‘I don't know,’ she murmurs, raising an eyebrow and looking at me thoughtfully. ‘I’ll check when I get back to the station, do you want me to call someone for you?’
I suddenly feel very tired. ‘Can you let my Mum know what’s happened?’
She nods.
I scribble down her number on one of Jamie’s new Pukka Pads that’s lying on the kitchen worktop and hand it to her. ‘She's in Spain, can you tell her what happened?’ I point to the phone on the wall in the kitchen. ‘You can use that.’
She walks over and picks up the phone and dials Mum’s number.
I sit at the kitchen table watching her talk to Mum. I want to talk, but I can't, not now.
She talks quietly to Mum, telling her not to get upset, that I’m okay, then she quickly tells her what happened.
There’s a long silence then I hear Mum’s voice. ‘Tell her not to worry, I’ll be there soon, I’ll tell Jamie she has the flu.’
PC Jameson puts the phone down and turns to me.
I nod. ‘Thanks.’
She smiles. ‘No problem, now let's make you a cup of tea and get you comfortable, you’ve had a terrible time.’
She picks up the kettle and goes to the sink to fill it.
‘No.’
She stops with the kettle mid-air. I can see she's worried, but I want her to go.
‘Sorry, but I'm okay, I just want to be alone.’
She sighs, puts the kettle down and hands me a card. ‘Okay, but if you need anything, give me a call.’
I take the card and put it on the table in front of me.
She walks over to the door, then turns around. ‘Don't worry, the police are outside, they're both armed, we're on high alert. I'll be back soon.’
I watch her from the living room window talking to the young police officer, then she gets in her car and drives away.
I feel so tired; I just want to sleep - I flop down on the sofa.
The next thing I know I'm wide awake and screaming… sweat's pouring down my face, my top's soaking wet.
Nick!
There's a tap at the door. ‘Are you alright? It's PC Nuttall.’
I try to talk but my voice sounds croaky, I run into the kitchen, splash my face with water.
He taps on the door again, this time louder.
‘I'm coming.’
I dry my face with a piece of kitchen paper, then open the door. ‘I had a bad dream,’ I mutter. ‘Can you tell me what time it is?’
‘It's 3.40 in the morning, do you need any help?’
‘No, I'm okay, thanks.’
I close the door and after a few minutes, I hear him walk down the path. My chest feels tight, I can hardly breathe. All I can see is Nick's face.
I go into the kitchen. My laptop’s on the kitchen table where I left it. I sit staring at it seeing nothing but Nick. A large knife on the draining board catches my eye. Slowly I reach out for it.
I wake up with the knife in my hand, I can hear a door opening.
‘Beth, it's only me,’ Mum calls from the hallway, she's talking quietly to Jamie, I don't want him to see me like this.
Mum's in the kitchen, ‘Don't worry,’ she whispers. ‘I told him you're not feeling well; he's gone to watch TV in my room.’
Relief floods through me as I hear him go upstairs. She takes the knife from my hand and places it in the drawer.
22
BETH & DCI THOMAS
OXFORD
Later that day
I don’t know how long I've been laying here, but I can hear Mum and Jamie in the kitchen. Then it all comes back to me, Nick and the Major.
I must call Jane.
Mum has an extension next to her bed, I haul myself off the sofa and run as quietly as I can upstairs to her room.
My call to Jane goes to voicemail, I leave her a message saying it's urgent, she must call me.
As soon as I put the phone down, the phone starts ringing in the kitchen.
‘Beth,’ Mum calls from downstairs. ‘It's DCI Thomas, can you give him a call?’
‘Yes,’ I mumble.
His number's in my phone, but I don't have my phone. Then I remember writing his number on one of the printouts I made, they should be in the drawer where I left them.
Just then Mum calls up again to say he's on the phone, and to pick it up in her room.
‘Good morning Beth, sorry to disturb you.’ He hesitates for a minute then carries on. ‘I just remembered you don't have your phone, is it alright if I come round to see you, we need to have a chat, say in an hour?’
