‘You did it,’ I said.
‘I used Esme’s twin brothers’ birth date,’ Wolf said. ‘1212, 12th of December. It’s cute because there are two of them and the number 12 twice, though it’s strange there was no 3 in the mix. That number definitely looked more worn than the others.’
‘Never mind.’ I grinned. ‘The point is you opened the door.’ I took the padlock from his hands and ran the chain through the metal. It made a soft clinking sound as it released. Jam’s warning repeated in my head.
I gulped. Should I still keep my promise? It was one thing to do so when we hadn’t been able to get the door open. But now . . .
‘What do you want to do?’ Wolf said uncertainly.
I had to know if Lauren was here. We’d seen no sign of anyone in the grounds, and the fact the hut door was locked from the outside suggested that whoever was inside was a prisoner. Jam would surely understand the urgency . . .
‘I have to find Lauren,’ I said. ‘I have to rescue her, if she’s here.’
‘Right.’ Wolf gritted his teeth. ‘Let’s go.’
I turned the handle and gave the iron door a push. With a menacing creak, it opened.
27
Finding Lauren
I put my finger to my lips, to signal we shouldn’t speak any further. After all, we didn’t know who else might be in here. I crept past the door. The interior of the hut was bare concrete: dimly lit and cool. That was odd. Why would anyone line a garden shed with thick concrete walls? It was empty too. All I could see ahead of me was a flight of stone stairs, leading underground.
‘Madison,’ Wolf whispered. ‘Wait a sec.’
I turned round. He was still at the door. He gestured at me to hold it open while he fetched a large stone from outside. He brought the stone back and placed it carefully between the door and its frame. ‘We don’t want this shutting and automatically locking us in,’ he whispered.
I nodded to show my approval. Thank goodness he was here. I was so intent on finding Lauren I hadn’t even thought about wedging the door open.
Wolf closed the door so that it rested against the stone. Inside the hut it was dark apart from the slim shaft of light that led from the door towards the stairs. I tiptoed over. There were seven or eight steep stone steps down. I couldn’t make out any details of the room below. No lights. No sounds. Just gloom and shadows.
It was cold. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. If Lauren was here, then she must be unconscious, or tied up or . . . My guts twisted into a sickening knot as it struck me she might be dead, that this hut might simply be a place where Baxter had stored her body. He wanted revenge on me for taking away Natalia and her baby. What better payback than for him to permanently take away my sister and her unborn child? Was Baxter capable of murder? Natalia had thought so . . . she’d been convinced he had killed her friend Lana.
Trying to push these thoughts out of my head, I crept down the stairs. The stone was cold under the thin soles of my shoes and the steps themselves very steep. One. Two. Three. I paused on the bottom step. My eyes were adjusting to the gloom. I could just make out a row of shelves on the wall ahead, stocked with cardboard boxes. The room bent round to the right. What was there?
I took the final step, onto the concrete floor, and peered around the wall.
‘AAAGGGH!!’ A huge roar. A dark shadow loomed towards me.
I shrank away, arms outstretched, as Wolf leaped in front of me. He pushed the dark shadow away with a thud. It was solid. Not a shadow after all but a plank of wood.
The figure holding it stumbled back.
‘Madison?’ It was Lauren. A split second later, she flicked a wall switch and light flooded the room.
Lauren stood in front of me, a wooden slat from a packing crate still raised in her hand, her mouth open with shock.
‘Oh, Mo.’ Lauren’s lips trembled. She dropped the wooden slat and pulled me into a hug. I squeezed her fiercely, feeling the swell of her belly between us. Lauren drew back. ‘I thought you were the guard coming back. What the hell are you doing here?’ She turned to Wolf. ‘And who’s this?’
‘This is Wolf,’ I said. Relief filled me – along with a new urgency. We had to get Lauren out of here before anyone came back. ‘We followed the clue you left . . . the cross and the apple . . . We came to get you out. Come on.’
‘They were clues for Jam,’ Lauren said, looking appalled. ‘Clues for him to call the police to help—’
‘But you talked to Jam earlier,’ I said. ‘He wasn’t going to the police.’
