by Anita Waller
‘Yes, of course. Good thinking, as always.’ He hesitated as he went through to his own office. ‘Did they both sign it?’
‘No, only Mrs Latimer. Mr Latimer wasn’t there.’
He gave a slight nod, then closed the door.
She breathed a sigh of relief. She had been uncomfortable with the cobbled together paperwork; having brought it into the open, she felt much better. It also covered her for the second taxi journey out to the Latimer home. She opened the pending drawer. It was empty.
That rattled her even more, and for a moment she wondered if Oliver and Tom suspected she had been seeing Phil; she couldn’t imagine that being the case, really, they had been so careful.
She opened her emails, and went to work.
The morning flew by and she was surprised by the buzz on her phone indicating Tom needed her.
‘You’re back? I thought it would be a full day.’
‘So did I. All done for today. Back there tomorrow, and then it should be over. I’m letting you know I’m here. Any problems?’
‘No, the practice doesn’t fall apart because you’re in court,’ she laughed.
‘And here’s me thinking it did. I might go home then. And you’re okay? Coping with being back here?’
She stiffened. What was it with these two men today? Or was it her guilty conscience reading more into their words than she should be doing? ‘I’m absolutely fine,’ she emphasised.
‘Oops, sorry I asked.’ Tom’s laughter echoed down the phone as he replaced his receiver.
She stared at her own handset, and frowned. Get a grip, Liz, get a grip.
She felt relieved as the clock reached 5pm. The tram was reasonably empty, and she read all the way home. Her reading was interrupted by a text from Gareth saying he had collected Jake, and she said a silent thank you in her head; it was bitterly cold, and it meant she would be in the warmth much quicker.
She managed to check the love phone later, but there had been no activity. She didn’t know whether that was good or bad, and the pall of worry continued to hang over her, grey and heavy.
Chapter 16
Captor watched the screen as Phil moved around, a little sluggishly. The amount of sleeping tablets used the previous day had been enough to knock him out for around five hours, and that was sufficient.
Everything could be moved down in the basement room with time to spare. The decision to do all the goods transference on Tuesday was set, and Captor smiled. Everything was going to plan. Liz’s punishment would become so much worse.
Phil picked up a sandwich and stared at it. He felt as if he didn’t really have the energy to open his mouth and eat it. He was so tired, and yet he knew he had been asleep.
He sipped at some water, hoping it would revive him. It didn’t, so he put the sandwich to one side, and went back to sleep.
Chapter 17
The weekend passed slowly, and Liz knew she was being unfair. She hardly said anything to Gareth, and Daniel simply took himself off to his bedroom and kept out of the way.
They didn’t argue, didn’t speak. At one point, Gareth decided to go for a walk and didn’t return for some time. Liz said bye as he went, but didn’t even notice how long he was away. She felt a sense of relief when Monday came around and Gareth went to work, Daniel to school.
She pottered around, did some laundry, ignored some ironing, read her book; when Jake went to bed she took out the love phone.
Where are you? she quickly typed, and pressed send. She didn’t expect a reply, simply had a nagging feeling that she couldn’t carry on ignoring the fact that Phil was missing.
---
She dropped Jake off and hurried down to catch the tram. He’d been quite fractious since waking at 6am, and she knew Sadie wouldn’t have an easy day. She checked her phone diary and saw that Tom and Oliver would be in, but both had to go out before lunch.
Karen greeted her with her usual cheerful smile.
‘Good morning, Mrs Chambers. Mr Banton and Mr Hardwick are in, but they have told me they’re going out later. Are you in all day?’
‘I am.’ Liz handed over a £5 note. ‘When Sarah does the lunchtime sandwich run, can you ask her to get me a ham sandwich and something nice to follow that’s full of calories.’
Karen wrote the instructions on a list.
‘And anything that comes through for either of them once they’ve gone out, put through to me. I can either deal with their problems, or fob them off until tomorrow.’
Karen mouthed I will, as she answered a call.
Liz’s desk had a small pile of paperwork on it that was new to her. She glanced through the bundle, then took off her coat. It looked as though it was going to be a long and busy day.
She pulled the pile of papers towards her and went through them more carefully. She was surprised to see a conveyancing file with a yellow post-it note attached to the front, asking her to file, no further action required.
She opened it and saw it related to the purchase of a property at Mosborough, in the south east of the city. She was glancing through it when Tom popped his head around her door to say he was going. ‘Have we bought a house?’
‘Yes,’ he replied, gravely. ‘It’s for Oliver and I to take our mistresses to, when we’ve wined and dined them.’
‘Yeah, right. I’m sure Chloe will let you do that.’
He acknowledged she might be right. ‘It’s our second practice, or will be when we’ve had the builders in. They start in April and gut it. Should be up and running by August.’
Liz stared at him. ‘You’ve certainly kept that quiet.’
‘It’s because there’s nothing really to tell anyone yet. We’ve been wanting to expand for a while, get out into the suburbs, and this house came up. It’s old, and the right price. There will be a lot of discussions that are going to involve you, but as yet there’s nothing to talk about. All we’ve done is buy it.’
