Tap Dance Kidnap Page 29

  ‘Sasha, don’t do it,’ Kit said gently. ‘Don’t taunt her. Can’t you see she’s upset?’

  ‘Fuck off!’ shouted out Cameron. ‘How’s she going to live with the guilt knowing she’s made a mistake?’

  ‘It’s not a mistake,’ she gulped. ‘It’s the truth. Can’t you just tell the truth, once and for all?’

  Cameron glanced over his shoulders at Kit.

  ‘Let him go,’ he said and Kit noticed the look of relief on Sasha’s face, her hand quivering with the gun in it. ‘I need to be alone with her.’

  ‘Don’t leave her with him!’ Kit shouted as one of the men untied his arms from the chair but his wrists were still bound. He tried to lunge forward but was held back. ‘Can’t you see the man’s off his head?’

  ‘Mr Foley, can you come with us?’ the burly man said. ‘Mrs Wilton will be fine.’

  Kit struggled but couldn’t get released from the strong grip. He was dragged backwards, all the time Sasha watched him then smiled.

  ‘I love you, Kit,’ she said weakly. ‘That’s all I want you to know.’

  He started to cry.

  It was like she was saying goodbye and he was scared but equally helpless to stop what was going on.

  ‘Let me go!’

  … he shouted, not sure where they were. They’d been driving for ages and in that time he was petrified what might happen to her. ‘Can’t you see the man’s unhinged?’

  Again he was met with silence then the car stopped. He heard footsteps and the door opened. He was taken out, the hood pulled off and his hands untied.

  It was pitch black with only a few streetlamps.

  ‘If I were you, I’d go home and keep away,’ the man said quietly. Leaning down he stared into Kit’s eyes. ‘Forget you were ever here.’

  ‘She’s in danger, can’t you see?’ he said, rubbing his wrists. ‘You’ve got to help her!’

  ‘Now we know her secret, it will help many things. Please Mr Foley, just go home. Here.’ He put his hand in his pocket and handed over Kit’s keys, wallet and mobile phone. ‘Don’t think of ringing the police. That wouldn’t be your wisest move and you have to think about Mrs Wilton.’

  Kit was at a loss on what to do. He went towards the road.

  The car sped off back in the direction it came.

  Turning on his heels, he followed the route, trying to figure out where the house was. Then he called the only person he knew who could help him.

  Captain.

  ‘Stay calm,’

  .. Captain said, down the end of the phone. ‘And don’t call the police.’

  ‘He had a gun!’ shouted out Kit, running down the road, hoping he’d stumble on where they were.

  ‘And if he uses it, someone will hear,’ he replied. ‘Get in a cab and go home.’

  ‘I can’t leave Sasha like this. I won’t!’

  ‘You have no choice!’ Captain said firmly. ‘If you don’t know where you are then all you can do is leave.’

  ‘Sasha said it was Paul’s grandmother’s house,’ he said, starting to sweat. ‘Call Jeremy Wilton and ask where it is.’

  ‘Fine! But listen to me and go home.’

  Running down the road, he didn’t know where he was going.

  His sole purpose was to find Sasha and make sure she was safe.

  For half an hour he scoured the roads, looking for a large house, not remembering where it was.

  Then he heard the sound of police sirens whizzing past.

  A cold shudder went through him as he pounded the ground, trying to follow where they were going. Then he stopped, realising they were heading for the house.

  Running with all his might, he went towards a small crowd gathering.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked, the sweat pouring from his face. ‘Why are the police there?’

  ‘A gun shot,’ a tall thin man said with grey hair, standing in his dressing gown. ‘I know that sound.’

  A massive spasm occurred in his chest.

  He felt like he was going to pass out and steadied himself against the wall.

  The police had cordoned off the area.

  ‘We called the police as soon as we heard it,’ a woman said, holding onto the thin man’s arm. ‘There were raised voices and then a bang!’

  ‘Oh my god,’ he said, fearing something bad had happened to her. ‘Was anyone hurt?’