‘Do we have to? Can't it wait?’
‘No Beth, it can't wait, I need to talk to you now.’
I agree, what else can I do?
After having a shower, I peak out of the back-bedroom window and see Jamie and Mum in the garden having breakfast. I quickly get dressed and run downstairs.
‘Mum!’ Jamie shrieks, getting up and running over to me. He wraps his little arms around my waist. ‘I've missed you Mum, are you alright?’
‘Yes, I'm fine.’ I give him a big kiss and hug him tight. ‘I've missed you heaps.’
I look over at Mum, she smiles. ‘We've made Spanish tortilla and salad, sit down I’ll cut you a slice.’
It’s as if nothing’s happened. I sit and listen to what Jamie and Mum have been up to in Spain. He’s very tanned, they both are, they look incredibly healthy. I can tell Mum’s worried but she hides it well. Jamie thinks I've come down with a heavy dose of the flu so finds nothing wrong with the way I look.
Mum goes into the kitchen to make coffee and leaves me chatting with Jamie about Spain.
Suddenly there's a light tap at the front door.
‘It's alright, it’s DCI Thomas,’ I call to Mum. ‘I’ll get it.’
I run to open the door. DCI Thomas peers over his glasses, clears his throat and follows me inside.
‘I'm sorry, but I need to take down a statement, it won't take long.’
‘Yes, I know, let's go into the living room.’
‘You know, I've been on the force for twenty or more years,’ he murmurs, following me into the living room. ‘And I’ve never seen anything like this before.’ He sits on one of the new chairs, pulls out his notepad and looks at me.
‘Have they got him?’ I ask.
He peers at me over the top of his glasses. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘Nick, where is he?’
He looks puzzled for a minute, then smiles. ‘Don't worry about him, we saw him leave, he had a call from his brother-in-law in Italy, something urgent.’
I can't believe he just said that. I sit staring at him. Doesn't he know what he did? He carries on talking as if nothing's wrong.
‘His sister was in a head-on collision, she's in a terrible state. He's gone to see her, said it looks bad, they don't think she'll make it.’
He leans forward. ‘Are you alright Beth? You don't look well. Shall I get you some water?’
I try to speak, but nothing comes out. I try again and mumble. ‘Don't you know what happened?’
He looks startled and sits staring at me.
Tears stream down my face; I brush them away.
He grabs a tissue from a box on the sofa and hands it to me.
He doesn't know - he hasn't a clue what happened, he thinks it was just the Major and the other creeps.
I walk over to the window, the young police officer's there as usual, but everything's changed, nothing's the same anymore. I open my mouth, but the words won't come out.
‘What is it Beth? Tell me?’
‘Nick – he was there, at the Major's house, he's one of them.’
He looks at me in amazement. ‘You've been through a terrible ordeal, Beth, are you sure you're not confused.’
‘I kicked him, I had too, he was going to…’ I can’t say it, for some reason I can’t say it.
‘What Beth?’
‘He’s just like the Major. If you don't believe me check with forensics, I
had his blood all over me.’
He stares at me in horror then pulls out his phone and talks to forensics, he asks them to check the blood samples.
‘It’s not that I don’t believe you Beth, but I have to be sure.’
He gets up and stands looking out of the window, then after a few seconds he comes back, frowns and sits down again.
‘You must tell me what happened, everything, alright?’
‘I'm still trying to understand it myself. I trusted him with my life. How could he do this to me?’
‘Take your time.’
Eventually, he has it all written down, I should feel better now, but I don't. I still can't believe Nick would do this.
DCI Thomas gets up to go, I feel I've forgotten to ask him something, then I remember.
‘Wait, how did the police know I was at the Major's house?’
He turns and looks surprised. ‘I thought you knew.’ He nods towards the garden gate, where the young officer is standing. ‘He had a funny feeling about the delivery man. After he left, he came and knocked on your door, he was suspicious when you didn't answer, so he climbed through your back-bedroom window, that's when he knew something was wrong.’
