‘They were getting value for money too,’ she continued. ‘But then Pete got himself into a bit of trouble and, as always, came to me for help. He owed money to some unsavoury sorts and was afraid of the consequences. I could manage to sub him a little but he needed more, so we came up with the plan to kidnap the daughter of the man I was currently seeing in Manchester.’
Both Radford and Simms noted the introduction of another location; this was another kidnap they were presently unaware of. They held their silence and let Joanne continue.
‘It seemed easy. I knew the school the girl attended and we weren’t greedy, asking only what I knew they could afford. We were lucky, they didn’t go to the police and so got their daughter back unharmed. It was only going to be a one-off but it worked so smoothly and Pete nagged me to try again. It meant a move to another city, another target, but the move gave us safety, anonymity. We could start again, reinvent ourselves.
‘Richard Stone was a typical target. Mid-life crisis on the horizon, bored with the usual domestic routine, not getting enough attention from his busy little wife — perfect. He was also perhaps the most generous of all; no one else has ever bought me an apartment outright. If only my little brother hadn’t decided to take along a gun, we could have got away with it.’
After that, the interview ran smoothly, and the detectives got all the information they needed to incriminate both Joanne and her brother. The damage had already been done to the Parks and Stone family, but at least now the perpetrators were apprehended, they could begin to heal — and no more families would be at risk of the Joanne and Pete’s scams.
DS Simms switched off the tape and left the room with the DI.
‘Result!’ she said and punched the air.
Radford smiled.
Epilogue
One year later
My name is Martha Stone. From the window which looks out onto our garden, I can see my son, Danny, playing with his new best friend, Archie, a chocolate brown Labrador.
Archie is full of energy, as a young dog should be and my hope is that his enthusiasm for life will rub off on Danny. The dog never tires of fetching his ball, chasing his tail and scooting around the garden like a whirlwind. To most parents this is the kind of everyday sight that barely registers, but to me it is nothing short of a miracle.
A year ago Danny was kidnapped and a ransom demanded for his release. For almost a week our son was held captive and we didn’t know if we would ever see him alive again. At one point, we were convinced he was dead, when the police, looking for the kidnappers, found the body of a boy in the place they suspected Danny was being held.
That was the singular worst moment of my life. A parent isn’t supposed to outlive their child; it’s not in the natural order of things. But our grief was transformed into hope when, within an hour of that dreadful news, we were told that the dead boy wasn’t our son. Sadly though, he was someone else’s child and any relief I felt was tinged with guilt; how could I be glad that someone else’s son had died instead of mine?
Danny was found shortly afterwards, attempting to escape from his captors. He was exhausted, hungry and dehydrated and when the full story was revealed, we learned that he’d gone through the kind of trauma which no child should ever have to suffer. His return to us was nothing short of miraculous, an answer to my prayers, which I knew I didn’t deserve. I couldn’t help but be thankful that it wasn’t my son who died so violently that day, but my delight at having Danny back will always be overshadowed by that other poor boy, another mother’s beloved son.
During the days and weeks following Danny’s return, the details of his ordeal unfolded slowly and were told with great sadness by a boy who’d had to grow up far too soon. The dead boy was his friend, a friendship formed in an impossible situation and a friend who led a life so disparate to his own, the kind of life Danny previously never knew existed.
Since he returned, our son has asked that we call him Dan from now on, which I think is a tribute to his friend Lewis, who was the only person ever to shorten his name in that way. It has hurt me deeply to learn of the way Dan was treated. He was cold, hungry and thirsty for most of the time, only being given food by Lewis, as and when the other boy was able. He wasn’t even given the dignity of a toilet to use. Most of the time was spent alone and afraid, except when it was safe for his friend to be with him.
It seems strange to think that Lewis was in some way connected to the kidnappers, yet became a friend and one whom I have no doubt Dan will always remember. Lewis and his mother took on the role of guarding Dan, but a bond developed between the boys and that poor child, who had a drunk for a mother and no known father, showed our son more compassion than his captors did. Lewis was an enigma. Dan rarely speaks of him but when he does it’s with a certain reverence, as if Lewis was and will always be, his hero.
