Baby Dear: a gripping psychological thriller

by Linda Huber

  The boy stared at the wallet. ‘Okay. What d’you want?’

  ‘Bread, cornflakes, a carton of milk, and some cold meat.’ Jeff pulled out a ten-pound note, then changed his mind and scrabbled some coins together. Better not give this little tyke too much opportunity to steal from him. He forced himself to smile at Liam. ‘You buy them and bring me the receipt, and I’ll pay you then.’

  The boy considered, obviously wondering if he could improve the deal.

  ‘Bread, cornflakes, milk, cold meat,’ said Jeff firmly. ‘Half twelve or so.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ said Liam, and vanished down the stairwell.

  Jeff went back to his room. He should have added a newspaper to the list. But if he paid the kid for each errand there would be no limit to what he could demand. Would a boy like Liam be able to lend him a lap top or a phone? Probably not, but it might be worth asking.

  He would have to heat some soup for breakfast. Strange days indeed. He stood stirring a battered pan on his one ring, his mouth watering at the smell. It seemed like ages since he’d last had a decent meal. That had been at his grandmother’s party on Sunday. Half a lifetime away now.

  The morning passed slowly. Jeff listened to the radio and played with the baby when she was awake. She was a pretty little thing, with black hair and dark, dark blue eyes that would maybe turn brown later. She wasn’t much like Sharon, that was sure. But then, Caro was going to be her mother now, so that would be all right. Caro was dark-haired too. The baby looked at him seriously when he spoke to her, only sometimes appearing to focus on his face. What could she see? When did babies start to smile when you talked to them? This one wasn’t smiling yet, or not at him, anyway. Jeff sighed.

  He fed her just before twelve, reckoning she would fall asleep and give him time to deal with Liam again at half past. He was getting good at the feeding bit now. They had a little routine going, him and the baby. Clean nappy first, then half the bottle, up for a burp, then the other half and another burp to finish off with. That way, she fell asleep without any problems. Usually.

  Now, however, she seemed to sense that he was nervous, and grizzled and cried and wouldn’t lie down to sleep. Jeff rocked her in his arms for the fortieth time at least, it seemed, then laid her down on the bed – and off she howled again. Jeff looked at his watch, dismay and impatience making it impossible to stay calm. Liam should be here in five minutes and he wanted to be on the landing when the boy arrived. No way could he bring a visitor, even a child, in here. The baby had to stay a secret. Without a doubt.

  He would have to leave her crying; it was the only thing to do and it wouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. His mind made up, Jeff put the baby in the middle of the bed and reached for his wallet, wondering if the howls could be heard from the square below. The lunchtime people were there now. Supposing someone heard her? But even if they did, well, babies cried. No one would think anything of it.

  Briskly, he opened the door, then reeled back. Liam was standing right there in front of him, one hand raised to bang on the door and the other clutching a plastic bag from the convenience store on the High Street. Jeff took a step back in sheer surprise and Liam walked into the room.

  ‘Here’s your stuff. And the receipt. Can I have my money now?’ He looked curiously at the howling baby. ‘Why’s it crying?’

  Jeff felt dizzy with shock. It took a tremendous effort to gather his thoughts together. Be a normal father, Jeff. Relax. Act as if this is all in a day’s work.

  ‘She’s tired. She’ll go to sleep in a minute. Okay, here’s your money, a bit extra too. Now off you go and leave me to get her to sleep. Thanks.’

  Liam was still staring at the baby and Jeff felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. This boy could ruin everything.

  ‘Never have kids, son,’ he said, forcing himself to sound matey. ‘They wait till their mum’s away at her sister’s and then they howl non-stop. We had to leave our place for a few days, um, burst water pipe. We’ll be going back soon. Thanks, son. Bye for now.’

  To his relief, Liam merely grinned and turned back to the stairway. Jeff closed the door after him and lifted the baby, who stopped crying immediately. He rocked her against him, feeling her warm against his chest. Her forehead was hot.

