Bad Things Happen: when a child goes missing

by K Leitch

  She heard a noise from the living room and hastily flushed the chain: Simon was outside the door when she opened it.

  ‘It’s all yours,’ she said far too brightly. He just gave her a funny look, went in and closed the door. Tracy went in the kitchen to let Buster out for his evening ablutions and sat down at the old pine table. She would tell him now…this evening…strike while the iron is hot…yes she definitely would do it.

  Simon came up behind her a few minutes later and wrapped his arms around her. They had both spent most of yesterday evening helping out with the search for little Owen, the leaflets with a picture of him on his bike were on the table in front of Tracy, Simon picked one up.

  ‘He seems like a sweet boy; his parents must be terrified, I know I would be. I can’t remember him when I was at the school, would he have been in my group?’

  Tracy had a think. ‘No I think he was too young then; still in reception. You only had the older kids didn’t you?’

  Simon had spent a couple of weeks at the school, involving the kids in the making of a comic called “The adventures of ROBOB”. The children had contributed with their own stories and pictures; it was how they had met. Tracy worked at the school in the office.

  ‘Sometimes I am so grateful that I don’t have any kids,’ said Simon. ‘I mean of course I want some eventually but when I see things like this,’ he pointed at the leaflet, ‘I just don’t think I could handle the responsibility…no it doesn’t bear thinking about. It was bad enough when you were hurt, I thought I would lose my mind, those days when you were unconscious, and I didn’t know if you were going to make it. But imagine if that had been a child…our child hurt or frightened. Oh my god Tracy those poor poor parents. I’m going to take the day off tomorrow and join the search again, I have to do something!’

  He went back into the living room and Tracy sat and took in what he had just said. How could she tell him now! No she would wait a bit longer, and just hope she didn’t start showing too soon. Although she was so fat he probably wouldn’t even notice. Well that was the last straw; she burst into tears and had a good cry. Buster came in from the garden and put his head in her lap. He wasn’t worried, he’d seen her like this plenty of times; it always passed usually after she’d had a couple of chocky biscuits, and if he was sympathetic enough she usually shared them with him…he licked her hand.

  CHAPTER 17 - CARLA

  Carla had sped back to the station, calling Ted on the way telling him to get everyone back and gathered in the briefing room ASAP.

  She then phoned Chief Inspector Drew and let her know what she had been told.

  ‘It’s the only lead we have so far Ma’am. So I think we should concentrate the search on the areas that can be reached by travelling through the woods in that direction. There are plenty of old derelict buildings and deserted barns etc, there’s a good possibility that he has been hidden somewhere around there.’

  DCI Drew thought for a moment. ‘Well I agree up to a point Carla but I still think we need to keep our options open. It’s just as likely that he or she had a car waiting for her, and they are miles away by now. I have persuaded Susan and Gordon to go on to the ‘Crime Watch’ programme tomorrow night; appeal for witnesses, etc and I’m going to be interviewed as well. It would be helpful if I had something concrete that I could tell the viewers. Let’s get this McKinny in; and see if he can remember anything more specific about the dark hoody that she was wearing. You never know he may be able to give us enough for us to make an image that we can circulate. Also I want a forensics team to go over that area of the woods with a fine toothcomb, maybe in her panic she dropped something, who knows. I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you to deal with it though, I have a dinner with the commissioner tonight and I’m late as it is,’ and with that she rang off.

  ‘Bloody typical,’ grumbled Carla under her breath, ‘she just issues her commands and then goes off on a jolly.’

  The briefing room was buzzing by the time Carla got there. Obviously the news had spread that some useful information had come in and speculation was rife.

  ‘I bet the father had something to do with it,’ Frank was saying, ‘he was too quiet when we were over there; you know it just didn’t sit right with me.’

