Love You Gone: A gripping psychological crime novel with an incredible twist

by Rona Halsall

  He shook thoughts of Mel from his mind. It would be a few days before he’d know if the plan was going to be a success and, in the meantime, he had to think very carefully about what happened next.

  He’d hoped that his family was going to be able to follow him to Ireland, so they would be out of the way if Mel mentioned the drugs business, which she’d threatened to do if he left her, but it had all hinged on Ted being cooperative. Because if Ted hadn’t agreed to go up to the Lake District to help, then it wouldn’t have been possible for his parents and Ceri to get away. Of course, there was a Plan B, which involved hiding all the plants and turning the power off for the heat lamps so thermal imaging wouldn’t pick them up. But it was risky and there’d always been a chance that the drugs would be found and the family arrested. Then who knew what the outcome would have been.

  After the initial family meeting, he’d rung his mum and talked it through without Ted being able to eavesdrop on their discussions. His parents and Ceri had been fully aware of the risks and implications but had still urged him to go ahead, promising him that whatever happened it would be worth it to get Mel out of their lives.

  So now they were all safe.

  Except for Ted.

  After breakfast, Luke was alone in the kitchen with his mother.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re all here, Mum.’ He reached over and held her hand. ‘I’m so sorry I got you wrapped up in my mess.’

  She gazed at him and sighed as she stirred sugar into her tea. ‘Well, Luke, we were wrapped up in our own mess, weren’t we? You got a taste of how things were with Ted. But for us, that’s been going on for many years. And when we thought about it, we realised that your situation gave us an opportunity to get away. So don’t think we’ve done all this for you, love. We’ve done this for ourselves as well, you know.’

  ‘I didn’t think you’d come, Mum. I didn’t think you’d want to leave the farm. Or drop Ted in it.’ Luke frowned. It was the one bit of the plan he felt uncomfortable about. ‘However much we don’t get on, he’s still family and it doesn’t seem right, leaving him to face the music on his own.’

  His mum nodded, sadness dragging at the corners of her mouth. ‘I know. I feel bad about it too, but I couldn’t see another way and, to be honest, Luke, that lad needs to come to his senses. Over the years he’s become more and more controlling and –’ she looked down at her tea as it swirled in her mug – ‘I just haven’t the energy to stand up to him anymore. None of us have. Honestly, he’s worn us down, got us frightened to disagree with him. Even me.’ She scowled. ‘And he’s moving away from therapeutic cannabis now. He wants to sell the strong stuff, and add cocaine into the product line.’

  His mum swallowed and he could see her eyes shining, her voice wavering.

  ‘We don’t want any of that. We just want to have a quiet life. My health’s getting worse and your dad’s feeling the strain. We want some quality time together now, time with our children and grandchildren. And Ceri needs a bit of freedom, a life for herself and the chance to make it up with Dylan. She still loves him, you know, but with Ted in the way they have no chance of getting back together.’

  She squeezed Luke’s hand. ‘We’ve given Ted a good life. Looked after him since his parents died. We’ve done our best for him. And in the long run, I think this is what he needs.’ She stared through the window and shook her head, sadly. ‘He scares me. You know, he gets in such a temper if things don’t go his way, and he’s so strict with Ella and Finn, I worry what he’ll be like when they get older. How he’ll cope with the backchat that’s bound to come.’ She nodded to herself. ‘No, although this seems harsh and believe me, I feel terrible about it, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place and whatever we do, there’ll be consequences we don’t like. He needs some professional help and given the waiting list for NHS counselling…’ She pursed her lips and looked at Luke. ‘I honestly believe prison is going to be the best place for him. They’ll sort him out.’

  Her shoulders slumped, and she gave him a rueful smile. ‘Nothing fair or easy about life, is there? But your troubles, son, honestly… you know how they say that every cloud has a silver lining?’

