Presumed Missing Read online

  Jack pressed the buzzer at the ICU intercom and waited. ‘Yes, how can we help you?’

  ‘I’m here to see Bruce Cunningham.’

  ‘Relationship?’ The voice sounded hollow.

  ‘Son.’ Jack waited, his foot tapping absently as he heard voices, then silence, then the intercom came back on again.

  ‘Come through.’ The automatic door-lock clicked and Jack pushed the door open. Just inside was an alcohol foam station and a big sign insisting he wash his hands. Jack obliged and moved down the hallway, past the terminally ill surrounded by crying relatives.

  Further down the sterile ward he saw an accident victim, his neck in a brace, tubes and monitors filled the room, a nurse sat at her computer station just inside his door, alert for any alarms or changes.

  He walked into his dad’s ICU room and stopped, frozen on the spot. He wasn’t prepared. He thought he was, but now as he looked at his father, the oxygen lines coming out of his nose, the wires attached to his chest, the monitors beeping and flashing at his side, he realised he was out of his depth.

  His mum looked up and almost cried with relief, her hand flying to her mouth, her eyes misting over with pain and fear.

  Jack took a long, deep breath and moved to her. She was standing, waiting for the hug he knew she needed. He held her tightly, her tears running down her cheeks and onto his shoulder.

  Jack gently eased her away. ‘How is he doing?’

  His mum pulled a hanky out of her pocket and wiped her face, dabbing her nose. ‘Not good Jack, not good at all. They think it’s his heart, but...’

  ‘But?’

  ‘He’s not responding to any of the usual medications. Jack, your dad might die.’

  Jack sat down as the words hit home, the steel arm and thin vinyl chair offering no comfort. The cold of the air-conditioning suddenly felt like a frozen wasteland. ‘Have they run toxicology?’

  ‘Yes, nothing has come back yet.’ His mum was looking down at him, a look of concern, anguish, fear and no shortage of frustration.

  Jack stood up again, gaining some composure. ‘I’ll see if I can speed up the pathology,’ the detective suddenly kicking into action.

  She nodded and took a breath, her hanky coming back to her nose. ‘How could this happen?’

  Jack sat with her for an hour, spoke with the doctors and the ICU nurse who was never more than a cubicle away. The next twenty-four hours were vital. Toxicology tests had been ordered after the cardiogram and initial blood work came up with no signs of heart attack.

  The doctors were still puzzled, but hopeful that a CT scan and the final tests would reveal more information. Then they’d be closer to giving a prognosis.

  Jack promised his mum he’d be back later and left ICU. He took the elevator to the foyer, stopping at the gift shop. He flicked through the cards and made his selection, before picking a shiny, metallic balloon with the words Get Well Soon in gold writing and red polka dots. He paid the girl behind the register.

  Moving out of the shop, he waited by the elevator once more, his thoughts racing. He phoned Penny and asked if she had contacts in the hospital pathology department. She said she’d see what she could do. He wanted to do more, but he had other things to do first.

  ‘Jack.’ He turned to see Liz walking toward him, Jenny hovering close by for moral and practical support. Liz’s face featured two huge bruises, one on each cheek. A deep cut had been bandaged across her throat and she was still weak from the previous night’s ordeal, but she was smiling and that made Jack smile too.

  ‘What room is he in?’ Jenny asked as her finger hovered over the elevator button.

  ‘Eight G room twelve.’ Jack turned back to Liz, taking her arm gently. ‘Are you sure you’re up to this?’

  ‘I’m down but not out Jack. Max will be going stir crazy in there and I know the nursing staff will need some moral support. How’s your dad?’

  The elevator doors opened and the trio moved in, Jenny pushing the level eight button.

  ‘The doctors are still not offering a prognosis. They are waiting on more tests. He’s not good though. I’m beginning to wonder if dad’s condition isn’t from natural causes. We put a spanner in his operations with our last case and now Judge McDonald turns out to be a deviate. Two Judges on the wrong side of the law in a matter of months.

  ‘You think your dad was involved in a kidnapping and sex slave ring?’ Jenny frowned as the elevator doors opened.

  ‘No, just the opposite. He’s as crooked as they come, but I don’t think he’d ever be involved in this type of deal. O’Brien was new in town. Maybe the whole operation was. I’ll start digging as soon as we finish here.

  ‘I’ll do what I can,’ Liz offered and Jack chuckled.

  ‘You need to recover and get your partner back on deck first.’

  They moved down the hall, watching for the room numbers as they went. A nurse came out of room twelve as they entered, her eyes wide, her pace fast.

  ‘What did you do this time Max?’ Jack moved in, the balloon in hand.

  ‘Nothing. How can I?’ He held up his heavily bandaged hand.

  ‘How long did the surgery take? That looks painful.’ Jenny offered genuine sympathy as she moved around the bed and sat on the visitor’s chair. Liz took a seat next to Max on the side of the bed.

  Jack handed the balloon to Max. ‘What, no roses, no chocolates? You wound me.’ Max jibed.

  ‘Good time to finish the diet and quitting smoking mate. Didn’t want to blow the opportunity for you.’ Liz laughed, Jenny giggled and Max huffed loudly.

  ‘Seriously though mate, you going to have that hand back in action any time soon?’

  ‘Doc says affirmative. Cut a few tendons, lots of blood loss, but they are happy with the micro-surgery. All the bits are back together. Just a bit of physio coming my way.’

  Liz took Max’s good hand. ‘Thanks, really. I owe you big time.’ Max blushed but gained his composure quickly.

  ‘No, you don’t. You’ve given me more breaks than I deserve and working on this case, with you and having dinner with Jackie and all that stuff, it’s been pretty awesome.’

  ‘And the flash, shiny silver car isn’t half bad either, I bet.’ Jack slapped his old partner on the shoulder gently and Max nodded.

