by M A Comley
He frowned. “Really? Why would you dismiss the other theory so easily?”
“I haven’t. I’ve already stated we questioned the witnesses who were in the area at the time and drew a blank. We’ll keep both options open, if you’d prefer it that way.”
“Yes, we would. What about a media splash, aren’t you going to bother with one of those?”
“I was in the process of doing just that when Deborah arrived. I witnessed the fracas between the three of you and jumped out of the car to intervene.”
“And? How did you get on?”
“These things take time to arrange, Martin. I can’t flick my fingers and summon the relative parties to be here, just like that.”
“Unfortunately, I fear time is a commodity we are running out of, don’t you?”
Cobbs nodded. “Possibly, which is why I’ve summoned more troops and asked for the police helicopter to be dispatched.”
“What? Why wasn’t that done immediately?”
“Because, in our experience, when a child wanders off, they invariably return within a few hours. It would have been a waste of time and resources bringing the chopper in sooner.”
Martin’s rage mounted. “Are you for real? Do you realise how bloody serious this situation is?”
“I would advise you to keep calm, Martin. Try not to say anything that you may later regret.”
He took a few paces towards her, and Debs pulled on his arm to prevent him from doing anything foolish. “Oh, that would be your expert advice, would it? Why don’t you share with us what you intend to do if our child isn’t found by the time it gets dark?”
The inspector stood her ground and held eye contact with him. “We’re doing our best, sir. If you feel it’s not good enough, then you can always raise a complaint. I can give you the information you need to do that, if you require it.”
“Martin, this isn’t helping. Please, don’t ruin this for Adele. Think what the consequences could be if you ask someone else to take over at this late stage. I’m sure the inspector is doing her best for us.”
“Thank you, Deborah. I can assure you, I’m ensuring everyone is doing what is necessary to find your child.”
Taking a step back, Martin sighed. “I’m sorry. Blame it on the situation. I’m not usually this angry. Tell her, Debs. After all that we’ve been through in the last few months, the trauma of not seeing my daughter because of the damned court’s interference, I’ve never once showed the frustration and anger eating me up inside, have I?”
“It’s true. He’s done his very best to keep his emotions in check throughout such a tense situation. Please forgive his outburst and continue what you’re doing for us.”
“I will. You have my word. Believe me, I totally understand all the emotional baggage you’re having to contend with right now.”
“Okay, you’ll have to forgive my outbursts at times, it’s just my frustration talking.”
The inspector gave a curt nod. “I’m prepared to do that. Please, I’m concerned that you’ve been out in this weather for hours now, you’ll be no use to anyone if you catch pneumonia. Why don’t you both sit in the car? I’ll report back to you if any news comes through on the radio, I promise.”
Debs hooked her arm through his. “She’s right. Come on, let’s get in my car. Wait, Inspector, is there anywhere around here where we can get a hot drink and something to eat, perhaps?”
“Yes, there are a couple of hotels up the road. Let me get something organised for you, rather than you leave the area. Will a sandwich do for now?”
“Martin?”
“Yes, okay, I’m not fussed. I probably won’t eat it, but a white coffee with two sugars would be good. Thanks.”
“Deborah, what about you?”
“White coffee with one sugar will do and a tuna sandwich on brown, if you don’t mind. I’ll get you some money, it’s in the car.”
“Nonsense, I’ve got this. I’ll be back soon.”
They watched the inspector walk away. “She’s doing her best for us, Martin, go easy on her, eh?”
He turned to Debs and smiled weakly. “I never thought I’d hear myself say this again after everything we’ve been through, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”
She reached up and touched his face. “Where else would I be? She’s our life, isn’t she? Come on, let’s sit in the car, it’s getting colder and wetter by the minute.”
He stood there, staring at the landscape beyond. “Yes, and she’s out there, somewhere, scared shitless, probably thinking we’ve abandoned her.”
Debs sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her coat. “We mustn’t think that. She knows how much we love her. Keep the faith that she’ll come back to us soon.”
They trudged back to Debs’ car and she started the engine and flicked on the heater to help dry them out. They both remained silent for the next few minutes, appraising the activity going on all around them.
Ten minutes or so later, a uniformed officer knocked on the passenger window; he had two cups and a bag in his hand. Martin lowered the window and accepted the goodies. “Thanks. Will you pass on our gratitude to the inspector?”
“I will, sir. Enjoy.” The young male officer nodded and rejoined the rest of his team.
Martin passed the bag and the coffee with the number one marked on the top to Debs. “I think this must be yours.”
“Thanks, do you want to try half a sandwich? Go on, you should eat something, if only to keep your strength up for what lies ahead of us. That’s the only reason I’m eating, there’s no telling if I’ll be able to swallow anything past the huge lump in my throat.”
“I’m sorry I messed up,” he murmured, taking a sip from his coffee.
“You didn’t. If it was a genuine mistake, then no one is to blame. I feel shit after the way I attacked Louise.”
“She deserved it.”
Debs turned in her seat to face him. “Is everything all right between you two?”
