Danger by Association: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 3

by Heather Burnside

  “I’m still not convinced about Raeni,” said Rita. “She’s the likeliest suspect if you ask me. It sounds like they’ve let her off too easily. Just because Daniel’s not at her house, doesn’t mean she hasn’t got him parked up with one of her relatives or friends. I think we need to find out for ourselves.”

  “Oh no!” Yansis and Julie both said at once.

  Rita’s impulsiveness and strength of character had got them into trouble in the past so they were both anxious to stop her going. Rita, however, had other ideas.

  “Look, I can’t stand all this waiting. We need to do something. Sitting around here is driving me up the bleedin’ wall! I’m going to see her and you can please yourself, Yansis. But if you don’t come with me, you know I’ll go anyway, with or without you.”

  When Rita saw the look on his face, she knew she’d won the argument. Yansis’s passivity was never a match for Rita’s forcefulness.

  Chapter 10

  Monday 17th June 1996

  Rita approached the house with trepidation. Although it was her idea to visit Leroy’s mother, she was now having second thoughts. She didn’t even know the woman. All she knew about her were the impressions she’d gained through her son, Leroy, and her own mother. Rita wasn’t encouraged by the fact that Raeni had brought Leroy into the world but, according to her mam, Raeni wasn’t a bad sort.

  Rita realised she’d have to take the lead; Yansis hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. He only came to prevent her from getting into any bother, and perhaps because there was a part of him that thought they might get a little nearer to finding out where Daniel was.

  An overweight, middle-aged, black woman answered the door, and she didn’t give a very warm reception. Rita assumed she must be Raeni.

  “What do you want?” she snapped.

  “I-I’m Rita. This is my husband, Yansis. We wondered if we could talk to you.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say. I said all I had to say to those policemen. Coming here, asking their questions. I suppose you think I’ve got the boy too, do you?”

  “No, no, it’s not that. It’s just that I wondered if you might know anything that might help.”

  “And why would I know anything?”

  Rita could feel the hostility emanating from Raeni who didn’t show any signs of wanting a reasoned discussion.

  “Look, I’m sorry but we’re desperate. I don’t know what we’ll do if we don’t get him back,” said Rita, her voice shaking. “If there’s anything at all that will help us find him, please tell us.”

  Raeni paused for a moment, and Rita thought she detected a slight softening of her features, but then her hostility turned to annoyance.

  “I can’t believe your cheek, woman! Five years, five years you been away, and I haven’t seen my grandson once in all that time. Now, as soon as there’s anything wrong, you come running round here with your accusations.”

  Despite Rita’s initial reservations, she could match anyone for temper, and her lack of progress prompted an equally irate response.

  “Hang on a minute, we haven’t accused anybody! We’re just asking if you can help, that’s all. Do you really think we’d be round here if we weren’t desperate? If you had any sense of decency you’d realise what we’re going through and try to help us!”

  “You think I don’t know? You think I’m not upset? I know how it feels to lose a son, and now I might have lost my grandson too. And I never even got to see him!”

  Raeni’s angry words acted like a shock wave that shot through Rita, and stunned her into silence. For a few moments the two women stood glaring furiously at each other, the atmosphere between them like electricity.

  It seemed to bring Raeni to her senses too because she looked beyond Rita and Yansis, as though aware that their raised voices might attract attention. Then she appeared to relent as she said, “You’d better come inside.”

  “Sit down,” ordered Raeni when they were indoors.

  They did as they were told but, now they were inside, Rita was determined to put her point across.

  “I’m sorry if I was a bit insensitive,” she said. “I didn’t want Daniel on the Riverhill Estate; not after what happened to Jenny.”

  “You’re talking rubbish, woman! Just because of what happened to your sister, doesn’t mean the same will happen to Daniel. He’d only be visiting; he doesn’t have to live here. Not like my sons. We all still have to live here. You’re lucky you’ve got a choice.”

