Danny thought desperately of what he could do as he watched Lewis finish off his bread. This strange boy led such a different life to his own, but obviously money was important to him.
‘How much are they giving you for doing this?’ Danny asked.
‘Don’t know really. Mum’ll get it and I’ll have to get it off her quick before she spends it all on booze or dope. We’ll be lucky to get a few hundred, I suppose. Pete’s not very generous.’
‘What if you helped me to escape and my parents give you and your mum some money instead?’ The idea suddenly popped into Danny’s head and he hoped it would appeal to Lewis, but before he had a chance to answer, they heard a car approaching.
‘Bloody hell, they’re back! Get back upstairs quick!’ Lewis shoved Danny in the direction of the living room where his mother slept on, oblivious to what was happening around her.
They ran up the stairs as quickly as they could. Danny scooted into his room and Lewis shut the door, ramming in the bolts on the outside. The next thing Danny heard was the toilet flushing and Lewis going back downstairs.
‘What the hell are you doing up there!’ A man’s voice rose up the stairs.
‘Just having a pee,’ Lewis replied calmly; he seemed to be pretty good at lying.
Once the two men were inside the house, it went quiet for a while. Danny feared they might come upstairs and his heart began to beat rapidly, but they didn’t. His thoughts turned to his parents; surely they would be frantic by now. Had they paid the ransom? Were the police looking for him? He checked his watch; nine-ten am, the day was only just beginning. Danny felt like he’d been captive for weeks.
Two hours passed without anyone coming upstairs to see him. He heard shouting several times, men’s voices mainly, but once he heard a scream from a woman, presumably Lewis’s mother. Danny wished Lewis would come back upstairs, but it was obvious he shouldn’t have done so in the first place and would probably be in trouble if the men guessed as much. He wondered if Lewis was thinking over what he’d said, about helping him to escape and his parents paying him. But then if they were all locked in when the men were away, would Lewis even be able to help? Surely his mother would have a key, one she hadn’t told her son about perhaps?
Morning turned into afternoon and the hours dragged by, slowly. Danny’s mind wouldn’t stop working and he was looking at the situation from every angle, trying to find a solution, like they taught him to do in maths at school. It was, he concluded, a good thing that the men didn’t come up to his room. If he didn’t see them, he couldn’t identify them when he was released, as Lewis said, so they wouldn’t have a reason to kill him. The thought was positive, but not a certainty and Danny worried how this would work out; all he knew for certain was that he was cold, hungry and afraid.
Danny must have fallen asleep. The noise of a vehicle jolted him back to reality and he ran to the window in time to see the van driving off down the path. He sat back down on the mattress and listened. His watch showed it to be almost six pm; he’d slept longer than he thought.
After a while he heard footsteps coming upstairs and the bolts being pulled back on the door. For a few moments he trembled, not knowing if both men were gone, or if one of them was still in the house and coming into the room. He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding when Lewis appeared in the doorway and almost smiled when he saw that the skinny boy was carrying a plate of food and a mug of something hot.
‘They’ve gone for the night,’ Lewis said flatly. It was then that Danny noticed the cut on the boy’s lip and the red around his eye, which was turning into a classic shiner. He took the food which was offered and began to eat it quickly. Lewis sat on the mattress beside him, watching and waiting, his face pale and tears not far from his eyes.
‘What happened?’ Danny asked when he was nearly finished the pie he’d been given.
‘Pete and Dave came back. They were mad that Mum was still asleep and Pete began to knock her about. I tried to stop him and got this for my trouble.’ He pointed to his face which was becoming quite swollen.
‘Sorry.’ It was the only thing Danny could think of to say.
‘It’s not your fault,’ Lewis replied. ‘Stuff happens.’
They sat in silence until Danny finished the pie and drank the weak milky tea, which was at least hot.
‘Have you thought about what I said, you know, helping me to escape? My parents would pay you.’
‘Yeah, I thought about it but it’s not going to happen.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, if I let you go, they’d probably kill me and Mum.’ Lewis was quite serious.
‘You can both come with me and my dad will help you. We can tell the police about Pete and Dave and they’ll get arrested!’
‘But the doors are bolted, I told you that.’
‘Are you sure your mum doesn’t have a key — to the back door maybe? Perhaps she just hasn’t told you and they only said they were bolted so you would think you couldn’t get out? Nobody really puts bolts on the outside of doors.’
‘I’ll talk to her but she’s scared of Pete. I don’t think she’d ever dare to cross him.’
‘Why does she stay with him then?’
‘Dunno really — she seems to need to have a boyfriend.’
‘So where did she meet him?’
‘In a pub — where else? She meets all her fellas in pubs. Gets them to buy her drinks and stuff.’
Danny didn’t dare ask what the ‘stuff’ would be, so said nothing, thinking what a strange life this boy and his mother led.
Lewis picked up the plate and mug and went back downstairs. Danny thought he looked scared; the bravado he’d shown earlier seemed to have disappeared, but was that a good thing? He would have to wait and see.
