32
Jared is working from home today. He sleepily makes his way downstairs, pops a couple of slices of seeded bread into the toaster, puts the kettle on for coffee, and opens his laptop to log into the system. He had made a start last night when he got in, but still hasn’t come across any missing young women that look like the Stone twins. Jared hasn’t really told many people this, but his grandmother, Sally was a psychic medium, so Ida’s visions aren’t so crazy to him. He remembers being a little kid and watching as ladies came and went from his grandma’s house, trying to get in touch with loved ones who had passed away, or asking what their future might hold. On the days that he and his sister, Antionette were with their grandma, they would spend most of the time begging her to teach them how to tell the future, and asking about the clients that came to see her. She would smile at them, her brown eyes twinkling, and tell them it was a secret. But Jared was obsessed, and still practised as much as he could. He tried it on his parents and his sister, his friends at school, and was constantly guessing what would happen; if it would rain, what they would be having for dinner, what someone’s name was. When he got to about ten years old he stopped seeing his grandma as much because his parents divorced and his mom moved out of town, so they only saw Grandma when their dad brought them to see her on the occasional weekend. When Lydia told him about Ida she seemed so cautious; like he was going to laugh, or think less of her for believing in all that stuff. But he found it fascinating, and assuming Ida was genuine, there just might be something in all these visions she’s been having that could guide them to Kate.
He skims through photographs of girls from cases; some that he’s familiar with, or worked on, and some that are new to him. The toast pops, he goes to butter it, and makes some coffee afterwards, then he makes his way back to the table, munching on the toast, and continues to scroll through photos of missing girls. Any brunettes he comes across, or anyone that even has similar features to the twins gets saved to a folder named ‘For Lydia’. He figures that some of these photographs might not accurately show the girls’ hair or could be taken years before they went missing, or even before they dyed it. He didn’t want to miss anything, or let Lydia down. All of a sudden, Jared comes to Melanie Latter's file, and his eyes open in amazement. He looks away for a moment then takes another look at the screen. It’s quite remarkable. She could easily be Kate and Lydia’s sister. She has the same dark eyes and long, dark hair. Even their jawlines were identical. He reads the date on Melanie’s file. She was fifteen when she went missing in 2015, almost a year before Kate, and the last anyone saw of her was when she stormed out of a teenage disco after having an argument with friends. Jared scrolls through, looking for details on the location, and sees that Melanie went missing in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Her mobile phone was found in a ditch on the A361 which is the opposite direction of her home, so, either someone picked her up in a car, and threw it from the window as they drove, or they found her there, and for whatever reason her phone fell out of her coat or bag, or was purposefully left in the ditch. Jared reads the entire file and starts trying to piece things together. If this is the girl from Ida’s visions, and she was held in the same place that Kate was, then that could be close to Banbury. He needed to show this photograph to Ida as soon as possible. It was also worth drawing Detective McCarthy’s attention to the findings. It was his case after all, and although it hasn’t been an active investigation for months now, Jared doesn’t want to upset anyone, and look like he is going behind their backs. He picks up the phone to call Lydia. There’s no answer, and he leaves a message asking her to call him back immediately.
33
Lydia is walking behind the strange man and trying to keep Molly quiet. As soon as she looked him in the eye, close up, she recognised him; it was the same man who had stood outside the house looking for ‘Margaret’ all those months ago. At that time, Lydia had no idea that name was significant; she thought he was just some mentally ill, or homeless man. He had scared her then, and he scared her today. He said he knew her mother, and Lydia had backed away from him, and was about to run away, but then he said something else that captured her attention completely. He told her that if she wanted to see her sister again, she should follow him. So, she did. What else could she do? This was it; this weird man knew something, and Lydia had to find out what it was. She takes the phone from her pocket to text Jared, but as soon as she starts to type, the battery dies.
‘Shit. Shit. Shit.’
She’s whispering, but the man seems to hear and looks back at her angrily.
‘Don’t call anyone, alright? That’s important!’
He stops walking, and glares at her. Lydia nods furiously; she doesn’t want him to leave, she needs to see and hear the truth, and has to be brave for her sister. They continue to walk, and somewhere between Hampstead and Gospel Oak, the man turns down a street and points ahead at some terraced houses.
‘Just round the back, here.’
