The One You Trust: Emma Holden Trilogy: Book Three

by Paul Pilkington

  He waited for a few seconds after he had ended the call, in the hope that she would ring back immediately. But when there was no response, he called Lizzy. This time, she answered. ‘Lizzy, it’s Will. Are you with Em?’

  Lizzy’s response sent him reeling.

  Chapter 30

  Lizzy decided it would be quicker to walk, so she set off at a pace through the drenched London streets. The sky was a dark, lowering grey, and there was no sign of the rain abating. She didn’t have an umbrella with her and while her winter coat was warm, it was not waterproof, but she kept going, ignoring how soaked she was. Her hair was sticking to her forehead, and water tickled her nose as it dripped off the end.

  Lizzy made her way through the back streets of Soho, to the junction of Oxford Street. Buses coasted past, splashing oily rainwater up from the road’s edge. She managed to avoid catching any of the large waves. Crossing Oxford Street, she continued northwards, towards Emma and Dan’s flat.

  Please let everything be all right.

  Lizzy pulled out her phone again, in case she had missed a call. She hadn’t. But, just as she was about to slide it back into her coat pocket, a call came through.

  Her hopes were dashed when she saw from the caller ID that it was Will.

  ‘Lizzy, it’s Will. Are you with Em?’

  ‘No,’ she replied, narrowly avoiding a deep puddle by the side of the road. ‘I had to go to a meeting at work. She stayed at the flat. I’m just on my way back there now.’

  ‘I’ve been trying to get in touch with her,’ Will continued, ‘but I can’t get any answer, either from their home phone or her mobile. Have you spoken to her recently?’

  Lizzy hadn’t wanted to involve Will yet, as she didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily. But now she had no choice. ‘I can’t reach her, either. That’s why I’m going there now.’

  ‘You don’t think—?’

  ‘I’m sure it’s okay, Will,’ Lizzy cut in quickly. ‘There’s probably a good explanation as to why she’s not answering.’

  ‘I don’t like this. It just seems so reminiscent of . . . what happened last time, with Dan.’

  ‘I know, I know. But we shouldn’t assume the worst. I’ll call you as soon as I get there. It should only be ten minutes or so.’

  ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘But I might not be able to answer straight away. I’m at the hospital.’

  ‘Hospital, why?’

  ‘Miranda’s had her baby. A boy, called Jack.’

  Lizzy stopped at a busy junction, waiting to cross. ‘That’s amazing. Are they all okay?’

  ‘Yes, they’re fine. I’m with them. I just popped out to call you.’

  Lizzy went for a gap between two taxis. There wasn’t much space, but she was quick enough to make it. ‘Don’t say anything to them, Will. They shouldn’t be worrying at such a special time.’

  ‘My dad already knows I can’t get in contact, so I’ll have to update him. But we won’t tell Miranda. I agree – it wouldn’t be fair.’

  Lizzy ended the call with another promise to phone as soon as she knew anything.

  As she closed in on the apartment block her nerves grew, and by the time she reached the front entrance her heart was going like a jackhammer. She stood at the base of the steps, looking up to Emma’s window. Will had been right: it was too reminiscent of all those weeks ago, the night of the hen party, when they had arrived in the taxi, hoping to find Dan safe. Instead, they had discovered Richard, beaten to within an inch of his life, Dan gone, and the nightmare had begun. It seemed such a long time ago, but it really wasn’t.

  Lizzy closed her eyes, and mouthed a silent prayer for her friend. Then she keyed in the security code, pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway.

  Emma’s neighbour, Mr Henderson, was inching his way down the stairs, his hands gripping the banisters tightly and his eyes focused on the floor. He looked so fragile.

  Despite her concern for Emma, Lizzy knew she couldn’t just ignore him. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked, moving towards him.

  She couldn’t help but think of the parallels with last time, when Mr Henderson had intercepted them on the way up to the flat.

  He looked up, evidently surprised to see her. ‘Oh, it’s okay, dear, I can manage.’ He conquered the last two steps and, looking relieved, made to go past her.

  ‘Mr Henderson, have you seen Emma?’

