Flecks of rain sprinkled Ruby’s face as she ran down the narrow path. Being fit added another layer to her armour. She had good legs and strong biceps and wanted to keep it that way. With her fitness test coming up, her superiors did not begrudge her a run during her break. But her mind was on the figure behind her who had been following for some time. The grate of their heavy breath came thick and fast as they struggled to keep up with her pace.
Coming to an abrupt halt, Ruby bent to tie her shoelaces. Her follower was close. Extending her foot, Ruby knocked them off their feet, sending them stumbling to the pavement below. Launching herself upon them, she wasted no time in pinning their wrists to the ground. The person did not put up a fight as Ruby pushed back their hood.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, glaring at Helen with disbelief. It was not the first time Ruby had bumped into a journalist, but never while she was out on a run.
‘It’s not illegal to exercise, is it?’ Helen said between breaths, sweat clinging to her mousy hair.
Patting her down for weapons, Ruby sprung to her feet. ‘Don’t give me that bullshit; I know you’ve been following me.’ Grabbing the front of Helen’s hoodie, she pulled her back onto her feet. Keeping hold of her sweater, Ruby gave her a quick shake. ‘Come on then, I’m waiting.’
‘Alright, alright, let go of me, will you?’ Helen blurted, smoothing back her sweater as Ruby released her grip. ‘I just wanted to see where you were going. There’s a lot of buzz around this case, and I heard you might have some contacts.’
‘And I was going for a run,’ Ruby said, unimpressed. ‘Next time I catch you following me I’ll have you arrested for harassment.’
‘Harassment?’ Helen said, her eyes wide and disbelieving.
‘Just keep out of my way in future. I was going to give you the heads up after our chat in the café. But now you can go through the official channels like everyone else.’ It may have seemed harsh, but she’d had enough of people picking over the bones of her personal life. Lately, the lines between work and home seemed more blurred than ever.
Ruby replayed their conversation as she clicked through her emails trying, but not succeeding, to maintain a level of concentration. She hated admin. Loathed it, in fact. But if she didn’t get the overtime and leave requests signed off she would be the least popular person in the station. Apart from Worrow, of course; although Ruby was back in her good books after coming up with the movie that seemed to fit the killer’s MO. Luddy had been tasked with contacting the websites that sold it online. But there were so many, not to count the free online pirate sites where you could watch it for free. The killer could have obtained it anytime in the last twenty years, and Ruby could not help but feel she had loaded Luddy down with another fruitless task. Her thoughts floated back to Lucy. Was she really capable of taking a mother and child? And if so, where were they? Outer London was a hive of rat-runs, derelict council buildings and vermin-infested squats. Could she be holed up there? Or were her claims of homelessness a cover for what was really going on? Her efforts at tracing the number that called her had come up blank. Like Nathan, the caller had used a pay as you go: it was now permanently switched off. There was no doubt that Lucy was playing games with her and communicated at a time only of her choosing.
The information she obtained from Goldie had not been worth the trade-off for her integrity, and Ruby buried her head in her hands feeling the magnitude of it all. This wasn’t just about Anita. Sophie’s life hung in the balance as well. She should be doing more. She drummed her fingers against the desk, resisting the urge to call Nathan. Lucy was his daughter too. If anyone could trace her Nathan could. But what if he found her? What then? She would go underground faster than a rabbit at a shoot, along with any chance of locating their missing people.
But there was someone else who could help. Someone who owed her. She plucked her mobile from her blazer pocket, straining her neck through the open door to ensure five minutes of privacy while she sent the text. She drew up ‘L’ for ‘Lenny’ on her contacts list, trying to keep the words as ambiguous as she could.
‘Found her yet? Fed up chasing my tail.’
Ruby chewed her bottom lip. It was the politest way of getting across what was playing on her mind. ‘Let’s see what you make of this,’ she mumbled under her breath; pressing send before she changed her mind. Two seconds later she deleted the sent text and prayed it would not come back to bite her. She diverted her attention to her computer and the work screaming out to be completed.
At the top of her bulging email inbox lay a response to an enquiry she had forgotten all about. The credit checks on Worrow’s frantic caller. She knew she was taking a chance investigating one of their own, but it was with good reason – although, if she was picked up on it, she would have to come up with a valid excuse. Having a bad feeling about her superior did not qualify as a legitimate use of police systems, but she had made the enquiry on the grounds of the prevention and detection of crime. Downes had trusted her enough to authorise the request so it was more than her neck on the line. As Ruby clicked through the file it seemed she was right to be suspicious. She pored over the information, her mind working overtime.