Cold as Ice (36 page)

Tracy watched Jeanie get Jackson into his suit. Even Tracy missed Scruffy. She was even thinking of trying to entice the neighbour’s cat in for Jackson to play with but she wasn’t
sure if it had fleas. She went over to him and knelt down and hugged him.

‘Have a nice time with Jeanie. Nanny will see you when you get back.’ Jackson nodded, put his arms around her neck and gave her a hug.

Tracy waited until they had closed the door behind them and then she put some clean shirts and underpants in a bag for Steve and locked up. She picked up the phone with a sense of loathing. It
felt like she was a prisoner on death row, waiting but never knowing when the call would come. She closed the front door behind her and got into her car, drove out of the driveway and headed
towards Steve’s work. She thought about calling him but it was getting near to the end of the working day now. She thought he wouldn’t mind if she just turned up.

She pulled into the company car park and looked at the vans parked up there. There was a main reception area in front of the warehouse. Tracy walked up to Betty who had worked on the reception
desk for as long as Tracy could remember.

‘Hi Betty; is it all right if I say hi to Steve?’

Betty’s smile was fading fast; she looked nervously towards the main office, where Tracy could see people moving behind the glass window.

‘He’s not here, Tracy. I’m sorry.’ She shook her head and looked embarrassed. Tracy laughed nervously.

‘Oh. I thought he was working today?’ She frowned. Once again Betty looked towards the office. A man who Tracy didn’t recognize was watching them.

‘New staff member?’

Tracy smiled at the man watching her. He smiled back.

‘Uh, yes.’

‘Okay, well, I guess I’ll talk to him later then?’ Betty nodded. Tracy was almost out of the door when Betty called to her and came around the desk to speak to her.

‘Tracy, the thing is, he doesn’t work here any more.’ Tracy looked at her as if she were making a joke. Betty reached out to put her hand on Tracy’s arm, Tracy stared at
it and then back up at Betty’s face.

‘The thing is, Tracy, he was suspended.’ Tracy didn’t answer. Her eyes flitted over Betty’s face and then towards the office where the man had turned away.

‘That . . .’ She looked towards the office door and the back of the man’s head. ‘That’s his replacement. Steve didn’t deserve it, despite the
allegations.’

‘What do you mean?’

Betty took a deep breath. ‘Look, Tracy, I know you’re not going to like me for being the one to tell you but the thing is, I would want to know – so woman to woman, I’m
telling you what I know. He was said to have got over-friendly with a couple of the clients we have – big customers. He made a bit of a nuisance of himself.’

‘In what way? I don’t understand.’

‘One of our clients is a college – you know what men are like – like boys in a sweet shop – he was seen hanging about a bit too often there, staying a bit too long. Some
of the female students complained.’ Tracy started shaking her head. ‘It wasn’t just that, Tracy . . . he was also accused of trying it on with the boss’s wife; made a play
for her, whatever you call it. They didn’t want to sack him and risk him taking it to a tribunal; my guess is they wouldn’t be able to prove it.’

‘The boss’s wife?’ Tracy shook her head, still not able to fully take in the news. ‘Why would they accuse him of that?’

‘Because . . . because . . . the truth is, Tracy, that he did have a bit of a wandering eye. None of the younger girls wanted to work with him.’ Tracy looked at her,
horrorstruck.

‘Look. I’ve told you all I know. Six months ago he walked out of that door and I haven’t seen hide or hair of him since. Although I know he still comes here to a
lock-up.’

Tracy frowned, shook her head. ‘Six months? That can’t be right. He’s been going to work every day just like he always does.’

Betty rubbed her hand on Tracy’s arm.

‘He’s been lying to you, Tracy. If you see him, tell him he has to return the keys to the warehouse; he has to bring the van back. Things will get very nasty otherwise.’

Tracy walked back out into the car park in a daze. Just then Hawk’s phone rang in her bag. She pressed the ‘accept call’ button and held it to her ear.

‘Hello, Traceeeeee.’

‘Hello.’ His voice made her shiver as she stood in the quiet of the dark yard. She heard the classical music again; this time it was louder.

‘Why do you think I call you, Tracy?’

‘I don’t know. I think you need help. It’s not too late. You should hand yourself in. Let my daughter go.’

He rolled out a deep laugh. ‘I call you because you need to learn a lesson, Tracy. Just like your daughter. She should be grateful to me; I have indoctrinated her in a new family. She no
longer needs a mother, a child; all she needs is me, her God.’

