Jack Slater - Nowhere to Run

A missing child. A dead body. A killer on the loose.

Returning to Exeter CID after his son’s unsolved disappearance Detective Sergeant Peter Gayle’s first day back was supposed to be gentle. Until a young girl is reported missing and the clock begins to tick.

Rosie Whitlock has been abducted from outside her school that morning. There are no clues, but Peter isn’t letting another child disappear.

When the body of another young victim appears, the hunt escalates. Someone is abducting young girls and now they have a murderer on their hands. Time is running out for Rosie, but when evidence case relating to his own son’s disappearance is discovered the stakes are even higher…

Nowhere to Run

Jack Slater

JACK SLATER

Raised in a farming family in Northamptonshire, England, the author had a varied career before settling in biomedical science. He has worked in farming, forestry, factories and shops as well as spending five years as a service engineer.

Widowed by cancer at 33, he recently remarried in the Channel Islands, where he worked for several months through the summer of 2012.

He has been writing since childhood, in both fiction and non-fiction. Nowhere to Run is his first crime novel and the first in the series of the DS Peter Gayle mysteries.

It is often said that, although writing is a solitary pursuit, it cannot be done in isolation and this book, more than any other I have written, has proved this for me. There are several people who I must thank for their help and advice. Kathy Gale put me on the right path. The front-desk staff at Heavitree Road police station, Exeter and Banbury police station in Oxfordshire were incredibly helpful. Rick and Christine Ell added some much-needed inside knowledge. Fellow author and former police officer David Hodges selflessly answered several technical questions. Rhea Kurien and Victoria Oundjian of Harper Collins saw the potential in my rough manuscript. And last but most definitely not least, my wife, Prunella, whose contributions are too many to list – she says!

For Pru – my wife, my best friend, my partner in crime (fiction) and so much more.

Contents

Cover

Blurb A missing child. A dead body. A killer on the loose. Returning to Exeter CID after his son’s unsolved disappearance Detective Sergeant Peter Gayle’s first day back was supposed to be gentle. Until a young girl is reported missing and the clock begins to tick. Rosie Whitlock has been abducted from outside her school that morning. There are no clues, but Peter isn’t letting another child disappear. When the body of another young victim appears, the hunt escalates. Someone is abducting young girls and now they have a murderer on their hands. Time is running out for Rosie, but when evidence case relating to his own son’s disappearance is discovered the stakes are even higher…

Title Page Nowhere to Run Jack Slater

Author Bio JACK SLATER Raised in a farming family in Northamptonshire, England, the author had a varied career before settling in biomedical science. He has worked in farming, forestry, factories and shops as well as spending five years as a service engineer. Widowed by cancer at 33, he recently remarried in the Channel Islands, where he worked for several months through the summer of 2012. He has been writing since childhood, in both fiction and non-fiction. Nowhere to Run is his first crime novel and the first in the series of the DS Peter Gayle mysteries.

Acknowledgement It is often said that, although writing is a solitary pursuit, it cannot be done in isolation and this book, more than any other I have written, has proved this for me. There are several people who I must thank for their help and advice. Kathy Gale put me on the right path. The front-desk staff at Heavitree Road police station, Exeter and Banbury police station in Oxfordshire were incredibly helpful. Rick and Christine Ell added some much-needed inside knowledge. Fellow author and former police officer David Hodges selflessly answered several technical questions. Rhea Kurien and Victoria Oundjian of Harper Collins saw the potential in my rough manuscript. And last but most definitely not least, my wife, Prunella, whose contributions are too many to list – she says!

Dedication For Pru – my wife, my best friend, my partner in crime (fiction) and so much more.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Copyright

Lauren strained with aching fingers to get purchase on the knot, but all she managed to do was force it tighter around her already sore wrists.

She was breathing hard, heart fluttering in her chest as she struggled to escape. She closed her eyes in concentration. She could feel every strand of the tough braided nylon. It was rubbing her skin raw, but she had to keep trying. Had to get loose. Had to get away before he came back.

In her ten troubled years she had dealt with all sorts of men, but none like this one. She had heard stories of perverts and child-molesters, had even met a couple, not that she’d known at the time, but this guy – he was more than that. He’d kill her. It was there in his eyes when he looked at her. He’d do what he wanted with her, then . . .

A sob escaped through the gag that was tied across her mouth as her fingers slipped off the rope yet again. She didn’t have the strength for this.

*

Pete Gayle stepped into the Exeter CID squad room and a hearty cheer went up. He paused in the doorway, grinning. Glancing around the big, open-plan office, he saw that the noise was being made by a pitifully sparse crew. The place was almost empty, just his own team there, but they were certainly making up in volume what they lacked in numbers.

A bunch of helium balloons shot up over his desk, bright and multicoloured, on strings that held them about halfway to the ceiling. Two of his three DCs stood up, stretching a ‘Welcome Back’ banner between them.

He stepped forward and took a bow to enthusiastic applause.

‘Welcome back, boss.’

‘Good to see you, Sarge.’ Grey-suited and grey-haired Dick Feeney threw him a salute with his free hand, the bright colours around him emphasising his colourless appearance.

‘About time, too.’ That was Dave Miles, at the other end of the banner from Dick.

Pete raised his arms. ‘Thank you, fans. Thank you very much.’ He headed towards them.

Clustered in the far front corner of the big office, his team consisted of Detective Constables Dave Miles, Dick Feeney and Jane Bennett and PCs Ben Myers and Jill Evans.

Dick and Dave pushed the banner onto a couple of pieces of Blu-tack on the wall behind them.

‘Nice to be back, boss?’ Dave gave him a lopsided grin. Long and lanky, he was dressed in dark trousers and an open-necked white shirt with a waistcoat over it, his dark hair neatly combed.

‘I wouldn’t know. I haven’t even got to my desk yet.’

‘It’s good to see you, Sarge,’ Jill said. Small, slender, dark and immaculate as always, Jill had been a caring but firm PC on the beat and had joined his team two and a half years ago, after impressing him on a case involving a homeless guy whose girlfriend had been raped and murdered. He had looked good for it, with no alibi and a history of drug abuse, but Jill had finally proved that he couldn’t have done it and supported him through the process of finding out who had.