But nobody looked like Daniel.
She rummaged inside her handbag, not sure what she was looking for. Something. Anything. To calm her shattered nerves.
She found it hard to believe. The two most precious people in her life were Daniel and Yansis, and within the last twenty-four hours both of their lives had come under threat. Now her son was missing, and she couldn’t handle it!
She was still seething with anger: her automatic coping mechanism. In desperation, she kicked at the wall to release some of her pent-up tension. But she wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t. She needed to hold it together. For all she knew her son might have just wandered off somewhere inside the hospital and could come back any minute. She tried telling herself that, but somehow she didn’t believe it.
When Rita returned to the parents’ waiting room where she had left Yansis, the police were already there. Two PCs introduced themselves. Rita had dealt with the police in the past and knew from experience that they weren’t treating Daniel’s disappearance seriously yet. Otherwise, they would have sent detectives rather than PCs. Nevertheless, they were keen to get down to business. The older of the two, a youngish man with dark hair, whose name had escaped Rita, was the keenest.
He began a series of questions, which Rita suspected he’d already asked Yansis. They were all standard, “What time did you arrive?” “Where did you check?” and so on, but Rita’s patience was running out.
“Look, what’s the point of going over this? Shouldn’t you be searching near to the hospital, maybe setting up roadblocks or something? Whoever’s got him could be bloody miles away by now!”
“Have you any reason to believe that somebody would have taken your son?” asked the PC.
Remembering her mother’s call of the previous evening, when she told her about Raeni’s visit, Rita felt she had no alternative but to inform the police. She explained the background of Daniel’s parentage. Then she gave them details of the conversation with her mother, including Raeni’s demands to see her grandson. The police asked for Raeni’s address, and Rita asked them to wait a moment while she withdrew her Nokia phone from her handbag and rang her mother to ask for it.
One of the officers wrote it down, as well as the address where Rita and Yansis were staying. They then left the hospital after assuring Rita and Yansis that they would be in touch with them if they had anything to report.
By this time, Rita’s anger had subsided, and she had entered a phase of regret and self-criticism.
“I bleedin’ knew we shouldn’t have left him here on his own,” she said to Yansis. “Why didn’t I listen to my instincts? I just knew something would go wrong. I can’t believe I put my own needs before Daniel’s.”
“No, no! I can’t let you think like that, Rita. It is not your fault,” asserted Yansis. He stepped over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders in a reassuring gesture. “There is nothing else we can do here now. Let’s go back to Julie and Vinny’s, and wait to hear from the police. Hopefully they will have some good news for us soon.”
Chapter 9
Sunday 16th June 1996 – thirty minutes previously
Daniel was standing outside the hospital looking for his parents.
“Where are mummy and daddy?” he asked the man who was holding on tight to his hand.
The man had told him they would be there waiting, and Daniel believed him. “Change into these clothes so your mam and dad can take you home,” he said when he led him into the toilets while the hospital staff were occupied elsewhere. “Your parents are just parking the car,” he had said. “They’ve sent me to fetch you. They’ve got a present for you, because you’ve been so brave.”
Daniel believed every word. Despite warnings not to go off with strangers, the lure of a ‘present’ was too much.
“What’s your favourite toy?” asked the man when he had engaged him in conversation inside the hospital.
“Thomas the Tank,” Daniel replied, recalling the video he had watched with Julie’s son the previous day.
“I think your mam and dad must have known that,” said the man. “They’ve got you a Thomas the Tank train set in the car. But don’t tell them I told you. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
Daniel remembered the surprise his mother talked about yesterday. It added credence to the stranger’s words, and a five-year-old didn’t take much convincing. A Thomas the Tank train set! He couldn’t wait to show it to Thomas.
As they waited outside the hospital, a vehicle approached.
“They’re here now. Come on,” said the man, pulling Daniel towards the car.
The driver brought the vehicle to a stop, and the man opened the rear passenger door. Daniel could see that there was a woman driving, but it wasn’t his mummy. The man pushed him inside before he could protest, and the car sped off.
Daniel was confused, and he forgot all about the toy he had been promised. “Where are mummy and daddy?” he asked.
The man ignored him as he issued instructions to the female driver. At the same time he pinned him down to the seat, “Keep quiet and do as you’re told, and you won’t get hurt,” he said.
His voice had taken on a different tone. It was now menacing rather than chatty. This swift change unnerved Daniel. He became frightened, sensing that something wasn’t right. The tears sprang to his eyes, and he began to murmur.
“Shut it!” shouted the man. “I told you to keep quiet.”
His booming tone was enough to quell Daniel’s cries. He wept silent tears until the car drew to an abrupt halt a few streets from the hospital. The man chose a secluded side road. As soon as the vehicle stopped, he pulled Daniel out, and walked him round to the boot. He lifted the door. Inside were a roll of tape and some rope.
“Get in!” he ordered.
The thought of getting inside was so frightening to Daniel that he started crying uncontrollably. The man forced a hand over his mouth to silence him while he grasped hold of him with his other hand.
