While Nick was in prison he’d done a lot of asking around. He was the type of man others avoided. The sort to go from cold to red hot in an instant which other offenders recognised and didn’t want to get on the wrong side of.
He had worn gloves when he’d broken into Daniel Pearson’s cottage and he’d not taken them off the entire time he’d been there. So how the hell had one of his thumbprints turned up at the scene? The prosecution used it to put him away. In prison he found out he’d been set up. By who, that’s what he wanted to know. And by the end of years of questioning his fellow inmates, Nick had his answer. By Jack fucking high and mighty Glover. Glover had paid him to break in and he’d made sure Nick was caught by the police.
For the rest of his time inside, Nick plotted his revenge. He wanted his just pay for being put away and not only that – he wanted Jack Glover to suffer. He wanted him to suffer and suffer and suffer. The one million was recompense for time wasted in a brick cell. But the agony inflicted on Jack by the taking of his children, that was the real reward.
‘This place is nice,’ she said. ‘Your mum had good taste. Will you sell it?’
‘Not sure. Don’t need to, do I? Not now I’m rolling in it.’
She giggled. ‘When do we leave?’
‘The boat sails in two hours. It’s safe here and we can hole up until then.’
‘Shouldn’t we get moving in case the police are onto us?’
‘They haven’t got a clue. Not about this place nor the rented house. There’s no need to sweat, besides, the boat hasn’t arrived yet and we can’t hang around at the marina.’
That was one of the advantages of his inside contacts. Nick had commissioned a ride over to France without too much hassle and on a luxury motor yacht, no less.
‘If you say so,’ she said.
‘I know so.’ Nick pulled her on top of him and groped her breasts. ‘This time tomorrow we’ll be halfway to sunny Spain and our new champagne lifestyle.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’
‘Get some glasses then and be quick about it.’
He’d been wondering if she might protest when he told her the plan was to leave the kids locked up to die. She hadn’t twitched. Which was good, because if she had, he would have had to deal with her.
Taking the kids had been the beginning of the revenge on Jack Glover. Leaving the kids to die a lingering death with no water or food – this was going to be Nick Riley’s triumph. And then, high and mighty Jack fucking Glover, who was going to be the loser?
Once the kids were eventually found dead in the rented house, with any luck it would drive Jack insane. Nick took a slug from his glass. It wouldn’t take long for those brats to die. By the time he was sunning himself on a beach most likely. After all, one of them was half gone already.
42
They had been left for so long it seemed like forever. Emily had almost given up hope.
The last time she had heard footsteps on the stairs, her first thought had been, please can they bring water. And food for Lisa.
When the door had opened, Emily wondered if it was the woman who brought the eggs though this time the woman’s hair smelled faintly of oranges. There was something familiar about the scent, though Emily hadn’t been able to work out what. Her thoughts were messed up. She wondered if she might be imagining things.
‘Can we have food?’ Lisa asked.
The woman said nothing and her hands were empty. She hadn’t brought a tray or a drink. Emily glanced at the water bottle lying by her side. Lisa had drunk the last drops a long time ago.
‘Some water please?’ Emily asked, and her voice came out as a whisper.
The woman stayed silent. She crouched and reached towards Emily’s face but then she hesitated, quickly pulling her arm back. Emily caught another waft of the woman’s orangey scent.
‘What are you doing up there?’ The man’s voice boomed from downstairs. ‘We’ve got to go.’
The woman stood and made for the door.
‘Wait,’ Emily pleaded. ‘Don’t leave us. Please. We want to go home.’
The woman ignored them both and left, locking the door behind her.
Since then there had been no more visits. Lisa cried on and off. The tears flowed freely because Lisa was no longer afraid of the man shouting at her. There were no sounds filtering upstairs from below and they both felt sure the woman and the man had abandoned them. Now, hours, or was it days later, when Lisa cried it was a horrible sound, as if her tears had all dried up.
43
Grant had a search warrant for Nick Riley’s place in Brighton. Billingham met Grant there, together with a battering ram for gaining entry, commonly known as an enforcer.
‘Do you think he’s holding the children inside?’ Diane asked.
‘We’ll soon find out,’ Grant said.
Riley’s apartment was on the second floor of a five-storey block. Billingham’s officers were already stationed at the front, on the stairwell and on the fire escape. The elevators were also covered. An ambulance waited below ready to receive the children.
‘Did you get any information from the neighbours?’ Grant asked.
‘Most are elderly and spend a lot of time inside. They say Riley’s place has been unused for months though one neighbour told us his son saw a younger man go in there a few weeks ago. No one mentioned any children.’
‘Any sign of a white van in the vicinity?’
‘Not so far. I’ve got personnel checking adjacent streets.’
‘Ready when you are, Chief Inspector Billingham.’
Riley’s apartment lay at the end of an outside walkway. The other residents had been told to stay locked inside. As Billingham gave the order, officers brought the enforcer to Riley’s door.
It was a familiar sound to Grant
