The Anita Waller Collection

by Anita Waller

  She crumpled. ‘No, of course I don’t.’

  ‘Then start talking. We can’t do anything about your husband and Mrs Fremantle, but I believe Jake is still alive. If he or she intended killing him, it would have happened at the house. There’s no reason to risk being caught with the baby, if the intention was that he was going to die anyway. So, talk. I need to know who his father is, and everything about him.’

  Liz hesitated briefly, mentally shrugged and told her story. ‘I had an affair. We had been together six months, and if things hadn’t conspired against us, I believe we would be together properly now. It wasn’t a fling. We were the right pairing, at the right time. And then I accidentally became pregnant.’

  DI Brent waited. She was clearly in a painful place. ‘Go on,’ he said.

  ‘It forced me to look at what I was doing. I was only five weeks pregnant, so I ended the relationship. I couldn’t do it to Gareth, and most of all I couldn’t do it to Dan. Added to all of that, he was a client, and even if Banton and Hardwick hadn’t sacked me, I would have felt I had to resign. I did the “right” thing and ended it. He didn’t agree, not at all, but he respected my wishes and we haven’t seen each other since.’

  ‘You haven’t been in touch since?’

  The hesitation was brief. ‘No.’

  ‘We’ll need his name and address, please, Mrs Chambers. And his phone number.’

  She felt panicked and hoped it didn’t show on her face. ‘He has a wife and daughter…’

  ‘And?’ Brent raised his eyebrows, as he queried her statement.

  ‘And they’re going to be upset enough by this, so don’t go in with your size twelves, and make everything worse for them,’ Liz snapped. ‘If I thought for a minute that Phil had something to do with Jake’s disappearance, I’d have given you the information long before this.’

  Her anger surprised him. ‘Liz, I’m not in this job to upset people for the sake of it, I’m in it to solve murders, find missing people – I need that name and address, and I need it now.’

  Liz delved into her handbag and took out a small notebook. She quickly wrote down Phil’s name and address, followed by his home telephone number. Tearing off the sheet, she handed it to Brent. ‘This is his wife’s address. Apparently he’s left her, and hasn’t been there for some time. I can’t help with any more details, because I haven’t been in touch for over eighteen months. I needed a signature from him, and she was forced into telling me he had left her, but neither of us has heard from him.’

  Brent stared at her. ‘And you didn’t think to tell me this? What if this is a man who simply wants to be part of his son’s life? A man who has been discarded by the woman carrying his baby, and who decided to take matters into his own hands.’

  He stood and turned to Tanya. ‘Get her home, DC Baxter. I’ll be speaking further to you,’ he said, looking pointedly at Liz. ‘Is there anything else you didn’t feel it necessary to tell me?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. And don’t speak to me like that. End of.’ She stood and picked up her bag. ‘I’ll make my own way, thank you, Tanya. I need time to think. Tell me, DI Brent, do you have anything that could possibly lead you to where my son is? He’s been missing twenty-four hours, and aren’t the first twenty-four hours the most important in any missing persons case? Failed miserably, haven’t you, you…’ she searched desperately for the words she wanted, without using the profanities she needed to use, ‘sanctimonious prick.’

  Liz closed the door with a bang as she left, and instantly the tears fell. Her world had imploded. She stormed through the lobby and out of the external doors. Standing for a moment and taking in deep breaths of the frigid air, she tried to calm down.

  Heading towards the tram tracks, she decided enough was enough. She had felt intimidated by that man, and that was a bad feeling; it wouldn’t happen again. And she wanted her car back. They had removed it from higher up Sadie’s road, to forensically go through it, but how long was that likely to take?

  She wouldn’t be catching trams if she had her own transport. That was her priority; no more depending on lifts via Tanya Baxter. There could be nothing in the car to give the police any help. There would obviously be evidence of Jake having been in it, but only around his child seat. She took out her mobile phone and rang Tanya. ‘Tanya? Sort out getting my car back to me, will you?’

