Chapter Eleven

"Five police escorts," James said, pointing to each of the vehicles. Three cars, and two motorcycles. "It's not exactly subtle. Maybe I should have a word with Pete."

Pete.

"I'd rather ‘not subtle' than Vincent escapes," Chad muttered.

"I don't think there's much chance of that."

"You're … close to the superintendent?"

"We meet up now and then."

"Meet up?"

"Clay pigeon shooting, or at least we used to, but I'm getting on now, my eyesight isn't what it used to be."

Vincent was helped across the parking lot by Lynn and the nurse, each of them supporting one of his arms. Every breath he took wheezed and crackled with the threat of a coughing episode. Vincent's eyes shuttered closed as he paused to recover his breath. He took in small gasps of air before resuming inching closer.

Chad glanced over to the perimeter fence. The press were there, like they had been all week, but with Vincent in shot they exploded with energy.

James unhooked a pair of handcuffs from his belt. The metallic clicking alerted the nurse who glowered.

"Are handcuffs necessary?"

The wrinkled skin on the back of Vincent's hand reminded Chad of wet tissue paper, and bulging dark veins wrapped up his arms to his thin t-shirt. Handcuffs, no matter how loose, looked as if they'd break his frail bones.

James reattached the handcuffs to his belt and averted his gaze.

Lynn and the nurse helped Vincent into the car before securing his lap belt. Lynn shot Chad a small smile before backing away, but the nurse rushed around the car and pulled on the passenger handle.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

Her eyes narrowed on him. "I'm coming with you."

She got inside the car still glowering. Chad shared a look with James, but neither of them commented on their added passenger.

"Ready?" James asked, clutching the keys.

Chad looked over to one of the escort cars. Lucy was already sitting inside one, but she didn't look up at him. She stared down into the footwell.

"As I'll ever be."

James nodded, climbing inside, and Chad joined him. He unhooked the GPS and tapped in Little Wren, Lucy and Harriet's village in the county of Bardhum. Their farm was on the outskirts, but they had to start somewhere, and James hoped driving past the landmarks that still remained, like the church, would help jog Vincent's memory.

"What do we call you?" James asked.

The nurse peeked her head from around Chad's chair, nostrils flaring. "Pauline."

Chad had only caught fleeting glances of Pauline when she whisked Vincent away. She'd scraped her black hair back into a tall ponytail that swished as she shook her head. From the angry creases and barely blinking stares, Chad got the impression she wasn't supportive of the situation.

"What's in the bag?" James asked, craning his neck back to look by her feet.

"Medical supplies."

"Like?"

"Morphine. Cannulas. Tape. Cotton wool. Water. Sponges. A blood pressure monitor."

James nodded. "We need you to keep him alive for as long as possible."

"I have been keeping him alive," she snapped.

"We're all set," Chad said, pressing start on the GPS.

James had insisted he knew the way, and the roads in Little Wren, but Chad argued the voice from the GPS speaking the road names might trigger a memory from Vincent.

In reality, Chad just wanted free of the pressing silence that came with Vincent.

As soon as they left Wiltknot, they were surrounded, not just by the escort, but the press, too. Their cars and vans followed them, weaving between the flashing blue police cars around James's black sedan.

"Christ!" James yelled, slamming his foot on the brake. Chad winced as he was thrown forward into his seatbelt. "Do they have a death wish?"

Chad rubbed his chest and turned to the back seat to find Pauline bracing her arm against Vincent's chest. "This is madness." She shook her head. "We should turn back."

"We're barely three hundred meters from Wiltknot," James replied. "I'm not turning back."

James's way of dealing with a dangerous vehicle situation was to put his foot down and risk killing them all.

Chad clutched the seat to cling on and gritted his teeth as they took a sharp corner. He wasn't the only one hanging on for life. Pauline covered Vincent with her body, clinging to the headrest of his seat.

"James, slow down," Chad hissed.

"It's DI Poole to you." The car lurched, increasing speed. "And don't tell me how to drive. I was driving before you were born."

"That doesn't mean you're a better driver."

Chad saw his phone light up through the fabric of his pants. He released one hand from the seat to tug it from his pocket.

If he crashes, I'll kill his whole family.

Chad blinked. "They're filming us. They're filming us right now."

