While You Slept

by R. J. Parker

  The feet moved from right to left. Lily moved with them. This was too much of a coincidence. It had to be the man they’d just seen from the window.

  Maisie was close behind her. ‘They’re going that way,’ she hissed.

  Was there a corridor adjacent to the kitchen? Lily shuffled a few paces forward. But how could she react when their every move was being monitored?

  Maisie thumped her little fist on the solid kitchen wall.

  Lily took hold of it and shook her head. Not because she didn’t want to signal to whoever was there but because she doubted they’d have heard it from the other side. And because she had to be seen to prevent Maisie from giving them away.

  ‘He’s walking away from us! Help!’ Maisie wrestled herself from Lily’s grip and ran out into the hallway.

  ‘Maisie, come back here,’ she whispered sharply. But she let her go, gave her a head start.

  Maisie trotted down the hallway.

  Lily waited a few seconds in the blind spot below the kitchen and hallway cameras before jogging to catch up with her.

  Maisie beat the wall with both hands. ‘Hello! Hello! We’re in here! Help us, please!’

  Lily reached her and put her hand over her mouth.

  Maisie wriggled and yelled hard into her palm.

  Lily could feel the heat of her breath and the intensity vibrating through her fingers. She hated doing it for the camera but hoped that Maisie had shouted hard enough for the trespasser to hear.

  Maisie dug her nails into the back of Lily’s hand and screamed hard so he could.

  Lily ignored the pain and held her daughter tight.

  ‘Hello?’ A man’s voice.

  They both went rigid.

  ‘Hello, who is that?’ He had an Irish accent.

  Lily barely resisted the reflex to respond. Maisie still struggled, so she briefly let her fingers slip from her mouth.

  ‘In here. Help!’

  Lily covered her daughter’s lips again. ‘Ssshhh.’

  ‘I saw you in the window.’ There was fear in his voice. ‘Are you OK?’

  Lily made sure Maisie couldn’t answer. She wouldn’t either. If neither of them did now then it would be clear to him that something was wrong.

  ‘Just knock on the wall if you need help.’

  Lily held Maisie fast. It was what their captors would want her to do. But their silence also telegraphed the fact that he’d found something he shouldn’t.

  ‘Can you hear me?’

  Lily shook her head at Maisie.

  The man’s footsteps went back and forth on the other side of the wall.

  ‘I can’t find a way in here. I’m going to try the other side.’

  The footsteps went left and then another door slammed.

  Rustling at the front door.

  Maisie looked longingly towards it, but Lily shook her head.

  ‘I can’t get in here.’

  Lily wondered how long it would take one of their captors to come down the stairs from where they were watching the situation. Should she warn the man? But if she did and he didn’t escape what punishment would be meted out?

  ‘Please, say something if you’re in trouble. I know there’s a child in there.’

  Lily clamped her fingers tighter on Maisie’s mouth and felt the breath coming hard down her nostrils. She’d said enough. Too much for their captors? Would it be better to take her chances on the stranger outside now or would that just endanger them both?

  ‘There’s no lock. Is there another way in?’

  Lily remained motionless.

  ‘Please, answer!’

  Chapter 45

  Maisie squirmed in Lily’s grip, but she frantically shook her head at her daughter.

  ‘I know someone’s in there. I’m going to see if I can get in the other side. OK?’

  Maisie screamed into Lily’s hand.

  Lily stifled her for the camera.

  ‘I heard that!’

  The footsteps trotted past the front door, and Lily turned her head to the open door of the bathroom.

  A few moments later they heard knocking on the wall in there.

  ‘If you don’t let me in, I’m calling the police!’

  Slam!

  Lily knew it came from the direction of the door they’d heard earlier. Somebody else had just walked through it. Was the bearded man aware of their approach? He was the other side of their prison now.

  Lily turned back to Maisie and met her eye. She’d heard it as well and her body had stiffened. ‘Not a sound.’

