‘I had no choice. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. I had to at least try and get him back.’
‘How much was the ransom?’
‘Twenty thousand pounds. Cash. I took it from the safe in my office.’
Janey Baker closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘I told you it was a stupid idea. I told you to call the police…’
‘Well it’s done now, isn’t it?’ Pete said, his whole body sagging with the realisation that, of course, as always, his wife was right. He’d played right into the caller’s hands. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. How stupid he’d been. Because that was what these types of people did, wasn’t it? They preyed on the desperate, the broken, the weak. And just when you were on the brink, they bought you down to your knees.
Pete should have known better. He’d dealt with some real scumbags in his time. Men who had the morals of an alley cat and zero integrity to go with it. He, of all people, should have known not to give in like this. And a small, terrified part of him couldn’t help but realise that maybe he had really fucked up now. That by paying this money, he’d gained absolutely nothing. Not even the safe return of his missing grandson. All he could do now was hope and pray that the call had been genuine. That the money he’d left would bring Riley home to them all.
‘There’s no need to point the finger of blame.’ Holder nodded in agreement, feeling sorry for the man. It was done. Now they had to move fast in the hope of rectifying it.
‘Sarge, we need some undercover officers down at the children’s play area on Wandsworth Common,’ Lucy said, getting on her radio as the officers quickly left the house. ‘We’ve got a possible ransom demand for the safe return of Riley Cooke. We need to get someone down there pronto.’
Because right now that money was the only real lead they had to finding the man who had taken Riley.
37
Sitting in the unmarked police car at Wandsworth Common’s entrance, Lucy stared up at the gloomy backdrop of the two towers of the Griffin Estate, just off in the distance, while Holder kept his gaze focused on the bin inside the entrance to the children’s park.
‘What if the money’s already been taken?’ Holder said, his stare unwavering. Because they had everything riding on this. Whoever had demanded the money would lead them to Riley. They were almost certain of that. It wasn’t even worth thinking of the outcome if this was all some kind of farce. If they’d been led on a wild goose chase by someone trying to cash in on the family’s misfortune. ‘I mean, Pete dropped it off personally, himself, and then walked back to the house. What if Jay-Jay Andrews has already picked it up, and we’re just sitting here staring at an empty bin?’
‘Do you want to risk it, and go and take a look?’ Lucy said, knowing full well that they were just going to have to take their chances for now, and wait this one out. ‘Because if I didn’t want to get caught doing the pickup that’s where I’d be waiting. Over there,’ Lucy said, nodding in the direction of the line of dense trees that formed a row along the common’s edge. ‘Making sure that Pete was a man of his word and that I wasn’t being stitched up. We’re lucky we turned up at the Bakers’ house when we did; the drop had only just been made. Chances are the money is still there. And he’s out there somewhere too. Watching and waiting.’
Holder nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning the foliage; only, he couldn’t see anything untoward.
‘I see the cavalry’s just arrived.’ Holder grinned, eyeing the female jogger running down the pathway with her headphones in. Lucy followed his gaze, both officers immediately recognising their colleague from CID, who had slipped into her gym gear and made her way to the park in just minutes.
Another colleague, male this time, was walking the opposite perimeter. Taking his time. A casual afternoon stroll to anyone without a more watchful eye.
‘It’s starting to get dark,’ Lucy said, her eyes not leaving the silhouettes of the towers. The grey, moody skies behind them made the place look even more sinister.
She shivered. Surprised at how that place could still affect her so deeply. How it caught her unawares sometimes. When she was least expecting.
‘Maybe that’s what he’s waiting for. Maybe that’s when he’ll strike? We could be here for a while!’ Holder said, before side-eyeing his colleague with a smirk and changing the subject.
‘So, how was your late lunch date the other day with Zack Lownrey? The rumours around the station are rife by the way.’
‘I bet they are. Well, for your information, like I told you yesterday, it wasn’t a date. I wanted to talk to him. Strictly professional. I just wanted to talk through the case… And he suggested we grab something to eat…’ Lucy said, blushing. Realising how it must have looked to the rest of the team, and that she’d probably been the talk of the station yesterday, if news of her conversation with Zack Lownrey had been passed around and made it back to Holder. ‘Come on, we’re in the middle of a murder enquiry, I’m not just going to go out on a date in the middle of it all, am I? So maybe next time you hear a “rumour” you could kindly put
