‘I understand that you have strong feelings, Lizzy, about what happened. But—’
‘And now,’ she interrupted, ‘you’re doing it again. Emma has been taken, by that man, and instead of getting out there and looking for her, you’re telling us that we shouldn’t take action. Well, how about a little action from you and your colleagues by getting out there and finding my friend, instead of lecturing us?’
‘Lizzy, it’s clear that you’re upset—’
‘Every minute that goes by is a minute lost.’
‘Look,’ Gasnier said, seeming to lose patience, ‘every minute you argue with me is a minute lost too. I assure you, our concern is to get to the truth, and to solve each crime that we are presented with. That’s what we do. But when you’ve been in this job for as long as I have, you learn that sometimes the best thing to do is to just pause, and challenge your instinct.’
‘He has got her,’ Lizzy said, calming. ‘I know he has. Do you think that?’
‘I’d like to take a look around the flat,’ he said, evading the question, much to Lizzy’s disgust. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Gasnier asked Dan.
‘Go ahead,’ he replied.
As Gasnier moved into the passageway, Dan flashed Lizzy a warning look and spoke to her in a low voice. ‘You’ve got to stop attacking him, Lizzy. We need their support. I know you’re upset. So am I. But we don’t want to turn them against us. You’re going to have to put up with him.’
Lizzy just shook her head.
‘There are no signs of a struggle,’ Gasnier said, re-entering the room. ‘Lizzy, you said that the door was open when you got to the flat?’
‘Yes. It was ajar.’
‘I might be wrong, but if Emma did leave with someone else, then it looks likely that she went willingly. The fact that her purse and phone are missing points to that. Do you have any idea whom that might be? Was she due any visitors?’
‘No,’ Dan said. ‘There weren’t any pre-planned visits.’
‘And I don’t think Emma would have gone off with someone else,’ Lizzy added. ‘I mean, she knew the situation, and she wouldn’t have risked that.’
Gasnier raised an eyebrow. ‘Unless it was someone she trusted.’
Lizzy was far from convinced. ‘Like who?’
‘I don’t know – you tell me.’
‘Well, I can’t think of anyone she trusts that would want to do her harm,’ Lizzy said.
‘Dan?’
‘I can’t think of anyone, either.’
‘Okay,’ Gasnier said. ‘If you do think of anyone, then let me know. In the meantime, be vigilant. I suggest you consider staying together, maybe not here. And please, do report anything you feel is suspicious. You have my number.’
He moved out into the passageway, heading for the door. But before he could reach it, Lizzy caught up with him. ‘Are you going?’
‘I am.’
‘But what are you going to do? What are you going to do to find Emma?’
He turned at the threshold. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be doing whatever it takes to find out what has happened to Emma. And there are still a lot of us out there looking for Peter Myers. Everyone is doing their best to bring this situation to a swift conclusion.’
This didn’t sound enough to Lizzy. ‘Aren’t you going to search the flat more? You know, dust for fingerprints, and do forensics? It might confirm that Peter Myers has taken her.’ Her frustration was evident.
Gasnier looked at her sympathetically. ‘Lizzy, you have to trust us. We need to prioritise our actions. As soon as I leave this building, the first thing I’m going to do is ask my officers to obtain access to the CCTV from the street outside. I’ve noticed that there are new cameras just down from here.’
‘They put them up a few weeks ago,’ Lizzy replied, nodding. ‘Emma told me there’s been some vandalism on the shops.’
‘Well, the cameras might show Emma, and anyone else that may have been with her. So we’ll pursue that line of enquiry first.’
Lizzy acquiesced. But she felt as if she were on the verge of collapsing, reaching out to the doorframe to steady herself. ‘Please, just find her.’
Lizzy closed the door behind the departing DI. She turned to Dan, who was standing there, his back against the wall, his eyes closed. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘I don’t know, Lizzy, I really don’t know.’
‘He’s got her,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to face it. I know he’s got her.’
‘Don’t,’ he said. ‘I can’t bear it.’
