Snatched (14 page)

Pauline was standing in the doorway, nervously wringing her hands, when Jay and Ann pulled up. Calling out in a loud whisper as they got out and hurried up the path, she said, ‘Thanks for coming so quickly. I didn’t know what to do for the best.’

‘How is she?’ Jay asked, wiping her feet on the mat as she followed her into the hall.

‘Quietened down a bit now. But she was in such a state when she got here that I thought she must be in shock, so I didn’t want to tell her too much. I thought I’d best ring you instead.’

Assuring her that she’d done the right thing, Jay asked exactly what she
had
told Sue.

‘Not a lot,’ Pauline admitted. ‘Just that the kids are both fine. And I know that was a lie, but I didn’t want to set her off again by telling her about Nicky. I don’t suppose you’ve had any news yet?’

Shaking her head, Jay gestured towards the closed inner door. ‘Through there, is she?’

Nodding, Pauline opened the door, releasing them from the confines of the tiny hallway into the equally claustrophobic living room.

Still huddled in the armchair, Sue had a blanket around her shoulders now. Clutching it to her throat when Jay and Ann walked in, her stare darted nervously from one to the other of them.

Introducing herself, Jay asked Sue if she was up to talking, or if she’d prefer to see a doctor first.

‘I don’t need a doctor,’ Sue murmured. ‘I just need to see my kids. Are you going to take me to them?’

‘Soon,’ Jay said, perching on the edge of the chair facing hers. ‘I need to ask you a few questions first.’

Fear skittered down Sue’s spine like ice water. Oh, God! They were going to arrest her for leaving the kids on their own.

Looking guiltily down at the carpet when Jay asked where she’d been since Friday night, she said, ‘I, er . . . I’ve b-been with my friend. It was her birthday, and we . . . we were at her f-flat.’

‘Would that be flat six, Monsall House, Monsall Street, Cheetham Hill?’ Jay asked, reciting the address from memory. ‘Only, I’ve been there several times over the last couple of days, and the neighbours are claiming that nobody has been there all weekend.’

Aware that she’d been caught out, Sue blushed. ‘Oh, yeah, sorry. We
usually
go to hers, but we, er, we were with some other people, and we went back to theirs instead. Sorry, I can’t seem to think straight right now.’

Taking out her notepad, Jay asked for the names of the people she’d been with, and the address she’d been at.

‘Why do you need to know that?’ Sue spluttered. ‘They don’t know anything about this. They don’t even know my kids.’

‘We need to verify your whereabouts,’ Jay told her. ‘It’s just routine; nothing to worry about.’

Licking her lips, Sue flicked a hooded glance in Pauline’s direction. Her voice little more than a whisper now, she said, ‘It was just a couple of blokes my friend met. They were staying at a hotel, and we . . . well, we kind of spent the weekend with them.’

‘Which hotel was that?’

‘The Lowry,’ Sue muttered. ‘But no one saw us, ’cos we sneaked in.’ Half burying her face in the blanket now as the flush of shame spread down her neck, Sue couldn’t bring herself even to glance at Pauline, because she was bound to tell everyone, and they’d all think that Sue was even more of a slag than they already did.

‘And the names of the men?’ Jay asked impassively.

‘Chris and Greg,’ Sue croaked. ‘But I don’t know their surnames or where they live. They’re from London, and they were only here for the weekend.’

Writing this down, Jay said, ‘And your children knew where you were, and how long you’d be gone?’

It was asked innocently enough, but Sue felt the full weight of the disapproval and accusation behind the words. Blush deepening, she said, ‘Course they knew. And I haven’t done anything wrong, because Nicky’s old enough to look after Connor.’

‘And Nicky was at home when you left on Friday evening?’ Jay looked directly at her now.

‘Yeah,’ Sue lied, hunching deeper into the chair. ‘I wouldn’t have gone out otherwise, would I?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jay said evenly. ‘Would you?’

Sue’s mind was racing. The woman obviously knew what she’d done, but if she was trying to get her to admit it so that she could arrest her for neglect, she’d have a long wait. And if it came to her word against Nicky’s, Sue would front it out and convince Nicky that the shock of the fire had confused her.

Turning her guilt into a more productive indignation now, she said, ‘Why are you asking me all these questions? My kids are in hospital, and I need to see them. But if you won’t take me, I’ll get a taxi.’

