Sleep Tight (36 page)

As Ray approached the car, flushed from his exertion, Tom and Becky opened their doors
and got out, turning to let Olivia – who was hemmed in by the safety lock – out too. Becky was glad of the fresh air and the opportunity to stretch her legs. A blustery wind was blowing clean sea air into her lungs and she took a deep breath.

‘Any news?’ Tom asked. An anxious Olivia peered up at Ray through eyes swollen with weeping and, Becky suspected, from the continued pain in her head.

‘He’s nowhere on the cliff paths. We’re as certain as we can be. We can only think he’s gone into hiding somewhere.’

Becky looked around her. All she could see was open countryside.

Ray interpreted her look correctly. ‘It’s not quite as simple as it seems. The place is riddled with bunkers from the war, and then there are the old forts. The first bit of Brookes’ escape was past a few houses that are probably empty at this time of year, so he could have broken in. They might not even be locked. We’re starting a systematic search of the obvious places, but I’m sorry; we’re just going to have to be patient. Can you tell me what the children are wearing, Mrs Brookes? Knowing what colours we’re looking out for might help.’

While Olivia was describing Jasmine’s blue T-shirt and matching stripy shorts, Becky turned back towards the sea. What would Robert’s next move be? How could they flush him out? It wouldn’t be dark for hours, so what was he hoping would happen?

There was a crackle from Ray’s radio behind her, and he grabbed it.

‘
What?’
Ray shouted, and Becky spun round to look at him. Worry lines were creasing his brows. ‘How the
fuck
did he get there?’ Ray was already jogging towards the car, and they all followed. ‘Call Ed and tell him to redirect his men – but be subtle. No charging in. Got it?’

Ray headed towards the driver’s side, and Becky jumped in the back with Olivia. Nobody spoke, scared to distract Ray from his manoeuvre of the car so close to the edge of the cliff. Becky felt Olivia reach out towards her, her hand like a block of ice, and she squeezed the bones of Becky’s fingers until they felt they were going to break. Ray swung the car on to the track and switched his siren on.

‘Don’t worry – I’ll turn this off once we get close. We were wrong. It seems he turned the other way out of the garden, not knowing the island I suppose. It’s pretty flat for a mile or so – mainly beaches. We sent a couple of people out that way, but he must have hidden for a bit because nobody saw them. The lifeboat has just spotted him over beyond Fort Clonque.’

Olivia seemed to breathe out. ‘I know the fort. It’s in the sea, isn’t it? Just a causeway to it, so it’s at sea level.’

Becky suddenly understood Olivia’s thinking. If it was at sea level, it was safe.

‘The fort’s at sea level, but that’s not where they were. They were up above it. On the
cliffs.’

59

I’m holding on to Becky’s hand for dear life, but when Ray explains where my children are, the blood rushes to my head and the pounding intensifies. I think I’m going to pass out again, and I will myself to hold it together. The children must be exhausted. They’ve been walking for hours. Freddie will be crying, and Billy will be dragging his feet and complaining. And Jaz? She will be saying nothing, trying to understand what’s going on, and worrying about me. The last image she has of me is one of her father smashing my head against a radiator.

I’m relieved when Ray turns off the siren. If Robert hears it, he’ll know we’ve found him. I need to get to him first.

Ray races the car up a steep hill, past another huge old ruined fort, lights flashing and drawing looks of surprise from the few people and cars that we pass. He pulls over at the side of the road where there is a narrow footpath.

‘Becky,’ he says, ‘why don’t you stay in the car with Olivia. Tom and I have got this.’

Not a chance
.

‘I’m coming,’ I say, praying they won’t keep me locked in the back.

Tom turns round to look at me, his face sympathetic but serious.

‘Olivia, your children are going to need you, so you can come. But it’s essential that you stay down and out of sight. If he sees you, it may all be over. Do you understand?’

I agree, not knowing if I will be able to keep my promise when I see my babies.

Ray has already set off across the field at a run.

‘What’s Ray doing?’ I whisper urgently, afraid that Robert will hear me.

‘He’ll have gone to check if he can see Robert. Don’t worry. He won’t approach him if the situation is dangerous.’