  ‘It’s all right now,’ he crooned. ‘Daddy’s got you, it’s all right, all, all right.’

  If he said it often enough he might believe it.

  Julie

  The library was deserted. It was if the inhabitants of Bridgehead were holding their breath, barely venturing out, waiting for the missing baby to be found. The media presence in the town centre made it all too obvious that this was anything but a normal Wednesday. Reporters and TV crews had already been crawling around the High Street when Julie passed that morning, and they’d probably be at Riverside Gardens too. Poor Sharon.

  Julie shivered. It was forty-eight hours now since Jael had been taken, and each passing hour meant an increase in the danger to her. According to this morning’s news, ‘the suspect’ had no experience in looking after babies. Sharon must be in hell.

  Alongside the worry about the baby, her conversation with Max last night was heavy in Julie’s mind. Had she done the right thing, telling him she didn’t want to get involved at the moment? Oh, they hadn’t fallen out. They’d been quite civilised, in fact; she could see that he really did understand what was going on in her head. If the situation had been different, their relationship would have developed very differently. The attraction was there… and look how well he got on with her kids. It wasn’t every bloke who wanted a woman with a baby.

  Maybe she should give him a quick call, touch base. Last night had ended with a quick ‘See you sometime, then,’ as they’d parted outside Julie’s building, and that was no way to leave things. She stood for a moment, staring at her mobile, then pressed connect. He picked up almost at once, saying, ‘Hi,’ in guarded tones.

  Julie’s thoughts raced back to Jael. ‘What’s wrong – is there any news?’

  ‘No. Sorry. Are you okay?’

  Relief flushed through Julie, to be replaced by resentment. Of course she wasn’t okay. She snapped before she had time to think. ‘Apart from my friend’s child being in mortal danger, I’m fine. Sorry, sorry. I’m on edge. I can’t think of anything else.’

  ‘I know. Would you like to meet again, just to talk? I don’t like to leave things the way we did last night, Julie. I think we could be good together.’

  Julie gripped the phone, angry with him and with herself too. She should never have called him. He liked her, but his police training would mean he was able to detach his working life, including the horror around Sharon and the baby, from this non-relationship the two of them were in.

  ‘Stop. If things had been different I guess we might have been good together but I can’t think about that now. There’s too much bad stuff going on. I shouldn’t have phoned. Bye, Max.’

  She rang off as his reply came.

  ‘Bye, love.’

  Caro

  Caro was stuffing letters into envelopes, the most boring job in the world but one of the few things computers didn’t do yet. At least it didn’t involve much brain work, because all she could think of was Jeff and that poor baby. She’d arranged to take the day off, but Louise had to organise an emergency dentist appointment, so Caro was holding the fort for a change. She yanked the drawer open and rummaged for stamps, not allowing the tears that were constantly welling in her eyes to escape. Her husband, the man she had chosen to father her children, had abducted a baby. How could she have lived with him all those months and not realised he was capable of something like this? He was the man she had laughed with and slept with, and she had never known what was going on inside him. She felt shell-shocked.

  How often had she seen the same kind of disbelief in TV interviews and news reports? People talking about their relatives or neighbours who had murdered, stolen, beaten… they all said, ‘I never knew,’ and, ‘We didn’t su
spect a thing.’ And in real life you thought, ‘Yeah, right. Things like that don’t happen out of the blue.’

  But now it had happened to her. Her husband had planned this crime, and she had put his strangeness of the past few weeks down to the shock about the no-baby and the breakdown of communication between them. He must have gone mad; there was no other explanation. It didn’t bear thinking about. How on earth would Jeff manage to look after a baby? Shit, the past couple of weeks had brought her nothing but grief. The no-baby, no Liam, the worry about the boy and his wretched ecstasy, now Jeff and that poor baby.

  Her phone rang in her handbag and Caro’s heart began to thump. Dread was filling her life – she felt like a criminal too. She grabbed the phone and held it to her ear, shaking fingers sliding on the black case.

