by Penny Grubb
Telling Pat wasn’t the priority. It could wait. But what she’d worked out couldn’t. She clicked through her phone for Jennifer’s number.
You have reached the voicemail of …
Shit! Should she leave a message? What to say? She ended the call before Jennifer’s voicemail message finished. She had to call Scott. There was no alternative.
‘Annie?’ His voice was guarded, cold.
‘Scott? It’s about Laura Tunbridge. She’s missing.’
‘Yes, we know that.’ His tone was measured. ‘We’re already dealing with it.’
‘Yes, but it’s linked.’
He didn’t try to hide a heavy sigh. ‘How do you mean, Annie?’
‘To Terry Martin and Charles Tremlow. And maybe the woman on the cliff too, I don’t know. But–’
He interrupted, his tone curt. ‘Do you have information about Laura Tunbridge that we need to know?’
‘Well … I’m not sure … I …’ She should have rehearsed this. ‘I just want you to know you have to take it seriously.’
‘Annie, when a twelve-year-old girl goes missing, especially for this length of time, we take it seriously. Have you any new information?’
‘No, but–’
‘Do you know where Laura is?’
‘No, but–’
‘Then keep your nose out and let us do our job. OK?’
Before she could articulate a response, he ended the call. She thumped the bed in frustration. He hadn’t understood. None of them realized the urgency. Anger at Scott mixed with the fear she’d be proved right. She must go out to Milesthorpe, find someone who’d listen to her, find something that would show she was right. But she’d looked for Terry Martin’s missing days in Milesthorpe and found nothing. Where to head for, where to focus? She fell back on to the bed, hands over her face trying to find a way through.
The ring of her phone shot her back upright. Jennifer!
‘I’ve spoken to Scott, Annie. I’m sorry I missed your call. I’m supposed to keep my phone off at the moment, but listen, you mustn’t worry. We’ll find her.’ Jennifer’s tone was kinder than Scott’s, but it wasn’t kindness she needed.
‘But Jennifer, you need to think about the others. There’s a link. Laura’s been gone for two days just like they were.’
‘We won’t leave any stone unturned. We’re on the case here. Now, I don’t want you to pass this on to anyone, but it might help set your mind at rest. She’s done this before.’
‘I know that, but it’s two days, Jennifer.’
‘She was out all night the first time.’ Jennifer sounded annoyed at how much Annie already knew.
‘Yes, but she was safe at her aunt’s. This is different.’
‘The only reason she hasn’t been found is that no one’s been looking.’
‘Jennifer, listen to me. There’s more to it. How could she possibly stay hidden for two whole days?’
‘No Annie, you listen to me. I know you don’t mean any harm but you haven’t gone into the detail of this. On previous occasions she’s gone to great lengths to hide.’
‘But Jennifer, two days?’
‘Did you know about the time they knew she’d set off for her aunt’s? They tried to catch her on the way and they couldn’t. These are people who know the area and knew where she was going. She managed to avoid them. She knows the countryside round here. She’s done pony treks. She’s been all over the place with those other girls. It might not look a huge area but there are all the big country estates, Burton Constable, Wassand, all round the Mere, the old army ranges. Without anyone actively looking for her, she’ll have found it easier to hide than she bargained on, but she’s bull-headed. We’ve talked to a lot of people. She’ll stay under cover for sheer obstinacy.’
‘But two days, Jennifer. Someone should have seen her.’ Annie heard the plea in her tone, knew that Jennifer’s logic had won the argument. It made no odds. The certainty knotted tighter inside her.
‘Chances are plenty of people have seen her,’ Jennifer went on. ‘But no one’s given it a second thought. A girl on a pony. She’s probably been seen by people who know her, but why would they bother? She hasn’t officially been missing. Listen Annie, I don’t mean to be unkind, but melodramatics aren’t going to help anyone, much less Laura.’
Annie admitted defeat. Jennifer was saying all the right things and she supposed she and her colleagues were doing all the things they should, but underlying it all was the conviction they had it wrong. They wouldn’t find Laura.
She felt bleak as she clicked off the phone and trailed into the living room where the scene was more chaotic than when she’d left it a few minutes ago.