  ‘It should only be a couple of days, Liz…’

  ‘No, Tanya, I want it tomorrow. It’s obvious the damn car wasn’t used in any way to commit any sort of crime. It was used to transport my husband to his bit on the side, so expedite it, will you. See you later.’

  She disconnected, giving Tanya no time to respond. She reached the tram stop, still feeling as though she was going to cry again. The glow from the tram as it approached cheered her; she would be home with Dan in ten minutes. She had no idea what to tell him. Should she confess? What impact would that have on his relationship with his baby brother? What impact would it have on the rest of his life? The tram picked up speed and she settled back into her seat and switched off her mind.

  Ten minutes later she walked down her drive.

  ‘Mum?’

  She heard Daniel’s voice as she opened the front door. ‘Hi, sweetheart, it’s me.’

  He came out of the lounge and into her arms. She had no time to take off her coat, put down her bag; he clearly needed the comfort of her hug, so she stood and held him.

  ‘Has something happened?’ she asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I went in to prepare something for tea for us, thinking it would take my mind off the bad bits. It didn’t, it made it worse. I cook for you, Dad and me. Not you and me.’

  She held him tighter. ‘And Tanya. Although I doubt she’ll be here for much longer. We had a bit of a spat. It’s why I’ve returned alone. I’ve told her I want the car back. I won’t be in work for some time, but I’m going to need to get about, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be using public transport.’

  Dan stepped away from Liz, and they shared a high five. ‘I knew you’d make me feel better. Go you. And get that car. Spag bol?’

  ‘Spag bol,’ she agreed. ‘She can either like it or lump it, I don’t care either way.’

  It turned out that Tanya did like it, and in the end the evening passed better than Liz would have thought, especially as Tanya confirmed the car would be available from lunchtime the following day. Dan went up to work on his game, and Liz put Classic FM on to give some background noise. Both she and Tanya settled down to read, but Liz couldn’t concentrate on her book. Her mind was anywhere but in those pages, and finally she simply pretended to read, giving her brain free range.

  Liz ached for her little boy; she hoped wherever he was, he was being cared for, and not being neglected in any way. He was only a baby… surely his kidnapper would look after him. She checked her iPhone in case she had missed any calls, but there was nothing. No communication from anyone. There had similarly been nothing on the landline.

  Why had the kidnapper taken him? Did he or she want money? Had she managed to upset someone so deeply that they felt this was the way to pay her back? Who?

  Her job took her into court on a regular basis – had somebody been sent to prison and it had been unjust? Again, who? Maybe she could brainstorm with Tom and Oliver; they knew as much about her cases as she did. And three heads were obviously better than one.

  She felt her eyes closing, and Tanya touched her arm. ‘Liz, go to bed. You need to sleep.’

  She nodded. ‘You’ll be okay? Help yourself to anything you fancy, although things must be running a bit short. I’ll see you in the morning.’

  Liz’s phone rang as she was climbing the stairs. She looked at the name on the screen and was tempted to reject it. ‘DI Brent,’ she said stiffly.

  ‘Mrs Chambers. You’re not in bed, are you?’

  ‘Just on my way. Why?’

  ‘I need to speak with you.’

  She gave a sigh. ‘Will it tak
e you long to get here? I am really tired. I didn’t sleep last night.’

  ‘I’m outside, in my car.’

  Again, the sigh. ‘Okay. But can we make it quick?’

  ‘Five minutes.’

  She headed back downstairs, popped her head around the lounge door. ‘Your boss is here.’

  He was standing on the doorstep when she clicked open both locks.

  ‘Come in.’ She knew she was being churlish. This man was still working at ten at night, trying to find her son.

  She led him into the lounge, and he acknowledged Tanya’s presence with a brief nod.

  ‘Is Dan here?’

  ‘He’s up in his room. Do you want him?’

  ‘No, I wanted him out of the way while we talk. Can I sit down?’

