The Next Girl: A gripping thriller with a heart-stopping twist

by Carla Kovach

  A call lit up her phone and it vibrated across the coffee table. She grabbed it, hoping that it was Hannah calling back, but it was Jacob. ‘Hello.’

  She waited a moment while he coughed down the phone. ‘Sorry about that. Right, I managed to catch up with Wyre and O’Connor just after you left.’

  ‘Great. Did they come up with anything? I got the news back about the lager order. What else is there?’

  ‘They’re making out their reports right now, so they should be available to view in an hour or two. But I have spoken to them and I can give you a summary.’

  Gina took some photos out of the folder and laid them out in front of her. Smarmy Samuel stared back at her. ‘Great. Go ahead.’

  She winced as she listened to Jacob coughing loudly before continuing. ‘Deborah’s pool team friends Barbara Pace, Steph Steel and Juliet Derby had nothing really to add since last time. As we know, they all have alibis for the night she disappeared, and no motive. Zoe Ellis is working away for the next week but her husband seemed to think she’d have nothing to add. Wyre and O’Connor asked for her to call the station when she got back. Charlotte Livingston was in. She told them that Samuel Avery had been bothering Deborah for sex and that had been going on for weeks. Deborah had rejected him several times but he had been a sleaze about it. When asked why she didn’t mention this back then, all she said was that he was in the airport at the time, so it couldn’t have been him.’

  ‘Interesting. I’ve been wondering if he’s working with someone else. There’s something about him. It’s a possibility.’

  ‘I suppose. Get this though. Charlotte also said that Samuel had tried to grope Deborah outside the toilets two weeks before her disappearance. By groping, I mean he grabbed her in the groin area and tried to kiss her, pushing her against the wall. She got upset about it in the taxi on the way home. She even said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to play for the team anymore. She said Deborah didn’t want to report the incident. She didn’t want her husband to find out and she wanted to forget it. Obviously, we only have Charlotte’s word for this, but given Samuel’s previous, I’m inclined to believe her. Anyway, that’s all. Abigail’s coming over to nurse me in half an hour so I’m going to love you and leave you.’

  ‘Great. Tomorrow we’ll head to Deborah’s workplace, see if anything new has come to light. I’ve checked with O’Connor and he’s confirmed that we can use their boardroom and both Gabby and Callum will be in, so we’ll be able to speak to them. I’ve read the files to date. Have a look over them so that you’re up to date too and then get a good night’s sleep. It’s going to be a long one tomorrow.’

  ‘When is it not?’ he replied as he blew his nose.

  Another call came through on Gina’s phone. ‘Have a good one. Got to go, bye.’ She saw Hannah’s name flash up and accepted the call. ‘Hello.’

  ‘Mum, I’m sorry I went off on one the other night. I thought I’d let you know that everything is sorted for Saturday. It would be nice if you could come along, I need you there. I’ll text you the details.’

  Gina opened her mouth to speak and then changed her mind. A ceremony was the last thing she could deal with. ‘I might be working—’

  ‘Whatever. I’m giving you the chance to do the right thing here. It won’t look good if you don’t turn up.’

  She swallowed. She’d have to face his mum, Hetty, and his awful brother, Steven, and the rest of his close family. She’d have to paste on her mourning face all over again for the man who had raped and beat her. ‘Hannah, you know I love you and Gracie with all my heart—’

  ‘Do I?’

  ‘You’re being silly now.’

  ‘Me being silly? It’s not like I’m asking you to jump out of a plane without a parachute. I’m asking you to attend a small ceremony to remember my father, a man you loved, who you now seem hell-bent on forgetting. I’m not saying any more on this. Turn up, Mum. Just come along for the half an hour it will take. You don’t have to stay for tea and cakes or even make the effort to talk to anyone. I just need you to be there for me.’ In the background, Gracie began to cry and a cat yelped. ‘Gracie. Leave the cat alone. I’ve got to go. Think about it, half an hour, Saturday. That’s all.’ Hannah hung up.

