Liz Mistry - Broken Silence

Beyond him, in the lane, Nikki could see he’d parked up his Jag, but had had the good sense to turn it round so it was facing back the way they’d come. The crime scene had prevented through traffic in order to preserve any evidence left by the departing van and as more and more officers came to the scene, the chances of Nikki being able to spin her old Zafira round was getting slimmer. Sajid carried a Tyvek suit, which he was shaking out, ready to put on. He grinned at her and Nikki’s scowl deepened. Of course, he’d had the sense to wear a winter coat and … was that a bloody polo neck? A shiver ran through her. She almost wished she could rip the damn jumper off him and put it on. As the thought crossed her mind, her fingers lifted to the rough scar on her neck and she shuddered. The last thing she would do was wear a polo. Too damn suffocating; a scarf, even loosely draped was bad enough but the very idea of her neck being enclosed was claustrophobic. Her own Tyvek suit offered little warmth in addition to her leather jacket and she had the distinct feeling of dampness in her socks – had her DMs finally given up the ghost and developed a hole in the sole? Just what she needed right now when the leak in her car still wasn’t sorted. ‘Wish they’d hurry up. I need to get in there.’

Ignoring her tetchy tone, Sajid pulled his suit up over his jeans, tucked his – probably cashmere – coat in and inserted his arms in the sleeve. ‘Heard it’s Springer.’

Nikki nodded. ‘Yep. The call came in from Springer. Seems like she was on her way back from that Community Liaison Conference in Wakefield and took a detour to avoid traffic …’

Sajid moved closer to the demarcation tape, eyes scanning the scene. ‘That blood by the driver’s door’s a bit ominous.’

‘You don’t say.’ Nikki’s tone was snippy. Saj was only articulating what she’d been thinking, but it irked her. She was cold, pissed off and eager to get on. ‘Blood, yes, but the fact that she’s been removed from the scene might be a good thing. The fact they’ve taken her might mean she’s still alive.’ Well, that’s what Nikki hoped anyway.

‘What do you make of her saying she saw a hand and then an arm sticking out from the taillight?’

‘Don’t know … but the fact that she’s been lifted makes that seem even more ominous.’ Wrapping her arms round her upper body, Nikki focused her gaze on the scene, ignoring the glance Saj sent in her direction. There was no love lost between her and The Spaniel, but that wouldn’t stop her doing her best to find her.

A commotion near the outer cordon had both her and Saj spinning round.

Voice low, Saj exhaled. ‘Shit, it must be bad if Archie’s here.’

Nikki moved forward to meet her boss. DCI Archie Hegley was a large man, with a brusque Scottish tone and right now, his bulbous face was bright red and his breath came in quick pants sending off little puffs of vapour as he thudded over. ‘Parekh, this is a bloody mind fuck. Right got ma proverbials in a lather, this has. Now, I ken you dinnae get on with Springer, but you need to put that behind you. We’ve got to find her … find out what the hell is going on.’

Oh yeah … I’m just supposed to forget that she accused me of killing my husband, as if all she did was swipe a sweet from me. She snorted but on seeing Archie’s glare, tried to turn it into a cough. ‘Yes, sir. Course, sir’.

She lowered her head. She’d heard the tape of Springer’s call to the emergency switchboard and although she disliked the woman, she could clearly hear her puzzlement at what she was seeing. Nikki gave her bonus points for following the vehicle. It’s exactly what she would have done herself, yet she would have put money on it that Springer would have pulled into the side of the road and waited for back-up. Maybe the woman wasn’t quite as much of an arse as Nikki thought she was.

Archie was speaking again, his voice loud, harsh against the mumbles of the CSIs working the screen, causing them to look over. ‘Get to get to the bottom of this, Parekh. Right! They not done yet?’ He glowered over the inner cordon tape and Nikki thought for a moment that he was going to burst through the tape. Instead, he took a step back and exhaled. His entire body seemed to deflate like a burst balloon. He raked his fingers through his hair and cleared his throat. ‘Did something awful tae her at the weekend at the conference.’

Nikki and Sajid exchanged glances and waited. What the hell could he have done that was so bad? Archie Hegley was a straight shooter, but he was fair. Not often he was nasty for the sake of being nasty. Nikki nudged Saj and nodded towards their boss. Saj was better at dealing with the emotions side of stuff. With an exaggerated, but silent sigh, Saj shook his head and stepped forward. ‘Weren’t you leading one of the sessions, sir?’

‘Yep, that I was, Malik … that I was.’ He glanced up, his eyes lasering Sajid. Nikki shuffled her feet in the snow, feeling more dampness soak into her socks.

‘I was a bastard to that woman. Told her she needed tae show a bit of guts.’ His gaze moved from Sajid to Nikki. ‘Told her she needed tae be a bit mair like you.’

Ah! Nikki got it. Archie was wondering if Springer had only followed the van because of his harsh words … inside Nikki wondered if he was right. Had his casting her up to Springer been what had sent her off acting unpredictably? Voice calm, she looked at Archie. ‘Well, we’ll just have to find Springer then, won’t we?’

‘Felicity … that’s her name. Felicity!’

Felicity? She hadn’t known that. She’d never really thought of her as having a first name. Of course, she knew she must have, everyone did, but Nikki just hadn’t given it any thought and if she had, she’d have thought it might be something tough like Hilda or Eva – as in Braun or maybe like the big boss, who was cold to the point of iceberg.

She held her boss’s stare until they were interrupted by a yell from Fells. ‘Right, you lot. We’ve done all we can for now. Get your freezing arses over here and we’ll walk you through what we’ve got. Stick to the treads though.’

Yanking her gaze away from Archie’s, Nikki smiled a tight smile and squeezed his arm once. ‘Get back to Trafalgar House and get things sorted at that end, boss. Saj and I have this.’

‘Yeah, I’ve ordered the police helicopter out. It’ll be up soon and maybe they’ll find something.’ Pausing, he bit his lip. ‘Soon as yer done here, Parekh, I want you wi’ me when I speak tae her family.’

Family? The Spaniel? Really? Nikki bit her lip as shame washed over her. The woman had been abducted, was clearly injured, possibly dead and she was behaving like a witch. ‘Better if Saj goes with you, Archie. He’s more … you know … touchy-feely than me.’

She ignored her partner’s mumbled, ‘That wouldn’t be hard.’

‘Not that I couldn’t do it, you know, but …’

Archie cut her off. ‘I asked you, damn it, Parekh. For once in your bloody life just do as yer told, will you?’ and not waiting for her response he stormed off, coat wafting behind him in the slight breeze that had started.

When Saj snorted, Nikki rammed her elbow into his side. ‘Shut up … just shut up.’

She watched Archie trundle back to his vehicle, before ducking under the tape with Saj to approach Gracie Fells, who was standing beside Springer’s car. As soon as Nikki crouched to peer inside the vehicle, she could smell the lingering cordite in the air and her eyes were drawn to the driver’s seat. She flicked a glance at the CSI. ‘Gunshot?’

The CSI nodded. ‘Yes, difficult to estimate where she was hit because of the impact, but if she was sitting upright in the seat, chances are, it went straight through her chest or possibly her shoulder.’