Stranger Child (26 page)

‘I think I’d been asleep, and I woke up because I heard Mummy talking. She was driving really slow and I could see another car on the road. I thought Mummy had stopped. But then she started going really fast. We went up a bit of a hill and then it was like we were on our side. We came down again, but then we were all over the road – like she couldn’t drive straight – and we shot back up this hill and the car turned over. It was upside down. Mummy called out,’ she looked up at Emma, ‘like I told you, but that was it.’

Tom gave Emma a questioning glance, but she shook her head. She would have to tell him, but unless Natasha said anything now, it could wait.

‘Do you remember what happened next?’

‘Suddenly there were lots of people. They seemed to come from out of the hedge and they were rushing towards me. I was screaming because they looked as if they were walking on their heads. I was crying for Mummy. Then somebody pulled me out of my car seat.’

Emma risked a glance at David. His face was white and she wished she could reach out and hold his hand, but Natasha was sitting between them. Everything the girl was saying proved beyond any doubt that it was no accident that had killed Caroline. Something had been planned and Tasha hadn’t wandered off, as they had always believed. It must have been tearing David apart to listen to this.

‘Can you remember anything else?’ Tom asked.

‘Not really. They were all shouting and swearing at each other. I only remember one thing that I heard. Somebody said, “What are we going to do with the fucking kid?” It was the first time I’d been called that.’

Emma was somehow certain that it wasn’t the last.

43

Emma saw Tom glance at his watch. She knew time was short, but he was starting to look concerned.

‘Natasha, you’ve been really helpful, but I need to talk to your dad and Emma for a few moments. I’m not keeping secrets from you, but it’s better if there are some things you don’t know in case Rory or Finn contact you again. Is that okay?’

Natasha sucked her top lip and turned her head to glance at Emma under worried brows.

‘Tom, I’m not sure that Tasha should be on her own. Can I go with her?’ Emma asked.

‘No need – Becky’s down the hall. She’ll look after her. Give me a second.’

Tom consulted a post-it on the desk phone and pressed a number. While he was speaking, Emma turned to Natasha.

‘You’ll be okay with Becky, Tasha. We’re all looking out for you, I promise.’

Natasha’s eyes filled up for just a second before she glanced away and took some deep breaths. Emma looked at Tom. He was watching Natasha and he shook his head very gently as if the sadness of this child was stabbing at his heart too.

The moment was lightened as Becky pushed open the door and cast her easy smile around the room, her expression the right balance of concern for the circumstances and relaxed confidence that all would be well. She ushered Natasha into the corridor while offering to organise something for her to drink, and the room fell quiet as the door swung to.

Tom was all business again.

‘Okay. This is what we’re going to do. Emma – when we leave here, you’re coming with me. Becky’s going to change tops with you, and she’s going back with David and Natasha.’

Emma felt her eyes flood with tears and she put her head back, willing them not to spill. She knew that if she let go, she would begin to sob and would lose the last of her control. When she finally spoke, she could hear the broken tones of her own voice.

‘You told me you would help, Tom. What right have you got to separate me from my family now, of all times? What if they know that Becky’s not me, and it ruins everything?’

‘We need somebody in your house, Emma, just for three or four hours. No more.’

‘Why?’ she asked, lips clenched.

Tom was looking straight at her, his eyes locked on hers.

‘We need to do a risk assessment. If it was up to me, I’d take all three of you to a safe place now and start negotiations for your baby’s safe recovery. But I’m letting Natasha and David go home because we think the best chance for Ollie is if you appear to be going along with their wishes. Becky will work out the best plan to keep you all safe.’

Emma knew when she was beaten. Already she felt isolated – no Ollie, no David, and to her surprise the thought
no Tasha
sprang into her mind.

‘Becky also needs to talk to Natasha – to make sure that she’s now on
our
side, not on theirs. We don’t have time to be sure about that sitting in this office, and we can’t risk being wrong.’

