The sun had dropped behind the hills and the light was fading as Daniel approached Abbots Farm. It had been a long day; one when it felt as though anything that could go wrong had done. At gone six o’clock, this was his last drop of the day and it was with relief that he swung the TFS delivery lorry into the driveway between the granite gateposts.
The gates were open, which was unusual, but it suited Daniel as it saved him getting out to use the intercom or enter the security code. The truck’s wheels strummed across the round bars of the cattle grid and onto the quarter-mile gently curving stretch of tarmac that led to the house and stable yard.
‘Nearly finished, Taz,’ he said over his shoulder. The German shepherd dog had given up on the day over an hour ago, disappearing behind the seats to curl up on his beanbag, with his nose tucked into his bushy tail.
Suddenly, a flash of white caught Daniel’s eye and a low-running shape bounded out of the gloom to his left-hand side on a collision course with the front wheels of the lorry.
Swearing, he slammed on the brakes and swerved right. The big tyres squealed in protest as the vehicle shuddered to a halt, half on and half off the drive. The liver-and-white spaniel whose appearance had triggered the evasive action had darted away and now stood looking up at the cab, tongue lolling and eyes shining green in the beam of the headlights. Moments later, it was joined by another dog that paused for a moment then bounded away, head down and tail wagging furiously, no thought in its head besides hunting.
Daniel knew the dogs. They belonged to the owners of the house and he was pretty sure they shouldn’t be out on their own at this time of day, especially with the gates standing open. He pulled the handbrake on and climbed down from the cab, picking up Taz’s lead and feeling in his pockets for the treat pouch from which he occasionally rewarded him. As he did so, the German shepherd, instantly awake, stepped through from behind the seats and made to follow.
‘You stop there, mate,’ Daniel told him and reluctantly, the dog did so, eyeing the lead with eagerness. A lead usually meant action for him, and to be told to stay was a disappointment.
Stepping down onto the grass at the side of the lorry, Daniel noticed a chill in the air. It was early October and the Indian summer was finally giving way to autumn. Although the days remained warm, the evening temperatures had begun to drop significantly.
Any worries about the dogs being troublesome to catch were swiftly banished, for as soon as his feet touched the turf, the spaniel that had run out in front of the lorry came fawning around him, muzzle split in a grin and tail a blur of white.
‘Hello, Bailey. What are you doing out here by yourself? Does your mum know where you are? I bet she doesn’t.’ Daniel fed the dog a treat and deftly looped the rope slip-lead over its head. Moments later, seeing its mate eating, the second spaniel loped over with hope in its eyes.
‘Hello, Scotch. Have you come to join the party?’ Daniel asked. While the second dog crunched on its biscuit, Daniel took hold of its collar and then led them both towards the cab. Hoisting them in, one by one, he spoke a sharp word to Taz, who was inclined to take an indignant view of the invasion, and the bigger dog retreated with bad grace to his position behind the seats, grumbling when one of the spaniels thrust its head through to investigate. Daniel couldn’t blame his dog. Spending a large part of every weekday in it, he viewed the lorry as his own territory and the two newcomers were clambering all over the seats in their habitual springer spaniel frenzy.
‘Sit down!’ he told them firmly but with little optimism as he put the lorry into gear and resumed his journey. To his surprise Scotch and Bailey did as they were told, sitting bolt upright on the seat and panting at what seemed an impossible rate, their breath spreading a fuggy warmth through the cab. Daniel opened the window a little wider.
Abbots Farm was a stone-built manor house nestling in a secluded valley on the edge of Dartmoor and surrounded by around twenty or so acres of its own pasture and woodland. Business consultant Harvey Myers lived there with his wife, Lorna, although for much of the time, Harvey was away, working.
Since he had been driving for Tavistock Farm Supplies, Daniel had made regular monthly deliveries to the address, and it wasn’t long before he and Lorna realized that their paths had crossed several years before, when she had worked as a civilian for the Bristol Metropolitan Police; the same division Daniel had served in.