‘Let me talk to Danielle, please. How do I know she’s still alive?’

Tracy heard him walking, breathing. She heard the sound of someone else.

‘
Tracy?
’ It was Danielle’s voice – distant, fading, broken, as if her throat was raw.

‘Danielle? Oh thank God you’re still alive. Keep hope, Danielle. Be strong.’

‘
Jackson?
’

‘Yes. Yes, don’t worry. Don’t worry about Jackson. He misses you but he’s okay.’

‘
Kiss my baby for me
.’

Tracy heard a noise in the yard behind her. Betty had come out to close the shutters and have a cigarette. She was looking at Tracy with a smile that said,
I’m sorry for you but you
need to go away now
. Tracy felt a surge of anger so strong she nearly threw the phone through a window.

Tracy heard him laugh as he mimicked: ‘
Kiss my baby for me.
Now here’s the price she had to pay to talk to you.’ Tracy heard a deep gravelly scream, primeval pain as
if Danielle had thrown back her head in agony. The sound vibrated down the phone in a piercing scream. Then she heard Danielle pleading for him to stop as she gasped for breath.

Tracy shouted down the phone: ‘Stop it! Stop it! You sick bastard. Leave her alone. That’s my daughter you have there. She’s worth a billion of you. Danielle is her name,
Danielle Foster. Got it? I gave birth to her and I went through agony and I love her. You’ll never know love. You are a vile creature. You don’t deserve to be loved. Stop all this now.
Stop it. It won’t be long now before the police find you.’ Tracy heard Danielle scream again and then the phone went dead.

Tracy closed her eyes and clutched the phone to her.

Oh God. What have I done? He’ll never let her go now. I’ve ruined everything. It’s all my fault. Now he’ll come for Jackson.

Tracy had a need to get home as fast as she could. She wanted to see Jackson, make sure he was safe. She felt too exposed out in the open. Her head and heart pounded as she drove. The place was
empty when she got home. It was too quiet. She stayed at the lounge window, looking for Jeanie pushing Jackson home to her.

Jeanie was walking back home from the park. She was still a few streets away from the house. The streetlights shone down. The pavements were wet from the thawing ice and snow
clung to the sides of the road. She turned down a side street. Her mind was on getting home to Pete. She hoped Tracy would be home soon so that she could go. She had to go via the office and catch
up with the latest developments from Carter first. Jeanie stepped off the kerb and waited in front of the parked cars to cross when the road was clear. Carter had been on her mind a lot recently.
It didn’t do either of them any good to have to work so closely with one another. It was years since they were together but it had taken a lot to move on. They had drifted in and out of a
relationship for a year before they both decided it was best to split. But there were many times Jeanie wondered, if they had just made that extra commitment to one another, if they had taken the
plunge, would it have worked? Did she meet Pete on the rebound?

She was just about to step out when lights blinded her and she heard the squeal of tyres as a vehicle accelerated towards them. She heard the scream of grating metal as a van came from nowhere.
It crashed into the sides of the two parked cars to the left of Jeanie and Jackson then it mounted the pavement to Jeanie’s left and came straight for them. Jeanie screamed as it dragged the
buggy from her grasp.

‘You okay, Jeanie?’ Jeanie?’ She had closed her eyes and was clutching the front door frame of Tracy’s house without realizing it.

Carter got to Jeanie as fast as he could. He arrived and gave her a hug. She was still shaking.

‘I saw the SOCO team in place. You were very lucky to survive that.’

‘No shit, Sherlock! Is it me, or have I got
kill me
written on my back?’

‘Of course not.’ He held on to her for an extra hug and then drew a little way back. ‘But to be on the safe side I’d rather we didn’t stand so close.’

‘Did you get a look at him?’

‘No. But it was no accident. We came this close.’ She pinched her thumb and forefinger in the air. She was shaking from the shock and the cold.

‘You need to get in the warm.’

She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I need fresh air. Is Jackson all right?’

‘He’s fine. The doctor’s checked him out.’

She shook her head. ‘It happened so fast. We were just walking home. We were about to cross the road. There wasn’t a car in sight. The van came screeching across the road and up on
the pavement. He must have been waiting for the right moment. The buggy’s totalled. Did you see it?’ Jeanie was shaking.

