Birdcage

Chapter 21 Dane...

I thought I was doing the right thing. When I received that message from Lila, saying that she was going home I thought I was doing the right thing by not pursuing her. I figured she would get the space she needed and it would give me an opportunity to finish with this case while Lila is safe in Norfolk. My first instinct, once I realised she had heard Gwen's lies, was to stop her from leaving and force her to listen to me – to believe me. When I got downstairs and found Greg stood holding two cups of coffee, and a look of confusion on his face, I knew she had bolted. I tried to call her a few times to no avail, and just as I was about to head straight to her house, I got the text. I was still going to go, but Gwen appeared with the news that Stephen Gough-Whitaker's body had been found in a motel room on the outskirts of Chicago. Extensive bruising to the body was a tell-tale sign that he had taken quite a kicking, but they told us cause of death was most likely due to the single bullet hole in the side of his head.

This stopped me in my tracks and I knew that first priority was getting Maisie into custody; I just hoped Lila would have already left by the time that happened. However, when we arrived at their house in Notting Hill, and discovered the body of Maisie - as well as a holdall bag filled with Lila's belongings at the bottom of the stairs - I felt my heart break in two. Where was Lila when this happened, and why didn't she take her stuff with her? I did a quick walk through with Gwen who had insisted on coming with, and we discovered a second body in a pretty grisly state. It appeared they had an object penetrating their throat, and due to all the blood, I couldn't see if I recognised them. That was the last thing on my mind though; all I was bothered about was Lila.

Police officers and forensics met us there, and they took care of the bodies and the crime scene. I was struggling to keep myself together at this point and on the verge of storming every single one of Nikolai's haunts until I found out where she was. I pulled my phone out again with the intentions of trying Lila's number for the hundredth time, but before I could, my phone rang in my hands with Greg's name illuminated on the screen. I begrudgingly answered and he instructed me to get back to headquarters as soon as possible. By the tone of his voice, I knew it was important.

This is where I am now – back at headquarters and holding the god dam hard drive in my hands. I rotate it through my fingers, trying to figure out if this is all just a dream. It's the real deal too; Greg informed me that he had already plugged it into his computer and checked it out. It's almost hypnotising me, until Greg pulls my attention back to him, to let me know the two guys that brought it in were still here. Two guys? I walk straight into interview room two, and nearly choke on my own surprise when I see Robbie and Jude sat in the two chairs.

"Robbie, what are you doing here?" How could he have possibly come into possession of the hard drive? And in that moment, I already understand that it must have been Lila.

"Dane, I have no idea what's going on; Lila just appeared on my door step, covered in blood and-" I hold my hand up to stop him there, unable to focus on anything other than the fact that Lila was potentially hurt.

"Wait, what do you mean covered in blood; was she hurt?" I ask him urgently.

His expression changes to one that looks as if he has to think hard, before he answers, "No I don't think she was – not that she let on anyway. If anything, I would say the blood was someone else's." Someone else's? A picture forms in my head and fills me with a little bit of hope. The second body; could Lila have done that? I think back to the night in the alleyway and believe that it's a possibility. She has surprised me at every twist and turn since we first met and I don't think she intends on stopping now; she's extraordinary.

"Sorry, carry on," I encourage him, wanting to hear his full story.

"Well, I let her into the house, but she wouldn't tell me anything- she just kept saying there was no time and that she would explain everything to me later. She then asked for an envelope, wrote out a note and asked me to deliver it all here." He looks at me almost apologetically, like he should have more answers but little does he know I am eternally grateful for all that he has done tonight.