He should go over there. No point standing out here freezing his nuts off if Hudson was in there. And, let’s face it, where else would he be? There was only the two of them left. Hudson and his missus. The boy had gone off to school soon after eight. And the other woman, the pretty one with the dark hair and the perky walk, had left soon after. Rob thought she might be the police liaison. If she was, then he’d better get over there before she came back.
He was going through it in his mind, how it would play out, when he saw someone walking up the street on the opposite side of the road. Rob’s heart beat faster as the figure drew closer and he recognised who it was. A new – better – idea started forming.
Even from here, you could see he was a good-looking fella. Thin but not skinny, with shaggy dark hair that kept falling across his face. Every time the boy brushed it back, it flopped forward again a moment later. It was probably annoying for him, but there was something attractive about the way he flicked it back that made you think the girls would fall for someone like that.
Except Rob didn’t like to think about boys and girls stuff because it only reminded him of Molly and how she’d never know the thrill of first love. That feeling you got when you fell for someone – like it was the most important thing ever and no one could possibly understand what it was like to be so in love. The way Rob felt when he first set eyes on Sheryl. The way he’d always felt about her, right up until the day she died. His first and only love. Her and Molly. They were all he’d ever wanted.
He pulled off a glove and reached into his coat pocket, fingering the knife, thinking through his revised plan. They’d got it wrong last time, him and Frankie. Going for Hudson the way they had, like a pair of animals. Not this time. He didn’t like it. Course not. But it was a means to an end. In war, any means were justified, and this was a war, no question. A war against people who hurt little kiddies and destroyed lives.
The boy was closer now. The Hudson kid. No doubt about that. The image of his little sister, Jodie. Both pale-skinned with dark hair. Like the mother. Although how the boy got to be so tall was anyone’s guess.
Rob walked slowly down the road, making like he was looking for something. The kid paid him no attention. He was kicking a stone and that was about the only thing he seemed to notice.
When he thought it was safe, Rob crossed over and started walking behind the boy. Take it easy, he warned himself. That’s all you need to do. Take it easy. He wasn’t into scaring kids, but he had no choice. This was his last chance. No way he was going to mess things up. He felt again for the knife, wrapping his hand around the handle, getting ready.
He moved forward, his grip tightening on the knife, knowing exactly what he had to do.
10:07
Ellen had arranged to meet Abby at Danilo’s. The FLO was already there when Ellen arrived. Ellen ordered a double espresso and went to join Abby.
‘Thanks for meeting me,’ Ellen said. ‘I wanted to update you on the Ed situation. And we need to talk about Kevin and what happens next.’
‘I can’t stay long,’ Abby said. ‘I’ve left Helen on her own. Couldn’t get hold of Malcolm or anyone else at such short notice. Don’t worry, though. She’ll be fine for an hour or so. It’s a bit easier there now that the press have moved on.’
‘Any update on Kevin?’ Ellen asked.
‘He’s doing fine,’ Abby said. ‘Helen spoke to him this morning. He’s still at Bromley, but she said, all things considered, he didn’t sound too bad. I think she was really worried about how he’d cope, being kept in overnight.’
‘Of course,’ Ellen said. ‘Any sign that they’re going to charge him?’
‘I’ve been trying to get through to the duty sergeant for the past hour,’ Abby said. ‘I’ll get onto it again as soon as we’re finished here.’
‘Do you think he did it?’ Ellen asked. ‘Do you think Kevin killed Dan Harris?’
‘Harris was shot,’ Abby said. ‘I don’t think Kevin would know the first thing about how to get his hands on a gun. Plus, I know he hated Harris, but even still. I just can’t see it. Can you?’
‘No,’ Ellen said. ‘But he was inside, don’t forget. It’s quite possible he’s better connected than you think.’
‘Yeah, maybe,’ Abby agreed ‘I guess we’ll know soon enough. What about Ed? You said you had an update.’
‘Have you been over there yet?’ Ellen asked, nodding in the direction of the station.
‘Just for a few minutes,’ Abby said. ‘No sign of Ed.’