  “Well, I don’t feel very lucky at the moment,” said Rita.

  Despite Raeni’s anger, Rita could sense the conflict that was taking place within her: concern for Daniel’s current welfare was battling with her fury over not seeing him. Rita guessed that there was a caring woman behind the stern exterior, and she capitalised on that. “Look, Daniel has asthma. Quite bad. He has to take his inhalers regularly or he’ll get really ill. The longer he’s away, the more ill he’ll become.”

  “I know all about asthma,” said Raeni, who was now becoming calmer. “I’ve had it myself for years.”

  “He’s got some injuries from the bomb blast too. He’s had stitches, but they could still get infected if he doesn’t have his dressings changed regularly.”

  Raeni nodded at Rita, so she continued, “We took Daniel to Greece because we thought it was the best thing for him. He has a good life there. We can give him all the things that he wouldn’t have if he stayed here. I don’t want him to end up like Jenny, and I’m sure you …”

  “Enough!” said Raeni, stopping Rita before she mentioned Leroy’s death. Raeni then remained quietly observing them until Rita broke the silence.

  “I’ll leave you my mobile number,” she said. “If you do find out anything, please will you let us know as soon as possible?”

  She took a pen out of her bag, tore the top off a cigarette packet and scribbled her number on it. As she passed the piece of card to Raeni, she noticed her sorrow-filled expression.

  Raeni then led them out of the house without saying anything further.

  ***

  Monday 17th June 1996

  “I lot of bleedin’ help you were,” Rita said to Yansis once they were outdoors.

  “Rita, you forget that I didn’t want to go to the house. It was your idea. I think she is a very sad and lonely lady, and there is no point making her feel worse. Besides, I don’t think she has Daniel.”

  “OK, OK, big bad Rita strikes again, I get it … Right, well now we’re here, we might as well go round and see my mam and dad.”

  “Oh no, Rita. I hope you are not going to tell them what your aunty said at the wedding.”

  “Why not? Someone has to face them with it. They must have been having a moan to her, otherwise where did she get her ideas from? Besides, they’ve got off easily. I could have told the police about Aunty Irene but I didn’t. Anyway, I’ll tread carefully. It’s not as if I’m gonna accuse them or anything.”

  Yansis looked at her and raised his eyebrows. Subtlety wasn’t always her strong point, and her relationship with her father had been unstable for a long time.

  “Look, Yansis. Do we want our son back or don’t we?”

  “Of course I want Daniel back.”

  Rita knew she had him. “In that case,” she said, “we need to do whatever it takes.”

  A few minutes later they were inside Rita’s parents’ home, which was only a few streets away from Raeni’s, on the Riverhill Estate.

  Initially they received a much more sympathetic reception than they had done at Raeni’s, and both her parents were full of concern about Daniel.

  “Any news yet, love?” asked her mother, Joan.

  Rita briefly covered the visit they had received from the two police officers that afternoon, adding. “I suppose they must be taking it seriously if they’ve sent detectives.”

  “Well try not to worry, love. I’m sure they’ll come back to you with some news soon.”

  Rita didn’t mention her visit to Raen
i; instead she wanted to focus on the subject she was about to raise. Aunty Irene.

  “Aunty Irene had a word with me at the wedding,” she began. Then, when she had the rapt attention of both her parents, she continued. “She was a bit accusing, telling me I’d really upset you both when I took Daniel to live in Greece.”

  “Oh, you know what Aunty Irene’s like. You don’t want to take any bloody notice,” said Joan.

  “Yeah but, it’s not easy when she’s in my face. She insinuated that you were both against us taking Daniel to Greece so I told her that wasn’t the impression I had.”

  “We never said that!” snapped Ged.

  “Well where has she got the idea from, then?”

  “I don’t bloody know, do I? Anyway, why you bringing it up now?”

  “No reason. I just wondered what would make her think that you didn’t want us to take Daniel to Greece. She seemed to think you were really upset about it.”

