Page 84 of Then She Vanished

No one replied, but a loud sickening thud came from the room she had just been held in.

Knees shaking, she stood stiffly. Hands out in front of her, she began to step on the floor that was soft underneath. She must be on carpet or a rug.

After only two steps, her fingers brushed over what felt like a worktop. There was a kettle, the dip of a sink.

Fingers tickling the tap, she ran it and water came out. Thirstily, she bent over it and drank until she almost choked on the warmish water. The other side contained a rack and lots of plastic-covered items. She tore one open and the smell of sweetness instantly hit her nostrils. It was cake. She took a bite and threw the rest back on the shelf, not hungry but knowing she needed her strength just in case she had to fight her way out of this.

The stench of urine got stronger, roiling her stomach.

She walked a few paces forward and she reached another door. Placing her ear to it, she listened for what might be behind it, and she was overcome by emotion.

It might be Elissa. Maybe all these years he’d been keeping Elissa in the bunker because Elissa was hers.

What she and Gary never told anyone was that Elissa was not his biological daughter. She’d had a one-night stand, just a guy in a bar, and Gary had stood by her.

His mood towards Elissa was hot and cold. One minute, he’d take her to do things – fishing, chess matches, drawing – but other times, he’d get resentful because she wasn’t his. His moods were unpredictable and he’d have moments when he abandoned them both for days.

She thought of how they’d tried so hard to have a baby together. It never happened. This was the result of Gary’s pent-up frustration, anger and resentment. ‘Gary, please let me out so we can talk. I know I could have been a better wife. I am so sorry, Gary.’

It was no good. He’d gone and she was alone in the dark. She listened again, wondering what was behind the door, then she pressed the handle.

It was locked. She didn’t even know whether she wanted the truth. If her daughter was nothing more than a corpse behind that door, did she want to know?

But she was a mother and if Elissa was there and she was dead, she wanted to be able to take her home and bury her, have a proper goodbye for her. That’s if she ever got out.

The silence was deafening. Head thick with a fog that was getting denser by the second, she leaned against the door and slid down to the rug on the floor where she slowly felt her breaths getting more laboured. The locked metal door was cold against her shivering body.

Was that a sound? She tried to listen over the top of her thudding heart.

It was a hissing noise.Hiss, hiss, hiss.Maybe there was ventilation behind the door.

The door clicked. Ruth had a feeling that all the answers were waiting there for her. She just had to be brave enough to open it.

She fell backwards as someone else took that decision from her and opened the door. Something clasped over her mouth. The more she panicked, the more forceful the hand was.

She fought, but she was too weak. It was over.

Gary lied and she would never know what happened to Elissa. He couldn’t have Ruth so he was killing her.

The hand pressed down hard over her mouth as she lay there.

FIFTY-FOUR

Now dark, Gina waited for Jacob to pull into the industrial estate. A tiny disused gatehouse stood at the entrance, along with a pile of old bin bags. A few rats scurried around where a fox had torn one open. In the distance, several industrial units stood large with billowing trees behind them, dark and spidery as they reached for the midnight-blue sky. The moon lit up the roofs and hints of light glinted off the many skips that adorned every car park.

‘Everyone’s in place, guv,’ O’Connor said down the phone that was pressed to her ear. ‘Two police cars are right behind you, no blue lights as requested. I’m going to head towards you now.’

‘Kill all lights on approach to Bishop Fry-Stone. It’s just behind the large unit we’re trundling past.’ She gave her stab vest a little move to make it more comfortable before reluctantly popping her personal phone in Jacob’s glove compartment.

Jacob clocked her doing it. She wondered if he knew; if he too had received a horrible photo of her with some awful caption. ‘You okay?’

She nodded. Maybe the team hadn’t been looking at her in a funny way back at the station, or maybe everyone was too politeto say anything. She only hoped that Pete Bloxwich was going to shut it all down.

Her personal phone beeped. She snatched it back out of the glove compartment.

It was a message from Pete and she had to read it.

White Knight has an account on my forum. He has slipped up in a communication with someone, if indeed it’s the same person you’re looking for. He said he had everything needed for this psycho to build his own prepper jail. He said to this guy – who I can’t trace – that a company called Bishops was the best place for supplies and that he could get a discount for him. I think this was meant to go into a private message but he accidentally put it up in a conversation chain. It was deleted within a minute but I managed to take a snapshot.

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