DAY 3
Chapter 7
DI Radford and DS Best left the room after the press conference. Radford hated these things, but they needed the media in order to get the public on side and possibly generate a few leads. They’d deliberately left out the fact that a ransom demand had now been made; allowing the press to assume it was a case of abduction, just another missing child.
They’d also decided not to ask Martha and Richard to take part in the conference. Radford didn’t want them involved at this point, unsure whether they would be the sort of parents with whom the public could identify. Maybe the following day, or the day after, they could involve the Stones in a second press conference and brief them on what to say to muster up a bit of public sympathy. Besides, the parents hadn’t as yet been ruled out as suspects. They’d both given solid alibis, but that was working on the premise that the boy was actually snatched shortly after four pm, on his way home from school. It was feasible that Danny arrived home and one, or both, of the parents had done something before the police were called.
Radford knew this theory had holes in it, such as the ransom demand, which arrived at the house when both parents were present. Manipulating the ransom demand was a possibility, but that would mean the involvement of a third party, which again was unlikely. Radford’s gut feeling was that the parents weren’t involved, although it was still early days.
‘What’s your take on the Stones, Graham?’ he asked the DS.
‘They seem genuine enough, but there’s tension there which isn’t only to do with the kidnapping. Suni says they seem to be arguing about money, although they try to hide their conversations from her. Generally though, I don’t believe they’re involved, otherwise they’re damn good actors.’
‘I’m inclined to agree with you. Their distress seems genuine enough to me, but I know what you mean about the undercurrent. Still, they’re a couple used to getting their own way, especially him, which probably accounts for them being rather prickly. It’s a bit of a conundrum, this case; a fairly low amount for the kidnappers to ask for and an unusual family to pick. They’re not “uber-rich” or in the public eye, which is why I still favour it bei
ng someone they know — if it’s not one of them of course.’
‘Let’s hope they’ve done some serious thinking today and come up with an idea or two. If it’s not someone known to the family, then my money’s on it being amateurs — as you say it’s an unusually small amount.’
The conversation was interrupted by Radford’s telephone. He looked at the incoming number. ‘It’s Suni,’ he said and put her on speaker so they could both listen.
‘We’ve had a call from the kidnappers, sir. They’ve given us a time and place and Mr Stone asked for confirmation that Danny was safe and well. They’re going to ring back.’
‘Right, Graham — back to the Stones’ house!’
Martha Stone was clearly upset. Richard had taken the call and remembered everything the police told him, regarding trying to keep them on line as long as possible and asking for confirmation that Danny was safe and well. Radford asked to hear the recording of the conversation and Suni played it back. He and DS Best listened carefully.
‘Well done for keeping your cool, Mr Stone,’ Radford said. ‘The ball’s back in their court now and it’s up to them to provide proof of Danny’s wellbeing.’
‘How will they do that?’ Martha asked.
‘Probably just by letting him say a few words over the phone. Suni, anything on the tracing?’ Radford looked hopefully at her.
‘No sir. They used a throwaway pay as you go, as expected, so tracing was out.’ Suni already had the full conversation transposed onto her laptop and had sent a copy of the tape to the technical department who would analyse it for any clues; background noises and such like. Suni explained all of this to Martha and Richard, but they were still struggling to understand what was happening.
‘Why have they left it until today to give us a time and place?’ Richard asked.
‘Probably to make you more anxious; if you’re desperate you’re more likely to pay up, or they could be simply giving you the time to gather the money together,’ Radford told them. He turned to Suni. ‘Play the tape back again, will you?’
As they listened once more to the voice of the kidnapper, Martha could bear it no longer and rushed from the room, heading upstairs. The three police officers strained to hear every word and every pause, hoping to pick up a clue, but there was nothing.
‘Sounds as if he rang from an inside location, no background noises, nothing really to help at all,’ DS Best said.
‘Do you know the village he’s talking about?’ Radford asked Richard.
‘Yes, but you heard him, if there’s any sign of police, he’s gone ... and probably Danny will be too!’
‘Mr Stone, this man is trying to frighten you. He wants to scare you into going there alone, with the money. They’ll know for certain that we’re involved when the press conference is broadcast this evening, but having left it overnight to make their initial contact, they’ll probably expect us to be on the case already.’
‘So, what now?’ Richard asked.
‘We wait,’ Radford replied. ‘Now they’ve given instructions, they have to let us hear from Danny and if they still want to make the exchange early tomorrow morning, they’ll probably ring back soon.’
Radford and Best took a seat and Richard went upstairs to see how Martha was.
Chapter 8
Danny’s dreams were of being chased and unable to move his feet, as if he was trying to run through thick mud, with legs so heavy they refused to move. Sometime in the night, he woke suddenly and sat upright, unsure what had woken him. Checking his watch, he discovered it was only three am and the house was quiet. Perhaps it was the nightmare which woke him. He settled down, willing sleep to take him again so at least he’d be unaware of the horrors of his situation and the time would pass more quickly.
The next thing he knew it was daylight and someone was unbolting the door to his room. Panic gripped him as he shook himself awake, but then Lewis appeared and the relief almost made him smile.
