Where There's A Will

Chapter Fifty-Six

Stone was still in the back of the van, wishing the painkillers he had taken a short while before would kick in and make it easier for him to breathe, and watching Owen Keating, who remained on the bench in the play area, when his phone rang. He gave a sharp gasp as he reached into his pocket for his phone, though the pain was driven from his mind as he answered the call and listened to what was being said – he couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was so unexpected that it pushed aside not only the pain of his injuries, but everything else that had been occupying his thoughts as well.

When the call was finished, Stone set the phone down in his lap and sat for several long moments, his astonishment so great that he couldn't speak. He found his voice presently, and immediately addressed the constable who was behind the wheel of the van. "Slater, go and fetch Mr Keating, tell him there's no need to remain there, no-one's coming to collect the ransom."

"What's going on?" Evans asked as Slater left the van.

"We've had a break," Stone told him. "The best we could have hoped for." The excitement in his voice made it clear to the others in the cramped van just how good the news was, even if it gave no hint of what the news was, fortunately he didn't make them wait to find out. "I don't have all the details right now, but it seems that Alice Keating has escaped her kidnappers."

It was Evans' turn to look astonished, a look he shared with his partner and with DS Burke. "Where is she?" he asked, curiosity and relief fighting for dominance over his features. "Is she alright?"

Stone shrugged, a move he immediately regretted. Once he had a measure of control over the pain, he said, "Wells didn't say; she's alive, and she's free of her kidnappers, but I don't know much more than that right now. I do know that uniformed officers and an ambulance have been despatched to Andrews' Tor Road, that's apparently where she was found."

"A bit out of the way," Burke remarked. "A good area to hide someone who's been kidnapped, no-one's going to think of looking out there without a good reason. I'd guess she was being held on a farm."

"You're probably right," Stone remarked. "There isn't much out there, other than farms. We'll find out soon enough anyway; as soon as we've apprised Mr Keating of this latest news, we'll be heading out there."

It didn't surprise Stone to see that Owen Keating was still with them when PC Slater brought the surveillance van to a stop at the side of the road, behind the patrol car and ambulance which had responded to the situation. He would have preferred that Keating had gone home, as he had advised, but Stone couldn't blame the man – if their situations had been reversed he didn't doubt that he would have ignored the advice, and insisted on being there to be sure that his daughter was alright.

Once out of the van, Stone made his slow way up the road to find out what the situation was, aware that he was being left behind by the faster moving Inspector Evans. He didn't let that trouble him, though.

"Where's Alice Keating?" Stone asked of the two constables standing by the Audi, and the man who, he assumed, was its driver. He looked around while he waited for an answer.

It fell to Constable Archer, the older and more senior of the two, to answer the question, "She's in the back of the ambulance, sir. The paramedics checked her over as soon as they got here and then put her in the back to rest her feet; she hurt 'em some running up the drive," he explained, gesturing to the dirt drive a short distance from them, which ran perpendicular to the road until it reached the yard surrounding a pleasant two-storey farmhouse.

Proving the constable's statement of where Alice Keating was, there came a cry of 'Daddy', followed by a rocking of the ambulance as the schoolgirl hurtled into sight from the rear of the emergency vehicle to throw herself into her father's arms, seeking his comfort.