by A J McDine
‘Hole in one,’ Chloe said.
He winked at her. ‘That’s the aim.’
Soon they were back on the motorway, cruising at a steady 80mph. Adam tuned the radio into a station playing chill-out tracks and Chloe tipped her head back, closed her eyes and let the soporific music wash over her. She felt heavy. Torpid. As if she hadn’t slept for weeks. And she hadn’t, she thought drowsily. Not properly. She’d been so worried about Ben and his stalkerish behaviour. The photo on Snapchat and the endless texts and phone calls. The panic attack and the fire. But she was safe here, cocooned in the opulent luxury of Adam’s sports car. He had promised to look after her and he would, she was sure of it.
As if on cue he said, ‘That’s right, angel. You have a nice sleep. I’ll wake you up when we’re there.’
‘Thank you for everything,’ she attempted to say. But her tongue felt thick and unmanageable, like the body of one of those giant African land snails she’d admired during a long-ago trip to Woburn Safari Park with her mum and Uncle Rory.
A little nap, that’s what she needed. Forty winks. A bit of shuteye. To recharge her batteries before the important thing they were doing. What was it again? She tried to remember, but it was as though her brain had stopped working, all the synapses paralysed by the force of her exhaustion. They were definitely going somewhere to see someone, she knew that much. But the rest was one big blank.
She tried to turn her head towards Adam, but the muscles in her neck refused to work, and her eyelids stayed stubbornly shut. Another wave of lassitude hit her, and she teetered on the edge of consciousness. She didn’t know where she was going and who she was seeing. And, suddenly, she didn’t much care.
Chapter Forty-Nine
KATE
Kate was up a ladder clearing a matted mess of wet leaves from the guttering outside the dining room when the phone in her back pocket began buzzing.
‘Bugger,’ she said, as a clump of fetid grot slid down the inside of her sleeve.
She jumped down, pulled off her rubber gloves and shook the leaves onto the ground. As she reached for the phone, it stopped ringing.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ she muttered. She stared at the screen and felt a flutter in her stomach. A missed call from Chloe’s school.
Please not another panic attack. But Chloe hadn’t mentioned any tests. In fact, she’d looked happier than she had for a long time when she’d left to catch the bus that morning.
Kate sank onto the lichen-covered bench below the dining room window and called the school, her fingers drumming a beat on her thigh as she waited for one of the secretaries to answer.
‘It’s Kate Kennedy. Chloe’s mum. You tried to call me. Is everything OK?’
‘Mrs Kennedy, thanks for calling back. I’m going to put you through to Mrs Bentley.’
Before Kate had a chance to ask why, the head of the sixth form was on the line, asking her if there was any reason why Chloe might have walked out of school without signing out.
‘Is there a dentist or doctor’s appointment you have omitted to inform us about?’
‘No,’ Kate said.
‘Any other reason why she might have left without permission?’
‘Are you sure she’s not in the library or something?’
‘I’ve checked with her close friends, and they haven’t seen her since morning break. It’s not like Chloe, as I’m sure you’re aware.’
‘Of course I’m aware. I’m her bloody mother,’ Kate snapped before she could stop herself. ‘Sorry. That came out wrong.’
‘That’s all right, Mrs Kennedy. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. But you understand I had to let you know and that this will go down on her records as an unauthorised absence.’
Kate closed her eyes. ‘Yes, of course. Thank you.’
‘She probably wasn’t feeling well and forgot to sign out.’
‘I’m sure you’re right.’
The teacher’s voice softened. ‘She’s a lovely girl. I know we’re not supposed to have favourites, but I’ve always had a soft spot for her. That’s why I was concerned. It’s so out of character.’
‘I’ll try her mobile now,’ Kate said. ‘I’ll let you know when I hear from her.’
She ended the call and tried Chloe’s number. It went straight to voicemail.
‘Chlo, it’s Mum. Can you phone me, please? Now.’
She sent a text, too, then called Annie, who picked up on the second ring.
