Dangerous Promises (36 page)

Sadie was all alone in the back of the van. It was dark and cold and it stank of exhaust fumes and oil. Her feet were bound at the ankles, her hands tied behind her back. A wide piece of gaffer tape had been placed across her mouth. Her body ached from the bad suspension, the muscles in her legs going into spasm every time the vehicle hit a bump in the road. Afraid of being sick and choking, she had managed to manoeuvre herself into a sitting position but the motion of the van still made her feel nauseous. Although maybe it wasn’t just the van. Wayne Gissing’s threatening voice still echoed in her head:

‘Enjoy the journey, babe. It could be your last.’

Sadie’s stomach twisted with fear. Although she didn’t know how long they’d been travelling – three, four hours? – she was pretty sure from the straight line they were going in that they must be on the motorway. This meant they were probably heading towards London. She closed her eyes, trying to blank out the horror. She couldn’t decide what was worse, being stuck in the back of the van for another few hours or arriving at their destination.

They had stopped only once so far and that had been at a service station. She’d heard the sound of the cap coming off the petrol tank, the click as the nozzle was put back in place on the pump. There had been silence for a while – perhaps the Gissings had gone off to the toilets or to get a coffee – but then the side door had slid open and Wayne had looked in and grinned.

‘Still breathing, then?’ he’d said. ‘That’s a shame.’

She’d tried to peer around him, but could only see a brick wall. She could hear cars coming and going in the background, but the van must have been parked up in a corner away from prying eyes.

‘Where’s Nathan Stone when you need him?’ Wayne had asked, clearly enjoying himself. ‘Oh, hey, nowhere to be seen. Looks like you’re on your own, babe.’ And with that he’d given a snort and slammed shut the door again. A few seconds later the van had started up and they were back on the road.

Sadie continued to think about Nathan Stone. His attempt at ‘sorting’ the situation obviously hadn’t gone too well. Still, she couldn’t blame him for that. When push came to shove, the only person to blame for all this was herself. She’d made mistake after mistake until she’d become trapped in a web of lies and deceit… and now she was reaping the reward.

She shifted her arms and flexed her fingers, trying to loosen the rope that was wrapped around her wrists, but only succeeded in making the ties dig even deeper into her flesh. Her whole body was filled with pain and every time she moved the agony increased. Although struggling only made it worse, she couldn’t stop herself from trying. It was better than doing nothing.

It was another hour or so before she became aware that they had come off the motorway and were now driving on ordinary roads. Her heart began to thump in her chest. A dull feeling of dread seeped into her bones. What was going to happen next? Where they going to kill her when they arrived at their destination? Maybe they were taking her to a forest or a wood, somewhere lost and lonely where they could dig a shallow grave and…

Sadie took a few deep breaths, trying to prevent herself from toppling into panic. Why would they bring her all this way just to kill her? No, it didn’t make any sense. They could have stopped anywhere and put a bullet through her brain. But what were they planning, then? She thought of Wayne Gissing’s angry eyes and her blood ran cold. He was going to make her suffer.

By the time the van pulled in and the engine was turned off, Sadie had sunk into a deep pit of fear. She heard the front doors opening and closing, the sound of footsteps and then voices.

‘Nip inside, Kel, and make sure the coast is clear.’

‘There’s no need. The lights are off. She’s in bed.’

Wayne Gissing’s voice took on a harder edge. ‘What are you, fuckin’ psychic? She could be sitting in the kitchen for all you know.’

‘She’ll be dead to the world. She was out with Colleen tonight.’

‘Just do it, okay? Just fuckin’ do it.’

Sadie heard a sigh and then more footsteps, the click of heels on a hard surface. There was a short silence before a voice she recognised as Sharon’s chipped in.

‘There’s no need to bite her head off. Petra probably has crashed. She’ll be dead to the world; you know what she’s like when she’s been on the gin.’

‘It doesn’t hurt to check.’

‘And what about
her
? How are we going to get her inside?’

Sadie flinched, bracing herself for what was going to happen next. She didn’t have long to wait. The door slid open and Wayne clambered in, bringing with him a cool breeze and a thin orangey light from the streetlamps. He winced as he dragged his leg over the edge of the van, the discomfort no doubt reminding him of the bullet she’d put through his shin.

