Hard Truth

by Jay Gill

  “You’re a very smart girl, Alice. Very smart. Trying to build rapport with your captor.”

  “Then why don’t you let me go?” suggested Alice.

  “You are going to be fine. I know who your daddy is and what he does – I mean, what he did. He retired from the Met, didn’t he? You see, he and I are friends. We go way back. You could say we have a special relationship. A bond that ties us.”

  “Friends don’t kidnap one another’s children.”

  “It’s complicated, Alice. Like all meaningful relationships. You are a very astute girl. You’re too smart for me. I liked the way you tried to build rapport. Did Daddy teach you that? I bet he did. I know all about you, Monica, and your little sister, Faith. I know about Nana Hardy and your Grandad Hardy. It’s a shame about Grandad. I know about your daddy’s old detective partner, Rayner. I know about Detective Inspector Cotton – you might have met her. She’s eager to prove herself. You see, little Alice, not everyone matters. But it pays to know all you can about those people that do matter. When you understand that, nothing can surprise you. Do you see?”

  Alice screwed up her face defiantly and said, “You think you know it all. My daddy will surprise you. Then you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison. Just like all the others who thought they were clever. How does that sound?”

  “My name is Kelly Lyle. Have you heard that name before?”

  Alice rolled her shoulders and said, “I’ve heard Daddy talk about you. You’re a bad a person. That’s all I know.”

  Lyle pressed the tips of her fingers together and said, “Whether someone is good or bad often depends on your point of view. Never mind all that. We’re going to be here together for a little while, and your stay here will be more pleasant if you behave. I know you’re a well-mannered young lady, so it shouldn’t be difficult for you. I have a couple of rules. I like rules. I bet you do too. The first rule is that you mustn’t try to escape. We’re a long way from anywhere, so it’s pointless and you might get hurt. If you try to escape, I’m going to have to confine you. Do you know what that means?”

  Alice shrugged and said, “Yes.”

  “It means, Alice, that I’d be forced to do something you won’t like. It means I might put you in a box and bury you underground. It means I might put you in a dark, cold, wet, cellar full of spiders. It means perhaps chaining you up in a barn full of rats. It means I might hide you somewhere no one would ever find you. Do you get the picture?”

  Alice could tell Lyle meant every word. She’d never heard anyone speak with such hostility before. The gravity of her situation suddenly dawned on her. She was alone and vulnerable. Lyle could do whatever she wanted to her and there was nobody to stop her. She’d overheard her dad say Lyle had killed people. Killed them in horrible ways. Fear welled up inside her and Alice’s shoulders started shaking uncontrollably as she fought to hold back tears. Her bottom lip quivered as she nodded her head. “Yes,” she said meekly.

  “The second rule is that we treat each other with respect. I’ll be honest with you if you will be honest with me. None of this is about you, and I don’t need to hurt you. I will hurt you, don’t get me wrong. But only if I have to. I see no reason we can’t be friends. I’d like to get to know you, and I’d like to hear more about your favourite food and your favourite colours and what you enjoy doing. I’d like to hear about your family and the way you live. I’d also like to hear about your mummy who is in heaven. My mummy is in heaven too.”

  The last part was a lie, but she knew Alice would respond to it. “Let’s have a bite to eat, and we can talk some more. And in a little while, we’ll phone your daddy. How does that sound?”

  Lyle handed Alice a tissue. Alice smiled weakly, nodded and sniffed. “Yes, I’d like to speak to Daddy.”

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  For a long time, I found it impossible to think. Emma had called me too late. Richter’s prediction that Lyle would strike a blow by going after those I loved most had come chillingly true.

  It was painful to think of my little Alice crying and calling out for help. She expected me to come to save her, but I didn’t know where to start. I was consumed by fear. I was struggling to move beyond the terrifying possibilities of what might come next. I took myself away from everyone around me and retreated to my office. It had never been more critical that my next move be the right one.

  I jolted upright as my mobile phone started to ring. “Hello? Alice? Who is this?”

