‘Who the fuck are you?’ Chloe shouted from the top of the stairs, brandishing Sean’s hurley stick like it was a sword. ‘Don’t you dare touch my sister or I’ll fucking kill you.’
She leaped down, three steps at a time, and cracked the hurley across his knees as he raised his hands to his face to protect himself.
‘Chloe! Stop, you’ll kill him,’ Katie shouted.
Eamon Carter staggered against the wall. ‘Fucking mad bitches.’
‘You haven’t seen the half of it,’ Chloe said. ‘Now what the hell are you doing here? Tell me before I hit you again.’
The room was neat and tidy. Two wooden chairs pushed in against the table. Floor swept. One mug, a bowl and spoon drying on the draining board. Couch with throws neatly folded. A coffee table free from clutter.
No one home. No sign of a struggle. Nothing out of place.
Lottie looked in the bin. A few empty Coke cans, a sliced-bread wrapper and a chunk of hard cheese in cling film. She opened the refrigerator. Milk in date, tomatoes, ham and butter. Slamming it shut, she went to the bedroom.
Single bed. Not a wrinkle on the sheets. Military-style. Wardrobe open. Empty. Dresser drawers hanging out. All empty.
‘Not even a mothball,’ she said.
Boyd stuck his head into a small bathroom. ‘Likewise in here.’
‘Where did he go?’
‘Well, he wasn’t dragged out against his will,’ Boyd said.
‘Not through the front door anyway, unless those two feckers were asleep on the job.’
Lottie pulled Boyd out of her way and entered the small bathroom.
‘Here,’ she said, pointing up to the window hanging open on its hinges. ‘It’s about two feet by three. Plenty of room to squeeze out.’
‘This is the first floor. What did he do? Sprout wings?’ Boyd ran one hand through his hair and the other along his chin.
Lottie flipped down the toilet seat, stood on it and looked out. ‘He wouldn’t have to be Superman. There are fire-escape steps right outside.’
‘Shit.’ Boyd jumped up beside her. ‘You’re right. Fuck.’
‘Did they not think to watch the back of the building?’ Lottie shook her head and inadvertently knocked Boyd off the seat.
He banged his elbow off the wall. ‘They probably thought there was no exit.’
‘Thought? They should have checked.’ She stepped down beside Boyd in the confined space. ‘What a cock-up!’
Boyd said, ‘He could be in Timbuktu by now.’
Lottie brushed past him and re-entered the living-room-cum-kitchen. ‘He’s not gone far. He has to finish what he came here for.’ She picked a book from the shelves, flicked through the pages.
‘And what might that be?’
‘If I knew that, I’d be God. Get SOCOs to give the place a going-over. He might have held the girls here.’ She shoved the book back in place. ‘Let’s see if Kirby found out anything from the phone records and if Lynch has got us a crime scene.’
Katie ran upstairs to check on Milot, leaving Chloe watching Eamon Carter. When she’d gone to answer the door, she’d left the boy in Sean’s room playing a game on the computer. Sean would have a canary when he got home from school, but it kept the youngster occupied. Looking in now, she saw that Milot had mastered the keyboard and was engrossed in Minecraft.
Easing the door shut, she ran back to the kitchen. Eamon was sitting at the table. Chloe had placed a glass of water in front of him and stood with the hurley across her chest like a soldier on guard duty.
‘I’m telling you the truth,’ he said. ‘I think you broke my kneecap.’
‘Did you ring Mam?’ Katie asked Chloe.
‘She’s not answering.’
‘Probably busy with work. What’s he saying?’
‘I’m right here,’ Eamon Carter said, rubbing his knee furiously.
‘So you are. Why did you hit me?’
‘I said I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I was told to pick up the boy.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Chloe slammed the hurley against the side of the table.
Carter jumped, banging his other knee on the underside of the table. ‘Ouch. Will you stop?’
Katie said, ‘Chloe, take it easy.’
‘He’s telling lies. I don’t know what he’s up to. Probably going to take Milot and sell him to a gang of paedophiles.’
‘What paedophiles?’ Katie and Carter said together.
‘Just saying,’ Chloe said.
Eamon Carter made to stand up. Katie put her hand on his shoulder. He sat back down.
‘I’m sorry. Honestly. I’m not long in this job. I didn’t ask for all this.’
‘Tell us what you didn’t ask for.’ Katie pulled out a chair and sat opposite him.
He looked around.
‘There’s only the three of us. Go ahead,’ Chloe encouraged.
He didn’t look at all sure but he said, ‘Okay so. I think there must’ve been someone either watching your house or following me, because in the middle of Saturday night I got a phone call from someone. Threatening me and my mum.’
‘What?’ Chloe said. ‘Who?’
‘I don’t know.’ He wrung his hands into each other. ‘My mum lives with me since my dad died. Up in Rathfarnham. I commute to Ragmullin for work. I don’t know how they got my phone number let alone my address.’
‘What did this mysterious caller say to you?’ Chloe remained standing, hurley clasped in both hands.
‘He told me to come here today, when your mum’s at work, and take Milot.’
‘If I believed that, I’d believe in Santa Claus,’ Chloe said.
‘Shut up and listen.’ Katie scowled at her sister.
‘I told him to get lost. He was very angry. Started swearing and shouting at me. I couldn’t understand him. But then he said… he said he’d hurt my mum to show me just how serious he was. I was so terrified, I actually hung up on him.’
‘Did you ring the guards?’ Katie asked.
He shook his head. ‘Sure, what was I going to tell them?’
‘There have been three murders in Ragmullin and two girls missing, including Milot’s mother. Why wouldn’t you ring the guards? You shit-head.’ Chloe slammed the hurley against the table again.
‘I have to take the boy with me. I’ve no choice. Please listen to me.’
‘I’m all ears,’ Chloe said.
‘Yesterday afternoon I was sitting down with my mum to watch a football game on the telly and these two guys march in.’
‘What two guys?’
‘I don’t know who they were. Dressed in black jeans and T-shirts. They came in the back door, walked through the kitchen and into the sitting room. My poor mum nearly had a heart attack. They dragged me out of the room, told me I was to get the boy. They said I wouldn’t raise any suspicions because it was my job, and I was to tell no one. Or else…’
‘Or else what?’
‘They’d come back and kill my mum.’
‘Jesus.’ Katie felt the blood draining out of her face. ‘And you still haven’t contacted the gardaí?’
‘No. I can’t, that’s what they said. No guards or Mum gets it.’
Chloe asked, ‘What happened after that?’
‘That’s it. They went out the back door and over the wall.’
‘What were you supposed to do when you had Milot?’
‘They gave me a number. I’ve to text it when I have him and then I’ll get further instructions.’
‘Do they think you’re Superman or what?’ Chloe was met with a steely stare. ‘I can’t believe you’d do this to an innocent child, and you a social worker and all.’