Time to Play (North East Police) (10 page)

‘Shhh,’ whispered a male voice. ‘It’s Danny. Don’t scream.’

He turned her around so she could see his face, and she had to stop herself gasping when she realised he had blood running down the left side of his face.

‘I’m fine,’ he said, seeing her expression. ‘Come with me, I’ll get you out.’

Elvie nodded silently. He had helped her before; there was no reason for her not to trust him. He led her through the kitchen at the rear of the house, and out of the back door to a large concrete section where several vehicles were parked, including the van she had been brought to the house in.

‘You see that red car over there? You need to go and hide on the back seat, there’s a blanket you can cover yourself with. If you don’t hide they will catch you. You’re miles away from anywhere. Do you understand?’

Elvie grasped most of what he said, though some words escaped her. She nodded, fear tightening in her chest. When he pushed her towards the car, she didn’t hesitate. She climbed in and peeked through the window as he made his way back inside.

Maybe he’s going to tell them where I am? Maybe he’s gone to get the woman and she’s going to beat me again.

She heard shouts from inside the house and ducked down as the back door was flung open. Crouching low in the foot-wells, she pulled the blanket over her and lay still, her heart pounding in her chest as shouting sounded all around the car. She couldn’t get out now even if she wanted to.

4
^th
November, 2110 hours – Ryhope, Sunderland

Nita felt ill. Her nose was running and her body ached and shivered with cold but at the same time she was sweating. It felt like she was back in the container again.

She didn’t know where she was, but it wasn’t home.

Nita didn’t know what it was they had been injecting into her, but it made everything OK, at least until it wore off. When that happened it was like raw hunger that wouldn’t go away, and coupled with the horrible flu she seemed to have caught, she felt like death warmed up. In the room she’d been in, they kept the drugs coming fairly regularly so her withdrawal hadn’t progressed beyond that and she wondered when this man would give her the injection her body craved.

She glanced down at her arm, and without realising what she was doing, she started scratching at the tiny scabs left behind from the needles, her nails ripping into her skin and causing red welts to appear. It gave her a focus, and she could feel the pain. In an effort to stop the shaking, she scratched harder.

The car she was in suddenly pulled to a stop and the man got out. He opened the door for her and she took the hand he offered.
He’s going to hurt me, like the other man.

But even that thought didn’t make her stay in the car. She knew that however he hurt her, he would give her the drugs first. And that was what she needed. Anything else she could handle.

The man led her down a path to a building and silently pushed her through the door.

A sudden prick of fear invaded her senses, this room didn’t feel right. It smelt like bleach and the walls were covered in grey material. She racked her brains to try and remember where she had seen similar material before, but the location eluded her. She saw the cage, the line of tools hanging on the wall, and the chair with wrist and ankle ties standing in the middle of the room, and knew she had made a mistake.

Wherever here was, it was no better than the last place. If anything it was worse.

Nita cried out, and pulled back towards the door.

She hadn’t even noticed the man locking it as they entered.

She opened her mouth to scream but gasped as he suddenly pulled her close and clamped a hand over her mouth.

‘Shhh, it’s time to play,’ he whispered in her ear.

Nita whimpered, the shaking stopping momentarily as panic threatened to overwhelm her. She struggled against his hold, but she was weak from lack of food. There was no chance of her escaping his grasp.

He manoeuvred her towards a metal framed cage that lay in the corner and she felt the hot tears start to fall down her cheeks.
What is going on? What does he want?

She tried to stop him pushing her through the cage door, but he roughly rammed her through the door. Nita cried out in pain as her arm caught on the side but he ignored her and slammed the door shut with her inside.

Shaking the cage door, she screamed, her tears running freely down her face. He had turned away, but hearing her shaking the cage, he faced her once more. He was angry, and Nita was afraid. She backed away from the cage door and stopped when her back hit the rear frame.

She watched as he lowered a flap on the cage and pushed a couple of sandwiches and bottles of water inside. They would satiate her, but they wouldn’t even touch the hunger she knew wasn’t for food. Deciding to change her tactics, she approached the door more calmly.

‘
Paki usap po
,’ said Nita, trying to show the man a shaky smile. It meant please. Please anything. Please let me out, please give me a needle, please don’t hurt me, just please.

But he didn’t understand.

4
^th
November, 2114 hours – Ryhope, Sunderland

He hadn’t understood the mutterings from her mouth, but he knew the meaning. She was begging. Pleading with him in her own language not to hurt her. For a moment, he felt compassion. He knew how she felt, she was trapped. She couldn’t get out. She was scared. But his compassion faded. The only way for her to deal with the pain life would throw at her was to learn now.

And he was the one to teach her. He had to be.

He picked up the large, wrapped piece of polythene from the corner of the room, adjusting to accommodate the weight of the dead girl now in his arms. He grunted as her arm slipped free of the polythene wrapping, and hearing a loud gasp from the cage, he knew the latest girl had seen.

Oh well, by the time I’m through she’ll be able to cope with anything. She’ll get through life and never have to worry about anything. Not like me.

He lugged the heavy wrap out to his car and shoved her into the boot.

It was too early yet. If he left now he would be seen. And he didn’t have time today to travel to the place he normally placed his girls.

He could go later – no one would see. But he didn’t think he would be able to. He had a new girl to look after now.

Suddenly he realised he knew just the place for this girl. Humming to himself, he turned and went back into the house. It was time for supper.

Chapter Nine

5th November, 0640 hours - Detached house, outskirts of Hetton-Le-Hole

Elvie heard a noise outside the car and stilled, holding her breath in case someone opened the car door. She was bitterly cold, the thin blanket doing little to warm her up, and she was shivering so hard she thought her teeth were coming loose. It hurt to breath so she inhaled in short bursts in an effort to ease the pain in her chest.