  I heard a woman’s voice. A woman I knew had to be Kelly Lyle. To my relief, her words confirmed Alice was still alive. “Say hello to Daddy.”

  The next voice I heard was Alice’s. She sounded scared but strong. “Daddy, where are you? Kelly Lyle took me. I’m sorry; I thought she was a real policewoman.”

  “Alice, don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault. I’m coming to get you, I promise. I promise with all my heart.”

  Kelly Lyle took over the call. “Hello, James. I thought you’d like to speak to your daughter. I think that’s very generous of me. She’s a spirited young woman, I’ll give her that.”

  “If you harm her, I swear to God I will devote the rest of my life to – ”

  “She’s absolutely fine, James. I haven’t laid a finger on her. I have no intention of doing so. Unless it’s necessary.

  “It’s time to up the ante. You and I are heading towards a climax, and so naturally things are intense. Once you see the big picture, you’ll thank me. All this time you’ve done everything except see what’s right in front of your eyes. I’ve left you all the pieces of the puzzle, and now it’s time you put those pieces together to reveal what this has all been for. I’ve given you the name, and now it’s time you understand why.”

  I could hear Alice crying in the background, and it was tearing me apart. “Give me my daughter back, and I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever it takes.”

  “I know. Poetic, isn’t it? Intense love and intense hate can be incredible motivators. They cause us to do things we might otherwise avoid.

  “I am sorry to hear of Hardy senior’s passing. When we are young, a father figure can have a positive or negative influence on our upbringing. But James, right now, mother is key. Mother is the key. Do you understand?”

  “No more games. Give my daughter back. Harming a child isn’t your style. We both know that.”

  Lyle sighed heavily. “Times change. For now, Alice and I are going to have some fun. We’re going to have some girl time. I’ve always wanted a daughter, so I must cherish these precious moments. You and I will talk again very soon, hopefully face to face. In the meantime, you must go and see Mother.”

  The call ended, and I found myself standing behind my desk staring at the phone in my hand.

  Tormented beyond reason, I roared, grabbed my desk and launched it across the room. It crashed against two filing cabinets. Everything on the desk scattered across the room. I was losing my mind. I sank to my knees and screamed at heaven. I furiously yelled at Him and then asked for His help in bringing my baby home safely.

  I don’t know how long I remained on my knees. My head was spinning, and my heart was pounding. It could have been five minutes; it could have been two hours. I crawled across the floor and picked up a smashed photo frame. It was Helena, Alice’s mother. I opened the back of the photo frame and took out the picture.

  I looked at Helena and said, “Our baby’s gone. She’s got our baby.”

  As I talked to Helena about all the mistakes I’d made, Kelly Lyle’s words forced their way into my head. ‘Mother is the key.’

  I kissed the picture of Helena and got to my feet. I unlocked the office door and began running to my car.

  With Faith in her arms, Monica came chasing after me. I turned and held onto them.

  I said, “I know what to do. I’m going to get Alice back, I promise.” We held onto each other, and none of us wanted to let go. Finally, I tore myself away. “I had better go,” I said, my voice breaking. “When you see me nex
t, it’ll be with Alice. You have my word.” I kissed them one last time and ran to the car.

  As I started the car my phone rang. It was my old Met partner, Inspector Rayner.

  Rayner said, “James, I’m sorry. I just heard from DI Cotton. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  The sound of Rayner’s voice and knowing he had my back filled me with confidence. I told him what I had in mind.

  “Lyle always chooses her words carefully. When she spoke, she said ‘Mother is the key.’ I don’t think she was talking about my mother; it’s more likely she was talking about her own mother. She was trying to tell me something.

  “I need you to find out what business interests Kelly Lyle has around Dorset and Hampshire, in fact, anywhere on the south coast. My guess is her mother is close by. I need the address. I need it now. Once you have it, send it to Emma and to me.”

  “Leave it with me. I’m on it.”

  “Thanks, buddy. It’s bloody good to hear your voice.”

