The Back Road

34

Day Six: Wednesday

Another night without sleep. Why did life always seem so much worse at five o’clock in the morning? Was it because everybody else was happily snoring in their comfortable beds, while you alone were awake and living through your own personal hell?

The radio played quietly in the corner. But that was no help. Moody and sombre night-time music was introduced by voices speaking at a low pitch, smooth and silky, as if to coax you back to sleep. But the interruption by regular local news bulletins jerked you back from the brink.

All they wanted to talk about was Abbie Campbell. They spoke of the ‘delight’ of the family that she was showing signs of recovery, and how friends and the local community had rallied round.

And they were saying she’d been abducted - but that wasn’t true. It was supposed to have been a surprise. They’d become such good friends on Facebook; Abbie should have been pleased when she learned the truth.

I just wanted to touch you, Abbie - to kiss you, to hold you. I’ve been watching you and waiting for a long time. But you didn’t want me, did you? I’m not good enough, am I?

And now Abbie would tell, and nobody would understand. It would be exactly like the last time. Nobody had understood then either.

You rejected me, Abbie. You’ll never know how much that hurt. How could you do that to me? I didn’t mean for you to die - but if you live, that’s the end of everything for me.

As soon as Abbie could speak, every carefully constructed edifice of this life would be destroyed, and that couldn’t be allowed to happen. That’s if the driver didn’t speak first.

Time was running out. It was time for somebody to die.

And Ellie was going to have to help. But was she frightened enough yet to do as she was told? Without Ellie the plan would never work. She provided the vital missing piece - the lure.

Something else needed to happen - something that would really shake Ellie. She had limits, but she could be manipulated - especially if it was anything to do with her children.

I need to make her scared - scared to death of the alternative. Scared of what I might do to her children. Then she’ll do as I ask.

There was a sort of inevitability about it all now - a sense of hurtling at breakneck speed towards a conclusion without any way of slowing things down. It would all be over soon. Life could return to normal, as if none of this had ever happened.

And now it was all down to Ellie.

* * *

Although Leo wasn’t a religious person, she had always believed in forces for good and forces for evil. She had never been capable of seeing an aura, but she didn’t doubt that people had them. Two individuals sitting perfectly still with expressionless faces could give off entirely different types of energy which could positively crackle around a room. So when she walked into the kitchen on Wednesday morning, despite only having sight of Ellie’s back, she knew that - had she been capable of seeing it - Ellie’s aura would have been the mud colour of tension.

What now?

After making herself scarce the previous evening she had been hoping that this morning life would be back to normal.

Everybody else had eaten breakfast and Ellie was clearing the dishes away. Max was on his way out of the door with the twins and on the face of it, everything seemed to be fine. He said he’d packed Jake’s and Ruby’s bikes into the boot of his car and was taking them off to a grassy place. Ruby wanted to ride without her stabilisers, apparently, and Ellie said she couldn’t bring herself to watch. She’d excused herself on the grounds that she would make Ruby nervous. Jake, on the other hand, said he would see how many times Ruby fell off before he decided whether his were coming off or staying on.

Max left with a cheery wave, but Leo felt that it was a bit half-hearted. Obviously things hadn’t worked out quite as well as he’d hoped last night. She wished she knew what was really wrong. It wasn’t like her sister to behave like a jealous harpy. She sat down at the kitchen table.

‘What’s going on, Ellie? I know you have this idea that there’s something between Max and that PE teacher, but that’s not the only thing, is it? You’re so jumpy every time the phone rings, and you seem scared of your own shadow. Is it something to do with Friday night, because you still haven’t told me why you went out?’

Ellie banged the dishes down on the worktop and the cutlery tumbled onto the floor. She muttered an expletive, but didn’t turn round to face Leo as she spoke.

‘Forget Friday night, Leo. I’ve told you – it was nothing.’

‘So why is it so important that Max doesn’t know, then?’ Leo asked.

Ellie spun round.

‘Don’t you dare mention it to Max. It’s got nothing to do with you. Leave it.’

She bent to pick up the knives and spoons and thrust them into the dishwasher basket.

