by D. S. Butler
Claire pulled away. It had been on the tip of her tongue to tell Peter about the card, but she didn’t. She wanted to scream at him and demand to know why Peter hadn’t tried to catch him.
“If he had nothing to do with the abduction and was just a normal delivery man, why did he run, Peter?”
“I didn’t see him run.” Peter sighed and shook his head sadly. “You were just running wildly up the street, causing a scene.”
“Causing a scene?” Her voice was so high-pitched she barely recognised it. “Our daughter is missing, and you’re concerned about me making a scene?”
“Claire, you are sitting in the middle of a busy pavement. Come on, let’s get back home.”
She shook his hand off her arm. “Let go of me.”
“Please, Claire, calm down. You are trembling.”
She was trembling, but not with fear, with rage.
Chapter 39
Kelly Johnson reported the incident to Tyler, and he immediately set about assigning officers to look into it.
“We can access the security cameras in Drake House. It’s probably easier if one of us goes over there to look at them now,” Tyler said.
DC Webb was sitting in a desk at the front of the incident room and spoke up, “Do we think the flower delivery guy really has something to do with it, or was she overreacting?”
Tyler shook his head. “We don’t know that yet. There was no card with the flowers so we don’t know who sent them. Claire Watson said she didn’t recognise the man who delivered them. The scrawl he left in the signing book is illegible so that won’t help us. One thing we know from his description was that it definitely wasn’t Benny Morris.”
Tyler turned to Collins. “Please tell me we are closer to tracking Benny Morris down?”
Collins pulled a face and shook his head. “I am afraid not, sir. There has been an officer stationed outside his residence all day, but he hasn’t returned yet.”
Tyler muttered a curse under his breath and then addressed the room.
“The delivery driver may not have any relevance to this enquiry. Claire Watson is quite clearly emotionally on edge. Her husband doesn’t appear to think there was anything suspicious about the delivery, at all, but nonetheless, we need to look into it.”
There was a murmur of voices around the room and then Tyler turned to Mackinnon. “Jack, can you get over to Drake House and have a word with Claire Watson, and take a look at the CCTV while you’re there?”
Mackinnon nodded. “No problem.”
Tyler then turned to Charlotte.
“Charlotte, give Glenn Calvert a ring and tell him to be extra careful about delivery drivers calling at the Georges’ place. If this is an attempt to make contact by the abductors, then it is quite likely that they’ll target the Georges as well.”
Charlotte nodded. “I’ll do it straightaway.”
“Do we think the abductors are no longer going to contact the parents via text message?” Collins asked.
Tyler shook his head. “We’re not assuming anything. We are keeping an open mind.”
“You know what happens when you assume, don’t you?” DC Webb asked with a broad, inappropriate grin on his face. “You make an ass of u and me.”
A collective groan sounded around the room.
Tyler moved a pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him. “We need to keep monitoring their phones, but also be on the lookout for any other method of communication. For some reason, they are using this situation to get the parents to compete against each other.”
Charlotte finished talking to Glenn Calvert as Tyler ended the impromptu briefing and walked into Brookbank’s office to give him another update.
She picked up her coffee, walked over to Mackinnon and perched on the edge of his desk.
“What do you make of this latest development?”
Mackinnon shook his head. “It is a puzzle. We’ve been working on the assumption this is about money, due to Ruby’s parents’ wealth, but I think it has far more to do with the abductors exerting control over both sets of parents.
Charlotte took a sip of her coffee. “It’s getting too late to process any more interviews now. Have you heard how Collins and Tyler got on with questioning Addlestone?”
“He’s pretending that the items in the bin weren’t his. He denied putting them in there, even though I saw him do it with my own eyes.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “It was dark. You were on the other side of the road…”
“I know what I saw,” Mackinnon said firmly.
Charlotte put her hands up. “I am not doubting you for a minute, but you know that’s what they will say in court. God, wouldn’t life be easier if criminals would just confess?”
“It would certainly be refreshing,” Mackinnon said. “They are giving Addlestone some breathing space now, but they’re going to be going back in for another round of questioning soon. Brookbank is eager to get Zelda Smith’s analysis and input into the next round of questioning. You can just imagine how that went down.”
“I bet Tyler is over the moon.”
Mackinnon smiled wryly and picked up his jacket. “He is not a happy bunny.”
* * *
Claire Watson had locked herself in the bathroom. It was the only place she could be assured of privacy.
Peter was watching her like a hawk as though he expected her to have some sort of emotional breakdown, and the family liaison officer had been watching her almost as closely as Peter.
Claire pulled the note from her trouser pocket, and with her heart in her mouth, she read it again.
A new phone is waiting for you in a cardboard box by the communal ice machine.
Don’t delay.
We will be sending more instructions to that phone at midnight.
