Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
L ooking across at Steve Cannon, Jon shook his head. “I don’t know whether to think he’s stupid or arrogant.”
“Maybe a bit of both. He thinks he’s untouchable, believes that nobody will take him on when they’re reliant upon him for their livelihood.”
“Are the statements and people kosher though? I don’t want to overplay my hand only to find I don’t have one.” Jon frowned at the vibration in his pocket from his phone, again.
“They’re kosher alright and some of the women didn’t get off as lightly as Steph.”
“I hardly think my wife being assaulted by that man with the clear threat of far greater was her getting off lightly,” Jon snapped, irritated, not so much with Steve but at the memory of seeing a very frightened Steph that day.
“No, of course. But they’re all genuine.” Steve wore a very serious frown and then spoke again. “I know I’m not exactly Prince Charming and we both know I have a serious weakness for pretty ladies, but I have never forced myself on one. I kind of like them to want to be with me.”
“Yeah, you and me both, but Baker doesn’t appear to have the same requirements.”
“You okay?” Steve asked when he saw the concerned expression on Jon’s face.
“Yeah, fine, but I might need to take this,” he replied, already pulling his phone from his pocket. He looked down at the screen and could see a missed call from Steph and several from Andrea, Rosie and Charlie leading him to one conclusion, there was a problem with his wife or his baby. “Shit!” He hissed the single word as he prepared to leave Steve. “I’ve got to go, but next week, Jack Baker gets his. I’ll be in touch.”
Jon was already striding across the street, hitting his wife’s number first only for it to ring briefly before it went straight to voicemail. He considered who to call next, but before he could choose, Charlie was calling him and as soon as the call connected he heard the panic and fear in his friend’s voice meaning his own fears for his wife and unborn child had been well placed, Charlie’s words only confirming that.
“How the fuck did this even happen?” Jon was asking for possibly the twentieth time since he’d arrived back at his office only minutes before.
“She took a call . . . someone asking for you,” Andrea explained. “Steph, Mrs Brooker took the call in her office and then came out and said she was going to see Sonia.”
Sonia, who was sitting on the sofa in the Brooker’s reception area chipped in now. “She wasn’t. We had no plans to meet. I saw her though, as she was leaving. We passed in the car park . . .”
Jon cut her off. “Car park. This gets fucking better! I am going to assume that she wasn’t walking.”
Sonia shook her head. “She was in your car.”
“Charlie!” he raged, already turning to his friend. “Can you phone Lindsay and see if she’s heard off her and I will try Jason. What the fuck is she up to? Today is the first time I’ve left her for weeks and this is what she does. Well she’ll be lucky to go to the bathroom alone after this little stunt.”
With Charlie already calling his own wife, only to find that she hadn’t heard off Steph since the previous day, Jon was preparing to face what would undoubtedly be a worried and volatile Jason when Andrea took a call.
“Mr Brooker, it’s a Doctor Meredith for you.”
“You are kidding?” Jon asked, already reaching for the phone. “It never fucking rains, does it? Hello.”
Jon listened to Penny’s doctor explaining that he was concerned that someone had called him and spoken to Steph about a fall Penny was supposed to have suffered. He was essentially calling to make sure that Jon accepted that whoever had called was nothing to do with the nursing home and to reassure him that Penny was okay. As he explained the details of Steph’s call from the hospital she’d been sent to, his blood ran cold. All of his earlier feelings about Steph being on someone’s shit list were coming true and now, not only was she AWOL, she’d been spun a line to expose herself to an unknown danger, her and Jelly Bean.
After hanging up, Jon marched through to his office, closely followed by Charlie. He was beyond worried and still pissed off that Steph had done this, put herself in a position of danger, but he understood why. She thought Penny had been hurt and was attempting to help, to make sure she was okay and when she’d called him he wasn’t available to her.
“Jon,” Charlie called for the third or fourth time now. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Steph was duped into going to a hospital to see Penny.” He was fiddling with his phone as he spoke and smiled down at the screen. “She’s still there, at the hospital or so her phone says. Come on,” he called to his friend. “As my wife has done a runner in my car you can drive.”
The drive to the hospital took a while but it gave Jon the opportunity to explain to Charlie fully what was going on.
“So she thought Penny was hurt and that the doctor called her?”
Jon nodded.
“But who called her, if the actual doctor didn’t?”
“Not a clue, but I will find out . . . thank fuck she realised something was off and remained there.” Jon was leaving the car before it had come to a stop and began to scan the car park nearest the emergency department. “Over here,” he called, already striding to where he could see his car.
