Monday's Child (24 page)

“Her emails and chat logs. I need to know what she said.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not hungry.”

“You’ve been around Sara too long. I’ll take my things upstairs and then make you some tea. It’s not an option.”

Luke sat down at the computer. “Yes, Aunt Mary.”

****

Luke sat in the kitchen staring at the cold food in front of him. He held a cold mug of coffee in his hand. He found more than he bargained for. At least Sara hadn’t told this Oscar where she was or that she’d meet him. The question was who had told him?

The doorbell rang. Luke leapt to his feet and ran to open it. His face fell. “Oh, hi, Dave.”

“Hi, yerself. How are ye doing?”

Luke shrugged. “Did you find her?”

Dave shook his head and laid a hand on Luke’s arm for a moment. “Nay, we dinna. No’ yet.” He moved through to the kitchen and put the bags on the table. “Hello, Mary.”

“Hello, Dave.”

“Her shopping was left by the war memorial. A street cleaner handed it in when he saw the drugs.”

Luke pulled open the first bag. “How do you know it belongs to Sara?”

“Credit card receipts, yer prescription and her hat were in there. The Guv said ye could have it.”

“I don’t want Sara’s shopping. I want her.”

“I ken ye do.”

Luke clenched his fists. He had to stay in control.

The doorbell rang again. Dave got up and answered it, coming back in with another man. “Luke, this is Frank Chaney, our computer expert. Ye wanted him tae go over yer hard drive.”

Luke jerked his head and then winced slightly, regretting the movement. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, you can take him through. The files he needs are on the desktop.”

Luke opened one of the bags as Dave and Chaney left the room. He pulled out the box on top, turning it over. The golden angel smiled up at him. Luke opened the box and took her out. He ran gentle fingers over her, then stood up and walked into the lounge.

The tree was in darkness. Luke turned on the lights and set the angel on the top of the tree. He stood there. It was perfect. Sara had noticed there was something missing, even though he hadn’t, and fixed it. The tree was complete. The way he was complete with her around. “Where are you, Sara?”

Dave came up behind him. “We’ll find her.”

“Yeah, but will you find her in time?”

“Anyone would think ye were in love with her.”

Luke turned to him, a sickening hollow, gauntness filling him. “I am,” he admitted. “I have been since the first day I met her. Even though she can be annoying and stubborn and never does what she’s told. I have tried to fight it, but it’s no good. I can’t treat her as just another case number. I’ve tried, but...” He broke off, his eyes glistening. “I love her, I let her down, and I lost her. If I hadn’t gotten this stupid migraine, she wouldn’t have gone.”

Dave shook his head. “That’s rubbish. Ye dinna let her down. She went out tae get yer prescription. That’s all. Austin got lucky. He could have grabbed her on the way tae church as easily. I have tae go check all the CCTV footage from the town center. I’ll be back later.”

“Lieutenant? Sergeant?” A voice from the doorway called.

Luke charged into the dining room, Dave close behind him.

Part of him grateful everyone pronounced lieutenant correctly. His heart would break if someone said it the same way that Sara did. “What have you found?”

Chaney pointed to the screen. Sara’s email inbox was open and the orange IM window was flashing. He clicked on it, and the window came up on the screen.

“Hi, doll. Nice to see you at last,” it read.

Luke stared at it. Did the sender of the message mean him or Sara? There was no way he’d know anyone was checking their email. Unless…He sighed as he realized Sara had set the chat mode to visible so every time she logged into her email she was contactable.

“It’s him.” He waved Chaney aside and sat down, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Who are you?”

“Oscar157. You can see that. Just as I can see that you are Charis139.”

“What is your name, and what do you want?”

“You know my name, and I have what I want.”

“Austin? Where is she?”

“An intelligent cop, but not clever enough. Maybe I am and maybe I’m not. All you need to know is that I have her, and the clock is ticking.”

The connection clicked off.

“Trace it,” Luke ordered. “I want ISP logs, names, addresses, the works.”

“Aye, sir.” Chaney logged off then got up and went to the phone.

“Chaney, do what you have to, but the computer stays here, in case he tries to contact me again.”

