by Beth Abbott
The courier handed over a small sealed package which he had to sign for, and then much to the mixture of shock and amusement of his staff, he was bounding through the office again and back up the stairs.
He raced back into the Hub and skidded to a halt next to Abbey.
“Ok, let’s see what this little baby is gonna throw up.” Abbey smiled as she plugged in the USB stick.
Matt felt the vibration of his phone in his trouser pocket and pulled it out to glance at the screen.
Carol.
Not again!
He didn’t mind taking one ear-bashing off her a day, but two was a bit too much.
He rejected the call and threw the phone down on the table. He’d already explained that they were in the middle of something important. Couldn’t whatever it was wait until Suzy got home?
He glanced at his watch. Almost half-past-three. Carol was probably calling to find out whether Taylor had swimming practise after school, or some other family nonsense.
When his phone started vibrating again, and the screen lit up with Carol’s name, he didn’t hesitate to reject it.
Some things were more important, dammit!
“Ok, here we go.” He heard Abbey murmur. “These are all the camera angles we have to play with.”
He glanced at the TV screen to see probably sixty tiny thumbnail size pictures lined up in rows.
“We’ll have to go through each of them one at a time to find out where the camera is pointed.” Hannah shrugged. “Abbey, keep going through them to the end, and I’ll make a note of which ones will be of interest to us, for us to go back to when you’re finished.”
Matt’s eyes were glued to the screen, so much so that when his phone buzzed again, he completely ignored it.
Abbey clicked through each of the images at a pretty quick rate, and they were able to eliminate most of the shots of the stadium and pitch within two minutes.
By the time they reached the end of the thumbnails, Hannah had narrowed the angles down to four that were of interest.
“Try number twelve first.” Hannah nodded to Abbey. “I think that would have been looking at the gate from the opposite side to the street camera.”
Matt’s phone buzzed again, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the TV screens.
“Umm, Matt?” Kellen’s voice was to his left. “I think you’d better read this.”
Matt glanced at the screen quickly to see the first line of the message displayed.
‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE, DAMMIT! IT’S URGENT!’
As he picked up his phone, it rang again, and this time he accepted the call.
“Carol, I’m sorry, but I’m really in the middle of something. Can it…” He wasn’t allowed to finish the sentence.
“Just for once, Matt, shut the fuck up and listen!” Carol sounded so much like Suzy he almost smiled.
“I’m listening.” He kept one eye on the screen as Abbey fast-forwarded the footage to eleven fifty-five that morning.
“I’ve been trying to reach Suzy all day and haven’t been able to get hold of her at all.” Carol began breathlessly.
“I told you…” He’d explained this once already.
“SHUT UP, MATT!” Carol yelled at him. “Ten minutes ago, just as I was getting out of the car with the kids, the house phone was ringing. When I picked it up, there was a woman on the other end. She said that Suzy was with them, and that they’d call back later with instructions. What the hell is she talking about, Matt. Why is Suzy with them, whoever they are?”
Just as Carol stopped talking, Matt watched the big screen and noticed the van pull up outside the gate.
In the top corner of the screen, you could clearly make out two women together, chatting, although one of them had her back to the camera, blocking their view of the other woman, possibly because she was sitting down. A moment later the two women started to approach the van.
“Matt, are you there?” Carol’s voice sounded loud against his ear.
“Just give me one minute Carol, please, and I’ll tell you what’s going on.” Matt’s stomach suddenly felt like it was full of bats.
“Look!” Hannah hissed, as the van door opened, and four men jumped out.
“Oh, dear Lord!” Abbey whimpered, as Matt watched both women manhandled and bundled into the van.
“Did anyone recognise the women?” JT asked the room in general.
“I’m sure the dark-haired woman was Megan.” Evan said quietly. “I told her to wear jeans and a coat, which matches what the woman was wearing.”
“Did anyone recognise the other woman?” JT asked again, and Matt couldn’t find his voice.
“Go to camera angle number sixteen.” Hannah instructed Abbey.
