Before It's Too Late (21 page)

Recognition spread across Lonny’s face. “So you want to stay over here permanently?”

“I did.” We sat in silence a moment. When I looked back at him, he was staring at me intently, as if he was examining every contour of my face
.

“Don’t you miss anything about home?” he asked
.

I twisted my mouth. “Of course. I miss my parents. I miss the way it all seemed so easy, the way they always looked out for me.”

“You surprise me.”

“Why?”

“You always seemed so happy on campus, so confident in class.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What do you miss about home?”

He gave a half-smile. “I thought I’d miss the food, but in the end I didn’t really. I’m pretty surprised how quickly I adapted. I do miss being beside the sea though.”

“There’s sea here.”

“Yeah, if you want to take a road trip.”

“What about your family?”

“I don’t think that makes much difference. I rarely saw my father. He was always at work. And when he was at home he was working, or entertaining. I just got in the way.”

“Your mother?”

“She died when I was nine.”

“I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

He stared into the open space in front of him. “You weren’t to know.”

An awkward silence followed. I wanted to probe more, ask him about his life back in Hong Kong, but his face looked far away, stuck in a different moment. Now wasn’t the time. Although the mood that he’d so effectively lightened had now grown dark again
.

I was beginning to feel breathless, cocooned by the rising levels of humidity. A crash in the distance caught my attention. I tilted my head, switching from Lonny to the grill at the top
.

The noise came again, like the rumble of campus wheelie bins on refuse collection day
.

“Thunder,” Lonny said. “Good, at least it’ll clear the air.”

Chapter
Thirty-Five

Jackman took a deep breath and arched his back. They were now ensconced in the narrow side street just up from a painted black door, set back from the pavement slightly, which marked the entrance to Jie Wang’s flat. From this position they could see past the overflowing bins beside the kitchen and down to the glamorous entrance lights of The Oriental Garden restaurant.

After the casino they’d visited Na Wang, Jie’s sister, inside the flat they now watched. She was a petite woman, a mirror image of her brother but with softer features. Although her English was very clear, she’d been less than forthcoming on the whereabouts and habits of Min’s uncle, claiming they’d had an acrimonious break-up and she knew little about him when they were together and even less now they’d parted. She didn’t even flinch when Jackman mentioned his real name was Qiang Li. It was almost as if nothing to do with her former partner could surprise her anymore.

He thought back to the casino. The last address they had on file for Min’s uncle was Lever Street, just like Na. Qiang had obviously gone to some trouble to carve out a new identity for himself under the name of Peng Wu. Until last summer he had a regular address and a job of sorts. Jackman heard the ring of Davies’ mobile and watched as she fished it out of her bag. She mouthed the word ‘Keane’ as she answered.

It was after eight and low clouds had moved in, painting the air around them with premature brush strokes of grey, bringing in an early dusk and with it the threat of heavy rain.

“Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker,” Davies said.

He watched as she pressed the screen and held it out at an angle in front of them. Keane’s voice filled the car. “What do you know?” Jackman asked.

“Mixed bag. Nothing more from Ward. After he discovered that we had accessed his phone records he’s gone ‘no comment’. Forensics have been in touch though. They’ve found some strands of hair down the side of the seats, seemingly pulled out at the root, and tiny spots of blood on the inside of the roof. They’re going to put them through on a fast track for DNA. Hopefully we’ll have some results by the morning.

“Excellent.”

“That’s not all. We’ve been in touch with Northampton. Apparently Ward’s firm installed a new central heating system at Katie Sharp’s home last year.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah. Nothing to link him with Min though. We checked the CCTV at the hotel in London. He was definitely there. Any luck with the uncle?”

“We’ve established he’s still around the Chinese Quarter,” Jackman answered. “Although he appears to be lying low. He was seen in the supermarket on Tuesday and he visited the casino last weekend. We’re going to hang around to see if we can spot him tonight.”

“Okay, just one more thing. Reilly’s been lording it up on BBC national news this evening. I’ll send you the link.”

As Keane rang off, Jackman watched Davies run her fingers over the screen on her phone, then wait as it loaded. A newsreader in a red jacket filled the screen talking about the heat wave that dogged the nation, and predicted thunderstorms. Davies turned down the volume. “Hold on, I need to run it forward.”

She fiddled with her phone a bit more, then nudged his arm, “We’re on.”

Jackman stared at the tiny phone screen as Reilly appeared. His hair was slicked back and his face freshly shaved.

“Looks like he’s picked out his Gucci suit for the occasion,” Davies said.

Reilly lifted the notes in front of him, although didn’t refer to them as he shared the fact that they had made important inroads into the investigation into Ellen Readman’s murder. He called the arrest today ‘a significant development’.

The journalist asked him about the activity in the village of Clifford Chambers that morning. ‘That’s a line of enquiry I’ve had my team looking into for some time. I can’t share any of the details right now, but I’m fairly confident we are moving in the right direction and will be in a position to charge very shortly.’ His words were as smooth as chocolate with just the right measure of reassurance, his face conveyed the perfect level of gravitas as he continued to say how they’d worked around the clock to solve this case and to thank everyone involved in seeking to make Stratford safe once more.

“Urrrgh! Where does he spew that from?”

Jackman glanced across at Davies. Her jaw was hanging at an awkward angle. He looked back at the screen to watch Reilly give one more sincere nod, then retreat.

Davies put her phone back in her bag. “‘That’s a line of enquiry I’ve had my team looking into for some time… ’ God, he’s full of it.”

