The Silent Ones: Could You Leave A Child Behind? (Chrissy Livingstone Book 3)

by Linda Coles

  It didn’t take her long to find the address and park up outside No. 1, Rooska. There was a bed-and-breakfast place opposite and she pulled into the driveway and turned her lights off while she surveyed the street. It was nothing more than a row of small cottages that looked like any other row in a small picturesque Irish village. All was quiet, curtains drawn in each window. No Honda Civic. He was likely at work, but she wanted to see where he lived, see if there was a van parked nearby maybe, something she could have a look inside, something to pick over, like the remaining carcass from a Christmas turkey. But after fifteen minutes sitting in the freezing cold with nothing happening and nothing to see, she pulled away and headed back towards Doolin, and on to the second place of interest on her list. It would be the third time in one day she’d headed off to Ennistymon.

  Since she’d seen the van outside the house earlier, she was doubly keen to take another look. Perhaps peer through the windows and look inside. She doubted whether the van would still be there now since Bridget had mentioned an address in Dublin. Maybe his Honda Civic would be parked outside instead, though that could easily be with him if he was working and there was no point going there. What was she going to ask him? What are you mixed up in and by the way I know your real name? No, that wouldn’t work.

  She pulled up outside the bungalow, which resembled any other in the street. Curtains were drawn tightly, though slices of light were visible down the outer edges. All looked warm and cosy on the inside, the flickering of TV light told her someone was likely home and watching it. She parked up the street a little way along so she could watch any comings and goings, but all was quiet, just like it had been at the cottage. With the engine turned off, it wasn’t long before the cold evening seeped into her vehicle as she watched and waited. How could she find out who was inside? She could knock on the door potentially, pretend to whoever opened it she had got the wrong house. That would give her a face-to-face with the occupier, but if it turned out to be the barman, that could be tricky since he was bound to recognise her. Then what?

  She pulled her hood up on her jacket against the cold, slipped her phone into her pocket and locked the car before walking the few steps towards the house. The street was deserted, only herself out in the damp air, and she wished she’d put another layer on before heading out. She stood outside the bungalow listening for noises but couldn’t hear anything, not even the TV. Carefully, she undid the front gate and walked up the path quietly, glancing at the darkened downstairs windows that she passed. It seemed whoever was in was only in the one front room. She quickly made her way to the rear of the property and all the way back around to the front to confirm that no other rooms were occupied. From the side of the property she made her way across to the bay window and hoped that nobody was looking out from across the road through their own curtains and watching her. She looked like a prowler and didn’t relish another meeting with the Guards. There was a small crack in the curtains where they hadn’t quite met. She could see the TV was on but couldn’t see anything else, any inhabitants likely in a chair well out of her sight.

  “May as well knock,” she murmured to herself quietly and headed back to the front door. She hoped it wasn’t the barman she’d come face-to-face with. With a traditional knock on the door, tap tap tap tap tap, tap tap, she waited. Whoever had invented the common door rap had taught generations to pass it down to the next since everyone knew the tune when knocking. She waited. Nobody came after a moment or two. She tried again. Tap tap tap tap tap, tap tap. But the door stayed firmly closed. Whoever it was inside, and she felt sure there was somebody inside, was not going to answer the door. Giving up, she wandered back to her car up the road and turned to look over her shoulder for a second or two. That was when she saw the curtains twitch. Somebody for some reason hadn’t wanted to open the door to find out who was there. Another ‘why?’

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  There was little point Chrissy watching the house any longer. It was quite clear they weren’t going to answer the door. But Chrissy knew that didn’t mean anything sinister was going on. It could have been an elderly relative of the barman who simply felt unsafe opening up to a stranger on a cold autumn night. She wasn’t buying her own logic.

