Tell Me No Secrets

by Lynda Stacey

  He walked towards her. ‘So they think I’m dead, do they?’ He smirked. ‘Did you really think you’d get rid of me that easily?’

  Kate scrambled towards the door, and towards her bag as panic overtook her. Rob’s hand grabbed at her hair and then at her throat. The fear hit her before the pain, the pressure grew tighter and tighter and she gasped for breath. Terrified her eyes locked onto his. The blood pounded in her head. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe. The pain increased and everything turned to a blur.

  ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ his words were venomous and came through gritted teeth. The tip of his nose touched hers. His voice was poison and the look in his eyes was of hatred.

  And then, as quickly as he’d grabbed her, he let go.

  Falling to the floor she gasped for breath, whilst grabbing at her throat as the pain continued. She made a frantic attempt to drag her body across the floor and towards the door. Adrenaline rushed through her. She had to get away. The pain came from every direction, but fear kept her momentum as she pulled herself along, every second feeling like a minute. She needed to find safety, needed to get as far away as she could. Her heartbeat boomed in her head, and then she saw Rob’s monstrous figure loom above her and the room was filled with his venomous laugh.

  ‘P-p-please,’ she begged, but Rob sneered at her. She no longer recognised the man she’d loved. The evil in his eyes had not been in those of the Rob that she’d known.

  ‘Please?’ The word spat from his mouth. His saliva showered her face.

  Kate closed her eyes and prayed. Ben’s face flashed before her and she tried to smile. At least she’d had that one night of passion. At least she’d known he loved her. She tried to focus on Rob and wished for the torture to end. If he was going to kill her, then she hoped it would be fast.

  ‘You think you’re so clever, don’t you?’ His voice hissed through his teeth. She felt his boot connect with her chest and she screamed. Her arms flailed all around, unsure what part of her to protect next. Then there was only darkness.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Ben paced up and down the polished wood floor. He’d been home now for almost an hour, but Kate hadn’t returned. He was anxious, and picked up his mobile and once again tried to phone her. A long continuous buzzing began in his mind and his whole body felt as though he were balancing on a wire, waiting to fall. Something was wrong.

  Again, he looked at his phone. Checked his emails, text and messenger, repeatedly, while pressing buttons, and praying that the lack of notification was wrong.

  Ben held his breath intermittently, and for what seemed like the hundredth time, he paced back and forth through the house, headed up the stairs, and stared at the bed. He imagined her lying in the bed at her parents’ house, how beautiful she’d been the night before and how right she’d felt in his arms. Their lovemaking had gone on for hours, but then they’d both curled up together and he’d watched her sleep. She’d curled up, foetal, with her hands clasped together as though in prayer, whilst being tucked under her face, as though using them as a pillow. He’d stroked her face, kissed her jawline and wondered what it would be like to wake up with her every single day, and he looked forward to the day she’d be here, lying in his bed again.

  He didn’t know what to do. All he did know was that earlier she’d gone shopping with Eve, but she’d called him at midday saying she’d be home by five and it was now six thirty. Kate, the woman who was never late, was now unusually more than an hour late.

  Ben tapped his foot to the rhythm of the radio, then suddenly sighed with relief. Of course, she’d said she’d be home by five and, to Kate, home was still River Cottage, where she probably was, waiting for him and cooking the meal she’d promised.

  He kicked himself, ran upstairs and changed. Traffic permitting, it wouldn’t take him long.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Isobel stood on the doorstep of the hideout. It was late afternoon and the fresh air smelt of the sea and the warmth of the sunshine felt good on her face.

  Roberto had been gone for two days and she decided that the shack was a nicer place without him in it.

  She sat down on the grass and lay back, allowing the sun to warm her face. It shone through her eyelids in shades of amber. It was good to be outside, even though she knew that if Roberto came back and caught her, he’d be furious. He’d told her to stay inside. The authorities would probably still be looking for them and she knew she was taking a risk, but the hut had become claustrophobic with a cold and chilling atmosphere.