Lydia takes a deep breath, and continues to follow him. Molly is walking obediently next to her, and Lydia sees her obedience as a sign that this man isn’t dangerous. They walk down a very narrow alley-way between the terraced houses, and come out in what looks like an old scrapyard of some kind. Lydia looks around, and is relieved to see a young woman with two small children coming out of one of the front doors. She’s buttoning their coats, and making sure their hats are on their heads properly. Lydia wants the woman to see her, and stops for a moment to look in her direction. One of the children, the little boy, sees her first, and waves, then his mother looks up and smiles, too. They may be witnesses if no-one sees her again, Lydia thinks. The man is standing outside a four-story grey building now, that looks like a block of flats. There’s some sort of writing on a sign over the front door that makes Lydia think it must be a halfway house, or some other kind of charity or care home; it’s the most depressing thing she’s seen in a long time; the windows are tiny, and there’s rubbish strewn all over the concrete ground at the front of the building. There’s the remnants of a bicycle tied to bike stand without wheels, a seat, or chain. This place couldn’t be more dissimilar to the street that Lydia and her family live on, and yet it’s only a fifteen-minute walk away. The air seems heavy and dirty, and there isn’t a green, living thing to be seen anywhere around the place. The man enters a code into a key pad on the door and he holds it open for Lydia to follow. He motions for her to stay by the door, and puts a dirty finger to his lips to let her know to be quiet. His eyes are still angry, and Lydia nods in agreement, slowly reaching down to reassure Molly with a head stroke, as she watches the man pop his head around the corner and tell someone he needs to use the lift. They must need to open it for him; a security measure, Lydia assumes. A few moments later, they are inside the elevator, and travelling up. The doors ping open on the fourth floor, and by that time, Lydia has figured out he wants to get her in the elevator instead of taking the stairs, because that way she won’t be seen by the person downstairs in the reception, or maybe even a security camera. It slowly occurs to her that this isn’t a very good sign. But it feels like it’s too late. She’s here now. Then, another thought occurs to Lydia that quickly replaces all others; what if Kate is here?
34
Jared purposefully bumps into McCarthy in the kitchen, and tells him he’s come across a missing girl file from 2015, and the girl looks remarkably like Kate Stone. McCarthy looks exhausted, and doesn’t seem like he wants to engage in conversation, so Jared changes the subject, and asks about a couple of other active cases he’s working on. McCarthy seems distracted and tells Jared he’ll see him later. But Jared can’t just leave it there.
‘Hey, I’m going to send you a pic of that missing girl, the one who looks like Kate Stone. The similarity is crazy!’
McCarthy nods and waves as he leaves the break room with his coffee mug; he has been up all night with his daughter Elsa who has chickenpox. Today, of all days, he is not on Jared’s wavelength. But, ten mi
nutes later, Jared sends an email to him with a photograph of Kate Stone attached, and next to it, a photo of Melanie Latter. McCarthy has to take a second look, and a third. It really is amazing how alike the two girls are. He looks around, and calls out to one of his favourite colleagues, DCI Margo Maclaren, who happens to be walking past his office. She walks in, and McCarthy asks if she thinks the two girls look alike, and she responds asking if they are the Stone twins. When McCarthy says they are not known to be related, but both girls are missing, she looks shocked, and peers at the screen for a few seconds before announcing that she would bet quite a lot of money that they are sisters, or at least first cousins.
‘You’re not a betting woman are you, DCI Maclaren?’ McCarthy teases.
‘I most certainly am not! But even I would put a few quid on those two being related.’
Her phone rings and she winks at McCarthy before as she answers it, and leaves the office. McCarthy continues to stare at the screen. Jared pops his head around the door a few minutes later to see what McCarthy thinks. He is prepared for another cold shoulder, but is pleased to see that his plan is working, and McCarthy is taking this seriously.
‘What led you to this, by the way, Jared? We haven’t looked at the Stone case for ages now.’
Jared already knows that he can’t mention any sort of relationship with Lydia, never mind a psychic in Hampstead who has been having visions telling him to look at old files of missing girls.
‘Just tidying up some old cases, and it caught my eye really, mate.’
McCarthy nods and thanks him. He doesn’t have time today, but he will get someone to look into this.
Back at his desk, Jared makes a plan. The first thing they need to do is cross-reference the photograph of Melanie with Ida’s visions, then Lydia needs to go to McCarthy independently and tell him what the psychic told her. Then, hopefully Jared can legitimately add Kate Stone back on to his active list, and work on it alongside his other cases. He picks up his phone and texts Lydia. It’s after 9AM, and unlike her not to get back to him. Perhaps she’s had a bad night’s sleep, he thinks.
35
Lydia and Molly are inside the man’s bedsit. The place stinks, and Lydia spots an open tin of baked beans on its side, and covered in green mould on top of an overflowing bin. He tells her to sit down. Lydia nods, and diligently sits on the arm of the brown leatherette sofa. The man sits on the small, single bed across the room.
‘What’s your name?’
He shakes his head.
‘No names. I know where your sister is, and I know who has her. I know all of the secrets of your family.’
Lydia is speechless. She waits for him to continue, and notices his face looks sad, and almost contemplative.
‘How do you know my family, my mother? Is it from...?
‘The ranch? From Texas? Sure is.’
Lydia’s eyes widen. She feels the urge to stand up and go over to him.
‘Tell me! Please, tell me where Kate is? Do they have her?’
He looks back at her and seems suddenly entertained at her desperate pleas. His eyes are brighter now, and he starts to laugh. His laughter grows, and soon he is rocking back and forth with the weight of it. Lydia asks him again:
‘Please, tell me how I can get to my sister.’
He stands up, and walks to the counter; there’s a microwave, lots of old food wrappers, and a few dirty cups on it. On top of the microwave are lots of papers and envelopes. With his dirty fingers, the man pulls a photograph out, and looks at it, then, he turns to Lydia and holds it out for her to see. She gets up and moves closer to him. She doesn’t recognise anyone in the photograph; it’s a family with two sons. They look pretty happy.
