by Anita Waller
She sat down by the side of the bed, opened her bag to take out her sandwich and found the note.
I will get her back
She froze.
Stumbling, she reached the door of the room and almost fell on to Andy Johnson, patiently guarding the room as he did most days.
‘Ring Dunbar. And nobody, unless we have a medical emergency, is to come into this room. Nobody, Andy. No doctors, no nurses. Tell DI Dunbar I need him here now.’
She went back to the sleeping child’s bedside and looked down at her, a tear forming in her eye. She carried her own chair to the door effectively blocking entry into the room and sat down to wait for Jake Dunbar to arrive. She knew he wouldn’t be long.
It took him fifteen minutes. He had been over at Stonebrook with the Fire Service Investigator being told that the accelerant was petrol and a lot had been used on the cottage, not so much on the outbuildings. It had been poured through the letterbox on the front door, presumably followed by a blazing rag. Evidence suggested that he had then gone round the back of the cottage and had broken a kitchen window. He had poured petrol through that and ignited it. He was probably running out of fuel and used up the rest on the outbuildings, most of which had been spared the conflagration that had happened in the cottage.
His phone showed Andy Johnson was ringing him and his stomach churned. Johnson would not ring him unless something was wrong.
‘Johnson?’
‘Sir, you need to come to the hospital. I don’t have any details yet but WPC Miller has barricaded herself in Angel’s room and given me instructions to let nobody enter, not even the medical staff.’
‘Tell her fifteen minutes.’
He drove fast. He swore. He screamed inside.
Because he knew Miller wouldn’t over react. Her calmness was legendary and she had been his obvious choice to be the carer for Angel. And now she had put Angel’s room into lockdown.
He ran through the hospital and held his warrant card up to the small window of the door. Sarah moved her chair and allowed him in, then moved the chair back into place.
She handed him the note, now enclosed in a clear evidence bag and watched his face blanch.
‘How did you get this?’
‘I think I know how but I’m not sure. We can be sure if there is CCTV in the hospital canteen but if there isn’t...’
‘So what do you think has happened?’
‘Angel, as you can see, is sleeping. I decided to nip down for my sandwich so we could have lunch together. We do that every day. Andy was on duty outside so I knew she was safe.’
Dunbar touched her hand. ‘Stop it. You aren’t tied to her bed leg! I expect you to leave her occasionally.’
There was the sound of a strangled sob but she carried on. ‘I was in the queue waiting to pay for my lunch and a man was behind me. He reached across me to get some cutlery but my thoughts were on what had happened with Karen and Angel this morning. I apologised to him for being miles away and he said don’t let it worry you. I thought no more about it, came back up here and went into my bag to take out my sandwich. I found that note and immediately made everything as safe as I could and asked Andy to ring you.’
Dunbar stared at the note, unsure for a couple of seconds what to do and then he took out his phone.
‘I want additional protection at the hospital,’ he said. ‘There must be two PCs at all times outside this side ward.’ He paused as he listened to the response. ‘How long? For as long as I say,’ he thundered. ‘And I want someone to partner Andy Johnson here within the next ten minutes.’
‘Okay, Sarah, he obviously knows who you are. I’ll understand if you want to come off this case...’
‘Sir, just forget what you’re about to say. I’m here and I’m staying, and you don’t want to see me when I’m angry. I’m staying with Angel, I’m helping Angel recover and if these two PCs outside the door aren’t enough to protect us, I’ll bring a damn gun in.’
He looked at her with amusement. She had a reputation at the station for being cool, patient and reliable. He could add fiery to that list. ‘You got one then?’
‘What?’
‘A gun.’
‘Not yet but I can have one within ten minutes if that’s what it’s going to take.’
‘Sarah...’
They both turned at the small voice coming from the bed.
‘Hello, sweetheart. Have you had a good sleep?’
‘Yes, thank you.’ She noticed the use of the words thank you and chalked one up to the good guys. ‘But why do you need a gun? Is it for me?’
Sarah flinched. Angel must have been awake for at least part of the conversation.
‘It was just a joke, Angel. Look, Jake has come to visit you.’ She was uncomfortable calling him Jake but it was necessary.
She eyed him with caution and he said, ‘hi.’
‘Hi.’
‘Just thought I would pop in and check you don’t need anything. Who’s this?’ and he picked up the unicorn.
‘Hermione. Karen brought it for me. Sarah reads me a book about Harry Potter and Hermione is his friend. This Hermione is my friend.’
‘That’s wonderful, Angel. Look, I’ve got to go now. Sarah is staying with you until Alison gets here so have a good afternoon and enjoy your lunch. If you do need anything just tell one of them and they can get it.’
She looked at him solemnly, thoughtfully. ‘Okay. Don’t get me or Sarah a gun, get us a wand.’
Chapter 13
The CCTV targeted the double doors of the dining area but not the payment queue. It showed everyone who had gone in and come out but Sarah really had no idea what he looked like. She was half aware of maybe a dark blue jacket sleeve, as he had reached across her and her open bag but other than that, she knew nothing. She stared at the screen but they had no idea what time he went in and he could have left at any time. It was a busy hospital canteen open twenty-four hours a day for staff, patients and visitors.