  ‘It can’t have been him dumbo,’ said Mandy. ‘He had an alibi for the whole evening, he was with the parish council, they were all getting pissed at the Dog and Duck…we’ve checked it out. Anyway I would have said that the mother was more likely. Melissa, you know my friend who works in the hairdressers, well her daughter Kayleah is in the same class as Owen and she says that the mother is a nightmare. Always up at the school complaining about something or other…a right snotty cow too, it wouldn’t surprise me….’

  ‘Yes well thank you for your theories you two but now I’d like you to turn your attention to some real information that I received today.’ Mandy pulled a face at Frank as Carla swept into the room. ‘We are now looking for a young woman or a very slight man wearing a dark hoody. He/she was seen at about 1.30 am running through Glory Woods near to the bottom meadow carrying something that could have been a child.

  Now she had to get from the Marshall house to where she was spotted somehow, so someone must have seen something…which means I’m afraid it’s back to door to door again.’ She had to raise her voice over the groans. ‘I know, I know but this time we are asking about the hooded figure, I should have an artist’s impression by the morning which I will make copies of. Also Mandy I need you to go over the CCTV footage again. It seems logical that she would have had to go past the community centre to get to Larkspur road where Owen lives. So keep your eyes open for anyone wearing a hood or carrying something…my gut is telling me that we’ll see her on there. Right you lot get cracking, I know I don’t need to tell you how crucial it is that we find him soon. Time is not on our side so let’s dig deep and find this lad before it’s too late. It’ll be dark again soon and he’ll be spending another night alone and terrified, so just think about that when you’re grumbling about overtime etc. okay everybody knows what they’re doing? Good.’

  CHAPTER 18 - MAGGIE

  Maggie tried not to listen as Greg was talking on the phone, obviously to the bitch Misha, as she liked to call her. He was definitely getting grief from her and he was also definitely trying to hide the fact from Maggie.

  ‘Yes that’s fine…ok will do…but don’t you remember sweetheart that you said that you had taken care of that? Well I’m sure you did, but never mind that now; did you remember to take care of that other matter before you went away…you know you said you could drop those papers off to the solicitors on your way to the airport. Yes you did that’s why I gave them to you…what do you mean they’re in your case!’ Greg turned away from Maggie and put his hand up to his mouth. ‘Are you telling me you have taken them all the way to Portugal, how could you have been so fucking stupid…ok ok you don’t have to start crying…Misha calm down….’

  Maggie decided to let him off the hook, she went back inside after giving him a knowing smirk and left him to it. They had both gone outside to have a smoke when Greg’s phone had gone off. Maggie made the now familiar journey back along the corridor to where Jed was. He had been moved to a ward which was better in some respects, it was quieter and more relaxed. But from Maggie’s point of view it was too boring and a long way from the smoking area. Jed was doing ok, if you can call lying in a hospital bed with a bandage on your head ok. The CT scan had shown no damage to the brain and the x-rays hadn’t spotted any damage to his neck; so other than the fact that he was still unconscious he was fine. But until he woke up Maggie was not going to stop worrying.

  The hardest part about her bedside vigil was being with Greg. The smell of him; his voice just his proximity was like a knife in her side. How she could have ever felt she was over him she didn’t know, she just needed Jed to wake up and then they could go back to normal and she could start getting over him all over again.

  She was su
ddenly startled by Greg’s voice behind her.

  ‘Sorry about that…bit of a domestic,’ he said embarrassed. ‘She can be such a dozy mare sometimes…I mean just the other week I asked her to book….’

  ‘Look Greg I don’t mean to be rude; but shut the fuck up about your ‘dozy mare’ of a wife. I am not fucking interested ok?’ shouted Maggie. Greg looked back at her with a shocked expression on his face. And with a cry of frustration Maggie threw her hands in the air and stormed out of the ward again and back to the smoking area, where she lit herself yet another cigarette with shaking hands. Bloody hell she had better get a grip; she was losing it big time and she had goodness knows how long to put up with it. But it just hurt so much, she couldn’t believe that he still had the power to hurt her this way.

