Indefensible (DI Sara Ramsey Book 12), M Comley [world of reading TXT] 📗

“I will. I’ll probably hang around until sevenish, if the new inspector in charge will allow it.”

“You didn’t tell me someone has taken over from you. Christ, no wonder you’re feeling down. Sorry, love. I’m sure it’s for the best.”

“Yeah, I know it is. It still sucks, though. See you later. Love you.”

“Stay strong. Love you back.”

She ended the call and stared out at the clouds drifting past, covering up the vivid blue sky in a patchwork of fluffiness. She remained that way, her thoughts with her absent partner for the next five minutes, until the phone on her desk rang.

“DI Sara Ramsey, how can I help?”

“Hi, I was put through to you because of the issue that has just been raised.”

“Sorry? Who is this?”

“Captain Potts from the Hereford Fire Brigade. I believe we’ve met once or twice in the past few months.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. What can I do for you, Captain?”

“Umm… something happened here a few minutes ago. As we have a loose connection, I thought it would be best coming direct to you.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“One of our men got taken,” he replied bluntly.

“Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“You heard me, one of my men has been abducted. Right before our bloody eyes and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it either. We tried, I swear we did, but it was pointless.”

“Okay, let’s go over this again. Who was taken?”

“Gary Charlton, I believe he used to go out with your partner, didn’t he? They split up a few months ago, if my memory serves me right.”

Sara’s heart dropped into her stomach. Shit! “That’s right. Okay, are you still at the station?”

“Yes, I’ll be here all evening.”

“I’m on my way. Don’t move until I get there.” Sara tore out of her chair and entered the incident room. “Shit! We’ve got it wrong. Carla wasn’t abducted by Zappel at all. Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Her team stopped what they were doing and stared at her, one or two of them frowning at each other. “Will and Craig, come with me. Shit, I’m sorry, my head is spinning. I know I’m not making any sense. Brief rundown and then we have to fly. Gary, Carla’s ex, has just been abducted. I believe this has something to do with Carla getting beaten up a few weeks ago. Whoever did this has now got both of them. He was taken from the fire station. I’m going over there now to get further details.”

Inspector Williams walked into the room. He stood by the door, his arms folded across his broad chest, listening. Sara stared at him as she issued orders to her team. “Get the footage from the fire station, they must have cameras on site. Circulate the reg number of the vehicle. We’ll be back soon.”

Sara headed towards Williams. He remained where he was, blocking her path.

“Not so fast, Inspector. I demand to know what’s going on here.”

“Please, you have to let me go. Come with me if you must, but we’re wasting time. I can fill you in on the way. Please, I need to do this. Put yourself in my shoes. This is tearing me apart, not being out there looking for her.”

He heaved out a sigh and relented. “We’ll take my car, you’re in no fit state to drive.”

“Okay. And thank you. Will and Craig, you go in a separate car. It’ll be better if we have two vehicles out there, just in case.”

The four of them raced out of the building. Sara shouted to Jeff on the way through, “Get every available patrol vehicle to assist us, Jeff. I’ll take the flack for it if any comes your way.”

“Already actioned, ma’am. Good luck.”

Des Williams started the engine of his Ford Mondeo while Sara slipped into the passenger side and hooked up her seatbelt. “You’re not one of these boy racer types, are you?”

“Nope. You’re safe with me.”

He revved the engine, looked both ways and put his foot down. He screeched out of the car park, flinging Sara’s head back in the process. “You think,” she muttered.

“No boy racer, but I’m the adult version, whatever that might be called. You’re safe. I’ve taken my advanced driving course. You’re going to need to give me directions, what with this not being my patch.”

Sara nodded and gripped the door handle with one hand and the edge of her seat with the other.

He laughed. “I take it you don’t believe me.”

“Evidence proves the opposite is true. Take a right and then the next left up ahead. Crap, I hope I can remember the way, Carla’s usually the one shouting out the directions for me to follow.”

His tone turned serious once more. “We’ll get her. You’d better fill me in on what you know on the way.”

“Okay. Last month, Gary, who has just been abducted, who is Carla’s former boyfriend, was causing problems. No, wait, I’m leaving out a crucial part. One day, at the end of last month, Carla showed up at work after being beaten up on her doorstep. She was out cold, a neighbour found her late at night.”

“All right, what’s this got to do with the boyfriend? You suspect he was to blame for the GBH?”

“I didn’t at first, and Carla was adamant he wasn’t involved. As a precaution, I went round there to warn him off, just in case. I pulled up at the end of my shift, was about to step out of the car when a bloke approached him. They had words, shall we say, and the stranger jabbed him in the stomach. I let the bloke go and then got out of the car to tackle Gary about it. He was shocked to see me there. Shocked and embarrassed, I suppose. I asked him what was going on. He denied anything was. Then it clicked that his confrontation probably had something to do with what had happened to Carla.” She sighed and shook her head. “I