  ‘There’s an ambulance,’ another woman said, short and stout, shaking her head from side to side. ‘This sort of thing doesn’t happen in our neighbourhood and at the Wilton’s house. What would Margaret say if she were alive?’

  He walked closer, just staring at the place over run with police.

  ‘Kit?’ he heard someone say. ‘Kit, are you listening to me?’ He didn’t know how long he’d been stood there then turned. It was Ryan. ‘We have to go.’

  ‘I can’t,’ he said quietly, noticing the crowd was getting bigger. ‘I need to know she’s alright.’

  ‘We have to go now,’ he said and grabbed his arm firmly. ‘I’ve been instructed to take you away’

  ‘I’m not going,’ he said, shaking him off.

  ‘Yes, you are,’ he heard Captain say, grasping his other arm. ‘Don’t make a scene. This is the last thing we need right now. Come with us.’

  He was pulled towards Ryan’s car and got in. Captain sat next to him.

  Kit was numb with fear.

  ‘There was a gunshot,’ he said, trying not to break down. ‘When I left, he put a gun in her hand and told her to shoot him if she thought he’d been involved in killing her children. Sasha was really upset.’

  Captain had buckled Kit’s seatbelt.

  He couldn’t move.

  ‘Do you think she did it?’ Kit asked, looking at Captain as the car pulled away.

  ‘If you thought someone killed your children, what would you do?’ asked Ryan solemnly. ‘That was her secret, wasn’t it?’

  ‘She looked so scared and he grabbed her by the arms, shaking her like a mad man. Cameron took me because he knew she’d turn up.’

  ‘Kit, mate, this has been an ordeal. We need to get you back home and cleaned up,’ Ryan said calmly. ‘He hit you hard, I take it?’

  There was nothing he could say.

  He was speechless.

  What if Cameron had killed her instead?

  It was too painful to even contemplate.

  ‘Can’t you call someone to find out?’

  … he pleaded for the hundredth time. Ryan and Captain were in his living room. ‘You’ve got to know someone who knows!’

  Kit was beyond distraught, pacing his living room, not knowing what to do or who to call.

  ‘Can you sit down please? You’re making me nervous,’ Ryan said, peeping out the window and pulling down the blinds. ‘We have to be careful because we were all at the scene of the crime.’

  He stopped.

  It was sudden.

  Kit knew he was going to be sick and ran to the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. The turmoil was now hurting his body.

  With his head down the toilet bowl, he recalled her smile when he left the room.

  She told him she loved him, once again.

  ‘I’ve let her down,’ he sobbed, wiping his face with his hand. ‘I should have told her.’

  To his side, he could see Ryan standing at the door, looking down at him.

  ‘You need to pull yourself together. If anyone saw you there then the police will be knocking on your door. Wash your face and come into the living room. Captain’s making some calls.’

  Unable to move, he sat on the bathroom floor, his entire body shaking.

  He’d never seen a real gun or had one held to his head.

  Then watching Sasha trembling while she held the same weapon.

  Cameron was just torturing her.

  Heavily he got to his feet, washed his face and rinsed his mouth with breath freshener. Glancing at the mirror, he looked tired and upset. A bruise was developing on his jaw. His
heart sank thinking about Sasha.

  More than ever, he wanted her.

  And she made a declaration of love in the room about dying if anything happened to him.

  Once again, he started to cry. The very idea that Cameron would hurt her seemed more real by the second.

  As he got to the living room, he stopped and noticed Ryan and Captain were talking. It’s when they looked over he knew something was wrong.

  ‘I’ve just spoken to someone,’ Captain gently said, walking towards him and holding onto his arm. Just from his expression, Kit knew it was bad. ‘They found a body in the house. One bullet wound to the head.’

  His legs gave way and he fell to the floor, unable to take in what he was being told. Ryan quickly grabbed him and took him to an armchair, placing him to sit down.

  ‘Is it…’

  He couldn’t ask the question.

  He didn’t want to hear the answer.

  ‘I’m waiting for them to call back,’ Captain said, shaking his head gravely. ‘This is a mess.’

  Kit was a heartbroken mess as he sobbed into his hands.

