Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘Mum! Dad!’ Hannah called. Meg opened the front door to establish their escape route, but the rush of air into the house fanned the deadly flames over to the stairwell. Hannah ran back up to the landing. She tried the door to the spare room. It was jammed.

  ‘Mum! Dad!’ she called.

  ‘Hannah, come down!’ Meg screamed at her, terrified of the fire, coughing with the smoke.

  ‘I can’t get to Dad. Dad! Dad!’

  Meg could hear her thumping on the door.

  ‘It’s too hot. Dad, jump out the window! Mum, get out the front of the house!’

  Hannah emerged from the thick smoke on the stairs, coughing badly, her eyes red raw.

  ‘Mum and Dad!’ Meg shouted. ‘We’ve got to help Mum and Dad!’

  ‘We can’t, it’s too bad up there, it’s too hot. They’ll have to try and jump from the windows. We have to get out, Meg. Now!’

  The girls stepped out onto the street and watched as the flames engulfed the house. They saw their mother pounding at the window and drop to the ground as she was overcome by the smoke. Their father was at the back of the house. They could only pray that he’d get out. The heat was ferocious; they’d never seen or felt anything like it before.

  They stood there watching. Defenceless. Helpless. As the street woke up and neighbours piled out into the street to watch, many commented how calm the girls looked, standing there as their house burned down with their parents inside.

  Meg and Hannah knew how this played out. They didn’t deserve the chance that they’d been given. This was all they’d come to expect in life. Everything they loved was turning to dust.

  When I saw the baby it didn’t really matter whose it was. It was a baby; it was tiny and gorgeous, and the identity of the father was a matter for another time. Ivy had been great. She’d walked home with the pram, found some formula, baby food and nappies in the bag on the shelf underneath, and was quite at ease with the child. Tom.

  Alex had to excuse herself. She was choked up by the sight of me holding the baby and went into the living room to alert DCI Summers to what was going on.

  ‘We can’t stay long, Ivy. Thank you so much for doing this.’

  I handed Tom back to her. I was awkward and nervous. I hadn’t had much experience of handling children.

  ‘I hope Meg is alright,’ Ivy said, concerned. ‘I almost called the police myself. You looked in a right panic when I saw you.’

  ‘It’s complicated, Ivy, but I’m going to get Meg back now.’

  Jan was waiting at the front door, which had been left ajar.

  ‘We’ll have to go soon, Pete, if you want to get there on time.’

  ‘Okay, Jan. I need to make a quick call. Can I use your phone, Alex? I need to speak to DCI Summers.’

  Alex handed it to me and I redialled the last called number.

  ‘Hi DCI Summers, it’s Pete Bailey. Where are you?’

  ‘I’m driving back down to Blackpool. I just turned off the motorway.’

  ‘Look, I know this is dodgy, but we need your help, Kate – DCI Summers. Meg is being held as a hostage and will only be released in exchange for Russell Black. I can’t wait for the local police. We have to act now.’

  ‘You’re playing with fire, you know that, Pete? And I’m going to land myself with a disciplinary.’

  ‘But think how good it’ll look for you if you solve a murder case off your own patch. Please, Kate, I really need your help. Can you tail Russell Black? I’m about to meet him at the Grande Royale Hotel. Can you follow us when we leave together? Once you know the location of the exchange, you can call your guys and get them in position. Get them primed and ready, but I only want them going in when Meg is safe.’

  ‘Okay, okay, Pete. I’m twenty-five minutes away. Make sure you don’t leave that hotel before 9:15. Text me to let me know where they want to meet you and make the exchange. I’ll have our guys there as soon as possible. No heroics, Pete. Alright?’

  ‘No, no heroics. And thank you. Thank you again for helping me with my fucked-up life.’

  I ended the call and heard a beep as I passed it back to Alex.

  The sound had come from the pram. Tucked in and hidden by the pram cover was Meg’s mobile phone. It was new; she’d changed her brand since she was living with me. No wonder I could never raise her.

  ‘That’s where it was coming from! I thought I was hearing things,’ Ivy said. ‘It’s been doing that all evening.’