Emma wasn’t sure herself. Tasha’s motivation for coming here had been fear – but it wasn’t clear whether the girl would feel safer helping them, or bowing to the wishes of her masters. At least she understood the gang’s rules, and at the heart of all this Emma was certain she was missing something. There was something Tasha was trying to tell her, but couldn’t. If only she knew what it was.

‘Do you need me right this minute, Tom? I know we’re running out of time, but I want to explain to Tasha myself why I’m not coming back. I don’t want her to think that somebody else has abandoned her.’ Emma caught David’s frown in her peripheral vision, but she was focused on Tom, praying that he would agree.

He nodded.
Thank God
.

‘Second door on the right, Emma. We’re out of here in five minutes.’

Emma stood up and, to her surprise, Tom walked her to the door. He held it open and moved slightly into the corridor.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘I need some time with you as well. I’ll explain later.’

Emma had no idea what he could possibly mean, but she nodded and walked off down the corridor, knowing Tom was watching, making sure she made it safely to the room where Becky and Tasha were waiting.

*

Tom felt that finally they had most of the picture. Caroline and Natasha, or maybe just Caroline, had been targeted for some reason. The car that Natasha said was blocking the road had gone by the time the police got there, and the men – by the sound of it the same men as this time – were hiding behind hedges. It could have been a random carjacking that had gone wrong, but Tom didn’t think so.

Then Caroline had died and the gang was left with a problem. Whether it was ransom or something else they were after, once there had been a death and police were crawling all over the place, it had to be called off. And they were left with Natasha, who had seen the whole thing. She wasn’t a baby – she would have been able to tell the police exactly what had happened.

It was hard to tell what David Joseph was feeling about all this. He was definitely pale and drawn and his eyes had a haunted look, as if in his head he was reliving every second of the accident, but Tom hadn’t quite decided what to make of him yet. It probably wasn’t the best time to meet him, given everything that had happened in the last few days, but Tom’s gut was telling him there was something going on beneath the surface – some fear that was beyond the obvious. He could see the attraction of the man – average height, slim build, boyish fair hair and fine-featured good looks – but he had yet to decide whether the charm was more than skin deep.

Is he good enough for Emma?
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was none of his business.

Tom sat down again and leaned forwards.

‘There’s another reason why Becky’s coming back with you, David. She has another job to do – with you. Do you know what a tiger kidnap is?’

‘Yeah, they kidnap one person to make another do something for them – something illegal. Is that right?’

‘Exactly. You run a safe deposit company – Joseph & Son – yes?’

David nodded.

‘That’s the most likely target, and I want you to talk Becky through how they might be planning to get in and what they might be after.’

Tom was fairly certain that this wasn’t the first tiger kidnap aimed at Joseph & Son, but he didn’t think it was helpful to share that thought right now.

‘It can’t be that,’ David said – in Tom’s mind with more hope than conviction. ‘They can’t get in – at least, they can’t break in. It’s impossible. And even if they did, they wouldn’t know what was in any of the boxes. It has to be something else they’re after.’

In spite of this seeming like the most obvious target for the gang, David seemed keen to reject it as a possibility.

‘We’re not ruling anything out. But briefly, why do you think it’s impossible?’

‘It’s the best security system money could buy. It’s all controlled by computer – the doors are all on a time lock. Even I can’t get in.’

‘How long have you had the security system in place?’ Tom asked.

‘About nine years, but the software’s regularly updated. It’s your brother Jack’s old company that does the work – Jack supervised it himself until he sold up. I promise you, it’s absolutely state of the art. I learned that lesson long ago.’ David raised his eyes as if at his own stupidity.

‘What do you mean?’

‘When I first took over the business from my dad, I was invited to a computer security seminar. Jack was running it. I hadn’t met him before, but he was genuinely inspiring and very persuasive. I decided we couldn’t afford him. More fool me!’

‘Go on,’ Tom prompted.

