Page 46 of The Lost Zone (Dark Water #3)

Chapter Thirteen

Josiah

The search warrant was easily obtained, based on the witness statements. Josiah hoped they’d taken Tyler by surprise with the speed at which they’d moved; he might have hoped he had more time to ponder his next move, but Esther – now she was onboard – moved fast.

Josiah strode around the SID issuing orders to his newly enlarged team.

“I want divers, scanning sonar, an ROV, and a command post set up at the scene ASAP,” he said, outlining an area on the map.

“This is where Reynolds says the body was dumped. We can’t expect it to still be there after all this time, but we can use it as a starting point. ”

He watched them all scuttle off to do his bidding, and then put in a call to Sofie. “How are things?” he asked cautiously.

“All well here. And with you? How did it go?”

“Good. We have a warrant to search the waters around Tyler’s house.”

“That’s fantastic. I’ve been thinking about the specifics of this case since you left this morning and have done some research.

Alex said the body was wrapped in a rug.

If he was smart, Tyler might also have punctured the torso to let decomposition gases escape, as they’d aid buoyancy.

It’s possible the entire corpse will be found – likely in skeleton form after all this time.

However, it’s also likely you won’t find anything; you might be lucky and find at least one bone. ”

“That would be enough to at least prove a body was disposed of there, if nothing else,” Josiah said grimly.

“Alex said she was dumped in winter. Cold water slows down decomposition and can cause adipocere to form – that’s a waxy tissue, like soap.”

“Yeah, I know.” Josiah grimaced. “I’ve seen a few drowned bodies over the years.”

“It’s possible she’ll be in this condition, if you find her, but that won’t make DNA identification any easier, sadly. Identification of the remains will be your biggest headache if you do find a skeleton.”

“Understood.”

“Joe, has anyone asked about… Sem?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“Not yet. I need to leave to drive to Lewes now, but you know what to do if you hear anything.” Josiah ended the call and turned to Alex. “Do you want to come with me? If we find her, you might find it… difficult.”

“I want to be there,” Alex said firmly. “This day has been such a long time coming. I can’t miss it.”

“Well, it probably won’t be today. Or tomorrow. We might never find her.” Josiah sighed at Alex’s stricken expression. “Sorry, I’m just trying to manage your expectations.”

“I hadn’t even thought about what would happen if it went this far. All I cared about was convincing someone to start an investigation. If there’s no body, will the investigation be dropped?”

Josiah shook his head. “Not necessarily, but it’s unlikely we’ll obtain a conviction without a body, given all the odds stacked against us. It’ll be hard enough with a body.”

“And if Tyler isn’t brought to justice, I’ll be returned to him, only this time he’ll know just how much I hate him,” Alex said glumly.

“Yes. It’s a very dangerous game, but you knew that already.” Josiah placed his hands on Alex’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Ready to play it?”

Alex took a shaky breath, then nodded. “Yes. Ready.”

Reed was busy setting up the command post when Josiah arrived.

Tyler had to have been aware what was happening from the outset.

How could he not since his house overlooked the lost zone they were about to search?

His lawyers had sprung into action, but while Tyler might own the land his house was built on, he didn’t own the water around it, so Esther had won that round.

Josiah didn’t fool himself that much else would be so easily won.

He instructed the divers on their search parameters. It was a large body of water, so nothing would happen fast. Alex sat quietly to one side while he worked, watching his every move.

When Josiah paused for a moment, Alex brought him a freshly brewed cup of tea and some dark chocolate biscuits.

“Caffeine and sugar to keep you going,” he said as he handed them over.

“Also, paracetamol, just in case you need it.” Josiah took everything gratefully.

He had a pounding headache and was running on empty.

“I had a thought,” Alex ventured as Josiah dunked one of the biscuits in his tea. “Supposing Tyler got her out at some point in the past seven years? Supposing he buried her somewhere else?”

“It’s possible, but unlikely,” Josiah mused. “It wouldn’t be easy, for a start, and it’d involve more people in his secret. Bad enough that there were already witnesses. The last thing he’d want was even more people knowing.”

Alex nodded, but he still looked anxious.

“I get it,” Josiah said softly. “This is the culmination of everything you’ve worked towards for so long, but you’ve done your bit, Alex. You can do no more. Leave it up to me now.”

