by R. J. Parker
It was the first glimpse she’d had of the person, or one of the people, who had taken them but seeing the male hand didn’t make them seem any more human. She examined it closely and there were no rings or distinguishing features, no hair on the knuckles. It gave no indication of the age of its owner.
She jumped as her phone rang.
Lily quickly answered. ‘Tell me she’s OK.’
‘Of course she is,’ the same male voice assured her.
‘Put her on. Let me speak to her.’
‘Not possible.’
‘Why?’
‘She’s asleep.’
‘Liar. Let me speak to her now. She’ll be terrified.’
‘I’m doing all I can to keep her calm. Hence the reason she’s asleep.’
‘Where is she?’
‘In the next room. She’s been such a good girl.’
Lily felt another nausea rush. ‘Give her back to me. I promise I’ll do whatever you want.’
‘That’s all well and good but can you promise me Maisie will be as obedient?’
‘Yes. Of course. You have my word.’
‘I think she’s overcoming her shyness. Perhaps those trips to the child psychologist weren’t in vain.’
How did he know about that? She thought of sitting in Doctor Hart’s office while Maisie had sat in silence. Maisie had hated Doctor Hart. Didn’t like the redness of his bald pate and the grey hairs in his nostrils. Lily had pulled the plug on the treatment three weeks in. It had only succeeded in making her even more gloomy and withdrawn. Had their kidnapper been watching them go in and out of his office during that time?
‘She’s really developing her own personality now.’
‘Please, just let me speak to her.’
‘I told you, I can’t disturb her.’
‘So why did you call?’ Lily wanted to yell.
‘I wanted to make sure you were OK. I appreciate it must have been something of a shock to find her gone.’ He almost sounded apologetic.
‘I’ll only be OK when she’s returned to me.’
He didn’t respond.
‘How long are you going to keep her?’
‘She’s only just got settled.’
Lily closed her eyes. ‘Please, at least let me speak with her, to reassure her.’
‘Of what?’
‘That she won’t come to any harm.’
Silence from the other end.
‘Can I assure her of that?’ Her voice tremored.
‘When she wakes up, you can assure her of anything you like.’
‘Please, wake her now.’
‘We’ve already had this conversation.’
‘Just give her back!’ But Lily regretted the outburst before the words were out of her mouth.
‘I’m hanging up now.’
‘Please, don’t. I’m sorry. Please, call me when she wakes—’ Lily could hear the sound of crying in the background. It was definitely Maisie. A bubble of relief burst in her chest, but it was quickly replaced by a desperate need to comfort her. ‘I can hear her. She’s awake. Please, can I talk to her now?’
He hung up.
Chapter 31
Lily snapped awake on the toilet. Her jeans were still rolled down her legs. She’d obviously passed out exhausted. What time had she sat down to pee, around eleven in the evening? Her phone was lying face down on the tiles. It must have slipped out of her hand. She leaned forward and snatched it up.
23:27
Dread immediately took hold again. She checked for new messages, but there were none. Lily flinched as she stirred her muscles. The ones at the back of her legs felt dead where the edge of the seat had cut into them. Her neck ached as well. She’d been asleep with her chin on her chest. Her feet and buttocks felt cold. The temperature in the bathroom had definitely dropped. She started pulling up her pyjama bottoms and jeans.
Thump.
Lily froze. That had sounded like it was in the hallway. She held her breath and waited. Was that what had woken her? No other noise. She quickly finished dressing.
Another thud. Softer this time.
Lily took her weight on her numb feet.
The floor outside the bathroom creaked.
Lily did her zipper up but remained where she was. He had to know she was in the bathroom. She put her hand in her robe pocket, but the paring knife wasn’t there. Had it dropped out when she’d lain on the floor? Her eyes flitted about the room for a weapon. There was nothing she could defend herself with, but as her attention settled on the mirrored bathroom cabinet beside the door, she wondered if she could depend on his faithful replication of everything in her home.
She took two painstaking paces to the cabinet and cringed as she opened the door and it squeaked. Inside was her clear plastic tooth mug with the spare toothbrushes in it. And her nail scissors.
Lily slid them out and held the handles dagger style, the small blades protruding only half an inch from her fist.
Creak.
That was right outside the door. He must have just walked in through the front. Lily gripped the cold metal of the scissors tighter and waited for the door handle to go down.
But the steps continued down the hallway. He’d passed her. She took one step to the hinge side of the door. If he came in, she could stab him in the back. She raised her fist in readiness.
The footsteps reached the kitchen.
He would soon gather exactly where she was. But surely he’d know that from watching her on the cameras. She dropped her fist. What was the point of attacking him? He had Maisie. Whatever he was doing here, she had to comply. Every cell of her told her not to go into the hallway, but why bother hiding at all?
Lily slid the nail scissors into her robe pocket. They were there if the opportunity arose to use them, but again, she figured her captor had already anticipated it.
There was no point in delaying the moment. Lily breathed in through her nose and put her fingers on the cold handle.
Slam.
She hesitated. That came from the kitchen. Was that the fridge?
