The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller

by J Gabriel-Smith

  ‘They’re ringing back in ten minutes.’ Tom declared, getting up and pacing around the room…. ‘I also need to be sorting the 500,000 euros out.’ he panicked.

  ‘You can speak to the police about that when they call back.’ Chloe advised, her mind still on Josh.

  After what seemed like an age, Tom’s phone rang. ‘Hello?’ he answered.

  ‘Hello Tom, it’s D.C.I. Anderson here. I’ve spoken to D.C.I. Mackenzie and he is keen to speak to you, and go over what you have found. Our Superintendent has agreed for us to both fly out to see you. Have you spoken to the Hungarian police at all?’

  ‘No, I didn’t know if they would take me seriously, with not knowing the whole facts of the case.’

  ‘Ok, wait for us first. We will be with you tomorrow morning. Our Super has contacted the National Crime Agency and Foreign Liaison Officer at the UK embassy, to inform them we are coming. We already have links set up with them from our initial searches for Rosie. We have advised them we will make contact with the Hungarian police on our arrival, once we have your full facts.’

  ‘Ok great, thank you. There is one more thing though…they are demanding a ransom of 500,000 euros for Lucy and Rosie. They want it in two days’ time.’

  ‘Don’t do anything yet…wait for us to arrive. If they ring again, just agree you are going ahead with it.’ Josh instructed assertively.

  Tom waited patiently in his room, in anticipation of another call from Jozsef. He scrolled to the last message Lucy had sent him, praying that it wouldn’t be the last.

  ‘I might try and send her a text.’

  ‘I doubt they would have let her keep her bag.’ Chloe said, with an air of sarcasm. She knew he was just clutching at straws though.

  ‘I’m going to send it anyway…..at least I feel I am trying to make contact.’

  Tom sent the text, before walking over to Sadie and ruffling her hair. ‘It will be ok darling.’

  She looked up at him, biting her lip, before resting her head against Chloe’s chest.

  As Tom walked back over to the bed, his phone bleeped. He rushed to pick up his phone, before letting out a gasp. ‘It’s Lucy!!…she’s replied. But how…..?’ He shakily opened up the message and read it out to Chloe.

  ‘I’m ok….don’t know have phone…need money…no police.xxx’

  ‘She replied Chloe!….but how has she got her phone? Surely they would have taken it off of her?’ Tom questioned in confusion.

  ‘Beat’s me…..maybe she snuck it away before they got it. She is pretty clever your wife.’ Chloe replied, admirably.

  Tom quickly replied, letting her know he would get the money sorted by tomorrow.

  After a few moments, he got another message from Lucy.

  ‘Is that Lucy again?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Yes, she says…..‘Great. My mum text….make excuse.xxx’

  Tom started to shake his head. ‘I completely forgot about our parents….my mum has Sam. We have been phoning my parents morning and night, but Lucy hasn’t phoned hers for a few days now. They must be wondering why we haven’t called.’

  ‘Well, you’d better text them….probably best you do not speak to them, the state you are in. Just make out there are reception problems in the area.’ Chloe suggested.

  ‘Yes, good idea.’

  Chloe fearfully sat thinking about how she was going to break the news to Tom that she needed to leave the following morning for a ‘work assignment’. She hated leaving him like this but she couldn’t let Josh see her. Tom would be devastated, but she didn’t have a choice.

  After summoning up the courage, she broke the moment’s silence. ‘Tom, I am really sorry to have to tell you this, but I’m afraid I have to leave tomorrow morning. I have a work assignment back in England tomorrow.’

  ‘What?….No…. no!…you can’t leave us like this!’ Tom responded, with a look of horror.

  ‘I am so so sorry, but I know you will be left in the capable hands of the police now, and there is not a lot more evidence I can add to the numerous amount you have accumulated already. I will always be on the other end of the phone though…here is my telephone number. You can call me anytime. I will stay up with you tonight though and help look after Sadie, but then I really have to go by 6am.’

