The Hunted Child Read online

  ‘You work with the people you called before.’

  ‘Only recently,’ said Kirsten. She had thought she could trust them as well. ‘Why don’t we take a walk into the kitchen,’ said Kirsten.

  ‘Did you bring anything to eat?’ said Innocence, ‘It’d be good if you brought something to eat. I haven’t eaten anything in so long.’

  ‘No,’ said Kirsten. ‘Have we got anything here?’ and she pulled the girl’s brother with her into the kitchen. ‘I know there’s some soup,’ said Kirsten. ‘You can feel free to make that if you want, Innocence. I’m not letting your brother away from me until I know he’s going to be okay. He’s very jumpy.’

  Kirsten watched the girl find a saucepan, take one of the cans, open it, and start making some soup. Ollie was being held beside Kirsten and she could see how he watched his sister, making sure everything she did was safe. Innocence found three mugs and poured tomato soup into all three of them and gave Kirsten hers before helping her brother to feed himself.

  ‘If I let you go,’ said Kirsten, ‘I have to know you’re going to follow me. I have to know you’re going to stay close and take instruction. If you run off on your own, Ollie, you’re going to die and your sister will die, too. You need to trust me on this because things have got very complicated.’

  ‘In what way?’ asked Ollie. ‘All I know is you couldn’t keep us safe.’

  ‘No, I think there’s somebody within my organisation who’s betraying us. Someone who’s setting up these snatches, so until I can work out who, I need to keep you close by.’

  ‘Why do you think somebody in your organisation wants to get to me?’ asked Innocence. Kirsten was impressed because the girl’s hand didn’t shake when she made the comment.

  ‘For what you’ve seen. The man who did it will be paying big money to people. Police officers, secret agents, we all get bribes one time or another. We do know the boundaries, but most of us have to play the line sometime. We know which side we’re on. I haven’t been able to work out who exactly it is. I have my suspicions on a few, but until I do know, I’ll be standing by your side, keeping you safe. The people we’re playing with, they don’t play friendly. There’ll be one shot and you’re dead. As much as I like your enthusiasm, Ollie, just stick with me. Don’t go off the handle.’

  Kirsten bent down and undid the young man’s hands, allowing him to take his soup freely and drink from it. He seemed much calmer now, much more reasonable. Maybe that was just the eve of the storm. Maybe he’d run off again like he’d done with his sister before. Kirsten checked on the man who was on the floor, and then tied him to one of the kitchen appliances.

  ‘Who’s he?’ asked Innocence.

  ‘He won’t talk, whoever he is,’ said Kirsten. ‘They don’t do that, this lot.’

  ‘But surely he’s from the man who I saw kill.’

  The voices stopped. It seemed Innocence had been replaying in her mind what she’d seen. It was one thing for it to stay fresh with her. Rather useful, too, for police, but if it stayed too fresh, it will continue to haunt her time and time again until the poor girl would be demented.

  ‘Try not to worry,’ said Kirsten. ‘Try not to think about it. When we get you to the right place, you’ll have plenty to think about then, plenty to deal with. For now, just try and keep chilled. I’ll get you out of here,’ Kirsten told the brother and sister as they drunk their soup before going to wash up.

  ‘Just leave it,’ said Kirsten. ‘You’re not coming back. It’ll be daylight in half an hour or so. We need to get moving. It’s a fine line I’m walking between them discovering my car and getting on the road again so we can cross the bridge.’

  ‘How’d you find me?’ asked Ollie.

  ‘Social media. It’s always the same. People give away so much detail by being on it. We have people that are experts in tracking that. Personally, I was able to get to our expert before anybody else.’ Kirsten made her way back to the car with the two young people in tow. She kept them crouched down low as they went past the hedge. When they reached the car, she had them sitting in the back, but bending down.

  ‘I’d put you in the boot, but unfortunately, it’s a bit dangerous if somebody rams me and secondly, I’ve already got someone in there. We best drop him off somewhere.’

