The Loyal Servant (30 page)

‘They would have discovered all the other documents I gave you.’

Tate nodded. ‘Which might explain the delay in coming here – they wouldn’t have known the significance of the documents until they reported back.’

‘Reported back to who?’

Tate shrugged. ‘Whoever leaned on my editor to bury the story on page eight… whoever sent the police to question me… people with enough clout to keep their secrets secret.’

‘King?’

Tate shrugged.

‘So by now they must have joined the dots and worked out I was the one who gave you the documents?’

‘Wouldn’t take much detective work – would it?’

Caroline tapped in her home phone number. After half a dozen rings she heard her own outgoing message on the answerphone. ‘Something’s not right. Mum should’ve picked up.’

‘Maybe Jean’s having a nap.’

‘I should get home, make sure everything’s OK.’ The sick feeling in Caroline’s stomach intensified. ‘Will you be all right on your own?’

‘Be buggered if I’m staying here.’

41

Even before the cab had come to a halt Caroline could see her front door swinging wide. A wave of nausea surged upwards from the pit of her stomach as she ran into the garden. Through the open door she saw her mother sitting on the stairs cradling the phone in her lap.

‘Mum!’ Caroline ran to her and grabbed her hand. ‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look fine.’

‘I’m all right – I got home to discover the door open. I’ve only been in ten minutes, less, probably. I’ve called the police.’

‘Where are the kids?’ The surging nausea made it to the back of her throat.

‘Don’t worry – they’re not home yet.’

‘Do you feel strong enough to get up? I think we should wait outside.’

‘Why?’

‘Someone could still be in the house,’ Caroline whispered.

‘Oh there’s no one here.’

Caroline tugged on Jean’s hand. ‘You don’t know that, come on.’

‘Don’t fuss, Caroline. I’ve already checked.’

‘You’ve what?’

‘I’ve poked my nose round every door. The house is quite empty.’

Caroline squeezed her mother’s hand. ‘You shouldn’t take risks like that.’

‘I didn’t take any risks – I was armed.’ Jean gestured towards a long fire iron leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

‘What were you thinking?’

‘Hello!’ Angela Tate appeared at the front door.

‘Oh God.’ Caroline reached into her bag and retrieved her purse. ‘The cab! How much do I owe you?’

Tate waved the purse away.

‘You didn’t waste any time.’ Jean said. ‘Surely the
Evening News
isn’t interested in domestic break-ins.’

‘How are you, Jean? How’s the head?’

‘Oh – you know the odd headache now and then.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’

Tate looked at Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes wide and shrugged.

‘It’s a long story, Jean. I’m sure your daughter will fill you in.’ She smiled. ‘At some point.’ She pointed down the hall. ‘Do you know what’s missing yet?’

Caroline took a deep breath and turned towards the living room door. She edged closer and peeked in. She caught her breath. The sofa and two armchairs had been up-ended, seat cushions strewn to the four corners of the room. The contents of the sideboard cupboards and drawers – books, CDs and magazines – were scattered across the floor, the doors of the cupboards hanging off broken hinges. Jean’s collection of porcelain figurines had been swept off the shelving unit above the television and lay in small piles of broken china.

‘My God.’ Tate joined her at the door. ‘You must have got the B-team.’

Caroline crept into the room, picking her way across the mess, and checked the sideboard. It was completely empty. She turned slowly, taking in the extent of the damage. ‘My laptop’s gone,’ she said, quietly.

‘You’re sure?’

Caroline nodded.

‘Anything else? Files? Paperwork?’

‘I don’t keep anything like that in the house.’ She rubbed her face with both hands and stared down at the broken CD cases and torn paperbacks at her feet.

‘Shame they didn’t know that,’ Tate said.

Caroline squeezed her eyes tight shut and concentrated on stifling the sob that was threatening to erupt from her chest and reminded herself these were just things, broken things. She snapped her eyes open.

‘Something’s wrong,’ she said.

‘It’s all bloody wro—’

‘No! Something’s out of place… it’s just too… quiet.’

She rushed back into the hall.

‘Where’s Minty?’ she asked her mother.

Jean stared at her daughter open-mouthed. ‘You know I haven’t actually seen her.’

