by Anita Waller
They were on their way two minutes later, heading down Moss Way at considerably more than the permitted forty miles an hour.
‘Where are we going?’ Lynda’s voice came from the back seat. Steve was driving, with Will Brent beside him. Tanya and PC Dave Harmer were following in a second car.
‘It’s a house owned by Banton and Hardwick as a company. It’s why it wasn’t found when they went through all their deeds. The deeds to this place were still in the office, not archived, because it’s an ongoing project. It seems Hardwick had full responsibility for it, once they had bought it, and nobody else has been near it.’
The trees flashed by, and then Steve slowed for the bad bend at the end of the road, before cruising down to the road junction.
‘Turn left,’ instructed Brent, ‘then left again at the roundabout. If you take your first left after that, we’re on the right road.’
Steve nodded without speaking, and drove at speed.
They pulled up at the bottom of a drive, and Brent got out to open the gates. They were padlocked, and he looked around for something big enough to use to smash the lock.
Steve jumped out. ‘Hang on, sir, there’ll be something in the car.’
He opened the boot and removed a small lump hammer. One blow and the padlock fell to the floor.
They were soon outside the house, with the second car following them up the short drive.
‘Right, before we go damaging the property, let’s separate and go right round the house. We’re looking for the easiest way to get in.’ The house was large, and had several outbuildings. They ignored them, choosing, for the moment, to concentrate on the house.
No windows were open, and all doors were locked. They met up again at the front door, a solid-looking piece of wood that could be difficult to breach.
‘Right, I think we should probably go through the back door. It’s not flimsy, but it doesn’t look as hefty as this brute does. Yes?’
They were all in agreement, and Steve carried the Enforcer round to the back door.
‘Right, go for it Steve. Let’s get in here.’
It took two massive swings to get the door to burst open, and bang into whatever was behind it. They looked at each other, and Brent stepped through the doorway. ‘Let’s see what we have, then,’ he growled.
Jake was asleep, and Phil was thankful. He felt drowsy; he knew he was ill, and had collapsed on to his own bed to try and clear his head. He realised it was lack of nourishment, but he would have to hope his body could get used to it. He daren’t increase his own consumption of the baby pouches, he needed them for his little boy. And while Jake was sleeping, the baby wasn’t feeling hunger pangs.
He closed his eyes and drifted into a deeper sleep. He didn’t fight it, had nothing in him left to fight anything. From a distance he heard a bang, and he stirred. He drifted off again, unable to stay awake.
Jake mumbled in his sleep, and his daddy didn’t hear him. Too many months of deprivation of everything had finally taken its toll on his body, and he lapsed into unconsciousness. His carefully worked out plan hadn’t considered his own weakness.
Brent stared around the kitchen, just looking. Oliver had proved to be a devious calculating man, and he didn’t want any surprises for his team. Brent led the way cautiously into the hall. It was dark, the only daylight coming from a small sunlight set above the front door. There were three doors leading off the right-hand wall, as far as he could see, and two doors leading off from the left. He held up a hand, and the team behind him stopped.
‘Just listen,’ he whispered. They all stood for a few seconds, and then he opened the first door on the left. It was small room, measuring no more than ten feet by ten feet, but it was lined with screens. There was other technical stuff, and Brent cautiously entered. He leaned forward to one of the monitors and clicked it on.
They sprang to life and they stared in horror at the pictures on the brightly illuminated screens. Phil Latimer was lying, unmoving, on a bed, and Jake Chambers was in a travelling cot, asleep. His arm moved, and there was a collective exhalation of breath.
‘Lynda, get me an ambulance.’
She took out her phone, and could be heard giving instructions to the operator. Lynda stressed the urgency, explaining who the victims were, and repeated the address twice.
There was a sound from the back door, and all five of them jumped, so intent were they on watching the screens.
‘DI Brent!’ Tom called, not wanting to go over the threshold without somebody saying it was okay.
