Stolen Children

Stolen Children

MICHAEL WOOD

One More Chapter

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2020

Copyright © Michael Wood 2020

Cover design by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Michael Wood asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This is a work of fiction. Every reasonable attempt to verify the facts against available documentation has been made.

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Source ISBN: 9780008374860

Ebook Edition © October 2020 ISBN: 9780008374853

Version: 2020-11-18

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue: Monday 10th September 2018

Chapter 1: Monday 10th September 2018

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8: Tuesday 11th September 2018

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19: Wednesday 12th September 2018

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29: Thursday 13th September 2018

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37: Friday 14th September 2018

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44: Saturday 15th September 2018

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59: Sunday 16th September 2018

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64: Monday 17th September 2018

Chapter 65

Epilogue: Tuesday 16th October 2018

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by Michael Wood

About the Publisher

To Chris Simmons.

For starting the ball rolling all those years ago.

Prologue

Monday 10th September 2018

Avenue de la Corse, Marseille, France.

9am

He walked down the road with cars parked either side. It was early morning, but the sun was already high in the bright blue sky. Up ahead was a golden sandy beach and beyond that, the warm crystal waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

There was a breeze blowing which cooled him down slightly. He was nervous. No, he was petrified. Sweat was running down his face and his Adidas T-shirt was sticking to his back.

He kept turning around and looking over his shoulder. He had no idea how he had managed to leave his hotel room without awakening his “parents” in the adjoining room. He’d crept down the back stairs and scurried through the kitchens. He’d gone unnoticed as breakfast for more than two hundred guests was busily being prepared. He’d dodged shouting chefs and hurrying waiters, stolen a banana and a croissant from a tray, and bolted out of the fire escape. Once he was out of sight of the hotel, he’d sat on the steps of a closed shop and eaten his meagre breakfast. It had tasted foul.

Yesterday evening, while alone in his single room, he’d looked on his phone for the nearest police station. It was less than a five-minute walk, yet he’d been walking for more than half an hour now and he still couldn’t find it. He’d been down the Avenue de la Corse twice and there was nothing resembling a police station at all.

Then he saw it. Above a black door, next to barred windows was a sign which read Police Nationale. He’d thought it was a closed down shop when he’d passed it before. How could such a small building be a police station?

His heart quickened. He glanced around him once more to check he wasn’t being followed, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.

He didn’t know a word of French apart from bonjour. Marseille seemed like a very touristy place, so, fingers crossed, someone in here would speak English and understand him. He approached the desk. A dishevelled man in his mid-fifties with grey stubble and a dark tan looked down at him.

‘Bonjour. Comment puis-je vous aider?’

He looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. ‘Do you speak English?’

‘Non.’

‘Is there someone here who speaks English?’

The policeman looked to the door then back at the young boy. ‘Où sont vos parents?’

He only understood the word parents and took a step back. He looked at the door. This had all been a terrible mistake. He should leave. Run. But where to?

‘Please. I need your help.’ His eyes filled with tears.

The policeman didn’t say anything to him but stepped away from his desk. At the back of the room, he spoke to another man in an identical uniform. Their voices were low, and they kept looking over at him. He still had time to run.

‘Hello. I speak a little English,’ the second man said in a heavily accented voice when they both returned to the front desk.

From his back pocket, the boy took out a sheet of A4 paper that had been folded into fours. He opened it up, placed it on the desk and flattened it out. It was a missing persons poster.

Underneath the red headline was a photograph of a young boy, smiling, with blond hair and blue eyes.

The boy pointed at the photograph and then at himself. He did this a few times.

‘This is me,’ he said. ‘This boy is me.’

‘This is you?’

‘Yes.’

‘You are this missing boy?’

‘Yes. I’m him. I’m Carl Meagan.’

Chapter 1

Monday 10th September 2018

Stannington, Sheffield

4pm

Linda Armitage opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the bedroom. She was pale and a sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead. She’d been sick. Again.

She looked at her son, Riley, in his bed. He was lying on his side, mouth agape, breathing deeply. He was finally asleep. She turned off the television which was showing an episode of Pingu she had seen thousands of times before and turned on the monitor on the bedside table. Not that she needed to. When Riley woke up, he screamed the house down. However, Linda always needed to be able to hear him breathing. A slight deviation from the norm and she was in his room like a shot to make sure he was still alive.