‘No, but he would have once he got back from work and realised I wasn’t answering my phone anymore.’ Lauren stopped, her face screwed up in pain. She bent over, gasping.
‘What is it?’ I said. ‘Are you OK?’ I looked around for somewhere to sit her down.
The underground concrete room we were in was about three metres by ten metres in size. The floor and walls were plain and bare and contained nothing except a mattress at one end, some shelves stacked with boxes at the other. I started to lead Lauren over to the mattress, but Wolf put his hand on my arm to stop me.
‘We should go,’ Wolf said firmly. ‘Lauren, it’s nice to meet you and I’m sorry you’re in pain, but if you can walk at all, we should get out of here.’
He was right. ‘Lauren?’ I said.
Lauren nodded, her face still drawn. ‘It’s just all the worry, I think,’ she said as I led her carefully to the stairs. ‘I’ve been having terrible shooting pains in my lower back for the past two hours.’ She gave me a wry smile. ‘Don’t look so panicky, Mo. The baby isn’t due for weeks.’
‘Who kidnapped you this morning?’ I asked.
‘A guy with dark, cropped hair and a leather jacket. Late twenties,’ Lauren said.
I nodded. That sounded like the same guy Baxter had sent after us when we rescued Natalia from the Burnside Road flat.
‘He came to the flat, pretended to be delivering a package for Jam. Soon as I opened the door a crack, he barged in . . . forced me to call Jam and say I was going to some hotel then took my mobile.’ Lauren paused, wincing as she stepped slowly onto the bottom stair. ‘What I don’t understand is why. The Leather Jacket guy wouldn’t explain it at all.’
I looked away. I was the reason ‘why’. Baxter had arranged for Lauren to be kidnapped in order to punish me for supposedly betraying him. It might have been Wolf who had actually talked, but I was responsible for Lauren being here.
‘I heard him talking to someone else on his phone,’ Lauren went on, not noticing my awkwardness. ‘That’s how I knew to leave the clue about Appleton Cross. I insisted I had to go to the bathroom. I knew he’d check to see if I left any message with lipstick or whatever, but I’d been eating an apple anyway, so it was easy to leave it in the bath with my cross. Then he put me in the back of a car and drove me here. But why?’
‘We can explain everything when we’re out.’ I squeezed Lauren’s arm as she climbed onto the next step. ‘Let’s just get out of here.’
I looked up. The hut above us was in total darkness. Where was the light from the door that Wolf had left wedged open? Anxiety clutched at my throat. Even allowing for the contrast with the bright electric light in the basement, making everything up there seem darker, there should be some light. There had been a shaft of sunlight earlier . . .
Heart pounding, I said nothing as I helped Lauren up the last step. Then I raced towards the door. I could barely make it out in the gloom. I reached it . . . found the handle. But the door was shut.
‘What’s happened?’ Wolf had run up past Lauren and was right beside me. ‘Why’s the door closed?’
‘The stone you left must have moved,’ I said. ‘Or . . . or else . . .’ A shiver threaded down my spine. ‘Or else someone has deliberately shut us in here.’
28
The Wait
I banged on the door. Wolf joined me. We pushed at the metal with all our strength, but the door didn’t budge.
‘What
’s happening?’ Lauren asked. ‘Why can’t we get out?’
I turned to face her, desperation rising inside me. Lauren was standing at the top of the stairs, silhouetted against the bright light from downstairs. She was holding her belly – a tender, protective gesture – anxiety etched on her face.
‘The door’s been closed on us,’ I said, trying to steady my voice. ‘When was the last time anyone else was here?’
‘I’ve only seen that one guy in the leather jacket,’ Lauren said. ‘He brought me here then left, but that was hours ago.’
‘There’s no way the rock I wedged the door with could have moved by itself,’ Wolf insisted.
‘Then who moved it?’ I said. ‘Why haven’t they come in to see who’s here?’
‘Maybe someone was following us?’ Wolf suggested. He turned and pushed at the door again. It was no good.