‘Tom,’ Brent called. ‘Get Liz here, can you? We’ve found them. She should be at home now; the wake will be over.’
Tom backed outside and dialled Liz’s number. She answered immediately, and he quickly explained that Jake and Phil had been found. He told her where he was, and disconnected.
He re-entered the kitchen, and followed the sound of the team’s voices. They had stepped back out into the hall, and realised that the next door along was made entirely of metal.
It was locked, and had additional security of two bolts. They had already slid the bolts back, but had no way of opening the door.
‘Did you bring the keys?’ Brent asked, and Tom nodded.
‘I did, but there’s only a front and a back-door key on them. Nothing that will open that.’ He moved forward and unlocked the front door, ready for the arrival of the emergency services.
‘It must be somewhere. There were no keys with him when we found his body, so they must be here. Lynda, Tanya, can you check through that room with the monitors? Dave and Steve, can you go through the kitchen? It’s bound to be a fair size key, this is a hefty lock. I’ll head upstairs. Tom, can I ask you to go outside and look for the ambulance, and Liz.’
Tom nodded again. He walked out of the front door and continued down the drive. He heard the approach of the ambulance, and waved as it drew close. The driver stopped.
‘Front door, mate?’
‘Yes. Go straight in, but they’ve not managed to get to the prisoners yet.’
‘Prisoners?’ he looked shocked.
‘Sorry, they’ve been imprisoned. The missing man and the baby? They’ve been found, but the door is still locked. You’ll see when you get inside.’
The driver nodded, and drove to the front door. A second ambulance pulled up and Tom gave the driver the same details, watching as they moved things into the house, ready for ministering to their patients.
Tom stayed at the bottom of the drive, and less than a minute later, Liz and Dan arrived. He pointed to the side of the gravelled area.
‘Park over there,’ he said, through her window. ‘There’s half a chance we may have to send for the fire people to get through a metal door.’
She nodded, couldn’t speak.
Dan grabbed hold of the hand nearest to him. ‘Come on, Mum, we can do this. Jake’s going to need us.’
She turned and flashed a brief smile, then drove the car to where Tom had directed.
He waited for Liz and Dan to reach him, then took them through the front door.
‘We can see Jake and Phil,’ he explained, ‘but can’t get to them unless we can find the key. They’re searching for it now.’
Liz saw Brent as she walked through the door. ‘You’ve found the key? And Oliver was definitely here. I can smell his aftershave, Creed.’
‘No, not found it yet. I’ve already called the fire service in, I think they’ll have to cut through it. Come here, Liz.’ He took hold of her hand, drawing her gently into the room with the monitors.
She watched her son, still sleeping, for the first time in what seemed an eternity. ‘Jake,’ she breathed his name.
As if in response to her voice, the baby moved his arm. Liz’s smile lit up the room.
‘And Phil? He’s not woken?’ She could see him lying on the bed, unmoving.
‘No. The ambulance men are waiting to get to him, but we can’t do anything without that damn door opening.’
; Her heart lurched. She couldn’t lose him, not again. This man who had been keeping their child alive, he had to get through this.
‘This is the dumb waiter,’ Brent said. ‘This is how he managed to keep Phil and Jake alive without Phil knowing who he was. Clever little contraption, could only be operated from up here, not down in the cellar.’
He led Liz to what appeared to be a small cupboard in the corner of the room. ‘I know this is a Victorian house,’ he said, ‘but this looks like a new construction. I don’t think for one minute it’s an original feature. He certainly planned this well.’
‘I’m still struggling to believe it. This isn’t the Oliver I’ve known for all these years.’ She turned to look at Tom. ‘Tom?’
‘I agree. And the worst part is, I didn’t notice any changes in him, not even these last few days when he clearly knew he would be dead shortly. I can’t begin to imagine what must have been going through his mind, because nothing showed outwardly. He said no goodbyes, not even in his letter – what caused such a massive personality change? I know he blamed you, Liz, but really you did nothing.’
