Stranger Child (37 page)

‘You’re a shit, Jack. You caused so much pain to so many people.’ The carousel of emotions took another turn and stopped in a different position.

For a moment, there was silence. When Jack spoke, his voice was quiet, controlled.

‘I thought Caroline and Natasha were both dead. I could cope with the scams – just about – but people were getting hurt and I couldn’t be part of that. I had to find a way out. If I hadn’t died, Guy would have set Finn McGuinness on me, and if I’d just disappeared he’d have hit on you or Emma, or maybe even Lucy, to flush me out. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to screw him, and finally it’s payback time. Why else would I risk everything to be here now?’

Tom couldn’t think of anything to say, but he didn’t want Jack to go – to lose connection with him.

‘Anyway,’ Jack said, ‘much as I’d love to debate my choices with you, it seems we have a different problem. Green says Guy’s got Emma’s baby. I never thought he’d try that trick again.’

‘Ollie was the only card he had left to play. He’d offered to return Natasha to David some time ago in return for his help. He refused to play ball.’

‘He always was a twat.’

‘Twat or not, he’s been badly beaten up and Natasha’s missing. They must have pulled her out when they were beating the crap out of David. And they’ve found out Emma’s been helping us. She’s in a car with McGuinness now.’

‘
Shit
.’ One word, but to Tom it conveyed a wealth of emotion.

Tom wanted to hang up. He wanted to tell his brother to go to hell. He wanted to sit here and listen to his voice. He didn’t really know what he wanted or how he felt. The one thing he knew for certain, though, was that Jack knew this gang better than anybody else, and Emma needed help.

‘How did you know this was going to happen, Jack – what Guy was planning?’

‘Because I’ve been watching him. I’ve followed Guy’s every move on the dark web for six years, waiting for a chance to bring him down. I guessed who his target was, and when he was looking for a buyer, I put in a bid.’

A vivid image of Jack, sitting in a lonely dark room in some remote part of the world, glued to computer monitor, waiting to exact his revenge, flashed into Tom’s mind. He pushed it forcefully away.

‘You know these bastards – you were one of them,’ Tom said.

‘Uncalled for, little brother, but you are – of course – correct.’

‘So what do we do now?’

‘I’m going to buy you some time. And you, Tom, have to keep Emma safe.’

The line went dead.

*

Tom put the phone down and closed his eyes for a second. What had just happened? He could scarcely believe it himself.

‘Do you want to tell me what that was all about?’ Paul Green was looking at Tom very carefully.

‘No, not really. Obviously at some point I’ll have to, but for now let’s just get this child found, Emma safe and Guy Bentley arrested. Your guy Blake …’

‘You mean your so-called dead brother Jack?’’

‘… is going to buy us some time.’

‘Did you know he was alive?’ Green asked.

‘Of course not. Did you?’

Tom knew what a stupid question that was. As if Tom would have been allowed to run the operation if they’d had any idea. Fortunately, they were interrupted as one of the sound devices picked up a ringing phone in the cemetery.

‘Hang on,’ Green said. ‘We need to listen to this.’

It was Guy Bentley’s phone. He answered without grace.

‘Yeah,’ he said. There was a pause while the caller spoke.

‘What do you mean, you’ve delayed the payment? On what basis?’

They couldn’t hear what Jack said.

‘Listen, wanker, we agreed a time and a place. We’re here. Where the fuck are you?’

Another moment of silence from Guy.

‘That’s bollocks. She was just the courier. Of course she wasn’t followed – they’d have taken us down by now, wouldn’t they?’

Guy was striding up and down the path, and his words came in highs and lows of volume depending on which way he was facing.

‘I know you could walk away from this deal. But you’re not going to, are you – and yes, if you insist, my gorilla with the gun will put it on the floor and stand on it, if you think that’s entirely necessary. I’ll see you in an hour.’

Guy hung up the phone and stood, hands on hips, gazing around him.

He turned to the other man.

‘I’m not standing out here freezing my balls off for another hour. Besides, that’s too late for this place. We need to find somewhere else. We’ll give him the location when he calls back. He’s not having it all his own way.’

