Stolen Children

by Michael Wood

  Chapter 55

  ‘You don’t understand. Nobody would understand.’

  Jodie was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She was facing Matilda and Sian. Both hands were gripped tightly around the handle of the knife, her knuckles white, her hands shaking. Her wide eyes were filled with tears and determination.

  ‘Jodie, we want to understand,’ Matilda said. ‘But this isn’t helping anyone. Put the knife down, come and sit at the table, and we’ll have a chat.’

  ‘Do you think I’m stupid? As soon as I put the knife down, you’ll lunge at me and arrest me.’

  ‘We’re not going to arrest you, Jodie. We’ve nothing to arrest you for. Look, I think you know something but you’re afraid to tell us. Am I right?’ Matilda asked.

  Jodie’s eyes darted from Matilda to Sian and back again. She nodded.

  ‘Is it about Keeley? About what happened to her on Monday night?’

  ‘This didn’t start on Monday. It goes back years, long before you lot came along,’ she said, almost quietly.

  ‘Ok. Explain it to us.’ Matilda made a show of sitting down at the table, as if they were all having a cosy chat together. Sian copied her.

  Jodie remained by the door, but her grip on the knife began to lessen.

  ‘It started after Riley was born. Mum couldn’t cope. She didn’t want him; do you know that? When she told us she was pregnant, Dad was over the moon. I could tell Mum wasn’t. At night, they kept having arguments. Mum said she didn’t want a third child, but Dad wanted a son. He was hoping for a little boy. When he was born, Mum took it hard. She got down, depressed. I had to step up and look after Keeley and clean the house and do the shopping. Then Riley got ill. He started having fits. Funny thing was, nobody ever saw these fits happen, only Mum.’

  Matilda and Sian exchanged glances.

  Jodie continued. ‘The night he stopped breathing, Mum said she’d had a few drinks and slept through the night for the first time. That was the story she put out there to the doctors and the neighbours. It was a load of shit,’ she spat. ‘She drank practically every night. The night Riley stopped breathing, it wasn’t because of a massive seizure, it was because Mum went into his room and shook him. She was seriously pissed. She picked him up out of his cot and started screaming at him and shaking him. It woke me up. Me and Dad ran to get her off him, but she was like a woman possessed. You should have heard some of the things she was saying about him. He was only a little baby.’ Tears were streaming down Jodie’s face. She was loosening her grip on the knife which was now pointing towards the floor.

  ‘What happened?’ Sian asked. Her face had paled upon hearing the story.

  ‘Dad called for an ambulance. Riley was unconscious. He put Mum to bed and told me to make sure she didn’t come out of the room. He went to the hospital with Riley and didn’t come home until late the next day.’

  ‘Where was Keeley while all this was going on?’

  ‘She was asleep. She was such a heavy sleeper. I took her to school the next morning, told her Riley had had another fit and Dad had taken him to hospital. I tried to make things normal for her.

  ‘When dad came home, he and Mum had the row of the century. He didn’t shout, he didn’t scream, but you could see in his face that he wanted to kill her. I’ve never seen him look like that before. He frightened me. He kept asking her why and she couldn’t answer. Eventually, she said she hadn’t wanted him. She couldn’t love him. Then she started crying and didn’t stop.’

  Jodie lowered her arms. The knife, in her right hand, hung by her side.

  ‘Everything changed when Riley came home,’ she said. ‘We all had to change. Mum was doing everything to make up for what she’d done. She gave up work and became Riley’s full-time carer. Dad took on a second job and started raising money to adapt the house. I was never asked, but it was expected of me to do everything else – the cooking, the cleaning, looking after Keeley, taking her to school and bringing her home, and making sure her homework was done. She was allowed to continue being a child, but I wasn’t.’ She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. ‘Do you know what I did for my twelfth birthday?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I was at school watching Keeley playing the recorder, badly, in the school band, because Dad was working, and Mum was here. I knew then that was what my life was going to be like.’

  ‘Didn’t you tell your parents you were doing too much?’ Sian asked.

