Sister, Missing (3 page)

I looked up. The world on the beach was carrying on as normal. But everything had changed. I got to my feet and walked, blindly, across the sand. My heart was beating so fast and so loudly I
could barely hear myself think.

Who could have taken her? Where was she?

I looked around. The car park was out of sight behind the row of beach huts. If Madison was no longer on the beach maybe she was there. I broke into a run. Then stopped. If Madison had been
bundled into a car she would be well away from the car park by now. I felt numb as I reached the promenade and stopped to slip on my sandals. I’d left the towels, I realised, and turned to go
back for them. Then I stopped. What did it matter if I lost a couple of beach towels? Madison had been in my care and I’d allowed someone to take her.

I looked at the text message again.

Do NOT contact the police.

I needed to tell Annie.

My stomach twisted into a hard ball of knots as I ran hard up the road, back to the holiday home. Annie was hunched over the kitchen sink, her back towards the door. She was dressed now and
humming to herself as I walked in.

I stood in the doorway. How on earth could I even begin to explain to her what had happened?

‘Is that you, Madison sweetie? Lauren?’

I said nothing. My legs felt like lead.

Annie turned round. She blinked as she took in the fact that I was alone. ‘Where’s Madison?’

I couldn’t find the words to say it, so I just held out my phone. Annie stared at my face and her mouth fell open. In a second she was across the room. She grabbed my mobile and read the
text. Her lips moved as she went over the words. Like me, she read it three times before she looked up. Her face was ghost-white, her eyes filled with horror.

‘No,’ she wailed. ‘No, not again!’ She threw the phone onto the kitchen table where, just a few hours before, Madison had sat grinning at me over her cereal bowl.

I picked up my phone and closed the text.

‘What are we going to do?’ I said.

My voice shook as I spoke and I realised how much I’d been hoping Annie would somehow
know
what to do.

But Annie collapsed into a chair and started rocking backwards and forwards, moaning softly to herself. Like me, her eyes were tearless. This was too big, too terrifying for tears.

I sat down opposite her, feeling numb. I had a sudden urge to call Jam – or Mum – but that would have involved movement and action. And I didn’t feel capable of either.

I tried to concentrate. We had two options. Call the police – and risk Mo’s life. Or wait for a phone call, as the kidnappers had ordered.

Footsteps sounded upstairs, padding across the landing.

‘That’ll be Shelby,’ Annie said in a dull, flat voice. ‘Will you tell her what’s going on?’

I stood up, resentment swirling through my numb fear for Madison. Shelby was likely to have hysterics when she heard Madison was missing – and Annie knew it. Why did I have to be the one
to deal with her?

‘Please, Lauren.’ Her voice cracked. ‘I can’t handle this.’

My shaking legs somehow carried me into the hallway of the holiday house. Shelby was padding down the stairs. She was dressed in sweatpants and a shapeless camisole, her dyed hair all tousled
and her eyes sleepy. It was just past 11.30 am which, for Shelby, was an early start to the day. Annie always gave her a hard time for getting up late. Personally I was delighted at any opportunity
not to have to deal with her. Shelby was only a year younger than me, but we had never got on. I’d tried to be friendly when we’d first met, but Shelby had thrown all my attempts to be
nice back in my face. She reached the bottom of the stairs and scowled at me.

‘What?’ she said.

Behind me I could hear Annie tapping into her phone.

‘Someone’s taken Madison from the beach,’ I said. ‘They’ve sent a text saying not to contact the police. They’ll call us later.’

Shelby’s mouth dropped open, much as Annie’s had done earlier. They looked a lot alike, actually, though Shelby had longer hair and spots.

‘No way,’ she said, running her hand over her forehead. ‘You’re yanking my chain.’

‘I wouldn’t joke about this,’ I snapped, turning and stalking back into the kitchen.

Shelby followed me in. Annie was bent over her phone, talking in a low voice, but Shelby paid no attention.

‘What’s going on, Mom?’ she said.

Annie put down her phone with a sigh and repeated what I’d already said.

Shelby’s mouth trembled as the reality of the news hit home. ‘No!’ she shrieked. ‘No
way
.’

Annie opened her arms. ‘I know, sweetie, come—’

‘This is your fault.’ Shelby turned on me, her finger jabbing at my face.

‘
What?
’ I stared at her.

