CHILDHUNT: A Mystery & Suspense Thriller in the Bestselling Diana Rivers Series (The Diana Rivers Mysteries Book 5) (22 page)

They all looked towards the area Diana indicated, while Randy poked his stick into a patch near him. “You’re right. The snow is quite firm and crunchy underneath a lighter covering of about three inches. The snow froze sometime in the early part of the night and then later on the temperature must have risen. This stuff on top is lighter and fluffy.”

“There should be footsteps in the firm snow with an infill of stuff on the top,” joined in Clare.

Diana had a funny feeling about it all. She just knew that Roger had never returned home that night. “Come on, let’s check and see,” she said, hurrying towards the front door.

The doorbell rang throughout the house while the four waited. Randy tried the door and found it locked, likewise the one at the rear. They all peered into the windows but saw nothing of Roger. “Strange. He’s not here, and it looks like he hasn’t been back. He’s left a couple of lamps on in the sitting room, so he must have meant to come home in the dark. I wonder where he is.”

“I remember when I drove past here last night on my way to William and Debbie that his lamps in the sitting room were on, and you’re right they still are. I’ve got an uncomfortable feeling about this. I wonder why he left his car at the Frosts.”

Clare touched her on the arm. “I think we ought to ring Adam and say we think he’s missing.”

“Definitely. I’ll do it now.”

Clare leaned towards Diana. “I said he was connected in some way to the children.”

Diana’s eyes opened wide at her statement. “But in what way? As a friend or foe? He’s one of the few people who regularly visit William and Debbie. He thinks the world of the children,” she hissed in anger and shook her head. “I can’t believe he’d do anything to hurt either of them.”

Clare looked away and stared at the distant mountains. “All the same...there is something…I did say someone else was involved.”

“Yes, but we thought it might be someone who knew Debbie six years ago. We toyed with the idea of it being her old flame, that book shop manager. What was his name…James?”

“Yes, that’s right, we did. What if James did follow her here and has been watching her all this time? What if he’s kidnapped the kids?”

“But there’s no one called James around here that I know of.”

“What about in the village? How many of the people who live there don’t you know? How many visitors come and go all year round? Any one of them could be James.”

“We get dozens of visitors, and there are always more during Christmas and New Year. But what if James changed his name?”

“Yes, and is using a new one as a cover. You’d better phone Adam and tell him your suspicions.”

Chapter 28

A helicopter flying towards the search parties made them all pause and look up at the sky. They had been out since first light and after five hours had found no trace of the missing
children. The helicopter had only just arrived. Television and news-reporter vehicles had appeared on the highway and hampered the teams’ efforts, while the local police inspector made sure he gave the media his opinion on how he and his men were doing.

Inspector Andreas was taken aback at first over the efforts from the ex-pats. But he was quite genial about their help as he addressed the cameras, adding that they had received all instructions from him. His long-suffering sergeant, Yiannis, looked on with cold smouldering contempt at his fool of a boss.

All the search parties Adam organised were keeping in touch by mobile telephone. From time to time, different parties overlapped areas and exchanged news, but so far nothing valuable or heart lifting had turned up. A lot of the walkers began to despair, Clare and Diana among them. When Diana told Adam about Roger being missing, he said he would relay her message to the others. It seemed the hunt for the children was now extended to a manhunt.

“By the way, power has been restored to the area, so that’s good news,” he said, just before he rang off after his last message.

They prepared to carry on just as Diana’s phone rang. She pulled the mobile from her pocket and listened with mounting disappointment to Adam’s call.

“What’s happened?” the others asked her.

“I’m not sure if it’s good or bad news. Apparently they’ve found a child’s shoe on the river bank. They’ve rung William, and he said it sounds exactly like one of Hannah’s.  Some of the parties have had their areas switched to search along the river, but we’re to continue up here. When we’ve finished, we can then go back along the valley.”

