Time to Play (North East Police) (22 page)

Chapter Twenty

14th November, 1940 hours - Dive Team HQ, South Shields

Marlo was exhausted, the kind of tired so deep her bones ached. She'd spent three hours in the water, alternating times with Sharpie, but despite several blips showing on the sonar, they were no closer to finding the old man who'd gone under.

Mitchell, the DI handling the investigation, had stood them down when they returned to station. It wasn't viable to conduct further dives. The likely scenario was that he had gotten into difficulty and drowned. His body would probably wash up somewhere along the coast thanks to the tidal movement.

It felt bad, not finding the body. Marlo knew the family wouldn't get any closure until he was found.

Not every case got to her, in fact most didn't. She had become good at compartmentalising, the same as anyone who saw and dealt with what she did on a daily basis. But this one had. She hadn’t wanted to negotiate the drive home while full of emotion. She made an excuse about having paperwork to do and stayed behind after everyone left, reassuring Sharpie that she was fine so he would go too. Then she’d had taken a long shower and cried. Deep, wracking sobs for the old man she couldn’t find.

She could imagine how he'd felt, taking the same swimming route he took three times a week only to be caught out by a rip tide. She could feel him struggle against the pull, using his strength trying to get out but only ending up further in. And she could imagine the very second when he gave up, the second he became too tired to fight any more. She wondered whether he'd whispered goodbye to his family as Davy Jones pulled him deeper into the locker.

Feeling tear prick at her eyes again, she realised she was more tired than she'd initially thought. It wasn't often she got emotional like this. It was time to go home.

By the time she came out of the bathroom, she'd calmed down.

So when she came face to face with a young girl in an extinct piece of uniform, she'd frozen in shock.

The girl looked to be about sixteen years old; slender framed with dark hair surrounding her petite face. She looked terrified.

'Easy, love,' said Marlo softly, holding her hands out in front of her, trying to make herself as non-threatening as she could.

It didn't work though; the girl spun on her heels and practically flew down the stairs.

Marlo followed, and heard the door at the bottom slam into the external wall to the building seconds later.

She put her hand out to stop it closing and winced as the force reverberated through her elbow and shoulder. As she entered the yard she saw the girl, who was frantically looking around for a way out. Her eyes were wide with terror and she was obviously desperate.

14
^th
November, 1945 hours – Dive Team HQ, South Shields

Elvie had nearly had a heart attack when she’d almost walked into the female diver. Even now her heart pounded deep in her chest, every scenario of what could happen next running through her mind, and none of it was good. Even if the cops here weren’t like they were at home, she’d end up shipped off to some little room where the paint was peeling and be forced to answer questions.

She looked around, already feeling dread in the pit of her stomach. There was no way out. She was trapped.

The woman would kill her, she was sure of it. Well, almost sure. A voice niggled at the back of her mind.
Maybe she’ll help you, maybe she’s as nice as she seems when you’ve been watching.
But she knew in her heart she couldn’t take the risk.

So she did the only thing she could do, she turned and leapt as far as she could into the pitch black sea at the bottom of the wall.

14
^th
November, 1945 hours – Dive Team HQ, South Shields

‘Shit!’ exclaimed Marlo as she heard the girl land with a loud splash. She raced to the edge of the wall, but she couldn’t see the girl. She knew the wall was solid, built to hold the water back, not allow it under like some ocean walls. There was nowhere the girl could have gone.

Thankful for the torch aspect of her mobile phone, she shone it back and forth over the water, looking for the girl or any sign indicating where she could be. Finally she saw a small burst of bubbles spill over the surface, and putting her mobile phone down, she pulled in a deep breath and jumped into the water.

The icy cold water was like a slap to the face, and she instinctively wanted to breathe in, but she didn’t; instead she swam powerful strokes to the rough area she’d seen the bubbles, bent double and pushed herself beneath the surface. Kicking her feet to propel herself forward, she blindly felt around for anything that felt solid. She felt something fabric, with weight behind it, so she pulled with all her might, resurfacing only centimetres from where she’d gone under.

The girl’s body was motionless, and Marlo swore softly. Turning the girl onto her back, Marlo put her cheek up to the mouth of the girl, feeling for breath.

There was nothing, not even a whisper of breath.

Treading water to support the girl’s weight as well as her own, she firmly pinched the girl’s nose and filled her lungs with air from her own. She repeated the process, willing the girl to wake.

Suddenly the girl jerked beneath her, and started coughing, sea water splashing up onto Marlo’s face. ‘Easy, love, you’re OK.’ She soothed, twisting slightly so the girl could cough up the briny water.

Placing her arm across the girl’s chest and under her arms, Marlo swam them both to the edge of the wall. The ladder was illuminated slightly by the lights in the yard, but she held no illusion. Getting herself up the ladder would be challenging enough, the cold starting to set in now as her adrenaline abated, and she wondered how she’d manage to get the girl up too.

‘Listen, can you hear me? I know you’re cold, and I promise we’ll get warmed up as soon as we get back into the building. But first, I need your help, OK?’

The girl just mumbled in response.

‘Hey, girly, look at me. Open those pretty brown eyes and look. I need you to help me, or we will both die in this freezing cold sea, do you understand?’

Understanding flashed across the girl’s face, and suddenly her fight came back. Whatever Marlo had planned in relation to carrying the girl up the ladder went out of the window as the kid reached past her, grabbed the lowest rung and pulled herself forward. Reaching as though her very life depended on it, she stretched again and dragged herself further.

The second her feet hit the lowest rung, Marlo reached up and grabbed a rung too. Spurring her on, Marlo muttered encouragement until both of them finally hoisted themselves over onto the concrete of the yard. The danger now was that both had spent their energy. The girl had already collapsed with her eyes closed, Marlo was close to doing the same.

