Fatal Promise: A totally gripping and heart-stopping serial-killer thriller Read online

  Damn him, that’s exactly what had been going on. Tanya had decided that to gain entry to her own room Kim had to pay Tanya the meagre amount of pocket money gifted to them by the state each week. Refusal had earned her a split lip. How the hell had Ted known? Okay, he’d got lucky that time but there were plenty more examples of how she’d played him over the years.

  ‘How about that time I told you I’d spent my last few quid to buy the new jacket you asked me about? I lied. I stole it.’

  ‘You were thirteen and just back from your time with Erica and Keith. The minute you left I called Fairview and advised them not to let you go shopping alone for a while as you were shoplifting.’

  Kim paused. Yeah, they had watched her like a hawk after that.

  ‘So, you see, my dear, there are times you think you’re pulling the wool over my eyes and you’re really not. So, let’s be clear.’

  Kim couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. Not many people were a match for her but even now in his late sixties he gave it a bloody good try.

  He continued. ‘So, you’ve asked for my help and this is how it’s going to work. We’ll talk a bit. I’ll ask you a few simple questions and we’ll see how much we have to work on.’

  ‘There’s really nothing to work on,’ she insisted.

  Barney sneezed, loudly.

  ‘My thoughts exactly,’ Ted said, smiling at the dog.

  ‘Traitor,’ she said, tapping his head lightly.

  ‘Okay, start by telling me the things that have pissed you off today. Nothing to do with the case you’re working, aside from that, what’s rattled your cage?’

  ‘Just today?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes. You have to remember I’m sixty-nine years of age. I have limited time.’

  ‘Funny,’ Kim said, narrowing her eyes. ‘Okay, chronologically: being unable to drive myself to work; having a new team member foisted upon me, but he’ll be gone by the end of the week so that’s really not a problem. Being told that I’m not pushing my detective constable enough or encouraging her to develop. Having to apologise to my boss for doubting him on the last case. Feeling like my team expects something of me that I just can’t give – and that was just by lunchtime.’

  She looked up to see Ted smiling at her ruefully.

  ‘No, Kim, you’re right. There’s nothing there to work on at all.’

  Twenty-Seven

  Austin Penn crossed the last CCTV location from his list and removed the headphones. The clock above the door told him it was almost eleven and that his first day had been a long one. But that was okay. He would put the hours in when he could and a quick call home had confirmed that today was one of those days. There would be days when he couldn’t but that admission was for some other day.

  In truth, he was glad when Stacey had left the office to work on whatever was calling from her satchel. Even when she hadn’t been aware of it her face had been set in a scowl as though she’d been forced to eat a whole jar of marmite and the taste still lingered on her tongue.

  He got it. He’d worked with this team twice before and understood how close they were; how they operated as a well-oiled machine, working without instruction, knowing and understanding their roles and skills and where they fitted into each investigation, and now one of their vital components was missing. His own team had not been quite so efficient or structured.

  As if by osmosis his mobile rang. He smiled at the name that flashed on his screen.

  ‘Hey, Lyn,’ he said, knowing the smile showed in his voice. She was the other DS in his old team at West Mercia.

  Her petite, elfin stature and smooth milky skin always fooled people into thinking she was younger than her thirty-one years, and so the ferocious terrier that could be unleashed on demand came as a surprise to suspects, criminals and just about anyone else who tried to take the piss out of her.

  She’d been engaged to her fireman boyfriend for eleven months but still hadn’t set a wedding date.

  ‘Hey, new boy. How’s your first day gone?’

  He didn’t mind admitting it was good to hear a familiar, friendly voice.

  ‘You know,’ he said. ‘As expected.’

  ‘It’s tough fitting into a new team,’ she said. ‘Especially when…’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ he said. Especially when a member of that team has recently died horrifically in the line of duty, he thought, finishing the sentence in his mind.

  ‘Missed ya,’ she said lightly.