  ‘Wake him,’

  … Kit heard Ryan say.

  He’d eventually crashed out in the early hours of the morning, mainly due to exhaustion from crying. His heart felt heavy as he opened his swollen sore eyes and gradually sat up.

  There was no point breathing if she wasn’t around.

  That’s the first thing he thought.

  Slowly, his bedroom door opened and Ryan was stood there, looking fresh faced.

  ‘You need to come and see this,’ he said, gesturing for Kit to follow.

  When he walked into the living room, he could smell food from the kitchen and the television was on.

  ‘Just watch,’ said Ryan gently.

  Kit glanced over at the screen and there was footage from the house then a picture of Cameron was flashed on screen.

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Kit, moving closer and putting the volume up.

  ‘He allegedly committed suicide last night,’ Ryan replied, sitting down on the sofa. ‘That’s the body they found.’

  ‘What about Sasha?’ Kit asked, turning immediately around and dropping the remote control. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘I’ve got no idea,’ he honestly replied.

  ‘I need to know what happened, if she’s okay and-.’

  ‘Calm down,’ Ryan replied, quickly standing up and grabbing him by the shoulders. ‘You need to catch your breath and think. We all do.’

  ‘He wouldn’t have killed himself, not the state he was in. Cameron was more than likely to kill someone else. Are you sure it’s not Sasha?’ He could hear the panic in his own voice. ‘She wasn’t safe, I know she wasn’t. They took me away. I should have made them make me stay.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I don’t know. I should have said something, done something. Shit! She told me she loved me before I left.’

  He wanted to cry again.

  Kit was at a loss on what to do.

  But the main fear was she was dead and it had been hidden.

  Or Sasha could have shot him and had run away for good.

  Both the ideas made him feel sick to the stomach.

  ‘You need to eat,’ said Captain, walking into the living room with two plates. ‘Then sleep. We’ll find out what’s going on. There’s nothing you could have done. Whatever happened last night, it’s obviously a cover up and we need to protect ourselves, first and foremost.’

  ‘But Sasha?’ he said, looking at the food that made him feel nauseous. ‘What about her?’

  ‘Haven’t you listened to a word I said?’ Captain gently asked. ‘You shouldn’t have got involved. It’s a very messy business and-.’

  ‘He never said he didn’t arrange for there to be an accident. He turned it around and told her to shoot him if that’s what she thought,’ Kit said, beginning to feel the sob in his throat. ‘What if she did it and it was covered up? What if she pulled the trigger? Then she’s a criminal.’

  ‘If someone you trusted could have hurt the thing you loved the most, what would you do?’ asked Captain, his tone now lower. ‘Would you have done it?’

  There was a heavy silence in the room as no-one wanted to even contemplate the idea.

  ‘You know, I thought about killing Kayleigh’s father when he killed my dad. Went through my mind again and again,’ began Ryan, sitting down at the dining table. ‘But what would be the point? Then Kayleigh and her brothers would have lost a father too. I don’t believe an eye for an eye.’

  ‘But there’s a large possibility that Cameron arranged for the accident that killed her children, put her in a critical condition and drove her ex to suicide. That’s four people dead including her father in law and the fifth was to be her but it didn’t quite work out. If ever there was a good reason for revenge, it was that,’ said Captain, sitting down and gestured Kit to do the same. ‘You know, I was thinking that this could have all been a ploy to get Cameron to confess, break him, so she would know the truth.’

  ‘Then arrange for him to be killed?’ asked Ryan, cutting into his bacon. ‘I thought so too. This whole thing has been more complicated than Jeremy Wilton ever said.’

  ‘And maybe by tipping Cameron over the edge, in his business and financial affairs, he was willing to confess all.’

  ‘It could be. But no-one will tell us so we have to play it by ear.’

  ‘And her mother? Estella Kerr is a powerful woman. No way would she have put her child in danger,’ sighed Captain, glancing at Kit’s untouched plate. ‘She must have had people watching her at all times. Take this Lester bloke away, Sasha is connected to a very influential person and could be worth a lot if taken into the wrong hands.’

