I want to call out, but I know there is no point. I feel on the ground for the bag. The plastic rustles under my fingers. I wrap my hands around a small torch. I switch it on, relief flooding through me as the space lights up a little more. I search each corner, seeing the dead spider that I pulled from my hair before. I am here for the night, but at least I have light, heat, and a reminder of home. I peek inside the bag. Food is wrapped in foil. A drinking flask. I look around my space, which is just as I had imagined. I am in a small hole of dirt and blankets, the roof held up by beams of wood. I clutch the doll tightly in my hand. It tells me so many things. That it is our secret. That Mikael is not evil. That he took it to give me comfort. That he is afraid of Johanna, too. For the first time since I got here I don’t feel so alone.
Chapter 40
In normal circumstances Elea would not expect a twelve-year-old child to be able to give adults very good directions. But trauma had profound and long-lasting effects. Sophie’s information-processing would have been different from that of any other child. Her trauma wasn’t caused by one single life-changing event, but by several. Neurochemicals would have rushed to her brain, taking a snapshot of each and every defining moment. Exactly like the snapshots that Elea still saw from the day her daughter disappeared. These memories would haunt Sophie for years to come. It was a fine balance, taking care with a traumatised victim while extracting the information necessary to hunt their abductor down.
“That way.” Sophie’s voice rose from the back of Swann’s car, fragile but determined as they drove down Yarborough Road. She was sitting in the back seat with her mother, pale-faced and cautious, holding her hand. Elea was next to Swann in the front, staring through the rain-speckled window, barely daring to imagine what lay ahead.
“Up there. That’s it. Over there.”
Swann looked left and right, indicating to turn. Carline Road was innocuous, with pleasant red-brick homes each side, flanked by brick walls bordering small front gardens. Double-yellow lines striped down the street, with a selection of trees shading an array of parked cars.
“That’s it. That yellow house, behind those trees...” Sophie pointed ahead to the right. But there was a tremble in her hand. A catch in her throat when she spoke.
“I don’t like this,” her mother said. “Don’t get too close.”
“We won’t compromise you.” Elea turned back to them both as Swann slowly drove past. “You have my word. He’ll most likely be long gone.” But there was hope. The tiniest spark of hope that her kidnapper was still there. And maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t alone. The air was thick with anticipation. Elea felt a magnetic pull, and it took all her restraint not to jump out of the car. Swann continued down the road, eventually bringing the car to a halt.
Elea glanced around. There was no sign of CCTV cameras anywhere on this road. “Are you sure, sweetheart? Really sure?” It was a well-populated road, with houses on either side.
Fiona began to sob. “All that time, you were no distance from us.”
Sophie nodded. “My friend, Priti, she lives a few houses up.”
That was enough for Elea. Sophie’s memory would be sharp. She had no reason to lie.
“Can I go home?”
“We’re leaving right now,” Fiona said firmly, looking to Elea for confirmation. “Aren’t we?”
“Right away,” Elea replied.
“Good.” Fiona settled back into her seat. “You’ve got what you wanted. Now leave my daughter in peace.”
Elea wished it was that easy. But for today Sophie had done good. Swann spoke into his police airwave radio, updating the system with their results and tagging Mitch to be made aware, so he could get events under way. Warrants would be authorised. A search of the building would be made. Hopefully, there would be arrests. But right now they had to get Sophie home.
Swann turned back to Sophie. “You’ve been a very brave girl.” He looked to her mother. “I know that wasn’t easy for either of you. We’ll keep you updated.”
“Just get him off the streets,” Fiona said, her arm wrapped protectively around her daughter.
“Sophie,” Swann continued, “we’re going to get you home now, OK? Ness is waiting around the corner. You remember Ness? From the interview?”
Sophie nodded, her eyes large with an understanding of the darker side of the world.
“She’s going to take you and your mum home. Don’t you worry now. We’ll handle it from here.” His voice was smooth and reassuring. They had rehearsed for this moment and knew exactly what to do.
“Can’t we justgo down there?” Elea’s hand rested on the door handle of the car. Her body was moving of its own accord, itching to get going now that Sophie and her mother were safely in Ness’s care. The clunk of the internal locking system made her stiffen. She glared at Swann.
“You know the score.” He stared steadily ahead. And she did. Strict procedures were in place. But it didn’t stop her emotions running away with her. “I’ll drive back round. We’ll keep eyeballs on the place until surveillance get here.”
But Elea’s voice rose as Swann pulled away from the kerb. “Let me out, will you? She could be in there. He could be hurting her right now. We’ve got to go in.”
“And Sophie could be wrong. She’s twelve years old, Elea. Go thundering in there and mess everything up, and you’ll be sent home...or worse.” He shrugged as she threw him a death-stare. “I’m no fan of red tape, either, but it’s there to protect us.”
Elea tilted her head defiantly as Swann manoeuvred his car around. “We have suspicion. You can make an arrest.”
“And what if he legs it out the back? What if he has a gun? What if your sudden appearance forces his hand? We’re always playing with variables. Surveillance will be here soon.”
Elea’s heart ached with the need to find her daughter or, at the very least, the man who took her. But she knew what would happen next. This was a high-risk, high-profile case. A team of plain-clothes officers would be posted to observe while the main operation was under way. Elea was torn. Should she stay and observe or be part of the strategic planning? She turned down the car heater as she began to perspire. The traffic passed by in a blur. Her heart began to race as she wondered how long Sophie had been kept there. Was it for the whole time that she was missing? What about Chelsea, and Liisa: were they there, too? Questions raced in her mind. All she knew was that she needed to get inside that house because it was torture sitting here when she was so close to the truth. The minutes that passed felt like hours while Swann sorted everything out. Common sense dictated that Sophie’s abductor had long since fled. But common sense was for rational people. Murderers and kidnappers—they were a law unto themselves.