She nodded, slowly. ‘Thank you for sharing that. I’m not really surprised. I thought you’d be bringing in another partner, way before I left to go on maternity leave. I could see the way this business was building. Congratulations, Tom. I’m really quite proud to be part of this.’
‘Good, because the plan is for you to be a much bigger part. But that’s enough for now. Mum’s the word.’
He closed the door and she stared once more at the file, before taking it to the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet. She would leave it in there until everything was up and running, in case it was needed at any point.
Oliver left half an hour later, and she glanced up as he called out to tell her he was going. Once he’d left she leaned her chin on her hands, deep in thought. Her mind was fixated on the strong relationship she had thought Oliver and Julia had shared; what had happened to break it? Another man? Another woman? Julia had been firm in her denial, saying they could no longer live together, simply incompatible.
She pushed the thoughts to one side, and picked up the paperwork that was her own case. She had to file some papers with the court, and she began.
---
Sadie heard the gentle knock on the back door, and a smile lit up her face. She picked up Jake and popped him in the playpen, before going to the door. She opened it, happy at the unusual afternoon visit.
‘Come in,’ she said quietly. ‘This is an unexpected pleasure.’ She smiled at him, and he pulled her into his arms.
‘It certainly is,’ Gareth whispered. ‘Where’s Jake?’
‘In the lounge, in the playpen. He’ll be going for his nap in a minute.’
Gareth walked through and picked up his son, giving him a kiss. ‘Hi, Jakey. You being a good boy for Sadie?’
The little boy blew a raspberry at his daddy.
‘That’s not polite, young man,’ Gareth said. ‘You might have to be put to bed early because of that.’
Sadie laughed. ‘He can go anytime now. I suppose you need a nap as well?’
Gareth had one arm holding his son, and one
arm holding Sadie. ‘Not necessarily a nap, but a little rest on the bed might be good.’
She took Jake from his daddy, laid him on the changing table and quickly replaced his nappy. ‘There we are, young man, nice and fresh again.’ She lifted him up and kissed him, then headed for the stairs. Gareth followed her.
Chapter 18
Captor checked the screen in the room above the cellar, and saw that Phil was sleeping, warmly wrapped in the extra blankets. There were bundles of items stored in the room, and Captor knew they had to go down into the cellar quickly.
The opening of the metal door, for the first time in months, caused it to grate loudly. Captor moved quickly back towards the screen and watched Phil with some concern. His form was still inert on the camp bed.
Twenty minutes later, all the packages had been taken downstairs, and Captor had re-locked the door, resuming surveillance, through the screen, of Philip Latimer.
Philanderer.
Father of the bastard child.
With anger threatening to overwhelm, Captor closed the screens and left the building by the back door. Time to move on to part two of this day, time to step up the terror for Liz Chambers.
Phil woke two hours later, aware of how full his bladder felt. He crawled off the camp bed, and rose unsteadily to his feet. He shook his head, and walked across to the toilet. He unzipped his trousers, placed one hand on the wall behind the toilet, and held his penis as the urine flowed rapidly out of him. A flask full of coffee was clearly having an effect on him, he thought with a wry smile.
And then he froze. One hand on the wall, one hand on his penis. No chain attached to his wrist. No struggling to be in the right position to stop his urine splattering on the floor. He looked down at his left wrist, and could clearly see the scar that the cuff had created over the months. Clearly see it, with a brighter light. He glanced up at the light bulb, and then quickly looked away. Much brighter light.
It was only then that he noticed the packages. He pulled up his zip and walked across to the foot of the stairs. Everything was in cardboard boxes.
He opened the first one and saw tins of baby food, nappies, baby wipes, and other assorted items necessary for a baby. Another one contained a travel cot, along with lots of baby bedding. A third one held a few toys, along with some items of clothing, mainly Babygros. Phil stared anxiously around. What the devil was going on? And when had this lot arrived?
He must have been deeply asleep not to have heard any noise from whoever had delivered it all. Which meant he had missed a chance of escape. A chance to find out who Captor was.
He slammed his hand against the wall in anger and frustration. ‘Bastard!’ he called aloud. ‘Fucking bastard!’
There was no response. Captor was long gone, preparing for the next part of the momentous day.
Chapter 19
They had reached the talking after bit, the calm contentment following the frantic lovemaking. Gareth pulled Sadie a little closer to him, and kissed the top of her head.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
‘No thanks needed,’ she responded with a smile. ‘You’re welcome, sir. I’m surprised you’re here.’
‘Unexpected afternoon off. I was supposed to be going to Doncaster, but the customer had to change the appointment. It means I can collect Jake.’
‘Then we can stay here for a bit longer?’ She reached across and switched on the lamp. ‘It’s really dark. Hopefully no one saw you arrive.’
‘So, what if they did? I’m Jake’s daddy, here to collect my son. We’re good until Jake surfaces. I’ll text Liz in a few minutes and tell her I’ve finished early, so I’ll collect Jake.’
‘You know, Gareth, this is wrong on so many levels.’
‘You want to stop?’ Gareth lifted his head and looked at her. His hand moved, seemingly of its own volition, to her breast, and he rotated the palm of his hand on her nipple. She moaned in pleasure.
