The One You Trust: Emma Holden Trilogy: Book Three

by Paul Pilkington

  Davies glanced over at him, grinning. ‘Lots of coffee.’

  ‘They’ve obviously got a more reliable machine than we—there!’ Gasnier suddenly said, clicking his fingers at a point on the screen.

  Davies looked back around. ‘You saw her?’

  Gasnier smiled, satisfied and surprised by what he was sure he had just seen. ‘Just rewind it.’

  Davies moved forward and played with the controls. The recording started up again. ‘This okay?’

  Gasnier nodded. ‘Perfect. Keep your eyes on the right. They’ll appear in five or so seconds . . . there!’ He sat back, satisfied.

  ‘Wow,’ Davies said. ‘That was who I think it was, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, it certainly was. Time for us to pay him a visit.’

  Chapter 37

  Will was almost asleep when the call came, just after lunch. He’d been lounging on the sofa, listening to the radio, hoping and praying that Emma would get in touch. He’d been determined to stay alert, but the lack of sleep the previous night was taking its toll, and he had found himself slipping into a slumber that only the shrill of his phone pulled him out of. He scrambled for the mobile, which was wedged in his trouser pocket. There was no way on earth that he wanted to miss the call: it might be Lizzy and Dan again, or his father, but it might also be Emma.

  The number wasn’t one he recognised. ‘Hello?’

  Silence.

  ‘Emma, is that you?’

  Still no answer.

  He got to his feet, his feelings a mixture of excitement and trepidation. ‘Emma? Emma, if it’s you, just say something.’

  ‘It’s not Emma,’ a girl’s voice said. ‘It’s Sally.’

  Will didn’t really know how to respond. He looked around the room, as if he were going to find inspiration there somewhere.

  ‘Will, are you still there?’ Her voice was weak, but she seemed to have recovered from yesterday.

  ‘Yes, yes,’ he said. ‘I am. I just don’t know what . . . you know, after yesterday.’

  ‘Has something happened with Emma?’

  Will thought of denying it, but he was tired of the lies. ‘Yes. She’s missing. We think she’s been taken.’

  ‘Is this connected with what you told me? About what you said about Stuart, and Stephen Myers?’

  Will closed his eyes briefly. ‘I think so, yes.’ He thumped back down onto the sofa and put a hand to his head.

  ‘Can we get together and talk?’ she said.

  Will took a breath. ‘I don’t think now’s the right time, Sally. There’s so much going on, with Emma being—’

  ‘Please. I really need to talk to you.’

  ‘Okay,’ Will said. ‘But I’m at Emma and Dan’s flat, in case Emma or the police call. And I need to wait here until Dan and Lizzy get back, before I can go anywhere.’

  ‘I can come there.’

  ‘Do you think that’s a good idea? Dan and Lizzy will be back soon. Don’t you want to discuss things in private?’

  ‘No. In fact, it would be best if they were there. There’s something I need to tell you all.’

  Lizzy and Dan got back a few minutes later. ‘Still nothing?’ Lizzy asked, as she met Will on his way out of the living room.

  ‘Nothing from Emma or the police, but I got a call from Sally. She’s coming over here.’

  Lizzy froze in the act of taking off her coat. ‘Sally Thompson? Whatever for?’

  ‘I don’t know. She said there’s something that she needs to tell us all.’

  Lizzy turned to Dan, who was listening intently, having just double-checked that there were no answer phone messages. ‘Do you think it’s something to do with Emma?’

  ‘What do you think?’ Dan asked, batting the question to Will.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe. But when I told her that Emma was missing, she didn’t say that she knew anything about it.’

  ‘But why else would she want to meet with us all?’ Lizzy said.

  Will shrugged. ‘I think maybe she wants to talk about what I told her about Stuart. She probably wants answers.’

  Lizzy looked unconvinced. ‘But you said that she told you she’s got something she needs to tell us all.’

  ‘I know. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. She should be here in the next half-hour.’