‘I’m going to see if anything else is missing,’ she said, heading for the living room. Dan watched from the doorway as she scoured the room – she didn’t know what she was looking for. She brushed past Dan, back into the hallway, and headed for the bedroom. He followed her, unspeaking. Finally, Lizzy stopped, realising the futility of her actions. She moved back out into the corridor with Dan. ‘We need to do something,’ she said. ‘We can’t just stay here, waiting for news.’
‘Lizzy, we’re powerless. We can’t do anything.’
‘We can go out, search the streets,’ Lizzy said.
Dan shook his head. ‘London is a huge place – even if Emma is still somewhere in the city. It might make us feel better, give us the sense that we’re doing something, but where would we start? Gasnier is right. As frustrating as it is, we need to let the police get on with it and put our faith in them.’
‘If Emma had given up on you, then you might not be alive today,’ she shot back.
The comment stung. ‘I’m not giving up on Emma, okay?’ Dan stormed into the kitchen and slammed the door.
Lizzy stared at the closed door for a few seconds. What the hell are we going to do? If she thought about it too much, she would go mad. She considered following Dan and making peace. After all, they were all on the same side, and they all wanted the same thing: for Emma to be back with them, safe and unharmed. They needed each other. But maybe a bit of time to reflect would do both of them some good. She retreated to the living room.
As she stood in the centre of the room, not wanting to sit down and add to her sense of inaction, she spotted Dan’s wedding ring, on top of the television, in a little red and white dish. She moved across and picked it up, turning it over in her hand. Lizzy turned to look towards the kitchen. A surprising and disturbing thought flashed through her mind. She would have to have this out with Dan.
Chapter 32
Lizzy sat there, wondering whether she would be wise to raise the issue of the ring with Dan at such a moment. But she realised she needed to hear his explanation, otherwise there would be the element of doubt, and that would be no good at all.
She suddenly realised that she hadn’t called Will back. He would be waiting for her. Picking up her phone and ringing his number from her contacts list, she let him know the worrying news. He promised to come straight round.
Just as the call was ending, Dan appeared at the entrance to the room.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, as Lizzy said goodbye to Will.
‘Me too,’ Lizzy said. ‘We need to stick together.’
‘We do,’ he agreed, moving a couple of steps closer. ‘Has something happened with Will?’
‘I’m sorry, I meant to tell you – Miranda’s had her baby. A boy called Jack. They’re at St Thomas’ Hospital.’
‘But it wasn’t due for another four weeks or so . . .’
‘I know. She went into labour and they had to do an emergency C-section. But everything is okay.’
Dan snorted, digging at the carpet with his foot. ‘I wish everything was okay. More than anything.’
‘I know.’
Lizzy had the ring in her left hand. She decided to get it over with, especially now that things had calmed down between them. ‘Dan. This morning we found this.’ She opened her palm and watched for Dan’s reaction.
‘My ring.’ He reached for it and screwed it back onto his finger.
‘Did you not realise you weren’
t wearing it?’
‘No, I guess not. I suppose that with everything that’s been going on, I just forgot about it.’ The admission seemed to sadden him. ‘Where did you find it?’
‘It was under the sofa.’
He nodded.
‘Did you take it off?’
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘Why?’ Lizzy tried to keep her tone light.
‘Because it’s too tight. I know it sounds silly, but it makes me feel claustrophobic. It’s like when you were little and you got your finger stuck in a bottle. You start to panic, and you have to get it off.’
‘You didn’t tell Emma?’
‘No. I thought it might have just been the hot climate when we were in Mauritius – you know, making my fingers swell. So I waited until we got back home, but it’s still the same. I’ve been taking the ring off at night; otherwise I can’t get to sleep.’
‘Why didn’t you tell Emma when you got home, then?’
Dan shrugged, looking at her with exasperation. ‘I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want her to think that there was any problem. I thought she might have worried that there was some greater meaning to it – some symbolism – but, really, there isn’t.’
