Tom Douglas Box Set

by Rachel Abbott

  ‘Ray,’ he responded. ‘So, we’re going to have to work out what to do with your Mr Brookes if we find him. Any ideas?’

  The brief silence that followed was interrupted as Ray’s phone started to ring. Before he had time even to announce himself, Becky could hear a squawking down the line.

  ‘Calm down, Marjorie. I can’t tell what you’re saying. Take a deep breath and try again.’

  There was a pause while Ray listened.

  ‘Okay. Thanks, Marjorie. You’ve done really well. And you did nothing wrong at all. Don’t worry about it – just look after your dad. I’ll pop round later and let you know how we’ve got on.’

  Ray hung up, and put his foot down.

  ‘I think we’ve found him,’ was all he said.

  56

  Robert is hugging the children, but the sight of him even touching them is enough to make me want to scream. Why did they come back? I must have got it wrong. Maybe it was too much of a game. Maybe I should have warned them that there was real danger. But maybe Jaz knew. Maybe she came back for me – to make sure I was okay.

  The boys seem pleased to see their father, but Jaz is just looking at me. Her eyes are as round as saucers as she takes in the fact that I’m tied to a radiator pipe. I want to tell her to run – but what about my boys?

  ‘What have you done to Mummy?’ Jasmine asks, her voice revealing her bewilderment at the fact that I’m lying on the floor with blood running down my arm and on to the carpet. My poor baby girl.

  Robert ignores her. He has no answer that would make sense to a child as smart as Jaz.

  Her eyes flash towards me, then to my arm, then back to Robert. He’s kneeling on the floor now with his arms round both of the boys. I’m watching them, willing them to be safe, trying to think. There must be something I can do.

  ‘I’ve missed you, Billy. And you too, Freddie. Have you been having a good holiday?’ Robert asks in a soft voice. But I can see the madness in his eyes, and I think Jaz can too.

  ‘I’m not Billy any more. I’m Ben.’ Billy says with pride. ‘Do you like my new hair?’

  Robert turns to look at me and shakes his head very slightly. I gaze back at him, pleading with my eyes. But it makes him smile.

  ‘Robert,’ I begin. But he ignores me.

  ‘Listen kids, why don’t you show me around outside? I’d love to see the beach. I’ve only ever seen it on video when I was talking to Mummy.’ He gives me what I can only describe as a look of pure malice.

  ‘What about Mummy?’ Billy asks.

  ‘Mummy can stay here for now. She’s had you all to herself for weeks. It’s my turn now. Come on – let’s go.’

  Jasmine’s eyes are still darting round the room. ‘I’m staying with Mummy,’ she says with a note of defiance in her voice.

  ‘No, you’re not. You’re coming with me,’ Robert answers through a mouth that has tightened. He reaches out for Jasmine, but she bats his arm away.

  ‘I’m staying,’ she says, my lovely little warrior.

  Robert stands up and grabs Jaz by her arm. ‘Come on, guys – take me outside.’

  Jasmine still doesn’t move until he tugs hard on her arm and she nearly falls over. She shrieks in pain.

  I have to escape. I have to find a way of saving them. I pull on the belt, but it won’t move and my shoulders are so sore and lacking in strength. I feel as if I am watching some awful movie, and the four sides of the image have turned black, leaving the centre where my husband and children are standing sharply in focus.

  The boys have realised that something is wrong. They look at Jaz then back at me.

  ‘Stay here, kids. Don’t go with him – he can’t make you all go. Come here, Freddie.’ I want my youngest to be out of his father’s grasp, but I’m too late. Robert grabs him round his middle and hangs on.

  Only Billy is free, and he seems stunned into inactivity. Do something, Billy.

  ‘Jasmine, carry your little brother,’ Robert demands as he tries to pass Freddie to her. I’m not sure that Jaz can carry Freddie very far. He’s a solid little boy, and she’s so slight. When she does nothing, Robert yanks on her arm again. I can see tears spilling down her cheeks, and she looks up at Robert. How can he resist these beautiful faces?

