Miss Take - Chapter 10 (4489)

Chapter 10 (4489) 

As she sat on the train from Edinburgh, Kelly didn’t really know what she expected to find in Livingston, or what she would do when she got there. She’d check her phone multiple times, but the house was too far off the main road to be on Street View so the first look she got at it was when came up through the forest. She circled around to the rear of the house and around the chest height stone wall that enclosed the large garden and orchard. She could hear the sound of a radio coming from inside somewhere. There was a single car in the drive way so she presumed someone was home.

Was this wise? She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Should she just go home and leave a message on Corum’s phone? And if so, as who? She was here now anyway, she reflected, and she was used to working alone. At the very least she could watch the place for a while, or even risk a peak through one of the windows.

She jumped soundlessly over the back wall of the garden, leapt over a few overgrown vegetable patches and hid in behind a half collapsed shed. She was close to the house now and although it needed a new coat of paint, it was in much better condition than the garden, which looked like it had been running wild for years. There were signs that a dog used this garden, so she checked the extensive inside pockets of her jacket for the dog treats she always kept there. Right, she thought, next stop, under the windowsill, but she paused before taking the first step of her run at it. Was this right? She asked herself again. She never did anything as unplanned as this. This was throwing caution to the wind, just like Button Grove, and look how that turned out. With all the fights and narrow escapes she’d had lately though, her former professionalism seemed to be rapidly leaving her. All she wanted now was to somehow deliver Clarence Price to police headquarters and hope against all probability that that would be the end of it. She didn’t want to get into another fight, the cut on her lip was only just beginning to heal over. She leaned back around the side of the shed. Not yet, she thought, controlling her breathing, wait a bit longer, there is no hurry.

After no more than ten minutes someone opened the back door and she heard the sound of a big dog bounding into the garden. She cursed under her breath and reached into her pocket. Within seconds a big, wild-eyed Husky was in about her, sniffing her crotch and slobbering on her leggings.

‘Here, here, take them all,’ she whispered as it guzzled the whole packet. She was good with dogs, it had seemed crucial to her when she had started her carrier as a burglar, and she had been a dog walker for a while at the beginning of her “career” until she felt she was confident enough with them. So far, she’d never been bitten by a guard dog.

This was a big one, with big teeth, but it was obviously a pushover for food. It was trying to jump up on her in its eagerness to find more, and she had to back off against the shed and push it back.

She was startled by shouting at the other end of the garden.

‘Get out of it, you stupid animal!’ yelled a male voice from behind and she turned to see Price looking at her down the barrel of a rifle. The dog whined and skulked back towards the house. Kelly raised her hands.

He was stood at a side gate in the wall, leaning one elbow on it to steady his aim. She risked a glance towards the wall she had come across to get into the garden. She’d need three steps to get to it, there was no escape that way.

‘What the hell are you doing in my garden?’ demanded Price.

‘Hey man, don’t shoot! I’m just saying hello to your dog.’

‘Don’t give me that,’ said Price dismissively. ‘Nobody just happens to stroll passed up here. This is private property. Who do you work for? Who sent you?’

‘Fuck off,’ replied Kelly, unable to think of anything better to say.

He fired the rifle, with a crack so loud she nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked down at her jacket expecting to see blood, but there was nothing. There was a hole in the side of the shed though.

‘Lots of farmland around here,’ said Price as he moved the bolt of the rifle to chamber the next round. ‘People just hear a bang and they think it’s the local lads shooting at rabbits. Disrespect me again boy and the next one won’t miss. I’ve killed plenty just like you.’

 ‘Yeah alright, ok,’ said Kelly, thinking quickly. ‘Ok. I’ve been sent here by the Vampires to check you out. They’re coming round tonight in a van to get you. They plan to hand you over to the Hamiltons. Better run old man, while you have the chance.’

He must have guessed at what sort answer he would get, but she could see that it still came as a surprise. There was panic in his eyes, that slowly turned into cold calculation.

‘How?’ he finally asked. ‘How did they find out?’

‘Does it matter? You’re done. You’re cooked. Hand yourself in to the police is my advice, before the Hamiltons get you.’

The rifle had lowered a little as he had been thinking, but he raised it again. ‘Thanks for the info.’