We hurry along the path, trying to keep our eyes on Ray ahead of us. The ground is
uneven, with bright yellow gorse and pale lilac crane’s bill trying to encroach on the narrow trail. I have to keep looking down to avoid stumbling, but I don’t want to take my eyes off Ray. Suddenly he crouches down and turns towards us to hold up a hand in warning. I can’t see Robert, but I know Ray can. He signals us to get down low, especially Tom who is taller than the rest of us. We bend at the waist and the knees and quietly make our way forwards.

I have this mad notion that I can communicate with Jaz. I’ve always believed that telepathy is a skill or a sense waiting to be discovered, and now I am going to give it my best shot.

Jaz, darling, can you hear me?
I repeat in my head.
Get on the ground, Jaz. Get the boys on the ground and wrap yourselves together in knots, arms and legs, so he can’t separate you. It will make it harder. Do it, Jaz. Just do it, sweetheart
.

We reach Ray and finally I can see Robert and the children just below us. I swallow a sob of relief that they are still alive. Robert is standing, but Jaz is already on the ground, probably exhausted from the walk, and she is leaning forwards with her head down. Freddie is beside her, trying to snuggle closer to her, and without looking up she reaches out an arm to wrap around him. Billy is on his feet, staring at his dad but I’m too far away to read the expression on his face. I imagine he is totally bewildered.

Everywhere is quiet, and I try to separate out the sounds, so that I might hear the children’s voices. The intermittent crashing of waves on to the rocks at the base of the cliff and the shrill, piping call of an oystercatcher mask the sounds I am listening for. But faintly I think I can hear the gulping noise Billy makes when he is trying not to cry, and his big sister saying, ‘Shh, shh.’ Or perhaps I’m imagining it.

Then I hear the low growl of Robert’s voice, more distinct, because he is facing us. The wind is whipping some of his words away, but I know what he’s saying.

‘Stand up, Jasmine, and pick Freddie up.’ I can see from his hand movements what he wants her to do. He wants her to hold Freddie because he can’t hold them all at once. But Jasmine isn’t moving. She’s pulled Freddie close to her, not quite doing what I implored her to do in my thoughts, but she’s making it difficult for Robert.

Tom and Ray are whispering, trying to decide what to do. Robert is too far away, and if they rush him now, he still has time to grab my babies – or at least two of them – and jump. I can’t hear what the police are saying, but I edge closer to the front so I am level with Ray.

Suddenly, Robert reaches down and snatches a handful of Jasmine’s hair to drag her to her feet. She cries out in pain. A knife pierces my heart, and I lose all sense of reason. He is hurting my baby, so I stand up and run. A hand reaches out to grasp my ankle and pull me back before I’m seen, but I kick it away and I’m free.

‘Jaz!’ I scream. ‘Lie on the ground, lie on top of Freddie. Billy, Billy – lie down.’

Jasmine’s head whips round and her silky hair slides out of Robert’s hand. She pauses, but just for a second, then flings herself to the ground, knocking a screaming Freddie over, covering his little body with hers. But Billy stands still, staring at me. Robert reaches out for him, but Jaz is too quick and Billy’s hand is nearer to hers than it is to Robert's. She grabs him and yanks him off his feet. He tumbles to the ground with a shout of surprise.

I pray that the policemen will stay down. If Robert sees them before I get to him, he will snatch one of my children, and take them with him into the hell of churning water below. I daren’t take my eyes off Robert’s now, but I can see in my peripheral vision a bright orange boat, bobbing just off the shoreline. The lifeboat. But it will be useless if Robert takes one of them over the edge with him. The rocks will get them before the sea.

‘
Robert!
’ I yell, with all the accumulated pain and anguish spilling out in those two syllables. He is crouching down, trying to disentangle the children, but also watching me as he does it. He can’t get a hold though. As I run, I can see that as soon as he grabs one child’s arm, the other is wrapped round a leg, and he can’t tear them apart. At least, not before I get to him.

Or that’s what I’m thinking. But I’m wrong.

In his fear of everything that’s happening, and because he has heard my voice, Freddie has managed to crawl out from under Jasmine, who is so intent on saving Billy that she hasn’t noticed, and Robert plucks Freddie up and holds him in his arms.

He backs towards the edge of the cliff as Jasmine cries out, feeling that she has failed to protect her brother. I am desperate to comfort her – but not yet. I stop dead.