  ‘Leave my children alone, Robert. If you hurt one hair on their heads, I will kill you.’ I know my screaming won’t help. It will just amuse him, and fuel the fire. But if I can just make the children realise the danger…

  Robert laughs, as I knew he would. The hysteria in his laughter is more pronounced than ever.

  ‘If I can’t have you, Olivia, then you must pay the price. I’m only doing what many men before me have done; men like me who have been betrayed, deceived, abandoned.’ All traces of laughter in his voice die with the final three words as his anger bubbles over, spilling its malignancy into every corner of the room. The children have started to cry, and there’s not a thing I can do.

  ‘Say goodbye to Mummy, children. It's time to go.’

  He puts Freddie down and lets go of Jasmine, pushing the children towards the door.

  Robert kneels down at my side and puts both hands around my neck. I cast a last, longing look at my children as he pulls me towards him and then smashes me back against the radiator. My head explodes with pain, but through the fast encroaching blackness I feel his breath against my skin and hear him whisper four words:

  ‘Sleep tight, my darling.’

  57

  My head feels like somebody has taken a machete and cleaved it in two. I try to reach it with my hands in an effort to push back the pain, but I can’t move them. My shoulders ache, and I can feel a stinging wetness on the inside of my arm. What’s happening?

  Somebody is speaking, trying to make me listen.

  ‘Olivia. Come on, Olivia – wake up.’ A gentle hand is stroking my face – not the hand of the person speaking though. It’s a man’s voice, and this hand is too gentle. I hear a woman speak.

  ‘I think she’s coming round, Tom.’ I hear a grunt.

  ‘That’s her hands free,’ says the gruff voice. Another voice is talking in the background, firing urgent staccato instructions. I hear ‘ambulance’, ‘more bodies’, ‘children’ and suddenly I am awake. What does he mean, more bodies? And where are my children?

  I try to sit up, and a strong arm goes round my shoulders.

  ‘Olivia, can you speak?’ I try to nod my head, but it hurts so much. In an instant, it all comes hurtling back at me at such great speed it nearly knocks me over with its force.

  ‘Robert’s got my babies,’ I murmur almost to myself, trying to remember if it’s real, or I just imagined it. But I know it’s real and my voice gains strength.

  ‘He’s taken them – he’s taken my children.’ The last word comes out as a sob.

  ‘We know, we’re going to find them.’

  ‘Somebody said “more bodies” – what did he mean?’ I hear a gasp of shock and my eyes focus on a pretty young woman with dark hair and tired eyes.

  ‘No, no – we haven’t found more bodies. I think the sergeant was trying to get some reinforcements – people to come out and look for your children.’

  Thank God. But how long have I been unconscious?

  As if reading my thoughts, the other man – the one with the strong arm – starts to talk.

  ‘Do you know what time it was when Robert arrived here? We need to get an idea of how far he may have gone so we can organise the search properly.’

  I don’t know. I can’t think – but I know I’ve got to.

  ‘Check my phone. Sophie called me, and I got the children up from the beach. Then he was here. It all happened quickly – fifteen minutes, twenty at the most.’

  The young woman was already on to the task.

  ‘Shit. We missed him by about three minutes, Tom – worst case, eight.’

  I recognise the policeman in uniform. He’s the island sergeant, but I don’t know who the other two are. I know they’re here
to help me, though, and there’s no time for introductions.

  ‘I know where he’ll have taken them.’ My voice cracks with emotion, but I have to keep it together. ‘He’ll have taken them to a cliff – somewhere high above the sea.’ The sergeant is listening, waiting to issue his instructions.

  ‘Why, Olivia? Why would he take them to a cliff?’ the man called Tom asks.

  I can barely speak. The images flashing before my eyes are too horrific. But I can remember that day at South Stack. And the last words he said to my children: ‘Say goodbye to Mummy.’

  ‘He’s going to jump off – and he’s going to take my babies with him.’

  *

  ‘Becky, you need to stay here with Olivia. Olivia, Becky is a detective inspector, and if your husband returns, she’ll look after you, okay?’

  No, it is certainly not okay.

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ I say. I can see that the man is going to argue. There’s something about him that I think I vaguely recognise, but I can’t place it. ‘I don’t know who you are, but I do know that those are my children. I’m coming with you.’