Alex shot him a wan smile. “I don’t know what to do with myself now that it’s actually happening. For all these years, I’ve known how to be, who to be, but now…” He gave a helpless shrug.

“You’re the bravest man I’ve ever met; that’s who you are,” Josiah told him firmly. He knew Alex wouldn’t believe him, but he meant it.

Tyler set up camp on the part of his own land nearest to the lost zone, surrounded by his lawyers, and watched their every move. Josiah waved to him cheerfully every so often, but Tyler’s face was set in rigid, baleful lines, and he didn’t react.

The divers had found nothing by the time darkness fell, so Josiah ordered in huge arc lights to prevent anyone messing with the area and posted guards on it overnight. The diving team would resume their work in the morning.

“It’s a bit of a let-down,” Alex sighed as they drove home. “After all the drama of the last few days.”

“I know, but look at it this way: at least we can get some damn sleep.” Josiah grinned at him.

“And more?” Alex asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

“We’ll see. I’m knackered.”

A delicious smell greeted them when they entered the house, and Sofie appeared, brandishing a spatula. “I’ve made dinner,” she announced. “I hope you don’t mind.” She’d washed her blood-stained clothes and looked much brighter now that she’d slept.

“Mind? It’s a relief.” Josiah gave a heartfelt smile at the prospect of a warm, home-cooked meal after the day they’d had, and then almost tripped over the rucksacks still in the hallway.

Alex picked them up. “I’ll take care of these,” he said, starting for the stairs. He paused, looking down on them ruefully. “Were we ever really going to do this?”

Josiah sighed. “No. One of us would have stopped it, even if Elsie hadn’t called. Despite the risks, neither of us could have really walked away from this, could we?”

“No,” Alex said softly. “I suppose we just wanted the fantasy of escape.” He disappeared up the stairs with the rucksacks.

“How’s Sem?” Josiah asked, following Sofie into the kitchen.

“He’s doing really well. Much better than I expected, given how much my hands were shaking when I operated on him last night.”

“Well, you’re more used to sewing up the dead than the living.” Josiah leaned against a kitchen cupboard, grinning at her.

“Yes. Talking of which… no luck today?”

“No, but it’s early days.” Josiah moved his neck from side to side and was rewarded with a loud cracking sound.

“You must be exhausted. Eat – then go straight to bed,” she ordered.

“Yes, sir.” He shot her a perfect army salute.

She laughed. “You’re so different to who I thought you were.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly go out of my way to be welcoming to you,” he sighed.

“I was having a bad day when we met – it was the anniversary of Peter’s death, I had all these mixed feelings about being called into work when I felt I should have been honouring his memory, and I didn’t know you.

Then I saw you were wearing that ID tag, and it threw me.

I haven’t exactly been much fun for the past few years, so I’m sure I came over as pretty damn unpleasant.

It’s taken Alex to remind me of who I used to be.

Now, don’t go acting all nice to me when you return to work. People will be confused.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not as good at hiding how I truly feel as you are – and him.” She glanced in the direction of the stairs. “That poor man, he’s been very brave.”

“Yes, he has – which is why I’m going to do everything in my power to bring Tyler and his cronies to justice.”

“And what of you in all this?” she asked. “It’s obvious how much Alex means to you, but what happens when it’s over? He’ll still be an IS, even if you succeed in bringing Tyler down.”

“I know.” Josiah’s shoulders tightened miserably.

“Will you run then?” she asked. “Like you were thinking of doing last night?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’ll be possible by then, because I don’t know how all this will end.” Josiah gazed off into space, rubbing his aching neck. “All I can do is deal with the problems in front of me. The rest will have to wait.”

The meal Sofie cooked was delicious. She listened to Josiah and Alex talk about their day, and then, the minute they’d eaten, she shooed them off to bed.

It was a relief. Josiah had been fighting exhaustion for days, and as tempting as it was to reach for Alex as soon as they were alone, neither of them had the energy to make love.

They were both fast asleep the minute they tumbled into bed.

He woke at dawn to find Alex lying with his head propped up on one hand, gazing at him.

“Hey,” Alex said softly, leaning in.

“I must have morning breath,” Josiah muttered, holding up a hand to stop him.

“I don’t care.” Alex kissed him gently on the lips. “I don’t know how long we have left. I want you as often as I can have you.”

“Well, you’ve got me.” Josiah grinned. “What did you have in mind?”

“I want you in me again, like the first time, only slower.”