The Next Girl: A gripping thriller with a heart-stopping twist

by Carla Kovach

  One of the parents had spotted a person lurking around the school. Again, no description. The figure had been too far away and had been wearing a hooded top. Then there was Samuel Avery, the pub landlord. She felt her skin crawl as she read his name.

  There was a tap on her door. She grabbed the paperwork and slid it back into a pile. ‘Come in.’

  ‘I noticed that you’d marked a file “Library Baby”,’ said Jacob. ‘Is that what we’ve called the case? Anyway, we’ve set up the task group as you requested.’

  ‘You, me, Wyre and O’Connor?’ Gina asked.

  ‘That’s right. And PC Smith, if we need him.’

  ‘Great. We need to get started. There’s a man out there who needs to know that his wife is still alive. And not only that, but she’s had a baby.’

  Jacob looked down at his feet. ‘Shall I go with Wyre? Only, you look like tripe.’

  Gina felt a cold trail running from her nose. She grabbed a tissue, quickly wiping the mucus before it reached her top lip. ‘You know how to make someone feel good about themselves.’

  ‘I sure do. Full of charm, I am.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You mean I’m not full of charm?’

  Gina stared up at Jacob. ‘I mean no to me not being there when you visit Luke Jenkins. I will be there. It’s a case I was part of four years ago – it was my first case here – and it’s still unresolved. If anyone’s going to close it, I am, stinking cold or not. And in answer to your other question, you score zero on the charm-o-meter.’

  ‘Say it as it is, why don’t you? But I totally understand about you needing to tell Luke Jenkins. Shall I go and brief the team?’

  ‘Tell them I’ll be through in a moment. I’ll handle it.’

  ‘Will do. O’Connor’s dropping in at the sandwich van on the way in. Do you want anything?’

  She swallowed. Her throat was sand-papery and dry. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to informing Mr Jenkins of the news either. Her stomach flipped at the thought. ‘No, I’ll pass this time.’

  ‘It’s not like you to pass on a greasy butty. Now I know you’re sick.’

  ‘Sick I am. Right, let’s get back to the tasks in hand. I’m going to call Luke Jenkins and arrange a visit. Be ready to tag along, I want you with me for this one. This is now our prime investigation. Watch his reactions, watch every movement.’

  He nodded. ‘Will do,’ he replied as he left her office, pulling the door behind him.

  Gina opened up the file once again and began to read Deborah’s medical information. The usual things were contained in it. She’d had two children, no major illnesses and no ongoing conditions. She focused on the information at the bottom of the page: Deborah had a contraceptive implant fitted the month before she disappeared. She typed the name of the implant into Google. Scrolling down all the links, she selected the NHS website and opened the page. Apparently, the implant would last three years before needing to be replaced. She sat back in her chair while staring at the screen. Deborah’s implant had run out of its contraceptive properties, and that’s why she’d ended up pregnant.

  Head pounding at the thoughts that ran through her mind, she grabbed the box of painkillers from her top drawer and threw a couple of them into her mouth before swallowing them down with an inch of cold coffee. Her stomach fluttered, a combination of nerves and excitement. She pictured Deborah being held by someone. Maybe this person had rendered her pregnant once the implant had worn off, and almost four years to the date of her disappearance she’d given birth to a daughter. The timeline was falling into place. If she was being held against her will, they needed to find her quickly. Time was against them. She couldn’t let Deborah go through this level of trauma again. Gina stared into her empty coffee mug and shuddered at the thought of what Deborah might be going through. It reminded her of her own past.

  Before Hannah was born, she and Terry had seemed like any normal young couple, but soon they were living far away from her parents and she eventually lost touch with them. A few months later, her mother died of an aggressive form of cancer and her father drank himself to death, leaving her heartbroken. Terry only drove her back for their funerals. She’d never forgiven herself for not being there for either of them. She thought of her father, sitting in his favourite chair whilst he watched Birmingham City playing on the television. She could’ve left at any time, gone back home and comforted him, but Terry had her under his control.

