Page 52

FIFTY-ONE

As they pulled up at the station, Gina sent Pete Bloxwich a message. A ripple of fear passed through her. Tick, tick, tick. How long until all the horrible photos and accusations against her were out in the world.

Have you dealt with it?

She exhaled and pondered over whether to send the next message. The users of Men-R-Takin-It-Back knew she was MikeTheMan, so even going into their forum and looking was dangerous. She only hoped that he was doing all he could to help her. She knew she’d have to part with the precious memory stick, but maybe they could both have a fresh start. She thought of all the horrible things she’d seen on Gary Pritchard’s computer and she wondered if there could be a link.

Can you search the site for a user called White Knight?

She hit send. He replied instantly.

What’s in it for me?

She almost wanted to sit with her head in her hands. She had nothing else to give him that he might even remotely want.

I erase you from my radar and you get to go home to Devon and live your best new life. It’s about doing the right thing, Pete. It’s not too late to do something good; something to help someone other than yourself.

It was as if time stood still, waiting for his reply.

I’ll have a look when I’ve finished firefighting your shitstorm! Damn, I think something might have gone out to your contacts but I’ve stopped more going out. I’m back into the site. I’ll let you know when or if I gain full control.

Gina wanted to throw her head in her hands and cry, but she had to keep going for the girl. There was no time to withdraw and hide away from the world.

Jacob pulled up outside the station. Several reporters huddled in the car park, most of them a little unsure about what was happening, but Gina could tell they were hungry for more information on the fuss around the dead unidentified man and recently missing woman, Ruth Pritchard.

She glanced at them. Pete wasn’t there, but there was a familiar face. She saw the man, his skin slightly gnarled and no hair from when he was attacked by the woman he abused a few years ago. His frame was slight, making him look ill. The walking stick in his hand led the way.

On reaching the wall at the back of the car park, he winced in pain as he sat. It was her ex-brother-in-law, Stephen. Just there to gloat at all the trouble he was causing her by reigniting that website.

His shoulders bobbed up and down as he laughed at her, half coughing as he puffed on a roll-up. He waved and stood before walking over to a woman. The woman was looking after someone in a wheelchair, and that woman was Hetty.

Gina stared at her ex-mother-in-law and not one expression crossed her face. It was as if she had left her body.

As they entered the station, Briggs met her and led her to the incident room. He whispered, ‘We need to talk. As soon as the briefing is over, in my office.’

She let Jacob walk ahead. ‘I just saw Stephen in the car park.’

Briggs raised his brows. ‘He’s just come in to report a weed farm in a neighbouring house. It’s nothing to do with the case.’

Gina knew he’d just come in to remind her that he was present, that he was watching and that he was always there. He was trying to destroy her. ‘What do we need to talk about? Is it him?’

‘No, it’s something else.’ He glanced over her shoulder. ‘We can’t talk here.’

She swallowed, knowing that Briggs was one of the contacts who had received something bad involving her. She stared at the others in turn. Wyre, O’Connor, Kapoor – were they looking at her in a strange way? Garth sat at the back on the PC in the corner of the room, tapping away with a furrowed brow. Maybe her best strategy was to carry on as if nothing had happened in the hope that she was reading the room wrongly.

‘What do we have?’

Ponytail dangling down the back of his leather jacket, Garth turned to face her. ‘I’ve managed to get into Gary Pritchard’s computer and phone with ease. White Knight remains an enigma, obviously using a VPN to cover his tracks. He seems to be coaching men on how to take control of women in all ways. Whether it’s by fear, by manipulation or by sheer brute force if neither of those options work out. I guess you suspected that from what you already read. It looks very much like Gary sought him out. White Knight tells Gary to leave him alone several times, but Gary keeps going at him, asking how to take and keep a woman for years without anyone finding out.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Horses have come up. I know one of the witnesses mentioned horses.’ Garth swivelled around in the chair to address the rest of the room, hands in pockets.

‘In what way?’

‘Gary Pritchard and White Knight have attempted a meet up before, but it looks like White Knight didn’t show up.’

‘Where?’

‘On the land by Temple Cross.’

Gina picked her lip. ‘That’s just by the road where Rona’s daughter, Molly, was taken to and attacked.’

‘It’s also where the Romany travellers pitch up regularly. They’re normally there several times a year and they always have a lot of ponies and horses. That might be the horse link, but then again, the mention of horses might all be a lie, just like the catalogue photo of the girl was.’

Gina began to pace. She hated that they didn’t have a surname for Albie. She glanced at the map. There were several farms, factory units and storage facilities close by, not to mention the many businesses on the rustic business park.

