A DCI Anna Tate Crime Thriller

‘We need to know what happened,’ he said. ‘Was Jacob in an accident? Did someone hurt him?’

An image of their son chained up by his wrists in the cellar resurfaced in Anna’s mind, sending an icy flush through her veins.

She swallowed back the lump in her throat, and said, ‘It saddens me to have to tell you this, Mr Rossi, but your son died this afternoon from smoke inhalation while trapped inside a derelict building that was set on fire by rioters. Whoever was responsible for the fire almost certainly wouldn’t have known he was inside.’

Clare Rossi’s head shot up and the shock was evident in her expression.

‘Are you saying that our son was alive all this time?’ she sobbed.

Anna nodded. ‘He was indeed, Mrs Rossi.’

The woman turned her gaze on Benning and her features hardened.

‘So why the hell didn’t you find him? You told us that you would. You promised.’

‘There’s a reason that DI Benning’s team were unable to locate Jacob,’ Anna said. ‘The person or persons who abducted your son went to great lengths to ensure he wouldn’t be found.’

Clare frowned. ‘What do you mean? Where has he been since Monday?’

There were times when Anna wished she hadn’t followed in her late father’s footsteps and become a copper. And this was one of them.

She pushed back her shoulders, drew in a breath, and said, ‘The building Jacob was found in is in Camberwell and it used to be a pub. It’s been derelict for some years. It appears that Jacob was taken straight there after he was abducted on his way home from school. And he remained there until today. If it wasn’t for the riots he would probably still be alive.’

‘But who would do such a thing?’ Rossi said. ‘And why didn’t anyone know he was there? Surely someone would have seen or heard him crying out.’

‘We have no idea at this stage why he was taken there,’ Anna told them. ‘However, we do know why nobody came across him and why he couldn’t escape. But you really need to brace yourselves for what I’m about to …’

‘Oh, just get on with it, Detective,’ Rossi cut in. ‘I’m sure there’s nothing else you can say that will make us feel any worse than we do already.’

Anna knew that he was wrong on that score, but she also knew that they had a right to know the full story. And better they heard it from her before it was in the public domain.

She left it a beat and then spoke in a low, sympathetic voice. ‘I’m afraid your son was being held in the pub cellar. And he was chained to a wall. When the building went up in flames the smoke deprived him of oxygen. His body was discovered by fire officers after they put the blaze out and went into the building.’

The couple reacted in different ways to the gruesome revelation. Rossi lifted his head, squeezed his eyes shut, and screamed something unintelligible at the ceiling.

But his wife made not the slightest sound as her eyes rolled upwards in their sockets and she slumped forward onto the floor where she promptly passed out.

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