Claire put a hand to her chest and could feel her heart racing. How was she supposed to get the new phone without anybody seeing her?
She knew she was meant to tell the police the kidnappers had been in touch. That was the right thing to do. But if she told the police, they would prevent her from communicating with the abductors and following their instructions.
She couldn’t risk it.
If the other mother kept quiet and took part in the next stage of the game, she would win.
Claire couldn’t chance it.
She wasn’t prepared to be a team player or a good citizen. Let the other mother tell the police. Let her risk her daughter’s life.
A knock on the bathroom door made Claire jump.
She shoved the note back into her pocket and gripped the side of the sink.
“Claire, darling, DS Mackinnon is here to see us. He wants to talk to you about the er… incident earlier.”
Claire swore under her breath.
That was the last thing she needed. She leaned heavily on the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror, shaking her head at her ungroomed appearance.
She barely recognised herself.
Careful to keep her voice steady, she said, “Okay. I will be out in just a moment.”
She splashed some water on her face and smoothed back her hair.
A ball of fury grew inside her chest. That stupid, interfering police officer. All she wanted to do was go and get that phone, but she couldn’t do that with a police officer hanging around.
The card had said there would be a new message at midnight, so she still had time. All she had to do was get rid of that damn police officer as quickly as possible so she could locate the phone.
Claire unlocked the door and put her hand on the handle. She took a deep breath.
It was time for her to put on the performance of her life.
Chapter 40
Janice George was on her balcony smoking a cigarette. She might not live in the nicest part of London, but she liked her flat, and they’d been happy until those bastards had taken Lila. She frowned at the sound of revellers leaving the pub across the road and wished she lived higher up.
They
’d requested a move from the council plenty of times, but they never heard anything.
They’d only managed to secure this place as council tenants because Janice had been a single mother at the time, after she and Toby had split for a couple of years.
After they’d got back together, the council could hardly kick them out on their ear, so they’d managed to keep their three-bedroom place, which was more than many families had.
It’s not that they didn’t deserve it. They paid their rent on time every month, but accommodation wasn’t easy to come by in the capital and council places were getting rarer and rarer unless you came from another country and had a boatload of kids.
Janice took another puff on her cigarette, breathing the smoke deep down inside her lungs.
It was fully dark now, and out there somewhere, Lila was scared and alone.
With a shaking hand she viciously stubbed out the cigarette on the metal railing.
She was just about to go in when she saw a flash of white just below her, something skimming through the air.
She peered over the edge of the balcony. It was too late for birds. What could it have been?
She saw a figure moving below, and then she scowled. It must be bloody kids messing about, chucking rubbish around probably.
Then she saw it again – that bright flash of white, soaring into the air.
This time, it nearly took Janice’s eye out. She pulled back just in time.
“Oi, what do you think you’re playing at? Stop throwing stuff around,” Janice shouted.
Woe betide anyone who tried to cross her today in the mood she was in.
“It’s a message,” a voice hissed.
Janice’s heart thudded in her chest.
She leaned over the balcony railings as far as she dared, trying to see who it was down there.
“Wait! I’ll come down.”
But before she had a chance to pull back, the white object zoomed passed her ear. Startled, she drew back and then saw it was a sheet of paper, fashioned into a crude paper aeroplane. It landed on the balcony next to her feet.
Janice reached down to grab it.
Janice held her breath as she unfolded the paper aeroplane. A message was scrawled across the paper in black ink.
This was sick. They were sending paper aeroplanes as though this was some kind of child’s game.
The paper trembled in her hand. They were going to set her another task at midnight, and she wasn’t sure if she could do it. She still pictured Sam Markham’s scarred skin every time she closed her eyes.
She held her breath as she read the message.
A new phone is waiting for you in a cardboard box by the rubbish chute.
Don’t delay.
We will be sending more instructions to that phone at midnight.
She folded the paper into a compact square and clutched it tightly in her hand as she pushed open the balcony door and stepped back into the sitting room.
Her husband was sitting on the sofa next to the annoying family liaison officer, Glenn Calvert.
The television was on, but Toby wasn’t watching it.
Janice tried to keep her voice level as she said, “Toby, could you come and give me a hand settling Ella?”
Toby looked up, surprised, and she gave him a look, trying to silently communicate that she needed to talk to him alone without Glenn Calvert suspecting they were up to something.
Come on, you dopey bugger. Get your backside off that sofa.
Finally, Toby pushed himself up from the sofa and followed Janice into the baby’s room.
He walked over to Ella’s crib and looked inside.
“She’s fine,” he said. “She’s fast asleep.”
“I know that. I just needed to talk to you in private, and this was the only thing I could think of.”
Toby opened his mouth to ask her why, but instead of answering, Janice handed him the piece of paper.
Toby put a hand to his mouth, and his eyes widened as he read. “Christ.”
“What should we do?” Janice said, hearing the note of desperation in her voice.
