Deadline

Fifty-three

But he didn't take her home. In fact, he hardly had a chance to talk to her.

Within minutes, the first of a long line of police and ambulance vehicles were on the scene, and she was taken away from him. After checking that she didn't need emergency medical treatment, the paramedics whisked her off to the nearby Chase Farm Hospital where she was to be reunited with her mother before being debriefed, and for Bolt, that was largely that. He was left alone on the periphery, watching as the local police sealed off the murder scene.

Within half an hour, the area around the farmhouse was teeming with activity, and floodlights had been set up to illuminate proceedings. Bolt was introduced briefly to a DI called Baker, who was running the CID nightshift at Enfield Nick, and who had the initial responsibility for investigating Scott Ridgers' death. He looked more like an accountant than a copper and when he spoke it was in a flat estuary accent, but he had sharp, intelligent eyes that didn't look like they missed a lot, and Bolt had a feeling that when he went down to the station later to give his statement he was going to get a serious grilling about how he, a suspended SOCA agent, had ended up at the scene, particularly as the ransom money was missing. But he was ready for it. After everything else that had happened today, he was pretty much prepared for whatever was going to be thrown at him.

He was leaning against the farmhouse's front fence, drinking coffee from a plastic container, when a car pulled up just behind the line of police vans on the driveway, and Steve Evans got out, followed by Tina and Mo. Their expressions were grim and businesslike, but as they got closer Tina nodded at him from behind Evans's shoulder and gave him the barest hint of a smile. Mo just nodded.

Evans, meanwhile, was just plain pissed off. 'I thought I told you you were suspended, Mike,' he said, stopping in front of him.

'You did, sir. I got a lead on Scott Ridgers. I thought I'd check it out. As a concerned private citizen.'

Evans didn't look mollified. 'And you tracked him down here, only for him to be shot dead by an unknown assailant while you were struggling with him. That's the story I'm getting from DI Baker.'

'Yes, sir. Someone shot Ridgers from outside the kitchen window while I was fighting with him inside. I'm assuming it's the same person who disappeared with the money from the ransom drop. I phoned Tina as soon as I could so that she could alert the local police, and I've been here ever since.'

Evans looked sceptical. 'It always seems to be you who gets in these situations, doesn't it? How did you end up here?'

Avoiding Tina's eyes, he told Evans the story he'd already rehearsed in his head.

'Ridgers told his girlfriend where he was staying in case she needed him. When her father told her that he was wanted for a very serious crime, she gave him this address. The father phoned me because we'd already spoken earlier today. Obviously I was suspended, and I didn't think my word would count for much, so I decided to come up here myself, just to check things out. As soon as I arrived, I saw Ridgers dragging Emma into the house, and decided I was going to have to intervene immediately.' He shrugged. 'The rest you know.'

Evans stared at him for several seconds. He had a hard, intimidating gaze that carried the heavy weight of authority. Bolt, who was used to such looks and wasn't affected by them, held it firmly.

'Well, you're still suspended, Mike, and I don't want to see you around again until you're back on duty. Understood?'

The rebuke was painful, especially as he'd done so much to break a case that was about to go very high-profile, but not entirely unexpected. Evans was right. He still shouldn't have been there.

'Sure, I understand.'

'Good. Now, I need to go and see DI Baker. If you'll excuse me.'

Evans moved past Bolt, leaving him alone with Mo and Tina. Mo asked how Emma was. His tone was stiff and formal, and Bolt had noticed that he hadn't called him 'boss' for some time now.

'She's good,' he answered. 'As well as can be expected, anyway. But it's going to take her a while to recover.'

'But she will recover. Kids always do. They're resilient like that.' Mo looked towards the house. 'I'd better go inside.'

'OK.'

Mo managed a weak smile that confirmed to Bolt that their relationship had taken a serious beating.

'I hope you're back on duty soon,' he said.

'I will be.'

'Good luck.'

Mo turned and walked towards the gate. Tina made no move to follow him.

'You not going with him?'

She nodded. 'In a minute.'

Bolt smiled at her. He couldn't help but think she looked pretty in the moonlight.

'Thanks for what you did, Tina. It saved Emma's life.'

'Thanks for covering for me.'

'I couldn't really do anything else, could I? Not after you put your job on the line.' He sighed. 'How's Turner?'

'Still critical, but he's off the operating table now. It looks better than it did.'

'Thank God for that. Any other developments in the case?'

It was her turn to smile now. 'You're the one who seems to be creating the developments, Mike.'

'I didn't have anything to do with Ridgers' death, you know.'

'I never thought you would have done.'

He wondered why he'd felt the need to tell her that. Had he really moved so far from his position as law enforcer that he had to justify himself to his colleagues in case they suspected he might be a killer?

'It wouldn't surprise me if Mo thinks I did, though,' he said, rubbing his eyes.

'Mo likes to do things the right way. He's pissed off with you, but he still thinks you're a good cop.'

Tina was wrong. Mo didn't always have to do things the right way. Bolt remembered that at one time Mo had done things for him way above and beyond the call of duty, but that maybe now he'd grown weary of bailing his boss out.

'You look whacked, Mike.'

'I am. It's been a long day. But, you know, I don't like the idea of going home knowing there's still someone out there who's a kidnapper and a killer, and who's now at least half a million pounds richer.'

'The police here have found Phelan's car in one of the outbuildings. But no sign of Phelan.'

Bolt was surprised. He'd almost forgotten about Andrea's husband.

'I don't think it was Phelan who killed Ridgers,' he said slowly. 'I just can't see that he's the one behind this. I mean, the guy's a fly-by-night, a minor criminal, and an inveterate gambler. He's hardly a criminal mastermind.'

'But if his car's here, then why isn't he?' asked Tina. 'If he wasn't involved, I would have thought they'd've disposed of the car and the body together, because there'd be no point doing it separately.'

'I suppose so, but if he is part of this, then why did they bother killing Andrea's cleaner?'

Tina shrugged. 'Good point. God knows.'

They fell silent, and Bolt yawned.

'You'd better go in, Tina. Steve Evans won't be pleased if you're talking to me. You'll keep me posted of how things go though, yeah?'

She nodded. 'Of course I will.'

As she walked past him, she patted his arm reassuringly and he realized it was the first time in their two years working together that she'd ever touched him.

'You did a good job tonight, Mike,' she said. 'You'll be back on duty soon.'

He watched her go, thinking of all the things he'd done today, so many of which could still cost him his career. He'd been in law enforcement for twenty years. It was the only job he'd known, and despite the constraints it imposed and the huge tedium of much of the work, he loved it. If they sacked him, he had no idea what he'd do. But the fact remained, there was no way he'd have changed any of his actions because in the end, illegal or not, they had got him the one thing he wanted most: his daughter back.

He thought about Pat Phelan in the photograph with Emma and Andrea at Andrea's house, all close up together, the happy nuclear family. If he was involved, it would be a betrayal of epic proportions. Fear can make a man do some strange things, and owing big sums of money to a violent thug like Leon Daroyce was going to make someone like Pat Phelan very frightened. But even so, Bolt still didn't buy the fact that he was the man who'd escaped with the money.

The problem now, with the other conspirators dead, was finding out who was.