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

by Linda Coles

  “Bingo!” he shouted, springing up from his chair in the run-down room. Now why would a car registered to a garage in Doolin, some three hours north, be parked up near his target? There could only be one reason. She’d arrived mid-morning, but had she gone before the Guards had moved him on? He couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t made a note of it.

  It must have been her. He grinned at her ploy as he realised she’d been the one to spot him and have him moved out of the way. And he’d been so careful, blended in, or so he’d thought.

  “Sneaky cow,” he said. But where was she now? More importantly, was Tess’s husband and child with her? If not, she’d likely know where he was, where she’d taken him. Surely he hadn’t gone back to the castle, had he? There was only one way to find out. It made sense. Who would think he’d go back to where he’d fled from? It was genius in its simplicity, hiding in plain sight almost. He quickly threw his few belongings back into his overnight bag and left the room. It would be a long drive up in the dark, but since he could feel the bonus money getting that bit closer, he brushed it off. There’d be a coffee stop at Mallow, hopefully, in an all-night service station. If there was one.

  Should he call Tess now, or wait? She might want to set off north herself if she hadn’t done so already, but if he was wrong, he didn’t fancy her wrath a second time in one day. Or ever again.

  “No wonder the husband left,” he mumbled to himself as he started his engine. A light drizzle fell making his windscreen smeary as his wipers did their best to clear his vision. There was hardly a soul on the deserted streets of Kinsale as he pulled away and headed north, back up the N20, towards Doolin, and the castle on the hill.

  Chapter 78

  Even though she was exhausted, Chrissy was restless as she turned over for the umpteenth time, trying to find a spot where sleep would come. Neither numbers nor alphabet, nor sheep, nor breathing exercises appeared to help as her mind rolled with events of the day like the ocean outside. Two exhausted individuals were likely sound asleep at the back of the house and she was grateful she’d found them. While they seemed well, Lorcan, she couldn’t think of him as Matthew yet, was a nervous wreck and, recalling Bronagh’s words, she hoped she hadn’t put them both in more danger by investigating their disappearance. Tess had acted like something demented back in Kinsale and Chrissy had been glad of Staines’s involvement. Sure, she could have called the local Guards herself, but with him on their side, it had most likely worked out better. He’d arrived at just the right time.

  Where was Tess now? Was she still in the country or had she flown back to Manchester? She doubted it. Having come all this way and involved a private investigator, she was intent on seeing her husband again, of that Chrissy was sure. No, the woman would be licking her wounds some place – and waiting.

  Sergeant Staines would be around in the morning. She was keen to hear of his involvement, where he fitted in. Had he knowingly handed the little one over to someone impersonating family services? Or had he acted correctly, had he contacted them and someone else had intervened? She doubted he’d admit to any wrongdoing, he could lose his job over it. His presence and the sight of his uniform had saved the morning back in Kinsale and she was grateful for that part at least.

  It was just after midnight that sleep eventually came for Chrissy and the rest of the house slept peacefully and undisturbed. Tomorrow there would be more questions, and hopefully more answers.

  He could see the castle was in total darkness as he approached from the narrow lane, but he expected it to be at midnight. He turned his headlamps off and drove the last few metres carefully before pulling up just outside the boundary. He’d make the rest of the way quietly and on foot. He grabbed his torch, tugged his jacket closer and pulled the hood up, then set out across the grass to take a closer look. Clouds covered the moon, making visibility almost impossible, so he had to be quick while using his torch. The last thing he needed was a nosey neighbour reporting his torchlight, or worse, if the husband was inside, that he be seen snooping through the window. As he approached the first downstairs window, he pressed his nose to the glass for a closer look, but it was useless, he needed the torch. A quick burst of light inside told him the ground floor was empty. There was no way of looking in the rooms further on up, so he risked turning the torch on again for a closer look at what he could see from where he was standing. The kitchen looked unused, everything in its place, and he wondered if there were any signs of life at all in the old building. He slipped around the other side of the castle and shone his torch through from the other side. There didn’t appear to be anything of note, no bags left in the doorway, no meal remains on the table, no nothing. Perhaps the husband wasn’t inside after all. Moving back towards the front door, he tried the handle. The door was locked. Damn, he couldn’t even creep inside, not that he particularly wanted to. He did, however, want the extra ten grand.

