The Lie She Told: All Kate wanted was a peaceful life, all Ryan wanted to do was destroy it. (Thornes series Book 1)

by Catherine Yaffe

  It was all too much. She sat heavily on one of the bar stools. Jack was still waiting for an answer. She suddenly felt that she had to get away from the pub, away from gossipy Janice and escape the cloak of darkness that her childhood home seemed to be filled with.

  “Yes, I’ll come over,” she finally answered, feeling the adrenaline that was driving her earlier action slowly seep from her bones.

  42

  Jack replaced the handset and stared at the phone, taking a moment to digest what Molly had just told him. He was rocked to his core. He had to stay strong for Kate, though he knew she would ask who had been on the phone; she was understandably distraught and fretful. He’d have to tell her. He had no real choice. Sure enough, Kate turned from the café table where she was sat and looked at him questioningly.

  “Who was that?”

  “It was Molly, Len’s daughter,” said Jack, sitting back down opposite Kate and Fiona. “She’s on her way here.”

  “Here? Why? Does she know something?” Kate wasn’t stupid and she knew from Jack’s face there was more to it.

  “She’s worried about Len. She can’t seem to find him.”

  “What do you mean, ‘find him’?”

  “I don’t know the full story until she gets here, but I’m guessing that if Len wasn’t staying with Molly as Ryan had told me and Janice then where the hell is he?”

  “Oh Jack, you don’t think?” Kate couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “I have no idea. I don’t know anything anymore.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head.

  Kate started crying again. “I feel such a fool. How could I have been taken in by him?” She folded her arms across the table and laid her head down. Fiona leaned over and rubbed her sister’s shoulders. There was little she could say or do to comfort her. She just hoped that her worst fears weren’t going to come true.

  Jack felt just dreadful. Why hadn’t he seen what was going on? Why hadn’t he spoken to Kate about his concerns sooner? Why, why, why just kept running through his head. He couldn’t sit still. He stood and walked over to the coffee machine. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night and a few shots of caffeine wouldn’t go amiss. He used the time it took to make the coffee to think carefully about how to frame his next question. He didn’t want Kate to retreat into herself. He knew she didn’t like to talk about her past but that phone call she’d made upstairs must have something to do with it, and now was not the time for holding back information, however personal.

  “Who was that you spoke to upstairs?” Jack wasn’t good at doing subtle, but he did soften his tone.

  Kate lifted her head, wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve, and glanced briefly at Fiona. “It’s a contact of mine from Leeds.” She wasn’t sure how much to tell Jack. The truth was bound to come out now. Maybe it was better if he heard it all from her. “A family liaison officer who helped me relocate.”

  Jack took the information in. “And Ryan? He seemed to know his name?”

  “Yeah, Ryan had a bit of a reputation in Leeds.”

  “So I gather.” Jack thought back to the rumours that Janice had passed on and wondered if there was any truth in them after all. He set down the cups of coffee, along with milk and sugar. He pulled a hip flask from his pocket. “You might want a wee nip of this in it.” He leaned over and poured some of the amber liquid into Kate’s cup which she sipped willingly.

  “So what’s happening now then?” asked Jack.

  “Ziggy is sending someone local to see us.”

  “Is that all? Can’t they do more? I mean if Joe’s in danger...”

  “I don’t know Jack, my head is all over the place.”

  There was a knock on the window of the café, and Kate shot up from her seat.

  “I’ll get it hen, you sit down.”

  Kate did as she was told and Jack unlocked the door. It was Molly. She came into the café and Jack made quick introductions before making Molly a coffee and inviting her to sit down.

  “Oh Kate, I’m sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances.” She reached out and took Kate’s hand in hers.

  “I know, it’s all a bit crazy. How are you?” Kate was concerned for Molly and the safety of her dad.

  “I’m OK. I just have no clue where my dad is or what Ryan has done,” Molly cried, big fat tears dropped onto the table and Kate passed her a tissue.

  “Where did you think Len was?” asked Kate.