Matt watched as the screen changed, and all of a sudden, they were looking at the front of the van, and the smaller woman could clearly be seen.
“That looks like…” Hannah moved closer to the screen. “It can’t be… can it?”
She turned to glare at Matt as he slumped back into his chair.
“Suzy!” He whispered.
“I thought you said she was shopping in Birmingham!” Claire’s voice was full of censure.
“I thought she was.” Matt rubbed his eyes.
“MATT!” Carol was still waiting, none too patiently.
He hit the speaker button on his phone, so everyone could hear her.
“Carol, what did the woman say?” His voice was barely audible now. “Can you remember the exact words?”
“I don’t remember exactly.” Carol was sounding stressed. “I think she told me she was calling about Suzy Johnson and asked me who I was. I told her I was Suzy’s mother, and she seemed pleased about that. She said that she had Suzy with her, and that she’d phone later with instructions. Then she hung up.”
“Did she say she had Suzy with her? Or did she say she had Suzy?” Matt asked. “Think, Carol. It’s important.”
“I don’t know.” Carol moaned. “I think she said, ‘We have her’. What does she mean Matt?”
“Carol, it’s Luke. I’m sorry, but there’s a good chance Suzy and another woman have been kidnapped.” Luke said softly. “We’ve only just realised that Suzy is involved, Carol, but we’re already working on it.”
“But she’s going to call back here.” Carol sobbed. “What do I say to her? Oh, my God, Suzy!”
“I’ll have the calls diverted to Matt’s phone, Carol.” Hannah interrupted. “You don’t have to speak to anyone.”
“Carol, it’s Ellen. Would you like me to come to the house to wait with you?” Ellen leaned forward to speak into Matt’s phone.
“Oh, please, sweetheart. Would you?” Carol sniffed. “I have no idea what I’m going to say to the kids.”
“Say nothing, Carol.” Matt said insistently. “Ellen will be with you soon, and she’ll sort everything out. Just say nothing to Charlie or Taylor until she gets there.”
“Ok. I can do that.” Carol agreed.
“I’m sorry, Carol.” Matt said quietly. “It’s all my fault.”
There was a silence, when he guessed it became obvious to everyone in the room that Carol hadn’t argued with him.
“Just get her back, Matt.” Carol said quietly. “Get Suzy back alive.”
Carol ended the call before Matt could respond.
“If you’ll lend me your car keys, I’ll take Ellen over to your place.” Luke stood up. “I’ll drop her off with Carol and come straight back.”
Matt fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Luke.
“The button to open the electric gates is just above the rear-view mirror.” He explained.
He vaguely registered Luke and Ellen leaving the room.
“Matt?” Kellen took the seat opposite him, spreading his hands on the table and tapping lightly on the wood to get Matt’s attention. “Why did you think Suzy had gone shopping?”
Matt looked around the room. Most of the people there were his family, but they were S
uzy’s family too.
When he’d finished his explanation, would they still have his back?
There was only one way he was going to find out.
Chapter 44 – Evan
They took a short break while Evan watched Claire clear the conference room of all non-family staff members, and in a strange way, Evan felt choked that she’d considered them family, allowing Evan and the rest of the Guardians to stay.
The only other people still in the room were Robbie and his agent, Harry, and Evan reflected that if anyone had a right to be there, it was the young footballer. Despite looking pretty shaken up himself, Harry would provide Robbie with support, whenever Evan wasn’t available to spend time with him.
He sat quietly with Robbie and waited while Abbey and Claire handed out refreshments.
JT, Kellen and Danny were now sitting closest to Matt, and it was almost as if they were rallying around him, trying to offer him some comfort or support.
“Start at the beginning, Matt.” Kellen said quietly. “What happened today?”
Matt stared at his hands for a second, before speaking.
“We were running late this morning, so I was heading straight to the stadium. We agreed that rather than have to take her into Birmingham first, I’d drop Suzy at the train station just up the road from the stadium, and she’d catch the train back.”