‘We know that our suspect, Albie, works in construction. Can we look into all the construction businesses close by? Or stores that sell materials that would help preppers? Marie Paulson said that Albie was heavily into prepping for the end of the world. That has to be where he’s holding the girl. Marie also said that he had a dog called Luna, the same name as the girl – we think. Let’s get onto it straight away.’

Garth piped up. ‘We’ve managed to find out more about the Bishop, the one from Gary’s Chess Club message. The Bishop tells Gary he can trust White Knight and to do what he says. The Bishop says that Elissa wants to see him.’

Gina stared at the board. ‘Do you think Gary’s been on those sites looking for whoever took Elissa, playing a part to try to get information, and now they have him as well as Ruth?’

Briggs cleared his throat. ‘How possible do you think that is?’

‘I don’t know.’ She thought about his little bunker back at Edmundson’s Farm with the rope and chain. Was it meant for White Knight or Ruth? The photo of Ruth with the added devil horns made her shiver. ‘I just don’t know at the minute. I’ll be back in five and I want a list of those businesses close to Temple Cross.’

‘Guv,’ Garth said as he pointed to the computer screen.

‘What is it?’ She hurried over for a look.

‘There is a building supply company called Bishop Fry-Stone and Partners.’

‘What area of construction?’

Garth clicked and then scrolled. ‘Steel reinforced concrete, metal sheeting, stainless steel…’

‘It’s like a warehouse for anyone wanting to build a prepper’s bunker.’

Garth nodded in agreement. Gina looked at the map of the area he clicked onto. It was less than half a mile from Temple Cross. She thought of poor scared Molly as she ran out of Albie’s car in the dark, not able to see the industrial estate that evening. It was a classic case of the perp happily committing his crimes in a familiar area. ‘Get all units ready. We are not going there without backup,’ Gina said.

‘Shall I make contact with the company?’ he asked.

Gina shook her head. ‘We can’t afford for anyone to get there before we do. Call them as soon as we arrive. Do we have a phone number?’

Garth nodded. ‘And an out of hours.’

‘Great, as soon as you get the word, make the call, but wait for us to get into position.’

‘Do we have the owner’s details; a name or a home address?’

‘Not at the moment.’

She left the team to the organising and research to follow Briggs to his office. ‘What’s happening?’

He held his phone out in front of her. The same photo that Pete Bloxwich had forwarded to her was on his phone, sent directly to him by text from a concealed number. ‘I can’t even go to Garth with this. What’s going on? And how many of your other contacts have it?’

She sucked in a few mouthfuls of air. ‘I don’t know. Pete Bloxwich is trying to get the site shut down and I don’t know how long it will take.’ She placed a hand flat on her hot head before kneading her temples.

‘Pete? What’s going on?’

‘He’s helping me.’

Briggs hurried over to his office door, checked to see if anyone was outside and closed the door. ‘What the hell are you playing at? You can’t trust him. We could have handled this problem ourselves.’

She shook her head, lips pressed together. She felt the frosty tension between them, a far cry from the love nest they were tucked up in Scotland not long ago. ‘No, we couldn’t, and there was no way I could involve Garth. We just don’t have the expertise. It was Pete’s site. He closed it down. It was hacked and only he can control it from the inside. He’s back in, but not fully.’ She raised her arms and brought them down with a slap against her sides.

‘I can’t believe you trusted him. Seriously, Gina.’ Briggs shook his head and refused to meet her gaze. ‘What if it’s too late?’

She hiccupped a little sob. ‘I’m over. If it’s my time, it’s my time, and you know I’ll never bring you down with me. I’ve accepted what might come my way and the only thing I can do right now is my job. I am going to head out with the team and I’m going to do everything I can to save Luna before I’m finished.’

‘What if I say you can’t? I could pull you off this case.’

She nodded. ‘You could.’

‘Bloody hell, just go and find her. This conversation isn’t over and I’m not happy at all with how you’ve handled this.’

She stood closer to him, hoping for some form of reassurance and comfort, but he gave her nothing. Hot anger radiated from him. Someone knocked at the door.

‘Come in.’

Jacob pushed the door open. ‘Guv, Tristan Moore has just been on the phone. His wife, Moira, was just returning home and someone driving a white van tried to ram her off the road. She’s currently in hospital with a mild concussion and Kapoor has just left to be with her.’

‘What has Moira got to do with all this?’

‘Tristan Moore was with the family back at his house at the time it happened. He said Moira called him on hands-free where they’d had a long talk about everything. Then Moira said she knew Ruth. Tristan then heard Moira say that a van was pipping its horn. Moira told him that the woman was driving like a lunatic, then all he heard was a crash.’

Gina’s mind flashed back to Ruth Pritchard’s kitchen. She turned to face Briggs. ‘The white queen.’