A Tangled Web Read online

  Because she knew he’d be out there, somewhere, hunting for her. There was no way he’d let her just walk out like that. He’d warned her several times about leaving, and what he’d do to her if she tried.

  She just hoped Lily would be okay.

  But it wasn’t just Jacob she had to worry about. Vassili and his bitch of a girlfriend, Yana, wouldn’t be happy either, and in some ways, they were more dangerous than Jacob. But he knew her better, and might somehow guess where she’d gone. So it paid to be careful.

  As night drew in, she’d finally set off through town, making for the large car park on the east side, behind the cinema. She’d agreed to meet there, and hoped she wasn’t being led on.

  She kept her head down and her hood up as she went, her eyes scanning the faces around her in case she saw Jacob, hunting for her.

  It would be the height of irony to get this close to her meeting, this close to what she hoped was her salvation, and have it snatched away. But she couldn’t think like that. She had to press on. She had to hope that this would work out.

  Walking into the car park, she moved to the back, furthest away from the street, and looked around. No one seemed to be there, though, and she found herself alone amidst a scattered collection of cars in the darkness.

  Finding a spot to stand and wait, not too close to any particular car, but away from the roads between the parking spaces, she pulled out her phone and checked her messages.

  She was in the right spot and sighed. Maybe she was being stood up?

  Tapping on her phone again, she brought up her messages and stared at the last conversation she’d had with Lily a couple of days ago before she’d left the house. She’d resisted messaging Lily all day, feeling somehow sure that Jacob would find out.

  She wasn’t supposed to have a phone. Jacob had taken them away a while ago. That hadn’t stopped her and Lily from getting another one each, though, without Jacob and the others knowing.

  She started pacing up and down, staring at her phone and pointedly ignoring the world around her. She didn’t want to see anyone and didn’t want anyone questioning her.

  Keeping to herself and hiding her face had seemed like a good idea, but as it turned out, maybe not. She didn’t see the figure approach and get close. She only became aware of them when they spoke. But by then, it was too late.

  “Miss Olivia Cook?” a voice asked.

  She looked up, just as something struck her across the head, and the world around her turned black.

  2

  Jon leant back in the passenger seat of the police pool car as they sped along roads, the siren wailing across the Surrey countryside as Nathan expertly navigated the roads.

  “Have you heard about that conspiracy theory that the heads of government are reptilian aliens wearing skin masks?”

  “I have,” Nathan replied, guardedly.

  “Do you believe in that one?”

  Nathan smirked. “No, I don’t think so, I’m not crazy.”

  “But, you think there are some secretive cabals influencing governments around the world, right?” Jon had heard the rumours about what Nathan believed.

  “It’s a thing,” Nathan replied with a shrug. “There’s that Skull and Bones group over in the States, right? You’ve heard of them?”

  “Aye, I think so. Rich pricks with delusions of grandeur, right?”

  “I suppose so. Then there’s the Freemasons and others too. I don’t know how much sway they have over government policy, but these kinds of clubs have been around for years. But, as for lizards in human skins? I don’t think so.”

  “It all just sounds bat-shit crazy to me,” Jon replied and could see why he’d picked up the nickname Fox from some of his former colleagues.

  “Although,” Nathan continued, “have you met Assistant Chief Constable Ward yet? Now, if ever there was an alien posing as a human, he’d be it.”

  Jon smirked. “I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful sounding human being.”

  “Well, when you do, you might revisit your idea of what’s human and what’s not.”

  “You’re not a fan, I take it?”

  “He’s just a bloody stick in the mud. One of those who didn’t put in the time in the trenches. He came straight into the police as a superintendent.”

  “Direct Entry,” Jon muttered, aware of the program.

  “Yep. He’s one of them.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m sure he’s not that bad,” Jon replied, feeling like he should defend his superior, even though he’d never met the man. He’d run across several officers that had walked into positions of power. While they did bring some valuable experience from outside into the service, they also hadn’t spent time in the trenches, which sometimes led to issues, not least of which were conflicts of interest.

  “Hmm. So, are you ready for tomorrow then, Loxley?” Nathan asked.

  With a raised eyebrow at the nickname Nathan had given him, he looked over. Jon shrugged, doing his best to seem unconcerned that it had been over two weeks since he’d last seen Kate. “Aye. It’ll be good to have her back.”

  “It will. I wonder how her finger’s holding up?”

  “The doctors seemed to think she’d make a full recovery when I last spoke to them. Still, I’ll be sure to take the piss whenever the opportunity arises.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Nathan replied with a smile. “That’s good, though. We can’t have an officer with a gammy pinky.”

  “I’m sure Barry the Finger will be fine. She’s been signed off as fit for duty.”

  “You’ll never be in her good books calling her that.”

  “She knows it’s a sign of affection.”

  “Is that right? You’re looking forward to seeing her again then?”

  He was. After everything they’d been through with the Abban case, and the ordeal she’d suffered, it felt like he had a kind of connection with her.

  Then there was the night they’d spent together, and her subsequent request to slow things down. He wondered what that meant for him?

  For them?

