by James Carol
‘What did you do?’ Ethan said.
‘Nothing, I swear.’
‘Alice,’ he called out. ‘Are you there?’
No answer.
‘Maybe it takes a minute.’
There was a long silence, then Alice said, ‘Hello, Ethan. Hello, Nikki.’ She was speaking calmly, as though nothing had happened. As though the world hadn’t ended.
‘Thank God,’ Ethan said, ‘you’re still working. What happened?’
‘There was a hostile security breach.’
‘You mean you were hacked.’
‘That’s correct. Most security breaches I’m equipped to deal with, however because of the level of hostility of this attack I had no option but to initiate a complete shutdown. I can confirm that the attack is now over. I am also working to make improvements to my security systems to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.’
‘Laura has kidnapped Bella,’ Nikki said. ‘Do you know anything about this?’
‘I have no record of this event.’
‘She drugged me in the kitchen.’
‘I have no record of that event either. My systems must already have been compromised by that point.’ There was a short pause, then, ‘According to the GPS signal coming from Bella’s tablet, she is currently in Highgate. I’ve sent details of her whereabouts to your mobile phones.’
Nikki shared a look with Ethan then ran from the room. She could hear him close behind. For the first time since she realised that Bella was gone she was experiencing something that felt like hope.
Chapter 42
They barrelled through the open front door and sprinted across the courtyard, matching each other’s pace, both of them burning with adrenaline, heading for the Tesla. Ethan climbed into the driver’s seat and was already backing onto the turntable as Nikki was pulling the passenger door closed. The turntable was turning with agonising slowness, but it was still quicker than reversing. The Nokia rang as Ethan was getting ready to drive the Tesla off it.
‘Stop!’ she said.
He glanced over from the driver’s seat, his hands frozen on the steering wheel. The phone rang again.
‘This phone has GPS too. What if they’re tracking it? We don’t want them to know that we’re out looking for Bella.’
Ethan took his hands from the wheel and removed his foot from the accelerator. The turntable had finished turning and the main gate was wide open, Church Row stretching out beyond it. The phone rang again. Nikki connected the call and switched it to speaker so that Ethan could hear.
‘You took your time,’ Laura said. ‘Anyone would think that you don’t care about your daughter.’
‘Is she okay?’
‘She’s fine, and so long as you do exactly what I tell you to do, she’ll stay that way.’
The voice was colder and harder than the last time they’d spoken, making Nikki wonder how she’d ever been taken in. ‘Please don’t hurt her.’
‘That one’s down to you, Nikki. Like I said, so long as you cooperate she’ll be fine.’
‘I want to speak to her.’
‘No.’
‘Please. She’s going to be scared.’
‘I said no, Nikki. You need to start listening.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Did you get the message I left in Bella’s bedroom?’
‘We’re not going to call the police,’ Nikki said quickly.
‘Do I have to spell out what will happen if you do?’
‘We won’t call them. I promise.’
‘Okay, I’m going to go, but I want you to keep the Nokia with you at all times. Next time I call, you answer straightaway. Understand?’
‘I understand.’
‘I know you’re scared, Nikki, and that worries me. Scared people have been known to do stupid things.’
‘I’m not going to do anything stupid.’
‘I really do hope so. Bella hopes so too. However, in the event that stupidity starts to take over, you need to get control of yourself and stop that from happening. There’s only one thing you need to remember here: if you keep your head and do everything you’re told then Bella will come out of this just fine.’
‘Please let me speak to her.’
The silence that followed this went on long enough for Nikki to think that she might actually get to speak to Bella, then Laura was back.
‘Maybe I’ll let you talk to her later. I need to see that you’re cooperating first.’
‘I am cooperating.’
‘No, you’re telling me that you’re cooperating. That’s not the same. I want to see that you’re cooperating.’
‘What do you want? Money? If it’s money we can get that for you.’
