by Carol Wyer
‘Where do you live?’
‘Buxton.’
Lucy was familiar with the popular spa town, the most elevated market town in England, nestled in the heart of the Peak District. It conjured happy memories of summer walks with Bethany, in the bucolic countryside or around the spectacular, ornamental parklands at Pavilion Gardens, hours in quaint coffee houses, nursing china cups of tea and discussing their future, and afternoons of adrenalin-filled fun, crossing high ropes in the dense woodland, high above the ground. They’d frequented Buxton and the surrounding area prior to Aurora’s birth but not since. In truth, they’d not managed any time for themselves. She shoved such thoughts to the back of her mind. Mr Bray was giving his address in Berwick Road. She scribbled it on the notepad in front of her, along with the Facebook page name, and thanked the man.
As soon as he rang off, she spoke to Andy. ‘Find out everything you can from the officers who were handling Katie Bray’s disappearance. Check out this Facebook page and comments and contact the person on it who claimed to have spotted Katie in Samford with a man. See if you can find out if Katie and Amelia are connected in any way. I’m going to interview her family.’
Andy took the note and slapped it onto his desk. ‘This appeal of yours wasn’t a complete waste of time, then.’
‘Is that your way of handing out a backhanded compliment?’ asked Lucy.
Andy’s lips twitched. ‘I suppose it is.’
It took Lucy and Natalie over an hour to reach the three-bedroomed, brown-brick, detached property in Buxton. Black cast-iron railings with white finials shaped like spearheads had been left open to allow access to the slabbed frontage, and they stopped in front of a white garage door. The front door, also white, sprang open before they knocked, and a baggy-eyed man with a full beard and moustache but bald head appeared.
‘Mr Bray? I’m DI Carmichael. We spoke on the phone. This is DCI Ward.’
‘Call me Phil.’ He shook hands with them both and ushered them into a warm, predominantly beige sitting room, where a young woman sat by the window, eyes on the television in front of her. She snapped it off and looked awkwardly at Lucy. A gas fire burned brightly and the house, filled with healthy houseplants and family clutter, had a pleasant feel to it.
‘This is my eldest, Sophia,’ said Phil. ‘My wife’s at work, and our youngest, Olivia, is at school. Would you like a cup of tea or anything?’
‘Thank you. That would be welcome,’ said Lucy.
‘Take a seat. I’ll leave you to chat to Sophia while I sort it. Sophia, remember what we discussed. Tell them everything.’
‘I promise,’ said the girl.
Lucy sat on the settee closest to her while Natalie chose an armchair at the opposite end of the small room from which she had a clear view of the girl’s face. Lucy made the introductions and then asked Sophia to tell them what she knew.
‘I met Tommy mid-July…’
Sophia reads the text she’s about to send Crystal, her best friend, who is on holiday with her family in Tenerife. Sophia’s dead jealous. Her family never go abroad on holiday, and this year they haven’t even managed their usual trip to Wales. Dad says they’ll go during the next half-term break instead, but it’ll be cold and miserable by then and she doesn’t fancy driving around the Welsh countryside with her two sisters in October. She might try and save enough money and go away with Crystal instead, although her take-home pay is pretty shit and she soon gets through it. She doesn’t notice the bloke sitting next to her on the round seat in The Springs Shopping Centre until he speaks.
‘Grabbed a bargain?’ he asks, nodding at the plastic sale bag beside her. He looks… cool, with eyes so pale they look almost white, frizzy dark hair tied in a man bun and a large circular earring in his left ear lobe. He’s wearing fashionable jeans, ripped at the right places, and although he’s slim, his T-shirt sits snugly enough to outline his chest muscles, and his biceps look firm. There’s something about him… a mystery… a sense of rebellious spirit as he stares at her, and her stomach gives a little flip.
‘Some trousers.’
‘Go on, then, show me what you got. I love a bargain.’
Without giving it any further thought, she reaches into the bag and pulls them out. She doesn’t know this man, who’s obviously older than her, but she does it anyway and he lets out a low whistle. ‘You’ll look hot in those,’ he says.
