Tracy shook her head. ‘I didn’t hear anything from her. I need to get my phone sorted. It hasn’t been working right since that thug threw it across the floor.’
‘We checked Danielle’s phone records. She phoned you here on your landline about twenty minutes after she’d spoken to you on your mobile. Did you check your messages on your landline?’
Tracy shook her head. ‘Steve told me the other day that the landline wasn’t working. I need to ring the company. She couldn’t get through, I suppose. Oh God, maybe I could have prevented this somehow?’
‘Tracy, don’t for one minute think anything like that. We are just piecing together everything we know about Danielle’s last known movements, that’s all.’ Jeanie gave Carter a look that told him to mind how he put things.
Tracy turned and watched Jackson playing with his toys on the floor by the telly. ‘Do you think he can help?’
‘I think so, but we need to do our best to keep things calm here. I will stay here with you,’ said Jeanie. ‘I’m going to be here for you and Jackson and I’ll continue our interviews with him and try to find out what he saw.’
‘It will be good for you to have you husband back here to help in the evenings,’ said Carter. ‘We’ll talk things through with him when he gets here. Tell him what he can do to help.’
‘I’d better phone him now.’
Tracy went into the kitchen, picked up her phone, and dialled Steve’s number. He answered at once.
‘What is it?’ She could hear the irritation in his voice already.
‘Sorry, love. Something’s happened. I just wondered whether you could come home now.’
‘What is it?’ Steve had that same disapproving tone in his voice that always made Tracy take a deep breath and talk slowly, precisely – wish she didn’t have to tell him anything.
‘Danielle has gone missing.’
‘Christ almighty… I knew she’d bring nothing but trouble. Where’s she gone? Run off to find herself? As long as she hasn’t dumped you with the kid… Tracy? She hasn’t, has she? For Christ’s sake, tell me she hasn’t?’
Tracy’s eyes were shut tight.
‘Please, Steve, it’s only for a while; just until things are cleared up. I had no choice. Jackson doesn’t have anyone else. It’s serious. The police are very concerned.’
‘Police?’
‘Yes. There was blood. Jackson was all alone overnight. She would never have left him like that. They are here now. They would like to explain things to you. I’ve been contacted – by the person who has Danielle.’
There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Tracy tried to keep her voice calm. She tried to make it sound like it was all going to be fine, even though she knew in her heart it wasn’t. ‘It’s all very difficult, Steve love. The police are going to tap my mobile. They don’t know what he wants yet. That’s why they need to brief you, talk to you. It won’t take long.’
‘Brief me? What do you want me to do about it? Christ almighty, Tracy. I knew she’d be nothing but trouble.’
‘It’s not Danielle’s fault.’
He sighed. ‘Okay, okay, but I’m not going to be part of it. I’ve got enough on my plate. I’ll find a hotel.’ Tracy didn’t answer straight away. Part of her was relieved not to have to deal with him as well as everything else.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Find a hotel and once you’ve booked in I’ll send along a case with your things in it, enough to last a few days. You can sit and watch football all evening. It won’t be so bad.’
‘I suppose.’
‘I’m sorry, love.’
He grunted something and hung up.
Tracy went back to see Jeanie sitting on the sofa with Jackson on her lap. She was reading him the Spot the Dog book. He looked very tired, thought Tracy as she saw him rub his face into Jeanie’s fleece. Carter had his keys in his hand. Jeanie looked at Tracy questioningly. Tracy shook her head, then smiled.
‘He’s going to stay in a hotel. He feels more comfortable with that.’
Jeanie nodded. ‘We’ll get some extra help for you for the evenings when I leave.’
Tracy shook her head. ‘We’ll be okay.’
‘Okay, you can change your mind whenever you like,’ said Carter. ‘The Technical Support Unit will set the phone surveillance up so you don’t need to worry about doing anything this end. I’ll leave this phone for you to ring family and friends on, use it for all your usual calls and ask people to call you on it instead. If he telephones you just keep him talking on the phone for as long as you can so we have a chance of tracing the call.’
‘What shall I say? I’m frightened to say the wrong thing.’
‘Ask for proof that he has Danielle. Ask to talk to her. Try and sound soft on the phone. Try and stay calm. The more upset you get the more he’s going to enjoy it. Let’s take some of the rules away from his control. I am pretty sure he’ll ring again. When he does, remember – stay calm. Deep breaths and be business-like.’ Tracy nodded but her eyes were panic-stricken.
Carter left and Tracy took Jackson in to lie down in the spare room on a bed that Jeanie had brought for him. Jeanie could hear her talking to him. It was her job as a Family Liaison Officer to be the bridge between the police force and the victim’s family. It was her role to offer support, to gain trust and to keep the family informed of the investigation. Most of all, she could gain information that might prove vital to the enquiry. Today she would spend the time gaining Tracy’s friendship. Jeanie looked about at Tracy’s possessions. The place was super-tidy and fussy. It was a woman’s choice of décor; a woman’s furnishings. That told her that Steve and Tracy had been together a long time and that he wasn’t the driving force in the relationship. The only evidence of him in the flat was the massive television set with an armchair facing it. Jeanie looked at the wedding photos on the walls. Tracy didn’t look much different now than she had done then. She just looked a little fuller in the face now. Steve had a handsome-looking face, an attractive smile – quite a catch. They looked an attractive couple. Jeanie looked around the rest of the lounge and was thinking how she couldn’t bear to live in this flat with its French-style white bric-a-brac and satin cushions everywhere. She wondered how long it would be before Jackson started wrecking everything. Christa would have already done it by now – gotten her grubby little hands all over the furnishings. Jackson was much more reserved. Jeanie reflected on her own life. Even before Christa, Jeanie would never have had a fussy flat. Looking around the lounge, it struck Jeanie that if she didn’t watch it, if she let her guard down, Pete would be straight in there with the French bric-a-brac. She smiled to herself. Dan and clutter – no way, thought Jeanie. Archie must have the most washed hands on the planet.
Tracy came back from settling Jackson down for a nap. She closed the bedroom door and stepped back out from the hall into the lounge.
‘Jackson’s so tired. Is it normal for him to want to sleep like this?’
Jeanie nodded. ‘He’s going into shut-down mode because he’s in shock.’
‘I’ll pack a bag for Steve while things are quiet.’
‘Okay, I’ll join you.’
Tracy led the way through to her bedroom. She pulled down a suitcase from the top of the wardrobe and unzipped it, started to fill it. Steve’s neatly ironed pyjamas went in first. Then T-shirts, then she took his shirts from the hangers in the wardrobe and zipped them into a suit bag. Jeanie was impressed by her methodical packing.
‘You been together a long time, Tracy?’
She stopped mid folding a T-shirt into the bag. ‘Seems like forever.’ She looked up and smiled. ‘In a nice way, of course.’ Jeanie smiled, waited. Tracy busied herself with repacking the case. ‘We’ve known each other since college. That’s what I mean.’