Green turned to Tom and pulled a face that signified a silent groan. Wherever they chose to go now, there would be no chance to set up any surveillance. They had gained time, but lost all other advantages.

64

Tom was striving to force the image of Jack with his shaved head and goatee beard from his mind, but it was a struggle. Had it not been for his brother’s stance and the characteristic stroking of his head when he answered the phone, Tom believed he might well have passed Jack in the street without recognising him. Gone was the long, scruffy ponytail, the unshaven, stubbly cheeks. Only the dazzling light-blue eyes would have given him away.

Jack had bought them an hour to find Ollie and rescue Emma, and they needed to use every second of it.

He called Becky on the radio.

‘We’re moving Julie out of the house now,’ Becky said, her breathing laboured. ‘I’m trying to get her to walk, to bring her round. We need to get clear before McGuinness gets here. But I think we’re making progress. She’s muttering something.’

Tom could hear groans in the background. He heard Becky’s voice.

‘Come on, Julie. Where’s that lovely baby you were looking after?’

Tom heard some slurred speech and then a gasp from Becky.

‘Say that again, Julie,’ she said, her voice harsh and demanding. ‘Shit and bloody more shit.’

Tom waited.

‘Tom, she says she gave Ollie a pill because he wouldn’t stop crying. The pills are Temazepam. I’ve asked her how many and she just shakes her head. Hang on, she’s saying something else.’ There was a pause and he could tell from the ambient sound that they were outside the house, clearly trying to drag, or carry, Julie away in the remaining minutes before her husband returned.

‘She says Mel’s taken the baby. We asked who Mel is and where she’s taken him but we’ve got nothing. She’s being sick now, but she keeps passing out. I don’t remember anybody called Mel in the list Titan gave us, so I’m clueless. We’re bundling her in the back
of one of the vans and getting her out of here. The firearms team are getting into position, melting into the shadows. They’ve told me to wait in my car well out of the way until McGuinness is back and Emma’s safe.’

‘Okay, Becky. Stick with it. We’ll follow Mel up from this end and keep you informed. As soon as you’re finished there I need you to get over to the Josephs’ house. Something has happened to Natasha. I don’t know what, but we need to find the poor kid. Nobody knows where she is, and we don’t want another dead girl on our hands.’

He heard a groan from Becky, but didn’t have time to say more because Paul Green was back on the phone and Tom heard the name Blake again. They must be agreeing the handover point for the money. Tom signalled to him that he wanted to talk to Jack, and when Paul had finished he handed over the phone.

‘Jack – are you actually going to hand over the money to buy this gold?’

‘Not unless I absolutely have to. I can’t risk Guy recognising me. If he knows I’m alive, he won’t rest – even from prison. He believes I’m dead, and it needs to stay that way.’

‘Have you
got
the money?’

‘I had a hidden account, which I cleared out a few months ago. So yes, I’ve got it.’

Tom could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

‘
You
emptied the account? The one in Switzerland? I thought
they’d
found it.’

‘Ah – you found the SD card then. I was hoping you wouldn’t.’

Like the lock that had been drilled in the vault, the pins were one by one dropping into place in Tom’s head and soon he knew he would be able to turn the key to understanding everything. So close.

‘Forget that for now. I want you to think hard, Jack. I need you to think if you have ever heard the name Mel before.’

Tom heard the intake of breath down the line.

‘Keep Mel out of this, Tom. None of this was her fault.’ His voice was harsh, protective.

‘Who is she? Don’t mess with me, brother – she’s got Ollie.’

‘
Jesus
,’ Jack muttered. ‘What the
fuck
did she do that for?’

‘Who is she? Just bloody tell me because Julie’s given Ollie a sleeping tablet to stop him crying.’

‘This just gets worse. Julie always was stupid, but you know who Mel is. You met her twice, and hated her. Mel – you know – Melissa.’

‘Bloody hell – your
lover
? The woman you dumped Emma for is part of this gang? Words fail me, Jack.’ Had he ever known this man, he wondered.

‘You really haven’t got it yet, have you, little brother? Never mind. I can track Mel down. Get me somebody here now with a laptop and a mobile wireless signal – Green knows where I am. The faster you get it to me, the faster I can find Ollie for you.’