  “What are you trying to imply?” said Ged. “I hope you’re not saying that my family have got anything to do with Daniel disappearing.”

  “No, course I’m not. But she was really nasty to me.”

  “That’s just her way,” said Ged. “I’ll have a word with her, tell her to keep her nose out. But I hope you’ve not gone and said anything to the police. I’ll be really pissed off if you have. The last thing we need is them sniffing round.”

  “No, course I haven’t.”

  While Rita questioned her parents, she observed them for any signs they might be lying. Changes in their tone. Fidgeting. Rushing to get their words out. Her father’s voice had risen and speeded up but that was usual when he was hassled. That could just be because he was worried she’d mentioned it to the police. So there was really no way of knowing, and she decided not to push things further.

  Deep down, though, she didn’t really suspect her parents of snatching Daniel. Despite her negative opinion of her father, she doubted whether even he would do something so callous. But she had to be sure.

  Her aunty, on the other hand, was an unknown quantity, and Rita didn’t know her so well. Although she didn’t like to think that someone in her own family could have done her son harm, her aunty’s attitude at the wedding had raised her suspicions.

  As they made their way to Julie’s, Yansis asked, “Well, are you happy now?”

  “Yansis, I won’t be happy until we get Daniel back. But if you mean am I satisfied now that I’ve seen Raeni and my parents, the answer’s ‘no’. I don’t think we’re any further forward.”

  “Surely you can’t think your parents are connected with Daniel’s disappearance?”

  “Not really, but I wouldn’t trust Aunty Irene as far as I could throw her.”

  “But why would she want Daniel?”

  “I don’t know. She probably wouldn’t want him for herself. Maybe in some warped way she might think she was doing my mam and dad a favour.”

  Yansis didn’t respond but the expression on his face showed his scepticism.

  “I know, it sounds crazy, but weirder things have happened. And I was thinking of all the cases of missing kids you see in the news. Nine times out of ten the family are involved … Oh, don’t worry, I don’t think my mam and dad are. I think I would have been able to tell if there was anything suspicious going on. I’m sorry Yansis, you must think I’m terrible, but I just needed to make sure.”

  “It’s OK, Rita, I understand,” he said, taking her hand. “I want Daniel back too.”

  “I suppose all we can do now is wait for the police to get in touch again,” she said.

  Chapter 11

  Monday 17th June 1996

  “Alright, mate?” asked Tony when John arrived at work.

  “So, so,” he replied.

  “Why, what’s up?”

  John told Tony about Daniel going missing, which elicited an impassioned response from him.

  “Jesus, I didn’t realise it was your nephew! It’s the talk of the station. Well, that and the bomb.”

  “I bet it is. Well, do me a favour, Tony, and keep it to yourself, will you? I can do without a load of well-wishers reminding me about it every five minutes.”

  “Sure; whatever you say, mate.”

  “What have we got lined up today, anyway?”

  “Not sure yet, but I think it might be something connected with the bomb. It’s a pity ’cos I think we’re chasing shadows there. We’ve got no chance of putting those bastards behind bars. I wish we were going out on another raid instead. That one at Harpurhey last week went brilliantly. I still can’t believe how easy it was.”

  “Yeah, it was a good shout,” was John’s lacklustre response.

  “You alright mate?”

  John shrugged his shoulders.

  “I’m not surprised it’s getting to you. I’d be climbing the fuckin’ walls, and wanting to have the bastard’s balls on a plate.”

  “I think you’re jumping the gun a bit,” John snapped. “We don’t know if someone’s got him yet.”

  “No, I know, but he’s been missing since yesterday, hasn’t he? You know how these things go mate … Look, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to wind you up or anything. I’m just stating the facts.”

  Tony then paused and John felt as though he was psyching himself up to add something more. His suspicions proved correct when Tony said, “You could use your inside influence if you wanted to. I think I would. In fact, I know I would. If it was one of my family, I’d have to get involved.”

