by Mel Sherratt
It was as if the light went out of Jade’s eyes at the mention of her daughter. Kathleen had hoped it would appease her, make her realise that Megan would be well cared for. But it seemed to have the opposite effect.
‘You are not having my daughter!’ Jade screeched.
‘But it’s for the best, don’t you see?’
‘She’s not for sale!’
Kathleen paled. ‘I didn’t mean I was going to—’
Seeing the look on Jade’s face, she stepped back, moving towards the door as Jade lunged at her. She ran out to the landing heading for the stairs. The front door was open. She must have forgotten to close it in her haste to find Jade. If she could get down the stairs and into her car, she might be able to escape.
Before she could get a hand to the banister, Jade pushed her hard in the back. Kathleen flew forward, losing her footing, and fell head first down the stairs. Her shoulder connected with the wall, and she landed with a nauseating thud on the ground floor. Her right leg crumpled beneath her.
‘You should have protected me!’ Jade screamed behind her.
Grace drove to Hardman House in a convoy, emergency sirens on full pelt and lights flashing as they rushed to the scene. Jade wasn’t answering her phone, so patrol cars had been sent to her home address, as well as to Steele’s Gym.
Perry turned to her as she negotiated a corner sharply. ‘What would be her motive to attack Leon? Could he really be involved in those parties?’
It didn’t sit right with Grace. ‘I’m not sure,’ she replied.
‘Do you believe he harmed Jade as a child?’
‘Not sexually, but perhaps in other ways.’
‘So Leon missing means what?’
‘I think he’s probably dead.’ Grace took a gulp of breath as emotion rushed through her at the thought. She glanced at Perry as she negotiated the road. ‘We have to stop her from killing anyone else. We need to find Kathleen Steele – and Jade’s daughter, Megan. Eddie too. She could go after any one of them.’
They were at the house.
‘The front door is open.’ Grace brought the car to a halt in the driveway.
They scrambled out, flicking out batons and, with caution, went inside. Kathleen Steele was lying at the bottom of the stairs, her leg at a peculiar angle underneath her. Blood trickled down her face from a cut to the head.
Jade was stooping over her mother. She froze for a second when she saw them.
‘Stop. Police!’ Grace shouted.
But Jade ran down the hallway away from them. Grace went after her, Nick and Perry close behind. She could hear Sam already on her radio calling for an ambulance for Kathleen.
‘Jade! Stop.’
Jade was in the back garden by the time they ran through the kitchen. Grace could remember running through the garden as a small child, but had she been running away from George Steele? Or had she been happy, roaming freely? Had she ever been happy at this house?
But then her mum appeared in the memory and she was in front of her and she was laughing. And she knew it was a happy memory. It was what she needed.
Come on, Grace, you can do this.
Grace pointed towards the garage. All the time, she tried not to think of her childhood. The fear of going down the path, dragged to that place, of being shut in that room. Seeing it now reminded her of everything George had put her through; how much she had suffered at the hands of the man who had fathered her.
She pushed aside these thoughts as she raced forward. Nick was already heading into the garage. Grace followed him inside, Perry behind her.
Palpitations shot through her and she tried desperately to control her breathing as her fingers began to tingle.
Breathe, Grace.
This had been the place in her nightmares. She prayed the only thing that had gone on in there since she’d left was kids being locked up. Nothing else, please, nothing else.
Inside, the side walls were lined with shelving units filled with rusty tools, boxes of screws and nails, paint tins, DIY paraphernalia. The remnants of yesteryears, the smell of musty air. Light flooded through a gap in the roof, but everywhere else remained dark.
‘Where is she?’ Nick asked, trying to see in the darkness. ‘Is there a light anywhere?’
Grace remembered where the switch was and pressed it down. The single bulb was dim, but at least it illuminated the space a little.
‘Can you remember this?’ Perry whispered as they stepped forward cautiously again.
‘Yes, this was the workshop. She’ll be in there.’ Grace pointed to the back. ‘There’s hidden access.’