  Kirsten drove and arrived at the nearest village where she saw a post office sign.

  Opening the boot quickly, Kirsten hauled the man out, and threw him down. After lifting him up, she tied him up. Realising he was just coming round, she clocked him one again on the chin and watched as he slumped over.

  Running back inside the car, Kirsten drove off, asking the pair of young people in the rear to keep their heads down. She made a direct passage for the bridge because the sun was just coming up, but as she got closer, she pulled over to one side waiting for someone else to come.

  Soon enough, a woman came along in a car and Kirsten reckoned she didn’t look like she was trying to spot anyone and so drove off after her. By the time she had reached the bridge, the two were almost in convoy. Kirsten looked around, but she couldn’t see anybody looking at the bridge, or maybe they thought because someone had captured her or at least laid a hand on her, that Kirsten was no longer a threat. Had their guard been dropped down? Either way, she didn’t care as she drove over the bridge, casting a glance quickly on either side.

  Having left Bernera, Kirsten continued to drive back towards Stornoway. It wasn’t long before she passed a turn, the long road back up towards Cameron Terrace. The day was beginning and there were some commuters on the road, but she could see another car close by. It didn’t take her long to figure out it was tailing her.

  She stayed tight to other cars believing that she’d be safe if she had people around her. Despite this, a couple of times, they’d turned off or she’d lost them, and she’d find herself having to drive at pace to keep up with the main group of cars. It wasn’t long before they were on the edge of Stornoway and Kirsten drove along Bayhead before cutting up towards the police station located in the back streets of the main town. Rather than drive up to the front door, she drove into the car park with all the police vehicles. As soon as she did so, a couple of officers came running out to see what was going on.

  Kirsten stepped out of the car, waving to them, ‘Jan, Michael, been a while. I need to bring these two inside.’

  She opened the rear door, pulling Innocence and Ollie out. She saw the look on the officers’ faces, the surprise, shock, and the sudden realization duty was required. One of them stepped across to cover off the entrance of the car park while the other waved at Kirsten, ushering everyone inside.

  They were taken through and up to the upstairs room that Kirsten had occupied before when she was alone with a laptop. Here they stood and Kirsten watched the door carefully, keeping the two young people off to one side behind her. The police station was relatively safe ground, but who was to stop someone paying enough money from just walking in and shooting them. But at least she was holed up for now, and she’d get help from CID. She’d get one of their safe houses, keep the young people from danger. Things were starting to look better.

  Chapter 17

  Kirsten knew most of the officers at Stornoway Police Station, but the CID Lead, Detective Sergeant Andrea Lumley, was a new name, and Kirsten was apprehensive about how the woman might take to her. Everyone else knew Kirsten. She had worked with them personally, some quite closely, but DS Lumley had nothing to go on. The situation she was about to be put in was not going to be a pleasant one.

  Ollie and Innocence were kept in a small room at the rear of the station, but Kirsten made sure that beverages and food were brought to them. She sat in DS Lumley’s office with a coffee in front of her, as well as two rounds of toast. Kirsten greedily wolfed them down while waiting for the sergeant to arrive and was on the point of asking for another round when a tall, fair-haired woman walked in. She was a lot older than Kirsten, although nowhere near retirement. She took off her jacket
, hung it up, and faced Kirsten.

  ‘You must be our illustrious Kirsten Stewart,’ said the woman. ‘I’d like to say I’m pleased to meet you, but frankly, you’re just causing a lot of trouble for me. What is it I can help you with?’

  ‘I’m sorry to be a hassle, but we have a situation currently developing within the department. You probably recognise the two people I brought in. Well, at least one of them. Innocence Waters is a key witness in a potential murder by Kyle Collins. We need to get her safe and somewhere that other people will not be able to get at her. There’s been several threats on her life already. I’ve been tailing her over from Inverness and as you’re probably aware, her father was shot recently.’

  ‘Yes. The incident down at the coastguard station, right by the new marina. Still clearing that one up. Talk of a team coming over from Inverness to harass me. Are you going to tell me you were involved in that?’