Jackman shook his head. “Don’t let it bother you.”

She turned to face him. “I wouldn’t if the powers that be didn’t think he was so marvellous.”

“What, Janus?”

“No! The new bloody chief constable. Apparently they’re always on the golf course together. He thinks the sun shines out of Reilly’s arse.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Is that what we’ve got to look forward to now? Political policing?”

Jackman shrugged.

“Roll on the next ten years,” she said. “If that’s the case my thirty can’t come soon enough.”

Jackman opened a bottle of water and took a glug. Even with the windows wound down the car felt stuffy. He glanced at the entrance to Jie Wang’s flat.

Davies followed his eye line. “Are we sure there’s only one entrance?”

Jackman nodded. “Only one accessible from the street. The other is through the back of the restaurant and we’d spot him going in from here. I think we’re pretty much covered.”

The rain came down gently at first, blurring Jackman and Davies’ view as small spots littered the windscreen. Within a few minutes it had changed force to huge blobs falling from the sky at breakneck speed that clattered as they hit the vehicle.

A flicker of lightning in the distance was followed by the rumble of thunder. Jackman tucked his elbow inside and raised the window. He couldn’t imagine who would want to come out in that weather.

Hours later, Jackman rolled his shoulders and checked the clock on the dash. It was 3.53am. He shifted his gaze to the seat next to him where long tendrils of black curls hung down, tumbling across Davies’ shoulders and the surrounding seat.

He stared at her a moment, listening to her soft raspy breaths as she slept.

They’d sat and watched people trailing in and out of the restaurant for hours. Cars crawled, then later spun by on the main road at the bottom as it thinned out. Finally, the restaurant lights turned off. The staff filed out.

Jackman loved covert work. The thought that something could happen at any moment excited him. It represented the hands-on policing that he’d joined the force for, all those years back, although apart from an urban fox and the odd cat nothing had appeared tonight.

Glints of first light were already filtering through the darkness. The sun would come up soon. He’d watched so many sunrises this past year that he was accustomed to the gentle brightening of the air around him, the warmth of those first early-morning rays on his skin.

The birds had already started jostling in their roosts, twittering together, warming their voices up for the morning chorus.

He sat there for several moments, lost in the expanse of his mind. Slowly, his thoughts dissipated into the dust motes that gathered in the surrounding air as the sun’s rays struck through stronger. Here it comes, he thought, that warm hue of weariness that never failed to strike in those waking hours when everyone was rising, fresh for the day. It was a constant battle, a curse of insomniacs across the globe. And he fought the sleep that evaded him so resolutely every night.

Chapter
Thirty-Six

I woke suddenly to the sound of dripping. A small puddle had collected beneath the gap above and was rapidly expanding, just inches from my feet. Instinctively I drew them in slightly
.

A silvery darkness swamped the pit. The storm had cleared the air, but sent the temperatures plummeting. As my gaze rested on Lonny, I jumped
.

He lay propped up next to me, eyes wide open, his whole body juddering
.

“You alright?”

He looked back at me. “Bloody hole. Goes from sticky heat to freezing in the course of a few hours. Are they the only blankets?”

I swallowed. I knew what I should do, but it felt wrong somehow. I hesitated for the shortest of seconds then lifted the corner of the blanket and looked at him tentatively. He gave a juddered nod, uncrossed his arms and sidled across. It felt strange, having a man that wasn’t Tom beside me. But Lonny wasn’t a complete stranger. Not now
.

Time stood still as we laid there in the darkness together until his breaths steadied into a gentle rhythm and I found myself falling into a deep sleep
.

Chapter
Thirty-Seven

Jackman yawned. Cars were beginning to pass through the main road at the end of the street as he knocked the door of Jie Wang’s flat. The sound of soft footfalls on carpet were followed by the turn of a key in a lock. The door opened swiftly. Jie’s hair was spiked around the crown area as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He rubbed his eyes.

“No luck,” Jackman said. “Any calls?”

Jie shook his head.

Jackman dug his hand into his pocket and passed over a card. “Give us a call the moment he gets in touch, please?”

The car rocked slightly as he climbed back inside and shut the door. Davies awoke, sat up abruptly, rubbed the side of her neck and glanced at the clock on the dash.

“Wow, 7.13? Is it that time already?”

Jackman nodded. “Afraid so. Sleep well?”

Davies pulled a face. “Best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.”

“I wondered why you insisted on coming.” They both chuckled.

She reached up and tied her loose hair back behind her neck. “Any visitors?”

“Nothing. I think we’ll call it a day.” He reached for the ignition, just as his mobile buzzed.

“Jackman.”

Keane didn’t bother to introduce himself. “Sir, there’s been another kidnapping.”

A sharp pain spiked Jackman’s lower back as he jerked forward. “What do you mean?”

“Twenty-year-old male student from Hong Kong, name of Lonny Cheung, also studying at Stratford College. His father received a ransom demand yesterday. He alerted the college this morning who contacted us.”

“How long has he been missing?” Jackman asked.

“Not sure, but the email is the same as Min Li’s, practically a carbon copy. It seems we have a double kidnapping on our hands. Janus is gathering everyone together and looking for you, sir. Briefing’s here in an hour.”

Jackman thanked Keane, rang off and immediately redialled Janus.

“Will, where the hell are you?” She didn’t attempt to hide the annoyance in her voice.

“In Birmingham. We stayed over on the off-chance of running into… ”