She’s got nothing to do with it. I’m coming to you, Haze.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Haze
Sally was a bust, andJenny had updated us to say that five teenagers had just got out of the car she was following and piled into a house party. Our one remaining lead was the car I was trying to find: a Ford Fiesta with a number plate ending OGE.
OGE had gone down this road less than ten minutes ago. I had to find it. I had to. We had no other leads. If I didn’t, that would be it. She’d be in the wind. At the mercy of a madman. I couldn’t let my mind go there. I couldn’t. Not while we still had hope.
Jenny had now parked up and was trawling CCTV. She’d confirmed that there was no sign of the Fiesta leaving the area. If he’d parked up somewhere and taken Bibi on foot, we’d have no idea where they were headed. I couldn’t let myself panic yet.
I went to Cherry Lane. Nothing. I turned right into Hawthorne Avenue. A gray car was parked up ahead. My heart rate sped up. I got close enough to see the number plate was wrong.
Fuck.
I kept going. I looked around. I knew this area. I’d just been here yesterday.
When my boot was overloaded with boxes of toys.
I paused.
I had to make a decision—and fast.
No sign of OGE—but then, if I knew where it was headed,what did it matter? I swerved into a parking space and got out of the car.
The charity shop was on the opposite side of the road.
The blinds were down, but the lights were on.
I didn’t believe in coincidences.
And I didn’t believe there was any reason anyone would be in a charity shop at 10 p.m.
I rang Fox and Jenny. “No sign of OGE, but I’m going to check out the charity shop here. I was there yesterday, and there was something off about this guy Freddie who was working there. It looks like there’s someone in there now.”
They reacted as I expected.
Jenny: “Looking up the CCTV around the shop now.”
Fox: “I would tell you to wait for me, but I know there’s no point.”
I saw a shadow of someone walking past the blinds.
“I’ll keep the line open.”
“The shop has a back entrance that takes you into a narrow alleyway that leads out onto Hawthorne Terrace,” Jenny said. “The alleyway has no CCTV, so he could’ve parked up and gone into the shop that way.”
The charity shop was on the corner of a quiet street. I was going to have to break in, and doing that at the front door would draw too much attention. If the kidnapper had gone in through the alleyway, I’d do the same. I got out of the car and headed into the alleyway—and came face-to-face with Alain Drake.
“What are you doing here, Mrs. Cabot?”
I had a second to work out what to spin. And I couldn’t get my brain to cooperate. I couldn’t think of anything to say except the truth.
“My daughter is missing. I think she’s here.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
I paused. “I don’t want them to know.”