The drive passed through a second gateway onto a sweep of gravel in front of the building, and normally Daniel would have driven past the house to the stable yard, where he would unload his delivery of horse and dog food and bales of wood shavings into the large stone barn. Today, however, he found his way partially blocked by a black Transit van with darkened windows parked untidily outside the white-painted front door.
Daniel pulled up behind it and, telling Taz to stay put, climbed down from the cab once more, followed in scrambling confusion by the two spaniels. The front door stood open, which explained why the dogs had been running free, and knocking on the paintwork, he called out, ‘Lorna?’
He could hear voices from the rear of the building and almost immediately a door opened and a heavily built man appeared in the opening, haloed by the light from the kitchen beyond.
‘Mr Myers?’ the man enquired, looking at Daniel.
‘No, sorry.’ Daniel took a couple of steps towards the man and peered round him. In the kitchen he could see another male figure in a heavy leather jacket standing between the door and a slim woman in jeans and a loose cotton shirt.
Daniel’s senses came to full alert. Something about their body language didn’t look right.
‘Lorna? Is everything OK?’
‘Daniel?’ As she took a step towards him, the man put out a hand to stop her and she flinched. She was wearing her long sandy blonde hair tied back and even in the half-light Daniel could see the stress in her face and hear it in her voice as she said, ‘These men are looking for Harvey but I told them he’s not here.’
‘In that case, I expect they’ll be on their way, then,’ Daniel observed mildly, wishing he had Taz at his heels rather than a couple of dizzy spaniels.
‘We’ll leave when we’re fucking ready to leave,’ the man in the doorway growled, curling his lip at Daniel. He was fortyish with razor-cut dark hair and rather coarse but otherwise unremarkable features.
‘Do you want me to call the police?’ Daniel asked Lorna, but her reply was sharp with alarm.
‘No! Please, Daniel, don’t! It’s OK.’
‘Listen to the little lady,’ the closest man advised. ‘She knows what’s good for her.’
‘What do you want with Mr Myers?’ Daniel asked.
‘I think that’s between him and us, don’t you?’ was the reply. ‘Who did you say you were?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘He’s a friend,’ Lorna said.
‘Well, in that case,’ the man said, leaning close to Daniel, ‘the best thing you can do is make sure the little lady gives our message to her hubby and keeps her pretty little mouth shut or we’ll be back to visit her again and next time we mightn’t be so polite! My mate, here, has an eye for a pretty lady.’
To accentuate his words, the man in the leather jacket leaned towards Lorna and winked suggestively. He had a face only a mother could love and she shrank back with a look of deep disgust. One of the spaniels, sensing a game, fawned round the man’s feet and he aimed a kick at it.
Lorna cried out as the dog yelped and scurried under the table.
‘Touch her and I will call the police,’ Daniel stated calmly, though he knew that, due to the location, the chances of them arriving before the two men made their getaway were close to nil, unless they just happened to be in the area.
Leather Jacket obviously knew this because he sneered, ‘Yeah?’ and reached out a hand in Lorna’s direction.
‘Leave her alone!’
‘Or what?’
Quick as a flash, Daniel swayed towards the man in the doorway, grasped his arm and twisted it out and up behind his back. Intent on the scene in the kitchen, the man was caught off guard and found himself turned and slammed face first into the wall with his hand somewhere in the vicinity of his shoulder blades. He grunted his discomfort and swore viciously at Daniel.
‘Or … I break your mate’s arm,’ Daniel replied, leaning all his weight on the bigger man to hold him still.
Leather Jacket froze, his bovine face registering shock, and Lorna took her opportunity to duck under his outstretched arm and retreat to the far side of the kitchen. She was now near enough to the garden door to open it and get out but she made no move to do so.
Leather Jacket appeared to have lost interest in her now and he began, instead, to advance towards Daniel and his captive.
