The Hiding Place

by Helen Phifer

  ‘Are you okay back there, boss?’

  Through gritted teeth he answered, ‘Yes, take me to my house, please.’

  He phoned Amy, who answered straight away.

  ‘I tried Morgan but her phone’s off, what’s happening? I’m coming home.’

  ‘What do you mean her phone’s off? And are you sure, boss? I’d have thought they’d want to keep you in for observations.’

  ‘It went to voicemail. Nah, I’m fine, Amy. Why were you surprised Morgan didn’t answer her phone?’ There it was, a cold, familiar fear chilling him to the bone.

  ‘She’s out looking for Macy; me and Des were going to help but we got called back to the nick. Morgan didn’t come with us. Her phone probably died. I’ll come get you.’

  ‘Is she out looking for Macy alone?’

  He didn’t even need to ask, what a stupid question: who else would she be out with, if Amy was with Des? They normally paired up and he was here.

  ‘Yeah, but she’s in the Cloisters Lane area. We’ll go find her, she can’t be far.’

  ‘Okay, thanks.’

  Cain drove to Ben’s; he’d dropped him off a couple of times so knew where it was. The whole time Ben kept ringing Morgan’s number – it was still voicemail and he was doing his very best to quell the panic rising inside his chest. The van stopped outside, and he realised he didn’t have his front door key.

  ‘I’m going around the back, as I might have to break a window to get in. Can you climb through and open the back door for me?’

  Ben thought that Cain’s face looked more pained than his own and he smiled.

  ‘I’ll sign your pocket notebook to say this was under my orders, Cain. I’m not going to expect you to get a joiner to board it up or to scene guard it until one comes. I need to get to Cloisters Lane now.’

  He was aware of the desperation in his voice, but he didn’t care. Cain helped him out of the van.

  ‘What a shit shift this is turning into. I don’t know whether to help you or 136 you and get you sectioned at the nearest mental health unit.’

  ‘After this is over, Macy Wallace is safe and Morgan is not in any danger, trust me you might have to section me, but for now let’s just pretend I know what I’m doing, okay?’

  Cain shrugged as he uncuffed Ben’s wrists and helped him out of the van. ‘You know Madds is going to have a meltdown over all of this, don’t you? He’ll probably need sectioning with you.’

  Ben smiled and hobbled around to the back of his house through the gate at the side of the garden, glad he hadn’t locked it when he’d put the bins out yesterday morning. He tried the back door, which was locked; it was a solid wood door. Pointing to Cain’s body armour, he asked, ‘Baton?’

  Cain undid it and passed it to him. Ben smacked it as hard as he could against the kitchen window and let out a groan at the sharp pain in his ribs. The glass had cracked but hadn’t gone through. Taking the baton from him, Cain bent down and picked up a rockery stone, launching it through the window. The sound of breaking glass filled the air. Ben smiled, thinking about the first time Morgan called at his and broke the window to get inside. ‘Where did you learn that: the Morgan Brookes school of policing?’

  Cain had no idea what he was talking about and shrugged. Using the baton he smashed the rest of the glass out of the frame and climbed through, opening the back door for Ben.

  ‘Thanks, you can wait in the van if you want.’

  ‘Can you manage?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Cain left him, and the first thing he did was open the drawer and take out the painkillers he kept inside it. He took two paracetamol and two ibuprofen for good measure and went upstairs to find some clothes. By the time he’d pulled on some joggers and a thick jumper, he’d plucked up the courage to glance in the mirror. He shook his head at his reflection, thinking, what a bloody state, then went back out to the van where Cain was waiting for him. He handed Cain a pair of socks.

  ‘Last favour.’

  ‘Bloody hell, this is above and beyond the call of duty, Ben.’ But he took them from him and put them on Ben’s feet. Ben slipped his trainers back on.

  ‘Thank you.’

  As Cain began to drive in the direction of Cloisters Lane, Ben hoped that Morgan was fine and her phone had died, that he was panicking for no good reason.

