Chapter 50
FIFTY
JACK
‘She’s been in a car accident,’ Jack spoke frustratedly into the pay-as-you-go phone he’d purchased while the police did whatever they had to do with his own.
Having called the main Worcester hospital, he was now trying the county hospitals and getting nowhere.
‘Her name’s Kara Keenan. She’s about five six, shoulder-length auburn hair and striking green eyes,’ he said for the umpteenth time.
‘Are you her next of kin?’ the guy on the switchboard asked.
‘Yes,’ Jack replied. ‘I, er, don’t know.’ Was he? He wasn’t sure she’d listed him as such, but she had no one else to his knowledge.
‘Spouse, civil partner or blood relative?’ The man was persistent.
‘Partner,’ Jack said shortly. ‘Look, she’s pregnant,’ he tried, his voice catching. ‘I just need to know if she’s been brought in.’
The guy paused for an interminably long second. Then, ‘I’ll check,’ he said.
His frustration growing, Jack waited while an hour-long minute ticked by. He was about to cut the call and drive over there, drive around looking for her, do something other than stand here making useless phone calls, when he heard a car pull up on the drive.
Racing to pull the front door open, he was surprised to see DI Blake and her sidekick climbing out of it. The police had been at the site of the accident, but when he realised Kara wasn’t there, he came straight home, hoping by some miracle he would find her here.
‘Mr Conley.’ DI Blake nodded a greeting. ‘I’ve just come from the crash site. You must be worried sick.’
‘And some,’ he assured her throatily.
‘Mrs Keenan was definitely driving?’ she asked, her brow furrowed questioningly.
‘Why the hell would I say she was if she wasn’t?’ He looked at her with a mixture of incredulity and agitation. ‘We need to find her,’ he said angrily. Then, ‘Sorry,’ he apologised, realising that losing his temper wouldn’t help. ‘I… Jesus.’ He pressed a thumb hard against his forehead.
‘We have several officers combing the vicinity,’ DI Blake said, her expression less guarded, more sympathetic. ‘There’s no sign of her as yet, I’m afraid.’
‘But she has to be there somewhere.’ Jack looked at her in bewilderment. ‘She can’t just have disappeared into thin air.’
‘We’re contacting all the hospitals,’ DI Blake went on evasively.
‘Have you spoken to the Redditch hospital?’ he asked. It was the one he’d just been trying to get information from.
She nodded. ‘No joy, I’m afraid.’ Pausing, she looked him over cautiously. Then, ‘Mr Conley, we were wondering if you would mind coming to the station to answer a few questions,’ she said, flooring him. ‘Voluntarily, of course.’
‘What, now?’ He looked at her with stupefied incomprehension.
‘I understand your frustration,’ she said.
He doubted very much that she did. Kara had run from him, and now she was missing, certainly injured, most probably seriously, and this woman wanted him to go to the station. ‘Questions pertaining to what exactly?’ he asked warily.
Blake hesitated. ‘We’ve been looking into your history,’ she said, scanning his eyes carefully.
Jack felt his anger give way to icy apprehension.
Was this about his phone, something they’d found on it?
His mind flew to his WhatsApp. But that was just one message and nothing to do with what was going on here.
Something to do with Imogen? His gut twisted.
Were they making connections because of the fact that she’d fallen to her death, as Natalia had?
‘After what your mother-in-law said about your wife’s disappearance, we felt obliged to look into the case,’ she continued, and fear tightened his gut like a slipknot. What exactly had Lina said about Natalia? Had she also mentioned that Imogen had been here, upstairs in the bedroom?
‘There’s something we’d like you to look at,’ DI Blake went on, her eyes narrowed as she surveyed him. ‘It shouldn’t take too long.’
Jack swallowed back his racing heart. What should he do? He could refuse, he supposed. He clearly wasn’t obliged to go, but wouldn’t that make him appear guilty of something?
‘I need to let my daughter know,’ he said, panic rising inside him.
He actually had no idea where Evie was. He’d hammered on the annexe door and got no response.
She wasn’t answering her phone either. What was going on?
Why was this all happening? ‘Can you give me some idea what it is you want me to look at?’ he asked.
‘It might be better to explain in situ,’ she said, her expression giving nothing away. ‘I can tell you though that it might throw some light on what happened to your wife.’
Christ. Cold terror sliced through his chest like a knife. They knew.