  After that, Terry’s drinking and recreational drug use became more frequent. As she’d lain in bed weeping on the night of her father’s funeral, she’d felt her tender breasts and thought of the life she was carrying inside her. She didn’t want Terry to come home that night, but he had. Gina shivered as memories ran through her mind.

  Was Deborah that scared all the time? Was she trapped? Gina took a deep breath as the room began to sway. The tablets needed to kick in, before her pounding head exploded. She had a team briefing to deliver. She placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes, but the woozy feeling continued. Breathe in and out, in and out.

  ‘Ma’am,’ Wyre said.

  Gina flinched and forced a smile as she hid her trembling hands under her desk.

  ‘I knocked twice. Are you okay?’

  ‘I’m fine. Just this cold. I’m not letting it win though.’ This case was already getting to her and she hadn’t even started. Gina wiped her nose again. The frequent contact with dry tissue was starting to scrape the skin from her tender nose.

  ‘I’m off out in a while to see Deborah Jenkins’ husband. I’ll be taking Jacob with me. Can you continue going through all the calls? Anything you come across that’s relevant, let me know straight away. We’re going to find Deborah.’

  ‘Will do.’ Wyre smiled.

  ‘I’ll be through for the briefing first, be just a moment,’ Gina said, picking up the phone to dial Luke’s number.

  Sixteen

  Jacob drove. Gina sat in silence as she looked out of the passenger window. He hopped the car over a road littered with speed bumps. ‘Easy, Driscoll. I may lose my stomach,’ she said.

  ‘Yes. Wouldn’t want puke all over my windscreen.’ Jacob laughed as he hopped the car over another hump. ‘How’re things with you lately? You seem a bit distant. Is it a man thing?’

  Gina turned to face him. She certainly wasn’t going to be discussing the finer details of her tryst with Briggs. ‘That would both be telling and none of your business. How about you?’

  Jacob laughed as he indicated left. ‘I normally get kicked out in the mornings. Breakfast is a never. Even a cup of coffee would indicate that seriousness was on the cards.’ He paused and a big grin appeared on his face. ‘I lie. I lived with a woman for several years, as you know. Beth. It didn’t work out. I’m not sure where this thing with Abigail is going.’ He slowed down as he reached the street running adjacent to Luke Jenkins’ house. ‘We’re nearly there.’

  ‘I feel like puking even more now.’

  ‘Don’t do this to yourself. We are here to deliver news and investigate. We can’t control how people react. Anyway, guv, it’s not like you to let things like this pull you down.’ Jacob braked as he pulled up on the road beside the house.

  Gina looked back at him and smiled. ‘You’re right. I feel for her, Jacob. What she’s going through is big and traumatic, and we’ve got to tell her husband.’ She began to bite her nail. ‘This cold is playing on me. Let’s get this over with.’ Jacob released his seat belt and opened the door. A breeze whipped through the vehicle, fluffing up his fair hair. He patted it back down as he stood.

  Gina stepped out into the icy, damp air and took a deep breath as they approached the front door. As she went to ring the bell, a short woman in her sixties answered. Gina recognised her from the investigation. ‘Mrs Beddows,’ Gina said as she nodded. The woman opened the door wide and stepped back.

  ‘Please, come in. Luke is in the lounge. And call me Cathy,’ she said as she closed the door behind them. �
�It’s just through that door.’

  Gina could see that Cathy’s eyes looked a little puffy. The woman pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket and dabbed her nose. ‘Can I get you both a drink?’

  ‘Not for me, thank you,’ Gina replied. Cathy nodded and ushered them into the lounge. ‘Are your grandchildren here?’

  The woman shook her head. ‘They’ve gone to Brooke’s house. She lives on the next road. They’ll be back shortly. We thought it best.’

  Luke stood. ‘Please take a seat.’ He sat back down on the settee and began twiddling his thumbs. ‘Have you found her?’

  ‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’ Cathy cried, and she burst into tears.

  ‘Mrs Beddows – Cathy – it’s quite the opposite,’ Gina replied. She licked her dry lips and swallowed.

  ‘You mean you’ve found my wife? She’s alive?’