  ‘Very much so. Please, Sergeant, take a seat. This could take a while.’

  Kirsten relayed the details of having brought the Waters family to what she thought was going to be a safe handover, only to find that the people picking her up were out to kill the four of them. Kirsten then relayed the detail of having to search for Ollie and Innocence again. The sergeant nodded when Kirsten spoke of the man tied up in Bernera and almost gave a chuckle.

  ‘Do you think your department’s turned against you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Kirsten. ‘There’s something not right.’

  ‘And yet you came to this police station?’

  ‘Yes, because one, I knew everyone here. Well, most of you. And I know that you’re fairly sound. I thought we at least would get refuge for an hour or so. The two young ones are exhausted. They’ve been on the run and they’re also pretty scared. I need to put them somewhere. I need a safe house because I fear if I stay too long in the station that you could be on the end of this trouble.’

  Andrea Lumley’s eyes flicked up. She had long eyelashes and Kirsten couldn’t see any mascara on them. Her nose was pointed and the flesh of her cheekbones tight, but she wasn’t unattractive, rather Roman in her appearance, with blonde hair descending to her shoulders. Kirsten watched her begin to chew as she thought about what Kirsten was asking.

  ‘And what’s the plan from there? We get you a safe house and then what? The longer your guests stay with us the more hassle there’s going to be. There’s already two dead.’

  ‘I’m appreciative of that, and maybe you could do with us off your hands, but Innocence Waters is important. Very important. You can check with your higher echelons if you want, but I think they’ll ask for full cooperation. My problem is, I don’t know who I can trust, so I want you to contact the service recommending a safe house.’

  ‘What will that do? If they’ve come for you before, how do you know they won’t give you somewhere bogus and then jump on you?’

  The woman was sensible, and Kirsten noted she was also tapping her nails on the desk. They weren’t long and painted, but rather short and stubby. Andrea Lumley had the appearance of someone who got things done.

  ‘What it will do is it will send it through all the higher echelons. If something goes wrong, I’ll have a better idea of who did it.’

  ‘Do you want to elaborate on that for me?’ said Andrea. ‘Because I could be putting people with you, and I want to be assured of their safety.’

  ‘You don’t have to be in with us. I realise what you’re doing, but you have no need to protect. I’ll look after them. In fact, I’d recommend that it’s only me. I wouldn’t want any of your people in trouble.’

  ‘Well, I can certainly talk up the line, put the call through for you if you’re happy with that, but I still don’t see how it’s going to benefit you.’

  ‘If it’s come down a chain,’ said Kirsten, ‘that means everyone knows about it, or at least the important people. If it goes wrong from there, things would be fired back at them. Questions asked. They’ll also be advised of what’s going on. At the moment, I don’t know what’s being played out back home. I went to a meet and ended up having to kill two people who I don’t believe were from our service, so at the moment I think someone within our service is playing on the side. Kyle Collins is worth a lot of money. He wouldn’t be too shabby about handing it out to make sure Innocence Waters doesn’t go anywhere except six feet into the ground.’

  Andrea Lumley continued to tap with her fingers before nodding, standing up and turning to the door.

  ‘You need to give me a moment as I go through the processes, check through a few lines with some superiors, and if that’s all right, I’ll get you your house.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Kirsten. ‘I expect nothing less.’

  ‘Feel free to make a coffee or something. You don’t have to worry about the young ones. They’re down the end, there’s plenty of us between them and the front door.’

  ‘I’m not worried about them,’ said Kirsten. ‘I can see the hallway here, and if there was a face that went past I didn’t know, I’d be up like a shot.’

  ‘Like I said, I’ll be a couple of minutes,’ and Andrea Lumley left the room. Kirsten wondered if she was doing this correctly, but she failed to see what else she could do, ostracised from her links. She had to make someone else do the approach, make sure the service itself didn’t want Innocence dead. She couldn’t understand why they would. After all, she’d seen one of the worst villains in a long time from Inverness commit a murder. His ship was sunk with her testimony.

