No Going Back (10 page)

‘Yeah, well, I'm up to my neck in bloody paperwork, so I shall probably still be here,' Bowden grumbled.

Daniel severed the connection thinking, not for the first time, that he could have done a lot worse in his employer, and prepared to call a taxi.

Daniel drove into the depot just as Bowden was locking his office door, and while Daniel washed the lorry down under the security floodlights, he requested a complete run-down of the day's events. With the exception of the final, uncomfortable part of his session at the police station, Daniel obliged and it was Fred Bowden's expressed opinion that he should have turned the whole matter over to the police, however much Katya protested.

‘But I've given her my word,' Daniel pointed out. ‘It was the only way I could get her to tell me anything at all.'

‘So what
are
you going to do?'

‘I suppose try and find the house where they were being held. I've got a rough idea where it might be and I'm hoping Katya will recognize it, if I can get her somewhere near.'

‘You're certain she's gone back to this Hilary what's-her-name?'

‘She has. I spoke to Hilary on the phone. Kat turned up just before it got dark. I'm going over there in a minute to see if I can get her to open up any more.'

‘You don't think she's told you everything, then?'

‘I think most of what she's told me is lies,' Daniel said bluntly. ‘But only because she's scared. I have to convince her to trust me, which isn't going to be easy.'

He coiled the pressure hose back on to its bracket and turned to find Bowden looking at him quizzically.

‘If she's so scared, doesn't it occur to you that perhaps
you
should be a little wary too? Do you really know what you're getting yourself into?'

‘I think I've got a pretty good idea,' Daniel told him. ‘And believe me, I intend being very careful indeed.'

It was a little after eight when Daniel arrived at Briars Hill Farm, a rather forbidding stone house that stood adjacent to the stable yard of Hilary McEwen-Smith's trekking centre.

Austere it might appear from the outside, but the inside had the kind of lived-in, homely shabbiness that he had grown up with and which couldn't have been further from the pristine cream carpets and smoked-glass coffee tables of his marital home.

Hilary welcomed Daniel like the old friend he was supposed to be, and led the way to the kitchen, which seemed to be dominated by the sleeping arrangements of Hilary's three dogs and two tabby cats.

A big red Aga stood in a fireplace at one end of the room, its chrome rail hung with an assortment of towels, socks and a sheepskin saddle pad. On a shelf above, a number of ornamental frogs vied for room with books, magazines and photographs of ponies, people and dogs.

In the centre of the room stood a table covered with a thick, fringed maroon cloth, though part of it was invisible under a pile of folded sweatshirts and horse blankets.

A ceramic teapot stood on a mat, and Katya was standing behind the table, cradling a mug and regarding Daniel with anxious eyes. She was wearing a grey cotton sweatshirt that sported a colourful picture of a Native American chief, and a pair of faded hipster jeans that might have been painted on. The sweatshirt was a couple of sizes too big and almost certainly belonged to Hilary, Daniel thought; the jeans just as certainly didn't.

‘Leo the lurcher, Heidi the greyhound and Daisy the whippet – from largest down,' Hilary said, introducing the dogs. ‘And the cats are Eric and Ernie. Would you like a cup of tea? Why don't you bring your dog in? It's not very warm in the car for him.'

‘Oh, he's got a good thick coat,' Daniel said.

‘All the same, it seems a shame. Mine won't mind in the least – as long as he doesn't chase the cats.'

‘No, he won't do that,' Daniel assured her, and true to his word, the German shepherd totally ignored everyone, helping himself to a drink at the stone water bowl and then flopping down half under the table by his master's chair.

Hilary seemed to take it as read that Daniel would stay for a meal and presently served up a homemade chilli of huge proportions.

‘I'm the Queen of Stews and Casseroles,' Hilary claimed, ladling meat and rice on to large plates. ‘I like to chuck the ingredients into a pot and leave it to do its thing while I do mine. That way it's ready whenever I am.'

She had changed from jodhpurs into a pair of tracksuit bottoms, and Daniel found her down-to-earthness very easy company. So, too, it seemed, did Katya, who visibly relaxed as the evening progressed, although not to the extent of entering the conversation.