‘So, it's because of him they found me?’
‘Well, yes, it was his quick thinking and you going on about the CCTV, if they hadn't installed it, they'd never have been able to trace the van.’
He stops talking, runs his hand through his grey speckled hair and shakes his head. ‘What a terrible case this has turned out to be.’
I run outside to the startled young officer. ‘Thank you so much for helping me.’
He looks surprised then looks over to the Inspector who's watching us from the front door. ‘I just did my job,’ he mutters.
I look at him closely. ‘If you hadn't done what you did, who knows what would have happened to me.’
A slight smile has replaced the strained look on DCI Thomas’s face. He walks over to us. ‘Well, I'll be off.’ Sliding his notebook back into his pocket he turns and walks to his car. ‘I'll see you tomorrow morning, at the station, around ten.’
I nod, go back inside and run upstairs to Nick's room. His clothes are draped over the chair, his holdall is still on the floor. I start rummaging through it, I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I must look. Maybe he's on drugs? But there's nothing but boxers, socks and shaving stuff. The room smells of him, his French cologne. It's as if he's still here, but he’s not, he can’t be, can he?
23
BETH & DCI THOMAS
Evesly Police Station
10.00 am
I had a dreadful night, I couldn't sleep, Mum gave me one of her sleeping pills which did help. It feels strange not driving her little yellow Fiat anymore, I must get a car of my own, but first I need a job.
Mum drops me off outside the police station, Jamie's in the front seat next to her, he waves, I wave back. ‘I'll call you when I finish,’ I shout.
Mum nods and drives off with Jamie. I go inside.
DCI Thomas rushes out of his office; he probably saw us drive up from his window, his room overlooks the road. He comes close to me and peers at my face. ‘I have a lot to tell you, Beth, are you ready?’ Then his worried look returns. ‘If you need professional help, anything at all, I can arrange it.’
I shake my head. ‘Thanks, but that won't be necessary.’
‘Well you know it's there if you need it. Now about the other day – from your statement you say you recognized one of the men from the train. You said he was the man who attacked you, in the field when you were going to your friend Helen's house, is that right?’ I nod.
‘It all seems to have started from your train journey, Beth.’
‘Yes, I was coming back from an interview in London.’
He scratches his head and looks at me. ‘You never know what's going to happen, do you? It could happen to anyone; it was just unlucky your paths crossed.’ He stops for a minute then adds. ‘You know he's got a record as long as your arm. The other one is just as bad, but Wiley, he's...’
As soon as he mentions their names, I feel the blood drain from my face.
He stops talking, as if changing his mind. ‘You don't have to worry about them anymore, they’re in police custody.’
‘What about the Major, and the other man?’
‘We've done a thorough check on the Major.’ He grimaces slightly, as if there's a bad taste in his mouth. ‘It all started in Cyprus, he was in the army, did you know?’
‘Yes, Nick told me.’
How strange it sounds to hear his name coming from my lips. It sounds so normal, but it's not, nothing is normal anymore, everything has changed.
‘Beth, are you listening?’
‘Sorry, what did you say?’
He grunts, looks at me closely, then carries on talking.
‘There were rumours, terrible rumours about the Major, of course it was all covered up by the old boy network, you know - he's such a respectable man - how could anyone think that of him – he's an MP. Anyway, there were reports of rapes and assaults in the area where he used to live in Cyprus. There were also retracted statements like here. It seems this was going on for some time.’
My chest feels tight, I try not to think, but it's all coming back, the field, the shed, the Major, Nick.
‘Are you okay, Beth? Shall I stop?’
I feel myself shaking, my hands are clenched into fists. I shake my head. ‘I'm okay. I need to know.’
