Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (103 page)

He gestured to the others to ignore him, but it was too late. Fallon turned and pointed the gun at him. Jim dropped the fork. Ellen screamed and jumped on Fallon’s back, while Brian and Jim tried to tackle the gun from the madman’s grasp. At the sound of the gun firing, everyone stopped. Fallon grinned and looked down at his chest as blood soiled his clothes. Brian tugged the gun from Fallon’s hands as Jim eased him down onto his knees.

“Will he be okay?” Ellen shouted. “We need to find out what he’s done with the other girls.”

Fallon’s grin broadened. “You’ll never find them. I’ll take the location where they are to my grave.”

Ellen smacked him around the head a number of times. “You, bastard. Tell us!”

But it was too late. Fallon fell forward and landed facedown on the gravel. Jim checked his pulse and shook his head. “He’s gone.”

Ellen buried her head in Brian’s chest. “Those poor girls. Now we’ll never find them.”

Brian rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. “Have faith. Jim and I thought we’d never see you again… plus we managed to rescue at least two of the girls.”

Ellen pushed away from him, tears sitting on her cheeks. She smiled a weary smile. “Thank you.” She turned to her brother and held out a hand. “You’re both my heroes.” Ellen looked over at the unconscious girls and nodded satisfactorily.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Jim ran to his car and drove it into the opening next to the barn so the emergency services could get to the scene.

Two police cars and a fire engine stopped alongside them, and an ambulance brought up the rear. Happy to be alive, Jim linked arms with Ellen and Brian, then stood back to watch the emergency services get on with their respective jobs.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

After tossing and turning all night, Ellen finally got up at six on Monday morning. Before the others surfaced, she snuck out of the house and drove to work. Only the early morning delivery vans joined her on the roads.

The past thirty-six hours or so were all still a crazy blur. The local news channel had run the story—their story—directly after the national news. They had portrayed Ellen, Jim, and Brian as heroes.
Funny that.
She felt anything but heroic. All she could think about were the missing women whom they had failed to find—not the ones they’d managed to save.

She opened the office door, switched on the lights, and dropped the latch on the door behind her. After making a strong black coffee, she laid out all the girls’ files on the desk in front of her. She had a feeling she was in for a busy day of answering calls from the girls’ relatives.

The headlights of a car pulling into the car park set her on edge. She peered through the darkness to see who was there. A relieved smile touched her lips when Brian unlocked and walked through the front door.

“I gather you couldn’t sleep, either?”

Ellen shook her head. “Impossible task. I’m bracing myself for a busy day.” She glanced down at the neatly arranged files.

“Sure to be a busy one. I’ve been constantly thinking, trying to figure out what we’ve missed. He must have another location tucked away. Maybe his mother can shed some light on that?”

“Maybe. I’m going to let Jim deal with her. I’m not sure I could be in the same room as that woman again.”

“I can understand that. Wonder when the police will be finished with Fallon’s car?”

“Not sure. I hope they make it a priority. With Fallon out of the way and the missing girls untraceable, I fear they won’t last long. If they’re not dead already, that is.”

“Is that what you think?” Brian slipped his jacket off and draped it over his chair before he sat down at his desk.

“I think some of them are dead, just by what Fallon said in front of his mum. I can’t remember the exact words, but he intimated that he regretted killing and not holding some of the girls captive. Look at the devastation he has caused all because Abbie dumped him. We’re hearing more and more cases like this now. People dumping their partners, then going back for revenge. It’s as though their mind-set is if I can’t have her, then no one can.”

“You could have a point.” Brian paused thoughtfully for a second or two, then added, “I have a few things I want to work on this morning. Mind if I make a start? I don’t want to appear rude or anything.”

Ellen frowned. It was strange for Brian to change the subject so quickly. “Go for it. I could use some thinking time myself. I’ll make you a coffee.”

She halted her exit when Brian asked, “What time does Jim start work today?”

“I don’t know. Around nine thirtyish? Why?”

“I just want a little chat with him. Let me do some research on the matter first, and then I’ll fill you in.”

She tutted. “You can be such a tease.”

________

At nine thirty on the dot, Brian telephoned Jim. Ellen listened in with interest as he put the phone on speaker.

“Jim, it’s Brian. Listen, has there been any news on Fallon’s car yet? Have forensics finished with it? Do you know?”

“They should have by now. Why? What’s up?”

“Can you let me know when I can see it? There’s a little experiment I want to try.”

Ellen frowned and mouthed to him, “What?”

Brian winked and grinned in response.

“I’ll chase it up now and get back to you.”

Brian hung up, and Ellen eyed him with suspicion. He tapped his nose. “You’ll see soon enough.”

They waited, both seemingly on tenterhooks, until Jim called back five minutes later.

“The car’s been released. Do you want to come over?”

