‘If you need us, Mr Neal.’
‘I won’t,’ he says sharply. ‘Gil should never have contacted you. Please leave.’
I walk to the door, anger boiling within me. Roy is going to be furious.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Josie
Two days have passed since the drop-off, and still, no word from the kidnappers. I call Gil. She tells me that Daniel Neal hasn’t heard from them.
‘I can’t keep lying to everyone,’ she sobs. ‘Where is she? What have they done to her? I thought we’d have her back by now. Danny’s never going to speak to me again. He said no police. I thought you were going to help us.’
I wish I had something – an answer, a clue, even a hunch. We traced every white van in the city, but none matched the plate. Without Daniel’s cooperation, we’re hitting one brick wall after another.
Dario sips his coffee as he scrolls through CCTV footage from the day of the drop. ‘He was heading for the M40, but turned back too soon. He couldn’t have reached Oxford services because nothing shows on their cameras, and the timing doesn’t work. He must’ve taken a detour. Somewhere along the way, he made the drop, maybe a phone box, bin, who knows?’
‘There might be security cameras,’ I say, latching onto the thought.
Dario jumps to his feet. ‘Let’s check it out.’
‘We need to tell Burrow first,’ I remind him. ‘We can’t go rogue.’
I knock on DI Burrow’s door. ‘We’re following a lead. Dario thinks we might be able to trace part of Neal’s route.’
‘Go for it,’ he says. ‘God knows we need something.’
Dario grabs his coat. ‘Lunch on me, a country pub, somewhere cosy.’
I love the countryside. It’s my escape from city chaos, the thatched cottages, honey-stone walls and smoke curling from chimneys. But there's one thing it lacks: security cameras.
The only other place we’d passed that could have CCTV was Waterperry Gardens, so Dario suggested we have a look there.
***
We reach Waterperry Gardens, hoping for a miracle. No luck, the car park isn’t monitored.
‘I’m afraid we don’t have CCTV out there,’ the shop assistant tells us.
‘Nothing,’ I sigh. ‘Another dead end.’
Dario suggests we get some food. We start walking back to the car, and I freeze. Three spaces over, there’s a white van.
Dario sees it too. ‘I’ll run the plate,’ he says, reaching for the radio.
‘You don’t need to,’ I reply. ‘It’s Geoff’s.’
He frowns. ‘Geoff has a van?’
‘He keeps it in the garage. He’s a painter and decorator, remember? His reg came up in our initial search.’
A sick feeling hits me. I’ve always assumed he has been cheating…
‘Where were you the day of the kidnapping?’ Dario asks gently.
‘I was on the day shift with you, remember?’ I say. ‘But Geoff… He said he was working on a house in Burford. Look, it’s not Geoff. He wouldn’t have the guts to kidnap someone.’
‘We can’t ignore it,’ Dario says. ‘Neal came this way to make the drop, and Geoff’s van just happens to be here?’
