Smile of the Tiger.
4.
They were in the office bright and early the next day, Sunday, discussing the previous nights findings with Chas.
"We've gotta try and locate that car via a combo of CCTV and roadside cameras." said Dempsey. "Then track it as far as possible."
"It shouldn't be too difficult." replied Chas. "We've got a starting point, an approximate start time, and make and colour of car. I'll get straight on it and give my mate Jimmy in 'Traffic' a call. He's a wizard at things like this."
"Great!" replied Dempsey. "Get back to us, soon as."
"Copy that." replied Chas.
At Hartley Hall, Lady Annabel Cosgrove-Hartley hadn't slept all night for worrying about Arabella and was mentally drained as well as feeling physically exhausted.
Jonas had called the doctor over, explained there was a tragedy in the family but didn't elaborate. The doctor gave her a strong tablet and now, at last, she was sleeping soundly.
Arabella had slept, but only due to the fact that she was under partial sedation to keep her calm. She was locked up in a windowless room, with a single bed, small bedside cabinet, an armchair and en-suite toilet with shower.
Meals were brought every six hours and fed to her. A jug of water was always by her bed.
Rupert hadn't slept.
He spent the night pacing his apartment, feeling useless and helpless and it was only total exhaustion that sent him into fitful sleep at seven in the morning.
Jonas hadn't slept much either and was now talking to Spikings on his secure line.
"We've already established the location of your daughter's abduction, your Lordship." said Spikings. "And we have an accurate timeline, make and colour of the vehicle used and, I hope soon, a route the car took."
"Good." replied Jonas. "That's quick work, Chief Superintendent. I'm impressed."
"Thank you, sir." acknowledged Spikings. "I'll be in contact with you once we've more information. Your twenty-four hours are up at four-thirty this afternoon. I suggest you stall them for as long as possible."
"I intend to do just that." replied Jonas. "I only hope that if I do have to hand over the money, your team will have discovered exactly who is behind all of this."
"I hope so too." replied Spikings. "But with so little to go on, I really can't promise a quick result."
"No, I understand that, Chief Superintendent." said Jonas. "As you can imagine, I'm pretty stressed out right now."
"Yes, I'm not in the least surprised." replied Spikings. "Perhaps you can tell me though. When you entered into the original discussions, was there any mention of the company involved?" asked Spikings.
"No." replied Jonas. "It was an outline plan to which I was initially attracted. I merely said that if the proposal checked out, I'd pledge my money."
"And they've taken that as a guaranteed yes?" asked Spikings, incredulously.
"It appears so Chief Superintendent." replied Jonas. "I can only assume that a misunderstanding has occurred somewhere down the line."
"If you don't mind my saying so, sir, I find it all quite incredible." said Spikings. "Were these people British?"
"No." replied Jonas. "Middle Eastern. I think they operate in an entirely different way to us. One's word is one's bond, so to speak."
"And how did this meeting come about, sir?" asked Spikings.
"While I was at my club in London." explained Jonas. "I got talking to these two gentleman and that's when they mentioned their scheme."
"So it all appeared innocent." said Spikings. "But I wonder if you've been deliberately set up."
"It's a well known fact I am a wealthy man." replied Jonas. "Perhaps I was set up as you suggest. If it was just a straight forward case of ransom I'd pay immediately. But if they do intend to invest my money in this dreadful scam then... well, I dread to think of the ultimate consequences of that. But whatever the case, my daughter is in danger and we must get her back as soon as possible."
"Of course. Our strategy must be planned in order of priority." said Spikings. "Our first is to secure your daughter's release. If that means handing over your cash, then I'm afraid that will have to be done. But the longer you can stall them, the more time we'll have in tracking them down."
"I'll do what I can." agreed Jonas.
"Right sir." replied Spikings. "Call me when you've spoken to them."
"I will. Goodbye for now." said Jonas, replacing his receiver.
By midday, Chas had confirmed that 'Traffic' had picked up the blue Bentley on various cameras, cruising through Soho.
The first thing they did was check it's registration number, but the DVLC records showed it belonged to a 1964 Morris Minor.
Although they was no CCTV coverage in the narrow street where Arabella was snatched, they did spot it heading out of the city on the A12 to Chelmsford.
"We followed it through the town and making for Colchester. It went through a speed camera at eighty miles an hour near Witham but then it seemed to vanish into thin air." said Chas. "There's a lot of rural countryside round there, so it could be anywhere."
"Okay." said Dempsey. "At least we've got an area to work with. Come on Harry, we've got about four hours of daylight left to have a snoop around."
Within an hour they were midway between Chelmsford and Colchester, approaching Witham when they saw a tunnel ahead. Travelling through it, they motored on until Dempsey stopped the car, just past another Gatso camera.
Harry glanced over at him.
"Your nose telling you something, Dempsey?" she asked.
"Could be honey." he replied. "It's around about here we lost track of the car."
He radioed in to Chas.
"Chas, did you say you lost track of that Bentley around Witham?"
"Yes." he confirmed. "Just disappeared."
"There's a tunnel, then another camera a mile or so further on." said Dempsey. "Either the car slowed to go past it at the speed limit, or it didn't reach it at all."
"There are a few more Gatso's along that road, Dempsey." reported Chas. "It's a relatively fast stretch and the scene of several accidents. That's why it's monitored so closely."
"And none of 'em flashed the car?" he asked.
"No, none at all." confirmed Chas.
"Ok, thanks Chas." replied Dempsey.
