‘Okay, Bryant, Dawson, get your coats. It’s time to find these children.’
Ninety-Four
Karen held tight to her husband as the footsteps thundered past. He had been home for almost half an hour and she’d been unable to let him go. No one else knew he was back.
Robert also looked towards the doorway of the kitchen but they didn’t break apart. She turned to face him.
‘Rob …’
He shook his head. ‘It could mean anything, sweetheart. How many times have we seen them rushing in and out of the house?’ He stroked her hair gently. ‘We have to do this. We have to know what’s going on and we can only do that if we get the phone back. We have to save our daughter.’
Karen felt the relief flood through her body as he said those words. For the few hours Robert had been gone her world had held no meaning. Her beautiful daughter was missing and her husband had left her as well. In her heart she had known he would return; he would forgive her anything. Not immediately, she knew that. There would be many tears, explanations and apologies. He would need time to understand her deceit, but his love for the two of them would not be broken.
The fact that he had come back had calmed some of her fears.
Despite what he was proposing.
‘But …’
‘It’s the only way, Karen,’ he said, gently. ‘But you have to help me do it.’
Karen took a deep breath and nodded.
Robert stepped away from her and picked up two plates, gesturing for her to step to the side.
She covered her ears as the plates were hurled to the ground.
Ninety-Five
Stacey almost jumped out of her skin.
‘What the hell …?’
She was on her feet immediately but Matt beat her to the door. Alison pushed her chair back.
Stacey ushered him out of the way. ‘Stay here,’ she said to both of them as she opened the door. She didn’t feel the need to state that she was the only police officer in the room.
‘You’re a fucking liar, Karen. How the hell did you think I would feel?’
Robert’s voice bellowed along the hallway. Stacey headed towards the kitchen.
The two of them stood on opposite sides of the breakfast bar. A pile of crockery lay in the corner.
Robert’s face was dark with rage as Karen sobbed into her hands.
‘I’m s-sorry I lied to—’
‘Sorry,’ he screamed. ‘You’re fucking sorry? Ten years of my life you’ve stolen with your lies – and you’re sorry? To let me believe that child was mine—’
‘Mr Timmins,’ Stacey said, stepping forward into the room. ‘Please calm down.’
His look was filled with disgust. ‘Don’t tell me to calm down,’ he cried, sweeping his arm along the surface.
Utensils and coffee mugs crashed to the ground.
‘And where the fuck is that selfish bastard?’
Robert came striding towards her in the doorway. His size forced Stacey to step back but she held up her arms. He slapped them away and shouted over her head.
‘Stephen Hanson, stop hiding. Show yourself like a man.’
Matt appeared behind her. ‘Mr Timmins, calm down,’ he urged.
‘Will everyone stop keep telling me to calm down? Where the hell is that arsehole?’
Elizabeth appeared at the top of the stairs. Robert started heading towards her. ‘Is the cowardly bastard up there with you?’
Matt was trying to get up the stairs in front of him but Robert kept pushing him back.
Helen stepped in from the lounge and looked to Stacey.
‘Is Mr Hanson outside?’ she asked, as Robert continued his journey upstairs.
Helen shook her head.
‘Come on, Elizabeth, tell me where he is. I want the pleasure of kicking him the fuck out of my house.’
‘I swear to you, he’s not with me and Nich—’
‘I’m right here,’ Stephen said from behind Elizabeth.
Stacey thought that even Elizabeth looked surprised. Wherever he’d been, it hadn’t been with her.
‘Robert … please …’ Elizabeth said.
Everyone began moving towards the stairs. Robert was almost at the top, but Matt was trying to get there first.
‘How could you do it, you spineless bastard? Just to divert the attention away from the fact that you’re broke and even your damn wife didn’t know.’
Stephen stepped around his wife. Only three stairs separated them.
‘It’s not me you should be angry with. It’s that slut of a wife that lied to you.’
Robert’s fist flew forward, missing Elizabeth by an inch, but hitting Stephen smack on the nose.
Stephen reeled backwards. He must have thought the placid Robert would never actually strike him.
Finally, Matt managed to get between them and held the two men at arm’s length.
Stacey was halfway up the stairs when she heard Alison tell her to be careful.
Stacey stopped dead and turned around to see Lucas and Helen at the front door.
Robert, Stephen, Elizabeth and Matt were at the top of the stairs. She was in the middle and Alison was at the bottom.
Two questions jumped into Stacey’s head immediately.
Who was guarding the war room – and where the hell was Karen?
Ninety-Six
Kim had barely driven a mile when her phone rang. She passed it to Bryant. ‘Put it on loudspeaker.’
‘Boss, we have a problem,’ Stacey said, breathlessly.
Great, because she needed another.
‘What is it?’ she shouted, as Dawson leaned forward to hear.
‘It’s all kicked off here. Robert came back, plates were smashing. He was screaming at Karen and then punched Stephen in the face.’
Kim knew that they had not yet reached the problem. This was the lead up and the punchline was waiting.
