‘What do you think he was looking for?’
Keep him talking.
‘For the baby,’ I say quietly. ‘For Mia.’
‘So you know she’s in mortal danger.’
The call on my mobile connects and a tinny female voice asks me which service I require.
‘The police,’ I say loudly. I leave a pause before adding, ‘They told me about the Ghost.’
The tinny voice replies but I can’t hear her properly. ‘The police are incompetent,’ Leon says in my other ear. ‘Their investigation into the Ghost was riddled with it, mainly because yourfriendDetective Inspector Gilbourne is an incompetent, old-school cop desperate to cover up his own failings. Desperate to conceal the fact that the case was botched from the start when he let Dominic Church slip through his fingers. Church is a clever guy, I’ll give him that. But trust me, I’ve been researching and writing about his kind for almost twenty years, I’ve lived their cases, lived their crimes, and I know a psychopath when I see one.’
‘So where do you fit in, Leon?’
‘I can help you.’
‘Helpme?’
‘We can help each other. I protect you from Dominic Church, you can get to the baby, take her somewhere safe. Church is never going to allow that second DNA test to be done.’ He pauses, his voice dropping lower. ‘Which means her time is almost up. And if she disappears, the story disappears with her, do you see?’
‘What on earth makes you think I’d want to help you?’
‘Because it’s the only way, and because you’re a good person, Ellen. I trust you. Can you trust me?’
I raise the mobile and hear the police operator’s voice again, loud and insistent as if she’s repeating herself.
– street address or location if you are in immediate –
‘You attacked me, Leon,’ I say. ‘Now you’ve tracked me to the Northolt Premier Inn and you’re threatening me again.’
‘Of course I’m not threatening you, I’m trying to—’ He stops abruptly, and when he comes back on the line there is a note of disappointment in his voice. ‘Who else are you talking to, Ellen?’
‘You’re in the car park at the back of the building and you know I’m on my own here.’
He sighs audibly down the line.
‘You’re in way over your head, Ellen. And that child is going to pay the price.’
There is a softclickas the hotel phone goes dead.
I put the mobile to my ear and give the police operator my details again, telling her about Leon’s previous attack at my house. She asks me to stay on the line until officers can be sent to check the area, and not to open the door to anyone. I chance another look out of the window, but the car park is empty. No sign of Leon down there.
Sitting in the dark, mobile phone pressed to my ear, everything boils down to two options: go or stay. Wait for the police and then get out, get to my car and take my chances, knowing he’s out there somewhere close by. But go where? Or I can sit tight, stay here until the morning, hope that a visit to the hotel by uniformed police will convince Leon to stay away. Keep the door locked and the security latch on until daylight, hope he doesn’t get into the hotel in the meantime, hope he doesn’t get up here to my—
There is a sharp knock on the door.
59
I freeze, a chill creeping over my skin. The knock comes again, louder and more insistent this time. I can’t believe how fast he’s got up here from the car park. Maybe he just called the landline to confirm where I was.
‘He’s here,’ I whisper to the police operator. ‘He’s at the door.’
‘Donotopen it, under any circumstances,’ the voice comes back. ‘Units are en route.’
‘How long?’
‘A few minutes. Stay calm and stay on the line, madam.’
