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  Coming out of the home office, Madison’s demeanor had altered. Gone was the deep furrow between her eyebrows, her features had smoothened into a mask of disbelief. She blinked at her dad. ‘It’s back,’ she confirmed. ‘All of it.’

  Sampson spread his hands, smiling amiably. ‘As I promised it was. That isn’t to say that your next payment isn’t due in line with the original agreed timetable. Between now and then, Kelly expects you to have raised considerably more funds. Now,’ Sampson regarded the elephants in the room, causing Hayley and Jacob to stare back at him in miscomprehension, ‘how are we going to handle the unfortunate situation that has arisen? Namely, that your presence here has attracted the attention of a private investigator.’

  The couple glanced at each other. Jacob was quivering, his emotions a mess. Surprisingly to Sampson, the girl snapped at him. ‘I told you that you didn’t have to stay. You can go home now. I won’t be going back with you.’

  ‘Hayley, I know but—’

  Hayley ignored him. She met Sampson’s gaze, and in hers was the red of outrage. ‘The private investigator won’t be back. She did her job and now I’ve got nothing to do with her. I made it clear to my mom I won’t be going back to Portland, and I told her not to look for me again.’

  Sampson nodded at her assertion, although he wasn’t as sure as she was.

  ‘I’m telling you,’ Hayley said stridently, ‘Tess won’t be looking for me again. Why would she if she isn’t being paid? And before you ask, the answer’s no. She has no idea about Maddie’s insurance scam, I didn’t mention it, she never asked me about it, so you don’t have to worry about her informing the cops on us.’

  For a few seconds Sampson ruminated. Hayley was possibly right, without a paying client, the investigator would most likely move on. Her curiosity might’ve been piqued by the goings on in Bangor, but there was no profit in digging around further. Knowing full well how the world worked, Sampson decided Tess Grey required remuneration for her time and energy and with nobody behind her with an open cheque book, she’d have to seek work elsewhere. Last night Tess told Dom and Temperance she’d called the police; she hadn’t, it was a bluff. Ergo, with no evidence to offer them, it was unlikely she’d contacted them since, or would do so in the future. Sampson turned his scrutiny on Jacob.

  ‘I know Hayley plays an integral part in the scam,’ he said, ‘but what good do you do?’

  ‘Uh, I …’ Jacob looked to Hayley, then at the Toners for support, but nobody came to his defense.

  ‘Other than having a crush on Hayley, and being a handy taxi driver when she needs one, I don’t see your worth to the operation, son. I mean, look at you, you aren’t even handy to keep around as muscle. But still,’ Sampson wagged a finger in the air, ‘you’ve profited from the operation, at the risk of blowing it wide open.’

  Jacob gawped, unclear of his meaning. Sampson was clear on how Maddie’s scam worked. Hayley enticed their young victims through targeted advertisements on the social media platforms, drawing in young and inexperienced drivers with the promise of cut-rate insurance cover. Posing as a broker, Maddie blatantly ripped them off. She input the personal details of older, often but not exclusively female drivers, and an inexpensive vehicle, through various price comparison websites, applying for the one with the lowest tariff. Armed with a quote, she would then replace the bogus information with that of the victim and their car. Nine times out of ten the victim would be won over by the seemingly unbeatable quote and pay up for a year’s cover, into one of several accounts unbeknown to them set up by Maddie. Again with the bogus details, she would apply for the insurance cover, and once she was the recipient of it she’d manipulate the policy certificate and accompanying documents as she had before, and forward these to the happy customer. Shortly after, using the cooling off period offered by the insurance company, she’d cancel the policy, and the cash was refunded to her account. Unless an accident occurred, or the customer was stop-checked and investigated thoroughly by the police, the young drivers remained blissfully ignorant they’d no cover. It was, until now, a foolproof scheme that’d already netted Maddie several hundred thousand dollars. With Jacob, he’d been given friends’ rates, where he’d gotten the cheap cover, but Maddie had not subsequently stolen his payment. Sampson doubted the boy knew his policy was worthless when it still existed under the bogus details of an elderly man. It confirmed to Sampson the boy’s genuine value to the girls: beyond being Hayley’s driver he too was worthless.