He doesn’t make her feel uncomfortable, and instead of continuing with his flirtatious conversation, he says, ‘I’m fucking stumped. I’ve got a niece who’s going to be three next week and I haven’t a bloody clue what to buy her.’
‘What about a soft toy?’
‘She’s got hundreds of them already,’ he replies, rolling his eyes. ‘Dogs, rabbits, bears… hundreds of sodding bears. I need to choose something really special.’
Sophia tries to think what Olivia liked when she was the same age. Her room was like a toy zoo. ‘Does she like colouring?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You could get her a colouring set.’
He gives her a smile that makes her veins fizz. ‘Brilliant idea. Look, I don’t suppose you’d spare me five minutes and help me choose it, would you? I’m useless. I love her to death but I never know what to buy her.’
‘Haven’t you got a girlfriend or sister to help you out?’
His eyes lock onto hers. ‘No. There’s nobody.’
‘Oh, okay.’ She finds herself agreeing, not because she wants to help him but because it means she can have more time with this intriguing stranger.
‘Afterwards, he bought me a drink at Stars Café, to say thanks, and then asked if he could see me again. I liked him.’ She chewed at her lips before speaking again.
‘I saw him two days later and we went to a pub out of town. My mum and dad would have gone mental if they’d found out. I was still underage then. He bought me several glasses of wine and we went to a nightclub. It was really… exciting. I’d not been out with anyone like him before. I didn’t tell my parents about him. They’d have… disapproved. He smoked, not only cigarettes but drugs, and he swore a lot. I told them I was with Crystal when I was really with him. It was going well until he met Katie.’
‘How did he meet her?
She swallowed hard. ‘A month later, Mum and Dad were out and I was left babysitting my younger sister, Olivia…’
Her heart is bashing against her ribcage. Olivia had kicked up a fuss about going to bed at seven o’clock but Sophia bribed her with the brand-new nail polish she’d bought. She’d really bought it for herself, but it was more important Olivia went to bed so she and Tommy wouldn’t be disturbed.
She’s wearing shorts and a crop top, showing off her bronzed belly. She used fake tan to create a sun-kissed glow, and looking at her reflection in the mirror, she’s pleased with the result. She looks sexy. Her phone buzzes with a message. Tommy is here and waiting outside in his van. She hastens downstairs and waves. He slides out of the van and heads towards her. ‘Wow! You look good enough to eat,’ he says.
He follows her into the sitting room and she’s flustered. This is the first time they’ve been alone in a house or a room together. ‘You want to watch a film?’ she asks.
He pulls her into his arms and plants his lips firmly on hers. The kiss is deep and passionate and his hands travel under her top, feeling her curves. She pulls away with a shy smile. He pulls her back towards him and says huskily, ‘No film. I want you.’ He expertly undoes the zip on her shorts, dragging them over her hips, hands probing at her underwear.
This isn’t how she imagined it would be. She thought they’d spend some time together, watch a film, have a drink, maybe make out a bit, but she hadn’t planned on stripping off and shagging here, in her parents’ sitting room. What if Olivia comes downstairs and catches them at it? His fingers are pushing inside her but she isn’t enjoying it. Now she has a vision of Olivia opening the sitting room door. ‘My sister—’
‘Is fast asleep. Come
on, Soph. You know how I feel about you.’
Two days ago, when they were in his van, he told her he was falling in love with her. She told him she felt the same way, and had it not been for some kids banging on the windows, they’d have probably ended up having sex there and then. She wants to do it but not in her parents’ front room with her kid sister upstairs. She wants the first time to be more romantic, maybe in a hotel or at his house. ‘I know but I don’t want to do it here,’ she says, hoping to explain.
Instead he pushes her away. ‘Why the fuck did you invite me around and get dressed like that then?’
She’s confused by his sudden anger. ‘I thought we could spend some time together.’
‘We have spent time together. It’s all we fucking do. I thought you were more mature than this. You’re acting like a kid – a little virgin scared of what will happen.’
She feels the heat rise in her cheeks. She hasn’t slept with anyone before but she hasn’t admitted it, not even to Crystal, who thinks Sophia lost her virginity at the same party she did. The anticipation that had been building all day evaporates in an instant and she mumbles, ‘I’m not scared.’
