Blood & Guts by Ed James (best books to read now TXT) 📕

that I’ve been seeing Carly for a few months. On and off, but mostly off. It’s just a sex thing.’

‘She see it that way?’

He shrugged a shoulder.

‘You weren’t going to meet her tonight, were you?’

‘No.’

‘Why are you lying?’

‘I’m not. I haven’t heard from her in days. A week, I think. I ended things.’

‘Sure.’

‘Seriously. She loved us, even told us. And Christ, I hate that word. She was getting way too clingy for my liking.’

‘Too clingy?’

‘Aye, I’m not ready to settle down and she definitely isn’t. I like her, but seriously. I don’t want to settle down.’

‘Settling is not going to be a concern for you for a good few years, Mr McLean.’

He sniffed.

‘So you’re saying you haven’t seen her in days?’

‘Not since, what, Tuesday, I think. Took her for a drive up the Law, and broke it off. She walked off home. Not far from there. Wouldn’t even give us a farewell blow job.’

‘She’s dead.’

‘Aye.’

Vicky shut her eyes. Yet another empty psychopath. How did these people sleep at night? Did they? Did it ever catch up with them? ‘Why did you have a seventeen-year-old girl in the boot of your car?’

Another shrug. ‘Search me.’

‘Are you saying you won’t even attempt to explain abducting her?’

‘I’m saying I can’t explain it.’

‘Try. Give it your best shot, Dougie.’

‘Piss off. Look, youse can believe what you want. I’m innocent.’

‘The same girl’s car was at the location you arranged to meet Carly at.’

‘I did nothing.’

‘We’ll be able to prove it. Our forensics team will get location information from your phone.’

‘Sure they will. And that location won’t be mine. I lost my phone, then someone knocked me out.’

‘Come on, you don’t expect me to believe you, do you?’

‘I don’t really care what you think, love. I lost my smartphone, then woke up with it on my chest. You woke us up and I catapulted it on the dashboard.’

‘Right. That old chestnut.’

‘Damn right. Feel a bit stupid about it, if I’m being honest.’

‘I wouldn’t know, I keep waiting for you to be honest.’

‘Aye, I didn’t have a passcode on it. Lucky someone didn’t clear out my bank account. Sounds like someone’s been using my Poggr account, though, trying to get in touch with Carly.’

Vicky wanted to get him to play it out, let him make as many mistakes as he could, then snare him in a trap. ‘Okay, so what have you been doing?’

‘I’ve been working.’

‘All day?’

‘Since ten.’ He sniffed. ‘Absolute ball-ache as I won’t get my new phone until after Christmas now and the boss is a bit of a dick about things like that. I mean, the car’s his but the phone’s mine.’

‘Okay, so you’ve been working. How did you come to be asleep at the Law monument with a teenager in your boot?’

‘When I realised it was gone, I kept calling my own number, right. Thing cost us a fortune and they could be calling Australia on it. Eventually, the boy answered and said he’d found it. I turned up to meet him, strangely enough up at the Law, but when I turned up, someone grabbed us from behind and…’

‘And what?’

‘Well, I mean…’ McLean scratched his chin. ‘I tried to fight him off, but he was choking me.’ He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his throat. ‘Grabbed us, like in WWE, eh?’

‘You think that proves any of this?’

‘What, you think I could’ve done that to myself? Nae danger. Your doctor said I was lucky not to suffer brain injury from it.’

‘Even if it meant getting off with rape, murder and abduction?’

‘I’m telling you, this boy attacked me. Knocked us clean out.’

‘Right.’

‘I swear this is the truth. When you woke us up, I swear I was seeing two of you. The worst kind of threesome, I tell you. Two cops trying to arrest you.’

Vicky let it bounce off her, kept her expression neutral.

‘Like I said, it was one of my fares from last night who nicked my moby.’

‘Which fare was it?’

‘He didn’t say.’

‘And you can’t remember?’

‘I mean, no. I can’t.’

‘You recognise him?’

‘Well, I’ve seen him a few times but can’t place him.’

15

Vicky popped her head into the Incident Room and gave it a quick scan. The whiteboard was cleaned and the dull tang of the pens attacked her nostrils. Rows and rows of computers, with only two officers hammering away at the keyboards.

And she got caught.

‘Vicks.’ Ennis jogged over, hands in his pockets.

‘Careful you don’t trip.’ Vicky was smiling.

‘Eh?’

‘Running with your hands in your pockets, Ryan. Schoolboy error.’

He frowned. ‘Right.’

‘Why are you still there?’

‘Trying to be useful, Vicks. Setting up this room for the gaffer. Thought this case might go on for a while.’

‘Wouldn’t be so sure.’ Vicky patted his shoulder. ‘I meant, why aren’t you with your kid?’

‘Eh?’

‘Teresa’s safe.’

‘What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?’

‘Considine called you.’

‘That laddie… I swear…’ Ennis walked back into the room and grabbed his knee-length coat. ‘Where was she?’

‘She was in the boot of—’

‘What?’ Ennis stopped in the doorway. ‘In the boot?’

‘Ryan, just go and—’

‘Whose boot?’

‘Ryan, seriously, you—’

‘That cabbie? Right? Where is he? Downstairs?’

‘No, he’s—’

‘I’m going to kick the absolute living shite out of him.’

Vicky grabbed Ennis by the arm, digging her thumb into his wrist like her old man taught her, and pushed him into the doorway. ‘Don’t be so bloody stupid. We need the conviction to stick, not for you to go all medieval on him.’

‘What are you still doing here, Ry?’ Forrester was strolling along the corridor, arms out like he was marching. He stopped and frowned at them. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Nothing, sir.’ Vicky let him go. ‘Ryan was just heading to Ninewells to see Teresa.’

‘Thought you’d already be there, Ry.’ Forrester shook his head. ‘Go on, spend time with Teresa and Dawn. It’s Christmas Eve, after all.’

Ennis looked around at her, scowling, but a few seconds later he gave up and nodded. ‘Fine.’ He folded his coat over his arm and walked off, tapping something into his phone.

‘Some boy.’ Forrester watched him go, shaking his head again. ‘Any idea how I can get