  Although they’d not had specific partners in the team, the two of them had paired up on many occasions.

  ‘And Wilma was looking for you,’ she said.

  Penn laughed out loud realising just how much tension he was holding in his body. Wilma was the potted plant that his old boss, Travis, had awarded daily to the teacher’s pet. It was fair to say it had graced his desk the majority of the time.

  ‘Give her my love,’ he said, enjoying the easy banter between them. It had only been a day but he missed it already. More so because he knew he wouldn’t be going back. He couldn’t. Given the choice he would have stayed where he was. But he didn’t have a choice. Not any more. But of all the things he’d been forced to leave behind, working with Lyn was probably what he’d miss most.

  He clicked on his emails as Lyn carried on speaking, telling him how they’d all piled their belongings onto his old desk to prevent Travis from replacing him. A wave of homesickness coursed through him.

  ‘So, what’s the boss like?’ she asked.

  ‘Intense,’ he answered, starting the process of closing down his system. His eyes passed over the most recent alerts from the internal server.

  A name jumped right out the screen at him and he wondered if he’d made some kind of mistake.

  ‘Well, I knew that,’ Lyn said, referring to the joint investigation into Hate Crimes. ‘But she seems like a decent—’

  ‘Oh shit, sorry, Lyn, gotta go,’ he said, ending the call.

  He checked the name again.

  No, there was no mistake.

  Twenty-Eight

  Kim arrived at the cordon to the slip road at ten minutes to eleven.

  She’d received Penn’s call as she’d been leaving Ted’s house. She’d told him to ring Bryant and get him to meet her there.

  The journey had been filled with traffic updates of closed roads and diversions.

  The officers let her car through, and she drove halfway down the exit ramp of junction 2 to the mêlée of vehicles, two fire trucks, two ambulances and more squad cars than she could count.

  ‘Right, stay and be good,’ Kim told Barney as she got out of the car.

  She worked hard to control the limp that was taunting her left leg. About the driving maybe the doctor had had a point.

  ‘Adams,’ she called, recognising the traffic inspector responsible for the investigation into the death of Joanne Wade from Heathcrest.

  He frowned as she approached.

  ‘You’re not stalking me, are you, Inspector?’ he asked with a smile.

  ‘Yeah, cos I’d really jump out and shout your name if I was a stalker,’ she said, wryly.

  ‘So, you’re here because?…’

  ‘The name of the victim,’ she said, as the sound of a generator kicked in.

  Realisation dawned. ‘Cordell. Is this guy related to the throat guy?’

  She nodded. ‘Son, I think,’ she said as someone called Adams’s name.

  Bryant appeared as she followed the inspector towards the source of the call. It had come from a fire officer who also inclined his head in her direction, questioningly. Adams explained who she was as Bryant reached them.

  ‘This really Cordell’s son?’ her colleague asked.

  ‘Looks like it,’ she said, as the fire officer moved off at speed.

  ‘They’re getting close,’ Adams said, weaving through vehicles to reach the impact site.

  Kim followed, and walked into a throng of people moving with a sense of urgency and anticipation.
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  The motorway was closed in both directions lending an eeriness to the bustle of activity amidst the silence and darkness beyond the flashing lights.

  ‘Keep back, please,’ said a fire officer placing a beefy arm in front of her.

  ‘Fuck me,’ Bryant said from beside her. His extra height gave him the advantage of looking above the fireman.

  As he moved to the side Kim understood the reason for his out of character curse.

  The entire front end of the Audi appeared to have disappeared, smashed against the motorway vehicle.

  Kim’s breath caught in her throat.

  The guy hadn’t stood a chance.

  She could see that the firemen were pointing to the rear screen, which she was guessing they’d already smashed. She knew that they would already have tested and assessed all ways to try and retrieve the body to preserve damage.

  One fireman stood poised with the cutter and nodded to his colleague. The second fireman stood back as the first positioned the claw-like blades inside the screen gap aimed up to the roof.

