by Anita Waller
‘Phil and I had them. We called them our love phones. I’m not sure how it can help – I initially kept it from you because nobody knew about us, but now everybody knows. There are things that don’t add up on it. I think I need to speak with DI Brent again. Can you run me there?’
‘Of course. I’ll notify him we’re coming. I’ll get one of the surveillance team to come inside with Dan while we’re away.’
‘You think he’s in danger in the house?’
‘Gareth and Sadie were.’ Liz let the words sink in, and nodded. ‘I’ll tell him to come downstairs until we get back.’
Brent took the phone from her, and stared. ‘Why didn’t you hand this over at the beginning?’
‘How could I?’ Did this man deliberately go out of his way to annoy her? ‘Nobody knew about us, and certainly nobody knew Phil was the father of my baby. I wanted to keep it that way.’
‘And now we’ve wasted days. Your baby could be dead, Mrs Chambers.’
‘He’s not.’ She was defiant, yet in control. ‘He’s not dead. I’d know.’
‘So,’ he waved the phone in the air, ‘this is the phone you used to communicate with Philip Latimer, and only Philip Latimer.’
‘Not quite,’ she said. ‘Let me show you. I’ve saved every text he ever sent me. And don’t say a word, DI Brent, these were private texts between me and the man I loved. I’m going to explain things through showing you those texts.’
She took the phone from his hand, scrolled back to the beginning and patiently led him through all of them, one at a time. She tried not to blush, and he didn’t comment on the content. And then she reached the ones that still said he loved her, but without the term of endearment he had used on ever other message.
‘Stop,’ Brent said. ‘There’s a difference.’
She nodded. ‘I know. It took a couple of texts before I realised they were being sent by someone else. And it’s pure luck you can see that difference. When Phil bought us the phones, he said we must delete every call, every text, then if someone else found the phone, we could say it was for work. There would be nothing on it to prove otherwise. Phil obviously did that, because wherever he is, the person holding him doesn’t know what he called me.’
‘And you couldn’t delete yours?’
‘No. They meant too much to me. I kept the phone safe in the bottom of a deep zipped pocket in my bag. It’s why I bought that particular bag.’
‘Okay,’ he sighed. ‘And I do agree with you. Whoever sent these few texts at the end, they’re definitely not in love with you. I’m going to send this to our tech lab to see if they can pull anything from those; fingers crossed they can. Is there anything else you’ve forgotten to mention, Mrs Chambers? Like a video of somebody stealing your child?’
She bristled. ‘Don’t be so bloody sarcastic. And when this is over, after the court appearance, I want that phone back. And I want it exactly as it is now.’
He picked up the phone, dropped it into an evidence bag, and glared at her. ‘Then stop pissing us about, and start being honest. And remember, once this goes to court, your other son will hear all the details of stuff on this phone. I suggest you be honest with him, as well.’
Liz felt tears threatening. Determined not to show weakness in front of this irritating man, she turned and left the room. Brent nodded at the silent Tanya, and she followed Liz out of the room.
‘He’s doing his job,’ Tanya said to the angry Liz.
They went out to the car park, and Tanya returned Liz to Gleadless. ‘They’re reducing my hours with you so I’ll be dropping you off and heading back to Moss Way. If you need me at any time, you have my number. I’ll collect my stuff, and get out of your hair. I hope next time I see you, you have Jake back with you, Liz, I really do.’
Liz felt her eyes fill with tears again. She hated this; every little thing that was said reduced her to a gibbering wreck. ‘I try to switch off from it all,’ she said quietly. ‘I try to give Brent the benefit of the doubt, try to pretend he’s not a dickhead and he’ll bring Jake home to me, but it’s hard. And now, it seems, I’ve a really difficult conversation to have with Dan. I have no idea how he’ll take it.’
‘Come on, I’ll make you a cup of tea before I go. Give yourself a break. you’ve had a stressful morning, but the phone is where it should have been.’
