Little Girl Gone

by Stephen Edger

  ‘You don’t need to apologize to me, John,’ Ray said evenly. ‘You sound like a really switched-on guy; would that be fair to say?’

  ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

  ‘I thought so. Sometimes I just get a feeling when I’m talking to a good person, even in difficult circumstances. I’m right about you, John, aren’t I? You don’t want to hurt Vicky, do you?’

  ‘No, I don’t want to hurt anybody. I just want to go home.’

  ‘And I want to get you home, John. Is there a way I can get you to come outside with Vicky so we can all go home?’

  ‘You’re lying to me. You won’t let me go home. You’ll arrest me, or shoot me.’

  ‘I promised you I wouldn’t lie, John, and I don’t intend to. We will need to ask you some questions about what has gone on today, that’s true. I know you’re a smart guy and you understand that you’ve broken the law today. You’ll have the right to tell us what happened, to explain how you made this poor choice. It’ll go in your favour if you surrender to us willingly.’

  And it was then that Ray realized ‘John’ was crying.

  ‘I don’t want to go to prison. I just want to go home. I want to see my kids.’

  Ray felt a lump in his throat. ‘You’re a father?’

  ‘Yeah, twin boys.’

  He thought about Carol-Anne. The course instructor had told them not to give away too much personal information as it could impact on objectivity. ‘I have a daughter. She’s two. How old are your boys?’

  ‘Four. They’re a right couple of scallywags.’

  ‘I bet you love them to bits, right?’

  ‘I’d do anything for them lads.’

  Ray wasn’t even thinking about his training anymore. Establishing rapport, finding a common ground, humanizing the hostage: these were the tasks he’d been working towards. None of the training seemed to matter in that moment.

  ‘I’m just the same, John. I’d do anything for my little girl. Anything.’

  ‘They’re the only reason I agreed to do this stupid job. I’d swap all the money in the world just to hold them in my arms again.’

  Ray would give every penny he’d ever earned just to see Carol-Anne again. ‘Then let me help you do that, John. You’re the key to making that happen. Open those shutters and the door and come outside.’

  ‘You promise I won’t get shot?’

  ‘You have my word. In fact, you’ve seen I’m unarmed, would you be happy if I escorted you from the door? Nobody will shoot with me at your side. How does that sound?’

  The line disconnected, and a moment later the electric shutters whirred to life, slowly rising. Ray spotted movement in his periphery, holding his hand out to warn the armed unit to hold their position.

  As the shutter disappeared up into its fixing, the door to the shop slowly opened and a large black woman in a navy uniform with a mop of bleached hair slowly emerged with both hands raised in the air. Behind her a smaller, frailer-looking figure dressed in black kept his head bent forward.

  Ray took several steps towards them as calmly as he could manage, swallowing up the distance between them. ‘Are you okay, Vicky?’ he asked softly; to which she nodded frantically.

  Her captor raised his head just above her shoulder and the two men made eye contact. For the briefest of moments they weren’t detective and criminal, just two dads struggling to provide a good life for their children. As Ray saw both of his hands – no weapon in either – he swiftly grabbed ‘John’ by the wrists, yanked them behind his back and read him his rights.

  41

  Alex had never run so hard and fast in all her life. The grass was slippery with the recent downpours, but she didn’t care, nearly losing her footing on several occasions, and just about managing to stay level.

  Carol-Anne.

  What were the chances that they’d stop at this random park, miles from home, and find her? It had to be a million-to-one, and she wasn’t ready to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  As her lungs felt ready to burst out of her chest, closely followed by her racing heart, she reached the railings to the playground. Rather than wasting time circling the perimeter looking for the gated entrance, she vaulted over them, landing awkwardly on her ankle, choking down the sudden twinge and ploughing towards the little roundabout: Carol-Anne’s favourite.

  At first she could only see the back of the red coat – definitely Carol-Anne’s coat – and as the roundabout continued to spin, the little girl’s face came into view. The short blonde curls, that infectious giggle; it was her.

