by Aj Estelliam
I sighed. ‘Okay…so now you’re all thinking I’m nuts! Hey, I probably am…but hear me out. I believe a woman is in trouble near here. I can hear her,’ I said, trembling as the words came out.
‘You can hear a woman in trouble?’ Detective Love asked me, leaning towards me slightly.
I swallowed hard. Her proximity to me was unnerving. ‘Yes. She’s buried under ground and she thinks she’s going to die. I can hear her praying right now,’ I said, as tears came to my eyes. I couldn’t help it. The woman was terrified.
They all frowned at me.
‘Please, whether you believe me or not-just humour me. Surely, it’s your duty as police officers to follow up reports of a person in trouble or difficulty? If you don’t, I shall be reporting you to…well, whoever you report police people to,’ I murmured brokenly.
‘There’s no need for all that,’ Captain Withers grumbled. ‘Of course, we’ll look into it…’
‘Not look into it,’ I said urgently. ‘We need to go and find her now.’
‘Now? Have you seen the weather?’
‘Yes, I have…I strongly believe that she will die if we don’t get to her tonight.’
He stared at me open-mouthed.
‘Where do you think she is?’ Detective Love asked, cutting in to the conversation.
‘I feel like it’s out in those woods somewhere. She’s in some kind of man-made cave under the ground. It’s just mud down there and she’s very, very cold.’
The police woman nodded slowly, considering this. She glanced over at her captain and he met her gaze. ‘What do you think?’ she asked him.
He looked torn. ‘I suppose we’re off into the woods,’ he said moodily.
‘You’ll need shovels,’ I told them. ‘Do you have any?’
‘We carry one in our boots, Miss Hope,’ Detective Love informed me.
‘Oh good. I’ll get my shoes and coat on,’ I told them, rising from my seat.
As I got dressed for our trip into the woods, the police officers were quiet in voice but not in thought. The two men thought this was a wild goose chase and that I was a certifiable nut case whereas the woman-Detective Love was simply intrigued by me. I decided to put that into the back of my mind while we helped the woman in the woods.
‘I’ll take some clothes for her,’ I said, hurrying around. ‘And she’ll need water and sustenance. I’ll get that too.’
‘I’ll grab a backpack from my car,’ Detective Love told me. ‘You can put it all in there together.’
‘Oh, thank you!’ I said, smiling at her in thanks.
She gave me a strange look and something flashed through her mind.
I gasped and felt myself flush at the sudden, sexual based thought she had experienced.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘I don’t think that’s appropriate in these circumstances.’
‘What?’ she frowned. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about!’
‘It’s not what you said or didn’t say,’ I said, walking towards the door. ‘It’s what you were thinking!’ I exclaimed.
She gave me a look of shock and then followed behind me, looking suitably told off. We got to her car and I filled the backpack with essentials. Then, we locked the cabin before heading out into the woods.
The walk was arduous. Walking in the snow was surprisingly hard and took a great deal of effort.
‘Just how are you planning on finding her then?’ Captain Withers asked, falling into step beside me.
‘I figure I’ll just follow her voice and hope she becomes clearer as we get closer.’
‘You’re not leading on a wild goose chase, are you?’ he questioned, frowning down at me with a sour expression.
‘Of course not. I work for the police where I come from anyway-I respect you all and what you do-I would never do this unless I thought it was absolutely necessary.’
He grunted and carried on walking.
‘So, you’ve been experiencing these ‘thoughts’ for how long?’ Detective Love asked, walking on my other side.
‘Only for just over a week…’
‘You said you were in an accident?’
‘Yes. I was in a car accident and put into a coma.’
‘And when you came out of it, you could hear other people’s thoughts?’ she questioned.
‘That’s right, yes.’
‘And didn’t you think that was a little odd?’
‘Of course, it’s odd!’ I exclaimed. ‘It’s downright bizarre but I’m not lying and I’ll prove that I’m not.’
‘Unless you’re in on it. Maybe you put the woman in the hole,’ she said, eyeing me carefully.
I stopped in my tracks. ‘Are you kidding me? You suspect me?’ I exclaimed.
‘Maybe,’ she shrugged.
‘Detective Love; when we find this girl and save her life, she will tell you of her ordeal spent underground. She will talk you through numerous rapes and torture that she has experienced at the hand of an older male-not a thirty-one-year-old police researcher from London. Now excuse me, I have a woman to find.’
‘Don’t we all,’ she joked.
I ignored her and marched ahead.
‘So, you’re psychic as well then? You seem to know what she’ll tell us in advance.’
‘It’s not a science,’ I said, whirling to face her. ‘I don’t know what it is! I just know what I know and right now I am trying to help-believe it or not.’
‘I hope so; because I don’t care to be dragged out into the woods in this weather for no good reason.’
‘There is a damn good reason and she’s waiting for you just up by those trees,’ I told her, suddenly sure I knew where to look.
‘She is, huh?’ Detective Love murmured.
‘Well they, actually…’
‘They?’ she frowned, stopping once more.
‘Yeah…but I’m not sure if the other woman is still alive. I can’t hear her anymore,’ I said, sadly.