  “At Sheildaig Lodge Convalescent Home. He told me last week that dad had been there a while, and I actually spoke to him but something just sounded off. I started to doubt him and then I thought back to Jack’s visit and nothing seemed to add up.” She broke off to catch her breath.

  “Hey, it’s OK. We’ll find him. We’ll find them both.” Kate tried to comfort Molly but her own heart was breaking and she found herself crying too. There was another knock on the window and Jack, who had been sat watching the two women fighting back his own tears, was grateful for the interruption. He unlocked the door and two police officers walked in. Jack recognised them both and greeted them by their first names.

  Both officers walked over to the table where Molly and Kate were sat, removed their police hats but kept their high-visibility coats on.

  “We’re here about,” the female officer consulted her notes, “Joe?”

  Kate wiped her nose on a tissue. “Yes, that’s my son.”

  “I’m PC Claire King and this is my colleague PC Steve Jones. Is it OK if we sit down?”

  “Yes, yes of course. Would you like a coffee?” asked Kate, immediately switching into hospitality mode, standing up.

  “I’ll get it,” said Fiona, indicating to Kate to sit back down.

  The officers sat awkwardly on the café chairs, adjusting their coats and gear to get into a more comfortable position.

  Molly butted in, “I’m Molly and my dad is missing too.”

  Everyone in the café turned to look at her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt it out but I’m going out of my mind.”

  “OK,” said PC King. “Let’s take this one step at a time.” She turned towards Kate. “Our colleague, DI Thornes has informed us that your son is missing, and you suspect that a Ryan Albright might have taken him?” PC King consulted her notes again. “Can you tell me what has happened?”

  “Well, Jack tells me that Ryan was seen getting Joe into his car outside the Scout hut on Denby Dale road. I was supposed to pick him up but Ryan got there early and took him.”

  Jones was making notes furiously. “OK. We know from DI Thornes that you moved here a couple of years ago from Leeds? Is that where you know Ryan Albright from?”

  “Yes, that’s right.” ‘Oh God,’ thought Kate. ‘This is where it all comes out’.

  “And when was the last time you saw Joe?”

  Kate let out a sigh of relief. “At around 7pm when Fiona dropped him off. I was going to pick him up but I fell asleep and Jack woke me up to tell me Joe had been taken.” She was rambling and she knew it.

  “OK, OK, slow down. Let’s break this down so we can get all the relevant points,” said PC Jones. He turned to Jack, “Did you see him take Joe?”

  Jack snapped his attention back to room. “No, it was one of the Cub leaders, Mr Wheeler.”

  “OK, we’ll speak to him in due course. Do you have his contact details?”

  Jack scribbled the name and address down and passed it over.

  King turned back to Kate. “Kate, we just need to establish a few facts. Are you OK to answer a few questions?”

  “Yes, yes anything.”

  “So you didn’t arrange for anyone else to collect Joe from Cubs?”

  “No. Fiona spoke to Mr Wheeler and he knew I was planning to collect him so I don’t know why he let him go with Ryan.”

  “And what time did it become apparent that Joe was missing?”

  Kate looked at Jack, “Well I’d fallen asleep so when Jack woke me up it was 8.15pm so I w
as 15 minutes late. You’d have to ask Mr Wheeler when he saw Joe getting into Ryan’s car.”

  “Why would Joe get into Ryan’s car?” asked King.

  “Ryan’s been around here quite a bit recently and they were friends. Joe would trust Ryan if he said I’d told Ryan to pick him up.”

  Molly butted in, “He’s emptied the flat above the pub too, all his clothes and his belongings have been cleared out.”

  PC King carried on taking notes whilst Jones took over the questioning.

  “We’ll need details of the pub etc but we can get to that in a moment. What was Joe wearing?”

  Kate answered, “His Cubs uniform.” Kate broke down. “Oh God what have I done,” she sobbed and laid her head on the table.

  “I know this is difficult for you Kate but I have to ask. Do you think Joe is in danger of harm from Mr Albright?”