  ‘Kidnapped? From what I hear,’ said Ryan, munching on his food. ‘Hardly anyone knows who her mother really is but now, this might all leak out. Sasha could be a real sitting target.’

  Kit noticed neither one batted an eyelid as they discussed the possibilities.

  Then it occurred to him.

  ‘Do you think Sasha was using me to get at Cameron?’ he quietly asked. ‘Get him unhinged and jealous?’

  ‘What do you think?’ Captain glanced at him.

  The problem was, right now, Kit didn’t know.

  ‘Bye Gracie,’

  … he said, helping her buckle up her seat belt in Peter Tooley’s car. ‘Now you’re with me next Saturday night for the sleepover. Email or text your list of food and I’ll sort.’

  ‘Can we eat in the bar?’ she asked cheekily. ‘It might be fun.’

  ‘You mean you want to stay up late?’ he whispered, catching Peter’s eye. ‘Let’s see what I can do.’

  Kit knew Peter wanted to talk to him but he was avoiding it.

  Two weeks since the suicide, there was a lot of publicity about Cameron Lester and his involvement with a local crime syndicate. They painted him as a well-educated man who took the wrong turn.

  It was clearly noted there were no suspicious circumstances and he had been suffering from depression due to financial troubles.

  But in the back of Kit’s mind, he knew Sasha or someone close to her had something to do with it.

  He stewed that maybe she had used him.

  That thought hurt the most, especially as she kept declaring her love.

  Kit came to the conclusion it could have been utter bullshit.

  ‘Can I have a word?’ Peter asked, waiting by the car before leaning down to talk to the young girl. ‘I’ll be a minute then we can go.’

  Kit noticed Peter looked pale and uncomfortable as he walked a little away from the car, to avoid Grace from hearing. She was engrossed in reading her tablet.

  ‘Cameron Lester committing suicide? That doesn’t add up,’ began Peter, looking at Kit quizzically. ‘It’s a strange coincidence, don’t you think?’

  ‘What’s done is done.’ Kit pulled Peter further away, leaning down so his face was closer to his. ‘And don’t ev
er get me involved in something like this again, do you hear? You owed someone and pulled a favour off me against my will. I’m not happy about it. I suppose Kristin told you I want to spend more time with Grace and I intend to do it legally.’

  ‘You’re pushing your luck, mate, if you think she-.’

  ‘If she finds out you had anything to do with people who threatened my daughter’s life, her child’s life, I don’t think you’d have dick within seconds,’ he said, his eyes locked with the little ginger man. ‘So you make sure she doesn’t make a fuss. Remember, I might be the ex-drug addict but you don’t work in a legitimate tax paying business, no matter what bollocks you utter.’

  ‘Don’t think you can threaten me!’

  ‘You fucked my wife behind my back, probably laughed at my expense for years, all for what?’ he said, feeling a certain amount of anger surfacing. ‘You got her! Well done! But you did me a favour because I realised what a bitch she really was and you’ll find out soon enough. When the money runs out or you’re not doing what she wants, the woman will turn on you.’ Kit took a deep breath. ‘And so you know, for the record, my cock is in working order now and no thanks to her. Make sure she doesn’t let yours shrivel up and die. Kristin’s good at that.’

  Peter had now gone an angry beetroot, which clashed with his thinning ginger hair. Kit walked a little closer to the car.

  ‘Bye Gracie!’ he said, waving and smiling brightly. ‘See you on Monday.’

  ‘Bye dad!’ she said, grinning back while Peter got in, his face like thunder.

  He felt good about getting it off his chest at long last.

  Kit arranged it so he could avoid working Saturday. His plans were to go to the cinema and then to the Vietnamese Café. It reminded him of Sasha plus he’d got addicted to the food.

  Walking back into the flat, he stopped and glanced around.

  It was more like a home and less like a halfway house. It looked like something out of an Ikea commercial but he was happy with it. Walking to the sofa, he sat down and inhaled the silence of the flat.

  Every time Gracie left the place it felt a little emptier than before.