The Sister(179)

‘You’ve seen him, haven’t you, Miller?’ he said, steadily returning his gaze. ‘Okay, let’s hear it.’

‘Yes, you’re right, I have seen him.’

‘Where did you see him?’

‘At a roadside cafe, just before you get on the A130. I was waiting in my car for the rain to stop, and he just got into my car.’

‘You arranged to meet him there?’

‘No, he just turned up, as I said.’

Tanner scrutinised Miller with a look that bordered on disbelief.

‘Did he tell you anything?’

‘He’s been following up some interesting leads since going AWOL.’

Tanner eyed Miller suspiciously. ‘But why is he talking to you?’

‘Oh, come on, Tanner, surely you can see. He doesn’t want to risk getting arrested!’

‘That’s not what I meant. I meant, why choose you?’

‘I don’t know, perhaps it’s because I have a friendly face, but you know what? I believe him.’

Tanner nodded; his lips pressed tightly together. ‘It’s out of my hands, Miller. Now, if you know where he is?’

‘That’s the thing; I have seen him, but I don’t know where he is or when he’ll appear next. He didn’t say,’ he paused for a moment. ‘Oh, and that’s the other thing. He asked me to give you this.’ He produced an envelope from his pocket.

Tanner opened it and read the note inside. ‘He wants you to take over the search for Eilise Staples in his absence. Under the circumstances, I don’t think I can follow his instructions.’

‘John, that’s fine, but I have to tell you I’ve already started looking for her. He asked me to do that before I got the letter. All of what you’ve told me...if he was set-up, then this character has done a good job of it. Kennedy needs help to clear his name, but in the meantime he’s still thinking about the job. I’m a specialist in my field; he trusts me. There’s a lot of intuition involved in the work we all do, mine works differently to yours. Not better or worse, just different, and it’s telling me there’s a connection here. It could be the key.’

Tanner softened. ‘I’ll give you such information on the case as is available in the public domain. I know a journalist who can brief you. Do you have a card?’ Miller fished a business card from his inside jacket pocket and handed it over. Tanner retrieved his own number from his mobile and wrote it down. No name, just a number. Miller looked at it and raised an eyebrow. It looked familiar to him.

‘Who does the number belong to? You didn’t put a name.’

‘I know,’ said Tanner. ‘I’ll call her tonight and tell her to expect your call. Her name is Carla, by the way.’

‘All this is great, John, but there’s something else. I had to know I could trust you. The guy who was blackmailing Kennedy; he’s now kidnapped Stella Bird.’

‘The sister of Kathy Bird? Stone me. I don’t believe this!’

‘Kennedy warned me he’d been forced to give his blackmailer her details. And now the kidnapper has contacted me. Clearly, I'd have reported it, but he’s threatened to kill her if anyone goes after him.’





Chapter 141



Unable to feel anything at all that might give him a clue to her whereabouts, Miller was at a complete loss. The faculties he’d previously possessed, including those he’d most recently become aware of, had deserted him. He emptied his mind of all conscious thought, a technique his grandfather had called, pusty umys?: In Polish, Bruce, means no mind or mu shin in Japanese. Now you know in three languages. No mind. When he had first succeeded in achieving this state, he was able to tune in and receive snatches of lower frequencies in much the same way a short-wave radio receiver might. How can it let me down when I need it most? Of all the possibilities that nagged at him, there was one he refused to believe. If she was dead, I'd know it, wouldn’t I?

Exhausted from his efforts, he tried again without success and then it suddenly dawned on him; The Sister had something to do with his connectivity problem. You must learn to respect the space and barriers other people put up. Had she taken something away from him to teach him that?

He dialled a number into his telephone. A sleepy sounding female voice answered.

‘Carla, can I count on your discretion?’

‘Why, what’s happened?’

Miller related everything he could think of to her. She listened patiently to the whole story without interrupting.

‘Needless to say, if he gets wind I’m looking for him or he finds out the police are involved; he’ll kill her.’

‘Who else knows about this letter from Kennedy?’

‘No one, apart from one of his colleagues, John Tanner.’

‘I know him,’ she said. ‘You say Kennedy told you he thought the man blackmailing him was the kidnapper of at least two women, and could have links to the Gasman, and the Midnight man? You know something, Bruce; I’ve been looking for a story to break on this guy ever since that tape turned up when I was at the News of the World.’

‘Carla, that’s great, but we haven’t got a thing to go on and I really need to find him.’

‘I have a name.’ The simple statement dropped it on him like a bomb.