Leo wasn’t about to let this go.

‘What’s wrong with you two? This is so unlike the pair of you. You seem fixated on this Alannah woman, but what does Max have to say about it? Do you want me to have a word with him?’

Ellie gripped the edge of the sink, and even from where Leo was sitting she could see her knuckles were white. Ellie’s back was rigid, and her voice, when she finally spoke, was tight – as if she were barely opening her mouth.

‘My marriage and my children are the most important things in my life, and nothing is going to ruin that. Nothing. I’m not going to end up like my mother. I’m not going to drive Max away like she drove our dad away. Whatever’s happening will pass. It has to. So speaking to Max is the very last thing that either of us should do. Do you understand, Leo?

Ellie still hadn’t turned round, but Leo knew, for now at least, that she needed to steer the conversation away from Max.

‘Okay, okay – but don’t you think that perhaps you might be a bit less stressed if you gave up these delusions about our father, and focused on what really matters?’

‘Dad, Leo. He’s our dad - why can you never call him that?’ Ellie responded.

‘He stopped being my dad when I was ten years old. Father is a biological fact. The title “Dad” is a term of affection and it has to be earned.’

‘God, you sound priggish sometimes - do you know that?’ Ellie switched on the tap, and started to run water into the bowl as if to drown Leo’s voice.

Okay, Leo thought. This was probably a bad idea, but she’d started now.

‘When are you going to stop pretending that he’s going to come back? It’s not healthy, you know. Not only is it impossible for me to understand why you believe it, I can’t even think why you would want it.’

Ellie turned round and leant against the sink with her arms folded.

‘I want to know what happened to him. Is that so strange? One minute he was here, next he was gone. And never a word of explanation, nor a word of goodbye. If he’s alive, at least he’ll know where to find me.’

‘If he’d wanted to find you, it wouldn’t have been difficult - even before your mother died. Accept it, Ellie, for your own sanity. He’s gone.’ Leo was keeping her voice level. A shouting match would achieve nothing.

‘And you’re not the slightest bit upset about the fact, are you?’ Ellie asked, her mouth set in a tight line.

‘No.’ It was an honest answer.

‘Why do you always pretend to be so f*cking calm and reasonable? Do you know how irritating it is? Never let it be said that you could show any emotion.’ She turned back to the sink and began slamming pots about again. It wasn’t like Ellie to swear. Leo knew she should have left it. But then she’d been doing that all week.

‘Look, I know how much he hurt you. I was there, remember? I promise you, I’m going to try to find out what happened to him, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. I think it’s time to let it go. Get on with your life and sort out whatever else it is that’s bothering you at the moment.’

She looked at her sister. It was amazing how much somebody’s posture could tell you about their thoughts. Ellie finally turned round, and the anger in her eyes shocked Leo.

‘Stop telling me what to think, will you? It may surprise you to know that just at this moment our father, as you prefer to call him, is the last thing on my mind. I’ve got far bigger and better things to worry about.’ Ellie’s laugh was devoid of humour. ‘And I know you’ve always thought that wanting answers is a complete aberration on my part - but actually, what’s that phrase “Physician, heal thyself”? I may have some issues and I may seem irrational to you, but what about you? You can’t even stand to be touched.’

Leo felt a stinging behind her eyes. Shit. She couldn’t cry. She never cried.

Ellie gave a small gasp, and bit her bottom lip. Her shoulders sagged, all anger spent.

‘Oh Leo, I’m so sorry. That was a dreadful thing to say. I know it’s not your fault and I’m truly sorry. There’s nothing I’d like to do more than come over there and give you a big hug now, but I know it’s not what you want.’

Just this once, Leo thought, I think I might like that. But she couldn’t say so, because then she really would cry.

They had talked about her apparent lack of emotion so many times, even when they were children. Especially when they were children, but never like this. Mainly Ellie understood. But sometimes she wanted, and no doubt needed, more. Leo wished she could offer it and right now she wished she could accept it too.

Slipping back behind the safe mask of rationality, Leo steered the conversation back to Ellie.