"So?"

"Everyone can see you driving like a complete idiot."

James slowed down, allowing Lucy's escort car to catch up. A helicopter whirled above them.

Chad exhaled, slumping into his seat. He reached down for the file on the floor and opened it up on the arial footage of Little Wren. Many of the fields and woodlands had been sold to housing developments, and Harriet and Lucy's school had been knocked down and rebuilt from scratch at a different location.

Chad turned the page and found the church, one of the only identifiable features between Little Wren of the past and Little Wren of the present. It was a traditional church positioned north of the village at the top of a slope. Chad spotted the west tower topped with a spire that housed the bells. Yew trees surrounded the church, evergreen all year round, and old, chipped and cracked gravestones were on the east side of the church in front of the porch.

Vincent said something indecipherable from the backseat, but Pauline seemed to have heard him and craned her neck between the seats.

"He wants you to stop in front of the church."

James straightened in his seat, nodding eagerly. He slowed the car to a stop beside the surrounding wall. Chad could see the patches where it had been restored over the years.

"Such a quaint little thing," Vincent remarked from the back.

"Did you go to church?" James asked.

Vincent's laugh was dry and painful. "No."

The escort surrounded them, flashing blue light, and in turn, the press vans and cars boxed them in, trapping their car against the church. Doors opened, people shot out, and their shouted questions murmured outside of the car.

"This was Harriet's church," James whispered. "She used to sing in the choir. Her voice was beautiful, haunting but beautiful."

Chad bit his lip. "Is that where you first met her?"

James flashed Chad a look of scorn, then he twisted to face Vincent on the backseat.

"This place is important to you." Vincent said to James.

"Yeah—"

"Because your daughter is buried here."

Chad opened then closed his mouth. He hadn't been aware James had a daughter. He frowned. He didn't know much about him at all, other than he had a wife at the time of the murders and was somehow involved with Harriet.

James paled. "How did you—"

"I am sorry. It's so tragic to lose a child so early into her life."

"Yes," James swallowed. "She's buried here," he twisted to look out his window. "She's on the other side."

"Father Daniels told me…" Vincent began.

Chad stiffened, peeking a look back at Vincent looking out the window.

James's teeth snapped together in his haste to keep quiet.

Vincent wet his lips before continuing. "He told me traditionally people were buried on the on east side so they could be facing the lord when he arrives on judgment day."

"I didn't know that," James whispered.

"Where's your daughter?"

"On the north."

Vincent hummed. "Do you know who they buried there?"

James shook his head. Chad's insides filled with dread. The edges of Vincent's mouth lifted into a smile as he bore a hole in the back of James's seat.

"Criminals, suicides, and unbaptized infants."

Chad darted a look at James. The remaining color leeched from his face.

"So if I can't remember where Harriet is, if I can't admit my sins, I'll end up in the same place as her. Isn't that a nice thought?"

James restarted the engine, and put the car in gear. No one moved for them, so he blasted the horn and revved the engine.

"I can give her a hug from you if you'd like…"

"You're an animal." James growled. He reversed, colliding with the police car behind them. The journalists who hastily set up cameras got the message and began to pack their equipment away for the next location.

"I'm tired. I'd like to go back to Wiltknot."

"Like hell," James snapped. "I'm going to drive you around, and you're going to remember taking Harriet, and you're going to tell us what you did to her and where the hell we can find her."

James pulled out, scratching the side of his car against another in his haste to get away. He put his foot down, speeding away from the church. He flicked the lights for his unmarked car, and their droning siren filled the air. It parted the cars in front of them, but when they drove up to an ambulance doing the same, James cursed and punched the steering wheel.

"Calm down," Chad told him. "We're not going to find Harriet if we spin off the road."

"We need to go back to Wiltknot." Pauline said firmly. "Vincent has asked—"

"He's a criminal." James snarled. "He doesn't have human rights. He doesn't get a choice. He should be made to tell us."

"DI Poole." Pauline hissed. "Take us back to Wiltknot."

"I'm no longer willing to help your efforts today, not after that." Vincent added. "Not unless you say sorry for your rudeness."

"Go to hell."

James's fists tightened on the wheel.

Chad bit his lip. "James—"

"Don't fucking James me, Chad."