  ‘Morning, Mrs Horne, DS Sanders at Bridgehead Police Station here,’ said a man’s voice, and Caro recognised the older of the two policemen who’d been to the house on – good grief, it was only yesterday. ‘We’re finished with your house now, so you can go back whenever you like. We shouldn’t need access again.’

  ‘Thanks. Did you find anything?’ Was she allowed to ask questions like that?

  He answered readily enough, so apparently she was. ‘We’ve sent some hairs off for analysis. And a small amount of white powder that was found on the kitchen table and floor.’

  ‘White powder?’ said Caro, realising as she spoke what it would be. ‘Oh no. Was it milk powder?’

  ‘It could be, but it’s being analysed too,’ said the policeman.

  His voice was kind, and Caro was grateful, because in a horrible way she felt partly to blame for Jeff’s actions. If only she’d realised – but no one could be expected to realise that their husband was going to kidnap a baby. She gave herself a shake.

  The policeman was still speaking. ‘Mrs Horne, have you heard anything from your husband, or remembered anything that might help us find him?’

  ‘Nothing,’ said Caro, aware that Louise had returned and was listening avidly. ‘I just hope you find him soon.’

  ‘Yes. We’ll be in touch. Goodbye, Mrs Horne.’

  ‘Goodbye,’ she managed, and sat staring at her desk.

  ‘Any news?’ said Louise greedily, and Caro sighed.

  ‘None. The police called to say they’ve finished at the house.’

  ‘Are you going to move back in?’

  Caro almost jumped. She hadn’t considered this option, but – actually, why not? It would be easier than finding a new place or staying on at Rosie’s. If and when Jeff was found he’d be kept under arrest or in a psychiatric hospital, so the house would be empty anyway. Wow. She’d be living alone in that big house…

  ‘I might,’ she said to Louise. ‘I’ll get off, then. I hope your tooth’s okay?’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ said Louise. ‘On you go. I know you’re having a tough time.’

  Caro rushed out, waving to Louise sitting heroically at her desk. She had to run for the bus and sat panting while it wandered towards home. Now she thought about it, what was happening with the car? Couldn’t the police track cars – or had Jeff taken it to Ireland, or even abroad? She could certainly use it here… Guilt swept through her. This was beginning to feel like disposing of someone’s possessions after they’d died.

  Back at the house, she walked through every room, looking for signs of the police search. There was dust everywhere and the drawers and cupboards had all been disturbed. Caro slumped down on the sofa and stared apathetically round the living room. After just three days the place already had a neglected feel to it. Did she really want to live here alone?

  Children’s voices came in through the open window. There were so many children round about, so no, she didn’t want to live here any longer, but it would do until things were organised. After all, this had been her home as much as Jeff’s, and she shouldn’t squeeze herself in with Rosie and Gary when this place was standing empty.

  Decision made, Caro went through to the kitchen and made herself a coffee. She would watch the news at the top of the hour, catch the latest about the baby. It was a little girl. Those poor parents, what must they be feeling right now?

  The missing baby item came first. There was a broad sweep of the camera over the riverside flats where the family lived, then a close-up photo of the baby. A lump came into Caro’s throat. What a lovely little girl. And Jeff had taken her away… Oh God oh God, they were mentioning him by name now and his photo was shown too. Woodland searches were going on, the river had been dragged, and police dogs taken to sniff round the flats and the park. But the main focus of the report was definitely on Jeff. But where could he be? Caro couldn’t think of any place that he might hide.

  The appeal came last and tears poured down Caro’s cheeks. It was unbearable; here was the same grief she felt about the no-baby, but magnified a hundred, a million times. Those poor people, clutching a big photo of their lost baby. The mother’s hands were trembling like an old woman’s, and her eyes… A police spokesman came on after the family and said a reward would be given for information leading to the baby’s discovery. Telephone numbers were blended in at the end, and Caro switched the TV off. If she’d only known. If she’d told someone Jeff was acting strangely, maybe none of this would have happened. But she hadn’t realised it was this serious, and it had been a bad time for her as well, coming to terms with the no-baby. This wasn’t her fault.

