‘She’s alive, guv.’ Jacob removed his jacket, rolling it up and placing it under Aimee’s head. Aimee began to thrash as she incoherently rambled.
Smith lay in Gina’s arms, bleeding out. He’d obviously been lurking outside as they were talking, listening to everything, and he’d taken it upon himself to tackle Richard. He’d saved Aimee though. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she gripped her colleague. ‘Smith, stay with me.’ She gave him a little slap but the blood from his neck continued to pump out, covering her wrists and her lap. Sirens filled the air and an ambulance sped up to her. She moved out of the way, allowing the paramedics to take over as she sobbed against a wall, kicking it over and over again. Richard had escaped.
‘Guv.’ PC Kapoor ran across the car park, her hair flapping out of her ponytail. ‘We need to get to Cleevesford High Street now. He’s already taken the bus stop out.’ Kapoor took a few deep breaths before staring as the paramedics attended to Smith. ‘Smith, Smith,’ she cried.
‘Stay with him,’ Gina yelled as she wiped her bloody hands on her trousers. She and Jacob ran for the car, leaving their bleeding colleague in the hands of the ambulance service. O’Connor almost fell into the back of the car as they pulled away. She was going after Richard.
Seventy
Jacob sped through the industrial estate, heading towards the High Street with the sirens on. Cars parted. They reached a small traffic jam. Driving along the pavement for a few meters, they were soon back on the road. Gina spotted the bus stop. One side had been caved in and a huddle of people stood around, watching. There appeared to be no injuries. Uniform were already tracking Richard Leason in their marked police car. She needed to be the one on the scene to make the arrest. He was hers.
‘He’s racing up King Street in his van.’
‘Turn left, we can block him off at the end of the road.’
They almost tipped in the car as Jacob took the sharp turn.
‘There, pull up in the middle of the road.’ She grabbed the radio. ‘We’re at the far end of King Street, blocking the road. Get out.’ She yelled. O’Connor fled out of the back door, followed by Jacob. Just as Gina stumbled out of the passenger side, Richard rounded the bend and crashed into the side of their car. His car spun and skidded along the road, finally stopping up a grassy bank.
Gina stumbled across the road, snatching his keys out of the ignition as she wrestled Richard out of his car. His strength still astounded her. ‘Richard Leason, I’m arresting you for the murder of Jade Ashmore, the kidnapping and assault of Aimee Prowse, assault of Sophie Dobbins and the attempted murder of a police officer.’ The attempted murder charge was one she really hoped wouldn’t be changed to murder and Samantha was at the back of her mind. That one could wait until she’d had the chance to interview him. She swallowed as an image of Smith’s bleeding neck filled her mind.
‘You’re hurting my arm,’ he yelled. Jacob stood above her, offering the man no sympathy. O’Connor was on the other side of the road still, coordinating the other officers and leading the ambulance through.
‘Mr Leason, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned, something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’ She cuffed and passed him to the uniformed officer, shaking her head. All the hurt Richard Leason had caused, and he hadn’t sustained a single injury. As for Gina, after a bit of wrestling and running, she felt like she’d been mown down by a bulldozer. Life certainly wasn’t fair. ‘Get him to the station.’
The charges weren’t all she wanted to prove. There was the matter of their missing woman, Samantha Felton; the twenty-six-year-old friend of Diane Garraway who hadn’t been seen since the year 2012. Gina needed to speak to Maggie Leason before she spoke to Richard. He could stew in a cell for an hour. She grabbed her phone and called Wyre. ‘Bring Maggie Leason into the station. We’ve arrested her husband and we need to speak to her. Also, arrange a search warrant for their house. Have you heard anything from the hospital? Smith was taken in—’
‘I heard, guv. We’re all a bit tense here. I just called. He went straight into surgery. His wife has been informed and she’s there too. One of our own, guv. It really brings it home?’ Didn’t she know it? Too many times members of her team had suffered abuse and attacks and things were getting worse with every funding cut. Murder – that had never happened to one of her team before. Her legs weakened, almost buckling. She leaned on Richard’s battered car as she regained her composure. She hadn’t called or messaged her daughter back. She’d do it later but she’d never tell her what had happened today. When she moved away the loneliness that Gina had felt was raw even though they hadn’t been close, but now, she was glad that Hannah wasn’t around to hear what had happened.
Forensics would now be going through Richard’s workshop. Her mind flashed back to the camera. Sophie reported that her attacker had taken photos of her as he chased her down. A photo of Jade and Samantha had been sent to Diane. Gina suspected that the more recent photos on his camera would be of Aimee.
Where are you, Samantha?
Seventy-One
Maggie hunched over the table in the interview room. Gina twisted her stiff ankles as she waited for the woman to compose herself. She’d just spoken to Keith who was at their house working the potential scene after the search warrant had been granted. She needed to find out exactly what Maggie knew.
She had been crying continually, wiping her nose and eyes for about the tenth time. As she went to grab another tissue, Jacob noticed that there were no tissues left. ‘It can’t be true.’ She ran her tear-sodden fingers through her short blonde hair. Her usual olive skin took on a paler tone emphasising the dark circles under her eyes.
‘He held a woman hostage in front of us, Mrs Leason, and he stabbed one of our police officers, PC Smith. He is currently receiving emergency surgery and might not make it.’ The whole room began to fill with the smell of smoke from Maggie Leason’s jumper.
She began to gasp and hyperventilate. ‘He told me it was nothing to do with him and I believed him.’
Gina quickly turned the page to the bullet points of the interview with Maggie previously. ‘You told us that your husband, Richard Leason, had come straight home soon after you did, around midnight to twelve twenty.’
The woman stared at the wall behind Gina and tears began to run down her face. ‘I believed him when he said he had nothing to do with it. He told me they’d suspect him and that I knew he’d never do anything like that—’
‘So you lied to us.’ Gina slammed her notebook closed and pulled out a photo.
‘He promised me he didn’t do it, he promised.’
‘We found photos in the workshop and in your house amongst Richard’s belongings. Do you recognise these?’ Gina had printed out the small collection that Bernard and Keith had sent her from the workshop and the house. ‘For the benefit of the tape, I am showing Mrs Leason four photos. One of Jade Ashmore lying dead where her body was found, one of Samantha Felton and Jade Ashmore at a party a few years ago, one of Aimee Prowse being held in his workshop and one of Sophia Dobbins in the woods on the night of her attack.’
‘I recognise Jade and Aimee from the party.’ Maggie scrunched her eyes as she stared at the photos.
‘If you’d told us the truth to begin with,’ Gina pointed at the photos in turn, ‘Sophie would never have been attacked, Aimee would never have been kidnapped and PC Smith wouldn’t be undergoing surgery from which he might never wake up.’
The woman broke down. Gina needed her to break before she pushed her further on Samantha Felton. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She wiped her nose with her arm. Gina pulled a packet of tissues from her pocket and slid them across the table. ‘Thank you.’