  The sudden sound of the metal cracking apart silenced and drew the attention of everyone. Conversation of any kind was now impossible and hand movements and signs passed between the firemen in a well-rehearsed mime.

  Within minutes the pincers had cut a line through the metal.

  As a second fireman moved forward with the spreader, Kim could see the strategy they’d adopted. Using the natural gap left by the rear screen they were cutting and spreading open the metal to a wide enough gap to bring him out.

  A third fireman approached with the ram, normally used to lift or push an obstacle out of their path.

  ‘What the hell is gonna be left of him when they get him out?’ Kim asked sadly, thinking of Mrs Cordell and her other son. This family had suffered enough.

  ‘Hopefully enough for these guys to work on,’ he said, looking anxiously to the paramedics.

  Kim’s head whipped around. ‘You’re not saying?…’

  ‘Oh yes, Inspector, as of about seven minutes ago, Saul Cordell was still alive.’

  Twenty-Nine

  Kim had insisted on being the one to talk to Saul Cordell’s family, who knew nothing of the accident.

  Adams had made a call and halted the informing officer two miles from the front door.

  She had hauled Barney out of the car and into Bryant’s Astra, which he was now driving out of the cordon at the top of the slip road.

  She counted backwards in her head.

  Five, four, three…

  ‘So, what were you doing driving yourself around?’ he asked, on cue.

  ‘Oh Bryant, I’m a big girl,’ she protested.

  ‘And you can look after yourself,’ he mimicked, before sobering. ‘I’ve told you to call me. I’ll run you anywhere you need to go.’

  ‘I went to see Ted,’ she said, looking behind and seeing that Barney had curled up on the back seat.

  ‘Oh… Oh,’ he said as the penny dropped. ‘Woody’s authorised him to do your counselling?’

  ‘Bloody hell, Bryant, you’re clearly sharper at this time of night. Maybe we should consider changing your hours.’

  ‘Ah, deflection. A defence mechanism for all occasions, but why Ted? You know he can see straight through you. I’d have thought you’d be better seeing a force appointed… aah, I think I’ve got it.’

  ‘Well just make sure you keep it,’ Kim said, staring out of the window. She really didn’t need to be analysed by her colleague as well. And Ted had given her more than enough to think about.

  Thirty

  Kim took a deep breath before knocking on the door of the home they’d visited earlier that day.

  ‘Inspector,’ said Lilith Cordell with surprise.

  A multitude of emotions passed over her face, concern, fear, expectation even though she couldn’t have had a clue what she was here to tell them.

  ‘Have you found him?’ she asked, stepping aside as though it was perfectly normal for Kim to be knocking her door at five minutes past midnight.

  ‘Found who?’ Kim asked, momentarily taken aback.

  ‘The murderer, Inspector. Surely that’s why you’re here at this time of night. I wouldn’t normally be up but we’re waiting for Saul, my eldest.’

  ‘No, Mrs Cordell, that isn’t why we’re here,’ Kim said, gently. ‘Please, sit down.’

  Luke appeared beside his mother dressed in grey joggers and a tee shirt. Out of his suit he looked younger but no less antagonistic than earlier.

  ‘Inspector, I hope you have a good reason for—’

  ‘Mrs Cordell, please sit down,’ Kim said, ignoring the youngest son. ‘Saul is the reason we’re here.’

  She simply dropped onto the couch and reached for her son’s hand. He took it, his expression now every bit as anxious as his mother’s.

  ‘Is he all right?’ she asked, as the last few drops of colour faded from her cheeks.

  ‘I’m afraid he’s been in an accident on the motorway.’

  ‘Oh my God, is he… is he?…’

  ‘Dead?’ Luke finished for her.

  ‘He was alive when we left, but barely,’ Kim explained so as not to get their hopes up. ‘I have to tell you that he was trapped in the car wreckage for a while. We had confirmation a few minutes ago that he was released and airlifted to Russells Hall Hospital.’