‘Ellie, come and sit down. I’ll make us both a cup of coffee, and you need to talk to me. I mean properly. Not just a fleeting remark as you walk out of the door. I promise you I won’t say a word to Max, but I can tell there’s something very much the matter, because I’ve never seen you like this.’

Leo placed both hands on the table and pushed herself up from her seat. She walked across to the coffee machine, but Ellie had turned back to the sink, and was standing with hunched shoulders. She didn’t utter a word. On her way to the fridge for the milk, Leo stood behind her sister. She lifted her hands towards Ellie, and then let them drop to her sides. She paused for a moment, and then lifted them again and gently touched Ellie’s upper arms, giving them both a brief rub.

‘Come on, Ellie. Whatever it is, we can talk it through.’

Leo let her arms drop and carried on towards the fridge. Ellie glanced over her shoulder, looking at Leo in surprise. But before she could say anything, the peal of the doorbell interrupted any opportunity they had to talk.

‘Who the bloody hell is that at nine in the morning? Do you think you could go please, Leo? I need a moment.’

She made her way to the front door, and was surprised to see Tom standing there. She quickly tried to pull herself together and shake off the lingering pain of Ellie’s words.

‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘What brings you out so early? I was going to call round later and thank you for dinner. The food was seriously good, Tom. But now you’ve beaten me to it.’

Leo pulled the door open wider to let him in. She had enjoyed herself the previous evening. Tom was good company, and he’d kept her entertained with exaggerated accounts of some of his more bizarre experiences as a policeman.

He stepped in through the open front door.

‘I was thinking about our conversation last night,’ Tom said. ‘I thought it might be a good idea to have a word with Max and Ellie about the security here. I’m a bit worried that somebody was able to come and go so easily - even if they didn’t take anything. Are they in?’

Feeling a trace of untypical disappointment that Tom wasn’t here to see her, Leo showed him through to the kitchen.

‘Max is out with the twins at the moment, but Ellie’s here. Can I make you a cup of coffee? We were about to have some.’

‘That sounds good, as long as I’m not in the way,’ Tom said as they walked through to the kitchen. ‘Hi, Ellie. I hope you don’t mind me dropping round like this, but I wanted to have a chat with you about your belief that somebody was in your house on Sunday.’

Ellie looked at Leo, and frowned.

‘Everybody thinks it was my imagination, Tom. Max believes I’m getting a bit neurotic, and Leo didn’t seem too worried.’

Tom gave Leo a questioning look.

‘Ah,’ she said. ‘Sorry, Ellie, but I did wonder if you might be right. I didn’t want to make a huge fuss because I thought it would spook you as it was probably a one-off. You’ve got enough to worry about. It seems as if somebody had been looking at files on my laptop, and Max said it wasn’t him.’

Ellie’s former fury had returned, and Leo could have kicked herself. Fortunately, Ellie contained her anger in front of Tom, and Leo thought this might be a good time to escape.

‘Look, if you don’t need me I’ll make the coffee and then make myself scarce, if that’s okay. I’ve got a few things I need to do this morning. I’ll take that cardigan back to Mimi too, while I’m out.’

Leo offered a weak smile to her sister, poured the milk into the coffees, and made the swiftest exit possible.

* * *

Ellie didn’t want to have this conversation. She’d already worked out who must have been in the house, and she wanted the subject dropped. She wished she’d never mentioned it.

None of that was Tom’s fault, of course. He was genuinely trying to help. He asked her for more details about Sunday, but her replies were practically monosyllabic, and in the end he obviously decided that he wasn’t going to make much progress with her.

It was with some relief that Tom finally changed the subject.

‘Are you still nursing Abbie Campbell?’ he asked.

‘Yes, and there’s been a change for the better. Did you know? They’re taking her off the ventilator - possibly even today. She responded to some external stimulus tests yesterday, so I’m hoping that we’ll see more improvement soon. Poor mite.’ Ellie looked pensive. ‘There was something that I wanted to ask you, Tom. I wouldn’t mention it to anybody else but as you are, or rather were, a policeman, I thought it might be okay.’

