No Going Back (26 page)

‘We should call them now. This has gone too far, and you need to be checked out,' Daniel told her. ‘I'm so sorry this happened. Here,' reaching down for the trembling Yorkie, he put the terrified little dog into Tamzin's arms. ‘Trixie needs a cuddle.'

‘Poor little girl.' Tamzin kissed the top of Trixie's head and held her close. ‘Where will Hilary go, do you think?'

‘I told her to go somewhere where there are lots of people and then call me. A café or library or something.'

‘But she hasn't called yet?'

‘No.' Daniel looked at his watch. How long had it been since he'd spoken to her? Fifteen minutes? Probably nearer twenty, even though he'd driven like a madman from Tavistock. He should have heard from her by now. He tried her number again, but all he got was the answering service. He cursed softly.

‘No answer.'

‘You should go and make sure they got away OK. I'll ring the police. If you do it, they'll expect you to be here when they come.'

Daniel was torn.

‘I'm not leaving you here on your own. Isn't there someone who can come and wait with you?'

‘You don't think they'll come back?' she asked anxiously.

‘No. They've got what they wanted, but you should still have someone with you.'

‘I'll get one of the lads to come over. I'll be fine.'

‘Are you sure?' Daniel was weakening. Much as he hated the idea of leaving Tamzin in such a state, he needed to be certain that Hilary and Kat had got away safely.

‘I'm sure,' Tamzin said bravely. ‘I'll be OK. But what shall I tell the police?'

‘Just tell them what happened today and say Kat worked for you for a couple of days and then moved on. If you like, say the men hit you because you couldn't tell them where she was. No need to tell them anything else. It would only complicate matters.'

‘Shall I say I called you?'

‘Not unless they ask.'

Giving her another hug, Daniel headed back to his car, trying Hilary's number again without success. Aware that forensics would try and lift fingerprints from every available surface, he took the time to smudge his own on both the light switch and the door handle with a gloved hand as he went. A clear print of his on top of the rubbed patches left by the Romanians would give the lie to Tamzin's story and would throw her reliability as a witness into doubt.

Driving to Goats Tor, he pulled into the familiar car park of the White Buck and stopped, wishing he knew what to do for the best. Did Hilary's silence mean there was a problem? Should he go on waiting for her to call, or should he go to Briars Hill to make sure they'd got away?

He jumped as his phone rang, but a glance at the display showed it wasn't Hilary but Tom Bowden. Daniel had tried to ring Tom as soon as he'd heard from Tamzin, but frustratingly there had been no answer and he'd had to resort to leaving voice-mail.

‘Daniel, I got your message. Is your girlfriend OK?'

‘She will be, but she's badly bruised and shaken up.'

‘What about Katya?'

‘I haven't heard. I'm hoping Hilary got her away in time, but she hasn't rung back. Should I go over there?'

‘Not unless you absolutely have to. Look, I'm in a meeting. The plan is to hit Moorside House later tonight, so we really don't want to put the wind up Patrescu and co. if it can be avoided. From what you said, Tamzin doesn't know enough to give the local police anything useful.'

‘No. They covered up, so she can't even give them a decent description.'

‘Then let's hold back if we can. Let me know as soon as you hear that Katya's safe.'

The call over, Daniel sat staring at the phone in an agony of indecision.

If only Hilary would call.

Should he go to Briars Hill? He certainly wasn't eager to do so if there was any chance that he'd run into the two Romanians.

But what if Hilary and Kat hadn't got away? What if they were in trouble?

On the other hand, if he walked into a situation he couldn't control on his own, what help would he be to the two of them then?

Surely it couldn't hurt just to go and
look
?

As he hesitated, he became aware of Taz watching him eagerly from the back of the car, eyes alight with anticipation, and all at once his confidence returned.

He wasn't alone.

The dog had sensed that something was on and he was ready for it. He might not be 100 per cent fit, but even at 90 per cent, Taz was a formidable opponent.

This time they wouldn't be caught napping, though. Before setting off for the stables, he let the dog out of the back of the estate car and installed him on the passenger seat.