“Quick, get the tape on him,” he instructed.
With the help of the woman, they soon covered Daniel’s mouth, and bound his hands and feet. Daniel struggled as they threw him roughly into the boot. Once inside, they shut the door, and Daniel was seized by panic as he found himself in a dark, confined space.
Daniel felt the car start up again, and he was shunted about as it accelerated. He was lying awkwardly so his sore arm rubbed against the bottom of the boot. The pain on movement added to his distress.
It was a traumatic journey for a five-year-old: a journey of pain, darkness and fear. He felt abandoned. Where were his parents? He wanted them to help him. To take the pain and fear away. But he didn’t know where they were.
When they reached their destination, the man opened the boot. Daniel was relieved that it was no longer dark, but scared of what would happen next. The man bent over him while he was still lying inside.
“Right, I’m gonna take the tape off, but no screaming, or else!”
The man glared at him angrily, and Daniel nodded in agreement. Daniel winced when he pulled the tape away as it tore the skin from his lips, and stung. His eyes filled with renewed tears and he was about to cry out, but the man flashed him a warning look.
Once the man had removed all of Daniel’s ties, he instructed him to stand, and led him by the hand. Daniel noticed that the plaster that was covering the worst of his wounds was now loose. He became anxious as he knew that you must keep the dressing on if you had a sore.
The sight of blood seeping through the plaster added to his alarm, and he wanted to cry again. His arm was hurting him, and he needed another plaster. Mummy and daddy would have given him one. But he daren’t ask. The man would only shout at him. Daniel was slowly realising that they weren’t very nice people, and he was petrified.
***
Sunday 16th June 1996 - Afternoon
It was mid-afternoon and several hours since Daniel had disappeared. In the early stages of Daniel’s disappearance, Rita and
Yansis were still in a state of shock and hadn’t fully absorbed the facts. At that point, there were many possibilities as to what might have happened.
As time moved on, however, they were becoming more convinced that something bad had taken place. They were both finding this difficult to accept.
Vinny had taken the children out to the park but Julie insisted on staying with Rita to give her and Yansis some support. In a way, Rita wished Julie had gone with him. It wasn’t as if she could do anything to help.
Julie tried to offer reassurance. “He’ll be fine. He’s probably just wandered off and got lost somewhere near the hospital. I bet he’ll turn up as right as rain.”
But Rita was becoming irritated with the same tired clichés.
“What if he’s not alright, though, Julie?” she asked. “What if something bad has happened to him?”
“Rita, you can’t afford to think like that. Anything could have happened. It’s still early; try to stay positive.”
“It’s not early though, is it? He’s been gone for bloody hours!”
As they awaited news from the police, Rita was becoming increasingly agitated and couldn’t settle. She was sitting next to Julie, picking at her nail varnish. She hovered on the edge of her seat, her shoulders hunched and head bowed. A tight knot had formed inside her stomach.
“I still can’t understand how he could have got past the nursing staff?” she said for the umpteenth time. “Where can he have got to, for God’s sake? I bet the poor little bugger’s terrified!”
“He might not be, Rita. He might not even realise he’s lost yet. He might think it’s just a little adventure,” said Julie, covering Rita’s hand with hers.
“I’m worried about his asthma,” said Yansis. “And those cuts. That one on his arm is really big.”
The girls looked at Yansis who was standing next to the window where he had been watching the street for some time. When nobody responded to his comment, he continued looking for activity outside.
Several minutes passed in silence. Then Yansis suddenly leaned forward, observing the street more keenly. His swift movement startled Rita, who was already tense.
“What? What is it?” she asked.
“Nothing. It was just a car. I think it is going next door,” said Yansis.
“For God’s sake! Will you sit down?” she shouted, running her hands through her hair in her usual manner when under stress. “You’ve got me all on bleedin’ edge!”
“I’m waiting for the police, Rita. You’re not the only one who feels bad. He’s my son too!”
She was ready to snap and knew it was wrong to take her despair out on him, so she went outside, taking her cigarettes with her. A few minutes later she was back, still anxious but able to keep her rising temper under wraps for the time being. She plonked herself on the sofa but couldn’t settle. Her shoulders remained hunched and her back felt stiff.
They sat without speaking until the shrill ringing of the phone pierced the silence. Rita jumped, clutching her hand to her chest.
“Oh my God!” she said.
“It’s OK,” said Julie. “I’ll answer it.”
As Julie rushed to get the call, Rita shouted, “If it’s my mam and dad, tell them I’m in the bathroom. I can’t cope with them mithering at the moment.”
After a few seconds, she followed Julie into the hallway, ready to take the receiver from her. She strained to overhear the conversation, but it sounded like it might be Julie’s mother.
While Rita’s focus was on Julie’s phone call, Yansis announced, “A car has just stopped outside.”
Rita rushed to join Yansis at the window. She established that it wasn’t a police car, and was about to sit down again when she noticed two well-dressed young men get out of the car and walk up the garden path. Plain clothes. ‘Oh my God! Now the police are taking it seriously,’ she thought.