  But Maisie couldn’t comprehend why she wasn’t being allowed to reply to their rescuer and regarded her with bewilderment.

  More banging on the bathroom wall.

  Footsteps quickly followed the path of the trespasser, and Lily heard them pass the front door.

  Maisie’s eyes opened wider as she realised who it probably was.

  The trespasser had been alone. One of their captors was about to intercept him. Should they shout a warning?

  ‘OK. Police it is.’

  Lily made a split-second decision. ‘Get out of here! Leave us alone!’

  The knocking stopped.

  Lily couldn’t hear the second set of footsteps either.

  ‘I saw a child! What are you doing in there?’

  ‘Believe me, you must leave. Now!’

  ‘No, tell me what the hell is going on in there! Why isn’t there a door?’

  ‘We’re fine in here. Go now, quickly!’

  ‘I can’t do that. Not until I know the child is safe.’

  How could she warn him, and would that be as punishable as trying to escape? If he couldn’t find a way in, there was little chance of him rescuing them. She had to persuade him to leave. Maybe then he would call the police.

  ‘I’m not getting any reception on my phone.’

  Of course not. She wondered what the radius of whatever was jamming her phone was. ‘Please!’ There was hysteria in her voice. ‘Get away from here!’

  No response.

  Lily briefly relaxed her grip on Maisie.

  ‘Come back!’ Maisie tried to get to her feet.

  Lily dragged her down and covered her mouth again.

  Silence.

  Maisie tried to shout something else, but Lily held her fingers tightly over her wet lips. She could feel the circulation pounding in her daughter’s body.

  Footsteps, not as loud as the trespasser’s, moved slowly then sped up as they crossed the area behind the bathroom wall. A few moments later they stopped.

  Lily knew what the sound meant but she waited, muscles tensed, as she held onto Maisie. Her daughter’s breaths squealed in and out of her nose. A few minutes later the trespasser still hadn’t spoken. Lily released Maisie’s mouth.

  She took in a few breaths and regarded Lily as if she were demented. ‘Hello!’ She stood and entered the bathroom.

  Lily held her breath. Wanted to hear his voice again.

  Maisie went right up to the wall. ‘Hello! I’m in here!’

  ‘Maisie.’ Lily didn’t want to remonstrate with her again. Not when her daughter was about to find out they weren’t about to be saved. What had happened to the bearded man? Had he just been dragged away?

  ‘Come back!’

  ‘He’s not going to reply.’

  Maisie turned on her, as if it were her fault. ‘Where has he gone? Why didn’t you tell him about the scary man?’

  ‘He couldn’t get to us.’ How could she tell her that their saviour had probably been knocked out or worse? ‘I think … the scary man has taken him away.’

  Maisie shook her head as the realization of that soaked in.

  ‘That’s why we’ve been told not to bring attention to ourselves. They see everything. They would have known he was coming here.’

  ‘Where have they taken him?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Will they harm him?’

  Lily shrugged and saw the horror setting on her daughte
r’s face. She got to her feet and joined her in the bathroom. ‘We weren’t allowed to help him. That’s why I tried to send him away. We’ve done nothing wrong.’ But Lily wasn’t convinced of that.

  ‘Hello!’ There was desperation in Maisie’s cry.

  Still nothing.

  Lily gave Maisie a hug from behind but she remained rooted to the spot.

  They both waited, but there were no further sounds from the other side of the wall.

  Chapter 46

  An hour later Maisie was sitting quietly at the kitchen table still refusing any food or drink.

  ‘Come on. You’ve got to eat something.’

  ‘I’m going back to the bathroom.’ She started to get up from her chair.

  ‘Stay put. I’ve told you. You won’t hear anything else.’

  Maisie remained on her feet. ‘Please, just let me wait there.’

  Lily shook her head.

  ‘Just a bit longer.’ She tried to negotiate.

  ‘We waited there long enough. I want you to stay where I can see you.’

  ‘I promise I won’t get us into trouble again.’