‘Hang on, you never mentioned two women…you keep changing it.’
‘We’re searching for a woman called Janey Mills-that much I know. The other voice faded away a while ago.’
I watched as the detectives exchanged glances with each other.
‘What?’ I frowned.
‘What did you say?’ Captain Withers asked.
‘I don’t know…what did I say?’
‘You said a name.’
‘Yes. I can hear her talking to herself. She keeps saying- ‘Janey Mills-you will survive this. You’re not going to die!’
‘Janey Mills lives in our village. She isn’t missing!’
I looked at him. ‘Yes, she is.’
I watched as he pulled out his phone and rang the station. He was checking for any missing persons since the morning. When his face went ashen, I knew I had just proved myself to be telling the truth.
‘Okay,’ he said when he hung up. ‘Janey is indeed missing…let’s get this moving. She can’t die out here.’
I nodded and began walking. ‘That’s what I kept telling you.’
Chapter 6
We arrived at the edge of the woods and then started heading in. I felt a deep sense of unease as we navigated our way through the untouched snow. I knew we were close as her voice was becoming louder…clearer. I could picture her surroundings, I just needed to get a little closer.
‘How far?’ Captain Withers asked, panting with exertion as we paused.
‘Not far now,’ I told him, hands on hips and breathing heavily. I wasn’t used to strenuous exercise and this excursion was taking it out of me. Still, this wasn’t about me, I thought-this was about saving Janey. ‘Come on…she’s close.’
I took the lead and walked deeper into the forest. I felt afraid and as if danger was around me and yet I kept going; determined to save this woman.
We reached a clearing and I realised I recognised it. I looked around rapidly, in an agitated fashion and then when I saw what I was looking for, ran towards it.
My run was more of a clumsy plod as l loped through the snow awkwardly. It was the tree I recognised, as it was marked with an ‘A.’ I didn’t know what it meant but Janey had seen it and fastened the image in her mind in the hope she would escape at some point.
‘It’s here,’ I told her, as they joined me from behind. ‘Somewhere down here there’s a hole and she’s down there.’
‘Where though, Miss Hope? We can’t just dig everywhere-have you any idea how hard that would be?’ Captain Withers asked, his voice slightly panicked now.
I looked up at him as I heard the alarm in his voice and his thoughts. She was one of his best friend’s daughters. He felt like he had to save her. ‘Don’t worry, Captain…we’ll find the right spot,’ I assured him. I then lay down on the cold, snowy ground and listened.
‘What is she doing?’ I heard Billy Chapman asked.
‘Just be quiet, boy,’ the Captain grumbled.
I couldn’t hear her so I shifted around a little. I kept doing this until I felt like I was right above the place where she had been imprisoned. I lay there a little longer, waiting for her voice. A few moments later, it came.
‘Noise! Oh my goodness, what if he’s coming again? What if he does to me what he did to that poor girl?’ she asked herself in her head.
I rose to my feet, soaked to the skin by that point. ‘There,’ I pointed, to the ground where I had just lain. ‘Dig there.’
They exchanged glances but then did as I asked. Shovels didn’t take more than a few minutes to hit the metal entrance to the man-made cave. The captain looked up in stunned disbelief. ‘We’ve hit something.’
‘Of course you have!’ I exclaimed in frustration! ‘It’s the entrance! Clear it!’
The three police officers worked together to clear the snow away from the entrance of the cave. I watched on in silence, hearing their fear and their confusion as to this strange situation. As for me, I hugged my cold body tightly, fighting the urge to run away from this. My eyes strayed to the woods beyond and I wondered where he was…the awful man who had done these horrible things. I knew he wasn’t nearby, that much was clear to me. The terror he had inflicted was immense though. I would not be ever wanting to meet him.
‘I’ve found it,’ the captain said, his hand on the handle.
‘Call down,’ I instructed. ‘She can hear noise and she thinks it’s him coming again… call down…maybe use your voice, Detective Love-it would be better that she hears a female voice.’
‘Okay,’ they nodded and worked at the handle.
‘Help is here! Help is here!’ Detective Love called as the handle gave way and the entrance was pulled open. Suddenly, a hole appeared in the ground and an underground chamber was revealed.
‘We’re here to save you!’ Detective called as the hole materialised.
‘Help!’ came the strangled cry of Janey below. ‘Help!’
I watched in an emotion close to horror as the scene unfolded. Janey was brought to the surface by the three of them, eased from her underground prison into freedom. She was naked and bleeding; from places I didn’t want to analyse. He had hurt her in terrible ways and tears sprang to my eyes as she wept in the Detective’s arms.
I hurried over with the backpack, pulling out the water and lifting it to her lips. She drank it gratefully and then I helped cover her dignity by pulling on sweatshirt bottoms and a jumper. While the Captain was calling for back-up to come and help, I sat with her in my arms, talking to her softly.
‘You’re going to be okay, Janey. Stop worrying now, everything is going to be okay,’ I said, stroking her hear and pushing away her tears.
‘I’m so scared…’
‘I know but you don’t need to worry now…you’re safe and you’ll go on to have a long, happy life. You’ll marry Trevor and have three wonderful children-all girls! You’re destined for happiness, Janey-mark my words.’