  ‘I tried, but they made me feel guilty that I was moaning about nothing when Riley needed all the attention. I told Mum one time that he wouldn’t need all this attention if she hadn’t got pissed and tried to kill him.’

  ‘What did she say to that?’

  ‘She didn’t. She slapped me. Hard.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Sian looked disgusted.

  ‘I kept quiet after that.’

  ‘Jodie, do you know who abused Keeley?’ Matilda asked.

  She nodded. ‘We’d just finished school for the summer holidays, and she came into my bedroom one night. She’d been crying. She said that Dad had been going into her room at night and getting into bed with her. He’d asked her to touch him and play with him and she didn’t like it. The lying slut,’ she seethed.

  ‘What?’ Sian asked, frowning. ‘You think she was making it up?’

  ‘Of course she was.’

  ‘Why do you think that?’

  ‘Because Dad loves me. Not her.’

  The house fell silent. Matilda’s mouth opened in shock.

  ‘You mean, your dad was abusing you?’ Sian asked.

  ‘It wasn’t abuse. He loves me. I love him.’ For the first time, Jodie had a genuine look of happiness on her face.

  ‘How long has this been going on for?’ Sian asked.

  ‘It started after the incident with Riley. He was upset. No, he was devastated. Mum slept in their room and Dad slept downstairs on the sofa. I used to hear him crying. I’d go down and sit with him, cuddle him. It made him feel better. We’d both fall sleep together. It was beautiful.’

  ‘When did he first abuse you?’

  ‘It wasn’t fucking abuse!’ Jodie screamed, pointing the knife at Sian. ‘Stop calling it that.’

  ‘Sorry. I’m sorry,’ she held her hands up.

  ‘Tell us what happened, Jodie,’ Matilda said, calmly.

  ‘You won’t understand. Dad said nobody would ever understand.’

  ‘Help us to understand. I know you want to tell us, Jodie. It’s been burning up inside you, hasn’t it?’

  She nodded. ‘I heard Dad crying one night. I think he’d been drinking. I went into his room and asked him what was wrong. He said he was angry at Mum, that he hated her. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to forgive her for what she’d done. I said I didn’t think I could either. He asked me to get into bed with him, to give him a cuddle. He held me. Then he kissed me on the lips. It felt amazing. He stopped and said I should go, but I stayed. We made love.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Sian stood up and walked over to the window, turning her back on them. ‘Jodie, he wasn’t making love to you—’

  ‘Sian, don’t,’ Matilda interrupted. ‘Jodie, how long did this go on for?’

  ‘A while,’ she smiled coyly. ‘Most nights we’d kiss and cuddle, or I’d … you know … but we saved the love making for special occasions. He said I was the only person he truly loved. I was the only one who understood him. He’s right.’

  Sian’s face was thunderous. Matilda glanced across and could see she was seething and was only just managing to keep her emotions under control.

  ‘Had it stopped before he turned his attention to Keeley?’

  Jodie’s face hardened. ‘He said one night that we had to stop. He just came out with it from nowhere. I said we shouldn’t as we loved each other and wanted to be together. I’m not naïve. I know people wouldn’t understand us being together like a proper couple, but we could make it work.

  ‘I didn’t believe Keeley at first.
I thought she was just saying it to get attention. She was always doing things for attention, like when she said Mr Page was watching her in the changing rooms. Why would he look at her? Anyway, one night, I stayed awake. I heard the creaking of the floorboards on the landing and went to have a look. There was Dad going into Keeley’s room. He shut the door behind him. I went over and put my ear against it and listened. She was right. He was telling her exactly the same things he told me.’ Jodie shook her head. Her face reddened in anger. ‘She was always dressing up as a princess and skipping around the house and sitting on Dad’s lap. She was flirting. She was encouraging him. How dare she steal him away from me?’ she screamed. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the handle of the knife.

  ‘Jodie, you’re not thinking clearly. Your mind has been warped,’ Matilda said.

  ‘No. It hasn’t. Why would you say that? My dad loves me. I love him. That’s all that matters now.’