  With nothing else to look at or do, he consoled himself for having got it wrong. Though it was possible the man was hiding out in Doolin somewhere else, just not at the castle. Walking back in the darkness towards his car, he had one last destination on his mind. While he wasn’t expecting to see the old car parked outside the garage, he did suspect the owner was involved and would know the husband’s whereabouts. Should he call Tess now?

  Sitting in the darkness, he made the call.

  “Doolin, eh?” Tess said. He could hear the smile in her voice, even though he’d obviously just woken her.

  “I’ll go and see him first thing in the morning.”

  “After today’s debacle? No, you won’t. Leave this to me.” There was no mistaking her intention, but it raised a concern for him.

  “What about my money, the ten grand?”

  “That all depends on what the man from the garage has to say.”

  He was about to protest but Tess had already hung up on him.

  Saturday

  Chapter 79

  Julie had taken to strolling up to the village for fresh bread and a newspaper. It reminded her of being in France on leisurely holidays gone by, though always watching her weight, she’d rarely eaten the croissants she’d returned with, let alone the soft cheese and ham. While she still monitored her intake with precision, she’d found that the longer walks she now took a couple of times a week, not to mention working at the boutique, had done wonders for removing the extra calories, and so had found herself relaxing her intake a little more often. After all, life was too short to be so strict with her food, there were other more pressing things to concern herself with. Chrissy had opted to stay behind and play with Blue while Loran, or Matthew, as they now knew him to be, hung out with Richard and Adam, mainly drinking coffee and dissecting football matches while they sat in the living room or on the deck. He was looking a good deal more relaxed than when he’d arrived the previous night, though knew he wasn’t out of the woods quite yet.

  As she passed the garage, the lad she assumed was the apprentice Chrissy had mentioned working there, was just leaving, likely on his way to either the pub for lunch, or home. Everyone in Doolin seemed to live where they worked, and it wouldn’t be far if he was indeed heading there. She could see Brocc just inside, talking to a woman. Maybe she was a tourist having trouble with her vehicle; something about the way she was dressed told Julie she wasn’t a local. Even Julie had found herself dressing for the weather and far more casually than she did back in Surrey. A Mercedes SUV parked by the kerb looked as if it perhaps belonged to her. It had a sticker in the back window that informed anyone following it was on hire from the same company as they’d used for their own hire car. What would she need a garage for with a hire car? Julie wondered. She thought no more about it as she headed on to the bread shop.

  She’d miss the place, she was sure, miss the routine they’d found themselves in, each of them enjoying the restfulness of it all, though she doubted Chrissy had found it quite so. She was never one to sit still for very long, she’d proven that by getting involved with youn
g Flynn, Blue, in the first place. She smiled to herself at the vision of them both crawling along the living room floor together, the toddler’s giggle as she tickled him, let him ride on her back like a cowboy on his horse, and her own memories of her own two girls when they were small came flooding back. Did they really enjoy their boarding school or was it time to consider bringing them home, schooling them more locally? It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered about it in recent months. Perhaps she was getting soft, mellowing as she aged, and she wondered what Richard might think of the idea. After all, he’d been the one that had pushed for their places away right from the get-go. Maybe she’d ask him. She reached the shop and stepped inside to the lingering aroma of freshly baked bread. It was warm and cosy on another bright, crisp day. A woman wearing a white apron greeted her, wiping her hands as she did so, causing flour to billow in the air. Her smile filled her flushed, round face as she asked, “What can I get you?”

  “Two soda breads, please.”