‘So, how long have you lived in England, Katya?' Daniel asked casually, as they drank coffee after the meal. ‘You still have a very strong accent.'

‘Please to call me Kat,' she said, looking down at the mug between her cupped hands.

‘But you were born in Romania, right?' Daniel tried again.

‘Yes. My mother brings us here about four years ago.'

‘Against your father's wishes?' Hilary asked.

‘He didn't know at first. He didn't live with us. He's a bad man and we are all scared of him.'

Hilary put out a hand in swift sympathy to cover Kat's, and the girl's face was transformed by a shy smile of gratitude.

Daniel hadn't shared his reservations about Kat's story with the older woman. Time enough when he could prove the girl was lying. For now, she deserved the benefit of the doubt.

‘And he snatched you in London, you said. What happened?'

‘Elena and I were walking to the shop for milk and a car stops beside us. The driver asks us the way, but when we go closer, a man gets out of the back and grabs my sister. It is my father. He pulls her into the car and says if I don't go too, I'll never see her again.' Tears shone in her eyes. ‘He had his hand over her mouth and she was very frightened. I got in the car. I had no choice. We are very close, Elena and me.'

‘And you didn't think it might be better to get away. To call the police? To tell your mother?' Daniel tried to keep any disbelief out of his voice. ‘Does she know where you are now? Have you called her since you escaped?'

Katya shook her head, her gaze dropping. ‘She doesn't have a telephone.'

Hilary was horrified. ‘But surely there's someone – a neighbour, perhaps? She must be out of her mind with worry.'

‘It is a place with not many telephones, I think. People are poor.'

‘But we must do something!' Hilary turned to Daniel. ‘Someone must be told. The police, surely, could find Katya's mother . . .'

‘No! No police!' Katya also looked to Daniel beseechingly. ‘You promised!'

‘But your mother, my dear!' Hilary was deeply concerned.

‘She will guess who's taken us. She was always afraid he would come.'

‘But they could help you find your sister.'

‘Daniel is going to help me?' The statement lifted into a question at the end, and her eyes pleaded with him.

‘I said I'd try,' Daniel agreed cautiously.

‘But I don't understand . . .' Hilary looked at him, quite plainly bewildered, and he responded with a lowering of his brows and a slight shake of his head. Thankfully, she read his meaning and merely shrugged. ‘Oh well. If you know what you're doing.'

‘I hope so. But we need to decide what to do next, don't we, Kat? You say you've no idea where your sister is. Don't you remember anything at all about the place?'

Katya shook her head helplessly. ‘No, not really. It is dark when we are taken there and we aren't allowed outside. When we escape, we run really fast into the trees at the back and then across the moor.'

‘How
did
you escape?' Hilary asked.

‘We climb out of a window on to the roof and then down a tree,' Kat replied, as if it were the most natural thing.

‘Oh, of course,' Hilary murmured.

‘So you wouldn't recognize the house at all?' Daniel persisted. ‘What about the garden? What could you see from the windows? Do you think you would recognize it if we drove by?'

Katya thought hard. ‘There are gates. Big ones with stone posts and . . .' she made an indeterminate movement with her hands as she struggled to find the word she wanted ‘. . . circles?'

‘Spheres?' Hilary suggested. ‘Like a ball?'

‘Yes.' Katya nodded eagerly. ‘A ball on top.'

‘Well, that's something to look out for,' Daniel said. He told them about his attempt to retrace the girls' steps from Stack Bridge.

‘Did you do that this afternoon?' Hilary asked. ‘I thought you were working.'

‘No, at the weekend. Actually, I spent this afternoon trying to convince the boys from the local nick that I wasn't attempting to ravish a young girl in the woods earlier. Your friend the major didn't waste any time.'

‘Oh dear. What did you tell them?' It was Hilary who asked, but Daniel was aware that Katya was watching him like a hawk.

‘I said that the young girl and I were friends and everything was fine. They were very keen to speak to Kat – to check out my story – but as they hadn't a clue who she was, they were on a hiding to nothing.'

