Chapter 43
‘You want to report a kidnapping?’ asks a young man. He sounds surprisingly blasé.
‘Yes. My stepdaughter. Please come.’
‘How old is your stepdaughter?’
‘Sixteen.’
‘Is she being held against her will?’
I rub my forehead. ‘Not exactly, but she’s at my neighbour’s house, and my neighbour won’t let me see her.’
‘Is your stepdaughter able to leave your neighbour’s house?’
‘I-I don’t know.’ Which is true. I have no idea what Teri has done to her. For all I know she’s threatening to boil a rabbit if Holly comes home with me.
‘Is your stepdaughter unsafe?’
‘Yes! Please come.’
A beat. ‘Is your stepdaughter being held against her will, Mrs Price?’
‘I don’t know! I want you to come and get my stepdaughter out of that house.’
‘We have a car on the way.’
I go outside and wait, pacing the pavement. Five minutes later, which is interminable really, a car pulls up.
I rush to them and try to open the car door even before they’ve stopped. Two uniformed constables get out. They introduce themselves as PC Watts and PC Michaels.
‘Please. She’s in there,’ I tell them, pointing. ‘She’s in that house. She won’t come out.’
‘What’s your stepdaughter’s name?’
‘Holly.’
‘And she’s sixteen years old?’
‘Yes. Can you get in there, please?’
‘Please calm down, Mrs Price. We’ll go and have a talk with Holly.’
They walk up to the front door, and I stand right behind them. One of them, the taller one, asks me to take a step back, and I do as I’m told. They ring the doorbell. This time, Teri opens right away.
‘Hello, officers,’ she says, frowning, like she has no idea why on earth two uniformed policemen would show up at her door. ‘How may I help you?’
They show her their ID and introduce themselves. ‘Mrs Price tells us that her stepdaughter, Holly, is here with you?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Again, that baffled expression. God, she’s good.
‘May we see her?’
‘Certainly. Why don’t you come in?’
She steps aside to let them through. I push between them to make my way inside.
‘I’d rather Kate didn’t come in,’ Teri says. ‘It’s just that Holly doesn’t want to see her.’
In another universe, one day, I will kill this woman myself.
‘Any reason why?’ they ask.
‘She’s afraid of her.’
‘That’s a lie! Holly?’
‘Mrs Price,’ PC Watts says, ‘if you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.’ He turns to Teri. ‘Could I have your name, please?’
‘Certainly, it’s Beatrice George.’
‘She calls herself Teri,’ I say.
‘But I go by Teri,’ she tells PC Watts, as if I hadn’t spoken.
‘Where is Holly?’ PC Michaels asks.
‘I’m here,’ Holly says, coming down the stairs.
‘Are you Holly Price?’ PC Michaels asks.
‘Yes.’
I bite my thumbnail. ‘She won’t let her come home.’
‘Can you come outside and have a chat with me? PC Watts will stay here with Mrs Price and Mrs George.’
‘It’s Ms,’ Teri says.
‘I don’t want to go outside,’ Holly says, sucking on the end of a lock of hair. ‘I want to stay here.’
‘Come outside, Holly,’ I say.
‘I don’t want to. I want to stay here with Teri.’
Teri beams.
‘Why don’t you want to go with your stepmother, Holly?’ PC Michaels asks.
‘Because I’m scared of her.’
‘But that’s ridi—’
‘Why are you scared, Holly?’
She doesn’t reply. She looks at Teri.
‘What are you doing?’ I ask Holly.
Teri tilts her head at me. ‘Holly and I have had some very interesting conversations.’
I feel a wave of vertigo. ‘Like what?’
‘Like, why don’t you tell us where Max is?’ she says, then turns to the police officers. ‘Do you want to know where Max Price is?’
My heart skips a beat. I stare at Holly, but she’s looking at me coldly.
‘I don’t understand what’s happening,’ I whisper.
PC Michaels turns to me. ‘Where is your husband, Mrs Price?’
I can’t speak.
Teri jumps in. ‘You want to know where her husband is?’ she asks, smirking.
She knows. Oh, God. She knows. I can tell. But how? I look at her pleadingly. ‘Please don’t.’
‘He’s in their house, next door.’
The police officers turn to me. ‘Why didn’t you say so?’ PC Michaels asks.
Teri raises her chin. ‘Because he’s dead.’