by R. J. Parker
‘There’s no time to argue.’ Maisie was too heavy. She started to put Maisie down, but she wouldn’t drop her feet.
‘He’s moving.’ Maisie’s eyes widened at the phone.
Lily took it from her and studied the screen.
The figure stepped deliberately towards the door. The camera was positioned over it.
But he couldn’t get to the hallway. If she’d locked the other doors she certainly would have secured that one.
Lily’s and Maisie’s breaths were suspended as the figure halted in front of the door. Then he opened it wide and strode through.
Chapter 10
Lily’s attention shot to the bedroom door. ‘Quickly!’ She put down Maisie and raced over to it, butting her shoulder against the panel to close it. Once it had slammed, she looked down at the lock but knew there was no key in it. No way to secure it. She listened for the sound of footsteps in the hallway.
Nothing.
She checked the phone and saw him pace slowly halfway up the hallway and then halt.
‘Help!’ She screamed up at the ceiling, hoping Mr Sargeant would hear. But he’d said he was leaving that day. Had he got an early flight? Lily leaned her back hard against the door, but figured she wouldn’t be able to repel the intruder for long. ‘Go out the window,’ she hissed at Maisie.
Maisie shook her head.
‘Help!’ She yelled louder and her eyes halted on the wooden chair beneath the dresser. Could she fit the back of it underneath the door handle and buy them some time? But she’d have to move from the door to drag it over. Would he bust through it in those few seconds? ‘Maisie, do as I say.’
‘No. I’m not leaving you.’
There was nothing for it. Lily bolted across the room and grabbed the chair. Tipping the clothes from it she carried it back to the door and positioned it there.
The back was too low for the handle.
Lily slammed her body back against the door and clenched herself in readiness for him to ram his way inside. ‘Mr Sargeant! Help!’ Now she had to call the police.
But her phone started ringing. Keeping her back solidly against the panel Lily glanced at the screen. On the security shot she could see the hooded and masked intruder standing still halfway up the hallway and holding a phone to his ear.
She answered. ‘What do you want?’
‘Don’t worry about finding me. Worry about finding yourself.’
He hung up and Lily watched the figure drop his arm and slip his phone into his back pocket. But he didn’t move from his spot.
‘What’s happening?’
‘Ssshhh.’ Lily held her hand up to Maisie. What the hell was he talking about? She kept her eyes on the screen, but he still didn’t make a move towards the bedroom door. Lily scrolled down to the security cam image of her bedroom.
There was no sign of her or Maisie.
Lily looked over to where Maisie was standing beside the bed. The duvet was thrown back where she’d jumped out, but on the cam image the bed was still made. Were the cameras delayed? The intruder had obviously tampered with them. This had to be old footage of the bedroom. And if that was the case then there would be no recording of him attacking them.
She scrolled back to the hallway image. The intruder still hadn’t budged.
‘Has he gone?’ Maisie whispered.
Lily shook her head and frowned. Why didn’t he enter the room? Was he giving them ample time to realise that whatever he did wouldn’t be recorded?
The intruder put his hand in his other pocket and produced something which he held up to the camera. Lily squinted. Her keys. Lily felt a chill pass through her. When the hell had he taken them, while she was asleep? But how had he got into the hallway when she’d locked the doors at both ends?
The intruder walked forward, and Lily rammed her weight against the door. ‘Stay away from us! I’ve got a weapon! Help!’
The intruder didn’t react to her threat but continued to the front door. On her phone Lily watched him stop there and very deliberately use the keys to unlock the inner front door. He swung it wide, walked through and closed it behind him.
Lily’s attention remained locked on the screen.
Maisie scuttled across the room to her.
‘Go back to the window.’
But Maisie clutched her arm tight.
Why hadn’t she heard any footsteps when he’d passed the door? And there had been no sound of the keys or the door opening and closing behind him. What sort of trick was he playing? Whatever it was they needed to stay on the opposite side of the house to him. She didn’t shift her eyes from the phone.
The front door had closed firmly behind him. ‘We’re going to run into the kitchen,’ she whispered to Maisie. She saw her shake her head out of the corner of her eye. ‘No arguments, we’re going now. I’ll carry you if you like.’
‘We should call the policeman.’
‘I will do. From the kitchen. We’ll run in there and lock the door. Then we’ll be safe until the policeman arrives.’
‘We should stay here.’ Maisie looked at the door fearfully.
‘We can’t lock this. Come on.’ Lily took her hot hand. They couldn’t afford to delay. If the intruder had the keys, he could let himself back in any moment. The kitchen door had a bolt the other side. They just had to get behind it. She’d call the police and they’d be able to see if he came back over the garden wall.
‘No.’ Maisie fought her.
‘Now,’ Lily said sharply and yanked open the bedroom door. She dragged Maisie with her and was relieved when she began to run to keep up. The kitchen door had closed behind the intruder, but he definitely hadn’t locked it behind him.
They reached the sealed kitchen door and Lily pushed on the wood. It swung open and she ushered Maisie through. Lily immediately shut it behind them and shot the bolt at the middle of the door in place. It was usually quite stiff, so she was surprised that it slid home so easily.
