Kay stood at the side of the narrow lane beyond the Reddings’ driveway, her mouth dry while she watched two ambulances crawl to a standstill beside a tactical response vehicle.
Shouted commands carried from the outer cordon as officers from the Traffic division cut off access along the lane and redirected locals, their faces stony while they worked.
A light drizzle misted the air, slowly soaking her hair and clothes and leaving a tangy ozone scent to the verges and hedgerows. She slicked her fringe from her eyes as a shiver wracked her spine.
This can’t be happening, she thought.
Paul Disher’s team were silhouetted by the headlights from the assembled cars, their response vehicles hulking shadows beyond the dark-clothed men, and their voices low while they listened to his briefing.
They had already been on their way when Kyle and Phillip’s radios had gone silent, and despite the brusque manner in which the swarm of uniformed officers worked within the cordon, she knew every single one of them was thinking the same as her.
Please let them be alive.
‘How close can we get?’ asked one of the tactical team, his voice carrying over the heads of his colleagues. ‘Has anyone managed to get a visual on them?’
‘Kay – what can you tell us about the house?’ Disher said, beckoning her closer. ‘You’ve been inside. We need to know everything you can remember.’
‘The room Redding uses as a study is here, at the right-hand side of the house as you’re facing it,’ she said, tracing her finger over the roughly drawn diagram. ‘There are French windows leading out to the driveway – that’s how Redding says he managed to sneak out to the White Hart to meet with Thorngrove without his wife knowing. The living room is on the other side of the house, and there’s an anteroom between the study and the hallway.’
Disher frowned. ‘I wonder why Roman didn’t access the house through those instead – I mean, if he was looking for Redding…’
‘Maybe he didn’t know,’ Kay suggested. ‘If he hadn’t been to the house before, he wouldn’t have known about that side access.’
‘Have you managed to get any more information out of Redding about what went on between him and Roman?’
‘Well, he’s confirmed he hid the rifle he got from Roman – it’s an identical one to that used to kill Thorngrove. He realised after that how dangerous Roman was, and told Gavin and Laura he wanted to make sure he had some sort of protection at home for him and his wife if he turned up unannounced…’
Disher blew out his cheeks. ‘Shame he didn’t tell us all this sooner…’
‘Can’t argue with you there. We also think Roman dumped the gun parts in the bin behind the pub to implicate Len Simpson and take the focus away from him, especially after Porter discovered some of his firearms stock was missing.’
‘And so Roman’s gone after Redding next, not realising we’ve already got him in custody and then takes the wife hostage instead. Jesus.’ Disher ran a hand over his closely-cropped hair, then handed the diagram over to one of his subordinates and pulled on his protective helmet. ‘Okay, thanks, detective. We’ll take it from here.’
‘But…’
‘Guv!’
She turned to see Barnes hurrying towards them, his arms laden with stab vests.
He nodded to Disher before thrusting one of the vests at her and handing the rest to Harry Davis.
‘Guv – we’ve got Porter MacFarlane in custody, and Gavin and Laura are speaking to him now,’ he said, out of breath. ‘What’s the latest here?’
‘Not good.’ She led him away from Disher’s vehicle until they were standing at the far edge of the lay-by, then exhaled.
‘Kyle and Phillip are in there, so is Patricia Redding. Roman’s got control of both men’s radios and there’s no mobile signal near the house.’ Her hands trembled as she buttoned up the bulky stab vest. ‘I couldn’t reach them in time, Ian. I tried to warn them…’
‘Guv… Kay…’ Barnes reached out and clasped her hands, his warm skin rough. ‘Disher and his team will do everything they can to bring them out alive. It’s not your fault they’re in this situation. Roman—’
‘—is a madman, and selling black market weapons, and his bloody father should’ve realised that and told us, and…’
‘I know. But we’re here now, and we’re going to work with Disher to rescue them. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ She gave him a wan smile. ‘Good pep talk. Thanks.’
His hands moved to her shoulders, and he gave her a light squeeze. ‘You can do this.’
Kay nodded, biting her lip.
‘Hunter?’
She turned at the shout, to see Sharp striding towards her, his face grim.
‘I got here as fast as I could. Heard anything since the radios went silent?’
‘No.’
He lowered his voice. ‘As gold commander of this investigation, I’ll be taking over as SIO once Disher cedes control.’
She nodded, accepting that the chain of command was fluid in such situations, and relieved that someone with Sharp’s experience was at her side.
‘Whatever you need, guv,’ she said. ‘Mark Redding’s still in custody in Maidstone, and I’ve given Paul as much information as I can about the house layout.’
‘What about Roman?’ said Sharp, watching Barnes return to the cordon. ‘Has anyone managed to find out what might’ve started the illegal firearms dealing?’
‘Not yet – Porter’s in shock, I think. Laura texted me just before you got here to say he can’t understand what his son’s been up to. She’s found out he got into trouble as a teenager, but there’s no juvenile record and Porter assures her it was nothing violent. He got caught pickpocketing.’ She shook her head. ‘Theirs is a million-pound business, Devon. Why on earth would Roman risk dealing in illegal firearms? I mean, how much money could one person want?’
‘I think––’
Sharp’s reply was cut short by a shout from Disher.
‘Wait.’ Kay ran over to where the tactical firearms officer was leading his team towards the Reddings’ driveway entrance. ‘I need to go with you. I’ve got two officers in there.’
Disher waved his men onwards before turning to her, his eyes stone cold.
‘With respect, detective, you’re not going anywhere until my team have assessed the situation and neutralised the threat.’ He grimaced. ‘And if you’re right about this bloke, we haven’t got time to bugger about arguing.’