The Lake House (21 page)

Will nodded. ‘I think Kav’s right. We can’t afford to take any chances. If it isn’t Smith and it’s someone who isn’t remotely interested in you, then there’s no harm done, is there? But if we don’t take precautions and something were to happen…’

Annie finished, ‘Then none of you would be able to live with yourselves. I get it and I’m touched that you care enough to want to help, but I don’t expect anyone to put themselves at risk for me.’

Cathy tipped her head back and downed her wine, holding the empty glass out to Jake. ‘Look, it’s a complete pain in the arse. You’re a complete pain in the arse, Annie, but I’d rather be prepared and look an idiot if nothing happens. So you all have my permission to keep your radios, CS gas, tasers, body armour, batons – whatever you think will help at home – on you at all times.’

Jake winked at Annie, deciding not to tell Cathy they already had everything. He didn’t want to push his luck. Will stood up and asked Jake for a notepad and pen, then he walked across to the breakfast bar and began to make a list.

‘Why would someone abduct women and shave off their hair – the first victim had her hair cut off in clumps; this one had her hair completely shaved – then kill them and cut off their heads? What’s the point of it all?’

Kav stretched forward. ‘The point is the shock value. He wants to have a huge impact on whoever finds the head. I think if Jake hadn’t stumbled across that first one there would have been an anonymous phone call to the police stating that they’d found a head, but you saved them the trouble. The one today was purposely planted in the car of someone who worked at the station. And why? Well, we all know why. Because whoever did it knew that Annie would find out.’

Annie lifted her hand to her mouth. ‘He won’t know about the Mini, will he? If it was him he would have been looking for my red Mini. He probably thought the Mercedes belonged to one of the supervisors and that the Clio was mine.’

They all nodded in agreement.

‘So here’s the million-dollar question: where is he staying? Is it in Barrow or Bowness? And where could the two most wanted fugitives in Britain be living relatively incognito at this moment in time? They wouldn’t be able to rent a house. You need references and money to do that. I doubt they could afford to stay in a hotel or guest house. They would need more anonymity than that would afford them.’

‘What about a camp site or caravan park? They would pretty much be able to come and go as they please, especially this time of year, and it would be much cheaper to stay there than anywhere else.’

‘I think you’re right, Annie.’

Will leant across and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Tomorrow we’ll compile a list of the nearest ones and take them one at a time. We can send plain-clothes officers in to speak to the staff and show pictures of them around, see if anyone can recognise them.’

Cathy burped. ‘Excuse me. I think we might be on to something but this has to be hush, hush. If he gets an inkling that we’re searching for him it might make him panic and do something rash. I vote that we don’t even mention his name in any of the press releases. Keep the links to him tenuous at all times. We’ll keep it to ourselves for the time being and work our way through what you’ve just suggested. The only problem is: do you realise how many fucking caravan and camp sites there are? We’re in camp-site city. It could take months.’

‘Then we ask Grace Marshall for a favour, get her to do a geographical profile, see if she can narrow it down. It’s the least she can do seeing as how he walked out of her hospital without so much as a second glance back.’

Will was busy scribbling it all down. Alex stood up to go and check on Alice. There was nothing he could do. It was all way out of his league and he felt like a spare part. When he’d left Jake turned to the others. ‘So do you think he knows about us, where we live, what cars we drive?’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, if he didn’t know whose car belonged to whom then he doesn’t know much. He knows me and he knows Will, and I’m sorry, but he probably remembers you, Jake, from the trial, but he hasn’t got a clue where you live, or about Alex, or you, Cathy. His main focus is me and I think he’s just winging it, to be honest. I also think that that nurse who helped him, Megan, is helping him now, because it’s not easy to carry a body to a car and through a field on your own. The only reason he never took Emma Tyson to the old mansion was because he couldn’t carry her through the woods, so we need to be on the lookout for Megan as well. If she’s helping him to kill women then she could be just as dangerous – maybe even more than him. You hear of couples who get together and there’s something in the dynamics of the relationship that makes them thrive off each other and kill for pleasure. I think it’s the both of them.’

Jake yawned and Kav stood up.

