‘You’ve been groomed, Jodie. Can’t you see that?’
‘We can’t help the people we fall in love with. We’re not on this earth for a long time. When you find someone to love, someone who makes you happy, you should grab it with both hands and screw the world.’
***
Rory drove out of the hospital car park with Craig in the passenger seat. He was staring straight ahead out of the windscreen, not blinking, his face expressionless. Rory felt sorry for him. In the last week he’d lost his youngest daughter and now his wife. How was he going to break this news to Jodie? How was he going to cope as a single father working two jobs and Riley needing twenty-four-hour care?
‘Do you have any other relatives who can help you?’ Rory asked. His question went unanswered. ‘Brothers or sisters? Your parents?’ There was no reply.
Rory drove carefully and below the speed limit. He was in no rush to get Craig home. With the news he had to break to his children, it wouldn’t matter if they took the long way home, to buy Craig more time to marshal his thoughts and try to find the right words to use.
***
Matilda drove along Stannington Road. Jodie was sitting back in her seat, Sian’s blood drying on her hands, the knife held firmly, not letting go. Matilda looked across and tried to read her expression, to figure out what was going on inside her head, but there was nothing there. Jodie wasn’t all to blame. She was the product of an abusive father who had convinced his daughter their relationship was one of pure love.
They drove in silence. The streets were empty, and a light rain had started to fall. Matilda racked her brain to think of something to stop Jodie and Craig from meeting. Craig would want to cover up his involvement in the abuse of his daughter. He would lie and twist the situation to make it seem like it was all in Jodie’s head.
Ahead, she spotted a car coming towards them. She didn’t dare risk flashing her headlights or sounding the horn in case Jodie lunged at her with the knife. The closer they got, Matilda was able to make out who was driving, it was Rory, and Craig was in the passenger seat. She didn’t have time to think. She slammed her foot down on the accelerator, waiting until both cars were level then swung the steering wheel.
She knocked into Rory’s car, forcing him off the road. Jodie must have sensed what Matilda was planning to do when the car sped up. She grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it the other way. They left the road, drove onto the saturated grass, smashed through a fence, and Matilda slammed the brakes on just in time before the car crashed into Stanwood Methodist Church.
Jodie banged her head on the side of the door. Concussed, she swung her right hand towards Matilda, aimlessly trying to stab her. Matilda reached out to stop her, grabbing the knife by the blade and cutting open her palm in the process. With her other hand, she slammed Jodie’s wrist onto the dashboard, causing her to drop the knife. Matilda quickly picked it up, opened the driver’s door, and fell out.
‘What’s going on? Matilda? Is that you?’ Rory asked, running towards her.
‘Rory, arrest him,’ she shouted.
‘What? Who?’
‘Craig Armitage. Arrest him!’
‘Why?’ He asked, looking confused.
‘For sexually abusing his daughters. Just arrest him.’
‘Fucking hell,’ Rory turned and ran back to the car. He opened the door, but Craig was nowhere to be seen.
Matilda went around to the passenger side, opened the door, and, with the handcuffs from her back pocket, she handcuffed Jodie to the handle above the door.
‘Jodie Armitage, I’m arresting you for the attempted murders of Ellen Devonport and Sian Mills. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, anything you later rely on in court. Do you understand?’
Jodie looked straight ahead at Matilda and smiled.
Chapter 57
Matilda spoke at speed as she tore her sleeve from her shirt and used it as a bandage around her bleeding palm. She told Rory to wait in the car with Jodie until back-up arrived. She commandeered his phone and asked him for the pass code. She was already dialling as she ran for his car.
Matilda called for an ambulance to go to Acorn Drive and was told one was already there, thank goodness. She called Christian and told him to put out an alert for Craig Armitage, then to send back-up to Rory somewhere on Stannington Road. He mentioned something about Ranjeet and Ellen, but Matilda had already hung up. She needed to get to Sian and see what condition she was in.
Acorn Drive was lit up with a sea of blue flashing lights. Neighbours were on their doorsteps in dressing downs, standing in their doorways to shelter from the rain, yet eager to see why the emergency services had come to the Armitage house for the second time in less than an hour.
Matilda pulled up on the garden. She could see a hive of activity in the house through the open front door. She jumped out of the car and ran straight into the house and the kitchen.
Sian was on the floor, unconscious. Surrounding her, a team of paramedics worked to stem the flow of blood.
‘Sian? How is she?’ Matilda asked anybody who would listen. She received a few glances, but nobody said anything. ‘I’m DCI Darke from South Yorkshire Police. She’s DS Sian Mills,’ she barked.
‘She’s unconscious, but stable,’ a paramedic said, standing up. She was a small woman with a thin face but looked chubby beneath the layers of uniform she was wearing. ‘She’s got a strong heartbeat, but she’s lost a great deal of blood. We’re trying to stabilise the wound before we transport her to hospital. Are you hurt?’ She asked looking down at Matilda’s hand and the blood seeping through the makeshift bandage.
‘It’s nothing.’
‘Stab wound?’ She asked.
‘Yes.’
‘I want you to come with us in the ambulance. We’ll get you patched up.’
‘Will she be all right?’ Matilda asked, not taking her eyes from her stricken colleague. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.
‘Providing she remains stable and we get her to hospital quickly, she should be fine. The knife wounds don’t appear to have struck any major arteries or organs. She’s incredibly lucky.’
Matilda visibly relaxed. ‘She really is.’
‘Come and sit down.’
The paramedic led Matilda to a seat next to the table.
‘Oh my God, Riley,’ Matilda remembered.
‘Sorry?’
‘Riley. Where is he?’
‘Who’s Riley?’
Matilda stood up and headed for his bedroom. The door was closed. She didn’t want to open it for fear of what had happened to him.
‘Who’s in there?’ The paramedic asked.
‘A four-year-old boy. He’s severely disabled.’
Matilda placed a hand on the door handle and pushed it down. She opened the door and stepped into the darkness of the room. She couldn’t hear any breathing. There was no ambient lighting or mellowing music playing. She feared the worse.
She scrambled on the wall next to the door for the light switch and flicked the main light on. The room lit up in a brilliant white and both women squinted. The bed in the corner of the room had the side railings raised to stop Riley from rolling out of bed while he slept. They couldn’t see from the doorway whether he was in there or not. Tentatively, Matilda stepped closer. It seemed to take an age to walk less than three feet to the bed. All the while, Matilda listened for any sound of the young boy sleeping, gurgling, snoring.