  ‘Alive?’ Mrs Cordell asked, trembling.

  ‘Yes, but please don’t get your hopes up. The accident was—’

  ‘We must go to him,’ she said, standing and turning to Luke.

  ‘Not so fast,’ Kim said, standing. This was a woman who didn’t take direction well.

  ‘We have a car waiting at the end of the drive to take you,’ she said.

  Luke shook his head. ‘I can—’

  ‘I insist, Mr Cordell,’ she said, firmly. ‘Firstly, there’s the fact neither of you should be driving while in shock; secondly the squad car will get you there quicker than—’

  ‘Inspector, what were the circumstances of my son’s accident?’ Mrs Cordell asked, astutely.

  ‘We don’t yet know the exact details,’ she admitted. ‘The priority was in releasing your son from the car.’

  ‘You said accident,’ she said.

  Kim nodded. ‘Until we learn otherwise. Now, the squad car will get you to the hospital and an officer will remain with you. Please, be prepared that you probably won’t be able to see Saul for a while and when you do—’

  ‘The police don’t normally operate a taxi and babysitting service for the families of traffic accidents, do they?’

  Kim shook her head. Damn this woman who had managed to keep her wits and composure despite the horrific news about her son.

  ‘You think the two are related, don’t you? My husband’s murder and my son’s accident. You think someone has it in for our family?’

  Kim thought about the missing photograph from the frame at Cordell’s flat.

  She nodded slowly and honestly. ‘Yes, Mrs Cordell, I do.’

  Thirty-One

  Kim took her coffee mug into the general office and sat on the spare desk.

  ‘Okay, guys, thanks for coming in early, we’ve got a lot to get through.’

  Bryant had dropped her back at the crash site just after 1 a.m. and then followed her home. He was clearly taking her doctor’s advice more seriously than she was.

  After her late-night walk with Barney she had crawled into bed at 2 a.m., and it was now ten minutes after seven. The maths wasn’t hard to do and the vision of the crumpled metal was still at the forefront of her mind.

  ‘So, you all know about Saul Cordell’s accident. Thank you for flagging that up, Penn,’ she said, nodding in his direction.

  He nodded.

  ‘You all know we’re getting nowhere near that case. Traffic will handle it whether it was accidental or intentional. They only allowed me to inform the family because I’d already spoken to them about Gordon Cordell. We’re not going to be able t
o prove any link to our case that isn’t perceived as coincidental, though Adams has agreed to keep us in the loop on all the findings.’

  Kim paused as a voice in her head said, they really gonna say the two cases aren’t linked? The words didn’t come but they had sounded very much like Dawson. He had always had the knack of sharing her same levels of incredulity. He would have argued that they needed to take the case from the collision investigation team, finding the coincidence too dry a mouthful to swallow. And she would have had to remind him that they couldn’t control everything. But the room was quiet and the conversation was happening only in her head.

  ‘Stacey, you’re the contact for Adams, so feel free to call him every few hours and ask for updates, okay?’

  ‘Yeah, boss,’ she answered, making a note.

  Kim was unsure if it was her imagination or if the constable was looking particularly pensive.

  ‘How is he?’ Penn asked. ‘Saul Cordell, I mean.’

  ‘Critical,’ she answered. ‘Doctors are still trying to identify all his injuries. He’s been put into an induced coma to give his body a chance to adjust. We know there are countless broken bones, internal bleeding and possible brain damage.’

  Kim had called the hospital the moment she’d got out of bed. The nurse had explained the coma had been induced to protect his brain from swelling. She understood that the controlled dose of anaesthetic caused a lack of feeling or awareness and that Saul could not be woken by stimulation, including pain. Given the extent of his injuries she suspected it was the only way to try and save his life, so even if she could sneak in without Traffic knowing she wouldn’t be speaking to him any time soon. The report from the constable with Mrs Cordell and her younger son had confirmed they had spent the night by his bedside. Kim couldn’t even imagine what they were going through.