She breathed again but didn’t enjoy the relief for longer than a second before turning to the kitchen window. The hessian blind was still down, and she prayed that when she lifted it, she wouldn’t find that he had slid around the back and was standing outside the pane.
She took hold of the string and yanked the blind all the way up.
There was no man outside, but Lily barely acknowledged that because there was no back garden outside either.
The familiar view from the window had completely changed.
Chapter 11
The walled garden had vanished, and Lily was looking down on a demolished building site from a drop of about two hundred feet.
Her hand went to her mouth and she almost buckled at the knees.
‘Is he there?’ Maisie asked with trepidation. She was too short to see over the draining board through the glass.
Lily shook her head but didn’t tear her eyes from the new vista. The windowpane was smaller but afforded her ample view of the heaped rubble below. In the orange early morning light, she could see twisted metal poking up from red bricks and dirty cinder blocks. Beyond rusted white goods was the collapsed housing block. The distressed and shattered windows of the remaining eleven floors reflected the similar building she was in, and there were two blocks of the same dilapidated apartments to her left and right. The entire area was derelict and there was nobody in sight.
‘Has he come back?’
She would wake up. Any moment. But the burning cold floor beneath her bare feet felt too real.
‘What can you see?’
Still Lily didn’t answer her daughter. The familiarity of her surroundings framing the condemned area before her made a response seem impossible. They had to be ten floors up. Maisie tugged her hand, but she still hadn’t blinked.
Wake up. Please, wake up.
‘Lift me up!’
Lily shook her head. She could feel a rushing in her ears blotting out every other sound. That smell was in her nostrils again. The drying cement aroma she’d picked u
p in the hallway. She gazed around at the kitchen. Tried to focus. Everything was in its place. Mr Gingerbread was eating disinterestedly from his bowl. But she knew her home couldn’t have been ripped out of Fallstaff Gardens and dumped here. The cat looked up from its bowl and his green eyes met hers.
‘What’s wrong?’ Maisie’s voice was muffled.
Lily didn’t reply.
Maisie released Lily’s fingers.
She still had the phone in her hand. She dialled the police. Concentrated hard on the keypad and tried to ignore the window. What would she say when they answered? It didn’t matter. This was too surreal. She was playing for time until she woke up.
No ring tone. She tried again. Lily had had dreams like this before, when she was shouting to people for help and everything slowed down. The recurring one was somebody walking away from her, her pace getting slower than theirs as she pursued them, her yelling for them to stop but not wanting them to because she was afraid of seeing their faces when they turned around. But she was scared enough already. Terrified enough to wake up. Let this be over now.
She dialled the police again, stabbed the screen hard with her finger. It felt as if concentrating on the task required every ounce of her strength. But the earpiece only buzzed in her ear.
Stay calm, stay calm …
She found her sister’s number and dialled it. She needed to hear her familiar voice. Would be glad of her mocking Lily for having a stupid dream. But she could smell her own sour breath as she breathed erratically, and it bounced back from the mouthpiece. She clenched the handset hard as she waited. Briefly squeezed her eyes shut. No ring tone. And when she opened her eyes again the view from the window hadn’t changed back.
Dirty sky over a forlorn broken place she’d never seen before. She could see rivulets of dirty dried rain droplets on the glass. Then she saw her own petrified expression dimly reflected there.
She tried to rationalise. It was what had happened yesterday afternoon that had triggered this. The intruder in the garden and Officer Michaels coming into the house. But suddenly remembering the intruder made her turn from her position at the pane.
Maisie had gone. The sound of the room trickled quickly back in.
Her daughter had shot the bolt and opened the door to the hallway. Back towards the intruder.
‘Maisie!’ Lily barrelled after her.
The hallway was empty. ‘Maisie!’ The front door was still sealed. Lily glanced into Maisie’s room. No sign of her there. Could the intruder have slipped back into the hallway when her attention had been on the window? Lily jumped as Mr Gingerbread scuttled past her, brushing against her bare legs. She followed him into her bedroom.
Please wake up now!
Lily felt light-headed again, like she might faint. She wanted this nightmare over. But she already suspected it wouldn’t be. It felt way too real.
Maisie was standing by the window where she’d pulled the green blind up.
‘I needed to see.’ She turned to the pane.
Beyond the glass there was no longer the view they had of the garden. Behind it was only rows of red bricks.
Chapter 12
Lily crossed the carpet and stared at the pane. But she knew the window couldn’t have been bricked up while she slept in the same room.
‘I want to go outside,’ Maisie declared anxiously.
But Lily was beginning to realise that that was something they weren’t going to be allowed to do. If this was a nightmare surely she would have opened her eyes by now. Their predicament was so convincingly real, and she dreaded that the next moments would confirm that beyond doubt.
She took Maisie’s hand and led her into the hallway to the front door. Locked.
‘What’s happening?’
Lily knew she shouldn’t display the escalating panic she felt in front of Maisie. ‘I’m … just trying to work that out.’ Was all she could offer. Was the intruder the other side of it? ‘Let us out of here!’ Lily banged her fist against the panel. ‘Open this now!’ Her voice rose an octave and she beat the wood harder.
