Читать книгу Never Out of Sight: The chilling psychological thriller you don’t want to miss! - Louise Stone - Страница 14

I returned home shaken by Keira’s words and unable to rid myself of the image of the farmer, of Jerry Wyre, licking the car window. It unnerved me. It was as if they could both see through me, see the secrets I was keeping. Maybe, when I thought about what Keira had said – about my staying away at work all the time – I had actually drawn attention to myself, not deflected it away from me. I started to shake as I realised, my stomach churning, that when I had tried to end my relationship with Robert in May, I should have been more forceful. Instead, I had kidded myself that I could keep my lives separate. The gut-wrenching truth was that both worlds had seeped into one another and I hadn’t noticed.

Shaking my head, I tried to get a grip on what I actually knew, and push down the sea of unknowns. What was clear was that Keira was adamant that she had not seen Zoe since Thursday and that they had visited the farm. I approached Carter about it; I felt I needed to push him. Make sure he acknowledged my maternal instinct.

‘He may well have our daughter.’ I glared at Carter, feeling increasingly out of control and needing to vent. ‘He licked the window. I mean, who does that?’ I released a long, shaky breath. ‘He knew he could get to me.’ When Carter didn’t say anything, I continued, ‘I just can’t believe you let him go.’ I paused, only momentarily.

Stephen came into the kitchen, catching the tail end of our conversation. ‘What on earth’s going on in here?’

I stood. ‘I just went up to the farm…’ My eyes flicked towards Carter guiltily. ‘And I spoke to the woman, the wife. She told me to go away, in no uncertain terms.’ Carter gave a small shake of his head. ‘Anyway, I did, and, as I’m heading away from the house, there he is, that farmer, Jerry. He was in the back of the police car. The detective tells me they questioned him and they have nothing to charge him with, so they’ve let him go.’

Stephen looked at me. ‘You can’t go around accusing people of kidnapping our daughter, Frey.’ He paused and his eyes flitted towards the detective. ‘I was thinking… Maybe she told you she was staying out and you weren’t listening, or you forgot. I mean, you haven’t really been taking much in lately. Maybe she mentioned something to you?’

My mind whirred with the possibility that I had neglected to take in Zoe’s whereabouts. No, surely I hadn’t been that preoccupied, had I? Guilt once again started to seep in at the edge of my consciousness.

‘No.’ I shook my head, tears brimming. ‘I don’t think so.’

He slammed the counter with his fist. ‘You don’t think so! Jesus.’

I jumped as the tight ball of his hand met the counter and glanced at Carter. The detective stared hard at his notebook. Stephen was wound tight; I could see it, ever since we had discovered Zoe missing, and I would be bearing the brunt of it.

‘Stephen, no…’ I shook my head. ‘No, she didn’t mention anything to me.’

When my statement was met with silence, I swallowed hard and continued. He needed to hear what I had to say. ‘I’m worried, Stephen, that we’re missing something. You see, Keira told me about the farm. She has no reason to lie about something like that and perhaps…’ I tried to keep my voice even. ‘Perhaps Keira pressurised her to play their stupid game up at the farm. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Our daughter was pressurised by Keira to go up to that farm and Jerry Wyre took it too far.’ I nodded definitively, and when he simply stared at the floor, a sob of pent-up emotion filled the room, shocking me with its force. Stephen brought his head up fast.

Finally. He was listening. I was now filled with conviction about Zoe’s whereabouts. ‘Our daughter is somewhere in that farmhouse.’ I looked at the ceiling in frustration, as if sending a prayer to whoever might be listening. ‘She’s up at the farm. I can feel it.’

‘They’ve looked, so please don’t get your hopes up,’ replied Carter.

‘She’s a sixteen-year-old girl. How can the man hide a sixteen-year-old girl?’ Stephen spoke through gritted teeth. ‘Why would a young, beautiful girl get involved with a man more than twice her age?’

I thought briefly about Robert and flinched inwardly.

Stephen sat down at the table, defeated. ‘God, I hope she’s okay.’ He looked at me, tears in his eyes. ‘This shouldn’t be happening to me. Freya, listen, you need to calm down, we both do. We need to focus on the real possibilities. Not strange ideas you have about our neighbours.’

I was dumbstruck. ‘To us,’ I corrected him.