‘Thanks, Jake. I’d best get going. There’s a lot to think about. I want to get some sleep and have a clear head for the morning. What time did the super say the briefing was going to be?’

Cathy answered, ‘The dick said eight. Can you give me a lift home, Kav? Come inside and check my house is all secure and make sure there’s no scary men hiding under my bed?’

They laughed, but all of them knew there was a real possibility of this happening if it did turn out to be Henry Smith. Kav, ever the gentleman, agreed, and Jake walked them to the car outside. All three of them scanned the street but there were no strange cars parked or any weird men hanging around.

Cathy got into the passenger seat of Kav’s car and he rolled his eyes at Jake. Jake had heard rumours that, years ago, before she’d married the chief super, Cathy and Kav had had an affair, but he’d been married at the time and she’d wanted to settle down. But they did make a pretty good couple. Maybe once this was sorted out he could do a little bit of matchmaking. He’d always said she needed a good shag to sort her out. He went back inside to Annie and Will, who were both curled up on the sofa.

‘I bet you a tenner Kav spends the night with Cathy and they come to work together in the morning.’

‘Rubbish. They’re always arguing.’

‘That might be, Annie, but there’s something about being scared and living dangerously that makes a quick shag all the better.’

Will laughed. ‘Are you all right if we crash here tonight? I don’t want to put you and Alex out but it’s a long way back to Hawkshead, and I’m knackered.’

‘Of course you can. I’d rather you both stayed here. At least I know where you are – just no noisy shagging. I don’t want you waking the baby up.’

Annie stood up and slapped his arm. ‘You are so crude at times. As if. I wouldn’t dream of doing that in your house. I’m so tired I just want to get into bed and sleep for a week.’

‘Yes, well, that won’t be happening either. Do you have any idea how many times a night babies cry and need their nappy changing or a bottle of milk?’

‘No, but I’m sure we’ll find out. Goodnight, Jake. Say goodnight to Alex for us, and thank you.’

They headed off upstairs to the guest room, which might as well have had a sign on the door that said ‘Annie’s Room’. She spent almost as much time here as she did her own home. They both undressed and crawled into bed where Annie snuggled up to Will, and even though she never thought she’d go to sleep, she drifted off in seconds, closely followed by Will.

***

Kav parked outside Cathy’s house, which looked like every other bungalow on the street. You would never have guessed the police circus that had been outside the front less than two hours ago. He got out of the car and walked across to the front door, waiting for her to find her keys. She finally found them and opened the door; before she walked in she pushed her arm through the open gap and felt along the wall until she reached the switch, flicking it and bathing the hall in light.

Kav never said a word. He had seen a different side to her tonight. One that wasn’t as tough as old work boots. They’d been friends for years, even lovers for a while a long time ago, but it hadn’t worked out. He’d refused to walk out on his wife even though he didn’t particularly love her, and Cathy had moved on and married, then divorced, the man who was now the super. Kav walked in with her close behind, shutting the front door. He then continued to check each room in turn, saving her bedroom for last. It was painted grey and white with a huge Marilyn Monroe print above the bed, and he nodded.

‘Excellent taste. I like your bedroom. It’s classy yet understated.’

She giggled. ‘What are you now, an interior designer? I’m glad you approve. I’ll sleep better tonight.’

He grinned and bent down to look under the bed and she squealed.

‘Ooh I say, don’t you go finding my private toy box.’

Kav dropped the sheet and stood up, his face burning, and she laughed even harder.

‘You’re so gullible. You always were. That was one of the things I loved about you back in the day. I would like to think, if I did have a vibrator, that I’d hide it a bit better than that.’

He started to chuckle. ‘So are you going to offer me a coffee for being such a gentleman and making sure there are no scary men hiding under your bed?’

‘Of course, but I can do better than coffee if you want something stronger?’

‘No, coffee will be fine. I don’t drink a lot these days. It messes with my…’

Cathy laughed. ‘Stop right there. I don’t want to know.’

He followed her into the kitchen and sat on one of her bar stools.

‘Do you ever wonder how come you and me both ended up divorced and on our own? I do. Not that I wasn’t glad to get rid of my wife. It was a bit of a relief, to be honest, but it does get lonely. Did you miss me at all after we split up?’