  She may as well go home now, Adam would be wondering where she’d got to, and if Richard hadn’t got his nose still stuck in his book, he might ask questions too. She started the engine and pulled slowly past the house, giving it one last look, but there was really nothing to see. She chewed over once more what she knew as she drove, wondered what thread she could pick at and unravel a bit further. The only one that sprang to mind was that Julie had mentioned a man from the garage who she’d seen at the castle after being whacked on the head. Since it hadn’t been him and the only person in the picture at the moment was the barman, Chrissy assumed he’d been the one to assault her sister. Had he been at the castle that morning? Why, she’d no idea. Tomorrow, she’d go and chat to the man from Brocc’s garage. Julie had mentioned his sister’s possible involvement, so he wasn’t going to go to the police and drop her in any trouble. Not yet anyway. Maybe between them they could come up with a plan because at the moment Chrissy had got nothing.

  She wondered where baby Flynn was and if he was being well cared for. She hated to think of him in the system, at someone’s house that perhaps wouldn’t be looking out for him quite like his own parents, but then again, perhaps he was better off without them if they’d abandoned him in the first place. Perhaps being with a brand-new family was the best for the little boy in the long run. As she pulled up in the driveway of the holiday home, she was relieved to see the living room lights were still on. Someone was still up. She hung her jacket up and went through. Adam was reading the newspaper; Richard still had his nose in his book and barely looked up as she plopped herself down on the sofa. Adam glanced across and she smiled and nodded that everything was okay. He went back to his newspaper, content she was back and safe. An unexpected yawn told her it was time for bed, but she knew when she slipped under the covers she’d lie there tossing and turning while her brain attempted to untangle the threads.

  “I’m off for a shower,” she announced and went through to the bedroom to grab her pyjamas and robe. Changing her mind, she turned the bath on, feeling the need for a soak instead, and added blue Radox to the flow and stood watching the bubbles growing in the bottom of the bath as the water filled up. It reminded her for a moment of bathing baby Flynn only a couple of days ago, the poor boy sweaty from his tears, hungry, and in dire need of a change of nappy. She’d wrapped him in a soft blanket to comfort him as he’d taken a warm bottle. Chrissy tested the water temperature then climbed in and slithered down under the bubbles herself to keep her shoulders warm, her feet poking out the end. The warm water soothed her, joints relaxing as the magnesium entered through her skin’s surface and did its thing. She focused on her breathing, taking deep breathes in and letting each one out slowly, willing her heart rate to decrease slightly. She wanted to make the most of her relaxation time, head off to bed ready for sleep and a peaceful night, but her mind had other ideas.

  She needed to know where Lorcan had gone. Duffy’s van was in Cork, was Lorcan with it? The van had pinged cameras down there and then stayed quiet for a day or two, but then had travelled north again. She couldn’t just drive down there without a destination in mind, it was too big a place. He could be in any of the surrounding smaller towns or villages, where a camera hadn’t been located. A simple Google search had not shown the locations of the cameras in Ireland itself, the Guards keeping their locations secret for obvious reasons. She thought of Bridget, her only resource when it came to the techy stuff, her old contacts in the field long gone on to other roles in life. She had already asked for two pieces of information; she couldn’t push another. Plus, Bridget had all but said she wasn’t getting anything else this time around, she didn’t want anything traced back to her. Her loyalty was with Kent police and nothing to do with Chrissy’s investigations
at all. She was lucky she’d found out so much so far, but Bridget couldn’t be pushed any further, not without ruining their relationship. Chrissy knew she was too valuable to do that.

  Steam covered the mirror, misting it up totally, and little clouds of moisture hung around the lamp in the ceiling as they wafted up from the warm bath and circulated around the room before clinging to cold surfaces. There was a gentle knock at the door and Adam put his head around.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Of course you can. There’s room in the other end if you want to get in?” She raised an eyebrow, teasing.

  “You look like you’re enjoying yourself wallowing there. I’m not going to squash you up.”

  It was true that if he’d joined her at the other end, at over six-foot tall, there wouldn’t be much room left for the water, never mind Chrissy. Still, it was a nice thought.

