“I’ll do that, ma’am. Good luck on your mission.”
“Thanks.”
Katy and Charlie slipped into the car and Katy gunned the engine into life. She drove out of the car park, joined the flow of traffic and headed towards the hospital. “Keep your eyes peeled, Charlie.”
“I will. What exactly am I looking for? She’s already used several disguises to our knowledge, we don’t even have a definitive picture of her in our heads, do we?”
“That’s true. We’re floundering, that’s what we’re doing. Maybe we would have been better off going home instead. No, I refuse to believe that. We’re where we should be, out here.”
Katy’s phone rang, and she answered it on the hands-free. “DI Foster.”
“Ma’am, it’s Nigel back at the station. I thought you should know we’ve just received a call from Donna Platt.”
“The boy’s mother. What did she want?”
He sighed. “Her husband has been taken at knife-point by Megan Johnson.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! How? I’ll head over there now.”
“There’d be no point. They left in his car. Megan had a knife at his throat.”
“Jesus. I wonder where she’s taking him. Okay, tell me you’ve put out an alert on the vehicle, Nigel.”
“All in place. If they’re out there, my guys will find them.”
“I hope so. We’ll keep trawling the streets. Ring me ASAP if you hear anything.”
“That’s a Roger.”
Katy jabbed the button to end the call. “Bloody hell, could this day get any worse?”
Charlie didn’t respond. Katy shot her a quick look and then returned her gaze to the road ahead. “Charlie, are you with me?”
“I’m thinking. All the victims were found in remote areas, right, what if…”
“What if what? Jesus, you think she’s going to take him back to where the accident happened and do away with him there?”
“Just a thought. She’s unstable enough to do it, isn’t she?”
Katy flicked the switch and the siren blared. She thrust her foot on the accelerator with enough force their heads bashed against the headrests. “I hope we’re not too late. Do you know the exact location? I know roughly the area to aim for, but we need to be more accurate if we’re going to find them quickly.”
“I’ll see what I can find out via the Net.”
Ten minutes later, and with an accurate locale to aim for—thanks to Charlie’s expert digging—Katy switched off the siren when they were within spitting distance of the site.
Charlie motioned ahead. “There’s a car parked up at the end of this road.” She studied her phone, matching it to the surroundings. “It looks similar to the photos. We’re talking about nearly twenty years ago though, things change.”
“People do as well. Right, get the pepper sprays ready and anything else you may find in my glove box.” She smashed the steering wheel with the heel of her hand. “I should have signed out a Taser before we left.”
“No time for recriminations. You’re going to have to use your negotiating skills to talk to her.”
“Jesus, I’m crap at that shite. I wish your mother was here, she’d go in all guns a-blazing, knowing exactly what to say and when to bloody say it. It can all be about the timings with something like this. Megan obviously has mental issues, if I utter so much as the wrong word, Ethan could be history.”
Charlie touched her forearm. “You’ve just got to do the best you can. You’ve got this, Katy. You’re better than you give yourself credit for, take my word for it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate you having a considerable amount of faith in me.”
“You’re welcome. It’s definitely them. I can see two people close together. Maybe we should pull up here and walk the rest of the way, it might be less threatening to her.”
“You’re right.” She indicated and pulled into the kerb, then they both got out of the car and walked over to where Megan, still dressed as a nurse, was holding a knife to Ethan’s throat beside the vehicle.
“Come any closer and I’ll give him an extra smile,” Megan warned, her eyes narrowed with intention. “What are you doing here?”
Katy and Charlie stopped and Katy raised a hand. “Megan, there’s no need for this. Let him go.”
“Who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do?”
“I’m DI Katy Foster.”
“Ah yes, you were the one I spoke to earlier.”
“That’s right. I’m so glad we’ve found you before you make yet another mistake.”
Megan’s eyes narrowed further. “A mistake? Is that what you think this is? He was driving a stolen vehicle and killed two people, my parents, I suppose you’d call that a mistake or an error of judgement too, would you?”
“I’m sorry, how many more times do I have to say it?” Ethan whimpered.
Katy saw Megan’s hold tighten around his neck, suppressing his windpipe until he started gasping for breath. “Megan, please, listen to me. We can get you and your family the help you need to combat any lingering issues you have concerning the accident, if you’ll give me the chance.”
“Any lingering issues? There are no issues. We’ve gone on to lead our lives as normal as possible, despite my brother’s disabilities. I’m doing this for him, Daniel is getting worse. He should never have been put at risk in the first place. You weren’t there, I was. This fucker deliberately drove at us, didn’t you? I saw you, thought you were Mr Big in front of your friends. That day you had eight people’s lives in your hands when you made the decision to play chicken with your own life.”
Ethan choked a little and murmured, “I’ve regretted my decision ever since. I swear I have.”
“Have you? You’ve gone out of your way to make contact with us as a family, to offer financial support? I don’t think so. We’ve heard nothing from you and your so-called mates throughout the years. We’ve had to deal with coping with Daniel all this time alone, with just the crappy system to back us up. A system which is in desperate need of extra funding. No,
