Cath Staincliffe - Make Believe

A mobile was chiming in among the office phones.

‘Who’s she calling?’ Janine said.

Shap stood up, waving Breeley’s handset. ‘Joe. She’s calling Joe.’

Janine snatched the phone and ran to the interview room. Janine handed Breeley the phone, ‘Mandy calling’ was on the display. She nodded for him to answer.

‘Mandy?’

‘Joe, I wanted to say goodbye. I had to go. I’m sorry.’ Janine could hear her voice, distant, tinny, distraught.

‘No, I’m sorry,’ Joe Breeley said. ‘It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. Come back, come home, please Mandy.’

‘I love you, Joe. Remember that, I love you,’ Mandy said.

‘We can sort it out,’ he answered, ‘just come home. We can work something out.’

‘It’s too late. I’m sorry.’

‘Mandy, no, don’t!’ Joe Breeley cried out.

But Mandy had ended the call.

‘Oh, God,’ he was agitated. ‘Oh, Christ!’

‘What does that mean,’ Janine said, ‘too late?’

He just sat there shaking his head.

‘Joe,’ said Janine, a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach, ‘did Mandy make any threats?’

He pressed his knuckles against the edge of the table. ‘When she brought him home, I said we’d have to take him back, there’d be trouble. How long till people realised they’d not seen John, family, people in the avenue? She was all for a fresh start. Wait till the fuss died down and then move. I tried to make her see sense but she said if I took him away she’d… kill herself. She said life wouldn’t be worth living anymore.’

The first newsflash came over the television in the incident room. ‘Police appeal for help in finding missing toddler Sammy Wray. Believed to be travelling with a woman and baby in a maroon Vauxhall Astra M635 XLH. Please ring this number if you see the vehicle or the occupants.’

‘Got an ANPR hit,’ Shap said.

‘Where?’ Lisa asked him.

‘M62 West. Just past Warrington.’

Lisa typed in the details and pulled up a new projection on the whiteboard.

‘She could be heading for Liverpool,’ Shap said. He sent word to the boss who was still in with Breeley.

‘Mandy’s travelling towards Liverpool,’ Janine said. ‘We believe she may be trying to reach the airport or the port. Where’s she going? Have you got family abroad. A place that’s special?’

‘What’ll happen to Aidan?’ Joe Breeley said.

‘I don’t know but let’s get him back safe, yes?’ Janine said.

‘She wouldn’t hurt him,’ Breeley said but there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

‘She’s grieving. She’s lost a child and taken a replacement. Mandy’s on the run. She knows we’ve arrested you. The game’s up. When things are that bad it can feel like there’s only one way out. Are you willing to take that risk. With Sammy? With Aidan?’ Janine spoke quietly, firmly. ‘Too late, she said. But it needn’t be.’

Joe Breeley hesitated, obviously torn.

‘Come on, Joe. We need your help. Aidan needs your help. Wherever she is headed, she can’t hide, not on her own, not with two children. I’m concerned for her safety and the children’s safety. For Aidan.’

‘I told you, she wouldn’t hurt him,’ he said.

‘How can you be sure, she’s never been in this situation before. She knows that we’ve arrested you, she probably understands it is only a matter of time before we work out what has happened. Where is she going?’

‘I can’t,’ he said.

‘It’s better this way, believe me. You’ve already lost John, let’s keep everyone else safe. Mandy can’t do this on her own. She won’t be thinking straight. She knows you’ve been arrested, she knows you’ll be charged and remanded awaiting trial. You’ll probably be convicted. You won’t be there for her, the only thing you could do now is help us so we can reach her and bring them all back safe. Please help us do that.’

He shuddered, the motion shaking his shoulders and arms, rippling through his face. He put his hands to his head then said quietly, ‘Isle of Man. She’s cousins in Douglas. We used to talk about moving there. She thought it’d be a better place to bring up the kids.’

‘Thank you. How do you usually get there?’ Janine said.

‘The ferry from Liverpool,’ he answered.

Janine asked Richard and Butchers to remain with Joe Breeley and took Shap with her to try and intercept Mandy at the ferry.

‘We should be with you in about thirty minutes,’ Janine said to a contact in the port police. ‘Mandy Breeley could be volatile. She’s grief-stricken and she may be feeling desperate. We’re faxing descriptions over for you. Let her board. Try not to do anything to spook her. Can you instruct your people not to approach her?’ He agreed and assured her that the harbour master was prepared to delay sailing if necessary.

Shap was a good driver at speed and as the car raced along the M62 with an escort ahead to clear the traffic, Janine tried to ease the tension twisting in her guts. She wanted to be there now, faster, sooner. Her stomach was a heavy ball, her back stiff, even her fingers and toes felt locked, rigid. What if they were too late? Mandy’s words: Too late. When the prospect of saving Sammy was in sight, what if it was snatched away? The Wrays would never survive that and Janine didn’t think she would either.

She spoke to a hostage negotiator and gave him a summary of the situation. He said he’d meet them at the terminal as soon as possible but roadworks on his journey south might affect his expected arrival time.

At last the terminal came into view. They passed the cargo container depot with its massive stacks of metal boxes, followed the plethora of signage directing traffic to parking, loading and ferry-boarding areas. Overhead, gulls wheeled and shrieked and a fierce wind snatched at flags and litter. With their lights and sirens off, the unmarked cars drew up close to the ship itself.

Janine and Shap were greeted by the port police officer who was expecting them. Janine shook hands with him.

‘We’ve done a discreet search,’ he said, ‘she’s on the top deck. Coastguard standing by.’

‘Thanks,’ Janine said, ‘social workers should be here anytime.’

‘No negotiator yet?’ he asked.

‘On their way,’ Janine said, ‘the traffic’s bad, an incident on the M6.’ Janine didn’t want to wait, felt that the outcome could be worse if they delayed and Mandy began to suspect something was wrong. She thought for a moment and then said, ‘I know the situation. I’ve met her before. She might talk to me.’

He nodded.

‘We go up,’ she said, ‘when I find her if we can clear that deck…’

‘Sure, I’ll brief these guys,’ he nodded to his officers.

When everyone was clear on the strategy, Janine and Shap climbed the stairwells between the decks followed by the port officers. The ferry was busy with travellers: a stag party dressed in monkey outfits, families of all shapes and sizes, couples and solo travellers. Janine caught a whiff of hot fat and sugar from one of the cafés on board, mingled with the oily smell of diesel.

When they reached the top deck the wind was even fiercer. Janine saw Mandy at the far end, at the rail looking out to sea, Aidan in her arms, a baby feed and changing bag over her shoulder. Sammy was beside her, holding her hand. Sammy wore different clothes but had his red shoes on and his glasses.

Janine nodded and Shap with the port officers assisting him began to approach the other passengers and quietly ask them to go downstairs, making sure that no-one passed Mandy and alerted her to the evacuation. The wind helped them, masking the noise of people moving.