23

Luke watched the news in silence with Mary sitting beside him, her knitting needles clicking.

“Concern is growing tonight for pregnant Tannoch woman, Sara Nemec, who went missing this morning. Jessica Simmons has this report.”

The shot changed to a picture of a female reporter, standing in the snow by the cordoned-off war memorial. “Mrs. Nemec was last seen around eleven o’clock this morning when she stopped for coffee while doing some last minute Christmas shopping here in Tannoch town center. Her bags, left by the war memorial, are the last sign of her. DCI Shepherds of Tannoch CID is leading the investigation.”

DCI Shepherds image filled the screen. “Our main concern is that Mrs. Nemec has pre-eclampsia. This is a serious medical condition which can become life threatening tae both mother and unborn baby if no’ treated. We are appealing for her or for anyone who may know where she is tae contact us.”

Not wanting to hear anymore, Luke took the cups out to the kitchen. He washed and set them on the draining board. Then in a fit of rage and despair, he picked up a cup and hurled it to the floor.

“You are supposed to break them before you wash them, darling. Not afterwards.”

“Any more helpful suggestions?”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Darling. Slip of the tongue. It won’t happen again.”

Luke slammed his hands against the sink, sending the other cup smashing to the floor as well. “Sara.”

He sank to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest, unable to contain his emotions any longer. “I’m sorry, Sara. What have I done?”

Resting his elbows on his knees, he buried his face in his hands. Torrents of emotion flooded him, overwhelming him with their intensity. He sat there, giving in to his feelings for the first time since he realized Sara was missing.

Mary came into the room and put a hand on his shoulder. As he looked up, she lowered herself to the floor, praying the words he was unable to vocalize. Then she smiled at him. “Maybe you should try to sleep.”

Luke shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Staying up all night isn’t going to help find Sara. Dave is out there searching for her. You need to sleep off that headache before you end up really sick.”

“OK.”

Mary smiled. “Go on, and lock up as you go. I’ll bring you up some cocoa. Sara liked cocoa on the nights she couldn’t sleep.”

“I know. Thanks.”

Luke went upstairs to Sara’s room, flicking on the light. The teddy bear he bought her sat on the bed. He picked it up, pressing it to his face. The smell of her perfume filled his senses. He hugged the bear close as he gazed around the room. His eyes fell on an envelope on her bedside table. It had his name on it. He opened it and took out the Christmas card she had written.

“
Luke. I had to buy this as it sums up so well how I feel about you. There is so much I want to say to you, about how much I care for you, but this isn’t the right time or the right place. Except, I love you. Happy Christmas. Sara
.”

“Oh, Sara,” he whispered. He set the card down and crossed the room to the door, not knowing how he should feel. Unable to cope with the influx of emotions, he turned off the light and walked over to the window. He stood there and gazed out at the view Sara loved.

He opened the window to allow the sound and smell of the sea to come into the room. A bitter wind stole inside, taking his breath away with its chill. A light flashed across the sky from the lighthouse at Tannoch Point.

A tap at the door made him turn. “Hey.”

“I brought you that cocoa.” Mary came in and handed him a cup. “Lots of lights over there.”

“House lights most likely. This isn’t my room, but I guess those lights on the shoreline are normally on this time of night.”

“It’s pretty. I imagine the view is lovely in the daytime.”

“It is.” He picked up the card and held it out. “I found this in here.”

Mary read the card. “I’ve known for a while how she felt. I told her to tell you, like I told you to tell her.”

“I didn’t know how. I kissed her, and she kissed me back, but we got interrupted, and the moment went.” He paused. “You know, she doesn’t take my ring off.”

Mary smiled. “Does she not?”

Luke shook his head. “No. That should have given me a clue.”

“It’s called hindsight. You can look back and see things you were too blinded by circumstances to see at the time.”

He stifled a yawn and rubbed his temples, the headache starting to flare up again.

“You really should try to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Luke sipped the cocoa. “All right. Goodnight.”