Everyone looked concerned at the news. The question no one wanted to ask was whether Charlie and Hannah had fallen in the river overnight during the storm. Neither child would have survived the freezing torrent as it raced along towards the Kouris dam.

*****

One other thing in their favour was the weather. The sun had gradually burned off the clouds, and the snow was finally melting. Diana and her party had finished off another area and had been asked to search the hill and ravine about a mile from Philip Bolton’s house.

“How long did you say your birdwatcher has lived here? What’s his name, by the way?” Clare asked.

“I’m not sure. He comes and goes. It’s probably about four or five years or even slightly longer. And he’s called Philip. Philip Bolton. I know what you’re thinking. Could he be James?” Diana said, shaking her head. “I really don’t think so. I got the impression that James was young and energetic. Didn’t Debbie say he ran a scout troop as well as having a young family? Philip Bolton is quite fat and at least sixty. He didn’t give me any reason to think he’s a family man or active, apart from his birding. ”

The group had split up. Diana and Clare were sweeping along one edge of the hill, and the two men were further down the deep gulley. The snow had melted in places, and it was slushy and slippery underfoot. Wee Willy and Randy had suggested the women stay higher up on the easier terrain while they searched further down. “No need for us all to get wet and muddy,” Randy said with a small smile while openly admiring Clare.

Thankfully, the two women accepted their gallant offer. The snow was still deep in places, and they were getting tired. With sunset around half past four that day, they had at most another three hours in which to search. Clare wasn’t used to tramping around the steep hills of Cyprus, and Diana wasn’t sure she’d manage it. “Shall we have another breather?” Diana asked, after listening to her friend’s raspy breath. “I know I could do with a drink.”

Clare swept a layer of snow from a rock and placed her ample bottom down on it with a sigh of pleasure. “I thought you’d never suggest it. I’m not as fit as I once was. The only exercise I get these days is climbing into and out of my car when I drive up to London…and the occasional day spent in the garden, but there again, the gardener does most of the heavy work.”

Diana remembered the previous summer. She and Steve had spent time in the Cotswolds during a couple of disturbing weeks when two women had been murdered. Diana repressed a shudder. The Cotswolds had proved to be very unlucky for Diana.

After a brief rest, the two women shrugged their rucksacks onto their backs and began the laborious trudge around the hill. It wasn’t long before the helicopter passed them. They paused to watch its passage as it roared along the valley bottom.

“Adam told me they’re incompetent. To search properly, they’re supposed to hover and go very slowly, not zoom along as if they’re on a jolly. Why couldn’t they have got the RAF to come and help? They’d show them.” Diana said indignantly. “Look at them! They hardly took any time to cover that valley. How on earth do they expect to find two small children? They couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery! And now they’ve finished! Look at that, they’re leaving. Can you believe it? What a load of ineffective tossers!”

Clare laughed. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t, but you should see your face. You hardly ever swear! Don’t you like the Cypriots?”

Diana scowled. “Some of them are really nice, and some are dreadful. But then I suspect I’d feel the same wherever I lived.” She sighed. “I think half of it is down to education or lack of it. Come on, it’ll be dusk by four. We need to finish this sector.”

Walking round the middle part of the hill, they saw Randy and Wee Willy in the distance ahead. They had covered a lot of ground on the valley floor, and Diana and Clare were now some way behind.

“Do you think we should go lower?” Clare pondered, while eyeing the ravine which was stretched before them and right in their way. She looked unsure whether she wanted to continue. “It seems like we either need to climb above that or cut down and across. Either way looks difficult, but I think I’d prefer to go down.”

“Randy and Wee Willy will have covered the lower part, so it’s better we stay above. It’s steeper but shorter, and we’ll catch up with them, hopefully. This way is best,” Diana maintained and without waiting for Clare to agree began the slow climb above the ravine.