They opened the front door, and the police officer went past them on the way back to his surveillance duties in the squad car. ‘Bloody kid’s brilliant on that game of his,’ he grumbled. ‘I need a copy of that.’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ Liz smiled. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘No, I lost,’ he said, and they watched him walk back to the squad car.
‘Is he really that good?’ Tanya asked.
‘Clearly,’ Liz responded. ‘Gareth always said he was, but my technology knowledge is limited to what I need to know for work. I wouldn’t know where to start with doing what Dan does.’
The two women went through to the kitchen and Tanya turned to Liz. ‘A word of advice, Liz. Don’t fuck around with DI Brent. If there’s anything else he needs to know, make sure he does. He could so easily have charged you – withholding information is a serious offence, particularly so in a murder case.’
‘And what would you have done, Tanya?’ Liz retorted. ‘Dan’s father has been brutally murdered. The last thing I need is for him to find out his mother’s been having an affair, and his brother is only his half-brother. I realise I’m going to have to tell him, but believe me, my head’s been all over the place.’
Tanya switched on the kettle. ‘I do understand that, but if this phone gives out any tracking details, it will mean we could have got Jake back much sooner. Do you think Phil Latimer has him?’
Liz shook her head. ‘If the person pushing that pushchair has Jake, then it’s not Phil Latimer. He’s tall, quite well-built, muscly. That person wasn’t. Even with a hoodie on, there would be no doubting the fact that Phil is a male figure. No, the only way Jake is with Phil, is if whoever has taken Jake, also took Phil. But Phil has been missing for so long…’
Tanya touched Liz’s hand, a sympathetic gesture of appeasement not lost on Liz. ‘Don’t give up hope. If anybody can get Jake home, it’s DI Brent. Trust him.’
She made their drinks and they sat at the kitchen table. Dan looked in on them to say he was going back upstairs now the babysitter had gone back to his police car.
‘He wants a copy of your game,’ Liz said.
‘I know. He was getting the hang of it when you came back. I don’t really want to do that though, I’m not far off sending it somewhere.’
‘Then don’t,’ his mother smiled. ‘Your game, your decision.’
He gave a thumbs up, and disappeared back to his room.
‘Nice lad,’ Tanya said as she sipped at her tea. ‘He’ll go far with two strings to his bow.’
‘It will be harder for him without his father here. And while I’m still coming to terms with Sadie’s actions in all of this, I can’t help but feel sadness for the situation Christian’s now in. He’s going to have to mature really fast.’
‘Mmmm. Sadie…’
‘She must have been lonely,’ Liz said. ‘They certainly clicked pretty quickly. How long is it likely to be before we can lay Gareth to rest?’
‘It won’t be long. When the post mortem is over, and the forensic side is finished with, they usually release the body straight away.’ Tanya took her cup and placed it in the dishwasher. ‘I’ll go and get my stuff from upstairs, and then head back to Moss Way. If you need me at any time, you ring me.’
Liz nodded. ‘Thank you. And thank you for getting me through these last few days. It would have been a nightmare without you.’
Ten minutes later she was alone. She switched on the television, saw it was Bargain Hunt and switched it off again. She picked up her kindle, but couldn’t get into her book, so gave up on that. She was almost relieved when her mobile phone rang. ‘Julia?’
<
br /> ‘Hi, Liz. I’m back home now. Thank you for last night. Despite both our lives being a bit bleak at the moment, we were there for each other, and that’s good. The wine was good too.’ She laughed throatily.
‘Too good. I’m about to take some tablets and go and sleep it off.’ Liz hoped Julia would take the hint that she didn’t want to talk.
‘I wanted to let you know I’m here for you. Give me a call if you need anything.’
Liz sighed. ‘I need Jake.’
‘I know, honey. I’ll speak to you soon. Bye.’
Liz put her phone down, thankful that Julia hadn’t rung for a mammoth chat session. Liz needed some thinking time. She had a conversation to have with Dan; she couldn’t begin to imagine how he would react, but she knew he would have to be told.