  I struggle to my feet and nearly keel over when the pain in my head hits a crescendo. My skull feels as if it needs physically holding together or it will shatter into pieces, but I can’t let them see that.

  ‘You’ll slow us down, Olivia. Stay here.’

  ‘No. If Robert sees you and he’s anywhere near the cliff, he’ll jump. I’m the best chance you have of talking him out of it.’

  I’m sure I hear him mutter some expletive, but I don’t care. What are we hanging about for?

  Tom Douglas looks at the local sergeant. ‘What’s the plan, Ray?’ he asks.

  ‘The good news is that there are no steep cliffs nearby, and his speed will be hampered by three children. I’ve got the local fire brigade boys rallied – they’ll go out in civvies so they won’t spook him. And the lifeboat’s on its way out to sea. They’ll head out and circuit the island. They’ll call if they spot him. Do we still want the ambulance here?’

  I try to shake my head, but it’s not a good idea. ‘No,’ I say. ‘I’m not going in any ambulance. I’m coming with you.’

  The police officers all look at each other, and the local sergeant shrugs. ‘No time to argue. In my view if Brookes left here through the back gate, he would have turned right on the path. Turning left would just take him to the beach, with no cliffs for a couple of miles. My constable has just let me know he’s joined the cliff path about 250 metres along. There’s no sign of Brookes yet.’ Ray was edging towards the door. ‘I’m going to follow him now, make sure he hasn’t stopped anywhere in between. I’ve got your number.’ And he’s gone – out of the door and running.

  ‘What are we waiting for, then,’ I cry, frustrated by the apparent lack of action.

  The young woman puts her arm round me. ‘We need to be near a car so when they find your children we can get there as quickly as possible. Ray’s left us the police car and it’s a four-wheel drive so we’ll be able to take it over the rough paths.’ She takes my arm and guides me to a chair. ‘Let me look at your head,’ she says kindly. But strangely I don’t mind the pain. It’s just a reminder of what I have to do.

  I stay seated for about thirty seconds and then leap up, a corresponding pounding in my head reminding me to go steady or I might pass out again.

  ‘Can we just go – head off in the right direction? Please. I can’t sit here and do nothing.’

  I intercept a look passing between the police officers, and sense that they feel the same frustration.

  Tom gives a slight nod. ‘He’s been gone about fifteen to twenty minutes now. Average walking speed is roughly five kilometres an hour, but with the children?’

  I know Robert would have carried Freddie and Jasmine could keep up with him. Only Billy would slow him down, and probably not for at least the first kilometre. I tell them, and Tom seems to agree.

  ‘Becky, you drive and I’ll navigate,’ he says, earning him a surprised look from Becky that I don’t understand. ‘Where’s that map you had?’

  ‘In the car,’ she answers, picking up her bag. ‘Are you going to tell Ray?’

  But Tom already has the phone to his ear, walking towards the front door.

  ‘Ray, we’re going to head for a point about one and a quarter kilometres along the cliff path from the house. Yes, we’ve got a map. We’ll catch you there.’

  58

  Becky didn’t know what to say to Olivia. It was two hours since Robert had taken the children, and nobody had seen them. Olivia was sitting in the back of the car, her head resting against the window, tears running down her cheeks. But she wasn’t making a sound.

  ‘Olivia, I can’t imagine how you feel, but at least we can be fairly sure that nothing has happened to the kids. We would know if that was the case. The cliffs were crawling with people looking for them within minutes of Robert taking them. We’re going to find your children.’

  Becky glanced at Tom, knowing that he hated people giving promises that they didn’t know they could keep. But he simply nodded to her, his top lip clenched between his teeth.

  Just ahead, Becky caught signs of movement, and sat up straighter in her seat. They were parked on the grass, as close to the cliffs as they could safely get. Olivia must have sensed something, because her head came off the window and she leaned over Becky’s shoulder.

  ‘What’s up?’ she asked, her voice ringing with hope.

  ‘I thought I saw something, but it was probably a rabbit,’ Becky said. But it wasn’t. She could just glimpse the top of a head as somebody wove up the cliff path from below.

