by A L Fraine
He’d woken up here after falling asleep in his bed. He’d freaked out at first, but he’d calmed down eventually. Thanks to Milo, a resolve slowly built inside of him, and he knew only one thing. He wanted to get out, and he’d do whatever it took to make that happen.
“A few days, I think,” Milo replied. “I don’t know.”
“Have you tried to escape?”
The boy shook his head and glanced around, his eyes wide in fear. “He wouldn’t like that.”
“I don’t care what he likes, I want to get out of here.”
“Shhh,” Milo hissed at him. “Keep your voice down. We won’t like it.”
“Don’t be so scared. We can take him. We’re faster than he is.”
“I’ve tried, but I can’t. I’m scared. He said he’d hurt me if I tried anything.”
“Well, you didn’t have me with you before, did you?” Sebby replied, projecting as much confidence as he could.
“Don’t… You don’t know what he’ll do.”
“He won’t do anything,” Sebby spat.
“How do you know?”
“He would have done it by now. But, you’re alive, so…”
Milo blinked at him, apparently weighing up what he’s just said. “I don’t know…”
“Trust me, we can do this.”
“I just… I’m not…”
“Shush, just do as I say,” Sebby replied as he heard approaching footsteps. Moments later, the door opened, and a masked man stood, backlit in the entrance, holding a plate of food.
“Right then, you little shits…”
With a roar, Sebby charged. He flung himself at the man. He dropped the plate of food like it was nothing and caught Sebby by the neck.
Gagging, Sebby tried to shout, but his grip was too strong. Lifting him, the man slammed him against the wall and pain lanced through his body, stealing his breath.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The man looked back at Milo. Sebby followed his gaze to see Milo standing nearby, looking scared.
“Were you in on this?” the man asked.
Milo shook his head and backed off as the man returned his gaze to Sebby. “You know, I was going to savour this. I was going to make you wait, it’s so much more satisfying when you prolong the moment—when you draw it out. But I can see you’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
“No,” Sebby managed to croak.
“I can’t have you causing problems, I have so much more that I need to do.”
Sebby watched as the man placed his other hand around his neck too. He seemed to savour the act as if it brought in pleasure. He enjoyed it, and Sebby felt more scared than ever before as the man began to squeeze.
He tried to call out, to shout to Milo to do something, anything. The door was right there. He could escape, but there was intense, terrible fear in Milo’s eyes. He was rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but watch.
Why. Sebby wondered. Why…
He couldn’t breathe. He gasped wildly, hoping and praying for air.
But there was none.
For a moment, he hoped Milo would survive. He hoped he’d escape, somehow…
And then he thought no more.
***
Sitting to one side of the dark room, Milo stared over at the shape on the floor. It was difficult to make out the details in the shadows, but he didn’t need to.
He knew who it was, and he felt terrible for allowing him to be killed.
Sebby had just wanted them both to get out—to escape. He’d urged him to leave while the man strangled him. But he couldn’t.
He just couldn’t do it.
He’d had a chance. The door had been right there, and wide open. He could have run, and hoped that the other doors between here and the outside had been left unlocked.
But he didn’t.
Couldn’t.
Try as he might, as he watched Sebby die, there was no way he could leave. Sebby didn’t deserve to die like that. He just didn’t.
It wasn’t fair.
And now, there he was. Dead.
The door to the room slammed open, and the man walked in again. Stopping just inside, he looked down at Milo.
“Don’t you try anything,” he said, his voice deep and strong.
Milo shook his head. “I won’t.”
“Good boy.”
The man grabbed Sebby by his feet before pulling him out of the room. Milo watched Sebby’s vacant, lifeless face as he was pulled past him, just a couple of metres away.
Nausea washed over Milo.
The door slammed closed, and Milo listened as he heard the body being dragged further and further away. Then another door opened, before that too was slammed shut.
He couldn’t hear anything else. The building was silent once more, leaving Milo alone with his thoughts.
Why was he doing this? It made no sense.
Burying his head in his arms, Milo sniffed and imagined being hugged by his mother again.
24
Striding into the office, Jon walked over towards Rachel and Nathan where they sat, wading through the endless paperwork that the case was steadily producing.
“Mornin’, Rachel,” Jon began.
“Guv?” Rachel said.
“We’ve got Jake and Sherryl Slater coming in. They’ll be here shortly. I want you to look after them, and run the press conference for me, okay?”
“Will do, guv. When will this be?”
“Very soon, Kate called it in on the drive back. We’ve got people getting the press into place. I just need you to handle the parents.”
“Of course,” Rachel said, and stood up.
“And then I have another task for you and Nathan.”
“Oh yeah?” Nathan asked, looking up.
“Once Jake and Sherryl are done, they’ll be heading back to their estate where they’ll be staying with a family friend for a few days while we process the crime scene. We’ve spoken to them, and I don’t like their behaviour.”
“How come?” Nathan asked.