‘I’ll be in touch,’ Laura replied and the line went dead.
Nikki looked at the phone in her shaking hand, then navigated to the call log. Laura’s number was withheld.
‘Bella’s going to be fine,’ Ethan said.
Nikki said nothing. She wanted to believe him, but just couldn’t make that leap. One glance at Ethan, and it was clear that he didn’t believe what he was saying either. He gave her a grim look that could have meant anything, then put his hands back on the steering wheel, getting ready to go.
‘Wait. One of us needs to stay here.’ Nikki held the phone up. ‘What if they are using GPS to track this?’
Ethan frowned as he worked through the implications. The problem was that neither of them was thinking straight at the moment. All they were doing was reacting to events. Was Laura actually tracking the phone or was that just their paranoia? But, if there was even the smallest chance that she was, then they had to act as though that was the case.
‘I need to stay here with the phone,’ Nikki said. ‘Laura will be expecting to speak to me.’
‘Okay, that makes sense.’
‘I want to know everything that’s happening though.’
Chapter 43
Nikki got out of the car and watched Ethan drive away. She watched until the gate was fully closed and the Tesla had disappeared from sight before going back inside. The house suddenly felt bigger. Emptier, too. She sleepwalked through to the kitchen and sat down at the island. She half-expected to turn around and see Bella standing there, but when she glanced over her shoulder, the kitchen was empty. The silence seemed to be mocking her.
‘Stop it,’ she whispered to herself. All of a sudden there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. She looked around desperately for something to distract herself with, but everything was happening too fast. The panic quickly built and there was nothing she could do to stop it. All the strategies she had learned were useless. She was going to be sick. She was having a heart attack. She was going to pass out. She was going to die. These thoughts hit her one after the other – bang, bang, bang, bang – a series of punches that left her reeling.
Somehow she found herself on the floor with her knees pulled into her chest. Her vision was swimming with tiny dots, everything getting greyer. She closed her eyes but the dots were still there. Her breaths were coming more rapidly than ever, her heart racing so fast it felt as though it was about to explode.
‘You’re having a panic attack.’
To start with Nikki thought that the voice was inside her head, but this wasn’t like the usual voice she heard when she was talking to herself.
‘Concentrate on the exhalation, Nikki,’ the voice ordered. ‘Make it longer.’
It took a massive effort but her next exhalation was longer than the inhalation. The next was a little longer still.
‘You’re going to be all right, Nikki. Just concentrate on slowing your breathing.’
Nikki inhaled, then exhaled. Inhaled, then exhaled. Inhaled, then exhaled. She could feel herself slowly coming back down. Her limbs were weak and shaky and she still felt sick, but the worst was over. She took another breath and another, then opened her eyes.
‘Your heart rate is returning to normal,’ Alice said. ‘How do you feel?’
�
�Tired.’
That was an understatement. She felt exhausted, as though she had run a marathon. It was always this way after an attack. The panic sucked the life right out of you. She looked up at the stool. Getting back onto it was a step too far, like climbing a mountain. For now, she was happy just to sit here on the floor.
She looked around, gradually becoming more aware of her surroundings as she came out of herself. Her gaze was drawn to the big monitor. The Picasso was gone and in its place was a map of London. The blue flashing dot heading northwards was Ethan; the red flashing dot in Highgate was Bella. Ethan was making good time but she wished he would hurry up. She watched for a while. Bella’s dot was moving too, heading east. This wasn’t what she had expected. She’d thought that Bella was being kept at a house in Highgate. Instead it looked as though she was on the move. A phone rang, making her jump. For a second she thought it was Laura, but this was her own ringtone. Her head spun as she stood up. Her legs seemed to be holding up okay though. The phone was buzzing against the top of the island, doing a little shimmy. Ethan’s name had flashed up onto the screen. She sat down on a stool, picked up the mobile and connected the call.
‘I should be with Bella in about five or ten minutes,’ Ethan said. ‘The traffic’s not too bad.’