  Kirsten had fixed herself a second coffee, all without taking her eyes off the corridor, and returned to her seat when Andrea Lumley walked back through the door. She had a very hacked-off face.

  ‘Oh, you’re causing a right one here, aren’t you? I spoke to my bosses; they’re not very happy. They’re keen for me to dump you off as soon as I can. I also had a conversation with someone who I believe is your former boss, about the murders up by the coastguard station. Well, they have given me the go ahead to make contact, and that I did a couple of minutes ago. I’ve been told that your boss is organising the house.’

  ‘Did they give a name?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘No,’ said Andrea, shaking her head. ‘They simply said you would know it was your boss.’

  That didn’t help Kirsten at all. If Richard was playing around, he could easily have intercepted the call and done that.

  ‘You speak to a man, or a woman?’ asked Kirsten.

  ‘It was a man, said that your boss was unavailable, busy. Look, I’ve got my contact,’ said Andrea. ‘That’s for them to call.’

  Kirsten nodded and wondered about confiding in Andrea about her concerns regarding Richard and Anna. She hadn’t said much, and certainly hadn’t named anyone. She also wondered how far she could trust this DS in front of her. That was the problem since coming into this side of the business. You never know who wronged who, who was doing what. There were favours, and back-handers paid here, there, and everywhere. While a lot of them wouldn’t have been as outright criminal as this, most of the people you work with were used to making deals.

  ‘Did he say where the safe house was going to be?’

  ‘No, but he’ll contact within the hour, and then we’ll get on the move. I’ll take you up there myself.’

  ‘How are you going to do that?’ said Kirsten. ‘After all, they’re probably watching your car.’

  ‘It’s not my first rodeo,’ said Andrea. ‘Just leave it with me.’

  It was over an hour later when Andrea finally came back to speak to Kirsten, advising her the safe house was to be up on the Eye Peninsula, known to the locals as Point.

  ‘Right at the tip, on beyond Portvoller, there’s a house up there. Quiet.’

  ‘I do know the area,’ said Kirsten. ‘Is there any road loop out?’

  ‘Where the house is located is right at the junction, so you can go left or right. That loops back to the main road, but there’s only the one main strip of road in and out of Point, y
ou know that.’

  ‘That I can handle,’ said Kirsten. ‘I just don’t want to be stuck down some track that somebody can put three or four cars across. When do we move?’

  ‘I just need to get changed. Then the constable will come and fetch you, and I’ll see you in the carpark.’

  Kirsten wondered about the strange response but made her way back to visit Innocence and Ollie. As she entered the room, Ollie stood up, fiercely demanding what was going on.

  ‘Sit down. Too much is going on, that’s what the matter,’ said Kirsten. ‘We’re going on the move again. Going to get you to the house, and from there we’re going to get you out of here, but we may have to lie low for a day.’

  ‘Don’t you know where they’re shipping us out to?’

  ‘No, it’s safer. If something happens to me and you get away, last thing I need to know is beyond what’s happening right now.’

  Ollie looked bewildered. It was obviously a lot for a young man to take, so Kirsten put an arm onto his shoulder. ‘Just stick with it. You’ve come and you’ve looked after Innocence, but at the moment I need to take care of the pair of you. There are things going on here you can’t understand. Frankly, I’m struggling to understand them as well, but we’ll keep going, and I will get you safe.’

  Kirsten was disturbed by a knock on the door, and a constable put her head in saying that they were ready for them downstairs. Ollie went to move, but Kirsten moved in front of him telling him to stay right behind her all the way down to the back door of the station. As she made her way along the corridor, she could see old friends looking in, bemused, but giving little smiles, trying to encourage, even though they didn’t know what was going on. As they reached the rear of the police station, Kirsten quickly looked out the window, and saw a van there with a plumber’s logo on the side. The van door was slid back, and Kirsten pointed to the interior, sending Ollie and Innocence inside. She could see the girl was shaking as she got in.