Page 88 of Then She Vanished

At the far end of the car park sat the white van.

She waited until everyone was in place. They all quietly radioed in turn to double-check that all exits were covered and all backup was in place.

An officer wearing padded clothing hurried towards them, ready to handle the dog. PC Smith shoved past with a pair of huge bolt cutters, and within a few seconds, the padlock clunked onto the tarmac below.

Gina pointed for half of the officers to go one way while the rest of the team followed her around the building. On passing the van, she could see the chess piece dangling from the mirror and the red cupcake scarf on the passenger seat.

‘We’ve definitely got the right place. It’s the van!’ She kept walking. ‘This looks like a huge company. There must be a lot of employees working here. He wouldn’t be keeping her in the main building. Someone would know and report him.’

She ran around the side of the building and came across another fence; six-foot and wooden that could easily be climbed, and a hardwood multi-locked gate. The sign on the front gave it away.

NO UNAUTHORISED PERSONNEL

She glanced at the PCs. ‘We need this gate opened. Can you sort it?’ Then one PC nodded and ran back to assist another who was carrying a plethora of cutting tools.

‘I’m going over the fence.’

‘Guv, it could be dangerous. We don’t know if he’s there. Once the gate is open, we can all go through.’

‘There are lives at risk and this gate could take a while to open.’

Deep down she knew that their perp wouldn’t be at the hospital or at his house. He’d be where his captives were, and the fact that she and Jacob had spoken to him earlier put those victims in more danger.

‘Every second we lose is a second too much. Ruth and the girl need usnow. I’m not waiting.’ She adjusted her body cam and took a deep breath.

Stepping up, she grabbed the top of the fence. She shuffled over and dropped with a thud to the other side. Several massive storage sheds led the way, most of them open faced, showing piles upon piles of building materials. After jogging alongside them for what seemed like forever, her gaze fell on the small brick building at the edge of the land that was guarded by a metal fence, but this time the small perimeter was topped with barbed wire.

Jacob threw a couple of items over the wooden fence and clambered over. He grabbed them off the ground and ran after her.

‘I thought you weren’t coming?’ she said.

He held up the cutters and began snipping at the metal cage until the hole was big enough for them to slip through. Two PCs followed and waited for further instruction. ‘Can you radio through our location? Get the paramedics and firefighters on standby. I don’t know what we’re walking into.’

One PC nodded and began speaking through her radio.

Gina snapped on a pair of latex gloves and climbed through the hole, her hair getting caught on one of the metal prongs. She tore a clump off, releasing the strands of her mane that had come loose from the jaws of the fence before reaching the other side. ‘Can you pass me the cutters through?’

Jacob passed them through the gap.

Gina scrunched her brows as one of the PCs shone a torch at the door. The padlock wasn’t too thick. There was a smear of brownish red just under the lock.

‘We definitely need paramedics here, and tell the team to clear access for them. That gate needs to be opened even if they have to ram it down. We have traces of blood and…’ – she looked down – ‘a hair grip, and a scrunched-up tissue.’

She pictured their perp carrying Ruth, and those items dropping out of her pocket. As Jacob climbed through, Gina placed the cutters over the padlock and pressed.

The metal was too strong. She used them to bash at the padlock instead, until finally, reluctantly, the metal fixing broke away from the door. Gina struggled with the weight of it, but with a bit of muscle the door let out a creak as she opened it.

‘What the…?’ Jacob stood right behind her.

Each wall was covered with shelving. Several floor-to-ceiling racks stood at the far end of the room that was as big as a generous pantry. There were boxes galore, none of them labelled. She glanced around at the dark-grey interior, which only made the tiny room feel smaller and darker.

Gina slid a box out from the rack and peered inside. It contained several packets of dried soup. She opened another and it contained some blue clothing. She pulled one out and let it unfold. It was a blue dress, just like the girl in the photo was wearing. She fished through the rest and counted ten, all in a petite size. There were so many boxes. She pulled out box after box to reveal yet more supplies: dried food, bottled water,pens, pencils, sketch pads, soap, shampoo, magazines, books for teens.

She leaned on the rack and it moved slightly.

Gina looked down. The whole singular structure was on wheels.

She pulled the rack and it easily came away from the wall, revealing a small, discreet door.

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