  “You know as well as I do that I can’t tamper with a case. I’d be well in the shit.”

  “Oh, I know about the protocol and all that. It’s different when it’s your own family though, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m just saying what I’d do. It’s your choice at the end of the day.”

  “DI Collins is a good cop. I’m sure he’s covering all the bases,” said John, but his statement lacked conviction.

  It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been tempted to see what he could find out. Thoughts of what could have happened to his nephew were driving him crazy. Aside from the fact that he was missing, it was the utter impotence at being unable to do anything about it.

  Up to now his sense of duty had stopped him from acting against protocol. Besides, as far as he knew, the investigating officers didn’t yet have much to go on anyway. It would be easy to find out how much information they did have. His ex-girlfriend, Janet, was on DI Collins’ team, and she was still sweet on him. He could work that to his advantage. But he wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to place her in an awkward position.

  ***

  Monday 17th June 1996

  Maurice put down his heavy bags. He was starting to find his way around the local shopping areas, and had found some bargains in Quality Save and the pound shops. The house was coming together. It wasn’t a palace; nothing matched and his purchases were more practical than aesthetic, but it suited his needs.

  The bits that he bought would come in handy, and he was looking forward to putting them all in their place. It was still only morning so he had plenty of time to sort things out. Before he made a start, he decided to have a drink and a sit down. He’d no sooner taken off his shoes and switched on the kettle than he heard a knock on the front door.

  He knew who they were as soon as he saw them, despite the absence of uniform. Police. He’d been expecting them. Whenever a child went missing, the local paedophiles were always the first port of call. Maurice had experienced several dealings with the police last time he was released from prison.

  “Come in,” he said, resigned to their presence and hoping none of the neighbours would figure out the connection.

  The policemen got straight down to business. “I’m DI Collins, and this is DS Fletcher,” said the older of the two. “We’re here in connection with a missing child.”

  “I know,” said Maurice.

  DI Collins raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

  “I heard about the child. Daniel Christos, isn’t it?
I knew you’d be round sooner or later.” Maurice’s voice was monotone and lacked expression.

  The policemen looked at him in eager anticipation. Maurice was enjoying toying with them. He couldn’t help himself. “I’m the local paedo, aren’t I? I suppose you’ll be here every time a child goes missing.”

  “It looks like we’ve got a smart Alec here,” said DS Fletcher but it was the DI who was becoming inflamed.

  “Look, you piece of shit!” he said. “You can quit feeling sorry for yourself. Have you any idea what that child’s family are going through?”

  Maurice shrugged.

  “Right, we’re taking you in for questioning,” continued the DI.

  “What?” protested Maurice. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “We can decide that once you’ve answered our questions.”

  DI Collins nodded at the sergeant who took Maurice’s arm and led him towards the front door. “Have you got your keys?” he asked.

  “Yes,” said Maurice, who still had them in his pocket.

  “Well, in that case, let’s not waste any time.”

  Once he was at the station, and the police had booked him in, they left him in an interview room for a while.

  Maurice waited patiently. He’d been through all this before and knew they’d come when they were ready. Sure enough, after a while DI Collins entered followed by DS Fletcher. The sergeant announced that the interview was to commence, and flicked the switch on the recorder.

  “Right, let’s get straight to the point, shall we?” said the inspector. “Can you tell me what you were doing outside the paediatrics department of Manchester General Hospital yesterday morning, Sunday the 16th of June 1996?”

  The question floored Maurice. He had expected the usual standard questions relating to his whereabouts when the child disappeared and so on. He hadn’t anticipated that they would have placed him at the hospital. CCTV! He should have known. The bloody things were everywhere these days.

  He recalled his fascination with a case a few years ago when a child was snatched from a shopping centre in Liverpool. Police had spotted two youths taking him away through a check of the CCTV. Maurice watched the news coverage in prison. Since then, the use of CCTV had become increasingly widespread. Despite realising this, he responded on impulse with a rapid denial.