Read Online Watching the Ghosts by Kate Ellis - Free Book Online Page B

will forget about . . . It’s not good for business. Patrick gave me the cash from his safe and when I got home the kidnapper called again and told Melanie to take the money to the car park behind the Museum Gardens. They said she’d receive further instructions when she arrived.’
    â€˜She went alone?’
    â€˜I . . . we thought it was best if someone waited here. In case . . .’
    â€˜And did she receive further instructions?’
    â€˜I don’t know. After she left I never heard any more. I’ve been trying to call her but her phone’s switched off. I’ve left messages but . . .’
    â€˜I presume she wanted to see me about the kidnapping,’ said Emily, more sympathetic now.
    â€˜Yes. I didn’t think it was a good idea but . . . I didn’t want to do anything that might put Daisy in danger but now Melanie’s missing too and . . .’
    â€˜When did she leave with the money?’
    â€˜Yesterday evening. Around eight. There’s been no word from her since.’
    â€˜We’ll need to trace the phone calls you received. And put a trace on any future calls,’ said Joe.
    Hawkes nodded meekly and looked up. ‘There’s something else,’ he said quietly. ‘Something I haven’t mentioned.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜I had a call from the kidnapper this morning asking why Melanie hadn’t turned up.’
    Lydia had forgotten when she’d first met Amy but she knew their friendship dated from the time when she used to stay with her grandparents in Eborby during the long school holidays. Amy’s own grandparents had been close friends of her grandmother’s and, as the two girls had been the same age, Amy had been roped in to play with the friends’ lonely little granddaughter. Fortunately the two girls had hit it off back then and they’d stayed in touch ever since . . . even after Lydia had lost her baby; even after her divorce.
    Amy had given her a bed for the night after the burglary. She lived with her boyfriend, Steve, in a terraced house in Bearsly, not far from the huge, red-brick chocolate factory that provided so much employment in the town. It was a small house with a dingy yard backing on to the railway line and, in spite of Amy’s protestations to the contrary, Lydia couldn’t help feeling she was getting in the way. Besides, she’d have to return to Boothgate House sooner or later. Although she found it hard to get that note out of her mind.
I’ll see you next time I call. Be ready.
    The detective who’d called – DI Plantagenet – had told her to contact him if she was worried and a crime prevention officer was due to visit later that day, as was someone from Victim Support. She couldn’t complain that the authorities weren’t taking the violation seriously. She’d kept Joe Plantagenet’s card in her wallet with her precious photos and her credit cards and from time to time she took it out and looked at it, deriving comfort from the memory of him. The dark hair, the watchful blue eyes, the mouth that turned up slightly at the corners. A sympathetic face. But she had known faces like that to hide a darker nature. Sometimes appearances deceive.
    First thing that morning Amy had gone back with her to Boothgate House to help tidy up. By the time she’d had to leave for her shift at the theatre everything in the flat had been returned to its proper place, dusted and disinfected to blot out all trace of the man who’d intruded on her life. Once Amy had gone, Lydia had opened the windows to let some air in and sat in her living room listening to the faint hum of traffic noise from nearby Boothgate, feeling uneasy and alone. But it was something she knew she’d have to get used to. She’d got used to worse in her time.
    She made herself a coffee, wishing she hadn’t rung into work to tell them she was taking the day off. The clock on