She had been expecting another shot though, and as the rifle moved upwards, she leapt behind the shed, the bullet missing her and going off into the woods. She ran for the wall, keeping the shed between her and Price, then leapt over it like a high-jumper. Price fired again and this time she felt the bullet graze the skin of her belly, it felt like being cut with a razor.

‘Shit!’ she heard him shout when he realised she had escaped. As she ran, she heard more curses and the sound of the gate opening and Price running over to the wall she had just jumped.

By the time he got to it she was long gone. She was not a fast runner, but fear leant her wings as she dove into the forest, running through the low branches towards a stream that she then jumped over. On the other bank she scrambled up to a path that she followed deeper into the woods. After that she ran for several minutes until she reached a larger path and started passing people, mainly dogwalkers and cyclists. Price hadn’t followed her; she’d been too nimble and had put a mile between her and the house pretty quickly. She sat on a bench and pulled up her jacket, then her hoodie and then very gingerly her vest. All her upper garments had been holed by the bullet. There was the lightest of grazes across her belly, and just a few drops of blood on her otherwise clean and white vest. She was lucky that underneath all her layers of baggy clothes she was stick thin. Price must have thought he’d got her right in the stomach, when in reality all he’d done was ruins a brand-new jacket. She pulled it all back down again to cover her body, then pulled up the hood and ducked her head.

Even though it was nothing more than a scratch, it was enough blood to terrify Kelly, who had never been shot at before, let alone shot. Waves of panic washed over her, but as the adrenalin left her system, she manged to slowly calm her breathing. The passing walkers probably thought she was a drug addict or something, but at that moment she didn’t care.

After a while she had herself under control enough to think about what to do next. If Price had taken her advice then he’d have left the house by now. If not, he was probably sat in his kitchen with his gun on his knees waiting for the Hamiltons to arrive. He must surely consider the possibility that he’d get a knock on the door from the police if he thought there was a dead or dying boy out there in the woods somewhere. Whatever he was doing, she still couldn’t think of anything better to do than going back and watching the house from a safer distance. With a deep breath she stood up and headed back.

When she eventually got there, she circled around to the front to check if his car was still there. It was, which meant he was probably inside. She went back into the woods to try and find a good vantage point to watch the house from. As she was considering climbing a tree to get a better look, she heard Price’s rifle firing again and ran back towards the house to see who he was shooting at this time.

***

Corum had wanted to shut his eyes as Price pulled the trigger, but somehow he couldn’t, so he saw everything that happened next. Just as the shot was fired the small, dark-clad figure of Kelly Kane came charging in and with a high leap kicked Price right in the head. Price went flying, tumbling down the slope of the path into the bushes.   

The next thing Corum saw was Kelly leaning over him, looking at him with concern.

‘Are you ok?’ she asked.

For a moment, randomly, he thought how pretty she was up close, those big sensuous brown eyes and fine features. If she wasn’t such… he snapped out of it.

‘Forget about me, I’m fine, go get Price!’

Kelly turned and ran after Price who had pulled himself out of the bushes and stumbled about thirty paces up the path. He heard her coming for him and broke into a full-speed run. Corum watched as one after the other they disappeared around a bend and were lost from site in the trees. In less than a minute she was back again.

‘He got away, sorry.’

‘I thought you were some sort of killer ninja, you let him get away?’

‘I’ve very short legs.’

Corum groaned and then let out a long sigh.

‘So, it’s you. Kelly Kane. Gavin Newgate. Or perhaps Miss Take?’ he said bitterly.

‘Whoever I am, I just saved your life,’ came the tart reply.

‘True,’ he admitted.

Kelly turned and looked over her shoulder.

‘People are coming up the path now. I’d better go.’

‘We’re not done,’ Corum called weakly after her. ‘I’ll call you later.’

She turned around long enough to nod her head once at him, then bouncing around on her heels, took off back down the hill to the main path.

***

Corum put down the newspaper he was reading and looked at his watch. He had a room to himself, but he could hear a TV burbling away somewhere and just outside his door the uniformed policeman that was meant to be guarding him was chatting to a nurse.

She was late, any later and she’d miss visiting hours. He checked his phone for messages, but there were none. He lay back and shut his eyes, but then opened them again as the door opened.