Mary left, and Luke stood by the window, drinking the cocoa. The migraine was flaring again and he closed his eyes, fighting the pain and nausea. Anger over his incapacity flooded. He couldn’t do anything to find Sara. Setting the empty cup on the window sill, he crossed the room unsteadily, and removed his pants and shirt. He lay on Sara’s bed and pulled up the duvet. He held her bear close, his mind full of images of what could be happening to her. She was out there somewhere, and there was nothing he could do to help her.

****

Sara woke with a start. Her body ached, and she tried rolling over, but she couldn’t move. She realized with a shock there was a cloth over her eyes and something sticky over her mouth. Fear surged though her, and her breath came hard and fast.

She tried to move again. Horror flooded her as she discovered she was tied down. Her wrists were handcuffed, her arms yanked above her head and tied to the headboard with rope. More rope bound her ankles together and then to the end of the bed. She fought the bonds, screaming as loud as she could, but hardly a sound escaped the tape across her mouth.

Her heart pounded in her chest, the sound filling her senses. The last thing she remembered was the war memorial. Someone grabbed her, and a dragon peeked out from beneath his sleeve. Austin found her. Had he followed her? Had he been waiting for her? Where was DC Collins? Was he here, too?

She fought against the bonds again for a minute, and then she gave up. She remembered Luke saying something about a leak in the department, but surely that was Norfolk, not here.

All those weeks Luke had kept her safe, despite her best efforts to the contrary. How could she have been so stupid? Why had she gone at all? Why hadn’t she asked Dave to get the prescription? Why did she have to be so jolly independent and fight Luke’s instructions all the time?

Her other senses heightened, she tensed as footsteps moved up the stairs. She struggled again, whimpering, her breath jagged. The door creaked, and the light switch clicked. Footsteps crossed the room. Rough fingers pulled off the blindfold. Blinking at the rude onslaught of bright light, Sara gave out a muffled shriek as she saw the faces of the two men standing over her.

Austin reached down and ripped the tape off her mouth. “Hi, doll.”

Sara pushed down the panic as she stared at Austin and Phil. She tugged on the restraints. “How did you find me?”

Austin frowned. “Don’t you remember? Those long emails? The IM chats? The fun chatting for months before you married? I’m hurt.”

She’d been chatting with the guy who wanted her dead? What kind of an idiot was she? She had to get out of here. “You’re Oscar?”

“Well, not me personally, but you were chatting to him. You see, you were chosen, such a long time ago. It must be three years by now.”

“Chosen?”

“And you performed brilliantly. You’ll meet Oscar soon. He’s looking forward to it. You spoke last night and he arranged for me to be waiting at the war memorial for you today.”

“Where am I?”

A slow, cruel smile spread across Austin’s face. “Where no one will find you.”

Sara shivered. She’d been targeted? She’d fallen into the very trap Luke had warned her about, but ...years ago?

His voice oozed pure evil.

“I need the bathroom.”

Austin moved to the foot of the bed and untied her feet. As he untied her ankles, Sara kicked out at him, catching him on the nose. He cried out and stepped backwards, clutching his face.

There was a loud click. Phil was holding a gun on her.

She froze.

“You do that again, or try to escape, and you will pay for it.” Austin’s voice was muffled, blood pouring from his nose.

“Take me to a bank, and I’ll pay. Right after I’ve been to the bathroom.”

Phil moved over to her and untied her hands, leaving the handcuffs on. He yanked her to her feet, not giving her time to get her balance. “Get up. Enough of the back chat.”

He led her to a room at the other end of the landing. Pushing the door open, he flicked on the light. Sara went in and started to shut the door.

Phil put his foot in the way. “The door stays open.”

She glared at him. “I’m sorry?”

“You want to use the bathroom, there it is. The door remains open.”

“Fine.” The twins were, as usual, lying on her bladder, not giving her a choice in the matter. Ignoring the man waiting on the other side of the door, she wondered what would happen if she tried to escape. She washed her hands. It was worth a try. She might not get very far, but she wasn’t going to let them intimidate her.

“Hurry up.”

“I’m coming.”

Pulling the door open, Sara bolted from the room, heading towards the stairs. She had the banister at arm’s reach when someone caught hold of her, swinging her around. She cried out. Pain exploded in her head, cutting off her scream.