Lily pulled down on the handle hard. It made a noise and she wanted it to. She needed him to know she wasn’t hiding, wasn’t trying to be stealthy. She walked out into the hallway but couldn’t see anyone through the kitchen doorway. Her gaze briefly tilted up to the camera. ‘I’m coming into the kitchen,’ she announced, and her voice sounded so loud.
There was no response.
She took a pace forward.
Creak.
And she hadn’t made that noise. Sounded like someone was adjusting their footing as she approached. Lily stepped harder, wanted them to know she was near. ‘I’m unarmed,’ she added, even though it weren’t strictly true. But there were no cameras in the bathroom. At least, none that she knew about. And if he was in here with her then he definitely didn’t know she’d concealed the scissors.
Lily turned her head so she could see around the doorway as she reached it.
A rustling sound greeted her arrival.
She paused then entered the kitchen and as she moved past the jamb she could see who was standing by the fridge.
Maisie looked up. She had a packet of string cheese in her fist and was biting through it.
‘Maisie … Maisie.’ Lily checked if there was anybody else in the room, but it was only her daughter. She ran to her, fell to her knees and hugged her tight. ‘Are you all right?’ She held her by her shoulders then pushed her away so she could take her in.
Maisie didn’t respond. Her eyes rolled to the food in her hand and she took a huge bite.
‘Maisie?’
She chewed on the processed cheese, closed her eyes and breathed in, as if the food couldn’t have come any later.
Lily examined her expression. ‘Maisie, are you OK?’
She still didn’t answer.
‘Say something.’
Her daughter’s expression was glazed. Had she been drugged? She wanted to examine her now. Take off her clothes and ch
eck her all over. She put her hand to her cheek. It was so cold. And so were her hands. She squeezed and rubbed them. ‘What happened to you. Where did he take you?’
But Maisie didn’t reply or even react to the fact that she’d been returned to her.
Lily hugged her again. Her yellow pyjamas felt freezing. Where had she been? She could feel her shivering against her. ‘Come with me.’ She took her by the hand and led her to the bathroom. ‘Let’s get the bath running. Wait.’ She grabbed the purple hoodie blanket from her room and wrapped it tight around her. ‘Come on.’
Maisie dropped the string cheese as if she’d forgotten she was holding it.
Lily sealed the bathroom door and then stood Maisie by the bath, turned on the hot tap and rubbed her through the blanket.
‘Maisie, speak to me.’
But her daughter just stared blankly from the hood around her face.
Chapter 32
As the bath filled the thundering sound of the water barely drowned out the clamour of thoughts in Lily’s head. Maisie had been gone for at least seventeen hours. It had felt like a week. But what had happened to her in that time? She turned off the tap. As she splashed water over her daughter’s torso, she closely examined every inch of her skin. There was a faint yellow bruise at the top of her left arm. Had that been there previously? ‘Where did he take you?’
Maisie didn’t answer, just kept gripping the sponge Lily had handed her. The green one that was shaped like a turtle that was exactly like the one she had at home.
‘Maisie.’ Lily tried to meet her eye. ‘You have to speak to me.’ Ignoring Lily had often been Maisie’s way of not answering questions or demands she didn’t like, though she’d gradually learnt it never made them go away. ‘What can you remember?’
Her daughter blinked but there was no other indication she’d heard.
Was she traumatised? Lily looked her over again and rubbed her arms to get her circulation going. Had she spent every hour abandoned and locked away in one of the freezing cold rooms above or below? But even though that thought made her furious, particularly as she’d only been wearing her pyjamas and could have caught her death of cold, Lily prayed that was all that had happened. ‘Can you remember anything?’
Maisie shook her head slightly, the water droplets on the dark ends of her fair hair dripping into the bath.
‘OK.’ Lily knew she shouldn’t push. ‘We’re going to get you warmed up, wash your hair, make you smell nice. Then we’ll have some supper. That sound good?’
Maisie looked down at the sponge in her fingers.
Lily knew she had to be outwardly calm, for her daughter’s sake. Should she push her to tell her what had happened, or would that make her withdraw further? ‘Let me get your shampoo.’ She stood to reach it down from the shelf of plastic bottles above them. Same selection as they had in their real bathroom. She squirted some into the palm of her hand and noticed how much it was shaking.
She gently massaged the coconut shampoo into her scalp. This was how she always relaxed Maisie when she was upset. She stopped when there was plenty of lather. ‘Smells delicious. That feel good?’
Maisie’s shoulders remained rigid, her head still.
Lily continued massaging. ‘We’ll dry it and I’ll brush it the way you like.’ She hadn’t opened the drawers in Maisie’s room but didn’t doubt that the dryer would be present. ‘Maybe do some plaits. Would you like that?’
Maisie was still motionless.
‘That will never happen again.’ Lily said the thought out loud.
But the words didn’t cause any reaction.
Lily felt the tears building but fought them back. She told herself she’d have to deal with how she’d allowed Maisie to be taken another time; but her vision blurred, and a droplet ran down her face and into the bath.
Maisie let the turtle go and it glided away from her along the surface of the bath water.
‘Never.’ But Lily had already made her daughter one promise she’d broken. She blinked away the tears. She couldn’t let her see them. ‘You have to talk to me.’