Watching as Sue made a show of flinging the blanket aside and looking for her shoes, Jay said, ‘Do you know where your daughter is, Mrs Day?’

‘Yeah, at the hospital, like I just said,’ Sue muttered, slipping her jacket on and zipping it up. ‘And I bet you haven’t been grilling their
dad
like this, have you?’ she went on self-righteously. ‘It’s all right making out like
I
’ve done something wrong just because I had a bit of a break, but what about
him
? He’s not shown his face round here in months, but I bet you haven’t accused him of neglecting the kids. And they’re just as much his as mine, so what’s the difference?’

‘I’m not accusing you of anything,’ Jay pointed out calmly as Sue stomped to the door. ‘I’m just trying to find your daughter.’

Hesitating, Sue turned back. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? She’s at the hospital. Pauline said she was – didn’t you, Pauline?’

Dipping her gaze guiltily, Pauline reached into her pocket for her cigarettes. John wouldn’t like it, but sod him. Hands shaking, she lit up, grateful when the policewoman started talking again, drawing Sue’s attention back to her.

‘Nicky wasn’t in the house when your son was rescued. And she hasn’t been seen since. So if you’re claiming that she was there when you left—’

‘She
was
,’ Sue gasped, convinced that it was true, because she’d
seen
Nicky from the taxi.

Head swimming as the seriousness of the situation really began to dawn on her, she staggered back to the chair and slumped down heavily. Nicky was hardly ever late home, and even when she was, she always
came
home, she never ever stayed out. She didn’t have anywhere else
to
stay. But if she hadn’t gone home
then
, and she still wasn’t home
now
, where was she?

‘Oh no,’ Sue muttered, sounding as sick as she felt when something else suddenly occurred to her. ‘You’re not telling me
she
started the fire, are you? You don’t think she did it and ran away? Please don’t tell me that’s what happened.’

Telling her that they couldn’t speculate about that until they had more information, Jay said, ‘But it would be helpful to know if Nicky was upset about anything the last time you saw her. Did she mention that she was worried about anything? Maybe something that had happened at school?’

Shaking her head as fresh tears welled up in her eyes, Sue said, ‘No, nothing.’

‘And did you speak to her at any point after you left the house that night?’

Sniffing loudly, Sue wiped her nose on the back of her hand and said that she’d called Nicky just before the club closed.

‘That would have been at about two a.m.,’ Jay said. ‘But your phone was switched off every time I tried to reach you before and after that. And surely, if you switched it back on to make that call, you’d have seen my missed calls and messages?’

‘It wasn’t my phone,’ Sue told her, swiping at a tear as it trickled down her cheek. ‘I’d left mine at home, so I had to use Julie’s.’

‘But Nicky didn’t mention the fire when you spoke to her?’

‘I didn’t actually speak to her. I knew she’d be in bed by then, so I just left a message.’

‘So you don’t know where she was at that point?’

‘No.’

Feeling sorry for Sue when she started to sob again, Pauline plucked a couple of tissues out of the box and carried them over to her.

Peering up at her gratefully, Sue dabbed at her eyes, saying, ‘My Nicky’s a good girl, isn’t she, Pauline? And
you
know she’s always there when I go out. I never leave him on his own, do I?’

‘Not that I know of,’ Pauline murmured supportively, rushing back to her seat.

‘Did Nicky have your friend’s number?’ Jay asked now. ‘Only, I’m wondering if she might have tried calling you prior to your calling her – to let you know that the electric had gone, for instance?’

‘She knows the number,’ Sue said, blowing her nose loudly. ‘But she wouldn’t have called for something like that, because she knows I keep a fiver in the pot on top of the cupboard. She’d have just taken that and nipped out to the garage if it had gone.’

Asking how far away the garage was, in order to gauge how long it would have taken Nicky to get there and back, Jay turned to Ann when she heard that it was just around the corner.

‘Best call in there on the way to the hospital – see if we can take a look at the CCTV tapes.’

‘No point,’ Sue murmured. ‘They’re dummy cameras.’

Telling her that she’d still have to check, on the off chance that someone might remember seeing Nicky, in which case they might know if she’d been with anybody else at the time, and in which direction she’d headed off in when she left, Jay said, ‘In the meantime, can you think of anywhere where she might have been staying since Friday? Your husband gave me the names of some of her friends, but none of them have seen her since school finished that afternoon.’