They inched forward. Nick found the door and pushed it open, the smell of faeces flooding the air. As their eyes grew accustomed to the dark again, they focused on what they could see.
Grace struggled not to throw up. There was the single bed that she had slept on many nights as a child. A naked man was bound to the headboard by each wrist, his feet held together with tape that was then stretched down to the bottom of the bed and secured. Blood covered his face, his head lolling to one side. Around his mouth was tied a scarf. He groaned loudly, pulling at the binding on his wrists.
When he turned towards them, Grace gasped. It wasn’t Leon.
It was Alex.
SEVENTY-TWO
Jade stood beside Alex, a knife in her hand. Dried blood covered most of the blade.
‘You have no right to be in here!’ she screamed.
Nick stepped inside, Grace beside him. She put her hands out in front, eyes flitting around the room.
‘Whatever Alex did to you, you don’t have to worry about him any more,’ Grace said.
‘Get everyone out of my room!’
‘I can’t do that, Jade,’ Nick spoke slowly. ‘Unless you put down the knife.’
‘I only want to talk to my sister.’
‘Then put the knife down.’
‘No!’ Jade began to wail.
Grace knew by now the place would be surrounded. They just needed to calm Jade down enough to arrest her. Then they could ask her about Leon. It was too risky to mention his name yet. Jade was irrational enough to fly at any of them with that knife. They had all seen first-hand what she was capable of. And if they could move out of the way of the blade, they might be able to take her down, but what if she lunged at Alex? He wasn’t able to defend himself. It was too dark in there to risk that.
‘Did you like the toys I sent to you?’ Jade asked.
Her laughter chilled Grace to the bone, but she nodded her head.
‘Pretty neat that Alex delivered them, huh? Did it bring back terrible memories?’
Grace nodded again. This seemed to make Jade happy and she laughed once more.
‘I always had hand-me-downs. Yours or my brothers’. I hardly ever had anything of my own. Daddy didn’t like me enough.’
‘George was a horrible man and you didn’t deserve what happened to you, Jade,’ Grace said softly.
‘Don’t come all preachy on me. And where were you, Grace? Because when you left, he turned on me.’
‘I’m … I’m sorry.’ Grace’s tone was gentle. ‘But you weren’t the only daughter he hurt.’
‘You never had to meet Mr Jenkinson though, did you?’ Jade had a tear running down the side of her face.
Grace glanced at Nick, wondering when to make her move.
‘Jade,’ Nick said, ‘don’t you think you—’
‘Shut the fuck up!’ Jade’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she screeched. ‘This is family business. If you don’t listen to me’ – she pointed the knife at Alex – ‘then I will stab him in the heart and it will be your fault.’
‘No more violence, please!’ Grace stepped forward with her hands held out in front of her.
Jade lunged at her with the knife. Grace shifted to one side, losing her footing and falling to the floor. She rolled, landing with a thump against the wall. Pain erupted inside her head as it connected with the leg of a workbench.
/> ‘Now look what you made me do!’ Jade ran towards the bed with the knife raised in the air.
Nick rushed towards her, his baton elevated, but Grace jumped to her feet and brought Jade down with a rugby tackle. The knife clattered across the floor while she held on to her feet. Jade struggled and kicked out, the heel of her boot smashing into Grace’s cheekbone.
As Grace’s grip loosened momentarily, Jade scrambled away from them. But Perry and Nick pulled Jade back to the floor and Grace quickly straddled her torso to keep her down. She pushed Jade’s face into the ground. Jade wriggled underneath her as Grace got out her cuffs and put them around her wrists. She snapped them shut with satisfaction. They had got her.
‘Jade Steele, I’m arresting you for the murder of Josh Parker, Dale Chapman, Tom Davenport and George Steele, for the assault on Kathleen Steele and Alex Challinor, and in connection with the disappearance of Leon Steele,’ Grace said. ‘You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Now, get up.’
