Lethal Instincts (2 page)

Lexi knelt down on the floor and peeked under the bed. Just because the place had been cleaned didn’t necessarily mean that they hadn’t missed something. How could they if they weren’t looking for it? But what was she looking for? Lexi didn’t know. Something. Anything that might validate Hannah’s theory and Lexi’s gut instinct that Tatiana Petrenko had been taken.
 

Lexi sat on the floor, cross-legged on the green rug, and closed her eyes. If she had lived here, where would be the spot she would hide something of importance? She opened her eyes and stood up. She moved across the room and slid her hand between the wall and the back of the wardrobe and felt around for anything that might have been glued to the back or a compartment for documents or jewellery. More empty space.
 

She looked at the bed. The mattress. Lexi lifted it up and felt around the bottom and top of it, making sure to include all sides. On one there was a zip. She unzipped it and put her gloved hand in. Her hand brushed against something. She pulled it out.

“She wasn’t going anywhere without this,” Lexi said, holding up a passport.

“The EU has open borders,” Hannah said.

“Yes, but according to this, Tatiana was a Ukrainian citizen and they haven’t joined the EU yet. She would have had to show her passport if she was leaving or entering England.”

“That means there’s a chance that she’s still here.”

“Unless whoever took her had means to get her out of the country without passing border security. The other possibility is a fake ID, but that would only work if she was cooperating. And we’re assuming she wasn’t.”
 

“Or someone has contacts at border security to let them pass undetected. Money has no limits,” Hannah said.
 

Lexi stared at the photo in the passport. A young woman stared back at her. A hardness in her eyes that made her seem much older than her twenty years. Where are you, Tatiana? What happened to you?

Chapter 4

Lexi glanced across the road and saw a familiar car parked between two scooters. She couldn’t be sure but she thought it was the same one she had seen parked outside her apartment several times over the past week. She gave it a glance then shook her head, realising that she was being silly. She followed Hannah past the Royal Square Gardens, then down Cosmo Place towards the Metropolitan police station at Holborn. Inside they were asked to sit in the waiting area.

Lexi tapped her fingers on her knee, looking around. The station was empty other than an officer sitting behind the front desk and another standing at the fax machine pulling out a sheaf of paper.
 

Memories of another life came flooding back. She couldn’t believe it had been almost two years that she had been living in London. Back home, her relationship with the detective had been a convenient and passionate one. They had worked well together. Once. Then she left. Now it was all just a distant memory. Lexi thought of Matt more often than she cared to admit, but that was life. At the time, leaving had been the right decision to make. Everything had moved so fast, and then there was the incident and Lexi needed air to breathe. London had been the answer and before she knew it two years had gone by.
 

“Lexi Ryder,” a woman’s voice brought Lexi back to the present. Enough of reminiscing about what was not meant to be.
 

“Yes,” she said, standing up and offering a handshake. “Thank you for taking the time to see us, Detective.”
 

“Detective Constable Cara Simmons,” the woman said. “Why don’t we talk in here.”
 

Detective Cara Simmons stood an inch taller than Lexi. Beneath her suit she looked like a lean fighting machine. Her posture straight, head held high, an almost military style about it, but it seemed almost as if she was trying to hide it. Her hair in a ponytail didn’t mesh with the ‘tough detective’ look, but softened her hard features.
 

They followed her into a small room. The interrogations were done behind closed doors but Lexi could still see a camera in two corners of the room, and the detective caught her staring.
“Privacy is overrated,” she said motioning for them to sit down while she took a seat on the opposite side of the table.
 

Lexi took a moment to assess the woman sitting in front of them. She looked hard. Tough. Like she had seen too much in her life. She placed her in her mid to late thirties but it was hard to tell. She wore the minimum of make-up. A bit of mascara. Lip gloss. She was attractive if you looked close enough but was by no means model material. Her broad shoulders suggested a swimming background but it was only a guess.
 

“Tatiana Petrenko disappeared last week,” Lexi said. “She was attending UCL, studying psychology. Top grades, a quiet achiever. Suddenly she stopped going.”
 

“That case is closed,” Detective Cara Simmons said. “Ms Petrenko decided to go back to her home country. She left a message with the administration at UCL. Her social media accounts also show that she had returned home.”

Lexi pulled out the passport and put it on the table between them. “Not without this,” she said.

The detective picked up the passport and flicked through it as Lexi spoke. “How could Tatiana Petrenko leave the country without her passport? England is strict on checking incoming and outgoing passengers. Someone may have checked in at the airport but it couldn’t have been Tatiana Petrenko, not without her Ukrainian passport.”
 

“Where did you get this?” the detective asked.

“Her dorm room.”

“Breaking in and entering is a crime, Ms Ryder,” Detective Simmons said.

“We had a key,” Hannah cut in.
 

Detective Simmons looked at Hannah then back at Lexi. “Give me a moment please,” she said, getting up and leaving both of them in the room.
 

As soon as the door shut Hannah turned to Lexi. “She’d better get her finger out of her ass and do her job. That passport says it all.”
 

“It might not be enough,” Lexi said. “There are a number of ways to leave the country and head into Europe. It’s difficult but not impossible to get out undetected. Plane, boat, car and train. If she did leave, it could have been by any of those means.”

“Or fish food,” Hannah said.

“What do you mean, fish food?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time a body was dropped into the Thames. Just attach a few weights and it will sink to the bottom for the fish to feed on, and by the time the cops find it, it’ll be too late to identify the remains or match it to a missing persons’ case.”
 

And Lexi had thought she was the only one with a morbid imagination. Hannah seemed to think in a similar fashion and Lexi wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t too far off the truth. How many bodies had been recovered from rivers and lakes? Thirty, maybe forty per year from the Thames? How many were still lying at the bottom waiting for acknowledgement? She just hoped Tatiana had not met her watery grave.