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry…’

  ‘Liz, stop flaring up at me. I’m on your side, you know.’ He frowned slightly as he spoke. ‘I’ve been to see Rosemary Latimer. It appears she is aware of your affair with her husband, and she also knows he fathered Jake.’ He held up a hand. ‘And before you have a go at me, she volunteered that information. I didn’t tell her I knew that he’d left her, I simply asked to speak to him. She became quite upset, and it all came out that he’d left her, but it was some months ago and she hasn’t heard from him in all that time. She stressed what a good father he’d been to Melissa and it was out of character for him to not have anything to do with her.’

  Liz stared at him. ‘What are you saying? That you think Phil has taken Jake?’

  ‘No, I’m not saying that. Mr Latimer hasn’t touched his bank accounts, used his mobile phone, contacted a daughter he loves deeply and a wife he still cares about, or work. None of this makes any sense. What I’m really saying is that I think this is all connected, although how is beyond me at the moment. But one thing I am sure of, we’re not looking for a missing child, we’re looking for a missing child and his daddy, along with a double murderer. From now on, don’t go anywhere without me knowing about it, and there will be a squad car parked outside for the foreseeable future. Dan isn’t to go anywhere on his own, and neither are you.’

  ‘But…’

  He held up his hand as if to shut her up. ‘Liz,’ he said tiredly, ‘for goodness sake, stop fighting me. Go to bed, let me go home to my bed, and we’ll look at it with new eyes tomorrow morning. Tanya… be vigilant. If there’s anything, any strange noise, you ring the station.’

  Chapter 26

  Captor watched the screen with interest. The man appeared to be coping well with the child. The mother was probably falling apart, quite justifiably. She would learn the hard way to stick to her own kin, and not become involved in other families.

  The baby cried, and Captor muted the sound. The man, the beloved Phil, went into father mode and picked up the baby. He soothed him, and then picked up a book to read to him.

  Captor’s mind switched to the news shown that morning. It seemed that the whole country was on the lookout for this baby. It was a pity they didn’t know about the missing father as well.

  Captor smiled, and switched off the screens, closed the door hiding them, and left the building. The plan was developing nicely – time to sit back and let the main players stew.

  Phil was a trifle bored with Peppa Pig, and he swapped the book for one about dinosaurs. The sounds he made caused much giggling in Jake, and he wished he could be as resilient as this young baby. He didn’t feel much like giggling, he didn’t feel like much of anything, except regaining his freedom, and that of his son.

  Since having had the chain removed, he’d taken full advantage of being free to move around, and several times he had climbed the twelve stairs up to the metal door, feeling his way around it. It was in shadow, so he couldn’t really see much, but he could touch. There was nothing. It was smooth; no screws, not even an indentation.

  There was nothing else, four walls, no window; no escape.

  Chapter 27

  For the second night running, Liz hardly slept, despite being back in her bed and not on the sofa. DI Brent confirming that Phil was being treated as a missing person both uplifted and squashed her. The possibility that he was dead made her feel bereft. Heartbroken.

  And suddenly Gareth’s death had intruded into her thoughts. It was almost as though the discovery of his infidelity had wiped out her good memories of their life together, and she was beginning to remember little things from a happier time; the grief took hold.

  She pulled his pillow towards her, and held on to it through the night. His untimely death meant he would never see Dan graduate, never experience the wonders of grandchildren, never walk in snow, kick autumnal leaves; death was hard to accept, especially at three in the morning, when the world outside her bedroom window was sleeping.

  Except for the two policemen in the patrol car parked in the layby directly outside her home. The one in the passenger seat held up a thumb to her in query as he spotted her standing at the window. She responded with an upright thumb. ‘Everything’s okay,’ she whispered. ‘I want my son.’

  Liz went downstairs and switched on the kettle. A cup of tea would calm her frazzled nerves, perhaps help her sleep. She grabbed a couple of biscuits and went into the lounge, nursing the mug of tea. She wondered if Rosie was asleep, or making her own 3am cuppa; two women, both wondering where a man and a baby were.

  Liz’s arms were aching to hold Jake. She was trying to control her feelings, trying to be strong for Dan, when all she wanted to do was scream at everyone to get out there and find him. Gareth was gone, there was nothing anyone could do about that, but Jake… no tiny body had been found, and she was clinging to that thought with a tenacity she hadn’t known she possessed.