‘It’s just that Emma wondered why it was under there.’
His expression darkened. ‘Look. I slept in this room last night. Right next to the sofa. I took the ring off, and placed it underneath, because that’s where it was safest. And this morning I forgot about it. Why all the questions, Lizzy?’
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘It makes sense now.’
‘Don’t you trust me? Doesn’t Emma trust me?’
Lizzy stood up. ‘Of course she does.’
Dan went to respond, but stopped himself. ‘This person, they want to drive us apart, and they’re winning.’ His tone had softened considerably. ‘We’re attacking one another, and we really shouldn’t be.’
‘I know, Dan, I know. You’re right.’
Dan looked close to tears again. ‘What are we going to do, Lizzy?’
‘I don’t know.’
Dan moved over to the window and took out his phone. ‘I’m going to try Em again.’ As Lizzy watched hopefully, he shook his head, grimacing. ‘The phone’s turned off.’ His shoulders slumped and he cupped his hands over his face. ‘I shouldn’t have gone to work today. I left her on her own.’
‘But you didn’t,’ Lizzy replied. ‘You left her with me. I’m the one who shouldn’t have left her.’
His hands still covering his face, Dan didn’t appear to be listening. ‘I left her to the mercy of Peter Myers. I went to work, as if everything was normal.’ He brought his hands down. ‘It’s all my fault, Lizzy,’ he repeated, his face pained. ‘It’s all my fault. We shouldn’t have stayed around here. We should have left this morning, either gone up to Salford Quays, or anywhere else. But instead I just made it easy for him.’ He shuddered. ‘If anything has happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself.’
Lizzy moved across to him. She knew that they had to haul themselves out of this mire, despite the horrific reality of their situation, for Emma’s sake. She needed them.
She placed a hand on his arm. ‘We have to think positively, Dan. We’ll be no good to Emma if we just assume the worst.’
‘I know,’ he said, ‘but I can’t help thinking about where she is, and what’s happened. It’s killing me.’
‘I’m the same. But we’ve got to fight those thoughts, Dan, because if we don’t, then it will be all too much, and he’ll win.’
Dan nodded. ‘I just wish he would take me instead. I’ve never been as scared as I was when he was holding me in that house, but I’m more scared now. I’d gladly swap places if it’d bring Emma back safely.’
‘I know you would.’
‘You should stay somewhere else tonight,’ Dan said. He put his chin up and took a deep breath. ‘In a hotel. You and Will. I’ll pay. I didn’t protect Emma, but I can protect you.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’m staying here,’ he said.
‘But why?’
‘Because Myers might come back. And I want to be here if he does.’
Lizzy stepped back and looked at him. ‘What, you’re going to use yourself as bait?’
‘I wouldn’t put it like that, but I suppose so, yes.’
Lizzy nodded, once. ‘Then I’m staying too, and I’m sure that will also go for Will. We’re in this together, so I’m not letting you do that on your own.’
Dan seemed to deflate a little, and didn’t argue. ‘Thanks, Lizzy. I know how much being taken by Myers affected you. You’re very brave.’
Lizzy shrugged, deflecting the praise. ‘So, what do we do now?’ she asked.
‘Will’s on his way, isn’t he?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then we’ll wait for him, and take things from there.’
Will arrived some thirty minutes later. They updated him on what Gasnier had said, and their plans to stay in the flat, rather than hide out somewhere else.
‘Count me in,’ he said. ‘We have to stick together.’
‘That’s great, Will,’ Dan said. ‘Really great.’
‘Thanks,’ Will replied, but he still looked perturbed.
‘What is it?’ Lizzy asked.
‘Well, you didn’t tell Gasnier the full story. You didn’t tell him about the blackmail.’
‘No,’ Lizzy said.
‘You don’t need to worry about protecting me,’ Will insisted. ‘If we think that telling the police that this person knows about my involvement in Stephen Myers’ death will help to identify them, then we tell them.’
Dan looked across at Lizzy, then at Will. ‘Emma wouldn’t want that.’
