Snatched

by Gillian Jackson

  ‘Will they bring Danny with them? Surely Richard will have to see him before the money is handed over?’ Martha was desperate to know that her son would be safe and returned to her soon.

  ‘For the present, we’re anticipating that they probably will bring Danny with them and once they’re happy that they’ve got the money, they’ll release him. Having said that, they may want to check the money first and then tell Richard where he can find Danny. We have to be prepared to act on whatever the kidnappers decide to do; I’m afraid at the moment they’re holding all the cards.’

  ‘What if we only have some of the money?’

  ‘I can’t give you a definitive answer to that, Martha. They may just take the money at face value and if it’s short, come back for more. Or they might simply take what we give them, cut their losses and run. I think the latter is the most likely scenario. What’s happened so far leads me to think that these kidnappers aren’t professionals. The amount they’ve asked for is quite small — certainly hardened kidnappers would have asked for considerably more. They also haven’t been too forthcoming in the detail of how they want things to go off tomorrow. As you know, they’ve given us very little information. Unless we hear from them again today, we’re going to have to expect the unexpected.’

  ‘So, if you have men watching, what will they do after Richard’s handed over the money? If Danny isn’t with them, will you follow them?’

  ‘Ideally yes, but not at the risk of being seen. Our men will be in various places in the village and also on all the roads leading out of the village. They can communicate with each other and track the kidnappers without having to physically follow them, until they’re well out of the village. We’re also looking into putting a tracking device inside the bag with the money, but obviously there are risks involved with doing so.’

  Martha knew there would be no sleep for her that night, so she didn’t even bother to go upstairs and get ready for bed, intending instead to stay downstairs and pray for things to go well the next morning. She felt a pang of guilt that she’d never really prayed before and was only doing so now because she was desperate.

  They had raised a hundred and ninety thousand in cash, which was still over a hundred thousand pounds short of what the kidnappers were asking for. Martha was in no doubt that Richard was to blame. He was being stubbornly vague about the investments he’d made, finally admitting that the money had gone mainly into property. She’d accused him of buying into some bogus timeshare scheme, which he’d denied, yet hadn’t offered an alternative explanation and insisted that there was no paperwork to show her. They ended up having a blazing row, but fortunately only after the police had left for the night.

  As Martha lay on the sofa staring into the inky black night sky, she mentally took a step back from her marriage. Until Monday she would have described her marriage as a happy one, like most other ordinary couples. But then, replaying the argument of a few hours ago, she began to realise that she was almost indifferent to her marriage and indifferent to Richard too.

  In fact, during their argument she came close to hating her husband. Of course the kidnapping wasn’t his fault, or hers. Danny had been on his way home from school, like thousands of other children across the country, but he’d been the one selected to be snatched away, to be cruelly separated from her, for money. She did, however, blame Richard for not being able to get the cash together and when this was all over, she was going to seriously think about where their relationship was going.

  Richard apparently kept secrets — investments which he’d never discussed with her. What kind of a marriage was that? Then there was his work. She knew he dealt mainly with intellectual property, a field which was becoming increasingly complicated in the age of technology, but the kidnapper was someone they knew, it was more likely to be from his contacts than hers.

  Did she still find Richard attractive? Did he find her attractive? After twenty years together it was unsurprising that the physical side of their marriage had cooled down. They were busy people, generally exhausted when they fell into bed each night, but wasn’t it the same for most married couples?

  Martha knew she was as much to blame for this indifference as her husband. It was too easy to flop into bed each night with nothing more than a perfunctory goodnight kiss.

  So why, she asked herself, did they work so hard? Was it for the financial gain, which admittedly they both enjoyed, or for the work itself and the status it afforded them? Richard loved his work and she was proud of her work too. She’d built the company up from nothing and relished the challenge of the competition from other firms.

  Martha’s head was spinning with all this soul searching, when really what she was afraid to admit was that she had failed as a parent. Of course she knew that her son hadn’t been taken because they were bad parents, but this was a pretty big wake-up call and she was beginning to feel that Danny perhaps hadn’t received the attention he deserved from her.

  Again she offered up a whispered prayer, or was it a bargain with God? If Danny was returned safely to them she would do things differently; she would work fewer hours so she could be there for him coming home from school. She would also let him have a pet, something he’d wanted for years, even if it was a big, slobbering, hairy dog!

  Martha began wondering if Danny knew how much she loved him. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d told him so and wished he was there so she could tell him now. There was an ache in her chest, as if her heart was being wrung out and regrets flooded her mind. Both she and Richard praised their son for his achievements, but did they show unconditional love? Or did they give their son the impression that he needed to earn their love? Did Danny know that he was her universe?

  Martha doubted it, because it was only just beginning to dawn on her how precious he was to her. If she didn’t get him back, her life would be empty, work would be meaningless and her marriage was already showing huge cracks. If she did get him back, life would be different. She would become a ‘stay at home’ mum if that’s what Danny wanted. She’d bake cakes and become a member of the PTA. Anything! She’d do anything to get her baby boy back!

  ‘Please God,’ she whispered to the dark, empty sky, ‘Let him be safe, let him come back to me!’

  Martha decided to go up to bed after all, even if it was only for three or four hours. It would be an early start the next day for everyone involved. In the bedroom, Richard lay still, with his eyes closed. She couldn’t tell if he was asleep or simply avoiding having to talk to her; but either way she didn’t care. She undressed and slipped quietly under the duvet beside her husband.

  Chapter 10

  Danny’s head was pounding and his stomach growled. He longed for a drink of water. He attempted to ignore how he felt. He knew that this could be his last chance of escape and he had to think it through carefully. What he knew of the layout of the house wasn’t very encouraging. The front door was locked and he still didn’t know if there was a key or not, or if it was actually bolted from the outside.

  From his earlier failed attempt to escape, he knew that the back door, although not as strong as the front, was also locked, with wire mesh on the outside making it unlikely that he could get out that way. Upstairs, Danny had only been in the room he was in now and the bathroom, both of which were escape-proof. There were two more doors upstairs and it was time to check them out.

  As quietly as he could, he opened the door and stepped onto the landing. Lewis and his mother could be heard talking downstairs, but it was only background noise, the words indistinguishable. Moving silently down the corridor towards the front of the house, he opened the first door. It was an empty cupboard, no windows, no way out. The next door along must surely be another bedroom.

  Danny hadn’t given much thought as to where Lewis and his mum slept; he’d assumed it was downstairs, as he’d seen her sleeping on the sofa and Lewis probably slept on the chair. He moved slowly towards the door and turned the handle a fra
ction at a time, willing it not to squeak. It didn’t, so he pushed the door open, again very slowly and stepped inside.

  It was a larger room than the one he’d been locked in and he instinctively went over to the window. When he saw the nails in the frame and the now familiar heavy wire mesh on the outside, Danny burst into tears. He sat down in the corner of the cold, empty room and cried like he had never done before. All hope deserted him then and he was certain that he would never get out of that miserable house alive. He hardly noticed Lewis and his mother entering the room.

  Lewis sat down beside him, his mother standing in the doorway with her arms folded.

  ‘It’s only for another night, Dan. Tomorrow, your parents will give Pete the money and they’ll let you go. One more night ... that’s all!’ Lewis’s own eyes sparkled with tears and Danny thought, not for the first time, what a strange boy he was. For someone involved in a kidnapping for money, he was remarkably compassionate, far more so than his mother. In any other circumstance, Danny would have liked them to become friends, but he knew that realistically there was no chance of that ever happening. They lived in two very different worlds.

  Lewis stood up and reached down to pull Danny to his feet and the two boys went back to the other room. As they passed his mother, Danny looked into her eyes, pleading silently to this woman, who he felt was his last chance of escape. She turned away, unable to meet his gaze and went back downstairs where she didn’t have to look at him, or her son.

  ‘So, do you know what’s happening tomorrow?’ he asked Lewis.

  ‘Only that Pete and Dave are meeting with your dad to get the money. They said it would be early and they’d come straight back here.’

  ‘And are you sure they’ll let me go?’ Danny’s voice wavered.

  ‘Of course! What else would they do with you?’

  ‘They might kill me. You said they had a gun...’

  ‘But why would they do that once they have the money? You haven’t seen them so you can’t tell the police anything and you won’t tell them about Mum and me either, will you?’

  ‘No, of course not, I don’t want you to get into trouble.’

  ‘Look, I’m going downstairs to get something to eat. I’ll bring you something up soon, okay?’

  Danny nodded and watched his friend go out of the room. Lewis didn’t bolt the door this time, but Danny knew there was nowhere to run.

  About half an hour later, Lewis came back and Danny realised just how hungry he was. The food was another slice of the pie they’d had previously and it was starting to taste stale. Danny ate quickly and then gulped down the milky tea his friend gave him.

  ‘Hungry are we?’ Lewis was laughing at him.

  ‘Yes, aren’t you? You never seem to eat much.’

  ‘No, I’m used to not eating much. Some days we have nothing at all unless I go and borrow something from the nearest shop! Mum prefers to smoke and open a can to eating, says it helps her to keep her figure.’

  ‘Where will you go when this is all over?’ Danny asked.

  Lewis shrugged.‘Dunno. Depends what Mum wants to do — and Pete. If he still wants her around we’ll probably go back to the flat we were in before, but if he doesn’t we’ll just move on somewhere else.’

  Danny was sad for his friend and wished there was something he could do for him.

  ‘I could give you my address, then if you needed anything and I could help...?’

  ‘Best not,’ Lewis interrupted. ‘We’ll probably move on, when Pete gets tired of Mum. You’ll be back with your parents and anyway, how would you explain me?’

  It was dark as the two boys sat silently together on the dirty mattress, each with their own thoughts. The blackness of the outside world held nothing but fear for Danny now — every noise made him jump and he expected his captors to appear at any time to drag him off somewhere unknown, maybe even to kill him. His heart beat frantically in his chest as he anticipated the worst.