Kidnapping is a cruel, hateful crime, with the innocent victim inevitably scarred for life. It can rip a family apart, widening those imperceptible cracks in a relationship, almost beyond repair, or for some, irrevocably. Richard and I have weathered the storm but with scars to show for it, scars which run deep but which we generally attempt to ignore.
It came as no surprise to me that my husband was having an affair. A disappointment, yes, particularly as the affair didn’t stop with the physical aspect and Richard took money which was partly mine to give to his mistress. My husband was weak and gullible, but learned a lesson and is certainly repentant.
For a while I wasn’t sure that I could get over his betrayal and for the first two or three months we remained together purely for Dan’s sake. But as I am not blameless and also have my secrets, it would have been hypocritical to end our marriage then and for such a reason.
Our son needed stability; he was our priority and still is. I took an indefinite leave of absence from work in order to be with him full time and have only recently resumed my career. I now work only the hours during which Dan is at school, which leaves me time to take him there and pick him up each day.
The extra hours spent in our home have proved to be surprisingly enjoyable and my focus in life is now centred wholly on my son. The truth is that I don’t really miss work. Yes, I still have my hand on the pulse of the company, but others have proved able to run the business just as capably as I could. The company is thriving and I honestly believe that can also be said of my relationship with Dan. It sometimes amazes me that my work was so important to me, so all consuming, when I have the most wonderful son to love and cherish. How could I not have seen that Dan and yes, Richard too, are the most important things in my life? Was I really a work obsessed woman, putting a company before my own family?
It took nine months for the case to come to court, but at least the kidnappers were held on remand during those months. Joanne and Peter Turner, the brother and sister from hell, didn’t confess until the day of the trial, when they asked for five other kidnappings to be taken into consideration.
Only three of those crimes were known to the police, the other two families had paid a ransom and been too afraid to report their experience to the police. Joanne received six years in prison and her brother, life, for the murder of Lewis and six years for kidnapping, to run concurrently.
Dave was given three years, a shortened sentence due to the help he gave the police in building charges against Turner. At least their last minute pleas of guilty meant that Dan didn’t have to give evidence; he’d gone through enough without having to relive that very worst of times.
Occasionally Dan will mention something which happened during those dark days and I listen without putting him under pressure to tell me more than he’s comfortable with. He saw a counsellor for a couple of months after he was returned to us, which helped him enormously. She was the impartial ear, who encouraged him to allow and express, his feelings of anger, or sadness, or confusion and not to think he was weak, or somehow at fault.
We have seen an improvement over this last year but
Dan has been so deeply affected by his experience and I know it will stay with him for the rest of his life. He tries to forget most of the detail, or at least put it behind him, but he most certainly does not want to forget Lewis. If things had worked out differently, if Lewis hadn’t died, then who knows what might have happened. Dan told me that he’d wanted to help him, to share his own good fortune and that makes me so proud of my son.
His grandparents were of course delighted when he was found. The trauma had a far-reaching effect on them too, like ripples in a pond. What is it they say, every action has a reaction, which was certainly the case with Dan’s kidnapping. My mother visits more frequently now and although she was furious with Richard when she found out about his affair, she is making the effort to at least be civil to him. His parents also suffered during those horrendous few days and now see as much of Dan as they can. I have noticed that each time they leave to return home, they hug him and say, ‘I love you.’ It’s a habit I’ve adopted too; Dan needs to know he is loved and always will be.
Sometimes, when in a pensive mood, he asks about Lewis’s mother. We are as open and honest with him as we can be and he knows she was arrested and charged for what she did. Partly due to Dan’s statement and partly because of her loss, she received only a suspended sentence.
Immediately after the shooting which killed her son, Sally was given a place in a women’s refuge, a much needed place of safety. She confessed everything to the police and obviously regretted her part in the kidnapping. The last we heard of her, she’d managed to overcome her addiction to drink and drugs and was actually working at the refuge which had sheltered her, helping others with similar problems to her own.