  “We’re going to get Alice back. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have something.”

  I called Emma and gave her the same information. She told me she recalled one of Kelly Lyle’s investment companies owned a string of residential care homes that stretched from the south coast to the Midlands.

  “That’s got to be a good place to start. I’ll get the team calling them straight away,” said Emma. “I’ll check to see if any of the care homes has a resident under the name of either Lyle or her mother’s maiden name, Allerton. We’ll start with homes closest to your location and work our way up the country.”

  Sixty minutes later I was driving up the A31 dual carriageway towards the New Forest at over one hundred miles an hour. Emma had struck gold and found a resident whose surname was Allerton at a care home near there. While she ran a background check and tried to confirm it was Lyle’s mother, I decided to take a chance and head towards the home. If it was her, I didn’t want to waste a second.

  Ignoring the speed limit, I pressed down on the accelerator and leaned heavily on the car’s horn to get me through traffic as quickly as possible. I checked my phone repeatedly until Emma’s text message arrived with the address. I punched it into the satnav and pressed my foot down harder still on the accelerator.

  I’m coming for you, Alice, I said out loud. I’m coming for you, sweetheart.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Alice felt Lyle’s cold hand behind her neck. Standing beside her, she watched as Lyle took a long, thin key and unlocked the door. It opened to reveal a small bedroom. Alice stepped inside and looked around. The room felt cold and smelled damp.

  A large rectangle of chipboard covered the window. The only light came from a small lamp beside the bed. On the floor next to the lamp was a large bottle of water and next to that a bucket.

  Alice turned and looked at Lyle.

  Lyle said, “The bucket’s in case you need to pee or do a number two. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll bring you magazines and some books. And remember, don’t do anything stupid. This door will be locked. Knock on it if you need anything. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? You must be tired.”

  “It’s cold,” said Alice.

  Lyle ignored her and added, “I know you’re a clever girl, so I’m going to trust you. If you try to escape or become a nuisance, then I will make things very uncomfortable for you. For your own sake, I’d suggest you settle down, and this will be over soon.”

  Alice nodded, then said, “Please, just take me home.”

  Lyle shut the door, and Alice listened as it was locked.

  Alice wiped away her tears and rubbed her runny nose on her sleeve. She lay back on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. Somehow, she managed to sleep.

  A noise woke her. At first, Alice was too scared to move. She heard the noise again. She walked across the room and listened at the door. It was the sound of Lyle talking on the phone. She was laughing and sounded happy.

  Alice stepped closer and pressed her ear to the door. The floor creaked. Lyle stopped talking.

  Alice heard Lyle’s footsteps approaching the door. Alice tiptoed back to the bed and pulled the blanket over her head. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

  The key clunked and clicked in the lock, and the door opened.

  Alice held her breath. Lyle’s footsteps crossed the room and came close, then stopped by the bed. Alice kept her eyes tight shut. She could hear Lyle breathing. She felt a finger prodding her. Alice made a small, sleepy sound.

  The footsteps crossed the room back to the door. Alice heard the door clicking as it was locked and Lyle’s footsteps moving away.

  Alice sat up. For a short time, she heard the mumbled sound of Lyle continuing her conversation. After a time, she heard footsteps outside, then the unmistakable sound of a car door opening and gently clunking shut. The car’s engine started. She listened to the ground crunching as the vehicle moved. Alice didn’t dare make a sound. A pipe rumbled somewhere in the house, then there was quiet. Not a sound. She was alone.

  Alice walked to the door and knocked. She called out and knocked again. She listened. There was nothing but the sound of her uneven breathing.

  It took Alice no more than thirty seconds to decide she would escape. It was what her dad would do, and she knew she was brave like him. He’d always said so.

  She started checking, doing the obvious things. She tried the door to double-check that it was locked. She kicked and punched it and tugged at the handle. The door wouldn’t budge.

