Ugly Duckling (19 page)

The Laughing Pig was unusually busy for the time of day, Greg thought it was probably due to the drizzle that had spread in from the sea that evening, but he found himself a seat and settled in to wait for Liz, on a rack fixed to the wall were some newspapers including the edition that carried Rogers picture, Greg took it and spread it on the table in front of him looking at Rogers picture, he placed one hand at the top of the picture and the other at the bottom leaving only the eyes uncovered, staring at the eyes he kept thinking to himself how familiar they looked he was sure he'd seen those eyes somewhere before but couldn't recall where it was, he refolded the paper and returned it to the rack.

'Greg! Want a pint' John was stood at the bar and had spotted Greg as he looked around for somewhere to sit.

'No its ok thanks, got one here, come over and join me.'

John carried his drink over and sat at the table with Greg. 'Liz told me you might be here she should be here soon. So tell me all about Glasgow.'

'It's great John, the city is much better than I expected, all I knew about Glasgow was what I'd heard through stories, you know the type, knife wielding Scot's looking for any opportunity to get into a fight, but its really not like that, its a nice place.'

'That's good Greg, I'm glad you're happy.'

Greg looked and John unsure what was going on, when Greg worked in Bournemouth John barely acknowledged him now he was being all chummy. 'I've got to say John, since you've found out I'm gay you've been far more friendly, is there something you want to say to me?'

John started to laugh 'don’t go getting ideas Greg, before I found out you were gay I thought you were after Liz.'

'I've got news for you John' Greg sat forward and looked John in the eye 'I am. Not in the way you thought, but I want her to come up to Scotland to work with me. My lab is fantastic, funded by private money and plenty of it, we do the usual paternity tests and other mundane stuff, but we also work for crime agencies from all over the planet. Liz would really blossom in a situation like that.'

John sat back and took a drink 'Then you should ask her to go.'

'I have John, but she won’t because of you. I'm going to ask you John in the spirit of our new found friendship. If you have no intention of ever getting together with Liz, tell her. It may hurt her to start with but in the long run it would be better for her, she could come up to Scotland and establish herself as one of the leading authorities in the world, which you and me both know is where she belongs.'

'And if I do have intentions towards her?'

'Then John I wish you both the best of luck, I hope you make each other happy, I think you both deserve it. All she would have to do then is persuade you to come up to Scotland and we would all be happy.'

John laughed again 'Not sure how happy I'd be up there and I'm not sure my policing methods would have any effect in Glasgow.' he paused thoughtfully 'to be honest Greg, and this is just between me and you, things have changed between me and Liz, but I'm still not  100 percent sure how I feel about her. I don't want her to leave, but I don't want to hold her back either.'

'Then I suggest you should talk to her more, take her out on a few dates find out how you really feel about each other.'

John new Greg was right, what Greg didn't know was that he'd already decided to do just that. 'Where is Liz anyway' John was looking at his watch 'I thought she'd be here by now.' he took his phone from his pocket 'I'll give her a call, see how far away she is.' he dialled the number and waited, 'Engaged, she'll be trying to phone us to tell us she's running late.'

Greg stood 'Do you want another drink then while we're waiting, a pint was it?' he went to the bar and stood waiting to be served. Phil came over 'Hi Greg, I've got a message for you from Liz, she says she's really sorry but she's not feeling too good and won’t be able to make it tonight, she sounded really rough on the phone.'

Greg ordered the drinks and went back to the table where he gave John the news. 'She seemed fine earlier' he was saying 'but I suppose these things can come up on you quite quickly. Phil said she sounded really rough, perhaps it’s just a twenty four hour bug of some sort.'

Greg and John continued in conversation for some time but John couldn't help but worry about Liz ‘I’ll just try to ring her' he told Greg 'make sure she's ok.' he dialled the number but got no answer.

