by Lisa Stone
Her phone, of course. Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner? She always had her phone with her. He wasn’t thinking straight. He hurried downstairs and took his phone from his jacket on the hall stand and checked it for missed calls. There were none from Em. And no more text messages from her after the ones they’d exchanged at lunchtime when she’d sent him a video clip of Robbie waving and saying Daddy. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not.
He pressed her number. It rang three times and then went through to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message but called again straight away. Perhaps she hadn’t got to her phone in time. It rang and went through to voicemail again and this time he did leave a message.
‘Em, where are you? I’m worried sick. I’m home. Robbie’s here, but you’re not. Phone me as soon as you get this please. I can’t think what’s happened to you.’ He stopped, and with no idea what else to say ended the call. Had he done the right thing leaving that message? He’d sounded a bit angry, but then he was – from worry. All this was outside any point of reference. There was nothing to tell him what to say or do in this situation. Em was missing and he hadn’t a clue where she was.
Ben called once more to see if she would pick up and then jabbed the phone into his trouser pocket and carried Robbie into the kitchen to get him a drink. There was an empty mug in the sink but no other washing up. He filled Robbie’s trainer cup with water and took it into the living room. He sat on the sofa with Robbie on his lap and offered him his drink, but he wasn’t interested. He was still clinging desperately to him, his little fists clutching handfuls of his shirt. Why was he so upset? Ben had never seen him like this before. How long had he been left alone to cry? What the hell was going on? What should he do? He hadn’t a clue. It didn’t make any sense at all.
As he placed Robbie’s beaker on the coffee table, he saw Em’s house keys beside a folded sheet of writing paper. His heart lurched. Why were her keys here? And what was this – a letter? He picked it up and unfolding it began to read.
Dear Ben, I am very sorry, but I have left you for another man. It’s not your fault. You have done nothing wrong. It’s me. The words blurred and jumped around the page. I am not cut out for this life. I got bored and began an affair. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I know you will look after Robbie. Please don’t come looking for me. I don’t want to be found. Emily.
The paper trembled in his hand as he stared at the words. Nausea rose in his throat. It wasn’t possible. This couldn’t be happening, not to him and Em. They loved each other. All their friends and family said what a perfect couple they were. She loved him, she told him most days, and she loved Robbie – more than life itself. She’d sent him a video clip at lunchtime, signed Em Luv you. With a heart emoji. Why would she have done that if she was planning on leaving him? What had happened in the interim to make her pack and go? Pack. What had she taken?
Leaving Robbie on the sofa, Ben ran upstairs and into their bedroom. Throwing open her wardrobe door, he saw it was still full of her clothes. He pulled open the drawers; they were full too. She appeared to have taken nothing. It didn’t add up.
Robbie cried from the living room and Ben ran back downstairs; picked him up and soothed him. There must be an explanation. Taking his phone from his pocket, he called Emily’s number again. It went through to voicemail. He left another message, desperate and raw.
‘Em, call me, please. I’ve read your note. We can sort this out. Call me as soon as you can. Robbie needs you. I need you. Please phone.’ Tears stung his eyes and he swallowed hard. He’d beg her if necessary to come back. She and Robbie were his life. He knew he’d been working hard, but she hadn’t seemed to mind. He’d cut back so he could spend more time with them. They could go on holiday, the three of them, have more days out. Whatever it took, whatever was needed to win her back.
Ben’s gaze went to her house keys, left on the table as if to say she would never return – but he couldn’t accept that. Too much was at stake. When he finally spoke to Em, he’d persuade her there was a way forward. It was then he spotted her handbag beside the armchair. She always left it there when indoors. So she hadn’t taken that either? But she never went out without her bag slung over her shoulder. He picked it up and began going through the contents. Her car keys were in there with all the other stuff she carried with her – hairbrush, tissues, cosmetics and so on, but not her phone. Her house keys were on the table, so she must have taken them from her bag and then left it behind. But why? It was as if she’d gone in a hurry, on the spur of the moment, without any forethought or planning. That could explain why she hadn’t packed a bag and had sent a loving text at lunchtime. At the time she’d messaged, she’d had no intention of leaving him. Perhaps the guy she’d been seeing had suddenly turned up and pressurized her into going. Demanded she left now without giving her a chance to think about it and change her mind. That would make some sense, although Em was someone who usually planned ahead and thought things through. And he was still struggling to believe she was capable of having an affair at all. Not his Em.