  The woman wrapped each of them in tissue. “They’re still a bit warm, is that okay?”

  “Even better,” she replied as she studied the cakes. Unsure which to take back, she asked for a selection for six people and watched as the woman filled a box. When she had everything she needed, she paid and left the shop, heading back towards the house. As she approached the garage, she couldn’t help but notice the front roller door was now down, the place looked closed up. In the few days they’d been staying in Doolin, she’d never once seen the place closed during the day. The Mercedes was still parked by the kerb, though the vehicle itself was empty. Since she’d only seen Brocc’s apprentice leave a few minutes ago, he’d likely still be away on his lunch break.

  Something felt wrong. She glanced about her; there wasn’t another soul nearby, but that wasn’t unusual in the small village. With everything that had been going on of recent, an internal unease filled her chest and she stood still for a moment to let it pass. It was taking its time and after a couple of long beats, she was still standing fixed to the spot. And then a pull, an imaginary magnet from the building, urged her to detour and she let it take over. Walking slowly as she approached the garage door, she placed her head against the metal to see if she could hear anything. A faint murmur of conversation, though she couldn’t decipher any words, nor hear who was speaking. That made it even more intriguing, that there was someone inside, yet the door closed. She knew there had to be a rear entrance – should she take a look? Balancing bread and a box of cakes in her hands, she berated herself for not getting a plastic bag, but it was too late to concern herself with that now. She placed them on the floor, the bread on top. Hopefully the loaves wouldn’t squash the contents below. She pulled out her phone and wondered about sending a text to Chrissy, she’d know what to do, but what would she say? The roller door is down at the garage, seems odd? She’d laugh out loud.

  “Come on, Julie, you’re a big girl,” she said under her breath as she headed behind the building in search of another way in. Surely it would be unlocked during the day, unless Brocc had actually closed up for some reason. He’d have taken the ‘open’ sign in though, wouldn’t he? It was still standing proudly out front.

  The sound of voices was much clearer as she slowly opened the old wooden door and she hoped the hinges were well oiled as she pulled it wider. Not a sound from the old thing and she let her breath out, which she’d been holding in her lungs as if that too might make a sound. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darker interior, though a small dirty window allowed a modicum of outside light to enter the room. It appeared to be some kind of storeroom, there was an old sink in the corner for getting water for the kettle. She paused to try and understand what might be happening on the other side of the wall. A woman’s voice sounded frustrated, angry even, her tone an octave higher than it would be in normal conversation. A male voice, Brocc’s, she assumed, was the total opposite, dull, flat, and steady. Whatever was going on, the woman was seething about something, and for something like a repair to her car gone wrong, such a clandestine discussion seemed a little over the top. Julie decided to text Chrissy, something was definitely amiss.

  At the garage, something not right. I’m inside the back door. Drive up.

  She waited for a reply, hoping her sister had her phone nearby and didn’t miss the message. It didn’t take long.

  On my way. Don’t do anything dumb.

  Like what? Julie thought, tutting at her sister’s orders.

  A hollow yell, the sound of someone in pain, came from the other side of the wall and had her re-evaluating her next move in an instant.

  Chapter 80

  There was no way she was going to wait for Chrissy now. If Brocc was in some kind of trouble, she might be able to help him. Slowly, she moved from her side of the internal door and dared a quick look at what was going on around the other side. She whipped her head back in an instant and hoped she hadn’t been seen. After a couple of heavy heartbeats had passed, she took stock of what she’d managed to see. The back of a woman’s body, according to the hairstyle, but it was what she held in her right hand that caused Julie to inwardly gasp in horror. It was the blue flame of a blowtorch. Her father had had one in his shed, for welding and repairing things she or Chrissy had broken over their childhood years. The flame was on full blue, giving it the ability to burn anything it touched in seconds. She must have been using it on Brocc, judging by his cry of pain only moments ago.

  Could it be Tess?

