Viper's Nest of Lies Page 2

  Finch held his tongue. He could see fury and concern vying with one another in the depths of his boss’s blue eyes. The same emotions were probably reflected in his own eyes. The sergeant’s jaw clenched, when he thought of Emmeline at the airport ensnared in God-knows-what plot concocted by Alastair Swanbeck. Damn and blast. It had been months since anyone had heard a whisper about Swanbeck. They had all allowed themselves to be lulled into a false sense of security. Out of sight, out of mind. Blind and stupid more like, he cursed silently. That’s what they were and now it had come back to haunt them.

  These recriminations came to an abrupt halt as a black cab pulled up across the road in front of the St. James’s Park Underground station.

  “At last,” Burnell grumbled when Gregory’s handsome form emerged from the back seat. The two detectives crossed the short distance in a few strides as he paid the driver and the cab departed.

  “Well?” the superintendent demanded without preamble.

  “Good afternoon to you too, Oliver,” Gregory replied smoothly. He inclined his head toward the sergeant. “Finch.”

  Burnell made a dismissive gesture with one hand. “This is no time to observe the niceties of polite society. And it’s Superintendent Burnell. How many times do I have to tell you?”

  A lazy smile tugged at the corners of Gregory’s mouth. “As you just said, Oliver, this is no time to observe the niceties of polite society.”

  Burnell’s neatly trimmed beard did little to camouflage the fact that his cheeks were growing redder by the second. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again.

  Finch stepped into the breach, before his boss reached out to put his hands around Gregory’s throat. His gaze flitted between the two adversaries. “You should both be ashamed of yourselves,” he reproached. “Can’t you stop your ridiculous sniping for one moment? Emmeline is what’s important. Or have you forgotten about her?”

  The smile vanished from Gregory’s lips. He took a step closer to the sergeant. “I never forget about Emmy.” There was a dangerous edge to his voice that revealed the extent of his concern for his wife.

  Well, they all knew how much he loved her. Emmeline’s feelings were just as strong. Hadn’t she defended Longdon on numerous occasions when no one else would?

  “You’re absolutely right,” Burnell acknowledged contritely, head bowed slightly. “We’re being fools. Now tell us what’s happened, Longdon.”

  Gregory nodded and clapped the superintendent on the shoulder. In a few words, he related everything that had taken place from the moment he and Emmeline landed at Heathrow until he made his hasty exit after Swanbeck’s call, leaving her behind.

  “And here I am,” he concluded. “We all know Emmy’s been stitched up. It’s no coincidence that Swanbeck rang me at the precise instant that the officers were going through her bag. He had to be in the airport, watching.”

  “Yes,” Burnell murmured. “Finch, get on to the airport. We need to check the CCTV footage.”

  “Straightaway, sir.” Finch pulled out his mobile and dialed a contact of his in security at Heathrow.

  “How the bloody hell did the bastard get back into the U.K.?” Burnell said more to himself than anyone else. “There’s an international warrant out for his arrest.”

  “Oliver, Swanbeck probably waved a great deal of money under the nose of some disgruntled airport worker, who was willing to plant the knife in exchange for a chance to retire early to a villa in Ibiza or some such place.”

  Burnell frowned. “Yes,” he mumbled. “It usually boils down to thirty pieces of silver.”

  Gregory’s cinnamon gaze raked his face. “How are we going to get Emmy?”

  “We? You are not going to do anything, Longdon. This is a police matter. You will get into the next taxi that comes along…”

  Gregory cut him off to protest. “You can’t expect me to go home and put my feet up with a nice cuppa, when my wife is entangled in God’s knows what malicious scheme of Swanbeck’s.”

  Burnell continued as if Gregory hadn’t spoken. “You will go straight to Holland Park and remain there”—one eyebrow shot up to emphasize this point—“until we ascertain the situation. Is that understood?”

  Gregory slipped his arm around the superintendent’s shoulders. “Oliver, forgive me for being so abrupt. I’m terribly worried about Emmy.”