  ‘Lots of texts from someone called Phil,’ I said, downhearted at the sight. ‘Must be her new bloke wondering where she is.’

  ‘Pete, we need to go,’ Jan reminded me.

  ‘You stay here, Alex. You’d better call this Phil fella and tell him what’s going on. Can I take your phone? I don’t think Meg will mind you using hers in the circumstances.’

  I gave Alex a peck on the cheek and squeezed her arm.

  She nodded.

  ‘Be careful, Pete. Bring back Meg safe. Let’s get this all sorted for good.’

  ‘It’s all I ever wanted,’ I replied. ‘Meg, the baby, the house. We’re almost there, Alex.’

  I joined Jan in the car.

  ‘We’re going to be later than you wanted,’ she said. ‘I hope he’s still at the hotel when we get there.’

  The irony of it, a taxi driver scolding the passenger about getting to the destination too late.

  Jan drove fast and assertively through the town. The traffic was almost non-existent, so I was only five minutes late. I looked around for DCI Summers but I couldn’t see her. I checked the time on Alex’s mobile phone – I’d need to keep Russell Black talking for ten minutes or so to give her plenty of time to get into position.

  I could see Charlie Lucas and Russell Black through the window of the bar. It didn’t look like a friendly conversation – Russell Black’s face was red with fury. I’d need to call Charlie off. Whatever they were talking about, I didn’t want to frighten Russell.

  I made sure that they saw me pretending to look for Russell to give Charlie plenty of time to finish off. I waved from the bar, indicating that I was getting myself a drink before I came over. Charlie took his cue. I could see that their body language was changing. I walked over with my Coke. I’d need sharp wits for whatever happened next. My leg gave a twinge and I hoped that the painkillers would help me to see out the evening.

  ‘Russell Black? Pete Bailey.’

  I extended my hand while he tried to relax his face from whatever it was that Charlie had said to vex him.

  ‘Sorry if I’ve interrupted something,’ I said, looking at Charlie and giving him his prompt to leave.

  ‘No, no. Russell and I used to know each other many years ago,’ Charlie began. ‘Imagine bumping into him in this hotel of all places.’

  Yes, Charlie, just imagine.

  ‘I think we’re finished here, Mr Lucas?’ Russell said, barely hiding his contempt for Charlie.

  ‘Yes, I’ll look forward to hearing from you on the twenty-fifth of the month, Russell,’ Charlie smiled. Whatever had happened here, Charlie was the one who was leaving happy and Russell was the party who’d lost out. My guess was that Charlie had leant on him in some way, much as he’d leant on Alex and me. Well, I’d delivered on my agreement with Charlie. Alex would be in the clear now and hopefully Charlie would release me from his little blackmail trick too.

  Charlie pulled on his coat and extended his hand to Russell, who ignored it.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Mr Bailey,’ Charlie said. He shook my hand and headed out into the hotel foyer.

  ‘If I was a suspicious man, Mr Bailey, I’d think that little meeting was set up,’ Russell said.

  ‘No, no, I’ve not met him before,’ I assured him, wondering if he could tell that I was lying.

  ‘So where is Ms Kennedy if this isn’t a set-up? I thought I was going to be talking to your friend Alex this evening?’

  ‘You are, Mr Black. May I call you Russell? Alex has been delayed I’m afraid. You know
what these TV celebrities are like. We’re going to have to meet her elsewhere in town. Something to do with a new TV series.’

  ‘Sounds interesting,’ he said, perking up. ‘Do tell me more.’

  As I’d thought, Russell Black was a vain man. It didn’t take much flattery to make him move on from his conversation with Charlie Lucas and back to the prospect of being on the television.

  ‘If you’ll excuse me, I’ll contact Alex to see where we’re meeting now,’ I said, moving off towards the hotel foyer to make my call.

  I contacted Hannah via Skype. I could see that she was already online.

  It’s Pete here, not Alex. I have Russell Black. Can you find out where Meg is and where they want us to meet.

  Good. One moment ...

  It took a few minutes for Hannah to get back to me. It seemed like an eternity. Russell Black had nipped off to the gents.