‘What?’ He looked at me.

‘You said “this shouldn’t be happening to me”, and it’s not.’ I clenched my jaw. ‘It’s happening to us.’

He glowered but didn’t respond, then just as quickly paled. ‘Fuck, what if she’s found dead.’

I gave a short gasp, the word alone one that I had entertained briefly but hadn’t allowed my mind to take any further. How could he say it so bluntly? How could he bring death into this conversation? ‘Dead?’

Dead. Dead? That was impossible. We were talking about Zoe: our daughter, our only child. She had her whole life ahead of her… An image of Zoe running towards me after her first day of primary school spun into my mind, taking my breath away. I remembered how excited she had been and how she had hugged my legs so tight and chattered excitedly all the way home. I hadn’t thought about that day in years and now…

The room started to spin and I grabbed at the side of the kitchen table. Unable to grip its edge, I collapsed, landing heavily on the floor.

***

I could hear a voice, calling for me. As I surfaced, DI Carter appeared at my side. Stephen held my head in a firm, vice-like grip.

‘What happened?’ I asked, my brain a fug.

‘You fainted.’ Carter looked at me, his eyes serious. ‘Have you eaten today?’

I shook my head. ‘No.’

DI Carter helped me up onto a chair and turned to Stephen. ‘I wonder if I might have a minute to chat with your wife?’

Stephen looked unsure. However, he relented and walked from the room.

I rested my head in my hands. ‘I just can’t... I just…’ I looked at DI Carter. ‘You don’t think she’s dead, do you?’

Carter sat down next to me and released a slow, drawn-out breath. ‘I don’t know, but we’re doing everything in our power.’

‘You let him go.’ My gaze flitted upwards. ‘The farmer.’

‘Yes. We’ve searched his property and my team have scoured the land. Nothing.’ He pursed his lips. ‘You have to understand that we have no evidence.’

I sat bolt upright. ‘Keira must have the videos, surely?’

He nodded. ‘As I say, we’re investigating further.’

‘You need to get a hold of them.’

‘Have you even seen any of these videos?’

‘No.’ I shook my head, saddened by the realisation that I had just accepted the strange games they played, not thought to question them. How removed had I become from my daughter’s life?

‘Keira described them as…’ He glanced at his notebook. ‘Truth or Dare videos. Can you tell me more about them?’

I wiped angry tears from my cheeks. ‘Sorry.’ I indicated the tears.

‘It’s understandable, Mrs Hall. Take your time.’

‘I thought they had stopped making those years ago. They used to make silly videos with a smartphone when they were, like, twelve, maybe thirteen, but then as they grew older, they tired of it, thought it was all too immature. We used to laugh at the way they took turns playing director.’ Tears smarted in my eyes. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t take them more seriously. I never asked what was in their videos. Did Keira tell you?’

‘No,’ he said, his eyes returning to his notepad. He sat back in the chair.

I gripped the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white. ‘Do you have children?’

He nodded. ‘Two. Twins. They’re thirteen. I don’t see them much. Their mother grew tired of living with a policeman. She said it wasn’t healthy for our children to wonder whether their father would be back that night or… at all.’

I nodded. ‘That’s got to be tough.’ It sparked a memory of what the farmer’s wife had said and I started to speak aloud, digesting my earlier conversation.

‘The woman said Zoe needed better parenting.’ My chest tightened. ‘Better parenting, can you believe it? It was as if she was suggesting that Zoe was just there to seek attention. She’s sixteen. A beautiful, confident girl. I’m quite sure she would just come to one of us if she was having problems.’

‘Who are you talking about? Who said that she was an attention-seeker?’

‘The farmer’s wife. Mrs Wyre.’

He drew a deep breath. ‘I’d like to ask you a couple more questions about Zoe, if you’re up to it?’

I had sensed that was why he was back. I was happy to help in any way I could. ‘Of course. Fire away.’

‘You said that she’s confident?’

‘Yes, very.’ I gave a small smile. ‘Like Stephen. She wanted to be…’ I stopped, catching myself and my stomach flipped, perturbed, as I watched the DI note something – had it been my slip-up? – in his notebook. ‘She wants to be an actress, to live in London. You know… all that glittery stuff young girls dream of.’

‘Not something you approve of, I take it?’

