Traitor in the House Read online

  Three years after he got out, he’d done another twelve months for assault – this time against a male. Parnell broke two of the victim’s ribs by stamping on him. On the surface, his second conviction didn’t appear to form a pattern of violence against women. But when Leigh had dug a little deeper, she’d learned the circumstances of the offence involved a fight in a bar over a woman which had stemmed from Parnell’s jealousy about her allegedly flirting with the victim. Probably most telling of all was that the probation service managed him under multi agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) when he was on licence, which they reserved for only the most serious of offenders. Leigh had requested the notes of those meetings from the MAPPA chair and was awaiting a response. The intel on police systems also suggested that Joey was involved in the sex trade, but it wasn’t from a reliable source. In all, Leigh had uncovered plenty to suspect Parnell of being involved in the murders, but not enough tangible evidence to apply for a warrant. Not yet anyway.

  Leigh was just about to pack up and leave when she saw a shadow fall over her desk. She looked up to see Chief Superintendent Barrow standing in the doorway to her office.

  ‘Evening, Sir,’ she said.

  ‘Evening, Leigh. I just thought I’d drop by and see how you’re getting on with this investigation. You know the press are referring to our perp as the Liverpool Ripper?’ He shook his head in frustration.

  ‘I know, Sir, and it seems to have stuck.’

  ‘This case is attracting enough attention without those sharks using it to shift papers.’

  ‘Well, we do have three dead women in the space of a month, Sir. The press were always going to be all over it.’

  ‘Hmm.’ He rubbed his chin as he walked towards her and perched on the edge of her desk. ‘How is it going then? Any suspects yet?’

  Leigh leaned back in her chair. ‘No one we can arrest yet, Sir. The crime scenes are completely clean, as you know. I do have a lead but nothing of any substance on him yet. Certainly not enough for a warrant.’

  Barrow frowned at her. ‘Who is your suspect?’

  ‘Joey Parnell. He used to be a bit of a name in Liverpool back in the Nineties. He came back to Liverpool about six months ago. He has form for violence against women. There was also an alleged rape and intel suggests he was involved in the sex work trade when he lived in Manchester. I’ve asked for further intel reports and I’m waiting on some MAPPA notes from probation too.’

  Barrow frowned at her. ‘Seems like a tenuous link at best, Leigh. Previous form? What else do you have to tie him to the murders? Any connection to Sunnymeade?’

  ‘No. Nothing like that,’ she admitted with a sigh. ‘Just a gut feeling?’

  ‘Well, a good detective always trusts their gut. But we cannot afford to make any mistakes with this one. We need a watertight case. My gut tells me there’s a link to that children’s home we’re missing. I’d be concentrating my efforts there while you wait for this information on Parnell.’

  Leigh wondered if he was right. Was she barking up the completely wrong tree?

  ‘Thanks, Sir. I appreciate your input.’

  ‘Happy to help,’ he said with a smile. ‘Keep me informed of your progress, won’t you?’

  ‘Of course, Sir,’ she replied.

  Then Chief Superintendent Barrow walked out of her office, leaving her sitting alone and contemplating her next move.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Joey Parnell walked along the path in Stanley Park until he reached his employer sitting on the bench. JB picked up the tennis ball and threw it for his dog Archie, a brown spaniel who chased after it furiously.

  Joey sat down on the opposite end of the wooden seat.

  ‘Your face is looking a little better at least,’ JB said as he gave a cursory glance in Joey’s direction. ‘Have you had any luck in locating Simon yet?’

  ‘Not yet, but I have my sources looking for him. He must be running out of friends and hiding places by now and I think it’s only a matter of time before we find him. He doesn’t have the resources to stay on the run for much longer.’

  His employer sighed wearily. ‘I told you I wanted this dealing with quickly. You’re beginning to make me regret trusting you with this, Joey. We have three dead women and nothing to show for it.’

