The Anita Waller Collection

by Anita Waller

  Chapter 20

  Captor switched on the garage light, then pressed the remote control to lower the door. The baby was waking, and Captor lifted him out of the car, still in his baby seat.

  Jake’s eyes moved around, as if searching for a familiar face, but he made no sound as the car seat was placed in the dumb waiter.

  Phil heard the rattle of the dumb waiter chains as it was lowered.

  He felt perplexed. His food had arrived some hours earlier, so what was being lowered now? He hoped it was a hot drink, then smiled to himself as his brain added the words, ‘preferably with a tot of whisky in it’.

  He stood slowly, and rubbed his legs to get some feeling into them, before crossing to the little cupboard.

  Jake cried, stopping Phil abruptly. A radio? Could Captor be sending a radio down?

  He reached the cupboard in two easy strides; if it was a radio, he didn’t want it disappearing before he could remove it. The cupboard hit the base with a thud, and Phil smiled. Something heavy was in it. He grasped the handle, and opened the door.

  Two things happened simultaneously. Jake lifted his arms to his daddy for the first time, and Phil heard spoken words.

  ‘His name is Jake.’

  It was Darth Vader echoing down the chimney-like structure of the dumb waiter housing. Phil remembered the helmet that Melissa had loved, until she had grown tired of it, the one where she could speak in her soft, silvery voice and it would come out as Darth Vader. Did Rosie really think he wouldn’t remember the toy?

  He lifted out the car seat and risked putting his head in the cupboard.

  ‘Rosie? What the fuck are you doing? Get me out of here!’

  The chains clanked, and he swiftly moved his head away from danger. He stepped back and stumbled against the car seat. Jake resumed crying, and Phil bent down to soothe him.

  ‘Hey, little man – that’s enough of that. Let’s get you out and warmed up.’

  The baby was dressed in a long sleeved top and dungarees, so Phil wrapped him in one of the baby blankets that had arrived earlier. He couldn’t believe his naiveté. He had assumed Captor had needed to use the cellar for storage, and instead of going through all the boxes he had merely stacked them out of the way – a task that brought something different into his blighted life. Now he saw the truth behind the acquisition of the supplies.

  He had no doubt that this baby was his son. He held him close and gradually Jake’s sobs subsided. He placed him back in the car seat and went to look further into the boxes. The travelling cot took no time to set up, once he had worked out the complex instructions, and he put as much warmth under the thin mattress as he could; he knew from experience how the cold permeated upwards from the stone cellar floor.

  Despite holding the precious child in his arms once again, he felt an anger so intense it was scary. It had to be Rosie holding him there; he knew she had been upset when he had confessed the darkness surrounding him was because he had lost Liz, and that Liz was pregnant with his child, but this was taking Rosie’s grief at the news to the extreme. Both he and his son could die in here.

  He checked out the box that revealed pouches of baby food. He unscrewed a somewhat dubious-sounding cauliflower, rice and broccoli, and handed it to Jake. He hoped this was the right thing to do. Melissa had enjoyed food out of jars, not pouches.

  Jake grabbed at it, and the pouch full of food was soon empty. He tended to eat his own meagre rations when he felt quite hungry, but would that be the way it worked with a baby? He had no way of knowing what time it was, even if day or night. He guessed he and Jake had a learning curve to come.

  It was a new experience to him; the first time he changed the little boy’s nappy. It was only wet, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He put him in a Babygro, and added a jumper. Keeping him warm was imperative.

  They played for a while, with Phil desperately trying to stop his brain from wandering to unanswered questions. This little boy had been taken from his normal environment and dumped with someone he didn’t know. It was Phil’s priority to rectify that. He could let his mind wander when Jake was asleep.

  The little boy’s body finally decided enough was enough, and Phil lifted him gently into the travel cot, covering him with layers of blankets. He had placed the cot by the side of his own camp bed; he wanted to be nearby if Jake woke during the night. If indeed it was night…

  He watched him sleeping for a few minutes, and inevitably his mind questioned why this had happened. With the arrival of Jake, it pointed to Liz being the person targeted, rather than him.

