Against the Clock by John Carson (best mobile ebook reader TXT) 📕

and dad got out of the car. Her mum opened the rear passenger door and gently took the baby out.

‘Can we get a new baby, Mum?’ Laura asked.

‘We’ll see, honey.’

They crossed over the road, Abi staying close by but never taking her eyes off her friend. They started chatting animatedly as soon as they met up.

‘Can we go on the bouncy castle?’ Abi asked. ‘Please, Mum?’ She looked pleadingly at Nickie.

‘Okay. We’ll be waiting outside.’ Nickie gave Abi some money for her and her friend and watched the two little girls run off.

Colin started chatting with Laura’s father and they were soon having a laugh, while Nickie chatted with Laura’s mother as she carried her baby in the car seat. It was a perfect day.

Twenty-One

When Harry and the team arrived back at the station, they headed to the incident room. Dunbar hung back a little to speak to Evans.

‘If you hadn’t had such a fucking lead foot, you could have driven us back,’ he told the younger detective.

‘It didn’t seem fast to me.’

‘That’s ’cause you play those stupid video games all the time. Next time, ease up if he’s in the car with us. He did nothing but nitpick at my driving. I’m not doing it next time or else I’ll shove him in the boot.’

‘If it’s any consolation, I got a headache listening to him drone on about how you drive like an old woman,’ Evans said, grinning.

‘You’re heid won’t be the only thing aching in a minute.’

‘Is it just me, or is anybody else hungry?’ Stewart said.

‘It’s just you,’ Dunbar said. ‘How in God’s name can you think about eating already when you had that breakfast?’

‘The secret to keeping the weight off is eating small meals throughout the day.’

Stewart walked into the incident room ahead of Harry, and as he followed Dunbar said to Evans in a low voice, ‘He’s got fucking worms.’

DI Ronnie Vallance was away at the mortuary with Eve Bell, and Harry caught the others up regarding the body of Zoe Harris.

‘I called Walter Scott Travel,’ Lillian said. ‘They’re open today. They have a little service route that goes through Clermiston and to the Gyle Shopping Centre, and they run shuttle buses for the Scottish National Bank’s HQ at Gogarburn, dropping people off at several locations, like the Edinburgh Gateway train and tram station, and the Wester Hailes Centre, where they can connect with buses. They pick them up at those locations too, of course.’

‘Thanks, Lillian.’

Stewart stood by the whiteboard looking at the photo of Zoe. ‘Bastard,’ he said. ‘She’s the same age as my granddaughter. I thought we would get her back.’ He turned to the room. ‘Pull out all the stops to find this bastard. I don’t care if we have to cross the line. We’ll deal with that later.’

‘I’ll have a drive out to Walter Scott Travel now, with DCI Dunbar.’ Harry looked at Karen Shiels. ‘Can you go and deliver the death message to Mr and Mrs Harris? Take Simon Gregg with you.’

The big detective constable stood up straight. He knew what was expected of them, but it was always hard telling the parents of a dead child that their little one wasn’t coming home.

‘Yes, sir,’ Karen replied.

‘Lillian, coordinate things here. If anything comes up, call me.’

‘Will do, sir.’

‘I need some painkillers,’ Stewart said. ‘All this thinking about ripping some bastard’s bawbag off is doin’ mah fuckin’ heid in.’

‘I don’t know if we have any here, sir,’ Lillian said.

Stewart pulled a bubble pack from his pocket. ‘Like a boy scout, I always come prepared.’

‘I know how Stewart feels,’ Dunbar said as Harry took the car along Queensferry Road.

‘I’m assuming he means it when he said we might have to cross the line?’

‘Are you asking as a member of the team or a former Professional Standards officer?’

‘Christ, Jimmy, I left that life behind. I know how we work sometimes. I’m not averse to booting somebody in the bollocks if the situation requires it.’

‘Good to know. We both know how the courts are in this country. Slap on the wrist, but when some poor sod defends himself and kills his attacker, he’s suddenly a vigilante. It’s a load of shite sometimes, Harry, and this whole justice system needs overhauling. And don’t even get me started on light sentences for fucking rapists.’

‘I hear you, pal, but right now it’s the system we’re stuck with, so we have to navigate it to the best of our ability.’

‘Aye, well, God help anybody who touches my wee lassie, let me tell you.’

Harry felt the same way about his son, Chance, and his unborn child. He wondered how he would feel if it was a little girl.

He took Maybury Road and cut along Turnhouse Road by Edinburgh Airport. Old RAF housing was on the right as he slowed down, the entrance to the old RAF base now a business park. A dark-green house up ahead on their right was slowly being reclaimed by nature as trees grew where Harry was sure they hadn’t grown during the war.

A sign told them to turn left for Walter Scott Travel. They went past an airline catering group’s building on the left and Harry saw a couple of buses further up. Beyond that were trucks and vans for an aviation company that serviced vehicles and equipment used for the planes, like luggage conveyor belts and stairs. Men in dark-blue overalls were moving about as they did their jobs.

It was sunny when they got out the car, but a wind was coming off the airport. The runways were close. Harry and Dunbar stood and watched as a British Airways plane came in to land.

‘Can you imagine a Spitfire coming in to land there?’ a voice said from behind.

They both turned to see Mike Morton walking towards them. The man smiled and held out his hand. ‘Chief Inspector McNeil, wasn’t it? And Dunbar?’

‘Correct,’ Harry said, and he and Dunbar shook hands with Morton.

‘What can I do for you gentlemen today?’

‘We just