  Olivia jerked backwards and went for the door handle.

  ‘Whoa,’ said Tom. ‘Stop, Olivia. If this is Robert, we have to take it calmly. Don’t make him jump or react quickly. He’s much closer to the edge than we are.’

  The path that was winding up towards them from a lower level had bumps and turns, and all they saw was a tantalising glimpse of the top of a head every few seconds.

  A groan from the back of the car and sounds of held breath being finally exhaled signalled their recognition of Ray, heading towards them at a half-jog. Not fast enough for it to be good news, not slow enough for it to be bad.

  As Ray approached the car, flushed from his exertion, Tom and Becky opened their doors and got out, turning to let Olivia – who was hemmed in by the safety lock – out too. Becky was glad of the fresh air and the opportunity to stretch her legs. A blustery wind was blowing clean sea air into her lungs and she took a deep breath.

  ‘Any news?’ Tom asked. An anxious Olivia peered up at Ray through eyes swollen with weeping and, Becky suspected, from the continued pain in her head.

  ‘He’s nowhere on the cliff paths. We’re as certain as we can be. We can only think he’s gone into hiding somewhere.’

  Becky looked around her. All she could see was open countryside.

  Ray interpreted her look correctly. ‘It’s not quite as simple as it seems. The place is riddled with bunkers from the war, and then there are the old forts. The first bit of Brookes’ escape was past a few houses that are probably empty at this time of year, so he could have broken in. They might not even be locked. We’re starting a systematic search of the obvious places, but I’m sorry; we’re just going to have to be patient. Can you tell me what the children are wearing, Mrs Brookes? Knowing what colours we’re looking out for might help.’

  While Olivia was describing Jasmine’s blue T-shirt and matching stripy shorts, Becky turned back towards the sea. What would Robert’s next move be? How could they flush him out? It wouldn’t be dark for hours, so what was he hoping would happen?

  There was a crackle from Ray’s radio behind her, and he grabbed it.

  ‘What?’ Ray shouted, and Becky spun round to look at him. Worry lines were creasing his brows. ‘How the fuck did he get there?’ Ray was already jogging towards the car, and they all followed. ‘Call Ed and tell him to
redirect his men – but be subtle. No charging in. Got it?’

  Ray headed towards the driver’s side, and Becky jumped in the back with Olivia. Nobody spoke, scared to distract Ray from his manoeuvre of the car so close to the edge of the cliff. Becky felt Olivia reach out towards her, her hand like a block of ice, and she squeezed the bones of Becky’s fingers until they felt they were going to break. Ray swung the car on to the track and switched his siren on.

  ‘Don’t worry – I’ll turn this off once we get close. We were wrong. It seems he turned the other way out of the garden, not knowing the island I suppose. It’s pretty flat for a mile or so – mainly beaches. We sent a couple of people out that way, but he must have hidden for a bit because nobody saw them. The lifeboat has just spotted him over beyond Fort Clonque.’

  Olivia seemed to breathe out. ‘I know the fort. It’s in the sea, isn’t it? Just a causeway to it, so it’s at sea level.’

  Becky suddenly understood Olivia’s thinking. If it was at sea level, it was safe.

  ‘The fort’s at sea level, but that’s not where they were. They were up above it. On the cliffs.’

  59

  I’m holding on to Becky’s hand for dear life, but when Ray explains where my children are, the blood rushes to my head and the pounding intensifies. I think I’m going to pass out again, and I will myself to hold it together. The children must be exhausted. They’ve been walking for hours. Freddie will be crying, and Billy will be dragging his feet and complaining. And Jaz? She will be saying nothing, trying to understand what’s going on, and worrying about me. The last image she has of me is one of her father smashing my head against a radiator.

  I’m relieved when Ray turns off the siren. If Robert hears it, he’ll know we’ve found him. I need to get to him first.

  Ray races the car up a steep hill, past another huge old ruined fort, lights flashing and drawing looks of surprise from the few people and cars that we pass. He pulls over at the side of the road where there is a narrow footpath.

  ‘Becky,’ he says, ‘why don’t you stay in the car with Olivia. Tom and I have got this.’