  ‘No. I wish I could say that. Let me explain.’ Gina swallowed again and rubbed the back of her neck. ‘We have reason to believe that your wife is still alive. Do you know about the abandoned baby, the one found outside Cleevesford Library?’

  Luke hunched over and placed his head in his hands. ‘I saw something on the local news.’

  ‘We ran a DNA check on the baby. Your wife’s DNA is on record from the time we had to eliminate her from a previous enquiry, and it turns out that her DNA is a match for the baby’s.’

  ‘You must be joking.’ Luke stood and began pacing the living room. ‘That can’t be right.’

  Mrs Beddows followed Luke around the lounge and grabbed his hand. ‘Luke, please sit.’ He shook her hand away, walked towards the window and stared out.

  ‘What does that mean? What does it all mean? Did she leave us on purpose?’

  Gina stood and walked towards Luke. ‘I don’t believe she left you that night. In fact, we’re still treating Deborah’s disappearance as highly suspicious and we’re reinvestigating the case.’

  Luke turned to face her. She noticed how his eyelids seemed to have a red rim around them and his skin had taken on a pale tone. He once again ran his hands through his hair before bursting into tears. ‘She’s been abducted, hasn’t she?’

  ‘We don’t know that for sure—’

  ‘She has. I know it. I always knew it. Some psychopathic creep has abducted her and is abusing her. You need to find her.’ Luke’s knees buckled. Cathy steadied him and led him back to the settee.

  ‘What’s happened to my baby?’ Cathy asked, her voice cracking. Gina could see that she was trying to stay calm, but tears streamed down her cheeks.

  ‘We are going to do everything we can to find your daughter. Whatever it takes, we are going to do it. I will be going over the whole investigation again and contacting everyone involved.’ Gina felt her nose tickling again. She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and sneezed violently into it.

  Jacob leaned forward in the chair and continued speaking. ‘The investigation is now back open. You need to let us know if you hear or see anything suspicious. Anything at all. It could be something or it could be nothing, but we are determined to find her.’

  The room went silent. Luke had his head buried in his hands. Cathy was holding a tissue out in front of him. ‘I need her back,’ he said, sobbing. His breathing quickened and he began to hyperventilate. As he gasped for air he started shaking.

  Cathy held him tight and rocked back and forth with him in her arms. ‘There, there. We’ll find her.’ Luke stood and held his arms up in the air before allowing them to fall back down. Still trembling, he jogged to the kitchen. Gina placed the wet tissue in her pocket and listened as Luke began to run a tap.

  ‘I need my wife back. You gave up on her back then. You lot let her down!’

  ‘We had no leads, Mr Jenkins, and we certainly never gave up. We’re not giving up,’ replied Gina, pacing between the hall and the lounge. She felt her face redden with the heat of the house. They had given up, he was right, but they’d reached dead ends all round. ‘We’re really sorry to have caused you so much stress, but you both needed to know what was going on.’

  ‘Don’t apologise. For the past couple of years, I’d resigned myself to thinking that my Deborah was dead, but you’ve given me hope and—’ Cathy sobbed as she forced her words out. ‘And I have another grandchild.’

  ‘She’s being well looked after,’ Gina said.

  ‘There’s one thing I know for certain that Deborah would want, and it’s for us to take care of her child. That’s my daughter’s baby, my grandchildren’s sister. Can I see her? I need to see her.’

  Gina watched as the woman continued to dab her eyes and nose. Luke was still sobbing in the background. The tap stopped running. ‘Of course,’ said Gina. ‘I will arrange for you to see her. She’s beautiful.’

  The woman looked up and forced a smile. ‘She has a beautiful mother.’

  As Luke entered the lounge, there was a knock on the door. ‘I can’t deal with the kids right now.’

  Cathy passed him, placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you go upstairs and sort yourself out. I’ll deal with the kids.’

  The knocking continued, faster and louder. ‘Dad! Let me in, I need a wee,’ Max shouted. Luke passed Cathy and ran up the stairs. She opened the door and Max darted in.

  ‘Max has weed his pants!’ Heidi shouted as she entered, throwing her bag on the floor. ‘Max is a baby!’

