Guaranteed Justice (17 page)

Lorne smiled and nodded at the pretty brunette nurse who had been put in charge of her dad. “I feel it. Not sure about Jade. You’ll ring us as soon as he wakes up?”

“Of course. Don’t worry; he’s in good hands. Leave your number at reception on your way out, if you would.”

After leaving her number, Lorne stepped out into the chilly night air and walked Jade to her car. Her sister had barely said two words to her since arriving at the hospital, and she couldn’t help wondering if Jade wasn’t blaming her for her father’s illness.

Lorne decided it wasn’t the time to have it out with her. She waved her sister off and sought out her own vehicle, scanning all around her, alert and ready for a possible attack.

On the drive home, her stomach groaned, crying out for the meal she had missed. She stopped at the local chip shop and then rushed home to share the fish supper with Tony. Neither of them had much of an appetite, and they both picked at the meal.

Halfway through their dinner, the house phone rang. Lorne answered it. “Hello?” she asked anxiously, expecting the call to be from the hospital.

“Lorne, how lovely to hear your voice.”

She wracked her brain, trying to figure out where she had heard the familiar voice before. Then she remembered what Tony had said earlier in the day, and it dawned on her who the mystery caller had to be. “Carol. How have you been? Long time, no hear.”

“Ah, you remembered. I’m as well as can be expected, I suppose. I dropped by earlier and chatted with your husband. Nice man—so much better than your last one. Not that I met him, of course. But I can tell you two are much better suited.”

Lorne chuckled, and Tony frowned at her. She mouthed at him, “I’ll tell you later.”

She turned her attention back to Carol, “Tony said you were after another dog. It’s so sad when we lose a beloved pet.”

“Yes, my Totty was the love of my life. I thought this time I would give a homeless dog a new home rather than buy a pedigree. Imagine my surprise when I saw your name on the advert in the local paper. Umm…‌I was sorry to read about your partner a few years back, Lorne. I know he and I never saw eye to eye, but I could tell his heart was in the right place. I read his aura, you know. It was ninety percent good. He idolised you. I think that’s why he acted the way he did towards me—he was trying to protect you.”

Unexpected tears threatened to spill, and Lorne coughed to clear the lump that had formed in her throat. “I still miss him today, Carol.”

“There’s no need, dear. He’s watching over you every hour of the day.”

“That’s good to know. Listen, I’ve had a hectic day. Why don’t you call by and see me tomorrow? I’ll be here all day.”

“That’d be lovely. I’ll pick up a couple of sumptuous cakes from the baker’s up the road and be there about eleven. I didn’t think you’d be able to go to court, with your father so ill. He’ll be all right, dear. It’s God’s way of telling him to slow down. I need to have a chat with you about the case you’re working on, anyway.”

Lorne sat up, intrigued. “That’s reassuring about Dad, thanks, Carol. Umm…‌What can you tell me about the case?”

“All will be revealed tomorrow, dear, over a nice pot of tea and a cream cake. Cheerio for now.”

Lorne hung up and stared at the phone for a long moment before she put it back down on the table beside the sofa. “Well, that was weird.”

“I told you she went weird earlier. What did she say?”

She shrugged. “Not a lot. She said all will be revealed tomorrow.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T
he following morning, Lorne
greeted Carol Lang with a hug. The woman hadn’t changed a bit, apart from the few stray grey hairs streaking through her long black hair. She still wore the long flowing black witchlike outfit she’d worn the first day Lorne had met her in her office at the station.

She showed the woman into the kitchen. Carol placed a cake box on the kitchen table and studied her intently. “You look happier, my dear. I mean, despite all your problems at the moment—which will all blow over, soon enough.”

“Thanks, Carol. I am.” Lorne glanced up at Tony, who was standing in the doorway. “I can thank my husband for that.”

“Indeed. He’s a good man in spite of his questionable past,” Carol said, shaking her head and crinkling her eyes as unwanted images seemed to be running through her mind.

Tony gave Lorne an amused smile and raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘What have I been telling you all these months?’

“All right, Carol. Don’t beef his part up. His head won’t be able to fit through the door soon.”

They all laughed, but then Carol suddenly stopped. “How are the girls holding up, Lorne?”