‘It’s a copycat of
your
kidnapping. Off a freakin’ beach and everything,’ Shelby yelled.

My mouth fell open. I hadn’t made the connection myself but it was true. Fourteen years ago
I
had gone missing on a beach not that different from the one Madison and I had been on
earlier. I’d been playing hide-and-seek with Annie and I’d been taken by Sonia Holtwood. She kept me for a while, then sold me through an agency to my adoptive parents, pretending to be
a poverty-stricken single mother.

Holtwood had tried to kill me and Madison two years ago, when I found out what she’d done and tracked Annie and Sam down. She was in jail now, serving a long term for kidnap and attempted
murder.

‘Shelby, don’t be silly . . .’ Annie started.

‘Have you called the police?’ Shelby demanded, wild-eyed.

‘We told you, the text said not to,’ I said sharply.

‘And we’re just going to do what we’re told?’ Shelby’s voice rose in another shriek.

‘Calm down,’ I said.

‘Shut up!’ she shouted.

‘Please, girls,’ Annie said, sobbing.

Shelby stormed off and the kitchen fell silent as her footsteps faded up the stairs.

Annie sighed and put her head in her hands. ‘I’ve called Rick,’ she said. ‘He’ll be here soon.’

‘Right.’ Rick was Annie’s new boyfriend – a British guy she’d met on her last visit to see me. They’d become close in the past few months. I knew Rick had
flown over from London to visit her in the States at least twice since then.

I’d only met him a few times myself. He’d seemed nice – a charming ex-security guard in his late thirties with beefy arms, a receding hairline and a warm smile. I wasn’t
quite sure what he saw in Annie, but he acted as a calming presence around her which helped make her easier to deal with.

Madison seemed to like him too. At the thought of her, panic surged through me, exploding my previous numbness with the force of a bomb. This was stupid, us just waiting for a call. Madison had
disappeared at about five past eleven and it was now almost midday. Images of her bundled up in the back of someone’s car being driven away from the beach, terrified, filled my head. She
could be miles away by now. She could be hurt. And why had she been taken? What would anyone want with her? Surely a psycho wouldn’t send a text saying she’d been kidnapped if he was
planning on murdering her.

Would he?

‘Maybe Shelby’s right,’ I said, pacing across the room. ‘Maybe we
should
call the police.’

‘No.’ Annie looked up. ‘We can’t take the risk. Not until we know what they want . . . what they’re threatening to do to Madison.’

She was right. Shuddering, I sat down beside her at the kitchen table. I don’t know how long we sat there – it felt like ages.

‘Oh God, oh God,’ Annie kept muttering.

I bit my lip. I couldn’t
bear
just sitting here. We had to do something.

My phone rang. Madison’s number again.

Annie stared at me as I picked up the mobile.

‘Hello?’ I said.

‘Lauren?’ The voice was female but disguised – filtered through some kind of machine that made it sound robot-like. ‘Are you at home, like I asked?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Where’s Madison? Is she all right?’

Annie was on her feet beside me now, twisting her hands anxiously over each other.

The voice continued: ‘Madison is safe and well. If you do what I say she’ll be returned home shortly.’ The voice paused. ‘So how are
you
doing, Lauren?’

‘I want to speak to Madison. Hear for myself that she’s all right.’

‘Not yet.’ The voice grew tense. ‘You always were a little princess, weren’t you? Looking down your nose at everyone else.’

I froze. Did this woman
know
me?

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

The woman laughed. It sounded weird through the robot-like filler. ‘Don’t you remember me, Lauren?’

My mind flashed back to Shelby’s words:
This is your fault . . . it’s a copycat of your kidnapping . . .

The connections snapped together in my mind.

Could Madison’s kidnapper be the same person who had abducted me all those years ago?

An Old Connection

As soon as I’d thought this, I rejected the idea. It wasn’t possible. The woman who’d kidnapped me – Sonia Holtwood – was in jail.

‘What do you want?’ I stammered.

The woman laughed again. ‘Listen and I’ll explain.’ She told me to go to Sandcove Chine – one of the steep, wooded ravines near the coast – and wait by the Japanese
pond.

‘Be there in half an hour. I’ll give you the proof you want that Madison is alive and instructions about what to do next. And make sure you’re alone,’ she said.
‘Just you, Lauren. Just you.’

