Chosen Child (28 page)

‘Tell you what, Ella. We’ll get the police started on a car
search, and then we’ll have a look at the shed. Okay?’

Amanda stood up. She couldn’t, she simply couldn’t stand by
while this policeman rootled round in the place Gareth might be hidden. Even if
he wasn’t there any more, a pair of trained eyes might notice something. What
had Rick done?

‘Ella, I’m sorry, but I have to collect Jaden. Will you be
all right?’

Ella took her to the door. ‘Thanks, Amanda, you’ve been a
life-saver this afternoon. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.’

Amanda almost ran down the hill. Nothing good was going to
happen here, she could feel that all the way down her gut.

Friday 1st August

Ella opened the shed door and stood back to let Owen enter,
but he stood on the threshold for a long moment, just looking.

‘So what’s the story here?’ he said at last.

Knowing the police were out looking for the car and Soraya
was a huge weight off Ella’s mind. How good it felt now to unload the bad
feeling she’d had when the adoption became stressful and Rick retreated to the
shed. But she couldn’t remember exactly when he’d decided to lay concrete. And
why he hadn’t got someone in to do it for him was another mystery – he was
usually such a perfectionist about things like that.

Owen listened without interrupting, then pressed his foot on
the loose board covering the mess of stone. ‘So there’s still concrete under
here?’

‘Yes. Dad was chipping it away, and I think that must have
been when he was taken ill.’

‘Right. So who replaced the floor afterwards?’

Ella shrugged. ‘It must have been Dad or Rick. Owen, when
will we hear if they’ve traced the car?’

He stepped into the shed and lifted a pair of gardening
gloves. ‘Shouldn’t be long. Ella, I’m going to have a very quick look under
here if that’s all right.’

Something about his manner made argument impossible. Ella
stood in the doorway while Owen heaved the wooden slab up then wielded a spade.

He managed to free several chunks of concrete, and laid them
on the other half of the floor. ‘The earth here’s pretty loose,’ he said,
prodding it with the spade, his brow furrowed.

Ella stood tapping her foot. Digging up the shed floor
wouldn’t bring Soraya home. But at least the police were out looking for the
car now.

All at once Owen dropped the spade and seized a trowel from
the shelf behind him. Crouching, he scraped earth to the side, looking for all
the world like an archaeologist at work.

Ella leaned forward to see what he was doing. There was
something plastic, and something grey and white in the hole. But – no! Oh God.
It couldn’t be… Her gut twisted.

Owen rose, gripped her elbow and led her firmly towards the
house. Ella was shaking, shivers painful across her chest, her heart thudding
at twice its usual rate.

‘Were those – Owen, were those
bones
back there?’ Her stomach churned at the thought.

Owen’s mouth was a tight slash. ‘Don’t worry, finding Soraya
will be top priority.’

Ella gazed at him, then felt her stomach move. She ran into
the downstairs bathroom and was sick. How could there be human bones beneath
the shed? Was this the reason Rick wanted to lay the concrete? What was going
on?

She wiped her face with a washcloth and stared into the
mirror. The woman looking back at her was pale, wide-eyed, and shocked. She’d
thought the situation couldn’t possibly have been more complicated but oh, how
wrong that was. She trailed back to the kitchen to find Owen on his phone. He
ended the call and turned to her.

‘They’re on their way. Are you all right?’ He poured boiling
water into two mugs.

Ella accepted a mug of tea and warmed her hands on it. ‘I
don’t know what to think.’

His expression was grim. ‘Could Rick have been trying to
hide something?’

Ella’s legs were shaking. What was he getting at?

Two police cars arrived, and Ella sat in the kitchen with a
WPC while Owen took the other officers round to the shed. Her teeth chattered
on the rim of the mug when she tried to drink, but the tea was lukewarm now
anyway.

Time passed in a horrible blur. Ella remained in the
kitchen, trying not to watch, but it was impossible to ignore the large tent
being erected over the shed. Like something from the TV. The sound of drilling
and hammering filled the air for a long while before subsiding into the odd
scraping noise or dull thud. Rick’s concrete was being removed.