  Tom stared back at Chloe in panic, before finally walking over and leaning in to hug her. Chloe pulled Sadie in to join them, who by now was starting to look upset. ‘You will be ok Tom…you will…..and Sadie, you will be taken care of by the lovely policeman, and be back with Lucy and Rosie in no time. Now come on, I think you should get some sleep.’ Chloe said, guiding her towards the bed.

  *****

  As the sun started to rise, Chloe stirred in the armchair and rubbed the knot that had developed in her shoulder. She looked over at Tom who was snoring slightly, fully clothed with his head back against the head rest. Sadie was still curled up under the sheet next to him, sucking her thumb.

  She put on the kettle, desperate for some tea refreshment to awaken her exhausted senses. As she waited for it to boil, she reached for her phone. There was a text message from Josh.

  ‘Hi sweetheart, will call you tomorrow morning, but I have to go to Hungary for an investigation. Will tell you more when speak to you. Love you lots.xxx’

  In all the frenzy of last night, she had forgotten that Josh didn’t know that she knew he was coming. She had text him earlier on yesterday to check he was ok, so it had slipped her mind to text him again. She didn’t have long to wait, as Josh and Jim were probably planning to catch the first flight out, so would be arriving about 11am. As the kettle boiled, Tom awoke with a startled snort.

  ‘Uurrgh …Luce, Luce?’

  ‘Tom… it’s Chloe.’ she whispered, walking over to reassure him.

  ‘Oh… oh yes….what time is it?’ he asked, slowly remembering the nightmare he was living in.

  ‘Only early…it’s 6.15am, but I’m afraid I will have to go shortly.’

  Tom looked down. ‘Yes of course, sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go, but I understand you have work to do.’

  Chloe handed him a cup of tea. ‘Remember you have my telephone number though, so you can ring me when you need to.’

  He took a sip and nodded.

  ‘Make sure you lay out all of the evidence you have in order, so it will be easier for you to explain to them, as your head will be all over the place. And don’t forget the photos on Lucy’s tablet.’ Chloe instructed, pointing at it.

  ‘Yes will do….how did you know about those pictures?’ Tom asked, momentarily confused.

  Chloe paused, grimacing as she walked back over to get some biscuits.‘…You told me about them last night.’ she answered, with false conviction.

  ‘Oh did I?.. my mind is so shot to pieces I can’t remember what I am saying anymore.’

  ‘Right…. I’d better go now.’ Chloe reluctantly announced.

  She walked over to Sadie, gently nudging her awake. She didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. The poor girl had been through enough, without her disappearing off without a trace.

  ‘Sadie darling, I have to go now.’

  Her heavy eyes flickered open, before looking at her forlornly. ‘Do you….do you have to go?’ she asked wearily, her little nose crunching up ready to cry.

  ‘I am afraid so…. but Tom has my number so you can ring me anytime.’

  Chloe reached out her arms for a last hug, which Sadie nuzzled into. After kissing her forehead and giving Tom a last hug, Chloe headed back to her own room.

  The truth was, however, she wasn’t actually going anywhere, which was going to make it ever so hard to avoid Tom and Sadie. She had to stay close to them though, to see what was happening. She felt her work must be done there now, especially as the police were taking over. Her mission must be accomplished…..surely. Or was it? Something, unfortunately, deep inside was telling her it wasn’t quite. She didn’t know why, but it was a fact Tatiana would no doubt inform her about.
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br />   Chloe’s priority for now was to speak to Josh. His flight was probably going to be around 9am, so she tried his number.

  ‘Hi babe, I was just about to ring you.’ he answered.

  ‘I got your text. Have you really got to fly to Hungary?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Yes …you’ll never guess what has happened!’

  ‘What?’ Chloe played along, knowing only too well what.

  ‘Remember the Rosie Parker case?’

  ‘Yes…I was always talking to you about it when you were working on it.’

  ‘Well….her father Tom Parker rang the station yesterday, and they have only been off travelling around Europe trying to find Rosie themselves. Can you believe it!?’ Josh scoffed.

  Chloe could feel her defensive shackles rising. ‘Well, do you blame them! The case was never solved, so if that was my daughter, I wouldn’t stop until I found out the truth.’