Toby was quiet for a moment, thinking, and Janice went to sit in the comfy chair beside the baby’s cot.
Toby perched on the arm of the chair and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go to the rubbish chute and get the new phone.”
Janice nodded and watched her husband sneak out of the room and head for the front door. She chewed on a fingernail anxiously. What would they do if the phone wasn’t there? Some of her neighbours didn’t exactly have high moral standards. They would think nothing of pinching a mobile phone left unattended.
She could only hope Toby got there in time. They had until midnight to wait for the next message, and already Janice was panicking about what they might ask her to do.
She’d always considered herself a strong woman, but the cracks were starting to show. She could only take so much.
It would be different if they’d acknowledged her last task or given an indication Lila was okay. That would have given her hope.
She was starting to think they would never get Lila back.
She leaned over baby Ella, who was sleeping peacefully, and stroked her soft cheek. She remembered when Lila was the same age. They were so much easier to look after when you could keep them with you all the time.
She looked up sharply as Toby slipped back into the room.
“Did you get it?”
His face looked gaunt and drawn in the soft light coming from baby Ella’s nightlight.
He nodded and held up the phone. “There was already a text message on it.”
He held it out so Janice could read the message on the screen.
Level I unlocked. Await further instructions at midnight.
“What the bloody hell does level one unlocked mean?”
“I suppose they mean the first stage of the game.”
“Should we tell the police?”
Toby shook his head. “Not yet. The police haven’t told us anything about the other family getting a message, have they?”
Janice shook her head. “No. I don’t know if they got one.”
“Think about it, Janice. Of course, they got a message, too. That’s the whole idea behind this sick game. Two sets of parents competing for their daughters’ lives. They would have got the message, and they haven’t told the police. If we don’t do what the abductors ask, and the other parents do, then we lose by default, don’t we?”
Janice held her head in her hands and stifled a sob. “Oh God, what are they going to ask me to do this time? I don’t think I’m strong enough, Toby.”
Toby leaned down to press his lips against Janice’s forehead. “You’ve played your part already, love. It is my turn this time.”
Janice looked at her husband through watery eyes. “Can you? I mean, it was my phone they sent the message to originally. Doesn’t that mean only I can do it?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
Toby tapped a couple of buttons on the mobile phone and started to type a text message.
He had just pressed send when the door opened, and Glenn Calvert stuck his head in the room. Toby quickly shoved the mobile phone between the chair cushions.
“Is everything all right? I was just going to make another cup of tea,” Glenn said.
Janice wanted to tell him to mind his own business and stick his bloody tea, but Toby was more polite.
“Everything is fine. We were just reading Ella a bedtime story.”
Glenn Calvert glanced at Ella, who was fast asleep, and then looked back at Toby and Janice. “Do you just make it up as you go along?”
Toby frowned in confusion. “Sorry?”
“You’re not reading the story from a book.”
“Oh,” Toby said, nodding. “Yes, I know the stories off by heart now.”
Glenn Calvert seemed to accept Toby’s answer and nodded before closing the door.
A second later, there was a mu
ffled beep from underneath the chair cushions, and Janice scrambled for the phone.
They had a new message.
Either parent can take part in the game.
We don’t discriminate.
Chapter 41
When Rob returned to the basement flat, he had been horrified to realise that Benny still wasn’t back.
Marlo had watched him with amusement as he tried to explain how dangerous it was for Benny to be out on his own alone at this time of night, especially in an area of London he didn’t know that well.
The smirk on Marlo’s face made Rob want to knock him out.
“I need to find him,” Rob insisted. “I’ll have to go look for him. Sorry, Marlo, you’ll have to do the rest yourself.”
“You’re overreacting. Benny is not as stupid as you think. He just got lost and he’s probably made his way back home by now. He’s been banging on about going home all day.”
Rob nodded and could have almost smiled with relief. Of course, why hadn’t he thought of that? Benny would have gone straight home. He would probably be safe at home in their flat, sitting on the sofa watching TV.
“You’re right. He’s probably gone to the flat. I’ll go and check he is okay.”
“No, you won’t.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The police will be watching the flat. They won’t be looking for Benny, but they will be looking for you after your screw up earlier.”
“My screw up?”
“Your face would have been caught on the cameras at Drake House. They’ll be looking for you.”
“That wasn’t a screw up. I did what you asked!”
Marlo shrugged.
Rob felt sick. He knew Marlo was right. His face would have been captured by cameras at Drake House. It wouldn’t take the police long to piece together the footage and find he had been at Monument Underground station, too… and at the bus stop when Janice George threw acid over that poor bastard.
“You may as well stay here and enjoy the rest of the game,” Marlo said.
But Rob had shaken his head. He’d had a really bad feeling about this from the start. Why hadn’t he paid attention to his own instincts?