‘Ah yes, Annie …’ Pat looked up.
Annie took her chance while she had Pat’s attention and dived into the conversation to tell her about Laura.
A troubled expression flashed across Pat’s features. ‘Tunbridge? Sorry, I should have said when you first came in. I was tied up in this lot. There’s a message.’
A sudden rush within her had Annie gulp in a breath. ‘What do you mean? Has Laura been in touch?’ Apprehension churned her stomach. This could be very good or very bad.
‘It’s on the answer-phone.’
Annie dived for the machine.
It was Laura’s father asking for Annie by name. ‘We’re on our way back. We want you to take on a case for us. It’s urgent. We’re not satisfied with the police investigation. Please ring as soon as you get this message.’
They’d sensed it, too. No doubt the police had been more tactful with Laura’s parents than Jennifer had been with her, but they were her parents. They knew Laura. They’d have sensed the misdirection at the core of it.
Mrs Tunbridge answered her call. Annie heard the worry in every word she spoke. The background noise of traffic came through too. She hoped they’d drive carefully.
‘We’re on our way back. We’ll be a couple of hours at least. I don’t believe she’s run off this time. She wouldn’t stay out this long. You must help. We don’t care what it costs. I have a terrible feeling about this.’
‘I’ll do everything I can. Is there anything you can tell me, anything that might help? When did you last speak to her?’
‘It was when she rang on Saturday afternoon to say she was at the Dearloves and they were all going out.’
At the Dearloves? But Kay had already been tucked up in bed ill on Saturday afternoon. Laura had made that up. Where had she really called from?
‘We know now she wasn’t there. We’ve been in touch with her friends, with anyone who might know where she is. That’s how we got your number. Laura talked about you. She trusted you. The police said they can trace the phone records to see where she rang from on Saturday, but it’s no good. She’ll have used her mobile. Listen, we want you on the spot. You’re to use our house as a base. We leave a key with a friend in the village, that’s how the police got in, but we’ve rung and told her to let you have the key. She knows you. Doris Kitson. The police have been into our house and searched already but I’d be happier to know you’d done it, too.’
She wouldn’t find Laura there. But a base with a landline was a good idea. She thought of the email.
‘Can I check her PC?’
‘Of course. Hers is the bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs. The police may have taken it. You don’t think she’s met someone on the internet, do you? We warned her time and again about that sort of thing.’
‘No, I don’t think it’s anything like that. But I’d like to check her emails.’ Annie thought of the email to Pat – minimal. Maybe Laura had been more verbose to a close friend.
Annie accelerated along the now familiar route out of Hull and swung the car off the main road. The quickest route to Milesthorpe was on the back roads. Wind buffeted the car as the storm that had been threatening to break the heat wave rumbled low overhead. The sky darkened and the air grew heavy.
She headed for the prosperous outskirt
s of the village. Doris would have planted herself at the heart of the drama and be waiting at the Tunbridge’s house, Annie was sure.
There were no lights at this end of the village. She had to slow as she peered into the dark looking for the turning into their lane.
Suddenly, a figure was in the road in front of her, its arms waving.
Annie slammed her foot on the brake. Shock coursed through her. She jerked up the handbrake and scrambled to untangle her seat belt as she leapt from the car.
‘What the hell …? Mally? Mally, what are you doing? I nearly ran into you.’
Mally’s face was tight with emotion. Her hair blew across it in the strengthening wind. ‘You got to help me. You’ve got to. It’s not my dad. It’s nothing to do with my dad.’
‘Calm down, Mally. Of course, I’ll help you. What is it? Come on, get in the car and we’ll go to Laura’s house.’
Mally knew something. She must keep her here, keep her safe, get her to the official enquiry. Jennifer … Scott …
‘No.’
As Annie reached out to put a reassuring hand on the girl’s arm, Mally backed off. Annie looked into her eyes as a gust of wind spiralled round them. Mally pushed the hair out of her face and shot Annie a hostile stare. ‘I won’t. They’ll stop me. I’ll go by myself if you won’t come with me. It isn’t my dad. They all think it’s my dad.’
