The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller

by J Gabriel-Smith

  Lucy recognised the familiar dimples in her cheek, that were less pronounced now she didn’t have so much to smile about. She also spotted her small potato shaped birth mark on the inside of her right arm.

  Lucy took a sharp breath in as she hugged the picture sobbing. ‘My Rosie….how could you harm such an innocent child?’ Lucy wept, begging for Jozsef to show some sort of remorse.

  For a moment he showed a hint of shame, but it was short lived as he swiftly got back to business.

  ‘So my money….you can have her back when I get my 500,000euros.’

  Lucy nodded and asked if she should call Tom now. Jozsef called out to his male co-conspirator, who obediently brought in a mobile phone.

  ‘Here, call him now. You say nothing about your whereabouts. Just say he needs to get the money and he must not involve the police, otherwise he will not see you or your daughter again, understand?!’

  Lucy agreed and held out her hand for the phone. Luckily she knew Tom’s mobile. She didn’t know anyone else’s but she made a point of memorising his for emergencies with the children. She didn’t want to alert Jozsef to the fact she had her phone hidden under the mattress, so she was glad she didn’t need to get his number from it. She slowly dialled it, and prayed that Tom was safe and answered it.

  ‘Hello.’ Tom answered cautiously.

  ‘Tom it’s me…. just let me speak.’ Lucy instructed, trying to remain calm with a menacing Jozsef breathing down her neck.

  ‘Luce are you ok?!’

  ‘Yes…just listen.’

  ‘Ok yes, I’m listening.’ Tom responded, aware that Lucy was probably not alone.

  ‘I’m ok. They have confirmed they have Rosie, but they want 500,000 euros if you want both of us returned safely.’

  ‘Oh thank God, they have got out baby!

  ‘Yes, they have Rosie, but they want 500,000 euros before they will release her.’

  ‘How are we supposed to get that together?!’ Tom shrieked in alarm.

  ‘You will have to speak to our parents and sort something with the bank against the house.’

  ‘But how can we be sure….’ Tom’s questioning got cut off as Jozsef’s gruff voice came to the phone.

  ‘Just get the money within two days and we will ring again with a place to meet.’ Jozsef re-iterated, before slamming the phone down. ‘Your husband better come up with the goods.’

  ‘He will, if it means we get our little girl back…….can I please see her, I beg you.’ Lucy cried, with tears beginning to stream down her face again.

  ‘Maybe tomorrow….. if you are good.’ he replied, turning to walk out of the room, with his loyal tattooed thug following behind.

  It had been so wonderful to hear Tom’s voice, but Lucy knew he would be beside himself with worry. She just hoped he would manage to get the money together in time. She was scared to get too excited to see Rosie again, in case it didn’t happen. He was a ruthless man, so she didn’t put anything past him.

  The photo was definitely of Rosie, but she may not even still be alive, although he wouldn’t make any money from her if she was dead, so she must have been working for him somewhere. Maybe she wasn’t even in Hungary anymore and that’s why she couldn’t see her now. All these questions were now racing around in her mind.

  She got up to look out of the crack in the window, to see if she could get some perspective on where she was. As she squinted trying to make out the surroundings, she heard a beeping sound. The sound came from the mattress….she had got a text message! She rushed over to it, thankful that it didn’t come through when Jozsef was in the room. It was a message from Tom. A flicker of joy swept over her, just seeing his name. It was if he was there in the room with her…just for that split second. She opened up his message, to happily see his reassuring words.

  ‘Not sure if you will get this but I love you so much. I am sorting money and police contacted’ xxx’

  A warm feeling enveloped her temporarily. A feeling that everything was going to be alright. That her knight in shining armour was going to come to her rescue. But that feeling of comfort turned to one of despair as she thought of the police barging in before she had got Rosie back. Then she would never be seen again. No, she had to stop the police getting involved at this point. She frantically tried to type something back before Jozsef returned.

  ‘I’m ok….don’t know have phone…need money…no police.xxx’

  She just managed to press send before the key in the lock turned. As she looked up alarmed, she fumbled to turn the ringer off and get the phone back under the mattress before he caught her.

  ‘Here, eat and drink this.’ he said, placing a rather undesirable stale looking baguette down in front of her and a bottle of coke.

