Staring down at the large green holdall at his feet, Jay-Jay knew that he had to get the fuck out of there. Fast.
31
‘The whole place has been put on lockdown, Sarge. No one is coming in or going out,’ Lucy Murphy informed DS Morgan as he arrived at the postnatal ward, just minutes after Holder and Lucy had got there.
‘All officers are currently giving the entire building a thorough search, Sarge. I’ve got a team sent down to cover the lift shafts and the car park too. A few of our CID are currently replaying all of the security footage from last night too,’ Holder said as he followed DS Morgan and Lucy along the corridor towards Shelby’s room.
‘Good, because every second counts right now. Time is critical. How’s Shelby doing?’ DS Morgan asked.
‘As expected, Sarge. Not good,’ Lucy said as she opened the door of Shelby’s private hospital room and the three officers stepped inside, immediately seeing the pained look on the woman’s face. Her eyes were puffy from crying. She sat on the bed and stared at the three officers expectantly, desperate for news that they’d found Riley.
Only seeing the sombre looks on the officers’ faces, she instantly lost her last glimmer of hope as she sank back in her bed.
‘Where is he, Mum? Who would have taken him from me?’ she sobbed.
‘It’s going to be okay, Shelby. They’ll find him,’ Janey said, fussing around her distraught daughter and pulling the blanket up around her to keep her warm, before stroking a long strand of hair out of Shelby’s face.
‘How can you still not know anything?’ Pete Baker said, challenging the officers. Irate, watching his daughter crumble before his eyes. ‘I mean, how the fuck can someone just walk into a hospital room and snatch a baby? How is that even possible? Don’t these people have measures in place to stop this kind of thing from happening?’ Pete continued his tirade of criticism aimed at the doctors and the midwives that were supposed to be looking after Shelby and Riley.
‘It’s not anyone’s fault…’ Janey started, though even she couldn’t find the conviction for her argument. Because her husband was right: this shouldn’t have happened. No one should have been able to simply walk in here and take their grandson.
‘Of course it bloody well is. If the staff here weren’t so incompetent this would never have happened. Why didn’t anyone see anything? What about the security staff? What the fuck are they being paid to do, if not spot someone walking out of here with a newborn baby?’
Staring over at his beautiful daughter who was sitting silently, just staring into space, Pete could see how broken she was. How fragile she looked. She’d been through more than enough the past few days.
‘And what if it’s linked?’ Pete lowered his voice now, so as not to alarm Shelby, directing his question at the officers. ‘First she was attacked. Now Riley’s been taken. It’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?’
Lucy and Holder looked down at the floor then, not wanting to answer the man’s comment. Because they were all thinking the same thought. It was too much of a coincidence.
‘Mr Baker,’ DS Morgan said, taking the lead and knowing that this gentleman wasn’t going to be easy to appease. ‘I understand that you are out of your mind with worry, but I don’t believe shouting and blaming everyone is going to help anyone right now.’
‘Well, it will make me feel a bit fucking better,’ Pete said, annoyed now, because part of him knew that the officer was right. But Pete always acted out in anger. What else was he supposed to do? Just sit here and take this? Knowing that someone out there had the nerve to snatch his grandson? ‘Because if this is the same fucker that killed that woman over at Richmond Park – the same animal that attacked my Shelby – then I want to know what the fuck he wants with my grandson.’
‘I have every available officer on this. We have locked down the hospital. If Riley is still here, we will find him.’
‘And what if he’s not? What if some fucking psychopath has taken him?’ Pete asked.
Pete glared in Ashley’s direction, then, as he sat on the chair in the corner of the room.
Not a peep out of him.
Which was a strange reaction to have when your child had just been abducted.
‘If I find out that you are involved in this, in any way… I’ll kill you, Ashley!’ Pete said, raising his voice now and not caring if the police were there to witness the threat. He meant it. Clenching his fists tightly at his sides, it was taking every inch of will power that Pete possessed not to march over to Ashley and pin the fucker up against the wall. He was seething now, recalling the telephone conversation that he’d overheard shortly after Riley was born. His suspicions that Ashley might know more than he was letting on were growing by the minute.
‘Dad! Why would Ashley be involved in our baby going missing?’ Shelby cried, wishing that her dad would just give Ashley a break.
‘For God’s sake! Do you really think that Ashley’s not suffering too? Just because he’s not vocal about it like you. Riley is our little boy. So, please stop!’
Sensing the tension growing in the room, DS Morgan intervened, hoping to calm the situation down and to let Pete know that he understood and that he sympathised truly. He wouldn’t wish this situation on his worst enemy.
‘Pete, you have my word. We are going to do everything in our power to find Riley and bring him back to you all. What we need right now is for you to try and stay calm. We need to keep Shelby calm.’ DS Morgan glanced over to Shelby as she stared ahead of her in