  Forty-Seven

  Morgan didn’t know where she was or what had happened. Her head felt as if it had been run over by a truck, and then she felt small hands shaking her shoulders and she opened her eyes to see a blurry figure leaning over her.

  ‘Wake up, wake up, he’s coming back with breakfast.’

  She had no idea who this was and wondered if she was still in bed, hung-over to shit and dreaming. Closing her eyes, she felt those hands again shaking her, the voice urgent, almost at the verge of panic.

  ‘Please, lady, you have to wake up, we need to get out of here.’

  This time she opened her eyes and saw a girl staring at her, opened her mouth to speak and realised she couldn’t: there was a tight band of material gagging her. Then the girl began untying it and she felt it loosen and fall from her mouth.

  ‘Macy?’ the relief in her voice was palpable.

  ‘Yes, I’m going to try and untie your hands.’

  Morgan realised that she was on the floor in a bedroom tied to an old-fashioned radiator and tried to pull her hands away from it. She couldn’t think straight; her head was a pounding mess of jumbled thoughts. She closed her eyes and let the relief wash over her. Macy was alive and here with her, thank God for that.

  ‘I can’t do it; he’s done it too tight.’

  ‘Can you look around in the drawers and see if there’s anything in them to cut them with? How did you get out?’

  ‘We played Scrabble last night and he forgot to tie my hand back up when he heard his mother come back. I was going to climb out of the window, but he gave me a drink that was disgusting, and I fell asleep. I have some scissors I stole out of the bathroom.’ She pulled a small pair out that were better than nothing.

  Morgan smiled; she liked this kid a lot. ‘Good, that’s good. Well, you’re safe now. I’m a police officer, I won’t let him hurt you and pretty soon my friends are going to be here looking for us both. We’ve been looking all over for you, Macy.’

  ‘Is my dog okay? Did he go home?’

  ‘Yes, he did.’

  Macy’s eyes filled with tears then she stood up and began to try and cut through the rope. As she moved to the side, Morgan saw a figure lying perfectly still under the big four-poster bed and she let out a yelp. Macy turned around shushing her. Morgan nodded. There was someone under the bed staring at her, and she wondered if he’d not even left the room and was watching them both, enjoying giving them a few minutes of hope before he killed them, but the figure never moved, it didn’t even take a breath. It looked as if it was wearing a black shroud.

  She whispered, ‘Eleanor?’

  Heavy footsteps on the stairs made Macy turn around in panic, and she began sawing, trying to cut the rope.

  ‘His mother, I don’t know her but she’s scary. He’s terrified of her.’

  Morgan whispered, ‘It’s no good, they’re not strong enough to cut the rope. Can you use them to loosen the knots? Poke them inside if you can.’

  Macy nodded and began pushing and poking at the knots until they were loose enough to use her fingers. Morgan slipped her hands out of the bindings and whispered, ‘Get back on the bed, pretend you’re still tied up and whatever you do don’t open your eyes. I’m taking you home.’

  Macy held her little finger up. ‘Promise.’

  Morgan hooked hers around it and whispered, ‘Pinkie promise.’ She watched as the girl clambered back on the bed and slipped her wrists back through the material he’d used to tie her up with. Morgan closed her eyes. Macy nodded, lay back and squeezed her eyes shut.

  The footsteps stopped outside the bedroom, and Morgan pulled the gag back into her mouth. H
iding her hands behind her back, she sat up with her back against the cold radiator, clutching the small scissors in her right hand. She glanced under the bed and realised that if it was Eleanor, she had been there for some time because the room didn’t smell of death or decomposition.

  A gentle knock on the door and a voice whispered, ‘I’m coming in to see you.’

  Morgan swallowed the lump in her throat as the door opened slowly. Elliot was standing there, his right hand, hanging down by his thigh, was gripping a solid wooden rounders bat. Morgan thought how easily she had been deceived by this small, harmless-looking man who was far stronger and more powerful than she could have ever imagined. He’d killed Charlie with a single blow to her head and rendered Morgan herself unconscious just now.