‘Yes, I did miss you, but be thankful you weren’t married to “I can’t keep it in my pants if they are blonde and under thirty”. The only thing I miss about him is having someone to cut the hedge and put the bins out. Even the sex wasn’t that good.’

She passed him a cup of coffee and leant over to pour the milk in; Kav grabbed hold of her and pulled her close. Cathy paused for a minute then pulled him even closer as he kissed her. When she pulled away she smiled.

‘Forget about the coffee. Come and warm my bed up for me. It’s been a long time, too long.’

She took hold of his hand and led him back to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her just in case Georgia came home for anything. Seeing her mother having sex and finding a severed head in one night might just be too much for her.

Chapter Seventeen

Will and Jake were already in the blue room waiting for the briefing to begin. Will had left Annie with Alex. She was giving Alice a bottle. The sight of them both curled up on Jake’s sofa had melted his heart. Even Jake had commented when they got into the car that she was a natural, which was a polite hint from him that they should stop messing about and have kids – another reason why he hated Henry Smith. He was ruining Will’s chance of having a happy family. There was no way he could bring a baby into this world with a sadistic killer waiting in the background to steal everything away from him.

There was no sign of Kav or Cathy yet and Jake rolled his eyes at Will, who shook his head. The task force were there lined up against the back wall, and so were the chief super and the detective chief inspector, along with Stu and the rest of Will’s team. No one had noticed that Jake shouldn’t be there, so he kept quiet. It was funny watching the super’s face getting redder and redder. He kept looking at his watch, no doubt thinking that Cathy was being late on purpose just to piss him off. There was the sound of footsteps as someone ran down the four steps that led to the room and in walked Kav with Cathy behind him. Jake whispered in Will’s ear. ‘You owe me a tenner. As if they haven’t been shagging all night. She’s actually smiling.’

Will grinned. The super eyed them suspiciously, then he eyed Kav and Cathy as they took seats at opposite sides of the table. He coughed into his hand.

‘Right. Morning, everyone. I’m glad you could make it.’ He stared at Cathy when he said this; she yawned loudly and looked at her watch but he turned away from her, his face a shade of crimson that you would normally associate with someone about to burst a blood vessel.

‘As you know, we have a problem, a major problem. There are two women who have been killed and correct me if I’m wrong, DS Ashworth, we don’t have a bloody clue who is doing it. Any evidence, suspects, motives?’

‘Not really, sir. We all know that the number one suspect is Henry Smith, who walked out of his secure hospital three months ago, but there is nothing concrete to suggest that it could be him. It’s a completely different MO from his last killings. There is a small chance it could be someone trying to emulate Smith’s killings but taking it one step further.’

‘You mean a copycat? Jesus Christ, why would you want to do that?’

‘I can’t say. Maybe because Smith got his fifteen minutes of fame, someone else wants theirs.’

‘So what have we got, exactly? I want it from top to bottom.’

Will stood up and Cathy winked at him. He walked over to the front of the room where the whiteboard was and began to tell them everything he knew. He had never been a violent person, but now that Annie was under threat, he had realised quite calmly that he was willing to do anything to keep her safe.

An hour later and they were no wiser than before they’d begun, except that they had agreed to search the houses and outbuildings near the barn where the bodies had been discovered. Photographs of Henry and Megan, taken from the hospital CCTV cameras on the day they escaped, had been handed round to everyone. The whole area was to be canvassed and all residents spoken to. Will had offered to coordinate it and told Jake to go back home and tell Annie what was happening. They were both on shift at Windermere at two, so they were going to make a start on the camp and caravan sites up there. Will had tried to persuade her to phone in sick but she’d told him no way. She wanted to find Henry as much as anyone else and she couldn’t do that from home. After the briefing Cathy had pulled Will to one side.

‘I’ve spoken to the sergeants in my spot; they are all aware that Annie and Jake are to be teamed up and not separated at any cost. I’m pretty sure she couldn’t get a better bodyguard than Jake and we both know he’d never let Smith anywhere near her. We need people on the ground up there in case he’s staying in that area. Personally I think he’ll be somewhere between the two, but then again he could be anywhere. It’s anyone’s guess.’