Without further explanation, Jack hung up.

*

It had only taken five minutes to get a laptop to Jack, and just a couple of minutes later Tom’s mobile indicated he had a message. An address for Melissa had been sent to his personal email. Jack hadn’t lost his touch, it seemed.

Tom pulled his open laptop towards him. The usual crap was littering his email inbox, but as soon as he saw the name BLAKE he knew which one to open. And there was the address, and a message.

Mel is Guy’s mistress, always has been, so be careful. She’s not dangerous, but Guy’s thugs are, if they’re around. Your best bet is to take Emma. Mel probably won’t hand the baby over to somebody she doesn’t recognise – and she’ll know who Emma is.

Mel’s seen Guy do some horrific things, but she would draw the line at him killing a baby. My guess is that’s why she took Ollie. But it’s
only
a guess. She must have a plan, because Guy will kill her when he finds out. Good luck, little brother.

Tom looked across at the silver commander of the firearms team. He was staring at the monitor showing the McGuinness house in Salford, all quiet, waiting, not a person in sight. But they were there, hiding in the shadows, watching, anticipating the moment when they could take McGuinness down. He could just make out Becky’s car, parked down the street, out of the range of any gunfire.

The minute Emma got into McGuinness’s car the team in the control room had accepted that the planned return of Ollie was never going to happen. They gang hadn’t tried to hide Finn’s identity. They had even used his name, and now – according to the team following the Range Rover – he was taking her to his home. Tom knew that Emma’s fate had been decided long before she arrived at the cemetery.

*

The inside of the Range Rover felt claustrophobic. The air was dead, and Emma thought she could smell her own fear. She had no idea where they were, but all she could think about was Ollie – getting him back, holding him tight.

Finn had spoken to her just once on the journey.

‘The boss tells me you used to be Jack Douglas’s girl.’ He gave a dirty laugh. ‘What goes around comes around, eh? Pity he died.’

Emma frowned. He smiled at her expression and leaned towards her. She could smell stale cigarette smoke on his breath.

‘I was denied the pleasure of killing him myself,’ he said, his face inches from hers.

She turned away in disgust, and he laughed again. What did he mean? How did he know Jack? She couldn’t afford to give Jack any head space now, though. She was going to get Ollie. Her breathing became fast and shallow as her excitement grew. It wouldn’t be long now.

They had left the motorway behind; on Finn’s instructions Emma turned down a wide avenue with houses set well back from the road.

‘Turn left ahead, then third drive on the right. Let’s see if Julie has kept your baby safe. You’d better hope she hasn’t got herself pissed and dropped the little bugger on his head.’ He cackled, but Emma was no longer listening.

Julie?
That was the name of the woman Tom thought had Ollie – but he’d said they hadn’t found him. What would Finn do if he got home and Ollie wasn’t there? Emma had no idea, but she felt her thrill of anticipation at getting Ollie back disintegrate, shattering into tiny fragments.

All of this – everything she had done – was for nothing. She wanted to howl, to scream her misery into the night. Should she warn him – tell him that the police had already checked out Julie and they knew Ollie wasn’t there?

And then from nowhere came the realisation of how it was all going to end. She had heard Finn’s name. She was about to pull into the drive of his home. The boss man had told Finn to ‘save it for later’.

He wasn’t going to let her go.

How had she been so
stupid
? Was this her punishment for involving the police?

It was too late to think of what else she could do, so she turned the wheel of the car, drew up on a narrow drive and switched off the engine.

She needed to get him on her side – make him realise that she was no longer working with the police – do something that would make him trust her.

‘Finn,’ she began.

‘Shut up and get out of the car.’ He dug the tip of his gun into her thigh as if to remind her of its presence then stuffed it into his pocket. Before she could protest, he opened his door and started to get out.

Emma knew she had to say something to him before he made it into the house. She felt she would be safer outside. She pulled on the handle to open the door, ready to chase him up the drive.

‘Finn,’ she shouted. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

Her only hope was that she could reason with him – make him give Ollie back in exchange for her co-operation with the police.

He turned round towards her, his hand flying to the pocket of his jacket.