  ‘Are you ok Chlo?’ Josh asked, taken aback by her curt response.

  ‘Oh…yes… sorry, I’m just tired. So what did Tom Parker ring you for?’ Chloe replied, trying to stay loyal to Josh’s plight.

  ‘He said they have finally tracked down Rosie, but now the gang members who kidnapped her, are holding both Rosie and her mother!’

  ‘Oh no! that’s awful!….what are you going to do?’

  ‘We are going to meet them in their hotel in Budapest, go through all their findings and then we will have to get the Hungarian police involved.’

  ‘Who’s we?’

  ‘Well, that’s the great thing, Jim is back on the case. He was gob smacked when I rang him, and over the moon that they may have found Rosie…but obviously shocked that they have now kidnapped the mother.’

  ‘So where are you now?’

  ‘We are at the airport. Jim is in the shop. Chlo, remember what I have told you is strictly private and confidential, so do not tell anyone…not even your mum.’

  ‘Ok yes of course. So I suppose you do not know how long you will be gone for do you?’

  ‘No, but I will keep you informed. Are you flying back home today?’

  ‘Well actually, Christy is still not a hundred percent. I was worried to tell you, but now you are not at home anyway, we will probably head back in a couple of days.’

  ‘Ok darling, look I’ve got to go, so I will speak to you later.’

  ‘Ok love you….be careful won’t you?’ Chloe said.

  ‘Yes don’t worry….love you too.’

  *****

  At 11.20am there was a knock at Tom’s door. As he opened it, a man stepped forward to shake his hand.

  ‘Morning Tom.’

  ‘Ah Jim, it is so good to see you again.’ Tom replied, reaching out to shake his hand.

  ‘So what have you been up to?’ Jim asked smiling, gently reprimanding him and shaking his head. Before Tom could answer, another man stepped out from behind him.

  ‘Tom…this is Detective Chief Inspector Anderson, but you can call him Josh for now.’ Jim said, introducing him. ‘He actually worked on Rosie’s case at the beginning, but behind the scenes.’

  ‘Ah right, pleased to meet you Josh.’ Tom nodded.

  ‘Nice to meet you too.’ Josh responded, reaching out to shake Tom’s hand.

  Tom immediately felt calmer as the two of them entered the room. More so with Jim, as he had liaised with him closely during Rosie’s initial investigation. His rich auburn hair, freckles and hearty Scottish tones were a welcome familiarity in his hour of need. He had worked hard on the Rosie’s case, travelling around Europe himself, but to no avail. Tom had been saddened to hear that he had been signed off with stress because of it, but he knew it must be hard for every officer to admit defeat.

  Josh, in contrast to Jim, was a Londoner. Black short hair, slightly tousled and peppered with grey. He was more muscular than Jim, even though both of them were athletic in stature. They made Tom feel safer anyhow. He just hoped that they could successfully complete the case they had started on two years ago.

  ‘So Tom, who is this young lady?’ Jim asked, looking over at Sadie, who was munching her way through a chocolate bar.

  ‘Brace yourself Jim….this is Katrina….as you know her anyway. We have since found out her real name is Sadie.’ Tom divulged.

  Jim stared at her, before looking back at Tom.

  ‘The Katrina?’

  ‘Yes The Katrina.’ Tom replied nodding.

  Sadie stared at Jim and Josh nervously.

  ‘I don’t understand….. how did she end up here with you?’ Jim queried.

  ‘It is a very long story. I think I’d better make you guys some drinks and then I have much more to tell you. The most important fact is ….they have Lucy and Rosie now, so we have to act fast. They want the ransom money by tomorrow.’

  Tom carefully laid out the chart that Lucy had worked on after her trip to France. He talked them through how the Hungarian men - Sandor Halasz and Marton Kovac - were working at Bernie’s, and were spotted acting strangely around the children. He also explained about the letter that their landlady Julie had found; about the clown that had probably lured them to the awaiting car out of shot of the cctv; and about how their research had led them to the campsite in France after reading about the missing Swedish girl Anna Gerber. He also updated them on cctv footage that Marianne had discovered, and about the receipt in the bag belonging to Jozsef Halasz. How there was the then link between him and Sandor Halasz, with them both having the same surname.