‘Yeah. I stopped to take a look at the scene on my way. You did well to save him, Jeanie. You did a good job.’

She nodded, leaned back against the door. She turned to look back inside the house; Tracy was giving Jackson his tea. She lowered her voice: ‘It’s possible they thought I was
Tracy.’

‘Or?’

‘Or Jackson was the target and Hawk didn’t mind who died with him or who he killed to get to him.’

Carter nodded. ‘Yeah. Maybe he regrets leaving him alive.’

‘Perhaps Hawk thinks I’m getting somewhere with him,’ said Jeanie.

‘And are you?’

‘Yes, I think so. Every day he seems to edge closer to being able to tell us who it was.’

‘I’m going round to Gerald Foster’s now to see if his van is there and if he’s got any new damage.’

Jeanie left Carter and went to find Tracy, who was running a bath for Jackson. Jeanie stood and watched her. She was battling back the tears.

‘It’s all right, Tracy, Jackson is okay. We are all okay.’ Tracy nodded but didn’t speak. ‘All we have to worry about is getting a new buggy.’ Tracy nodded
– short, sharp nods – she looked like she didn’t dare speak in case she started crying. She undressed Jackson and got him into the bath. Jeanie came over and knelt by the bath and
blew bubbles at Jackson. He was playing with the toys that Jeanie had brought over from Christa’s collection. She knew Christa wouldn’t miss them. She was spoilt for choice. It hit
Jeanie then that she’d missed another bathtime with Christa. Pete would have his disappointed face on. She wouldn’t tell him that she’d nearly been killed again – not a good
move. He’d want her to give up working there altogether. But even if she wanted that too, she couldn’t. She was the higher earner. She was nowhere near ready to go home yet. Carter
would be waiting for her at Fletcher House after visiting Foster and they would be working late for as long as it took. She was in it till the end now; they all were. Carter was right – her
job came first for now. After today Jeanie realized that she had to be here for Tracy and she had to get the information out of Jackson as fast as she could. Whoever Hawk was, he had changed his
mind about killing a child. Nobody was safe from him.

Tracy put Jackson to bed and then she joined Jeanie in the lounge. Tracy poured herself a large glass of wine.

‘You okay, Tracy?’

Tracy breathed in deeply through her nose and shook her head. She looked at Jeanie, her face beginning to crumple again. She fought back the tears. The glass of wine in her hand was shaking.

‘He phoned again – the man who has Danielle: Hawk.’

‘Did he?’ Jeanie was shocked that Tracy hadn’t said earlier but then maybe there hadn’t been chance. ‘When you were out?’ Tracy nodded. ‘What did he
say?’

‘He said I had a lesson to learn. So did Danielle.’ Jeanie waited for her to continue. Tracy walked across with her glass of wine and sat on the sofa next to Jeanie. ‘I got
angry. I called him a sick bastard. I heard Danielle screaming in the background. She paid for what I said. Maybe the attack – Jackson and you – you could have both been killed and it
would have been all my fault.’

Jeanie watched Tracy as she tried not to cry but her shoulders shook. She put her glass down. Jeanie reached out and hugged her.

‘No, Tracy. He’s a madman. You didn’t cause him to hurt Danielle. You did what comes un-naturally to you. You blew your top. Who knows whether it will have had a good or bad
effect but it won’t have altered his path. I’ll listen to the conversation in a minute on my way home. For now try and forget about it, please. We’re okay. Jackson and I are here
and safe. Did you see Steve?’

Tracy looked embarrassed. She shook her head, reached across and picked up her wine.

‘He was too busy. I’ll talk to him later when he phones.’

Jeanie smiled but she kept her eyes on Tracy.

‘You are coping well, you know, Tracy? Much better than most people could. You’re a lot tougher than you think. You will get through all this.’

‘But nothing will ever be the same,’ Tracy interrupted.

‘No.’ Jeanie shook her head. ‘Nothing will.’

‘Is he going to kill us?’

Jeanie shook her head.

Carter drove through the evening rush hour and spent an hour nose to tail through busy streets. He cut down all the side streets he knew but ended up snagged in bottlenecks.
His father had been a cabbie, retired only three years ago. It was when he retired all his health problems came, thought Carter sadly. His father had loved the cabbie lifestyle, meeting up with his
mates, starting the day with a cup of strong tea and a bacon sandwich at five in the morning at a cabman shelter.