  “Wash your back?”

  “Please,” she said and slithered up from under the water like a mermaid, her pink skin glowing as she leaned forward, water running off her, steaming. Adam grabbed the bar of soap and the nearby loofah.

  “Did you find anything out?” he asked conversationally.

  “Nothing at all,” she said. “Although there was definitely somebody in, but they wouldn’t answer the door.” He grunted his acknowledgment then changed the subject to the following day.

  “Are you going to come cycling tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I hope so. I’m going to go for a run first, but I’ll back in time for when Julie wakes up. Let’s see how she feels tomorrow. Hopefully it’s just a migraine and she’ll wake up refreshed and ready to go.”

  “Do you think she’ll want to come with us?”

  “I don’t know, but we’ve got to at least ask.”

  When he’d finished washing her back, she slithered back down to rinse the suds off. All that was visible was her head among the white bubbles.

  “Then we need to come up with another plan for tomorrow’s entertainment. Something that includes everyone really, not forgetting Richard,” said Adam. “We can’t leave them both again, they must be getting bored by now.”

  Chrissy pushed up through the water and stood dripping, white foam sliding down her legs. Adam passed her a fluffy towel and she wrapped herself in it before getting out and standing on the bath mat. Adam stripped, then slithered down under the bubbles himself. His feet stuck out and rested on the back of the bath. “Do you want me to come with you for a run in the morning then?”

  She screwed her face up a little and felt mean when she said, “Would you mind if I went alone?”

  “It’s no problem to me,” he said. “I’ll see you back here when you’ve done what you need to do.” That knowing look again filled his eyes.

  Chrissy bent down and gave him a lingering peck on the lips.

  “Thank you.”

  Thursday

  Chapter 55

  The following morning Chrissy was up around 6 am and standing in the kitchen with her first cup of coffee of the day. The rain tumbled down outside, a constant deluge from the sky as if whoever was up there had their hosepipe on full pelt, finger over the nozzle, creating a wide arc of spray. But she’d learned during her stay that the weather in Ireland at this time of year changed almost hourly. It could well be a sunny, clear day by mid-morning. She watched as the wind belted the rain sideways across the window, so it sounded almost like hail on the glass. A grey sky reached down to meet the equally grey sea below and large droplets of water ran down from underneath the gutters looking more like snow in their dense form. Bushes around the edge of the garden bent as the wind whipped at their tops, green leaves splintering off and flying away in all directions. It was a foul day to be outdoors just yet.

  There was nobody else up. Chrissy had done her best to sleep and had managed a few hours, a soak in the bath had helped, but in the end she’d lain there listening to Adam’s gentle snoring, trying to use his rhythm to drop off back to sleep herself. The last time she’d looked at the clock it had been almost midnight, the next 5.30 am. Looking out to the bleakness beyond, she concluded it wasn’t the weather to go mountain biking and she doubted very much Julie would entertain going even locally in this weather. That left the problem of what to do in Ireland on a rainy day for four people on holiday, one of whom couldn’t walk very far. She sipped her coffee and cogitated a plan. She’d still go for a run and get wet, the weather never bothered her, it was only water that fell from the sky after all, nothing nasty. Those that questioned her judgement and asked, ‘you’re not going out in this weather, are you?’ she’d say the very same thing to. When she returned, she was only going to get in the shower, though granted it would be much warmer than nature’s own version. So, rain, what did it matter really? She got wet in the end either way.

  There was little point heading out just yet for the simple reason the garage wouldn’t be open for another couple of hours anyway, so she enjoyed the tranquillity of the quiet house and watched the rain carry on its drenching. She was halfway down her mug when she heard the door open behind her and turned to see Julie standing in her pink robe and slippers. Her first impressions were that Julie looked a good deal better, her own personal storm had passed.