  Once again, Luke realised how much he hadn’t seen, how much he’d been wrapped up in himself. He hadn’t thought for one moment what life must be like for his family under Ted’s regime. For the months that he was living there, they’d all seemed happy to give him the leadership role. And in his heart, Luke had thought it was just his mum humouring Ted, while she was still organising everything in the background, trying to smooth over the disruption caused by Luke coming home. He hadn’t realised they were all virtual prisoners, caught in Ted’s protective net.

  He frowned, trying to imagine what Ted’s reaction was going to be when he found out he was alone on the farm. ‘When will he know you’re not there? What if he rings and nobody answers before he’s done everything in the Lake District? What will he think?’

  ‘You don’t need to worry about that. He’s given your dad a mobile. He won’t know where we are if he rings on that, will he?’ She looked unsure for a moment.

  Luke gave her a reassuring smile. ‘No, that’s perfect. So, have you heard from him?’

  ‘He rang last night to say you’d got away. He’s camping out somewhere, waiting for Mel to turn up. Then once she’s there, he’s got to give the phone in to the Grizedale Information Centre and then he’s going to wait a bit to hand in the bag of clothes to the police. That’s right, isn’t it?’

  Luke nodded, his mind going over all the possibilities, all the things that could go wrong. Would he ever really be free of Mel? That was the niggling doubt gnawing at the back of his mind. Even over here, would he ever really be free?

  ‘Does he really think it’s your idea, Mum?’

  Fay nodded, a sad look on her face. ‘Yes, he does. He wouldn’t have done it for you, would he?’

  ‘If he thought he was going to rid of me for ever, he would. That’s what he said to me in the café. He told me it was the price to pay.’

  Fay frowned. ‘It was never going to be that, love, was it? How could I let you go that easily?’ She squeezed his hand again and Luke felt a lump in his throat, preventing him from answering. He squeezed back instead, hoping that she knew how much her actions meant to him. ‘I know this seems a cruel way to teach someone a lesson,’ she continued, ‘but Ted needs to learn one way or another that love isn’t a weapon you can use against people. He needs some help to understand what he’s been doing.’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, we’re talking as though it’s a given that he’ll be arrested. There’s a good chance that he won’t be, not with our local police contacts.’ She took a sip of her tea, put her mug down carefully, her hand shaking. ‘No, chances are he’ll be fine. And if that’s the case, we’ll have to decide how to bring him round to our way of thinking.’

  They sat in silence, sipping their tea. He could hear the children screaming and laughing, playing some game out of sight. Through the kitchen window, he could see Ceri tying a washing line between the house and the outbuilding and his father sitting on a log in the yard, sharpening an axe, a pile of logs waiting to be chopped at his side. Already, they were settling in.

  Still, Luke’s mind was restless. There were a lot of things that had to happen before he could believe they were really safe. And he was relying on Ted playing his part. Could they really trust him?

  The rest of the day was spent sorting out the house, Fay keeping Luke busy with a long list of jobs, while the children played and explored their new surroundings until it was supper time.

  Luke was about to follow Ceri upstairs to put the children to bed when his mother called to him from the lounge, where a fire now glowed in the hearth. She closed the door and turned to him, looking worried. ‘We’ve got a slight problem. Mel hasn’t turned up. But she sent a text to your phone to say she was going to be delayed and will be there tomorrow evening.’

  Luke winced and frowned. ‘Yeah, her event
s do sometimes go on longer than she thought. It’s the networking afterwards, she says.’ He sighed. ‘She’s probably had too much to drink. You know how she likes her wine. Is Ted okay with staying an extra day?’

  Fay nodded. ‘He was a bit annoyed, because he’s camping out and he says it’s freezing, but I managed to talk him round. It’s okay.’

  Luke wrapped her in a hug that he hoped conveyed the depth of his gratitude. ‘Love you, Mum. You know I couldn’t have done this without you.’