  She must be frantic, his brain was saying, out of her mind. If she had realised he was missing – and he knew there was no guarantee of that – she would be devastated. Their love had been strong, strong enough for him to believe it was still as strong in her, as it was in him.

  But losing Jake was another level altogether. This would destroy her.

  But… why? Why would anyone hate Liz enough to do this to her? Could it really be Rosie? Despite what he had seen as proof with the Darth Vader voice, it didn’t really mean anything. There were probably thousands of the helmets out there, and still freely available. And really… Rosie? Knowing his wife as well as he did, deep down he knew it couldn’t be her.

  For a start, there was Melissa. Committing a criminal act of this magnitude would always end up with a prison sentence, and he was a hundred per cent sure that Rosie wouldn’t risk being locked away from Melissa.

  Phil settled himself down for the night and for a few moments allowed a little bit of normality into his life. He watched as Jake slept; his son, sleeping by his side. Under any other circumstances…

  Chapter 21

  ‘Mrs Chambers? Liz? Can you hear me?’ Somewhere deep in the back of her brain, Liz could hear the voice. Slowly, so slowly, she emerged from the faint, and groaned.

  ‘Okay, Liz. Don’t try and sit up yet. Do you hurt anywhere?’

  Liz shook her head, and lifted her hand. It was covered in blood. She groaned once again, wondering what had happened; and her mind cleared.

  She spun her head around and gasped. ‘Gareth…’

  ‘You know this man?’

  She nodded, unable to comprehend what was happening. ‘Yes, he’s my husband. But…’

  ‘Mrs Chambers, we need to move you. Can you stand?’

  Again, she nodded, not sure what to say. The two paramedics helped her upright, and her eyes rested on Gareth.

  ‘Is he…?’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ the tall, male paramedic said. ‘Let’s get you over here.’

  They helped her into the bedroom kept ready should Christian, Sadie’s son, need to stay for a couple of nights. She sat on the chair in front of the desk, and her head dropped.

  ‘What’s going on,’ she whispered, her head reeling with the pain of finding Gareth. ‘Where’s Jake? Where’s my son? Is he okay?’ The panic was clear in her voice.

  ‘Your son?’

  ‘Yes, Sadie’s my son’s childminder.’ Liz stood to move out of the door, terror written across her features. The female paramedic stopped her.

  ‘Please wait here, Liz.’

  Liz looked up as a policeman came through the door. ‘Mrs Chambers? I’m DI Brent. Are you okay to talk?’

  Liz nodded. ‘Please, get Jake for me first.’

  ‘Jake?’

  ‘My baby. He’ll be in the room across from this. In the cot.’

  DI Brent looked at the two paramedics, and they shook their heads. ‘Mrs Chambers, there’s no baby in the house. Bear with me a moment.’ He left the room and she heard him speak to someone on the landing.

  She tried to stand, to go and look for Jake herself, but was restrained by the paramedics, who pushed her none too gently back on to the seat.

  He re-entered, and knelt in front of her. She was shaking uncontrollably, unable to believe what she was seeing on their faces. ‘I’ve asked one of the men to go outside and check the shed and greenhouse, but there’s defi
nitely no baby in this house.’

  She clutched at his hand. ‘Please… he’s only eleven months. Please find him. You’ve got to–’ She was frantic, her eyes darting around the people in front of her.

  ‘We will, Liz. I need a description of what he was wearing.’ He took out his notebook and wrote down everything Liz told him. ‘And did you bring him in a pushchair?’

  ‘I did. It’s a Mothercare one. My phone… there’s a photograph of him in his pushchair. I don’t know where my phone is…’ and she wept, unable to conceive fully the horror that had overtaken her.

  ‘Wait.’ Sandra, the female paramedic, went out of the door and came back in carrying the phone. ‘You talked on it till you reached the top of the stairs, and then you fainted.’

  Liz looked at it in shock.

  ‘It’s okay, Liz,’ Sandra said quietly. ‘It didn’t fall near any blood, and it’s not broken.’

  Liz took the phone and scrolled through her pictures with trembling fingers. She handed the phone over to DI Brent. ‘That’s the best one. If that pushchair isn’t in the hall, he will be in it.’