‘No, I wouldn’t say that. I just always tell Stephen that she has a brain and needs to use it. He tells me I’m being ridiculous.’

Carter opened his notepad. ‘Keira told us that she only has the videos they made for their coursework; she never kept copies of the Truth or Dare videos because her mum would have found them and she would have got into trouble. Apparently Zoe kept the only copies.’ Carter kept his eyes firmly on the notepad. I understood the implication, and my stomach turned over in response. ‘But so far we haven’t come across any. Our IT experts have Zoe’s laptop and they’ll let us know if they find anything, but in the meantime, is there anything more you can tell us about what might be on them?’

I reeled with this new piece of information: what was Keira trying to hide by making Zoe keep the only copies? What had she and Zoe been up to?

He paused, his eyes skimming the text. ‘Keira said that Zoe thought Mr Wyre was attractive and that she may have, and I quote here, “flirted a little”.’ He scratched his arm. ‘Does this sound like Zoe to you?’

Anger churned inside me. ‘Keira told me something similar.’ I jutted my chin out in defiance. ‘Detective, what are you suggesting? My daughter is an innocent sixteen-year-old. She is like every other young girl: adventurous, interested in life. I wish Keira would stop making her sound so…’ I stared hard at him. ‘Please understand that maybe Keira is jealous of my daughter or something. You cannot just be accepting that she doesn’t have copies of these videos and that’s the end of that?’

I rose abruptly from the chair and walked over to the kitchen tap, running the cold water on my wrists, trying to cool myself. The kitchen suddenly felt so claustrophobic and hot. It was as if I was shouting at everyone from inside a padded cell and no one was listening; no one seemed to be taking me seriously.

‘Look, the honest answer is I don’t know what went on in those videos and I hope she didn’t do anything stupid, but I would like to think I know my daughter well enough to tell you she wouldn’t flirt with Jerry Wyre.’

My heart twisted at my words because they were false – as I was coming to realise, I hardly knew my daughter at all. I was having to hypothesise about my own flesh and blood.

Carter frowned. ‘She did go back, though. To the farm,’ he clarified. ‘That suggests some interest, doesn’t it?’ He peered at his scratchy writing once more. ‘Apparently the videos show Zoe cycling to find him so that she might talk to him.’

My head was reeling and I could feel the frustration and anger swelling inside me. My voice came out loud and with an edge of disbelief, perhaps alarm, too. ‘You are the police. Answer me this: why did Keira admit all this to you and not me? And moreover, she’s deliberately preventing us from seeing these videos of her missing friend? Why, Detective, why?’

The DI leant back in the chair. ‘When a policeman turns up on your doorstep, it’s got to come as a bit of a shock, and she didn’t say the videos don’t exist, just that she doesn’t have copies of them. Perhaps she knows Zoe wouldn’t want you and Mr Hall to see them, or she’s protecting Zoe because of what they show her doing?’

I shook my head in disbelief. ‘And that’s it, is it? Well, because you think a sixteen-year-old girl is protecting her friend, that’s okay, then?’

‘We are not ignoring anything.’ His voice was noticeably cooler, and I sensed a shift in his attitude towards me. I realised how dark it had become, so I got up to draw the curtains and switch on some lamps.

He took a deep breath. ‘Listen, Mrs Hall, as I say, we are investigating everything you’re telling us but...’ He eyed me. ‘I feel, if you don’t mind me saying, Mrs Hall, that you’re holding back on me.’

My heart leapt into my mouth. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, you and Stephen don’t seem entirely happy. I’m sorry for being blunt but I’m trying to get a clear picture here of Zoe’s life.’

I remained silent. ‘We have our issues, but then, doesn’t every couple?’

‘You told me earlier that you haven’t spoken to each other properly in a while?’

I shrugged, tried to display a level of nonchalance and then decided that DI Carter was too clever for that: he would see through it. ‘Okay, so we’re not in a great place, but if you’re trying to suggest that I’ve strayed elsewhere then you’re very much mistaken.’ I clamped my mouth firmly shut and looked at him, defiant.

‘I would never suggest that.’ His eyes watched me coolly.

‘I mean…’ I spoke quickly. ‘I have no evidence that Stephen has strayed.’ I looked away: I could feel his eyes piercing the side of my head.