  “As we all are, naturally. Therefore, the best thing you can do is to steer clear of the airport. Let us handle it. I promise we’ll ring you the minute we have any news.”

  Gregory’s lips convulsed into a smile. “You don’t know how it eases my mind that the case is in your capable hands, Oliver.” His smile grew wider. “But it’s simply not on. I’m coming with you, like it or not. Shall we go, chaps? We’ve kept Emmy waiting far too long.”

  Burnell shrugged off Gregory’s arm and glared at him. “I don’t like it. Not one little bit. You know I could have you arrested and confined to your house.”

  Gregory folded one arm across his chest, brought his other arm up, and rested his chin on his hand. His brow furrowed and he made a show of giving this last statement a good deal of thought. Finally, he responded, “As far as I can gather, you are perfectly within your rights to do so. But you won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because Emmy would never forgive you.”

  Burnell’s chest swelled with a weary sigh. He gave a curt nod at the sergeant. “Get the car, Finch. It seems we’re all going to the airport.”

  *****

  Emmeline had been detained in a gray, windowless room for over two hours. It was empty, except for the table in the center where she sat huddled, her arms wrapped around her body. Her fingers were blue because the chill had seeped into her bones. Apparently, hardened criminals didn’t merit a modicum of heat or even a cup of coffee. She could kill for a good strong espresso just at this moment.

  Since the officers had deposited her in this sterile, airless cupboard, not a single soul had come to see her. Had they forgotten about her? Or perhaps they realized their mistake? If so, why hadn’t anyone come to tell her that she was free to go?

  However, the overarching question that hissed in her ear was where was Gregory?

  A frisson that had nothing to do with the chill slithered down her spine. Then she shook her head. Stop being a fool, she scolded herself. Gregory is fine.

  But what if he wasn’t? What if Swanbeck had him? What if he was hurt? What if he was locked up in another horrid little room just like this one? What if…The questions trailed off in her mind, too appalling to even to put into words.

  The chair made a horrible scraping noise against the floor, as she pushed herself to her feet. She began stalking the length of the room, too restless to sit still any longer. With each footstep, her nerves were stretched more tautly. Soon they would reach their breaking point. She pressed a fist to her stomach to quell the fluttering that suddenly erupted deep within her.

  She couldn’t be held here forever. Someone would come for her soon.

  Startled, she sucked in her breath and whirled round when the door rattled on its hinges and opened. There, standing between her and freedom was a hulking, unsmiling security officer with salt-and-pepper hair and gray eyes that burned with hostility behind his spectacles. She hadn’t seen him until this point. She swallowed the lump that had lodged in her throat and steeled herself for whatever was in store.

  “The police have a few questions for you.”

  Chapter 3

  Police?” A tremor in her voice betrayed her effort to appear calm. “But I keep telling you I haven’t done anything. Someone is trying to…”

  The rest of her sentence died on her lips, when Superintendent Burnell stepped around the airport security officer and came into view.

  Her muscles unwound. She wanted to weep with relief. Now, everything would be all right. She opened her mouth to say something, but clamped it shut again when she caught the imperceptible shake of Burnell’s head.

  Right, they’re not supposed to know one another. Better that way for both of them.

  The rumbling of Burnell’s throat as he cleared it seemed to bounce off the walls. “Naylor,” he barked at the security officer. “What the devil is all this nonsense about?”

  Although he spoke to the officer, his deep blue gaze never left Emmeline’s face. She gave a bewildered shrug of her shoulders.

  “A knife is not nonsense, Superintendent Burnell,” was Naylor’s haughty rejoinder. “And I’d say a bloody one”—with the air of a conjurer, he produced the weapon in question, which was now sealed in a clear plastic bag—“is a very serious matter indeed. To my mind, anyone who has such an item in his or her possession”—he jerked his chin in Emmeline’s direction—“is intent on criminal mischief and has gone too far by taking a human life.”

  Burnell made an impatient gesture with his hand. “Let me be the judge if any crime has been committed.”

  “If?” Naylor bristled. “What more do you want?”

