Page 9 of The Last One to See Him

‘Excuse me – can you help me?’

Kate turns around to see an elderly lady smiling at her. ‘I’ve lost my daughter and I don’t know what to do.’

Kate’s no expert, but she’s heard stories about elderly people with dementia getting lost. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll help you find her,’ she says. ‘Let’s go and see if we can talk to someone who works here.’

It’s nearly an hour before Kate gets back to the path leading to the canal. Luke appears, walking towards her.

‘What’s going on?’ she asks.

‘I’m out of here,’ he mumbles. ‘You should probably go too.’

‘Why? What’s happened?’

But he ignores her and continues on. Kate’s always found Luke a bit strange, so she shrugs and puts it down to him and Robbie having fallen out again – they are always arguing.

When she reaches the canal, she can’t see Kian, or Mona, or any of the others. She scans the area but there’s no one familiar in sight, and when Kate checks her phone, there’s no message from Mona telling her they’ve gone somewhere else. Not even a message asking where she was.

Furiously typing a message to Mona, she continues towards the wooded area.Where are you?

Before she can send it, she hears voices. She stands still and scans the woods, and there in the distance is Mona. She’s sitting down, and Kate is about to call out until she realises what her friend is doing. And who she’s doing it with.

Mona and Kian, his hands all over her, pulling up her top, exposing tanned skin.

Nausea lurches in her stomach as Kate turns away and makes her way back towards the canal path. She ignores Kian’s shouts for her to wait, and instead she runs until she’s far away from them.

She holds it together until she reaches the main road, but then her tears fall fast, burning her flushed red cheeks.

Intense anger is burning inside Kate. She’s seething, and she’s never felt this hollow before, as if she’s been gutted like a fish. She’s aware of noise all around her – the heavy thrum of traffic, and voices, but she can’t make out any words. She reaches her road and remembers that her mum is at work, and normally she’d be the person Kate turns to for anything. Her mum listens without judgement, and Kate always feels better after sharing things with her. But today her mum is on a twelve-hour shift at the hospital, caring for sick people who need her far more than Kate does.

Kate barely registers the white van that pulls up on the other side of the road, as consumed as she is by rage. Nor does she pay any attention to the man crossing the road.

Until she’s forced to acknowledge what’s happening. There’s an arm around her chest, a damp hand covering her mouth. She’s being dragged backwards and thrown into a van, her body smashing against the hard floor, rattling her bones. And then a heavy fist slams into her face.

And then nothing but darkness.

NOW, FRIDAY 24 JANUARY

Salty tears pool in Kate’s eyes as she stares at Rowan.

Without a word, he gets up from his chair and hands her a tissue. ‘I know this is difficult for you,’ he says. His voice is so warm and tender, which only intensifies her tears. ‘You don’t have to talk about it all again. If it’s too distressing.

‘No,’ she says. ‘I need to. I need to tell it again.’

‘Okay. If you’re sure.’

‘I’ve never told you all the details,’ she says. ‘I think I should.’

‘I’m listening,’ Rowan says, folding his hands together.

Kate takes a deep breath. ‘I remember opening my eyes and the van was moving. I had no idea where he was taking me, but the roads were bumpy and I kept sliding along the floor. It was filthy and dusty.’ She closes her eyes; she’s back there once more. ‘But the dirt was the least of my worries.

‘I just kept thinking that I’d never see my mum again. Never finish school and begin living. And even though I was scared, I knew I couldn’t let that be a possibility. I had to fight to survive, no matter what.’

Rowans tilts his head. ‘I imagine you must have felt terrified.’

Kate nods. ‘He hadn’t tied my hands, so I tried the doors, but they were locked. And there were no windows in that van. He must have taken my phone – or I dropped it when he forced me in there. That drive felt endless. The only thing I could do was use the time to plan what to do the second he opened those doors. I figured I had to be quick, to be ready the second that door opened so I could kick out at him and run. I knew I couldn’t overpower him, so I had to make sure I was at least faster than him.’ Kate feels the burn of tears in the corners of her eyes.

Rowan offers her the tissue box.

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