  Miserably, she tidied round the living room and kitchen. She would spend one more night with Rosie, and move back here tomorrow.

  Her mobile rang as she was locking the front door behind her. Caro’s fingers started to shake as she pulled it from her bag. This was how it was going to be now – shakes and jitters every time her phone or the doorbell rang.

  It was Liam. Caro’s lips trembled as she pressed connect.

  ‘There’s a – a bloke here.’ His voice was shaking.

  Caro blinked. With everything else going on in her life now, she hadn’t given that awful youth and his ecstasy pills a thought for days. But Liam had obviously remembered, and if he’d seen this boy now, then it was a different kid who’d overdosed in the library. Nothing to do with her after all. Thank God, thank God. One small thing had gone right.

  Caro took a deep breath. ‘Thanks for letting me know. Are you okay, Liam?’

  ‘I’m okay, but there’s something I can’t say on the phone. Can you come here?’

  Caro hesitated. It was enough to know the ecstasy boy was still alive, but maybe Liam wanted a reward for his trouble. That could end up being awkward, if Alfie’s mother was around. On the other hand – maybe Liam wasn’t as okay as he’d said. Caro compromised guiltily.

  ‘Why don’t we meet at the newsagent’s near your square, at quarter past six, and you can tell me what’s going on.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Liam, and rang off.

  Caro pulled a face. This could turn difficult, especially if Pete was still around. Hopefully, though, he and his lorry were on the road again. She would go very briefly, and she would make sure Liam understood that this time it really was ‘goodbye’. She had no wish to have her brother back in her life.

  A thought struck her, and Caro stood still on the front path. She was going to meet Liam, but she might end up meeting the boy with the ecstasy pills too, and that wasn’t nearly such a pleasant prospect. He was older. Bigger. Stronger. And after everything that had happened recently, she didn’t know if she’d have the guts to stand up to him again if he turned nasty.

  Slowly, she opened the front door again and went upstairs. She had a pepper spray in the wardrobe. Her mother had given it to her years ago, when she’d had a job involving late shifts. She would feel much safer with this in her pocket. Better put her phone on silent, too – she didn’t want it to ring while she was talking to the youth – he might pinch it.

  Liam was waiting outside the newsagent’s, jigging up and down on the balls of his feet, his eyes alert. A little twist of concern pulled at Ca
ro’s insides. He looked nervous – what was going on?

  ‘Come quick,’ he said, trotting off down the High Street.

  Caro strode along beside him. ‘Where are we going, Liam?’

  Liam turned, looking at her with wide, excited eyes. ‘Did you see the news? There’s a baby missing and there’s a new man in a room up here with a baby and he is one funny bloke, I tell you. And there’s a reward, too, but I don’t know how to get it. Come on – I’ll show you where he is.’

  He ran off again and Caro had little choice but to follow. Her heart was thudding away under her ribs. Could it really be Jeff, this man with the baby? If it was, she might be able to end the horror for everyone concerned in just a few minutes. Hope flaring inside her, Caro followed Liam along the other side of the square, to the building opposite the one where he lived.

  ‘Didn’t you tell your dad?’ she asked.

  Liam shook his head. ‘He’s away again.’

  A disturbing thought struck Caro as they started up the dirty staircase, and her breath caught. Supposing it wasn’t Jeff? It could be another ‘funny bloke’, and she was about to knock on his door. Only now did she realise how much she was hoping that, somehow, it hadn’t been Jeff who’d taken the baby, that he’d just gone off for a few days to think things through. But there was a new man in a room with a baby… She stopped and gripped the greasy bannister with both hands.

  ‘Liam, tell me what he looks like?’

  Liam shrugged. ‘Bigger’n you but not real big. Short hair, sort of red, blonde. Scary eyes.’

  Dread crashed heavily into Caro’s gut. It must be Jeff. She would go and check, anyway. She made Liam point out the room, then gripped the pepper spray in her pocket and strode along the short dark corridor.