‘I might not be working at the moment, but it doesn’t make any difference to my discretion. What’s worrying you?’

Ellie pushed her empty coffee cup away. There was something about Tom that seemed solid and reliable, but she felt there was more to him than that. Even on Saturday when he was relaxed and chatting, she had noticed a hint of sadness in those eyes and she wondered what had put it there.

‘Abbie’s legs and feet when she came in. They were covered in nettle stings, and her feet were cut to shreds. Nobody has mentioned how it happened, but surely it must be relevant? I don’t know why nothing has been said. And I was looking at her X-rays the other day, and both her arms have been broken at some stage. I asked the doctor about it, and he said they were very old injuries, and it was nothing for me to worry about. What do you think?’

‘I knew about the nettle stings and the cut feet. The police have been keeping that to themselves until they work out what happened. The most likely theory is that Abbie escaped from wherever she was being held. We know that she came from the woods - we’ve found some traces - and there are plenty of nettles there. But her T-shirt had been rubbed in cow dung, so she must have come from the fields across the road. I’ve been speaking to my mate, Steve, who is working on the case. He said the trouble is that there are so many properties that back onto the fields, and they have no idea which direction she would have come from, or how far she ran. Anyway announcements are going out on the news today - I think they’ve already started - to see if anybody can help at all with the enquiry.’

Ellie was relieved that this wasn’t being ignored. But the woods!

She had all but forgotten the memories that had plagued her on Sunday. Should she tell Tom what happened there all those years ago? She had promised Fiona she would never tell a living soul, and surely it could have no relevance today? It was all so very long ago. Too many secrets and lies, she thought dejectedly. Fortunately, Tom hadn’t noticed that her attention had wandered.

‘As far as the broken bones go,’ Tom said, ‘they may or may not have any bearing on this case. The police will have looked into it, you know, so if you’re wondering about the parents they’ll have checked when the bones were broken and what was said at the time.’

Ellie was appalled.

‘God, no! I’m sorry, I wasn’t suggesting anything about the parents. Kath and Brian are amazing and it’s clear how much they love Abbie. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’

‘Don’t worry, Ellie. It’s right to ask questions - but it will have been covered, I can assure you.’

At that moment, one smiley and one not so smiley face appeared at the glass doors to the garden. Max followed behind, pushing one bike with, and one bike without stabilisers. Ruby was grinning from ear to ear, while Jake looked defiant. She didn’t need to ask what had happened. Her cautious son had obviously decided he wasn’t yet ready to take the risk.

Dumping the bikes on the lawn, Max opened the door and shooed the children inside. They ran over to their mum, both clamouring for her attention. She listened with wide open eyes as they each told their version of the morning’s events - adding the occasional “wow” and “how brave” or “how sensible” as the occasion warranted. She grabbed them both, one in each arm, and gave them a huge hug. They were the best.

‘Right, you two,’ Max said. ‘You can watch half an hour of a DVD, and then we’re doing something else. Ruby - you get to watch for being brave, and Jake you get to watch for being honest. Ah ah - NOT in my media room, thank you very much. In the playroom. Scoot!’

Max pulled out a chair and sat down.

‘Tom - how are you? Do you fancy another coffee, because I desperately need one - mainly on the basis that it’s a bit early for a beer.’

Ellie could see Tom looking at her to assess his welcome. She didn’t think she could cope with half an hour alone with Max just now, so she tried her best to give Tom an encouraging smile, and he took the hint.

‘Thanks, Max. That would be great, if I’m not taking up too much of your time.’

‘I have a half hour reprieve, mate - and I plan to enjoy it. The joys of school holidays. Normally we plan loads of family trips, but with Ellie working this week I’ve drawn the short straw.’ It was clear from Max’s grin that this wasn’t an issue for him. ‘What are you two nattering about, anyway?’

‘Abbie Campbell,’ Ellie said.

‘God, yes - that’s terrible about the Facebook stuff isn’t it? Ellie told me. It sounds like she was stalked.’

‘Sadly it looks as if you’re right - Abbie was targeted for some reason,’ Tom said.