Hopefully, he’d sleep for an hour or so and she could get some time to herself before she had to start making the evening meal. She flicked the kettle on in the kitchen and sat down at the table. She was tired. She needed a shower; her hair was greasy; her skin was dry, and she hadn’t changed her clothes for a couple of days.

The front door opened and was kicked closed with a bang. Linda braced herself but it didn’t wake Riley up.

Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Jodie, struggled under the weight of the shopping bags and heaved them onto the counter in the kitchen.

‘Are you all right?’ Jodie asked.

‘Yes. Fine. Why?’

‘You’re pale. Have you been sick again?’

‘Just a bit.’

‘Have you eaten anything?’

‘Yes. I had that sandwich you made me for lunch. I managed to keep it down for an hour or so, but …’ she tailed off.

‘Maybe you should go back to the doctor.’

‘I will. Did you get me some ibuprofen?’ she asked, changing the subject.

‘No. Mrs Mortimer wouldn’t serve me. She said it was more than her job’s worth.’

‘Oh for God’s sake. She knows they’re for me.’

‘I said that,’ Jodie said as she began to unpack. ‘They didn’t have any ham for Keeley’s packed lunch either, so I bought chicken. Is she here? I could have done with a hand carrying all this.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Linda asked as she rummaged in the drawer looking for any ibuprofen that may have been missed.

‘I told her to wait for me outside the Co-op. She knew I was buying milk. I came out and she’d buggered off. You’re going to have to have a word with her, Mum. I don’t mind helping around the house but she’s old enough to take on a bit more responsibility too, you know.’

‘I will. Found some,’ she said, ignoring Jodie and pulling out a blister pack with two tablets left. ‘I wonder how long these have been in there. They should be all right, shouldn’t they?’ She poured a glass of water from the tap and swigged them back.

‘Mum, did you hear what I said?’

‘Yes, I did. I’ll have a word with her when she comes in.’

‘You mean she hasn’t come home yet?’

‘No. I mean … she was with you.’

Jodie sighed. ‘I’ve just told you that she wasn’t there when I came out of the Co-op. I assumed she’d run on ahead.’

‘Well, she hasn’t.’

‘Then where is she?’

‘I don’t know.’

Mother and daughter stood glaring at each other.

‘I suppose that means I’ve got to go out and look for her then, doesn’t it?’ Jodie said, irritation evident in her voice.

‘Well I can’t,’ Linda said, nodding towards Riley’s bedroom.

Jodie threw the pack of apples she’d been unpacking down onto the table and stormed out of the kitchen towards the front door. She was muttering under her breath, but Linda couldn’t hear what she was saying. She slammed the door behind her. This time, Riley woke, and his screaming began.

So much for having five minutes to relax with a cup of tea.

Linda went into Riley’s room. He was sitting up in bed. His face was red and screwed up as he cried. He was trying to pull at his hair, but he had his mittens on, so he wasn’t able to inflict any injury to himself.

Linda flicked on the light and the disco ball in the ceiling began rotating, casting its soothing colours on the walls as they danced around the room. She picked up the remote and put the TV back on, back to that annoying penguin making that awful noise and pissing on the ice.

The landline in the hallway started to ring.

Linda ignored it and picked Riley up. He started to relax immediately. He felt safer in someone’s arms.

She made soothing noises and rubbed his back gently. The phone continued to ring.

‘Shall we go and see who’s ringing us, Riley?’ she asked in a sing-song voice. ‘It might be your nana to tell us all about her bunions again. Or maybe a nice gentleman will ask if we want to claim back PPI.’

She struggled to move Riley to her other arm. He was getting heavier by the day, and she seemed to be getting weaker. It wouldn’t be long before she’d be unable to pick him up at all.

‘Hello?’ She answered the phone.

‘Mrs Armitage?’

‘Yes.’

‘Linda Armitage?’

‘Yes,’ she strained to hear. With Riley gurgling on one side and a barely audible distorted voice coming through the phone line, she struggled to concentrate.

‘We have your daughter.’

‘What?’

‘We’ve got Keeley. Pay fifty thousand pounds if you want her back.’

‘Who is this?’ Linda gripped the receiver hard. Her eyes widened, her mouth dried, and her heart thumped loudly in her chest. This was a joke, surely.

‘We’ll ring back in twenty-four hours.’

The line went dead.

Linda remained frozen to the spot, the phone still next to her ear. All she could hear was the dial tone. Had she just imagined that call? She hadn’t been sleeping too well lately. She hadn’t left the house for six days. Was her mind playing tricks on her? People didn’t get kidnapped for ransom in this country. Well, there was that little boy, Carl something. He was from Sheffield. She couldn’t remember what had happened to him though.

