Chapter 32
Sienna Thompson’s call didn’t come until Elea was back at her hotel.
She was packing her belongings, ready to move into Swann’s flat.
She hadn’t visited it yet, but Swann liked nice things: soft furnishings, deep carpets, a cosy home.
It was why he had struggled to give the flat up, despite Alice’s wish to put it on the market.
He’d confided in Elea earlier in the evening when he drove her to hire a car.
It had been almost like old times—except that Alice was now pulling his strings.
Elea’s face soured at the thought of her as she folded a cashmere jumper and placed it gently in the suitcase.
It was obvious that her “surprise pregnancy” had been planned all along.
Like you wouldn’t realise you were expecting twins.
“It was me who asked if she could be pregnant,” Swann had confided, before he dropped Elea back to the hotel.
“She’d got so big, and she was sick all the time, so I bought her a test.” He’d shaken his head at the memory, hands lightly on the steering wheel of his car.
“She couldn’t believe it when she found out. And twins—we were shocked.”
Elea tutted. How gullible Swann had been.
She thought of those beautiful boys, so peaceful in their cots when Alice had taken her upstairs to see them.
She was being manipulated, too, but it had worked.
As much as she loved Swann, she couldn’t break up their family.
He was having cold feet, that’s all, and she couldn’t blame Alice for defending her brood.
If only the woman wasn’t so bloody defensive, they might all have got along.
It would have been nice to spend time with Swann’s sons.
She’d missed so much of Liisa growing up.
Elea’s phone rang. She frowned, as she didn’t recognise the number. She stepped away from the wardrobe as she remembered. Of course, Sienna. A bolt of excitement rippled through her. Was this the lead she was waiting for?
“Hello?” Sienna’s voice was a whisper. “Is that Elea?”
“It is, am I talking to Sienna?” Elea held her breath.
“You are. I . . . I can’t talk for long.” In the background, a door was closed. “He’ll kill me if he finds out.”
“Nobody’s killing anyone. Do you want to meet? Can you get away? I can send a taxi—” Elea stopped herself. She was sounding desperate.
“Give it half an hour. Ant’s heading out for the night.”
Elea tapped the address on her Waze app, grateful for the rental car.
“Don’t park outside the house,” Sienna warned. “I’ll meet you at the top of the road. Come alone.”
Elea stood at the hotel window, staring out at the twinkling lights of the Brayford.
The skies were clear tonight, another frost was due.
Hold on, she sent a silent message to her daughter, I’m coming for you.
But was it too little, too late? She had appeared in every newspaper after Liisa disappeared, and as many media outlets as she could make time for.
She had her long blonde hair cropped short, then forced herself to brush her teeth, and Swann had helped her choose some clothes.
It had gone against her nature to beg with her daughter’s kidnapper, but beg she did.
She’d tried to keep the interest going, balancing work with the desperate need to keep her daughter’s memory alive.
After just two weeks off, Heikkinen had urged Elea not to return.
But she’d needed to have her finger on the pulse.
Some days it was too much. Some days she crashed and burned.
When it came to the missing children, the public’s attention wavered as time went on.
She thought about Chelsea and her fractured life.
She’d barely received any coverage on TV.
Other more “newsworthy” stories about war and terrorism had overtaken her.
Elea would speak to Swann tomorrow. Push the police media team to drum up something new.
Caution muscled its way into Elea’s thoughts as she made her way to the street where Sienna had arranged to meet.
This could have been a set-up. A way of getting Elea on her own.
A warning to back off. But when it came to finding fresh leads, Elea was willing to take that chance.
She pulled the rental car over to the kerb and turned off the headlights.
It was an old BMW 3 Series, not so new that it would stand out.
Sienna was waiting. She wore a black hoodie and blue jeans, and a pair of Doc Martens graced her feet.
She opened the passenger door and slid in beside Elea.
“Did anyone follow you?” Sienna checked over her shoulder, her warm breath fogging the window.
“I’m not being tailed,” Elea reassured her. “Relax, I promise you’re safe.”
“Like I’d take your word for it.” Sienna snorted, peering at a car as it drove past.