Chad glowered. "Take us back to the prison."

"Fine." He yanked the steering wheel, pulling them into a sharp U-turn. Chad winced as the force pushed his head back into the seat.

James dropped his speed, and Chad relaxed a fraction, uncurling his aching fingers from the bottom of his seat. Pauline stopped pinning Vincent in place, and Vincent stared out the window with another blank expression on his face.

Lynn stood waiting for them when they arrived back at Wiltknot. She helped Pauline get Vincent into a wheelchair before pushing him into reception. Chad didn't move from the car. He pulled obsessively at the knee of his pants, thinking of something to say to James.

"I'm sorry about what Vincent—"

"Don't," James snarled. He curled one of his hands into a fist before releasing it. "Don't even … just get out of my car."

Chad unclipped his belt, grabbed his file and left James alone. Lucy jogged over to him. Breathless, she asked, "Did Vincent say anything?"

"No."

Lucy gestured to James. "What's up with him?"

Chad led her away from the vehicle. "Vincent poured salt in a wound."

"Ashley?"

"What?"

Lucy shot a look over her shoulder. "That was James's daughter. She's buried at the church in Little Wren. There were complications… She only lived a day."

"I had no idea."

"He … He met Harriet at the church. She used to sing in the choir."

James started the engine and took off from the car park.

"What do we do now?" Lucy asked.

Chad glanced at the prison, then away again. "Actually, I was wondering if I could meet your dad…"

****

Chad met Lucy and Harriet's father, Michael in The Swan and Oak's restaurant. He was already seated at a table, but climbed to his feet to kiss Lucy on the cheek, and shake Chad's hand. His fingers were spindly, and his grip weak, and as soon as Chad let go he eased himself back onto his seat with a creak in his spine.

His skin was tanned, and sunspots covered his cheeks and the backs of his hands. He had the same deep brown eyes as both Lucy and Harriet.

"It's nice to meet you, Chad." Michael said, gesturing for him to take the seat opposite. "I'm sorry Vincent has dragged you into this. It's probably all the press you receive."

Lucy shrugged off her coat. "What do you mean?"

"Chad is always in the newspapers, even abroad. Why else would Vincent choose him to be involved if it's not for publicity?"

Chad decided not to mention he and Vincent had history.

"Tell me honestly, Chad, do you think Vincent is going to tell you where my daughter is?"

"No. I don't think he is."

"This is all a farce then, an added insult to my family before he dies, and he's dragged my other daughter into it, too."

"I'm doing it for mom," Lucy whispered. "Even if there's a microscopic chance of finding Harriet, I've got to take it, right?"

Michael shook his head. "I saw how the need to find Harriet consumed your mother. She couldn't move on. Vincent gets some kind of kick out of that, knowing the pain and terror he caused lingers. I don't want you to be consumed with it when you don't find her. I don't want you to waste away to a shell of yourself like your mother did."

"That won't happen. But I need to try for her." Lucy said.

Michael turned his attention to Chad. "You were at Wiltknot this morning?"

"Yes—"

"James drove Vincent to Little Wren church." Lucy interrupted. "He mentioned Ashley."

Michael exhaled hard from his nose. "I felt sorry for him when she passed away. Losing a daughter," he shook his head. "It's a pain I understand more now than I did then, but it doesn't excuse his behavior. He met Harriet at the service for Ashley, she sang in the choir. He continued to go to church, at first with his wife, but then on his own. He'd stay long after Sunday service and that's how this all started."

"What started?"

"His obsession with my daughter. The letters. The gifts. The walks around the graveyard and the drives home. She told me they were friends, but I could see what he was doing. I saw the way he looked at her." Michael's top lip curled. "He tried to kiss her, tried to force himself on her, and she told me. I went down to the police station to report him, and guess what they said…"

"What?" Chad asked.

"They said that James was under a lot of stress," he snorted. "That's all they said, like his behavior was excusable, and I should let it continue. Two months later, I went back to the station with Harriet. She was distraught, and they filed away my complaint and request for an injunction. I heard nothing back from them. It was swept away."

Chad swallowed. He'd seen the complaint made by Michael and Harriet, but nothing else. No reprimand for James, or beginning of the injunction process, the complaint had been filed away with no plan by staff to investigate it any further.