  ‘At least they won’t talk,’ Joey said.

  JB snorted. ‘What did you want to see me about?’ he snapped.

  ‘Grace Carter,’ Joey said.

  ‘Not the Carters again. I’ve told you to leave it alone until this is over with. Then I don’t care how you deal with your petty feud with them, but until then, concentrate on the job at hand.’

  ‘That’s just it, I think Grace Carter is onto something.’

  ‘What?’ JB’s head turned as though on a swivel and he finally gave Joey his undivided attention.

  ‘She’s been asking questions about the three women we took, and about Melanie Simmonds.’

  His employer’s face started to turn that dangerous shade of red which meant that Joey was about to get an earful.

  ‘How the hell does she know about any connection to that whore from Manchester?’ he spat. ‘You told me this job would be clean and there would no ties to anyone except that fucking godforsaken kids’ home. She had nothing to do with that place. Nothing at all. So, tell me how the fuck Grace Carter knows about it, and why on earth is she even sniffing around this? What the fuck have a few dead whores got to do with her?’

  ‘I don’t know, Boss,’ Joey added. ‘But I can take care of them for you. All of them.’

  His employer started to laugh out loud just as Archie came bounding back over to them with his ball. He dropped it on the ground before lying dutifully at his master’s feet.

  ‘You honestly think you’re capable of taking care of Grace and Michael Carter?’ he snorted, not caring to hide his obvious derision. ‘You can barely handle a few whores.’

  ‘I think you underestimate me, Boss,’ Joey said, feeling annoyed and hurt that his employer seemed to think so little of him after he had only ever done exactly as he’d asked.

  ‘Okay. Prove it. Warn Grace Carter off. Get her to back away from the whole mess. I don’t care what you tell her as long as it throws her off the scent.’

  ‘And if that doesn’t work?’

  He tilted his head back, stretching his neck before he answered. ‘Then you can make sure her and her husband are too distracted to come anywhere near us.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘By hitting them where it really hurts and disposing of their two trigger-happy sons,’ he said as though the answer was completely obvious. ‘It’s too messy to go after Grace and Michael, and it would cause too much instability and that’s all I need right now. But dealing with their errant offspring would keep the pair of them out of my hair.’

  Joey smiled. He liked that idea much better than warning Grace off. He hated Jake Conlon and Connor Carter almost as much as he hated Sean and Michael.

  Noting the smile on his face, his employer shook his head. ‘Warn her off first,’ he snapped. ‘Only proceed with the next step if that doesn’t work. Understood?’

  ‘Understood.’ Joey knew there was no way Grace Carter would listen to a warning, least of all from him. In fact, if he provoked her enough, maybe it would fuel her efforts even further, and then he would have permission to take out his competition once and for all.

  Joey watched as his employer walked away with his loyal spaniel by his side and wondered what would be the best way to provoke Grace and Michael Carter. He smiled to himself as he walked through the park and back towards his car.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Grace had just turned off her computer and was about to head home for the day when, in her peripheral vision, she saw the figure walking into her office. She looked up to see a tall, stocky man with silver hair, wearing a leather jacket, standing before her. He closed the door behind him and then turned back to her with a smile on his face.

 
; She frowned at him. ‘Who are you?’ she snapped. She’d already stayed later than she’d planned and was eager to get home to Michael and their children.

  ‘That’s right, I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced,’ he said as he extended his hand. ‘Joey Parnell.’

  Grace felt her breath catch in her throat. This man had obviously made his way unnoticed through the back of their restaurant and to her office. The place was busy, as was usual for a Thursday evening. There was music playing as well as the constant background noise of a busy restaurant full of diners. She couldn’t call for help as no-one was likely to hear her unless they were standing directly outside. If she screamed loud enough, perhaps she’d be heard, but she wasn’t about to give Joey that satisfaction. Not until she knew what he was doing there, at least. He hated her husband and her brother-in-law, that much she knew, but what was he doing in her office? Standing there grinning at her like he knew something she didn’t.

