“He’s going where you won’t be able to get him.”
Diane laughed.
“Really?” She said drily.
The door opened and a plain clothes detective came in and put a sheet in front of Diane. She looked down and the looked up with clear hard eyes. Then she dealt out what she knew would be the winning hand.
She slid the sheet with the DNA results in front of ‘Leash’.
“Look at it!” Even the plain clothes man winced when she spoke.
‘Leash’ looked at it.
'Pick it up Aliesha and read it.”
'Leash' picked it up and read it. The two bars of data on the sheet matched. Her eyes rose slowly from the paper and then she went to place it on the table to see two pictures, family pictures, a man with two children, a girl and a boy, and a woman and a her husband in portrait with a cute blonde two year old boy.
Diane’s voice was soft and motherly, tender and emotional.
“That’s Stewart Mitchell and his two kids. His son Antony is fourteen and his daughter, that’s her with her dad’s hand on her shoulder, she’s eleven; she’s twelve this Saturday coming.”
Diane paused. ‘Leash’ stared at the picture then watched Diane’s manicured finger point to the second photo.
“That’s Moira Brown with her husband and their two year old son.” ‘Leash’ unable to bear it looked away. Diane slid the photos of the Stewart Mitchell’s blood coated face, neck twisted when his body was pitched around by the dumping of the police Volvo and Moira’s bloodied face with the bullet wound clear and grim where her eye should have been.
“Look at it!” ‘Leash' didn’t respond. “Look what he did because they’d tried to stop him. Two unarmed police officers and he killed them. He’s here for a reason, he doesn’t love you he just wants to use you and he’s going to kill at least one more time, now you’ll be responsible for the next person he kills as well if you don’t help me stop him…”
‘Leash’ had begun to sob.
“I’ve got a daughter about your age. How old are you Aliesha? Twenty, twenty-two?”
“I’m twenty.”
“My daughter’s a year older. She goes to clubs. I’d hate to think of her being tricked so badly by a killer. He used you and he lied to you Aliesha. What do you know?”
“Will you call my dad?”
“Yes love. I’ll call him.” She turned to the officer.
“She named him as next of kin on the checking in form. You’ve got a number.” He left the room.
“Well?” Diane asked in a once again harsh voice.
“I think he got attached to me, he seemed friendlier in the early hours when he left. I thought his name was Marc. He had a gun…”
“Probably the one that belonged to one of my men; he’s in hospital, lucky to be alive by all accounts..” Diane interjected.
“I was excited, he’s very manly. He said he had a job to do, big money then he was going to a non extradition country. He said he’d call for me… he said you’d lie… that he’d been a soldier… that people die all the time…”
“They’re good at deception Aliesha.”
“I think he meant it though, really I do.”
“Yes perhaps he did. Perhaps he wants to settle down with his ill gotten gains and you appealed to him. You are attractive and to a man his age… well… but what do you think would have happened when he got bored with you or a settled life?”
“I know. I… I’m sorry for those people really I am.”
“Did he say anything else anything at all?”
“No… I ‘m sure… wait, in his sleep he said some name like ‘Jon’ and the word ‘Priory’… twice… I wondered if he’d killed a priest in the past, he was having a bad dream…”
“Guilty conscience and wounded psyche does that. Else counsels our people who have to kill anyone. They get checked. Killing’s unnatural.”
The officer came back in.
“He’s on his way.”
“Did he say anything?” ‘Leash’ asked.
“Just that he was on his way.”
Diane collected the photos into the file and got up.
“Let her go, but have her watched and by armed police, protection,” she turned to ‘Leash’ ”and you young lady build some bridges with your father. Family life is important and it’s what good society is built on, the bedrock. Make the most of your time with your father.” She tapped the brown folder. “There’s a girl in there that’ll long to see her father every day from now on, but especially Saturday next. He won’t be coming home though. Make the most of the time you have, it may run out much faster than you expected.”
When Diane got outside the cell she leant against the wall, took a hankie out of her sleeve and wiped away the tears that she had controlled in the room. She blew her nose, pushed the hankie into her sleeve and got out her ‘sat phone’.
“It’s Diane. Run the word ‘Priory’ through the computers and compile a list of places. It may be nothing, but there’s not much to go on… yes she did…silly little mare… she’ll be fine… daddy’s on the way to make it all better for her.”
Chapter 84
Torquay Harbour
5 a.m.
April 19th
Torquay was an open harbour, walls around, but no blocks to entry. Stanton was nearly out of fuel when he entered the seaward gap. It was dark and the sun wasn’t due to rise for at least an hour. He turned on the light on the top of the boat and steered his way into an empty berth. There were three empty berths near the sea wall. There was a heavy bump as the prow of the boat hit the wooden jetty. Stanton had cut the engine when he’d steered it in, so there was no reverse power to hold off hitting the woodwork. He switched off the light, ran to the back of the boat, grabbed a line and tied her up.
Stanton stood quietly on deck looking and listening. The harbour was quiet. Some distance away there was an inner harbour with smaller boats. There was a little traffic on the road, lone car lights, the street lamps polluted the pre dawn dark, aside from that there was nothing.
Back in the cabin, aware of time as he was Stanton took a break to eat and drink. A pack of digestive biscuits from a cupboard and a large mug of tea helped him feel stronger.
Refreshed he gathered some useful tools in a bag and walked the jetties looking at berths. There were plenty of yachts and most had engines. He couldn’t really sail a yacht, not alone. There were very few cruisers. There were five sprigs of floating walk ways and along the third he found what he was looking for. There was a clean looking Fairline Phantom 38 three berths in from the walkway.
Stanton climbed aboard and broke through the back door using a crow bar. Glass shattered as he levered the door open, he was acutely aware of the noise as it echoed off the water. The harbour seemed unwatched and no alarm went off when he broke in. He was twenty minutes getting to the wires behind the control panel. He found the starter wires and fired up the engine, it started first time. He went to the back, cast off and as the boat began to drift he gave it power and steered his way carefully around the sprigs of jetties and into the open sea. He checked the electronic panel, fuel tanks were full. It was a nice little boat, lounge, berths, kitchen, very plush, but unlike the Nelson Landguard 33 there was no ‘autopilot control system’, he’d have to steer it all the way.
To that end he motored around the bay, checked the depth sounder and anchored just off Oddicombe beach, just under the Babbacombe cliffs. He took of the aft cabin doors and threw them over the side, putting the back