‘You have to let me go, Grace,’ Jade said as they caught their breath.
‘Where is Leon? What have you done with him?’
Jade gave Grace a half-smile. ‘We could have been close if that bastard hadn’t done what he did to us. Will you come and see me in prison?’
Grace stayed quiet.
‘Will you, Gracie? I’ll be scared on my own.’ Jade looked over her shoulder as she was marched away. ‘Please! I need something to look forward to. Don’t leave me, Grace! Please!’
Grace held on to the door frame to stop her legs from giving way as everything came rushing back to her.
SEVENTY-THREE
Then
‘Here,’ George said to her, handing her a bag. ‘I’ve bought you a nice dress and some new shoes. Try them on for me.’
She took the bag from him, looking inside to find a number of items. She pulled out a checked pinafore. There was a white blouse, sandals and ankle socks too. She hadn’t worn ankle socks in a good while.
There was something else. She pulled out two pieces of red ribbon and a teddy bear.
‘I want you to tie your hair up in bunches,’ he said. ‘Then we’re going out. Bring the teddy with you. I’ll be back in ten minutes.’
‘Where are we going, Daddy?’ she asked.
‘Somewhere special. Now, hurry. We don’t want to be late.’
Once he had left the room, she dressed quickly. Everything was in the bag. There were even white knickers and a vest. She hadn’t worn a vest in ages, but she put it on anyway.
Her hair was difficult to tie up, but she did her best. She was sitting on her bed waiting for him when he got back and stood up as soon as he came in.
‘Let me look at you.’ He was in front of her, nodding. ‘Yes, that will do. Come on then, follow me.’
It took them about ten minutes to get to their destination. She wasn’t familiar with the house they stopped at but, as he drove along its gravelled driveway, she noticed it was huge, extremely elegant and she eyed it with awe.
But when she got out of the car, something told her she shouldn’t go inside and her feet refused to move.
‘Go on.’ George shoved her hard in the back. ‘And remember, you need to do what you’re told and behave yourself for these gentlemen. You show me up and you’re for it, do you hear me, Jade?’
SEVENTY-FOUR
As the medics rushed in to attend to Alex, Grace found herself unable to move. Tears were on her face as she realised that Jade had not been truthful about everything that had happened to her. If she had, then maybe Grace might have been able to stop her earlier. The toys had been sent to tease her, but they were also a cry for help, to be found out, to be stopped. Everyone, including Grace herself, had thought they’d been sent by the family to taunt her. Why hadn’t she acted sooner?
Luckily for Grace, her experience with her father and all it had entailed had ended the minute she had been removed from the property. For Jade, the nightmare was still continuing.
She glanced around the room, the smell overwhelming her. The darkness engulfing her, the memories in every corner coming out to get her. This had been her hell. She could remember the sting of his hand, the roar of his voice, the tears of frustration when she hadn’t done anything to deserve the treatment she got.
But most of all she remembered the mother who had been brave enough to lead them both to safety. She’d been asleep in this room that night and she’d been woken by a noise. She recalled the lock being undone on the door and the light coming on. She’d pulled herself up the bed and into the corner of the room, her back to the wall.
‘Grace?’ her mum whispered. ‘Grace, come quickly.’
Grace ran across the room.
‘We don’t have too much time.’
She put on the shoes Mum handed to her, and then Mum helped her with her coat too. By her side were two suitcases.
‘Are we leaving?’ she whispered.
‘Yes, but we must be quiet. We don’t want to wake him before we’re gone.’
They got to the front door and Mum turned to her. ‘I’m so sorry, Grace,’ she said, tears pouring down her face. ‘I’ve let you down by being here too long, but now I have enough money and courage to find a way without him. I just wish you hadn’t suffered too.’
Grace didn’t say anything but hugged her mum tightly. ‘I love you, Mum,’ she whispered.
‘I love you too, Grace.’ She took her hand. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Ready.’