  In the kitchen, Lizzy filled Will in on the rest of the information from the meeting with Guy Roberts. ‘I keep trying to think of where I know that girl from,’ she said. ‘I’m just so sure that I’ve never actually spoken to her, but still, I feel like I should know her. It’s so frustrating.’ She tapped the side of her head. ‘I feel like if I can just think hard enough, it’s there somewhere, in the depths of my memory.’

  ‘Maybe once you stop actively thinking about it, it’ll come to you,’ Will said.

  ‘You’re probably right,’ she agreed. ‘If I can stop thinking about it.’

  Dan came in, blowing out his cheeks in frustration. ‘The police should have updated us by now. They’re just leaving us to stew, not knowing what the hell is going on.’

  ‘Shall we call them?’ Lizzy said. ‘To see if anything’s happened?’

  Dan shook his head. ‘I know it means that there haven’t been any developments – they’d call us otherwise. But it’s just the principle of the thing. They must realise how terrible this is for us. I know they deal with this type of thing day in and day out, but they must still be able to empathise.’

  ‘Maybe they’re just busy investigating,’ Will suggested. ‘For us, time has slowed down, because we’re sitting here and waiting. But it’s not the same for them. They might be following multiple leads.’

  ‘I guess,’ Dan said.

  ‘I know how you feel’ – Lizzy took Dan’s arm – ‘we’re just powerless. But we’ve got no choice but to hope and pray that the police are making progress, and they’ll bring Emma back to us.’

  ‘I’m going to try her phone again,’ Dan said. ‘I’m not giving up on her answering.’ Seconds later, he was again left dejected. ‘Straight through to voicemail again.’ It looked to Lizzy as if Dan were about to launch his phone at the wall, but he lowered the device and slipped it back into his trouser pocket. He looked skyward. ‘Dear God, please, please, let her be okay.’

  The other two nodded in agreement.

  Sally arrived within the half-hour. Will buzzed her up and waited nervously at the open door as she appeared at the top of the stairs.

  ‘Hi,’ she said. Her smile was genuine, but clearly uncomfortable, which wasn’t surprising given all that had happened.

  ‘Hi,’ Will replied. For a couple of seconds they stood there, watching one another. ‘Are you sure you want to talk about this with everyone? If you’ve changed your mind, we can go elsewhere. There’s a coffee shop a few doors down. It’s usually quite quiet.’

  ‘No, I haven’t changed my mind,’ she said. ‘But thanks, anyway, Will. It’s very kind of you to give me the option.’

  Will nodded. ‘You’d better come on in, then.’ He led her through to the kitchen, where Dan and Lizzy were waiting, sitting around the table. They smiled a polite hello.

  ‘Hello,’ Sally said. She addressed Dan. ‘Thanks for letting me come over here, to your place. I know you’d probably rather not have ever seen me again, after what happened.’

  ‘It’s no problem,’ Dan said. ‘Please, take a seat.’

  She sat down, taking a few seconds to compose herself. Then she looked at Will. ‘There’s something that I should have told you yesterday,’ she said, ‘when you told me about what happened between you, Stuart and Stephen Myers.’

  ‘What is it?’

  She looked away briefly, then back at Will. ‘You weren’t the first person to tell me that Stuart had killed Stephen Myers. I already knew.’

  Chapter 38

  ‘They first contacted me two weeks ago,’ she said. ‘They called me at work and left a message. I don’t know how they knew where I worked, but I later discovered that they kne
w a lot more about me than that. They told me that they wanted to speak to me about taking part in the television programme.’

  ‘Firework Films,’ Dan stated.

  Sally nodded. ‘Yes, Firework Films.’

  ‘Who exactly?’ Lizzy asked.

  ‘The man called himself John, although I don’t know if that’s his real name.’ She gave a dry little laugh. ‘I call him Ginger John, becau—’

  ‘The man in the park?’ Will interrupted. ‘Tall, ginger hair?’

  Sally turned to him. ‘I thought you were following me that day.’

  Will reddened. ‘Sorry. I didn’t intend to spy.’