“Why was she outside the stadium if you dropped her at the train station?” Kellen asked.
“I didn’t drop her at the station.” Matt was still staring at his hands. “We were having a huge argument on the way here, and I pulled the car over to the side of the road because I was getting too distracted to keep driving. Suzy effectively ended the argument by telling me exactly what she thought of me, before she jumped out of the car and walked off.”
“And you let her go?” Danny’s voice was less sympathetic than Kellen’s.
“We were just a few hundred metres from the station. No more than a five or ten-minute walk, and it was broad daylight on a busy road.” Matt shrugged.
“Can I ask what you were arguing about, if it’s not too personal?” JT asked. “I’ve never known you two to have major arguments before.”
“My guess would be Lacey.” Claire muttered, and Evan glanced around. “Suzy felt that Lacey was getting too close to Matt, and that the decision you and Matt reached to effectively force an extended maternity leave on her, had only served to push Suzy out and let Lacey have at her man, as well as her job.”
Evan watched as JT’s head swung around to stare at Claire.
“We didn’t force her out.” He protested. “She was entitled to take a year off, and both Matt and I were happy for Suzy to take as long as she wanted.”
“And did you ask Suzy what she wanted?” Claire leaned over the table, glaring at JT. “Did either of you?”
“Well, no, I didn’t.” JT admitted. “I just assumed Matt knew what she wanted.”
“Neither of you asked what she wanted to do, and because Matt reckoned Lacey was doing such a fantastic job, Suzy just got pushed to one side.” Claire’s anger was uncharacteristic, but the way she was standing up for one of her family wasn’t. “It took Suzy having a meltdown for Matt to agree to her coming back to work, and even when I came up here to support Matt, and try and help Suzy ease herself back into work, it’s been a struggle to get Lacey to relinquish her role as Matt’s PA, even though Suzy is now supposed to be working for Matt, and Lacey is supposed to be working for me.”
“Why has Suzy got such an issue with Lacey?” JT turned to Matt.
“I can answer that.” Logan spoke up. “Lacey makes sure she’s in the office every moment Matt is here, and often organises meetings that the two of them can attend together. She likes to make the rest of the staff think that she and Matt have a very ‘close’ working relationship. Those that I’ve spoken to really don’t like her, or the way she acts, making people think that she and Matt are an item.”
“Matt, if you’ve been screwing around with your PA, I swear to God I’m gonna put your head through the nearest wall!” Danny growled.
For the first time Matt’s head came up, and his expression was furious.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Danny!” He snarled. “No, I have not been screwing my PA. I’ve never once touched her, nor to my knowledge have I encouraged her in any way.”
“Some women don’t need encouragement, Matt.” Hannah said quietly.
“Ok, let’s get back to today.” Kellen tapped the table to get Matt’s attention back. “Was that what the argument was about? Lacey?”
“Suzy was offering to come to the meeting with me, to save the bother of having to get the train back and delay me further, and when I was trying to put her off, she realised it was because Lacey was already going to be at the meeting.” Matt shrugged. “I didn’t want to tell Suzy because I knew she’d be pissed, but it didn’t seem fair to exclude Lacey when she’d done all the arrangements in the first place. I guess I felt a bit sorry for Lacey, being pushed out of a job she loved.”
“So, you were happier hurting your wife’s feelings than disappointing your PA?” Danny snorted. “No wonder Suzy was pissed at you.”
“What I don’t understand is why Suzy didn’t just get on the train and go back to work.” Claire hissed. “Why did she go to the stadium? And moreover, why didn’t she ring you to sign her in?”
“Do you think she’d have gone there to confront Lacey?” Hannah suggested. “Cos if it was me, I’d be happy to go there just to punch that bitch’s lights out.”
“Suzy wouldn’t embarrass us both in public like that.” Matt said confidently. “And certainly not in front of our clients.”
“I think I might have the answer to why Suzy came to the stadium.” Luke had just walked back into the room. “Do you recognise this? It was on the back seat of your car.”
