‘No one’s here and you don’t need groceries, Ma. I got everything we need the other day, remember?’ He paused. ‘Yes, you do remember. Come on, Ma, it’s cold and you’ll get ill. Let’s get you back into the house.’
The main door slammed shut and she heard him lock it. Once again, she was alone with her thoughts, which had taken an even darker turn than usual. Luke had found someone else. She imagined her photos being taken down, Heidi and Max having a new mother, a new family, maybe. Luke was the devoted type. If he met the right woman, she knew he’d marry again, and he’d be the perfect husband. But he was her husband. She punched the wall and heard her knuckles crack. ‘No,’ she yelled as she scrunched her pillow tightly and sobbed into it. ‘I want my babies,’ she cried as she thought of Max and Heidi. She wanted to hold them and tell them how much she loved them.
She cried into the darkness. The darkness was still, the darkness was plain; the darkness gave her nothing back. It incubated an evil sickness with which she’d been infected for many rotten years – four winters. She closed her eyes and entered a better world. The one where she had a big homecoming, the one where she was rescued, the one where he slipped up and allowed her to escape. That world was much better and it was where she’d stay, for now.
Fifteen
Gina grabbed another tissue and sneezed into it. ‘Right, Baby Jenkins.’ She lifted the file that she’d retrieved from the archives earlier in the day. The work notes were all bunched up with an old elastic band. She removed the band and opened them up. All the original statements were there, as were the DNA results and photos of Deborah and her family. There was also a batch of witness statements, and a map of where the shoe was found, outlining the direction Deborah would’ve taken to head home.
They interviewed her husband, Luke, her neighbours and colleagues, parents from the school her children attended and her friends, but they’d added nothing to the case. Deborah had simply disappeared. No one was out of place and they’d failed to find a convincing motive. Deborah had a loving family and had been described as happy with her life by all who knew her.
One of the parents had spotted a person lurking around the school. Again, no description. The figure had been too far away and had been wearing a hooded top. Then there was Samuel Avery, the pub landlord. She felt her skin crawl as she read his name.
There was a tap on her door. She grabbed the paperwork and slid it back into a pile. ‘Come in.’
‘I noticed that you’d marked a file “Library Baby”,’ said Jacob. ‘Is that what we’ve called the case? Anyway, we’ve set up the task group as you requested.’
‘You, me, Wyre and O’Connor?’ Gina asked.
‘That’s right. And PC Smith, if we need him.’
‘Great. We need to get started. There’s a man out there who needs to know that his wife is still alive. And not only that, but she’s had a baby.’
Jacob looked down at his feet. ‘Shall I go with Wyre? Only, you look like tripe.’
Gina felt a cold trail running from her nose. She grabbed a tissue, quickly wiping the mucus before it reached her top lip. ‘You know how to make someone feel good about themselves.’
‘I sure do. Full of charm, I am.’
‘No.’
‘You mean I’m not full of charm?’
Gina stared up at Jacob. ‘I mean no to me not being there when you visit Luke Jenkins. I will be there. It’s a case I was part of four years ago – it was my first case here – and it’s still unresolved. If anyone’s going to close it, I am, stinking cold or not. And in answer to your other question, you score zero on the charm-o-meter.’
‘Say it as it is, why don’t you? But I totally understand about you needing to tell Luke Jenkins. Shall I go and brief the team?’
‘Tell them I’ll be through in a moment. I’ll handle it.’
‘Will do. O’Connor’s dropping in at the sandwich van on the way in. Do you want anything?’
She swallowed. Her throat was sand-papery and dry. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to informing Mr Jenkins of the news either. Her stomach flipped at the thought. ‘No, I’ll pass this time.’
‘It’s not like you to pass on a greasy butty. Now I know you’re sick.’
‘Sick I am. Right, let’s get back to the tasks in hand. I’m going to call Luke Jenkins and arrange a visit. Be ready to tag along, I want you with me for this one. This is now our prime investigation. Watch his reactions, watch every movement.’
He nodded. ‘Will do,’ he replied as he left her office, pulling the door behind him.
Gina opened up the file once again and began to read Deborah’s medical information. The usual things were contained in it. She’d had two children, no major illnesses and no ongoing conditions. She focused on the information at the bottom of the page: Deborah had a contraceptive implant fitted the month before she disappeared. She typed the name of the implant into Google. Scrolling down all the links, she selected the NHS website and opened the page. Apparently, the implant would last three years before needing to be replaced. She sat back in her chair while staring at the screen. Deborah’s implant had run out of its contraceptive properties, and that’s why she’d ended up pregnant.
Head pounding at the thoughts that ran through her mind, she grabbed the box of painkillers from her top drawer and threw a couple of them into her mouth before swallowing them down with an inch of cold coffee. Her stomach fluttered, a combination of nerves and excitement. She pictured Deborah being held by someone. Maybe this person had rendered her pregnant once the implant had worn off, and almost four years to the date of her disappearance she’d given birth to a daughter. The timeline was falling into place. If she was being held against her will, they needed to find her quickly. Time was against them. She couldn’t let Deborah go through this level of trauma again. Gina stared into her empty coffee mug and shuddered at the thought of what Deborah might be going through. It reminded her of her own past.
Before Hannah was born, she and Terry had seemed like any normal young couple, but soon they were living far away from her parents and she eventually lost touch with them. A few months later, her mother died of an aggressive form of cancer and her father drank himself to death, leaving her heartbroken. Terry only drove her back for their funerals. She’d never forgiven herself for not being there for either of them. She thought of her father, sitting in his favourite chair whilst he watched Birmingham City playing on the television. She could’ve left at any time, gone back home and comforted him, but Terry had her under his control.
After that, Terry’s drinking and recreational drug use became more frequent. As she’d lain in bed weeping on the night of her father’s funeral, she’d felt her tender breasts and thought of the life she was carrying inside her. She didn’t want Terry to come home that night, but he had. Gina shivered as memories ran through her mind.
Was Deborah that scared all the time? Was she trapped? Gina took a deep breath as the room began to sway. The tablets needed to kick in, before her pounding head exploded. She had a team briefing to deliver. She placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes, but the woozy feeling continued. Breathe in and out, in and out.
‘Ma’am,’ Wyre said.
Gina flinched and forced a smile as she hid her trembling hands under her desk.
‘I knocked twice. Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine. Just this cold. I’m not letting it win though.’ This case was already getting to her and she hadn’t even started. Gina wiped her nose again. The frequent contact with dry tissue was starting to scrape the skin from her tender nose.
‘I’m off out in a while to see Deborah Jenkins’ husband. I’ll be taking Jacob with me. Can you continue going through all the calls? Anything you come across that’s relevant, let me know straight away. We’re going to find Deborah.’
‘Will do.’ Wyre smiled.
‘I’ll be through for the briefing first, be just a moment,’ Gina said, picking up the phone to dial Luke’s number.
Sixteen