Detective Simmons returned five minutes later. “We’ve made a note of the passport. It’ll be in safe custody until its owner reports it missing. Our official investigation is closed.”

Hannah was about to speak but Lexi stopped her by putting her arm up in front. There was no point arguing. Experience had told her that arguing with the police was ineffective and downright stupid unless you wanted more trouble. They’d have to look into the case themselves.

“Thank you for your time, Detective,” Lexi said.

“Ms Ryder,” the detective said as Lexi was walking through the door, “Officially there is no investigation, unofficially I’ll knock on a few doors. If that provides no results, the case will be closed officially and unofficially.”
 

“Thank you, Detective,” Lexi said. “That’s all we can ask for.”

Once outside the police station, Hannah took a cigarette from a pack and lit it.

“You know those will kill you,” Lexi said, declining the offer for one.

“Sure, in about fifty years when I won’t give a damn,” Hannah said, taking a puff. “Seriously, how can they not reopen the case? The passport is evidence of foul play.”
 

“No, it isn’t,” Lexi said. “The passport merely suggests that she either forgot it, it had been stolen or she didn’t need it. Whoever took her cleaned up and made sure not to leave any crumbs to follow.”

“What do we do next?”

“We?” Lexi said, not realising they had become a team. “We go home and reassess. I’m sure you have places you need to be, as do I. I’ll contact you if I find any information.”

“Likewise,” Hannah said. “I have that awful feeling in my stomach that something terrible has happened to Tatiana, or will happen.”

“So do I,” Lexi said.
 

She had learnt long ago to listen to her gut instinct. So instead of going home she parked her butt down in a coffee shop with a full view of the station, ordered a coffee and patiently kept her eyes on the station’s entrance. There was something about Detective Simmons drawing Lexi to her. She wasn’t sure whether it was good or bad, but she knew that the female detective could be key to figuring out what really happened to Tatiana Petrenko.
 

Chapter 5

The sky was transforming to a hue of dark blue, the sun hidden behind the clouds and the moon making its first appearance of the evening. It was going to be a starless night. Lexi was on her third coffee, a decaf this time. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was all a waste of time.

A few minutes later, Detective Simmons walked out of the station. A second officer followed her and they stood on the pavement chatting. Lexi recognised the other officer; he had been at the front desk when she and Hannah had entered earlier that day. It looked like they were finishing their shifts for the day while Lexi’s was just beginning.
 

Leaving a half finished cup of coffee on the counter, Lexi rushed out in pursuit of the detective who was now walking away from the station. Lexi thought she’d grab the Tube but the detective continued past the stairs to the Underground. Lexi followed, staying out of sight, weaving through people, ensuring she kept enough distance.

She realised they were heading for Hyde Park when she recognised the familiar sign and the area she had frequented when she first arrived. The park was just around the corner and it had been a place she had spent much time during the warmer months.
 

Lexi kept her pace, keeping about fifty yards behind, enough distance to avoid being noticed but not enough to lose sight. The detective walked with purpose, never bothering to turn around.
 

Lexi entered the park from Hyde Park Corner, assuming Detective Simmons was metres ahead; she was surprised to find no sight of her. Other than a few random people up ahead, Detective Simmons was nowhere to be seen.
 

Lexi was sure she had entered the park only moments before. Where could she have gone?

Lexi moved slowly, keeping her eyes peeled for movement around her. The rustling of the leaves in the wind, the noise of the cars to her right, and a couple making out on one of the benches, it could have been a pleasant night to be out in. For most, it probably was. Lexi breathed heavily turning around to see if she had missed anything.
 

Moving deeper into the park, she heard footsteps, before she had a chance to turn around, someone grabbed her from behind, twisting her arm up behind her back and pushing her towards the toilet block while keeping one hand over her mouth preventing her from screaming out. Her body slammed against the wall, and pain ran through her as her arm was pulled higher up against her back.
 

“Why are you following me?”
 

“You saw me?” Lexi said, recognising Detective Simmons’ voice.
 

“You were at the cafe all afternoon watching the station. It didn’t take a genius to figure out you were up to something. Why are you following me?”

“I have a theory,” Lexi said.

“Don’t we all. You know I could arrest you for this.”

“But you won’t.”

The detective smiled. Lexi knew she was winning her over. Maybe she still had a way with bringing people to her side of thinking.

“Let’s take a walk,” she said, letting go of Lexi’s arm.

They walked side by side through the park like two old friends catching up in the green surroundings. Except they weren’t friends, both wanted something from the other. And whether they’d cooperate was another matter.
 

“How long have you been in England?” the detective asked as they walked towards the water.

“Almost two years,” Lexi said. The time had flown by so fast. It felt like only yesterday that she had packed her bags and left without saying much of a goodbye.
 

“Planning on staying indefinitely?”

“I haven’t really thought about it,” she said. “How about you? I’m sure you’re not from around here.”

“Yeah, what gave me away?”
 

“You speak with a British accent but sometimes there’s a hint of something else.”

“I grew up in France and Spain.”
 

“So why London?”

“That’s where the interesting crimes seem to happen.”

“Right,” Lexi said.

“That’s the place I am meant to be in right now,” Detective Simmons said, her face hardening, making Lexi wonder about the woman’s past. Although if someone asked her, she’d probably have a similar response.

“So what’s your theory, Lexi?” she asked. “You’ve got enough balls to tail a police officer so you deserve my attention.”
 

“Tatiana Petrenko didn’t voluntarily leave the country.”
 

The detective knelt down to the ground. She picked up a rock and threw it into the lake, the rock skipped twice through the surface of the water.
 

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” the detective said.

“You believe me then?”