‘Annie, I’ve had a call from Mrs Bentley saying Chloe’s gone AWOL. You don’t know where she is, do you?’
Annie was quiet.
‘She’s not in any trouble. I need to check everything’s OK after, you know, the panic attack and everything.’
Kate could hear Annie suck in a breath. ‘I don’t know where she’s gone,’ she said finally. ‘But she was acting a bit weird this morning. A bit wired.’
‘In what way?’
‘Agitated, you know? Checking her phone every five minutes. I wondered if Ben had started texting her again.’
‘Ben?’ Kate said sharply.
‘’Cos I don’t think there were any more photos doing the rounds. She would have told me.’
‘What photos? What do you mean, doing the rounds?’
‘On Snapchat, you know.’ There was a pause. ‘Oh, crap. You did know, didn’t you?’
Kate tried to keep her voice even. ‘I didn’t, no. But I’d like you to tell me.’
‘I can’t believe she didn’t tell you herself. It was like, weeks ago. Someone with a fake account sent a photo of her to half the sixth form.’
Kate’s insides turned to ice. ‘What kind of photo?’
Annie hesitated for a second before answering. ‘A photo taken from your back garden while she was getting dressed.’
‘Who took the picture, Annie?’
‘Ben, of course. He’s super-weird.’
‘You’ve met him?’
‘Only that time he picked Chloe up from school in his dad’s car.’
It was Kate’s turn to be silent.
‘You didn’t know about that, either?’ Annie guessed. ‘Chloe had no idea he even knew where our school was. It was totally awkward. She wanted me to go with her, but I’d told Mum I’d mind Nathan. She got home all right, though. I made her promise to text me she was OK.’
‘What else has Ben done that I should know about?’ Kate said.
‘Um, well, in the beginning, he was always texting her. Then he started following a few of us on Instagram and stuff even though Chloe told him she wasn’t, like, interested in him or anything. Then, after the Snapchat thing, it all went quiet. I assumed he’d got his revenge and lost interest.’
‘And now? What do you think?’
‘I don’t know,’ Annie said. ‘But there’s something else about today you should know. She had a dress and make-up in her bag. I think she was bunking off to meet someone. Maybe she changed her mind about Ben. Maybe she was meeting him.’
Kate stared at her phone for a long time after hanging up. She tried Chloe’s number again, and again it went straight to voicemail. She didn’t have a number for Ben, so she tried Adam. His phone rang and rang until his familiar voice informed her he couldn’t get to the phone right now, and if she left a message he would return her call as soon as he was able.
‘Strange question I know, but you don’t know if Ben and Chloe were meeting up today? Only she’s not at school, and her friend Annie thinks she and Ben might have hooked up.’ Kate screwed up her face. Hooking up sounded suspiciously like a euphemism for sex. ‘Anyway, perhaps you could give me a call when you get a minute?’
Kate slouched forwards with her hands between her knees. So what if Chloe had skipped a couple of lessons? Playing hooky was hardly the crime of the century. Kate had sneaked out a handful of times during her last year at school. It was normal teenage behaviour. So why did she have an unshakeable sense that something was very wrong?
Chapter Fif
ty
CHLOE
Chloe’s head was thumping and her mouth was dry. Not just dry. Desiccated. And her eyes felt puffy, like the time she’d had conjunctivitis when she was six and had woken up screaming, thinking someone had superglued her eyes together while she slept.
She prised them open. Dark shapes swam in and out of focus. She blinked. Once. Twice. But when she opened her eyes again, her vision was still blurry.
She tried to rub them, but her hands seemed stuck to her sides. More superglue. That didn’t make sense. If only she could marshal her thoughts. But her head was as foggy as her surroundings.
‘Hello, Chloe.’ Hot breath in her ear and a voice as smooth as honey. Chloe moved her head sideways. It felt as loose as a puppet’s. A face appeared, centimetres from her own.
‘Adam?’
He reached out and smoothed away a strand of hair plastered to her forehead. ‘My darling. I thought you’d never wake up.’
‘Wha-what’s happening? Did we have an accident?’