  He turned around slowly. ‘No, but I heard her, moving around upstairs.’

  Lizzy had never felt so relieved. She climbed the staircase with renewed optimism, convincing herself that everything was indeed all right. It wasn’t until she reached the top that the dread returned.

  The door to the flat was ajar.

  Lizzy froze. ‘Please, no,’ she whispered. ‘Please, not again.’

  She considered turning around and calling for help, but then she heard a noise coming from inside the flat. It sounded like a door opening. ‘Em? Is that you?’ She moved towards the outer door. ‘Em?’ Her voice was still no more than a whisper.

  She pushed open the door as quietly as possible and poked her head around the doorframe. She was sweating as she inched along the passageway towards the kitchen. The door there was half open, and she could see the light on. ‘Emma?’ There was no response, but she heard a noise from inside the room. A clatter.

  Lizzy didn’t like this at all, but it felt too late to turn around. Gathering her courage, she reached out to the door and it swung open.

  A black shape bounded towards her.

  Lizzy shrunk back. ‘No, no, NO!’

  The shape skirted past her and sprinted for the open door.

  It was a cat. She recognised it. It was often hanging around outside the apartment building. It must have somehow got in the building and then come in through the open door. It disappeared down the stairs.

  Lizzy put a hand to her head, and looked back at the kitchen. Blowing out a sigh of relief, she began to half laugh to herself.

  And then another noise came from behind her. She swung around, and caught her breath.

  A man was standing in the doorway to the flat.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said, holding up his hands. ‘It’s DI Gasnier.’

  Lizzy put a hand up to her mouth. ‘You frightened me to death. I thought you were . . .’

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ he said, seeming uncomfortable at the idea of coming any closer and risking putting Lizzy more on edge. ‘I saw the open door, and heard your shouts. I really didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.’

  ‘It’s okay, really.’

  He seemed to relax. ‘I came to speak to Emma. Is she around?’

  ‘We’ve been trying to ring her. I came here looking for her.’ Then the realisation dawned. ‘My God, something’s happened to her. He must have her, he must have taken her!’ She covered her mouth with her hands, staring desperately at Gasnier.

  Gasnier stepped towards her. ‘Please, try not to jump to any conclusions.’ He maintained a respectable distance. ‘And try not to panic. Can you tell me everything that’s happened?’

  Lizzy nodded. She felt sick as he shepherded her to the kitchen table and made her sit down. ‘I shouldn’t have left her alone, I should have said that I couldn’t make the meeting. Or I should’ve insisted that she come with me. And now that monster Peter Myers has got her. Despite all the warnings, I let it happen!’ She realised she was beginning to panic and took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

  ‘What makes you think that he’s taken her?’

  She looked at him as if he had just said the most ludicrous thing imaginable. ‘Well, of course he’s got her.’

  ‘Lizzy, we work on evidence. Do you have any evidence?’

  ‘Well . . . no,’ she admitted. ‘But I know that’s what has happened.’

  ‘So you tried to call her and there’s no answer?’

  Lizzy nodded.

  ‘I tried to call too,’ Gasnier said. ‘I got the same response. Could she have gone out, and m
aybe her phone is out of battery, or she just can’t hear it?’

  Lizzy shook her head. ‘She said she wanted to go for a run, but I don’t think she did.’

  ‘But it’s a possibility?’

  ‘Maybe. But I just don’t think so. Oh my God, what are we going to do?’

  Gasnier held her stare for a couple of moments. ‘Are any of her possessions missing? Phone, purse, coat, trainers? Anything you might expect Emma to have on her person.’

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to look.’

  ‘Take a look now,’ he said.

  Lizzy nodded and searched hurriedly through the flat, while Gasnier looked on.

  ‘I can’t find her purse or phone,’ she said, looking at Gasnier expectantly. ‘I think her winter coat is missing too.’

  Gasnier didn’t give any reaction. ‘There have been some developments,’ he said finally.

  ‘Developments?’

  ‘With Peter Myers. That’s why I came here, to tell Emma.’

  Lizzy’s hopes rose. ‘You’ve recaptured him?’