“Hardly. I told her to pack her bags, take the car and go home. I can’t bear to look at her right now, knowing she was responsible.” He bit down on his tongue. Should he be revealing what was going on in his personal life to her, of all people, his ex?
“You’re wrong to believe that, Martin. She’ll be as torn up about Adele as we are. More so, if she was supposed to be looking after our little girl.”
“I can’t forgive her for putting her own child before ours.”
Debs took a bite of her sandwich and offered him the other half, still in the paper bag. “Take it, it’s scrummy. If her child was in trouble, then she did the right thing tending to her; you and I would have done the same in her shoes.”
“Are you sure about that?” He tore the bag open and took a bite of the sandwich. He was hungrier than he thought in spite of the deep foreboding feeling ripping at his insides.
“No, I’m not sure. I’m trying to act as peacemaker here. Louise doesn’t deserve to be treated like a leper. She’ll be as cut up about this as we are, even worse now that you’ve rejected her.”
He set the bag aside, dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it, and inside was a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. “I was going to propose to her today, in this beautiful setting, with the children all around us.”
Debs gasped. “Damn. That’s such a shame. Beautiful ring, by the way. Put it aside, I’m sure once Adele comes back to us, you two will be fine again.”
He shook his head. “I doubt it. I can’t believe how well you’re taking it. I thought you’d be hysterical.”
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Now I’m here, I can see how hard people are working to find our baby. If I’d stayed in Liverpool, there’s no way I would’ve been able to hold things together.” She reached for his hand, and he put his sandwich down and slipped his hand into hers. “We’ll get through this together, honey. Put all the angst we’ve been through lately aside and concentrate on thinking pos
itively about getting our baby back. Our baby needs us to be strong. Together, we can be as strong as we need to be; separately, we’ll both be floundering around like lost souls.”
He looked at her, and a slight smile tugged at his lips. “Deep down, you’re a good woman, Debs. Remind me, why did we split up again?”
She laughed. “Oh gosh, we really don’t want to revisit all that again. Let’s live for today and put the past behind us, for our daughter’s sake. Eat up, our food is getting cold.”
He chuckled and studied his sandwich. “Idiot. Thank you, for being you and for coming all this way to be with me.”
“Well, I didn’t just jump in the car and drive up here to be with you, but if it’ll help put you in a better mood to think that, then who am I to stop you?” She bit into her sandwich and groaned. “Much better than stopping off to buy a Greggs’ sandwich.”
“Yuck, the thought of it. There’s no comparison.” He continued to tuck into his half until his eye caught something going on ahead of him. “I wonder what’s going on. I need to find out.” He put his cup and the remains of his sandwich in the footwell and shot out of the car before Debs could stop him.
He raced towards the inspector who was chatting to one of the mountain rescue team dog handlers. “What’s up? Have you found something?” he pleaded.
Debs came up behind him and placed an arm around his waist. Instinctively, he flung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Have you found her?” she asked, her voice filled with hope.
The rescuer, who was in his late thirties and sporting a goatee beard, gave them a weary smile. “I’m sorry, not yet. The dog picked up on her scent, but then lost it.”
“How do you know that?” Martin asked, confused.
“Using the keyring you gave us, she followed the scent to the edge of the road and then stared up at me; from experience, I know that the trail has gone cold for her.”
“So you gave up? Is that what you’re telling me?” Martin demanded.
“Martin, please, that’s not what Jeff said at all,” Inspector Cobbs jumped in.
“Oh right, my mistake.” He flung an arm in the air. “What are you doing about it, then?”
“We continued to search the area, but she kept returning to the spot.”
“Thank you, Jeff. Will you keep trying for us?” Cobbs asked.
“Of course, but I’m telling you now, there’s no point once the trail has been lost.”
“What about the rain? Does that have a bearing on the scent?” the inspector asked.
“Not really, it can affect it slightly, but not enough to make a marked difference.” Jeff gave a brief nod, jerked his spaniel’s lead and headed back to the group of rescuers who had gathered behind him.
“What does this mean? That they’re giving up now?” Martin asked, staring off into the distance, his gaze focusing on the lake beside them.
“No, they’ll continue. As he said, their task is that much tougher without the scent driving the search. Where did you get out of the car?”
He frowned, turned back to the road and scratched his head. “What? What does that matter?”
“Because the dog might have picked up Adele’s scent from the time she got out of the car,” the inspector explained.
“I see. Umm… I dropped Louise and the kids off with the picnic stuff and then drove the car to where it was parked earlier.”
“Okay, that doesn’t match up,” Cobbs said thoughtfully.
“What next?” He surveyed the area again, and his gaze was drawn back to the lake once more. “Are you going to search it? The lake?”
Debs sucked in a breath beside him. “No, she can’t be in there,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion at the thought.
Inspector Cobbs nodded. “I’ve just requested the dive team to attend. We wanted to make sure we ruled out the other scenarios first and gave Adele time to resurface, but the time has come to search the lake. I’m sorry if that upsets you, Deborah.”
She sniffled. “It’s okay. If that’s what you need to do, then go ahead and do it. My God, it’ll be getting dark soon, won’t it?”
