Masters And Lovers 1-4 novel Chapter 31

James

My phone dances across the table-top, vibing and ringing; Michael again. Klempner taps it on, and then to loudspeaker again.

Michael's voice shrieks out; distraught, utterly panic-stricken. “Klempner, you fucking bastard! What have you done with them?”

Klempner blinks, jerks a look to me then back the phone. “Michael, what are you talking about?”

“If you've hurt her, I'll kill you. I swear I will. Where is she? There’s blood on her bag. She…”

My heart jolting, the nausea, which had subsided, floods up again. “Michael, calm down. Whatever it is, calm down enough to tell me. What’s happened?”

His voice snatches and breaks, gulping between sentences. “I went back to the tearoom. The waitress who served them says they left with a man. I found their bags. All three of them. James, there’s blood over Charlotte’s. And more in the parking lot, as though she was dragged… Klempner, I’ll…”

But Klempner looks baffled. But he also looks concerned. “Michael, I have not harmed the women. And I don’t know where they are. I still have men out looking for them.”

I watch him as he speaks…

Is he telling the truth?

And I think he is.

And what would he gain by pretending otherwise if he already has them?

Would we be here?

No….

“Michael…” I speak cautiously. “I think Klempner’s as confused as we are. Really. Whatever’s happened, I don’t think he’s behind it.”

Michael’s voice calms a little. Not much, but a little. “You serious? But who else…?”

“Did you get a description of the man they left with?”

“The waitress said tall with brown hair. That’s about it.”

“Not much of a description. But there was no struggle? Or signs of force? Raised voices?”

“No, not in the tearoom. Apparently, Charlotte went with him first, then Mitch and Kirstie. But in the basement, the blood…”

I cut him short. “Klempner, these men you have searching? Is it possible one’s decided to go independent?”

He scowls, his head jerking back. “How do you mean?”

“If he knows you value the women, could one of your men have taken them? Perhaps to ransom them to you?”

Klempner stiffens. “If he has, he’ll wish he’d traded places with Hartwell.”

He snatches up his own phone then, jabbing a finger at mine, “Keep him on the line. Keep him listening.” He taps into his own mobile. “Marco? Where are you? And where’s Guttman? What’s going on down there?”

A voice rises above a background sound of traffic. “I’m on the corner of Port Square, sir. It gives me a view of both the taxi rank and the entrance to the bus station. Guttman’s working the restaurants. I think he’s along Main Street somewhere.”

Klempner pokes at his screen, scissors something open and zooms in. He peers close, then repeats it. “That’s fine, Marco. The women haven’t been found yet, so stay alert.”

He disconnects. “Marco’s exactly where he said he was and so’s Guttman… And that description doesn’t fit either of them. So, the question is, who else?” He looks to my phone. “Michael, did you hear all that?”

His voice is shaking. “I did, yes.”

Kirch breaks in. “Could it be a simple mugging, sir? Three women alone at night? In a car park.”

“Unlikely,” I say. “Three of them together? And one of them is Charlotte? No random mugger is going to catch her unaware. Besides… Michael, are you still there?”

“Still here, yes.”

“What’s in their bags? Anything stolen?”

He sounds contrite. “Sorry, should have thought to look. When I saw the blood, I panicked…”

“I get that. Now go. Look.”

The phone crackles and rustles. “There’s money in all three bags. Credit cards in two of them, including one of yours. Did you give it to Charlotte?”

“Yes, I told her to get something for her mother. A present…” Klempner stirs beside me. “… Anything else?”

“Charlotte’s phone is still here... The ringer’s turned off. I can’t find Kirstie’s… Did Mitch have one?”