“I’m on my way.” Brian hung up and shrugged into his coat.

Ellen did the same. “Hey, I’m coming with you.”

“What about this place?”

“I’ll put the answerphone on. This is too important to miss out on. Can’t you give me some kind of clue? Forensics would have tested for physical elements, such as different types of soil inside the car and on the tyres.”

“It’s nothing to do with that. Will you stop bugging me and let me dazzle you with my brilliance once we get there?”

“All right, you win. Your car or mine?”

“Mine. I’ll need to take certain equipment with me.”

________

Jim was waiting alongside Fallon’s car when they arrived at the police station car park.

“What’s all this about, Brian? What do you think you’re going to find that the forensics guys couldn’t?” Jim asked as he unlocked the car. Then he stood back to allow Brian access to the vehicle.

“I’m not saying I will find anything, but it’s got to be worth a try.” Brian set up his laptop and hit a few keys, then plugged a cable from his computer into the car’s GPS system.

Ellen and Jim both watched in fascination, with hope lingering near the surface, too. “I take it your boys haven’t come up with anything new regarding the case over the weekend?” Ellen asked her brother.

“Nothing. Forensics tested some soil samples, but they match the area around the farm. If he’s keeping the girls stored at a different location, it’s going to be nigh impossible to find them. His mother has been questioned on and off, and she’s still claiming to know nothing. I suppose she did lead us to the barn. For that, we have to be grateful, I guess.”

Before Ellen could answer him, Brian leapt out of the car and did what she could only describe as a little rain dance.

“What have you found?” Ellen asked, her enthusiasm matching his.

“He thought he was being so damn clever.”

“What?” Jim demanded out of frustration.

“The GPS history. He thought he had deleted it all, but it’s all there, every journey he’s made since it was installed.”

“Jesus! Really?” Ellen asked, astounded.

Jim clapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road, folks. People’s lives are in danger here. Where are we heading first, Brian?”

Brian got back in the car and went through the downloaded file on his computer. “This location was visited numerous times at the beginning of the year. I say we start there.”

“And where exactly is
there
?” Ellen asked, her pulse quickening.

“Somewhere up near Cannock Chase.”

“Really? Why there, I wonder?” Jim asked.

Brian clicked his fingers together. “I think I read in his background check that he grew up around there. Maybe it was a childhood haunt.”

Ellen nodded. “You’re right. We haven’t got time to ask his mother. Let’s just get out there, see what we find, and then go from there, eh?”

EPILOGUE

Jim’s friend who was a police dog handler in the West Midlands Police Force owed him a favour. Sergeant Steve Milton and his German shepherd, Zeus, joined them on the hour-long trip. Following the exact coordinates in the GPS history led them to a dense wooded area.

Ellen, Jim, and Brian let Sergeant Milton and Zeus take the lead, marching through the picnic area just off the car park and into the wood. Due to the time of year, the bare trees gave Ellen the eerie feeling of entering a petrified forest.

They crunched through the crisp fallen leaves until Zeus started clawing at a patch of ground underneath a large oak tree.

Milton looked at Jim and then removed the leash from the dog. “Find ’em, boy.” Zeus seemed a little confused. He raised his head and glanced up at his master, as if to say, “Er… you might want to start here first.”

Jim tentatively started digging in the spot where Zeus had dug. A few moments later, his shovel hit something solid. The four of them eyed each other with a knowing look while Zeus sat and howled.

Jim said, “I better call it in. Get forensics out here before we go any further.”

Ellen gave her brother a pleading look. “Can we continue digging or at least let Zeus continue to check around for more potential sites? Fallon did return to this location several times. To me, if that is a body down there, then I’m inclined to think there’ll be others in this vicinity.”

“Your sister has a point, Jim. Call it in, and I’ll set Zeus off searching again.” Milton put his hands either side of the dog’s nose and whispered, “Find ’em, boy. Do your thing.”

The dog set off, his nose snuffling through the leaves. Zeus hadn’t gone far when, once again, he started clawing at the ground. After ringing the station to report their findings, Jim started digging the ground where the dog had indicated something might be buried.

With her fingers crossed, Ellen watched her brother dig. She had a feeling they were about to uncover the unmarked graves of all the remaining girls, including the body of her client’s wife. Her mind was already toying with the words, trying to put them in some semblance of a statement that she could say to the distraught families—not an enviable task by any stretch of the imagination.

As soon as Jim hit an object, Milton sent Zeus off to search another area. In no time at all, Zeus had led them to five sites within an area of roughly forty metres square. The revelation proved to be too much for Ellen. She sat down heavily on a nearby tree stump and covered her face with her hands. Brian placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.

“The families will be grateful come the end, love. It’s better to know they’re gone than to be left wondering if their loved ones might come back one day.”