by Helen Phifer
Lifting off the lid, she stared at the contents inside, trying to make sense of what she was looking at. She recognised the big, white, plastic button earrings, and there was a delicate gold chain with a crucifix which she had seen many times before. The thing which made her heart race and her stomach drop like a lead weight was the once-white priest’s dog collar. Now covered in dried brown blood. Her own blood rushed to her ears as she realised what she was staring at, and the panic which filled her chest made her heart race so fast she thought she was going to pass out. The music still playing in her ears, she hadn’t realised that she’d gasped so loud. She needed to get Bella and get out of the house, now. She also hadn’t realised that her husband had come in and was standing behind her, his arms crossed, watching her every move.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Lucy positioned her car at the top of the Costellas’ street. She had no police radio, cuffs or CS gas. All she had was her phone. She kept replaying her earlier visit over and over again in her mind. There was nothing to suggest that Natalia was having a psychotic episode at all. She was calm, friendly, funny and not acting strange. Her husband, although she’d only spoken to him briefly, seemed okay as well; she’d never met him before, so it was harder to judge. All she wanted was to get that little girl out of there safely. She was in the middle of what could turn into an explosive situation. A car parked behind her, and she watched Browning get out of it. He came around to the passenger side of her car and got in.
‘Christ, these cars aren’t made for well-built blokes, are they?’
Lucy didn’t know, she didn’t have a problem getting in or out of it. ‘You got here quick.’
‘I’ve left Col and the new boy sorting it out. I couldn’t risk you being here alone with nothing to protect yourself. I never realised how much of a pain in the arse you were until the last few days. I can’t wait for the golden boy Jackson to get back off his holidays. There’s a plain car parked at the top end of the back alley that runs behind the house watching that.’
‘Thank you, I’m good though. A lot tougher than I look.’
‘Who’s in the house?’
‘I don’t know if anyone’s in or not. When I left he’d just turned up. For all I know they’ve all gone out shopping.’
‘What car do they drive?’
She shrugged. Browning began writing down the registration numbers of the cars parked nearest to the house. Pulling out his radio he began to pass the numbers over to the control room operator to check the PNC database. Lucy felt helpless, but at least she was here. He hadn’t been told to send her home which was a good sign. The white Audi A5 came back as insured to both Costellas.
‘I think they’re all home. Do you think whoever it is knows that we’re onto them?’
‘What did you say you were doing there?’
‘Asked her about her cat, told her Ellie wants one for her birthday. Which is actually true, she keeps pestering me for one. Do you know how much they paid for that cat?’
‘Tenner.’
‘Six hundred quid.’
‘You’re kidding me, right? Who in their right mind is going to pay that? For a cat.’
‘Nope, honestly that’s how much it was, and not me, although it is pretty cute.’
‘Play your cards right, you might be able to buy that one cheap if we lock them both up for murder.’
Lucy looked at him, pushing him in the arm. ‘That’s terrible.’
‘But true, you’ve got to look at the positives in situations like this.’
She turned away from him to hide her smile; cop humour was bad but sometimes humour was the only thing they could use in these situations. ‘I wish we could do something.’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know, go knock on the door and ask to speak to her. I just want to get Bella out of there. I feel as if my heart is racing so fast I’m going to have a heart attack sitting here doing nothing.’
‘I know, but that wouldn’t work, would it? If you had to take a guess, which one do you think it is, providing there isn’t some weird partnership going on? Like Fred and Rose West.’
‘It has to be him. I don’t know how she would get Collins hoisted up on that cross. Even if she was flipping out, I just can’t see it being her.’
‘Right, so when the door entry team gets here we need to go after him first. Get him secured, then get her and the kid out to safety. Simple, it will be okay, Lucy. Stop panicking, like you said they won’t know that we’re onto them.’
Lucy stared at the house, hoping to God he was right.
Chapter Seventy
Natalia pushed the box back into the drawer. Turning around to go and get her daughter, she screamed to see him standing there watching. Pulling her earphones out she smiled at him.
‘I didn’t hear you come in, honey, you gave me a fright. I was busy dusting.’ Her heart was hammering inside her chest.
‘What were you looking at?’
She stared into his eyes, which were darting from side to side, not sure whether to lie or be truthful. There was a film of perspiration on his forehead as if he’d been out for a run, but she knew that he hadn’t because he wasn’t wearing any trainers or shorts like he usually would.
‘The drawer wouldn’t shut. I was just trying to close it.’
He walked across so he was standing next to her. ‘Why wouldn’t it shut? All you had to do was shove it.’ He pushed the drawer so hard that the whole dresser shook and a couple of plates tippled off, falling to the floor and smashing to pieces.
‘There, problem solved. Any other DIY jobs around the house you need me to take a look at while I’m here?’
He was smiling, and she felt cold fingers of fear rising up her spine, because that wasn’t a smile she’d ever seen before. It was more of a smirk; he was laughing at her.
‘No, everything is good, thank you.’ She looked at the door. It would take her a few seconds to reach it. Then she had to run up the stairs and get to Bella. She could lock them both in the bathroom and phone the police. ‘Would you like some lunch, I was about to make some?’