  Was he crying for her? Was he getting enough to eat to build that little body? Was he being kept clean? She pulled out the photograph album from under the coffee table, where it had lain since she had handed a recent photo of Jake to DI Brent. Flicking through it, she touched each picture of Jake, with a finger and a smile. Her little one; she remembered the tears she had shed on her first day back at work. They were different tears to the ones she was crying now.

  She finished her tea and laid down on the sofa, clutching the photo album. Pulling a throw over, she allowed her mind to wander. She replayed constantly the CCTV images she had seen, but still nothing stood out. That the last image of Jake was him being pushed in a pushchair by a kidnapper, distressed Liz beyond anything else, but she still had no idea of the kidnapper’s identity, or even gender.

  Eventually, her tired brain gave up, the tears stopped flowing, and she slept.

  Tanya was the one to find Liz asleep on the sofa, and she stood in the doorway looking at her. She felt so sorry; couldn’t imagine how Liz must be feeling. The case was complicated enough with the missing baby at the heart of it, but for Liz to lose her husband after he had made love to their childminder – it didn’t bear thinking about.

  ‘Liz.’ Tanya shook Liz’s shoulder gently, and she stirred. She looked up at Tanya initially with a puzzled expression, and then her mind cleared. She pulled herself into a sitting position, and shook her unruly blonde hair as she tried to free her mind from the dark dream she had been having.

  ‘Sorry, Tanya, I was asleep.’

  Tanya smiled. ‘Good. It’s what you need. You want some toast?’

  Liz pulled up her legs on to the sofa. ‘Just one slice, please. Shall I do it?’

  Tanya shook her head. ‘No, you come around a bit. I’ll do us some toast and a pot of tea, and we’ll see what the day has in store for us. Your car, as I understand it, will be back by lunchtime, but don’t forget, you’re not to go anywhere without taking two police officers with you.’

  ‘Great,’ Liz mumbled.

  ‘DI Brent’s instructions – don’t knock them. He knows what he’s doing, and what he’s doing is protecting you.’

  ‘I know. I don’t like him.’

  Tanya laughed. ‘You don’t have to like him, just trust him.’
/>   ‘I do. He accepts that Phil is missing for a start, which is more than I could get Phil’s wife to do. Although, to be fair, I think she simply buried her head in the sand about it, I don’t think she was being devious.’

  ‘And I think you’ve read her correctly. I’ll go and do that toast.’

  Liz stood and crossed to the bay window, using her left hand to pull back the curtains, clutching her dressing gown closed with her right hand. At the top of the drive, the two police officers were both out of the car, talking to a young man trying to get down the drive.

  Christian.

  Although Liz had never met him, she had seen plenty of photographs dotted around Sadie’s house.

  He appeared to be gesticulating quite wildly, and pushing the two officers away. Liz moved quickly, and opened the front door.

  ‘Christian?’

  He turned at the sound of her voice. ‘Please… tell them I need to speak with you.’ There was a tremor in his voice.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said to the two men. ‘This is my childminder’s son.’

  ‘Sorry, son,’ the taller of the two officers said, ‘but you’re not going in there unless we check you for concealed weapons. We’ve had our instructions…’

  Reluctantly, Christian held up his arms. ‘Do it then, before we get an even bigger crowd.’ He glared at the small group of onlookers who had stopped to see what was happening.

  Liz stayed at the door until he walked down towards her. She touched his hand, then led him into the lounge. ‘We’re going to have a cup of tea and some toast. Do you want some?’

  ‘Just the drink, please. I don’t feel much like eating. I’m sorry, I had to come and see you.’

  ‘That’s okay, Christian. This is a lot to take in.’

  ‘You found her? Them?’

  ‘I did. I was collecting Jake.’

  Christian dropped his head and mumbled, ‘I’m finding it all a bit unbelievable.’

  ‘I’m not giving you any details, and I think we have to put any circumstances from our mind. The big priority is finding Jake. There is some CCTV – the police will probably want you to look at it, in case it stirs anything in your mind. When did you get here?’