  She needed to alert the Guards, and she needed to warn Chrissy, but right at that moment, she needed to help Brocc before the woman did some serious damage. She was in a garage, so there were tools lying about, and she searched for something she could use to deflect the woman’s attention, preferably a crowbar she could wrap around Tess’s head. As Brocc experienced obvious pain and yelled out again, Julie could wait no longer. She quietly grabbed the cordless kettle from its spot on the sink drainer and was pleased to feel the weight of water inside. It had been recently boiled judging by the heat, and she could only pray Brocc didn’t end up getting scalded in the bargain. She stepped into the room soundlessly and, in a split second, ran forward a couple of paces before stretching her right arm out. Then, with all the force she could muster, she swung the hot kettle at the woman’s skull. It struck with a sickening thump but it did the trick. Down she went as her brain gave up for a moment and forced her body to crumple onto the floor in a heap. Julie stood for a second and looked down at her handiwork. There was no obvious blood coming from the woman’s head, but then the darkness inside the garage could have covered it up. Never in her life had she attacked someone with such ferocity, never had she needed to, and she stood momentarily in a state of shock. Julie finally turned her attention to Brocc who was sitting slumped forward in an old chair. His hands and feet were tied to it with what looked like thin rope. A hole in his overalls on his thigh showed where the woman had pointed the naked blue flame to burn his skin.

  “Brocc!” she said urgently. “Are you okay?”

  He was out cold too. Julie’s nose picked up an acrid smell to one side of her and she spun around to see where it was coming from. A pile of rags was already engulfed by flames that were spreading rapidly as the oil and chemicals they contained acted as an accelerant.

  Flames climbed the wall. The garage was on fire.

  “The blowtorch!” she yelled, running towards the flames, but it was too late. It must have been thrown from the woman’s hand as she’d fallen and had already made a start on creating a blaze that was well on its way to destruction. Julie was momentarily transfixed and motionless.

  “Oh hell!” shouted Chrissy. After a quick glance at Brocc tied to the chair and a woman on the ground out cold, she spotted Julie statue-still, watching the flames climb up towards the roof.

  “Julie!” she yelled at the top of her voice. It did the trick and her sister was instantly dragged back to the here and now, the sound of someone else in the building rele
asing her from the paralysis. Her eyes shone in the glow from the flames as she joined Chrissy.

  “We need to move Brocc first,” Chrissy yelled, and the two women took a side of the old chair each and shuffled him outside through the back door and planted him firmly in the yard. Chrissy started to run back inside.

  “There could be all sorts in there that could blow,” Julie yelled.

  “I’ll be quick. We can’t leave her,” she shouted as she disappeared around the corner again. Thick black smoke belched from the door and Julie could hear a siren in the background. Someone had called the fire brigade, help was on its way, but would they be in time? A side window blew glass outwards, it splintering on the uneven concrete a few metres away. Julie glanced down at Brocc who was now coming too, but Chrissy still hadn’t appeared. She dashed towards the door again and went inside to lend a hand, but dense black smoke choked her back and filled her eyes. There was no way she could go in after her.

  “Chrissy!” she screamed above the roar of flames, but it was no use. Remembering the kettle had been on the sink, she closed her eyes and fumbled her way over to feel for a hand towel she could soak and put over her mouth to help her breathe. There was no way she was going to leave her sister inside on her own.

  There was one! She turned the tap on and soaked the cloth before wringing it out and using it to protect her lungs. She set off in what she hoped was the right direction but a firm hand on her shoulder suddenly pulled her back. Confused, she turned to see the mask and breathing apparatus of a firefighter before he bent to pick her up and carry her back outside.

  “My sister!” she yelled in his face, but he didn’t respond, concentrating on getting her away to safety. Julie thumped his chest for him to let her go but he was twice the size and strength of her. Smokey tears sprang from her eyes as she sobbed for him to help Chrissy then bright daylight forced them to close against the sun. He placed her on her own two feet as a paramedic rushed to her aid.