LITMIR.BIZ

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given it any thought and if she had, she’d have thought it might be something tough like Hilda or Eva – as in Braun or maybe like the big boss, who was cold to the point of iceberg.

      She held her boss’s stare until they were interrupted by a yell from Fells. ‘Right, you lot. We’ve done all we can for now. Get your freezing arses over here and we’ll walk you through what we’ve got. Stick to the treads though.’

      Yanking her gaze away from Archie’s, Nikki smiled a tight smile and squeezed his arm once. ‘Get back to Trafalgar House and get things sorted at that end, boss. Saj and I have this.’

      ‘Yeah, I’ve ordered the police helicopter out. It’ll be up soon and maybe they’ll find something.’ Pausing, he bit his lip. ‘Soon as yer done here, Parekh, I want you wi’ me when I speak tae her family.’

      Family? The Spaniel? Really? Nikki bit her lip as shame washed over her. The woman had been abducted, was clearly injured, possibly dead and she was behaving like a witch. ‘Better if Saj goes with you, Archie. He’s more … you know … touchy-feely than me.’

      She ignored her partner’s mumbled, ‘That wouldn’t be hard.’

      ‘Not that I couldn’t do it, you know, but …’

      Archie cut her off. ‘I asked you, damn it, Parekh. For once in your bloody life just do as yer told, will you?’ and not waiting for her response he stormed off, coat wafting behind him in the slight breeze that had started.

      When Saj snorted, Nikki rammed her elbow into his side. ‘Shut up … just shut up.’

      She watched Archie trundle back to his vehicle, before ducking under the tape with Saj to approach Gracie Fells, who was standing beside Springer’s car. As soon as Nikki crouched to peer inside the vehicle, she could smell the lingering cordite in the air and her eyes were drawn to the driver’s seat. She flicked a glance at the CSI. ‘Gunshot?’

      The CSI nodded. ‘Yes, difficult to estimate where she was hit because of the impact, but if she was sitting upright in the seat, chances are, it went straight through her chest or possibly her shoulder.’

      Neither option was ideal, but if it had hit her shoulder, she might still be alive. The question was, how long would her abductors want to keep an injured woman alive? And if they dumped her in this weather, even if she was alive, the chances of her staying that way for long, were next to zero. ‘What did you find inside the car?’

      ‘Her phone was in the footwell of the passenger seat.’

      That tallied with Nikki’s estimation of the recorded phone call. Springer seemed to somehow have lost her phone although thankfully it was on speakerphone so, although faint, they managed to pick up what she was saying.

      ‘Her bag’s in there too. Doesn’t look like it’s been rifled. A whole load of used tissues – more like she’d been crying than that she had a cold. We’ll find out when we get them back to the lab … not that her crying will necessarily have anything to do with what happened to her.’ The CSI moved back and pointed to the bloody slush. ‘She was dragged out of the vehicle. Blood trace on the car and onto the road. Difficult, because of the snow, to gauge exactly how much blood loss. Looks like they moved her to a larger vehicle – some sort of transit van, I reckon, judging by the car tracks. We’ll narrow that down when we get the casts back to the lab. But, if she saw a hand waving through the back lights, I’d reckon it was probably one of those ones you can borrow from any company, like Enterprise or the like. Those have an enclosed back and the doors open at the rear.’

      ‘That’s not going to make it any easier. We’ll have to check out van rental companies in the district as well as owners. Sooner you can get the make and model narrowed down the better.’

      Ignoring Gracie’s annoyed tut, Nikki studied the rest of the scene as the CSI continued. ‘You can see blood drops and smears as her feet are pulled through the slush, then it looks like she was put into the back of the van. The vehicle skidded as it set off making these tread marks too blurry to cast effectively, however, one of my team got some better prints twenty yards down there.’

      Nikki’s phone buzzed. She took it out and saw it was a text from Archie. Opening it she frowned. What the hell? Saj, who’d completed a circuit around the Kia, re-joined her. ‘You okay, Nik? Bad news?’

      Nikki flicked her phone shut and smiled. ‘No, nothing like that. Just Marcus griping because I missed Sunday dinner,’ she lied.

      Seeing that Saj looked sceptical, Nikki turned and perused the rest of the scene. She’d deal with Archie’s weird text later. Trying to replay what had happened, she cast her mind back to the recorded conversation she’d listened to numerous times on the drive to the scene. Seemed like Springer had a near-miss seconds before the final crash. The recording had clearly picked up the impact of the two vehicles. Now, seeing the scrunched-up front end of Springer’s car, it was clear that Springer had rammed the vehicle in front. Had she done it to try to stop them? If so, that was madness. On the other hand, had she been trying to retrieve her phone and not noticed that the van had stopped? Or there was another option that seemed more likely, for it was what Nikki would have done if she’d been the van driver. She’d have slowed imperceptibly, waited till Springer’s car was close and then slammed on her brakes, so the smaller vehicle would hit the larger one, engaging the airbags and disorientating the driver. Stupid woman hadn’t thought about how conspicuous she would be on these roads on a night like this. What the hell had possessed her to go rogue? Archie’s words rang in Nikki’s ears … was she to blame? Had Archie’s taunt about her needing to be more like Nikki, been what sent her into danger? Fuck! Springer was ill-prepared for any sort of fresh case. She dealt with cold cases … victims long dead … a desk jockey, who didn’t see a lot of active duty. Idiot! She should have waited for the damn back-up. Someone had been in the back of that vehicle … Springer had seen a hand and then an arm protruding from the taillight – someone trying to attract attention … someone who wanted to escape.

      If she’d been driving a van with a prisoner of some description in the back and someone on her tail, she’d have waited till they were in an isolated space and done exactly what they did. Brake hard, hope for an impact, but not been totally reliant on that alone – quick out of the van, run to the car before the driver had the chance to get orientated, yank it open. That was it – maybe … ‘Fingerprints on the handle?’

      The CSI winked. ‘Doing my job for me now, are you?’

      ‘Take it that’s a no?’

      ‘Gloves probably, only picked up smudged prints.’

      Nikki let out a half-laugh. ‘Ha! Well, worth a try.’

      Sajid followed the tracks a little down the road and stood talking to one of the CSIs.

      Nikki turned to Gracie and, voice low, said, ‘You manage to get blood samples?’

      ‘Yeah, course we did.’

      Glancing down to make sure Saj was still out of earshot, Nikki continued. ‘Orders from above, get it tested for these.’ She turned her phone so Gracie could see Archie’s text. ‘Keep it on the QT, eh? Results for my eyes only, okay?’

      Gracie glanced at Saj who was striding back, blowing on his hands as he surveyed the area around the crash, and nodded. ‘Very mysterious, but you got it. Your eyes only … very 007.’ And she began humming the theme tune.

      Nikki scowled; now she’d be humming the damn tune too for the rest of the day, no doubt.

      Saj glanced at the CSI’s departing back with a quizzical expression. ‘Something you’re not telling me, Nik?’

      ‘Loads … but I didn’t think you’d be interested in my sex life.’

      Saj snorted, and catching her eye, waited before speaking. ‘Really? You’re going with that?’

      With a shrug, Nikki grinned. ‘Can’t share everything with you, now can I?’

      ‘Yeah,

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