Charlie followed in his wake and although he knew Jon wouldn’t physically hurt Steph he was already bracing himself for the bollocking he knew was coming her way, but clearly not yet. The car was unoccupied and there was no sign of Steph nearby. Jon called her from where he stood, leaning against the door of his car. His call went to voicemail and as he began to leave his message he prowled around the car and then stopped dead.
“What the . . .?”
“What?” Charlie asked, following his friend’s gaze to the floor where he was bending down.
“If my wife isn’t here, but the car keys and her phone are, where is she?” Concern laced his voice. “Charlie, call the police.”
Steph’s head hurt, she was groggy and her mouth was dry. She tried to open her eyes but her lids were too heavy. There was barely a shard of light slipping through as she tried once more to force them open but they weren’t cooperating or maybe it was the rolling motion she could feel that was lulling her back into unconsciousness. She wasn’t sure but as her eyes closed she saw images in her mind, images of her husband and unborn daughter that her arms were wrapping around.
“Shit!” Steph’s voice was a hissed whisper as she woke up. She was unsure where she was or what had happened as she tried to take in her surroundings that were dark, like a basement. There was something beneath her, something soft, a mattress maybe. As she tried to sit up she realised that her hands and feet were tied together and then all the events came back to her.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks, dripping onto her chest. Her sudden realisation that her hands that were tethered behind her back prevented her from wiping her tears away only made her cry harder as she tried to process where she was, why and with whom?
“You need to find Simon.” Jon’s voice was flat, but he was dying inside with every second his wife was missing.
“Sir, we are following up several leads,” the police officer replied, offering him a sympathetic smile.
“But none of them are leading you to my wife, my pregnant fucking wife!” Jon roared, all semblance of calmness gone as he stormed around his living room needing some news.
Charlie and Jason watched him leave the room and then exchanged a glance as they heard a door somewhere else in the house slam shut. The police officer began to explain all of the leads they were following up, including their ongoing hunt for Simon. He also agreed with Charlie and Jason that Simon may potentially be the safer option for Steph if he still believed she held the key to him keeping his son. With no further leads or anything concrete, Jason went in search of his brother-in-law.
He found him sitting behind his desk in the office he had at home, an office he shared with Steph. Having opened the door without knocking, Jason wondered what he should say or do. He wanted to blame the broken looking man before him but didn’t. He knew, he’d seen the lengths he’d gone to in order to keep his sister safe and he also knew just how stubborn and determined his sister could be when she was intent on doing something.
“They’ll find her.” Jason’s words made Jon frown, disbelievingly.
“I hope so.” He sighed.
“Stephie is unstoppable when she sets her mind on something. I know you love her, but this isn’t your fault.”
Jon nodded, unsure if he should consider saying anything in response because as much as he agreed that his wife could be unstoppable he couldn’t help but feel responsible in some way.
Jason gave a short laugh. “After what happened before, with the poisoning I expected you to have her electronically tagged in some way . . .”
Jon leapt to his feet, startling Jason slightly so that he adjusted his position, preparing to fight the larger man heading for him if he needed to. He didn’t.
“You fucking genius.” His voice held a slight screech to it but he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten that he might just be able to get a trace on his wife.
The sound of Jon’s feet on the stairs that he was taking two at a time drew Charlie’s attention too as he joined Jason who was following Jon upstairs.
They found him in the nursery, searching through bag after bag of baby paraphernalia. “Oh, darling, you clever girl,” he muttered as he pushed past the other men and ran back downstairs to find his phone.
“Jon,” Charlie called.
“I bought a tracker thing,” he replied, causing Jason to stiffen at the idea that his sister’s husband had somehow planted a tracker on her.
“You’re fucking joking, does she even know?”
“What?” Jon asked. “No, not Steph, for the baby.”
The two other men in the room gave him a confused look.
“There was a thing, when we went shopping that you can attach to your kid’s toy or bag or whatever and when they lose it you can track it. I bought one and Steph put it in her bag, the bag she took to work today so I am hoping she still has it because it’s not with Jelly Bean’s things and her bag wasn’t at the car . . .” He continued to tap on his phone and then leapt to his feet. “Eureka! Where’s that copper because I may not know who my wife is with but I certainly know where she is.”
“At last, Sleeping Beauty awakes.”
Steph jumped in the darkness as she heard a voice for possibly the first time in hours. She tried to find where the voice was coming from, to find a form to focus on, but it was too dark. The words that had been uttered sounded familiar, but not overly, making her wonder who was here with her and why? There were footsteps, too many to simply belong to the woman whose voice had spoken, but Steph had no way of deciphering just how many people were there with her.