‘So they let you go?'

‘Eventually. After we'd dealt with the major's allegation of assault.'

‘But
he
hit
you
, didn't he?' Hilary frowned.

‘Mm. That's what I told them. It's all right now, but it took a ridiculous amount of time to sort out. And speaking of time . . .' He looked at his watch. ‘I've got an early start tomorrow, so I'd better be on my way. I don't think the boss would be too pleased if I turned up late after today's fiasco.'

‘But when will we look for Elena?' Katya wanted to know.

‘If I can wangle an early finish tomorrow, we'll try then, but I'm not making any promises.'

Daniel got to his feet and immediately Taz was by his side, looking up expectantly.

‘I'll see you out,' Hilary offered, pushing her chair back and following him to the kitchen door and down the long, narrow hallway.

Moments later, they both stepped out into the night and Hilary closed the door behind them, saying quietly, ‘Don't you believe her story?'

‘Not completely.'

‘But why would she lie?'

‘She's terrified and she wants my help. She thinks the truth might scare me off.'

‘And do you know what the truth is?'

‘I've got a good idea.'

‘Are you going to share it with me?'

‘Not just yet.'

Hilary was looking at him a little oddly in the light from the porch. ‘You haven't always been a delivery driver, have you, Daniel Whelan?'

‘And what makes you say that, Mrs McEwen-Smith?'

‘Oh, there's more about you than that. A certain something I can't put my finger on, but I'm pretty sure you'd be climbing the walls after a few months stuck in a cab.'

‘Actually, you'd be surprised how exciting it can be. Only the other week the sat nav took me up a dead-end lane and I had to back the whole way out.'

‘Keep taking the Valium,' she said wryly.

‘I've got a repeat prescription,' he assured her. ‘By the way, I don't think you need fret too much about Katya's anxious mother.'

‘You don't think she's worried?'

‘I think it's more than likely she's still in Romania and knows nothing about all this. Look, thanks for letting Kat stay here. I don't think you'll have any trouble as long as she keeps a low profile, but if you're worried about anything at all, just ring me. My phone's always on.'

‘You think her father is still looking for her?'

‘I'd be very surprised if he wasn't, but there's no reason for him to come here.' Daniel leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. ‘You're a trooper, you know? See you in a day or two.'

He turned towards the car, and with a shake of her head and a slight smile, Hilary went back into the house.

FIVE

D
aniel and Kat found the house with the stone gateposts within a very few minutes of the start of their search. Two impressive stone pillars of 8 feet or more, mottled with lichen and each topped with a 12-inch sphere, formed a gateway that was flanked by laurel hedges half as tall again. Between them, a pair of elaborate wrought-iron gates stood open, their black paint peeling slightly. A brass nameplate identified the property as Moorside House.

Daniel slowed the Mercedes just long enough for Kat to confirm that they were indeed the posts she'd seen from inside the house, and then drove on by.

‘What are you doing?' she exclaimed. ‘That
is
the house, I'm sure.'

‘And what do you propose we do? Ring the doorbell and demand to see your sister?' Daniel kept driving.

‘But we
must
do something!'

‘We will. We'll find somewhere quiet to stop and sort out what we're going to do next. Charging in at this stage would be disastrous.'

Kat said no more, apparently accepting the sense in his words, and shortly afterwards, Daniel turned into a side lane, found a field gateway and stopped the Mercedes.

Reaching into the back of the car, he retrieved a holdall from which he took a baseball cap, a pair of shades and his grey hoodie. He held them out towards Kat. ‘Here, put these on.'

She made no move to take them, merely glancing at them and then across at Daniel.

‘Come on,' he said with a touch of impatience. ‘If it is the right house, the last thing we want is for you to be recognized. You look pretty boyish already with your hair cut short like that, we might as well go the whole hog.'

She frowned. ‘The whole . . . ?'

‘Hog. Complete the look. Finish the job.'

Dipping into the bag once more, he produced a navy-blue boiler suit and a bag containing a number of embroidered patches. Getting out of the car, he stepped into the overalls, zipped them up and then slid back behind the wheel.