Perhaps she wasn’t, Ben thought after a moment. Perhaps she’d made that up. All this was so irrational and unlike Em; could it be she was having a nervous breakdown? It seemed more likely. There’d been no outward signs that he’d been aware of, but possibly she’d been suffering from postnatal depression and hadn’t told him. Suffering in silence, until it became too much, and she’d just snapped and left. It was possible. He’d read an article about severe postnatal depression causing unpredictable and irrational behaviour. In which case, Em was out there on a cold dark night, alone, confused and in need of help. He picked up the phone and pressed 999.
‘Police. It’s an emergency.’
Chapter Forty-One
It tortured Emily to think of Ben, just a short distance away, reading the note she’d been forced to write. What was he thinking? He’d be shocked to find the note and Robbie alone, but she felt sure he’d see through it and realize something awful had happened. Thankfully, Robbie was unharmed. Alisha had said she’d heard him crying as Amit had left. Emily believed her as she now believed Alisha wasn’t working with Amit. For the alternative – that they had conspired in this and had hurt her son – was too awful to contemplate.
Ben knew her too well to believe she would ever leave him for another man. But what would he do? She couldn’t imagine and tried to put herself in his position. What would she have done if she’d come home and found Robbie alone and a note from Ben saying he’d left her? She would call the police and her parents, although not necessarily in that order. Ben would call the police for sure. But how long would it take before anyone came looking for her here without the list of contacts in her phone and no clue to say she was next door? Panic rose again and she tried to calm herself.
She couldn’t just sit here waiting for help to arrive. She was tied up and at the mercy of a maniac. Now the effects of the sedative he’d given her had fully worn off, she was able to think more clearly. She had to escape, but to do so she would need Alisha’s help. How to convince her?
In the small glow of the night light, she looked at Alisha, sitting beside her on the floor, with her back against the wall and her eyes closed. While she’d been ill, Alisha had wiped her mouth and given her sips of water, but thank goodness the vomiting had stopped now. The shivering, stomach cramps and headache were going too. Eva was asleep in her bed just out of sight around the corner in the L-shaped room so hadn’t witnessed what had happened. Emily could hear her stirring sometimes in her sleep.
‘Alisha,’ Emily whispered into the semi-darkness. ‘Are you awake?’
Her eyes immediately opened. ‘Yes, what is it? Are you going to be sick?’
‘No, but we can’t just sit here and wait for Amit to come for us. We need to escape.’
‘I can’t release you, I’ve told you that. He will beat me and hurt Eva.’
‘I have a plan. Come closer so we don’t wake Eva and I’ll explain.’
Alisha heaved herself closer. She seemed utterly exhausted and defeated.
‘Listen to me,’ Emily whispered. ‘Amit won’t ever be able to harm you or Eva again once we’re out of here. He’ll be in prison for a long time and you and Eva will be safe. But you need to trust me and do as I say.’ She saw Alisha’s doubt and willed her to make the necessary leap of faith.
‘What is your plan?’ Alisha asked, her voice low. ‘All the doors and windows are locked, and this door is bolted.’
‘You told me Amit unbolts this door to let you out to get your tablets and food.’
‘Yes, but the last time was at nine o’clock. There is no more now until morning.’
‘Supposing you needed something for Eva?’
‘Then we’d have to wait.’
‘Supposing Eva or you were ill. He would come in to see?’
‘Maybe. I don’t know.’ Alisha shrugged despondently.