‘In you go, miss,’ said his guard, nodding to Corum with a knowing smile. Kelly Kane walked in, dressed in black leggings, a denim jacket with a leopard print collar and red high-heeled shoes. She was carrying a gold purse that looked like a knock-off and had her hair done up in a large bun. Her make-up too, while not expertly applied was certainly plentiful. He found it very hard to match what he saw in front of him with the “boy” he’d picked up on the Cowgate, or the flying shadow that had seen off Clarence Price. Perhaps that was the reason she’d gotten away with it for so long.

He pulled himself up a little on the hospital bed and arranged his covers.

‘Come as Kelly,’ she snipped at him, holding up her phone. ‘Pretend I’m your Girlfriend? Really?’

‘Seemed the easiest way,’ he snapped back. ‘Besides, why are you mad at me? I should be mad at you.’

‘This is why you wanted to see me? Are we breaking up?’ she asked sarcastically.

‘Smart arse,’ he growled. ‘I had Yoyo’s husband in here an hour ago to talk to me. I could do without a comedy routine after that.’

‘Sorry,’ said Kelly with what sounded like genuine sympathy. ‘I’m sorry about your partner.’

Corum pointed to a stack of newspapers.

‘Read much? It’s on the front page of every newspaper. It’s a nationwide man hunt now. The bloody British press love this sort of stuff. The Sun has six pages dedicated to a killer that they know nothing about and barely mention Yoyo at all.’

‘She seemed like a nice lady.’

‘She was the nicest person I’ve ever met,’ said Corum flatly.

After a pause, Kelly asked, ‘how’s your leg?’

‘They operated as soon as I got here and dug the slug out,’ said Corum as he gently patted the top of his right thigh. ‘Flesh and muscle damage mainly, although it chipped the bone a bit. Will take a while to heal, but I can discharge myself after the weekend. I might be on a crutch for a bit, but they think that after a year I probably won’t even have a limp.’

‘Sore?’

‘Nah, its fine. That was a mean trick you played on me at Ocean Terminal that day.’

‘Yes…’ mumbled Kelly.

Corum folded his arms and looked at her.

‘What do you want?’ she asked. ‘I’m not sorry. I was trying to save my life. I still am! These last couple of days I’ve been terrified about even getting out of bed. Yesterday my body just sort of crashed and I got an attack of the jitters on the bus on the way here. Just too much adrenaline in my system, probably. I can’t go on like this.’

‘Well, ok, I’m sorry about that, but I suppose all the dates after you broke into my flat were so you could keep an eye on the investigation and not because of my dazzling charm?’

Kelly was sat at the bedside now and looking down at her hands she gave a hunched shrug.

Corum was having a hard time trying to stay calm. ‘Well that’s all over. Obviously.’

Kelly sniffed and rubbed her eyes. ‘OK, fine. I’m sorry, ok? But what next? You’ve not turned me in yet. I’ve been shitting myself for the last two days, waiting for the door to be knocked down.’

‘If they did, they’d never catch you, would they? You’d be up and out like a scalded cat,’ he observed.

‘Maybe,’ she admitted. ‘Come one though, Corum. I’m scared ok? Up until a month ago I’d never been shot at, never been in a proper fight, never had any dealings with organised crime at all.’

‘You surprise me,’ snapped Corum, but then in a change of tone he went on, ‘look, what’s done is done. I very nearly did grass you up to the HBU, but well, when I got to thinking about it, I think you might be more use to me, and more use to the effort to catching Price, as an informant.’

‘Right,’ said Kelly cautiously.

‘Don’t get me wrong, there are other units after you, and eventually someone else will make all the connections and depending on the circumstances I won’t be able to help you much.’

He held up a finger. ‘But.’

‘But what?’

‘I am only interested about going after the bastard that killed Yoyo and if you can help me do that, then perhaps I can help you.’

‘Help how exactly?’

‘We’ll see.’

‘You want me to break into houses on your behalf, is that it? I mean, that’s my skill set.’

‘No!’ exclaimed Lavius raising his hands. ‘That would be very naughty indeed. Burglaries to order? It’s a lovely idea, but I’d get a proper doing from the DCC for that.’