  Okay, Pete, well done. You need to head to this map location. They’ve told me to warn you – no police. Meg is safe. Good luck!

  I clicked on the map link that Hannah had sent. It was Google Maps. I opened up the web page so that I could see it better. Damn, it was the woodland area near the home. It would be that den that Jan had mentioned. At least she could get me there quickly; she had the car waiting outside. I took the map location and texted it to DCI Summers. I waited for the delivery report on the text, but gave up on it when I saw Russell returning to his seat and looking for me. I was going to have to lie to him. He’d know exactly what was going on when he saw where I was taking him. I returned to the table.

  ‘Sorry, Russell. She wants to meet us at her hotel. I do apologise. She’s caught up in some big TV deal. It’s all very lucrative, so she had to sit in on the conference call. She sends her apologies. Are you okay for time?’

  Russell looked at his watch.

  ‘I’m fine. For something as important as this, I can make time. It will be a paid appearance, won’t it?’

  ‘Yes, of course. TV pays quite well I hear!’

  Another lie. I had to keep him on the hook. We put on our coats. My leg was growing increasingly sore. I’d left my stick in the car.

  As we stepped out of the hotel, I made a pretence of getting ready to call a taxi.

  ‘Oh look, there’s one over there already. That’s lucky!’

  Jan had the engine running. She played ball with my pretence.

  ‘Where to?’

  I showed her the map link on Alex’s phone and she gave me a look, asking if I was sure, without alerting Russell Black. I gave a small nod.

  We drove off and I exchanged pleasantries with my passenger. He was filled with a sense of his own importance. He was only speaking to me because I was offering him something that he wanted. I didn’t like the man, but I could see how impressive he would look in the right circles.

  I surreptitiously tried to glance in Jan’s rear-view mirror, assuming that DCI Summers would be tailing us. We’d arrive at our destination, she’d bring in her police colleagues, I’d get Meg, and we’d be sorted. But I couldn’t tell if there was anybody behind us. I hoped Jan was staying alert. She knew the plan.

  As Russell Black droned on about how influential he’d been in Blackpool’s social services, I started thinking about how I was going to get him out of the car and into the woods. As soon as he realised that something was amiss, he’d be on his phone calling a new taxi to take him home. He might even panic and alert the police.

  I had two choices. I’d either have to tell him that Meg’s safety depended on him helping us and that we were being tailed by a police officer or I’d have to threaten him with my walking stick.

  Sure enough, as we drew onto the road on which the children’s home was based, the penny dropped and he became aggressive.

  ‘What is this?’ he shouted. ‘Is this some sort of scam? First it’s Charlie bloody Lucas and now you. What are you? His stooge or something?’

  ‘Calm down, Mr Black, please. It’s nothing like that—’

  ‘You assured me that we were going to speak to Alex Kennedy and now I see that this is a stitch-up. Is she there with a TV crew? Is this live TV?’

  He began hunting around for a camera. Alex’s phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. I had more pressing matters to attend to.

  ‘Mr Black, I need your help. This is not some elaborate con, but I do need you to help me out. My wife is being held as a hostage in those woods. They want to see you. When they see you they’ll release her—

  ‘What am I? Some sacrificial lamb? You saw what happened to Tony Dodds. Are you stupid, man? I’m calling the police—’

  ‘I can’t let you do that just yet, Mr Black.’

  I snatched his phone from him. He wasn’t expecting it. I even surprised myself. I handed it over to Jan.

  ‘She’s in on it too! I’ll see you both go to jail for this. This is abduction. It’s kidnap—’

  I still can’t believe I did this. I smacked him hard on the nose with the end of my walking stick. It started to bleed. It shut him up though.

  ‘The police will be following us at all times. You won’t come to any harm, Mr Black, but I do need your help to flush out this killer.’

  I could tell that Jan was shocked at what I’d done. She was looking at me in her rear-view mirror. She must have seen violence in the back of her cab before, but maybe she hadn’t expected it from me. She drove up to the end of the road and pulled up at a five-bar gate which led to the woods.