  Alex no longer cared that Carol-Anne’s abductor – her tormentor – was probably nearby. She just knew she had to scoop her daughter up, and never ever let her go again.

  Her vision was misting as her eyes welled up. Lurching forward, she reached out and grabbed one of the roundabout’s handlebars, bringing it to an abrupt halt, almost causing Carol-Anne to stumble.

  Alex dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around Carol-Anne’s waist. ‘Oh my darling, I thought I’d lost you. Mummy will never let you go again. I promise.’

  She continued to squeeze, ready to remain in that position for the rest of her life if necessary, desperate to take in every detail: Carol-Anne’s smell, her giggle, the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

  Her prayers had been answered. Maybe there was more to what that clairvoyant had said about destiny and predetermined plans than she’d thought. After all, if she hadn’t gone to see him, she never would have found Carol-Anne. None of that mattered now.

  ‘Get away from her!’ a woman’s voice screeched from somewhere behind them. Alex ignored it, her eyes closed, her chin resting on Carol-Anne’s shoulder.

  ‘Oi!’ the woman yelled. ‘Get your flaming hands off her, you skank!’

  Alex felt a sharp pull on her shoulder and reluctantly released her grip on Carol-Anne for fear of sending her daughter tumbling. Reaching for Carol-Anne’s hand, Alex straightened, going nose to nose with the woman, ready to fight tooth and nail to keep her daughter safe.

  The woman who had grabbed her had spotty cheeks which had been poorly covered by foundation. Her bleached hair was pulled back into a greasy ponytail, the dark roots showing, and she was dressed in a vest top, despite the cool wind, with a large gold medallion hanging from her neck.

  ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing with my daughter?’ the woman growled.

  Alex stood her ground, adrenaline flooding her system. ‘I could ask you the same question.’

  The woman’s brow furrowed, showing more streaks of foundation. ‘Are you out of your fucking mind?’

  The woman reached down for Carol-Anne’s free hand, but Alex stepped across, shielding her daughter with a leg.

  ‘If you want her back, you’re going to have to go through me. I should warn you that the police are on their way here now, and they will not hesitate to arrest you for what you’ve done. Make it easier on yourself, and walk away. I’m sure you don’t want to add assault to your growing list of charges.’

  The woman’s lips curled into a snarl, revealing yellow teeth, and a gap where one of her front teeth should be. ‘If you don’t let go of my daughter’s hand, I’m gonna bitch-slap you. You feel me?’

  Sophie appeared at the railings, panting, and struggled to get her leg over the top. She eventually settled for using the gate several yards down.

  ‘Oh good,’ Alex said, smiling with satisfaction. ‘Now my friend is here, so if you want to assault me, go ahead; I have a witness.’

  ‘Alex,’ Sophie said breathlessly, ‘what are you doing, hun?’

  ‘I found Carol-Anne, and this woman is trying to take her from me.’

  The woman sized up Sophie. ‘Is your mate for real?’

  ‘Alex, you need to come with me, sweetie. Okay?’

  Alex frowned at her friend. ‘What are you saying? Call the police. We need to have this woman arrested, and let them know Carol-Anne is safe. Oh, and phone Ray too. He needs to see this.’

&nb
sp; Sophie rested her hand on Alex’s forearm. ‘Alex, that isn’t Carol-Anne. You need to let go of that little girl’s hand. You’re scaring her.’

  Alex’s frown deepened. ‘What do you mean this isn’t …?’ She couldn’t finish the sentence. She turned and her eyes fell on the little girl’s face, and, letting go of the hand, Alex’s legs gave way and she crashed to the playground floor.

  The little girl did have blonde hair, but on closer inspection, it was straight, and not as bright as Carol-Anne’s. The coat was definitely familiar, but no longer an exact match to the one that Carol-Anne owned. And the girl wasn’t giggling, she was now in a fit of tears, her face red from the fear Alex had instilled.

  The woman with the medallion snatched the girl’s hand and dragged her away from the roundabout.

  Alex couldn’t breathe, it was like someone had kicked the wind out of her, and her tears of joy were suddenly replaced by anguish. How could she have made such a mistake? That poor child. The woman in the vest top must have thought she was crazy.

