The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(6)



The houses begin to blur as the police car speeds up a little.

I check my phone, but there’s no reply from Tom yet, and when I open the message, I see he hasn’t read it. He’s probably still in his interview, as he said he’d let me know how it went.

But Beth has sent a quick reply.

No worries. See you tomorrow. B x

When we first left the unit and they told us the girls were unhurt, I thought I’d be fine dealing with whatever has happened, but the longer we’re in the car, the more I can feel the tightness between my shoulder blades. I really hope Tom can get over to the police station soon.

My hurried text message will probably panic him, but I had to let him know what was happening. There’ll be plenty of time to tell him how it all came about later, when both Maddy and Josh are tucked up safely in bed and his interview is behind him.

‘Which station are you taking us to?’ Chloe demands, her voice brittle. She sounds upset, but I can tell she’s festering angrily underneath that, silently convincing herself that the police have got it all wrong. ‘Are you allowed to tell us that at least?’

‘We’re heading for Hucknall station.’ It’s the officer who is driving who replies. ‘They’re holding your daughters there for the time being.’

‘Holding them? At ten years of age?’ Chloe says scathingly. ‘Haven’t you lot got enough crime to keep you busy without herding up little girls? I thought this country was supposed to be in the grip of a knife crime epidemic.’

‘Chloe, just leave it.’ I can’t see the sense in riling the only two people who know anything about the situation, and I’m feeling more jittery by the second.

But I do know what she means. What can two ten-year-olds have done that’s so bad, really? Thrown stones at a passing bus? Shoplifted sweets from a local store?

Hardly a reason to detain them at the police station.

Maddy and Brianna are essentially good kids. Granted, when they’re together, they can get up to mischief just like any other children their age.

Shutting Mrs McKinney’s grumpy cat in Mum’s old coal shed overnight when it scratched them, and flooding the dance school toilets with two older girls last year crosses my mind. But those were hardly serious incidents. They let the cat out the next morning when they heard that Mum’s neighbour had been up all night searching, and another child reported the flooding before any real damage was done.

On both occasions, they were full of apologies.

The two of them are more like sisters than cousins. They’ve grown up together; there’s only a couple of months between them in age. They go to the same primary school in the village, are even in the same class. I think even poor Josh feels the odd one out when the three of them spend time together at Mum’s house.

I take pleasure in witnessing their closeness. I hope they can enjoy their sibling-like relationship without the complications that have blighted Chloe and me in the past.

They must be so upset right now. Terrified, in fact.

Thank goodness they’re together and have each other’s support until we can get there to end this nonsense and bring them home.





Three





The police station





The police car had swiftly become a suffocating vortex of tension and unspoken words. Chloe’s temper was being severely tested now. She could feel herself teetering on the edge of giving the two uniformed tossers who had been sent to find them a piece of her mind.

She had enough drama in her life right now without all this malarkey to deal with, but at least the staggering incompetence of the police was a welcome distraction from her troubles.

Who on earth turned up at someone’s workplace unannounced to tell them they were holding their young daughters, and then refused to say why? It was an absolute farce.

The local newspaper would have a field day with the whole sorry tale, and Chloe intended making sure the Herald knew every pathetic detail once she had Brianna safely back home again.

She knew her colour was up because her cheeks were hot to the touch. The tendons in her neck felt like guitar strings stretched to breaking point. It was a sure sign that the mother of all tension headaches was on its way, and she’d had more than her share of those over the past few months.

Truthfully, she’d been stressed out even before the police had arrived at the lock-up.

After reading the last text message that had come through just before they almost battered the door down, she’d finally admitted to herself that she had no option but to talk to her sister.

She’d exhausted all other options and it had to happen soon, before things spiralled completely out of control.

But how would Juliet react? How would Chloe herself react if the situation was reversed? She really didn’t want to think about that.

They’d enjoyed a much more supportive relationship since they’d started working together, and despite her mother’s cynicism about Juliet’s business capabilities, Chloe didn’t want to threaten that.

Juliet was complex; who knew how her mind worked? It was in her nature to attempt to control every detail, trying too hard to make things perfect for others.

Chloe had felt a twist of irritation when she’d spotted her sister texting Beth Chambers. Beth had hung around their family like a bad smell since they were kids, formed some pathetic kinship with Juliet because she’d lost her brother in a car accident when she’d been fifteen.

K.L. Slater's Books