‘A couple of months after I’d been to the seminar, we were hacked. I went into the office one morning, and there was a file sitting in the centre of my computer screen. Not an email – a document file as if I’d saved it there. I opened it, and inside was a list of the first twenty of our customers with their names, addresses, passport numbers – and their security box numbers. At the bottom was a message telling me I’d been hacked; my clients would be informed unless I paid up. The message told me to write down the details of the bank account that I had to make the payment to, because within five minutes of opening the message, it was going to disappear. And it did. There was no point going to the police. I had no time and no evidence once the screen had cleared.’

Tom felt his throat tighten.

‘Can you remember the name of the account?’

‘It wasn’t a name. It was a number. Well – that’s not strictly true – there were a couple of letters I think, but mainly numbers.’

‘Have you still got the number?’

David blew out briefly through pursed lips. ‘No. I wanted to burn it. I kept it for a while, in case the opportunity ever came to use it, but in the end I ripped it up. And then went straight to Jack and got myself the best security money could buy.’

Tom knew he should be asking more, but he couldn’t. And he didn’t really need to.

44

Huddled in the corner of the car, her legs hunched up onto the seat and her arms wrapped tightly around her upper body, Emma looked as if she was barely holding herself together.

Becky’s voice came over the radio.

‘All safe,’ she said. ‘David went for the car and drove it to the side of the supermarket as if Emma and Natasha were staying there to keep out of the rain. We jumped in, leaving David to load the shopping into the boot. The watchers would just have seen a flash of Emma’s blue sweater, and I put the hood up so they wouldn’t have had a clue it was me.’

‘Thanks, Becky. Keep me up to date. I’m going to get Emma settled, then I’ll give you a call – see where we’re up to. Remind David of the bugs in the kitchen and bedroom, but I think it’s safe to deactivate the one in the sitting room so you have somewhere to talk. According to Emma, they rarely use that room, so nobody will be expecting sound from there. You’re going to have to get David to do a bit of acting when you get there. He needs to say, “Why don’t you go and lie down” or something to you, so nobody will be expecting your voice. Then just move around the bedroom a bit so they can tell you’re there. You okay with that?’

‘No problem, boss.’

Tom ended the call and turned to Emma.

‘Everything’s fine, Emma. Becky knows what needs to be done, and then we’ll get you back to your family. I’m going to take you to my house for now.’

Tom continued to drive in silence until he turned into his drive. He ushered Emma quickly into the house, out of what had turned from torrential rain to a cold drizzle. Emma followed Tom into the kitchen and perched herself on a stool on the far side of the island unit, barely looking at her surroundings.

‘Are you cold?’ he asked. As soon as they had left the supermarket, Emma had started to shiver. She didn’t seem to have stopped since. But Tom wasn’t sure if she was shivering with cold, or with anxiety.

‘I’m fine,’ Emma looked at Tom. ‘It’s just that whenever I’m cold, or hot, or wet, or hungry, I just think about Ollie. Is he warm enough? Have they fed him?’

‘I know. It must be dreadful. But it’s important that you keep functioning too. So what can I get you to drink?’ Tom asked, switching the coffee machine on. He needed a double espresso, given his lack of sleep for the last forty-eight hours.

‘Would it be possible to have a gin and tonic, do you think? I really need it.’

Tom rooted around in a cupboard, certain he had gin, but not too convinced about the tonic. Finally he found a bottle hiding at the back. He heard a subdued sniff and knew that Emma was crying quietly. Her voice when she spoke was uneven, ragged.

‘I’ve hated Natasha, you know. With every breath in my body I have wanted to kill her. But the more I learn about her past and the future she’s expecting, the more I worry for her. Is that ridiculous? She took my
baby
– but now I want to fight for Tasha too. I don’t want her to go back to that life. I won’t let it happen.’

‘We won’t let it happen either. We’ll get the people who took her – every last one of them. I just wish we knew a bit more, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I want you to try to remember every single detail of your conversations with Natasha and what you heard when she was talking to Rory Slater.’

Tom handed Emma her drink and looked at her face. She was chewing her bottom lip and wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. He pulled up another stool.

‘What?’ he asked. ‘Whatever it is, just tell me.’

Emma waited, as if she was trying to find the right words.