He threw the bag onto the table, and Matt immediately grabbed it and pulled it to him.
He tipped it out and went through Suzy’s belongings.
“Here’s her purse, her phone and her credit cards.” He whispered. “She had no money, and no way to pay for a train ticket, and no phone to ask me to come and help her.”
Matt dropped Suzy’s things onto the table, standing up and walking to the window.
“I left her with no way of getting back, and no way to contact anyone.” He whispered, almost to himself. “What the fuck was I thinking?”
“You didn’t know, Matt.” Kellen went and stood beside him. “It was just one of those unfortunate mishaps that started a chain of events.”
“What I don’t understand is why she was standing with my sister.” Robbie spoke up for the first time. “Why was Megan even there? The club doesn’t have her contact details, so how did she know about the presentation?”
“That was my fault.” Evan admitted. “I heard about the award and thought she’d enjoy being a part of the presentation, and seeing you get honoured. And she was so excited, Robbie. She was really buzzing about it.”
“So, we have two kidnap victims, neither of whom should have been there in the first place.” JT pointed out. “How the hell are we supposed to figure out who kidnapped them when there appears to be absolutely no motive whatsoever?”
“I suggest we start with some basic detective work and start going through the camera footage.” Hannah suggested. “And keep all knowledge of what’s happened limited to the people in this room. If we have no clue who is responsible, then we act as though everyone is responsible until we know differently.”
Evan stood up and walked over to Abbey.
“Tell me how I can help.”
Chapter 45 – Hannah
Hannah set up some laptops on a desk in the corner of the room, and she started scanning through the footage. She’d split what they’d been given between Abbey, Evan, Logan, Kellen and Hollywood, and while they were all looking for more images of the area around the club, she was trying to track possible sightings of the va
n, both before it arrived at the club, and after it left.
In truth, she could easily have done that sitting at the main conference table, but she’d needed to distance herself from Matt for a little while.
Suzy was one of her dearest friends and had been for almost fifteen years. If it hadn’t been for Suzy’s wonderful silliness, Hannah doubted she would have been able to get through the birth of her oldest daughter, Lilly.
The thought that Suzy could have been so miserable for the last few months and hadn’t confided in her, made Hannah want to weep.
Of course, mixed with the sadness was a healthy dose of anger and a shot of guilt.
Anger at Lacey for causing Suzy so much anguish? Yeah, plenty.
Anger at Matt for not looking after his wife better? Oh, hell yeah! More than plenty!
Guilt at getting so wrapped up in the Guardians missions, that she’d neglected her friend? Oh boy, yeah! So much!
“Hey, honey?” Danny knelt down beside her. “Could you spare me a minute outside?”
Hannah glanced at Danny in surprise.
“Erm, I’m slightly busy right now, baby.” She frowned. “Is it urgent?”
“Yep.” Danny grinned at her. “Just two minutes, Hannah. Please?”
Hannah pushed her chair back and allowed Danny to lead her out of the room, following him down the hallway until they found a quiet spot at the end.
“I know you’re pissed at Matt, honey. So am I.” Danny wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer. “But this isn’t his fault. He couldn’t have known what was about to happen when he let Suzy storm off. And with the temper that little spitfire possesses, I doubt he could have done much to stop her.”
“I’m not blaming him for Suzy being kidnapped.” Hannah said quickly. “The fact that neither of them was supposed to be outside the stadium at that moment makes it a totally random, somewhat opportunistic kidnapping.”
“Ok, so what is pissing you off so badly that you needed to isolate yourself from Matt?” Danny asked. “It wasn’t exactly subtle you know.”
“According to Claire, this situation with Matt and Lacey has been going on for months. Matt was so busy he was spending all his time at the office with Lacey, while Suzy was sitting at home with the kids, feeling pushed out by the decision that was made for her by JT and Matt.” Hannah growled. “It took Suzy having a meltdown for him to come to London and ask for help. And all that time he was brushing Suzy’s concerns over Lacey to one side.”