  The superintendent took a step closer to him, his gaze dueling with the other man’s arrogant one. “A body would help for a start. I’m funny that way. If Mrs. Longdon harmed, or God forbid, killed anyone as you are alleging, where’s the corpus delicti?”

  “Well, the thing is…You see…” The security officer’s voice trailed off. It was the first time since they had entered the room that Naylor’s swaggering confidence abandoned him.

  “I’m listening,” Burnell prodded, biting back a smile at the other man’s discomfiture. Naylor was puffed up with his own self-importance and didn’t deserve any mercy. He probably treated the airport as his own personal fiefdom. The superintendent recognized the type.

  “We haven’t found a body, dead
or otherwise, either on her flight from Edinburgh or anywhere in the airport,” Naylor admitted reluctantly.

  “No body, you say.” Burnell’s mouth broke into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I find that fascinating.”

  Naylor’s nostrils flared at the rebuke. He drew his shoulders back. “Nevertheless, the fact remains that the knife was found in Mrs. Longdon’s bag.”

  “Hmph,” Burnell grunted. “She has no criminal record whatsoever. From what I understand, she has led an unblemished life and is a model citizen. In my professional opinion, I very much doubt that she would wake up one day and decide to become a murderer for no good reason.”

  Naylor tapped his forefinger to his temple. “Maybe she’s not quite right in the head.”

  “She doesn’t look like a lunatic to me.”

  One of Naylor’s shoulders twitched in an indifferent shrug. “Lunatics are clever. They’re good at hiding their true natures.”

  “There speaks the amateur psychologist. How jolly.” Then, after a pause, Burnell snapped, “Don’t be ridiculous. What’s obvious to me is that the knife was planted in Mrs. Longdon’s bag.”

  “Which is what I’ve been saying all along, but no one would listen to me,” Emmeline muttered under her breath.

  He pretended he hadn’t heard her and went on, “I’ll wager you received a tip that spurred you to conduct the impromptu bag search.”

  “We did in fact, but”—Naylor rubbed the back of his neck, flustered—“We only have Mrs. Longdon’s word for it that the knife is not hers,” he offered by way of defense.

  “I’m a journalist, not a cold-blooded killer.” Emmeline spat the words at him, no longer content to stand by while the two men discussed her as if she weren’t in the room. Her fear had been replaced by an anger that was kindling into a raging fire in the center of her chest. “My job is to find the truth. It wouldn’t hurt you to do the same, instead of jumping to conclusions and harassing law-abiding citizens.”

  Burnell thought that Naylor was fortunate that Emmeline was only slicing him to pieces with those dark eyes of hers. He almost pitied the man, almost. But really, it was Naylor’s own fault. He shouldn’t have made her lose her temper. It demonstrated an egregious error in judgment. Ah well, he supposed everyone had to make their own mistakes in life.

  “We’re about done here, Naylor. It’s time you released Mrs. Longdon.”

  “What?” Naylor asked, clearly outraged at the way things had devolved. “You’re not going to arrest her?”

  “Until you show me evidence to the contrary, I see no reason to prolong this farce.” He relieved Naylor of the plastic bag with the knife. “I’ll take this with me back to the station to have Forensics check it for fingerprints.” He gave him a sour look. “Though, I think we’ll only find those of your staff.”

  “I can’t just let her go.”

  “I’m afraid you don’t have any choice. I’m also taking Mrs. Longdon with me to make a formal statement. At the station.”

  “I’ll…I’ll have to inform my boss.”

  “You do that.” Burnell paused. “But make it fast. The law doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

  Naylor’s fingers curled into tight balls. The glance he cast at the superintendent was one of pure indignation at being summarily dismissed on his home turf.

  He pivoted on his heel without another word. The door rattled savagely on its hinges in his wake.

  “I thought the pompous sod would never leave,” Burnell murmured. He shook his head and changed tack. “Well, never mind. This will soon be over. Are you all right, Emmeline?”

  She nodded. “Just a bit shaken and bewildered. They marched me straight into this room, after they found the knife in my bag. I’ve been sitting here alone staring at the four walls. I was going out of my mind. But everything is better now that you’re here. What I’m more concerned about is Gregory. I haven’t seen him since we separated in the arrivals area. Do they have him too? Is he all right?”