  She glanced at the bed to make sure Macy wasn’t looking. No matter what happened she had to protect her and keep her safe. She wouldn’t let him hurt her any more than he already had. He stood there taking in the scene in front of him and she knew he was trying to figure out what was different. The tension was unbearable as she tried to gauge what he was about to do. Where were Amy and Des? Why was no one looking for her? She realised that the scissors Macy gave her were little protection against Elliot. Her head was pounding, but she had to distract him so that he wouldn’t realise Macy was unbound.

  ‘Where’s your mother, Elliot? Aren’t you afraid you’re going to wake her up?’

  ‘Shut up, she’s sleeping.’

  ‘If I scream loud, will she come looking to see what you’re doing?’

  He took a step closer to her; the bat, small but deadly, was swinging against his thigh, making a dull thwacking sound.

  ‘If you scream then I’ll have no choice but to hurt you, Morgan, like I did the man outside your flat, and we don’t want to do that, do we?’

  Morgan glanced at the body under the bed. ‘Where’s Eleanor, Elliot? Is this her bedroom?’

  His eyes flickered to the bed, telling her everything she suspected was true.

  ‘I told you we don’t know.’

  ‘I think you do. I don’t think she ever left this house, did she? But how did your mother not discover her body?’

  And then it hit Morgan: his mother was dead too. And probably had been for a long time. She whispered, ‘It doesn’t matter how loud I shout, Elliot, your mother isn’t going to come and see what you’re doing, is she? I know that you killed her too.’

  ‘I never meant to hurt her, you know, but she was horrid; a selfish, stubborn girl. She packed her case and told Mother she was leaving to go and live with her boyfriend, that she wasn’t ever coming back. I’ve never seen Mother so upset, it wasn’t fair. All I did was stop her from leaving. Mother never got over it. Then when she was gone I realised I was all alone. It’s been so long since I had someone to talk to. I thought it would be nice to have a friend and that kid was always on her own; she reminded me so much of myself.

  ‘Why did you come to my house and attack my friend?’

  ‘You were asking too many questions, Morgan. I was angry. I wanted to stop you but I didn’t know who it was until it was too late. I only wanted to stop you from coming around here again. I wouldn’t have hurt you too much. But he fought back and I had no choice.’

  He glared at her, black eyes filled with fury and something else. He stepped inside the room lifting the bat high, and Morgan gathered her strength. She clambered to her feet and ran at him. All hell broke loose. Elliot let out a scream and ran for her at the same time as she ran for Elliot. He swung the bat towards, her but she ducked in time and it swooshed through the empty air where her head had been seconds ago. Throwing him off balance she managed to barge him out of the room away from Macy, who clambered off the bed and began hammering at the window. A police van and several cars had just turned into the street. Morgan heard a loud crash as she was grappling with Elliot, who was much stronger than she had anticipated. She could hear Macy screaming ‘Help!’ out of the broken window.

  Morgan lunged for Elliot. She stabbed the small scissors into the soft flesh of his neck, plunging them in as far as she could: it wasn’t deep but it was enough for Elliot to lose his concentration. She got behind him and caught him in a secure hold, dragging him further away from Macy before he could do any more damage.

  Elliot was screaming, ‘Mother, Mother, come help me! Look what you’ve done.’ He shook off Morgan’s grip. He lifted the bat again. Morgan drew back her fist and punched him square in the nose, and hot blood sprayed out of it as the bone crunched. He fell to his knees crying.

  Cain reached the top of the stairs, his taser drawn. He pointed it at Elliot.

  Ben stepped out from behind Cain and couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. There was a small guy in a purple shell suit with a broken nose and a pair of scissors sticking out of his neck and Morgan, who apart from a line of dried blood on the side of her head, looked relatively unharmed. Macy ran to Morgan, wrapping her arms around her tight and Morgan hugged her back, turning her face away from the blood and carnage in front of them. Amy appeared behind Ben, took one look at the mess and spoke.

  ‘Brookes does it again.’

  Morgan led Macy to Amy. ‘Please take her home.’