  She lay and listened as the birdsong came from every direction. She could hear the gulls and knew that the sea was somewhere close by. They were good, beautiful noises. Noises that she’d missed while being caged up inside.

  Isobel sat up, looked around her and picked at the flowers. She made a daisy chain and wrapped it around her wrist like a bracelet, just as she had as a small child. Closing her eyes, she thought of all the bracelets of gold she’d owned, all the diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Of the clothes she’d had and of how she now wore clothes only fit for men, and all far too big. She then glanced back down at the home-made bracelet that encircled her wrist. It was pretty and Isobel smiled. She was more than aware that it was the one and only piece of jewellery that she now possessed. Everything else had been left behind.

  She sighed, wondering how long it would be before Giancarlo arrived or, after what Roberto had said, if he’d ever arrive at all. The thought of sitting it out and waiting for him was crushing her inside and she wished she knew where Roberto was. Was he with Giancarlo? With Luca? Had Luca betrayed them, as Roberto thought, and if he had, were they all imprisoned, dead or on the run? Were the police about to pounce? She looked up at the sun, wondering how long she’d be free. Whether they’d all escape or be locked up for life.

  How had everything got so complicated?

  She stared into the woods. They were thick and deep, but not impenetrable. She knew there must be a way to get to the beach. After all, after over an hour’s surface swim, they’d come in on this shoreline. The kit had been temporarily hidden and, in the darkness of night, they’d made their way through the woods to get to the shack, which hadn’t seemed so far away.

  She looked back to the crude building, turned her back on it and anxiously walked along the edge of the trees. The further she walked, the louder the sea became and finally the trees gave way to a small narrow track. The grass was flat here, the cornflowers, buttercups and poppies were unequivocally crushed and a bush or two had been roughly hacked back to create a wider path.

  Was this the way through? The way that she and Roberto had walked?

  She nervously looked back before stepping onto the path, and walking through what was left of the trees, until she saw them clear and open up. From here she could see the cliff tops, the beach and ultimately the sea. It was far below her and she tried to remember where they’d found the steps and at what part of the cliff they’d climbed them.

  She walked along the cliff edge, and admired the view, as anger rose up inside her and she thought of how Roberto had left her alone. Giancarlo had said that Roberto would be the boss in his absence, but that didn’t give him the right to leave her to rot. He went out. He got to chop wood, and he got to walk in the trees, but more than that, he hadn’t come back. Not for days. ‘You stay in and keep the door locked,’ had been his final barked instruction before he’d left days before, but the fresh air had invigorated her; she liked it and she wanted to walk on the beach.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  ‘Eric, I need your help,’ Ben shouted down the phone. ‘I’ve called the police. Kate’s house is a mess, ransacked.’ He paused, pain flooding his heart. ‘Kate’s missing and I think Rob’s been here.’ He moved from room to room, searching for clues. ‘And, Eric, I really don’t need to tell you what that could mean. Call Patrick, tell him to go over to Eve’s, she needs to know what’s happening and we need to know she’s safe. Get Patrick to t
ake her back to the office. She’ll be safer there with you.’

  Eric gulped. ‘Oh my God. I tried to call Eve a few moments ago. She didn’t answer.’ His voice began to shake. ‘Okay, okay, deep breaths. Right, Ben, tell me what to do.’

  ‘Follow procedure. It’s proven. It works. Start with CCTV. Look at the roads going in and out of Caldwick. Also log in and try and get a signal on Kate’s work phone.’ Ben stepped over the kitchen carnage and walked into the living room at the front of the house. A passport lay on the floor and Ben quickly picked it up. ‘Eric, I’ve got a passport. It’s Rob’s, he must have come back for it, but dropped it when he ransacked the place. Why else would it be discarded?’

  Ben saw a police car pull up outside. ‘They’re here. Okay, look at all vehicles leaving Caldwick. He had to get here somehow and he can’t be in his truck as it was impounded by the authorities. Phone me back if you find anything. If Rob is back, and it looks like he is, I need to know where he’s taken Kate as fast as possible.’

