‘Come in,’ she said. ‘I don’t want the risk of one of those news teams seeing this.’
They pushed into the cramped space, and Kay noticed the CSI’s eyes were shining with excitement.
‘What’ve you got?’ said Barnes.
She beckoned them round to the driver’s seat and crouched down. ‘We noticed he had a piece of paper in his hand; we prised it open, and it looks like he used his own blood to leave a message.’
Kay felt a shiver crawl across her neck as Harriet handed the paper to Sharp.
As he took the corner between gloved fingers, his brow knitted together before he turned it to face them.
‘A place and time,’ he said. ‘Mean anything to you two?’
‘It’s got to be Demiri’s next shipment,’ said Kay, her heart pounding. ‘It’s when he’s bringing over the next lot of girls.’
Chapter Forty-Seven
‘There’s no time to plan this properly,’ said Sharp through gritted teeth. ‘It’ll be a disaster.’
‘No, it won’t,’ said Harrison. ‘We’ll have support from Border Agency and my SOCU team, plus uniformed officers.’
‘With all due respect, guv, we’ve only got the name of a place. Not an exact location. He could be planning to land the boat anywhere along that stretch of coastline,’ said Kay, and waved her hand at the document Sharp was reading. ‘And, according to that email from the Border Agency, they want to base the majority of their team at Dymchurch because that’s where previous smugglers have made landfall. We’ll only have a handful of their officers available to support us.’
Harrison paced the room, his frustration palpable.
‘Look,’ he said eventually. ‘There’s enough of us to have four teams of four spread out at three-quarter-mile intervals. We maintain radio contact at all times. The weather forecast is showing rain, so we’re not going to have as much visibility as I’d like, but we’ll still be able to see a boat coming in; as it is, we’ll be able to hear the engine before they cut it and drift to shore.’
‘You think?’ Sharp ran a hand over his jaw, and scratched at the stubble forming. ‘I don’t like it. It’s too risky.’
‘We don’t have a choice, Sharp,’ said Harrison. ‘If we miss this boat, those girls are going to end up exactly like the ones we’d found dead. Do you want that on your conscience?’
Kay watched as her senior officer slumped in his seat, his eyes troubled.
‘I thought not,’ said Harrison. He picked up his jacket from the back of the visitor chair, and swung it over his shoulders. ‘I’ll go and brief headquarters and make the necessary phone calls to Colin Fox and his team at the Border Agency. We’ll have a joint agency briefing here in the morning at eight o’clock, Sharp. Make sure your team is ready.’
He swept from the room, his hurried footsteps carrying through the incident room before Kay heard the door slam shut in his wake.
She pushed herself out of her chair and wandered over to the window, her arms folded over her chest.
Below, the DCI was walking towards his car, his phone to his ear.
‘Start making phone calls to the rest of the team,’ said Sharp. ‘As well as yourself and Barnes, I want Miles and Piper on that beach tomorrow night, and I don’t want any issues so get them in early tomorrow – at least half an hour before the briefing’s due to start, so we can make sure they understand the dangers involved.’
‘Will do, guv.’
She turned at a knock on the open door.
‘Lucas just emailed through the post mortem report on the three victims found at the property in Thurnham,’ said Barnes. ‘I printed out a copy for each of you.’
Sharp gestured to the seat vacated by Harrison moments earlier, and Barnes handed the paperwork over.
Kay flipped through the pages, her eyes taking in the detail of the torture the women had endured prior to being killed. The broken bones she and Sharp had noticed at the crime scene were horrific enough, but as she read the report, the extent of their internal injuries left a sickness in her stomach.
Barnes cleared his throat. ‘As you’ll see from Lucas’s conclusions, he ascertains that all three victims’ injuries were caused prior to their death.’
Kay exhaled and placed her copy on Sharp’s desk.
Suddenly, any risks associated with the next night’s operation paled in comparison to what would happen if Demiri wasn’t apprehended and the illegal entrants rescued from the clutches of him and his men.
Kay paused at the door, and glanced over her shoulder.
‘Given your military background and experience, I have to say I’d be happier taking orders from you for this operation, guv.’
He shrugged, a weariness crossing his features that she hadn’t seen before.
‘It is what it is, Hunter. Go home and rest. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.’
Chapter Forty-Eight
Kay padded downstairs in her socks, her hair freshly washed. She wore her favourite pair of jeans and a baggy sweater, perfect for relaxing in front of the television with a glass of wine.
She reached out and flipped the thermostat up a notch, ensuring the central heating would counteract the cold wind that rattled the double glazed windows, and then made her way through to the kitchen.
Her two furry charges looked up at her from their hutch, hopeful expressions on their faces.
‘I know, I know. Food time,’ she said. She was surprised how quickly she had grown used to their presence in the house, and was secretly glad that the garden shed had proven to be too cluttered for their hutch.
She couldn’t bear the thought of them having to brave the elements on the back patio, either.
She hummed to herself as she changed the soiled newspapers, swapping them for clean ones and putting the rubbish outside before grabbing one of the bags of ready-chopped vegetables from the refrigerator.
Bonnie chattered to herself as Kay lifted Clyde from the hutch and gently applied ointment to his skin while he munched on a carrot top.
She turned him in her hands