“I can’t believe you fell for it. That you’re that nice as to go rushing to your husband’s first wife’s rescue.” Laughter followed those words, the sound of them chilled Steph as she decided amusement was playing no part in proceedings.
“But Penny’s okay,” Steph replied, still worried for the woman she’d been assured was safe and sound in the nursing home.
Another laugh, a different laugh, so now Steph knew for sure there were at least two people there and one of them was a man.
“Not a clue. You’re a difficult woman to get alone. Your husband doesn’t leave you, does he?” It was the man asking her and his voice was familiar, more familiar than the female voice, but as the female voice had spoken Steph had begun to question if there was an attempt to disguise the real voice.
“What do you want?” Steph was unsure whether she was being brave or stupid.
“What do you think?” the woman asked back, her voice changing again, maybe something of an accent slipping through.
“Money?”
“Ever the accountant,” the man replied with a laugh she recognised. “Yeah, money and I reckon your old man will pay whatever we ask to get you back. Come on.”
Steph assumed he was now talking to his partner in crime and not her. That thought was confirmed as the sound of footsteps echoed around the room again and began to get farther away.
“We’ll be back later with a camera so get ready for your close up.” The woman laughed at her own words and although she didn’t laugh, Steph did feel somehow reassured that she was in a hostage situation rather than a victim one. These people wanted money and while they thought there was a chance of getting that then she was safe, her and Jelly Bean who was incredibly still and quiet. Maybe it was the tightening and churning of her gut that was telling her that something was wrong and like that, the reassurance she’d felt at being safe was gone as her worry sky rocketed for her unusually calm unborn baby.
“Sir, we still need to remain cautious,” a police officer was telling Jon who couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a SWAT team already swooping on the location he’d given the police.
“I get cautious. I support cautious but you don’t appear to be doing anything with the information you now have.” His frustration was soaring as he imagined Steph scared and suffering God knows what. He pushed away all thoughts of bad things happening to his wife because if he didn’t that would be the one thing that had him going to find her himself and as much as he wanted to do that he knew that was dangerous, too dangerous.
“We really are doing everything right now that we need to. There are people looking into the information you’ve given us, but we have no clue what these people want with your wife or who they are. A colleague is going through CCTV coverage from the hospital and nearby roads. You know your car has been taken away for forensic examination and now we have the information you have given us.”
The policeman looked ready to continue until another officer arrived in the doorway and called to him. Jon watched him leave the room and slumped into a chair opposite Jason and Charlie. The three men sat in silence, none of them sure what to do or say. Charlie had already spoken to his own wife and reassured her as best he could that everything was under control but with just a couple of weeks before their baby was due he couldn’t deny he was worried about her and desperate to get back to her, but right now he needed to stay with Jon. Jason was almost permanently on his phone, updating and reassuring his siblings about progress on Steph’s whereabouts.
“Thank fuck you bought that tracker for my niece,” Jason finally said, needing to break the crippling silence.
“It’s not a tracker,” Jon defended. “Not like you mean, although you may find your sister has one surgically implanted after this.”
Jason frowned, offended that Jon was suggesting tagging his sister like a pet.
“Jason,” Jon warned. “I really am not in the mood to argue with you. I don’t particularly care if you are pissed off with me for your sister being missing or for my suggestion that she, my wife will be tracked because right now all I want to do is to get her back safe, her and my daughter.”
Jason nodded, understanding that the man before him was worried half to death, as he was, and the comment he’d made hadn’t been real and he was just trying to get through each second that passed, just as he was.
“Mr Brooker.” A police officer stood in the doorway. “We have news, sir.”
Jon was stunned into silence for long minutes as he observed the information. Charlie and Jason flanked him and although Jason had made mutterings of killing and murder nobody had spoken.
“I realise this is a shock and as you felt this man was involved . . .” The policeman’s voice trailed off and Jon finally spoke.
“This man was my fucking hope in all of this. I was banking on him keeping my wife alive for his own ends, to keep his own child and the fact that Steph is pregnant reassured me that he might treat her better, now that he was a father.”
“You’re sure that it’s Simon?” Jason asked.
“Absolutely.” The police officer nodded and turned to leave. “I’ll give you all a few minutes and then I’ll be back with a colleague.”
“Then who the fuck has Steph if not Simon?” Charlie asked. “I felt sure he was behind this.”