He crouched down and started untying the rope around her ankles. ‘We’ll keep this simple, right? You try anything, make a move, and you’re dead. Get it?’

Sadie nodded, making a grunt of acknowledgement through her taped lips.

‘And not a fuckin’ sound. If I so much as hear you fuckin’ breathe, you’ll be sorry.’

Sadie gave another nod.

When the rope was off her ankles, Wayne looked over his shoulder and said to Sharon, ‘Is it all clear? Is the door open?’

‘Yeah, all clear,’ she replied softly, poking her head inside the van. ‘You ready?’

Wayne dragged Sadie over to edge of the van. Her feet had pins and needles and her legs, full of cramps, felt they might collapse at any moment. He put his head out and glanced up and down the street. ‘Check the other houses,’ he ordered Sharon.

‘There’s no one watching. Come on, quick.’

Wayne got out of the van, roughly yanking Sadie after him. With her hands still tied behind her back, her balance was off and she almost stumbled. Wayne grabbed hold of her arms, keeping her upright. Even as her feet touched the pavement, he was pushing her forward, propelling her through a gate and along a short driveway. It was all over in a matter of seconds. She had no time to look around, to take in any of her surroundings, before she was inside the house.

With Wayne on one side and Sharon on the other, she was frogmarched through a hall and living room to a kitchen at the back. The bright overhead light made her wince and she half closed her eyes against the glare. Almost immediately she was plunged into gloom again as her abductors pushed her through another door to the rear and down a flight of old stone steps to the cellar.

Kelly Gissing was waiting at the bottom, her face like thunder, her teeth bared. She glared at Sadie, her eyes flashing with anger. ‘This is for Eddie,’ she hissed. And before Sadie could even think about trying to move out of the way, the girl slapped her hard across the face. The blow sent a shot of pain through Sadie’s cheek and sent her reeling back against Wayne.

‘Take it easy, Kel,’ he laughed. ‘You don’t want to kill the bitch.’ He left a short pause before adding, ‘Not right now, anyhow.’

Sadie, still in shock from the blow, barely had time to think before Wayne was shoving her forward again. She felt something hard and gritty under her feet. She had only a few fleeting impressions – blackened brick walls, the smell of damp, shelves full of old paint pots – before she was thrust through another door leading into a smaller windowless space. Here there was only a meagre light casting shadows into the corners of the room.

‘Welcome to your new home,’ Wayne said.

Sadie turned and stared at him.

He stared back, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Enjoy your stay.’ Suddenly he reached out and twisted a handful of her hair around his left hand. He pulled hard on the roots, pushed his face into hers and said, ‘This might hurt a bit.’

Sadie let out a gasp of pain as he ripped the tape from her mouth. ‘Jesus!’

‘Best not to speak, babe,’ he said. ‘You might say something to annoy me.’

Kelly glared at Sadie and then looked at Wayne. ‘You should finish her off. You know what she did to Eddie. She’s a murdering cow.’

‘I didn’t kill him,’ Sadie protested. ‘I swear I didn’t.’

Wayne suddenly spun her round so she had her back to him and she heard the flick as the blade of his knife shot out. ‘What did I say to you?’ For a second, convinced that he was about to kill her, her heart stopped. She closed her eyes and prayed.
Please God. Please God.
And then, miraculously, she got a reprieve. Instead of slicing her throat, Wayne cut through the ties on her wrists. She heard the rope fall to the ground and felt the blood rush into her hands again.

‘Over there,’ he ordered, gesturing towards the single mattress on the floor. ‘Sit down and shut the fuck up!’

Sadie quickly did as she was told.

‘Come on,’ Sharon said. ‘Let’s get out of here before your bloody mother wakes up.’

Wayne continued to glare down at Sadie, his look cold and sadistic as if he was weighing up the best possible method of inflicting pain. ‘Don’t get lonely,’ he said mockingly. ‘I’ll be back.’

‘Wayne!’ Sharon urged.

Finally, he shifted his gaze and walked away. Sadie stayed very still as the three of them left. She watched the door close and heard a key turn in the lock. After that there was an odd scraping sound that she couldn’t make any sense of. She rubbed her hands together trying to get the circulation back and let out her breath in a long slow sigh of relief. She wasn’t exactly happy to find herself locked up, but at least she was still alive.