“This isn’t a drugs deal, Sienna. I’m not even a police officer—at least not here.” It pained her to say the words. Policing was in her blood. She was never off-duty. But tonight she would say anything to find out the truth. “Tell me, then: What do you know?” She needed to get to the point.
“Behave!” Sienna’s laugh came in sudden, sharp bursts. “As if I’m going to tell you that!”
“So you do know something.”
“I know everything.” The look on her face left Elea in little doubt that she was telling the truth. She was seeing a sharper side to Sienna, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“Then why come here?” Elea asked through gritted teeth.
“Everything has a price, babe.” The words came with a cold smile.
“How much?”
“One hundred K.”
Seconds passed as Elea pretended to mull it over. Was Sienna merely on the take? “For that kind of information, I’d expect my own missing daughter to walk in the door.”
“Who says that Liisa won’t?”
Elea eyed the woman cautiously. The sound of her daughter’s name delivered hope that she was too scared to feel. “You know about her?”
“I told ya. I know stuff. But I’m not giving it away.”
“Or you researched my name online. I know when I’m being played.” Elea sat, in the quiet stillness of the night, wishing that the world would give her a break.
“I ain’t. So how much is she worth?” Sienna hunched down in her seat as the glare of passing headlights glided over her face.
“Why now? You could have come to me before this.”
“I have . . . reasons. I need to get away.” Sienna crossed her slim arms over her waist.
“From who?”
Sienna exhaled a bitter laugh, clearly unwilling to go into any more detail.
“Sienna, you can’t expect me to play the game with half a deck of cards. Woman-to-woman: what are you running away from? Is it Ant? Drugs debts? Are you in trouble? Has someone threatened you?”
But Sienna stared straight ahead. A fox crossed the road, glancing at them momentarily before dipping out of sight behind a parked car.
“You’re asking me for one hundred K. I need to know why. It’s not purely for the money, is it? Are you going on the run?”
A flicker of emotion crossed Sienna’s face. There it was.
“Both of you?”
Sienna sat in weighted silence.
“Is Ant hurting you?”
Another shake. Sienna’s chin wobbled. Her mouth became small and tight.
“I saw the bruises on your wrist.” Elea gave her a level stare, making small dents in the armour that Sienna had layered on over the years.
“I can help. But you need to be straight with me. Because I’m getting my daughter back.
If you’re with me, that’s good. But if you’re not, I’ll take down anyone who stands in my way. ”
“I need to keep her safe,” Sienna eventually said. “And I can only do that on my own.”
“Who?”
“My little girl . . . at least, it feels like I’m having a girl.” She rested her hand on her stomach. “God, I’ve been so ill these last couple of weeks. My pregnancy has wiped me out. He doesn’t even know.”
Clang! Elea could almost hear the sound of the huge penny dropping in her mind. “You’re pregnant.”
Sienna nodded. “I love Ant. But he can’t keep us safe. We’ve had so many arguments over it.” She rubbed her right wrist, caught Elea looking. “He doesn’t hit me, all right? Our rows just . . . get out of control. He’s off his head half the time.”
“And you need the money to start again?”
Another nod. “A new life.” She sighed. “I’m clean. No drugs. No booze. No smokes. But I need to get away. Start fresh: me and my girl. I’d sell my soul for that.”
“Then tell me what you know, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Sienna tilted her chin upwards, giving Elea a defiant stare. “As long as it doesn’t end up with me getting nicked, because I’m not having my baby on the inside.”
“You have my word.” Elea meant it. Because Sienna’s reasoning was something she could understand.
Sienna’s nostrils flared as she took a deep breath and met Elea’s gaze. “I know who took Chelsea Hobbs and . . .” she paused for another nervous breath, “I can tell you where she’s being kept.”
Elea tried to remain steady as she was hit with a dizzying wave of hope. “Is she alive?”
“Maybe.” Sienna blinked her long, enhanced lashes.
“And Liisa?”
“Money first.”
“Will this lead me to Liisa?” Elea demanded. “Tell me that much. Is my daughter still alive?” She barely dared to utter the words.
Closing her eyes, Sienna delivered a slow nod of the head.