Private London - James Patterson [20]
‘What happened?’
‘Chloe came round the corner. She ran straight at them – kicking, punching. I’ve never seen anything like it. I didn’t know she could do that.’
‘Do what?’
‘Kung fu. Whatever it was. Martial arts. She was amazing – and then one of them hit her with the baseball bat.’
‘And they took Hannah away in the van?’
‘Chloe must have spooked them. The one who had hold of me pushed me away, cutting my arm. Then they threw Hannah in the van and drove off.’ Her face paled even more as the reality of it all hit home again. ‘It could have been me.’
‘What was the van like?’
Laura shrugged apologetically. ‘Just a black van. No windows. It looked quite new. A Ford, I guess.’
‘You didn’t get its number?’
Laura shook her head. ‘No. I don’t think there was a number plate.’ She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I can’t remember.’
An alarm went off from the next room. Shrill. Insistent. Laura looked across for a moment and then screamed.
Chapter 23
DI KIRSTY WEBB ran out of the room.
She was moved to the side and had to look through the window of the intensive-care room as the crash team went in.
The bed was disconnected from most of the monitoring equipment, turning it into a mobile gurney, and was wheeled out of the room.
Kirsty Webb looked at the unconscious woman who was in the bed. Half of her long dark hair had been shaved away and there was a thick padded bandage on the back of her skull.
Kirsty drew a sharp breath as the team hurried the woman towards theatre.
‘Shit!’ she said, not realising that she was speaking aloud.
‘What is it?’ the sergeant asked.
‘That girl …’
‘Boss?’
‘She’s not Chloe Wilson,’ she said simply and pulled out her mobile phone.
Chapter 24
I LOOKED AT the caller display on my mobile phone.
Whatever my ex-wife wanted to tell me it wasn’t going to be good news. I ignored the hostile glares from the other diners, then clicked the button.
‘Dan Carter,’ I said pretending not to know who was calling.
I listened to what Kirsty was saying for a moment and her words took a moment or two to register. I mumbled something or other thanking her for letting me know, and clicked the phone closed.
‘We have to leave,’ I said. I stood up, pulled out my wallet and chucked a bunch of fifty-pound notes on the table. Our main course hadn’t yet arrived but I had suddenly lost all appetite. I felt sick to my stomach. ‘Did you drive here?’ I asked Alison.
‘No. Strangely enough, I don’t usually order a bottle of champagne if I’m driving,’ she said dryly. ‘What’s going on?’
I shook my head and slipped my jacket on. ‘I need to get a taxi,’ I said simply.
Alison hurried after me and slid her arm through mine. ‘What’s wrong, Dan?’ she pressed, the concern clear in her voice.
‘Everything,’ I replied.
Chapter 25
I CURSED AS the taxi pulled to a stop at yet another traffic light.
I leaned back, closing my eyes. Willing my heart to beat slower. Thinking of the young girl I had fetched across the Atlantic to London.
The worst possible thing had happened. She’d been kidnapped on our watch. Taken by violent men. Had her cover been compromised? Was it a random attack?
I remembered her small hand holding mine. I had said I was going to take care of her.
I felt sick as I played over in my mind what Kirsty had told me had happened to the other girl. Another girl I had also promised to protect. A promise made long ago in a foreign land when her father, who had given his life to save mine, had begged me to look after her.
Twenty minutes later I stood outside the intensive-care room looking through the slatted blinds at the frail, young woman who lay in the hospital bed. Surrounded by wires and drips and monitors.
Chloe Smith. Who had just as much heart and guts as her father.
Jack Morgan had wanted somebody undercover at the university to keep an eye on Hannah. A companion, he’d said, not a bodyguard. And I had thought Chloe was the perfect choice.
She’d had a gap year