‘I don’t know,’ Sue moaned, shaking her head from side to side and rocking backwards and forwards in her seat. ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t
know
 . . .’

Sensing that they probably wouldn’t get anything else out of her right now, Jay said, ‘All right, we’ll take you to see your son. But I will need to talk to you again at some point.’

Exhaling shakily, Sue nodded her agreement. She was really worried about Nicky, but at least the girl wouldn’t go to prison for starting the fire. Not like Sue would if they knew she’d left Connor alone in the house.

Following them out into the hall as they prepared to set off, Pauline asked Jay where they’d be taking Sue after they’d been to the hospital.

‘I mean, she obviously can’t go back home, can she?’ she whispered. ‘And I’d offer to let her stay, but it’s a bit difficult with . . .’ Trailing off, she jerked her head backwards, to indicate that she was referring to John.

Jay was just telling her not to worry, that they would sort something out through the homeless unit, when Sue blurted out that there was no way she was going into a hostel. Turning to Pauline then, she said, ‘Can you do me a favour and ring my friend? Let her know what’s happening and see if it’s all right for me to stay at hers for the night.’

Saying, ‘Course I will, pet,’ Pauline rushed back into the living room to get a pen and paper.

Dave Miller was just driving past when the door opened and the women came out. Spotting Sue between the policewomen, he screeched to a halt and jumped out of the car. He had a kilo of fresh skunk and two ounces of coke in the boot, but he wasn’t concerned. Even if the pigs could smell it, they’d need a warrant to search the car, and he’d have done one long before they got it.

‘Everything all right, love?’ he called out now as he approached Sue.

Shivering wildly again as the cold air bit into her, she glanced warily up at him and nodded.

‘I’m really sorry about what’s happened,’ he said, peering down at her with seemingly genuine concern. ‘I’ve only just got back from London and heard about it or I’d have come to see you sooner. But if there’s anything I can do, you know you’ve only got to say, don’t you?
Any
thing,’ he added meaningfully.

Murmuring, ‘Thanks,’ Sue eyed him with suspicion as she climbed into the back of the police car, wondering why he’d suddenly decided to talk to her after so long. And why he’d been so nice, considering that he’d been an absolute bastard to her the last time their paths had crossed. She’d just caught Terry in bed with Leanne at the time, but instead of supporting her as she’d expected, Dave had turned on her, accusing her of having known that Terry had been shagging his precious daughter when she was underage and letting him get away with it. It was an absolute lie, because Sue would have castrated Terry with her bare hands if she’d thought that he’d been messing about with anyone, never mind a child. But she’d been too stunned to defend herself at the time – which was probably just as well, because Dave had been so mad he’d probably have killed her.

Waving as the police car pulled away now, Pauline said, ‘It was nice of you to show your support, Dave. Pity you weren’t so thoughtful when your Leanne nicked her husband off her, though, eh? You gave her a proper rough ride of it, if I remember right.’

‘Yeah, well, we’re all guilty of pointing fingers in the wrong direction sometimes, aren’t we?’ Dave replied smoothly, reminding Pauline that it hadn’t been all that long since she herself had been spreading rumours about Sue. ‘Can’t hold grudges for ever, though, can you? Not when you think about what’s just happened.’

‘Suppose not,’ Pauline murmured sadly. ‘And she needs her friends more than ever right now, ’cos she’s only just found out about it all, and she’s still in a right state.’

‘What do you mean, she’s only just found out? Where’s she been?’

‘Some hotel, apparently, celebrating her friend’s birthday. Just got back tonight and found the house like this.’

‘Jeezus, that must have been a bit of a shocker,’ Dave said, gazing at the debris still littering the next-door garden. ‘So what are the police saying about it?’

‘Nothing much,’ Pauline said, an edge of disapproval in her voice as she added, ‘They were too busy quizzing her. And it’s wrong, that, isn’t it, because you’d think they’d give her a bit of time to get her head around it all first. But no. They want to know where she’s been, and who she’s been with. And the questions they asked about
Nicky
. Going on and on about whether she was in the house when Sue went out. And all the time Sue’s crying her heart out, desperate to get to Connor. I felt that sorry for her.’