34
Watching the activity in the cellar, Phil cuddling the baby while he cried, Jake’s snuffles apparent even through a camera lens and microphone, Captor knew time was running out. It was almost welcome. The scene had been set, the picture complete; endgame was in sight.
It was a relief to have reached this stage. The screen showed baby Jake lift his hands to touch his father’s face, and Phil gently stroke his son’s face in response.
The whisper echoed clearly through the receiver. ‘Love you, Jake.’ Phil bent his head to kiss his son. Captor winced.
So much love. Phil for Liz, Liz for Phil, Phil and Liz for Jake, Jake for his daddy, love everywhere but in Captor’s own life.
The anger surfaced yet again. Angry all the time, hiding it behind a gentle smile, kind words, actions that nobody would query; actions ending in death.
Sadie’s death had been half-planned; if she had come upon any part of the abduction of Jake, she would have died. But Gareth – he was an unexpected bonus. Liz must surely be on her knees now. No husband, no lover, no kid. Just Daniel.
Just Daniel. In that moment, Captor made the decision to leave Liz with her first-born. He would be the constant reminder to her for the rest of her life of everything she had lost.
The meddling, interfering bitch would never know peace again, Daniel would always be there, the taunt to tell her life had changed irrevocably.
The cameras were switched off, the dumb waiter lowered for the last time. Slightly more rations than usual, enough for two days, but would Phil realise that? Or would he assume Captor was being generous?
Captor smiled. Did it really matter either way?
Before anybody realised where they were, they would be dead.
The voices and angst inside Captor’s head would soon be stilled; the longer Phil and Jake were kept hidden, the closer discovery was, and to Captor, a prison life was out of the question. There had always been the knowledge that death would be Captor’s own endgame; the time was close.
Phil heard the rattle of the dumb waiter and placed Jake quickly in his cot. He opened the small door and took out his rations. Carrying the bag back to the bed, it occurred to him it felt heavier.
He had two of everything. At first his heart lifted; maybe hunger wouldn’t be the thing that stopped him sleeping that night; but a warning light came on in his brain. Maybe Captor was unable to visit the following day. Phil stashed away the secondary items, and decided to stick with his normal offerings. If his rations arrived as usual, the next day, he could still eat his small stash.
He felt uneasy. Something wasn’t right; he prayed it would have no impact on the tiny child in his care. His son.
35
Oliver popped his head around Tom’s door.
‘Busy?’
‘So so. Missing Liz’s input.’
‘That’s what I want to talk to you about. Obviously, we give her whatever time she needs to get through all of this, but I think we need somebody to help out, even if it’s with general typing and filing duties. What do you think about Karen?’
‘I think she’d jump at the chance. She’s wasted on reception. We’ll get one of the youngsters out of conveyancing swapped to reception duties, and bring Karen in here, perhaps with a view to training her up for when we open the new offices, and Liz moves there. Karen can use Liz’s office until she comes back, then we’ll sort something. I think it has to be something permanent, a step up for her. Do you agree?’
‘Fully agree. Can I leave it with you?’
Tom nodded. ‘I’ll sort it today. They can both start their new positions from tomorrow. I’ll give Liz a ring and explain what we’re doing, so that she doesn’t get ideas about coming back because we need her.’
‘Does Liz know we want to put her in overall charge at Mosborough?’
Tom shook his head. ‘No, I gave a tiny hint we needed to discuss things, but that was all. I wanted to give her time to settle in after her mat leave, before I zapped her with a change and a promotion. We’ll put the conversation on hold until she’s ready. How are the plans going?’
‘I’m meeting with the architect next week, so if you want to be there…?’
‘No, thanks. Bring me in at the end when I need to sign the cheque. You’re the imagination man, you’ll know what we want. How long before it’s up and running?’
‘Oh… I should think early November. Don’t quote me on that, though,’ he said with a laugh. ‘We’ll certainly be in by Christmas.’
