“I’m sorry that it’s come to this, love.”
“I’ll be in touch soon, when I’ve found somewhere. I’ll be staying with Jim and Suzie for the next few days at least.”
“Going to wear out your welcome there, too, are you?” Colin asked from behind her mother. He pulled her mother back so that she could pass by them both.
“For your information, Colin, this was and still is my family home. If I wanted to be shitty about things, I could force Mum to sell up. I have money tied up in this place whether you like it or not. So think on that the next time you start slagging me off.”
His face was a picture of defiance. It was the first time she’d ever really spoken back to him, and it felt good. She hated having to camouflage her true feelings about the obnoxious man for the sake of her mother’s happiness.
Colin glared at her. She walked out the back door, and after putting her suitcase in the boot, she took a final sad look at the pub in which she’d grown up, only to see Colin still standing there glaring at her. Her arms flew out to the side and fell against her thighs, then she got in the car and drove by the back door, past her nemesis, whose glare had turned into a satisfied smile.
CHAPTER FIVE
A few days later, on Thursday of that week, Brian arrived at work and threw the previous evening’s paper on Ellen’s desk as he walked past.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?” Ellen asked frowning, still half-asleep.
“Page three. No, not another nude girlie picture. Just take a look and judge for yourself.” Brian took off his jacket and hooked it on the back of his chair, then booted up his computer.
As Ellen began reading the article, she could hear Brian’s fingers flying across his keyboard. He swivelled the flat-screen in her direction. “Look familiar, does she?”
Ellen shook her head. “Should she?” She glanced down at the paper again, and staring back at her was the image of the girl whom Brian had just brought up on his screen.
“You can be so dense at times. Take a closer look. All right, you might not recognise the actual girl in the photo, but…” His voice trailed off, and she knew that she was expected to fill in the blanks.
Then it struck her, and she sat bolt upright in her chair. “My God, it’s not her, but the woman could be her twin sister.” The girl in the paper had gone missing. She wasn’t Donna Endersbe, but another girl altogether. However, the resemblance between the two girls was remarkable. “Is this the first you’ve heard about this girl?”
“Yep. It’s pretty spooky, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to ring the national helpline to see what they know about this girl. Hang on. It says she went missing a couple of days ago, in Worcester.”
“Yeah, that’s what grabbed me, too.”
All sorts of strange, intricate scenarios stormed through Ellen’s mind.
“I know that look. What are you thinking?”
“A serial abductor. One with a fetish for blonde, slim women in their mid-to-late twenties.”
Brian dropped into his chair, and his fingers tapped at a ferocious speed a second time, so fast that observing him work made Ellen dizzy.
“What are you doing?” she asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her.
“I’m pulling up all the missing person ads in the local paper dating back six months.”
“Good idea. I’m going to ring Jenny at the national helpline and ask her to do the same. Not everyone who is reported missing ends up in the paper, do they?”
Brian pushed back his chair and walked towards the rest area. “This calls for sustenance. I’ll make a coffee before I start.”
“Hi, Jenny. It’s Ellen. How are you?”
“Ellen, what a surprise. I’m doing well, snowed under and stressed out, as usual. What about you?”
Ellen laughed. “Pretty much the same as you. The reason I’m ringing is that we’re dealing with a case at the moment, and an article in the local paper last night triggered something.”
“Really? Are we aware of your case?”
“I think so. Donna Endersbe. Her husband reported her missing on Monday. He’s been in bother with the police before and didn’t think they would trouble themselves to look for her, so he hired us.”
Ellen heard Jenny working on her keyboard. “Here we are. She’s beautiful. I’m afraid to say she’s stuck at the bottom of a long queue. You know missing kids take priority these days, and we’ve got thousands of those on our register right now.”
“I know. I was wondering if you could spare five minutes of your valuable time to do a small search for me?”
“For you, anything. What do you need exactly?”
Ellen shuffled forward to the edge of her chair and got her notepad and a pen ready as Brian put a mug of coffee down on the desk. She gave him the thumbs-up, letting him know that Jenny was willing to help. “Okay, we’re trawling through the newspaper archives, going back over the last six months for any blonde, slim-built women in their mid-to-late twenties who have been reported missing in the Worcester area.”
“Okay, I’ll do the same and see what we come up with, shall we?”
The silence seemed to drag on for hours while Ellen waited patiently for Jenny to search her vast database.
“Right, let me see. Have you got a pen handy?” Jenny asked, finally.
“Fire away.”
“Donna Endersbe, whom you’ve already mentioned. I’ve got an Abbie Falk, aged twenty-six, reported missing in June of this year. Next is Jasmine Salter, aged twenty-five, missing since July. Then we have a Rachel Moore, twenty-eight, since September. And finally, I’ve found a Melody Davidson, twenty-nine, reported missing in October.”
“Are you looking at their photos right now?”
“Yep.” Jenny gasped, then added, “My God, they all look the same or very, very similar.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you mind sending their pictures over to me, and their files?”