"I took matters into my own hands, warned off James and told the local schools about him. I made flyers, handed them out, and guess what, I was arrested. I was threatened with defamation. On the night she went missing, two weeks after I was arrested for protesting his behavior, she was seen in a car with him."

"He picked her up from the school gate," Lucy closed her eyes. "I didn't tell my dad at the time. I lied, said Harriet was going over to her friend Becca's house."

"Why did you lie?" Chad asked.

"I didn't want dad to worry, I didn't want him to be mad. He was trying so hard to keep James away, but he lingered."

Michael pressed his lips in a grim line.

"He was the last person to see her alive. The man I was trying to protect her from picked her up from school, and we all know the police protect their own, and no one came to speak to us about James's behavior. Even after he was arrested, no one was interested in his stalking of my daughter."

Lucy reached across the table and took her dad's hand in hers. "I told Chad, we thought it was him."

Michael nodded. "Up until Vincent confessed, I thought James had killed her. I thought they'd protected him and helped cover up whatever he did to her that night, but it wasn't him. Harriet had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time that night." His nostrils flared. "But it was James that put her in that place. If it wasn't for him, she would've been on the bus, she wouldn't have been walking down the side of the road. If it wasn't for James, she would still be alive."

"Harriet had … a tattoo."

"No," Michael snorted. "Harriet didn't have any tattoos. She was seventeen."

Lucy cringed. "She had a small one."

"What?" Michael shook his head.

Lucy indicated the size of it with her thumb and index fingers. "About this big, on her ankle. It was the outline of a dolphin."

"A dolphin," Michael's brow folded with a frown. "Why would she get a dolphin?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know."

"She didn't even like dolphins. Are you sure?"

"I saw it." Lucy said.

"You saw it and didn't tell me?" His eyes widened. "Did your mother know?"

"I don't think so."

"But you knew, and didn't tell us?"

"You'd have been angry."

"Yeah," he chuckled with no humor. "A tattoo on her ankle…" Michael sat up straighter with a gasp. He clutched the tablecloth. "Why is that significant? There's no way you've found her—" he looked at Lucy. "I would know."

"No," Chad cursed himself. "We've not found her."

"Then why?" Michael looked between him and Lucy. "What's this talk of a tattoo about?"

"Vincent remembers … the tattoo."

"What?" Michael breathed. "How could he—"

"He remembers seeing Harriet's tattoo."

Michael's frown morphed into horror, then he looked away.

Lucy swallowed. "And he knew … knew Harriet was missing a rib."

"How could he know…" Michael slapped a hand to his mouth. "He … couldn't have."

Lucy lowered her gaze. "He must've … found out for himself when he…"

Michael pushed off from the table and got to his feet. He swayed, and Chad shot up to support him only to be swept aside by Michael's hand.

"I'm okay," Michael murmured. "I just need to lie down."

"I'll help you back to your room." Lucy said, rushing to take him by the elbow.

Chad dropped back into his chair and watched them go.

****

There was something about being slobbered on by an ecstatic Merc that cleansed Chad's soul. He crouched in the hallway, stroking and rubbing him, until his shirt collar was grabbed by Romeo's fist, and he got hauled to his feet.

"Whoa—"

Chad flung his arms around Romeo for balance.

"I meant it when I said I would've killed James's whole family if he had crashed."

"I know." Chad kissed Romeo's mouth.

"He was driving like a maniac."

"This … situation is getting to him."

Romeo hummed, and rested his chin at Chad's temple. "Worked out what happened to Harriet that night yet?"

"Nope. Worked out Vincent's motivation?"

"Partly."

Chad leaned back in his arms. "What?"

"You. You're the reason he's doing this. Revenge for not visiting him, but I'm missing something, I can feel it." Romeo's gaze crawled up to the ceiling as he thought.

"I meant, why did he confess to a murder he didn't do?"

"That's easy." Romeo looked at him again. "To protect the killer. Us with our evil inflictions against everybody else. Serial killer solidarity."

"You kill killers." Chad reminded him.

"Only because those are the people you've allowed me to kill. It's our compromise, remember? You have a chain around the monster." Romeo shrugged. "And for now, he's quite happy to wear it."