Page 76 of Gone in the Night
‘Do you need to go home, Ben? Sorry, I should have asked you earlier, it was just a bit much, you know.’
‘No, I’m fine. I can see out of my left eye so it’s all good, and besides, we’re already two, no three detectives short, so I don’t think me feeling sorry for myself is going to help anyone.’
Marc nodded. ‘Thanks, I appreciate that.’
The door opened and in walked Stan holding an evidence bag with a length of blue rope inside of it. Marc jumped up and clapped him on the back.
‘Where did you find that?’
Stan was grinning at him. ‘You’ll never believe it, we searched the entire house and garage, then I realised we’d missed the maid’s living quarters above the garage, so I got herto let us in and this was coiled up in a drawer hidden underneath some newspapers.’
‘Well done, thank God you did. Where’s the maid now?’
‘Waiting to be booked into custody. I didn’t think you’d want me to leave her free to roam around. I tried ringing you, boss, to ask if it was okay but there wasn’t much signal.’
Marc took out his phone and saw he had a missed call off an unknown number.
‘Well done and yeah, it all got a bit mental, didn’t it.’
Ben smiled at Stan. ‘Seriously, well done. That was a lucky find.’
Stan shrugged. ‘Was a bit of a fluke if you ask me, but I’ll take it if it means we have the killer behind bars and hard, forensic evidence to prove it.’
For the first time in days, Ben felt the tightness in between his shoulders begin to loosen itself and they dropped an inch lower than they’d been five minutes ago. Now all they needed was an update about Amy and some good news that she was fine and the baby was doing well.
FIFTY
Morgan opened her eyes and groaned. She couldn’t see a thing in the murky blackness. Where the hell was she?
One minute she’d been searching for evidence inside the garage and…Christ, who had attacked her whilst there was a house full of police officers? Who had the audacity to throw her in some pit that wasn’t even big enough for her to turn around in? Her shoulders were aching, and her hands were numb, and she realised it was because she was lying on them. Could she lose her hands if she didn’t get off them? Trying her best to shuffle to the side to release some of the pressure on them, she managed to turn slightly.
Her face was pressed up against the rough concrete side. She wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but the fact that she couldn’t breathe properly with the gag shoved into her mouth wasn’t helping. Straining hard against the tie wraps, she tried to break them, but they were too strong. She’d watched a video on Instagram last year, where some guy was teaching you how to free yourself if you ever got into this situation.Great, Morgan, you didn’t even retain the information.
Where was her phone? She realised that she couldn’t feel it in either of her pockets, but she still had the blue nitrile searchgloves on her hands and they felt slick…if she worked at those tie wraps she might be able to slip her hands through them and free herself. She still had no idea who had pushed her down here and done this to her, but they were going to be sorry when she got out. Why hadn’t Ben noticed she was missing? She strained to listen for any noise above her, but it was deathly silent. She tried shouting, the muffled noises were pathetic, and it suddenly dawned on her she didn’t know how much air she had. What if this pit was airtight? A bubble of panic filled her chest, and she wanted to scream and cry, but she didn’t. Instead, she tried to sit herself up. Maybe she could lift the trapdoor above her or at least bang on it to get someone’s attention. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Surely, they had realised she was missing.
Slowly rocking from side to side to get herself onto her front, she figured if she was able to get onto her knees, she might be able to raise herself up enough to push the door open.
Footsteps echoed off the concrete floor above her as someone was walking around, and she tried to yell the best that she could. It was pointless. The sound was so quiet she realised that whatever this place was it had been soundproofed. Whoever was up there wouldn’t hear her and she might end up starving herself of what little oxygen there may be left.
She listened to where they were going and wondered if it was Marie. Had Morgan been right? Was the woman a killer? She could add kidnapping and police assault to her long list of charges if she was.
FIFTY-ONE
Amy’s hands were slick with perspiration. She had been manoeuvred by the midwife with Cain’s help and was now on all fours. Cain was kneeling next to her wiping her brow with a damp facecloth.
‘When the next contraction comes, I want you to bear down and push with everything you have, Amy, you’re almost there.’
The midwife smiled at Cain who was trying to hold off the panic attack that was threatening to take over. This was much worse than even he’d imagined, and he wished it was over for Amy’s sake. He didn’t know how much pain one woman could take. Amy was tough, he knew she was a lot tougher than him, he’d have curled up in a ball and cried for them to cut it out of him.
She looked at him, fear and desperation in her eyes, and he smiled at her.
‘Almost there, you’re doing amazing, I’m so proud of you.’
She was leaning on her elbows, his hand clenched tightly in hers. She began to groan as another brutal contraction began to pulse through her tired and aching body. She gripped Cain’s hand tight, gritted her teeth and pushed with everything she had.
‘Well done, Amy, the baby’s head’s out, breathe and with the next one push as hard as you can.’
Cain was tempted to look and see the head but not sure if he should. Unable to stop himself, he looked down to see the small head that had a mound of jet-black hair, covered in white grease and bloody slime.