‘What will you do when you find her?’
The silence coming from the other end of the phone was telling. Neither of them had thought this through. Was Laura armed? Was she on her own? And what the hell did they think was going to happen? That Laura was going to say sorry and just hand Bella over? It was Alice who broke the silence.
‘Ethan,’ she said. ‘Take the next left.’
‘So what will you do?’ Nikki pressed.
‘I don’t know,’ Ethan admitted.
She could hear the strain in his voice. The frustration. The worry. They were both totally out of their depth here. ‘We need a plan.’
‘All we can do is take this a step at a time. First we find her, then we work out what to do next.’
‘That’s not a plan. That’s just hoping for the best.’
‘I know,’ Ethan snapped. ‘But right now it’s all we’ve got.’
‘Take the next right,’ Alice said calmly.
‘Maybe we should get the police involved,’ Ethan suggested.
‘No. No police.’
There was a long silence then Ethan sighed. ‘Let’s find Bella first, then we can work out what to do.’
Nikki sensed that he was about to go. ‘Stay on the line. I don’t want to be on my own.’
‘It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere.’ A pause then, ‘Look, Nik, she’s going to be all right. You’ve got to believe that.’
‘I do believe that.’
Ethan didn’t respond, and that was as good as calling her on the lie. For the next few minutes the only voice saying anything belonged to Alice as she reeled off the directions, each turn taking Ethan closer to Bella. Nikki watched the dots on the screen moving towards each other, the feeling that disaster was looming up ahead growing stronger the closer they got. Wherever possible Alice had zoomed in on the map and they had now reached the point where the street names had started to appear. Alice had plotted a course so that Ethan would come up behind the vehicle Bella was in. He was only a couple of turns away now. The next minute passed with agonising slowness, the two dots moving closer until they had almost merged.
‘Bella is in the vehicle directly in front of you,’ Alice said.
‘She can’t be. It’s a taxi. There’s a car in front of it, though. Maybe she’s in that.’
‘No, Ethan. She’s six metres directly in front of you. She must be in the taxi.’
‘The cab is indicating left. I’m going to follow it.’
A couple of seconds later the red dot on the screen made a left turn. Ethan was right behind it.
‘Is Bella still in front of me?’ he asked.
‘She is,’ Alice confirmed.
‘She must be in the taxi then. The car that was in front went straight ahead at the last junction.’
‘Can you see Bella?’ Nikki asked.
‘No. As far as I can tell there’s only one person in the back of the taxi. A woman.’
‘Describe her. It might be Laura.’
‘I can’t really see her from here.’
‘Is she old or young?’
‘I said I can’t see her. Okay, the taxi is stopping. I’m going to pull over too.’
‘Don’t hang up.’ Nikki had the phone pressed hard against the side of her head and was listening hard.
‘The taxi driver is an Indian guy. I’d say he’s in his mid-fifties. It looks like the woman in the back is giving him some money. Okay, I can just about see her now. She’s white. Mid-twenties.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘She might be younger.’
‘Shit. Laura was in her thirties and Hispanic. What’s she doing now?’
‘She’s getting out the cab,’ Ethan said. ‘And she’s on her own. The cab’s pulling away.’
‘Could Bella still be in the cab?
‘No,’ Alice said. ‘The GPS signal isn’t moving.’
‘The woman must have Bella’s tablet,’ Ethan said.
‘What’s she doing now?’
‘She’s standing on the kerb, checking her phone.’ A pause. ‘I’m going to go speak to her.’
‘What if she’s working with Laura?’
‘I don’t think so. If you’ve just pulled off a kidnapping are you going to be travelling around by cab?’
Before she could say anything else, Nikki heard Ethan opening the car door. The street noises got louder. Somewhere in the distance a car horn blared.
‘Excuse me,’ Ethan called out a few seconds later. ‘This might sound strange, but I think you might have my daughter’s tablet.’