‘I know she wouldn’t,’ Will said, ‘but that’s not the point. The point is doing whatever we can to help her.’
‘I agree that we need to do whatever it takes,’ Lizzy said, ‘but I just don’t think that would help.’
‘Well, I’m just saying that if either of you believe it would help, then I will gladly do it.’
‘Thanks, Will,’ Dan said.
For a few minutes they sat in the living room in silence, waiting for the phone to ring. Then Lizzy remembered her conversation with Adrian Spencer. ‘There’s something else I need to tell you both,’ she said.
Both Will and Dan looked sick at the thought of another revelation, and she hurried to reassure them. ‘I met up with Adrian Spencer today. He told me all about Firework Films. Apparently they’re ruthless in what they do. They take advantage of the people in the programmes they make, and they bribe or threaten those that complain.’
‘It doesn’t surprise me,’ Dan said, only really half listening. ‘Some of those programmes, you can see there’s no ethical values.’
‘That’s not the revelation,’ Lizzy continued. ‘He told me to look up the directors of the company on the Companies House website. Well, I did, and we know one of them.’
‘Go on,’ Dan said, his attention now fully on her.
‘Guy Roberts.’
‘You’re joking,’ he said, getting to his feet, his face flushing in anger. ‘As if that man hasn’t already done enough damage.’ Dan began to pace the room, as Lizzy and Will looked on. ‘He tried to ruin Emma’s life to promote that film, and now he’s behind the company who’s making a TV programme about us all?’
‘I can’t believe it,’ Will said, slowly. ‘What a low-life. He’s profiting from our suffering. Again.’
‘I know,’ Lizzy said. ‘And, now that I know the truth, I’m not going to let him get away with it.’ Lizzy nodded to herself. She felt completely useless just sitting in Emma’s flat, knowing all the while that her best friend was out there somewhere, in all probability being held by that madman Peter Myers. It felt like there was nothing she could do – it was in the hands of Gasnier and his colleagues now. But then she realised: there was something she could do – something that would help make her feel very much better, and sort th
ings out for Emma when she was back. Because she is coming back, Lizzy told herself firmly. She could stop the docudrama once and for all, by going to see Guy Roberts.
Dan stopped pacing. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to pay Guy Roberts a little visit first thing tomorrow.’
Will looked uncomfortable. ‘Do you think that’s wise?’
‘Possibly not. But I’m not going to sit back and take this. I feel like that at this moment, it’s the one thing I can do for Emma.’
‘I’ll come too,’ Dan said. ‘I want to look that piece of dirt in the face and tell him some home truths.’
Chapter 33
Early the next morning, Will wandered aimlessly around Regent’s Park. There was something about that green oasis in the heart of the city that kept pulling him back. It now held so many memories: some good, some bad. There was the time, in late summer, when he had struggled to decide whether to tell Emma about his fear over the real reason for Dan’s disappearance. Then, just a few weeks ago, the girl whom he knew then as Amy had bounded over to him, all smiles and full of positive energy. He had fallen in love with her that day. But it seemed like a lifetime away now.
He made his way up to the far end of the park, squinting in the bright, wintry sunshine. A break in the wet and windy weather appeared to be holding, and it was a clear, if blustery and chilly morning outing.
Will sat down on a bench and scanned the area. He knew it wasn’t realistic, but part of him hoped that he might suddenly see Emma walking in the distance. He would call her over, and everything would be all right. He closed his eyes, feeling so tired. He hadn’t slept much at all in the night, his head was so crammed full of worries.
Will stayed like that for a few minutes, before opening his eyes again and pulling out his mobile. He had to call his dad – he had asked for an early morning update.
Edward was already at the hospital, at Miranda’s bedside.
Will was amazed. Maybe baby Jack really will be Dad’s new start in life. He waited as his dad moved out of the ward, to be able to talk properly. But in hushed tones.
‘Any news?’
The One You Trust: Emma Holden Trilogy: Book Three Page 17