She was trying to distract him, normally he lived for food.
He shook his head. ‘Not hungry today.’
‘Oh, okay. I’ll go and fix something then.’ Food was the last thing on her mind; she’d throw up if she ate. She deliberately didn’t mention their daughter’s name, hoping he wouldn’t be thinking about her.
‘I’ll come with you.’
That smile again; she tucked her hands in her pockets so he wouldn’t see how much they were trembling. He let her leave the dining room and followed her to the kitchen, where she kept her back to him and went through the motions of preparing a sandwich to buy some time. He was leaning against the fridge.
‘What did that fucking copper want, coming around here? Being nosy, why did you let her in?’
‘It’s the babysitter’s mum. She wanted to know where we bought the cat.’
‘Why?’
‘So, she could buy her daughter one.’
He marched over to her, grabbing her by her ponytail. ‘Are you lying to me? I’ll know if you’re lying.’
Her hand reached out, grabbing hold of the nearest thing to her, which was a heavy-based milk pan. She swung it as far as she could and hit him on the head with it. He let go of her, and she made a run for it. She knew she had to get to their daughter before he did. Letting out a loud grunt he stumbled forwards.
Natalia had never run so fast in her life. She didn’t turn around to see if he was following her, there was no time.
She ran into Bella’s bedroom, grabbed hold of her and dragged her into the ensuite. Locking the door behind her, she sat on the floor her back against it.
Bella looked at her, shocked, and whispered, ‘What’s up, Mamma?’
Natalia tugged her phone out of her pocket. She dialled 999 but the phone kept on ringing. Ending that call, she found Lucy’s number and pressed it.
Chapter S
eventy-One
Lucy’s phone began to ring. She answered it and heard a frantic voice whisper: ‘Please help us, he’s gone mad.’ A loud scream filled the car.
Lucy jumped out and began running towards the house.
Browning got out after her. ‘Lucy, get back here now.’ He began to shout orders into his radio. ‘Backup now, armed officers to Beach Lane.’ Shaking his head, he did his best to follow and catch up with her.
Inside the house, Tony was kicking and throwing himself at the bathroom door to get to his wife. It was shaking and buckling under his weight. Bella huddled in the corner crying, and Natalia was bracing herself trying to stop the door from being kicked open. There was loud hammering on the front door, and he stopped. Running over to the window, he looked down to see that fucking, meddling woman hammering on the door.
‘Police, open up now or we’ll break the door down.’
Lucy was thankful to hear the sirens in the distance, because if he did open the door, she had no idea what was going to happen.
Tony opened the window and shouted, ‘Get the fuck away from my house now or I’ll kill them both and you.’
She stepped away, holding her hands up. ‘I’m going away, but I need to talk to you, Tony. Come down and we can have a chat. Come on, you don’t want to hurt them, do you? They haven’t done anything wrong. Please Tony, just you and me, we can talk. Let me inside, I’m not armed I just want to help you.’
Browning, who was standing at the gate breathing heavy, was shaking his head. He hissed, ‘Lucy, what the fuck are you doing? You can’t go in there, he’ll kill you. We need a negotiator; this is out of both our hands now.’
She shrugged, looking up at the bedroom window where Tony was watching their every move.
‘Tony, I need to talk to you. Come on, just me and you. No one else. I promise you we can sort this out. Get you the right help. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let me help you; this is a mess and it’s only a matter of minutes before they arrive and break down the door. Come out and I’ll take you in, no fuss. It will all be calm, no big drama.’ Lucy’s voice was trembling as she tried her best not to let it show. She didn’t want him to know how terrified she was.
He slammed the window shut, and she turned to Browning. ‘Fuck, now what?’
‘Now you step away and wait for task force and a negotiator, there’s nothing you can do.’
A police van, closely followed by another one, turned in, lights and sirens deafening in the normally peaceful street. The task force sergeant, Graham Brock, got out, running towards her.
‘What’s happening? Get away from there, Lucy.’
She did as she was told, backing out of the gate while watching the windows for movement as Browning relayed the past few minutes to him.
‘I want you both back at the van. Do not come back towards this property. This is under my team now; I don’t want you jeopardising anything.’
Browning nodded; grabbing hold of Lucy’s elbow he pushed her towards the van. She turned around and asked, ‘Who’s the on-duty negotiator?’
‘Inspector Wilson is on his way; he’s silver commander today, so he’ll be taking over at the scene and doing the negotiating.’
She looked at Browning and mouthed: ‘He’s a cock, they both are.’
She leant against the van out of sight of Tony while she tried to get herself together. Praying that he wouldn’t do anything stupid to his beautiful family.