Caroline ran through the kitchen and into the garden. ‘Minty!’ She clapped her hands against her thighs.

‘Maybe she chased off the burglars,’ Tate shouted from the hall.

‘She’s not that kind of dog.’

Caroline hurried through the front door and ran onto the street and shouted the dog’s name again.

‘She must have got out while the door was open.’ She scanned the top of the street, then the bottom. ‘Minty! Come on girl!’

A police car was turning in from the main road. Caroline watched as it cruised to a standstill opposite the house. Two uniformed officers climbed out – the same two policewomen who’d come when Dan went missing. Were they the only two officers ever on duty?

‘You got here very fast,’ Caroline said.

‘We were in the neighbourhood. Mrs Henderson, is it?’ The slim one stared at Caroline without a flicker of recognition.

Caroline shook her head.
Unbelievable
. ‘Mrs Henderson’s inside.’

The plump one joined her colleague. ‘How’s your son, madam? Dan, wasn’t it?’

‘He’s fine – thanks for asking.’ Caroline shot the other officer a dirty look. ‘Did you see a dark grey dog wandering the streets on your way here? She’s a cross between a greyhound and a Labrador.’

‘Can’t say I did.’

Caroline took a last look up the street and led the way back into the house. She left the police officers talking to her mother in the living room and went into the kitchen with Tate. ‘I’d offer you a cup of tea only…’ The kitchen counters and most of the floor were littered with the contents of the drawers and cupboards. ‘Why did they wreak such havoc here and leave your place practically untouched?’

‘Maybe I just got lucky.’

Caroline shook her head wearily. ‘Right – maybe you should be grateful – you got robbed by burglars who cleared up after themselves.’ She glanced around the room. ‘Such a bloody mess.’

‘I suppose it’s possible you really did get the B-team. Some bunch of amateurs.’

‘Who?’

‘If we’re assuming that King is behind all this… and that does seem to be the most likely explanation… maybe the professionals searched my place and extra help was drafted in to ransack yours.’

‘From where?’

‘King’s only been in the job a few weeks – maybe his resources are spread a bit thin. Maybe he had to enlist the help of one of his most trusted external contractors.’

‘Larson?’

‘He does have an army of security personnel at his disposal.’

‘And they did this?’

Tate shrugged. ‘It’s not beyond the realms, is it?’

‘Whoever turned this place upside down, they were professional enough to get what they came for.’

‘Did you make any back-ups of the documents?’

‘Only on my laptop.’ She let out a long sigh. ‘You think the police will have taken everything away from your office?’

‘The files were on the memory stick, I copied them onto my iMac at home and the one in the office.’

‘No other copies? You didn’t email them between your home and work accounts.’

‘Why would I email them?’

‘Just clutching at straws.’

Tate ran a hand through her hair and stared down at the floor. ‘Bloody hell, Caroline Barber – you’re a genius.’ She pulled a mobile from her bag, jabbed a key and shifted impatiently from one foot to the other while she waited for someone to answer.

‘Frank… I can’t tell you right now.’ Tate turned towards Caroline and rolled her eyes. ‘Can you speak? I need you to check something with… Aleesha in the IT department. She had a copy of some files—’ She switched the phone to her other ear and turned away. ‘What do you mean?’ She thumped a hand against the kitchen counter. ‘When did this happen?’

After a few more seconds she hung up. She shoved the mobile back in her bag and retrieved a packet of cigarettes.

‘Well?’

‘The IT department emailed me the unencrypted versions of those password protected files.’

‘And?’

‘Right now they’re helping the police with their enquiries.’ Tate pulled a cigarette out of the packet. ‘I’ll be outside.’

Caroline watched Tate pick her way across the debris littering the kitchen floor and glanced up at the clock above the door. Claire should have been home by now. With Ben. The nausea rose up again. She rushed into the hall and found the home phone on bottom step of the stairs. Claire’s mobile went to voicemail after a few rings. Caroline left a short message, trying to keep her tone as casual as possible.

She joined Tate on the front porch.

‘So…’ Tate said. ‘What’s next?’

‘Next?’

Tate nodded and took a deep drag of her cigarette.

‘We don’t have any proof left. I thought it was a lost cause before. Now I know it is. There isn’t anything else we can do.’