  “No...yes, I just don’t know,” said Kate through her tears.

  Jack moved in his chair so that he could comfort Kate. “There’s been some rumours going around about Ryan, and I’m fairly certain it was him that pushed me down the cellar steps.”

  Both police officers turned to look at Jack.

  “OK, we can look into that but right now we have to focus on getting a clear picture to pass onto DI Thornes and his team. Can you tell me about the car that you mentioned before? Is it unusual for Ryan to be driving?”

  Jack answered whilst Kate went to the bathroom to wash her face. “Mr Wheeler seemed to think it was a grey Audi. He usually drives a battered old Vectra but this seemed to be new, and it had hire car stickers on the rear windscreen.”

  King was scribbling furiously. “I don’t suppose he got the number plate?”

  “I don’t think so, you’d have to ask him, but it looked like a new car.”

  Kate returned to the table, eyes swollen and her nose red but she’d managed to stem the tears for now.

  “Kate, do you have a recent picture of Joe?”

  “Yes, there’s one upstairs. Jack, would you mind getting it? It’s on the fridge, under the fish magnet.”

  Grateful for something to do, Jack scraped his chair back and headed toward the door that led upstairs to the flat. Kate took the opportunity whilst Jack was out of the room to question the officers.

  “Do you have any idea where he might be? We’ve had a tough couple of years since moving up here.” She hesitated. “You know why we moved, right?”

  “No Kate, we’re not privy to that kind of information, we’re just interested in the facts and background at this stage. I need to run through a missing person report with you to make sure we’ve covered absolutely everything and then we’ll take it from there. We’ll see if there’s any CCTV footage of the car and we’ll speak to other witnesses as soon as we’ve left here.” Constable King took a break from taking notes to pull out a MisPer report. “There’s no chance that this was just a miscommunication, and Ryan has maybe taken Joe out for pizza or something?”

  “No. This was deliberate I know that much,” said Kate.

  “What makes you say that?”

  Kate was again thrown into a quandary. How much should she tell them? “It’s just a feeling,” she finally said.

  Jack came in with the recent school photograph. “Is this the one Kate?”

  She took the photo from Jack and ran her fingers gently over her son’s face. “Yes, thank you.” She passed the picture over to the police officers.

  Over the next twenty minutes they completed the forms, asking Kate endless amounts of questions.

  “And Joe’s father, where’s he?” asked Jones.

  “He’s...he’s not in the picture,” said Kate

  “But do you know where he is? Could he be involved?”

  “I...don’t know.”

  The two officers looked at each, sensing that Kate was holding something back.

  “Kate, it’s important that you tell us everything you know.”

  “I have told you everything,” Kate replied, defensively. “Joe’s dad isn’t in the picture, OK?” She was starting to lose control, and deep down inside she knew that Daz was somehow behind this.

  “But do you know where he is? Can you give us his name?”

  Kate was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If she gave them Daz’s full name it wouldn’t take long for them to put two and two together. She wasn’t 100% clear on police procedure, but she knew it wouldn’t take long for them to find him, if Ziggy hadn’t already joined the dots.

  Reluctantly, knowing that her world was about to unravel she gave up Daz’s name. “It’s Daz, Darren Walker and he’s currently in prison.” She daren’t look at Jack, she felt she had let him down and damaged any trust that remained between them. Her new life had been built on lies that were slowly but surely coming undone. “I’m sorry Jack.” She kept her head down.

  Jack didn’t know what to think. He knew Kate had a past and he wasn’t surprised to hear Joe’s dad was inside but it made him wonder what else she was keeping from him.

  “Don’t worry lassie, let’s just get the boy home.” He rubbed Kate’s arm.

  43

  The two police officers stood, replacing their hats.

  “Hold on.” Molly stood up and walked over to them. “What about my da?”

  “Yes, of course,” replied King. “We just need to get this information across to the team looking for Joe, then we’ll take your statement.”

