Page 106 of The Stolen Child

Zach whimpered in his pram. Elsie walked over and rocked him until he settled.

‘Sally, listen to me. I can feel it here –’ Elsie thumped her chest – ‘if you don’t leave today, he’s gonna kill you both. That man ain’t right. There’s a violence in him that scares me.’

‘You think I don’t know that? I want to leave, but I have to know that it’s safe to do so. That there’s no chance it will fail. Because, if it does, I’ll lose Zach.’

‘We can disappear before Baldwin even knows we’re gone. I know we can,’ Elsie insisted.

Nicola looked outside the window again, frowning. ‘I don’t know, Elsie. That squad car is only a few feet from here. I think let the dust settle for a few weeks, then when Ian’s guard is down, Sally and Zach can get away safely. I’m sure Reggie can rearrange things.’

Elsie sucked in her breath as anger sparked inside her. Nicola and Sally didn’t get it.

Waiting got you killed.

She knew that better than anyone else.

‘I’m supposed to leave for Spain today. I’ve given up my flat,’ Elsie said.

‘That’s the answer. You go to Spain, find a place over there for you all, then Sally and Zach can follow in a few weeks,’ Nicola said. She led Sally to the sink. ‘Come on, love, let’s get your hair sorted. You can’t go home without a blow-dry and set, or he’ll be suspicious.’

Elsie was stunned as Nicola ran the water over Sally’s hair. Was Sally stupid? Or too scared to do the right thing? Did it matter which? She didn’t suppose it did.

Sally began to cry as Nicola wrapped her hair in a towel once she’d finished washing it. Her body rocked and reeled as she sobbed in Nicola’s arms. It was as if, once she’d started, she couldn’t stop.

‘Let’s go upstairs to the flat for a cuppa. Tea always makes things a little easier to bear, doesn’t it? And maybe a sandwich. You’re skin and bones. I bet you’ve not eaten a bite with the worry.’

Sally nodded, then made her way to the pram to get Zach.

Nicola steered her towards the stairs. ‘Elsie can get Zach. You concentrate on yourself for a few minutes.’

Elsie smiled reassuringly at Sally, as she picked up the infant. ‘We’ll follow you up.’

Zach looked up at Elsie, his blue eyes wide in question.

‘What’s wrong, little man?’ Elsie asked, cradling him close to her. ‘What horrors have you already been witness to?’

She felt tears sting her own eyes as a memory pierced her.

The silence, deafening, slicing cruelly through the air. The smell, like rotten eggs, making her nose wrinkle. She gagged, as her eyes moved around the room. Brown hair, fanned across the white tiled floor. Still, so still.

‘I won’t let anything happen to you, Zach. I won’t,’ Elsie promised.

Her body trembled as her mind rallied with what to do next. And then she heard a car pull up in front of the salon.

It was Reggie. He wound down his window and peered out, beckoning to her to join him.

As if moving in a trance, Elsie picked up Zach’s changing bag, slinging it over one shoulder. A sheen of sweat lined her face as she looked out of the salon window, up and down the street, checking for any sign of Baldwin, or his cronies.

The squad car was still there.

Elsie walked behind the reception desk and grabbed Nicola’s rain mac again, pulling it over herself and Zach, the hood covering her face. Her legs felt leaden as she went to the salon door, but they still moved, one foot at a time. She slid the lock across, unlocking it in one fluid movement, and for a moment Elsie waited for a voice to call out to stop her.

Sally or Nicola would come down, looking for Zach. She’d turn back, and that would be that.

But no voice came.

Zach’s little hand reached up and touched Elsie’s face. Those eyes looked at her again, pleading with her to help him. As another little boy’s had done, a long time ago.

She had to do this. She had to save him.