  Sophie crouched down, her face a mix of shock and pity. ‘Oh, Alex, I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘I-I-I thought it was …’ Alex stammered

  ‘I know, hun. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘I saw her; it was her, Sophie. I swear to you, it was her!’

  ‘At the risk of sounding totally insensitive and a bitch, isn’t it possible you saw what you wanted to see? I could tell even from where we were sitting that it wasn’t Carol-Anne. Given the news you just shared, and the shock of what that psychic said, and the stress you’ve been under, it’s understandable you would see something that wasn’t there.’

  Alex buried her face in Sophie’s shoulder and let the tears go, sobbing for the terrible mistake she’d made, for the life of the innocent child growing inside her, and for the loss of her little girl. Behind them, the woman with the medallion had finished her phone call and was now filming the two of them on her phone.

  A Police Community Support Officer was the first to arrive at the playground, and having taken a statement from the woman with the medallion, he moved across to where Sophie and Alex were seated on a bench. After taking Alex’s name and address he asked her to explain what had happened. Alex couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

  ‘You need to understand my friend’s situation,’ Sophie tried to explain. ‘Her daughter has been missing since Tuesday, and the little girl over there does resemble her daughter. It’s an easy mistake to make. No harm has been done. I’m sure Alex will apologize, won’t you, Alex? Alex?’

  Alex nodded quickly, daring to glance over at the woman with the medallion who was now regaling two other mums with her story of peril, undoubtedly exaggerating the tale.

  ‘I’ll need to call it in,’ the young PCSO said, looking empathetically at Alex, before stepping away and putting the radio to his mouth.

  ‘You must think I’m crazy,’ Alex finally whispered to Sophie, staring at the horizon.

  ‘Not crazy. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through.’

  ‘Everyone thinks I’m crazy, even Ray. Maybe they’re all right. I would have sworn to you that Carol-Anne was spinning on that roundabout. Now I see I imagined the whole thing. I would swear she was in the car when I parked at the car park, but what if she wasn’t? What if I imagined that too?’ She dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

  ‘Because I know you’re not crazy, and I believe you when you say she was in that car park with you. I don’t think you’re crazy, Alex. Under a helluva lot of pressure, but not crazy.’

  ‘If I’m not crazy, then where is she?’

  ‘I don’t know. When did you last speak to that policewoman at your house?’

  ‘I haven’t spoken to Isla since last night.’

  ‘It might be an idea to give her a call. At the very least to tell her where we are, and maybe mention what just happened. If that mum does want to press charges, I’m sure Ray can have a word and get it sorted.’

  Alex looked back at the woman with the medallion who was now deep in conversation with the PCSO again. At least she wasn’t still filming them.

  ‘It isn’t the first time something like this has happened,’ Alex admitted quietly.

  ‘Hold on,’ Sophie hushed her, ‘they’re coming over.’

  Alex looked up as the woman and the PCSO appeared in front of them.

  ‘He says you want to apologize,’ the woman with the medallion grizzled.

  Alex forced herself to make eye contact, remaining seated. ‘I am so sorry for frightening your daughter. Is she okay now?’

  ‘She’ll live. He tells me you’re the mum of the little girl who went missing in town on Tuesday.’

  Alex nodded.

  ‘Listen, no hard feelings, yeah? I heard about your story, and I-I hope you find your little girl. Yeah? I’m happy to let this go.’

  Alex was tempted to reach out and hug the woman, but didn’t want the action to be misconstrued, and instead offered a simple, ‘Thank you.’

  The woman with the medallion returned to where her daughter was now tucking in to a chocolate bar, with one of the other mums sitting beside her.

  ‘I think you should take your friend home,’ the PCSO said to Sophie, who promptly nodded, helping Alex to her feet, and leading her towards the gate.

  42

  ‘Are you ready to do this?’ Jodie asked, fixing Ray with a look of concern.