  Molly’s patience was wearing thin. She’d held her nerve throughout Kate’s interview. She knew Joe would take priority but it seemed to her that no one cared about Len, or where he was.

  King could sense that Molly was a coiled spring, ready to unfurl at any time.

  “Molly, why don’t we head over to The Kingfisher to take your statement? We need to speak to anyone who may have seen Ryan in the last 24 hours, and take a look around the place for any clues so it makes sense?” She looked at her colleague and he gave a slight nod.

  All three said their goodbyes to Jack, Kate and Fiona, promising Kate they would update her as soon as they had any news.

  Molly left her car in the café car park and joined the police officers in their patrol car.

  The weather had started to turn for the worse, with the autumn chill fogging the inside of the car windows. Molly rubbed the condensation and peered out into the mist. She was glad she had moved out of the area but looking through the gloom and out onto the landscape she did miss the open space, and the wide-ranging mountains. She couldn’t help but wonder if her dad was out there somewhere. As much as she had held back on allowing the thoughts to enter her mind, she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something dreadful had happened to Len.

  The police car pulled into the pub car park, and the occupants exited. Molly led the way and they entered through the double doors at the front. In their full uniform, the police officers looked intimidating and out of place in the sleepy local.

  Janice was once again cleaning glasses behind the bar, and only a handful of locals had stopped by for a quick drink. It was getting late so most people had headed off to their homes before the rain set in.

  “Oh my, what’s happened?” asked Janice as the three approached the bar.

  “Nothing to worry about,” said PC Jones. “We just need to take a look around and ask a few questions.”

  Molly stepped forward. “Can you let the police officers into the flat please Janice? I think they’d like a word with you as well so I’ll watch the bar.”

  Janice, completely taken aback with the intrusion, did as she had been asked for once and led the way to the upstairs flat. Molly took her place behind the bar and looked around to see if anyone needed serving. Mr Wheeler approached the bar and ordered a pint of bitter.

  “I think the police will want to speak to you too,” said Molly, slowly pulling the bitter into a pint glass.

  “Aye, no bother. Is this about Joe? I thought something didn’t seem right.”

  “Yes, Joe and my
dad Len.”

  “Len? Why, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know where he is, and Ryan was the last person to see him.”

  Mr Wheeler rooted around in his pocket to pay for his pint and shook his head. “Goodness, I had no idea. I hope they’re both safe.”

  Molly took the money offered and passed across the pint. “Yeah, me too.”

  Janice came back into the bar with the police trailing after her.

  “Molly, can we have a word?” asked PC King.

  “Yes of course. Oh, this is Mr Wheeler, the Cub leader. You’ll want to speak to him too I think.” Molly made her way around the bar and walked to a corner table at the back of the pub. King acknowledged Mr Wheeler and asked him to hang on until they had finished with Molly.

  The cops took their seats opposite Molly.

  “Janice seems to think your dad was at your house, recovering from an operation, is that right?”

  Molly ran through the whole story from her perspective, including the lies that Ryan had told.

  “He was obviously covering his tracks but it doesn’t help me find my dad.”

  “So when did you last see your dad?”

  “We weren’t close so it was about eighteen months ago, but I did speak to him recently, and he told me he was convalescing and not to worry.” Molly felt incredibly guilty for not visiting her dad sooner.

  “You spoke to him? When was that?”

  “Oh, erm...let me think.” Molly scratched her head, trying to think when it was. “It can’t have been more than three days ago.”

  King referred to the notes that she had written down when speaking to Janice. “So your brother, Ryan, hasn’t been seen locally for the last 24-36 hours and you have no idea where he is?”

  Molly suddenly felt as though she were under suspicion, as if she were somehow involved. “No, I have no idea where either of them are. Why aren’t you looking for them?”

  Jones stepped in, aware that the direct manner of his colleague could sometimes be questionable. “You’re not under suspicion, we just need to establish a timeline so we can start to move forward. We already have officers looking for Joe and Ryan. We just need to build on the information we have about your dad.”