“They’re unpredictable and hostile. Sherryl especially seems to hate Emily with a passion. I’m worried that she’s going to do something stupid. I want you two to watch them. Follow them back and keep an eye on them. Can you do that?”
“We can,” Nathan confirmed. “Do you think they had anything to do with Milo’s kidnap?”
“I don’t know. Jake has a motive because Milo was his child, so maybe? But whether he is or he isn’t, they’re both very upset by Sebby’s disappearance, and I don’t know what they’re going to try. Can you do that for me? Can you keep an eye on them?”
Rachel nodded. “This could be a plot between them both. Kidnap their own child as well as Milo to get back at the Kays? Kind of like that famous Matthews case?”
Jon raised an eyebrow. “There’s no reward money involved.”
Rachel shrugged as the phone on her desk rang. She picked it up.
“Sir, I’ve been looking into those quotes from Dracula that our killer sometimes uses, and it seems the woman I spoke to about him last night used one too.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, she told me to be careful, as ‘the dead travel fast’, that’s another quote.”
“Good work. Looks like we’re on the right track. Keep going.”
“We’re on it,” Nathan said. “Leave it with us.”
“Thank you.”
“Sir,” Rachel said, replacing the phone. “Emily Kay is here. She’s in interview room one, downstairs.”
“Excellent, thank you. Oh shit, hang on, we’ll need to keep her well away from Sherryl.”
“I’m on it,” Rachel said. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Great. Kate, let’s gather our stuff and head down. We might as well do this now so we can get her out of here.”
Moments later, Kate swooped back after grabbing their notes. “Let’s see what Emily has to say for herself.”
They headed down to the first floor, int
o interview room one, where Emily was waiting for them.
“Thanks for coming in,” Jon said with a smile. Although they were in the station, he didn’t want this to be too confrontational.
“Is everything okay? Should I have a lawyer or something present?”
“That’s up to you. You’re not under caution, but it’s your right to have free legal representation if you want it.”
“So, this is just a chat, then?”
Jon nodded. “Just a chat, that’s all.”
“Okay,” she replied. “I guess that’s okay then. What would you like to know?”
“Recording has started,” Kate said, as she finished pressing buttons on the DIR. Emily eyed the machine nervously but said nothing as Jon made introductions for the benefit of the recording.
“How are you holding up?” Jon began.
Emily took a deep breath that seemed a little shaky. “Okay, I guess. I have good moments and bad. It feels like my emotions are all over the place, that’s for sure.”
“And Darryl?”
“He’s okay. I think he’s coping better than I am, but he’s always been the stoic one.”
“That’s good,” Kate replied.
Emily nodded. “He’s been my rock.”
“Are you two still okay with each other, how’s your relationship?”
“A little strained, I suppose. We’ve had a few disagreements, but we’re alright.”
“But, he didn’t come in with you?”
“No. He’s working.”
“Working?” Jon asked, a little surprised.
“He’s self-employed, remember. If he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid. There’s no paid holiday for people like us, and we’re not exactly rich enough that we can afford to take weeks off to grieve.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jon answered.
“Mmm. It bloody sucks,” she answered, looking down at her hands.
“Have you got support at home, when he’s working?”
“My mum comes over and helps,” Emily replied. “She’s been amazing, just amazing.”
“That’s good. Okay, tell me about your relationship with Jake,” Jon said, wondering how he’d get her to open up. He still believed that she wasn’t being fully honest with them. There was something there that she was holding back, and he was determined to find out what it was.
“Jake? Well, I don’t really have a relationship with him.”
“But you did, once.”
“I did. That was a few years ago, though.”
“When you were fifteen,” he stated, being careful to keep any hint of judgement from his voice.
“That’s right,” she replied. She seemed to stiffen slightly at the mention of her age. “I know it was wrong, what we did. But I guess we loved each other.”
“I’m not here to judge you or comment on that,” Jon replied.
Emily nodded.
“Tell me about that time,” he continued. “How was your relationship with Jake?”
“It wasn’t a great time in my life,” Emily replied. “I was rebelling. I hated my life and what had happened to me. Looking back, maybe it was a cry for help.”
“And your relationship with Jake?” He kept his questions neutral, preferring to hear everything from her point of view and not lead her anywhere.
“Just a… a bloody mess, frankly. I ended up on drugs, trying all sorts, drinking. It was not a good time, and Jake didn’t help. I mean, looking back, I know now that it was an abusive relationship. He was rough, he hit me a few times, belittled me. I thought I deserved it. It seemed right that he treat me like shit because that was how I viewed myself. I hated who I was back then.”
“But not now?” Kate asked.
“No, not anymore. What happened to me—the kidnapping—that wasn’t my fault. I know that now. There was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I was a victim, but that’s not how I felt back then. Darryl helped me see that. He’s changed my life.”
“That’s good,” Kate replied. “He’s been good for you.”
“He’s been amazing.”
“Do you remember Travis?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, I remember him. I don’t think he liked me very much for leaving him when I escaped.”