Riley started to struggle in her arms. He flailed his legs, kicking her in the stomach and his glove-covered hands slapped at her face. She didn’t feel it. She ran back into his bedroom, dumped him in his bed and lifted up the railing on the side so he couldn’t get out. He began to cry and scream again, but she ignored him and left the room, closing the door behind her.

She ran into the living room for her mobile and scrolled through the contacts for her daughter’s number. Her fingers were shaking, her eyes were blurred, but she somehow managed to make the call.

The phone began to ring in the kitchen. She ran in and saw Jodie’s mobile on the work top.

‘Fuck.’

In a full-blown panic, Linda dropped the phone and hurried to the front door. She opened it and ran out into the autumn sunshine. At the end of the garden path she looked left and right. There was nobody around.

‘Jodie!’ She called out. There was no reply. She ran to the end of the road. ‘Jodie!’

Tears were streaming down her face. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. She felt completely alone. Alone and desperate.

Curtains began to twitch in neighbouring houses as people wondered as to the commotion.

‘JODIE!’ She screamed at the top of her voice.

‘Linda, what’s going on?’

She turned around and saw her next-door neighbour had come out of her house.

‘Amanda, have you seen our Jodie or Keeley anywhere?’ Linda asked.

‘Jesus, Lin, what’s happened? Are you all right?’ She asked, looking her up and down and taking in her dishevelled appearance.

‘No. I need Jodie.’

‘I saw her leave your house not five minutes back.’

‘Where did she go? Which direction?’

‘I’ve no idea. What’s going on?’

‘Someone’s got our Keeley,’ she cried.

‘What?’

‘Someone’s just called. They’ve got our Keeley. They’ve taken her.’

‘Who has?’

‘I don’t know,’ she screamed.

‘Come on,’ she put a comforting arm around Linda’s shoulders and slowly walked her back to the house. ‘Let’s get you inside. We’ll call your Craig and the police and let them sort it out.’

‘I can’t lose her. I can’t lose my baby,’ she cried.

‘You won’t lose anyone. I promise. Everything will be fine.’

More neighbours had gathered onto the small street to stare at the commotion.

***

Since Riley was born and because of his subsequent illness, Linda had hardly left the house. She felt embarrassed if he yelled or cried in public and people looked at her as if she was an unfit mother, unable to control her child, so she simply stopped going out. Months went by without her having her hair cut. She no longer showered daily. The weight had dropped off her and she’d stopped sleeping. Her life revolved around the twenty-four-hour-a-day care Riley needed.

Amanda led Linda into the living room and sat her on the sofa.

‘Now, tell me what’s going on?’ she asked.

‘Keeley’s gone,’ she said through the tears. ‘Someone’s taken her.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘What are you talking about? Of course I’m sure.’

Amanda took Linda’s hand in hers. ‘Look, it’s obvious you’ve not been looking after yourself, and I know you’ve not been sleeping too well lately. Are you sure you haven’t just nodded off and had a bad dream?’

‘What? Don’t you believe me?’

Amanda looked away.

‘Jesus Christ! Are you saying I’ve made it up? Do you think I’m going mad or something?’ She ranted, snatching her hands back.

‘I’m not saying anything like that, Linda. It’s just … well, you are under a lot of strain at the moment. Craig’s working all hours and you’re trying to look after three kids on your own. It’s going to have some kind of psychological …’

‘You think I’m cracking up,’ she interrupted. ‘You think I’m imagining things.’

‘There are places Riley can go, respite, so you can get some rest.’

‘I can’t believe this. Haven’t you heard what I’m saying? Keeley has been kidnapped and they want fifty thousand pounds, or they’ll kill her.’

‘Linda, listen to yourself. This is Sheffield, not New York. People don’t get kidnapped for ransom here.’

‘You’re not listening to me,’ she screamed, pulling hard at her hair.

‘Ok, ok, calm down. I tell you what, I’ll phone Craig, he can come home and sort it all out.’

‘You need to call the police.’

‘I’ll call them too,’ she lied.

***

4:45pm

‘Mum, I’m back,’ Jodie called from the hallway. ‘I’ve been right back to the school and nobody’s seen …’ She stopped in the entrance to the living room when she saw her mother on the sofa with Amanda Raine comforting her. ‘What’s up?’