‘Then stop acting like a stupid cow.’
He moves towards her again and she takes a step backwards.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, stop pissing about. I could have been out with my mates tonight but I came here instead. I’ve driven fucking miles to be with you.’
She doesn’t answer. She can’t understand how it’s turned sour. Suddenly he speaks more gently. ‘Okay. I get it. Let’s watch the sodding film or whatever you want to do. I misread the situation, okay? What have you chosen? Better not be some girlie crap.’ He laughs.
She’s relieved. Thank goodness he’s not mad about this. She sits on the settee and he drops beside her, puts his arm around her, and she turns on the film.
‘You still look hot. It’s your fault I got horny,’ he says.
She smiles widely and he drops a kiss on her head.
They’re ten minutes into the film when the door bursts open. Katie stands in the doorway and eyeballs the pair before sauntering in and dropping into the seat. Katie always looks outlandish in what she calls urban gear, and tonight she’s wearing ripped tights and boots, a white-and-black shift top that barely covers her thighs and a black fedora; the ensemble, combined with deep burgundy lipstick, makes her look older than fifteen.
She glares at Tommy. ‘Who the fuck is this, then?’ she asks, cockily, making Sophia want to slap her. She’s always rude and her attitude sucks. She’s about to apologise for her shitty sister but sees Tommy grinning.
‘Tommy. Who the fuck are you?’
‘Mind your own business,’ she replies. ‘Mum and Dad know about him?’ she says to Sophia.
‘No.’
‘Oh, okay.’ She gets to her feet and wanders back to the door, stopping only to say, ‘Don’t make too much noise, eh?’ She makes a series of grunts and oh-oh-oh noises, laughs then departs.
Sophia sighed again. ‘I made her promise not to breathe a word to Mum and Dad about Tommy and she was cool about it. Tommy stopped messaging me after that night. I thought it might have been because I’d refused to have sex with him. I had no idea it was because of Katie until two weeks later, when I saw him drop her off outside. We had a fight about it… a proper fight. I told her I wished she was dead. She stormed off upstairs and I didn’t realise she’d gone until later, when Mum and Dad came home.’ She looked at the remote control in her hand and rubbed her fingers over the buttons. ‘I was really mad at her.’
‘You had no idea she’d started seeing Tommy?’ asked Lucy.
‘I didn’t have a clue, and all the time I was in tears, wondering why he’d suddenly ditched me and was ghosting me, she’d been seeing him. Even though she knew how much I cared about him. I shared all my secrets with her, told her exactly how I felt about him, listened to her advice, and I hated her for pretending to care, for telling me Tommy was a worthless piece of shit and how I deserved better. She came out with so much bullshit when all the time she was actually laughing behind my back, with him, with my boyfriend, and I still hate her for that. Dad and Mum have been going out of their heads about her. They want her to come home.’
‘And you?’
‘Honestly? I don’t give a shit. I’ll never forgive her. Not only for stealing Tommy but being so selfish she ran away and never even tried to contact Mum and Dad or even Olivia, to stop them worrying. Olivia’s cried so much since she left. At one point, she even thought it was her fault that Katie walked out. Katie obviously doesn’t give a shit about anyone other than herself. If she does come back, it won’t ever be the same between us. She’s ruined everything. She hasn’t had to live in this house and put up with the fallout. She only thinks about herself and I’m only talking to you because of my parents. I don’t want them to suffer any longer.’
‘You can help us a lot by telling us what you know about Tommy.’
‘Like what?’
‘For instance, his job. Did Tommy tell you what he did for a living?’
‘Not really. He said he had a boring job and was looking for something else.’
‘And he drove a van?’
‘Yes. It was white and quite old.’
Lucy thought back to Rob’s statement. He’d spotted a plain van in West Gate car park. It might have been the same van.
‘Did he ever mention anyone called Amelia to you?’
‘No.’
‘What about his niece? Did he mention her name?’
‘No, but he told me she was happy with the colouring set.’
‘Did he tell you anything about his life, where he lived, anything at all?’