  Amy reached out for the girl’s hand and took hold of it gently, leading her away, her other hand clamped over her eyes so she didn’t see the blood. Cain and Des cuffed Elliot and took a step back, leaving Ben, Morgan and a heavily bleeding Elliot behind. Morgan knelt next to the man who had ruined so many lives.

  ‘The ambulance is on its way.’

  He stared at Morgan, opening his mouth to speak but he couldn’t; blood was flowing freely from the wound in his neck now. This man, who had attacked Ben without so much as a second thought, thinking it was her, and had killed a little girl and stolen another, looked as far away from the boogey man as she could imagine. She heard sirens in the street outside.

  ‘Paramedics are here.’

  Two paramedics ran up the stairs, and Ben moved back out of their way.

  ‘Morgan, let them take it from here. Cain and Des will accompany him to the hospital.’

  She nodded. She turned away to face Ben, who was looking out of the landing window down onto the front street.

  ‘Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in hospital?’

  He smiled, turning back to look at her. ‘I was about to ask you the same question. But you can tell me later. I think there’s someone outside who wants to see you.’

  She raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to the window to look outside. Macy was there waving frantically with one hand at her, the other cradling Max to her chest. Her sobbing mum was behind her, her arms wrapped around her, and Morgan couldn’t stop the tears this time, nor did she want to.

  More footsteps on the stairs and she heard Tom’s voice.

  ‘What in the name of God is going on here? I let you loose for two hours and it’s carnage, complete carnage.’

  Morgan lowered her head. ‘Sorry, boss.’

  ‘Well done, Brookes, good job.’

  He clapped her on the back and stepped to one side as the paramedic working on Elliot glanced at them. She began to walk down the stairs to go and see Macy then turned to Ben.

  ‘You might want to check under the bed, as there’s a body underneath it that I think might be his missing sister. God knows how many he’s got hidden around this place.’

  And then she was outside on the street where residents and people were congregating everywhere watching the house. Macy broke free of her mum’s grip and ran towards Morgan at full pelt with Max still under one arm. She hugged her fiercely, and Morgan dropped to her knees on the wet, slushy path and hugged her back, holding her tight. A round of applause began to echo around the street, and she looked up to a sea of smiling faces and clapping hands. Despite having a hangover from hell, she grinned at Macy and ruffled the fur behind Max’s ears. She stood up and walked Macy to the gate, back to her mum who was standing with Amy.

  ‘Mum, this i
s…’

  ‘Morgan, I know who she is, she came to see me when I couldn’t find you. Thank you, Morgan, I asked you to find my baby girl and you did.’

  Amy intervened. ‘What do you say we go to your house and get warmed up? It’s freezing out here.’

  ‘Can I have hot chocolate?’

  ‘You can have cream, marshmallows, the lot,’ said her mum.

  Amy led them to the car and opened the rear door for them. When she’d closed it she turned to Morgan.

  ‘Is he?’

  ‘Dead? No, there’s a body under the bed as well.’

  ‘Shit, no way.’

  Morgan smiled. ‘God knows, but he has some serious issues.’

  Amy nodded. ‘Have you seen the state of Ben? And why is your head bleeding?’

  ‘Elliot hit me with something. I’m okay though, just have a really awful headache.’

  ‘Well, here’s a little tip from me, get Ben out of that house and get Des to drive you both to Ben’s house, where the pair of you can get cleaned up and take it easy. Cain said he’s not going anywhere near the hospital or Ben because he’s a nightmare. Claire is on her way; she and Tom can take over this one, but I will tell you one thing for sure.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Wendy is going to be pissed at the state of that crime scene. How many bodies and cross-contamination can you get at one scene? I’d get out of here before she arrives.’

  Morgan smiled, thinking that Amy had a point. She turned to see Ben standing at the front door watching. He slowly began to walk towards her. Des held out his hands to Morgan.

  ‘Car keys, I’ve had it from the top that you two are to be driven somewhere safe and away from prying eyes. Seeing as how the whole world knows where you live, Morgan, I’d suggest Ben’s house.’

  They didn’t argue but got into the back of the car, both of them battered, bruised but never happier because Macy was safe, back with her mum where she belonged and a dangerous killer was off the streets.