He closed the door and returned to his own office. Picking up the photograph of Julia, he stared at it, tracing her face with his finger. Her lovely face. A face he missed being on the pillow at the side of him when he woke in the morning.
He knew she wouldn’t come back. His middle of the night text to her, where he spoke of his deep love and wanting her to return to their home, had been replied to with vitriol in every word. Words like manipulative, bully, control freak, ownership, Liz, divorce, point of no return, Liz, all used with a depth of animosity he had never before seen in Julia. And yet he loved her. Longed for her. Craved her.
He opened a drawer and dropped the photograph face down in it. He had to work, not spend all day wishing her back with him.
Tom rang through to the conveyancing department and asked for Bella to be sent to him.
When she arrived, a timid knock on his door heralding her appearance, she looked scared.
‘Bella, you take over on reception when it’s Karen’s lunch break, I believe?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Tom hid his smile. Was he really so scary? Or was it only to his sixteen-year-old employees?
‘How would you feel about taking the job on full time, for a year? We’ll then give you the option of moving on to whatever department you would like to be in, or staying where you are.’
Her smile appeared from behind the cloud that had been there.
‘Really? I’d love that.’
‘Then don’t say anything yet, I’ll confirm it with you as soon as I’ve spoken to Karen. She will be moving in here, pending Mrs Chambers’ return to work, which could be some time away. I have to get Karen to agree, and if she does, you’ll be on reception from tomorrow. I’ll leave Karen with you for a day, to give you the basic training, and to show you the other jobs that she does which you won’t have come across in your hour a day, and then from the day after you’ll be on your own. How does that sound?’
‘It sounds brilliant. Thank you so much.’
Karen was shocked. The proposition was a step up she had never envisaged, and she could feel herself tremble as she said yes to everything Tom Banton asked of her. He requested that she not contact Liz until he had spoken to her, but then he was sure Liz would be at the other end of a phone or email if Karen needed clarification on anything.
She did a little dance of delight when she reached her workstation in the reception area, and smiled all afternoon.
Tom made himself a coffee before ringing Liz. He didn’t want to rush the conversation, he wanted her to know how much support she had, from both him and Oliver.
She answered almost immediately. The stress was obvious in her voice.
They talk
ed for fifteen minutes, and he explained the new arrangements made to accommodate her enforced absence.
When they finally said goodbye, she put down the receiver with a feeling of relief. Tom was right – she had been worrying about work, on top of all her problems.
She sat, letting everything wash over her. Not only was there a calmness engendered by Tom’s phone call, she also welcomed the sense of liberation since Tanya, who had done an excellent job of supporting her through the initial first few days, had departed for pastures new. Now Liz could give in to the grief; Gareth’s death was finally implanting itself in her mind, and even Jake, who she firmly believed was still alive, created a similar feeling within her.
She missed them. Having met Gareth at such an early age, at school, it seemed as if there had never been a time when she hadn’t been with him, and despite his adulterous fling with Sadie, he had been a fantastic husband. And now he was gone.
Liz brushed away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. Dan was her priority. She had to somehow tell him about Jake, about Phil, even about Rosie. Dan had always been grown up; he had been pretty perfect as a child, and teenager, but she doubted he was mature enough to cope with what was coming next.
She put off the inevitable for a further hour, then went upstairs with a heavy heart; she felt sick.
36
Dan’s chin dropped down until he was staring at his legs. For some time, he didn’t speak. Couldn’t speak.
Finally, he raised his eyes and looked at his mother. ‘I think I knew.’
‘What?’
‘You and him, I think I knew. You changed, laughed a lot, and then suddenly you told us you were pregnant. In the end, I put the change down to you and Dad getting closer, resulting in Jake being born. I didn’t think anything of it after that. It all makes sense now. Did Dad suspect?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m sure he didn’t. Phil and I were careful.’
‘Not careful enough if Jake was the result,’ Dan said, more than a touch of bitterness in his voice.
