Page 70 of Finding Jacob
I scrambled to my feet and met one of the policemen on the landing. He helped me downstairs, and Nathan was allowed into the hall.
“It’s okay,” he said catching me in his arms as I fell.
I sobbed, letting all the fear out. “Someone was here, Nathan,” I said. “I heard them in the kitchen to start with. How did they get in?”
“Let’s get you out and worry about that later.”
Before we walked out the front door, I looked in the kitchen. A chair was upturned but what caused me to slide to a halt was the syringe lying next to it.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked. I then also saw my fridge door open, and cartons of milk and drinks lined up on the side. “Where’s PC Andrews?”
“Who?” I heard from behind.
I turned. “The PC who called me. He’s here somewhere.”
I saw the police look at each other and I didn’t need them to answer with words. There was no PC Andrews. A cold sweat formed on my skin.
“He has my number,” I whispered. “Who is he? And how did they get in my house?”
I was sure I heard a woman stumble off the chair, so did that mean there were two people?
“Why is there a syringe on the floor?” I asked again.
“I need to get her to safety,” Nathan told one of the officers.
“We’ll need to—”
“I know what you need. You call me.” He thrust a card at the man, who nodded.
Nathan kept his arm around my waist and hustled me quickly to the car. I was thrown across the back seat and as I righted myself, he ran to the driver’s door. I could hear shouting and see police running to the rear of the property, they couldn’t access the courtyard unless they climbed over an eight-feet high wall. Before I had my seat belt on, we had sped away.
I sat shaking like a leaf in a storm with tears rolling down my face. I was in shock, but I noticed Nathan looking at me periodically in the rear-view mirror.
“It’s okay now, Anna,” he would say in a calm voice. I nodded but didn’t really take in what he was saying.
It was only a short time, although it felt like hours, before we pulled into a service station. Nathan parked the car and turned off the engine.
“Where are we?” I asked, not familiar with the surroundings.
“Jacob will meet us here,” he said. He turned in his seat so he could look at me. “Are you okay, Anna?” His voice wavered, and he swallowed hard. He looked extremely concerned for me.
“I am now,” I said, wiping my tears with the hem of my T-shirt and finally relaxing a little.
I had no shoes on my feet and my top was torn. I could feel a bruise forming on my side.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I think Hannah is involved in Jules’s death,” he said quite bluntly and without blinking.
I laughed, in a maniacal way. “Don’t be so... You’re serious?”
He nodded. “There was nothing on her phone line whatsoever. She received no phone calls from anyone. I checked out the CCTV on a neighbour of Jules’s, and her mum was there the evening before she died.”
“Did you ask her if she was there?”
“I asked her when she last saw Jules, and it was a few days prior, so she said. She lied.”
“I don’t get that,” I said, confused.