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘Then what?’

  He seemed to be thinking about how much to tell her. ‘We now believe that Peter Myers planned his escape.’

  ‘But you said you thought it was probably just a spur of the moment decision!’ Lizzy looked at him, wide-eyed.

  ‘These things often are. But we’ve got evidence that this isn’t the case here.’

  ‘What evidence?’

  ‘Peter Myers was admitted to hospital after being attacked by a fellow inmate. We’ve now had information that it was planned. Peter Myers asked the prisoner to do it, so that he would be transferred to hospital.’

  ‘So he let himself be attacked?’

  ‘It appears so. And it was a pretty nasty assault. Which it had to be really, to require a hospital transfer. Otherwise it could have just been dealt with by the prison’s medical team.’

  ‘He’d go to those lengths?’ Lizzy asked, disbelievingly.

  ‘It appears so. Although the attack may have been more severe than he’d planned. It’s often the case when this sort of thing is set up.’

  Lizzy was thinking of Emma. Where is she? Is she okay? ‘You’ve got to help Emma. You’ve got to do something! Can’t you call your colleagues, let them know what’s happened? They could start looking for her.’

  ‘There’s something else first.’

  ‘But every minute you wait, something could happen to her!’

  ‘It’s not as simple as that.’

  Just then Dan burst into the flat. ‘Emma, Lizzy?’

  ‘We’re in the kitchen,’ Lizzy shouted, before realising that Dan would interpret the ‘we’ as being Emma and her.

  Dan pushed through the door. ‘Thank goodness you’re—’ He stopped dead at the sight of Gasnier. He looked at Lizzy, his voice cracking. ‘Oh my God, no.’

  ‘She wasn’t here when I got back,’ Lizzy explained. ‘And the front door was open.’

  ‘It can’t be,’ he said, shaking his head. He turned and strode towards the other rooms. ‘Em! Emma?’

  Lizzy glanced at Gasnier. They could hear doors opening and closing.

  ‘Dan, can you please come back in here?’ Gasnier sounded a little as though he was ordering him.

  Dan staggered back in. He was crying. He looked over to Lizzy. ‘He’s got her, hasn’t he?’

  ‘I hope not,’ she said. ‘I really hope not.’

  Dan let out a wild, swinging kick at the kitchen bin, shouting, ‘I shouldn’t have left her!’

  It toppled over and crashed to the floor, spilling its contents.

  ‘Dan, you’ve got to calm down,’ Lizzy said. He’s in danger of doing himself, or someone else, harm. She’d never seen him in such a state before, although in the circumstances it was totally understandable.

  Gasnier stood up and took him by both shoulders. Dan fought against looking at him, but eventually fixed his eyes on the officer’s. Only then did Gasnier speak. ‘Dan, please, just breathe deeply, and take a seat,’ he said in a calming, steady voice.

  Dan nodded, and did as requested. But although he was now quiet, Lizzy could see that he was only just keeping a lid on his raging emotions.

  ‘Right,’ Gasnier said. He recapped the first piece of news, for Dan’s benefit. Dan didn’t react, but as he listened he appeared to be calming down. And then Gasnier moved on to the next revelation. ‘Peter Myers had someone on the outside, helping with the escape.’

  ‘It was all so well planned,’ Lizzy said, shocked.

  ‘Yes, it was. The CCTV from the hospital revealed that there was another person involved – they were driving the car that Peter Myers used to escape from the hospital.’

  ‘Could you see what they looked like?’ Lizzy asked.

  ‘Not particularly well,’ he admitted. ‘The camera was at a distance, and the driver was wearing a baseball cap, so their face was shielded. They knew what they were doing.’

  Lizzy caught her breath. A baseball cap? Could it be—? ‘Do you know what colour it was?’

  Gasnier seemed surprised by the detail of the questioning. ‘What, the cap or the car?’

  ‘The cap.’

  ‘Dark. Possibly blue, but difficult to say.’ He appeared suspicious. ‘Why do you ask?’

  Lizzy looked across at Dan. He nodded. ‘Because there’s something we haven’t told you.’