It felt like she'd been hiding in the foot well of the car for days. She'd fallen asleep at one point, her body doing what it could to help her escape the confines of the cold car, but her dreams had been filled with monsters.

The night had turned to early morning, and still she hadn't moved, not daring to even lift her head.

Danny had told her to hide. She presumed he would come looking for her when it was clear to run.

But so far, he hadn't.

She wondered whether he was alright, and had almost gone to get out of the car on at least four separate occasions, but she was too afraid. She knew what would happen if they found her now.

They would kill her. There was no doubt in her mind.

But she knew she couldn't stay in the car much longer. As well as the gripping pain she felt, her whole body was going into cramp. She ached in places she didn't even know she had, and her fingers had turned blue from the cold. Her tongue was swollen in her mouth, reminding her it had been hours since she had last had a drink, but despite this her aching stomach told her she was desperate for the toilet.

Pushing the blanket off her head, she pulled herself round slightly so she could peer over the bottom lip to the window. Agony ripped through her side and she gasped loudly, then bit her bottom lip trying to silence herself.

Someone might hear.

Peeking out of the window, the compound appeared to be in complete silence. There was no one milling around, no sign of anything except the lonely rabbit that hopped across the grass to her right. Turning, she glanced out of the other side and realised there really was no one around.

Where is Danny? Why hasn't he come?

She knew he wouldn't betray her, if he was going to he would've told the woman where she was hiding, but Elvie wondered where he was. He hadn't owed her anything, but he had helped her now on two occasions, and she trusted him.

Deciding she really couldn't stay in the car any longer, Elvie reached for the door handle. The sound of the latch opening was as loud as a gunshot to her mind, and she paused, stricken with terror that someone might have heard.

But there were no shouts, no one came running.

She pushed the door open, and climbed out of the car, her left arm holding her sore ribs as she leaned into the sharpness. It seemed to help a little and the searing pain eased to an ache that spread around her side.

Outside of the car was just as cold, and she felt her teeth start to chatter as she glanced around. Grabbing the blanket off the back seat, she wrapped it round herself. She had no idea which way to go but instinctively drew back from the house and its large hedge and made her way down the garden to the fence at the rear.

The garden backed onto fields and trees, and it was all she could see, but she knew she'd have a better chance of getting away that way than through the house.

She wished she had something warmer on. Noni had told her that the UK was nothing like the Philippines for weather, but she hadn't really believed anywhere could be quite so bitterly cold.

Climbing the fence, she glanced up at the stars but they were different from how she’d been taught. Instead, hoping it was the right choice; she picked the brightest star and headed in that direction. She didn’t know it was north – one direction was as good as the next but at least she could maintain a straight line if she went that way.

5
^th
November, 0805 hours – Dive team HQ, South Shields

‘Morning, campers. Hope your single rest day didn’t tire you out too much and that you’re all raring to go.’ Sharpie sat at the front of the briefing room and glanced around with a grin. Beside him sat Andy Chapman, the sergeant of Bravo Team. The two teams rarely worked together, and Marlo wondered what it was for.

Glancing at her own team, she noticed Doc looking a little green around the gills. He’d obviously had a good day off and was suffering now. Grinning, she turned her attention back to Sharpie.

‘… be a long set. The next five days will be filled with our favourite people,’ his smile was sarcastic. ‘Providing we don’t get called out we have six, yes six different groups coming through our doors for a chat and wander around this inspiring facility. Of these six groups, four are kids aged between eleven and sixteen, our absolute favourite age group. One is a writer wanting an inside look into the dive team, and the final group is the management team who are coming to see where they can shaft us financially. It’ll be fun-filled people, trust me, and no doubt by the end of just today we will all be longing for rest days. But, crack on we shall. We will all be pitching in with the tours, no excuses. Doc, you’re handling the group today from Thornhill Comprehensive. The writer is due in at 2 p.m. and she’ll be with me.’

Marlo saw Doc drop his head to the desk top and groan loudly before mumbling, ‘Aw come on Sharpie, the little shits will eat me alive. I’m under the weather today: can’t Mac do it?’

She tried to hide her smirk as Mac thumped Doc on the arm, but she knew Sharpie had seen it: he was on top form today.

‘Marlo will give you a hand, Doc. There’s no way they’ll eat you alive with her there. Hell, she might just need you to stop her eating them alive. Or at least from grabbing their phones and launching them into the bay, huh, Marlo? Connor, you and Mac are on equipment checks. The 4x4 needs taking over to fleet management at HQ for its MOT at 10 a.m. My astute team may have noticed Bravo Team sitting quietly in the wings. They’re here on a training day, they’ll be using the Delta RIB. Play nice boys and girl.’

He stood, effectively ending the briefing, but turned back just as everyone started getting to their feet. ‘The kids will be here in an hour; you might wanna get a cuppa first.’ His grin stretched widely and Marlo sighed. Bravo Team filtered out, taking the piss as they headed for the stairs, and Connor and Mac practically ran from the room, obviously raring to get stuck into the equipment checks. The whole team would prefer to chew off their own arm off than entertain a bunch of school kids, but the tours were good for PR and Sharpie rarely refused visitors.

‘Blurgh,’ muttered Doc, lifting his head from the desk. ‘I think I may actually die. I am never drinking again.’

‘Aye, ’til next time. Come on, old man, let’s get some caffeine down your neck.’

Marlo walked to the door, knowing Doc would follow her to the kitchen.

5
^th
November, 0810 hours – Sunderland City Police HQ

The pile of files on Ali’s desk was finally dwindling to a more manageable level. He had a steaming cup of coffee at his side, and a hot bacon butty had just been placed on the keyboard in front of him.