  ‘It’s okay. You’re right, that was him. Anyway, I just ignored the message, and hoped that would be the end of it. But, a couple of days later, he came to my flat after work and offered me money to take part in the documentary. All I had to do was to give my side of the story, my insight into what happened. They wanted me to appear in the programme.’ She shook her head. ‘I wasn’t interested. It was only just after what had happened with you, Will, and I just wanted to move on. The idea of reliving everything – it seemed too much. I also didn’t particularly want the world to know about what I’d done. He didn’t get past the door.’

  ‘How much money did they offer you?’ Lizzy asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

  Sally smiled tiredly. ‘Half of what they offered me the following day.’

  ‘Which was?’

  ‘The day after they came back with an offer of five thousand pounds.’

  ‘Wow,’ Dan said. ‘They really wanted you.’

  ‘I still refused,’ she said. ‘I told him that I wasn’t interested at any price. And that’s when they changed their tactics.’

  ‘Let me guess,’ Lizzy said. ‘Threats?’

  ‘You obviously know them well,’ Sally replied.

  ‘I’m starting to understand them much better, after what I’ve found out about them in the past few days.’

  ‘A week ago he called at my flat again. He said that if I didn’t take part, they would paint a particularly bad picture of what I had done, and, you know, what I had planned to do, with Will. But I still told him to go away. Then he said there was something they knew about Stuart that I should know.’ She swallowed. ‘That’s when I found out about what Stuart had done to Stephen Myers.’

  ‘So Firework Films do know,’ Lizzy said. Stuart must have confided in Guy Roberts, a man whom he had considered a trusted friend.

  Sally nodded. ‘They told me everything. About how Stuart had killed Stephen Myers and disposed of his body.’ She was having trouble getting her words out. ‘They said that even if the police had concluded it was suicide, if I didn’t take part in the programme, they would expose what Stuart had done.’

  ‘So you went along with it,’ Dan said.

  ‘Yes. At first I said that I didn’t believe them, that they were just making it up to scare me into taking part. But to be honest, I did believe it. Because everything fitted together – cryptic things that Stuart had said sometimes. Once he made a comment that everyone had a dark secret, and that he was no exception. And another time I think he nearly told me. He told me about dreams he had, where he died and was made to face up to what he had done during his life.’

  ‘Did they mention me?’ Will asked. ‘Did you already know that I was involved?’

  ‘No. They didn’t say anything about you. Of course, when you told me about the blackmailing, and why, it all fell into place. I guess that’s why I got so upset – a small part of me had still hoped that it wasn’t true. But when you said that, I knew it was real.’

  ‘So what about now?’ Lizzy said. ‘Are you still helping Firework?’

  ‘As far as they’re aware, yes. But I really want to pull out. I just don’t know what to do – I’m scared that if I back out, they’ll go ahead and tell the world about what Stuart did.’

  Lizzy was thinking. ‘Is that why you came here to tell us about this, for help?’

  ‘Not really.’ Sally turned to Will. ‘I came here to tell you that I think Firework Films are the people who are blackmailing you.’

  ‘You don’t know who’s behind Firework Films, do you?’ Lizzy asked.

  ‘No, should I?’

  ‘It’s Guy Roberts.’

  Sally was stunned. ‘What?’ She shook her head. ‘No.’

  ‘It’s true,’ Will said. ‘We’ve got the evidence. And this morning he admitted to Lizzy that it was true.’

  Sally was clearly having trouble taking everything in. ‘But, he was Stuart’s friend! They were so close. And he was so supportive after Stuart died. Nothing was too much trouble. He even offered for me to stay at his place, until I felt better.’ She looked around the group. ‘Are you sure?’

  They nodded. ‘There’s no doubt,’ Lizzy confirmed. ‘Guy Roberts is registered as a director of Firework Films.’

  ‘I can’t believe it . . . He’s exploiting me! He doesn’t care about me at all.’ Her face hardened into anger. ‘I didn’t think things could get any worse after what happened to Stuart, but for the past two weeks, it has. And he’s the cause. The man who was supposed to be helping me! He’s been putting the screws on us all just to make his precious little programme more ratings-worthy!’

  Will bit his lip. ‘I’m so sorry, Sally, for thinking that it was you doing the blackmailing.’

