Read Online The Child Taker & Slow Burn by Conrad Jones - Free Book Online

children out of the tent and into the woods.

Chapter Eight
     
    Hayley indicated and turned the estate car into the campsite. The headlights swept across the open ground between the two clumps of trees that bordered the site. Flying insects of every description hurtled towards the light and splattered across the windscreen. Karl was half way between the trees and the tent, carrying a square object in his hand. He was two hundred yards away but it looked to Hayley as if he was holding a stereo speaker. A chill ran down her spine. What was he doing?
    Hayley rounded a small hump and their tents came into full view, illuminated by the headlights. There was no sign of Louise or Steve and the barbecue was nothing but a dull glow. Karl waved at her as she approached the camp.
    “Where have you been?” Hayley opened the door and climbed out of the BMW.
    “You would not believe me if I told you,” Karl moaned. Hayley noticed blood running from a small cut on his leg, and scratches around his shins and ankles. “Someone is well out of order, their idea of a sick joke.” He held up the speaker.
    “What are you talking about, Karl?”
    “The baby crying before you left, well it got worse, and there was a woman screaming too.” He held the speaker up again. “I went to help and found this in the woods.”
    “What is it?”
    “Well, it’s a speaker.” Karl replied sarcastically. “Somebody is taking the piss.”
    “A speaker?”
    “Yes, a speaker. The baby crying was coming from this.”
    “Why would someone do that?”
    “I don’t know. Probably kids arsing around. I bet they’ve had a right laugh watching me clawing my way through the bushes over there.”
    “Kids wouldn’t do that, Karl.”
    “Well who else would do something like that?”
    Hayley could only think of one reason why anyone would do that and the blood drained from her face. “Did you leave the twins alone?”
    “Only for a minute.”
    “You fucking idiot.”
    “Don’t swear at me!” Karl snapped. “You’re determined to ruin this trip with your moods.”
    Her fist clenched tight around the car keys and her knuckles went white. She had read about a serial rapist in America who used recordings of babies crying to lure women out of their homes. Hayley stared past her husband at their tent. She pictured the twins sleeping safely in her mind’s eye but her gut instinct was telling her something was wrong.
    “What’s the matter, Hayley?” Karl was alarmed by the look on her face.
    “The twins,” she murmured. She couldn’t speak properly and her legs were frozen with fear. She literally couldn’t move as her body was filled with dread.
    “What do you mean?”
    “The twins,” she repeated, still frozen.
    The tent next door wobbled and the flysheet unzipped loudly. Steve and Louise stumbled out half-dressed.
    “What’s the matter you two?” Steve asked. Louise yawned and looked disinterested. Hayley managed to gain control of herself as she walked towards the tent nervously. Karl followed suit and realised her concern was for the children.
    “They’re sleeping darling, don’t worry,” he reassured himself more than anyone else.
    Hayley reached down and pulled the zip upward. She lifted the entrance flap up. The interior was inky black and she couldn’t see anything at first. She reached for the battery lantern and pulled her hand away quickly when she felt bugs crawling all over it.
    “Shit!” She hissed.
    “What?” Karl asked.
    “Put the light on. Put the fucking light on!”
    Karl reached for the lamp, found the button and flicked it on. Hayley gasped and drew a deep breath. Karl’s voice stuck in his throat as he took in the scene. He stared at the speaker in his hand as realisation hit home. His knees wobbled and he folded onto the floor. Louise and Steve leaned into the tent.
    “Oh my God!” Steve whispered under his breath. The back of the tent hung in tattered flaps, a cold breeze moved the material gently. The