‘We’re not giving up that easily.’

‘You’re not serious?’

Tate shrugged.

‘What do you suggest?’

‘There’ll be something. Someone’s bound to have ballsed up and left some piece of evidence somewhere. It’s just a question of finding it.’

‘Finding it? You and me?’

‘No one else is volunteering.’

Caroline glanced back into the house. She saw her ransacked kitchen, the pile of coats heaped on the floor in the hall. The poker leaning up against the wall.

‘What if Mum had arrived while they were still here? What might have happened then?’

‘Jean can look after herself.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous – she 64. What if the kids had been home?’

‘But they weren’t.’

‘It’s my family we’re talking about.’ She leaned a hand on the wall.

‘How can you give up now? After everything you’ve been through?’

‘Just watch me.’

‘Please, Caroline.’ Tate squeezed her arm. ‘You’re forgetting – we still have Freddie Larson.’

‘
You
have Freddie Larson. And you know what? You’re welcome to him.’ She let out a long breath. Every part of her seemed to be aching. She just wanted it all to be over. She pulled Tate’s hand from her arm. ‘Good luck with Freddie – I hope he comes through for you, I do really. But there’s nothing more I can do.’

She stepped back into the house and pushed the door to behind her.

42

Claire and Ben still hadn’t turned up. They were over 30 minutes late. Caroline had phoned the school and was told that Claire had collected her brother from his Tae Kwondo class at the regular time. Caroline then tried Dan, who was his usual monosyllabic self. He didn’t know where his sister was and he hadn’t heard from her.

‘I want you to come home right now,’ Caroline said.

‘I’m busy.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Mate’s house.’

‘Which mate?’

Dan mumbled something incomprehensible.

‘Home, Dan. Right now. I mean it.’

She slammed the phone down just as the two policewomen were coming out of the living room.

‘I’ve left the crime reference number with your mother, you’ll need it for your insurance claim,’ the fat one said.

‘When will your forensics people arrive? I’d like to make a start on tidying up.’

The chunky policewoman shot her colleague a glance. The other woman responded with an almost imperceptible nod. ‘There’s a backlog, unfortunately. They can’t arrange for anyone to come out until tomorrow. Some time in the afternoon most likely.’

‘As late as that?’

‘There’s been an incident on the Holbeach Estate. A couple of incidents, actually. Resources have been diverted over there.’

‘The Holbeach?’ Caroline’s heart thudded in her chest. ‘When was this?’

‘I can’t give you that information.’

‘My son and daughter walk up Holbeach Road to get home. I was expecting them to be here by now.’ She grabbed the policewoman’s sleeve. ‘I need to report them missing.’

Again the two officers exchanged a look, the fat one tugged her arm from Caroline’s grasp. ‘After what happened last time, don’t you think it would be best to leave it a while? There’s no need to panic.’

‘Panic? Are you even listening to me? My daughter and my
eight-year-old
son haven’t come home.’

‘How old is your daughter?’

‘What’s that got to do with anything? They’re not here!’

The policewomen started to ease past Caroline towards the front door. ‘Give it an hour, then if they still haven’t turned up, call the station.’ The plump PC handed Caroline a card.

‘Anything could happen to them in an hour. I want to report it now.’

The thin one expelled an impatient sigh. ‘I’ll radio it in from the car. We can’t deal with it ourselves, madam. We’re needed elsewhere.’

‘The Holbeach estate?’

‘I can’t tell you that.’

‘I’ll walk you to your car.’

Caroline followed them to the squad car across the road and waited while the thin one sat in the front passenger seat and made a call on her mobile phone. She strained to hear what the officer was saying, but the policewoman was mumbling into the phone. She stuck her head in the car. ‘Tell them they’ve never been late before. Tell them how serious it is. Make sure they underst—’

She was cut off by a high-pitched wail.
Ben?
Caroline ducked back out of the car and started running towards him.

‘Mum!’ he shouted.

Fifty yards down the road, Ben and Claire were walking slowly towards her, Claire carrying something awkwardly in her arms. She was struggling to put one foot in front of the other. Ben was holding on to his sister’s arm. Caroline could see a dark smear right across his white jacket. She pumped her arms and willed her legs to move faster. As she got closer she finally made out the shape in Claire’s arms.

