‘I thought Epps would have used him up and spat out the empty husk by now,’ I said instead. ‘It’s not like him to be merciful.’
Parker leant his shoulder against the glass wall, his face bathed in soft reflected light from the last of the evening sun. ‘Well, I guess the guy could be pretty persuasive, you have to give him that.’ And if he sounded regretful, it was perhaps because we’d both been taken in, at one time or another. ‘In this case, all I know is he persuaded Epps he could give him a lead into various militia groups Fourth Day had ties to. Offered to go undercover.’
I stared at him. ‘Jesus H Christ,’ I muttered. ‘Epps just bloody let him go and he did a runner.’
Another twisted smile. ‘That would be my guess.’
‘When?’
‘Six weeks ago.’
‘He’s been on the run for
Parker’s eyes flicked to mine. ‘Apparently, he believed he might still be able to retrieve him without making the fact public,’ he said solemnly. ‘The guy’s dropped right off the grid.’
‘I’d lay odds I could find him.’
Another flicker. ‘Maybe that was another reason he didn’t tell us.’
‘Parker, I—’
He moved closer and all the spit dried on my tongue, but all he did was look down at me, eyes roving my face. I don’t know what he was searching for, or if he found it.
‘Revenge is a poor servant, but a worse master,’ he said. ‘Don’t let it rule you, Charlie.’
‘In case it’s escaped you,’ I said, forcing a lightness I was a long way from feeling, ‘we’re up to our necks in a situation here. How can I think of going after anyone when we don’t know if Dina is alive or dead?’
If Parker saw through the blatant evasion in my words, he didn’t get a chance to call me on it. Footsteps in the hall had us both turning. Landers entered, gaze taking in our tension, if not – I hoped – the reasons behind it.
‘Pathologist’s here, boss,’ he said.
Parker nodded and turned away, pulling on a set of gloves to pick up the gruesome package. By the doorway he paused, glanced back.
‘And when we know – one way or the other,’ he said, ‘what then?’
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The buzz of my cellphone brought me paddling resentfully out of sleep. By the time I was alert enough to react, the noise had stopped, as is always the way. I sat up, muttering under my breath, and reached for the phone anyway, recognising as I did so that it was a text message rather than a missed call.
I was still fully clothed and lying on top of the bedclothes after Parker more or less ordered me to get some rest. It was only when I’d got to my room and crawled onto the bed that the aching tiredness caught up with me. All in all, I hadn’t much sleep over the past few days.
I glanced blearily at my watch, realising I’d been out like the dead for over four hours.
It was close to midnight. Dina’s ordeal had so far lasted thirty-eight hours, and showed no signs of ending yet.
I didn’t recognise the number on the display but opened the message anyway.
‘MUST meet with you! Very urgent! I have vital info! Come alone! Tell no one! PLEASE!! Orlando.’
The similarities with the message sent to lure Torquil into ambush were stark enough to kick-start my brain.
I sat for a moment, furiously processing. Orlando had left her usual cellphone at her parents’ place. Or – more likely, I thought now – they’d made her leave it behind in the vain hope of breaking off her contact with her friends. But Orlando was clearly more resourceful than that.
Only thing was, how had she got hold of my number?
The Willners had it, of course. I’d made sure it was programmed into Dina’s phone, but that had been switched off since her abduction, the GPS tracker disabled. And if Dina had given the number to Orlando
I could only hope not.
The only other person I’d given it to had been one of the original kidnappers, Ross, and I couldn’t see why he would have gone to Orlando with that information.
I staggered into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto my face. It was only partially successful in waking me up. I was still stiff from being knocked off the Buell and this brief period of inactivity seemed to highlight every bruise and bang.
I cleaned my teeth, changed my shirt for something slightly less crumpled, and headed back upstairs to the living area.
Parker was sitting drinking coffee alone in the quiet room. Outside the glass, rain was falling at a steady slant in the moonlight, one of those freak weather events. I could see it pounding patches of water flat like wind across a field of corn.
Parker rose when I came in, and the smile he gave me contained an inner brightness that both warmed and chilled me.
‘Hi,’ he said, his voice husky. ‘Feeling better?’
I said, awkward, ‘Too early to tell,’ which was the truth on many levels. ‘Any word on McGregor?’
‘Stable. No change. They’re hopeful, at least.’
‘Good.’ I held up my phone. ‘I’ve just received a text I think you ought to see.’
I helped myself to coffee from the insulated cafetiere on the table while he thumbed through the brief message, frowning.
‘I don’t like it,’ he said bluntly. ‘It’s a trap and they don’t care if we know it.’ He looked up, his eyes narrowed. ‘You want to do it, huh?’
I nodded. ‘They’ve cut off half Dina’s ear, Parker. How can I not, if there’s a chance she’s still alive—?’
‘She is,’ he said. ‘Or, she was when the ear was severed, according to the pathologist. Something to do with the amount of blood in the tissue.’ He paused. ‘He reckons they probably used a pair of shears. Must have hurt like hell.’
I shut that one out. ‘I’m going to this meet.’
‘Charlie—’
‘I’ve already sent a reply asking when and where.’
His eyebrow went up. ‘Last time I checked, you still work for me,’ he said. ‘That makes me responsible for your safety.’
‘What safety? The bottom line in this job is to get ourselves killed before our client,’ I said, keeping my voice even. ‘Either this message really is from Orlando, in which case she might be able to give us something that gets us closer to Lennon or the guy he’s working with, or it’s a trap, as you say. In which case, I may have the opportunity to grab whoever’s sent to grab me. I have to go, Parker,’ I added, when he would have cut in again. ‘It’s as much part of the job as standing in front of them in a hostile crowd.’
‘Let me come with you—’
‘You can’t,’ I said gently. ‘What if they call again? We can’t take the risk.’
He was silent for a moment, then he nodded. ‘OK, but stay sharp. And keep me informed. Understood?’
‘Yes, boss,’ I murmured.
My phone buzzed again and I checked the incoming message. ‘Ten minutes,’ I said, reading it. ‘The parking area just off the beach, near where Torquil was taken.’
Parker’s face was grave. ‘Let’s just hope they’re not planning on a repeat performance.’
I reached the parking area Orlando had specified exactly seven minutes later and found it deserted. There was a single multidirectional lamppost in the centre, but only half the bulbs appeared to be working, casting lopsided shadows across the space. The rain was still gusting through the beams, clouds scudding past a high