“By girls, are you talking about the girls concerned with the case we are working on?” The serious expression on the psychic’s face caused Lorne’s heart rate to increase.

“Yes. I’m worried for them. They have gentle, almost angelic souls, but this man has destroyed them in immeasurable ways.” Carol sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

“To be honest, I’m worried about them. The guy involved is a nasty piece of work. I’m so concerned for their well-being that I’ve actually given one of our dogs to the girls to help protect them,” Lorne admitted.

“Blackie is a sweetheart, and he is caring for them well. But it’s not enough. I think you need to keep a close eye on them—a very close eye, just to be on the safe side.”

Lorne and Tony both pulled out a chair and sat on either side of Carol. Lorne asked, “What have you seen, Carol?”

“It’s been a little fuzzy up till now, dear. But I’ve seen enough to know that the girls’ problems aren’t finished. This man needs watching. He’s hatching a plan to get even with the girls.” Carol placed the fingertips of both her hands on her forehead above each eye and fell silent for a nanosecond. “I must tell you, you wouldn’t think to look at him, but he’s an extremely dangerous man. Of course you’re aware of that already, after today’s events. The problem is he has influential people in high places, people who will do everything in their power to get him out of a hole. He’s found himself in countless holes over the years.” She shook her head in disgust.

“I’ll tell the girls to be extra vigilant, then. Crumbs, how do I tell them that without scaring them?”

“Blackie’s presence will help to reassure the girls, but…” Carol drifted off, closed her eyes and started rocking in her chair. “I don’t like the look of this. Ring the girls, Lorne, immediately.”

Lorne looked up at the kitchen clock it was just before eleven. “I can’t. They’ll be in court. Ami is due to give evidence today against Gibson. What is it, Carol?”

“You know I haven’t let you down in the past, Lorne. Trust me when I say that Gibson will get off and he’ll be hell bent on exacting his revenge on the girls for dragging his name through the mud.”

“My God, what will he do? Shit, what can we do to help the girls?”

Carol let out a long shuddering breath. “You’ve done all you can to protect them.” She paused, reached across the table, and clutched Lorne’s hand in her own clammy hand. “I’m sorry, but Blackie is no longer with us.”

Lorne snatched her hand back. “What? What do you mean—that he’s dead, Carol?”

The woman nodded, and tears welled up in her black kohl-rimmed eyes. “The girls have no idea. They’ll go home this evening to find him dead. I’m so sorry.”

Lorne looked over at Tony, who was shaking his head and eyeing Carol sceptically. “Can we get this vision verified first, before we start worrying the girls?” Tony asked.

“It’s true, I tell you; but if you doubt my abilities, by all means, check it out. Can you go to the girls’ flat? While they’re in court, I mean.”

She’d have to live for years with the guilt of placing Blackie in danger. That poor defenceless dog. How anyone could possibly kill a dog sickened and angered Lorne. “I’ll drive over there.” She rose from the table, frantic, and her legs almost gave way beneath her.

Tony stood up and caught her in his arms. “I’m not letting you go anywhere in that state, love.” Turning to Carol, he asked, “Are you positive about this?”

Carol nodded and stood up, too. “As sure as day follows night in the circle of life. If you want to go over there, Lorne, we can go together. I’ll drive you.”

“I have to go, Tony. To see for myself. Would you, Carol? That’d be so kind of you. I’ll need to ring the hospital first to see how Dad is.”

Tony bent to kiss her on the cheek. “Leave the hospital to me. I’ll ring while you get yourself ready.”

“Thanks, hon. Carol, I’ll be ready in five minutes.” With regained strength, Lorne ran out of the room. Upstairs in the bedroom, she changed her clothes for the third time that morning. She put on another set of clean working clothes, thinking that she wouldn’t want to ruin her best jeans if she had cause to climb the fence at the girls’ flat.

•     •     •

Approximately five minutes later,
Lorne and Carol set off.

The midday autumn sun filled the car with warmth. Despite that, Lorne couldn’t prevent the shudders from making her twitch.

“I’m sorry, Lorne,” Carol said quietly.

“I feel so guilty now, for placing Blackie there. All he ever wanted was a home, a decent home he could feel settled in. Now this. I’m not disbelieving you, Carol, but just this once, I hope your vision proves to be wrong.”