  ‘Where is this den, Jan? Can you remember?’

  ‘It’s a long time ago, Pete, but if I remember rightly it’s down the track, and then you go off the path to the right. Are you sure this is the right thing to do?’

  I could see that she was unsure. She’d started the evening helping us out on a bit of an adventure and now she was colluding in an abduction.

  ‘DCI Summers should have followed us up here. Did you see her behind us?’

  ‘Someone followed us into the road, but I didn’t get a good look at who it was.’

  ‘Can you walk up the road to meet DCI Summers, Jan? Let her know where we’re heading so she can point her guys to the den.’

  I could tell that she was scared now. I was scared, but I was getting my wife back. The nightmare had to end. It would end that night.

  ‘You come with me!’ I said to Russell Black, sounding as threatening as I could.

  ‘I don’t suppose you have a torch in the back, Jan?’

  ‘I do as it happens, for emergencies. Only a small one, but it’ll help.’

  I took my walking stick with me. My leg was hurting badly once again. The painkillers had only given me a temporary respite.

  ‘Do you know where this place is?’ I asked Russell Black, finding the switch to Jan’s torch and shining it in front of us.

  ‘I’ve heard about it but I never came into these woods. I’ve seen that tree – the place where the bodies were found, where those kids hanged themselves. At least we’re not meeting there. I don’t want to end up like Tony Dodds or Ray Matiz. There’s some nutter on the loose.’

  ‘What’s this all about, Mr Black?’ I asked. ‘What was going on with you and Charlie Lucas? And you must know my wife, Meg? She was at the home in the nineties. You might have known her as Megan. Her surname was Yates. She was also known as Meg Stewart. Ring any bells?’

  ‘Is that what this is about?’ he asked, stopping to look back at me. I was glad of an excuse to rest for a moment. The uneven ground of the woods was hard on my leg.

  ‘So you know Meg?’

  ‘Yes, how could I forget Meg Stewart? No wonder you’ve got mixed up in all of this. You know it was the father of her child who hanged himself from that tree?’

  I looked at him, although it was too dark to see his face. Alex’s phone vibrated again in my pocket.

  ‘Meg had a child?’

  ‘Yes, of course she did. Didn’t she ever tell you? You’re her husband, you say? Yes, she caused me a lot of trouble that girl and her
family. That’s why Charlie Lucas was speaking to me. I won’t tell you what it was about, but it all makes sense: Charlie Lucas, Megan Stewart. This is what they call chickens coming home to roost.’

  I gave him a push to walk on. I could see where a small path led off to the side as Jan had advised. I could also see some lights ahead. That had to be where we were heading. I turned off the torch so as not to alert whoever was there.

  It was hard going when we left the main track. With every step I felt my leg getting sorer and stiffer. We stopped talking as we walked through the trees. We had to take care to avoid twigs and brambles. As we neared the light of the fire, I indicated to Russell to stop.

  ‘I want to check these messages,’ I said, ‘and make sure DCI Summers is ready to go.’

  I could hear a man shouting. There was a woman too. Her voice was stifled, as if she was gagged. It was Meg. The man was angry and pumped up, clearly awaiting my imminent arrival.

  I held Alex’s phone close to my chest to try to conceal the light that the screen would give off.

  There was a Skype message from Hannah.

  Hurry up! They’re getting impatient. They warned not to bring the police.

  Then there were several texts from Alex, sent via Meg’s phone.

  Pete, don’t meet them yet. DCI Summers stuck in traffic. She’s going to be late.

  Too late. She couldn’t be far behind.

  Kate Summers has alerted police team. She won’t get there in time. Be careful, Pete.

  Dare I hang on much longer? It was dark out there. Somebody had been tailing us, Jan said. Was it the police? Had DCI Summers dispatched someone she trusted to follow us?

  The man started shouting again. He was waving his hands around, getting angry and increasingly agitated. I’d have to go in and confront him. There was another message. It was the most recent one. I opened it up but never got to read it properly.

  Pete, take care. Don’t go in before police get there. Please. I know who Phil is. You won’t believe it—