The foyer was quiet, and going to the gold-fronted mailboxes she popped the package in the one with Jack’s name on the front. The concierge smiled at her. The man was used to being discrete about the women Jack saw there. If what Sylvie told Maria was right, the concierge would notify Jack about the delivery, which was essential because the plan hinged on it.
The next train back to Brighton was due in half an hour. He would be expecting her on the dot, which meant she was running out of time to make a decision.
Waiting on the platform, Maria’s palms itched. When the arrival time of her train flicked up on the display board, her heart beat faster. Should she go back to him? Should she try to run?
By the time it pulled into the station she was sweating and shivering from head to foot. The electric doors opened with a hiss. She stood in front of the doorway. A man pushed past to board the train. There were people inside the carriage, one was reading a book and another jiggled a baby on her knee. Maria shuffled forward until she could smell the inside of the carriage and someone’s sandwich. The next step would take her into the train. Squeezing her eyes closed, Maria willed herself to be brave.
She had a sudden vision of her brother, not as a child but as an adult, when she’d last seen him and he screamed at her he never wanted to see her again and he’d never, ever give her more money to feed her habit.
Do it for Emily, do it for Billy.
The doors beeped, warning her they were about to close.
As the doors hissed, she took one tiny step. Then the air swept past her face and the train pulled away, leaving Maria on the platform.
32
Alice received a video recording showing Emily and Lisa. Tom and Ruby were at the Glover house when it arrived and they stayed with Alice and Jack long enough to make sure the couple were able to cope. Then they left the Glovers in the capable hands of support officers and headed to the police station because Grant wanted to give instructions about their next steps.
In the incident room, Tom pressed the play button on a remote control and the video came up on the big screen. The team were gathered round. The recording started and they saw Lisa sitting with her back against a bunk bed. Lisa was holding up a copy of the day’s newspaper.
‘Hello Mummy,’ Lisa said. ‘Handover the half a million and you’ll get your kids in exchange. You must approach the meeting point alone.’
Lisa looked terribly serious and scared. It made Tom feel sick. Her young voice didn’t fit the stark words she read out. ‘No cops,’ Lisa said.
The film cut and then Emily came on screen. ‘Look out for further instructions.’
That was the end of the message. They watched it through several times.
‘The technicians are analysing it,’ Grant said. ‘What are your observations? Throw them out.’
McGowan had started pacing which he always did when he was stressed. Tom rewound the recording and froze it on a shot of Emily’s face. ‘At least it shows the children are both still alive.’
‘Emily’s ill,’ Diane said.
Ruby nodded. ‘That’s what Alice said.’
‘She’s sweating and her eyes don’t seem focused. And her part was ultra-short. She was the main player in the other message. What did her mother say?’ Diane asked.
‘Alice was relieved because she was desperate to see them both. But Emily’s appearance frightened her, actually she got a bit hysterical afterwards. She said what you said – that there’s something terribly wrong.’
‘Oh no, I knew it,’ Diane said. ‘Can we get a doctor to look at this?’
Grant nodded. ‘I’ve contacted a paediatrician at Himlands General. What else?’
‘The abductor tried to hide the problem by putting less emphasis on Emily and making Lisa speak for longer. Did you see how there were pillows on either side of Emily,’ Ruby said.
‘Yes,’ Grant said. ‘Like she was being propped up. I’d like to know Jack’s reaction.’
Tom put the remote on a nearby table. ‘He was less certain than his wife about Emily not being well. He said she could simply be tired though I got the impression he said it to calm his wife.’
‘I doubt if that worked,’ Diane said wryly.
Tom shook his head. ‘It didn’t, and Alice is still not speaking to her husband. Also, Jack’s not happy about Alice doing the drop-off. He wants to be the one to handle it. He told me he doesn’t want to put Alice at risk.’
McGowan made a snorting noise. ‘Isn’t it a bit late for him to be worried about his wife? I think Mr Glover’s burned his bridges.’
‘Jack Glover has no say in this,’ Grant said. ‘I’m sticking with the abductor’s demands for the wife to deal with the handover. As for the phone calls, the constables have identified the SIMs from them and we’ve traced them through to a network provider. They’re still trying to trace a retail outlet where they were purchased.’
‘That’s going to take ages, guv,’ McGowan said.
‘Yes, thank you, McGowan,’ Grant said sharply.
Tom thought the strain was starting to show.
‘The techies have used azimuths to locate where the calls were made from and I don’t see any correlation with the addresses of any of our persons of interest.’
‘Damn it,’ Tom said.
‘Exactly and we’ve no choice about the drop-off. We go along with the abductor’s demands or we risk the children’s lives. Alice will wear a microphone and we’ll set up a perimeter so we can control who goes in and out. How efficiently we can protect her will depend on the location. The force helicopter will be on standby to give air support and we’ll have dog patrol units at the perimeter in case.’
‘The best scenario will be if we can ring the abductor in. Let’s hope we get lucky on that one,’ McGowan said.
‘DCS Fox has the