But she pushed herself, knowing they had to get inside the building. She got to her feet, and grunting, she hoisted the girl over her shoulder in a fireman’s lift. Her legs wobbled under the excess weight, but she managed to maintain her balance and made her way into the building. Her swipe card was still dangling from her neck so they could gain access.

She could feel the warmth as soon as she entered, but she knew it wasn’t enough.

Her body screamed with each movement but she slowly navigated up the stairs to the top and rushed through the canteen and into the men’s bathroom. The men had shared showers, not individual cubicles, which meant she could get some instant heat into both of them simultaneously. Hitting three of the showers, she waited a moment until the water began to steam, then gently lowered the girl directly underneath one of the hot sprays. Holding her up, she managed to get herself under the next one along too.

The girl gasped, struggled a little, then realised the water was warm. She sagged back into Marlo’s chest, sighing as the water cascaded over them both.

‘Shhh, it’s OK, I’ve got you,’ whispered Marlo against her hair, her fingers rubbing the girl’s arm in a soft circular motion.

Both now conscious, the adrenaline ebbed to nothing and they started shivering, not just small ones either, huge judders that shook teeth and made the body believe it was in the middle of an earthquake.

‘Stay here,’ said Marlo, getting to her feet and leaving the girl under the shower. Her legs were still wobbly but she made her way to the kit room and retrieved a couple of packaged space blankets. Pulling at the plastic wrapping with her teeth as she made her way back to the bathroom, she told the girl to come out from under the water.

Knowing the girl would follow her lead, Marlo pulled her clothes off down to underwear and wrapped a blanket around her. As hoped, the girl followed suit.

Marlo led her back into the canteen and made them both a cup of hot, sweet tea.

The whole thing felt a bit surreal, like it had happened to someone else and Marlo had just happened to have been watching. Her shoulders ached as she moved: she was going to be stiff tomorrow. The body had funny ways of dealing with trauma, but she could manage that when it happened. For now, she handed the girl a steaming cuppa, and sat down beside her.

‘So what was that about then?’ asked Marlo, glancing over the mug she held with both hands.

‘I think you will hurt me. Police hurt me where I come from,’ whispered the girl, tears filling her eyes.

Marlo felt her expressions soften. ‘Where do you come from?’

The girl started crying, not able to answer for the sobs heaving through her shoulders. Marlo shuffled closer, put her arms round the girl and pulled her to her chest.

‘Shhh, it’s OK, everything’s going to be fine. Sh.’

The heat from the extra body, and the fact they had both warmed up caused both of them to become sleepy. One after the other, they both fell fast asleep.

Chapter Twenty-One

14
^th
November, 2320 hours – Ryhope, Sunderland

He pushed open the door and entered the room. It was time to get rid of Nita, clean up and figure out what he had to do next.

She was exactly where he’d left her. Her skin had turned grey and parts of it had darkened where her blood had settled. Her expression was peaceful. At least he’d been able to give her that. It was a small mercy, though. The guilt for hurting Nita was threatening to overwhelm him. He’d been thinking about it all day, how his hands had squeezed the life from her as though she didn’t deserve to live.

Maybe it would have felt different if he hadn’t known her name. She was the first one he’d asked. When it had come to killing the others it had been like second nature. Routine almost: it had been a task that had needed to be done. It was almost as though his mind had detached from his body, only now returning. The fuzziness and control he’d felt was ebbing. And he felt sorrow. Sorrow for the lost lives and for what was to come. Like taking the bodies to his favourite location. His wife had loved it there. They’d gone every few weeks before she’d gone, and done it for years and years. They would get up in the morning, and she’d fill a flask, make sandwiches, and away they’d trot. He missed those times.

Raw pain flooded through him.
Why her? It just wasn’t fair.
He would have preferred it to have been him. She’d always been so full of life, bursting at the seams and always happy. Then she wasn’t any more.

Shaking his head, he knew he couldn’t dwell in the past.

He caught a sob as he dragged Nita from the chair and onto a large expanse of plastic, the same kind of plastic used to cover seedlings on farms and in allotments. He’d picked it up years ago, and had kept it, firmly believing that one day he’d need it. One day had arrived with the death of number one.

His head started to pound dully as he wrapped the plastic around her and secured her with tight knots. Hoisting the body onto his shoulders, he took her to the car and placed her in the boot. Two large cinder blocks were already inside, and he tied them to the bag with the strong rope he’d purposefully left loose for that task.

He drove in complete silence. The only noise was the sound of his tyres gliding over tarmac, then eventually over a stony track that led to what had been his favourite place. It was always deserted at this time of night. He still came here to think, even when he didn’t have to leave one of the girls. It was peaceful, serene. He could hear the wind rustling the trees he knew surrounded the path, the occasional hoot of an owl, and the water lapping against the reservoir wall.

The path led to the wall by the tower. It was only because he left his headlights on that he could see where he was going. Nita was heavier now he had the cinder blocks tied on too, and he struggled lifting her high enough to pitch her over the fence. Something felt different tonight: it didn’t seem like the sanctuary it usually did.

He pushed her over, listened for the splash then retreated to the car. Something was definitely out of place this evening. Not wanting to be caught, he pulled the car in a circle around the car park and drove off.

14
^th
November, 0135 hours – Dive Team HQ, South Shields

Marlo fought to stay asleep, but her body had other ideas. Her neck ached and slowly she registered two things: she was sitting up and she was way too warm. She remembered having a dream, jumping in the sea to save someone, and being so cold afterwards.

Suddenly she remembered it wasn't a dream, and her eyes flew open.

The girl was laid on the floor in front of her, sound asleep. She looked so innocent and peaceful that Marlo was loathe to wake her, but she had questions that needed answering.

Gently, she shook the girl’s shoulders.