Corum wasn’t examining his motives too strongly, he knew he now had a serious soft spot for Kelly, she had saved his life after all, but he was telling himself that it wasn’t so unusual for him to offer her the chance to turn informer, after all he had snitches in all of the big gangs in Edinburgh. He knew Kelly was a whole other level from the typical petty thief or minor enforcer he usually dealt with and perhaps he would have no choice but to hand her over once Price was caught. He’d rather not, but she had a pretty long and serious criminal past if all the Squirrel break-ins were hers, and they likely were.

‘Look at the little wheels working in your head,’ she said flatly. ‘How close am I to being caught then?’

‘Why would I tell you that?’ asked Lavius. ‘Listen, you saved my life. I owe you for that and as my informant you’re safe from me arresting you. To be honest, it’s not the cops you need to be worried about. Both the Vampires and the Hamiltons will want your blood.’

‘I can handle them.’

‘Seriously Kelly. Neither bunch are as stupid as you think. Watch your back, they’ll be looking for you. I’d count on them making the connection between Kelly and Gavin before the HBU does.’

Kelly seemed to almost shrink into her seat. ‘How? How could they do that?’

‘I don’t know and I’m pleased to say that’s your problem and not mine. Just a word of warning, that’s all. They are not stupid, watch yourself.’

Just then a nurse popped her head around the door, raised an eyebrow and pointed at her wrist.

Kelly got to her feet.

‘I’ve something you might want to look at anyway, I’ll bring it tomorrow.’

‘OK, thanks,’ said Corum, giving her a small wave as she left. ‘Don’t leave town.’

Kelly spent the rest of the evening hiding in her flat, jumping at every noise that came from outside. After a very restless night she decided to face Saturday head on and in the morning she more or less pulled herself together and went to the gym. She skipped the climbing wall and instead went a ten-mile run on the treat mill. There was a big screen in front of her for putting on films so she watched a series of virtual jogs around pleasant forests and sunny beaches. She was not a fast runner, but she had plenty of stamina and she found the gentle pace soothing. Whatever inner peace it gave her though, evaporated on her walk back, when a car door being slammed made her jump out of her skin. By the time she got home she was a nervous wreck again. She had showered at the gym, but decided to have a bath, which she then fell asleep in. She sat up with a jolt, waking from a dream of being hunted through the forest by Price.

‘Jesus,’ she gasped, then wrenched herself out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She spent the rest of the day until visiting hours watching the news, flicking constantly between the news channels for the latest on the man hunt for Price. There were no facts, just endless speculation. There were moving pieces about DC Mabel Yoyuwevuto, which made Kelly sad. She wondered if Price would have been quite so quick to gun her down if she, Kelly, had not already alarmed him earlier in the day. She pushed such thoughts aside though, she could spend as much time as she liked feeling guilty once this was all over, right now it would just be an indulgence, or so she told herself.

Eventually she got dressed up to go to the hospital again.

‘OK, don’t arrest me nice Mr Policeman. I’ve got something for you,’ she said when she was at Corum’s bedside once more.

Corum switched off the TV as she entered and caught the packet that she tossed at him. Before he opened it, he passed her a local newspaper, folded at one of the middle pages.

‘Lenny Hamilton in hospital. Car crash at the bottom of Leith Walk. Something to do with you?’

Kelly glanced at the newspaper then held up her hands. ‘No comment.’

‘I’ll bet,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Forget about my warning yesterday. Now that you’ve creamed two of the biggest gangs in Edinburgh your more likely to get job offers than death threats.’

‘Not my scene,’ she mumbled as she sat down.

Seeing he wasn’t going to get a rise out of her, he opened the brown envelope. ‘What has she brought me I wonder?’

She had given him the photos she had found in Wraithston the night Mack the Knife was murdered.

‘What are these?’ he asked as he scanned through them.

‘It’s these that lead me to Price. Her name is Elaine Nostrum aka Bogomila Todorova. She was murdered two years ago. I found them in Mack the Knife’s library desk.’

‘I remember this,’ said Lavius with gathering interest. ‘I remember the case.’

‘Jackie told me the man in the photos was in the KOSB. You can only see his arm. But I checked the KOSB website. That’s where I saw Price. I mean, I saw Price that night too, then recognised him on the website. From there I found his house.’

‘Good detective work,’ murmured Corum, looking up with a crooked smile.

‘Oh well,’ said Kelly, feeling rather annoyed at herself for enjoying the flattery. ‘I had some help. From a waitress that must always be the first pick for pub quiz teams.’