  ‘It’s not love, Jodie,’ Sian said. She turned from the window and went over to the fourteen-year-old. She grabbed her by the shoulders. ‘He doesn’t love you. He’s never loved you. He’s been using you for his own sick pleasure and he’s tricked you into believing you’ve consented to this all along. He’s manipulated you. It’s what paedophiles do.’

  Sian gasped. Her mouth fell open. She looked down and saw the carving knife sticking out of her stomach.

  The room fell silent. Slowly, Matilda stood up and went around to their side of the table.

  ‘Jodie,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Oh my God! What have I done?’

  ‘Jodie, very carefully, I need you to stand up, let go of the knife, and step away.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to,’ she said, not moving, keeping hold of the knife.

  ‘I know you didn’t.’

  ‘It’s when she called Dad a paedophile, it made me angry. He’s not a paedophile.’

  ‘It’s ok. I know you’re upset. I just need you to be calm,’ Matilda said. She held her hand out beneath the knife, ready to replace Jodie’s hold on it. ‘Now, let go of the knife.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said as tears ran down her face.

  ‘I know you are. Everything’s going to be all right.’ Matilda looked at Sian whose face had started to pale.

  ‘Oh my God, I’ve stabbed someone,’ Jodie said, the delayed shock and panic setting in. ‘I’ve stabbed her. Oh God. What do I do?’

  ‘Jodie, calm down. I’m right here. I just need you to …’

  Jodie pulled the knife out of Sian’s stomach. Blood started to escape through the gash. Sian slapped a hand over the wound, but the blood poured through her fingers. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.

  ‘Oh shit!’ Matilda said. She ran to the dresser and grabbed a tea towel. She went back to Sian and dropped to her knees and applied pressure. ‘Jodie, call for an ambulance.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,’ Jodie cried. She’d jumped up from her chair and was standing at the back of the kitchen, glaring at her red hands. ‘I didn’t mean to. I’m so, so sorry.’

  ‘Jodie, call for an ambulance right now,’ Matilda shouted.

  ‘Where’s my dad? I want to see my dad. He’ll know what to do. He always does.’

  ‘Sian, I need you to relax and take slow deep breaths,’ Matilda said. ‘Everything is going to be all right.’ She looked over her shoulder and saw Jodie rambling to herself while studying her bloody hands.

  ‘Jesus!’ Matilda fumbled in her pocket for her mobile. It slipped out of her hands a few times which were red with Sian’s blood, but she managed to swipe it to unlock and dial 999. ‘This is DCI Matilda Darke of South Yorkshire Police. I need an ambulance to Acorn Drive in Sheffield. I have an officer down. She’s been—’

  Matilda felt the cold steal of the blade against her neck.

  ‘Drop the phone,’ Jodie said. She leaned in close from behind. Matilda could feel her hot breath in her ear.

  ‘Jodie, please …’

  ‘Drop it. Now!’

  Matilda did as she was told.

  ‘Good. Now, I want you to take me to my dad.’

  ‘I can’t just leave Sian here like this. She’ll die.’

  ‘I don’t care. I need to see my dad. Move!’ She screamed.

  ‘Go,’ Sian struggled to say.

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ Matilda said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  ‘Just go,’ Sian said.

  ‘Listen to her. We leave right now and there’s a chance she’ll live.’

  Matilda hesitated. She proffered a sympathetic smile to Sian. ‘Keep pressure on the wound. Hopefully, they’ll trace the call, and someone will come out for you.’

  Tears rolled down the sides of Sian’s face. ‘Matilda, tell Stuart …’

  ‘I’m not telling him anything,’ Matilda interrupted. ‘You’re going to be fine. You can tell him yourself.’

  ‘Come on,’ Jodie grabbed Matilda by the hair and pulled her away from Sian.

  Matilda left the kitchen, taking one last look at Sian as she lay on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She hoped this wouldn’t be the last time she saw her friend alive.

  Chapter 56

  ‘Craig, is there anything I can do for you?’ Rory asked.

  They were sitting in the relatives’ room. The storm outside had abated, the rain wasn’t as intense, and the room was silent. Rory had his arm around Craig who was slumped forward, his head on his chest.