‘Did you find her?’ Linda jumped up from the sofa.

‘No. I even knocked on a few of her friends’ doors as I passed. Nobody’s seen her since she left school.’

‘Oh my God,’ Amanda said.

‘See, now do you believe me?’

‘What’s going on?’ Jodie asked.

‘Jodie, come with me.’ Amanda turned Jodie around and pushed her out into the hallway, closing the living room door behind her. ‘Jodie, your mum seems to think Keeley’s been kidnapped.’

‘What? That’s ridiculous. She’ll have just gone off with a friend or something.’

‘That’s what I said. She said she’s had a phone call from someone demanding fifty thousand pounds.’

‘What? But … oh my God.’

‘What is it?’

‘Keeley had PE today.’

‘So?’

‘She said that Mr Page …’

‘What about Mr Page?’

A look of horror etched itself on Jodie’s face. ‘Have you called the police?’

‘No. I called your dad but he’s in Chesterfield on a delivery. He said he’ll come back as soon as he can.’

‘We should call the police.’

‘Jodie, what is it? What do you know?’

‘I think Mum might be right. I think Keeley might have been taken.’

Chapter 2

‘I’m Detective Sergeant Sian Mills. This is Detective Constable Finn Cotton from South Yorkshire Police.’

‘Come in,’ Amanda ushered them both into the house and quickly closed the door behind them.

All three stood in the cramped hallway. Sian looked at the walls and took in the framed pictures of a happy family smiling at her. There were coats hanging on the wall and shoes haphazardly placed at the bottom of the stairs. This was a lived-in family home.

‘Was it you who called the police?’ Sian asked.

‘Yes. It’s Mr and Mrs Armitage’s daughter, Keeley, who’s gone missing.’

‘Are they through there?’ Sian asked, pointing to what she assumed was the living room.

‘Yes. Linda’s in a bit of a state,’ she said in hushed tones. ‘Craig’s, well, he’s a bit more controlled.’

‘Ok. And you’re saying Keeley has been kidnapped?’

‘Well,’ Amanda leaned closer to Sian. She dropped her voice even lower. ‘That’s what Linda says. I’m not sure if I believe her.’

‘Right,’ Sian said, exchanging glances with Finn. ‘Let’s go and have a word with them.’

The living room wasn’t very large, and it was cluttered. The first thing Sian noticed was the giant bean bag in the corner. Jodie was sitting in it with Riley on her lap. He was wearing woollen mittens and a safety helmet. Linda was standing by the window, glaring out at the darkening street. She was biting her nails. Any hint of a noise, anything that caught her eye and she turned quickly towards it like a lion alert to its prey. On the sofa sat Craig. His face was expressionless. A large, solidly built man in his forties, he wore dirty jeans, an old sweater and a hi-vis waistcoat. There was a heavy atmosphere in the room, which was to be expected. Nobody spoke.

‘Linda, the police are here,’ Amanda said quietly as she ushered Sian and Finn into the room.

Sian proffered a sympathetic smile. ‘Mr and Mrs Armitage, hello. I’m DS Sian Mills. This is DC Finn Cotton. Is it all right if I sit down?’ There was no reply, so Sian perched herself on the edge of the sofa next to Craig. From her bag, she took out a thick form and a ballpoint pen. She tucked her red hair behind her ears and cleared her throat. ‘I won’t patronise you by saying I know how you’re feeling right now, because I don’t. However, I’m going to do everything possible to find your daughter.’

‘Then why aren’t you out there looking?’ Linda said. Her eyes were full of tears. There were dark circles beneath them, and she already had the look of a defeated mother who had given up all hope.

‘Linda, I need to know as much as possible about Keeley before I can get a team out looking for her. The more information you give me, the more likely we are to find her.’

‘Ask your questions,’ Craig said.

‘Thank you. Now, how long has Keeley been missing for?’

‘It was about four o’clock when I left her outside the Co-op,’ Jodie said from the corner of the room. Her voice was barely audible.

‘Is that the Co-op on Oldfield Road?’

Jodie nodded and Finn made a note in his pad.

Sian looked at her watch. It was half past five. ‘Have you called all her friends to see if she is with any of them?’

‘I did,’ Amanda chimed up. ‘Linda’s got her friends’ numbers in her phone. I called them all. Nobody has seen her since she left school.’

‘Which school is that?’

‘Mary Croft Primary School on Hopwood Lane.’

‘And have you contacted family members to see if she’s with any of them?’