  Her eyes scanned the room for other ways out. She decided the next logical place to test was the window. Alice ran her fingers along the edge of the board that covered it. Four screws on each side held the board in place. If she could find something to undo the screws, maybe she could get out through the window. She looked about the room for something she could use as a screwdriver. It was useless; the room was empty aside from the bed, lamp, bucket and the water. She swallowed back tears; her dream of a glorious escape and triumphant return home was already over.

  Alice sat on the floor and leaned against the wall with her knees pulled up under her chin. She felt stupid for thinking she could escape. Lyle would have thought of everything, of course. She also had no idea how long Lyle would be gone; it might only be five minutes. That wouldn’t be enough time to break out and get across the field to the woods. Even if she did get to the woods, did she really want to be alone in there? What if she got lost or hurt? Would she be any safer out there?

  “Don’t be negative,” Alice told herself firmly. She had to escape, and she had to remain positive. She pulled her feet a little closer. The room was cold. Like the walls and the bedding, her clothes felt damp.

  A mouse squeezed under the corner of the door and, staying close to the wall, ran across the room. Reaching the far corner, it stopped and looked at her. Then, with a twitch of its nose, it turned right and continued until it disappeared behind the bed.

  Alice wished she was a mouse; then she could squeeze through gaps and disappear down holes. If she was Harry Potter, she could turn herself into a mouse and find a hole to escape through. Alice got onto her stomach and peered under the bed; she was curious to know where the mouse had gone. She took the lamp and shone it under the bed. Where was the mouse?

  Alice moved the bed out and could see where the mouse had made a hole in the wall. Crawling closer, she put a finger inside. With her fingernail, she picked at the wall and the floorboard. The floorboard was damp, and splinters of wood came away as she picked at it. Alice wondered what was under the floor. If she could get the floorboard up, maybe there was a chance to escape. Like the mouse, could she get out?

  Alice pulled the lightweight metal bed frame away from the wall to get a closer look at the floorboards. As she did, one of the bed legs wobbled. The legs were thin metal tubes that slid into holes in the bed frame. Alice pulled the bed’s mattress off onto the floor. With a lot of effort, she got the bed frame onto its side and leaned it against
a wall away from the mouse hole. She then pulled at the wobbly leg; it wiggled but wouldn’t budge. She tried another leg; this one didn’t move at all.

  Alice moved to the other end of the bed and tried a third leg. Holding onto the bed frame, she kicked at the leg, causing it to go off at a right angle; she kicked it repeatedly back and forth until eventually the leg came out and slid across the floor.

  Grasping her makeshift tool, Alice began to chip away at the floor and wall. The wall was particularly damp in the corner where the mouse had vanished, and the wood of the floorboard was soft and rotten.

  At first, the wood she pounded broke away easily, but it was less rotten in the centre of the floorboard. She worked along the edge, breaking away all she could. It was awkward work, and her hands and fingers soon became sore. After several minutes, unable to chip away at the floorboard any further, Alice used the bed leg as a lever to prize up the remaining floorboard. As it broke away, she dropped the wood down into the hole.

  Alice moved on to the next floorboard. It soon became apparent she wouldn’t be able to chip away much of the second floorboard. She would have to lever most of it up. This one was less damp and harder to break up, but the wood was soft around the rusted screws and reluctantly started to move. Alice put all her strength behind levering it up. She was becoming tired and tearful, and suddenly she fell backwards as the metal bed leg slipped from her hands.

  Alice kicked out at it in frustration and then lay back, one arm across her eyes, trying not to cry.

  Having taken a few minutes to gather her thoughts, she rolled onto her belly. Sticking her head down through the gap she had made, she looked under the floor.

  The gap beneath the floor was big enough for her to crawl around. She pulled the lamp over to get a better look and shone the light around.

  Her excitement quickly turned to disappointment; wherever she shone the light, she saw only the stone walls of the building. Exhausted, Alice got to her feet and walked to the far side of the room. She sat on the mattress and hugged her knees, her head resting on her arms as she looked at all her work. She thought, ‘What a waste of time. Not even Houdini could get out of this place.’