'She's probably taken to her bed with a lemon drink or something.' Greg said 'She'll be fine tomorrow, anyway I've got to go, early start tomorrow, think about what I said and give my love to Liz will you.' they shook hands and Greg left. John went to the bar to speak to Phil 'Phil, how did Liz sound when she phoned?'

'She sounded really rough, sort of a horse croaky voice and quiet I could hardly make out what she said, I guess it must have been bad to stand you two up.'

'Yes I guess it must have been' replied John.

John hadn't slept well, he'd been awake most of the night worrying about Liz and when the alarm clock went off he'd smashed it on the top with the customary 'shut the fuck up' and lay thinking about the night before. He decided to go into work a little later that day and phoned Ian to asked him to take the morning briefing as he wanted to go check on Liz, He was worried not only that she'd been taken ill but also felt uneasy that she had phoned the Laughing Pig and not either Greg or himself, it wasn't like her. And the fact that it was Greg's last night made it even more unusual for her to miss, she wouldn't normally do that unless she was at deaths door, it just didn't seem right. He tried to phone her to say he was on his way over, no answer. So grabbing his coat he left.

Pulling into Liz's drive he noticed her car was missing, so again he tried to phone and again there was no answer, he had a bad feeling about this, he couldn't explain what, but the last time he had a feeling like this was just before he received the news about Sonia, he rang the door bell and waited but when no answer came he decided to walk around to the back, he knew she had a key safe there and he had the combination 'just in case anything happens' Liz had said. Punching the code into the safe he removed the key and went back to the front door to let himself in. 'Liz!' he called 'It's only John, are you ok?' there was silence, he looked into the kitchen and living room and then made his way upstairs to Liz's bedroom glancing into the spare room as he passed. 'Liz' he called again as he tentatively peered around the bedroom door 'Are you here?' She was not. Suddenly he heard somebody downstairs, he looked out of the window to check if Liz's car had arrived, the only car in the drive was his own, so slowly he tiptoed to the top of the stairs, he could see a shadow disappearing into the kitchen so he swiftly and silently he descended the stairs, he dashed into the kitchen. 'Ok who are you, what the fuck are you doing here, and where's Liz!' he didn't even bother to look.

'Fuck me John you nearly gave me a heart attack!' it was Greg.

'What are you doing here? I thought you were on you're way back to Scotland.'

'I didn't feel easy about leaving Liz when she was ill, so I've changed my flight and came over to see how she was, when I saw the front door open I thought something might be wrong.' Greg explained 'What are you doing here?'

'Pretty much the same Greg.' John shook his head 'I think you're right, some thing’s wrong, she's not here and I can’t raise her on the phone, Have you been to the lab?'

'I dropped by on my way here, she's not there' Greg replied

The feeling of dread in Johns stomach was getting tighter and tighter it almost felt that he was unable to breath and he could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead bringing with it memories of the crash, his head was spinning.

'John are you ok?' Greg took John by the arm and guided him to a kitchen stool 'I'll get you some water.'

John drank the water and after a moment or two the feelings began to pass, 'Shit, I haven't felt like that since' he stopped and looked at Greg 'you know.'

Greg did know and he also knew in that moment that Liz wasn't going to be working with him in Scotland. 'Where could she have gone?' he asked.

'I don't know Greg, She may have just gone to the chemist to get some jollop, but I've got a horrible feeling we need to find her fast.' he washed his glass and placed it onto the draining board to dry, he turned to face Greg 'Do you want a lift back to the station?' he offered 'I think we need to speak to Ian, unless you've got to shoot off.'

'I'm not going anywhere till we find her.' Greg said.

***

Ian had just finished the morning briefing when he saw John walk in, he could tell from Johns expression that something was wrong, and that was backed up further when he noticed Greg behind him 'Morning J.D how was Liz?'

John signalled to Ian and opened his office door 'In here please Ian.'

The three of them sat around John’s desk as he explained to Ian what had happened the night before at the pub, and this morning at Liz's house, Ian sat and listened to it all until John had finished.