‘Oh dear God!’

Claire was sobbing as she stumbled up the road. Finally Caroline reached them. She wrapped her arms around Ben and lifted him off the ground. She turned to Claire.

‘Is she…?’

Claire nodded. ‘I couldn’t just leave her there.’

‘Of course you couldn’t.’

Minty’s long legs were dangling from Claire’s arms. Caroline squeezed Ben tighter and pressed her cheek against his, trying to obscure his view of the dog’s tangled corpse.

They walked slowly towards the house.

‘We were… on our way… home.’ Claire struggled to force out the words between sobs.

‘It’s all right, sweetheart. You can tell me later. Let’s just get inside.’

When they got to the front door Caroline ushered the children straight through the hall, grabbing the dog’s blanket from the cupboard under the stairs. She hurried them past the mess in the kitchen and straight out the back door.

‘What’s happened?’ Claire said.

‘Don’t worry about it, love. I’ll explain later.’

Caroline spread the tartan blanket across the lawn. Claire gently lowered Minty’s battered body onto it. Ben wriggled out of Caroline’s grasp and threw himself onto the dog. He tried to move her head, to thread his skinny little arms around her neck.

‘Come on, baby. You need to let go.’ Caroline grabbed his baggy jacket and tugged.

‘No! Leave me alone!’

‘But we have to wrap the blanket around her. We don’t want her to get cold, do we?’

Ben relaxed his grip just enough for Caroline to drag him away from the bloody mess on the ground.

‘Is she going to heaven?’ he said.

Caroline glanced at Claire, who hadn’t taken her eyes from the dog.

‘I told him all about doggie heaven on the way home,’ Claire said.

‘Yes, of course she is, sweetheart. But first we have to make sure she’s nice and warm.’

Ben yanked his arms away from his mother’s and patted the dog’s head, then bent down and kissed her nose. ‘Bye bye Minty.’

‘Why don’t you go in and see your gran – she can make you your tea.’

‘I don’t want any.’

Jean appeared at the back door and held out her hand. ‘What about a chocolate milkshake?’ She put an arm around his shoulders and steered him back into the house.

When they were safely inside Claire fell into Caroline’s arms. ‘It was horrible, Mum. I didn’t know what to do.’

‘It’s all right love. You did really well, carrying Minty all that way.’ She squeezed Claire tighter.

‘But I was so scared.’ Claire started sobbing again.

‘Of course you were – what you did was very brave. Picking her up when she was so badly injured. Bringing her all the way home.’

Claire pulled away and looked into Caroline’s face. She wiped a sleeve across her streaming nose. ‘I don’t mean that.’

Caroline saw the distress in Claire’s eyes. There was a terror in that look that she’d never seen before. ‘What is it, love?’

‘I was scared… of… the men.’

Caroline felt as if her guts had been wrenched out. She searched Claire’s face and struggled to breathe in, waiting a moment before she could speak, knowing she needed to keep her voice as even and normal as possible. ‘What men, darling?’

‘The two men on the motorbike. It was horrible.’

Caroline’s legs started to shake; she walked Claire to the bench by the back door and sat them both down. She cleared her throat. ‘Where were they, these men?’

‘Outside the school. Ben’s school.’ Claire pushed her fists into her eyes. ‘I can’t stop seeing it, over and over.’

‘Claire…’ Caroline swallowed hard. ‘Did they touch you?’

Claire shook her head, her hands still hiding her face.

‘Look at me, Claire. Did they hurt you?’ She tugged her daughter’s hands from her eyes and grabbed her cheeks, turning her head to face her.

‘No.’

‘Or Ben?’

‘No.’

‘You would tell me, if—’

‘They didn’t touch us!’

‘All right, love – all right.’ The constriction in Caroline’s throat relaxed just a little. ‘Tell me what happened. From the beginning.’

‘But it was so horrible.’

‘I know love, I know.’ She wrapped an arm around Claire’s shoulders, pulling her in close. Her gaze was inevitably drawn back to the uneven shape under the red and green blanket. ‘Tell me what the men were doing at Ben’s school.’

‘I don’t know. They were just sitting on the bike – I wouldn’t have noticed, but it was a really big bike, a red one – and Ben pointed it out to me – you know what he’s like about bikes and cars.’ She swallowed.