‘I’ve given him until the end of the day to tell Nichols,’ Ellen said.
‘Or what?’
‘Or I tell Nichols myself.’
Abby’s eyes widened. ‘You’d do that? Wow. You’re braver than me. But you’re right, of course. Yes, absolutely. It’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry. I should have told you ages ago.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ellen said. ‘I know now. And I’m not going to sit back and do nothing about it. We’ll get this sorted, Abby. I promise. And once we’ve got Ed facing up to what he needs to do, we can focus on finding Jodie.’
‘And Molly York?’ Abby asked. ‘We still looking into a possible connection?’
‘Yes,’ Ellen said. ‘I’ve got Alastair working on it. Dai Davies has been doing a bit of digging as well. Off the record. In fact, right after this I’m going to take a drive out to Higham, see what I can find out about Brian Fletcher.’
‘Is Alastair going with you?’ Abby asked.
Ellen shook her head. ‘Baxter doesn’t know about it. I can get away with making some excuse, but it’s tricky if two of us are out for the whole afternoon. Don’t worry, though. I won’t be alone. Dai’s coming with me.’
Abby’s face turned pink. ‘Is that wise?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean he’s not part of the investigation,’ Abby said. ‘Plus, he’s a friend of the family. Helen told me. Isn’t there a conflict of interest?’
‘If there was,’ Ellen said. ‘I wouldn’t have let him be involved. He’s offered to help and I’ve said yes. God knows, we need all the help we can get.’
‘So what will I tell Ed if he asks where you are?’ Abby said.
‘Whatever you want,’ Ellen said. ‘Just don’t tell him where I am.’
‘You want me to lie?’ Abby asked.
‘Yes, please,’ Ellen said. ‘After all, you’re pretty good at it. Shouldn’t be a problem, I wouldn’t have thought.’
10:10
The boy was strong, but he was no match for Rob, who grabbed him from behind and pressed the knife against his throat. Before the kid had a chance to react, Rob dragged him off the road and into the garden of the Hudsons’ house, where they wouldn’t be seen by any passersby.
The boy’s instinct kicked in and he started to struggle, trying to break free. Rob pulled the boy’s arm up behind his back and pressed tighter on the knife. The frantic bobbing of an Adam’s apple vibrated along the blade and up through Rob’s arm.
‘Don’t move,’ he hissed. ‘If you fight me, I’ll hurt you. Got that?’
The boy nodded.
‘Right then,’ Rob said. ‘Give me your keys. We’re going inside.’
He waited while the kid fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a single key and held it up for Rob to see.
‘Front door?’ Rob asked.
More nodding.
Rob shoved him forward. Still holding the kid’s arm, he put the knife in his mouth and used his free hand to put the key in the lock and open the door. As soon as he’d done this, he held the knife to the boy’s throat again.
‘One sound from you and you’re dead.’
He manoeuvred them both through the front door and into the house.
‘Fin?’ A woman’s voice. The mother. As Rob tried to work out where she might be, eyes darting around, taking in the stairs and the three rooms leading off the hallway, the door straight in front of him opened and there she was. The same woman he’d seen s
tanding in the garden earlier.
For a split second, she looked confused, her mouth forming into a silent ‘O’ of shock. This quickly changed as horror and fear blurred her features and she shot forward, arms held out, ready to grab the boy. As if Rob was going to let that happen.
He took a step back, tightening his grip on the boy’s arm, causing him to yelp in pain. Helen stopped dead.
‘Stay where you are and he won’t get hurt,’ Rob said. ‘All I need is information. That’s all. You tell me what I need to know and I’ll be gone and neither of you will be hurt in any way.’
‘Let him go,’ she said quietly. ‘Please. Just let him go. Whatever it is you want, don’t you think we’ve been through enough?’
‘Where is he?’ Rob said. His arms were getting tired, especially the right one, still vibrating from the movement in the boy’s throat. And the sound of the kid’s breathing, in-out-in-out-in-out-in-out, so loud and fast, as if he’d just run a race. A rapid, raggedy sound like a storm inside his head, making it difficult to concentrate on the woman and what she was saying.
