Justice for the Damned (39 page)

‘Thank you, Reece,’ said Jim.

Reece shook his head. ‘I don’t deserve your thanks. Doug was right, I’ve fucked it all up.’

‘How? Tell me how?’

Reece hesitated to reply, unsure whether he had the will to tell him. What difference would it make? The whole sorry tale was going to come out soon enough anyway.

‘Quickly,’ urged Jim. ‘They’re going to be here soon and then it’ll be too late.’

Reece’s forehead drew into creases of uncertainty. Too late for what? Was Jim offering to cover up for him? ‘For about six months now I’ve been helping Doug run protection for pimps and small-time pushers.’

‘And that’s all, is it?’ Jim’s gaze flicked around the barn. ‘You didn’t know about any of this?’

‘I knew Doug was into something bigger, but I didn’t find out what it was until today.’ Reece’s eyes moved to Amber’s plastic-wrapped corpse. His forehead pinched tighter. ‘I could never be a part of this… sickness.’

‘But you are a part of it. What I need to know is why.’

Sadness shadowed Reece’s features as his thoughts turned to Staci. ‘There’s a woman. Someone I care deeply about. She was in trouble. I needed money to help her out.’

Jim looked at Reece as if trying to make his mind up about something. Then he said, ‘How much have you told Garrett?’

‘Only that Doug was involved in a murder.’

‘And who else knows you were searching for Melinda?’

‘The woman I mentioned, Melinda’s pimp and Vernon Tisdale.’

‘Can you rely on this woman to keep a secret?’

‘Yes,’ Reece said with absolute conviction. ‘And it’s safe to assume the pimp isn’t going to be speaking to the police anytime soon. Which just leaves Vernon.’

‘I don’t think we need worry about him either. He’ll be more than happy to keep our names to himself if he thinks it’ll help bring justice for the damned.’

‘So this is connected to those missing prostitutes.’

‘Yes. But the less you know about that for now, the better. We need to keep this as simple as possible. Here’s how we’re going to play it.’ Jim paused to gather his breath. ‘You suspected Doug was crooked, but wanted to make absolutely certain you were right before you reported him. Keep the details of why you became suspicious limited. Doug was associating with former bent coppers. That’s enough. You don’t want to have to give up the name of anyone who could implicate you. How did you find your way out here?’

Reece told Jim about how he’d followed Liam.

‘That’s good. Stick to that story. But leave out the part about Amber. You know absolutely nothing about the dead person’s identity or why they were killed. And most importantly of all, you don’t know anything about any missing prostitutes.’

‘But what about Melinda? She’s still missing—’

‘No, she’s not.’

Reece’s eyes widened. ‘You found her.’

‘Yes.’

‘How? Where?’

‘She’s safe. That’s all you need know for now. I want you to clear your head of all that and concentrate on getting your story straight. Can you do that?’

‘Yes.’ Reece’s voice was dazed, and not just because of the blows he’d received to his head. In the space of a few sentences, everything he thought had slipped from reach had been brought back within touching distance. And yet his eyes were more curious than grateful. ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Because I’m part of this sickness too.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean we’ve both made mistakes that have led to people’s deaths.’

Jim and Reece stared at each other silently for a moment. Then both gave a slight nod, as if exchanging an unspoken agreement.

‘Just tell me one more thing,’ said Jim. ‘You’re finished taking dirty money, right?’

‘Fuck yes,’ Reece stated vehemently. ‘I’m not even sure I want to be a copper any more.’

‘Then, for Christ’s sake, find another line of work while you’re still young.’ Jim closed his eyes as he tried to think of anything he might have missed. They snapped back open. ‘The gun! Where did you get the gun?’

‘Off a dealer Doug and me were shaking down.’

‘No you didn’t. You found it in Doug’s car. That was one of the things that led you to become suspicious about him. Has Doug handled it?’

‘No.’

‘Then you need to make sure his prints are on it.’

Blood dripping from his nostrils, Reece peered hesitantly towards the foot of the ladder. The gun had sunk from sight into the sheet of slime.

‘Quickly,’ hissed Jim. ‘Get the gun, or it all falls apart.’

Reece descended the swaying, shattered ladder. Eyeing the pigs warily, he jumped down the last half a metre or so. The pigs paid him little attention. They were still hard at work on Tyler. Pulling up his sleeves, Reece plunged his hands into the mud. His fingers located the Glock. He swirled the mud off it in a water trough, then climbed back up to the loft and approached Doug. As he pressed Doug’s fingers against the gun’s grip, the pigs suddenly lifted their eyes to the barn’s entrance, snuffling at the air.