‘Robert,’ I say, trying to keep my voice level, ‘stop this.
Please
. Put Freddie down.’

Jasmine and Billy are crawling away from Robert towards me, and with one hand I signal them to get behind me. Jaz understands, and pulls Billy with her. But I never take my eyes off my husband.

‘You never understood, did you Olivia,’ he says. ‘Do you know what I had to do to win you, to make you mine? Do you know how much love it takes to do all the things I had to do?’

I do know. I’ve worked it all out for myself, but there was never anybody to tell, and no proof of anything but a life of love and devotion. What can I say to make this right?

‘I understand, Robert. I know how much you love me and I know how good you’ve been to me. I’m so sorry I hurt you.’ I start to walk towards him slowly. Perhaps I can still convince him that what he feels is a love that is pure, and not tainted by his acts of evil. Can I convince him there is still a chance for us?

I try to make my expression one of sorrow as I take another step.

‘I don’t want you to die,’ I lie. ‘Can’t we talk? Please, Robert?’

For a moment I think I’m getting through, and then Robert glances behind me, and his eyes change. He’s seen somebody. He knows it’s not just him and me. He pulls Freddie tighter to him and starts to back up towards the edge of the cliff. I can’t let him get close but he only has about eight metres to go.

I can hear Jasmine and Billy crying behind me, and I take one look at Freddie’s terrified little face. I don’t stop to think or to plan. Robert has my baby. I lean forwards and rush at him. Two steps and I leap to try to knock him to the floor. He’s not a big man, but he’s bigger and heavier than me, and he absorbs the shock without falling. He has loosened his hold on Freddie, though, and Freddie has wriggled free.

Robert grabs me round the neck and pulls me to him, squeezing hard, muttering insanely under his breath about his perfect love. I want to break free, but I hear Jaz screaming, and over Robert’s shoulder I see Freddie is backing away from us, not realising that in just a few tiny steps his foot will come down and meet thin air as he tumbles down the cliff face.

I can’t breathe. I’m fighting not for my life but for Freddie’s and I can’t shout out. I try, but the pressure on my throat forces nothing more than a squeak from my larynx.

I can’t turn my head, but from nowhere I see a dark shape swoop towards Freddie and pluck him right from the edge.

Thank God
. My children are safe.

I can die now.

60

From where I am sitting on the sofa, I can see the chief inspector – Tom, as he told me to call him during our interminable two-hour wait at the cliff top – at the dining-room table, nursing his hand in a packet of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel; an injury sustained as he dived to the ground to grab Freddie back from the brink. According to the doctor it’s just a sprain, but I will never be able to thank him enough for what he did.

Robert has been arrested for crimes committed on Alderney soil, and has been taken to the cells. A UK warrant will be delivered tomorrow, and then apparently they have to decide if Robert should be returned to Manchester to be charged with offences committed there, or remain here to be charged for his attack on the children and me. I asked Ray what offences in Manchester, but he told me it is something I need to discuss with Tom.

I am hemmed in on all sides by children. Jaz is on one side and Billy on the other, both crushed up against me so that rather wonderfully I am almost unable to breathe as they squeeze themselves as tightly as possible against my ribcage. Freddie is on my knee, curled up in a tight ball, his head pressing against the bruises on my neck. The pain just reminds me of what I almost lost.

The children are shocked, and I don’t know how I am going to be able to get them past this. I’m hoping that the peace and calm of this island will soothe them. Jasmine is going to take the longest to recover, though. Her serious little face settles from time to time into a frown as if she is trying to puzzle something out in her own head.

Tom is looking at me, and I know he wants to talk to me about something – something serious. He stands up and walks over, speaking in a quiet even tone to avoid any hint of tension creeping into the calmness of the room.

‘Olivia, do you think we could have a word, please? I know you don’t want to leave the children, but Becky will stay with them. We can just sit over there in the dining area so you can still see them, but it’s probably best if we’re not overheard.’

I have a quiet word with Jaz, just to make sure she’s okay, and suggest she chooses a DVD
that they might all enjoy. Perhaps a harmless, happy cartoon would be best.

I follow Tom, but make sure I am never out of their sight, and Tom sits with his back to my children, as if he doesn’t want them to hear what he’s saying.