‘What does this have to do with my sister? Who are they?’
He takes a step back, and indignantly tells her that is his family.
‘They took my sons! Just like they took your sister.’
Lydia is confused, and asks him once again who took her sister. He stares back at her, eyes glazed, then he begins to cry and tells her that his parents joined a ranch in Colorado when he was twelve, and he lived there until he was thirty-seven. He had two boys and a wife, but she died in a car accident while he was away on another ranch in Texas. He met Margaret and her sister Cassie when he was there, and they helped him through the heartache of losing his wife and being separated from his sons. Lydia works out that Cassie is actually her Aunt Jane. They must have both changed their names when they left the ranch. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Lydia is nodding in encouragement, and finding it hard to stop herself from hurrying him to finish the story. He tells her that her mother and her sister had lost both of their parents. Their father had some kind of disease and their mother had died in mysterious circumstances while she was away from them. He remembers hearing that, and just knowing that he wasn’t safe, and his sons weren’t either. He already knew the violence and cruelty that existed in the church, and he knew for certain that it was not part of God’s plan. Lydia interrupts him. She can’t bear it anymore, and bursts into tears. She lunges forward and grabs his hands. Her body is almost collapsing as she sobs. Molly barks, and jumps up on her, trying to reassure her.
‘Please, tell me where my sister is. Please!’
The man stops speaking, pushes her away gently, and takes a couple of shuffling steps back until he’s sitting on the bed again.
‘There is a man who was the son of the leader of the group. We’re talking in charge of thousands of the group’s members. Melvin Todd was his name, he was part of his father, Joseph Todd’s prophecy, where Melvin would have a baby with a beautiful dark-haired young woman, and that baby would be a boy and the next saviour of the world. He wanted your mother to be that mother to that baby y’see and... I helped her escape. I believe he’s the one who’s got your sister, and by finding him, you’ll find her.’
Lydia asks him again to tell her his name. He takes a moment before whispering:
‘Dale. Dale Adams’
Lydia nods and manages a small smile.
‘Dale. Your help is so very much appreciated. Please, come with me to the police so we can tell them what you just told me, and they can find Melvin and my sister. Please! Before it’s too late.’
Dale shakes his head furiously.
‘You don’t understand. They still have my boys, and they will hurt them if anyone knows I helped you. I can’t do that to them. They know I’m here too. You can do what you want with this information, but never mention me or my boys.’
Lydia is sympathetic, and nods her head solemnly in response. Dale is obviously terrified of Melvin and his family.
‘But, how can we ever stop these people, if you don’t lead us to them? There are some good people, experts with this kind of thing, who might be able to get you back with your sons, Dale.’
But Dale is staring out the window, and his eyes are glazed again. He hugs himself, and rocks back and forth. Lydia looks at the door; she knows she needs to speak to the police immediately with this information, but without her phone, she’s stuck. She tells Dale she needs to go, but will be back later, and they will come up with a plan. She reaches down to pick up Molly’s lead and the little dog looks very happy to be leaving. Dale jumps up from the bed, and walks to the door, then turns, and stands in front of it, blocking the way. Lydia is terrified. He won’t let her leave. Molly barks. Dale’s eyes open widely, he stares straight ahead at the wall behind Lydia, then crashes to the ground, and starts to shake uncontrollably, his entire body is in convulsions. Lydia thinks quickly, and puts a pillow behind his head, before opening the door and running downstairs to get help.
36
Kate has been awake all night, and so has Christine. When Kate was on the landing, about to try to escape, Christine had been lying in the dark next to Melvin, thinking about how bad the bruising would be on her face after what had happened earlier. He had obviously drank quite a lot after he hit her, and he stank of alcohol. His sleep was light
and fitful; sometimes he muttered a little bit, but Christine couldn’t make out what he was saying. He often drank after an outburst like that, and it could go either way; the alcohol could calm him down, or it could reignite his aggressive behaviour, so that he started to hit or humiliate her again. Christine had lain there, pretending to be asleep, when he seemed to stir for some reason. Then, Melvin had gone to the bathroom, but after a few minutes she heard him unlocking the door to Kate’s room, and she had sat up in the bed, listening. She had never heard him rape somebody before. She knew that he was doing it to Kate most nights after she had come here, and only stopped when she got pregnant. But, tonight had nothing to do with trying to get someone pregnant, and nothing to do with a prophecy. Christine remembered the sexual attacks she had suffered as a girl at the ranch. It started when she was about thirteen, and she had been told they were tests of faith and strength, or punishments for not being a good enough person. And when Melanie came here last year and Melvin raped her, he told Christine it was to get her pregnant in case she was ‘the one’. Tonight, Christine had waited for it to end, for Melvin to leave Kate’s room and return to bed, and as every minute went by, she realised that she felt nothing for him anymore, except hate. Something had broken in her. If it wasn’t for the prophecy and the baby that Kate was carrying, Christine decided she would want to leave. The thought was entirely shocking to her, and she wondered if she would feel the same way in the morning, or in a few days when she had forgotten about the attack.
The House In the Woods Page 10