'That really doesn't sound like her J.D are you sure she hasn't tried to phone either of you this morning.' John and Greg both took their phones out and checked, nothing.

John looked at Ian with a worried expression 'That feeling I had Ian, I've only ever had that once before, I know something's wrong. Get a patrol car to knock every half hour will you, just in case she's gone shopping or something stupid, I want this given priority.' Ian agreed but knew as well as John did that Liz wouldn't go shopping if she was ill. 'And contact the Lab, if she turns up there I want to know about it straight away, so I can give her a bollocking!' the expressions he used were only trying to cover up the amount of anxiety he was feeling. 'Greg, Why don't you take a uniformed officer and go back to the house, have a professional look over it, see if you can spot something.'

'Do you think She's been abducted J.D.'

'All I know at the moment Ian is that I've got a horrible gut feeling, she's not at home or at the lab, as far as I'm concerned at the moment she's missing.'

Greg left for the house to have a look around and wait.

Ian contacted the patrols to be on the lookout and the lab, then waited.

John waited.

***

By 3pm Greg had returned to the station, he'd had a look around the house as John had asked him to do but found nothing, there was no sign of forced entry, no sign of a struggle, no blood traces or alien footprints, nothing to suggest that Liz had been forcedly removed from her home, she also had not shown up at the lab as they were all hoping, nor had any of them received a text or phone call from her.

'This is fucking ridiculous!' the strain was beginning to show on John 'She can’t have just vanished off the face of the fucking planet.'

Ian tried to calm John down. 'She'll show up.' he said 'try not to get uptight, we'll find her.'

'Dead in a fucking ditch!' was John's response, he punched a filing cabinet relieving some of the tension, then turning to Ian, calmer he said 'You're right Ian, I've got to try to focus, its Liz but we need to conduct ourselves the same way as if it was anybody else.'

'That's right J.D we can’t just go stomping around, it'll get us nowhere.' Ian was himself on the verge of throwing things in frustration but knew if he started it'd make John 100 times worst 'what did Liz say when she phoned the pub.'

Greg answered 'Phil told me she said she was ill and would see us later.'

'And Phil told me she sounded really rough, he could hardly hear her' John added.

'Ok then, Should I get somebody to bring Phil in, see if he remembers anything else, background noise, something like that?' Ian volunteered.

'Good Idea, do that Ian and will you get someone to get us all some coffee, something to eat and some paracetamol please.' Johns head was thumping

Ian went to the door 'No problem' he left to make the arrangements.

'Did Liz mention anything else to you Greg?' John asked 'about where she was going or what she was doing.'

Greg thought for a moment or two 'No, I don't think so, she told me she'd been invited for coffee, that's about all.'

John thought for a moment, she'd mentioned coffee to him as well, but he didn't know where she was going; he needed to find that information out and made a mental note to himself to do just that. 'Why would anybody abduct her?' he said 'She's not that rich so I don't think it would be for money, what else? Maybe they think she can get drugs.' he was thinking out loud rather than talking to Greg 'that's always assuming she's still alive.' he noticed the expression on Greg's face and quickly added 'and we've no reason to believe she's not.' he tried to give Greg a reassuring smile but in his heart he knew the longer it went on there was less change of finding her alive.

Greg also knew the statistics 'I guess it's your job to consider all the options.' he said

John scratched the back of his head as if he didn't want to hear what he was about to say 'Well, Yes. I do have to consider all the options, Greg. And sometimes they're not very pleasant, but unfortunately that's the nature of criminals, they don't always play nice. But at the moment we must work on the assumption that she is alive, and that we'll find her.' he looked Greg square in the eye's 'Believe me Greg, I'm not going to loose this one, I will find her.'

