are one of the most able officers I know. Even Ratchette can’t dispute that. You’ve put away a lot of bodies over the years, mate. That can’t be forgotten by anyone. It’s all there in black and white. Plus your relationship with Patrick has given you quite a bit of kudos. Old Bill love real villains, even you must have realised that. Pull in a good colleague, Kate. Get some help. Specialist help.’
‘Perhaps you’re right.’
Leila pinched Kate’s cigarette and inhaled.
‘I thought you’d given up?’
‘Only in public. In private, I puff away like the Magic Dragon.’
Kate laughed. ‘Fancy a drink later?’
Leila nodded. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’
‘I can’t stop thinking about that little boy, Ivor. Where the hell could he be?’
Leila shrugged. ‘He must be dead. It’s been nearly four days now. Any more from the mother?’
‘Not a dicky bird. Still insisting that she left them all night and they were gone when she got home. The father was in Liverpool - he has a watertight alibi. No one else has a key to the place, the kids were locked in the room. In reality, what she’s saying is unbelievable. But she has never deviated from it.’
Leila closed her eyes. ‘Look, Kate, once her brief gets in the heavy mob, you won’t get near her. They will have psychiatric reports - the works. You need someone
now
. Let me look through my files and see who I can find, eh? If she was placed at the scene, you’ll have something to work with. Hopefully, the boy will turn up alive. Until then, I would give her the sympathy vote, and hope against hope that she can be brought to court with a bit more than you have now.’
Kate was tired, she was also worried and her face looked older than usual. She had to find the child and fast.
‘I am going to interview Anderson again at five,’ she said. ‘All she seems to do is eat. And I mean eat. Christ knows what’s going through her mind. But I have to charge her today and charge her I will, whatever her brief says. She is in her right mind, I would lay money on that. I think she is laughing at us.’
Leila grinned. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time. Certainly won’t be the last.’
‘That’s true. A late drink then, eh?’
‘Ring me on my mobile. In fact, why not come to the flat? I’ll do a few sandwiches.’
‘You’ve got me - I’ll see you later. And please, do look through the files - see if you can come up with someone relatively normal for me to work with.’
Kate watched Leila’s pert bottom wiggle out of her office, and she smiled her first real smile of the day. Leila was sexy and funny. She was also a good friend, and Kate badly needed one of those at this moment in time.
Ratchette is out to get me, she thought. Pat is on his way to a capture and I want to make sure I don’t go down with him.
Well, she had a few cards up her sleeve yet. So they had both better watch out. Kate Burrows was angry and the sooner Kelly and Ratchette realised that, the better.
David Mentorn was a happy child. It was in his nature.
As he staggered across the parkland in his heavily soiled shoes, he was laughing. Jonathan Light, his friend and co-conspirator, was also giggling. Both blond, blue-eyed and of stocky build, the two boys could have been brothers. Today they were playing truant from school. At twelve, they thought they knew more than their parents and teachers and they hopped off now and again for an adventure.
David’s mother was a lone parent, his father having disappeared a few years earlier. She worked in London and commuted there daily. Jonathan’s mother, on the other hand, didn’t work and was known to be here, there and everywhere all day. No one seemed to care what the boys got up to.
As they approached the fence leading to the gravel pits they were still laughing. They knew they could make as much noise as they liked. The mud on their boots was heavy, and when Jonathan started walking like Frankenstein’s monster, David rolled to the ground doubled up with mirth. It was an action he soon regretted.
As he rolled, he could see underneath the bushes. A black bag had been stuffed beneath them. This wasn’t unusual in itself, but a small blue swollen hand was hanging out of it. David immediately stopped his rolling, and the laughter died in his chest.
Jonathan thought he was still joking and kicked him amiably. Then he watched as his friend rose on to his knees and started to crawl away.
‘Look under the bloody hedge,’ David said hoarsely. ‘There’s a person.’
Jonathan looked under the hedgerow and caught his breath. ‘What are we going to do?’
David sat up and swallowed deeply. ‘We’ll have to tell someone.’
Jonathan nodded; all the while his brain was working overtime. ‘We’ll get in right trouble.’
David pulled himself to his feet. ‘Tough, we have to tell. Let’s get one of the workmen from the gravel pit. They’ll know what to do.’
They slipped through the hole in the fence.
‘The police will want to talk to us.’
Despite himself, Jonathan was beginning to get excited. The two lads were now part of something bigger than anything they could ever have imagined.
Kate saw Patrick out of the corner of her eye and felt the familiar pull of him. As he approached her car, she turned to face him. She knew what he wanted, and she was determined that he would not get it.
‘Please, Kate. I just want a word.’
She ignored him. As she unlocked her car she said, ‘Go away, Pat. Haven’t you caused me enough grief?’
He took her arm roughly and walked her towards his BMW. Kate knew she was in full view of the police station and had no choice but to walk with him. Inside his car, she was fuming.
‘How dare you do this to me!’
His eyes were pleading and she knew that she must not look at him. Or listen to him; if she did so, she would be lost. He had the knack of talking her round.
‘I’m sorry, love, but I have to talk to you.’ He was searching her face for any signs of softness.
‘If you think a few choice words will change what’s happened,’ she said heatedly, ‘then you are even more arrogant than I thought. You consistently lied to me—’
‘I never lied, I just never told you everything. That’s the difference.’
‘The result is the same. You did things you knew would compromise me, Patrick. What happened to truth and trust and honesty? Now you’re in the shit, and I am not going to get pulled in with you. You promised me a good life . . .’
Patrick was getting angry himself now. He found her more alluring now than he ever had before. He adored her and she knew it. The club meant nothing to him really. Its appeal was monetary and that was that.
‘Listen, Kate, I need you more now than I’ve ever needed anyone. The love I have for you is immense. I care more about you than any other living being. When you’re not there I miss you beside me in the morning, I miss reading the bloody papers and drinking coffee with you. I miss you in bed with me. I miss you so much it hurts, but I am not here to ask you to come back, love. I’m here to ask you a favour.’
She gasped at his bare-faced cheek. ‘A
what
?’
He stared into her eyes. ‘I need a favour, Kate.’
‘You have a bloody brass neck, Patrick Kelly. After humiliating me in front of my boss, suppressing information you knew could put me in a very difficult situation, you then sit here and ask me for a fucking favour. Do I look that stupid?’
‘Do you know something, Kate? You still talk like Old Bill, don’t you,’ Patrick said irritably. ‘ “Suppressing information”. Why can’t you say “I kept stumm”, like normal people.’