  ‘When it seems it was Firework Films all along,’ Lizzy added.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Sally replied, taking a breath to calm herself. ‘If I was you, I would have thought the same.’

  Dan leant forward. ‘So, how does Guy Roberts know about what Stuart did to Stephen Myers?’ He answered his own question: ‘Stuart could have told Guy,’ he said. ‘If they were that close, then it’s definitely a possibility that he could have admitted it to Guy.’

  ‘But why would he tell Guy?’ Will said.

  ‘Maybe he needed to tell someone. Or maybe he didn’t intend to. I know how he got when he was drunk. So maybe, one night, it just came out.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Sally said. ‘He trusted Guy. He would never have thought that he would use that sort of information for something like this.’

  ‘Guy Roberts is a nasty piece of work,’ Lizzy stated. ‘Nothing I hear about him surprises me any more.’

  ‘So, let’s just say that Firework Films is behind the letter-sending and the blackmailing,’ Dan continued. ‘Maybe that means they’re also involved with Peter Myers’ escape. Because we suspect that person in the cap who has been sending the letters was also the one who drove Myers away from the hospital.’

  ‘It’s a bit of a leap, though,’ Will said. ‘Why would they want to help Peter Myers?’

  ‘To increase the drama,’ Lizzy replied.

  Will frowned. ‘Really?’

  ‘As I said, nothing would surprise me.’

  ‘It does sound unlikely,’ Dan said, slowly, ‘but if you think of things from their perspective, then it might just make sense.’ He warmed to his theme: ‘They bring the villain right back into the story—’

  ‘So they’re creating the story, not just reporting on it,’ Sally finished for him.

  Dan nodded. ‘Exactly. It happens all the time now with television. Reality TV, for example. The producers manipulate the people, who are in effect the actors, and the story is created not just by the people, but by the makers of the programme.’

  ‘Guy Roberts has certainly got a history of manipulative behaviour,’ Lizzy said.

  ‘But it still sounds crazy,’ Will said, ‘to think that we’re all being manipulated by someone just for a television programme.’

  ‘I didn’t say it was just for a programme,’ Dan replied. ‘There is another motive for Guy Roberts.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘Revenge.’

  ‘Revenge for what?’ Will said.

  ‘Revenge on Emma for pulling out of the film. We know the sort of controlling person he is. He likes to get his own way, and he’s
got an extremely high opinion of himself. Emma rejecting his offer, it would have hurt. Maybe the whole idea of the docudrama is about revenge, and about maintaining control of Emma and her story.’

  ‘I’m just not sure how plausible that is,’ Will said.

  Lizzy was more convinced. ‘I said as much to Guy himself. He denied it, of course.’

  The group considered Dan’s theory in silence.

  ‘Do you think they’ve got Emma?’ Will said.

  ‘I hope so,’ Dan replied. ‘Because it’s much better than the alternative.’

  Will dropped his head into his hands. ‘I hope to God that Peter Myers doesn’t have her. I don’t really care if the police catch him or not, as long as he stays away from Emma.’

  Again the group fell silent.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Lizzy said, suddenly. ‘The girl in the house! I’ve worked it out. I think I know who it is!’

  Chapter 39

  She sat on the edge of the bed, alone and scared, as she listened for the sound of him downstairs. He had been out of the house a number of times since he had snatched her – was it only one day ago? – but his leaving had offered no chance of escape.

  Each time he went out, the door to the box room that was her prison was bolted shut.

  The lone, small window in the corner of the room was barred – she couldn’t even reach the glass to knock for help. Not that anyone would be passing by to hear her – the brief look she had had out of the window whilst balancing precariously on the foot of the bed had told her that it looked out onto a back garden, strewn with household rubbish, interspersed with thick weeds.

  But now, after a night and day in which she had despaired, there was at last some hope.

  Fifteen minutes ago, he had visited her. When he left, he had forgotten to lock the door. And then the sound that she had been waiting for – the sound of the front door closing.

  He had gone out.

  She waited another few minutes, still listening intently, before raising herself from the bed.