“I’d have to speak to my line manager about sharing the file information. Not sure we can do that, but I don’t think she’ll have any objections about me sending the girls’ photos over. We’re all trying to find them at the end of the day, aren’t we?”
“Jenny, you’re an absolute star. Can you do that for me today?”
“I’ll send the pics through now and have to get back to you this afternoon about the files. My manager is in the daily meeting at the moment.”
“Whenever. That’s going to be really helpful. I have the girls’ names, so I can do some digging at this end. Are you sure you won’t get into trouble about this, Jenny?”
“Not at all. I’ll get back to you later, Ellen.”
“Thanks. Talk soon.” Ellen hung up and punched the air.
Brian turned the screen to face her. “Do you want to compare notes and names?”
“Okay, what do you have?”
Brian named the same list of women that Jenny had given her. “That’s insane. I think your assumption could be right.”
“About there being a possible serial abductor, you mean?”
“Absolutely. Look at the length of time between each girl going or being reported missing, they’re virtually one month apart. Only November has been missed out. Will it be worth getting in touch with the police about this?”
“Do you think we should?” Ellen answered his question with an uncertain one of her own.
“Why not?”
“I think it’s jumping the gun, a bit too soon to start connecting these girls, especially in light of how many go missing.”
“I agree, but you’re forgetting the most important thing, Ellie.”
“I am? Which is?”
“Their appearance.”
Brian pointed at the five faces jumping out at them from his screen. He was right, apart from the odd blemish here and there and the different hairstyles, all the girls looked the same. “You’re right. Damn, why don’t we sit on this for today at least? Jenny is asking
her boss if we can have the missing girls’ files. If we receive them, we can try and ascertain what investigations have been carried out so far to try and find these girls. There should at least be a police contact in the files. Then we can go from there. Maybe I can contact the investigating officer et cetera.”
“Okay, your point is valid. What shall we do until then?”
“You can work your magic on that computer of yours. In case we can’t get hold of the files, see what you can find out by searching through the newspaper articles.”
“You’ve got it. While you do what?”
“I’m going to get in touch with William Endersbe and continue going through Donna’s address book. Hold on a sec…” She glanced down at the names and flipped through the address book to see if the names of any of the other missing girls showed up. To her disappointment, none did.
Ellen had no idea if Endersbe would be at home, and although Donna’s mother had said that she should be contacted, Ellen still thought it best to deal with Will until he told her otherwise.
“Hi, William. It’s Ellen Brazil.”
“My God, have you found Donna?”
“I’m sorry, no. Is it possible for me to come and see you today, to give you a progress report?”
“Oh, I see. Yes, if you want. I’m flying out to Germany tomorrow for another competition, so I’ll be down at the gym all day.”
“That’s fine. Where is it?”
“Over at Powick. Jack’s Gym. I’ll be there from eleven until sixish.”
“Wow, that sounds like a strenuous workout.” Ellen was amazed by his stamina. She’d tried workouts at the gym herself and hadn’t managed to get past the half-hour mark.
“I won’t be working out all the time. I’ll be going through a few new techniques with my coach and some of the other guys down there. Hey, a word of warning, you might get a few wolf whistles and that from the guys. Just ignore them. They don’t mean anything by it.”
Ellen laughed softly. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll come down about two if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure. See you then.”
Ellen hung up. “Should be interesting.”
Brian grinned at her. “Long time since you’ve seen a few bulging biceps, is it?”
She poked her tongue out at him. “Well, it’s not as if I have the fortune of working with a muscly stud every day, is it?”
“Touché, hon.”
They got on with their specific tasks for the rest of the morning, then nipped to the pub next door for a ploughman’s lunch. Ellen set off for the gym at around one forty-five.
________
The girl on reception smiled cheerily at Ellen when she entered. “May I help you?”
“I’m here to see William Endersbe. He’s expecting me.”
The girl stood up as her smile broadened. “Ah, yes, he asked me to keep an eye out for you. Come through.”
Ellen noticed how tight the girl’s jogging trousers were. They appeared to have been sprayed on over her muscular thighs and well-toned gluteus maximus. Ellen tried not to stare but found it exceedingly difficult. I really must give this another go some day.
She followed the young woman through the numerous aisles of what looked to be top-of-the-range exercising equipment, until they reached an area at the back screened off by rope. The woman unhitched the rope at one end to let Ellen through.
Will was busy doing bench presses, and the sweat on his brow glistened in the glare from the overhead lights.
“Hi, Will. Don’t stop on my account.”
He grunted as he set the weights back down on the bar. “I’m taking time out, guys,” he told the two men on either side of him. One of the men was smaller than her, around five feet four. But the other guy was around five ten and built with the same kind of frame as Will. Ellen couldn’t help but be impressed. She’d never seen so much beefcake in one room before.
The two men looked her up and down, turned, and moved over to the water station situated on the right-hand side of the room. Ellen sat on the bench next to Will, who was puffing wildly from his exertions.