He chuckled. ‘You fell asleep in the car, do you remember?’
Chloe extracted a memory. ‘We were going to see Professor Steel. Are we there?’
‘We are, my love.’
‘Where is she? What happened to my head? And I can’t move my arms. Adam, what’s happening?’ Chloe’s voice rose several octaves until it was little more than a high-pitched squeak.
‘Hey, there’s nothing to worry about, little one. You’re with me, that’s all that matters. And I promised I’d look after you, didn’t I?’
‘But where are we?’ Chloe’s eyes darted from side to side. Slowly their surroundings were gaining form. They were in a cavernous room, lit by the flickering glow of candles. Breeze-blocked walls, a couple of desks and office chairs. Boarded-up holes where the windows should have been and stained grey carpet tiles on the floor. The whole place reeked of damp, the musty odour filling her nostrils.
‘Kingsgate University,’ Adam said. ‘My old alma mater.’
‘But this isn’t the law school.’
‘It’s the old law school,’ Adam corrected her. ‘It’s where I studied for my degree. It was condemned by the university a few years ago. Concrete cancer. That’s why they built the new one. This place is due to be demolished later this year.’
‘I don’t understand. Why are we here?’
‘Because I wanted you all to myself, Chloe. I don’t want to share you with Jan Steel. Your mum. Ben. Anyone. We’re going to have a romantic dinner and talk about our future. It’s all planned.’
He moved to one side and waved his arm at a table laid with a claret-red tablecloth, crystal wine glasses and a pair of wrought-iron candlesticks.
Chloe felt as if she’d been shaken awake in the middle of a dream. Scratch that. A nightmare. Adam was her mum’s boyfriend. He was a father figure to her. The dad she’d always wanted. And yet he was staring at her with a hunger in his eyes that made her dizzy with fear.
‘Adam -’
‘You are so beautiful, Chloe darling. I can hardly bear to take my eyes off you.’ He ran a finger along her cheek and tilted her chin up. ‘May I kiss you?’
Chloe’s eyes widened in alarm, and she flung her head back, hitting it against the wall. Adam’s grip on her chin tightened until he was squeezing it like a vice. He leaned forwards. She clamped her mouth shut, fearing his teeth were about to come crashing down on hers. But the kiss, when it came, was as light as a caress, which made it infinitely more terrifying.
Adam rocked back on his heels and strode over to a wicker picnic basket at the side of the room, from which he produced a bottle and two flutes.
‘I think our first proper date is a cause for celebration, don’t you?’ he said, twisting the wire off the bottle and easing the cork out with a muted pop. ‘Champagne, darling?’
Chloe shook her head. The last thing she needed was to feel muzzier. She needed to collect her wits, work out how the hell she was going to extricate herself from this nightmare.
Adam’s face had taken on a faraway look. ‘It’s a 2009 Dom Perignon. An excellent vintage, vibrant and silky. The harvest began on the twelfth of September after idyllic growing conditions.’ He waved a glass under his nose. ‘The perfect marriage of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A match made in heaven. A bit like us, one might say.’ He took a sip and swirled it round his mouth. ‘Apricots and nectarines, followed by a zing of citrus. What do you think?’
He held the glass to her lips and, before she had a chance to swallow, tipped some in her mouth. The bubbles fizzed down her airway and she choked, sending a spray of champagne into his face. His features darkened and Chloe shrank back. Her eyes watered as she struggled to gain control of her breathing. Adam placed the glass on the floor, took out a white silk handkerchief and dabbed fastidiously at his cheek.
Memories forced their way into her head. A handkerchief pressed into her hand. The feel of the satin-smooth silk between her thumb and forefinger. A scrap of white silk caught on the thorns of a rose bush. She forced herself to look at him.
‘Did you… did you follow me out into the garden the night of the party?’ she said in a ragged voice.
‘You followed me, actually.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’d gone outside to make a call. You came to find me.’
‘I went outside because I felt unwell.’
He smirked. ‘If you say so.’