“What makes you say that?” Jon asked, curious.”
“We saw each other afterwards, in the police station and stuff. I just got dirty looks off him, and he wouldn’t speak to me.”
“Did you try to get him to escape with you?” Kate asked.
“I think so. I mean, this was thirteen years ago, so I can’t be totally sure. But I’m pretty sure I tried to convince him to come with me, but he was scared. He cried, and I thought that the kidnapper would hear him or something, so I gave up.”
“So, it was his choice to stay?” Kate continued.
“I don’t know. Maybe he wanted me to try a little harder to get him out. Maybe he thought I gave up too early. I know I tormented myself about that for months afterwards. I blamed myself for a long time. Maybe if I’d escaped earlier, I could have saved more of them, and not just Travis. I don’t know, I was a mess back then. And my recriminations only made it worse. That’s how I ended up with Jake.”
“Going back to your relationship with Jake, you said he hit you?”
“Yeah. Usually, after he’d been drinking, he’d get angry and frustrated with me, and things usually just escalated from there.”
“But he got you pregnant.”
“That’s right. It wasn’t all fighting and arguing. We had our good times too. But we weren't careful, and I ended up falling pregnant.”
“He said you wanted to get pregnant,” Jon said.
“I um, I don’t know about that. I don’t know, it was a long time ago and I was using drugs and all sorts.”
“How did he take the news that you were pregnant?” Kate asked.
“He wasn’t happy, at first. He was upset. We talked about abortion.”
“Did you want one?”
“I honestly don’t know what I wanted. I was a mess. I nearly booked an abortion, but I just couldn’t go through with it, and I ended up going back to my parents to get away from Jake. He didn’t want the baby. We both knew we’d broken the law, and if we’d gone in, the authorities might have found out so…”
“They’d find out if you had it too,” Kate suggested.
“Yep. Rock and a hard place. Like I said, he was pissed.”
“Did you tell your parents?”
“Yeah. They were… well, they were supportive. Not exactly thrilled that I was pregnant at fifteen, but they understood the predicament I was in.”
“Did you go to the hospital?”
“I did. I told the doctors I didn’t know who the father was, and you can guess how that went down.”
“Hmm,” Kate muttered. “Not well, I’m guessing.”
“Not really. But I wasn’t about to drop him in it.
“So, how did all that play out?” Jon asked.
“Jake came back to me after a few weeks. We’d been texting, and he’d changed his mind on the baby. He wanted it, and he wanted to be with me, but…”
“But?”
“I’d had a few weeks away from him, and I started to get some perspective on how he’d treated me. The abuse, the stress. I knew it wasn’t right. I gave it a go, though. I thought I owed him that, at least. He was the father, after all.”
“And how did that go?”
Emily shrugged. “Predictably.”
“He abused you again?” Kate asked.
“It took a while. I could see he was trying to make it work. But it didn’t last, and he was soon back to his old ways. I’d seen life away from him by then, though. I knew life could be better.”
“So you left him?”
She nodded. “I went back to my parents.”
“When was he arrested?”
“Just after the birth. I wanted him to see the baby, but then I told the authorities what had happened.�
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“And that was the last you saw of him?”
“Um, yeah… I guess.”
“You guess?” Kate asked. “Are you not sure?”
Emily looked uncomfortable, fidgeting with the table and her hair. “You know, don’t you?”
“Know what?” Jon replied. He kept his face neutral, but inside, he was shouting. Yes, come on. Of course, we know, so just tell us.
Emily took a deep breath. “You know I saw him recently.”
“What happened?” Jon replied, purposefully not addressing her accusation.
“Look, I thought he was in jail. I didn’t know he was out, but he’d been released early. I thought they had a duty to tell victims when they got out.”
“They should have,” Jon agreed. “I can only apologise for that.”
“It came as a shock, that’s for sure,” Emily continued. “He just walked right up to me in the street. Took me totally by surprise. I nearly screamed when I saw him.”
“And, what happened?”
“He wanted to talk to me.”
“And you let him?” Kate asked.
Emily shrugged. “I didn’t feel like I had much choice, but we stayed in public. I made sure of that. We sat on a bench and just talked. He asked how I was and what I was doing.”
“Did you tell him about Darryl?”
“I said I’d found someone, but that was all.”
“What did he say?” Jon pressed.
“He wanted me back. He wanted me and Milo to go with him and start again. He wanted to be a family again. Said that Milo was his boy, and he wanted us to live with him.”
“He didn’t mention Sherryl?” Kate asked.
“No. He didn’t. I had no idea about her.”
“So, how did he leave it with you?” Jon asked.
“I said I needed time. I needed to think, but I just wanted to get out of there. I didn’t want to stay close to him for any longer than I had to. I just wanted to go home.”
“I take it he accepted that you needed time.”
“He didn’t have much of a choice. He threatened me, though. Said that if I told the police or my man about him and what he’d said, he’d find us, and make me pay for what had happened to him.”