‘I think he would,’ Emily said. ‘From what you’ve told me he doesn’t want you dead yet.’
‘It’s possible, I suppose,’ she conceded.
‘So this is what we do. You will carefully cut the tape from my hands and legs so I can reuse it. Then, when I’m ready, you’ll call out to Amit and say Eva is ill. She will still be in bed, and I’ll be here as if I’m tied up. When he goes to Eva to examine her, I’ll attack him – take him by surprise. I’ll need something sharp or heavy to use as a weapon. We’ll find something in this room. There are two of us, we can overpower him. It will work, Alisha, believe me, it will.’ She held her gaze.
‘I can’t,’ Alisha whispered, fear in her eyes. ‘Supposing we fail?’
‘We won’t. Not if we plan this carefully, but I will need your help. I can’t do it alone. Trust me.’ Emily knew it was asking a lot of Alisha to be stronger than her tormentor and rise up against him after years of abuse. ‘Alisha, how are you going to explain me being tied up to Eva when she wakes? You can’t hide me here, the room is too small. You said yourself she likes me and would be upset to see me like this. She will blame you for not helping me.’
Alisha glanced in Eva’s direction and then said, ‘If I agree to your plan, she mustn’t be hurt.’
‘She won’t, I promise. Do you have any scissors or a knife here to cut through the tape?’
Alisha hesitated, then, standing quietly, she crossed to a small set of drawers. Opening the top one, she took out a pair of children’s scissors and returned to Emily. She knelt in front of her and carefully cut through the tape around her wrists, then handed the scissors to Emily to cut the tape on her ankles.
‘Well done,’ Emily whispered. She set the tape to one side to use later and stood, her limbs were stiff from being in one position. ‘I’ll need something heavy or sharp to use as a weapon.’
‘There’s nothing here,’ Alisha replied anxiously.
‘I’ll find something,’ Emily said and began quietly searching the room for any object that could be used as a weapon. She’d only get one chance to attack Amit, so it needed to work first time. The children’s scissors were no good as they had rounded ends – indeed, the whole room was child-safe. Perhaps Alisha was right and there was nothing here she could use. Then she spotted the coffee table and, going over, quietly turned it upside down. It was too cumbersome itself to use as a weapon, but if she could remove its metal legs they would make good weapons. She tested the legs, two moved slightly, some of their screws were already loose. ‘You don’t have a screwdriver up here, do you?’ she asked Alisha.
Alisha shook her head.
‘Let me have the scissors again.’
She gave Emily the scissors. Using the end as a screwdriver, Emily began undoing the already partially loose screws as Alisha watched, her hand pressed nervously to her mouth. She succeeded in removing one table leg and then a second. The other two were on too tightly to budge. She hid the rest of the table in the shower room so Amit wouldn’t see it. She then placed one of the metal legs on the floor where she’d been sitting and tucked the other behind a cushion on the sofa.
‘That one is for you to use,’ she said quietly to Alisha. Emily looked around the room. ‘Is everything in place as Amit would expect to find it?’ she asked Alisha.
‘I think so.’
‘In a moment I am going to sit over there exactly as Amit left me and you’re going to stick the tape back on my wrists. Then, when I tell you, you will start banging on the door and shouting that Eva is ill and you need him to come quickly. Make it convincing. As soon as he opens the door, draw him to Eva’s bed. He will see me tied up and follow you over. If he doesn’t come into the room, the door will be open so I should still have the chance to overpower him and for us to escape.’
Alisha stared back, wide-eyed and frightened.
‘You can do it, Alisha,’ Emily said, taking her hands. ‘You must, for all our sakes, especially Eva’s.’
She managed a small nod.
‘Come on, let’s do it now.’
Emily led Alisha over to where Amit had left her and sat on the floor, her back to the wall, tucking the metal bar beneath her. She picked up the tape that had bound her ankles and stuck it in place.
‘Now you do my wrists.’
Alisha’s trembling hands resealed the tape around Emily’s wrists.