  ‘Are the girls alright?’ Max looked from face to face, trying to guess the outcome. ‘What happened? I passed out.’

  ‘Don’t ask me.’ Liz looked from left to right, her eyes asking the same question.

  ‘The girls are both alive, dehydrated, hungry and recovering from all the injuries you’d expect after what they endured.’ Jenny watched Max as she spoke. ‘Gemma played possum, as soon as O’Brien fell at her feet she just reacted, instinctively. You can’t blame her.’

  ‘She killed him?’ Max looked to Jack for confirmation. His old partner nodded.

  ‘Yep. She had managed to flog a pen, of all things, from one of her visitors and sharpened it into a makeshift knife.’

  ‘She stabbed him with it, right in the back of the neck. The force was crazy, almost inhuman. She must have been seriously enraged.’ Jenny took over the explanation. ‘Then she broke down in an utter mess, poor kid. She’ll need serious counselling. Belinda was out for most of it. She doesn’t remember anything, or at least that’s what she’s saying.’

  ‘But we found recordings and not just of these girls, even the murdered Victorian girls were on film. Every sleazy bastard who took advantage of the girls will be tracked down and charged.’

  ‘Why did O’Brien record them and more to the point, why the hell did the perverts let him?’ Liz looked at Jack, confusion evident.

  ‘A souvenir, maybe they didn’t know, but we doubt that. Search warrants are being executed all over town and interstate. We’ll likely find quite a few of these bastards have other contraband, more illegal films.’

  ‘What about Jones?’ Max asked.

  ‘Recovered. He’s talking. O’Brien is his step brother, nut
ty as they come. He isn’t on the recordings. It seems he moved here to get away from psycho boy, but O’Brien followed him. Every girl that fixated on the new, handsome music teacher became a target for his deranged brother.’

  ‘Belinda? That doesn’t fit. She wouldn’t have known Jones.’ Liz asked as she lifted her leg up onto the bed, Max moved over to make room for her to shuffle up alongside and make herself comfortable.

  ‘She and Gemma were friends on social media. We are still figuring it all out, but the girls have shared their cloud accounts with the forensic team and they are piecing it together.’ Jack gave Max the card and took the balloon back, tying it to the bedhead.

  ‘So Jones had no idea his step-brother was a psychopath? I find that hard to believe.’ Liz looked from Jack to Jenny for confirmation.

  ‘Oh he had a pretty good idea, that’s why he moved away when girls started to go missing, but that doesn’t mean he was directly involved.’

  ‘True. We’ll keep digging through evidence. O’Brien did try to kill him, so he must have known something and he certainly didn’t do anything to stop him.’

  ‘What about the other girls?’ Max’s look of concern was matched by Liz’s.

  Both detectives shook their heads but Jack answered. ‘Nothing concrete. As the Victorian Police make arrests, execute the search warrants and follow other enquiries we might find out more about them, but since O’Brien moved here, it isn’t likely he left any of them alive.’

  There was silence as everyone digested the fact that three more girls were likely never going to see their mum again.

  Liz placed her hand on her throat. ‘How did my neck get cut?’ Her last memory had nothing to do with a knife.

  ‘That’s on me Liz. O’Brien had a knife to your throat. I had little choice. All I could do was attack him and hope he didn’t have time to make a good cut.’

  ‘That’s your theory?’ Liz looked shocked.

  ‘I’ve attended enough autopsies to know it takes a concerted effort to cut someone’s throat, especially enough to kill them.’

  ‘So you knew I’d get a scar?’ She slapped his arm. ‘I’m going to need some serious foundation to cover this you know.’

  ‘What next then?’ Max directed his question at Liz. ‘Do we have a new case?’ Jack laughed, Liz put her arm around Max’s shoulder, an effort considering the size difference.

  ‘We’ll get you better first.’ Liz heard Jack’s phone ring. He flipped it open.

  ‘Mum?’

  Jack listened silently, his expression changed and Liz had a sickening feeling that the news wasn’t good. He closed the phone and mechanically placed it in his pocket. No one wanted to ask the questions.

  Jack looked up at the faces before him. ‘It was poison, dad was poisoned.’

  What Next?

  Book 3 – Deadly Deceit is available on pre-order now. If you enjoyed book 2 – Presumed Missing, why not leave a review with your favourite e-book retailer?

  Loving the adventures of high-class escort and PI Liz Jeffreys, then maybe considering joining my crime fiction newsletter email list. My fortnightly email will share excerpts, new book cover reveals and opportunities to join my advanced reader release team. From time to time, I also share great books from a handful of mystery authors I work with, so jump in and take a look. You can unsubscribe at any time.

  If you still want to find out more about me, you can, on my website. You’ll find information about me, a few short stories from The Farmer’s Wife series (all true) and a of course all my earlier fantasy novels.

  I’m already drafting book 4 in the Foxy Mystery series, so I won’t keep you waiting for long. Feel free to contact me if you have any feedback. You’ll find plenty of ways to touch base including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the website above.

  Books by Fiona Tarr

  Foxy Mysteries Series

  Book 1 – Death Beneath the Covers

  Book 2 – Presumed Missing

  Book 3 – Deadly Deceit

  Book 4 – Coming early 2022

  Covenant of Grace Series

  Book 1 – Destiny of Kings

  Book 2 – Seed of Hope

  Book 3 – Legacy of Power

  Book 4 – Heir of Vengeance

  Prequel – The Ehud Dagger Novella

  The Eternal Realm

  Book 1 – The Jericho Prophecy

  Book 2 – Delilah and the Dark God

  Book 3 – Reign of Retribution

  The Priestess Chronicles

  Book 1 – Call of the Druids

  Book 2 – Relic Seeker

  Book 3 – Shiloh Rising