Fifty-Five
Jacqui Cutler stared down from her bedroom window at the activity in the courtyard below.
They’d been at it for the last couple of hours, in and out of the van with various bits of equipment; the comings and goings of half a dozen plain-clothes coppers and assorted tech types, all quietly directed by that detective Chopra, with his fancy suit and his clipboard.
Earlier in the day, he’d tried to explain to Jacqui exactly what they were doing, but she hadn’t been able to keep up with it all.
Satellites and that kind of stuff. The important thing was that they were obviously making an effort, and, helpless as she was, Jacqui desperately needed to see that.
Whatever it took to bring Justin home.
There was a soft knock at the bedroom door and, knowing very well who it was – that it couldn’t really be anybody else – she called Malky McDougall in.
He walked across to join her at the window. ‘Looks like they’re nearly done,’ he said. ‘Now we just need Miller and that ex-soldier to show up. The one who started all this.’
‘Well, to be fair, Googs, I think it might be the fact that we tried to kill him that started all this.’ She glanced at McDougall, who shrugged as though she was splitting hairs. ‘Either way, I’m glad Miller’s delivering the ransom with him. I know he’s a copper, but he’s one I trust.’
McDougall was still watching the scene below. ‘I’m not sure that Chopra bloke’s altogether chuffed about it.’
‘Have you told him that you’re going?’
‘I’ll wait until the last minute,’ McDougall said. ‘It’ll be too late for them to stop me.’
‘I’ll pitch in if I have to,’ Jacqui said. ‘I want you there when the handover’s made.’
‘Oh, I will be.’
‘I know you’ll do your bit to bring Justin back.’
‘Aye, you needn’t worry about that. I’ll also make sure this Battersby bloke pays for what he’s put you through. If not tonight, then the first chance I get.’
Jacqui reached across to pat McDougall on the arm. ‘You’re a good sort, Malky.’
McDougall shrugged again, like it was no big deal.
‘I’ll do anything to keep you and your family safe, Jax.
Anything at all.’ He stared down, wondering if now might be the right moment to let Jacqui know exactly how he felt about her, and decided it was as good a time as any.
‘I’d never let anyone hurt you. You know that, right? ’
‘Course I do.’
‘It’s why I’ve always done … whatever needed doing, if I thought there was any kind of threat. Anyone I didn’t like the look of. Anyone dodgy getting too close, you know?’ His eyes shifted so that he could stare at Jacqui’s reflection in the window pane. ‘Like that taxi driver you were seeing.’
Jacqui turned, fast. ‘What?’
‘Oh, I knew straight away what that one was up to … wheedling his way into your affections, laying it on good and thick. It was obvious what game he was playing, so I stepped in.’
‘Stepped in?’
‘Dealt with it, you know? Don’t you fret, Jax. He’s someone who won’t be bothering you again.’
Jacqui Cutler staggered away from the window, fighting to control her breathing, struggling to stay upright.
She dropped down on to the edge of her bed, and, when she finally looked up, the expression on her face was not the one Malky McDougall had been expecting to see.
There was no warmth or tenderness in it; not so much as a flicker of gratitude.
It was an expression he very much did not like the look of.
‘Oh, Malcolm. What have you done?’