  ‘You stupid fucking cow,’ she shouted to herself, ‘what is wrong with you…you’re pathetic… you’ve got to be stronger..

  It was then that she became aware that she was not alone. A very large, scruffy, hairy man was standing a few yards away looking at her or rather trying not to look at her. He had obviously got himself into an embarrassing situation and now didn’t know how to walk pass her without acknowledging that he had heard her shouting at herself.

  ‘It’s ok,’ she said to him, ‘I’m not mad, just frustrated and I needed to be by myself for a few minutes.’ She looked at him pointedly hoping that he would take the hint.

  ‘Oh I know what that feels like,’ he said in a low growly voice that fitted perfectly with is bearlike looks. ‘Sometimes the only thing that helps is to have a good long rant; and if it’s yourself that you’re angry with then the only person to rant at is you.’ He smiled and took a long drag on his cigarette. ‘Don’t mind me; you rant away as long as you like, I won’t interrupt.’ And with that he moved another few yards away. ‘How bloody inconsiderate,’ thought Maggie angrily, ‘if he realises I want to be on my own the least he could do is go away.’ She finished her cigarette and threw it down angrily, near to where tall and hairy was standing and flounced back inside. All her anger towards Greg had dissipated now. She was angrier with the bearded stranger, so she was able to go back in looking calm and serene.

  Jools and Dom had turned up and were chatting to Greg. They all turned to greet her and Jools came over and gave her a hug. Maggie caught sight of Greg looking at her warily so she went over to him and said, ‘Sorry, I guess this is getting to me a bit, won’t happen again.’

  He just smiled at her, ‘No worries sweetheart; I think we’re all just a bit tense at the moment, anyway you missed the big event of the day. Jed moved his hand! Jools was sitting there holding his hand and he squeezed it, didn’t he love?’

  Jools looked at her with tears in her eyes, ‘I think he’s on the mend Maggie, I think he was trying to let me know that he’s on the way back!’

  They all spent the rest of the evening watching for any movement from Jed. But when Maggie finally made her way out to the car park later he had done nothing more. Nevertheless Dr French had said that it definitely was a sign of progress, but that they mustn’t expect too much too soon.

  Maggie was desperate to get home; it had been a long day. She had been at the hospital early this morning and had spent the whole day there. She felt bone weary as she reversed her car out of the space in the cramped hospital car park, when suddenly she had to slam on the brakes, forcing her to hit her head on the roof of the car. A big rusty old Land Rover had pulled out of the space directly behind her and if she hadn’t stopped it would have gone straight into the back of her. Maggie turned off her engine and jumped out of the car, she had had a pig of a day and this was the last straw.

  ‘What the hell are you playing at,’ she almost screamed at the other driver, ‘you must have seen my reversing lights…,’ by then the driver of the old excuse for a Land Rover, had got out of his car too and was towering over, like a raging giant.

  ‘Oh I might have known,’ said Maggie, ‘it could only have been you.’

  ‘And what do you mean by that?’ the tall hairy stranger from this afternoon spat back at her. ‘You should get your eyes tested love, I was already half way out of my space before you decided to commit kamikaze with your Range Rover. If you’re going to have a huge car like that you should at least learn how to drive it,’ and with that he turned to climb back into his car.

  ‘How dare you, you great hairy lummox,’ shouted Maggie who was now incandescent with rage. ‘I’ll have you know that I have driven this Range Rover safely for the last three years…not one single accident. Which, looking at the dents in that heap of junk cannot be said for you….’

  She stopped mid-rant, when she heard a sort of cackling laughter coming from inside his car.

  ‘You tell ‘im love…he needs a good dressing down, thinks far too much of ‘imself he does…ha ha ha.’

  Maggie peered round the enormous girth of the yeti that was still towering over her, and saw two little old faces smiling brightly back at her.

