‘Let’s speak again tomorrow.’
As her mother opened the door, Susanna saw a taxi outside. Clocking them, he started the engine, and Susanna watched as Kathleen made her way over to the car and was helped inside.
She closed the door behind them and collapsed against it.
FIFTY-SEVEN
‘Move.’
Abby looked up to see their kidnapper was indicating up into the trees. She was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of pine, its sweetness making her nauseous. Time was running out. He wouldn’t have to take them far, just enough of a distance so they were out of sight of the path. It was likely no one came up here anyway; the track had appeared unused and Abby doubted it was a place that saw much human presence. It might be months before anyone found their bodies.
Ellie was staring at her, her eyes brittle with fear. The man had one arm around her sister’s upper body, pinning her hands by her side. The other still held the knife at Ellie’s throat. Abby saw the blade glint. Light had caught the metal and she looked down to see the yellow warmth from the inside of the car. The doors had been left open and the interior lights were the only brightness for miles. Oh, how she longed to get back inside. Grab her sister and run for it. Slam the doors shut and lock them. Drive like a maniac back down the path, mowing down the monster who had kidnapped them. She knew she wouldn’t care if he died, if she killed him. She imagined his body crushed by the wheels, his agony as he screamed out, but she would keep going. The key was waiting in the ignition, dangling. Just a couple of metres separated her from them.
‘Now!’ shouted the man. ‘Fucking move!’ Ellie whimpered in terror.
Abby looked at him, saw his fear, his need to get them in the woods. Shaking, she took a step in the direction of the trees. She had to go around the front of the car to do so. He was standing at an opening in the pines, just beyond the front passenger door. Abby continued edging forwards until she was almost around the other side of the car. It was dark and she didn’t notice a rock in the ground. She stumbled and reached out to grab the passenger door handle to steady herself. As she did, she saw inside the car, in the footwell.
Ellie’s bag.
‘Hurry up!’ He was getting jittery, dangerous. Abby edged around the door, pretending to limp, holding on to the door frame.
‘I’ve hurt my ankle,’ she said tearfully.
‘I don’t fucking care. Start walking or I cut her throat.’
Ellie began to cry then, gasping out sobs as she struggled to breathe, the man’s hold on her tightening, the knife pressing against her windpipe. Abby stumbled again and cried out in pain as she fell against the sill of the car. The movement threw the man and in the millisecond of confusion, Abby twisted and flung her arms into the footwell and into Ellie’s bag. She felt the coldness of the gun in her hands and as she turned to face the man she pulled back the slide, disengaged the safety catch and fired.
The noise pierced her eardrums like nothing she’d felt before, disorientating her as it throbbed in her brain. She was aware of her attacker falling backwards, pulling Ellie on top of him. Then Ellie scrabbled away, shrieking and crying, and Abby watched, dumbfounded, as the man lay on the ground, his eyes staring up at the dark sky, the knife still in his hand. Dark liquid oozed swiftly from behind his back.
Abby stared, still in shock. Then she remembered her sister.
‘Are you OK?’
Ellie was curled up in a ball, her hands wrapped over her head as she rocked back and forth.
Abby got up, the gun still in her hand. She edged towards the man, her heart hammering. As she got closer, she knew that he could dart out a hand and grab her ankle. She quickly kicked at his hand. The knife scattered away into the damp earth. He didn’t move.
Abby went over to Ellie, grabbed her elbow. ‘Get up,’ she said urgently. ‘Get up!’
Ellie stood and Abby manhandled her back into the car. She slammed the door shut, then ran around to the driver’s side. Throwing the gun onto the back seat, she started the engine, rammed the car into reverse. Then she let her foot off the clutch and they hurtled backwards down the hill. The car rocked over potholes and roots as Abby desperately tried to keep control.
She looked up, fearing the man wasn’t dead, that he would be following, throwing himself onto the bonnet, but the headlights picked up nothing except the dark, empty track. She kept driving, bouncing down the path until she could see the main road in the rear windscreen. She reversed into the road, then turned the car and sped away.
‘Are you all right?’ she said, glancing over at Ellie.
Her sister managed a weak nod. ‘You shot him,’ she whispered.
‘What, you wanted me to leave him to kill us?’
‘No!’
They raced down the road in silence for a while before coming back to the first junction where they’d been forced to turn. Abby looked expectantly at Ellie.
‘What?’ asked Ellie.
‘Which way?’
Ellie stared at her.