Maisie’s hands remained in her lap and her eyes were fixed on the cold tap.
It was slowly dripping into the bath.
‘Maisie.’ Lily turned it off.
But as she helped her out of the bath and dried her off she still didn’t make eye contact. Lily wrapped her in the big white towel and turned to the door. ‘I’m just going to grab you a fresh pair of pyjamas and your dressing gown. I’ll be two seconds.’
Maisie’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist.
Lily kneeled down. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be back now. I don’t want you to catch a chill in the hallway.’
Maisie shook her head emphatically.
‘OK, OK.’ She tried not to show the relief that her daughter was communicating. She clasped her to her breast and her cheek was warm, the smell of her coconut shampoo in Lily’s nostrils. She hugged her tighter and felt the tears build again. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Maisie remained still, trapped in the folds of the towel.
‘Come on.’ Lily lifted her, grabbed her hoodie and carried her out of the bathroom and across the hallway to her room. She closed the door with her foot and set Maisie down. She quickly got another pair of her pyjamas from the drawer, but she almost didn’t want her to wear them. They were neatly folded and brand new, but he’d touched them. He’d touched everything.
They had no choice. ‘Put these on and then your slippers and dressing gown.’ Lily quickly composed herself while she watched her daughter. She looked exhausted. ‘Do you want to eat now?’ But she could tell from her drooping eyelids that Maisie was about to fall asleep. The bath always did that, but she still worried that she might have been medicated.
Maisie looked at the door and shook her head again.
Did she want to sleep with Lily but was afraid of what had happened happening a second time? ‘I’m going to lie in here with you. It’ll be so cosy.’
Maisie regarded her bed but still seemed reluctant.
‘I’m not going to go to sleep. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Come on, get under the covers.’
Maisie seemed too exhausted to argue and got onto the mattress.
Lily put the duvet over her and slipped in beside her little body. ‘We’ll soon warm up.’
Lily stroked her hair and Maisie was asleep in a matter of seconds. She was relieved to see that whatever her daughter had experienced that day drain from her face.
She decided she would make sure that Maisie was fast asleep first and then quickly grab the carving knife and hammer. If he tried the same she would kill him.
Chapter 33
Lily twitched awake, her fingers gripping Maisie’s hand tight. She hadn’t wanted to fall asleep, but the emotional fallout of the past day had caught up with her. Her face felt freezing. She relaxed her grip on her daughter, but it had woken her too. ‘Sorry, go right back to sleep.’
But Maisie was looking around the room in alarm.
‘It’s OK. You’re safe and I’m not letting go,’ Lily assured her.
Maisie blinked a few times and kept scanning the room. When she’d fetched the knife and hammer Lily had turned the light off so only the globe bedside lamp was on. She’d tried to lodge the chair under the door again, but had to be content just to lean it there, so it fell over if anyone opened it. She glanced at her phone.
03:43
The last time she’d looked it had been 03:34. She hadn’t been asleep long but chided herself for nodding off. At least Maisie had got a few sporadic hours. After what had happened to her Lily had to be alert to every sound. How long could she keep this up though? She had to rest. But was their food drugged anyway? Or maybe he could lace the water supply whenever he needed. She hoped their captor had made his point. Lying here thinking about how easily he’d taken Maisie, she’d decided that she had to make him believe they’d learnt their lesson. Only until a solid opportunity presented i
tself would she even consider breaking the rules again.
He couldn’t really be watching them all the time, could he? Again, she speculated that there could be more than one of them though. That they took it in turns to monitor them. She shivered.
Maisie released her hand and sat up.
‘What is it?’
‘I thought I heard something.’
Lily sat up too but was more relieved that her daughter had spoken her first words since she’d returned.
They both listened for a few tense minutes, but there was no other sound.
Was Maisie just jumpy? ‘I can’t hear anything.’
Maisie shook her head. ‘I’m too awake to go back to sleep.’
‘OK but it’s still very early. How about we go under the duvet to keep warm.’
Maisie eventually nodded. ‘OK.’
Lily lay her head on the pillow and her daughter followed suit. She pulled the duvet over their heads and punched an indentation in the pillow between them so air could get under the edge. ‘Let’s whisper.’ She still wasn’t sure if there were microphones in every room. ‘That way we can keep an ear out.’
Maisie nodded and her head hissed on the pillow.
Lily could just see her daughter’s face in the weak light from the lamp that trickled in the gap above them. ‘Why don’t you tell me a story.’
Maisie blinked a few times in confusion.
‘About a little girl’s adventures.’
‘Me tell YOU a story?’
‘Yes.’ Lily smiled to encourage her. She hoped Maisie talking was a promising sign, but would she set her back again by making her relive the ordeal? ‘Do you want to tell me about your adventures yesterday?’
‘No,’ she refused flatly.
‘OK. How about you just tell me how you got back here then?’
‘He let me in, I think.’
‘Who did?’
‘The scary man,’ Maisie replied, as if it were a stupid question.
‘And where did you come from?’
‘Upstairs.’
‘And what’s upstairs?’