  They were now back at the station with ‘John’ in custody, waiting to be interviewed. Trent had gone home for a few hours’ sleep after leaving her team with instructions. Ray had once again offered his support, but she’d told him to go home and wait for news, or help Jodie process the prisoner. Carol-Anne wouldn’t want him to wallow, and work might help serve as a distraction, so he’d stuck around.

  ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ he replied.

  She sighed and stood to leave, before thinking better of it and turning back to face him. ‘I get what you’re doing: burying yourself in work. Given the circumstances, I probably would too. Look, you said yesterday you were going to take a few days off. I know I probably shouldn’t have called you this morning, but you’ve played your part now. I don’t think anyone else could have ended the siege so swiftly and with no harm caused.’

  ‘I’m sure the guy from Aldershot probably would have done it quicker had he not been stuck in traffic.’

  ‘Even so, Ray, you deserve a lot of credit for what you did. I don’t need you to babysit me in the interview, though. It was my case to begin with – and while your support has been beneficial – I can close it alone.’

  ‘Sounds like you want to get rid of me.’

  ‘Not the case, I’m just conscious it’s now been three days since your daughter went missing and it must be eating you up inside. And you know as well as I do that this guy is probably going to give us the usual “No Comment” interview at this point. God knows he’s been in with his brief for long enough.’

  He appreciated her show of support. But being at the station was better than being at home. Any breaking news would filter along the corridors quicker than it would through the Family Liaison Officer. If there was a chance they discovered where Carol-Anne was being held, he wanted to be the first on site.

  Grabbing his notepad and the images from the CCTV cameras, he followed Jodie out of the room, along the corridor and down the stairs to the row of interview rooms, each soundproofed and fitted with the latest in video recording equipment.

  ‘John’ – or Michael ‘Mikey’ Tannenbaum as he’d subsequently been identified – was sitting low in his seat, his dark eyes sunken, his grade-2 crew cut shorter than the patchy stubble covering his cheeks and chin. His solicitor – tall and thin, dressed in a navy pinstripe suit –looked barely old enough to be out of school. Neither gave off a confident air.

  Ray let Jodie choose her seat, before squatting down next to her. ‘Anybody want a cup of tea, coffee or water?’

  The solicitor tapped his pen against t
he bottle of sparkling mineral water on the table in front of him without making eye contact, his head buried in papers.

  ‘Drink, Mikey?’ Ray asked, keen to break the ice.

  Tannenbaum simply shook his head.

  ‘Very well,’ Jodie said, before starting the recorder and introducing everyone in the room. ‘Mikey, do you understand why you were arrested this morning?’

  He nodded.

  ‘For the benefit of the recording, please?’ Jodie prompted.

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘And you’re happy that you’ve had enough time to discuss matters with the duty solicitor?’

  Mikey glanced at the solicitor, before nodding. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘How about you start with what you were doing at the post office in Hedge End this morning.’

  Ray began writing the phrase “No Comment,” but stopped as Mikey sat up and cleared his throat.

  ‘We went there to rob it, didn’t we?’

  Ray and Jodie exchanged glances.

  ‘Who’s we?’ Jodie asked.

  ‘There were four of us in the crew. I’ve already given the brief their names and addresses and he’ll pass that to you when we’re done. First I want to explain how I got caught up with them. I also want assurances that you’ll protect my family if I come clean and tell you everything you want to know.’ His Liverpudlian roots were strong as he spoke.

  ‘Are your family in danger then?’

  ‘Once I give you the names and addresses, I would think so, yeah.’

  ‘Who will they be in danger from?’ Jodie pressed, keen to establish some detail before making any promises.

  ‘Casey – he’s the one in charge – has all sorts of contacts. If he learns I’ve turned on him, he can have people at my place in no time. I need a guarantee that you will go to my house and take my wife and kids somewhere safe before I give you their names. Once I know they’re okay, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. That’s the deal.’

  ‘You’re in no position to be making deals,’ Jodie said sternly. ‘We have witnesses who place you at the scene of the armed robbery this morning, who’ll testify that you arrived with the other gang members and then held poor Vicky against her will. You’re looking at a pretty long stretch based just on that.’