Page 73 of Her Deadly Promise

FIFTY-SEVEN

CANDICE

As Gavin sped along the roads, taking corners without any warning, Candice slid on the plastic sheeting, feeling the grit and secretions of Nadia all over her. So hot, she was almost poaching in her own sweat. He turned the radio off. ‘Gavin, let me out,’ she yelled, tears sliding down her face. Her racing heart felt as though it might choke her. Gasping, she fought for the next breath. Banging on the boot, she waited to hear him respond but all she could hear were the bumps in the road and the sound of the engine. Disorientated, she had no idea where he was taking her. There had been twists and turns galore. What she did know was that this was a fight for her life. It was going to be him or her.

As he took another corner, her mouth smashed into something hard behind the plastic. A drizzle of warm liquid slid down her cheek. As she clenched her teeth, an excruciating pain shot through her jaw. One of her teeth had broken. She spat out the fleck of tooth. Kicking out in all directions, she had to find a weak spot in the car. One chance was all she needed, and she’d run as fast as she could. Not before taking Gavin out. She’d seen every horror film going. When people ran, their aggressor chased them. One hit, they get back up. If she got the chance, she had to go in there as hard as possible before making her escape. It was the only way.

The car hopped over a bump and for a second, it was in flight. She knew exactly where they were. That was the humpback bridge that went over the brook, on the outskirts of Cleevesford. He was taking the country roads to avoid anyone seeing him. She wondered if the DI had returned and seen the mess they left behind. They’d have alerts out. She’d heard of number-plate recognition, and they’d easily find out which car was missing off their drive.

With her sharp red fingernails, she fought until she managed to pierce the thick plastic. A few seconds later, she could fit a whole hand through. ‘Come on,’ she roared, poking and stretching away. ‘Yes.’ Her yell was victorious as she grabbed hold of Poppy’s rounders’ bat, the one they took to the park. There would be no more happy family moments like that any more. As soon as he opened that boot, he was going to have it and he was going to have it hard, straight in the face. It was her or him, and Poppy needed her, not the wide-eyed animal that had her trapped in the boot. She didn’t know Gavin at all.

An image of her little girl flashed through her mind. Gavin had ruined their lives. It was all his fault, and they would ultimately pay the price; that’s if she made it through this ordeal. She needed to hurry out of this nightmare, get Poppy and leave. She tried to hear her daughter’s giggle in her mind, but it was hard over the growling engine. All she heard was rage. ‘Please let me see Poppy again,’ she whispered as a sob escaped her mouth. She wanted to hug her little girl’s lithe frame and stroke her red hair.

Without warning, Gavin accelerated, thrusting her back again. The car skewered, snaking from side to side. They were going to crash. He was killing them both, there and then, and there was nothing at all she could do. Heart banging, she clenched her muscles and closed her eyes. Don’t let go of the bat, she thought as her whole body crashed into the front of the boot first and was then flung back. Bones stiff, she cried out as she straightened her left arm in agony She could move it, it wasn’t broken. They’d crashed in the middle of the countryside, and she couldn’t hear anything. ‘Gavin.’ She roared as loud as she could, repeating his name. Where had he crashed them? Was he dead?

Grabbing the bat, she hit one of the tail lights, knocking it clean out, then she peered through the gap. She flinched as a glint of sunlight nearly blinded her. In the distance she could hear cars going up and down the dual carriageway that crossed this route. No one was going to find them here. It was down to her to escape. She wiped the string of blood that was seeping from her tooth and bashed at the back of the seats with all she had. That’s when she heard footsteps crunching on twigs.

Gavin whispered through the tail light gap. ‘Shut the hell up or I’m going to stab you in the heart, do you hear me? Then, I will take Poppy far away from all this. You had to go and ruin everything.’ He slammed his hand on the boot, making her scream out.

‘Gavin, please,’ she cried. ‘We can talk about this.’

‘There’s no more time for talking.’ As he bent over and peered through the gap, she thrust the bat out of the hole straight into his cheek and she heard the crack.

‘Bitch.’ He snatched the bat, pulling it out. He now had her only weapon. She watched as he rolled the bloodied item around in his hand, as if he was warming up to bat a ball. He brought it down on the bumper and she shrieked. ‘This is how it’s going to play out. I’m going to reverse this car and hope to hell it still starts. If it doesn’t, you best say your final prayers as I’ll kill you here.’ He smirked. ‘Maybe not. There’s not a place in heaven for people like you.’ He paused. ‘You will not win this one. I’m going to drive and you’re going to make zero fuss. If I see that you’ve waved at anyone through this gap’ – he hit the gap with the bat – ‘I will crash us both face on into a tree. The crash I just caused; it was a warning. The next time, it will be the real thing, as right now I have nothing to lose. You caused this.’ He hit the car again. ‘Do you understand?’

She nodded as tears soaked her face. Mouth parched and throat like sandpaper, she needed him to drive away, out of the sun. If she had to stay in the tin box of the car any longer, she’d die of heat stroke. ‘Can I have some water?’

He stared directly at her and grinned. ‘No.’ With that he walked away, and she hoped with all she had that the car would start. She closed her eyes, picturing the knife plunging through her soft flesh, right through her beating heart. She tried to imagine the pain along with how it would feel to gasp for those dying breaths. The car rocked as he thudded into the driver’s seat.

‘Please start,’ she kept repeating as her bottom lip trembled. If not, it was all over. She sobbed for herself, and she sobbed for the daughter she might never see again.

FIFTY-EIGHT

Gina hurried behind Jacob as they entered Cleevesford General Hospital. She finished her phone conversation with O’Connor.

‘Any updates, guv?’

‘Yes, Anderson has come clean about the hot tub. His colleague, a Mr Graham Wilcox, bought it on his behalf with his card. He was having a spa treatment at a posh hotel with another one of his colleagues. Another affair with someone who was married. That’s why he wouldn’t speak. He said it would ruin her marriage and she begged him not to say anything.’

‘It sounds to me like it’s already ruined. I don’t know what’s up with these people.’ Jacob shook his head.

They ran into the recovery ward and were buzzed in after waiting for a few seconds. Gina flashed her identification at the nurse who was manning the station. ‘Where’s Nadia Anderson, please?’ Gina stood there, hands on hips as she tried to get her breath back. She checked her watch. The day was running away with them.

‘We put her in a room at the far end. I’m really sorry.’ The young female nurse gnawed on the inside of her cheek.

‘Sorry?’ Gina’s brows furrowed. Jacob nodded to her and continued up the corridor while Gina hung back.

‘About leaving Mrs Anderson.’

‘What happened?’

‘I told your officer we needed to do some checks on her and that it would take a few minutes. She was desperate for the loo, so I said I’d stay in the room, but I had an urgent call to tend to another patient. I thought Mrs Anderson would be okay for a couple of minutes but then that woman found her way in without permission, distressing the patient.’ Gina could see that the nurse’s hands were shaking.

‘Please, it’ll be okay.’

‘Thank you. I really am sorry.’ Gina smiled as she left the nurse tapping away on her computer.

Shouting echoed from outside the private room at the end. As she got closer, she could see a woman in her fifties arguing with Meera. ‘How dare you even be here? She doesn’t want to see you.’ The woman slapped Meera across the face and Jacob intervened, restraining her before any more damage was done. PC Kapoor stepped back and remained against the door of Nadia’s room, ensuring that no one else would even try to enter.

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