‘I left the room first to find out what was going on but it all got a bit crazy …’
‘Stace, get to the point,’ Kim said. But she had a feeling she already knew.
‘The phones are gone. During all the fracas Karen disappeared. Helen is looking for her now. But the two mobile phones are missing from the war room.’
‘Shit,’ Kim shouted. A bloody diversion so they could get the phones – there was only one reason for that. ‘They want to take control and they’re going to see the text with the two million demand,’ she said.
‘And offer it, probably,’ Dawson added.
‘And thereby seal the fate of the girls,’ Bryant said.
Kim realised that the parents also had access to the screams of pain that she had chosen not to share.
Now they had the problem.
‘But why, boss?’ Stacey protested. ‘They might honour the—’
‘Stace, once the kidnappers engage the parents in an offer, they no longer need the girls.’
Ninety-Seven
Will stared at the text message and a slow smile began to spread across his face. The planning and execution that had led him and Symes to this moment had all been worth it. They were about to get paid.
Both of them.
Now the parents had accepted the terms, it was a straightforward drop. He saw no reason to change the drop plan he’d had last time.
Will felt the victory of the game in his blood. Two million pounds and neither of his partners wanted a cut. They each had their own motivations for their part in the crime. He already knew Symes’s incentive: he just wanted to hurt, to cause pain and eventual death. The vision of snuffing out the life of two little girls had carried him through the week.
About the boss, Will wasn’t so sure.
He had made two separate deals – he had to double-cross someone. He had promised Symes their death and he had promised the boss their lives.
Will had to decide which double-cross worked best for him.
Symes was here with him now. The boss was not.
‘Is it time for me
to get paid?’ Symes said, pacing back and forth across the room.
Will hesitated for the briefest of seconds.
‘Yes. This time you can do whatever you want.’
Ninety-Eight
‘Err … just to mention, Guv, this isn’t the way to Kidderminster.’
‘Thanks for pointing that out, Bryant, but you saw the aerial view. The noise caused by the accident would have been heard for more than a mile in every direction. We have to narrow it down. Emily said the noise was in the distance so the location of the accident is the wrong place to start. But Emily also said something else,’ Kim said, bringing the car to a halt.
‘I don’t get it,’ Dawson said, from the back seat.
Bryant was looking around. ‘This is where Emily was found,’ he said.
The road was an entrance to a new residential estate built on the edge of the green belt just outside Harvington.
‘And what she said was left, left, right, left.’
‘You sure?’ Bryant asked.
Kim took out her phone and began to play the recording. She forwarded closer to the end. Ten seconds later Emily’s voice confirmed Kim’s words.
Realisation dawned on Bryant’s features. ‘We’re going to track backwards from where they dumped her.’
Kim nodded. ‘Kev, get Stacey back on the phone. As we move keep telling her where we are. She can let us know if we’re warm or cold in relation to the target area.’
Dawson took out his phone.
Kim started driving slowly.
‘I get what we’re doing,’ Bryant said. ‘We’re gonna go right, left, right, right, reversing Emily’s memory, but we don’t know if it’s first right, second right, third right.’
Kim could hear Dawson explaining to Stacey what they were about to do.
‘Where they dropped Emily isn’t important,’ she explained. ‘The most important thing was not being seen. They won’t have used main roads or residential streets so they can be ruled out.’
‘Aaah, got it.’
‘All set, Kev?’ she asked.
‘Set, boss.’
Kim continued to drive until she saw a narrow lane on her right. She turned. Now she needed a left that was rural.
The next four left turns were residential. The fifth road was flanked by bushes. She took it.
The lane stretched for a third of a mile before hitting the village of Belbroughton.
‘Too populated,’ she said. ‘This isn’t the way.’
She turned the car around on a pub car park and went back looking for another left turn.
Kim continued along for another quarter mile, but her gut told her something didn’t feel right.
‘Boss, Stacey says we’re almost three miles from the crash site and moving further away.’
‘Shit,’ Kim said, stopping the car.
She had made a mistake. Eloise’s warning rang in her ears.
Damn it, she was going to be too late.
Ninety-Nine
‘C-Come on, Ames, you gotta s-stay with me. He'll be back in a m-minute.’
Amy held her right hand in her left. The tears coursed over her cheeks. ‘It hurts so bad.’
‘I know, Ames, b-but we gotta stay strong.’
Charlie knew Amy's little finger was broken. It looked the same as when she'd hurt her own in netball.
The pain coursed through her right foot where the man had stamped down on it. Amidst the pain she had heard bones crunch beneath his heavy boot but she had not cried, even though it was killing her to keep the tears at bay. It was hurting so bad now but she had to focus on the plan.
‘Ames, it’s g-getting worse. We have to go th-through with it.’
Fresh tears sprung from Amy’s eyes. ‘I can't, Charl, I can't …’
‘You c-can. I can't do it b-but you can.’
Charlie knew they had to try.