  Lucy acknowledged him gratefully. ‘Thank you.’ she said, trying to keep him on side.

  ‘So… you will stay here until tomorrow and maybe I bring your girl to you.’ he declared, walking back towards the door.

  ‘Oh thank you!’ Lucy exclaimed, starting to pick the soft bits off of the baguette.

  After finishing her so called meal, Lucy reached for her phone to see if Tom had replied. He had, to her delight, but her heart dropped when she saw text from her mum.

  ‘Are you ok Lucy, we haven’t heard from you?’

  Lucy started to well up. Oh no, my poor mum and dad!….and Sam, she thought. If only they knew. She would have to ask Tom to make an excuse to them until she was ok….praying she would be. She opened Tom’s message and it read:

  ‘Luce, we will have money in cash by tomorrow. I will get my girls out of there, I promise. Love you.xxx’

  She was relieved he didn’t mention the police. He must have taken her comments on board, and sorted the money out himself. She looked up at the door to check it was still quiet outside, before texting him back:

  ‘Great. My mum text….make excuse.xxx’

  Lucy quickly put her phone back under the mattress, before lying down on the putrid smelling specimen, to try and get some sleep. She needed to, if she was going to maintain her strength to get her Rosie back. She did, thankfully, manage to drop off eventually, and obtain temporary reprieve from the traumatic nightmare she would be returning to the following morning.

  *****

  After, what seemed like only a couple of hours, Lucy’s eyes flickered open as a stream of light filtered through the boarded up window. Her head was still fragile, and she could feel her cut lip starting to congeal.

  She looked at her watch and it said 8.17am. She couldn’t hear anything outside, so she wondered if she was alone in the house. She daren’t risk trying the door, as she didn’t want to rile Jozsef in any shape or form, so she sat waiting patiently for his return. It was 12.23pm before she finally heard voices outside her room and the key turn in the lock. Jozsef entered with a pastry and cup of coffee.

  ‘I brought you some breakfast. Did you sleep well?’ he asked.

  Lucy couldn’t understand the pleasantries, and they just made her feel uneasy.

  ‘Yes, thank you…..well the best I could. My head is a bit sore.’

  He walked over and inspected her cuts. ‘I will get you some antiseptic, then you can clean up before you see your daughter.’

  Lucy gulped down her mouthful of croissant in surprise at him upholding his part of the deal.

  ‘So I am going to see her today?’

  ‘Yes, I will bring her to you….you can see her for five minutes.’ he instructed, knowing that he would be dangling a carrot in front of her, as enticement to get the money more quickly.

  Lucy didn’t care though at this point. She just wanted to see her daughter. She had waited for this moment for two years. ‘When will she be coming?’

  ‘In one hour…now drink your coffee.’ he ordered, leaving the room.

  It felt like the longest hour in her life. Each time she heard somebody at the door, she flinched. Then finally the key in the lock turned. She braced herself as Jozsef walked in first, before grabbing
the arm of small girl behind him, and thrusting her towards Lucy.

  Both the little girl and Lucy were left staring at each other. Firstly Lucy at the little girl, checking that it was her beloved Rosie, while the little girl just looked back at Lucy blankly. As Lucy scanned every part of her little body, the familiar dimples, birthmark and crooked incisor tooth were all there. This was definitely her Rosie. Her Rosie at nine years’ old. She had never known her at nine, or eight for that matter. She looked so grown up from how she had known her, but so small and frail at the same time.

  ‘Oh my poor poor baby…Rosie it’s mummy.’ Lucy gasped, lunging forward to grab Rosie.

  Rosie stood there limply, not recognising Lucy at all.

  ‘Baby it’s mummy. The nasty men took you from us, but I have come to get you and you will be safe with me now.’

  Rosie still looked blankly at Lucy, then looked up at Jozsef.

  ‘She is right…she is your mother. Hug her.’ Jozsef instructed sternly.

  Rosie looked back at Lucy and walked towards her, but Lucy could tell she still didn’t know who she was. Her mind was probably numb to any memories, traumatised by the ordeal she had been through. Either that, or she was too scared to speak in front of Jozsef.

