Ben hesitated, standing at the middle of the steps. ‘My name is Ben. I’m going to get you out. Are you alone?’
‘Yes, I’m here alone. Please get me out of here.’
Ben moved to the bottom of the stairs and pushed the door.
Gareth was lying on the floor, arms tied to the railing above his head. Ben shone the torch over his face and he blinked. ‘We need to be quick. He may come back any second.’ Ben crouched, undoing the knot around Gareth’s wrists and lifted him to his feet. He held Gareth as he cried, a mixture of dread and elation together.
On the way back up, Ben explained what had happened and introduced him to Laura.
‘How are the others?’ Gareth asked.
‘They’re doing okay, considering what you’ve all been through. Our daughter has been taken. We have to find her,’ Laura told him.
Gareth was stretching, helping the blood to flow around his aching body. ‘I’ll help,’ he said. ‘We can tackle him together.’
Ben already liked the spirit the young lad had shown. He went first up the stairs, grasping the torch and placing the light on either side of the walls.
The ball of light jumped and flickered above their heads. The smell of the cottage reminded Laura of an old treehouse her father had built when she was a child: damp, rotting timber, sodden from years of being exposed to the weather.
Ben reached the top of the house, looking at the door at the end of the hall. He was sure it was the same room where they’d seen the light from outside. He moved forward, hearing Laura tiptoeing behind. ‘Wait here. If he’s inside, run, okay?’
Laura looked as if she’d faint at any second. Ben reached for the door handle, then pushed it hard.
As he stepped into the room, he saw the corpse on the bed. ‘What the hell?’ Then he remembered what Lydia had said about this room.
‘What, Ben? Is Milly here? Please, Ben. Is she okay?’
Ben was speechless. He tried to get the words out, but it felt as though his tongue was trapped. He glanced at the wall covered in newspaper cuttings. He moved closer, reading the headlines.
Laura and Gareth stepped into the room. Suddenly she screamed, a gut-wrenching cry as she saw the body lying on the bed. She’d never felt so terrified. She looked to where Ben was standing. ‘Ben, what the hell is happening here? It’s disgusting.’
He shone the torch over the articles, reading what had happened.
Police are still no closer to finding the hit-and-run driver who killed local man’s wife.
Evelyn Mitchell was out hiking with her husband when a young lad ploughed his car into her, killing her instantly. The vehicle was thought to have been speeding along the country roads through Bourne Woods when the tragic accident occurred. It’s reported the driver initially stopped, but then sped off leaving the body on the road.
Evelyn died on her sixtieth birthday and leaves behind her husband, Henry Mitchell.
He has not yet issued a statement to the press.
The couple had no children and spent most of their time organising charity events for the local homeless.
Police are asking for anyone with information to come forward. All calls will be treated with the strictest of confidence.
Ben looked at other articles, relaying pretty much the same story. ‘It’s why he’s doing this. That’s the reason.’ Laura gripped his arm as he continued, ‘His wife was tragically killed. They never caught the guy driving the car, so he’s avenging the attack. He dresses like her, the wig, the nightdress. That way, he thinks she’s still alive. It’s the reason he had the passengers on the coach. That’s why he’s doing this. He’s taken Milly to get revenge on us, for helping the others and jeopardising his plans. It’s all about people and their mistakes, that’s what drives him to do these things. It fuels the anger. Avenging what happened to his wife.’
Gareth said, ‘It’s what happened to us. To Stephen and me. Last Thursday night, we were driving through Bourne Woods. We saw the old lady, wearing a white nightdress, the long black hair.’ Gareth pointed to the woman lying on the bed. ‘He’s emulating what happened to his wife. Dressing as her, recreating the night she died. It’s her birthday. It probably makes it more significant to him.’
‘Quick, we need to find Milly,’ Ben shouted.
Ben glanced at the body on the way out. The caller had run after him and Abigail, chasing them through the fields and had returned here to drape the nightdress over his wife and place the wig on her head. Always fixated on the way she looked and how he remembered her.
Ben and Laura checked the other rooms, then raced down the stairs and out of the cottage.
‘Where’s Gareth?’ Laura asked as they stood outside.
‘Gareth, we need to go. Come on.’ Ben listened at the front door. He waited to hear the lad’s steps coming down the stairs. ‘Gareth, we’re going to find the car. Come on.’
‘We can’t wait, Ben.’ Laura started running along the path, hoping it led to the road.
Ben looked along the row of cottages, then ran with Laura. ‘I say we try and find the car. You can drive out and get help,’ Ben suggested. ‘It’s somewhere between here and the barn. There’s only one road that leads around in a circle. I’m hoping that’s where Milly is being held. Come on.’
Ben jogged as Laura fought to keep up with him. They ran side by side, puffing heavily, the chilly air pushing against their faces. Laura had a dreadful feeling that the next time she saw her daughter she’d have a bullet in her head. She steered the thoughts away, trying her best not to let the visions of Milly lying slumped in a field affect her. She had to keep strong for her daughter and Ben. She wondered where it would end, and how.
Laura had listened to the caller talking to Ben, going on about retribution, the passengers and how they’d done wrong. The caller’s wife had been killed in a hit-and-run; now he was avenging the terrible tragedy on the same date she died. One year later.
In a way, she found herself feeling sorry for the arsehole. How would anyone cope, losing a partner, a loved one, knowing the person who’d killed them escaped justice? The caller would keep going, keep justifying his actions by wreaking his vengeance. She feared the worse. If he murdered Milly to get back at Ben for helping the passengers, he’d kill her too. None of them would escape. None of them would leave tonight.
‘Wait a second. I need to catch my breath.’ Laura stopped and placed her hands on her hips.
‘Take a rest, Laura. There’s another couple of miles or so of the road until it leads back to the coach. The car must be here somewhere. Lydia told me she got out of the boot and walked to the cottage. It can’t be far.’
‘What if it’s gone? What if he’s taken Milly? Driven someplace miles from here?’
‘He won’t. He’s going to try and find the others. He has beef with all of them. He won’t stop until he’s killed everyone. He’s playing a game, Laura. That’s the way he’s wired. He has something for us. Something he’s planning with Milly.’
They swung around as two lights flicked on and off in the distance.
‘What was that?’ Laura asked.
‘I don’t know. It looked like car lights. I couldn’t see. It happened too quick,’ Ben answered.