Annie knew what had nagged at the back of her mind when Tina said, ‘They’re talking to anyone who talked to Laura.’ She remembered Mally’s outburst when she heard her dad had been seen talking to Laura. But wasn’t he supposed to be away? The police needed to talk to Mally’s father. They all think it’s my dad. Hadn’t he been involved in a surreptitious visit to the ex-marital home? Someone had told Doris he’d been seen entering the house next-door to Tremlow’s, but by the time she’d hurried round he’d gone. There was more to this.
‘Mally, do you know where Laura is?’ Annie found herself having to raise her voice to counter the rising whistle of the wind.
‘She’s all right,’ Mally shouted back. ‘I know she’s all right.’
Scott had asked if she had anything they needed to know. She did now. Mally’s father. What was his place in all this? What did Mally know? She mustn’t let the girl disappear. Two and a bit days. Time was nearly up for Laura.
‘Mally, where is she?’ Annie took a step towards the girl but again Mally backed off.
‘I didn’t say I knew where she was.’ Mally set her bottom lip in a stubborn pout. ‘I just said she’s OK. I know she is. Will you come with me and not tell anyone?’
‘Yes, I will,’ Annie lied. ‘Get in the car. It’s going to pour down soon. You can direct me.’
‘No, you can’t get by car. Leave it here.’
‘I can’t. It’s in the middle of the road.’
‘OK, move it to the side then, but hurry up. I’m going to make a phone call and I don’t want you listening in.’
Mally stalked to the far side of the lane and ostentatiously turned her back. Annie leapt for the car and jammed the earpiece in her ear. She wanted to ring Jennifer, but Jennifer had her phone turned off. It had to be Scott. He answered at once as she backed the car awkwardly, keeping her face turned away from Mally’s line of sight.
She spoke before he could say anything. ‘Scott listen, I think Melissa Fletcher’s father’s involved in all this. He–’
His angry tone cut across her ‘We’re on to it, Annie. His father-in-law’s told us about him. For God’s sake, leave things alone. Is he with you?’
‘No. I don’t know Mally’s father. I wouldn’t recognize him.’
‘Not him. Her grandfather. He’s gone out looking for his granddaughter. We told him to stay put … Christ, no one in this village will stand still for a second.’
‘But Mally’s with me. She–’
‘Well, thank God for that at least. Are you in Hull?’
‘No, we’re in Milesthorpe.’
‘What the hell are you doing out here? I told you … Oh, never mind. Take her to the Dearloves house at once.’
‘But, Scott, I think she’s–’
He shouted across her. ‘Take her to the Dearloves’, Annie. Or to the Tunbridges’. Jen’s round there. Whichever you’re nearest to. Just do it! Now!’
‘Scott, will you listen. I–’
This time she interrupted herself. Footsteps. Mally was back. Sod Scott and his heavy-handedness. She clicked the phone off. Right off. Mally knew something and it was vital Annie find it out before Laura ran out of time. As soon as she knew, she’d get Mally, or the information, or both back to the official enquiry.
Mally didn’t speak, just jerked her head in a follow-me gesture and turned to jog back up the lane.
Annie matched step with her. As they reached the top and turned down the hill towards the centre of Milesthorpe, big raindrops began to splat down around them. Mally increased her pace. Annie followed. This was the hill she’d driven down when Laura had called her to say they’d found the body. Through the encroaching dusk she made out the ramshackle gate that was the entrance to Balham’s farm. Instead of slowing to follow the turn in the road, Mally took a sprint at the gate and vaulted it. Annie clambered over. Another set of clothes wrecked.
It wasn’t easy to keep Mally in view. Dusk pooled into dense shadow between the farm buildings. The girl ahead of her clearly knew her way through here blindfold. Rain fell in earnest now, only the high barn walls offered any protection and that was gone as Mally scrambled over a wall and led Annie on to a grassy track out into the open.
As they ran, the storm blew harder. She heard her own laboured breathing mirroring Mally’s. ‘Where are we going?’ she panted.
The girl just said, ‘Come on.’
A stunted tree and part of a hedge marked a junction in the track. Mally threw herself into the hedge and lay back against the spiky hawthorn. ‘Hurry up. Hurry up.’ She muttered the words as though to herself.
