He turned away. ‘Oh God…’
They bundled her into the police van.
Phil stood there watching her go, his heart as black, dark and heavy as the Wrabness night.
He was lost.
Marina crept along, bent low, walking slowly. The light was getting brighter as she reached its source, the shadows lengthening, flickering as they came round the corners. It was accompanied by noise. Rhythmic pounding. Hammering.
She pressed herself in tight against the wall, gripped the screwdriver firmly in her hand. Risked a look round the corner.
The walls were lined with shelves containing canned food, cartons of milk, bottles of water. It was like a survivalist’s larder. In the centre of the space, a figure was kneeling down, hammering nails into wood. Marina looked closer, tried to work out what was being made.
There were huge squares of wood, metal mesh. The wood was being turned into frames, the mesh covering the frames. Marina was chilled by something more than just cold. She knew what was being made.
A cage. A cage for her.
She gave a gasp. Involuntary, unplanned. Cursing herself for doing it.
The figure stopped hammering, looked up.
He smiled. It wasn’t pleasant.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Welcome to your new home.’
82
The baby had been taken to hospital in an ambulance. The paramedics had given her a cursory examination and decided she was quite well, considering, but really needed full nursing care. Graeme Eades would be contacted.
Anni was sitting on the step, looking out towards the beach, her coat pulled tight round her, a blanket over that.
Phil sat down next to her.
‘Hey,’ he said.
She nodded, kept staring straight ahead.
‘Well done in there,’ he said.
She sighed. ‘I lied.’
‘You did what you had to do. What was best.’
She shook her head. ‘I lied to a vulnerable, damaged human being. I just made someone who’s lonely and fucked in the head feel even worse about themselves.’
‘You did your job, Anni.’
She didn’t reply, just continued to stare.
‘You coming back inside?’
She didn’t reply at first. ‘I think I’ll stay here a bit longer. If you don’t mind, boss.’
‘Okay.’ Phil stood up, looked round. Took in the desolation of the place once again. He looked across the field the way they had come, passing his eyes over the caravan site. Who would want to come here for their holidays? he thought, not for the first time.
Something jarred within him.
The caravan site.
‘Anni…’
She looked up.
‘When you checked the details on the Croft family, didn’t it say something about owning a caravan site?’
Anni looked up, startled out of her reflective mood. ‘Yeah, yes it did…’ She stood up, joined him in looking. ‘D’you think…’
‘Worth a try,’ he said. ‘Tell the rest of them where I’m going. If I find anything I’ll come back, let you know.’
He picked up his torch, started hurrying across the field.
Marina started to back away from the man. She held the screwdriver out in front of her.
‘Don’t…’ Her throat felt dry, parched. Her voice small, croaking. ‘Don’t come any nearer… I’ll… I’ll stab you…’ The words sounded unconvincing, even to her.
The man smiled again. Shook his head. ‘No you won’t.’ His voice sounded like he looked: rough, callused, feral and powerful. He was tall, his body thick-limbed and bulky. Dressed in old suit trousers, braces and a once-white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he was sweating and dirty. Work boots on his feet, an old, festering overcoat on the floor beside him. He was bald, but his thick, powerful arms were covered in hair. He had a large stomach protruding over his trousers and straining his shirt buttons, but it looked as solid as granite. He turned, giving Marina his full attention. His eyes looked like dark, stagnant, treacherous pools, his unshaven face red like bad blood. He smiled, his teeth yellow and stained.
‘It’s… it’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one who’s been taking all the… all the babies…’
‘That idiot bitch of mine. She wanted them. Wouldn’t fuckin’ shut up about it. On an’ on… so I had to. Kept her quiet.’ He smiled again. It reached those stagnant eyes. ‘Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, though.’
‘So…’ She kept backing away as she spoke. ‘Why… why am I here?’
He pointed to her stomach. ‘What’s that you got growin’ inside you? Eh?’
Marina felt her legs weaken.
He laughed. Deep and rough, it sounded like the prelude to an animal roar. ‘Can’t keep goin’ with her any more, can I? Not when your lot are on to me.’ His voice dropped, became cold and sharp. ‘An’ I’m not givin’ up. I might have to hide for a bit. Go underground. Keep out of their way.’ Another smile. ‘An’ I’ll need some company down here. Then when the kid’s born we’ll go up again. Find somewhere else.You an’ me an’ the kid. Bring it up properly.’
Marina shook her head. She could barely comprehend what she was hearing. It seemed so unreal. A nightmare. ‘But… but why me?’
‘’Cause I saw you.’
‘On TV?’
‘Yeah. An’ outside the leisure centre. Filed you away. I’ve had my eye on you. Knew you’d come in handy.’
‘They’ll… they’ll be looking for me…’
‘Look all they want, they’ll never find you.’
Marina stopped moving, stared.
‘An’ you won’t escape neither. There’s no way out for you. Not down here. So get used to it.You’re gonna be here for a long time.’ He picked up the hammer. ‘I’m gonna get this done. Your new cage. Then you an’ me are gonna get to know each other properly.’
And with that he turned his back to her, knelt before the frame, started hammering.
Marina’s heart was beating so fast she felt it could grow wings and escape her body. That was it, she thought. That was it. No Hollywood rescue. No escape. And Phil. No Phil. Despite his promises, despite what he’d told her. How he would never let her down again, always be there for her. He wouldn’t be. This was it. For the rest of her life.
She crumpled into a heap.
Started sobbing.
83
Phil reached the brick wall, shone his torch past it into the caravan site. He stepped off the