There must have been a number of goat tracks cutting across the hill, as the snow lay in varying depths. It was a hard sweaty climb, and Clare was soon lagging behind. Diana paused and in irritation watched her friend make hard work of it. She had put on weight since the previous summer, and it was slowing her down. Well, the climb would help use some calories. Diana turned back and carried on up, quietly chuckling. She knew she was being mean, but ever since they had met, Clare had enjoyed living an idle life. She looked up, and it was something of a shock when she realised they were almost below the house rented by Philip Bolton. The topography of the land was deceptive. Diana didn’t know about that crevasse or how it led
almost directly from the house. Maybe Clare would get her wish after all. She would see the whole of the property once she reached the top of the hill.

Diana leapt across a ditch which was cut into the hill. A lot of the snow had melted in the sun, and running water was trickling down into the river below. She landed heavily and felt a pain shoot up in her right knee. With a yelp she twisted the other way and fell backwards into the stream. Within seconds, she felt freezing cold water seeping through into her trousers. God, it was cold! Thinking there was no time to waste and feeling stupid for slipping, she rolled on to her side and stood up. She gingerly put her foot down and tested her weight on the knee. It felt okay, and she knew she had to carry on. Her soaking trousers felt horribly clammy against her skin, and it was then that she remembered her mobile phone was in one of the pockets. She took it out and after pressing a few buttons decided it was okay.

She had only gone another thirty feet or so when she heard a muffled shriek and a clatter of rocks behind her. Diana whirled round in time to see Clare disappear over the edge in a welter of snow and mud. “Clare!”

Diana moved back down the slope, taking it slowly as more snow and stones slipped away from her. She waited until it stopped, then more cautiously picked her way down to the edge. Diana’s heart was pounding as she felt her own feet slip, and she grabbed at a tree root jutting from the bank. Knowing that Clare was somewhere beneath her, the last thing she wanted was to risk a landslide of mud and rocks to rain down upon her. Tentatively, Diana leaned forward and tried to see over the rim. “Clare! Clare, are you all right?”

There was a groan and a rattle of stones. “Huh? What happened?”

Diana slithered a few more inches and peered down. About six or seven feet below, she could see Clare lying on her side on a narrow ledge. She gasped in horror. The ledge looked tiny, marginally larger than Clare. What was more worrying was that there was no easy way either up or down. If Clare couldn’t climb, Diana would have to get help.

“Clare, can you move everything? Are you hurt in any way?” she asked.

“No, I think I’m all right. No, hang on, my ankle hurts a bit. I must have twisted it when I fell. I’m so sorry, the earth just gave way under me.”

Diana felt awful. This was her fault! If she hadn’t been sniffy with Clare earlier, and if she hadn’t insisted on coming this way, it wouldn’t have happened. She had been a real bitch to her friend. And on top of everything, Clare's life was in danger as the bottom of the ravine was some thirty feet below her...

“Clare, now don’t panic, but looking at you from where I am, I don’t think you’re going to be able to move down on your own. And if I climb down to you, I don’t know what it would achieve. The ledge looks too small to hold two people.”

Clare let out a wail. “What shall I do?”

“I said, don’t panic. Don’t forget there are loads of people in the area who are trained in rescue. I’ll ring Adam for help.” She pulled her mobile from her pocket once again.

“Damn! It’s not working. It was a minute ago. I got it a bit wet, I’m afraid. Like you, I tripped over. Now the blessed thing’s packed up. It’s either damp inside, or there’s no signal on this part of the hill. Have you got your phone on you?”

“Just a minute.” There was a pause while Clare rummaged around in her jacket pocket searching for her phone. “I can’t find it,’ she gasped. “It must have fallen out when I went over the edge. What are we going to do now?” She gave Diana a frightened look.

Diana stood up and looked in the direction that Randy and Wee Willy had taken. There was no sign of them. “Wee Willy and Randy are bound to come back looking for us once they realise we’re out of sight. Adam was very strict with his instructions. Look, if you stay here—very still and don’t try to move—I’ll go to the top of the hill. There’s the house up there, and there’s bound to be a phone of some sort. Remember, the power’s back on now. Okay with that plan?”