Annie ducked into the little shelter the hedge had to offer noting out of the corner of her eye a moss- and creeper-covered shape at her feet. One of those blocks again, abandoned in the bottom of the hedge as though someone had carried it this far and could go no further.
‘Hurry up!’ Mally growled.
‘I’m here,’ said Annie.
‘Not you. Kay.’
‘Kay’s ill.’ As she spoke, Annie heard footsteps patter along the grass. Someone was approaching from the other track. Annie recognized Kay’s slender form and, as the girl drew close, took in the lank hair plastered to her face and head not only with the rain but with sweat. Kay’s face flushed red from whatever illness still had her in its grip.
Oh no, she’d hijacked both of them. When Scott found out …
‘I had to climb out of the window,’ Kay said to Mally.
So it was Kay whom Mally had called. It would do no good to order Kay back home. The three of them stood in the rain, braced against the force of the wind. Kay looked from one to the other of them. ‘What is it?’
Mally glanced at Annie, then back at Kay but met neither of their stares as she said, ‘I’ve found Boxer.’
Kay gave an excited jump and clapped her hands. ‘That means you’ve found Laura. Where, Mally? Where?’
‘I’m taking her.’ Mally jerked her head towards Annie. ‘You can come too if you want.’
Boxer? If Mally had really found Boxer … but the girl was holding something back. She had to go along with her further than this. Mally looked resolute but scared. Annie fingered the phone in her pocket. It would do no good to call anyone now. If Mally legged it, she’d be left empty-handed and no nearer Laura.
‘Come on.’ As Mally shouted and set off again at a run, Kay followed and Annie ran behind them.
A sudden flare of lightning lit the landscape. Annie saw they were more exposed than she’d realized. She struggled on over uneven grassy hillocks as thunder rumbled around them. Her calf muscles protested the underlying upward gra
dient. She halfregistered the angular shapes that grew at intervals from the side of the track. Whatever military use this land had once been put to, it had needed concrete blocks to trail some long-lost boundary. They were near the sea’s edge, climbing up on to the grassland above the crumbling clay cliffs. That lightning flash had shown her seething white-crested waves down below. She had time to note that the cross-country route from Milesthorpe to the sea was way shorter than going by road.
As the gradient steepened, they slowed. Then Mally slumped down in the mud breathing hard.
‘Wait a bit,’ she said, as first Kay and then Annie collapsed beside her. ‘We’d better keep quiet.’
Another diffuse sheet of lightning swept over them bathing everything in a short burst of white light. Their stares were drawn up towards the sea, invisible now they lay on the ground, but audible as the waves crashed into the cliffs below them. Probably undermining the land beneath us, thought Annie.
The lightning picked out a silvery line that hovered just above the track in front of them. Tinsel blown all the way from Tina’s and caught here in the scrub. Annie looked into Kay’s face. The girl gazed towards the sounds of the sea as though not quite on the same planet as her companions. Her face glowed an unnatural blotchy red. Her stare was so intense that Annie followed the line of it and made out some kind of barrier fencing off a dangerous part of the edge. A branch wedged across more of those omnipresent concrete blocks.
Annie heard Kay’s hands and knees squelch in the mud as the girl turned to crawl towards the sound of the sea. She dived forward and pulled her back. ‘No, Kay. Don’t go near the edge. The storm’s too strong. It’s dangerous.’
She knew too well the way the wind could whip away all stability at the edge of a precipice. The rain dripped down her back running a freezing track across her sweat-soaked skin. Kay shouldn’t be out in this.
‘We need to go down here.’ Mally slithered in the mud following a downward incline away from the cliff’s edge leaving the strand of tinsel glittering behind them as a shaft of moonlight escaped the storm clouds. Annie kept close to the girl. There was some relief in having the rain lash the back of her head now instead of her face, but water ran down the neck of her jacket as though from a tap. Without the glow off the sea, the landscape ahead vanished into the darkness. They almost came up against a low wall before its shape grew from the shadows. Over the rush of the waves and the roar of the wind Annie made out the unmistakable sounds of an animal snuffling about.