‘I don’t fink you will,’ he said.
Daniel leaned harder on his man, noticing a small tattoo on the back of his neck as he did so. His victim squealed, ‘He bloody will! Stay back!’
Leather Jacket stopped and raised his hands a little.
‘All right. So what now? Way I see it, you’ve got to let ’im go sometime and then you’re dead meat, incha?’
Daniel was aware that his position wasn’t great but he had an ace up his sleeve that neither of them knew about. Thankful that he had left the cab window open, with a shrill whistle he summoned the cavalry.
Just seconds later there came the clicking of claws on the stone flags and a low rumbling growl sounded.
‘Shit!’ Leather Jacket exclaimed, backing off. ‘The size of the fuckin’ thing!’
‘And he has teeth to match,’ Daniel promised him, confidence surging now his partner had his back. Looking past the two men to where Lorna stood watching, he asked, ‘Are you sure you don’t want the police?’
She shook her head, quickly. He wondered what threats they had used to inspire such a look of desperation but he had to respect her wishes and besides, he had no great desire to bring himself to the notice of the authorities, either.
He returned his gaze to Leather Jacket. ‘OK. Now, this is what’s going to happen. You are going to very slowly and quietly walk past me and the dog and head for the door. You will get into your van and start the engine. When I hear the engine, I will let your mate here go and he will follow you. You will then both drive away and not come back – now or ever. D’you understand?’
‘I’m not going anywhere near that fuckin’ dog!’ Leather Jacket averred, eyeing Taz nervously.
‘He won’t hurt you unless I tell him to. Just don’t touch me or make any sudden movements.’
Still the man hesitated, licking lips suddenly gone dry, but Daniel’s captive was losing patience.
‘For fuck’s sake hurry up and get out! The bastard’s breaking my arm!’
‘What he said,’ Daniel agreed. ‘Only I wouldn’t hurry, if I were you.’
His eyes never leaving the dog, Leather Jacket walked in almost comical slow motion towards Daniel and his captive and sidled past, maintaining his crablike progress as he drew level with the German shepherd, who bristled and licked his lips.
‘Let him go, lad,’ Daniel said to the dog.
Clearly disappointed, Taz did as he was told, turning his head to watch the man pass and, just as the manoeuvre was completed, produced one of his most blood-curdling snarls. Forgetting Daniel’s warnings, Leather Jacket turned on his heel and ran for the door. Daniel had to suppress a smile. It had to be said, the dog had excellent dramatic timing.
Moments later Daniel heard the sound of the Transit’s engine and leaned forward to speak close to his captive’s ear, ignoring the fresh spate of swearing the extra pressure provoked. ‘Your turn, now. Do exactly what your charming friend did and make sure you don’t do anything my partner there might consider threatening, got it?’
The man nodded and Daniel leaned again. ‘Sorry. I didn’t hear you …’
‘Yes. Fuck you!’ the man said sullenly.
Daniel released his grip and stepped back, poised for trouble, but the man had evidently had enough. He rubbed his sore arm and edged past the dog with respect but not quite the degree of trepidation his colleague had displayed. At the front door, he paused and looked back to where Lorna watched from the kitchen.
‘This doesn’t change anything,’ he told her. ‘When you see your husband, don’t forget to tell him the boss wants to see him, like yesterday! If we don’t hear from him by the end of the week you’ll both be sorry. And you, mate,’ he added to Daniel. ‘You’d better hope I never see you ever again, cos I never forget a face and I owe you, big time!’
Without waiting for reaction from either Daniel or Lorna, he disappeared into the gloom and seconds later they heard the van accelerating away up the drive towards the road.
Taz padded to the door and looked out, as if to assure himself that the men really had gone, and then returned to Daniel, grinning widely and tail waving.
‘Good lad,’ Daniel told him, ruffling his fur, but his attention was quickly claimed by Lorna who, now that the crisis was over, buried her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably.