‘What on earth’s going on?’ Sally was suddenly behind them, woken by the noise of shattering glass.
‘Mum! What does it look like? We’re trying to get out of here before Pete gets back!’
‘Don’t be so stupid, he’ll kill us if he sees this.’ Sally was angry and obviously afraid of the consequences this attempt at escape would undoubtedly have.
‘He’ll probably kill us anyway. Danny’s seen him, Mum! He’s not going to let him go now, is he? And I don’t want to be involved in a murder!’ Lewis matched his mother’s anger, his wide eyes staring directly into her own. ‘Don’t you see, he’s just using you and you’re letting him? Well, I’m getting out of here with Danny ... so you can decide whether to help us or not. You need to choose — me or Pete?’
Sally looked shocked, as if her son had physically struck her. She was pale and confused, still suffering the effects of the alcohol she’d drunk the night before.
‘Don’t go, Lewis, I need you,’ she pleaded.
‘And I need you, Mum, but I’m going. I don’t want to be involved in any of this anymore.’ Lewis turned his attention back to the door and took hold of one leg of the stool and he and Danny rammed it again into the metal. The wire still didn’t move, so they counted to three and swung it again. There was a slight movement and the wire gave just a fraction.
‘Again, Dan, we’re almost there!’
‘Don’t, please!’ Sally grabbed her son. ‘I’ve got a key, we can use that...’
‘But you told me that the front door was bolted from the outside?’ Lewis looked bitterly disappointed with his mother.
‘I know, I just didn’t want you to try to get out, and I knew you’d tell him if there was a key.’ Sally nodded towards Danny.
‘Give me it, Mum!’ Lewis demanded.
Sally turned to go back into the lounge, reached up to the high mantel shelf and retrieved a key.
‘I can’t believe you’ve had this all the time when I’ve been begging you to let Danny go!’
‘I’m sorry, really I am, but I knew Pete would go mad if you helped him to escape.’ Tears were silently running down Sally’s face. Her son looked at her with disappointment in his eyes.
‘Come with us, Mum, please?’ he begged.
Sally wiped her nose on her sleeve and nodded her head. Lewis flung his arms around her and a smile spread across his face.
‘We need to hurry. Do you know what time they’ll be back?’ he asked her.
‘No, they just said it should be fairly early.’
There was nothing for them to take with them, so they unlocked the front door and threw it wide open. The cold air made Danny catch his breath; he hadn’t been outside for nearly a week and it felt good to step through the door into the outside world, even if it was cold and rather misty. His legs felt wobbly and he wondered if he’d be able to run.
Lewis grabbed him. ‘There’s no time to waste sightseeing, let’s try this way.’ He pulled Danny towards the trees but Sally stopped them.
‘The road’s over there, shouldn’t we head for that?’ She pointed to the road.
‘Isn’t that the way Pete will come?’ Lewis said. ‘The last thing we need is to bump into him and Dave on their way back here! There’s a path through those trees, it must lead somewhere; perhaps to another farmhouse, one that’s got people living in it and a telephone if we’re lucky.’
Lewis made the decision for them and they ran towards the trees. After barely fifty yards they were stopped in their tracks by the sound of a vehicle. Approaching from the other side of the house was the white transit van, which screeched to a halt as the driver saw the three escapees. There was still another thirty or forty yards before they would reach the cover of the trees.
Sally stopped and looked back, fear and indecision on her face.
‘Keep going, Mum, run!’ Lewis shouted.
Sally did as he said but she was slower than the two boys. Danny was terrified but kept moving. If they could reach the wood, he thought, they might be able to hide, or run through it and get away to safety. Lewis kept shouting encouragement and then, suddenly, there was a loud noise, an explosive sound which seemed to stop the world on its axis.
It was the unmistakable sound of a gun.
Chapter 26
Martha didn’t wake until the doorbell rang at eight am. She struggled to pull herself from the bed then lay down again when she heard someone open the door. Assuming it was Richard, she was surprised when her mother tapped on the bedroom door and entered the room.
‘DI Radford’s here, with Suni. Are you going to get up?’ Elaine asked.
‘Can’t Richard talk to them? I need a shower.’
‘Richard’s not downstairs; I thought he was still asleep with you.’
‘Is he in his study?’ Martha asked.
‘No, the door’s open. He’s not there.’
‘Okay, I’ll be down in a few minutes.’ Martha scrunched up her hair in a band and took a quick shower, then pulled on a robe. She and Richard hadn’t gone to bed until about two in the morning; they were waiting for a call from the kidnappers.
DI Radford was sitting in the lounge, holding a cup of coffee; he stood up as Martha entered the room. Her mother materialised from nowhere with a cup for Martha too.
‘Mrs Perry tells me that your husband’s not at home. Can you tell us where he is?’ Radford asked, his face a tight mask, giving nothing of his thoughts away.
‘Sorry but I don’t know — I’ve only just woken myself. Perhaps he’s popped out for some milk or something?’
‘I’ve been down since six and there was no sign of him then.’ Elaine joined the conversation.
‘Will he have his phone?’ Suni asked.
‘I should think so. I’ll try it and see.’ Martha grabbed her own phone from the coffee table and rang him. It rang for what seemed like an age before she was told that the person she was calling was unavailable. She left a message: ‘Richard, where on earth are you? DI Radford’s here and so should you be. Ring me as soon as you get this.’ She ended the call then looked at the detective and shrugged slightly, not knowing what to say.
‘Martha, did you hear from the kidnappers yesterday?’ he asked.
‘No of course not ... at least, I didn’t.’ Her mind caught up with the unspoken suggestion the DI was making and she flopped down onto a chair. ‘You don’t think that’s where he is, do you?’ she asked hesitantly.
‘It’s a possibility, but you know him better than me — do you think he could have been in touch with the kidnappers and kept it from us?’
‘Before all this I would have said no, but then I thought I knew everything there was to know about my husband. Now I’m not so sure. It would explain why the kidnappers didn’t ring yesterday when you were here.’
‘Try his mobile again, will you? That’s about all we can do until we speak to him.’
The phone again went to messages. Martha excused herself and went upstairs to get dressed. As she went to brush her hair she caught sight of the note which Richard had left. It didn’t actually say he’d gone to meet with the kidnappers, just that she wasn’t to worry and he’d be back as soon as he could. For a moment she mentally debated whether to show DI Radford the note or not. As he was there and would probably be staying until they reached Richard, she decided he should see it, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater before returning downstairs.
DI Radford was already on the telephone issuing orders, a serious, dark expression on his face. Martha waited until he’d finished the call and then passed him the note. He read it and passed the note back to Martha.
‘Keep trying his phone and leave messages if he doesn’t answer. Tell him that if he’s already handed over the money we need to know when and where he last saw the kidnappers.’
‘Do you think they’ll have given Danny back to him?’ Elaine asked.
‘I shouldn’t think so — he would almost certainly have called w
ith the good news, don’t you think?’ Radford replied.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘So what do we do now?’ Martha asked.
‘Graham’s sending officers out to the lay-by and village they used last time. The kidnappers may think that we’d discount them as a meeting place as they used them before, so it’s worth a look. We’re also monitoring all traffic cameras within a five mile radius, looking out for a white transit van, probably with its number plate obscured, and we’re looking for Richard’s car too. If they are making the handover, they’ll probably be on the move now, so with a bit of luck the traffic cameras will pick them up.’
‘Is there anything I can do?’ Martha asked.
‘Just keep trying to reach your husband. Say whatever you think will make him get in touch with us. Beg, plead, whatever it takes — okay?’
Martha nodded and began to tap Richard’s number into her phone again.
DI Radford left shortly afterwards, with instructions for Martha to call him immediately if she heard from Richard. She agreed, although she knew that Suni would be in touch with her boss as well.
Elaine, Martha and Suni were left in the house, frustrated because Richard was keeping them in the dark, and even more worried about Danny’s safety. It was the sixth day since he’d been snatched from them and his mother instinctively knew how afraid her son must be. She longed to have him home again in her arms, where she would happily keep him forever. But was that going to happen, was his safe return a realistic hope? Had Richard made things worse, or could he succeed without the police? It was impossible to tell — all she could do was to wait and Martha was heartily sick of waiting.
Chapter 27
DI Radford was not au fait with anything other than the very basics of modern technology, but he knew which tools were available to the police force and that many officers loved the tech side of the job. One such officer was DS Best, who Radford was searching out back at the police station.
Best had suggested that they search for Stone’s car using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition service, which was what he was busy doing when his boss caught up with him.
‘Any luck yet?’ Radford asked on entering the room.
‘Not yet, but if the kidnappers only used the country roads, as they did before, this won’t help. I’ve been looking back from about six am this morning but there’s nothing yet.’
‘Try from five am. Mrs Perry said Richard was already gone by six when she went downstairs. I’ll leave you to it.’
Radford went out of the room and back to the incident room. A handful of officers were already busy on the case and he called for their attention to update them on the day’s developments. A sigh was heard when he told them that Stone appeared to have gone solo to meet the kidnappers. He understood their mood. His team were dedicated to their work but never more so than when a child was missing. It was still early in the day but many of them had been in for an hour or more, and that was after a late evening the previous day.
After he’d put them in the picture, they went back to their tasks and Radford searched out the sergeant who’d been to interview Stone’s girlfriend.
‘She’s a piece of work all right,’ DS Julie Simms told him. ‘Got herself a nice little apartment in Portishead, with no visible means of making a living. Very high maintenance, too, I should think. But she confirmed what Stone told you about their relationship and she has a solid alibi herself for the day Danny went missing.’
‘Thanks, Julie.’
Radford moved around the room speaking to each member of the team.
‘Anything interesting from the last press conference, Jim?’
‘Nothing so far; there’s the usual timewasters and a medium who claims the parents did it, but nothing of interest, although I’ve still got a pile of numbers to ring back.’
Radford thanked the young DC and moved on again, only to be intercepted by a rather animated Graham Best, charging through the swing doors.
‘Got him, boss! His car was picked up turning into Fairview Service Station at five-fifty am. If only I’d gone back another ten minutes I’d have been on to him sooner.’
‘Don’t worry about that, we’ve got him now. Has he moved out of the service station?’
‘No, he must still be there. I’ve left Paul watching the cameras. Are we good to go?’
‘Yes, get a couple of uniforms to meet us down there and an armed response unit. We’ll take my car.’ Radford was already hurrying towards the door as he spoke.
It was about eight miles from the police station to the service area and Radford turned on the siren for the first seven, silencing them for the last mile so as not to announce their arrival. Neither officer had any idea of what they might find and so far during the journey both avoided speculation.
‘Get the uniforms and armed response to wait outside the service area — we’ll meet them there,’ Radford ordered as they approached their destination. Best immediately began making the calls. When he’d finished, Radford began thinking aloud.
‘It’s been about four hours since Stone entered the service station, so why’s he still there?’
‘Perhaps the kidnappers haven’t shown up yet?’ Best offered.
‘No, they wouldn’t make such an early rendezvous and then not show for a couple of hours. Something’s keeping Stone there. I think we can safely assume he hasn’t got the boy back yet or he would have left for home or at least rung his wife. I’m only hoping that he hasn’t tried anything stupid — he knows they have a gun. Perhaps we should get an ambulance on standby too? We don’t know what we’re going to find.’
Best made the call. The heavy rain had eased and only a light drizzle remained but the surface water on the motorway sprayed the speeding car. When they arrived the two uniforms were there but not the armed response team.
‘Their ETA is six minutes.’ Best was keeping the line open to monitor their progress.
‘Good, we’ll wait for them. I don’t want us walking into an unknown situation without back-up.’
The six minutes passed and the team arrived — four officers in full protective gear. They passed out bulletproof vests to Radford, Best and the uniforms and then the three cars drove slowly and silently into the car park, the armed officers leading the way.
Nothing untoward was visible on first sight so they parked their vehicles well away from civilian cars and the officers alighted to take their orders from DI Radford. He divided them into four teams, each one with an armed officer, and they proceeded to search the perimeters of the sprawling car park before making the decision of whether to go inside.
Radford was the first to spot Stone’s car and rang the others to head over that way. With the armed officer in front, they cautiously approached the car from behind. There appeared to be only one man inside, presumably Stone. He was slumped over the steering wheel, not moving. Radford feared the worst as he stood the armed officers down and cautiously opened the driver’s side door.
Richard was startled upright at the sudden noise.
‘Are you okay?’ Radford asked quickly.
Richard nodded and Radford’s next question was, ‘Are the kidnappers here?’
‘No. They came just after six, took the money and drove away.’
‘Not without some kind of struggle by the look of you?’
‘I tried to stop them ... to get the gun, but I couldn’t.’ The dejected look on Richard’s face told the detective that the man was suffering and possibly regretting his rash actions. Even though Radford would have liked to give Richard a rollicking, he could see the anguish in his face, so he got down to business.
‘Were they in the same vehicle?’ he asked and Richard nodded.
‘I didn’t know what to do!’ Richard explained. ‘They said to wait and get a coffee, so I thought they might have Danny nearby and I didn’t dare move. It’s been hours, I don’t know how many, but why haven’t they let him go? Why haven�
�t they rung me?’
Richard was distraught and again his head dropped onto the steering wheel and he began to sob, his shoulders shaking as his grief poured out.
DS Best sent the armed response officers away and also the two uniformed men. He exchanged a look with his boss, a look of concern as they couldn’t answer the man’s questions. They too thought the kidnappers would have been in touch shortly after they’d counted the money and could think of no good reason why they had not.
‘Get on the phone, Graham, and request footage from all CCTV cameras on this road in all directions,’ Radford ordered. ‘Tell them what we’re looking for and the time scale is from six this morning to present time. Are you sure it was after six am?’ he checked with Richard, who nodded. ‘Okay, if we get lucky, we might at least get a direction of which way the van headed when it left here.’
Chapter 28
DS Best drove Richard home in his car, as Richard was in no state to drive. The policemen had suggested that they take him to hospital; he was in obvious pain from being kicked in the stomach, but Richard refused. He felt he somehow deserved the physical pain as a punishment for messing things up yet again. He almost dreaded seeing his wife and felt sure she would blame him for making the situation worse — goodness knows he blamed himself!
But when Richard entered the house, Martha almost collapsed into his arms. He pulled back in pain at the sudden contact.
‘What happened?’ she asked and her sudden concern for him surprised Richard. He sat down, not caring about getting mud on the furniture.
‘They took the money and were leaving without telling me where Danny is. I tried to stop them ... but probably only made things worse.’
Martha looked hopefully at DS Best.
‘That about sums it up. They said they would ring when they’d counted the money but there’s been nothing yet.’ Best looked almost as dejected as Richard felt.
‘He’s dead, isn’t he?’ Martha calmly asked.
‘Martha, don’t say that — it’s not true!’ Elaine said, shocked.
Snatched Page 13