Tanya appeared in the doorway. ‘Can I have another recce in here, please? We can’t find a key anywhere else, but logically it should be here in this room. One last look and then we’ll have to admit defeat and assume he threw it away.’
They all moved out, allowing Tanya and Lynda to double-check places they had already searched.
Five minutes later, with the fire brigade one minute away, Liz could see that Phil still hadn’t moved, but she could also see that Jake was standing in his cot, and leaning over the side looking at Phil.
‘Oh, God,’ she said, ‘look at him. Look at my boy. I was starting to think I’d lost him for good, and he looks so well. It won’t be long now, and I’ll have him back.’
‘He’ll be going straight to hospital,’ Brent said. ‘Let Dan go in the ambulance with him, and you follow in your car. That way, he’ll have a familiar face for the journey, and you’ll be able to get back from the hospital easier. They may want to keep Jake for a couple of days. He’s possibly dehydrated and under-nourished, so let them take care of him.’
‘And Phil? Have you notified Rosie?’
‘Not yet.’ He didn’t expand.
Liz stared at him. So, he did have a heart. He was allowing her to see Phil first, before telling Rosie that Phil was on his way to hospital.
‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. ‘Thank you.’
Seconds later, the fire engine arrived. They had come fully prepared for cutting through a door, and it took them little time to get the equipment off the vehicle and inside the house. They did a full inspection of the door, then cut around the lock area.
It was noisy; sparks were cascading around, and Liz moved out of the way, standing inside the monitor room. Jake was crying, and looking over his shoulder, presumably towards the door area. The noise would be frightening him. Phil still hadn’t moved, and Liz felt sick.
Life couldn’t be this cruel, surely Phil wouldn’t be snatched away from her at the last minute. As if sensing what she was thinking, Dan put his arms around her.
‘Chin up, Mum. You’ll be with them in a couple of minutes. It may not be as bad as it looks.’
The four paramedics picked up their gear and moved closer, sensing the door was almost open. It finally went with a bang, and they trod down the stairs with caution. They too wanted no boobytrap surprises.
‘Wait here, Liz,’ Brent said. ‘I’ll call you when I’m sure it’s okay. Let us do our job, please.’
He turned to the firemen and thanked them. ‘We’ll pack our stuff away, but we’ll hang on for a bit, in case there’s anything else. We’d like to see the little lad, as well.’
Brent smiled. ‘Thanks. That’s fine.’
He went down the stairs into the cellar, and across to where the paramedics were already working on Phil Latimer. There was no movement from him, and no colour in his face.
Jane, the one who seemed to have taken charge, had her fingers on his neck for what seemed an eternity. The other paramedic was fitting an oxygen mask over his face. Jane gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, and muttered ‘very weak’.
She put in an intravenous drip of saline, and then checked his blood pressure. Again, she checked his pulse; again, the small shake of her head.
‘He’s not…’ Brent asked in a low voice.
‘Very close,’ Jane answered.
Brent went back to the bottom of the stairs and called Liz’s name. The word was hardly out of his mouth before she was standing in the doorway. ‘Come down,’ he said.
He held her hand as she reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘Go to Phil. The paramedics are looking after Jake, and he’s doing fine.’
She stared at Brent, allowing what he was saying without speaking the words, to sink into her brain. ‘No,’ she whispered, and moved across to Phil. Everything about him seemed sunken, the muscly toned man she loved had all but disappeared. He was clearly non-receptive to anything happening around him, and she reached for his hand.
‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘Phil, don’t give up, you’re my life.’
She watched as Jane felt at his neck once more, and then saw her look at her partner. ‘Let’s go. We’re losing him.’
Liz stepped back with a small cry, and Brent moved to her side. ‘Come on. Jake needs you. Let them do their job and get him to the hospital. Northern General?’
Jane said yes, and within a minute they had taken him up the stairs and out to the waiting ambulance.