  ‘And what would you do if you heard him again?’ But that was the wrong thing to say. ‘Or what would happen if you saw somebody else from the window?’

  Maisie sat down and fixed her eyes on the duplicate salt and pepper set.

  Lily didn’t want her to feel any worse than she did, but now was the time to hit home the message. ‘You must never react in the way you did. Always come to me.’

  Maisie chewed her lip.

  Lily didn’t want her to withdraw into guilt. ‘We just have to hope that the man is OK.’

  ‘If he was, he would have answered us,’ Maisie said dejectedly.

  ‘We don’t know what happened. Perhaps he went outside because his phone wasn’t working.’

  But neither of them believed that.

  On cue, Lily’s phone buzzed in her back pocket. She answered quickly.

  ‘Did you have any other requirements?’ he asked officiously.

  Was he really not going to talk about what had just happened? ‘Yes. I want some LiClean.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘For head lice. Maisie had a bout of it recently and I hadn’t finished the treatment.’

  ‘LiClean …’

  It sounded like he was writing it down. ‘And some Sevrol eye drops. For her allergies. She needs them but they’re prescription.’

  ‘Good. Anything else?’

  ‘What happened to him?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Please don’t. I did everything I could to keep him away from us.’

  ‘Well … you appeared to.’

  Lily didn’t like the suspicion in his tone. ‘You did tell us that we could open the blind.’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘As soon as I realised what was happening, I tried to close it.’

  ‘Yes. I saw that. I saw everything.’

  ‘What is he saying about the man?’

  Lily realised Maisie was listening intently to the conversation. She silently shushed her. ‘I’ve talked to Maisie about this. It won’t happen again.’ She kept eye contact with her daughter.

  ‘You said that last time.’

  Lily gestured into her bedroom, but Maisie wouldn’t leave. She covered the mouthpiece. ‘Go to your room.’

  Maisie scraped her chair out and reluctantly obeyed.

  Lily waited for her to walk slowly to her bedroom and knew she was taking her time so she could eavesdrop. She turned her back and moved to the sink. ‘Please tell me he’s OK.’

  ‘He’s OK.’

  Lily sighed. ‘Where is he now?’

  ‘He won’t be coming back to the site.’

  Lily felt a spike of anger. ‘And what does that mean?’

  ‘Exactly that. Maisie shouldn’t look for him now.’

  ‘She’s in the other room. You can tell me.’

  ‘I know she’s in the other room. But she’s standing at the door listening to one side of this conversation.’

  Lily didn’t turn. Didn’t doubt he was watching them both. ‘I just need an assurance that there won’t be another punishment,’ she whispered.

  ‘Why would there be a punishment? D’you think you’ve done something wrong?’

  ‘No,’ she retorted abruptly.

  ‘And what about Maisie?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But you said she won’t do it again. That implies she has done something wrong.’

  ‘Don’t take her. If you think we’ve done something wrong, punish me.’

  ‘You were the last time. But don’t worry. Punishment has already been handed out.’

  ‘What do you mean? To the man who came here? The one I tried to send away?’

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed ‘… you’ve made it clear that that’s what you tried to do.’

  ‘I just need to know he’s OK.’

  ‘You asked me to tell you he’s OK and I did. If you really want to know what happened to him though … I slit his throat and buried him in the rubble.’

  Chapter 47

  Lily felt as if the room were folding in, his words slipping coldly through her.

  ‘I was left with no choice,’ he declared impassively.

  She was breathless, as if her chest were being crushed. ‘If you’re trying to scare me …’

  ‘I know. You’re scared enough already.’

  ‘Then tell me you’re lying.’

  ‘I’m lying. Again, I can tell you anything you want me to.’

  Was that a bluff? Another psychological strategy to keep her in line? ‘We didn’t hear a struggle.’

  ‘No. He didn’t.’

  But there had been no sound of the trespasser leaving. No two sets of footsteps as he was escorted out.