  In a strange way this room he was in had become a safe place, even though realistically he knew it wasn’t. But it was his and apart from the one time his kidnapper had entered for him to talk to his parents, he’d only shared the space with Lewis. Danny hardly dared to hope that this would be the last night he would spend in the room which was his prison, yet at the same time, his refuge.

  ‘You’d better get some sleep.’ Lewis eventually broke the silence and stood to leave.

  ‘Don’t go just yet!’ Danny asked. ‘I’ll not be able to sleep.’

  ‘You will.’ Lewis looked at him. ‘Dream of tomorrow, of your parents and how happy they’ll be to see you again. I’d better go down and see what Mum’s up to. Pete won’t be coming back tonight so don’t worry about that.’

  Danny lay down on the mattress and pulled his coat over him, thinking, as Lewis said he should, of his parents and the chance of seeing them again soon.

  DAY 4

  Chapter 11

  Martha was slowly nudged from sleep by the sound of running water, which told her that Richard was in the shower. For one blissful moment her brain didn’t register the horrors of their present reality, but when understanding once more flooded her mind, she longed to crawl again beneath the warmth of the duvet and return to unconscious oblivion.

  It was only four-twenty am, but they had an early start to prepare for and there would most certainly be no more sleep until nightfall. Martha’s anger still festered deep within her, but she would contain it for the present. Today was far too important to become embroiled in more arguments, but she was afraid that the decisions made between Richard and the police would not go down well with the kidnappers. Her husband intended to meet with them as instructed, but with only two thirds of the ransom money they’d demanded and with the police observing, clearly contravening the kidnapper’s directions.

  It was risky, but there seemed to be no alternative. She’d listened to DI Radford and DS Best yesterday, who were both encouraging them to go ahead with the proposed exchange. Their reasoning was based on the belief that the kidnappers were amateurs and when they saw the money, they would either not count it, or realise it was short but take it and cut their losses. Martha remained ambivalent, but could think of no alternative in the circumstances. If only Richard had told her sooner that he couldn’t raise all the money, she would have stepped in to do so herself. But now they had no way of contacting the kidnappers to ask for more time, so this seemed to be the only way forward, even though it was a huge risk.

  Outside the sky was overcast with huge drops of rain starting to fall. The doorbell rang and Martha hurriedly put on a robe and ran downstairs to open it. She was expecting the police to be early but hadn’t heard the approach of their car. The two detectives, who presently seemed to spend more time at her house than her husband did, were on the doorstep, shaking the rain from their overcoats as they hurried inside.

  ‘We’ve left the car a block away,’ DS Best explained, ‘just in case someone’s watching the house.’

  Martha nodded and was relieved when Richard appeared so she could go upstairs to shower and dress. When she returned, her husband was in deep conversation with the two detectives, the three of them seated at the kitchen table. On autopilot, she began to make coffee, reaching for four mugs. Her mind was in a fog of nerves; she wasn’t concentrating and dropped one of the mugs. The three men turned to look at her, without comment and then resumed their conversation. It was a tense situation for them all. After passing round the mugs of coffee, Martha took a seat at the table to hear the plans for the day.

  ‘You need to arrive exactly on six,’ DI Radford was instructing Richard. ‘Park outside the pub as they told you to and then wait. Don’t get out of the car until someone approaches you and then be extremely careful. They’ll most likely be watching you arrive and will wait to see if you’re being followed, so you need to be patient. Our men are in position now, at every exit from the village, hidden from sight.’

 
‘What if they don’t have Danny?’ Richard asked.

  ‘Try to remain calm and tell them you want to see Danny before you give them the money. In reality, this probably isn’t going to work. They’ll want to count the money, or at least look at it before they hand your son over, or tell you where to find him. I’m afraid they hold all the cards and we have no alternative but to go along with what they tell us.’

  ‘They could take the money and not release Danny!’ Martha interrupted.

  ‘That’s always been a possibility, but a slim one. They’re not going to keep him any longer than necessary. He’s a burden to them so once they have the money they’ll want him out of the way. As we’ve said before, these people are amateurs, not killers, and statistics show that in most kidnappings, the victim is released unharmed. The possibilities are that they’ll either have him with them in their vehicle and will let him out before they drive off, or they’ll tell you where he is, which will probably be somewhere not too far away.’

  ‘And will you follow them?’ Richard asked.

  ‘Yes, but only if it’s safe to do so and my officers won’t be seen. As the kidnappers enter the village, they’ll be photographed from various points and the vehicle registration will be put through the system, although it’ll most probably be a stolen one. Keep your mobile on at all times, like we discussed, so we can be in touch throughout the whole operation,’ DI Radford instructed.

  It was still too soon for Richard to set off. The early morning traffic would be light and he would be heading north, out of the city, well before the roads clogged up with commuters. The detectives began to discuss other aspects of the investigation and Martha wondered if they were trying to prepare them for the possibility of things going wrong — for Danny not being returned to them later that day. The awful thought occurred to her that they could be planning to change the investigation from that of a kidnapping to a murder! She silently took the empty coffee cups to the sink, still listening to the conversation.