‘Why did this person have all the fake friends, though?’ Ellie asked.

‘Anybody with no friends would be a bit suspicious, so they make up a number of phoney identities, and all friend each other. He’ll probably have approached other girls - real ones - too. Whoever this abductor is, he’ll most likely have targeted people of a similar age with a low number of friends - the ones that might be desperate.’

Max was shaking his head as he brought over the cups of coffee and sat down at the table.

‘So somebody has cold-bloodedly planned this - to befriend Abbie. But why? It doesn’t make any sense. Were any of the other kids in the network targeted, do you know? The real ones, I mean.’

‘I don’t know,’ Tom said. ‘It looks as if it was focused on Abbie - but she may just have been the first target. People reveal so much stuff about themselves nowadays - everywhere they’ve been, or worse still, where they’re going. It’s a gift to criminals. Imagine a young girl who’s missed the last bus? She posts something about it as she sets off to walk home - forgetting that she’s previously posted where she was going that evening – even down to the specific location. Sorry to say it, but even if she hasn’t been daft enough to mention the bus number, she’s easy pickings for anybody who’s been watching her.’

‘Is it really that dangerous?’ Ellie asked. She wasn’t much of a social networker herself, but lots of her friends were.

‘It can be if you’re not careful,’ Tom answered. ‘A woman was murdered because she changed her status on Facebook from married to single. It appears her husband wasn’t too impressed. But even if you’re careful yourself, a real stalker will contact your friends and get to know them, and get them to reveal private stuff about you.’

‘Why can’t they catch them, then? Surely things can be tracked back through the internet?’

‘In theory, but there are techniques people can use to make it difficult as far as this sort of crime is concerned. There are ways of rerouting communications round the world several times to make it very hard to trace back. Hopefully this guy isn’t so savvy and might have given something away.’

‘You keep saying ‘he’ - and I know that makes sense. But surely she wouldn’t have got in the car with a man, would she?’ Ellie asked.

‘Well, she was expecting Chloe’s mum. If a man had turned up and said “Are you Abbie? I’m Chloe’s dad - her mum was in the bath and we didn’t want you to have to hang around” would she have believed him? I suspect she would, you know.’

‘So this is cyber-stalking, is it?’ Max asked.

‘Strictly speaking cyber stalkers only stalk you online, and not in the flesh. Digitally enhanced stalking is a different issue. That’s when people use online information or a mobile phone or whatever to stalk you for real.’

‘Mobile phones?’ Ellie said. ‘What on earth can they do with a mobile phone?’

Tom laughed.

‘Ellie - you have no idea. There are apps you can buy online to put on somebody’s phone that let you track all sorts of activity. Don’t get me onto that or I could be here all day.’

‘I’m not sure I want to know,’ Max said

‘Actually, Max, all this talk of people knowing where you are and what you’re doing reminds me. I was talking to Ellie earlier about this visitor you appear to have had on Sunday. What’s your take on it?’ Tom asked.

Ellie looked nervously at Max. His response to Tom’s question was to look at Ellie and give her a smile, which to her mind had a hint of irritating condescension.

‘I think that Ellie perhaps thought somebody had been in, but maybe the kids had messed things up a bit. I’m positive I locked the door, and there were no signs of a break-in, so I don’t see how. Sorry, Ellie. I don’t want to doubt you, but…’

Ellie was quick to agree with Max. She was positive she knew who it was, and she wanted this conversation to stop before Max worked it out.

‘It’s nothing, Tom. Like Max says, I probably imagined it.’

‘What about keys. Could anybody have had keys to the house?’

Although she was sure it was irrelevant, Ellie suddenly realised that there was one thing that might put everybody off the trail.

‘Sean brought round the spare set of keys that he had - do you remember Max? I asked you about them on Sunday morning, and you said you didn’t know what you’d done with them. Maybe somebody took them?’

Max turned to face Ellie with a look of total incredulity.

‘Who, for God’s sake? Those people are all our friends. Who on earth was going to take a set of keys so that they could come in and root around in your knicker drawer? Come on, Ellie. That’s a bit far fetched, don’t you think?’