‘Your husband!’ he shouted. ‘Tell him to get himself out here, show his face. I’m not letting the boy go until I see that bastard.’
She shook her head, hands pressed against her face like it would fall apart if she didn’t hold onto it.
‘Harris,’ she whispered, and it seemed at first like she was talking to herself. ‘I knew it would come back to this.’
Her voice changed as she looked at Rob.
‘He didn’t do it, you know. Whatever it is you want, whatever you think Kevin’s done. It wasn’t him. He had nothing to do with what happened.’
The boy’s breathing was getting worse. In-out-in-out-in-out-in-out. Faster and louder and messing up Rob’s head. And why was Hudson’s wife going on about Dan Harris? Rob didn’t give a rat’s arse about Harris. He started to tell her that, but she was off again before he could get his head straight enough to speak.
‘What is it with you people?’ she asked. ‘Why can’t you just leave us alone?’
Deluded bitch, Rob thought. Husband beats the shit out of that poor Harris kid and she’s still willing to defend him.
‘And what about my Molly?’ he hissed. ‘You think I should let that go, and all? You know raping her wasn’t enough for that sick bastard? When they found my little girl, she had cigarette burns all over her body. Do you know that? What sort of sick fuck does that to a child?’
Her face shifted, features rearranging themselves. Anger switching to sorrow. And something else. Pity. Followed by horror.
‘You’re not saying …’ her voice trailed off. Rob guessed she was imagining those same, terrible things happening to her child.
‘My name is Rob York,’ he said. ‘My child, Molly, was taken from me three years ago. She never came home again.’
‘Rob York,’ the woman whispered. ‘Of course. I remember your name.’
Her voice was all soft, as if she really cared. As if she didn’t already know all about Molly and what her bastard husband had done.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she continued. ‘What happened?’
In his arms, the boy was shaking and Rob realised he was crying, big, shuddering sobs that sent tremors through Rob’s stomach. He felt tears landing on his wrist and it was hard to concentrate on the woman, knowing the only reason the boy was crying was because of him and what he was doing.
In-out-in-out-in-out-in-out. Getting worse as he tried to breathe through the crying.
What was he doing, anyway? Threatening a kid like this. And he called Hudson a monster.
‘Where’s your husband?’ he shouted, louder than he meant to, but how else could he get them to listen? He needed to get out of here. Find Hudson, force him to admit what he’d done and turn himself in. That was all he wanted.
‘He’s not here,’ the wife said. ‘He’s in police custody. They think he killed someone. He didn’t, of course. But they don’t know that. Not yet. I’m not lying to you. You can search the house if you want. You won’t find him.’
In-out-in-out-in-out-in-out. An out-of-control train charging around his head, it was. Made it impossible to think. Search the house, she’d said. But how could he do that if he was holding the kid like this?
‘Hudson!’ he roared at the top of his voice.
‘He’s not here,’ the woman repeated, speaking slowly now, as if he was some sort of half-wit.
The boy moved suddenly and Rob grabbed him tighter, pressing the knife against his throat.
‘Why won’t you listen to her?’ the boy yelled. ‘He’s not here. What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you believe her?’
‘Shut up!’ Rob screamed.
The hand holding the knife felt slippery and when he looked down he was surprised to see blood. Took him a moment to realise it had come from the boy.
Two things happened at the same time then. The boy cried out and the woman leapt forward, screaming. Rob felt her body crashing into them and, a moment later, he was falling backwards.
All three of them crashed to the ground, the back of Rob’s head smashing against the doorframe. A flash of white exploded in front of his eyes. He felt the boy and the woman on top of him and he couldn’t breathe or move from the weight of them.
Suddenly, the pressure on his stomach lifted and he tried to sit up, but something walloped against his forehead, knocking him back again. Then feet were kicking him, in the stomach and in the side.
Grunting, he tried to pull himself up and around, away from the blows. He couldn’t see, something wet was running into his eyes. Blood, he thought. His head felt like a bomb had exploded inside it. He still had the knife and he lunged forward, aiming for the legs attacking him. It connected and, above him, someone screamed. The kicking stopped.