‘Throw the gun back into the mud,’ Jim said urgently.

Reece tossed the gun over the edge of the loft. Jim beckoned him close again. ‘Remember, you simply suspected Doug was up to something dodgy. The rest is a coincidence.’

‘It’s a pretty big coincidence, don’t you think?’

‘Yeah, well, that’s just the way it plays out sometimes.’ Jim’s gaze was drawn by the sound of the pigs scuttling from the barn. ‘You’d better get out there too.’

Reece held Jim’s gaze a moment longer, only gratitude in his eyes now. He descended the ladder again and approached the barn’s entrance, holding his police ID high. ‘This is Detective Inspector Reece Geary!’ he shouted. ‘I’m coming out.’

The farmyard was empty. Nor could Reece see anyone in the deep pools of darkness enclosing it. But he knew he wasn’t alone. ‘This is Detective Inspector Reece Geary,’ he repeated. ‘There’s an injured officer in the barn who urgently needs medical attention.’

A shadowy figure rose from behind the bath Reece had used for cover and motioned him over. Keeping his ID visible, Reece did as signalled. It was an AFO dressed all in black with a sub-machine gun slung across their chest. Glancing about, Reece spotted more armed officers hunkered down against the drystone wall and behind a pile of tyres. Several of them had their weapons trained on him.

‘Stop right there,’ ordered the AFO when Reece was a few metres away. ‘Don’t you move another fucking muscle.’ He cautiously approached Reece, pulled his hands down behind his back and cuffed them. ‘Is there anyone else besides the injured officer in the barn?’

‘A woman. She’s a friendly too.’

‘What about the suspects?’

‘They’re all dead.’

‘Are you certain of that?’

‘Yes.’

The AFO handed Reece off to one of his colleagues. The rest of the team moved in on the barns and farmhouse. They quickly secured the area. Then the dirt track was illuminated by the lights of approaching police vehicles and ambulances, and the night sky was filled with the whoomp-whoomp of a helicopter. Reece’s mind returned to the helicopter he’d seen over Stanage. Surely it had been searching for Jim. But what had Jim been doing out there? Had he been trailing Doug or Tyler? Or was there someone else involved? Maybe someone under the protection of Steel City Security. Or someone connected to Freddie Harding. Reece pushed the questions from his mind. None of that was his concern right now. Like Jim had said, he needed to concentrate on getting his story straight.

DCI Garrett got out of the lead car and hurried across to Reece. ‘Take those cuffs off him,’ he ordered the AFO.

‘Doug Brody’s dead, sir,’ said Reece, struggling to maintain eye contact with his superior’s probing gaze.

‘I know.’

‘Jim Mona—’

‘I know that too,’ Garrett cut him off. ‘What I don’t know is how you and Detective Inspector Brody came to be involved in… in whatever the bloody hell this is.’

‘A few days ago I made a discovery that led me—’

‘Save your story.’ Garrett indicated Reece’s bloodied nose. ‘Right now, you need to get that looked at.’

‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.’

‘Don’t be too quick to thank me. Later there will be questions. Lots of them. And you’d better hope I like the answers you give me.’

Relieved to have a little more time to get his head together, Reece made his way to an ambulance. As a paramedic staunched the bleeding, Reece watched Jim being stretchered from the barn. He raised a hand to wave. Jim didn’t wave back. The paramedic guided Reece to a seat in the back of the ambulance and closed the doors. The vehicle set off, followed by a police car. Reece took out his phone and dialled Staci. She picked up on the first ring and asked anxiously, ‘Reece, are you alright?’

‘I’m fine, baby.’ Glancing at the paramedic, Reece lowered his voice. ‘She’s alive.’

‘Who’s ali—’ Staci started to ask. Then realisation laced with trembling hope filled her voice. ‘Amber!’

Reece winced, and not at the pain in his nose. ‘No. Melinda.’

‘You found her.’

‘No, but someone did. I’ve got to go now. I’ll tell you everything when I see you.’

‘Wait. What about Amber? Have you found her too?’

‘Yes.’

‘And is she alive?’

In a voice as heavy as his heart, Reece said, ‘No.’

Tears clogged Staci’s voice. ‘Oh my God! I knew it. I knew it.’

‘I’m sorry, Staci. I tried.’

