Chapter 78
Seventy-Eight
‘I think I’ve got her,’ Stacey said, scrolling through Ashley Reynolds’s friend list. ‘That’s the good news. The bad news is that she states only Scotland as her location.’
The boss had left them with instructions to try and make contact with Daniel’s sister and find a link between Lucinda and the witches’ descendants.
She’d decided to focus on Daniel first as that information could save lives.
Knowing how Lucinda fitted into this picture was not going to keep Ava safe.
‘Gimme her name,’ Penn said. ‘I’ll load up Insta.’
‘Janine Birch,’ Stacey said, opening the Facebook tab on her phone. ‘Damn it, she’s locked down so tight even Zuckerberg couldn’t get in. I can’t message her.’
‘Same on Insta,’ Penn said.
Stacey returned to Ashley’s account and scrolled down, hoping to find a post with Janine Birch tagged.
‘Got something,’ Stacey said, locking on to a photo of the two women, red-faced and windswept. The caption told her where they were.
‘Dunvegan,’ Stacey said, reaching for her phone.
‘Hang on, Stace,’ Penn said. ‘What’s the date?’
‘July ninth two years ago.’
‘School break. They might have been there on holiday,’ he said before returning to his desk.
He typed in the name. ‘Nah, Stace, that’s in the Hebrides, miles away from anywhere.
We can’t send them there unless we’re absolutely sure.
We gotta contact her via Messenger, and we’ve only got one way of doing it. ’
‘Jesus,’ Stacey sighed, picturing how this woman was going to feel when a message popped up from a dead woman. But they had no choice. They had to find out exactly where she lived and whether Daniel had told her he was coming. She had no choice but to message her from Ashley’s account.
Stacey thought for a minute before typing the message.
This is the police. We need your help urgently.
She watched as the dots appeared.
PISS OFF, SICKO.
‘Yeah, that would have been my response too,’ she said as she typed another message.
It’s urgent. It’s about your brother.
Three dots reappeared.
Fuck off, freak. You are disgusting. I’m going to call the police.
Stacey knew it was likely an idle threat, but it gave her an opening. She typed quickly.
Do it. Call Halesowen police station and ask for DC Wood. Your brother and Ava are in danger.
The three dots appeared again. Then stopped. Then started again. Then stopped.
‘Call, call, call,’ Stacey chanted at her phone.
They waited in silence.
‘Come on,’ Penn urged.
Like her, he knew this was their only chance to find out where Daniel was heading. From that, they could plot the quickest route for the boss to follow.
The minutes stretched on.
‘Shit, Penn, she’s not going—’
Her phone rang. She snatched it up.
‘Got a woman who—’
‘Put her through, Jack.’
‘Hello,’ said a voice on the other end.
‘Thanks for phoning. I’m sorry to have messaged you from Ashley’s account.’
‘You said Danny’s in danger?’
‘He and Ava are on the way to you, but his phone is off.’
‘But he lost Ava.’
‘He’s got her back.’
‘He would never do—’
‘We know, but someone is after Ava.’
‘Oh God, why?’
‘It’s a long story, but I need to know where you live. My boss is tearing up the motorway to try and catch them before someone else does.’
‘I live in Dundee. What can I do?’
‘Stay put, but I need to know if there’s a particular route he takes.’
‘Er… hang on, let me think, let me think. He’d do M6, then A74, M74, M73, M80, hang on, then the M9, the A9, then the A90.’
Penn was nodding his understanding as he jotted down the numbers. ‘Thanks.’
‘Please, tell me what I can do?’ the woman asked urgently. ‘Should I drive to meet him?’
‘No, stay where you are,’ Stacey said. They didn’t need to put anyone else in danger. ‘Just keep your phone close by, and if he calls, tell him to ring DI Stone immediately.’
‘Okay, please keep me updated.’
‘Will do,’ Stacey said before hanging up.
She picked up her mobile to call the boss.
They had to get to Ava in time because she didn’t think she could bear the alternative.