‘I know your hand is hurting b-but they're g-gonna hurt us some more.’
Amy cried harder and Charlie scooted closer.
‘Okay, listen. I'm g-going on a picnic and I'm t-taking an apple,’ Charlie said. The game always calmed Amy down.
‘Banana.’
‘Ch-cherries.’
‘Doughnut.’
‘Eggs.’
‘Err … frankfurters,’ Amy said.
‘G-Gingerbread.’
‘Hot dogs.’
The tears were slowing down. Charlie continued the game with one ear listening for the sound of footsteps.
‘Ice cream.’
‘Jelly.’
‘K-KitKat.’
‘Lemonade.’
‘Mars bars.’
‘Nuts.’
‘O-oranges.’
Amy's answers were coming much quicker.
‘Poppadums.’
‘Q … I always get Q,’ Charlie said.
‘That's ’cos you always start the game, Dumbo,’ Amy said, wincing.
Charlie tried to laugh and then stopped as she heard a door opening in the distance.
Amy heard it too. Her eyes widened. Her hand began to scratch skin.
Charlie put her hand on Amy's arm. They were out of time.
‘Ames, you gotta be b-brave and do wh-what I said.’
Amy shook her head and clutched Charlie's hand. ‘I can't …’
‘You m-must.’ Charlie squeezed Amy's hand. ‘Promise me, Ames. P-Promise me you will.’
A tear fell from Amy's eye. ‘But you'll …’
‘I'll be right behind you b-but please just do what I say.’
Charlie fought to keep the lie out of her voice. If Amy knew she couldn't run she'd never do what she asked.
But this way, one of them would live.
One Hundred
Kim took a moment to think. She trusted Emily’s memory, but knew she was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
‘Of course,’ she cried. She started the car and backed into the driveway she’d blocked.
‘What?’ Bryant asked.
‘I’ve assumed Emily was facing the same way as the driver,’ Kim said, beginning the journey back to the start point. ‘The poor kid had been thrown into the back of the van and was being tossed all over the place. That’s why we’re heading away. Emily was obviously facing the opposite direction.’
Bryant frowned as Dawson repeated what she’d just said to Stacey.
‘So, let me get this straight. We have to do the opposite of what we’ve just done because Emily’s left is our right.’
‘Precisely,’ Kim said, cursing herself for the wasted time.
Minutes later she was back at the start point. ‘Okay, same again,’ Kim instructed.
She drove forward as Bryant called out what he saw.
‘Houses, houses, private drive, turn.’
Kim turned left.
The road had a pub on one corner and two terraced houses on the other corner. Beyond that, a hedge rose up on both sides.
Kim drove slowly as Bryant continued to call out.
‘Turn,’ he shouted.
She took a sharp right and the road narrowed. She was now on a single track road. Hope began to build in her stomach. This was more like it.
‘Kev, you getting this?’
‘Yeah, Stacey said we’re moving towards—’
‘Turn,’ Bryant cried.
Kim took a left onto a single track road with tufts of grass breaking through the tarmac. She hit two potholes in a few seconds.
A branch caught the driver’s side door.
‘Guv, I think we’re getting close,’ Bryant said.
Oh yes, she knew they were. According to Emily those potholes had been there thirteen months ago too.
‘Kev, how far away from the crash site?’
‘Just over half a mile.’
Kim continued to look for the next turn.
‘Guv,’ Bryant shouted.
She followed his gaze and brought the car to a quick stop. A sawn-off log blocked the road.
Kim looked to Bryan
t.
‘Now, we’re getting close.’
One Hundred One
Symes didn’t always take such care before killing. But this was different. The week had been torture, picturing their pure little bodies bending to his violent will; but in some strange way he had enjoyed the painful anticipation. He’d only had one fear. That Will would back out of their deal.
But yesterday Will had given him the go-ahead to take his pay and he was enjoying the luxury of knowing that it was now within his control. A wash and shave had been the order of the day. Symes knew that once he entered the basement he would not return for some time.
He had spent hours imagining how it would feel to break their small bones with his bare hands. He imagined it would be like snapping a chicken wing.
Of course, there would be the violence he craved of kicking and punching but he knew he needed to exercise an element of control. After waiting so long it could not be over in minutes. He would take hours, possibly days. He knew how to take someone to the point of death before bringing them back again to prolong their agony and his pleasure. He would do this until he became bored.
Symes unlatched the door to the stairs that led to the basement.
He would walk into that room knowing he was the last person they would ever see.
One Hundred Two
‘Okay, let's go.’
They all exited the vehicle.
One side of the road was hedged but flat.
‘Kev, you still got a signal?’
He nodded.
‘You take the field.’
He pushed himself through the hedge, leaving her and Bryant. The other side of the road was a different story. The grassy earth sloped down away from the road and then rose steeply into the hillside.
‘Jesus, Guv, Bear Grylls, I ain't,’ Bryant said, trying to keep up with her.
Kim ignored him and focussed on her footing.
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