  ‘You’ve got to go, son,’ Sampson stated.

  ‘Wha … whaddaya mean?’ Again Jacob sought support from Hayley, but she turned from him and stood next to Maddie. Both girls eyed him coolly.

  ‘Kid,’ said Sampson, ‘it’s easier for me to see being an outsider, but you don’t fit into this scenario. Hayley doesn’t want you here, Maddie certainly doesn’t. Best thing for you is to save some dignity and walk away under your own steam.’

  ‘No, man! Hayley … tell him!’

  ‘He’s right,’ Hayley replied with a look of disdain for Jacob. She clutched Maddie’s offered hand in solidarity. ‘It isn’t working, Jakey. Truth is, it never did work. I already told you this when you drove me back here this morning. I said you were a friend, but that’s all we could be.’

  Jacob croaked out a string of pleas, in total denial. Sampson felt sorry for the guy, but he wouldn’t let his own feelings get in the way of a result. ‘Kid, do yourself a favor. Walk away.’

  ‘No, I’m not going. Hayley … please, we can work this out!’

  Sampson took a quick survey, and was rewarded by a trio of accepting nods.

  ‘Get your stuff, Jacob. Leave on your own two feet. The alternative is I take you out when I leave.’

  Jacob had heard enough. ‘Fuck you! And fuck you, Hayley! Everyone warned me what you were. But I wouldn’t listen. I thought you were better than this. Yeah, well, more fool me.’ He jabbed a finger at Maddie. ‘You two are a good match; a pair of goddamn manipulative bitches, but that’s what will ruin you. Don’t come crying to me when you crash and burn, Hayley, ’cause I won’t be there to pick you up again.’

  Sampson was impressed. He nodded at the kid. ‘Well done, son. Now let’s go.’

  ‘Fuck you! Don’t come near me. I’m going!’ Jacob stormed down the hall and out of the door. Curses filtered to them as he descended the stairs. There was an air of relief between the girls that Jacob was gone; perhaps he hadn’t taken Hayley’s word for it before and she’d been longing for a situation like this to get shot of him. Apparently Maddie had already urged her to send him packing. Only Mike Toner looked sorry for the boy.

  ‘Can we rely on him to keep quiet about what you’re doing here?’ Sampson asked.

  ‘He can’t squeal to anyone without landing himself in trouble,’ Maddie said.

  ‘True,’ agreed Sampson, and turned to leave.

  The problem was, scorned and embarrassed, Jacob might feel that the price he’d pay for revenge was worth it.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Tess didn’t trust Jeff Lorton to heed her advice. He wished to explain, to make amends with his estranged daughter, and couldn’t do so by staying out of sight and hearing. She hadn’t given him Madison’s address, but with barely any difficulty he’d likely acquire it from Jessie, and head on up to Bangor on a fool’s errand of reconciliation. It was too soon for him to approach Hayley and try to convince her that he was not the deadbeat dad he’d been written off as, and that all would be perfect now that she’d heard the truth direct. She was too confused, too angry, too wrapped up in her own feelings than to give more than a second’s passing notice to Jeff’s. Showing up at Maddie’s place, he would only worsen matters, especially if Hayley learned that Jessie was the one to have sent him. She’d feel doubly betrayed. The girl would most probably respond with a fit of anger and further rebellion directed at both parents.

  Tess asked Po to take them back to Maddie’s apartment, where they’d be in place to divert Lorton a
way when he inevitably arrived. Easier done was to contact the guy and talk him out of going through with his unhelpful plan, however each time Tess attempted to call him his cellphone went unanswered. Assuming he’d guessed her reason for phoning him back, Lorton – it seemed – was deliberately avoiding her. Which meant, she decided, he was already en route to Bangor, having again recruited his old buddy Bob to drive him there in his truck. She couldn’t be certain, of course, but was unprepared to ignore the probability. Po wasn’t fussed at her request, being happy to drive to Bangor as anywhere else. Finding her brooding on the porch that morning, he’d fully expected how his day might play out.

