Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

gleaming white teeth bared inches from his face. He screamed.
    Groggy but almost in control of her limbs, Carol pushed herself upright and shouted ‘Help!’ at the top of her lungs. What the fuck was she supposed to do now? She had no handcuffs, no authority. Taylor was squirming at her feet, screaming at Flash, who had him pinned down, front paws on his chest, slavering mouth dripping on his face. A couple of blokes had peeled away from the hot-dog van and were running towards them. Carol reached inside the Land Rover and pulled out the lovely new tack hammer she’d bought only a few days before. It wasn’t heavy, but she knew she could do some serious damage with it if she had to. With her free hand, she pulled out her phone and called Paula. She had a funny feeling it was going to be a long night.

65

    Day twenty-eight

    W hen she got Carol’s call, Paula wasted no time on explanations. She yelled for Cody and ran for her car, gunning the engine till he piled in next to her. She tore out of the car park with a screech of tyres. Unlike TV cop shows, she didn’t let the crisis go on playing itself out till she personally made it to the scene. She called up the control room on her radio and had them send the nearest patrol car to the DIY store car park.
    The patrol car arrived to find a terrified man cradling a bleeding wrist sitting on the ground beside a Land Rover. An angry-looking blonde toting a hammer that looked more like a toy was standing over him, a taser sticking out of her jacket pocket. A black-and-white dog stood at her side, lip curled in a snarl. Around them stood a horseshoe of blokes in puffa jackets and football shirts, some of them munching on burgers.
    ‘Fucking twatted her with a taser, didn’t he,’ one of them volunteered as the two uniformed officers rolled up, hands at the ready on their utility belts.
    The woman half-turned and the driver, a grizzled veteran of the traffic division, drew his breath in sharply. ‘DCI Jordan,’ he said. ‘Ma’am.’
    ‘Not any more,’ Carol said. ‘This is Gareth Taylor. I think DS McIntyre wants to interview him in connection with two murders.’
    ‘This is grotesque,’ Taylor yelled. ‘She attacked me, not the other way around. Who’s got the taser, for God’s sake?’
    Everyone ignored him apart from the dog, who growled. Carol continued, unruffled. ‘But he’s just committed an assault and an attempted abduction, so I suggest you cuff him and stick him in the back of your car until DS McIntyre gets here.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘Not that I’m telling you how to do your job, officer.’
    The traffic officer’s smile mirrored hers. ‘Couldn’t have put it better myself, ma’am.’ He went to drag Taylor to his feet, but the man protested his innocence loudly, struggling against the cop. ‘Do you want me to add resisting arrest to the charge sheet?’ the officer snarled, hoicking him up by his arms, not caring about the shout of pain from Taylor. He snapped a pair of cuffs on him, not bothering to avoid the bleeding bite-mark on one wrist. Then he frogmarched him to the traffic car and stowed him in the rear seat, effortlessly ignoring Taylor’s litany of complaint. Carol sat down on the tailgate of the Landie, looking relieved. The dog jumped up beside her and licked her ear, as if in consolation.
    The officers moved among the men, taking down names and addresses and bare-bones preliminary statements. And that was when Paula rolled up with Cody. She practically ran to Carol’s side. ‘Are you OK?’
    Carol nodded. ‘I’m fine. Look at those guys. It’s gradually dawning on them that they’ve just been involved in something that’s going to earn them pints in the pub for years to come. I can hear them now: “Did I ever tell you how I took on a serial killer?” Though the real hero is the dog. Flash saved me.’ She rumpled the dog’s mane. ‘You’ve got him on assault and attempted abduction at the very least.’
    ‘Well done,’ Paula said. ‘That’s all we need to get warrants for his house and his car and his workplace.’
    ‘Even someone as single-minded as Fielding can’t ignore this,’ Carol said.
    Paula shook her head. ‘Unless she thinks they were in it together, him and Tony.’
    ‘I think that would be a bridge too far, even for her.’
    ‘I wouldn’t bank on it.’
    ‘Are you going to take him in and interview him?’
    ‘I’ll get Cody to take him in. I want to be with the team that does