"It seems odd that the car was travelling fast before it entered the tunnel, then appeared to slow to the speed limit, after it." mused Harry. "Otherwise the cameras would have picked it up again."
"Yeah, just what I was thinkin'" agreed Dempsey, nodding at her, then shaking his head. "Beats me princess."
He swung the car through one hundred and eighty degrees and accelerated back to the tunnel, slowing considerably as they went through it.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"It just don't make no sense." he said, rubbing a hand through his hair and repeating the same question. "Why would the goddam car be almost settin' the cameras on fire before the tunnel, then nothin' after it?"
"We can only assume it slowed to the speed limit, Dempsey." said Harry. "I don't see any other reason. It could be that Arabella is being kept hidden somewhere near here, which would explain why the car didn't want to be picked up by the cameras. Talk about so near yet so far!"
"If you're right, angel, then we'd better nosey around the farms in the area." suggested Dempsey. "They might have her holed up in a barn or deserted farmhouse. We gotta cuppla hours of daylight left, best make use of it, huh?"
They set about visiting all the likely places Arabella might be, but came up with a blank every time. Dusk found them driving back home and no further forward, baffled but certainly not beaten.
At four thirty on the dot, Jonas's office telephone started ringing.
Bracing himself he answered it.
"Cosgrove-Hartley." he said.
"Ah, Lord Jonas." said Hani, sounding as if he known him for years, then his voice changing in an instant and taking on a threatening tone. "Your time is up. And so is your daughters."
"Let me speak to her." he demanded. "I want to make sure she's unharmed."
There was a pause then Arabella came on the line.
"Daddy?" she said, sounding tired and somewhat disorientated.
"Arabella." said Jonas. "Are you alright?"
"Yes." she replied. "Are you coming to get me?"
"I am, darling." said Jonas. "Won't be long now."
Hani came back on the line. He'd obviously been listening via an extension.
"Do I take it that you are willing to pay us now?" he asked.
"Yes, I'll pay you." confirmed Jonas. "But I want to hand it over in cash. No traceable bank transfers. It'll take me a few days to raise the sum, so you'll have to bear with me. I can't set anything in motion until the bank opens in the morning. Then I have to arrange for some funds to come from accounts I hold abroad"
"You have until Thursday then, Lord Jonas." said Hani. "It's four forty-five now. I will call you at exactly this time. You will confirm you have the cash ready. I will then give you the arrangements for the exchange with your daughter. Do not try to cross me!"
The line went dead.
Jonas picked up his secure line and dialled Spikings.
"Who's that!?" he demanded.
"Chief Superintendent, its Jonas Cosgrove-Hartley." he said, a little taken aback at the way Spikings answered. "I've just agreed to raise the cash and have managed to stall them until this time on Thursday. I've spoken to my daughter. She sounds tired, but unharmed. Do you have any further news?"
Dempsey had already radioed in, so Spikings repeated their conversation.
"I see." said Jonas. "It does sound rather strange that the trail goes cold at that tunnel. I seem to recall something involving its construction many years ago. A friend of mine owns several acres in that area. I'll get in touch with him. Perhaps he can refresh my memory."
"We're working in the dark right now." said Spikings. "The car registration is false, so we can't trace its ownership. No names were given to you at the time of your meeting, neither was a company mentioned. So anything, no matter how insignificant, would be of help."
"Yes I understand." replied Jonas. "I'll call you tomorrow with anything I think could help you."
"Thank you, sir." said Spikings. "I look forward to that."
Hani Ahmadi had convened an extraordinary meeting with his four partners.
"Lord Jonas has agreed to pay up." he said, his charming smile radiant. "He will have the funds available by Thursday. I suggest we arrange the exchange with his daughter on Friday."
They all nodded their agreement.
"I will arrange for her to be taken to a safe house sometime soon." he said. "George, perhaps we could use your Jaguar. I don't want to risk the Bentley being seen. For all we know someone may have seen the actual abduction and given the police details of the car."
"But isn't the Bentley on false plates Hani?" asked George.
"Yes, but one can never be too careful eh?" replied Hani.
"You don't leave anything to chance, do you." said Tony Hill, the hedge fund manager.
"Certainly not." replied Hani. "Never!"
Dempsey and Harry arrived back home and while he was lighting the fire, Harry, after slipping Sade's 'Diamond Life' CD album into the player, poured some drinks, placing them on a low coffee table in front of the hearth and, sitting on a rug, her back resting against an armchair, curled her legs up under her.
With the fire taking hold, and the logs, dry as a bone, beginning to crackle, Dempsey sat on the rug opposite her, his legs stretched out under the table.
"Cheers darling." she said, raising her glass of white wine at him.
"Yeah, bottoms up, princess." replied Dempsey, raising his before taking a swig of whisky.
"I've always thought how rude that sounds." said Harry, giggling. "But when you say it, it sounds positively sexy!"
"You and your one track mind." he teased, grinning at her.
"Oh yes? I don't hear you complaining!" she fired back.
"And you never will." he replied, smiling and blowing her a kiss.
Disarmed and smiling back, she got up and moved round to his side of the table, sitting down next to him, his arm automatically going round her shoulder, her head automatically resting on his. She looked up at him, her eyes soft and blue and loving, her mouth slightly open, waiting for his lips to kiss hers.
He didn't disappoint.
As his hands began exploring her, she felt as though she were melting, his touch sending spasms of ecstasy through her, her body tingling and shivering with mounting pleasure.
By the light of the roaring fire, they slowly undressed each other, the soft, dense pile of the rug feeling luxurious on their naked skin, while their passion burned as hot as the flames.