Page 69 of Her Hidden Shadow

She hurried down the garden path as the little dog whined while running circles around her. As she approached the door, she placed a pair of latex gloves over her hands and pulled some shoe covers over her boots. ‘Nancy?’ she called as she flicked the light switch. This time, she couldn’t hear the tinny noise and for a moment, she wondered if it was no more than the heating system crackling. She kicked the sheet of plastic that lay crumpled on the kitchen floor and continued past the table.

The dog yapped at the bottom of the stairs. Gina walked through to the hallway where she saw the bunch of mixed flowers. A card lay on the floor, and she shivered as she held the note up towards the light. Forever mine. That same message had been engraved inside the wedding ring found in Robbie Shields’s clothing. She turned the card over; they were addressed to Lauren. She had been right all along and here was her evidence. The flowers had been sent by Bill’s Blossoms, a florist in Worcester. All they had to do now was trace the sender and they had their killer. If the flowers had been sent while Jacob was in custody, they’d have to let him go.

Another tinny bang came from above. Gina peered into the lounge but there was nothing amiss there. She snatched the cordless phone and placed it in her pocket. Taking the first creaky step, she continued up. ‘Nancy?’ Her breaths were shallow, and her heart banged.

The dog ran past her and began barking from one of the bedrooms. Gina hurried up to the landing, pushing open the first door, which showed her that the bathroom was empty. She turned the landing light on. On passing the first bedroom, she saw the dog’s tail wagging at the base of the double bed. As she stepped in, she flinched, the sight in front her sending her gasping. Glancing in all directions, Gina wondered if the killer was in the house. There was no movement, apart from that in front of her. She ran over to the woman who lay on her front. Her legs had been secured behind her back to her arms. A scarf around her neck that had been tied to a hook above. If Nancy had slipped or fallen unconscious, she’d have been instantly strangled.

Running over, Gina removed the noose from the woman’s neck and began to untie her binds. Her hands flopped forward, and her feet slammed onto the floor. With shaky fingers, Gina pulled the scarf from the woman’s eyes away and the tape off her mouth. Nancy spat the sock out and inhaled so deep, it sounded like she was sucking the air out of the room. The dog began to jump all over her as she lay with her face in the carpet.

‘You’re safe now. I’m going to call for help.’ Gina grabbed a pillow from the bed and placed it under Nancy’s head as she pulled the cordless phone out her pocket. She dialled one of the only numbers she knew by heart and Briggs answered immediately. ‘Gina where the hell are you?’

‘I’m at Nancy Cross’s house. I’ve just found her in the bedroom, tied up. Please call an ambulance and get a team down here immediately.’

‘What number are you calling on?’

‘This is Nancy’s home phone. I have no charge.’

‘So, you didn’t get the message. Just to let you know, Sullivan has sus—’

Before he could finish his sentence, she ended the call. ‘Help is on its way. Can I get you some water?’

The woman coughed and spluttered, then shook her head. ‘Lauren.’

‘What about Lauren? Do you know where she is?’

‘He has her and he drugged me. He wanted me to fall asleep so that I’d strangle myself.’ Her eyelids half closed as she fought it.

‘Who has her?’

Nancy whispered his name under her breath. Gina pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped her up in it. ‘Do you know where I can find him?’

‘Where they…’ She coughed again. ‘Engaged. Please bring her home, she’s so scared. He will kill her. Please, hurry.’ Nancy struggled to say as her eyes half closed.

‘Where do I need to go?’ Gina’s tensed jaw made her head throb as Nancy began to drift into a world of her own as whatever he’d drugged her with took over. ‘Nancy, please listen to me. Where can I find Lauren? Where did he take her?’ Gina caught sight of the sock that had been in Nancy’s mouth, and she recognised it from the post-mortem. It was Robbie’s missing sock.

Nancy began to shiver erratically just as Gina heard ambulance sirens coming up the road. ‘Help is here, Nancy. I’m going to let them in.’ She ran down the stairs as fast as she could until she reached the front door, and a paramedic was about to knock. ‘She’s upstairs, first bedroom. She’s been tied up and drugged. I don’t know what with.’ As she said those words, a thought came to mind. Tiffany. She called Briggs again.

‘Gina, I’m about to lead the press conference. I can’t speak yet.’

‘Don’t do it. Jacob didn’t do it. I have proof right here.’ He went to interrupt. ‘Don’t speak, I have too much to tell you and no time.’ She blurted everything she knew out to him. That way, they could secure Tiffany and Kieron’s flat as a scene. She had a theory about where Lauren had been taken too but it was only that. Without the team to bounce things off, she was alone, and she only had minutes before uniform would arrive. She needed to be gone. ‘And, Chris?’

‘Yes?’

‘Please tell Hereford all this so that they can let Jacob go now. He couldn’t possibly have attacked Nancy and taken Lauren. He’s in the clear.’

She threw the phone onto the settee and ran out of the house, leaving Nancy in the capable hands of the paramedics. Nancy would want nothing more than for Gina to find her daughter and bring her home safely. Gina wasn’t about to sit around being questioned and reprimanded all evening, wasting valuable time while their killer had Lauren. As it stood, Sullivan was about to call an end to investigating the case and was prepared to allow Jacob to take the blame. Sullivan was right, Gina had a heart, and she was emotional because she cared and that was Sullivan’s downfall. Sullivan had no heart.

Running to her car, she got in, did a three-point-turn and headed past the ambulance down the windy road back towards Malvern. She plugged her phone in to charge but turned it off immediately. She had no need for messages or calls, Lauren was running out of time. Large trees loomed over her, casting shadows across the road from the backlighting of the street lamps. O’Connor’s car came the other way and for a moment, she wondered if he’d stop but he smiled at her as she drove past. She exhaled knowing that this was just the beginning. She was still alone, and she was yet to confront the killer and if her theory was right, she was dancing with death, but she was also Lauren’s only hope.

Fifty-Five

Tiffany

Tiffany leaned over towards the cardboard dish and vomited. The nurse looked on sympathetically as she took the bowl. Tiffany felt the weight of her head fixing her to the pillow. In fact, her whole body was like lead. She lay on her side and hugged herself as her stomach spasmed again. She was living in some kind of hell. The beeping sound of machines made her head spin and pound. She pulled the sheet up a little further so that it covered her eyes. How had she got here? She moved her arm a little and felt a sting as the cannula caught in the sheet. They were pumping something into her, and she’d heard the word overdose mentioned when a doctor had been in. That was nonsense. She hadn’t taken an overdose, she’d taken her usual tablets and she grimaced, there was the wine. She remembered something about wine and then there was a voice.

The nurse was saying something sweet and soothing, but the words weren’t registering. It was as if they were in some sort of echoey chamber and the sound was bouncing off the walls.

‘Is my husband here?’ she said, in a wavering voice that was hoarse from heaving.

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