  Ben’s words struck deep making Eric gasp for breath. He grabbed hold of the desk and held on. He felt as though he’d been punched and took just a moment to compose himself. He knew how dangerous Rob could be, knew that he’d easily overpower Kate and, as for Eve, she wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Please. I’ve only just found her, please let Eve be safe, please let them both be safe.

  Eric had never been to church, never really believed in God, but at that moment he prayed with all his heart and then kicked himself into action and began to follow Ben’s orders. A quick phone call to Patrick had been followed by logging into every type of surveillance he could.

  His phone rang again.

  ‘Yes, Ben. I’m on it.’ Eric took in a deep breath and stared at the computer screen. ‘I’ve tried to find Kate through her phone. I’m not sure it’s switched on.’

  ‘She has to have it on,’ Ben shouted. ‘And if it isn’t switched on then please keep watching that screen till it is. The only way that the phone will become inert is if it’s been burnt or frozen. Other than that, I want a way of tracking it.’

  Eric didn’t respond. He just searched the screen and hoped. The surveillance was set up on a link. He could track every investigator that worked for Ben and twenty-three lights immediately lit up all over the map. Eric began to check each one for its identity.

  Eliminating all other indicators, he stared at the screen, willing Kate’s indicator to bleep. All he needed was one light; with that he’d be able to pick up her coordinates. He prayed for the screen to give him some idea of where she was.

  ‘Eric, what do you have?’ Ben growled.

  Eric stared at the screen. ‘Ben, her phone pinged up, it’s at River Cottage.’

  He heard Ben curse. ‘Shit.’ The sound of Ben moving things around came down the phone. ‘Yes, it’s here, Eric. Her bag is here and her phone’s inside.’

  Eric closed his eyes. Hope of finding Kate and Eve quickly slipped away.

  Then, Ben spoke. ‘Eric, try tapping into Eve’s phone, see if you can locate it, just in case. Keep me informed.’

  Eric grunted. ‘Of course.’ His glasses had slipped and he pushed them back into place, just as the door to his office opened. He looked up and held his breath for a moment, completely shocked and wondering what to do.

  ‘Eric, are you there?’

  ‘Ben, Ben, I think you should come back to the office,’ he said, his voice quavering.

  ‘Eric, what’s happened?’

  ‘Ben, it’s Luca Bellandini, he’s here. He’s in my office. I’m putting you on speaker phone.’

  Luca Bellandini shuffled nervously from foot to foot. ‘You have to come quickly. Roberto, he has the girls.’ He seemed to stop and think before continuing, ‘And… I know where he’s taken them. I know where he’s hiding out.’

  Eric’s stomach rolled, ‘Oh my God, Ben, I take it that you heard all of that?’

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Kate’s whole body shuddered with the cold as she struggled to open her eyes. Her mind was dazed and everything around her was blurred. Her hand reached out to feel a rough corrugated metal floor and the sound of an engine made her quickly realise that she was in a vehicle, travelling at speed.

  Where am I?

  She tried to sit up but couldn’t. Her whole body ached, every part of her felt bruised, her muscles throbbed and her head pounded. She tried to open her eyes, but the slightest amount of light sent shooting pains to the back of her eyes. She kept them closed and a deep, disturbing sob came from inside her as anxiety and trepidation flooded through her mind.

  Again, she tried to open her eyes, but struggled. The piercing pain continued. But her need for survival took over and she peered around her, through the tiniest of slits. Kate tried to knuckle rub her eyes, but her hands were bound together and she awkwardly hit herself in the process.

  ‘Oh, Kate, you’re alive.’ Eve’s sob came from somewhere close by and suddenly the pain in her eyes didn’t matter. She opened them wide to see Eve before her. She was curled up on the floor of the van, her hands and legs bound, and with a tear-stained face, her eyes pleading with Kate for help.

  ‘Eve,’ she whimpered, her voice weak and her throat sore. ‘Eve, are you okay?’ She breathed in short, shallow breaths, and watched for the gentle nod of Eve’s head and the look of relief in her eyes.

