Alex Barclay - Harm's Reach

‘How did anyone even get in there?’ said Ren.

‘Two of the fence posts were gone,’ said Kohler. ‘I’m guessing someone squeezed through there... that’s the only place I could think of.’

‘If it wasn’t so inaccessible, I’d say this has Delores Ward written all over it,’ said Ren. ‘She has the look of a grave-tidier about her.’

‘A grave-tidier,’ said Kohler. He turned to Janine. ‘Where do you get these people from?’

‘I drug her up,’ said Janine.

‘To the eyeballs,’ said Ren. She looked at the plans again. ‘How big is this cemetery?’

‘Not big,’ said Kohler. ‘It’s got about twenty plots. It was more a private resting place for the staff at the abbey — well, the nuns, I guess. But apparently, they were kind enough to take in some of the ladies of the night from the surrounding towns too... the types that no one wanted poisoning their good Christian earth.’

‘Well, thank you, Kohler, that was suitably creepy,’ said Ren.

‘And thank you for the litter drive,’ said Kohler. ‘Heads will roll.’

‘Oh,’ said Ren, ‘did you find twenty-five thousand dollars in Laura Flynn’s checking account?’

‘Twenty-seven,’ said Kohler. ‘And five in a savings account. The twenty-five in the checking account was a lump sum that came from Robert Prince’s personal account.’

‘That was the first surrogacy payment,’ said Ren.

Ren and Janine walked down the hallway. ‘OK, I shall take my leave,’ said Ren. ‘Mr Rader is back. I need to get the hell out of the office at five.’

Ben Rader didn’t look like an FBI agent. He looked like he trashed stages with a guitar, that beneath his clothes he was tattooed and pierced. As an undercover agent, he had been the perfect chameleon, because his looks could be dirtied up and his charm was never far from the surface.

He walked in the door of Annie’s house when Ren opened it, dropped his bag, slid his arm around her back, and kissed her as he pushed her to the end of the hall and against the wall.

You are the sexiest man alive.

‘Hi,’ he said. He stared into her eyes.

He does this in real life.

‘Hello, there,’ said Ren.

‘I like this,’ he said, touching the small black bows on her shoulder strap, running his hand down the black corset. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘it unhooks here... at the front.’ He started at the bottom and popped the clasps achingly slowly, without dropping his gaze until it had fallen to the floor.

‘Hello to you too,’ he said. ‘I have missed you.’

‘They’ve missed you too,’ said Ren.

‘Well, they’re getting an extra three days with me,’ he said. ‘I did a switcheroo.’

‘Get nekkid.’

Ren drove into Safe Streets Monday morning.

It’s nice to have Ben Rader back.

Very nice.

Too nice.

It will end.

Stop.

He is incredible .

I will make the most of the incredible sex.

Before it all ends.

Because it will end.

That’s the credible part.

Shut.................................... Up.

Ren released a breath she was unaware she’d been holding.

Discontentment is a scourge.

She started to think about Laura Flynn and whether she had ever had a sense of contentment in her life. Her family life was tough, her parents died, her sister died, then she was left alone in a strange city. Ren wondered if the Princes had put Laura under any pressure to be their surrogate. Did they feel she owed them because they had taken her in? Did she feel she owed them? Or was it as simple as they chose her because she was a young, healthy employee who they trusted and who trusted them?

Could a couple entrust the most precious of life to someone... and something change so drastically they would later have her killed?

What if something had shown up in the baby scans? The baby was healthy according to Dr Tolman. But what if for some reason the Princes thought there was a problem?

Ren called Dr Tolman.

‘Barry, it’s Ren. I know you said the fetus was viable, so I was wondering is there a possibility that a fetal abnormality might have shown up erroneously on a scan of the Flynn baby? Like, could a scan be misinterpreted easily? When would the last scan have happened?’

‘Probably at twenty weeks,’ said Tolman.

‘And what’s the twenty-week scan?’ said Ren.

‘Well, it checks fluid levels, organ and bone development. They take a lot of measurements, give the gender if they can and if the parents want to know.’

‘So it would show up any problems with the baby...’ said Ren. ‘And is there a chance that an error could be made?’

‘I would imagine this couple and their surrogate were getting the highest level of treatment with the most advanced technology and experienced staff. I don’t think a mistake was likely. I couldn’t say for definite, obviously.’

‘OK,’ said Ren.

‘There is the possibility that your surrogate saw a 3D image of the very healthy baby inside her and wanted to keep it for herself...’

Maybe with no one left in her family, and a succession of crappy boyfriends, she found a different way to create a family...

Safe Streets was slowly coming to life when Ren arrived in. As she sat at her desk, the phone started to ring. She picked up.

‘Hello, is this Special Agent Ren Bryce?’ It was a woman’s voice, an English accent.

‘Yes,’ said Ren.

‘Are you dealing with the Laura Flynn murder investigation?’

‘Yes,’ said Ren.

‘I... might have some information. I don’t know if it means anything, but I thought I’d let you know. My name is Simone Spencer, I’m friends with the Princes. Laura’s sister, Saoirse, used to be our nanny.’

‘Oh,’ said Ren. ‘OK. What can I help you with?’

‘I wanted to let you know that I found some strange internet searches on my computer,’ said Simone. ‘Sometimes, Laura called by to use it. I came across a search from back in February... about second-trimester abortions.’

WTF? ‘And are you sure it was Laura who searched for that?’

‘Well, I’m not sure, no... I just know that Laura used the computer and... she’s the only person I know who’s pregnant. The searches were deleted, but my husband discovered by accident that the computer automatically captures page views and stores them. He was looking for something else and he found a record of these searches.’

‘Were there others?’ said Ren.

‘Just about what states carry them out,’ said Simone. ‘It’s illegal here in New York, but not in Colorado. Where Laura was found... there’s a clinic within about fifty miles of there. It’s called The Stoneford Clinic. She had looked through their site.’

‘Thank you for this information,’ said Ren. ‘Simone, were you friends with Laura?’

‘I would like to think so, yes,’ said Simone. ‘I was very fond of her, as I was of Saoirse.’

‘Did she mention anything to you about a termination?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Simone. ‘Obviously, she may have been looking it up for a different reason or... I’m not sure. I know that she was having this baby for Ingrid and Robert... to help them. That was the kind of girl she was.’

‘Did Laura use your computer a lot?’ said Ren.

‘Now and then,’ said Simone. ‘But usually just if she was up to something sweet, like buying a surprise birthday gift or printing off a special recipe. I mean, Ingrid would do the same for Robert’s birthday or whatever.’

‘Did Robert monitor their internet searches?’ said Ren. ‘Could they not have just deleted the history on Ingrid’s laptop?’