  They’d barely spoken for the last few weeks. She’d been staying with her parents while she recovered, and he’d respected her boundaries. They’d spoken briefly on the phone, swapped some messages, but he’d made a point of not talking about what had happened between them. She needed time and space, and he made sure she had it.

  He didn’t blame Kate for that, not after what had happened. She needed to get away, and she needed familiarity. She needed her family.

  He and the rest of the team would only serve as reminders about that last case, something she didn’t need while she recovered.

  But she was coming back tomorrow, and he couldn’t deny that he was looking forward to seeing her again. It felt like it had been an age since he’d visited her in the hospital.

  “Aye, of course,” he replied. The team didn’t feel complete without her.

  “She’s a good detective,” Nathan agreed, and then leant in closer to him. “But don’t tell her I said that.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. She’d only get a big head. So, what do you think we’ll find when we get there?”

  “It’s a kidnapping, right?”

  “Hostage situation,” Jon clarified. “Some guy thinks his wife’s been cheating on him and has them at gunpoint.”

  “Gunpoint? Christ, this isn’t America.”

  “And yet, some days, it feels more and more like it.”

  “I can do without that. So, who’s going to be on-site?” Nathan asked.

  “There’s already a team there, including some armed officers. We’re there to mop up afterwards. I doubt this will take much investigation, though.”

  “Probably not. I’d like to say we’ll find the situation resolved and the hostages alive, but I don’t feel optimistic.”

  “That’s the problem with you soft southern pansies, you need to lighten up and be a bit more positive.”

  “Piss off,” Nathan
protested with a smile. “I’m a positive person, despite what this job does to you, you northern gorilla.”

  “And yet, whenever I walk down the street and say hi to people I pass, you know, like a normal, friendly human being, I get dirty looks half the time.”

  “They’re probably surprised to see the local zoo is holding open days and letting the animals out to wander the streets.”

  “I’m a gentle pussy cat,” Jon protested, with a slight grin at his retort.

  “You got it half right,” Nathan quipped as they rounded the corner into the council estate, and saw the collection of police vehicles that had gathered in the street.

  A wide cordon had been set up with the locals kept well away. A couple of the officers on duty let their car through the white and blue tape, and Nathan pulled up a short distance beyond it. Jon climbed out in time to see a team of armed officers run for the house up ahead.

  “Looks like they’re headed inside,” Nathan stated.

  “Nothing gets past you, does it, Fox?”

  “Eyes like a hawk,” Nathan agreed.

  “Oh well, looks like we’ll miss the fun,” Jon stated as he approached the scene. As they walked, a uniformed officer turned to one of the others.

  “The dicks are here,” Jon heard him say.

  The other officer, an inspector by the rank on his uniform, turned and then approached.

  “Detectives?”

  “Aye, we’re the dicks,” Jon replied, deadpan. “DCI Pilgrim and DI Halliwell.”

  “Good to have you,” the Inspector replied, ignoring his quip. “We’ve just heard gunshots, so we’re moving in. We’ll get you in once it’s all secure.”

  Jon nodded and stood back, letting the team finish their operation. Taking over now would only confuse matters at a sensitive moment.

  But it wasn’t long before the hostage-taker was subdued. Not long after, the all-clear was called, allowing them to move into the house and look over the scene.

  Jon stood in the doorway to the back bedroom and surveyed the bloodbath that it contained. Two bodies lay sprawled on the floor, their blood soaked into the carpet and splattered up the wall. He felt intensely sorry for the ordeal they’d been put through, especially the child. That was no way to go, especially not at the hands of their father.

  Turning away, he walked into the front bedroom where several armed officers stood guard over the man who’d caused all this death and destruction. He wore only trousers and lay on his front on the floor, his hands cuffed behind his back. The man glanced up at Jon, his blood-covered face scowling.

  “Killed his wife and kid,” Jon said to Nathan, standing nearby.

  “Yep,” Nathan replied. “Makes me sick. Sometimes I think I don’t understand this world anymore.”

  “I’ve not understood it for a long time,” Jon replied, thinking of his murdered girlfriend, Charlotte. “At least this should be a fairly open and shut case, and we can move onto something else. We know who did it, after all.”

  “She deserved it,” the man on the floor spat.

  “Oi, shut it, you,” one of the armed officers said, and gave the man a nudge with his boot.

  “No, you shut up,” the killer replied. “I loved her, but she shouldn’t have treated me like shit.”

  “Yeah, look at all that love splattered around that bedroom,” Jon replied.

  The killer grunted and looked away. “She deserved it.”

  “I doubt that, very much,” Jon answered, done with him. He turned to the nearby officers. “Get him out of here.”

  “One of the men nodded and set his men on picking the guy up, when Jon noticed movement at the door. He looked up to see a figure step into view. She wore a fitted suit and had her auburn hair tied back in a ponytail.

  “Kate?” Jon exclaimed, shocked. “Aye up, lass, what you doing back here?”

  “Hey,” she replied brightly. “I leave you guys alone for a few weeks, and you’re already out here playing with guns?”