‘What did they look like – the men?’

‘They were wearing crash helmets – I couldn’t see their faces… they looked odd.’ Claire sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve again.

‘What do you mean?’

‘They looked too smart to be riding a bike.’ Claire started to shiver. ‘They were wearing suits.’

‘We should go inside.’ Caroline edged forward on the bench, but Claire didn’t budge.

‘No – I want to stay out here.’

‘What happened after that?’

‘They started up the bike and rode away.’

‘They did?’ Caroline closed her eyes for a moment and allowed the air to escape from her lungs.

Claire nodded and wriggled closer to her mother. ‘But then they came back.’

Caroline squeezed Claire even closer.

‘We got as far as the estate when I saw them again. They were driving really fast, coming towards us. I made sure Ben was on the inside of the pavement and we carried on walking. I tried to hold his hand, but he didn’t want to.’ She pushed out her bottom lip. Another sob escaped. ‘They were just a little way from us when the bike swerved onto our side of the street. It got really close and then swerved away again. The man sitting at the back turned round and shouted something.’ Claire looked down at her hands.

‘What did he say, sweetheart?’

‘I don’t know – I couldn’t hear him over the noise of the engine.’ Tears were streaming down Claire’s face now. Caroline tried to wipe them away, but Claire stopped her. ‘Don’t fuss Mum. I’m all right.’

‘I’m sorry!’ Caroline shoved one hand between her knees and squeezed Claire tighter with the other. ‘What happened after that?’

‘We carried on walking. I grabbed Ben’s jacket and dragged him along faster. He had to practically run to keep up with me. He started whining that he was getting tired.’ She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing more tears onto her cheeks. Her chest heaved.

‘It’s OK, baby. Take as long as you need.’

‘That was when we heard Minty. We were probably halfway home by then. Ben heard the barking first. He shouted her name and I told him not to be stupid – it was just some random dog. But then we saw her. Running from the other end of the street. Ben ran towards her. I tried to grab his collar but he wriggled away from me. I ran after him. Then I heard the motorbike again.’ She took a deep breath.

Caroline closed her eyes, imagining what must have happened next.

Bastards.

‘The bike was coming from behind us this time. I ran as fast as I could to get to Ben – he was just about to step into the road. I grabbed his belt and yanked him back onto the kerb.’ Claire took a big gulp of air. ‘Ben opened his arms and shouted to Minty. She ran towards him.’ Claire stopped, unable to control her voice any longer. A sob escaped from her mouth, followed by another and another. Her whole body was shaking.

‘Shhh… it’s all right.’ Caroline tried to pull her closer, but she resisted.

‘I haven’t…’ She snatched another breath. ‘Finished.’ Her chest heaved several times before she could speak again. ‘The sound of the bike got louder – it must have been speeding up – then it flew right past us and smashed into Minty. She bounced up in the air and came crashing down onto the road. She was howling. I grabbed Ben’s arms. I had to stop him running to her. The bike was turning round by then, I could see it was going to come back. I thought they were coming for us.’ Her eyes opened wide, as if she could see the whole scene right in front of her. ‘They ran the motorbike right over Minty. And then—’

‘They did what?’

‘She stopped howling.’ Another sorrowful sob burst out of her mouth. Caroline couldn’t bear to hear any more.

‘That’s enough love.’

‘But I need to tell you. I haven’t finished yet!’

Caroline shook her head, covered her mouth with her free hand.

‘They came right up to us again. I shoved Ben behind me. Then the man on the back shouted, like he did before. He lifted his visor.’

‘Did you see his face?’

Claire shook her head. ‘He was wearing a scarf over his mouth. The thing he said… it didn’t make any sense.’

‘It doesn’t matter what he said, love. It doesn’t matter.’ Caroline stroked her daughter’s hair and kissed the top of her head. Claire pulled away.

‘I have to tell you.’

‘It’s all right – you don’t have to do anything.’

‘He told me I had to.’ She was shouting now.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Tell your mum… he said that… tell your mum…’ Claire sobbed again.

Caroline sucked in a shaky breath. ‘What did he say?’

‘Tell your mum this is just a warning.’