Owen was still out there, speaking to the investigating
officers. He must be pretty high up in his profession, thought Ella. The other
officers were including him in the discussion even though he didn’t belong to
the St Ives force. She’d never asked him his rank, but then up until today he’d
merely been a nice man, her new neighbour. Ella leaned her arms on the table
and buried her head in them.

It was unbelievable. Bones in the shed –
her
shed. And – Rick’s shed.

‘Hey.’ Owen sat down at right angles to her. ‘Are you okay?’

‘How long has that – whatever – been under the shed floor?’

‘I can’t talk about it, Ella. But – unofficially, only a few
weeks.’

Ella’s hands floated to her mouth. If the bones had only
been there a few weeks, then Rick must have put them there. And then tried to
hide them better with the concrete…
Whose bones were they?

Fear for Soraya was heavy in Ella’s gut; it was all she
could do not to be sick again. And oh no – she’d have to call Liz. She could
put that off no longer; the police were looking for Soraya. But it would be the
beginning of the end for her as Soraya’s mother. She massaged her temples,
gathering strength, then lifted her phone.

‘Oh, Ella, I’m so sorry.’

Tears shot into Ella’s eyes. At least Liz wasn’t blaming
her, and it wasn’t her fault, was it – but it felt as if it was.

‘What’ll happen when they find her?’ Ella held her breath
waiting for the reply. It wasn’t confidence-inspiring.

‘I don’t know. We’ll see when that happens. I’ll be in
touch. Oh, and I’ll contact the police about the search, too.’

That was it, then. Hot tears brimmed up in Ella’s eyes and
trickled down to drip off her chin. They would hardly let a child come here
while bodies or skeletons or whatever were being unearthed in the back garden,
even if there hadn’t been the small matter of Rick’s behaviour to consider too.
It would be back to Auntie Mel’s for Soraya if she was lucky, and Auntie
Stranger’s if she wasn’t. Ella pounded a fist on the table. How she hated Rick
now.

‘Ella, can I do anything?’

Owen’s voice was perfectly neutral. Was she a suspect? But
of course she was, she was living in a house where bones had been discovered.

‘I should call my mother too. She’s at her cousin’s. What
can I tell her?’

‘Why don’t I call the cousin for you, let her know a minimum
of what’s going on, and tell her to keep your mother away from news reports in
the meantime?’ he suggested, and Ella closed her eyes in despair. Was this
going to be in the news already?

He patted her shoulder. ‘There are reporters out the front
already.’

Ella couldn’t answer him. She called up Mary’s mobile and
handed over her phone. Owen described what was going on very briefly, and
warned against watching news bulletins that evening, then slid the mobile back
across the table.

‘Ella, the police need to search this place. They’ll take
you to the station to make a statement, and after that you can come to mine
until you’re allowed back in here, but that won’t be today. Unless there’s
anywhere else you’d rather go? Amanda’s?’

‘No,’ said Ella immediately. ‘I don’t know her that well.
Thanks, Owen. I want to stay nearby until Soraya’s found. I know it’s not
logical because after this I don’t think I’ll get her back.’

‘I’m sure – I hope you will eventually,’ he said heavily.

Ella felt her head droop again. Tearful, confused thoughts
swirled around her mind. Impossible to imagine whose bones Rick would conceal
in the garden. And when would they find him and
was Soraya
all right?

She’d thought the worst had happened, that the day could get
no blacker. But the moment the head of the investigating team appeared in the
kitchen doorway Ella sensed there was more bad news coming, and she was right.

‘We’ve found your car in Newquay,’ the man said. ‘It was
parked outside a B&B and apparently Mr Baxter and your little girl were
there for a while today, but they left about five o’clock, leaving the car behind.’

Ella’s lips started to tingle. Without the car, there was no
easy way to find Rick. The man went on. ‘We’re checking CCTV cameras and we’ll
try to track his phone, too. We’ll put out an appeal for the public to keep
their eyes open. If you have a recent photo of Soraya that would help.’

The world was spinning round, no, no, she mustn’t faint.
Rick was on the run with Soraya. And the officer hadn’t finished yet.

‘We’re removing the remains now, Mrs Baxter. We’ll take you
to the station after that, and then bring you back here to Detective Chief
Inspector Fife’s home.’