  His mum clung to him and the fragility of her made him more determined than ever to get everything right this time. In that moment, in the silence of their embrace, all the events of the past couple of years played out in his mind and he could see all the trouble he had caused for his family, first with Ted and then with Mel. He could sense the burden of worry he had placed on his parents and his resolve hardened. There could be no wavering, no backing down or taking the easy way out. It was up to him to do everything in his power to right the wrongs and make sure their lives could be lived out in peace.

  Forty-Three

  Sunday

  Luke woke on Sunday feeling jittery and unsettled, able to do nothing but wait while the events he’d set in motion in the Lake District played themselves out. Was Mel going to show up? Would Ted bother to stay around to play his part?

  He kept himself busy, moving furniture and cleaning up the house. He’d kept in touch with Anna’s grandparents since her death and had received a letter a few months ago, telling him they’d moved into a residential home, giving him their new contact details. The house was going up for sale, but when he’d phoned them a few days ago, they’d said they were waiting for the spring to put it on the market and it was fine for him to use the place while he got himself sorted out. Better, they’d said, that it was lived in and kept aired and it would be a great help to them if he could tidy it up a bit. His shoulders ached, not just with all the lifting and carrying he’d been doing, but because his muscles were so tense, the waiting an excruciating form of torture. Conversation in the house was sparse, all of them on tenterhooks, listening for the call to tell them that Mel had arrived and when it finally came, there was a collective sigh of relief.

  Stage one was complete. But would the rest of it work?

  Later, when everyone had gone to bed, Luke lay in the dark, listening to the noises of the house and its inhabitants as they settled, unable to relax for the flow of thoughts that sped through his mind, all the what ifs and maybes queuing up to be inspected and sent on their way, only to be replaced by another batch of worries. He was distracted by the sound of his mother’s voice coming from the next room, the gap under the door big enough to let the sound through. He listened, puzzled because he knew his father was in the bathroom, so she wasn’t talking to him. She had to be on the phone.

  ‘Mountain Rescue?’ his mother said. Then there was a silence. ‘Good, good. Thank goodness… Yes… yes. Well done, Ted.’ Silence for a few minutes. ‘Okay, well we’re all going to bed now… What’s that? Yes… Keep up the good work, Ted. See you in a couple of days then.’

  Luke tensed, his heart stuttering in his chest.

  Ted’s coming here?

  Had he misunderstood, or had she gone back on her word, not able now to let Ted be the scapegoat? Ted’s involvement in the plan was something he’d had to grudgingly accept, and, in truth, he wasn’t totally convinced it would work, but when he voiced his concerns earlier in the day, his mother had said he had to trust Ted to do whatever was required to solve the problem that was Mel.

  ‘He’s not like you, Luke. That’s what you’ve got to remember. He doesn’t mind using brute force to get what he wants. Man or woman, there’s no difference to him, because she is a threat to our safety. He has a loyalty to this family that means he will do whatever it takes to make her go away.’

  There’d been a curious look on her face and he hadn’t been sure how to take her comments. What on earth has she told him to do? And was she proud of Ted’s lack of morals, his loyalty at all costs? Was she telling Luke that he’d fallen short in that department? It had puzzled him for the rest of the day as he’d debated with himself whether there was anything else he could do to make amends for all the trouble he’d caused.

  Now, all he could hear in his mind were her last words. ‘See you in a couple of days.’

  Ted’s coming.

  He tried to ignore the rattle of annoyance that reverberated round his brain, frustrated that his mother had insisted on her plans instead of letting him sort things out his own way, without any involvement from his cousin. He didn’t understand the logic. Probably because there isn’t any, he told himself, his mother’s mind seeming to flit between reality and fantasy, the past and the present. It was becoming a worry and he wasn’t sure what he could do about it. He wondered if she was taking her medication, if that was perhaps the problem, and he resolved to talk to Ceri about it in the morning.

