by John Marrs
The technician moved slowly, leaning half his body inside the vehicle. However, the camera was attached to the other half of his chest and was pressed against the bodywork, covering the lens. “Move!” she yelled.
Eventually, he pushed himself farther inside Jude’s car until the camera captured the entire interior.
It was empty.
CHAPTER 56
Libby stared at the vacant space inside Jude’s vehicle, her eyes as wide open as her mouth.
“Where . . . where is he?” she gasped, and turned to the jurors.
A bewildered Fiona stared back at her, eyebrows arched and shaking her head. Libby looked to the rest of the room in the hope someone else might be able to offer her an explanation. But they were all equally dumbfounded, including Jack. “Did we miss him in the dust cloud?” Libby continued. “Did he get out and run and we just didn’t see it?”
“Someone would have spotted him, I’m sure,” Matthew replied.
“Then where is he?”
“I’m sorry, I have no idea.”
Fiona pointed to the screen. “Look at the back seats of his car. Didn’t Jude have a rucksack and empty food boxes spread across them? Why are they now empty?”
Libby reached for the rim of the table and grabbed it to steady herself.
“Take deep breaths,” said Matthew. “Could someone get her some water, please?”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” insisted Libby, but it was clear to all that she wasn’t. One of Cadman’s assistants obliged, and Libby gulped down half a bottle without hesitating. “You’re dehydrated,” said Matthew, “and probably a little in shock too.”
Libby looked back towards the screen and into Jude’s empty car. She racked her brain, trying to come up with an explanation. If he hadn’t escaped, there could only be one.
Jude had never been a Passenger.
“What’s happening over there?” asked Fiona suddenly, and pointed to the top left-hand side of the screen. Elsewhere, a fire truck had pulled away from the scene and collided with two parked cars. A second truck followed suit, seemingly travelling of its own accord. It was pursued by a handful of cars nudging one another to get out of tight parking spaces. Meanwhile some made it a few hundred metres up the road before they collided with other cars. Some accelerated to faster speeds before hitting random objects. More appeared to be targeting groups of spectators, forcing them to drive to safety.
The footage suddenly returned to a helicopter above the city. Every few seconds it focused on another crash, and before long, cameras struggled to keep up with the frequency.
Without warning, a news anchor’s voice returned to the speakers. “And we are getting unconfirmed reports of a series of collisions on roads across the country,” she began. “Eyewitnesses are telling us they’re seeing cars, vans, and buses, with and without Passengers, driving head-on into other vehicles.”
Suddenly from the street outside came a bang followed by the sound of glass shattering, muffled screams, and panicked yelling.
Libby felt any remaining colour drain from her face. “This was the Hacker’s plan all along,” she said in a low voice, the words barely able to escape her constricted throat. “It wasn’t to make the Passengers collide, but everyone else instead.”
PART THREE
SIX MONTHS LATER
| | | UK NEWS
A TWO-MINUTE SILENCE TO MARK THE SIX-MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HACKING ATTACK THAT LEFT 1,120 DEAD AND MORE THAN 4,000 INJURED ACROSS THE COUNTRY WILL BEGIN AT 11 A.M.
Follow link for full story.
CHAPTER 57
WORLD EXCLUSIVE!
“I wish Ben could have met his son.”
Passenger Claire Arden invites New & Now Magazine into her newly renovated home to meet baby Tate.
It’s been a whirlwind six months for Claire Arden since she found international recognition as one of the final five Passengers.
In front of an estimated audience of three billion people, the former teaching assistant from Peterborough went into labour in her hijacked car, giving birth to her son, Tate, two months prematurely and moments after being rescued.
And during her ordeal she kept hidden the dead body of her husband, Ben, in the boot of her car.
In the second part of our exclusive interview, Claire, 27, tells New & Now how she has adjusted to life as a single mum and her plans for the future.
Tate became the world’s most famous baby even before he was born. How will you explain to him the trauma of that day?
Obviously I’ll wait until he is old enough to understand, but I won’t keep anything from him. We went through something unique together and I’ll never let him forget that he’s my little miracle.
How have you coped in the aftermath?
It’s something I have to deal with on a daily basis. After Tate and Ben, the hijacking is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I started counselling recently to help me try to process and come to terms with everything, and slowly, I think I’m moving in the right direction.
By admitting to putting Ben’s body in your car, you broke the law. How did the police respond?
They were very understanding. A few days after I gave birth in the back of the ambulance, they questioned me and I admitted to what I did and why, which I’ll talk more about in my book. Later, when the inquest confirmed it was a ruptured aneurysm that killed Ben, the police accepted I wasn’t thinking straight and I ended up with a caution.
On reflection, do you think Ben’s plan could have worked?
