Authors: C S Winchester
“
Some gripes. Donald thinks he's a arrogant bastard at times, Sean wants to be working with the animals rather than teaching, June thinks that Robert is very attractive and her husband Pete has noticed, but nothing seems to have happened about it.”
“
We knew it was a long shot,” Will tried to console her.
“
But now we're out of options,” Frankie turned to look out of the window. “Right now he could be dying,” she said softly.
Will wondered if that would be such a bad thing, but he knew better that to say so.
Frankie was silent the rest of the way back, and Will turned the radio on so the silence wasn't quite as deafening.
Will parked outside the Roseburn Maltings and took his house keys off his key ring.
“
I have to go back to work. Make yourself at home and call me if... just call me.”
Frankie nodded numbly, took the key and went inside.
She was squatting in a friend's apartment, living out of an overnight bag, she had alienated her parents and her friend was dying, possibly even dead and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt as though her life was falling apart.
Once inside, she headed straight for Will's kitchen and helped herself to a healthy measure of whisky. It was only 2pm but she didn't care.
She went through to the living room and sat on the sofa. Leaning her head back, she looked up at the ceiling and tried to will a new lead into existence.
Where was he?
Dante awoke to find himself chained to a bed. He pulled at his bonds but they wouldn't give.
“
I wouldn't if I were you.”
Dante looked up to see a computer monitor and speakers mounted on the end of the bed. It was clearly hooked up to a webcam.
“
You!”
“
You recognise me?”
“
I'd know your scent anywhere.”
“
How sweet,” Pietro smiled. “Are you comfortable?”
“
I will be soon,” he said, straining at his bonds.
“
Your strength hasn't returned yet, and even when it does, the chains and the bed frame are made of silver; you won't be able to break them. I've padded them for your comfort and provided you with a mattress but if you mess any of them up, I won't be coming in there to fix it.”
“
Webcams; you're getting smart in your old age.”
“
I was always smart. It might not have been as elegant as this set up last time, but I still won, remember?”
“
I should have hunted you down and killed you when I had the chance.”
“
Yes, you should have. I think the fact that you didn't bodes well for the both of us.”
“
So what do you want with me this time?” Dante asked.
“
The same as before, your blood.”
“
You drugged that girl's blood, didn't you? That means that my blood won't be of any use to you, old man,” he laughed coldly. “You did all this for nothing.”
“
On the contrary, you will take a few days to recover but once the poison has left your system, you will be fine again.”
A tube dropped from the ceiling.
“
That will dispense blood for you to help you to heal but don't worry, there are no victims this time, it's all from the blood bank.”
“
I don't believe you.”
Dante could see blood slowly beginning to flow down the clear tube. Thanks to the poison and the damage that it had done to his body, he was ravenously hungry and his body almost thrummed with need. Dante closed his eyes.
“
You should have killed me the first time,” he said, turning his head away from the tube.
He felt the first drops of blood hit his cheek and his nostrils flared as the scent hit the air, but he refused to drink.
“
Now be sensible,” Pietro said. “You need your strength.”
“
Not as much as you do,” Dante smiled and moved his head further away from the feeding tube.
Chapter Twelve
Frankie was interrupted from her maudlin thoughts by her mobile phone ringing. She threw aside the pad she had been doodling on and, as she scrambled in her pocket for her phone, her heart filled with hope once again; maybe Will had found something.
She didn't bother to check the display as she answered.
“
Hello?”
“
Hi, Frankie, love.”
“
Oh. Hi, Dad.”
“
No need to sound so pleased,” he teased.
“
I'm sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind. How are you doing?” She sat forward and downed the rest of her whisky in one go.
“
I'm worried about you and your mother.”
“
Oh, Dad, this has been coming for years, it can't have been a surprise.” She headed to the kitchen to refill her glass.
“
Well, no,” he agreed. “But can't you make peace with her for the sake of keeping things civil?”
“
Mum is the least of my problems right now.”
“
What's wrong?” he sounded concerned.
“
Dante's missing.”
“
Who's Dante?”
“
Dan. You met him the other night,” she said, pouring herself a fresh drink.
“
Your young man has gone missing?”
“
He's not my young man but yes, he's been kidnapped.”
“
Can we do anything to help?”
“
I don't think so.”
“
Well, don't worry about your mother and I, we can take care of ourselves. I'm trying to convince her to move to a local hotel so that you can have your home back, but I'm not getting very far.”
“
Thanks, Dad.”
“
Take care, sweetheart.”
“
You too. Bye.”
She hung up and sighed. With no other options she wondered about returning to the barracks and checking MI5's files again. And she should probably check her email as well.
She looked longingly at the drink she had just poured. Right now she was probably borderline over the limit but if she drank the new glass, she definitely would be. But it helped her. With a few drinks in her there was no problem she couldn't solve, no battle she couldn't win and she actually felt like the confident person that she pretended to be most of the time.