He pulled himself up. Wiping his face with the back of his sleeve, his vision cleared and he saw the woman. She was lying on her side. There was blood on the floor around her.
He looked around for the boy. No sign of him. The woman groaned but didn’t move. Sweet Jesus, what had he done?
‘Are you okay?’ He knelt beside her, trying to locate the source of the blood. He reached out and touched her shoulder. Her body twitched as she turned to look at him.
He wanted to tell her he was sorry. That he hadn’t meant to hurt her or the kid. That he was just so frustrated with trying to get justice for Molly. Driven insane. Images of what she’d endured. That he’d reached a point where he knew he’d be better off dead than having to endure one more second of it. That the only reason he hadn’t topped himself long ago was the hope that one day, he’d see justice done. Once that happened, it would all be over. He would go to the seaside and walk into the sea and just keep on walking until the water engulfed him, until, finally, the images inside his head disappeared forever.
He opened his mouth to tell her this. At the same moment, something smashed into the back of his head. Briefly, he saw Helen Hudson’s face. It was full of sadness and sorrow and something else that he didn’t understand. Before he could work it out, he fell forward, into the darkness.
11:00
Ellen drove across to Dai’s house in Lee. The most punctual person Ellen had ever met, it was no surprise to see Dai standing on the street waiting for her when she arrived. He was on the phone but when he saw her, he waved and slipped the phone into his pocket.
‘I’ve been trying to get through to Helen,’ he said. ‘Only she’s not answering her phone, which is most unusual. Nothing’s happened, has it?’
‘Not as far as I’m aware,’ Ellen said. ‘Were you calling for a particular reason?’
‘Just checking in,’ Dai said. ‘Like I’ve done most days since this business with Jodie. She’s a good friend and I’m worried about her. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’
Isn’t there a conflict of interest?
Goddamn Abby.
‘No,’ Ellen said. ‘Nothing wrong at all.’
‘So then,’ Dai s
aid. ‘This Higham place. Where is it and will I like it?’
Before Ellen could answer, her radio buzzed with a message from base. Claire Allsop’s sweet, girlish voice, calling for emergency back-up to 80 Dallinger Road.
Ellen glanced at Dai. Dallinger Road was less than a five-minute drive away. She spoke into her radio, confirming she was on the way. Then she swung the car around and started driving.
11:05
You useless lump! You can’t get anything right, can you? You’re nothing but a waste of bleedin’ space, you know that?
Daddy was angry. His voice loud inside Brian’s head, cross words banging around like a drumbeat clattering against his skull.
‘Stop it!’
Brian pressed his hands against his ears, trying to block out the sound, but making it worse instead. The voice intensified, rising into a scream of such rage that Brian knew what would happen next. Daddy would pull the belt off his trousers and start laying into him.
It was his own fault. He knew that. The one thing Daddy couldn’t stand was someone who didn’t do what he’d say he was going to do. Brian had made a mistake and he’d promised Daddy he’d sort it out.
He’d tried. Really tried. Had gone in there so sure of himself, knowing exactly what he needed to do. Even took Daddy’s gun. Checked it had bullets in it and told himself he’d use it if he had to. She wasn’t Marion, after all.
He could hear her crying before he ever opened the door, but he didn’t let that stop him. Pulled the bolts back and pushed his way over the bits of broken furniture towards the bed, where she was all curled up like some puppy.
It was only when he lifted her up and felt her little body in his big hands that he knew he couldn’t go through with it. She was all warm and he could feel her tummy going in and out with her breathing. It messed with his head and before he could stop it, he was seeing all sorts of things he didn’t want to be seeing right then.
Marion with the crown of flowers on her head, smiling at him like he was a king or a god or the best thing she’d ever seen. Then she was gone, replaced by Molly. Molly with the lovely soft hair that smelled of strawberries for the first few days. Molly whose bottom lip always trembled right before she started crying.
Hunting Shadows Page 29