  Chapter 31

  Gasnier’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m listening.’

  Lizzy hesitated. Was it really possible that the person who helped Peter Myers escape was the same individual who had been sending the messages? After all, the fact that they both wear a dark-coloured baseball cap could just be a coincidence. It certainly wasn’t anything like proof.

  Gasnier didn’t hide his impatience. ‘Please, Lizzy.’

  She nodded. She wasn’t sure that this was all connected, but he needed to know, in case. Emma’s life might depend on it, and for the police to do their job properly, they had to have the facts. ‘Someone has been following us, and leaving us messages. It started while Emma and Dan were on honeymoon, just over two weeks ago.’

  ‘And how is this relevant to Peter Myers?’

  ‘It might not be,’ Lizzy replied. ‘But this person, I’ve seen them – they were in the downstairs entrance of the apartment building, hand-delivering a letter. They were wearing a dark baseball cap. Just like the person in the car.’

  ‘You didn’t see their face?’

  ‘No. I ran after them, but they were too fast, so I didn’t get a proper look.’

  Gasnier didn’t give away whether he thought that this was relevant or not, but his continued questioning did signal that he was taking Lizzy seriously. ‘What was the nature of the messages? Were they threatening?’

  ‘Not particularly,’ she replied. ‘They were warnings, telling me not to trust anyone.’

  ‘Anyone in particular?’

  ‘My friends.’

  ‘By which you mean Emma, Dan . . .’ He trailed off, letting his expression ask the question.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And have you kept the messages?’

  ‘They’re back at my flat.’

  ‘I’d like to see them,’ he said. ‘Did anything else happen with this person?’

  ‘They posted a photograph to me. It was an old photo, showing Dan with Stuart Harris. It must have been designed to cause trouble between Emma and Dan. An attempt to destabilise their relationship.’

  ‘I knew Stuart Harris before I met Emma,’ Dan explained. ‘But I never told her about it.’

  Gasnier nodded his understanding. ‘You said the photograph was old?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lizzy said.

  ‘Several years old,’ Dan confirmed. ‘Before Emma and I got together.’

  ‘And whose photo was it?’

  ‘Stuart’s,’ Dan said. ‘It was taken with his camera.’

  ‘So he would have had the image in his possession
?’

  Dan nodded. ‘I assume so.’

  ‘So this person, who sent the photograph, must have had access to Stuart Harris’s possessions, either before or after his death.’

  ‘That’s what we thought,’ Dan said.

  ‘Did you?’ The question dripped with sarcasm as Gasnier fixed Dan with a stare. ‘Tell me more about your thoughts.’

  Dan looked a little intimidated by the tone of questioning. ‘Well, we thought it might be Sally Thompson. She was Stuart’s fiancée, so she would have had access to his things, especially after he died. And she has the motive and the recent history of trying to hurt us.’

  Gasnier listened. Lizzy could see him thinking it over. ‘Did you do anything about your suspicions?’

  ‘No,’ Dan said.

  ‘Good. We can question her. I agree that it sounds logical, but I’d caution against jumping to any conclusions. And I don’t want you getting involved. You know what happened the last time you took things into your own hands – Edward Holden was extremely lucky to escape a jail sentence for shooting and wounding Peter Myers. And both your lives were put at risk by the actions taken by him and William. It could easily have turned out very differently.’

  Dan nodded, but Lizzy bristled. She fought the urge to say something, but couldn’t hold it in. ‘We took action because you refused to believe that Dan had been kidnapped! You didn’t take our concerns seriously. You thought Dan was the villain.’

  ‘That’s not the case at all, Lizzy,’ Gasnier replied, looking at her. ‘We have to work with the evidence, and keep an open mind. There were many angles to the case, and we had to consider all possibilities. A man had been brutally attacked, Dan was missing and we had sufficient concern to believe that he may have been responsible.’

  Lizzy shook her head. ‘It was more than that. You dismissed our concerns. You made us feel as if we had something to hide.’

  ‘Lizzy . . .’ Dan said, trying to rein her in, but she was undeterred.

  ‘Your indifference pushed us into taking action.’