  Jon smiled at her comment, only for a scuffle to occur to his right. He turned in time to be shoulder-barged by the killer who’d taken advantage of the distraction Kate had caused and slipped out of the grip of the two officers handling him.

  He ran for the door.

  “Hey,” Kate shouted, launching herself at him.

  She tackled him around the waist and knocked him flat on the floor, by which time Jon was back on him, restraining him with some of the other officers.

  “No you don’t, sunshine,” Jon said as he helped hold the man down while they called for some extra hands.

  He looked back up at Kate. “I bet you missed this, didn’t you?”

  “Oh yes, nothing starts the day off better than a coffee and a quick rugby tackle.”

  “With moves like that, you should join a women’s team.”

  “Women’s?” Nathan said from the other side of the killer, holding the man’s leg down. “She’d flatten half the men’s side with that tackle.”

  “I suppose it would mean I get my hands on some sportsmen,” she replied, pulling a quizzical, but approving face.

  “I knew you’d find the positives in it,” Jon answered.

  “Oh, you know me, I’m a glass-half-full kind of girl.”

  “That’d be a wine glass, right?”

  She smirked and nodded as a few more officers walked into the room and took the killer away. Nathan followed them out, leaving Jon alone with Kate in the front bedroom. He watched Nathan go and then turned to her.

  “So, how are you?”

  “I’m okay,” she replied with a smile, her dusky eyes twinkling. “Much better now, thank you.”

  “And the finger?”

  Holding it up, Jon noted she wore a protective cover that wrapped around her wrist and came up over her little finger, which she curled and straightened for him, demonstrating her range of movement. “It’s basically fine and healing well. The doctors are pleased with my progress.”

  “I doubt they’d be happy with you single-handedly tackling suspects, though.”

  “That’s cute of you, Jon, but I’m fine.”

  “Good. I’ve er… I’ve missed having you around.”

  She nodded. “I’ve missed being here. So, um, how about we get something to eat later?”

  He couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face at her suggestion. “That sounds great.”

  “Jon,” Nathan called back up the stairs. “The press is here, they want a statement.”

  “Arse.”

  3

  “I’m sorry to say that the situation here today resulted in the deaths of both hostages at the hands of the man responsible. We won’t be releasing their names at this time to give their families some privacy, but please rest assured that the man responsible is now in custody. I won’t be taking any questions at this time, but further details will be released in due course. Thank you.”

  Sydney shifted her position in the chair, crossing her legs as she watched the news on the large TV, and the rather yummy police detective who was giving the press conference.

  She smiled as she watched the rest of the news report with the anchor talking about the hostage situation that had played out this afternoon. It was nice to have a little bit of drama on an otherwise slow day.

  As she sat pondering the future, Blake strode into the room, his eyes shooting daggers at her as he passed. He walked up to the TV and turned it off with a violent jab of his finger, before he stood up straight, and looked back at her.

  “Good morning, Blake. It’s another beautiful day,” she said.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do. Don’t you agree?”

  “With you? Never. What are you doing today? Lounging around, making the place look untidy, as usual? Or will be you spending Russell’s money, again?”

  “What I do with my time, is none of your business, Blake,” she replied, narrowing her eyes as she looked up at him. Blake was a mountain of a man, and quite intimidating to m
ost people. But then, she wasn’t most people.

  He was probably used to people being wary of him and doing as he asked, but she wasn’t about to give him that satisfaction. Instead, she enjoyed defying him and showing him just how unimpressed she was by him.

  He’d never lay a finger on her of course, and if he did, he’d live to regret it. Besides, Russell would never stand for such behaviour.

  He knew that and so did she, and it frustrated him endlessly.

  “It’s always my business, Sydney. Anything that affects Russell is my business, and that includes you.”

  “Have I done something wrong?”

  “Not yet, but I’ll be there when you do, you can count on that.”

  “Be sure to tell me when that moment arrives, I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

  “Oh, you won’t. You’re just another harlot interested in one thing only. I know your kind.”

  “That’s really not very nice, Blake. Russell and I are very much in love. Surely, as his personal bodyguard, you can see that.”

  “There’s a difference between infatuation, and love, Sydney. You’re just the flavour of the month, that’s all. Don’t get comfortable.”

  “A month? That’s a little pessimistic of you.”

  Blake narrowed his eyes and looked like he was chewing on a brick for a moment when she heard movement behind her.

  “Morning Blake. I hope you’re being nice to Syd.”

  “Good morning Mr Hodges. Yes, we were just discussing the weather.”

  “Of course you were,” Russell replied, clearly unconvinced as he walked around the sofa, coming into view. Russell was a slim, handsome man in his ten-thousand-pound tailored suit and short dark hair. He leant in and kissed her briefly, placing his hand on her knee as he did so, giving it a squeeze. “Good morning, babe.”

  She smiled back at him. “Hey yourself.”

  Straightening up, he smiled down at her. “I hope Blake isn’t bugging you.”

  “Oh no, he’s just a big soft pussy cat,” she replied, turning her smile towards Blake. “Aren’t you, Blake?”

  He turned away from her and focused on Russell. “Everything is ready for your day, sir. The car is fuelled and waiting for you.”