‘Hello, Traceeeeee.’
‘Hello.’ His voice made her shiver as she stood in the quiet of the dark yard. She heard the classical music again; this time it was louder.
‘Why do you think I call you, Tracy?’
‘I don’t know. I think you need help. It’s not too late. You should hand yourself in. Let my daughter go.’
He rolled out a deep laugh. ‘I call you because you need to learn a lesson, Tracy. Just like your daughter. She should be grateful to me; I have indoctrinated her in a new family. She no longer needs a mother, a child; all she needs is me, her God.’
‘Let me talk to Danielle, please. How do I know she’s still alive?’
Tracy heard him walking, breathing. She heard the sound of someone else.
‘Tracy?’ It was Danielle’s voice – distant, fading, broken, as if her throat was raw.
‘Danielle? Oh thank God you’re still alive. Keep hope, Danielle. Be strong.’
‘Jackson?’
‘Yes. Yes, don’t worry. Don’t worry about Jackson. He misses you but he’s okay.’
‘Kiss my baby for me.’
Tracy heard a noise in the yard behind her. Betty had come out to close the shutters and have a cigarette. She was looking at Tracy with a smile that said, I’m sorry for you but you need to go away now. Tracy felt a surge of anger so strong she nearly threw the phone through a window.
Tracy heard him laugh as he mimicked: ‘Kiss my baby for me. Now here’s the price she had to pay to talk to you.’ Tracy heard a deep gravelly scream, primeval pain as if Danielle had thrown back her head in agony. The sound vibrated down the phone in a piercing scream. Then she heard Danielle pleading for him to stop as she gasped for breath.
Tracy shouted down the phone: ‘Stop it! Stop it! You sick bastard. Leave her alone. That’s my daughter you have there. She’s worth a billion of you. Danielle is her name, Danielle Foster. Got it? I gave birth to her and I went through agony and I love her. You’ll never know love. You are a vile creature. You don’t deserve to be loved. Stop all this now. Stop it. It won’t be long now before the police find you.’ Tracy heard Danielle scream again and then the phone went dead.
Tracy closed her eyes and clutched the phone to her.
Oh God. What have I done? He’ll never let her go now. I’ve ruined everything. It’s all my fault. Now he’ll come for Jackson.
Tracy had a need to get home as fast as she could. She wanted to see Jackson, make sure he was safe. She felt too exposed out in the open. Her head and heart pounded as she drove. The place was empty when she got home. It was too quiet. She stayed at the lounge window, looking for Jeanie pushing Jackson home to her.
Jeanie was walking back home from the park. She was still a few streets away from the house. The streetlights shone down. The pavements were wet from the thawing ice and snow clung to the sides of the road. She turned down a side street. Her mind was on getting home to Pete. She hoped Tracy would be home soon so that she could go. She had to go via the office and catch up with the latest developments from Carter first. Jeanie stepped off the kerb and waited in front of the parked cars to cross when the road was clear. Carter had been on her mind a lot recently. It didn’t do either of them any good to have to work so closely with one another. It was years since they were together but it had taken a lot to move on. They had drifted in and out of a relationship for a year before they both decided it was best to split. But there were many times Jeanie wondered, if they had just made that extra commitment to one another, if they had taken the plunge, would it have worked? Did she meet Pete on the rebound?
She was just about to step out when lights blinded her and she heard the squeal of tyres as a vehicle accelerated towards them. She heard the scream of grating metal as a van came from nowhere. It crashed into the sides of the two parked cars to the left of Jeanie and Jackson then it mounted the pavement to Jeanie’s left and came straight for them. Jeanie screamed as it dragged the buggy from her grasp.
Chapter 40
‘You okay, Jeanie?’ Jeanie?’ She had closed her eyes and was clutching the front door frame of Tracy’s house without realizing it.
Carter got to Jeanie as fast as he could. He arrived and gave her a hug. She was still shaking.
‘I saw the SOCO team in place. You were very lucky to survive that.’
‘No shit, Sherlock! Is it me, or have I got kill me written on my back?’
‘Of course not.’ He held on to her for an extra hug and then drew a little way back. ‘But to be on the safe side I’d rather we didn’t stand so close.’
‘Did you get a look at him?’
‘No. But it was no accident. We came this close.’ She pinched her thumb and forefinger in the air. She was shaking from the shock and the cold.
‘You need to get in the warm.’
She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I need fresh air. Is Jackson all right?’
‘He’s fine. The doctor’s checked him out.’
She shook her head. ‘It happened so fast. We were just walking home. We were about to cross the road. There wasn’t a car in sight. The van came screeching across the road and up on the pavement. He must have been waiting for the right moment. The buggy’s totalled. Did you see it?’ Jeanie was shaking.
‘Yeah. I stopped to take a look at the scene on my way. You did well to save him, Jeanie. You did a good job.’
She nodded, leaned back against the door. She turned to look back inside the house; Tracy was giving Jackson his tea. She lowered her voice: ‘It’s possible they thought I was Tracy.’
‘Or?’
‘Or Jackson was the target and Hawk didn’t mind who died with him or who he killed to get to him.’
Carter nodded. ‘Yeah. Maybe he regrets leaving him alive.’
‘Perhaps Hawk thinks I’m getting somewhere with him,’ said Jeanie.
‘And are you?’
‘Yes, I think so. Every day he seems to edge closer to being able to tell us who it was.’
‘I’m going round to Gerald Foster’s now to see if his van is there and if he’s got any new damage.’
Jeanie left Carter and went to find Tracy, who was running a bath for Jackson. Jeanie stood and watched her. She was battling back the tears.
‘It’s all right, Tracy, Jackson is okay. We are all okay.’ Tracy nodded but didn’t speak. ‘All we have to worry about is getting a new buggy.’ Tracy nodded – short, sharp nods – she looked like she didn’t dare speak in case she started crying. She undressed Jackson and got him into the bath. Jeanie came over and knelt by the bath and blew bubbles at Jackson. He was playing with the toys that Jeanie had brought over from Christa’s collection. She knew Christa wouldn’t miss them. She was spoilt for choice. It hit Jeanie then that she’d missed another bathtime with Christa. Pete would have his disappointed face on. She wouldn’t tell him that she’d nearly been killed again – not a good move. He’d want her to give up working there altogether. But even if she wanted that too, she couldn’t. She was the higher earner. She was nowhere near ready to go home yet. Carter would be waiting for her at Fletcher House after visiting Foster and they would be working late for as long as it took. She was in it till the end now; they all were. Carter was right – her job came first for now. After today Jeanie realized that she had to be here for Tracy and she had to get the information out of Jackson as fast as she could. Whoever Hawk was, he had changed his mind about killing a child. Nobody was safe from him.
Tracy put Jackson to bed and then she joined Jeanie in the lounge. Tracy poured herself a large glass of wine.