‘That’s fine. It should hold long enough to fool him, especially in this light.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘Once you’ve lured him to Eva’s bed, I’ll strike. Understood?’ Alisha nodded. ‘OK. Let’s do it. Make it good, Alisha. The performance of a lifetime. Quick! Get help! Eva is ill. She’s choking!’
Incited by Emily, Alisha rushed to the door and banged on it with all her might. ‘Amit! Come quickly! Eva is choking.’ She stopped and listened.
‘No, keep going, louder, more insistent,’ Emily said.
‘Amit! Come! Eva is choking, I need your help. She’s going blue in the face.’ The noise had woken Eva and she began to cry, adding to the effect.
Emily felt the iron bar beneath her and concentrated on the door.
‘Amit! Come quickly! Eva can’t breathe! I need your help! Come before it’s too late!’
Eva cried all the more and Emily knew Alisha must be hating herself for upsetting her child and not being able to comfort her.
Suddenly Amit’s voice came from the other side of the door. ‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded, without any trace of empathy. And for a moment Emily wondered if he would come in to save Eva after all.
‘She’s choking. Quick! I need your help,’ Alisha cried. Emily felt her heart racing as adrenalin coursed through her.
There was silence from outside the door, then, ‘Is that bitch still tied up?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Where is she?’
‘Where you left her.’
‘If you’re lying to me, you’ll regret it.’
‘I’m not lying,’ Alisha replied, her voice faltering. Emily prayed Amit hadn’t heard it.
Eva cried louder.
‘Come! Eva is very ill,’ Alisha said, now with slightly less conviction.
Another pause; Emily held her breath. Then Amit’s voice again, ‘Move away from the door and I’ll come in.’
Emily nodded to Alisha.
The bolt slid and the door slowly opened.
‘Put the main light on,’ he ordered, before coming in.
Emily hadn’t reckoned on this, but the tape around her wrists and ankles was still in place. She kept very still.
Alisha switched on the main light and Emily blinked into the brightness. Amit was standing at the door, watching Alisha go to Eva’s bed. She bit her lip, willed him to follow. He took a single, tentative step in, glanced at Emily and, satisfied, began across the room. Emily looked at the open door and the urge to run was almost irresistible, but she couldn’t leave Alisha and Eva, and he’d come straight after her. Alisha had said all the doors were locked.
Emily watched and waited, her heart pounding as he approached
Eva’s bed.
Alisha was talking to Eva now in a small trembling voice, soothing her, and trying to stop her from crying. ‘It’s OK. You’ll be all right soon.’
Wait until he’s fully turned away and occupied with Eva, Emily told herself.
‘She’s not choking,’ Amit said, leaning over the bed.
It was now or never. Emily quietly took the tape from her wrists, picked up the iron bar and hurtled herself across the room, the tape around her ankles falling away. But in that second Amit was instantly alerted to the movement behind him. He turned, and as Emily went to hit him, he grabbed the bar, deflecting it. It landed on his head, but its force was muted. He held onto it. Emily tried to raise it again, but it was impossible, he was holding it tightly.
‘Alisha! The other bar!’ Emily cried, as she struggled with him. ‘Hit him! Hard!’
But Alisha couldn’t. Like a scared rabbit trapped in a car’s headlights, she couldn’t act to save herself or them.
Eva shrieked as Emily twisted and turned the bar, trying to reclaim it. Alisha watched impotently, her hands pressed to her face. A sudden hefty push from Amit caught Emily by surprise, and she lost her balance and went crashing to the floor. Alisha screamed.
Above her, Emily saw Amit raise the weapon, ready to bring it down. Only then did Alisha find the courage to act. She made a grab for the other weapon concealed behind the cushion on the sofa. But too late. Amit swung his bar down again. Emily cried out in pain and tried to roll away from him, but there was nowhere to go. Another blow across her back and she shrieked. He kicked her in the ribs, and fled the room, the bolt crashing into place.