She stared at me in wonder. ‘How do you know all that?’ she uttered, her voice raspy but clear.
I smiled at her kindly. ‘I just know things…’
‘He won’t want me after this,’ she said, weeping.
‘He does and he will. He’ll be at the hospital tonight…he’ll propose and you’ll say yes. Believe it, Janey-you have a future…a hole in the ground was not it.’
She swallowed hard. I watched her gulp. ‘Can you get me away from here?’ she asked, shivering.
‘As soon as we can,’ I assured her. ‘But first-please tell me, Janey-I thought I heard another voice down there. Was there another woman in there with you?’
She looked down sadly. ‘Yes,’ she murmured quietly. ‘But I don’t think she made it…we were kept together for a few hours but then he took her somewhere else…I heard her screams, then nothing. I think she’s dead.’
I nodded, thinking the same. I couldn’t ‘hear her’ or feel her. I looked up at the police. ‘I think she’s probably down there somewhere but she’s no longer alive.’
‘I’ll go down and check,’ Detective Love offered.
I looked up at the brave woman as she squared her shoulders. She didn’t really want to and fear was making her breathing unsteady. Nonetheless, this woman wanted to prove herself and she wanted to help. She would do her duty, no matter what the personal cost to her was.
‘Okay…go careful,’ Captain Withers said as she lowered herself down into the chamber.
I stayed with Janey as we waited for help but I could hear Detective Love throughout the whole experience. Her fear was palpable. I could sense the moment she found the woman’s body as panic seized her. The woman had been raped and beaten to such an extent that her face has been obliterated. The detective had to fight the urge to vomit as she made her way back away from the woman.
At the entrance to the hole, she called up. ‘I’ve found her…she is deceased.’
We all fell silent and I, for one, said a prayer for the woman below who had lost her life in such awful circumstances.
The two men helped Detective Love to climb out of the chamber and that was when help arrived. Police and ambulances arrived on mass and suddenly a hive of activity ensued. I was moved to one side and wrapped in a large blanket. I sat in the back of an ambulance, waiting. I didn’t know what would happen next but I knew I would have to be part of it. I had just uncovered the scene of a murder and a kidnapping of another victim. There would be a lot of work following this night, I knew.
When I was finally approached, it was by Detective Love.
‘Hey,’ she smiled.
I looked up in surprise. She looked completely different when she smiled. ‘Oh, hey.’
‘I’ve been assigned to you,’ she told me.
‘What? What does that mean?’ I questioned.
‘It means I’m basically in charge of taking care of you for the foreseeable future. Your life is in danger now and it is deemed that I would be a suitable detective to keep you company in this situation.’
‘But you don’t think so,’ I said, almost smiling. She didn’t want this assignment and thought she could be way more useful out in the field doing ‘real detective work.’
‘It’s not my first choice, but hey…I follow orders.’
‘Yeah…you sure do,’ I commented.
‘So, sadly your holiday cabin is no more…it’s just not safe for you to stay there. We’ll collect your things and I’ll take you to a safe location. We’ll stay there while they search for the man who did this.’
‘Surely I need to be involved in that.’
She nodded. ‘You will be-but from a safe location.’
‘And with you?’ I frowned.
She shrugged. ‘We’ve been lumped with each other…they’ll be more police officers stationed at the safe house. You just get me for company inside. I’m not to leave your side…’
I frowned at that. ‘That’s not going to work for me.’
She crossed her arms and frowned back at me. ‘Oh yeah? Why is that?’
‘Because I’m having re
al trouble with my newly acquired skill and I really don’t think I want to spend close proximity with you and hear all your inner most musings on every god damn thing you think about.’
She chuckled. ‘It must be fricking awful,’ she commented. ‘If you can really do what you claim to; I’d go insane. No wonder you came to the middle of nowhere.’
‘Yeah! But I ended up in the middle of a murder investigation.’
‘Those are the breaks,’ she shrugged. ‘So-you coming?’
‘Where?’
‘To the safe house! They’ve brought me a car,’ she said, indicating the four by four vehicle parked nearby.
‘Oh right…okay. Can I collect my stuff?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, let’s get moving. I’m knackered…and dark is coming. I want to get to the safe house by night fall.’
‘Is it far?’ I asked, falling into step beside her.
‘I best not disclose that.’
‘Oh, only about twenty minutes?’ I said, hearing her thoughts.
She whirled towards me. ‘Get out of my head!’
‘I’d love to-just stop thinking, okay?’
‘Yeah! Easier said than done!’
We trudged wearily to the car.
Detective Love drove me to the cabin where we quickly loaded all my belongings in the back of the car. We even took all the food as supplies-she warned me that we would probably not be back in the space of that week I was meant to stay there.
On the drive over to the safe house, I tried to remain quiet but ten minutes in, I couldn’t help myself.
‘Please stop it,’ I told her.
‘What?’ she asked in a bewildered tone.
‘Every time you picture her, I get the image too. It’s very disturbing.’
Detective Love said nothing for a moment.
‘You do,’ I said, quietly a moment later.
‘What does that mean?’ she asked.