They all peered up at the darkening sky, but the inspector shook her head. “We’ve still got a few hours of daylight ahead of us. It appears darker because of the rain clouds overhead, hopefully they’ll move on soon.”
Martin glanced at his watch, it was almost six o’clock. “What time will it start getting dark?”
“Around nine to nine-thirty; again, it depends if the rain clouds hamper us or not. Go back to the car, it looks as though another downpour is due any minute. I’ll be in touch with you soon.”
Martin hooked his arm around Debs’ shoulders and guided her back to the car without arguing for a change, his thoughts with his daughter, praying that she hadn’t wandered along the water’s edge and fallen in. His gaze was drawn further up the shoreline, to see if he could catch a glimpse of the red jumper she’d been wearing that morning, all those hours ago when she went missing. His helplessness increasing with every passing second.
“What are you thinking?” Debs asked, peering over the top of the car and following his gaze.
“I’m not, not really. Oh, all right, I was wondering if she might have headed that way and fell in. She was wearing her red jumper today, I was hoping to see it. Maybe hoping is the wrong word because if I saw it in the water that could only mean one thing, and we really don’t want to go down that route, not yet, do we?”
“I’d rather not, no.” Debs slipped back into the car. After a final scan of the water’s edge, Martin joined her, an uncomfortable nagging twisting at his gut, preventing him from eating any more of his sandwich.
5
Martin and Debs held hands and watched the dive team arrive and begin the process of looking for their daughter. Their mission went on long into the night. At around midnight, Inspector Cobbs approached the car and tapped on the window. Martin jerked his thumb, motioning for her to jump into the back seat.
“Right, just to bring you up to date, they’ve found nothing so far, which is a good sign, right?” she said as both Debs and Martin turned in their seats to hold a conversation with her.
“Right, I think,” Martin replied. “What else are you going to do to help us?”
“Well, a colleague of mine has already spoken to the press back at the station. You might have noticed an extra helicopter flying overhead a few hours ago. That would be the local news reporting from the scene. We asked the media to stay away for the moment; otherwise, it would get too congested up here, and the road is far too narrow to take the stress of a lot of traffic. It’s bad enough in the midst of summer out here.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? Has anything come of it so far?” Debs asked.
“Not yet, but we’re hopeful.”
“What else have you done?” Martin queried, turning back to keep an eye on the dive team.
“I’ve been busy working in the background. I didn’t tell you earlier, but we set up a mini roadblock not long after we arrived, further down the road.”
“Why? Oh, God, you really do believe someone took her?” Martin’s head swivelled back to the inspector.
“You know it has always been a possibility in my mind, Martin, we needed to rule out all the other options first.”
Debs reached for his hand. “Oh my, the thought of someone abducting her… Jesus, I don’t know which is worse, fearing she’s dead or that someone has abducted her and we will never know what has happened to her or where she is.” Tears splattered onto her cheeks, and Martin awkwardly gathered her in his arms across the central console.
“Deborah, we have to keep our hopes alive. We don’t know, the blockade proved pointless. I can’t offer you anything else, not at this stage. The dive team are about to pack up for the night. I suggest you drive to the hotel down the road; I took the liberty of booking a couple of rooms for you both. There’s not much point in you being here any longer.”
Mar
tin tore the door open and paced outside. He dipped his head back in the car and shouted, “You’re telling us you’re giving up on her, aren’t you?”
“No. Not in the slightest. I’m saying there’s nothing more any of us can do tonight. It’s been a long day, everyone’s nerves are on edge, I know that. Martin, this is already turning out to be one of the toughest and most frustrating cases I’ve had to handle, in all honesty. But handle it I will. You have my word that my team and I won’t give up until we’ve found Adele.”
“While I admire your indomitable speech, it’s not your words that matter to me, to us; it’s your actions, Inspector. We appreciate all that you’ve done so far, but it’s resulted in nothing as yet. Our daughter is still out there, terrified out of her mind, whether she has wandered off and got lost in this unforgiving landscape, or God forbid, if someone has taken her. I truly don’t know which is worse. If it’s the latter scenario, then I’ll be praying tonight that whoever has abducted her takes bloody good care of her. The possibility they might drop her off at a paedophile’s house…” He turned, bent over and vomited next to the car. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry,” he said in a rough voice before continuing, “I don’t even want to think about that. All we want is our daughter back.”
The inspector stepped out of the car. “I’m aware of that, Martin. Please, I know and appreciate how hard this is on both of you, but you need to give us some time to solve this crime. My sergeant and I are both booked into the hotel as well. We’ll grab a few hours’ sleep and be back at it first thing in the morning. Take care of each other.”
“So you should be. We will.”
He watched her walk back to her car and then dropped in beside Debs again. “We might as well call it a day, as she suggested. As much as it grieves me to say, I think she’s right.”
Debs started the engine. “I agree. We can’t see further than the front of the car out here now, anyway, except where it’s lit by the dive team. They’ll be gone soon enough and then this place will be pitch black.”