  Grace ignored his hand. ‘As you can see, I’m on my way out,’ she said as she stood and shrugged on her coat. ‘So, what can I do for you?’

  Joey let his hand fall to his side and she noticed his grin turn to a scowl. She doubted he was used to people, particularly women, being so impolite to him. From the limited information she’d been able to glean about him, he considered himself a ladies’ man and had the arrogance of a man who believed he was God’s gift to women.

  ‘You’re not at all what I expected,’ he said with a snarl. ‘I remember how Nathan used to talk about you. He made out you were some sweet, naïve little girl who was scared of her own shadow. But, you’re actually a bit of a bitch really, aren’t you?’

  Grace started to laugh. ‘You think you know anything about me because of what my psychopathic ex-husband might have said to you over twenty years ago? Are you for real? Or are you really as stupid as my husband tells me you are, Joey?’

  That obviously provoked something in him and he lunged over the desk towards her. Grace stepped back instinctively, but he had a long reach and he grabbed the lapel of her coat with his left hand. Then he dragged her around the desk towards him, wrapping his right hand around her throat when he got close enough.

  He glared at her and she glared back. She had been threatened by tougher men than him before. He wouldn’t dare do something so stupid in her restaurant. Would he?

  ‘You think you’re a fucking cut above the likes of me, don’t you?’ he snarled in her face. ‘But you’re just a weak, cock-teasing little bitch like the rest of them.’

  Grace spat at him and watched as her spittle dribbled down his forehead and over his left eye. He wiped his face with his free hand and squeezed her throat harder until she started to struggle to breathe.

  He brought his face closer to hers. ‘What is it about you that has all these men following you around, obeying your orders?’ he snarled at her. ‘Let’s face it, you’re nothing special, are you? You certainly couldn’t keep your husband happy. He fucked everything in a skirt.’

  Grace pulled at his arm but he maintained his vice-like grip on her throat. Lashing out, she managed to scratch his face before he dodged out of her reach again. ‘You fucking cunt,’ he shouted before pushing her up against the wall. She gasped as the weight of his large frame crushed hers. He pushed his groin into her abdomen and she could feel his erection digging into her. Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed it down and closed her eyes. He shoved his free hand beneath her coat and squeezed her breast painfully until she cried out. But his movement had given her some wriggle room and using all of her strength she raised her right leg and kneed him in the groin.

  Joey doubled over, and as he pulled his hand free, his watch caught on her blouse, tearing some of the buttons away from the fabric and sending them skittering across the floor. Joey groaned in pain.

  ‘Get the fuck out of here before I scream for my bouncers and they throw you in the fucking river,’ she rasped as she rubbed her throat. The truth was her throat was so raw and tender that she couldn’t have screamed if she’d tried.

  Joey threw her one last look of disgust before he started to hobble out of her office. As he reached the door, he turned to her, and pointed a finger in her direction. ‘I actually came here to give you a friendly warning,’ he snarled. ‘Stay out of things that don’t concern you. Or you’ll end up just like them girls they’ve been picking up out of back alleyways.’

  Grace’s blood ran cold. His visit could only mean that she and Leigh were onto something. She’d been wondering whether they had been barking up the wrong tree, but Joey’s visit had now convinced her otherwise. How stupid of him to incriminate himself by trying to warn her off. Rather than doing that, now she was more determined than ever to bring the lot of them down. But how would she stop Michael from tearing Joey’s head off and using it as a toilet brush once he found out what had happened to her tonight?

  Grace buttoned her coat to cover her now gaping blouse and picked up her handbag. Still rubbing her throat, she left her office and wondered how she was going to convince her husband to let her deal with Parnell herself – at least until she had got to the bottom of what was going on. Once she had that, Michael could do whatever he liked with the arrogant little prick.