‘Just bread again, Dan. My mum’s not one to plan ahead, so there’s very little in the kitchen.’ It was the first time Lewis had used his name. No one ever called him Dan, but the way Lewis said it and the fact that he was offering some kind of apology for the lack of food, made Danny feel that they were almost friends.
‘Cor, it stinks in here! Take that bucket to the bog will you?’
Danny was only too happy to go to the bathroom, as he loathed using the bucket. When he returned, Lewis was sitting on the mattress, eating his own share of the bread.
‘Where’s your mum?’ Danny asked.
‘Downstairs, smoking like a chimney and chugging cans of beer.’
‘She’s awake then? Did you talk to her about helping me to escape?’
‘Nah, not yet. I don’t know how we could get out and I’m pretty sure she’d be too afraid to help.’
‘Please try, Lewis. You said yourself that Pete’s a violent man; he might kill me even if he gets the money. He might even kill you and your mum too, now that I’ve seen you!’
Lewis was taken aback for a moment. It seemed to be a possibility he’d not considered.
‘Pete might knock people about a bit ... but he’s not a killer,’ Lewis decided.
‘How do you know? If your mum’s only taken up with him recently you don’t know what he’s done in the past. Kidnapping’s almost as serious as murder and we might all end up dead anyway!’ Danny was beginning to think that persuading this boy and his mother to help him was his only chance of escape. ‘Ask your mum, please,’ he begged.
Lewis got up slowly and, still chewing the stale bread, said, ‘Okay. Come down with me now and we’ll ask her together.’
Danny almost ran to the door. If only he could persuade Lewis’s mother to help, he knew his parents would give them whatever they asked for and his dad was a barrister — he could help them if there was any trouble with the police.
If Danny thought Lewis’s face looked a mess, his mother’s was even worse. Her bottom lip was swollen and congealing blood seemed to be holding together a painful looking cut. Her right cheek was red and grazed and her eye was turning black, like her son’s. She looked at the boys with a frown on her face.
‘Lewis, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You know he’s not supposed to come down here. If they get back and find him we’ll be in even more trouble!’ Her voice was angry but with a distinct tremor.
‘He’s got something to ask you, Mum.’ Lewis looked at Danny, passing the task of persuading his mother on to him.
‘I, er ... I don’t know how much they’re giving you to look after me, but if you help me to escape, my parents will give you much more ... and they’ll help you with any trouble from the police. My dad’s a barrister, he knows about such stuff.’ Danny didn’t know if he’d said enough, he wasn’t used to trying to persuade people to do things. Lewis’s mum looked at him, horrified.
‘And do you know what Pete would do to me if I let you go?’
Danny thought he could imagine.
‘But he’ll go to prison and you can have more money than Pete would give you! My dad will sort it all out; he’s good at that kind of thing.’
Lewis’s mum shook her head. ‘No, I can’t take that risk. You think it’s easy and the police will let just let me get away after I’ve been helping Pete? Well, it’s more complicated than that.’ She turned away, but Danny wouldn’t give in. This could be his only chance. He moved to face her again, with tears in his eyes from genuine fear.
‘You could tell the police that you were forced to help Pete. I’ll back you up. But if you don’t help me, Pete might kill me! I don’t know if my parents have the money he wants, so what happens then? He might kill you and Lewis too, if things don’t go his way.’ Danny didn’t know Pete but he’d got the impression that he was a ruthless man. Lewis and his mother were both afraid of him and looking at their damaged faces, it was with good cause. ‘It could be a chance for you to make a new start and
I know my mum and dad will help you.’
‘Go away and stop bothering me, will you? Lewis, lock him up again if he’s going to nag me!’ She turned away and Danny had no idea if his words had touched her at all.
Lewis took hold of his arm and pulled him away. They went upstairs and sat down on the mattress.
‘Do you think she’ll consider it?’ Danny asked.
‘Maybe.’ Lewis shrugged. ‘I know she’s not happy with Pete. She drinks so she doesn’t have to think about what a mess her life is. What you said about a new start was good; I’d like us to be able to start again somewhere different, maybe even go to a posh school like you do, so I can be clever like you.’
‘But you are clever. I don’t think I’d know how to survive the life you live, but you do, and you take care of your mum too. I’d never be able to do that.’ Danny rather liked this skinny boy who was so different to himself. Danny had been born into a family who wanted for nothing; Lewis was not only poor, but his life was hard and often violent. In this bizarre situation, they were both living in fear — was that what they had in common?
The boys sat talking for an hour or so. Danny listened to Lewis’s dreams for the future. He wanted to play football professionally, but had never even been part of a team, mainly because he’d never stayed at any school long enough.
Lewis told him that when they couldn’t afford to pay the rent on the places they lived in, they simply packed up and moved on. They didn’t stay very long at any address and there’d been many times when they slept on a couch in a friend’s house, or at a squat when things were really bad. Their possessions were few, clothes, toothbrushes and pretty much nothing else.
Danny thought about his own home — his warm, spacious bedroom with his desk and his own laptop, computer games, mobile phone and books. He loved reading and when Lewis told him he’d never owned a single book, ever, he decided that when all this was over, he would give Lewis as many books as he wanted.
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