‘Well, Wiley and Jonas are both squealing to save themselves, but I don't think it'll help them much, they'll be going down for a long time. The girls were mainly local girls.’ He shakes his head and frowns. ‘The Major's long-time buddy Dicken, another nasty piece of work, used to flatter them and butter them up, that was his speciality, give them a few drinks and get them tipsy, that's how he got them into his car. They were bored, hanging around pubs looking for excitement, he was good looking, just what they needed, or so they thought – he added drugs to their drinks to sedate them, the rest was easy…’
He stops and peers at me, then starts again. ‘They were taken in by his looks – a right charmer that one. Most didn't have a clue what had happened. Then Wiley and Jonas would drop them off at various locations.’
‘How did they get away with it?’
He runs he fingers through his grey speckled black hair. ‘They had someone inside, Beth, someone to take care of things.’
I look at him in horror, now it all falls into place.
‘You mean Nick?’
‘Yes, we're also running checks on the Detective Superintendent, seems he was a good friend of the Major. He's just taken early retirement, now he's back living the good life in Northern Cyprus.’
‘So why did he do it? How can anyone change so much? Maybe he’s on drugs?’
‘You mean Nick?’
I nod.
‘I don't know if he’s on drugs, but the money must have had something to do with it. You know the Major has many influential friends who share his taste in, shall we say entertainment – they pay a lot for this, so the Major gladly obliges. With Nick onside, the rest was easy.’
‘I still can't believe Nick would do this,’ I mumble, as if to myself. ‘Nobody can change so much, can they?’
He gazes out of the window, probably thinking of Nick, they were close, he's known him since he was a boy, it must have come as a shock to him.
He takes off his glasses, cleans the lenses with a cloth, then puts them back and looks at me.
‘As I said, Wiley and Jonas are trying to get off by spilling the beans. In Jonas's statement he says the girls they found for the Major were usually very young and ready to party. Most never knew what had happened to them, if they did, they were coerced into saying nothing about it. That's why statements were suddenly withdrawn – just like poor Jane, she was terrified it would happen again, so she withdrew her statement. Those brave enough to make one found out the hard way and soon retracted their
statements.’ He stops and looks at me. ‘And that's why the Major came down so hard on you – you were about to ruin everything for him.’
I sit thinking of Nick. ‘You know I asked him to take me to see Jane, I was so desperate to find something, anything that would help get these people caught. He said he could get into trouble, but he took me to see her.’ I stop but he doesn’t say anything, so I carry on. ‘You probably know, I gave him a copy of the recording of the conversation I had with Jane, it should come in useful as evidence. I still have the clothes she was wearing when it happened.’ I look at him and he nods, as if he’s taking it all in. ‘You already know that I arranged to meet her in the pub next to the train station in Oxford. Nick was supposed to meet us there, but he didn't show up, he was going to drop us off home. I asked him to take Jane’s clothes to be tested…’
DCI Thomas gets up and walks over to the window. ‘He fooled us all. We never received your taped conversation with Jane.’
He turns around, a worried look on his face. ‘Beth, I've got something to tell you.’
He walks back to his desk, sits down and looks at me. ‘You don't know this Beth, but Jane left a note for her parents saying she was going around the corner to the shops, she said she'd be back soon, but she never came back. It was the same day, the day it happened to you. They think she was meeting someone.’
‘But she would never go with anyone, unless she trusted them.’
Then I know what's happened.
‘Nick - he’s the only person, other than me that she'd trust. She saw him when I was leaving her house, she knew what he looked like, if he called at her house or phoned her…’
DCI Thomas suddenly stands up and starts walking around the room.
‘Sorry to be the one to tell you, Beth, but there's still a chance we'll find her, if you can think of anything, anything that might help.’ He stops and frowns. ‘And don't do anything alone, okay?’ I nod.
Once outside, I call Mum, she's in the car around the corner waiting for me.
Soon I'm in the little yellow Fiat, going home. Jamie thinks I've visited the police about the fire, so he doesn’t find it strange that I keep seeing DCI Thomas.
The Beth Papadakis Thriller Box Set Page 10