  Lucy started to cry. ‘You will remember me soon darling, it has been a while, but you will remember.’

  ‘Please let her stay with me, please I beg you.’ Lucy pleaded, looking over at Jozsef.

  He paused and realised it didn’t really matter as the girl wasn’t attached to her mother anyway.

  ‘Ok, I will let her stay until I get the money….then you can both go.’

  ‘Oh thank you, thank you.’ Lucy cried, pulling Rosie towards her.

  Joseph left the room, locking the door behind him.

  Lucy cradled Rosie’s face in her hands. ‘Don’t you remember us playing at the theme park in the Isle of Wight Rosie?’

  The young girl studied Lucy’s face, and touched her hair.

  ‘Here, I have some photos.’ Lucy said, searching for her phone.

  As she flicked through the numerous photos of Rosie and Sam in The Isle of Wight, she noticed a glimmer of recognition on Rosie’s face.

  ‘Katrina.’ she said, pointing at the photo of them both at Black Gang Chine.

  ‘Yes, that’s right, Katrina….she is here with us now.’ Lucy didn’t want to confuse her anymore than she was already by explaining about her real name.

  ‘She…she was… with me.’ Rosie said quietly.

  ‘Yes, I know sweetheart… she was taken as well, but we have found her, and now we have found you sweetheart.’

  Rosie looked up at Lucy and leant into her neck, breathing in. ‘You smell of flowers.’ she muttered.

  ‘Yes, that’s right, I smell of flowers, that is what you always use to say to me.’ Lucy chuckled.

  Rosie managed a small smile and began to touch Lucy’s face. ‘Mummy?’

  ‘Yes, it is mummy.’ Lucy nodded, crying.

  ‘Mummy….. you….you came to get me.’

  ‘Yes, I have come to get you.’

  ‘Can we go home now?’ Rosie asked, her lip now starting to tremble.

  ‘Yes, we are going to get you home darling. We just have to wait for daddy to collect us, and then we will all go home together as a family.’ Lucy replied, hugging Rosie tightly to her chest.

  Chapter 30

  ‘So what hotel are you in?’ Tom asked.

  ‘Oh… err…I’ve checked out of mine already.’ Chloe replied hesitantly. It would have been too much of a coincidence if he knew she had been staying at the same hotel as him. ‘Where are you staying?’ she asked, keen to deflect any further questioning away from her.

  ‘Hotel Oasis…it is on the Pest side.’ Tom answered, turning around to check on Sadie. Her petrified eyes were now peering over the blanket that she had gripped tightly around her.

  ‘Are you ok sweetheart?… you’ve been a very brave girl. Don’t worry about Lucy…we will get her back very soon.’ Tom reassured her, even though he had doubts himself.

  ‘Here we are…I’ll park up and meet you back here in fifteen minutes…. I’m just popping to the shop over there to get some water.’ Chloe announced, pulling up outside the hotel.

  ‘Ok….we’ll be as fast as we can.’ Tom replied, holding his hand out for Sadie.

  Chloe waited until they had disappeared into the hotel, before following them in. She ran up the hotel stairs, unlocked her door and frantically threw her scattered clothes and toiletries into her suitcase. ‘Come on, come on.’ she urged herself. She had to be back downstairs and checked out before Tom and Sadie reappeared.

  As she arrived back down at the reception desk, she waved her credit card at the receptionist who was busy chatting to one of her colleagues. After reluctantly leaving her conversation, Chloe watched painfully as she slowly located her details on the computer, before finally smiling and handing over her receipt.

  Just as she was cramming it into her bag, Chloe tensed up as she heard Tom’s familiar chatter closing in on her. With her eyes glued to the floor, she hurried out of the hotel and back to the car, not daring to look back.

  ‘Right, let’s go!’ Tom instructed, arriving back at the car.

  To her relief, he didn’t show any signs of seeing her at the hotel.

  ‘Here we are Sadie.’ Chloe said, turning to offer her a bag of jellies she had bought in Vienna.

  Sadie paused before reaching forward for the bag with a glimmer of a smile. She had probably never been afforded the luxury of sweets before, under the watchful eye of her ‘pimp’ pockets, Chloe imagined.

