Unfortunately, Tom’s call went straight to voicemail. Paul was out of the office, so instead he decided to try Dick Fields. Maybe he would have some intel on McGuinness’s killer, and it might provide another link to the person responsible for recruiting the team that had abducted Millie.
‘Tom, I’m glad you called,’ Dick said. ‘I’ve got news. It hasn’t proved difficult to discover who Finn’s murderer was. Tyrone Kelly. He’s a lifer, unlikely to get parole because he’s caused endless trouble since he’s been inside, so killing McGuinness won’t affect his sentence. The word is, he doesn’t want to get out. He pissed off some serious names before he was arrested five years ago, and he’s convinced they’ll kill him the minute he walks out through the prison gates.’
‘What else do we know about him?’ Tom asked.
‘He was pretty high up in one of the biker gangs. Do you remember the gang that caused mayhem in Buile Hill Park a few years ago?’
Tom did remember, but he’d been living in Cheshire on a one-year sabbatical at the time, so hadn’t been involved.
‘Three people were killed – stabbed. Kelly was found guilty of murder, but his DNA also tied him to a string of other crimes, including another murder. Vicious bastard. He tried to plead insanity, but he didn’t get very far.’
Tom thought about how best to word his next request. He couldn’t mention Jack or his information, but he needed everything he could get on Tyrone Kelly. He was another piece of the puzzle. Any links between him, the prison officer who had turned a blind eye to McGuinness’s murder and Martin Hislop – the man who had been shot through the head – could help pinpoint the recruiter and possibly the mastermind behind Millie’s abduction.
‘I wonder if you could send me all the information you have on Kelly – people he mixed with in prison, known associates, who defended him – basically anything you’ve got. There are possible links to one of my cases.’
‘Sure. All the usual stuff will be in the files, but if there’s anything else I’ll make sure you’re informed.’
Tom thanked Dick and ended the call. One of the team could go through the files on Kelly in detail – find out who the arresting officer was, the magistrate at the remand hearing, the judge and jury at his trial, the defence and prosecution teams. Somewhere, surely, there had to be a link.
67
I still can’t bring myself to look at Ash.
I’ve packed his bag and asked if there’s anything else that he needs me to add. He shakes his lowered head.
‘There’s one thing you have to do, Ash. You have to keep your phone with you all the time.’
He looks up, and I can see the fear in his eyes. ‘They won’t let me. They’re not stupid, you know. They know the police can find me if my phone’s on.’
But he doesn’t know that I can track him too, does he? He has to take his phone. It’s the only basis on which I can agree to this.
‘Believe me, Jo, if I thought I could get away with it, I would. But I know they’ll take it off me. I’ve been given another phone to use when I communicate with them. With her. I can’t mess with that, though. They might know if it’s been tampered with.’
‘What about the phone that was found in your desk drawer? Where did that come from?’
He shakes his head. ‘Honestly, I haven’t got the first idea how it got there. I didn’t put it there. I don’t know why you should believe anything I say, but that at least is true.’
‘Has she been in our house? Did you ever bring her here?’
‘No! Good God, I wouldn’t do that.’
On any other day I would probably argue that I would never have believed he’d have an affair either, but I’ve got to focus on Millie – on getting her back safely.
‘You need to have a phone with you. I can’t cope with this otherwise.’
Ash shakes his head, a helpless expression on his face. He’s not going to come up with a solution, I can see that. I bite my bottom lip and concentrate. There has to be an answer, and for the first time in nearly two days I feel a surge of determination. I’m no longer going to sit back and wait for something to happen.
I know what to do. Months ago, while I was saving for a new phone, I’d bought a cheap second-hand one and put a pay-as-you-go SIM in it. I don’t know how much money is left on it, but I can top it up online. I rush over to my bedside table and pull open the drawer, rooting round until I find it stuffed right at the back. The charger is still connected so I plug it in.
‘It’s a good idea, darling, but they’ll search me,’ Ash says.
He’s such a defeatist. ‘Not all of you,’ I say. ‘That medical boot’s expandable, isn’t it, to allow for different calf widths. You’re only wearing it to protect your ankle, but it reaches to just below your knee and this is a much smaller phone. We can work out how to hide it.’
If Ash protests any more, I’ll scream at him. But he says nothing.
‘It’s been switched off, so the battery isn’t completely flat. Let’s try and fit it in your boot now. Maybe you could charge it while you’re driving and stuff it back in before you get there – wherever there is.’
Ash looks at me as if I’m mad but undoes his boot, and with a bit of manoeuvring we manage to hide the phone.
‘Maybe you should make a big thing about not wanting to hand over your real mobile. Tell her you have to stay in touch with me, and does she not trust you? If you make enough noise about it, they’ll still take it off you, but it won’t occur to her that you’ve got another. Ash, you’ve got to call me if you find Millie. You need to have a phone. Please – you owe me that.’
It means he’s got three phones now, and I hope to God he remembers which is which.
‘Forget it’s there. Only use it if you need to contact me – or the police – in an emergency.’
He gives me a sad look, but nods.
The time for him to leave – for us to fake our row – is getting closer. But I need some time alone with the phone to make sure this one is also set up for me to find it, follow it, trace it – whatever I need to do. And Ash mustn’t know what I’m doing. Fortunately, he struggles up from the bed and heads to the bathroom.
‘Can I just grab the phone? We’ll put it back when you go, but I want to give it a last charge and make sure it’s on silent, with vibration off.’
He loosens the straps again, hands me the phone and disappears into the bathroom. I’ve got a few minutes, and I need to move quickly before he comes back.
This is my moment – the time when my years of acting should come into their own. We have decided against shouting. We’d done that earlier – or at least I had – and everyone had heard. Now we need something else – another level.
We head towards the bedroom door together, but before he opens it, Ash stops and touches my arm.
‘I can’t think of anything I can say that will make you hate me any less. I’m hoping and praying that when I bring Millie safely home to you, we can talk. I won’t make excuses, I promise, but can we just agree to talk?’