Chapter Seventy-Two
The whole street was cordoned off with armed officers; the houses either side to the Costellas’ were evacuated. There were vans, cars and an armed response vehicle surrounding the house. Lucy had started shivering, not sure if it was the cold or if she was in shock. She climbed into an empty van, turning the heating on full blast. Browning was talking to Brocky who was strutting around loving every minute of this. She thought about phoning Natalia to see if she was okay and still alive, but knew that it could make everything much worse. If she wanted to be here, she needed to swallow her pride and take a back seat. It was out of her hands now despite the overwhelming need to take control. She’d not taken her eyes off the bedroom window, wanting him to put in an appearance. It was too quiet out here; there were lots of officers and no action.
Wilson finally appeared, strolling casually towards Brocky, and she felt her fingers begin to twitch. Yeah, take your time, mate. It’s not like it’s a life or death situation, is it? She glanced at him and realised they were talking about her when Brocky kept stealing sly glances in her direction. Next thing she knew Wilson was at the window; he knocked, and she put it down.
‘What did you say to him?’
‘I told him to come down and we could talk about it. Not to do anything stupid, that I’d take him in.’
‘Why would you tell him that? You bloody idiot, you should have kept your distance until I got here.’
Lucy glared at him. ‘You just called me what? Don’t you fucking come here and tell me what to do. I answered the phone to his wife screaming at me to help her save her and her child’s life. I did the only thing I could think of and that was to distract him.’
He turned and walked away. She sat there trying to take deep breaths and stop her knuckles from clenching into tight fists. Christ she was so mad with the situation and everyone here that she’d go into the house and take him on single-handed, while the pack of pussies waited around for hours, drinking coffee and laughing about what was the best way to handle the situation.
Browning came over; she looked at him.
‘He had the audacity to call me a bloody idiot. He’s a prick. I swear to God I’ll punch his lights out if he doesn’t make a move soon.’
‘I know he’s a prick, he always has been. We should have kicked the door in and dragged him out before they got here. This is going to last for hours.’
Lucy felt her eyes fill with tears, visions of Sandy’s and Margaret’s bodies filled her mind, and the blood flowing around her veins had turned into iced water. She was terrified for the woman and child inside.
‘I know, but will Natalia and Bella last that long? He’s lost it.’
‘Here we go.’
Lucy looked at Wilson, who was on his phone. A hush had fallen around the officers in the street and it was eerily quiet. She could hear the phone on the other end ringing, and she prayed for him to answer it. Just when she thought it was about to ring out, Wilson lifted his hand and began to talk. He slowly walked towards the front garden of the house, waving towards the windows. He was out of earshot now; she had no idea what he was saying.
There was a loud boom, and the shattering of glass echoed around the street as a small stool came flying out of the bedroom window. Wilson and everyone behind him ducked to avoid the flying glass, which made Lucy smile.
‘Shame that didn’t hit his extra-large head and knock him out.’
The broken blinds were flapping in the breeze out of the jagged shards of glass still left in the window frame. Wilson had backed off. His phone down, he huddled around the police car with Brocky and a couple of armed officers.
‘Well that didn’t go to plan.’
Wilson stood up and walked back towards her. ‘He wants to talk to you. I’ll brief you on what to say. Will you speak to him?’
Lucy nodded.
‘I’m going to give him a few minutes to calm down and then try again. If it doesn’t work, I’ll put you on the phone. Whatever you do try not to do anything to agitate him even further.’
‘What, like you just did?’
‘I had to make contact and see what the situation was. I didn’t know he was that unstable.’
She had to bite her tongue in case he wouldn’t let her try again. She had to do her best to make him let his family out alive or she would never live with herself. If anything happened to them, Ellie would be devastated and blame her.
‘Wait here until I give you the go-ahead and then you can try. Do you think he has a gun?’
‘How
would I know? I think if he had a gun we’d have known about it by now. He wouldn’t have had to throw that stool out of the window, he’d have just shot you.’
For a fleeting moment the look of concern on his face gave her great satisfaction. He clearly hadn’t thought that one through. Then her stomach lurched once more at the reality of the situation they were in. Tony could turn on his family before they could get to them.
Chapter Seventy-Three
Tony kicked the bathroom door so hard the lock splintered, cracked, and it flew open, sending his wife sprawling across the bathroom floor, winded. He stepped inside, to see Bella crying, leaning over Natalia’s stunned body. He smiled at his daughter. ‘Don’t cry sweetie, I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just wanted to speak to you both and she was being silly. Come on let’s go downstairs and get something to eat. You can watch the cartoons.’ He held his hand out towards her. Terrified and sobbing, she took hold of it.
Natalia watched in horror. She forced herself to get up and follow them, just like he’d known she would. There was no way she would leave Bella with him on her own, which was what he was relying on to keep her obedient. She glanced at the broken window; the blue flashing lights of the police vans were flickering off the white walls. She could hear him talking to Bella, and she was praying to God to keep them both safe. Why was this happening to her? She was a good person; she gave to charity, she volunteered at the church, she loved her family and this was how she was being repaid for being a good citizen. Her husband had turned into some wild-eyed stranger she didn’t know, and both her and her daughter’s lives were at risk. She hoped that Lucy was out there figuring out how to save them both. She knew then that Lucy had probably had her doubts about her husband’s innocence. Had she really wanted to know about the cat for Ellie or was it all a show to get inside the house?