  ‘It’s not my fault. You brought him here.’

  ‘We didn’t. I tried to hide us.’

  ‘So that’s something you have to live with now.’

  ‘No … don’t do that.’

  ‘If taking Maisie away from you didn’t persuade you sufficiently that you have to toe the line then maybe this has.’

  ‘I don’t need any more persuasion!’ Lily erupted.

  ‘That’s good to hear.’ His voice remained level. ‘Because I really can’t have any outsiders interfering with what we’re doing here. Careful …’ he added, ‘Maisie’s coming back.’

  Lily turned and found her daughter at the kitchen doorway. ‘Go back to the bedroom.’

  ‘Why are you shouting at him?’

  ‘Just do as you’re told.’

  But Maisie had picked up on Lily’s expression and her own registered anxiety before she turned on her heel.

  Lily waited for her to walk back into her bedroom. ‘And what exactly are we doing here?’

  ‘I’ve already given you more information than is necessary.’

  ‘If you did what you say you did … to that man …’

  ‘“If?”’

  ‘If you did what you say you did … why wouldn’t I think you’d do it to us?’

  ‘There is no reason for you not to think that.’

  Lily’s mouth was dry. Should she be pushing him like this? ‘If that’s what’s going to happen, why don’t we spend every minute trying to escape?’

  He exhaled, as if he were already bored with the conversation. ‘Because you know what I’ll have to do. If you behave, there’s always a possibility the two of you will come through this.’

  Lily closed her eyes. ‘I need to know Maisie will be all right.’

  ‘I’ve told you how many days you have.’

  Lily didn’t like his evasion. ‘But not why. And what about afterwards?’

  ‘That’s a long way away. Concentrate on you and Maisie getting there first.’

  ‘I’ll do as you say but I need some—’

  ‘Will you though?’ he interjected. ‘I’m not seeing much evidence of that so far.’

  ‘We’ll do as
you say. I promise. But I need some assurances.’

  ‘So you keep saying. They were a luxury that was never offered in the past.’

  ‘You mentioned that before. Talk to me about that.’

  There was a pause, as if he were considering it. ‘So you want assurances and a story? Choose one.’

  ‘Please … just tell me.’

  ‘One or the other,’ he enunciated.

  ‘Are you going to kill us?’

  ‘You want me to say no?’

  She was going to reply ‘yes’. But she turned to the camera and nodded.

  ‘No.’

  Lily kept her gaze on the lens and tried not to let her hatred burn through it. ‘Put her on.’

  ‘She’s not here.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. Is she a mother too?’

  Silence.

  ‘She probably isn’t. If she was, she could never be part of this.’ She went to the wall and tugged down the mood board. ‘This is what my daughter thinks she looks like.’ She showed it to the lens, pointed at the image of cupid. ‘But you already know that. Maisie used this picture because she needs to believe it. I need to believe. Give me something.’

  ‘You get nothing.’ It was a woman …

  Lily’s vague hope shrivelled. The emotionless voice was hoarse; the three words grated into her ear. ‘Please, let me talk.’

  ‘You can talk all you like. I’m hanging up.’

  ‘Don’t! Please!’ Was that her natural voice? Sounded like it was only hanging on by a thread.

  ‘You don’t give the orders, bitch,’ she rasped then ended the call.

  Lily noticed Maisie standing back in the doorway.

  ‘What did the scary man say?’

  Lily looked down at the mood board and the image of the angel with hearts around it.

  Chapter 48

  Lily tucked Maisie into her double bed and realised she hadn’t made her wash or brush her teeth. She’d been on autopilot since she’d taken the phone call. All Lily could think of was the man who had been killed trying to help them. That was if their captor was to be believed.

  ‘Maybe he might come back tonight,’ Maisie said after Lily had kissed her forehead.

  ‘Maybe.’ She hadn’t even intimated what she’d been told on the phone. Nor would she. It could have been a lie. That was still a scant possibility to cling to.