  Gina felt a prickling sensation wash over her skin as she flashed back to when she was pregnant with Hannah. She remembered trembling as Terry unlocked the door in the middle of the night. She’d heard him struggling to get his key in the lock. It had taken several attempts. As he reached the top of the stairs, he called out to her. ‘Gina, baby, I need help with my zipper.’ She’d pretended to be asleep as a tear escaped from the corner of her eye. ‘When I say I need help, I mean get up and help. Bitch.’ He’d dragged her from the bed by her hair. ‘Oh, you’re going to get it now,’ he yelled as he undid his own zip. She never tried to resist him, resisting always led to more pain. Gina swallowed the tears back.

  Was Debbie going through the same thing? Nausea swept through her body and the palpitations caused her to gasp for breath. She placed her fingers on her wrist; her pulse was high. Was she having a heart attack? She gasped for breath again as the room began to sway. Calm down, she thought. Breathe in and out. In and out. She’d been in control of her anxiety for so long now, but this case was bringing it all back.

  An email alert pinged on her laptop. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. Her breathing was slowly returning to its normal pace and the room had stopped swaying.

  It was Wyre’s interview notes. She opened the file and scanned the information. It contained pretty much what Jacob had said. She looked at Charlotte’s interview notes, where she mentioned the assault outside the toilets. Wyre had also made a note that she thought something may have gone on between Charlotte and Samuel at some point, as Charlotte had paused and smiled when they spoke of him being a ladies’ man. Gina began thinking. Maybe Charlotte had said what she had out of jealousy, wanting Samuel to get into trouble for moving his affections to Deborah. Samuel had never had an actual report of sexual assault lodged against him; he was always in trouble for fighting with jealous husbands.

  She headed to the kitchen and grabbed an out-of-date pack of sliced cheese and shoved a piece in her mouth. What was she missing with Avery?

  She thought back to her conversation with Hannah and felt a lump forming in her throat. Having to face Terry’s family again was the worst thing she could think of. She tried to swallow but she couldn’t, almost choking on the cheese. As she gasped for air, light-headedness took over and she grabbed a chair for support.

  She shook her head. ‘I can’t go,’ she said, sobbing. A ceremony with his family would be too much. Hannah thought Terry was the perfect father, taken from her too soon. She didn’t know that the smallest thing would set him off and that her mother could never make him happy. ‘I couldn’t make him happy,’ she yelled as she gripped the top of the chair. She hated herself for saying that out loud. It made it so real. Spoken like the abused person that she had been. The image of Terry lying at the bottom of the stairs, broken and bleeding, flashed through her thoughts. Tears dripped onto the kitchen table as exhaustion kicked in.

  She fell to the kitchen floor, only the light of the fridge revealing her tears as she broke down and stared into the dark. What are you going through, Debbie?

  Thirty

  Tuesday, 5 December 2017

  Hailstones beat against the window as Gina swigged the rest of the cold coffee. She’d arrived at the station for a six thirty briefing, and the last hour had gone strangely. Thoughts of the case and her chat with Hannah had kept her awake most of the night, and had been whirring through her mind all morning. Her thoughts were filled by memories of her dark past, the abuse, the case. Saturday, Terry, Briggs, Hannah, Avery, Baby Jenkins and Luke, poor Luke. Deborah, where was Deborah? She’d stared at the case files for the past hour, after chasing the lab for results. She once again ran through the details of the reports from O’Connor and Wyre. There was a knock on her office doo
r. ‘Come in,’ she called.

  Wyre entered with a smile on her face and placed a printout of an email on her desk. ‘Check this out. Forensic results on the towel Baby Jenkins was wrapped in.’

  Gina lifted the page and smiled back. ‘Let’s hope it gives us a clue to this mystery.’ After a moment of glancing back and forth at the pages, Gina looked up. ‘Traces of red diesel and dog hair, specifically a black dog.’ Gina placed the paperwork back on her desk. ‘Call another briefing now. I’ll be through in a couple of minutes.’

  Wyre nodded and left. Gina swigged the dregs of her coffee and headed straight towards the incident room. As she reached the main hub, Jacob arrived, removing his coat and scarf while heading towards the kitchenette. ‘No time for coffee at the moment,’ Gina said. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and held it to his mouth as he continually retched and coughed mucus into it.

