The Major Crimes Team - Vol 1: Lines of Enquiry by Graham Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

running, he wracked his brains as to what he should do next.
    Going back and looking for it may lead him into danger; yet doing nothing wouldn’t get him to safety.
    Edging his head around the garage, he scanned the street in both directions. There was no movement to be seen. No pedestrians walked the streets and the road carried no traffic.
    Setting a brisk pace, he strode back the way he came, his eyes swapping between the ground and the road. A hundred yards from his hiding place, he found his mobile lying on the pavement. Snatching it up, he clutched it tight and sprinted back to the garage.
    Secure in his hiding place once more, he took a proper look at the phone. Its screen was cracked and there was a nasty dent on one corner.
    Shit. Please work. Please let me call that copper.
    The metrics of the screen were off by a half inch, but Joserand managed to call Chisholm. He’d made a mental note of the street he was on as Chisholm had told him to.
    ‘DS Chisholm? It’s Troy. I’m on Barrowvale Road … about halfway along. I’m behind some garages.’
    Troy listened for a few seconds and then hung up.
    Less than three minutes later he heard a pair of short blasts on a car horn followed by two longer ones.
    Poking his head round the corner he saw a red BMW M3. Approaching it with caution he saw a pretty blonde sitting in the driver’s seat. A warrant card was held out of the open window.
    ‘You’re safe. DS Chisholm led them into a trap. They’re rounding up the last of them now.’
     
    *    *    *    *
     
    Evans sprang to his feet as Janet was wheeled out of the lift. Her eyes found him. A single tear escaped her left eye and rolled down her cheek.
    Not knowing what to say, Evans said the first thing he could think of. ‘I love you so much Janet Evans. We’re gonna get through this. Together you and I can get through anything. When you’re ready we can look at adoption or fostering.’
    He took her hand in his and held her fingers in a gentle embrace as the hospital porter pushed her bed towards the ward.
    Steering her bed into a vacant space the porter went to pass the doctor’s notes to the nurse sitting behind the desk.
    ‘Harry.’ Janet’s voice was a hoarse whisper as her fingers sought out the button which controlled the morphine drip. ‘I lost our baby because I was raped.’
     

Dealing with the Drugs
     
    DC Lauren Phillips pulled on a black skirt and turned to examine herself in the full-length mirror on the wardrobe door. Satisfied with what she saw, she picked up her keys and a clutch bag.
    Today was the first step towards getting the answers she needed. Once her questions were answered she’d be able to inform DI Harry Evans of what she’d learned. Until she had some hard evidence, she was on her own.
    The initial facts she had were sketchy at best. The one concrete lead she’d got had come from a source too scared to testify.
    Discussing it with Evans had been a disaster. Preoccupied with his wife’s rape, He’d been more caustic than usual. Both her professional skills and her personal interest in the case had come under fire, leaving her smarting at his put-downs.
    Determined not to let this one slip, she’d decided to pursue the case in her own time until she could gather what was needed to prompt a formal investigation.
     
    *    *    *    *
     
    Parking behind a row of cars on Peter Street, Lauren locked her car and click-clacked her way towards Finkle Street. The three hundred yard walk through the centre of Workington saw her draw stares from shoppers and people going about their everyday business.
    She knew her clothing was more akin to a night on the town than four o’clock in the afternoon but she’d dressed this way for a reason. Lauren didn’t care about the disapproving looks she got from the women or the mental undressing of the men she encountered. Blessed with a pretty face and shapely body, Lauren knew she looked good and used her charms to her