by M A Comley
“I told you to watch her,” he shouted.
“Don’t blame me. I was dealing with Matilda; she had a problem with her laces, I was teaching her how to tie them. When I looked up, Adele had gone. Maybe she went to find you. If you hadn’t left her… she’d still be here.”
He groaned and tugged at his hair. “Is that what it’s come down to? The blame game? You told me you’d keep an eye on her while I was playing football with your son.”
“My son and your daughter, is that what this is all about? I do my best, Martin, you should know that by now. Adele has made all this a struggle. She barely talks.”
Martin held up a warning finger and shook his head. “Don’t even go there. Not now. I have to find her.” He began a desperate search of the area and turned back to Louise. “Don’t just stand there, make yourself useful and ring the damn police. They need to come, tell them it’s urgent.”
He raced to the water’s edge along the small beach area they’d chosen, but couldn’t see anything there. So he bolted in the opposite direction towards the road and checked up and down it to see if Adele had wandered off that way. Again, nothing.
Frantically, he searched behind every visible mound he could see within spitting distance of where he’d left his daughter. Each time he found nothing, his heart sank a little deeper. His eyes misted over with unshed tears. Stay strong. She’s out here somewhere, I just need to find her!
It took twenty minutes of nerve-wracking searching, getting further and further away from where he’d left his daughter to play a damn game of football, before the police eventually showed up. He heard the siren and ran back to where he’d left Louise and her two kids.
One measly patrol car, was that all his daughter was worth to these people? Two uniformed officers were speaking to Louise. She was gripping both her children tightly in front of her. Jealousy surged within him. Why couldn’t she have held Adele close like that? Why didn’t I? His thoughts were all over the place, as well as his emotions. Anger and fear being the most prominent. He was angry with all of them, including himself.
“Here’s Martin now,” Louise said as he got closer to the two officers, one female and the other male, both young, just starting out by the look of things.
I don’t need the likes of them, I need experienced officers on this damn case. I want my daughter back.
“Hello, sir. PCs Carter and Millward at your assistance,” the male officer said, a blank expression settled on his face.
“Is this it? Is this all you’re prepared to do out in this neck of the woods when kids go missing?”
“Initially, yes, sir. It’s our duty to report our findings before other departments get involved.”
His blood seared through his veins. “Are you kidding me? My daughter is fucking out there, missing, and all you’re prepared to do is send two novice police officers to attend.” He turned on the spot and ran a hand through his hair. “What the actual fuck!”
“Martin, you need to calm down and stop swearing at the officers, it’s not helping anyone,” Louise warned.
He faced her, his eyes narrowed as he assessed the way she was clinging on to her own children. Anger bubbling up inside, he shouted, “How dare you stand there and tell me to calm down while gripping your own children that way? How bloody dare you!”
Louise appeared stung by his brutal words. Matilda and Jake clung to their mother and began sobbing.
Great, you bastard, see what you’ve done now. “I’m sorry. I was wrong to say that, Louise.” He faced the officers again. “Please, you need to get a search party out here. She’s here somewhere, I’m going out of my mind knowing that she could be getting further and further away from us while we stand around here doing fuck all.” His irritation mounted as Adele’s scared face entered his mind. He balled his fists to prevent his hands from shaking.
“We need to take a statement from you both first. The quicker we do that, the sooner we can get the search underway.”
Martin glared at the male copper, seething, but wisely refrained from kicking off again. “Here’s my statement: I was over on the other side of the road playing football with Jake. I left my daughter here, sitting right here, with Louise looking after her.” He glanced at his girlfriend and saw the tears slip onto her cheeks. “Jesus, you think crying is going to help us?”
The male officer, Carter, leaned over and whispered something in his partner’s ear. She reacted instantly by walking towards Louise and the kids and steering them away from Martin and the male officer.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to remain calm. Having a pop at people who are trying to help you isn’t going to get you very far.”
“You reckon? Jesus, all I want is my five-year-old daughter back. If she’s out there, lost, she’s going to be petrified out of her mind. I’m not going to apologise for being a concerned father. How would you feel if this was your daughter?”
“I can’t begin to imagine, sir. I have a three-year-old at home and my wife and I never let her out of our sight.”
Martin’s head jutted forward. “Shit! Did you seriously just say that? Fuck, I was keeping someone else’s kid occupied while that someone was supposed to be watching out for my child. She screwed up, not me. Had I not been putting someone else’s child first, then my daughter would still be here, safe and unharmed with me. Am I making myself clear here? I’m not at fault.”
“Does it really matter who is at fault, sir? It’s not helping anyone by blaming others, is it?”
“It’s making me feel a whole lot better, I can tell you.” He rubbed his neck and sighed, frustration coming to the fore. “No… actually, it’s frigging not. My head is in a bloody spin. Please, you have to help us. She’s out there somewhere. Isn’t there a mountain rescue team around here? I thought I read there was.”
“Yes, there is. I need to report back with my findings before we can action getting them involved.”
“What are you waiting for, then? I can’t tell you anything else, it’s Louise you need to speak to; she was supposed to be watching over my daughter.”