“Yeah, well, according to what the copper said about the level of decomposition, he hasn’t been behind anything for about a month,” Jason replied.
“He was off his rocker for sure and I can’t say I’m sorry he’s dead, that by killing himself he has removed the risk he posed to Steph but I kind of wish he was involved in this because we’d at least know what we’re dealing with.” Jon got to his feet as he spoke. “At least his kid is safe. I bet that woman he left him with wondered what the fuck was going on when she reported him as missing yesterday.”
“Mr Brooker?”
Everyone turned to face a group of police officers who were entering the room. Jon stepped forward to identify himself as his phone rang with an unknown number.
“You should take that, sir, just in case,” the lead officer said and as he did so Jon put the call on speaker.
Footsteps infiltrated Steph’s thoughts. Thoughts that were still focused on why her baby was currently so calm, a little too calm.
“Come on then, into the light,” the man’s voice said.
Steph was blinded as electric light filled the room. With her hands still tied behind her back she had no way of shielding her eyes so simply closed them before slowly opening them again, giving herself time to acclimatise to her surroundings. Once her eyes were opened fully she realised that the man before her was reaching for her arms, lifting her to her shackled feet.
“Come on then Miss Pryor, Steph, Mrs Brooker.” He seemed to sneer at her now, something he’d never done before.
“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand, Jonah.”
He looked down at her and for a split second he looked remorseful, guilty that he was doing this.
“Why do you think? Money.”
“But I thought you were a good man.” She stared at Jonah Mason the man who had warned her and Jon about Jack Baker being out to get her, to tarnish her image.
“Maybe I am, was. But after Richards went tits up my wife decided to move back to her parents and took my kids with her. She had suspected my affairs and turned a blind eye until the money dried up.”
“And you think money will help now. How do you suppose you’ll get away with this?” Steph asked, knowing that if she was rescued from this then she’d be able to identify her captor.
“He said you were bright. I don’t see it.”
The woman’s voice was all her own now, no attempt to disguise it anymore and as she came into focus and stood alongside Jonah, Steph was even more confused at the sight of them together, him and Vicky.
“Now let’s get this photo taken.”
Jonah was sitting Steph on a chair while Vicky took several photos of her, the last one with a copy of that day’s newspaper resting above her bump.
“Do you think they have her? Is this as simple as a fucking kidnapping?” Jon was asking, unsure if he needed or expected anyone to answer him.
“I don’t know if I’d consider it simple, but it certainly looks that way. The caller has stated their terms and now, while we wait for their next call with some kind of proof that they have your wife we’ll set up some traces, if we can.” The officer in charge was very matter of fact and Jon found it reassuring.
“What happens if Jon pays up and they don’t let her go?” Jason asked. He was nervously chewing his lip and pacing the room, round and round making everyone else a little dizzy.
“We wouldn’t advise making any payments. At the moment Mrs Brooker is a valuable asset to them. Unfortunately, once money has changed hands, her value diminishes.”
“Fucking hell!” Jason’s pacing was increasing as his agitation and concern increased. “You can’t let them hurt her. She’s my baby sister and she doesn’t deserve any of this. For the first time in forever she’s happy, truly happy.”
Jon’s phone suddenly sprang into life and with a nod from the police he was answering his call. He listened to the instructions he was being given, the same instructions he’d been given previously; no police, one million pounds, venue to be advised. Jon had no doubt that the caller, who was using some kind of voice changer, meant what they were saying.
“Proof. I’m going to need proof that you have my wife,” Jon insisted, although he was internally quaking that he was pushing the person who had his wife’s life in their hands.
The line went dead and then there were several pings that were accompanied by images of Steph looking sad, lonely, scared, dishevelled and tearstained. Jon couldn’t even begin to process his thoughts and emotions, but the turning over of his stomach, the heavy weight across his chest as he struggled to breathe and burning tightness in his jaw suggested he was one word from losing the tiny grip he had on his emotions as his heart threatened to break for all of those before him. As patient as he was being, as patient as Charlie had somehow made him remain, he was done.
“Right, I am done here. You can all leave, now. I will get the cash and make whatever deal I need to in order to get my wife back safely. I have told you where she is and none of you have shifted your arses, so if you won’t go and get my wife back I’ll do it myself.”
He was already heading for the kitchen to get his car keys with Jason following him with words of support and encouragement as he went.
“We’ve got a location,” someone called causing Jon to storm back.
“You’ve got a trace? I gave you a fucking location, hours ago!”
“No, we’ve got a trace on the call . . . and it’s a little more precise than your tracker.”