I don’t know what I was thinking. All I know was that I was grieving and trying to put the best interests of our son first. Looking back, once we’d reached Ben’s car park, it was unlikely that I’d have been able to move him from the boot and into the front of the car. He was a big, strong man. It was a plan that came out of grief and desperation.
It’s been widely reported that you were forced to leave your job. What happened?
Unfortunately, yes. I loved working as a teaching assistant but when the attention became too much, it wasn’t a position that was tenable any longer. But I’ve just finished writing my autobiography and I’ve been shooting my Lose the Baby Weight TV series, which starts streaming next month. Also, on Monday, Tate and I are flying to Los Angeles to spend the rest of the year working on my fly-on-the-wall reality series.
What do you think Ben would have made of what’s happened to you since becoming a Passenger?
I think he’d be really proud of how I’ve handled it. All he ever wanted was to provide for our son, even after his death. And while that didn’t happen in the way he hoped, that’s exactly what I’m doing.
How do you react to criticism that you have exploited your position as a Passenger to make money?
I’ve made no bones about the fact that I now have a media career because of my ordeal. But I’d give it all away in a heartbeat if I could have Ben back with me. Tate and I deserve every single penny of what we’ve earned. Unless you lost your partner suddenly, were trapped in a hijacked car, driving to your death while going into labour, then you have no idea what kind of hell that was! I’ve not been able to travel in anything higher than a Level Two car since, and even then, it’s with the doors unlocked and windows open. I sleep two, maybe three hours a night before waking up in a cold sweat, and I’m constantly worried how the trauma might affect Tate in later life. If I’m offered money because of that, then yes, I’m going to take it. Any decent mother would.
Have you met any of your fellow Passengers?
I’ve met Heidi Cole several times now, and we email and text frequently. We’ve become really good friends and I’ve asked her to be Tate’s godmother when I get him christened on my reality show. I’ve not met her husband though, and don’t have any desire to after what he put her through.
> Finally, what do you think happened to Jude Harrison?
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I honestly don’t know. I mean, I know he wasn’t really a Passenger and likely played a big part in the hacking. All I can say from my interaction with him was that he was very kind and genuinely seemed to care about my safety. But you never really know anyone, do you?
CHAPTER 58
The corridor was bustling with people of all ages, huddled in groups, disappearing into side rooms, or queuing for vending machines. Heidi Cole was sitting on a solid wooden bench in the corner, the back of her head resting against the wall. Behind her sunglasses, her eyes were closed but she remained alert for telltale signs that she’d been recognised as a Passenger.
Conversation between friends often stopped when they passed her or she’d hear the rustling of a hand inside a pocket to grab a phone that would begin recording her. If her eyes were open, she would have seen today’s onlookers clocking her, glancing away, then taking a sneaky second peek. She would not have tried to stop them; she’d grown used to the attention over the last six months. Besides, there were worse things that could happen than having her image appear on social media. She and two other Passengers knew that better than most. Even if she had wanted privacy, she would not get it today. It was her fourth court appearance and the day of her sentencing.
Her mother, Penny, broke the silence. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Because I’ve barely heard a peep from you all afternoon.”
“I think I’m all talked out, to be honest. I’ve pleaded guilty, now I just want this to be over.”
“You just need to be a little more patient. You had to let your solicitor do her thing and explain your, oh, what’s it called?”
“Mitigating circumstances.”
“Yes, them. Fingers crossed the magistrate will be sympathetic and not want to make an example of you. She looks friendly, doesn’t she? I still think you should have pleaded not guilty though.”
“And gone to trial? It’s not fair to put the kids under that level of scrutiny after what they’ve been through. Besides, I’d be saying I did nothing wrong, and they’ve heard enough lies from their dad to last them a lifetime. They need to know that they have at least one parent who will step up and admit when they’ve done wrong.”
“The Crown Prosecution Service had no right in charging you. How can this be in the public interest?”
“Because I’m still public property. If the CPS hadn’t acted, they’d be accused of bias.”
“Why are you always defending them?”
Heidi shook her head. “I’m not, but, Mum, I did it; the world knows I did it. I was a police officer who blackmailed her husband and accessed highly sensitive data on a police computer for my own ends.”
“I don’t care. That bastard husband of yours deserves every bit of misery you put him through. He should’ve been sent to prison for marrying another woman. In my eyes, a slap on the wrist and a suspended sentence isn’t justice.”
“You have to let it go. What’s done is done. I’ve moved on and I don’t recognise that scorned ex they keep portraying me as in the papers.”
Suddenly, a shadow alerted them to someone’s presence. They turned to look up, and both were surprised to see Sam.
“Heidi, can I have a moment . . .” he began.
“Speak of the devil,” snapped Penny, clambering to her feet. “You can bugger off and leave my daughter alone.”
“It’s okay,” Heidi replied.
“No, it’s not.” She jabbed at Sam’s chest with her finger. “You’ve destroyed her life, her career . . .”