Mum pulled back the lock. Grace half expected her father to be standing at the other side of the door as it was opened. She imagined the grip of his hand on her hair and the thud of her back hitting the wall, just like it had done earlier, before he’d almost thrown her in the garage. But there was no one there.
They both went out, closing the door quietly behind them, and rushed down the path. They ran for a few minutes, out of their road and around the corner. There was a car waiting for them, a taxi. She heard her mum sob as they ran towards it.
Once they were inside it and on their way, Mum held her close and ran a hand over her hair. ‘I want you to remember this moment, Grace. This is where our lives there end and our new futures – brighter futures – begin.’
‘Are you okay?’ Perry asked, coming over to her.
‘I will be.’ Grace nodded, her eyes misting over with tears.
‘This is so bleak. I don’t know how anyone can get over anything like this.’
‘Maybe they don’t.’ Grace blew out a breath before speaking again. ‘The night before we left for good, George brought home a man. He said he’d taken a shine to me and I remember hearing him arguing with my mum. She seemed so scared.’
‘He didn’t—’
‘No.’ She shook her head vehemently. ‘It took another ten years before she told me George was in debt and the man was willing to take me to his bed for a few nights and the debt would be clear. George had agreed. That could have been Chapman. I was twelve years old.’
Perry put an arm around her shoulders. She could see his face darkening as she spoke.
‘That was the reason why we left so quickly,’ she said. ‘George was going to sell me for his own needs. Jade must have found out that the parties had started up again, and it tipped her over the edge.’
On a shelving unit was a hand weight similar to the image she had brought up online. A purple covering was stained with a darker substance. Grace pointed at it.
Perry drew her close as she burst into tears.
SEVENTY-FIVE
Grace sat in the interview room beside Nick. The duty solicitor was Mitchell Patrick. Sitting next to him, Jade was playing with her hair, flicking a portion of it over and around her index finger. Her eyes looked wild as she stared at Grace, her smile manic.
The interview was started. The plan was for Nick to lead, and Grace to help
when necessary. If Jade would only speak to Grace, and she could get her talking, then Nick would stay quiet. Upstairs, the team were watching on video link, ready at the drop of a hat to go and find Leon, if they could get his location from Jade. Dead or alive, they had to find him.
‘Jade, can you tell me where your brother Leon is?’ Nick started. ‘It’s imperative we find him, see if he is all right, as no one has seen him since—’
‘I’m not speaking to you,’ Jade interrupted. ‘I will only speak to Gracie.’
‘I have to stay here, Jade,’ Nick said. ‘We can’t conduct this interview without two officers.’
‘Liar!’
‘Where were you on the night of Tuesday—’
‘I was in bed with Graham Frost,’ Jade cut in again. ‘Everyone’s favourite alibi.’
As Jade’s laughter filled the room, Grace shuddered inwardly. It chilled her when Jade’s eyes landed on her again.
‘I won’t speak to anyone but Grace,’ she demanded.
‘I’m here.’ Grace sat forward. ‘You can tell me anything.’
‘Like what?’
‘Well, apart from knowing where Leon is, and if he’s safe, I’d like to know how you are.’
Jade stopped playing with her hair and glared at her. ‘You don’t care about me. You’ve never cared. No one has.’
Grace let her speak. She wasn’t sure whether to appease her, agree with her, or disagree with her, say that she was loved. She wasn’t sure because she really didn’t know.
‘Would you like to talk to me about it?’ she offered.
‘Sure.’ Jade leaned forward. ‘But if I start telling you what happened, then you are going to listen to all of it, and it’s not nice to hear. Are you sure?’
Grace wanted to say no. She didn’t want to hear anything that would bring back memories for her too, but she nodded. This was all about finding Leon now. She had to remember the rapport she had built with Jade previously. And she had to ask the question that they all wanted to know.
‘Yes, I’m sure.’ Grace nodded. ‘Go right back to the beginning for me, from the moment that you killed your father.’