‘Well, these are useful thanks. I’ll be out of here tomorrow and back on duty on Monday. I’ll take a look at the old Nostrum case. See who the suspects were. From what I remember though her killer was never found.’

‘I bet it was Price.’

‘Me too. But why? What connects Price to Elaine Nostrum? There is a whole floor of cops looking into everything Price ever did now and there is nothing to suggest he had any reason to kill a prostitute.’

‘Maybe he’s a hit man?’ ventured Kelly.

‘That’s one avenue of investigation. As a dishonourably discharged ex-soldier he fits the profile.’

‘So, what are the other avenues of investigation?’ ask Kelly eagerly.

‘Hey, hey, hey!’ said Lavius, ‘Steady on. You are my informant Kelly. You give me information. I don’t give it to you.’

When she looked crestfallen, he said, ‘what? What did I say?’

Kelly knew she was being an idiot, but she felt under so much stress, after weeks of violence and mental torture she was at her absolute limit. She burst into tears.

‘Are you so horrible to all your informants? That’s all I am to you?’

Not that she had meant to play him like that, but it was obvious DS Lavius was a sucker for a damsel in distress. He gently patted her shoulder, then gave it a squeeze.

‘Sorry, ok?’ he said softly. ‘The truth is, while I’m lying here, I’m out of the loop. And it’s gone right to the top now. A national manhunt. When I get back on duty, I’ll just be another cog in the machine. Right now I don’t know any more than what you can already read in the newspapers.’

‘What can I do to help?’ said Kelly, who then took a tissue from the bedside cabinet and wiped her eyes and nose.

‘I think you’ve helped a lot already… well I say that. I suppose if you haven’t nicked those photos then I would have found them when we searched the house, and might have found Price a lot quicker than we did. Sorry, just speculating, the outcome might have been the same anyway. Let’s stick to the facts as we know them then. That night the alarms were off and the annex door was open. Big Mack was meeting with someone he expected, perhaps even knew. Mack was in possession of these pictures. Price entered the house and killed him. What does that suggest to you?’

‘Blackmail attempt gone wrong?’ asked Kelly.

‘Yes. It seems likely Mack was blackmailing Price,’ said Lavius as he looked through the photos. ‘But then who is the fat-armed mystery man in these pictures? There is no way that’s Price, the hair on this arm is fair for a start. Perhaps then Price was working for this fat, blonde man.’

‘And left-handed, right?’ said Kelly with enthusiasm. ‘Look at his watch.’

‘Maybe,’ mused Corum. ‘I used to wear my watch on my right wrist though, back in the days when people used to wear watches.’

Corum continued to squint at the photos. ‘It looks expensive though, like those types that you put in a watch winder box.’

Kelly looked at him in confusion, but then decided to not ask what a watch winder box was.

Corum looked up at the ceiling. ‘But anyway, this man and Price are old army buddies. Fat-man’s prostitute is murdered. She is one of Mack’s girls and he blackmails Price and Fat-man. So far, so plausible.’

‘But who is the fat man?’ pondered Kelly.

‘Right, maybe that was the man Mack thought he was going to meet that night. Maybe he thought he was getting paid.’

The sat in silence for a few moments then Kelly said, ‘whoever it is must be watching the news and shitting themselves.’

‘Hmm,’ muttered Lavius. ‘Someone knew who he was. Mack the Knife knew him. Can we assume that? Maybe? Probably. The Hamiltons must know something, but they’ve closed ranks. Only talking to the police through their lawyers. It’s always the same with gangland killings, one of the reasons why Price wanted to pin it on the Vampires probably. I have an informer in the ranks of the Hamiltons, but he’s been avoiding me. No surprise there, but I think that would be our way in. I’m not suggesting anything, exactly… well, he’s not talking to cops, but you on the other hand…’

‘Who?’

‘Right then,’ sighed Corum as he tried to figure out how many rules about running informants he was currently breaking. ‘He’s one of their enforcers, a guy called Baxter Campbell.’

Kelly held a finger to her lips for a moment or two, evidently trying to connect some thoughts. Lavius left her too it, until finally she groaned. ‘His nickname isn’t Two Soups is it?’

‘That’s the fellow,’ said Corum happily.  ‘You know him?’

Kelly sighed. ‘Yes. We’ve met.’