  ‘Sorry about that. Even Abigail deserted me after about half an hour last night. Have we had a breakthrough?’

  ‘We have a lead,’ she replied. Gina noticed a crusty redness around Jacob’s eyes.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked as he dropped his coat on a chair.

  ‘I’m about to brief everyone now.’

  He hurried beside her, blowing his nose as he walked. They entered the incident room. Everyone’s eyes were on Gina.

  ‘We’ve just had the forensics report back on the baby’s blanket. Traces of red diesel and black dog hair were found amongst the fibres. As we are bordering the Warwickshire countryside, I suggest that, to begin with, we make a list of farms and country businesses within a ten-mile radius. O’Connor, I’m going to task you with the research. I want the name and address of every business that is operating in this area. Everywhere you go, everyone you interview, look out for a black dog. This could be the key to finding Deborah Jenkins. Wyre, check with all the local vets. We’re looking for owners of black dogs. I know there will be stacks of them but we may be able to cross-reference later on.’

  ‘Have we had the DNA results back on Mr Jenkins as yet?’ asked O’Connor.

  ‘No. I’ll keep you updated. I’m sure it is just an elimination test though. Right, as you were. Let me know of any developments as soon as they come through. Jacob and I will be speaking to Deborah’s colleagues today. In turn, we’ll keep you updated at all times. Thank you.’

  O’Connor swivelled in his chair to face his computer screen. Wyre was adding the new information to the incident board and everyone else spoke quietly, sharing thoughts and notes.

  Jacob followed Gina towards the kitchenette. ‘Time to grab a quick coffee before we head out,’ she said. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘It’s much worse when I first get up. Give me an hour and I’ll be back to my usual good-looking self. I’ll go and have a good blow of my nose before we leave, shift some of this snot,’ he said with a smile. His unshaven face and wonky tie said it all. He’d had about as much sleep as she’d had.

  ‘I was looking over the workplace interviews this morning,’ she said. ‘I remember the director quite well, Lynne Hastings. I gave her a call this morning. All but one member of staff is still working there and they’re all in today. Oliver Stain died six months after Deborah disappeared. His mother had picked him up on the night of Deborah’s disappearance and he’d gone with her to the pub to have a family celebration. He was never a suspect.’

  ‘What are you thinking now?’ Jacob asked.

  ‘There was a colleague, Callum Nelson, that we briefly considered, but nothing ever came of it. Not after initial investigations. But I need to go over this again. We’ve missed a trick somewhere.’

  Jacob poured two coffees out and passed one to Gina. She leaned against the worktop and sipped the drink. ‘There is still the possibility that it was a stranger,’ he said.

  ‘There is that. I can’t think of anyone we’ve interviewed who lives or works on a farm. We haven’t come across anyone with a black dog either. Maybe it is a stranger, but why Deborah? What were they doing driving up the road where she worked, when all the units were closed, opportunistically looking for a woman to enslave for years to come? I don’t buy that it was that random.’ Gina stared at the coffee in her cup.

  ‘But we keep coming back with nothing when it comes to her friends and family,’ said Jacob. ‘My mind keeps going back to that smarmy Avery knowing something.’

  ‘We have him on CCTV checking in at Birmingham airport. He never left the airport and subsequently had a holiday in Spain with a collection of tacky Facebook updates to prove it. I know what you mean though: he has a face that you’d just like to punch. If only this case were that simple. It’s like we’re dealing with a ghost. Someone who is right under our noses, but we just can’t see them. Again, could the kidnapper have an accomplice?’

  Jacob wiped his nose on the back of his hand. ‘It’s a possibility. I think I need to go to the bogs and sort out my sinuses before we head off.’ Gina nodded and took another slow sip of her coffee.

  Thirty-One

  Luke grabbed the baby carrier from the back of the social worker’s car. ‘This is just like Max’s,’ he said as he walked up the path with Cathy, the social worker following behind. ‘I bet you can’t believe Max ever fit into a seat this tiny.’