‘Did I say that? I said it was wrong,’ she whispered.
He leaned down to kiss her lips, a kiss that deepened until they were oblivious to anything else; oblivious to the sound of the back door opening, the sound of footsteps moving carefully through the house.
Captor searched for the child in the dark. The woman’s car was outside, indicating she was in the house somewhere; it would be good if she was having a nap at the same time as the child. A silent child and a silent woman meant she could live.
Gareth and Sadie broke apart, and Sadie smiled at him. ‘Just let me go and check on Jake. I’m not sure, but I think I can hear movement from his room.’
He nodded. ‘Okay, but let’s hope he’s not waking yet.’
She slipped out of bed and crossed to the door, shrugging on her dressing gown; she was still trying to sort out the right sleeve, which was hopelessly tangled, when she lifted her head and saw the figure at the top of the stairs.
Captor’s arm reached out and pulled her; a quick twist and she began to tumble downstairs, unable to save herself, with one arm still caught up in the sleeve. She screamed and landed at the bottom with an audible crack as her neck broke, then silence.
Gareth threw back the bedclothes, hurtling out of the bedroom. The scream had been unnerving. He saw the figure, covered in black, holding a silver knife; he momentarily hesitated before launching himself at the hooded Captor.
Gareth’s hands clutched the hood, and tugged violently.
He stared in shock at the revealed face, and gasped. ‘You! What the fuck…?’
The knife moved easily in between Gareth’s ribs, with no clothes to slow down its entry, and he slid to the floor.
Captor twisted the knife before removing it, and wiped the blood from the blade on Gareth’s naked leg, before side-stepping around his body and moving further along the corridor. Gareth’s dying breaths were loud; there were no sounds from the bottom of the stairs.
Sadie’s scream had awakened Jake, and Captor headed for the crying baby’s room. The expectation had been that Sadie would possibly have to die, but seeing Gareth had been a shock. Further punishment for Mrs high and mighty Liz Chambers.
Jake was soon strapped into the pushchair that was waiting in the hallway for his departure for home, and Captor wheeled it across Sadie’s head to get it over her. Nobody saw the pram’s journey as it left Sadie’s house, went down the hill and across the tram tracks, to where Captor’s car was waiting.
The pram was difficult to close, and Captor finally threw it into the spacious car boot, still unfolded. Within two minutes, the car and driver, along with the baby in a car seat, had disappeared.
It would soon transpire that nobody had seen anything; two people had died, a child was taken, and in the affluent area, nobody took any notice of what was happening in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Liz managed to get a seat as the tram carried her homewards. She felt tired; there had been several queries involving cases assigned to the two temporarily absent partners, and she had dealt with them. The worry of the missing Phil was never far from her thoughts, and staring out of the tram window didn’t help. All she could see was blackness and her own reflection.
Her headache was worsening, and she leaned her head against the coolness of the glass. Images of Phil flitted through her mind; she had spent eighteen months keeping her memories at bay, and they all came flooding back, bringing with them untold worries. Where was he? Was he even alive? And why the hell didn’t Rosie appear to care?
What was worse, Liz couldn’t even talk to Rosie about it. She was Phil’s wife, for God’s sake. Liz couldn’t go up to the woman and say where’s your husband, because I love him and I need to know if he is still alive.
Liz got off the tram and began the walk up the hill towards Sadie’s home. She checked her phone – still no reply to the text she had sent Sadie, telling her she was only ten minutes away, but she guessed she was maybe too busy with Jake to be able to respond.
The house was in darkness, and Liz rang the front door bell. When th
ere was no activity, she rang again, and then knelt to speak through the letterbox.
‘Sadie, it’s me,’ she called, then placed her eye to the aperture.
Sadie was clearly visible, her head on the hall floor with the purple hair spread out like a halo. Her legs were splayed on the stairs, and she was naked except for a dressing gown, half on and half off her.
For a moment, Liz was immobile. She shook her head and looked around her for help. There was nobody. She tried pushing on the front door, but it was locked. Sprinting around the side of the house to try the back entrance, she saw it was wide open.
She was stepping through the entrance when her 999 call was answered. She was almost in tears as she was trying to explain the circumstances in front of her – it was clear Sadie was dead. The operator asked her to go outside, just in case; Liz didn’t even think about the term “just in case”; she merely said she had to find her son, Sadie was her childminder, and her baby must still be upstairs having his nap. The frantic panic in her voice left the operator in no doubt as to Liz’s priorities.
‘Then please stay on the line, Liz. Do not put your phone down, and let me know as soon as you have your baby. Help is on the way, please stay at the property until the police arrive. Are you sure the lady is deceased? If there is any chance…’
‘She’s dead,’ Liz sobbed. ‘I’m going to find Jake. I can do nothing for Sadie.’ Liz was breathing heavily as she skirted Sadie’s body and carefully climbed the stairs. There was a small amount of light casting a glow on to the landing, coming from Sadie’s own bedroom at the back of the house.
Liz’s eye-level moved past the top tread and she saw the blood and a second body. She stepped upwards and a black mist surrounded her. ‘Gareth,’ she whispered, and slid down the wall.