Maisie took a step away from her.
But Lily couldn’t contain her alarm. ‘Let us out. I’ve called the police!’ But she suspected he already knew she couldn’t.
Maisie clutched herself.
Lily tried the lounge door again but that was still locked. She glanced up at the hallway camera positioned over the open kitchen door. Was he watching them? She returned her attention to the image of the hallway in her phone’s security app.
There was no sign of either of them standing in the positions they were.
‘Open it!’ Even though she suspected she was wasting her time Lily thumped the door in frustration until her hand ached. When she eventually stopped there was no sound the other side.
They waited and listened. Nothing.
She had to calm down, breathe a few times. In through her nose and out through her mouth.
‘Are you OK now?’ Maisie asked nervously.
Lily nodded. ‘I’m fine.’ She tried to slow her circulation, but she could hear it beating in her temples. She had to focus. Process what had happened since she’d woken up.
And she had woken up.
‘You’ve turned white.’
Lily could see fear bulging in Maisie’s wide blue eyes and crouched in front of her. ‘Listen, we’re going to find out exactly what’s going on. OK?’
Maisie nodded once, uncertainly.
She could see that Maisie didn’t believe her. She had to stow her own fear away for her sake. She gulped drily. ‘There has to be a reason for this.’ But how could any of this even begin to make any sense? ‘Whatever it is, we’ll be OK. I promise.’
Maisie nodded again and shivered.
Lily rubbed her daughter’s arms and felt how cold they were through her yellow pyjamas. ‘You’re freezing. Let’s get your hoodie wrap.’ Lily stood and quickly led Maisie to her bedroom. The faux purple fur garment was folded on the seat of the wicker chair beside her bed.
Too perfectly folded. Lily always left it draped on the back, and Maisie wouldn’t have put it there so neatly. Had Paulette folded it last night? That wasn’t something she could see her sister doing. She cautiously picked it up then opened it out.
She wrapped it around Maisie and put her nose to it. It wasn’t Maisie’s. It didn’t smell of her. Lily frequently inhaled it. It was just as much a comfort blanket for her as it was her daughter. The truth of the situation seemed ludicrous. Had somebody replicated not only her home but also its contents?
Mr Gingerbread emitted a nervous meow.
Lily located the cat cowering in the corner beside the door. Maisie went to him.
‘Wait!’
Maisie froze and turned back to her.
The cat hissed at them.
‘Leave him where he is for the moment.’ Lily could see he’d lost a lot of weight. Since last night. It was a different animal and it was clearly nervous of them both.
‘What’s wrong with Mr Gingerbread?’
‘Just leave him.’ Lily’s mind raced. It was definitely a different cat. She could see its ribs poking through its fur. Who would have gone to these lengths? And where was their real cat now?
Maisie reversed her steps and cowered at Lily’s legs.
The cat, the hoodie wrap, the bolt sliding so easily into place, the unfamiliar cement smell, the cold air and that view out of the window. She glanced at the camera positioned over the bedroom door and rapidly scrolled through the images on her security app. All of the rooms were empty. Including the one they were standing in. That was why the intruder had walked from the kitchen, along the hallway and through the front door without them hearing him. He was in their home. They weren’t.
So, where the hell were they?
Chapter 13
Lily and Maisie were back in the kitchen, the door firmly bolted again.
Maisie was seated on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, her arms poking out of her hoodie bl
anket and protectively encircling her legs. From her elevated seat she could see through the window. She’d gasped inwards when she’d seen their new surroundings and Lily still hadn’t heard her breathe out.
Lily couldn’t begin to explain to her what was happening. Who had imprisoned them like this? And why? But she could barely comprehend the situation they were in let alone consider who could be responsible. What could their motive possibly be for doing this to a mother and child? Think. It seemed like a sick prank. But when she considered the intruder the previous day and took in their imitation home she suspected it was far from that. Who could have had access to so much that was private? Only one name suggested itself.
It seemed preposterous that Ewan would be part of this. Was this his punishment? Was that why he’d been happy not to see Maisie for so long and had this always been his plan? At that moment, he was the only person she could believe would be gratified by this. But Maisie’s distress? No. He loved his daughter. But now he had them where he wanted maybe he would try to take Maisie away from her. But it all seemed so outlandish.
Maybe they’d been targeted at random. Would a ransom be demanded? From whom? She only had Paulette left and she didn’t have any money. But they were surrounded by the handiwork of someone who knew their lives intimately. Who else other than Ewan could it possibly be?
‘Why did somebody move our house?’
Lily looked up at her daughter’s pensive expression and wondered if it was better to let her believe that. Would Maisie feel more secure? But it was only a matter of time before she’d have to know the truth and perhaps the cat had already confirmed that to her. They’d left the animal locked the other side of the kitchen door.
Momentarily, she had to focus on keeping Maisie calm. ‘Whoever did this obviously wants us to be at home.’ That was the truth. If someone meant to harm them would they have constructed this space? She considered how they’d been relocated and the truth of that came thick and fast.
They must have been drugged. Someone had come into their home while they slept and physically removed them. They’d scooped her and Maisie up and driven them here while they were completely oblivious.