  Grace walked through the restaurant and approached their head bouncer, Nick Walker. ‘You been busy tonight?’ she asked, wondering how Parnell had been allowed to walk into her office unchallenged.

  ‘Yeah, Boss. It’s been mental. I’ve never had to deal with so many kick-offs in this place on one night. Ten minutes ago, I had to throw a whole table of lads out,’ he said as he shook his head in disbelief.

  That went some way to explaining Parnell’s presence in her office. Grace wondered if any of the trouble had been orchestrated by Parnell in order to create a diversion. ‘Must be something in the air,’ she said with a half-smile. ‘Do you mind walking me to my car?’

  ‘Of course, Grace. Not a problem. Let’s go.’

  Grace linked her arm through Nick’s as they headed along the waterfront. He had worked for them for a few years and she trusted him. Her encounter with Parnell had her rattled and it was nice to have his solid presence for company on the short walk to her car. Who knew whether Parnell or any of his minions were still hanging around.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Grace walked quietly along the hallway of her house and up the stairs, hoping that Michael hadn’t heard her, or, if he had, he’d be too busy cooking or tidying up after the kids to follow her. She looked in on Oscar and Belle quickly before walking into her own bedroom. She had taken off her shoes and was about to remove her blouse when she heard Michael’s heavy footfall on the hallway landing. She sighed inwardly, having been hoping that she could freshen up and hide her torn blouse before she saw him.

  Turning around, Grace smiled as Michael walked through the door. ‘Hi,’ she said as she started to undo the remaining buttons on her top.

  ‘Hey,’ he said as he smiled back. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Yes. Of course. Why?’

  ‘You came straight up here?’

  ‘I missed the kids’ bedtime. I wanted to see them,’ she replied as he started to walk towards her.

  As he reached her, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. Leaning down, he gave her a brief kiss. ‘How was work?’

  ‘Fine,’ she lied.

  She saw the frown flicker across his face. God, he knew her so well. His hands trailed up her body and to her blouse.

  ‘Let me help you with that,’ he said with a grin as he started to undo the remaining buttons.

  She flinched instinctively and tried to step back from him, but in doing so, lifted her head and exposed her neck to him. In the lamp light of the room, he obviously hadn’t noticed the red marks on her neck until now.

  Suddenly his eyes were full of concern and anger. ‘What the hell is this? Has somebody hurt you?’ he asked as he brushed the red marks on her neck with his fingertips. Then his eyes
dropped to her blouse and he noticed the fabric near the buttonhole was torn. ‘And this? Grace, what’s happened?’ he asked, his voice filled with urgency and anxiety.

  ‘It was nothing. I handled it,’ she insisted.

  ‘Well, it doesn’t fucking look like nothing,’ he growled. ‘Who did this, Grace? Tell me because I’m going to fucking kill him.’

  ‘Michael, please. I told you I dealt with it.’

  ‘Did you break every bone in his body and bury him somewhere he’ll never be found?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course not,’ she replied.

  ‘Then you didn’t deal with it.’

  Grace sat on the bed. ‘Just because I didn’t handle it your way, doesn’t mean I didn’t handle it.’ She looked up at him.

  She watched as his face softened and he sat beside her. She could feel the tension in his body, but his face remained calm. ‘Tell me what happened,’ he said softly.

  ‘Okay. But let me finish before you start threatening to shoot people and bury them in unmarked graves,’ she replied.

  ‘I would never shoot anyone who hurt you,’ he answered with a half-smile. ‘That would be far too lenient.’

  Grace looked at him for a few seconds and wondered what was the best way to tell him that someone who’d been a massive pain in his arse for the past few weeks had pinned her up against the wall before strangling and sexually assaulting her? Probably best not to use any of those words.

  ‘Joey Parnell came into the restaurant—’

  ‘Parnell?’ he shouted, interrupting her.

  ‘You said you’d let me finish?’

  He closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. ‘Go on.’