  ‘I … I thought he’d killed you,’ she said, before bursting into tears, making Kate manoeuvre her body towards her twin, knowing that they’d feel better if they were close enough to touch. The power of two, they’d called it as children, knowing that together they had been and could be invincible. A sob reached Kate’s throat. She knew she had to be strong, for Eve’s sake, and wished that she could feel that sense of invincibility right now. But deep down, she knew Rob, knew what he could do and if he was happy to hurt her without a thought, then he wouldn’t think twice about hurting Eve.

  The van came to a halt, but the engine kept running. Kate kicked the side of the van, ‘Hellllllppppppppp!’ she screamed as loud as she could.

  Rob spun around in his seat and looked directly at her. ‘Be quiet, bitch. Or your sister gets it first.’ He nodded his head and laughed. ‘If you know what I mean.’ His face was contorted with laughter and Kate knew that he meant what he said.

  The look in his eyes was pure evil. She couldn’t allow him to hurt Eve. Her mind went into overdrive. She looked around the van; she had to find a way to escape, she had to get them both to safety and if she couldn’t save them both, then Eve had to come first.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  The van came to a sudden halt and as Rob jumped out and opened the side door, Kate noticed that it was now dusk. Darkness wouldn’t be far away and she had to work out where she was before that happened.

  ‘Get out,’ Rob barked as he reached forward to grab Eve by the arm, dragged her across the van floor and roughly picked her up, making her scream with fear.

  ‘Rob, for God’s sake, leave Eve alone. She’s never done anything to you. Please, I’m begging you.’ Kate tried to pull at his arm, but felt herself being pushed roughly away.

  He stood back and let go of Eve, who dropped back to the van floor screaming. ‘Begging me, are you?’ he jeered. ‘I remember begging you for another chance. I remember trying to be nice. I cooked you dinner and you were nasty and rude. What was it you said to me?’ He paused and thought. ‘I think “go to hell” could have been your words, Kate. So I did go to hell and I brought both of you “to hell” with me.’ A sadistic laugh came from within him. He grabbed at Eve again, picked her up and carried her towards an old concrete shack. He looked around, checked the front and back, then kicked open the door and walked in. ‘Now, get inside.’

  Kate’s hands were still bound, but she quickly dragged herself out of the van and followed Rob into the empty shack. It was crude, with whitewashed walls and an open fire that wasn’t lit. She shivered and watched as Rob dropped Eve onto a camp bed that s
tood to one side of the room, before turning and throwing logs onto the embers.

  ‘Bitch, where the hell is she?’ He stamped around the room. ‘Isobel, Isobel, get back in here.’ He opened the back door, looked into the woods and slammed it in disgust. ‘She’ll be here, any second,’ he said in a less than audible fashion, then stamped towards the door. ‘Don’t move, or I swear, I’ll kill you both. And don’t think you have time to run. I’ll be less than two minutes. You wouldn’t get far, not with the cripple.’

  The sound of the van starting up could be heard and the smell of diesel filled the room. Kate knew that he’d gone, but knew he wouldn’t leave for long. She crept to the door, looked out and watched as his van disappeared into the distance, and quickly took in her surroundings. They were in a remote area. Nothing could be heard, except, Kate tried to concentrate, was that the sea?

  ‘Eve, listen to me. We have to run and we have to run now.’ She heard the words fall out of her mouth and then looked down at her sister’s crippled legs. ‘I’ll help you.’

  Eve began to sob. ‘Kate. You go. He’ll be back any moment, and he shouted for that woman. She’ll be here, she’ll see us. We wouldn’t get far enough. Please, get help, get help for both of us.’

  Kate looked into her terrified eyes and knew beyond doubt that leaving her was the last thing she could or would ever do. ‘No way, Eve. We’re the power of two, right?’ She shook her head and ran to the door. She could see a wood, trees and with them would be a hiding place. She took in a deep breath and turned to Eve.