She shook her head. ‘He was renting a flat in Nottingham but was looking to move when he changed jobs, and his parents lived somewhere in Dorset.’
‘He didn’t show you any photos of his family or his home?’
‘Never.’
‘What did you talk about?’
‘Stuff.’
‘Like what?’
She shrugged. ‘Stuff. Nothing heavy.’
‘What about his phone number?’
‘After he finished with me, he changed his number. The officer who was looking into Katie’s disappearance tried to contact him too but the phone didn’t work.’
‘Did you have contact with him on any social media sites?’
‘No, we sent each other text messages or rang. He said that stuff was for young kids.’ Sophia seemed to shrink into her shoulders. ‘I feel so stupid. I didn’t know him at all. I thought I did, but I didn’t.’
Phil appeared, carrying a tray. He set cups on the table, all the while talking. ‘The police have been trying to locate Katie since August but haven’t had a single lead. They couldn’t track her phone or find any clue to suggest where she’d gone. Obviously, Sophia told us about the row they had over a lad called Tommy, and the police followed up on him but that led nowhere. He vanished into thin air. There was no sign of him or Katie. Anyway, that’s why we set up the Facebook page. It’s got about 5,000 followers now, and last week we heard from a woman, Dee Neilson, in Samford, who was sure she’d seen Katie and a man matching Tommy’s description near a store called Hardy’s. Do you know it?’
‘Yes, we know it,’ said Lucy, aware the first victim was discovered by a sales rep who’d been visiting the store.
‘I took Katie’s photograph with me to Samford and showed it to all the shopkeepers along the main street, and the staff at Hardy’s. I walked around and around the shopping area, even asked passers-by and shoppers, but nobody recognised her or had seen her with anyone. I thought Dee was mistaken. I didn’t know where else to look, and given the size of Samford, I had to call it a day and come home.’
Andy had already spoken to the woman and rung Lucy while she and Natalie were driving to Buxton. Dee was sure she’d seen Katie walking along Marston Street, which ran behind the store, with a man whose description matche
d Tommy’s. ‘Why didn’t you contact the police and tell them?’
He looked shamefaced. ‘Honestly, I didn’t think they’d do anything about it.’
‘Why not?’
‘In the early days, I kept pestering them and sending them on wild goose chases every time I heard about a sighting, to the point where I was… a bit of a nuisance.’
‘They wouldn’t think that,’ Lucy insisted.
‘I thought I was so I didn’t want to bother them again. It was easier to check it out myself; besides, it felt proactive. I can’t bear this sitting around, hoping she’ll appear. I had to do something myself. Stupid, I know, but that’s how I feel.’
Lucy understood his need to do what he could to find his daughter even if she didn’t understand his reluctance to involve them. She could, however, offer him a positive response. ‘Well, we think Dee might actually have seen her and we’re looking into the possibility she is still in Samford. You’re right, it is a large town, but we’ve got a team looking into it.’
Phil’s head shot up. ‘You think Katie is in Samford?’
‘We believe it’s possible and we’re going to look into it.’
Sudden tears pooled in his eyes, turning them glassy. ‘Thank you.’
‘I can’t promise anything.’
He shook his head. ‘No. I understand. You have no idea what a relief it is though.’ He paused and then asked, ‘Is she in danger? Is this Tommy person dangerous?’
‘We’re trying to contact him with regards to an incident. We don’t know the extent of his involvement.’
Phil blinked several times. ‘Please. Find her.’
‘We’ll do everything we can.’
Natalie looked across at Sophia, who hadn’t spoken since her father had come into the room. She stared at the table, lips pressed together. Not everyone wanted Katie to come home.
Katie pulled her coat tighter around her body and tried to control the shivering that had overtaken her limbs. It was almost 1 p.m. and Tommy would arrive any minute to collect her. She’d agonised over what to do and say. She wasn’t sure it would be wise to bring up Amelia’s name. Tommy had a dreadful temper, and if she said the wrong thing, she’d pay for it. The effects of the coke had worn off; her insides felt torn to shreds and she couldn’t pass water without crying in pain.