  “Good morning early bird,” Chrissy said brightly. “You’re up early. I don’t think I’ve ever known you be up before 7 am,” she quipped, smiling.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Julie replied somewhat sarcastically.

  “Sorry, I meant to ask you that first. How are you feeling this morning, Julie?” she said, making a big thing of the ‘how are you feeling’, exaggerating the sentence with outstretched arms. “It’s good to see you up so early.” She knew she was ladling it on.

  “There’s no need to be sarcastic, but I feel much better, thank you for asking. The sleep did me the world of good.”

  “Well, you did go to bed early. Plus, you missed dinner, so you probably had a good ten hours’ sleep. Lucky thing.”

  Julie walked over to where Chrissy was standing and peered out. A misty spot formed on the window from her warm breath against the cold glass. “What dreadful weather,” she said. “What we going to do then, because it doesn’t look like an outdoors kind of day, does it?”

  “I was just thinking the same. I’m going for a run in about an hour but after that I don’t know.”

  “You’re not going for a run in this, are you?” she said. Chrissy rolled her eyes a little. One down, two more to go.

  “Got to keep my fitness up,” she said in a sing-song voice, avoiding the question. “We thought we might go mountain biking, but unless this rain stops, I don’t expect you’d want to.” Julie turned back to her sister quickly.

  “Mountain biking?” she queried. “Do I look like I mountain bike?”

  Chrissy smiled at her sister’s horrified face. “Well, riding on a mountain bike. I don’t think we were planning on going into the mountains per say. More a gentle ride across some of the flat tracks that go around the villages. We don’t have to go up onto the cliffs. Plus, I thought you’d like to blow yesterday’s cobwebs off. How’s the lump on your head today?”

  Julie rubbed the spot that had been whacked. “Sore.”

  “Well, what about Richard? It seems unfair to leave him on his own, again,” said Chrissy. “He can’t go for a walk and he can’t very well pedal I don’t suppose.”

  “I’m happy to stay with him. There’s probably not a lot else to do around here when it’s raining anyway; I’ll keep him company. Plus, he seems to be enjoying his book, whatever it’s about, it’s appealed to him. I don’t think I’ve seen him read so much since… Well, let’s just say since forever.”

  Chrissy smiled at her sister who had taken on a kind of dreamy state as she pushed her mind back someplace trying to recall Richard’s last book interest.

  “Why don’t you and Adam go out and I’ll stay here with Richard?” Chrissy suggested.

  Julie looked incredulous, as if she’d proposed a wa
lk to the moon and back in flip-flops.

  “I don’t mind,” said Chrissy. “You’ve not been out really, yesterday was a bit of a write-off for you, and I’m sure we’ll be fine. In fact, I’ve enjoyed his company, he’s been quite relaxed actually,” she added.

  Julie looked at her sister sideways, not sure if she was taking the mickey or not. “Let’s see how the weather goes,” she said matter-of-factly before heading over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a mug. Chrissy watched and downed the remainder of her own. She may as well go and get changed. A longer run would do her good and by the time she’d circled back around, the garage could well be open. There was no point sitting around waiting for something to happen and drinking more coffee.

  “I’m off to get into my gear,” said Chrissy, putting her mug in the sink. “I might as well get off now and get back, I suppose. You decide while I’m gone what we are doing today in case it does stay wet.”

  By the time she’d returned to the kitchen to grab her trainers, Richard was pouring himself a coffee. “You’re not going out in this, are you?” he said.

  One to go.

  Smiling, she said, “I’ll be back later.” She slipped buds into her ears and jogged off down the path towards the village and beyond, glad to get out of the house for a while, even in the rain.

  It was an hour and half later before she circled back down into the village and she felt a lot better for expending some energy. She slowed her pace to an easy jog and rounded the corner, heading directly towards the garage. She could see someone at the front of the property; they were likely opening up for the day.

  “How convenient,” she said as she neared a younger man in a dark hoody and jeans.

  Chapter 56