The door was opening.
Lydia moved along to the wall, then sunk onto the ground. The noise stopped. She was certain the caller was in the kitchen. She waited, mustering all the strength she had and crawled to the middle of the kitchen, hiding under the table. The footsteps moved slowly across the kitchen floor. She could hear the person, gaining, getting closer. Lydia placed her hands on her mouth, forcing the air from her lungs. The noise was now beside her. Lydia’s body began to give up. She tried to stem the noises coming from inside, the shriek that her body gave as the person in the kitchen stopped beside where she was hiding.
She gripped the leg of the table, squeezing it to cope. She hesitated, counting backwards from ten, then charged at the kitchen door on her hands and knees, shouting for help. She grabbed the door handle, pulled herself up and managed to get into the hallway and close the door behind her.
‘Help. Somebody help me!’ Lydia fell at the front door; her legs were gone, weak, flimsy. She stood, then looked back towards the kitchen. The door was opening behind her; she could hear the handle being turned. Lydia pawed over the wood, trying to find the lock.
The person was moving towards where she was standing.
Lydia had to make a decision. Stay by the front door and risk the caller getting her or run upstairs.
She turned, seeing the shadow moving towards her, then threw her body forwards and pelted up the steps. Lydia reached the top of the house. She heard the caller coming, climbing the stairs. She had to hide. She ran, her arms fixed in front of her body, brushing through the air as she raced along the upstairs hall. She found a door which faced her, twisted the handle and entered. She slammed it behind her and held her body against it. She listened, hearing the pounding of the steps suddenly stop, the house went quiet. Lydia was unsure if the caller had come upstairs. She cupped her ear to the door, again, holding her breath. She could see nothing, only a blanket of darkness.
A minute later, Lydia heard the footsteps, moving away from her. She turned her head, trying to focus on her surroundings. She pushed her body upwards, clasping her hips and let out long, slow breaths. Finally, she heard the steps a good distance away. She hoped he’d given up. She knew this is where Jack was being held. She’d wait until the caller left, then she’d find her husband.
She leaned against the door and laughed. Her body was finally returning to normal, calming down, her heart rate slowed, the numb feeling dissipated. She waited against the door, her body aching, her mind had turned to mush. She wiped her face: the sweat trickling down her cheeks was irritating her as she began to cool. She waited, sat pressed against the door, then got to her feet.
The lights came on – the room where she stood immediately brightened.
Lydia screamed at the top of her voice as she looked towards the bed, seeing the corpse, lying right beside her. She looked above and saw a banner reading ‘Birthday Girl’ in red felt letters.
The sound of footsteps charged up the stairs and along the hall.
Henry Mitchell had moved his wife’s body from the house to the cottage.
He wanted Evelyn there. To witness everything.
27
The Coach
Ben was standing at the door of the coach. He’d asked Laura and Milly to untie the passengers while he was gone. Now, he needed to find Lydia and the others. Ben was sure they were being held somewhere close. He planned to surprise the caller and do what he could to stop him. As he went to step off the coach, the phone rang.
Ben didn’t want to answer. He was tired of the games. He knew there would be another instruction, but if he didn’t play along, the caller would most probably kill everyone for the sake of it.
The caller had taken Lydia, Jack and Gareth. He’d listened on the phone to Nigel shooting himself. He wasn’t going to stop. They hadn’t seen another vehicle in all the time they’d been here. Ben needed to act now.
The phone continued to ring. Edward was shifting in his seat. ‘Don’t answer it. The bastard’s a maniac. Leave it bloody ring.’
Ben stepped towards it, pressing the answer button.
‘It’s been a while, Mr Do-Gooder. How is everyone faring?’
‘If you mean “are they still alive?” then yes. They’re fighters. You’re not going to break us.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Where would the fun be if you all bowed out and submitted? Now, I hope you’re back on the coach.’
Ben realised the caller couldn’t see them. ‘Where else would I be?’
‘Good. I have someone who wants to talk to you.’
Ben heard the screams in the background and something dragging along the floor. The caller groaned as if lifting a heavy object.
A woman’s voice came on. ‘Ben, please help me. I’m at the–’
There was a slap, then the thud of something heavy landing on the floor. He guessed it was Lydia.
The caller said, ‘I want you to go to the barn. I have something waiting there. You’re going to untie the one Edward has been… shall we say, “playing around with”. We can’t leave her out, that would be rude. She’s sat there, barely speaking, Miss Innocent. Well, she needs to account for the way she’s behaved. What she did to that poor lad. She played her part in what happened at the barn. I want you to take her with you. She’s going to witness something simply horrific. It’s the least she deserves.’
A shiver darted along Ben’s back.
The caller continued, ‘When you get to the barn, we’ll play a game. It will be such fun. Let’s look at her behaviour. As I placed the family on the coach, I held her back. I told her I knew what she and Edward were doing. I asked her to tell me everything before tying her with the others on the coach.’
The caller’s breathing quickened, as if the thought of the interrogation excited him. ‘I understand she played around with the old guy, the married one. They had a baby. Did you know that? It’s amazing when you hold a gun to someone’s head, what you can find out.
‘Anyway, as far as I see it, they terminated it – the baby. It was an inconvenience. Evelyn and me, we tried for so long without success, and here you have these two parasites, doing what they did. Well, it’s payback.’
Then the caller gave a few more instructions, telling Ben he would call when he saw him and Abigail at the barn.
Ben knew this wouldn’t stop. The games were just the beginning. It was getting late. Tomorrow, there was the possibility of cars passing. The coach may be found. But would the caller kill everyone before morning?
All he could do was follow the caller’s instructions for now, then work out how to save the lives of the passengers.
He went to Abigail and told her what the caller had said. Then he led her off the coach. As they walked to the end of the path, she started to speak and Ben listened. She’d been mostly silent while she’d sat on the coach. ‘I don’t know what you must think of me? It’s true, what the caller said happened, I mean.’
Ben searched for the correct way to phrase his thoughts. ‘It’s between you and Edward. I’m not going to judge you.’
‘He’s a philanderer. Edward takes what he thinks is his. The night he came over to my place, I had no intention of sleeping with him. I think, on the other hand, that he called over to seduce me, taking what he wanted. As soon as he walked through my front door, he had nothing else on his mind but making love to me. I’m not going to deny that I found him attractive. Christ, who wouldn’t? He’s a powerful man. He promised he’d take care of me. Give Nigel and me anything we wanted. Only he wanted something in return.’