She went home feeling frustrated and angry. They had no idea what he looked like, how he spoke; but Angel did. She felt as though they were in a cleft stick. If they asked Angel questions, such as what does he look like, would this traumatise the little girl even more? She had gone through so much and now should be her healing time, not a stressful period.
Karen spoke to her outside the room the next morning. She explained that she would be starting to introduce the idea of a life after the hospitalisation but if Sarah felt it was going too fast, she was to raise a hand. They would have a further talk before continuing.
Angel seemed pleased to see Karen. ‘Hermione’s been very good,’ she said to the pretty psychiatrist. ‘She slept in my bed all night.’
‘And I had a chat with your doctor and he said you could have some sweets. I’ve brought you a few little ones to see which you like.’
She upended a paper bag and small packets of jellies, mints, chocolate buttons and other such sweetness fell on to the bed.
Angel stared at them. ‘What are they?’
‘Try one.’ Karen opened some buttons and offered one to Angel.
She inspected it then smelt at it before placing it on her tongue. She sucked on it and showed no emotion at all initially, then said ‘Ooooh.’
‘That is chocolate, Angel,’ Sarah laughed. ‘Have you never had it before?
Angel shook her head.
Karen handed her the packet. ‘Here. But just have a couple more for now. We don’t want to make you ill.’
Sarah was just about to say and what do you say to Karen when she heard a small, quiet thank you from Angel.
Karen had decided to play everything by ear; the situation was something new to her and no amount of training was going to help.
‘Angel, I need to talk to you. Did you ever see anybody else except Daddy?’
Angel shook her head.
‘Not one other person? Did Daddy ever bring another man or a lady to see you?’
Again, she shook her h
ead.
‘Angel, do you know what a daddy is?’
‘Somebody who cleans me.’
Karen exchanged a look with Sarah.
‘No, Angel, that’s not what a real daddy is. You’re going to have to be a very big girl and listen carefully to what I am going to tell you. Every child starts out life as a tiny baby. You used to be a tiny baby. And every tiny baby starts out life with their own mummy and daddy.’ She offered up a silent prayer to an invisible God for forgiveness for the simplification of birth.
Angel stared at her. ‘Should I have had a mummy and daddy and not just Daddy?’
Karen nodded. ‘Angel, there are some really big things we will be telling you over the next few days. It is important that you understand that the terrible man who made you call him Daddy isn’t your real daddy. And that is why you will never have to see him again and why he can never hurt you again. You are a very brave little girl; you left him. We now have to help you start learning all the things you should have learnt and we have to teach you about ... well, about everything.’
Angel seemed to be deep in thought. The side ward was too quiet and Sarah didn’t know whether to break the silence or not. And then Angel began to cry; soft little sobs that cut into Sarah’s soul like a knife.
She pulled her into her arms and tried to soothe her. Karen watched the interaction between the two of them and decided the session was over for the day.
‘I’m going to go. Angel, I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll talk more. There is so much still to tell you but it can wait.’
Sarah disentangled herself from Angel’s arms and laid her gently back on to the pillow. ‘I just have to have a quick word with Karen, I won’t be long.’
Angel gave a tearful smile.
Sarah accompanied Karen a little way down the corridor and they spoke in hushed tones.
‘This is so difficult. She knows nothing of the outside world. How can I tell her she’s got a mummy, a daddy, a sister and a brother when she has no concept of what those words mean? It’s not just about filling her in on what is to happen to her, it’s about educating her on the first seven years of a child’s life.’
‘I’m making a start now this session is over. I’ve bought her a couple of books. They are proper beginner’s books in reading and although I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, she obviously wants to learn. When I was reading Harry Potter to her yesterday, she asked me when she would be able to read books on her own. I’ll pick up a couple of little books on family life later and we can have a look at them before I show them to her. If you don’t think they’re any good just tell me. I don’t want to go over your head but all the time you were trying to explain things to her, I knew she didn’t understand the idea of family.’
‘Thank you, Sarah. I’ll see you tomorrow. We will sort this but it’s not going to happen in a rush.’
Sarah went back into the side ward and Angel was talking to the unicorn. She caught the last of what she was saying; are you a mummy, Hermione?
Later that day, Dunbar and Karen returned to the hospital and rejoined Sarah, summoned by the medical team. All three of them went to the room used by the consultant as an office. All of them would have admitted to feeling nauseous. They needed no more bad news about Angel.
‘The brute who raped this wee girl has infected her.’ Callum Donaldson looked at the three people in front of him. ‘We are starting to get blood results back now and I’m sorry to have to say this but she has a sexually transmitted disease just to add to all the other problems she has.’
Sarah drew in her breath and once again thought about putting in a request for a gun. It would be used.
‘She is now on the necessary medication but it’s just one more thing to add to her catalogue of issues. The good news is that it’s treatable and there won’t be any long-term effects. Everything else is healing nicely. She needs to be built up, she is very much underweight for her age and I suspect he fed her on very little. Her weight is starting to climb but when she leaves here, we’d like to monitor her until she reaches the correct percentile for her age. We will be explaining all of this to her parents when they are allowed to meet her. I just felt you three should know.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Dunbar responded. I will leave it to you to tell them, in case they have any questions they need to ask that I can’t answer.’