  Jim and Josh sat amazed at the significance of what Lucy and Tom had managed to find out, and listened intently as Tom continued to tell them how Marianne had found out the details of an Austrian man, Laurenz Felbiger, who was at her campsite at the time Anna went missing, and how they then went on to break into his house in Grizburg. He also informed them about the children’s clothes they had found in his cellar and about the box file they stole.

  ‘Now, this is the most chilling thing we found.’ Tom added. He showed them the photos of the girls in the file, with their origin and age on the back. ‘…and this young girl here…’ Tom said, showing them a photo…‘…she is Anna Gerber. The missing Swedish girl. And …’ Tom reached into his holdall. ‘….this is the top she was wearing in this photo.’

  Jim and Josh both studied the top before slowly looking back at the photo.

  ‘This is huge Tom.’ Jim acknowledged.

  ‘So you haven’t gone to the Swedish police with this yet either?’ Josh interjected.

  ‘No, we wanted to wait until we had the whole story first.’

  ‘Ok …so how did you find Katrina…..sorry Sadie… did you say?’

  ‘We found this photo in the file.’ Tom replied, showing him the picture of the three men.

  ‘They are Emil Jonas, Laurenz Felbiger and Jozsef Halasz. We tracked down Emil Jonas to a Sinti village in a place called Vurgenz in Austria. We didn’t find anything immediately there, but back at our hotel we met a young lady who was the estranged daughter of Emil. She confessed to us that he was involved in the trafficking of children and that is why she left the village. The most significant thing of all is that we showed her a picture of Rosie, and she confirmed that she had been held at her house in the village.’

  Jim shook his head in disbelief. ‘Why didn’t we find out this sooner?’ he groaned, in disgust at his team’s failure.

  ‘Come on Jim, you did you best with the leads you had to go on.’ Josh consoled him.

  ‘Yes, don’t beat yourself up about it Jim. Lucy just seemed to speak to the right people, who thankfully put her on the right path. Luck I guess.’

  Tom carried on taking Jim and Josh through how they moved onto Vienna, and the shocking moment they discovered the thieving pick pocket they had encountered had been ‘Katrina.’ After they heard how ‘Katrina’ had been living in a care home in England, they realised that was the reason why no concerned parents had come forward to report her missing. He also then told them how they then discovered her real name was Sadi
e, so that was why issuing the name of ‘Katrina’ out to the care homes had drawn a blank. Tom then explained how Sadie had been separated from Rosie in Austria, and how she had been trained to pick pocket by her captors.

  ‘So, how are you feeling now Katrina….I mean Sadie?’ Josh asked.

  She hugged her knees into her chest. ‘Frightened …I…I .. don’t want them to take me back again.’

  ‘We won’t let them do that.’ Jim reassured her.

  ‘I think we will get one of our female officers to come out and assist in looking after Sadie. I think she should stay here with us, as she will have some useful information about the captors that may help us, and besides I think she would rather stay with you Tom for now.’ Jim continued.

  Tom smiled at Sadie ‘Yes, we would like her to stay with us….. even when we go back home.’

  ‘So how did you end up in Hungary?’ Josh asked.

  ‘We knew that Jozsef Halasz was an important link, and that he was based in Hungary, so we were heading there anyway….but Sadie had heard, through the grapevine, that some of the girls captured had been taken to Budapest, so that reaffirmed our plan.’

  ‘What happened when you got here then….and how did Lucy end up being kidnapped? Jim asked.

  Tom relayed the terrifying moment that Lucy and he were outside Jozsef Halasz’s house. How he was calling Lucy to get back in the car after they both heard voices coming towards the outside gate where they were standing. How he went back to look for her when she didn’t arrive back to the car, and how he was battered by two burley looking security men of Jozsef’s, before being thrown into the back of a van.