“I gathered that much, sir. I’ll have a word with her. Maybe you could watch the kids for her, would that be possible?”
His gaze drifted towards Louise, but she had her back turned to him and rage erupted inside. “No, I can’t do that, not after the way she’s failed me.” An unimaginable pain clutched his chest. “Help me get my child back, please!”
“I’ll get my colleague to watch over the kids. I understand how fragile the situation is, sir.”
“Fragile? That’s one word for it, I suppose. Just get on with it. It’ll be dark soon at this rate.” Martin knew he was talking out of his arse—it was barely eleven o’clock, but his urgency to find his daughter knew no bounds.
Carter walked away and joined Louise, her two children and the female officer. He spoke quietly to the two women. Louise glanced his way and shook her head, her expression crushed. She urged her children to stay with the female officer and took a few paces to the right to speak to Carter. Martin observed the pair of them whilst still trying to survey the surrounding area, just in case Adele came back.
Louise glanced his way periodically during the time she was giving her account of the events. He didn’t have it in him to smile or show any kind of warmth towards the woman he’d fallen in love with over the past few months.
How can I forgive her stupidity? Why should I? Her kids are fine, neither of them has gone missing.
No, it’s my beautiful Adele.
Honey, be safe. Come back if you’ve wandered off, come back to me. I need you. I won’t be able to go on with my life knowing that you’ve gone.
After around ten minutes, Carter returned.
“Well, what did she say?” Martin demanded.
“That her daughter tripped over her shoelaces and had twisted her ankle. She was caring for Matilda, showing her how to tie her laces properly when she happened to glance up, and that’s when she noticed Adele was
missing. She’s not at fault, sir, no one is. These things happen. Adele will be found; kids have a habit of wandering off, to explore the intriguing landscape around them.”
“Bullshit. Just file your report and get the others up here to help. I can’t do this on my own. You need to help me.”
“I’ll do that now. I want to assure you, you’re not alone, sir.”
Martin bit down the sarcastic retort scorching his tongue. He looked over at the road where a crowd had gathered. He was tempted to go over there and shout at them for being insensitive, gawping like that, but thought better of it. Instead, he tugged on Carter’s sleeve while he was requesting backup on his radio.
“Hang on,” he said to the person on control. “What is it, sir, have you seen something?”
“You need to ask them,” he said, pointing at the rubberneckers, “see if any of them saw anything.”
Carter peered over his shoulder. “All in good time, sir. Let me summon more officers and then I’ll ask the crowd.”
“Okay, my bad. Sorry.” He paced the area, agitated by the officer’s reprimand, until he finished talking into the radio. “Now will you go and see what they have to say?”
“In a moment. Just to bring you up to date on how things stand, more officers are on the way and the mountain rescue team has been dispatched. This place will be inundated with the emergency services in no time at all.”
“Excellent, it’s what I would expect if a child went missing,” he snapped, itching to swipe the smug grin off the young officer’s face.
Carter took the hint and set off to speak to the crowd which had grown considerably in the few minutes he’d been on the radio.
Martin spent the next five minutes sizing up each of the onlookers, observing their mannerisms. Most of the women appeared horrified, as did some of the men. There was a lot of head shaking going on, which made him despondent.
It was another thirty minutes before additional officers showed up. Two patrol cars and an unmarked car arrived, followed by a Land Rover with several people on board. Organised chaos ensued for the next few minutes until a plan had been formed by the rescue team. Carter apprised the newcomers of the situation. The head of the rescue team approached Martin. “We’re going to do our very best to find your daughter, sir. Can I ask if you have anything belonging to your daughter to hand? It’s so our dogs can follow her scent.”
“No, oh God, I don’t think I have anything with me. Louise,” he called out, “Can you think of anything Adele touched so they can pick up her scent?”
Louise thought it over for a second but shook her head. “Only back at the cottage.”
“Great, that’s at least thirty minutes away from here.”
The volunteer rescuer smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll do the best we can. If we struggle to find her, I might have to ask you to return to the cottage and fetch something for us, if that’s okay?”
“Yes, just say the word. Please, do your best. She’s only five, she’ll be scared shitless out there on her own.”
“Does she have any medical problems we should know about?”
“No, I don’t think so. No, I’m certain she doesn’t. Shit! Should I ring her mother to find out? We’re separated. Damn, if I tell her she’s missing, she’s going to come down on me like a bloody ton of bricks. I can’t ring her yet, not now. I’m going to leave it a while, just in case we find her. Sorry, I’m rambling.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry. We’ll set off now. Hopefully, we’ll have good news for you soon.”
As he walked away, a young woman wearing a navy-blue suit approached him with a man of similar age by her side. She produced a warrant card.
“Hello, Mr Jenkins, I’m DI Samantha Cobbs and this is my partner DS Bob Jones. I’m sorry to hear about your daughter. Would you mind going over what happened?”
Martin groaned. “Do I have to keep repeating myself? Can’t you get all the facts from Carter? All I want to do is find my daughter and all you lot seem intent on doing is wasting frigging time.”