‘I was sick on the patio. And then you…’ Another memory hit her like a slap in the face. A hand slipping into her jeans, fingering the lace trim of her thong. Her flesh crawled. ‘What did you do to me?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘What did I do to you? It takes two to tango, Chloe. You wanted it as much as I did.’
Shit. Did that mean they…?
He shook his head as if reading her mind. ‘We only kissed, if that’s what you’re worried about, Little Miss Modest.’
Chloe let out a long breath. Thank God.
‘But we can put that right tonight, can’t we?’ He reached out to stroke her cheek again, and Chloe lowered her eyes. There was a bulge in his crotch. Panic swept through her body and, before she could stop herself, a tear slid down her cheek.
‘Why the tears, little one? It was obvious you wanted me the moment we met. Flirting with me. Befriending Ben so you could be close to me. Coming to me when you needed help.’
‘I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong idea,’ she gabbled. ‘I didn’t mean to.’ A sob rose in her throat as his fingers traced a lazy path down the front of her dress. ‘You and my mum, you’re perfect together. You’re the dad I never had.’
His hand stopped, and he fixed her with a menacing gaze. ‘What did you say?’
‘You’ve been like a father to me these last few weeks. That’s why I asked you for help. Not because I…I… was into you.’
‘A father?’ He spat the word out, and Chloe flinched.
‘If you let me go home, I promise I won’t tell a soul. Not Mum, not anyone. We can forget this ever happened.’
Adam gave her a sad smile. ‘I’m afraid that’s not an option.’
‘But why?’
‘Because I always get what I want. And what I want right now, Chloe darling, is you.’
Chapter Fifty-One
KATE
Kate stood on the pavement and stared up at Adam’s house, looking for signs of life. The red-bricked semi was late Victorian, judging by its high-pitched roof, ornate gable trim and bay windows on both the ground and first floors. Glossy-leaved standard bay trees in terracotta pots flanked the front door, which was painted a smart navy blue with stained glass panels.
She should have seen the warning signs when Adam had never once asked her back to his place. But the fact that he’d never really been serious about her was of no consequence to Kate now. All she cared about was Chloe.
A movement in the first-floor window caught her eye. When she stepped back to get a better look, a pale face stared down at her. Ben, watc
hing her, half-hidden behind the curtain.
‘Where’s my daughter?’ she shouted.
Ben cupped a hand to his ear and mouthed, ‘I can’t hear you.’
‘Then open the fucking window!’ she yelled, hardly registering the shocked look on the face of an elderly man shambling past with a miniature poodle.
She growled in frustration as Ben disappeared. ‘Where’s Chloe? I know she’s in there. Let me in!’ she yelled, rushing up the front path and pounding on the door.
Several minutes passed, and Kate was about to give up hope, when there was a click, and the door opened an inch. Ben’s long fingers curled around the door jamb, but he stood behind it so she couldn’t see his face.
‘She’s not here,’ he muttered.
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It’s true, I promise.’
‘So where is she?’
‘It’s not me you should be asking.’
‘What the hell’s that supposed to mean?’
His fingers fluttered. ‘Nothing.’
Kate slipped a foot in the gap between the door and its frame. She kept her voice measured. ‘If she’s not here, what’s the problem? Let me in, and I can see for myself. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll apologise and go home quietly. But I’m warning you, Ben,’ she spat out his name, ‘I’m not going anywhere until I know for sure. So let…me…in!’
There was a pause. ‘I can’t,’ he whispered.
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’ll be dead if I do.’
Ben tried to push the door closed, but Kate was a step ahead of him. White heat was surging through her body, and she welcomed it with open arms. Anger was good. Anger made her strong.
‘Just let me in!’ she yelled, barging the door open with her shoulder. Ben stepped back, his eyes wide. ‘You’ve tricked her into coming here, haven’t you? Where’s my daughter?’
‘She isn’t here,’ he said again.
Shaking her head, Kate pushed past him to the stairs. ‘Chloe, where are you? It’s Mum,’ she called. ‘I’m coming up.’