  DI Brent left the room once more, holding on to the phone.

  Within five minutes he was back.

  ‘Mrs Chambers, I need to take you downstairs now. We can let our scene of crime officers do their work. Screens are up, but there isn’t much room to squeeze by at the bottom of the stairs. I’ll help you.’

  Liz looked frantically around the tidy bedroom, as if she didn’t want to leave its security. He held out his hand. ‘Come on. It will be better for you. My constable is making you a cup of tea, and we can have a chat.’

  She felt numb. She knew she would have to bypass two bodies to get downstairs, and… she heard her phone ring. It was still held in the policeman’s hand, and she held out her own hand to take it back. He glanced at the screen and said ‘Dan.’

  ‘Shit,’ she muttered through clenched teeth. ‘Dan.’ She took the proffered phone. ‘It’s my other son.’ She pressed answer.

  ‘Dan?’

  ‘Mum, you’re both late!’

  ‘I know, sweetheart. I’m up at Sadie’s. Can I ring you back in a bit? Won’t be long.’

  ‘Okay.’ She could sense the grumble in his tone. ‘I’ll keep tea warm, then.’

  ‘Thank you. See you in a bit.’

  She went to hand the phone back to Brent, but he shook his head. ‘I would normally take it from you, but we seem to have a missing child. Whoever has him may try to get in touch with you.’

  She felt sick at the words missing child. She moved towards Brent and he held open the door. ‘Keep to the right all the way down, and you’ll be fine.’

  She moaned and stifled a sob as she was faced with a large white screen hiding her husband’s body from her; she went carefully down, passing what she knew to be Sadie’s body, lying awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, and hidden from her view by another screen.

  They moved into the lounge, and, as promised, a cup of tea awaited her. She didn’t want it, but DI Brent handed it to her. ‘Drink.’

  She sipped at the scalding drink, and waited for him to speak.

  ‘Tell me what you know,’ he said.

  She took a deep breath. ‘I left work at five, caught the tram around 5.10pm. I texted Sadie about 5.25pm to let her know I was ten minutes away – I do that so that she has him ready to go, as soon as I arrive – and reached here about 5.35pm, give or take a couple of minutes. I always collect him via the front door because it’s the easiest way for getting the pushchair in and out, but there was no answer, and it all seemed to be in darkness. I shouted through the letterbox, and then looked through it. I saw Sadie, lying at the bottom of the stairs, not moving.’ She paused for a moment, reliving the scene.

  ‘I ran around to the back door, hoping it was open. It was. Not unlocked, I mean it was wide open. I was ringing 999 as I went through the door, and by the time I reached Sadie, I was connected to your switchboard.’

  Again, she paused. DI Brent waited patiently for her to continue. Her whole body was shaking, and he was concerned he would have to ask a paramedic to take a look at her.

  ‘I could see Sadie was dead. The lady on the phone wanted me to stay with her, try CPR I think, but Sadie was obviously beyond that. I told the operator I was going upstairs to get Jake, and she said to stay on the line. As I went up the stairs, I could see a soft light on the landing, as if it was coming from a bedroom. Then I saw the second body, and lots of blood. I recognised Gareth, and the next person I saw was a paramedic.’

  ‘Did you know Gareth would be here?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t. If he finishes early, he texts me to tell me he’ll collect Jake. I didn’t receive any text. Didn’t even receive a reply from Sadie when I messaged her to give her the ten-minute warning. She always responds with ‘okay’. DI Brent, Gareth was naked, and Sadie had little covering her. Do you think they had been in bed in that bedroom with the light on?’

  ‘I don’t make assumptions, Liz.’ He spoke quietly. ‘We will be taking in the bedding for testing, and we’ll know more then. We’ll also be testing the cot bedding; hopefully, whoever has Jacob will have left something of themselves behind.’

  ‘It’s just…’ and this time she did break down, sobbing uncontrollably. ‘It’s just,’ she spluttered, ‘I have to go home, and tell Dan what has happened.’

  ‘How old is Dan?’

  ‘Nearly sixteen.’