  ‘I thought we could try the Budapest Regent Hotel. It isn’t far from here, and being a large hotel, it should be able to accommodate us at short notice.’ Chloe suggested.

  Tom nodded. He was still shell shocked by the enormity of what had happened. ‘Why, why, why, were we so stupid to think we could find Rosie on our own?!’ he berated himself, grappling with his conscious.

  Chloe looked at him sympathetically. ‘You did it because of the love you have for your daughter. There is no shame in that…..you were doing what you thought best. Don’t beat yourself up about it, and besides, you succeeded in your mission to find Rosie…..and she is alive!’

  Tom sat rubbing his forehead back and forth in frustration. ‘I know you are right, but it will only be a success if we rescue Lucy and Rosie….alive!’

  ‘We will…with the help of the police. You have to be strong now Tom. You will need to talk to the police calmly and relay every single detail you have that will help them. Understand?’

  Tom took a deep breath. ‘Yes understand. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.’ Tom said, resting his hand on her arm. ‘You really have been amazing.’

  Chloe smiled back, praying in the recesses of her mind that Lucy and Rosie would be ok. Tatiana had sent her there to find out the truth about what had happened to Rosie, but even she didn’t know what lay ahead for sure.

  After a ten minute drive, they arrived at The Budapest Regent and managed to book two rooms. As it’s name suggested, the hotel was a grand affair. Prominent in stature and regal with it’s cream and gold façade, it was certainly befitting for the significant evidence Tom was about to relay to the police.

  ‘Ok Tom, it’s time…do you have the contact who was dealing with your case before?’ Chloe asked, sitting down on the armchair in his room, and pulling Sadie onto her lap.

  ‘Will the police get Lucy and Rosie back?’ Sadie fretted, holding onto Chloe’s hands.

  Chloe hugged her tightly. ‘Yes sweetheart, they are going to come and help us.’

  Tom scrolled through his phone. ‘Oh dammit!… where is it?....I can’t bloody find it!’ he cursed, getting angry with himself.

  ‘Calm down Tom… now think, was it under a name or a department?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Oh here it is….that’s it….Jim Mackenzie.’

  Chloe froze. Jim Mackenzie. Josh’s col
league. She knew Jim was currently on leave from work, so who else knew about the case?

  ‘It’s ringing.’ Tom said, taking a deep breath.

  ‘Homicide.’ a male voice answered.

  ‘Hello, hello… can I speak to Jim Mackenzie….it is urgent…it’s Tom Parker.’

  ‘No sorry, I’m afraid he is on leave at the moment. Who did you say was calling?’

  ‘It’s Tom Parker….the father of missing Rosie Parker. It’s urgent, I need your help! My wife and I have been searching for Rosie ourselves and have found out some unbelievable connections. We were so close to finding her, but now they have taken my wife…oh God, please help me!’ Tom blurted out, breaking down.

  ‘Whoa, whoa…slow down…..who are they, and where are you calling from?

  ‘I am in Budapest. I ….I have so much evidence to show you, but I need you to come here. I can not leave my wife here alone. I know where they are holding her.’

  ‘Who are ‘they’ Tom.’ the male voice repeated. ‘Who has taken your wife?’

  ‘A man called Jozsef Halasz…he is Hungarian and key in the kidnap of my daughter Rosie. He is involved in a huge trafficking operation.’ Tom disclosed, desperate to get his case over clearly.

  ‘And how did you come across this Jozsef Halasz?’

  ‘Through a campsite in France……our research led us to it after discovering a young Swedish girl had gone missing from there six years ago.’

  ‘Ok Tom, give me your telephone number, and I’ll call you back in ten minutes. Where are you staying?’

  ‘The Budapest Regent Hotel…s..sorry who am I speaking to?’

  ‘Detective Chief Inspector Josh Anderson.’

  ‘Ok thank you Detective Anderson, I’ll wait for your call.’

  Chloe gasped. Her Josh was on the phone, and was about to get involved in this case. She knew his job was to work in dangerous situations, but with her knowing the details of this case, it made the danger more real. She didn’t want him coming to Hungary. What if he didn’t make it back? This was torture….and to top it all, she couldn’t let him see her with Tom! How was she going to get out of it?