Ian came back into the office and handed John a large envelope with a computer printed address label on it, 'This arrived for you. It was left outside the front door'

John carefully opened the envelope and peered inside, he removed the contents which were a large glossy photograph and a sheet of A4 paper, the photograph was a picture of Liz and Jenni Gagged, lying on a bed. John instantly passed it to Ian and grabbed the A4, it was a note that read

“
Dick.

Your wife who was a complete Bitch took away my two legs,

She unfortunately died, so I can’t repay her,

But now I have the love of your life, Jenni. And your friend, Liz.

One for each leg.

Wheeler.”

After waiting all day for news John didn't hesitate 'Wheeler, that fucking little scrotum!' John was red in the face with rage 'Get me a raid team ready, I want to go in 30 minutes if wheelers got them we're going to get them back.'

'Do you think they'll be at his house?' Greg asked

'I don't know Greg but there's no point politely knocking on his door to ask even if they're not there, there'll probably be something that tells us where he's taken them.'

Ian had been frantically calling people to get the team ready 'Ok J.D the team will be ready to leave in 45 minutes.'

'45 I said fucking 30, tell them to get their fingers out this could be life or death! Ian you come with me, we'll sit outside and wait for the others to turn up, Greg you stay here, We'll keep you informed I promise, if you want you could call Leon, his numbers on my desk, ask him to come over.' he looked around for Ian, 'Come on Ian, lets go!'

John didn't waste any time getting to Wheelers apartment block, speeding through the streets of Bournemouth with Ian gripping the door handle so tight his knuckles turned white 'Can’t you just slow down a bit' He pleaded with John 'This damn cars like riding in a go-kart.' But John wasn't listening he wanted to get to his destination as quickly as possible, if Wheeler made a move he wanted to be ready, they heard on the radio that the team had assembled and were on their way, so arriving at Wheelers address John parked up, deciding it better to wait than storm in alone. They didn't have long to wait, within minutes the team arrived, lights and sirens going full blast. 'I suppose we forgot to tell them a stealth approach would have been better.' John commented as he and Ian left the car and walked across to the rest of the team. Wheelers apartment was on the third floor of the block so making sure all stair cases and lifts were covered the group re assembled on the landing outside wheelers front door, one person living on the same floor briefly peered out of their apartment, but seeing what was happening outside decided it was better to go back in and lock the door. John stood with Ian towards the back of the group and the signal was given, with three hefty thumps with the “persuader” battering ram, the front door conceded its grip on the frame and they were in. the usual dash around all the rooms followed with shouts of 'Clear!' as each space was checked for occupancy, there was no sign of anybody being there.

John entered the room, 'OK boys thank you!' he turned to Ian, 'Well she's not here, let’s have a look round to see if there's any clue as to where he would have taken them.'

They searched the apartment thoroughly looking for any sign of somewhere Wheeler might have gone, they found pornographic publications, pornographic films, pornographic photos in fact the apartment was filled from floor to ceiling with porn, but nothing that would help them locate his whereabouts, Ian signalled to one of the others and Wheelers computer was removed and loaded ready to be examined at the station. John looked out of the window directly opposite was Jenni's apartment, curtains drawn with no sign of anyone being in, 'Can we get someone to go and knock on that door,' he pointed at Jenni's 'just to make sure.' Ian dispatched two of the team to go and check. Looking around the apartment it struck Ian that the whole place had been converted for a wheelchair user, low worktops, higher plug sockets, everything.

'How would somebody in a wheelchair manage to abduct two healthy women?' he asked

'I've always said there was sod all wrong with him Ian, that bastard can walk as good as you and me, its just an act to get benefits.' Ian took another look around, unsure at Johns explanation, but what other explanation could there be?

'No answer over the road sir.' the two officers had returned from Jenni's

'OK thanks' John had one last look around then said 'Come on Ian, let’s get back to the station, leave these to finish off.'

Roger watched all the comings and goings and smiled.

Back at the station Leon had arrived and was carefully looking over the note, reading and re-reading, shaking his head and sighing, when John and Ian entered the office he simply looked up and said