Staci quickly got hold of her tears. She’d worked the streets long enough to know how to handle grief. ‘I know you did, Reece. And I want you to know that I…’ Her voice grew hesitant, as if she was stretching for something she found difficult to say. ‘Well that I… you know.’

A flicker of a smile lightened Reece’s features. Staci hadn’t said the words in her mind. But she’d said enough. ‘I know, babe. I love you too. I’ll see you soon.’

Jim held Margaret’s hand as the paramedics wheeled him out of the barn. An AFO tried to guide her towards a police car, but Jim didn’t release his grip until they reached the ambulance. Even then, his eyes followed her, reluctant to let go. He wasn’t worried about what she would say to his colleagues. She knew better than to repeat what she’d heard him discuss with Reece. He just didn’t want to be apart from her. Not now. Not ever again.

Garrett’s bespectacled, harried face blocked Jim’s view. ‘How is he?’ the DCI asked the paramedics.

‘His heartbeat’s irregular and he’s having difficulty breathing,’ replied one of them. ‘We need to get him to hospital right away.’

‘I’m not going to hospital,’ said Jim, his voice muffled by an oxygen mask.

‘Don’t be foolish, Jim,’ said Garrett. ‘You could be having another heart attack.’

‘I have to go to Edward Forester’s house.’

‘Can you give us a moment, please,’ Garrett said to the paramedics. As they moved away, he regarded Jim with furrow-browed curiosity. ‘What’s at Forester’s house that’s so important?’

Jim remained silent.

‘OK, so you’re not willing to trust me,’ continued Garrett. ‘After the way I’ve treated you, I understand that. But regardless of your health, I can’t allow you on to that crime scene until I’ve got some answers.’

‘Oh, I’ve got answers,’ said Jim. ‘Enough to put your name on the map. How you want to be known is up to you. You can be the man who cracked a thirty-year-old case involving serial murder, paedophilia and police corruption. Or I can tell the newspapers how if I’d listened to you a young woman would be dead now, and Edward Forester and his accomplices would be free to continue their crimes.’

An angry, mottled flush rose up Garrett’s neck. He stood in frowning indecision for a moment. Then he called to the paramedics, ‘OK, let’s go. I’ll be riding in the back of the ambulance. We’re going to be making a brief detour on our way to the hospital.’

‘Before we go anywhere, you need to put out an alert on Forester’s half-brother, Freddie Harding. The two of them were in this together.’

As the paramedics loaded Jim into the ambulance and set him up on an IV drip and heart monitor, Garrett relayed the information about Harding to several of his detectives. The DCI climbed into the back of the ambulance, the doors closed and the vehicle followed a police car away from the farm.

‘How’s Melinda doing?’ asked Jim.

‘She’s lost a lot of blood,’ Garrett said gravely. ‘And that’s just from the gunshot wound.’ He gave a shake of his head. ‘When I saw what had been done to her, it was difficult to believe she was still alive.’

‘She’ll pull through. She’s strong.’

‘Let’s hope you’re right. Look, Jim, no matter what I say, no matter what happens from here on, you did a good thing there.’

A trace of a surprised smile showed on Jim’s lips. Was that humility he’d heard in Garrett’s tone? The sadness quickly returned to his features as he thought about Amy. ‘Do you think if someone does something good, it balances out the bad they do?’

‘I don’t know.’

Jim knew he shouldn’t have expected any other answer. Such questions meant nothing to men like Garrett, men who played the percentages. He drew in a deep breath. The combination of oxygen and the IV drip were easing the pain in his chest. He felt the blood flowing back into his limbs.

‘Let me ask you something,’ said Garrett. ‘Why do you make everything so difficult for yourself? And I’m not just talking about the job.’

Now it was Jim’s turn to stretch for an answer. ‘Margaret used to say I see too much. That I need to learn to see only the things that matter and let the rest slip by. Maybe that’s what it is. Or maybe I’m just a natural-born pain in the arse.’

‘Well you won’t find any disagreement here. You’re definitely a pain in the arse.’

Garrett spoke with conviction, but no malice, and maybe even a hint of affection. Jim gave him another look of surprise. The guy was a careerist and an opportunist. That was why Jim had known he would take him to Southview. But maybe he wasn’t quite the prick Jim had thought.

The car leading the ambulance slowed as it approached a cordon of police tape at the end of the steep lane that led to Forester’s house. A constable moved the tape aside to let them through. ‘Get as close to the house as you can,’ Garrett said to the driver. The ambulance weaved around the police vehicles clogging Southview’s driveway. It pulled up in front of the steps and a paramedic opened the rear doors.