Before I could reply, she rang off. Annie, who’d been standing right next to me throughout the phone call, drew her breath in sharply.

‘What did they say, Lauren?’

I told her. As I spoke, my mind kept going over how the woman had asked if I remembered her. It just didn’t make sense – unless she
was
Sonia Holtwood.

‘Sandcove Chine is just a few minutes’ walk from here.’ Annie frowned. ‘I don’t understand. Why didn’t the woman say what she wants on the phone? Why make you
go somewhere else to get this “proof”?’

‘Maybe she’s worried we’ll record the call or something.’ I shrugged. ‘Maybe she’s going to follow me . . . make sure we haven’t contacted the
police.’ A shiver ran down my spine at the prospect.

‘OK.’ Annie frowned. ‘But why does she only want to deal with you?’

I took a deep breath. I had to tell Annie what I suspected, even though it was going to sound ridiculous. ‘I think she knows me,’ I said. ‘I know it’s crazy, but I think
she might be Sonia Holtwood.’

Annie’s face paled.

‘But Sonia Holtwood’s in prison,’ Shelby said from the doorway. She must have walked over while I was on the phone. I hadn’t noticed her standing there.

‘No, she’s not.’ Annie’s voice trembled as she spoke.

‘What d’you mean?’ I said.

‘Mom?’ Shelby twisted her hair round her fingers.

‘Sonia Holtwood was released from jail two months ago,’ Annie said. ‘There was an appeal . . . a technicality . . . They overturned her conviction. Everyone knows she’s
guilty, but she never admitted it and now she’s free.’

I gasped. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘And me?’ Shelby added.

‘I spoke to your mother and father about it, Lauren. I . . . I actually wanted to say something, but they didn’t want to upset you,’ Annie said. ‘We were all going
through so much, what with losing Sam and . . .’

‘My exams . . .’ I said, imagining Mum’s concern.

Fury rose in me – this was
so
typical of Mum and Dad, always assuming they knew what was best for me. How dare they keep such massive news from me. Sonia Holtwood had targeted me
directly before. I had a right to know if she was free. And now she had Madison.

Before I could say anything, my phone rang again.

‘Is that her?’ Shelby asked.

I glanced down.
Jam calling.

‘No,’ I said, relief swamping my anger.

‘Hi,’ I said into the phone. I walked past both Annie and Shelby towards the stairs.

‘Hey, Lazerbrain.’ Jam’s voice – so familiar and so warm – brought a lump to my throat. ‘How’s it going at the seaside?’

‘Oh, Jam.’ I was close to tears as I told him everything that had happened.

He listened carefully – Jam’s always been a good listener.

‘Man, that’s terrible—’ Just as Jam started to speak, the call dropped.

I checked my signal. It was fine. I waited a second. Surely Jam would call back. Nothing happened. I tried ringing him, but the call went to voice mail.

That was strange. Feeling doubly anxious now, I walked back into the kitchen only to discover Shelby and Annie both crying.

‘I hate Rick,’ Shelby wept. ‘He’s always interfering in our business and turning up when we don’t want him around.’

‘But I
do
want him around,’ Annie wailed. ‘He’s a good friend.’

‘To
you
.’ Shelby’s voice rose to a shriek. ‘What about
me
? What about what
I
want?’

‘This situation isn’t about you, Shelby,’ I snapped. Honestly, what a selfish cow. ‘It’s about Madison and trying to get her back.’

‘Shut UP!’ Shelby yelled and stormed out of the room.

We could hear her bawling all the way up the stairs, then the slam of her bedroom door.

Annie shook her head and collapsed into a kitchen chair. I checked the time. As Annie had said, it would only take a few minutes to walk to Sandcove Chine. There were still twenty minutes until
I had to be there, but at least once I set off I’d be doing something. I guess I should have been scared at the thought of coming up against Sonia Holtwood but, right then, all I could think
about was saving Mo.

‘I’m going,’ I said.

‘No.’ Annie looked up at me, panic-stricken. ‘It’s too early. Rick will be here any minute. At least wait until he gets here.’

‘OK.’ I didn’t really want to wait, but Annie looked so desperate I felt I had to. My head was swirling with a million emotions, but I held all of them in. What I’d said
to Shelby about focusing on Madison applied just as much to me. I couldn’t afford to break down. I was the strongest person here, and I had to
stay
strong for my little sister.