Page 112 of Killing Mind

‘His full name is Kane Drummond and lives in West Hagley.’

‘Stace, how did…’

‘Taxi companies. Katrina, at the seventh one I tried, took the booking and they dropped him off at a car park in Stourbridge which doesn’t have cameras. No surprise. But the petrol station on the ring road does and I guess he was low on fuel. Got his reg number and full address.’

‘Well done, Stace, but keep digging. Now we know his real name we can…’

‘And here’s his actual phone number,’ Stacey added pushing a piece of paper towards her. ‘Katrina always logs them, you know.’

‘Even better,’ Kim said. She was sick and tired of using Myles Brown as the middle man.

‘Nothing on the money yet, boss,’ Penn said.

‘Okay, Stace, priority is identifying our third victim and then getting history on Kane Drummond and Jake Black. I want everything you can find. Penn, stick with the money. We might find something to haul Jake Black in for so we can add a little pressure.’

‘Got it, boss.’

‘And I’m gonna make a quick call to our superhero. Let him know he’s not in hiding any more.’

Kim stepped into the Bowl and dialled the number.

He answered with a single hello.

‘Mr Drummond,’ she said, using his full name. ‘DI Stone.’

‘How did you get…’

‘We’re the police. We’re good at this shit. I think we need another conversation. Sophie is no longer at Unity Farm. Now we could come and see you at your home for…’

‘No,’ he said, quickly. That was the response she’d hoped for. He was silent for a minute. ‘Meet me at the usual place. Ten o’clock.’

‘I’d rather…’

‘Ten o clock, Inspector, and you’ll see why,’ he said, as the line went dead.

She looked at her watch. It was almost eight. Which gave her enough time for the other thing she’d been asked to do.

What exactly had he meant about her seeing why? It felt like he was keeping that café in business.

‘Penn, change of plan. Get a team over to Kane’s address. Wait for him to leave and then break in. You have reason to fear for Sophie Brown’s safety.’

‘Got it, boss,’ he said, thoughtfully. ‘That’s not too far from Sheila’s daughter’s house,’ he said, glancing at his watch. He looked at her questioningly.

She nodded. The woman deserved to know where her mother was.

He grabbed his coat and left.

Content that everyone knew exactly what they were doing, Kim turned to Bryant.

‘You ready?’

He took a deep breath.

‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’

Ninety

Tiff fixed a smile to her face and followed Britney into the breakfast hall. She felt groggy from lack of sleep. Once she’d decided it was time to leave, the morning had not come quickly enough. She had even started to wonder if she’d done the right thing agreeing to do this in the first place.