From the copse on the steep slope behind the house at Briars Hill, Daniel surveyed the property. Smoke was rising from the chimney and a light showed golden at the kitchen window, but although there was no sign of life, he could see Hilary's Land Rover parked in its customary position to the side of the house.

His heart sank as he saw a black Nissan X-Trail parked next to it. He lifted a small pair of binoculars that hung round his neck and focused them on the number plate. Alpha Tango Charlie – it was Patrescu's all right.

Turning his attention to the Land Rover, he thought he could just make out the shifting outlines of Hilary's dogs in the back.

Daniel lowered the binoculars thoughtfully. He knew Hilary had another little car that she used ‘for best', as she called it, but it seemed unlikely that she'd have loaded her beloved dogs in the Land Rover and then left them behind. Did that mean she was indeed still at the stables? And if so, what of Kat?

Beside him, Taz whined and stood up impatiently. He'd been pleased to get out of the car when Daniel had parked it on the edge of the wood, and he'd thoroughly enjoyed the walk to their vantage point on top of the hill, but things had become a little quiet now and he wanted to be doing something.

‘Quiet!' Daniel told him. He needed to think.

Movement in the stable yard caught his eye and he raised the binoculars again.

Two men, unmistakably Patrescu and the knife-happy Macek. They were wandering along the row of low-roofed stables, looking into each one. From the way they waved their arms at the ponies to try and get them to back away from the half-doors, Daniel guessed they were well out of their comfort zone around the animals.

Where the hell was Hilary? The fact that the Romanians were still on the property presumably meant that they hadn't yet found Kat. He hoped that wherever the girl was hiding, the older woman was with her and not lying somewhere battered and bruised like Tamzin, having tried to stand up to the two men.

As Macek approached an apparently empty stable, suddenly a pony's dark head lunged out over the half-door, teeth bared and ears flattened to its neck.

Macek staggered back so fast that he slipped and almost fell, and in spite of the gravity of the situation, Daniel gave a silent cheer. That would be Drummer, then. The two men gave the pony a comically wide arc and continued with their search.

Daniel looked at his watch. Time was creeping on. Surely the two men would give up soon. Even though they thought they'd left Tamzin without a phone, they couldn't be so naïve as to think that that situation would be anything but temporary. They had to expect that Tamzin would eventually call the police and tell them where her two attackers had gone. They had no reason to think she would keep the information to herself.

It seemed that Patrescu was indeed thinking along those lines, for when they reached the last stable, he looked at his watch, spoke briefly to his companion and they both headed at a brisk pace towards the house and the black 4x4.

Within moments, they had gone, the vehicle disappearing at speed down the puddled gravel drive, and it was with some relief that Daniel heard it accelerate on to the road and away. Getting to his feet, he set off at a slipping, sliding run down the hill towards the house, much to the joy of Taz, who circled him excitedly until he was told to stop.

Daniel climbed over the post-and-rail fence that bordered the parking area and peered through the side window of the Land Rover. The only occupants were canine, and they set up a storm of yelping barks at the sight of his face at the window.

After glancing up at them almost indifferently, Taz began trotting about, nose down and tail up, and as he checked out where the 4x4 had stood, the hackles rose in a stiff line along his shoulders and back.

‘You can smell him, can't you, lad?' Daniel murmured, understanding the dog's agitation. He too had a score to settle with Macek.

The farmhouse door stood ajar and Daniel pushed it wider and went cautiously into the hallway. Taz, fired up with excitement, passed him in the narrow passage and went through to the kitchen, where no one was at home except for the two cats, who regarded the visitors sleepily from their position on top of the Aga.

Uninterested in the cats, Taz left the kitchen en route to the sitting room and then upstairs, where a clicking of claws on the floorboards told Daniel that he was carrying out a thorough search of the building. His silence indicated that he'd found no one, but Daniel followed him up to the landing, where, as in many houses, there was a loft hatch. This was shut and bolted from below, but not one to take anything at face value, Daniel stretched up to slide the bolt free and let the hatch swing open. It was just possible that Hilary might have hidden the girl up there if, for some reason, they hadn't got away in time.