Ella gaped at him. So Owen
was
one
of the big shots.

‘Ella. I’ll come with you. Go and pack an overnight bag, and
try to stay calm.’

Owen’s voice was kind, but the other officers’ faces were
grim. Ella lurched to her feet, and the WPC appeared at her side. There would
be some tough questions asked at the police station – she was the woman who
hadn’t noticed when her husband went so far off the rails that he’d buried a –
but he wouldn’t have buried a skeleton, would he, he’d have buried a body, and
the biggest question of all was still there, unanswered in front of them.

Whose body?

Friday 1st August

‘Wake up! I want to go to Mummy.’

Someone was shaking his arm, but weakness and dizziness were
pinning him to the bed. A couple of deep breaths helped, and he forced his eyes
open. Soraya’s blurry face swam into view and he remembered. Hell, he’d left
her in the bath.

It took a huge effort, but a moment later he was sitting on
the edge of the bed, propping himself up with fingers splayed on the mattress.
Soraya was fully dressed, though her hair was a damp, tousled mess.

‘Right. I’ll clear the bathroom.’ His legs didn’t belong to
him but he managed to lurch along the corridor. A splash of cold water on his
face helped, then Rick wiped up the mess Soraya had made on the floor and
rejoined her in the bedroom. To his horror she was sitting with his phone, and
he snatched it back. Shit, it was half past four.

Apprehension rising, he checked his calls. Nothing had come
from Ella since the three o’clock deadline she’d given him, but there were
several missed calls and a text from Amanda. He opened the text and the world
swayed, nauseatingly, like an of out-of-focus horror movie. He could almost
hear the music, discords heralding approaching disaster.

Ella’s involving the police. Owen’s going
to look at the shed. Call me.

Rick slumped on the bed, head hanging. That was it, then.
Gareth would be found – he might even have been found already. That text was
sent over an hour ago. The police would be looking for him and Soraya… He had
to get away from here, find somewhere to think. Penzance. He would go back to
Penzance, they wouldn’t think to look for him there. He lurched across the room
and grabbed his case.

‘Get your stuff, Soraya. We’ll go in the train, it’s
quicker.’

‘It’s not quicker. I want to go in the car. You said - ’

‘And now I’m saying we’re going in the goddamn train and I
don’t want to hear another word from you! Understand?’

She flinched, and he rummaged through his belongings. He
needed some kind of disguise, something that would make it harder for people to
identify him. Sunglasses, yes, and his cap. That would do. And something to
hide as much of Soraya’s face as possible. Her sunhat presented itself, and he
grabbed the little girl’s hairbrush.

‘We’ll make you a nice hairdo for Mummy. Come here.’

She retreated towards the table, her lips trembling.

‘For heaven’s sake, Soraya, you can’t go out like that!’ Two
strides and he was beside her, holding her bony shoulder with one hand and
manipulating the hairbrush with the other. She wriggled and sobbed as he pulled
the brush through her damp hair and twisted it into one of the elastics round
the handle, but she looked different with her hair under the hat. He nodded,
satisfied. A quick goodbye here and off to the station, where they could merge
into a crowd and be safe. And on the way he would chuck his phone into the sea.

Luck was with him downstairs. The owner’s teenager checked
him out, more interested in his iPad than in the departing guests. Rick didn’t
even need to make a detour to the sea to get rid of his phone, because they
passed a section of roadworks shortly after leaving the B&B, and he dropped
it into a deep muddy hole in the road.

‘What was that?’ Soraya was shivering. ‘Are we going to
Mummy?’

‘Just a stone. Yes, the station’s along here. See the red
and white sign?’

In the train he tried to relax – he should plan now. This
was surreal. He was running away from his wife, who, if Amanda was to be
believed, had involved the police to search for him – and oh, what was going on
with the shed? Until he knew that he’d have to be very careful. Soraya was
staring out of the window in a way that made him hope she would fall asleep
soon. He wasn’t looking forward to the moment when she realised they weren’t
going home to Mummy. And what would they do when they reached Penzance? Find
another B&B was the obvious answer, but it wouldn’t be easy to do that and
remain safely anonymous. But he couldn’t sleep rough with a child under his
arm. How in the name of all that was holy had he ended up like this?