  ‘I know, the little chunky bruiser.’ Cathy smiled as she opened the front door, holding it open for Luke. ‘I know this all seems strange,’ she said as he stepped past her, ‘but we can do it, together.’

  The baby let out a small whimper as she slept. ‘I know we can. I hope Isobel’s going to be an easy one, like Max was. I don’t know if we could handle another Heidi.’ Luke glanced at Devina, who was taking notes.

  ‘Please ignore me,’ she said.

  ‘Little tinker, she was. She’s still high maintenance now, bossing Max around,’ Cathy said as they walked into the kitchen. ‘I remember when I went on that weekend break with Debbie and Heidi, when she was a toddler and you were on that course. She’d mastered opening the front door within the hour. We turned our backs for two minutes while taking the cases up the stairs, and she went into the yard and started chasing the chickens all over the place. The owner came out and gave us a right ticking off.’ Cathy turned away and began to sniffle. Tears rolled down her face. ‘I just want her back. She was more than a daughter; she was my best friend.’

  Devina thoughtfully stepped out of the room, giving them a moment, as Cathy broke down in Luke’s arms. He held her tightly, beginning to tear up himself. ‘They’re going to find her, I know it. They have to.’ As he comforted Cathy, he stared at the photo of his family. Debbie stared back. Her warm smile only fuelled his sobs.

  Isobel wailed. ‘I think she needs feeding,’ Cathy said as she leaned back and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She walked over to the worktop and poured the ready-made formula into a bottle that they’d bought earlier that day, popping it in the microwave. ‘It’s been a while since either of us have had to do this. Shall I feed her?’

  Luke nodded. He walked over to the shrieking baby, unclipped the chair straps and picked her up. He held the bundle to his chest and felt a warmth radiating from within the quilted baby suit. The microwave pinged. Cathy took the bottle out and tested its contents on her wrist. ‘It needs a few seconds to cool slightly.’ She grabbed a bowl, filled it with cold water and inserted the bottle. ‘Are you okay while I pop to the loo and clean my face up?’ she asked.

  ‘Course I am. I have done this before, you know,’ he said with a smile. Isobel settled as he rocked her back and forth. He smelled the baby’s head and felt her soft cheek on his nose. He was holding Debbie’s baby. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he fought back more tears. Isobel wasn’t his baby and he had no idea what was going on.

  He placed the baby back in the car seat and stared out at the garden. Nothing in life had prepared him for this moment. Isobel began to yell again. He grabbed the bottle out of the bowl and tested the temperature. It was just right. He wasn’t as out of touch as he’d though
t. He scooped her up, laying her head on his bicep, and placed the plastic teat against her searching lips. She latched on and began to gulp the milk. They didn’t share the same blood, but he knew at that moment he would be the best father in the world.

  Devina reappeared. ‘As we said earlier, I’m just here to supervise the visit. It’s important that you and Cathy have this time to bond with baby Isobel. If there’s anything you need to know, don’t hesitate in asking.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Devina smiled. She pulled a tablet from her purse and began tapping on it as she left the room.

  ‘She’s so adorable,’ Cathy said, sweeping back in and putting the kettle on. ‘Tea?’

  ‘I would love a cup,’ Luke replied. The little one opened her eyes, and for a moment, Luke thought he saw a smile. He knew babies of such a young age didn’t smile and that it was probably just wind, but he smiled back. He wanted her to see her daddy, the one who would be there for her no matter what. The one who was waiting for his wife to come home so that they could be a family.

  Cathy placed the cup of hot tea on the side. ‘She likes you.’

  ‘I like her too. I’d like her to stay.’ He held Isobel in silence for a few minutes, and Cathy watched him feed her. ‘Do you want to have a go?’ he asked.

  She nodded and sat at the kitchen table. Luke passed Isobel over.

  ‘How’s Brooke taking all this?’

  ‘As good as anyone can. We spoke yesterday. I told her about the baby and Debbie. My life has been turned upside down, I can’t deny that, but for the first time since Debbie went missing, I feel as though I have hope. I want her home. I want her here with me, you and the children.’ I keep picturing us all being here for Christmas, happy, a family again.’