Apart from a neatly lagged water tank and half a dozen deckchairs stacked against one partition, the roof space was empty – a stark contrast to the comfortable chaos that ruled down below. Daniel spoke Katya's name just to be sure, but the only sound to be heard was the wind whistling over the tiles.

Back at first-floor level, Daniel closed the hatch and made a quick search of the four bedrooms, two of which were clearly unused at present. Of the two remaining, Hilary's was easily recognizable by the general theme of frogs and dinosaurs that held sway among the décor and ornaments. A window stood slightly open, its curtains blowing a little in the cold wind, and Daniel regarded it thoughtfully for a moment before glancing into Kat's room and then going back downstairs and out into the gathering darkness, followed by Taz.

As he left the house, he practically bumped into Hilary on the doorstep, causing her to let out an involuntary cry of alarm.

Daniel put a hand out to steady her and she clutched his arm.

‘Oh, Daniel! Thank God! Have they gone?'

‘They have. Are you OK?' She looked physically unharmed, if deeply stressed. ‘What happened? Why didn't you get away after I called?'

Hilary shook her head. ‘It's a long story. I'll tell you, but, Daniel, I can't find Kat! When we got back with the ponies, I sent her over here to grab some bits and pieces and put the dogs in the car, but then those men came and she just disappeared. I've no idea where she went.'

‘
You
couldn't find her, but neither could they. I think I might be able to help, though. Come with me.'

Still holding her arm, he led her round the end of the house and turned her to face it.

‘Look up,' he said, pointing at the roof, which, now they were beyond the glare of the outside security light, was visible as a dark silhouette against the evening sky. From this angle they could see the gable ends of the twin pitched roofs with a chimney at either end of the central gully.

‘Up there?' Hilary said faintly.

‘She's a gymnast, remember?' Daniel told her. ‘I think she saw them drive in and, finding herself trapped in the house, climbed out of the window and on to the roof.' Then, raising his voice, ‘Kat? It's Daniel.'

There was a pause, then, ‘Daniel?' and a shadowy figure appeared beside the chimneystack.

‘Yes, it's me. It's all right, they've gone.'

‘Are you sure?'

‘Quite sure. You can come down now, but for heaven's sake be careful!'

‘Bah! It's easy,' Katya's voice floated back, loaded with scorn, and sure enough, within the minute she appeared in the doorway of the house.

‘Kat, my dear. Thank goodness you're all right,' Hilary said, going forward to give her a hug. ‘Ooh, let's get you inside. You're frozen.'

‘No, wait, Daniel! Someone's coming – I can see their lights,' Kat was staring down the drive, a note of panic in her voice.

She was back through the doorway in a flash and Daniel turned to watch the steady approach of a pair of oncoming headlights, bouncing over the uneven surface of the drive.

Hilary drew in her breath in sharp dismay. ‘You don't think they've come back?'

‘Unlikely.' In fact, Daniel was wondering if Tamzin had given in under pressure and told the police everything, but if that had been the case, he would have expected a blue-light-approach. As the car swept into the yard, they could see it was unmarked.

‘If this
is
the police,' he said quickly and quietly, ‘deny any knowledge of Kat's whereabouts. Anything they ask you about her – you don't know. She was only here a few days and then she left, OK?'

‘OK.'

The car pulled up and two figures stepped out into the glare of the security light, one a well-built man in his thirties and the other a female with blonde hair scraped back severely from a sharp-featured face. Both were dressed in civilian clothes.

‘Daniel Whelan?' the man asked as he came forward.

Daniel nodded warily.

‘DS Boyd, Molton CID, and this is WPS Hunt. DS Bowden sent us along to make sure everything was OK,' he explained. ‘Are you Mrs McEwen-Smith? Where's the girl?'

‘It's all right,' Daniel told Hilary with relief. ‘It's safe to talk. These are the good guys.'

Ten minutes later, having coaxed Kat down to join them, Daniel found Hunt and Boyd enjoying the warmth of the kitchen while Hilary made coffee. The dogs had been brought in from the Land Rover and now lay curled up on their beds.