Carol let out a long breath. “So do I. Hey, we need to have a chat later about me adopting one of your strays. That was the real reason behind my visit today. I had no idea this was in the cards.”

“Of course. I’m sorry. I’d love you to have one of the dogs. I know it will be well cared for. Actually, I think I have just the dog for you: a Yorkie whose owner had to go in a nursing home. Nelly came in last week. I’ll introduce you when we get back if you like?”

“Another small dog sounds ideal. I wasn’t really after a large dog.” Carol fed the steering wheel through her hands to manoeuvre around the upcoming roundabout.

“One thing is puzzling me, Carol. When you rang last night, you hinted that you wanted to chat about the case. Did you see Blackie’s demise then?”

“Goodness, no! I would’ve told you something like that instantly. No, I mainly wanted to warn you that the girls need to be aware of this man. A word of caution: I’m not sure you should discuss with them what I told you about him being found not guilty. You never know how people will react to news they don’t want to hear.”

“I understand. We’ll keep it between us for now.”

“You know if I can be of any help in the future with any cases, you only have to shout.” Carol glanced sideways at Lorne and smiled the briefest of smiles.

Wow! What an outfit we would be—an ex-DI, an invalid former MI6 agent, a retired ex-DCI, my teenage daughter, and a psychic.

“I’ll bear it in mind. Thanks, Carol.” Lorne pointed ahead of her. “The road we want is the next turning on your left.”

Carol turned into the road and awaited further instructions.

“This is the house.” Before Carol could apply the handbrake, Lorne had leapt out of the car and was bolting down the alley that ran alongside the side of the flat. She searched the fence for a possible weak panel to gain access to the garden. There wasn’t one; all she found was a hole approximately five inches round, too small for anyone to fit through. There was no other option left open to her than to climb the fence.

She moved over to where two of the panels met and joined to a post and pulled herself up on to the top of the fence, where she balanced precariously for a second or two before she dropped down onto the grass on the other side. She ran over to the patio doors.

Peering through the window, she spotted Blackie lying prostrate on the living room floor. His eyes were wide open. There was blood and foamy saliva around his mouth and on the floor close to his head.

Lorne followed her first instinct to knock on the window to see if there was any reaction from the dog. Nothing.

Suspecting he’d been poisoned, Lorne retraced her steps and searched the garden for any incriminating evidence. Finally, by the gap in the fence she’d discovered earlier, she found a few scraps of beef.

“Lorne. Are you there?” Carol called from the other side of the fence.

“Do you have a plastic bag on you, Carol? A carrier bag, anything like that?”

“Yes, I have one in the car. I’ll be right back.” Lorne heard Carol’s footsteps quicken and fade on the concrete path; moments later, she heard them increase again with the woman’s return. Lorne put her hand through the gap and wiggled it. “Here, Carol.”

The bag rustled as Lorne picked up the remnants of what she perceived to have been Blackie’s final meal. Then she scrambled back over the fence, landing safely back on the other side. Holding up the bag, she said, “I think he was poisoned. Any chance you can give me a lift to the station?”

“Sure thing. Jump in. That poor creature; he suffered terribly. I wouldn’t share that with the girls if I were you. They’ll feel as guilty as you do.”

“I can’t help it. He was such a sweetheart. Can you remember the way?”

“I know he was. I think I can remember the way.”

They arrived at the station about half an hour later. Carol remained in the car while Lorne ran inside.

The officer on the front desk greeted her like an old friend. “Ms Simpkins. How nice to see you again.”

“Hello, John. I’m in kind of a hurry. Is DS Katy Foster around?”

He grimaced. “She left about five minutes ago. Can I help at all?”

“What about DCI Roberts—is he here?”

“Just a sec.” He picked up the phone and dialled. “I’ve got DI Simpkins here, sir. She’d like a word with you, if it’s convenient.” He paused, then said, “Righto, sir. I’ll tell her.”

Lorne looked at the desk sergeant hopefully.

He nodded. “He’ll be right down, ma’am…‌I mean, Lorne.”

“Fantastic.” She paced the area until Sean Roberts entered the room.

Everything appeared to stop for a minute or two as they stared at each other as she still felt guilty about walking away from his team.

“Lorne, you’re looking good, girl.” Sarcasm coloured his voice, and his gaze roamed over her unfashionable work clothes.