  Craig had stopped crying. The anger had drained out of him. He was numb. ‘It’s all over now,’ he said quietly. ‘We said some horrible things to each other over the years. I stopped loving her a long time ago.’

  Rory hushed him. ‘Don’t, Craig. You’re grieving. Don’t say something you’ll regret in the morning.’

  ‘She wanted to have an abortion when she fell pregnant with Riley. I wouldn’t let her. I kept going on about how everything would be fine. I didn’t realise how close to the edge she already was.’

  ‘Craig, come on, let’s get you home. Jodie and Riley will be waiting for you. They’ll need you right now.’

  ‘I don’t think I can face them.’

  ‘You have to. I know it may sound heartless, but you need to be strong for them.’

  Craig sat up and looked at Rory. He wiped his eyes. ‘You’re right.’

  ‘You’ve done a great job bringing Jodie up. I’m sure she’ll give you all the help and support you need.’

  ‘She will. She’s a good girl,’ he smiled.

  ***

  ‘Do you honestly think your dad is going to welcome you with open arms when he finds out what you’ve done?’

  ‘He will. He loves me.’

  ‘You’re deluding yourself.’

  ‘So you say.’

  ‘Did you push Ellen Devonport over Heeley Bridge?’

  It was a while before she nodded. ‘I had no choice. She was trying to take my dad away from me. I saw the way she was with him, touching his arm, laughing at his jokes, tossing her hair back.’

  Matilda was driving with Jodie in the backseat, sitting at an angle with the bloodied knife aimed at Matilda’s stomach.

  ‘You’ll go to prison for the attempted murder of two detectives and your father will go to prison for sexual abuse. You’ll never see him again.’

  ‘You’re wrong. I know exactly what to do. I’ve been making important decisions for years. I’ve paid bills. I’ve done the big shop. I’ve attended Keeley’s parents’ evenings at school when they couldn’t. I took her on play dates and sat with other parents.’

  Matilda drove carefully. Although the rain had stopped, the roads were still slippery, and some were flooded in places.

  ‘So, what is this plan of yours then?’

  ‘We’ll just drive somewhere. We don’t need possessions. We don’t need things. It’ll just be the two of us, together,’ she said with a huge grin on her face.

  ‘You’ve been groomed, Jodie. Can’t you see that?’

  ‘We
can’t help the people we fall in love with. We’re not on this earth for a long time. When you find someone to love, someone who makes you happy, you should grab it with both hands and screw the world.’

  ***

  Rory drove out of the hospital car park with Craig in the passenger seat. He was staring straight ahead out of the windscreen, not blinking, his face expressionless. Rory felt sorry for him. In the last week he’d lost his youngest daughter and now his wife. How was he going to break this news to Jodie? How was he going to cope as a single father working two jobs and Riley needing twenty-four-hour care?

  ‘Do you have any other relatives who can help you?’ Rory asked. His question went unanswered. ‘Brothers or sisters? Your parents?’ There was no reply.

  Rory drove carefully and below the speed limit. He was in no rush to get Craig home. With the news he had to break to his children, it wouldn’t matter if they took the long way home, to buy Craig more time to marshal his thoughts and try to find the right words to use.

  ***

  Matilda drove along Stannington Road. Jodie was sitting back in her seat, Sian’s blood drying on her hands, the knife held firmly, not letting go. Matilda looked across and tried to read her expression, to figure out what was going on inside her head, but there was nothing there. Jodie wasn’t all to blame. She was the product of an abusive father who had convinced his daughter their relationship was one of pure love.

  They drove in silence. The streets were empty, and a light rain had started to fall. Matilda racked her brain to think of something to stop Jodie and Craig from meeting. Craig would want to cover up his involvement in the abuse of his daughter. He would lie and twist the situation to make it seem like it was all in Jodie’s head.

  Ahead, she spotted a car coming towards them. She didn’t dare risk flashing her headlights or sounding the horn in case Jodie lunged at her with the knife. The closer they got, Matilda was able to make out who was driving, it was Rory, and Craig was in the passenger seat. She didn’t have time to think. She slammed her foot down on the accelerator, waiting until both cars were level then swung the steering wheel.