  He was too agitated for sleep now, so he sat up and scrolled through his new phone, checking to see if there was any news about their disappearance, but there was nothing and he knew it was probably too soon. They’d have to wait for the Mountain Rescue to draw a blank before the police got involved.

  More waiting.

  It was unbearable.

  He sat staring into the darkness and finally he realised that Ted wasn’t coming at all. He was getting himself all worked up about nothing. Ted had no idea where they were, had no idea his family had gone; his mother was just playing him along so he’d stick to the plan, but Luke's panicked brain had taken her words at face value. However, a connection had been made in his mind, a joining of dots to create a picture of what needed to happen. And as it unfolded, he was clear that it was the exactly what he had to do to give his family the biggest gift of all. Peace.

  Forty-Four

  Tuesday

  Ted sat in the stuffy, windowless room, anger burning up his throat. The police were about to interview him and they’d left him to stew while he waited for his solicitor to arrive. His brain had been working so hard, his thoughts bashing around, bumping against each other as he tried to sort out what he was going to say and what he should keep to himself, that he now had the mother of all headaches. He rubbed at his temples.

  Who grassed us up?

  That was question number one and the only answer he could come up with for that one was Mel. He obviously hadn’t got to her in time. His hands tightened into fists and he cursed himself, because in his mind, he’d known that Mel was a sneaky bitch who’d tell the police anything to save herself. But his mum had been so sure it would be okay he hadn’t taken all the necessary precautions.

  Question number two was harder to answer. Where’s my family?

  He hoped they’d been warned and had escaped. That made sense, because surely Idris down at the Porthmadog station would have been told that the drugs squad were planning a raid. It must be protocol to let the local force know you were doing an operation on their patch, mustn’t it? So, the most likely explanation was that he’d got them out. Yes, he reassured himself. Idris put them somewhere safe. Better that he didn’t know where. He nodded to himself. Much better.

  He sat back in his chair, clear now about his way forward. He would be helpful to the police. Because there was no escaping the fact that he’d been caught red-handed growing a lot of cannabis. He’d take the rap for his family. Of course he would. But he wouldn’t take the rap for Luke. No way. A smile twitched on his lips. That guy was going down. He’d tell the police about the hire car. He’d tell them about the false names and he’d tell them about Luke’s delivery route, the one he’d set up with his ex-forces contacts. Because this situation was all Luke’s fault. His fault for marrying that woman, his fault for not being man enough to stand up to her, his fault for letting her find out about the drugs, and his fault she’d told the police.

  None of this would have happened if Luke hadn’t come home.

  Ted nodded to himself, sure of
his reasoning. If he was to be punished, then it was only fair that Luke should be too.

  Forty-Five

  Tuesday

  It was almost evening by the time George had returned from HQ and Inspector Stevens got his team together for an update.

  ‘Let’s start with the family, shall we? Jackson, what you got?’

  ‘Well, I’ve just had a very interesting conversation with the drug squad in Colwyn Bay. The local force put me on to them. Apparently, they’ve been to the farm after an anonymous tip-off. Found a whole cannabis growing operation up there and they arrested a guy called Edward Roberts.’ He held up a printed mug shot for everyone to see. ‘He’s Luke Roberts’ cousin, apparently. They’re waiting for his solicitor to turn up, then they’ll be interviewing him.’

  Stevens took the picture and looked more closely, glanced at Jackson.

  ‘I’m just wondering… the description the girl at the café gave us. Could this be the man she saw with Luke Roberts?’

  Jackson smiled. ‘Way ahead of you. The Welsh drugs team have done an ANPR check on his car over the last week, to see if they could spot drop-offs or associates who might be involved. Because there’s obviously a network of people selling the stuff. Anyway…’ He paused for effect.

  ‘He’s been up here, hasn’t he?’ Lockett was too impatient for the punchline.

  Jackson nodded. ‘ANPR caught him coming up the M6 on Friday and going back again late last night. Well, technically it was very early this morning.’