“Mum, you’re causing a scene,” continued Heidi, rising to her feet. “Look.”
Penny glanced around her. The corridor had become hushed as spectators watched husband and wife together for the first time since the hijacking of their vehicles. Some brandished phones, and others used their glasses to record what they were witnessing. “Go on, mind your own business,” Penny chided, and tried to shoo them away.
“Just give me five minutes, then I’ll go away,” Sam continued.
Heidi pointed to an empty side room farther along the corridor. “Over there.”
As the door closed behind them, she removed her sunglasses and took him in. He hadn’t put the weight back on that he’d lost throughout the period she was blackmailing him. His temples were greyer, and his receding hairline and balding crown had almost connected. She noted the plain silver band on his wedding ring finger. Throughout their marriage he had refused to wear a ring, claiming he wasn’t a jewellery kind of person. She assumed he had told Josie the same thing. Now that they were apart, he only had one wife to answer to, and she guessed he was placating her. When he saw her eyes upon it, he moved his hand behind his back.
When Heidi looked at Sam, she didn’t see the man she was once in love with, only the one who had wounded her so deeply. All conversations since their release from their vehicles had been through lawyers. She knew that one day they would come face-to-face again but she wouldn’t have invited it. Now that he was here, it wasn’t as awful as she imagined. She felt nothing for him.
“I’m sorry to just turn up, but you wouldn’t answer my calls or reply to my emails and I didn’t want to say this through our solicitors. But it’s important you know how sorry I am. I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“You know what, I’ve come to understand that I don’t think you meant it to happen either. You’re not a bad person, Sam, you’re just a stupid, selfish, gutless one.”
“That’s fair,” he replied.
“How is Josie?”
“She’s okay, a bit weak these past few days, but doing well. The scar is healing and she finished her final round of chemo on Monday.”
“I’m glad. And you and her?” It felt peculiar asking her husband about the woman in his life, but it didn’t upset her.
“We’re working on it. We’re in therapy.”
“Wow.” Heidi laughed. “You really are a new man, aren’t you?”
“When all this is over, she would like to meet you, properly this time.”
“I’m not sure . . .”
“It would mean a lot to her. I think she just wants to reassure you that she didn’t know anything about you. And I know you don’t owe me anything, but it would mean a lot to me too if you’d consider it.”
“Let me think about it.”
“Thank you. Have you heard anything about your job yet?”
“No, they’ll wait until sentencing before they announce when the disciplinary procedure begins. But it’s a certainty they’ll sack me and I’ll lose my police pension.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I take full responsibility for what I did.”
“We secured another contract last week to refurbish council offices in Halifax. So I’ll make sure you don’t go short.”
Heidi didn’t thank him. She didn’t want his guilt money, but with her suspension without pay, she was reluctantly reliant on his earnings until she found something else.
“The kids seem to be getting on with their new half-siblings, at least that’s what they tell me,” she said.
“They are. The same can’t be said about mine and Josie’s two though. They haven’t forgiven me for only talking about our Beccy and James when I was trapped in the car.”
“Give them time. They need to get to know you properly, all of them do. Kids are usually much older than ours before they discover their parents are human and can let them down. All four of them have had to learn that lesson from not just one but both parents and at the same time and in front of their friends and the whole world. You were never really there for them before the hijacking. Now you can be honest and be the dad they deserve. In the end, they’ll forgive you.”
“
And you?”
“And me what?”
“Will you forgive me?”
“I already have.” She glanced around the room. “Look where being angry has got me.”
“What’ll you do next?”
“I’m not sure.” Heidi shrugged. “The best-case scenario is that I’m given a suspended sentence and a community service order. I’ve had offers to do some consultancy work for private detective agencies, public speaking, and even some research for TV documentaries. I’ll wait and see. Anyway, I’m likely to be called back in any minute so you’d best go.”
“It was good to see you.”
Heidi didn’t reciprocate. Instead, she slipped her sunglasses back on before opening the door. “One last thing,” she added. “Make sure you look after Josie, okay? She deserves a better husband than I had. You have a second chance with a good woman. I hope all that we went through has changed you as much as it has me.”
“It has,” he replied, before turning around and disappearing into a crowded corridor.
CHAPTER 59
OnlineMailNews.co.uk
SOFIA BRADBURY’S DEATH WAS SUICIDE, CORONER RULES
Actress died from overdose and self-inflicted stab wounds.
By TOM ATKINSON for ONLINEMAILNEWS
PUBLISHED 14:09. UPDATED 17:06.
SHAMED actress Sofia Bradbury ended her life minutes before the hijacked car she was told she was about to die inside was halted at the last moment, an inquest has been told.
The seventy-eight-year-old Golden Globe winner, who was one of the final five Passengers in April’s hijack, took an overdose of tablets and used a shard of glass from a broken tumbler to fatally injure herself.