EIGHTEEN

Jay shut the caravan and they leant on the back of the stolen military police van, trying to figure things through.

'They were telling the truth,' Jay said.

Sarah tucked the Glock into the back of her jeans. 'Really,' she said. 'Then why isn't your little lover here waiting for you to be delivered into her arms?'

'They were telling the truth.'

'Sure they were. Did you get the address right?'

He stayed calm. 'Yes, I did.'

'Then why the hell isn't she here?'

'I don't know.'

'Explain the sleeping bags then.'

'I still think they were staying in a hotel. Apart from the sleeping bags, there's no personal items or clothing here. And none in the van. So they must be staying, or have stayed, somewhere else.'

Sarah rubbed her chin and appeared deep in thought.

Jay continued. 'They weren't here long. The sleeping bags weren't unrolled and only a couple of drinks had been poured from the whisky; and you know they planned to come back.'

'So where's their stuff?'

'It still fits. They came to pick me up, take me back to the hotel room, play some pool and then bring me to the caravan park. I have a feeling there may be a third person who stayed here too.'

'Because of the empty noodle box and the cup with something sticky at the bottom?'

'Yeah, I know the noodles could have been from one of the other two. What do you make of the sticky substance?' he asked.

'I don't know. Just that it smelled like medicine. There wasn't any medicine in the van, though.'

'That's right. I thought probably drugs of some type. They got kicked out of the army for drugs.'

Before Sarah could respond, Jay's phone rang. It was Catherine.

Jay looked through the shadows around the caravan park. His phone continued to ring. He ran a hand across the scratch marks on his cheeks but could only feel stubble.

Sarah stepped in close and checked his phone. 'Answer it,' she said.

He did. 'Speak.'

'It's Catherine. Where are you?'

'Where are you?'

'I'm at your father's house.'

'Stay there.' He hung up and turned to Sarah. 'She's already at Dad's.'

They climbed into the stolen van. Rocks splintered against the caravan as Jay accelerated. He swerved the vehicle sideways, working hard on the steering and ignoring the pain in his hand. The tyres bit and he gained traction as the van hit the service road. He played the interrogations of Cliffe and Taylor back over in his mind. Perhaps he'd been too quick to assume that Catherine was the woman who had hired Cliffe and Taylor. Perhaps not. He had never been wrong with the results of an interrogation.

Sarah reminded Jay several times to slow down, it being a stolen vehicle and all. He guessed that she sensed his mood and was thankful for the first five minutes of the drive in silence.

Finally, she spoke up. 'We need to talk this through before you go barrelling in there.'

He admitted to himself that she was right and took a moment to respond. He actually enjoyed having her there to bounce off ideas. 'Let's work on the assumption that Cliffe and Taylor fed me a cover story. What did they have to gain? I doubt they meant to be caught and interrogated.'

'Facts,' she said. 'Both of those clowns were hired by someone. That someone knew that you were at the house today. Let's start there.'

'Who knew I was in the house today?' Jay questioned himself. 'You, Bill and my boss. Wait a minute.' He fumbled for his phone and dialled a number.

There was an answer on the second ring. 'You all right, Jay?'

'Yeah, boss. Sorry for ringing so late, but it's important. Got a question for you.'

'Shoot.'

'Did you tell anyone where I would be today?'

'No. Just mentioned that you're having time off. I don't have to justify giving you time off.'

'Fair enough, boss. Did Catherine Primrose ask when she rang?'

'Not the first time. She rang back early this afternoon to tell me that Captain Primrose had been to the doctor's. Said he had some kind of weird bug and wanted to know if anyone else was sick. I mentioned you weren't at work but not because you were sick. Definitely didn't say where you were though. She said she'd call you to make sure you didn't have what Captain Primrose has got. I just assumed she would call you and left it at that. Why, what's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong. Just got a couple of missed calls from her. That must be the reason. No problem. Thanks, boss.'

'Yeah. I'm sure that's the reason. Careful where you tread there. I've got a feeling that woman is dangerous. You know what I mean?'

Jay knew exactly what he meant. 'I'll keep that in mind, boss.' He hung up.

He checked his speed and changed lanes to overtake a bus. 'Catherine knew I wasn't at work today,' he said.

'Did she know where you were?' Sarah asked.

'Wouldn't have been hard to figure out. I spend a lot of time at Dad's. It'd be logical, considering the threat Primrose made.'

'Let's go along with the Primroses setting this up and that they're playing sick games. Still doesn't explain the trashing of your room or the intruder when you got to your dad's.'

'Catherine could've trashed my room while it was just me and Primrose. The guy I chased over the fence was broader and taller than Primrose. So we've got a minimum of three people plus Cliffe and Taylor.'

'Could it have been Cliffe or Taylor jumping the fence?'

'No. That guy's limping around today. One of the dogs took a small chunk of meat with the pants she grabbed.'

Sarah nodded. 'That makes five if we include Cliffe and Taylor,' she said.

'Three. Those two will be long gone.'

'How can you be sure?'

I know, he thought. 'Their plan didn't involve getting caught and interrogated. Both of them were shitting bricks and happy to get the hell out of there. They weren't lying.'

'If that's the case, how come Catherine wasn't at the caravan park?'

Jay thought about the question as he turned off the highway. 'The third person could have been conducting surveillance on the house and warned Catherine or Primrose. And I still get the feeling there was a third person in that caravan. We'll know soon enough.'

'OK. Drop me off down the road,' she said. 'It may be a trap. I'll give you fifteen minutes. If everything is sweet in there turn on the balcony light within that time. If after that time the light is still off, I'm coming in.'

'Good idea.' Jay stopped the van down the street from his father's house and Sarah got out. 'See you in fifteen,' he said.

Thinking about his confrontation with Catherine Primrose, he pulled into his father's driveway behind Catherine's black BMW. She was sitting on the car's trunk, squinting against the van's headlights. Her crossed legs revealed knee-high leather boots, their outline evident beneath her blue jeans. A long, dark overcoat hid her slender frame. Except for the darker hair, Catherine could have been Sarah's twin. Evil twin, he thought.

She slid off the trunk as Jay parked the van.

The pistol was still in the front of his jeans. He placed a hand on it as he climbed out of the vehicle. From behind the van's door, he called across to Catherine. 'What do you want?'

The German shepherds heard him and barked a welcome. Jay's hand gripped the pistol tighter at the sound. Catherine jumped at the barking, swung her head to where the noise was coming from and placed her hand across her chest. A couple of good signs for Jay: she had been unaware of the dogs' presence before now, and she must have been alone. The dogs only barked at men or when something was awry.

She turned toward Jay. 'You've got me all wrong,' she said. 'Give me a chance to explain.'

'Give me a reason.'

Catherine brought up her handbag, opened it and looked inside.

Jay removed the pistol, using the door to shield his actions.

She withdrew a DVD case and held it up for Jay to see. 'This.'

He placed the pistol back into the front of his jeans. After another look around, he closed the van door and moved to her. Tears flowed onto her cheeks as he snatched the DVD. The tears were of no concern to him.

He threw the DVD onto the ground, spun her around and pushed her against the back of the BMW. She didn't make a sound during the frisk search. Jay didn't know if she was shocked or had expected it. He completed the search and rifled through her handbag, dumping the contents onto the BMW. No weapons. He picked up the DVD and walked toward the house, wanting to check its authenticity. He felt better about himself for being a little rough with the search. Before he reached the front stairs, his phone rang. He stopped and quickly looked around before answering. 'Yes, boss.'

'Jay, I know where your father is.'