  Last night’s storm was the first of many forecasted for Maine. Presently there was a lull, the sky mainly blue, although a steel colored band had hovered over the eastern horizon since last time Tess checked. Hopefully they could reach Bangor before the next storm shrieked in. Getting home would be another matter. It all depended on how long they spent staking out Maddie’s apartment. For the journey, Po had brought a sturdy four-wheel drive GMC SUV; it didn’t have the speed of his Mustang but was better suited to bad weather if they were caught in it.

  During the drive, Tess brought Po up to speed on what she’d learned about Dom, Temperance and the people most likely to be controlling their actions, Blake and Kelly Ambrose. As Emma Clancy had, he wondered why anyone at the helm of a successful enterprise such as BK-Rose would waste their time on blackmailing small potatoes scammers. But he’d shrugged at his own skepticism. ‘I guess some folks are just cut from that kinda cloth,’ he decided.

  ‘It’s speculation,’ Tess admitted, ‘but I think Maddie and her dad are only the tip of a lucrative iceberg. I’ve no proof, but get the sense the property portfolio they manage ties directly to the victims they’re extorting.’

  ‘Maybe,’ he said. One way of finding evidence against the Ambrose couple would be to visit the list of BK-Rose Holdings’ properties and ask tenants outright if they were being leaned on; sooner rather than later somebody would spill the truth. That route would have to wait; Tess’s priority was stopping further harm coming to Hayley and her coconspirators. ‘Any clue yet what kind of dirt Maddie’s got on her hands?’

  ‘It shames me to admit I haven’t the faintest idea.’ Tess’s admission wasn’t entirely true. She’d figured out that the operation conducted from Maddie’s home office involved parting unsuspecting victims with their cash, but how still remained a mystery. Whatever her scheme, it had proven successful enough that she’d had to recruit assistance from both her father and Hayley, and also attracted the attention of criminals intent on taking a hearty slice of the profit. She’d wondered if Hayley’s reason for going incognito on the social network sites had more to do with concealing her criminal activity than avoiding her adoptive mother. INS: the initials that Tess had discovered listed alongside Jacob Doyle’s other contacts deserved deeper scrutiny, because now Tess believed it was the disguise Hayley was hiding behind and could explain what the girl had gotten involved in.

  It was just a shame she hadn’t gotten to ride back with Hayley and Jacob the evening before, because during the journey she was sure she could’ve prized the details out of them. Now that Hayley had had second thoughts and returned to help Maddie, she’d be tighter lipped than during the low point she was at when she’d abandoned ship yesterday. Jacob was an easier target to work on; he’d do anything to please Hayley, within reason, but threatened with possible imprisonment Tess was certain he’d turn informant. It saddened her to think in those terms; lovesick Jacob was being used, and she still couldn’t believe Hayley, Maddie or Mike Toner were criminals, not of the genuine, despicable variety, but people who’d made some stupid decisions. However, the courts wouldn’t see things that way; all four could be imprisoned, Jacob as a conspirator.

  ‘Whatever Maddie’s got going, it’s wrong,’ Tess said, ‘but she doesn’t deserve to be terrorized by armed thugs. None of them do. You saw her father’s face, right? Before Pinky and I made it inside, that Dom guy had struck him and cut his face open. Not only that, but when he first arrived at the building, he looked as if he’d been roughed up before that. Mike Toner’s taking his beatings without fighting back and there’s only one reason for it; he’s protecting Maddie from them. That tells me that some pretty strong threats have been made against her in order to control him.’

  ‘As long as they obey instructions, they should be OK,’ Po pointed out. He was playing devil’s advocate.

  ‘In good conscience I can’t stand by knowing that people are being scammed out of their money, so I can’t let Maddie and the others get away with this. Either they stop or I will report my suspicions to the police. But more so, until I can convince them to stop, I can’t turn a blind eye to them being terrorized either.’

  ‘Yeah.’ He ruminated. ‘I still think we should go direct to the bad guys. So what if Lorton turns up and tries convincing his daughter he’s not the bad guy? We ain’t the ones to referee them when the inevitable bitchin’ and pleadin’ match begins.’

  ‘I’m more concerned that he’ll arrive at the wrong time and run foul of Dom and Temperance. They might hurt him to prove a point.’