  He gave the small hand that grasped at his sleeve an awkward pat. “Don’t worry about Longdon. He’s fine. That man has nine lives, if not more. He rang me and told me what was happening to you. He hopped in a taxi and came straight to the Yard, before anyone could snatch him too.”

  Emmeline squeezed her eyes shut. He could see some of the tension easing from her body. “Thank goodness.” She swallowed hard. “I was so worried.”

  “I left him outside with Finch. I thought it best not to muddle things with a touching reunion. Better to keep this an official matter. For all we know, the entire security team could be comprised or only a few chaps could be on Swanbeck’s payroll. Plenty of time to find out once we’ve gotten you away from the airport.”

  “Swanbeck.” The dreaded name dripped from her lips. All her fears were confirmed.

  Burnell fixed his sober stare on her face. “Yes,” he replied softly. “There’s no doubt about it. The bastard…Sorry. That call Longdon received on his mobile was from Swanbeck.” She nodded dumbly, her shoulders sagging forward slightly. “He was playing with Longdon. A tease to let us know that he was back. He rang off almost immediately.”

  “So, we have no idea where he is or what his next move will be?”

  Burnell’s mouth twisted into a grim line. The silence that filled the air between them spoke volumes.

  “Don’t worry, Emmeline. You have my word that the Yard will do everything in its power to protect you and Longdon.”

  She straightened her spine and lifted her gaze to meet his. She favored him with a crooked smile. “Of course, I trust you and Sergeant Finch without reservations. I know Gregory does too.”

  The superintendent raised an eyebrow at the latter comment, but let it go.

  She wrung her fingers. “It’s just…We know that Swanbeck is unpredictable and he’s capable of anything. Anything at all.” Her voice trailed off in a whisper.

  He patted her arm again. His mind failed to find the right words to reassure her. Perhaps, it was because Swanbeck’s resurfacing disturbed him more than he was willing to admit.

  “Where the devil is Naylor?” he growled as he stalked toward the door and pounded on it with his open palm. “I swear I’ve never seen a more inept chap in my life. He makes the Boy Wonder look like a genius.”

  Burnell was gratified to see that this outburst brought a smile to Emmeline’s lips. He shrugged. “You must admit that I’m right.”

  “Assistant Commissioner Cruickshank doesn’t realize how lucky he is to have such dedicated detectives as you and Sergeant Finch. I can’t even begin to thank you for dropping everything to come to my rescue.”

  Before he realized what was happening, Emmeline reached up and brushed his cheek with a kiss.

  Burnell waved a hand in the air. “Nonsense,” he replied gruffly to cover his embarrassment at her gesture. “It’s all in a day’s work. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that someone was trying to frame you.”

  “Yes, but who was stabbed? And was the person merely injured or is there a dead body hidden somewhere in the airport?”

  “Those are questions Finch and I will deal with once you’re safely away from here.” He pounded on the door again. “Naylor,” he bellowed. “Stir your lazy self and open this door. I don’t have all afternoon.”

  It was another five minutes before the door open again and the ever-friendly Naylor reappeared.

  He sniffed, but stood aside to allow them to pass. “The boss says you can take her.” Apparently, he did not share his boss’s opinion but was unwilling to challenge his authority.

  The superintendent gave him a curt nod. “About bloody time.” He waggled his fingers impatiently at Emmeline. “Come along, Mrs. Longdon. Your ordeal is over.”

  He took her by the elbow and propelled her out the door ahead of him.

  He turned back to Naylor. “I will be putting it in my report about the disgraceful treatment that Mrs. Longdon has received.”

  He left the security officer standing there with his jaw hanging open.

  Once out in the airport, Burnell picked up his pace. Despite his solid bulk, he could move more swiftly than a man half his weight.

  They didn’t speak as he guided Emmeline up an escalator. They barely registered the Pret A Manger, Mulberry, Kurt Geiger and Reiss as they continued down the long corridor.