Left alone, she raised a tentative hand to touch the place on her cheek where Kelly had slapped her. It was sore and throbbing. She gazed around her prison. The cell was about fourteen foot square with a single bare bulb attached to the wall. The flex ran back through a badly drilled hole into the larger room beyond, which meant that she couldn’t turn the light off. Not that she wanted to; she had no desire to be plunged into darkness.

Other than the bed, there was no furniture at all. The single mattress was thin and worn and smelled of mildew. It was covered by a green blanket and an old eiderdown patterned with roses. The walls had grey silvery cobwebs clinging to the brick. On the bare stone floor were three bottles of water, a roll of loo paper and a plastic bucket. There was no food.

Although there was little to see, Sadie continued to focus on the room. She was trying to push away a niggling question at the back of her mind. But try as she might she couldn’t keep it at bay. Why hadn’t they put a blindfold on her as they’d led her from the van and through the house? The only logical answer made her guts spasm with fear: they didn’t have to worry about what she might have seen because she wasn’t getting out of here alive.

49

Mona Farrell paced from one side of the room to the other, raking her fingers through her hair and swigging from a bottle of vodka. ‘Damn, damn, damn,’ she muttered. Why had that scumbag had to come along to ruin everything? Her face creased in disgust as she thought about Royston and his sly, accusing eyes. ‘You’re up to your necks in it, you and Sadie… I know all about Eddie Wise.’ She was glad he was dead; he bloody well
deserved
to be dead.

But what now?

She was still trying to figure it out, but her thoughts wouldn’t run in straight lines. What day was it? Sunday, of course it was Sunday. She recalled checking out of the Bold last night, going straight to the station and catching a train to Liverpool and then another one to London. The journey was blurred, a hurtling through darkness. Her head had been spinning; it was still spinning. Back in Hampstead, she’d felt safe, but the feeling hadn’t lasted long. Worried that the police might be on her tail, she’d taken off first thing this morning, telling her mother that she was going to stay with friends for a few days.

What were the chances of anyone remembering her from the fairground? She had bought a hotdog and a coffee, but lots of people must have done the same. Just one more face in the crowd. But someone might have noticed her walking with Royston. And what would the cops find when they searched his home or his office desk? The bastard had been digging the dirt on her – there’d be notes, documents, maybe even his suspicions written down in black and white. And then there was the hotel register, proof that she’d been in Haverlea on Saturday. How long before they found out about that? Shit, everything was starting to fall apart.

After returning to Hampstead, Mona had tried calling Sadie over and over again but there had been no reply from the flat. She had wanted to warn her about Royston. If Sadie had come to meet her at the fair then she was in the frame too. Being local there was more chance of her having been recognized.

It hadn’t been until this evening that she’d finally got through to Joel. ‘Hi, it’s Anne. How are you?’

‘Anne,’ he’d said, his voice sounding tight and anxious. ‘Have you heard from Sadie at all?’

‘What? No. That’s why I’m calling. Are you all right? Has something happened?’

‘I don’t know where she is. She… she seems to have gone missing.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘You don’t know where she might be?’

‘What do you mean, missing?’

Joel had taken a deep breath as if he was trying to get his thoughts in order. ‘I went away for a few days and then the police… I’ve just got back but she isn’t here. There’s no note or anything and she hasn’t rung. They’re looking for her, for Sadie.’

‘The police? Why? What for?’

‘I’m not sure exactly,’ he’d said, suddenly coming over all coy. ‘It’s something… I think it’s to do with Eddie. But I have to find her. Do you have any idea where she might be?’

‘No. Sorry. I haven’t a clue.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, of course. I’d tell you if I did.’

‘Okay, thanks, yes, I’m sorry. I’m just… Look, I’d better go.’

‘Let me know if you hear anything.’

Mona had stepped out of the phone box with a smile on her face. So Sadie had done a runner too. That was good news. It was a relief. She must have heard about Royston and guessed that she’d be a suspect. Or maybe she’d even been at the fair when his body had been discovered.

Mona stopped pacing for a moment and gazed out through the window on to Station Road. She had chosen this B&B because it was almost opposite Oaklands and she could see everyone who came and went. She had a feeling, a gut instinct, that this was where Sadie would come. To Kellston. Of course she would. Where else? Sadie wouldn’t dare call Hampstead in case the police were monitoring the phone. No, she’d come here, hoping that Mona would too.