But she knew she couldn't risk it. She wrote a quick note for Will, grabbed her keys and headed out, leaving the drink on the kitchen side. That was her reward for when she was finished.
Will sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“
Boss?”
He opened his eyes to see D.C. Taylor standing in the doorway of his office. Will waved him in.
“
Still taking heat?” Taylor asked.
Will nodded. “It's just such a freaky case, I'm not sure where to begin.”
Taylor nodded his agreement. “Any ideas?”
Will hesitated for a moment before deciding to be honest. “A friend of mine said it looked a lot like witchcraft.”
“
I can see why,” Taylor nodded.
Will looked at the young detective as though he had grown a second head.
“
Don't tell me you believe in that mumbo jumbo?”
“
No,” Taylor smiled. “But my wife's half-sister is a wiccan, I couldn't help but pick some things up over the years.”
Will was beginning to think that he was the only person who was unaware of the supernatural.
“
So what were you following up this morning, if you don't mind me asking?” Taylor asked.
“
I don't mind, but I don't want the brass hearing this, got it?”
Taylor nodded.
“
I went to check out an anti-ageing cult.” When Taylor frowned at the odd leap in logic, Will continued. “That friend of mine thinks these rituals are some kind of spell or... something to prolong life. I thought that commune run by Robert Drake might be worth a look.”
“
And was it?”
Will's expression was derisive. “No, it wasn't.”
“
Sorry.”
“
Oh, it's not your fault, I'm just in a bad mood.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “How is the tip line coming?”
Taylor shrugged. “More chaff than wheat, but we're working our way through it slowly.”
“
Anything promising?”
“
Nah,” he shook his head. “Sightings of the guy from all over town but so far, no two the same; three people reported seeing him get into a red Jaguar but no licence plate from any of them. Still, we're checking with with DVLA and hire companies. Lots of reports of missing pets from all over Edinburgh.”
“
Any more dead pets?” Will asked.
“
Not today, unless you count two roadkill's that were called in to the tip line.”
“
Okay, I've had enough of sitting on my arse and chasing up duff leads. So far we only have one solid lead and that's the car so here's what we're going to do,” he said, his Scots accent getting stronger because he was agitated. “Get me the list of all local red Jaguar owners, either privately owned or belonging to hire companies. I'm going to see if we can get some of the beat officers to check out every single one.”
“
But without a warrant-”
“
They're just gonna look from the outside, see if there's any dog or cat hair on the seats, any sign of blood, any books called 'The Idiots Guide to Animal Sacrifice',
anything
unusual. I'll also see if I can get them to speak to the owners if possible and see if any of them match the descriptions we've got.”
“
I'll get the list of vehicles and talk to dispatch; let them know your plan.”
“
Thanks.” Will stood up. “I'm gonna get some strong coffee, I'll meet you down there.”
Taylor left and Will headed towards the door but his exit was blocked by a Police Constable.
“
Sir, I'm afraid one of our detainees is asking for you.”
“
What?”
“
A female who was brought in a few minutes ago on a drink driving charge. She refused a roadside breath test and she's been asking for you ever since she was arrested.”
“
Name?” Will sighed.
“
Francis Wright.”
“
Oh, bloody brilliant.”
Frankie had never felt so humiliated. Being pulled over was bad enough but when they brought the breathalyser out, she knew that she couldn't risk it.
She had showed them her Security Service I.D. and hoped that would deter them, but the police weren't known for being cooperative with MI5 agents and they had insisted that she had run a red light.
Now she was sitting alone in a cell waiting for Will, hoping against hope that he could save her.
When Will opened the hatch in the door, he could see her sitting on the cot, her head in her gloved hands. She didn't look up at the noise.
Reluctantly he closed the hatch and opened the door. Finally she looked up at him. He expected to be angry with her, he wanted to berate her for being so stupid as to drink in the middle of the day, but in the event he had never seen Frankie look so fearful before and his harsh words evaporated. He opened his arms to her and she walked into his embrace and hugged him.
“
Oh, Frankie,” he breathed.
She didn't respond but he thought from her ragged breathing that she might be crying. The Frankie he knew didn't cry. He gently stroked her back until she finally pulled away from him and smiled weakly.
“
Did you?” he asked, not wanting to say too much because the cell had a CCTV camera in it. Almost imperceptibly she nodded.
“
But n-”
He put a finger over her lips to silence her and she reared away from him in shock, her hand flying to her lip. He realised that he'd touched her without gloves.
“
Sorry, I didn't think.” He knew that now she would know know exactly how disappointed in her he was.
When he'd come down here he had intended for her to take the punishment she deserved, but now he wasn't so sure he could go through with it. She certainly wasn't acting drunk so she was probably borderline anyway. Hell, she might not even be over the limit.
“
Stay here, I'm going to speak to the Duty Sergeant.”