“I understand your frustration, sir, if you’ll bear with us for a few minutes more. Can you tell me how long your daughter has been missing now?”
“No, I can’t. Because I haven’t been clock-watching. Jesus, take my word for it, will you? She’s missing. She’s five years old, do you realise what that means? She’s out there, all alone. Probably panicking, terrified that she won’t be found. God help me, do something, please.”
“We will, Mr Jenkins. We have people scouring the area, you know that. It’s our job to search for the reasons why your child might have walked off.”
He frowned and asked, “What are you insinuating? I have to say, I don’t like the tone of voice you’re using.”
“I didn’t mean it to come across badly. What I’m asking is if you perhaps shouted at her. Could she have gone off in a huff, you know, like kids do?”
He tutted. “I repeat, she’s five. As far as I know, kids that age don’t tend to wander off in unknown territory.”
“I appreciate that. So what do you suggest has happened to her, then?”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Bloody hell, if I knew that do you really think I’d be standing around here talking to you idiots?”
“Name-calling isn’t going to help, sir. We’re doing our best with the limited facts you’ve given us so far.”
Inhaling and exhaling to calm his shattered nerves, Martin said, “Then it’s not me you should be speaking to, it’s Louise; she was in charge of my daughter at the time she went missing.”
“And who is Louise to you, your wife?”
“Hardly. No, my girlfriend. Who knows how long that is going to last, unless you find my daughter?”
“I see. Has the relationship been fraught for a while, then?” Cobbs asked while Jones jotted down the details in his little black book.
“No. This was a family holiday. Adele’s mother and I are separated, she lives with her. I’ve spent the past eight months battling the court system, trying to get access to my daughter and now… well, this has fucking happened. Deborah is going to crucify me.” He covered his face with his hands and forced back the tears threatening to emerge.
“I’m sorry, that must have been a stressful time for you.”
He dropped his hands and nodded. “It was. This holiday was about getting to know my daughter all over again and now… she’s gone. Please, you have to find her. To bring her back to me. I’m distraught. I know I’m coming across as a hard bastard, but it’s only because I care. She means the world to me, please help me find her.”
“We’re going to do what we can to help you. Have you informed her mother?”
“No, I don’t want to do that, not yet. Can’t we leave it for another couple of hours? What harm will it do? Maybe we’ll find her in that time.”
“Keeping another parent in the dark isn’t something I would recommend, sir. It’s your call, for now. If it were down to me, I would inform the mother right away. If the boot was on the other foot, you would want to know, wouldn’t you?”
He stared at the pebbles beneath his feet and dragged his foot over a larger one. “I suppose you’re right. She’s going to be furious. Even if Adele comes back to us, I doubt whether Debs will ever let me see her again after this debacle.”
“You might be doing your ex-partner an injustice there. Either way, she has a right to know. Why don’t I ring her now?”
Defeated, Martin reached for his mobile that he kept in his rear pocket. He scrolled through his contacts and handed his phone to the sergeant. After jotting the number down, the sergeant thanked him.
DI Cobbs punched the number into her phone and placed the call. Martin listened to her side of the conversation, knowing damn well how Debs was going to react on the other end. Suddenly, the inspector passed her phone over to Martin. “She wants to speak with you.”
He closed his eyes for a split second and gulped, then took the phone from the inspector. “Hello
, Deborah.”
“Martin, what the fuck is going on? Where the hell is my daughter?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you that. Our daughter is missing, and I don’t have a clue either what likely happened to her or where she might be.”
Deborah screamed and then began to sob. His hard heart softened a touch.
“How is that possible when she was in your care?” she finally demanded through her tears.
“I was playing football with Jake and took my eye off her for a second and when I looked back, she was gone.” The inspector tilted her head at the lie. He shrugged and covered the phone. “I can’t tell her the truth.”
“You should. She deserves to know the truth,” the inspector whispered back.
He shook his head and kept up the pretence. “She must have wandered off, Debs. We have the emergency services here, the rescue team has just set off. I didn’t want to pester you with this; it was the inspector’s decision to get you involved, not mine.”
“What? You’re telling me that if the inspector hadn’t forced your hand, I would be none the wiser about our child’s disappearance? Is that what it’s come to? You really hate me that much, Martin? I know the court has made your life hell recently, but that wasn’t down to me. It was the system’s fault you haven’t had any contact with Adele, not mine.”
“I don’t believe you. If you’d only had the decency to back off, none of this would have happened. My daughter no longer knows me, she’s been like a stranger around us since I bloody picked her up.”
“What the fuck?” Debs sucked in a sharp intake of breath and then let rip. “How can you tell me that and then inform me you left her to her own devices while you took care of another woman’s child, placing their needs before your own flesh and blood? You selfish fucking bastard.”
Martin held the phone away from his ear. Hearing the truth drove another stake through his heart. “This is why I didn’t want to tell her,” he sneered at the inspector.
The inspector shrugged. “The child’s legal guardian has a right to know, you should know that.”