  ‘Shut up, you ugly hippo,’ he called back as the toilet door slammed shut. Heidi began banging on the toilet door, shouting at Max.

  ‘They’ve had a spot of lunch. Is Luke okay?’ Brooke asked as she stepped into the hall, holding Joe’s hand.

  Cathy stepped forward and took her other hand. ‘It’s probably best if he calls you in a while, dear. He’s had to go and have a lie down. Thank you so much for watching the kids.’

  ‘Can I see him?’

  ‘He’s not in any fit state to talk,’ Cathy replied.

  Brooke frowned and stepped back out of the door. ‘We’ll just be going then,’ she said, pulling Joe behind her.

  ‘Wait,’ said Cathy. ‘He will call you in a while. There’s been some news and he needs—’ And Cathy burst into tears once more.

  Brooke walked back and placed her arms around the woman. ‘He can call me when he’s ready. Is there anything I can do?’

  Cathy shook her head and hugged Brooke.

  ‘I’m here if any of you need me. Just call, okay?’

  Gina, standing half in the hall, leaned back to watch out of the lounge window as Brooke closed the garden gate and walked down the road. ‘I’ll call you when we get back to the station,’ she said to Cathy. ‘Hopefully you’ll be able to visit your granddaughter today.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Cathy wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

  ‘Here’s my card. You have my number. Again, if you see or hear anything, let me know. Even if it seems like it’s nothing, it could be the key to cracking the case and finding Deborah.’

  The woman nodded, thanking them again as she showed them out and closed the door.

  ‘Well, that wasn’t easy,’ Gina said.

  ‘No. I don’t know how they’re going to cope. Imagine finding out that not only is your daughter potentially being held by some psycho, but that you might have a grandchild fathered by that same psycho? I don’t know how I’d feel.’

  ‘Me neither. I feel for them. Back to the station now. I need to call children’s services, see if I can arrange a visit for Mrs Beddows at the hospital. The fun never ends with this job—’

  ‘But you wouldn’t have it any other way,’ Jacob continued.

  ‘You know, I hate it when you finish my sentences. I might just puke on your dashboard to get my revenge. Do we have the name of the social worker in charge of the Baby Jenkins case?’

  ‘Yes, Devina Gupta.’

  Gina found Devina’s number and waited for an answer. She stared out of the window as they travelled down the road with the speed bumps before leaving the estate and joining the main r
oad through Cleevesford.

  ‘Devina, hi, it’s DI Harte. I need you meet me at the hospital in an hour… I know you’re busy, we all are… Thank you, see you there.’ Then Gina dialled the Jenkinses’ home number. She had no idea if just Cathy would turn up or if Luke would manage to make it too. She did know it would be an emotional introduction.

  Seventeen

  As they walked along the hospital corridors, Luke stopped and leaned against the window ledge, staring out into the courtyard below. ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’

  Cathy stepped closer and placed her hand over his. ‘You can. You have to. For Debbie.’

  ‘Do you need a moment, Mr Jenkins?’ DI Harte asked.

  ‘No,’ Cathy replied.

  ‘Yes,’ Luke said.

  Cathy placed her arm around his shoulders. ‘We have to do this, for Debbie. I know it’s painful, really I do,’ she said. Luke went to speak but stopped. He rubbed his eyes and continued walking along the corridor with Cathy until they reached the ward where Baby Jenkins lay. They stopped outside and Cathy peered through the tiny window in the door.

  ‘You just have to press the buzzer,’ said DI Harte.

  Luke leaned across and pushed the red button. Cathy bit the skin on her bottom lip as they waited. The detective walked ahead as they were buzzed in. Luke couldn’t work out what she was saying to the nurse, but within a moment they were pointed in the right direction.

  As their footsteps echoed through the corridor, Luke kept thinking of the huge mess that everything was in. He hadn’t called Brooke back. Hell, he didn’t even know what he was going to say to her. Well, you know my missing wife, the one presumed dead, the one I’d just about given up on? Well, she’s just had a baby. Have I found her? No. Just her baby. The baby’s not mine. They think she might have been taken and held captive all these years. We’ll probably be looking after the baby, I think.