  ‘Might not be the worst thing to happen. Maybe if Hayley witnesses her dad taking a beatin’ for her it’ll prove he isn’t a total waste of oxygen.’

  Tess snorted. ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, frowning. ‘Not my finest of ideas, huh? For the record though, I was only joking. When I think about it, it’d be best for Hayley to learn why she was really orphaned, and it might change her opinion of her dad.’

  For Po, the reasons behind his mother’s abandonment of him hadn’t come to light until she was on her deathbed. Finally learning the truth hadn’t made up for how his life had turned out in the aftermath of her leaving, but he’d forgiven her and that at least unburdened a weight off his soul. Plus he’d gained a sister he’d never known in Emilia. So good had come out of making peace with his mom. The same could be said for Hayley and Jeff given a chance.

  ‘I agree,’ she said, ‘just not yet. Hayley’s head is messed up right now, and unsurprisingly after just finding out her whole life has been based on lies. It doesn’t matter that those lies were told with her best interests at heart, they were still untrue. This thing she has going with the Toners; if you ask me Hayley’s normally too headstrong and astute a character to get involved in it. Right now she’s weak. Mixed-up as she is, it’s something to keep her mind off her personal problems. Even the Toners’ trouble with Dom and Temperance is a distraction for her. Given time to think things over, I’m hopeful she’ll do the right thing and go home. But right now she doesn’t want to face up to, never mind accept, Jeff’s her dad, and him showing up at Maddie’s isn’t going to change that.’

  ‘Yeah, but what gives us the right to send Jeff packing?’

  ‘I hope to appeal to his better senses.’

  Po grunted. ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst,’ he quoted.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Instead of finding Jeff Lorton, we could be walking back into a return visit from the bad guys. You said before, you thought they’d be back, more determined than ever, and they won’t be best pleased to see us again. Or worse, they’re happy ’cause we’ve saved them the inconvenience of comin’ looking for us.’

  It was Tess’s turn to grunt, because it was a genuine concern. ‘If we’re lucky we’ll have Hayley and the others safely out of the way before that happens.’

  They lapsed into thoughtful silence. During the journey Tess tried several more attempts at calling Jeff Lorton’s cellphone, but it remained unanswered. For the duration Po kept his own peace, undoubtedly by forming a battle plan for what he foresaw as an inevitable showdown sometime in the near future. All the while the next storm front pushed closer. They were on the last stretch of I-95, midway between Newport and Bangor when rain dotted the windshield. Within seconds it fell in torren
ts. Judging by the depth of puddles already at roadside, this wasn’t the first heavy downfall to hit the area. Here the interstate was separated by a wide grassy median, thickly planted with shrubs and trees. They almost missed the drama playing out on the southbound carriageway. Po caught snatches of flashing lights, and emergency workers in high-visibility jackets between the trees.

  He slowed dramatically, searching for a better view.

  ‘What is it?’ Tess asked.

  ‘Hold up one minute,’ he said, as he craned for a clearer view of a car wedged on its side between two scarred trees. Then they were past the accident scene. Traffic was light northbound, but Po had no intention of reversing into it. He touched the throttle again, looking for somewhere to mount the median. A quarter mile on, a single-track access point appeared. It was reserved for highway maintenance and emergency services vehicles only, but Po took it anyway and emerged onto the southern lanes. From there the number of emergency vehicles was more obvious, and even through the downpour Po picked out a fire truck, cop cars and an ambulance. Some traffic had stacked up, but a cop with a luminous baton was directing them past the accident scene. Po drew close to the back of the queue, then crawled the GMC forward.

  The car was on its side among the trees. The front was crushed; the roof compacted down to the doorframes. A brief but intense fire had scorched the rear of the car and the surrounding trees, but must have been doused by the previous torrential downpour. Emergency responders worked around the vehicle, but their lack of feverishness told the worst story. Even in that awful state, the car’s make and model was known to Po.

  He exchanged sickened glances with Tess.

  Her hand went to her suddenly pinched throat.

  ‘That’s Jacob Doyle’s Chrysler,’ Po confirmed.