  ‘My Grandparents,’ the mammoth mumbled under his breath.

  ‘Oh excuse me,’ she began shamefaced, ‘I didn’t see you there…, um so sorry to have disturbed you.’ Maggie turned and fled back into the sanctuary of her car. Oh my god how embarrassing; she had actually been shouting in a hospital car park at a stranger. A stranger with his grandparents in his car! She really needed a good night’s sleep.

  The stranger was knocking on her window she let it down a fraction, and said without looking at him.

  ‘Look sorry about that, I’m not normally this neurotic. My son’s in a coma you see and I’m having to spend all my time with my bastard of an ex-husband and I haven’t slept for two…’

  ‘It’s ok, don’t worry about it,’ interrupted Goliath, ‘…um I just thought I ought to let you know that you’ve got a flat tyre, I noticed it when you were shouting.'

  ‘Oh my god, what else can go wrong today?’ And with that Maggie burst into noisy tears.

  Mr Grisly stood his ground not knowing how to deal with this hysterical woman. He waited for her tears to subside, which they did pretty quickly, and after blowing her nose noisily on his proffered hanky Maggie got back out of the car and looked at the offending tyre.

  ‘Do you have a spare?’ the stranger asked walking round to the back of the car and opening the back door.

  ‘Yes of course, but please don’t trouble yourself, I have got breakdown cover I can call them out.’

  ‘Yes but it would be much quicker if you just let me do it,’ by this time he had found the spare and was putting the jack together. Maggie stood by her car helplessly watching him.

  ‘Look, why don’t you go and sit in my car while I get this done,’ he suggested, obviously she was making him nervous hovering over him, so she climbed up into the old Land Rover and introduced herself to his grandparents.

  ‘I’m so sorry about before,’ she began but Martha McKinny put a bird like hand on her arm to stop her.

  ‘Oh please, it was so funny Joe and I had trouble keeping quiet. It’s not often our Duncan gets a telling off like that…so what’s ye name me darlin? Do ye live round here? Who were ye visiting? Oh it’ll be your husband I expect, lovely girl like you bound to have a man sure.’

  Maggie started to laugh and answer her, but she was interrupted by Joe McKinny.

  ‘How the feck is she supposed to answer ye woman if ye don’t let her get a word in? Now stop ye blathering and let the girl speak will ye.’

  ‘Oh let her speak is it Joseph McKinny,’ began Martha furiously. ‘How am I supposed to find out what I be wanting to know if I don’t first ask, ye tell me that ye fecking old goat?’

  And so began one of the strangest twenty minutes of Maggie’s life, and also one of the funniest. Martha and Joe McKinny were like a double act and had her in fits of laughter. But she was perfectly aware that they were finding out all about her as they did so. Martha had obviously got it into her head that Maggie would be good girlfriend material for their grandson (nev
er in this lifetime) and was keen to find out about her love life. She had managed to fob her off she hoped. But if Duncan had taken much longer to change her tyre, she probably would have ended up telling them her life story. As it was he hardly took any time at all to complete the job; and was soon standing beside Maggie as she climbed back into her car.

  ‘Thank you Mr McKinny,’ she said rather formally, ‘and I would like to apologise once again for shouting at you earlier…um I hope you will understand I was just stressed out.’

  Duncan smiled at her and she noticed for the first time that he had the most amazing eyes that she had ever seen. Light greeny blue, almost aquamarine surrounded by thick dark lashes that any woman would be envious of. Suddenly she realised that she had been so busy staring at him, that she had completely missed what he had been saying to her.

  ‘Yes of course thank you…um sorry I didn’t catch that,’ she said turning red.

  ‘I said that the tyre I’ve put on is only a temporary; so make sure you get the other one repaired soon, see you around…Maggie,’ he said with a wave, and got back into his own car and drove off into the night, Martha and Joe waving out of the back window at her as they went.

  CHAPTER 19 - HELEN