  ‘Then tell him the truth. He’s old enough to jump to his own conclusions. Make sure he knows the truth, whatever comes out in this investigation.’

  ‘When can I go home?’

  ‘As soon as you feel ready. We’ll obviously have to speak more, but for now we need forensics. I’ll get somebody to take you home. It’s not going to be an easy night, so your family liaison officer will go with you. She’ll be here within the next ten minutes. Keep thinking, Liz, in case there’s anything that you’ve missed. Our priority is Jake. We already have officers going door to door, checking on CCTV systems. Your FLO is Tanya Baxter, she’ll look after you.’

  ‘Have you come across my handbag? I seem to remember throwing it behind me as I climbed around Sadie.’

  ‘Is it a black plastic one?’ The young police officer standing by the door asked, and Liz glanced at him.

  ‘It’s a Moschino. Plastic?’

  He picked it up from the floor and handed it over, a sheepish expression on his face. She thanked him, and reached inside for a packet of tissues. She blew her nose, then looked up as someone new entered the room.

  DI Brent stood. ‘Liz, this is your family liaison officer, Tanya Baxter. She’ll certainly stay all night and tomorrow, so if you can provide her with a sofa and a sleeping bag, it will help.’

  Liz nodded. ‘Thank you. We have a guest bedroom you can use, Tanya.’ She turned towards Will Brent. ‘Thank you. Have you…?’

  ‘No, we haven’t heard anything yet. The second we do, I’ll inform you. Go home and leave us to do our jobs now, Liz, and take care of your son.’

  Liz followed Tanya out of the door, her legs shaking, her heart crying out for Jake.

  Chapter 22

  Dan was standing in the bay window, no lights on in the lounge, as he stared out waiting for a parent, any parent, to appear. He saw a car pull up outside, but didn’t recognise it. What he did recognise was his mother getting out of the passenger door.

  He drew the curtains closed, switched on a lamp, and went to open the front door.

  ‘Mum?’

  She stepped inside, and pulled him into her arms. He held her, aware she needed some comfort, and then saw another woman follow her in, and stand waiting patiently for the two of them to move.

  He released his hold, and stepped back. ‘Mum?’ he repeated.

  ‘Dan, come into the lounge. I need to talk to you. This lady is Tanya, she’s going to be staying for a day, or maybe two.’

  The three of them went into the lounge,
and Tanya took off her coat. ‘I’ll leave you two to talk, but please call me if you need me. I’ll find the kitchen and make us a pot of tea.’

  Dan sat. He felt sick. Something was wrong, and where the hell was Jake? Hadn’t his mum said she was at Sadie’s when he rang?

  ‘Where’s Jake,’ he asked, suddenly sure that this was the problem. ‘Is he poorly? Mum… where is he?’

  Liz looked down at her hands. She could hear Tanya in the kitchen and hoped it would take a long time to make the tea. This wasn’t something she could tell Dan in a few seconds.

  She took hold of her elder son’s hands and pulled him towards her. ‘I don’t know where Jake is. Someone’s taken him. I don’t know why, and I don’t know where.’

  ‘Maybe Dad has him…’

  ‘No, he doesn’t, sweetheart. I have more to tell you.’ She hesitated, unsure where to start. She took a deep breath. ‘I went to collect Jake, as normal, from Sadie. When I got there, I could see through the letterbox that she was lying at the bottom of the stairs. I rang for an ambulance and went in the house through the back door. It was obvious Sadie was dead, and I assumed she had fallen down the stairs. As you can imagine, I panicked. I went up the stairs to find Jake, because I didn’t know how long he’d been on his own, and as I reached the top of the stairs I saw a second body.’

  She watched as the colour drained from her son’s face.

  ‘It was Dad, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Dan, yes it was.’

  His face contorted with the struggle to be a man and not cry; he lost the battle.

  Tears leaked from his eyes, and he moaned, ‘No, no, no. Not Dad.’

  Liz pulled Dan close and held him while the grief overwhelmed him. He slowly quietened, and then she sensed a change in him.

  ‘I knew,’ he said bitterly. ‘I knew he was going up there too often. Is this her fault? Has she killed him, that Sadie?’