I often think about Sally too. If the trajectory of the bullet had been a few degrees in another direction, it could just as easily have been my son who died. But it wasn’t and my heart goes out to that poor, unfortunate woman.
Dan is trying to teach Archie some new tricks now. Watching them is a pure delight. We bought Archie as a belated birthday present, a bundle of exuberance at only twelve weeks old. A bond formed immediately and I know that Dan confided more in Archie in those early days than he did in me, but I can live with that. The dog is therapeutic and not just for Dan but for all three of us. We take him with us whenever we can and he’s certainly become an important member of the family.
Richard will be home soon. He spends much more time at home now than he ever did before and it’s working well. There were times, a year ago, when I wasn’t sure that I loved my husband anymore, but those doubts have vanished. He has again become the loving, attentive man he’d been during the early days of our marriage. I suppose he was trying to woo me all over again and he succeeded. At times I think he still feels shame at what he put me through, but we have agreed never to mention Serena again. I was tempted to tell Richard about my own failings, to bring everything out into the open, but I didn’t ... and now I think the moment has passed. You see, I can understand how he feels, because I’ve been there too.
In the early years of building up my company, a business development conference necessitated an overnight stay in a rather nice hotel, with good food and wine flowing freely. I’m not usually a big drinker and the wine went straight to my head.
Somehow, I ended up sleeping with one of the other guests. To my shame and regret, I awoke the next morning with him in my bed. His name was Michael, I know no more than that and we were both very embarrassed. We agreed to forget that the incident ever happened and to go our separate ways after the conference, which we did. Perhaps I would have forgotten all about it, except that four weeks after the event, I discovered I was pregnant. Dan could still be Richard’s son, but just as easily, he could be Michael’s.
To tell Richard now, that Dan might be another man’s child, would break his heart and it is only a ‘might’, by no means a certainty. The kidnapping experience taught me just how much my husband loves Dan. Can I take that away from him now, casting another cloud over our family when we have come through so much?
I really don’t think so; our lives have been rocked to the core enough. We certainly didn’t agree on how to handle the kidnapping at times and our relationship during those days was in the balance. But we’ve moved on and I can see a good future for the three of us, so I shall not tell Richard. This will be my penance, to carry the knowledge of my wrongdoing for the rest of my days.
Does this make me as bad as my husband, or worse? And who decides which the greater sin is? Who is qualified to make such a judgement? At the very least I would say we were equal. Richard would probably never have told me about his affair had that woman not been part of the plan to kidnap Dan. He didn’t have a choice. I, on the other hand, do have a choice, whether to tell my husband or not. But having already decided not to, I must live with that decision and whereas Richard has been forgiven, I will carry the guilt and shame of my past for as long as I live.
*****
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A NOTE TO THE READER
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Snatched, I hope you enjoyed the journey.
A missing child is surely one of the most terrifying experiences a parent can suffer. To know that your child is in the hands of a person callous enough to take them for financial gain must be frightening in the extreme; if someone can do that, how much lower are they likely to stoop?
In writing Snatched, I wanted to explore Danny’s parents’ emotions, and if their relationship could withstand the scrutiny of a full-blown police investigation. Being under the microscope inevitably presents the possibility of hidden secrets coming to the fore, which is how I decided to develop the story. I also wanted to consider the unlikely relationship between Danny and Lewis. Was Lewis really one of the captors or was he simply a bystander, an innocent, drawn in by circumstance and ignorance?
If you enjoyed reading Snatched, I would be grateful for a review on Amazon and Goodreads. If you would like to offer your personal comments, please contact me on my Facebook Author Page or send a message through Twitter. You can also keep up to date with my writing projects on my website.
Gillian Jackson
gillianjackson.co.uk
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always my thanks go to Derek and our children for their support, encouragement and patience in living with me during the writing of my world of fiction. Thanks also to the incredible team at Sapere Books whose skills and talents have encouraged, challenged and amazed me. And also to my readers who provide such valuable feedback and keep me writing.
Published by Sapere Books.
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Copyright © Gillian Jackson, 2017
Gillian Jackson has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales are purely coincidental.
eBook ISBN: 9781913335427
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Snatched Page 19
