Stolen (3 page)

Abby rocked back and forth with the motion of the van. She started to hear her mother’s voice singing ‘Rockabye Baby’. She wasn’t sure her mother had ever sung that to her, but there it was anyway. She could smell vomit somewhere in the van. There was something wet in her hair. Her naked legs felt the cold breeze sneaking in through the doors. She wondered if she was nearly home.

The van slowed down to a stop. She heard footsteps on gravel somewhere close to her. As the van door opened she saw the silhouette of a man. She hoped Paul had come to get her.

The driver stepped into the van and leaned over her. He pulled her up gently by the shoulders until she was sitting. He wouldn’t look her in the eye.

‘Where’s Beth?’ she asked him but he wouldn’t look at her, wouldn’t answer.

She noticed the other man crouching in the corner of the van, smoking a cigarette. He stared at Abby and blew smoke towards her, making her cough. The driver helped her up and stepped backwards out of the van. He beckoned Abby. She stood, her legs rubbery. She used the side of the van to steady herself and moved towards the open door, the sudden daylight overwhelming her. She squinted up into the sky as the driver held his hand out to help her down. He looked down at her bare legs. Abby followed his glance and stared at her legs for a long time. They looked dirty. She rubbed at a mark but it wouldn’t come off. The driver leaned into the van, pulled her trousers and shoes towards him and held them out to Abby but the other man scuttled towards him and snatched them away, shouting something incomprehensible. He threw the clothes back in the van and climbed out, pushing Abby and his friend aside before slamming the back door closed. He shouted again and shoved the driver towards the side of the van. He stalked round to the passenger’s side and got in.

Abby watched as the van quickly disappeared down the long, deserted road. She looked down at her shaking hands with surprise. She didn’t feel that cold. She felt dampness between her legs. She looked down at the trickle of blood on her thigh and the world started spinning. An image of her daughter, alone, frightened, flashed into her mind as she hit the floor.

‘What?’ Damek repeated and flicked his cigarette butt out of the window. ‘What’s your problem?’

‘My problem?’ Miklos said and dug his fingers into the wheel. ‘My problem!’ He slammed his palm against the side of the van. ‘What were you thinking?’ He turned his eyes back to the road. ‘What was I thinking?’

Damek shook his head. ‘You got paid didn’t you?’ He fiddled with the radio again and sat back after he finally settled on a station.

Miklos leaned over and turned it off. His mind was racing. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. He should’ve walked away. He shouldn’t have gone through with it. Shouldn’t have stuck with Damek. He shook his head, thinking, ‘no more’.

‘She was nice,’ Damek said and grinned. ‘Beautiful. Shame about the baby.’

Miklos felt bile at the back of his throat. He wasn’t told about the baby. The baby wasn’t supposed to be part of it. They weren’t paid for that. He felt his breathing start to speed up and gulped air, trying to fill his lungs. He swerved to the side of the road and stopped.

Miklos scrambled from the van, dry heaving by the side of the road. He wiped his face and leaned against the van, trying to breathe. He heard Damek slam his door and walk around to the driver’s side. He stopped in front of Miklos and lifted his head up, looking him in the eye.

‘Pussy,’ he said and laughed. He pushed Miklos aside and climbed into the driver’s seat. Miklos stood watching him before checking behind them once more. The police could be on their way. He wiped his face again and got back in the van. Damek pulled away before he’d even closed the door.

Miklos stared at Damek again. ‘Did you know?’

Damek just shrugged and Miklos asked again. It wouldn’t surprise him if Damek had known. It was all the same to him.

‘Didn’t ask the details,’ Damek said and turned the radio back on.

Her second thought had her scrambling to her feet and running.

‘Beth,’ Abby said through her heavy breaths. ‘Beth, Beth!’ She started to scream. She stumbled, the gravel tearing into her bare feet. She suddenly stopped and looked around. Where the hell was she? Where was her car? Where was Beth? Abby turned around again and again, looking for something familiar, until she was dizzy. The car was getting louder; closer. She ran towards the sound. A blue car appeared from a dip in the road, swerving wildly as Abby ran towards it along the centre of the road. Her palms thudded into the bonnet as the car came to a stop. Through the windshield the startled faces of a middle-aged man and woman stared back at Abby.  The couple exchanged alarmed glances before Abby ran around to the passenger side, her eyes pleading with the woman.

‘Please, have you seen her? Have you seen Beth?’ Abby said. She heard a door open and the man ran around to Abby’s side. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she recoiled from his touch. ‘Have you seen her?’ she pleaded. Her head darted between the two of them, her breath shallow.

‘Okay, love, calm down. Tell us what happened. Has somebody hurt you?’ the man said, again reaching out to Abby but quickly pulling back.  His eyes drifted to her bare legs before darting back to her face. He turned to the woman who slowly climbed out of the car.

Abby glanced around her and started to walk back down the hill, back the way the car had come. ‘I need to find her,’ she said, wiping her face with an unsteady hand. ‘I need to find her.’

The man jogged to catch up with Abby. ‘Who do you need to find, love? Who’ve you lost?’

‘Beth!’

‘Who’s Beth?’ he asked.

‘My daughter. My little girl.’ Abby stopped and turned to the man. ‘You must’ve seen her. Or heard her. She’d have been crying for me.’ Abby started to shake with her sobs. The man shrugged his jacket off and held it out for Abby but she ignored the gesture. ‘I have to find her.’

