When Chief Constable Marsh revealed the situation to Gardner, she was on the road, before all reinforcements could be organised.
A recent high-speed pursuit course, combined with fresh bulbs in the flashing two-tone on her grille, ensured she led the race and made it to Thirkleby Hall first.
At such speeds, she struggled with the dirt road after the caravan park on the approach, but she only compromised slightly, despite knowing that a blow out or wrecked suspension were likely.
Eventually, she turned off onto the road which led to the isolated cottage and felt the bubbling anxiety in the pit of her stomach boil over when she saw a Land Rover ahead.
Marsh had already alerted her to the fact that this was Anders’ vehicle, and he was currently cuffed to a wheel. She wasn’t 100 per cent sure as to the nature of the ex-DCIs crimes yet, but he’d already admitted to Marsh that Riddick had him bang to rights and so an inappropriate arrest was the least of her concerns.
What she was worried about was Riddick, possibly drunk, and completely unhinged, chasing down a dangerous man in the cottage ahead.
She pulled up behind the Land Rover, and despite the darkened glass on the vehicle, she could see Anders’ head.
While driving, she’d written off the tremble in her body to the uneven surface and potholes. After killing the engine, she realised that the shaking was a consequence of adrenaline.
She opened the door, stepped out and looked.
She felt the burning twist of dread in her stomach.
Ahead, someone was lying face down on the path. She steadied herself against her vehicle roof as she looked up at the open front door, and then up at the open window above that.
Riddick!
‘God, no!’ She sprinted down the path towards the prone figure. ‘Paul!’
For a moment, she was back in that high-rise, approaching the billowing curtain that shrouded the balcony, from which Collette Willows had fallen to her death…
‘Paul!’
The figure stirred. Yes! Please, yes! ‘Paul!’
She froze. It wasn’t Riddick.
The figure was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and had a shaved head. He looked up at her with a bloody face and smiled.
Neil Taylor.
Confused, she approached until she was standing over him, looking down. His hands were tied behind his back with rope. She looked up at the open window. If he’d come out of there, he’d be unlikely to be alive. And, if he was, he’d be in a worse state than this. ‘Neil Taylor, you are under—’
‘The psycho has already done it!’ Neil hissed. ‘Save it until I get a solicitor and then you can read them to him!’
She looked up at Riddick standing in the open doorway.
Gardner went to help him. The DI’s left ear was bleeding, and he looked pale.
‘I was going to push him out the window, but I couldn’t do it,’ he hissed into Gardner’s ear.
She looked at him. ‘That’s enough, Paul—’
‘No,’ he hissed again. ‘I owed it to them. I owed it to Kelsey, to Bradley, to Cherish – all of them, and I couldn’t do it.’
‘Look at me,’ Gardner said, clutching him by the shoulders. ‘That’s enough. You’re not the same as these people. You’re not the same as Neil, and you’re not the same as Anders.’
Riddick looked at Gardner. She thought he looked tearful, but it was hard to tell, due to his recent injuries that had left him worse for wear.
‘I wish that were true, boss,’ Riddick said. ‘I really wish that were true.’