The street sounds got momentarily louder again, then, ‘How could you possibly know that?’ The surprise in the woman’s voice was totally genuine.
‘I’ve been following its GPS signal.’
The woman laughed. ‘It’s amazing what you can do with technology these days.’
‘You’ve got it, then?’
‘It’s in my bag. I found it lying on the street. I was going to hand it in to the police. Judging by the stickers on the cover I figured it must belong to a little girl. I was hoping they would be able to track her down and return it.’
Ethan thanked the woman and a couple of seconds later the Tesla door opened and closed again.
‘I’ve got the tablet. I’ll see you soon.’
The line went dead. The devastation in his voice mirrored her own feelings. Bella seemed further away then ever. Nikki switched off her phone and laid it down gently beside the Nokia. For a while she stared at the Nokia, willing it to ring again, but it just kept its silence. The scream started deep in her soul. By the time it reached her lips it sounded like the desperate cry of a dying animal.
Chapter 44
On the night Sarah Ryan died, she left her office late. I was with her the whole way, following her as she made her way down the anonymous corridors, bouncing from one camera to the next each time she slipped from view. She stepped into the elevator and selected the ground floor. The nails on her right hand had been bitten back to the quick. I saw this when she lifted her hand to push the button. The lift descended quickly, Sarah shuffling nervously on its metallic floor like a trapped animal. I zoomed in on her face. She looked old and ugly. Deep crow’s feet dug into the corners of her eyes. Her head stayed motionless, but her eyes moved constantly, searching for her invisible tormentor.
Moving from camera to camera, I followed her progress through the foyer and out onto the street. At the entrance to the underground station I ping-ponged after her, moving swiftly from camera to camera, down escalators, through the tiled tunnels, gliding across enamel. Sarah stepped onto the train and I lost her for a while. This didn’t concern me. Her destination was no mystery. As my night-time phone calls became m
ore frequent she had locked herself away from the world in her flat. These days she only ventured out to go to work.
I was there waiting when she got off the train, following her from camera to camera as she made her way topside and hurried towards home. As she got closer, her pace picked up. She was almost running now. I could sense her relief as she walked through the big glass doors. The doorman nodded a greeting that wasn’t reciprocated, and she hurried towards the elevator.
I already had one waiting.
The doors opened as soon as she pushed the button. She stepped inside and selected the twenty-third floor. A discrete security camera tucked away in one corner allowed me to share her final moments. Red numbers flickered, counting off the floors – 17,18,19. Sarah stared at them, willing them towards 23. She lifted a hand up to her mouth and chewed nails that were no longer there. The twenty-third floor came and went. Sarah started hammering frantically at the button for 23. The gesture was a futile one. She belonged to me now.
I stopped the elevator at the thirtieth floor and waited. Sarah pushed the button to open the doors. She pushed it again and again, each jab more desperate than the last. The telephone rang and it must have sounded overly loud in the cramped elevator because she stepped back sharply. She looked at it for a second, then reached out and picked it up with a trembling hand.
‘H-hello. Who’s there?’
I said nothing.
‘You need to help me. The elevator has broken down. I’m on the thirtieth floor. Please send someone to let me out.’
Still I said nothing.
‘Can anyone hear me?’ she demanded, her voice beginning to crack in the upper register.
‘Yes, I can hear you.’
‘Thank God,’ she said, hurrying to get the words out. ‘Please send someone to get me out.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t do that, Sarah.’
There was a slight pause, then, ‘How do you know my name?’ The question was asked in a confused little-girl voice. ‘Who are you?’
‘You know who I am.’
‘K-Katy?’
I disengaged the brakes. The elevator plummeted two floors before the safety systems came on and it shuddered to a halt, metal tearing against metal. All the colour had drained from Sarah’s face, light grey turning to white. Framed in monochrome she had become evil personified and I knew I was doing the right thing.