Liz pushed thoughts of Phil aside, and turned to her son. He too had a drip attached, and was staring at it in fascination.
‘Jake.’ He turned to her, and lifted his arms.
She parked her car in the multi-storey at the Children’s Hospital, and ran across the road to the entrance.
‘My son’s been admitted by ambulance,’ she said breathlessly to the receptionist. She was given directions to the appropriate department, and spotted Dan in a corridor, looking for her. ‘Is he okay?’ she asked.
Dan’s smile was infectious. ‘He seems fine. A doctor is with him. He’s quite the little celebrity, loads of nurses have popped in to see him, now that word’s got out that he’s been found. He was fine in the ambulance, I chatted to him all the way here, and he made brave attempts at chatting back to me. Seems to say “da” a lot.’
Liz stood in the corridor and let the tears finally fall. They rolled down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. She didn’t care. Weeks of worry had ended, and Jake was safe.
Dan, being fifteen, didn’t really know what to do with her. He held her and let her cry, not speaking, knowing he wouldn’t have the right words.
‘Mrs Chambers? Your son needs you,’ the doctor smiled. ‘You want some tissues?’
He disappeared to return a few moments later with a box of tissues, and handed it to her. ‘Take your time. He’s not going anywhere for a couple of days, so you’ve many hours in which to get to know each other again.’
Jake was sitting up in a cot, only wearing a nappy.
‘We’re not putting any clothes on,’ the nurse explained. ‘He’s got a bit of a temperature, so we don’t want him getting any warmer. He’s on antibiotics, because the temperature is probably due to a small infection. He’ll be feeling much livelier tomorrow. All in all, he’s doing extremely well, considering what he’s been through. Thank goodness you’ve got him back, Mrs Chambers. We’ve all been following this story, as you can imagine, and I feel honoured to be his designated nurse. Now, go and give him a cuddle.’
And, finally, he was in her arms. The little boy she had ached for, over so many long nights, was back in her arms, and snuggling up to her.
‘You want a cup of tea?’ the nurse asked.
‘No, thank you,’ Liz smiled. ‘I’ve got everything I need.’
Rosie looked down at her husband. She wouldn’t have recognised him; his appearance had changed completely.
He had aged; he was so pale as to appear dead, and she knew without having to be told that he was near death.
She leaned forward and kissed his head. He felt cold.
In her head, she had already given him to Liz, but Rosie was beginning to realise that he would be always hers. Till death do us part, she thought.
The doctor finished writing his notes and checked Phil’s pulse and blood pressure. The doctor initially made no comment, until Rosie said, ‘Well?’
He removed his glasses and looked at her. ‘Are you planning on going home?’
‘Yes, I have a young daughter…’
‘Where is she now?’
‘With my mother.’
‘Then I suggest you ring your mother and ask if she can keep her overnight.’
The implication was clear.
‘We’ll provide you with a chair bed so that you can rest, but I do have to tell you that your husband is extremely weak. If he makes it through the night, then there will be some hope. However…’
‘I understand, doctor. I have a however, too. However, I don’t think I’m the one my husband would want by his side. I will be going home. I need to explain to Melissa that her daddy has been found, but he is poorly. She has to come first, now.’
She touched Phil’s hand. ‘Bye, my love. You’re in my prayers.’
The doctor watched her leave the room; his mind was reeling. He had never had such a reaction before, when he had been forced to deliver news of the worst kind.
He didn’t expect this man to still be here in the morning, and the only thing he could do for him was make sure he wasn’t alone. He left Phil’s room and headed for the nursing station, to give instructions that he wanted someone with Mr Latimer at all times.
53
Sadie Fremantle’s funeral went off without a hitch. There weren’t many people there, and her few close relatives went for a meal afterwards. The circumstances surrounding her death were known to all of them, and it made talking about it difficult. Christian talked about the life he had shared with his mother before his departure to Solent, and eventually everyone joined in, remembering the good times they had experienced with her.