“Just a minute,” Will said. He emptied a bottle of water in a couple of large gulps. “Ah, that’s better.”
“There’s no rush. Take your time to recover.”
“I’ll be fine in a minute. Do you work out?”
Ellen glanced down at her body and spread her arms wide. “Does it look as though I do?”
He shrugged. “I guess not.”
That wasn’t exactly the answer she was expecting to receive, and she tried not to show her hurt feelings as she asked, “When do you fly out?”
Will reached for another bottle of water. “Tomorrow evening.”
Ellen’s nose twitched as if she were about to sneeze from the mixture of sweat and deodorant fumes filling her nostrils, Thankfully, the latter was outdoing the former. She rubbed her nose between her fingers. “Do a group of you go to these competitions?”
“Sometimes. Mostly, I travel alone. I’m on a relaxed contract with my firm. They’re pretty flexible about what hours I do.”
“You’re very lucky.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. The boys over there are always having a go, complaining that their jobs restrict their ability to compete. They managed to get time off for a competition back in November but were forced to sacrifice some of their annual holidays for the pleasure.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward a little. “Not that they’re any good, compared to me, anyway. And no, that’s not me being conceited. It’s a fact. You’ve seen the trophies I’ve won.”
“Yeah, but if you can take advantage of having the time off to go to these competitions, then surely you’re going to be able to win more trophies than them.”
He paused, frowning as he thought over her legitimate suggestion. Quickly changing the subject after being backed into a corner, he asked, “So, what news do you have for me? It’s like she vanished off the face of the earth, isn’t it?”
The sadness Ellen had recognised in the man’s eyes during their first meeting reappeared at the mention of his wife. Her heart went out to him. Even a total stranger could see how much he loved and cared for Donna.
“That’s the way it looks, yes. But some new leads have come to light that we’re investigating.”
He cocked his head to the side. “New leads, such as?”
“Things are a little vague at the minute, but we’re starting to find information about other girls going missing in the Worcester area. We’re delving into it now. The last thing I want to do is get your hopes up just yet. Maybe we’ll know more on your return. I’ve been in touch with the national hotline. They’re getting back to me later. Fingers crossed that we stumble across something beneficial which will point us in the right direction.”
Ellen looked around her and noticed the two men Will had been working out with were watching her. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought they were discussing her, and by the looks on their faces, not in a pleasant way. Just then, three girls wearing shorts and tight-fitting crop tops walked past the two men, who averted their attention, and Ellen found herself blowing out a relieved sigh. You daft mare, that’s what men do—eye girls up all the time.
“I’ll ring you as soon as I get back. Don’t mind those two. They think with their dangly bits and not their brains. They’re harmless enough, honest.”
“I can see that. I suppose girls get hit on quite a lot around here, huh?”
“It’s not as bad as other gyms I’ve been to. Are you considering joining?”
“Not really.” She looked over at the two men again. Their focus had returned to her. The taller man nudged the other guy in the ribs with his elbow, and the pair started laughing. She was obviously the butt of their joke. Ellen wanted to go over and punch out their lights. “I better go. Good luck with your competition. I hope to have some good news for you on your return.”
“Thanks, Ellen. I appreciate you coming by. If you do s
tumble across anything, you can contact Doreen. I always leave the hotel’s number with her. I haven’t got it with me right now. Otherwise, I’d give it to you.”
“You’ve just reminded me. Doreen came to see me the other day. I was going to ask if it was all right to share information with her. You hired us, after all.”
“Yes, sorry, I should have said from the outset. We’re a close family. Anything you want to share with Doreen—or Cheryl, for that matter—is fine by me. We’ve all got the same aim. To bring Donna home where she belongs.”
“I’ll ring you soon, or come and see you, if we hear anything else.”
She turned and made her way to the entrance under the watchful gaze of the two men. A shiver shot through her. How come some men can do that just by looking at me?
CHAPTER SIX
He drew up at the farm at two minutes to ten and walked over to the barn where he was holding his captive. He paused outside to listen. He heard a slight moan but nothing significant. Good, the drugs are working.
He slowly pulled back the huge door, inch by inch, trying not to alert her to his presence. Standing at the stable doorway, he watched her. Blindfolded and naked, she didn’t appear to have heard him. He traced an imaginary finger down her cheek, then her slim neck, until he reached her rounded breast. His thumb and forefinger moved as one as though he were tweaking her nipple between them. A groan erupted from his throat, and his crotch grew hard with excitement. The girl’s ear tilted upwards.
“Who’s there?” she whispered.
He stayed silent, eager to see her reactions.
“Please, help me…”
He took a few steps closer. The brittle straw crunched under his feet. Tears glistened on her face, having escaped the confines of the blindfold. Still, he said nothing. Tormenting her, heightening her fear of him to new limits.
“Please… help me…” she whimpered, her shoulders going up and down as she cried. The movement caused her breasts to jiggle, just a fraction, which excited him all the more.
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