‘I know,’ the man said and steered Abby back towards the car as gently as he could manage. ‘We’ll find her.’ He opened the passenger-side door and sat Abby down. He turned back to the woman. ‘Give me your phone.’

The woman stared at Abby for a second, before turning her attention back to the man. ‘What?’ she asked.

‘The phone, woman, give me the bloody phone!’ he snapped, hand outstretched.

The woman rummaged around in her huge handbag and pulled out a phone. The man grabbed it from her and dialled. He looked back to Abby momentarily and then turned away.

‘Hello? Police, please,’ he said. He started to walk along the grass verge away from Abby until she could no longer hear him. The woman crouched down in front of Abby, clumsily taking her hand and murmuring unhelpful platitudes.

The man hung up and walked back towards the car. ‘The police are on their way, love.’

Abby looked up at the man. ‘Have they found her?’

The man cleared his throat. ‘They’ll sort it out. Won’t be long now.’

Abby shook her head. ‘No, I can’t wait. I need to go. I need to find her.’ She stepped past the man, and the woman moved out of her way.

‘For God’s sake, Andrea,’ the man said as he pushed past her. He caught up with Abby again. ‘I think we should wait, love. They won’t be long.’

‘I can’t wait,’ Abby said. ‘What if something’s happened to her? What if they hurt her too?’ She made a move to walk around him but he grabbed her by the shoulder. Abby cried out and he dropped his hand.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m really sorry. Look, I don’t know what’s happened to your little girl but the police can help you. They’ll know what to do. Please. Come back to the car and we’ll get this sorted out. I promise.’

Abby stared at the man and then started to walk around him again. As she passed him, a police car came up the hill. Bypassing Abby and the man, it pulled in on the grass verge behind the man’s car. Two uniformed officers stepped out, approaching Abby.

‘Could you tell us your name?’ the female officer asked, pushing her dark hair from her eyes, before putting on her hat.

‘Abby. Abby Henshaw,’ she said, her voice croaky.

‘Okay, Abby. I’m PC Lawton. This is PC Cartwright,’ she said, indicating her colleague. ‘Could you tell us what happened?’

‘We were just driving out for lunch and she came out of nowhere. Almost hit her. She keeps talking about needing to find someone, her daughter. I could see she was hurt and she seemed distressed so I called yourselves,’ the man said.

‘Mr Walker?’ Cartwright asked.

The man nodded and Cartwright turned his attention back to Abby.

‘I just want to find Beth,’ Abby said.

‘Who’s Beth?’ Lawton asked.

‘My daughter,’ she said, swiping her hand across her forehead and brushing her sticky, sweaty hair from her face.

Lawton and Cartwright exchanged glances.

‘Please, I just want my daughter back.’ Abby rubbed her hand down the side of her face, smearing the blood that had yet to dry over her cheek.

‘If you can tell us what happened, Abby, we can help you. We’ll help you find your daughter.’

Abby stared at Lawton and then let out a breath, her frustration rising. The woman didn’t even look old enough to be a police officer. How was she going to help? She looked at the others standing there watching her. Why wouldn’t anyone help her?

Lawton ushered Abby towards the police car, trying to sit her down but Abby pulled away. ‘Just tell us what happened, Abby.’

Abby squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to talk, she just wanted to find Beth. She didn’t want to think about it.

‘Abby?’ Cartwright said.

She sighed. ‘They took me. They put me in a van and hurt me and they just left Beth there on her own. She can’t be on her own, she’s only a baby.’

‘Okay, Abby. Who took you? Did you know them?’ Lawton asked, glancing at Cartwright. As he turned to walk away, Abby heard him say, ‘Requesting CID and an ambulance.’

‘No.’ Abby’s breath caught in her throat. ‘Please, I don’t care about me but I need to find Beth. Why won’t you listen? She’s on her own. She’s not safe.’

‘I am listening, Abby. But I need to know what happened so I can help you. Do you understand?’

‘Ambulance is on its way,’ Cartwright said.

‘She was in the car. They left her in the car. It was right down there,’ Abby said pointing back down the road. ‘I’m sure that was the way I came. I was driving from town, from Redcar, and I think... It’s a silver Corsa. You must’ve passed it. One of you must’ve seen it.’ Abby looked from Lawton to Mr Walker. They exchanged a glance. ‘You saw it?’ Abby asked.

Lawton nodded. Walker looked ill.

‘I saw the car. I thought someone had left it there, gone for a picnic or something. I didn’t know...’ Walker said and looked between Abby and the police. ‘There was no one in it though, I’m sure.’

Cartwright rubbed his chin.

‘But you might not have seen her. If you didn’t stop, you wouldn’t have seen her. She was in her car seat, in the back. She’ll be frightened on her own, we need to go and get her.’

Cartwright beckoned Lawton. ‘Wait here while I go back to check the car. And get a statement from Mr and Mrs Walker.’

Lawton nodded.

‘I’m coming with you,’ Abby said.

Cartwright started to argue but Abby climbed into the passenger seat. Lawton walked away, speaking into her radio. Mr and Mrs Walker stood huddled together. Cartwright started the car. As they drove back down the hill Abby’s stomach turned, her nausea rising. 

A few minutes later they saw her car on the side of the road. Cartwright pulled over and Abby was out the door before he’d even stopped the car. She ran across the road and pulled open the door.

She heard the sound, a guttural, hollow noise, and felt Cartwright’s hand on her arm, trying to gently pull her away.

Beth was gone.