“I’ll get the door,” shouted Julie, terminating her call when she heard the doorbell ring.
Rita sat back on the settee and was joined by Yansis as they mentally prepared themselves for news of their son.
The men walked into the room with an air of authority, especially the older of the two. He was a handsome man in his late thirties and, under normal circumstances, would have proved a welcoming distraction on a Sunday afternoon. As things stood though, his presence was inauspicious.
“Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs Christos. I am DI Collins and this is my colleague DS Fletcher.” He indicated a younger man, thin and studious-looking. DI Collins proffered his hand towards Yansis, and Yansis and Rita quickly stood up in response to his greeting.
Rita remembered a previous occasion when she had dealings with the police. It had sparked in her a profound mistrust in them but she tried not to let it show. On first appearances this DI seemed to be a different character to the one she dealt with in the past when she and Julie ran into some trouble years ago.
“Please take a seat,” said Julie, pointing towards the other sofa on the adjacent side of the room. “I’ll get us all a drink. What would you like?”
The policemen and Yansis requested their drinks, and Rita automatically followed suit, even though it was one of many she had already consumed that day.
“Right,” said DI Collins, once he was seated. “I want to start first of all by saying that I appreciate this is a difficult time for you both, and we are doing everything we can to find your son. Our officers are currently checking the CCTV systems at the hospital, and have been interviewing the staff and any other people who were present around the time of your son’s disappearance. We will be following up any leads and will notify you as soon as we know anything.”
Rita felt a lump in her throat on hearing these words. She now realised that they definitely were taking Daniel’s disappearance very seriously, and the impact of this realisation stunned her. Yansis took hold of her hand, and she fought to maintain control of her emotions.
“C-can you tell us anything yet?” she asked even though she knew it was a pointless question. The DI had already said they’d tell them once they knew anything.
“Not yet, but I can assure you that we are trying to gather as much information as possible. We’ve just come back from visiting Mrs Samuels …”
The DI paused on seeing the look of confusion on Rita and Yansis’s faces.
“Your son’s grandmother,” he elaborated.
“Oh, Raeni,” said Rita, who hadn’t known Raeni’s surname and didn’t realise that it was different from Leroy’s.
“Yes, Raeni Samuels. I believe her deceased son, Leroy Booth, was the child’s father.”
“His natural father, yes, but we adopted him and have brought him up since he was a baby.”
“I see.”
Just that moment, Julie walked in carrying a tray of drinks, and interrupted the discussion.
“I’ll make myself scarce, shall I?” she asked once she’d given the drinks out.
“No, it’s OK,” said Rita. “Stay here.”
“Right, as I was saying,” continued DI Collins. “We’ve just returned from speaking to Mrs Samuels. We questioned her about Daniel’s disappearance, and I can confirm that there is no evidence to suggest that she has the child. In fact, she was quite distraught by the fact that Daniel had disappeared.”
“Are you sure?” asked Rita, “Only, according to my mam, she was kicking up a right fuss because we hadn’t been to see her. And apparently, she’s been asking to see him for the last five years.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t a crime in itself. We took a look around Mrs Samuels’ home, and found no signs of a small child being kept there.” Before Rita could cut in, he continued. “Now, we would like to go over some questions with you. I appreciate that you have already spoken to two of our PCs this morning but we would like to go through everything with you again. Can you tell me at what point you realised that your son was missing?”
Rita felt herself becoming tetchy but she knew that they were just doing their
job. Something about the DI’s manner suggested that he was efficient and had their best interests at heart. In fact, he was dispelling her previous perceptions of the police so she cooperated in the hope that it would help.
The two officers asked Rita and Yansis numerous questions, many of which they’d already answered that morning. When the questioning was drawing to a close, the DI hit them with, “Is there anything else you can think of that may help us with our enquiries, anything at all?”
Rita felt Julie’s eyes focus on her from across the room, and knew that she was thinking of her venomous Aunty Irene and what she said at the wedding. She gave Julie a warning look in response, and was relieved that Yansis and the officers didn’t pick up on it.
“No, there’s nothing,” Rita replied before Julie and Yansis had a chance to speak.
“Right, well that will be all for today,” the DI concluded.
The two officers crossed the room and shook their hands again, before Julie led them to the front door. Just before he left, DI Collins turned round. “We’ll be in touch as soon as we know anything,” he repeated.
When Julie came back into the living room, she asked Rita, “Why didn’t you mention that aunty of yours and the way she carried on at the wedding? It could be relevant.”
“No, it won’t be her. Don’t be daft,” said Rita, hastily. “She might be a nasty old cow but she wouldn’t do Daniel any harm. If I go telling the police what she said, it will only cause a load of trouble in the family, and we’ve had more than enough trouble over the years.”
Julie didn’t look convinced but that wasn’t Rita’s concern. At least she had stopped her from getting the police involved where they weren’t wanted.
For a few minutes they stayed in the living room, analysing what the officers had said, and desperately trying to draw conclusions. But they were going around in circles, and weren’t getting anywhere.
Danger by Association: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 3 Page 7