Ellie knew that Max was right - but it was the best story that she could come up with.

* * *

As soon as she possibly could without appearing rude, Ellie escaped to the bedroom leaving Max to show their guest out. She had intentionally left her phone switched off since the previous night, and although she was anxious about what she would find when she turned it on, she couldn’t put it off forever. And anyway, there was something that she was going to have to say. Once more she went into the bathroom. Ridiculous as it was, there was little choice if she wanted to avoid being interrupted. Leaning her back against the closed door, she switched the phone on.

As expected, the minute it sprang to life the phone beeped to signal that there were messages and missed calls. Five text messages last night, and two missed calls, plus more this morning. All from the same person. What did he think he was doing?

The messages were all along the same lines.

WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT, ELLIE? WHY WERE YOU BEHAVING LIKE THAT WITH MAX? I DIDN’T LIKE IT. REMEMBER THAT I’M WATCHING YOU. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ME, BUT I’M ALWAYS HERE. ALWAYS WATCHING.

She knew he was telling the truth. She permanently felt as if hot eyes were boring into the back of her neck, and was constantly looking over her shoulder.

There were other messages, demanding that she call him. She truly didn’t know what to do. Dropping her hands to her sides, she leant her head against the soft comfort of her dressing gown, hanging on the back of the door. Thinking there was nothing that she would like better than to wrap herself in its warmth and curl up on the bed, she thought about her options.

‘Sod it,’ she muttered, bringing the phone back to her ear and pressing the screen once. He answered immediately, as she’d known he would.

‘About time,’ he said. His voice sounded harsh, and Ellie felt a hard knot of fear. She had always thought that she could control the situation, but suddenly she wasn’t so sure.

‘What’s going on, Ellie? I thought we were just waiting for the right time for you to tell Max that you’re leaving him - and then you behave like that. Dancing with him, holding your body against him. What am I supposed to think?’

She took a deep breath, and tried to speak with a calm she wasn’t feeling.

‘I have never said that I’m leaving Max. Not once, and you know that. If he leaves me, that’s his choice. But I’m not going to leave him - for you, or anybody else. I don’t know what I have to do to convince you, but I want you to leave me alone.’

She heard a deep sigh of frustration from the other end of the phone.

‘I know you’re trying. I know you think you can make your marriage work. But you know that it’s me you want. You proved it.’

‘I proved nothing! I was stupid, hurt, angry - all of those things.’ Ellie realised that she was shouting, and dropped her voice lower. ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’

‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I realised yesterday what the problem is. You don’t know how to tell him, do you? Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll tell him. I’m not scared of Max. I’ll tell him that you and I belong together, and then it will be easy for you.’

Not Max. Please don’t tell Max.

But she couldn’t say the words. That would only inflame him more. She had to keep him calm until she could work out what to do.

‘I don’t want it to be easy. If Max ever needs to know about this, I’ll be the one to tell him. But there’s something else. You’ve been in my house, haven’t you? When we were out on Sunday, you came in the house didn’t you? You went into my bedroom and my bathroom. Why? Why? I don’t understand why you would do such a thing.’

‘Is that what you think of me? Is it? Seriously?’ There was a pause, and Ellie didn’t fill it. ‘What you and I have is special, darling. I would never do anything that would damage your trust in me. I promise you, I haven’t been in your house. If you remember, on Sunday I was close to you. Very close. I couldn’t have been in your house. The other day you were accusing me of knocking over a child and leaving her to die, and now you’re accusing me of breaking and entering. I know your trust in men has been shaken, but for God’s sake, Ellie!’

‘I don’t know what to think about anything any more, but please, I beg you, don’t say anything to Max, don’t go to the police about Friday night. I know you want to see me. I will see you, but can you just give me some time. Please?’

She knew she was stalling. She had no desire to see him at all, but maybe if he thought she was coming round to his way of thinking, she would have a chance to calm things down.

‘A couple of days, then. I can’t promise longer than that. But remember that I’m always here. Always watching. Always keeping you safe. Just remember. And my patience is running out.’

With that, he hung up.