They left the consultant’s office and walked back to Angel. The nurse was in with her and giving her some medicine.
‘Sarah,’ she said, ‘I’ve got some new medicine! It tastes nice and it’s to make me feel much better. That’s good, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, sweetheart,’ Sarah said with a heavy heart. ‘It’s very good.’
Chapter 14
She would have seen the note by now, that policewoman, that Sarah. They’d all be running round like headless chickens and upping the security on everybody.
How stupid were they? He knew they didn’t know what he looked like, who he was, what his name was. They knew he was good at arson now and they certainly knew he was good at murder.
It had been good to practice on Amy but there were one or two more to have a go at still. He didn’t know how much longer he’d got so he was going to make it count.
And he wanted Angel back.
He would get Angel back. She was his.
They had sent teams out around the locality of Treverick’s now abandoned house, visiting caravan parks, asking questions of year-round residents and early visitors to Cornwall. So far, they had drawn a blank.
Angel’s physical recovery was progressing well despite the minor setback of a small operation and they were ready to give her information about her true family. Dunbar had talked to Karen and they had agreed that he would be there; she had to start to accept that men made up a large part of the population and she couldn’t have any sort of a life without men in it.
Sarah would also be there. The little girl trusted her completely and was learning so much from the ever-patient WPC.
Dunbar entered the room to find Sarah and Angel deep in conversation with a book in front of them. Sarah flashed him a smile.
‘She’s doing so well! We need more books now. I’m going to pick some up later. She’s my little letter expert.’
Angel nodded. ‘C A T, cat. D O G, dog. A N G E L, Angel. S A R A H, Sarah.’
He applauded.
‘That’s brilliant young lady.’
He took out his wallet and handed Sarah two £20 notes. ‘Get the books she needs.’
They heard Karen speaking outside the door to Andy Johnson and then she came in. They were all aware what a massive day this would be and each of the adults assembled in the room felt shaky with nervous exhilaration.
Karen had brought three coffees for the adults and a soft drink for Angel in with her, along with some doughnuts. They needed to keep the session as light as they could and all four of them took a doughnut. Angel eyed it with suspicion at first but then very clearly enjoyed it.
‘Okay, Angel,’ Karen began. ‘Today you need to be the brave girl that we already know you are. Your life is going to change and it will be a wonderful life. You have to trust us, trust what we are going to say. Remember Harry had to trust Hagrid when he felt a little bit scared?’ Angel nodded. ‘It’s the same thing.’
‘Okay,’ Angel said, looking puzzled. ‘Sarah?’ and she turned to hold Sarah’s hand.
‘I’m here for you.’
Karen began to speak. It didn’t matter how many times she had thought about it, practised what she was going to say, imagined Angel’s response, she was still groping blindly in the dark.
‘Remember Sarah and me telling you about families and how every baby starts out with a mummy and daddy?’
There was a look of panic on the little girl’s face. ‘Daddy?’
‘No sweetheart, not that nasty man who made you call him Daddy. He wasn’t your daddy. He was just a wicked man who will one day be punished.’
Angel still
looked troubled but a squeeze of Sarah’s hand told them she was prepared to listen.
‘When you were born, you had your own mummy and daddy. They had you in hospital and they loved you very much. You are their first child. First children are always very special to parents.’
‘Parents?’
‘That’s the name for mummies and daddies.’
‘So I’ve got another daddy who’s not Daddy?’
Karen nodded. ‘And a mummy.’
There was silence for some time while Angel digested this. Sarah was aware of the young child’s limited knowledge, her lack of expectation of the world she had never known and she grieved for what Angel had missed.
‘Who is Mummy?’
The question was abrupt and unexpected. Karen flashed a quick look at Sarah and Sarah nodded.
‘Her name is Lauren and she has never stopped loving you from the day she had you.’
‘And my real Daddy?’
‘His name is Richard but everybody calls him Pilot. He is lovely and can’t wait to see you again.’
Angel looked around the room at Jake Dunbar, Karen and Sarah and turned her face into the pillow. ‘Okay,’ she said.
And so Angel controlled the amount of knowledge they had to give her. When she felt she had heard enough she blanked everyone, including Sarah, from her mind. They recognised when this was going to happen but slowly and surely, they told her more of her family.
‘Will I have to see them?’
‘Eventually.’
‘What if I don’t like them? What if they are like Daddy.’ She looked up guiltily. ‘Ronald.’ They had told her to stop calling him Daddy because he wasn’t her daddy. His name was Ronald Treverick and one day he would be punished for what he had done to her. Her real daddy, they said, was a very gentle man. When she met him, she could call him Daddy.
‘The children? They are nice?’
‘Olivia is your little sister and she is very nice indeed. Noah is your very tiny brother. He does nothing but sleep all the time. He is only eight weeks old. Angel, you have nothing to worry about at all. When you leave here it will be to have a wonderful life.’