The Sandman took Jane to lure me in and he had been one step ahead of me the whole time. He used Jane to involve me so that I would lead them to Karen. I’d been played like a fiddle, but if he was using Jane to make me dance to his tune, there was a very real chance she was still alive.
I grabbed Amanda’s hand and swung around to face her while yelling. ‘Ben, make a hole!’
As I started to explain my thoughts to Amanda, I got to hear Big Ben chortle, ‘Ha, ha! You said, “Hole”!’
The kerfuffle behind me as Big Ben and Basic shoved bodies aside to clear a route for our escape did little to penetrate the hope I now felt.
Amanda grasped it too. It is a dangerous thing – hope. We cling to it when we have nothing else, and risk being hurt all the worse when it proves to be a worthless strategy, yet it was going to drive us forward.
Still holding my hand, Amanda tugged me through the widening gap, speaking over her shoulder as we hurried toward the busy road. ‘We need to get back to the office and start again.’
Our cars were in the police station impound zone. We could get them back but it’s not exactly a valet service. They would make us wait, and there was no time for any of that.
Big Ben leapt the railing ahead of us, landing in the road where he extended his right hand palm out in a classic ‘stop’ pose. The driver of a silver Mercedes convertible had to slam on the brakes to stop the car before it hit him.
Behind it, dozens more cars all hit their brakes, the squeal of tyres and the smell of rubber filled the air.
By the time Amanda and I vaulted over the barrier, reporters still throwing questions at our backs and cameras snapping as many shots as they could, Big Ben was dealing with the enraged driver of the Mercedes.
Naturally, the driver just happened to be a sultry-looking redhead twenty-something. Her head was sticking out her window so she could fling insults and profanity at the maniac blocking traffic.
‘What the hell are you playing at?’ she screamed.
Running across the road, I couldn’t help but watch over my shoulder.
‘Hello, kitten,’ he purred at her, grabbing her roof with both hands, and hanging down so his head filled her window. ‘I’m Big Ben, I …’
The red head shoved the door open, whacking it into Big Ben’s chest and shins at the same time. As he reeled backward in shock, she spat some more curses in his direction.
‘Big Ben? You ought to be in a mental asylum!’ I paused to watch the interplay, gawping with my mouth open because this was something I’d never seen. I mean, Big Ben doesn’t score with every woman he meets, but even those who refuse his advances are still wooed by his charming looks and personality.
She stomped on the gas pedal, burning rubber just as he took a step back toward her car and she ran over both his feet.
The cars behind hers all began hitting their horns, wanting to get to wherever they were going.
Visibly trying to ignore the pain in his feet, Big Ben jogged across the road to join us.
Amanda asked, ‘Magic wearing off, Ben? Finally, womankind has cottoned on to you? Maybe you shouldn’t treat us all like objects.’
‘Objects to be cherished,’ he defended himself weakly, rubbing his shins. ‘I think there might be something wrong with my aftershave.’
Leaving him behind, I started running, a steady pace to get us to the train station where we would find a taxi. We needed new wheels and that meant calling in for reinforcements.
My phone rang, as the traffic picked up behind us, cutting off the reporters though a few of the more determined ones continued to give chase by running to the nearest crossing point.
The word ‘Mum’ was displayed prominently in the middle of my screen. There had been missed calls from my father already, so with a deep breath, I thumbed the green button to connect the call.
‘Mum, what’s up?’
‘Hello, Tempest. Your father claims that you are not answering your phone. Clearly, he was mistaken, or phoning the wrong number perhaps. His brain is getting a little patchy.’
‘No, I have a bunch of missed calls from him. I just haven’t had a chance to call him back. It’s kind of a busy day.’ I didn’t want to tell her about Jane, and it was going to be a long time (i.e., never) before I let her know I got arrested last night.
‘Why, what are you doing?’ mum wanted to know.
‘Um, it’s a bit complicated to explain,’ I attempted to misdirect her without actually lying. ‘I was planning to not work for the next few days, but something came up. Do you know what dad called for?’
‘Something came up?’ my mother repeated. ‘You mean you’re working a case?’ she demanded to know. ‘It’s Christmas, Tempest. You ought to be spending it with family.’
‘You are heading to Hampshire, Mother, and we agreed I would spend the time with Amanda and see you in a couple of days.’
‘Not if you are working a case, you won’t see her,’ she argued.
‘Amanda is with me, Mother, and this case really will not wait. Is dad there?’
Her voice faded into the distance as she handed her phone to my father. ‘He wants to talk to you,’ she muttered grumpily.
‘Tempest,’ my father’s voice boomed in my ear with a jovial edge.
Before he could get into a flow that might be hard to interrupt, I did my best to let