I shivered. It was terrifying to think we’d been watched.
‘So now we’re all trapped?’ Lauren’s voice had a flat finality.
‘I’ll call the police.’ Wolf took out his phone. ‘Now we know you’re definit—’ He stopped, staring down at his mobile. ‘There’s no signal.’
I checked my phone. ‘Same here,’ I said. Panic whirled inside me. I tried to focus. ‘It’s OK, Jam knows we’re here. I described it exactly. He’s on his way now, in the car.’
‘Jam’s coming? Oh, thank goodness.’ Lauren’s voice filled with relief. ‘Because there isn’t another way out – I’ve looked.’
The three of us went back down to the bunker basement. Wolf immediately explored the boxes on the shelves at the far end.
‘They’re mostly empty,’ Lauren said. ‘Though I couldn’t reach the ones on the top.’
Wolf was already clambering up the shelves. Lauren winced with pain, bending over, her hand on her side.
‘Are you OK?’ I said.
‘Apart from being thirty-seven and a half weeks pregnant and trapped in a basement?’ Lauren raised her eyebrows.
I stared at her anxiously. ‘Did the man who brought you leave you any food or drink?’
‘Yes.’ Lauren led me over to the far corner of the underground room. A small cupboard I hadn’t noticed before was bolted against the wall. Lauren opened it up, revealing a row of small water bottles and a tray containing cellophane-wrapped sandwiches. I peered suspiciously at the sandwiches. Despite the fear still ploughing up my guts, I was starting to feel hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything since a biscuit when I’d got up this morning.
‘I think they’re OK,’ Lauren said with a sigh. ‘I mean, I don’t think they’re poisoned or anything. If Leather Jacket wanted to kill me, I’d be dead already.’
She spoke in a matter-of-fact way, but I could hear the fear behind the bravado.
I glanced over at Wolf. He was back on the ground, busy examining the contents of the boxes from the top shelves. As I watched, he headed to a small door in the corner. I hadn’t noticed it before: it was partly hidden by the shelves.
‘It’s a bathroom,’ he said, disappearing inside.
‘It’s tiny,’ Lauren grimaced. ‘Just a sink and a toilet.’ As Wolf shut the door, she turned to me, lowering her voice. ‘Who is he, Mo?’
‘I met him through—’ I stopped, not wanting to mention Allan Faraday. Until this moment I’d forgotten all about my argument with Lauren over him. She had been right, of course, Allan was a loser. And in trying to impress him by following his lead on Miriam 21, I had got involved with Declan Baxter, rescued Natalia, and brought down Baxter’s revenge on Lauren’s own head.
‘I guess you were right about Allan Faraday,’ I said softly.
Lauren shook her head. ‘I was too harsh,’ she said. ‘I’ve been thinking about it. When I was your age, I had Mum and Dad and they were basically great, but it still wasn’t enough. You’ve just got Annie and a big hole where Sam used to be. I can totally understand why you went looking for your birth father.’
We looked at each other. A big wave of emotion swelled inside me. I flung my arms round her. ‘I’m so sorry, Lauren. I’m so sorry I got you into—’
‘Sssh.’ Lauren drew me away from her and peered into my face. ‘None of this is your fault, Mo.’
I swallowed hard, trying not to cry. Lauren was wrong. It was my fault. And now she was here in this incredibly vulnerable position and I couldn’t bear it. She was the brave sister. I couldn’t be strong without her.
I looked across the room. Wolf was still in the bathroom, but he’d already laid the contents of several boxes on the floor. I could see a row of small food tins, a couple of dogeared paperback books and three toilet rolls.
‘It’s not exactly five-star accommodation.’ Lauren made a face. ‘The man told me not to drink the water from the tap.’ She lowered her voice. ‘So . . . how d’you feel about Wolf?’
I glanced at the bathroom door to make sure he couldn’t hear me. ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered. ‘I’m all mixed up about it. He’s nice, but . . .’
Lauren nodded. ‘I remember when I realised how I felt about Jam,’ she said softly. ‘He’d been interested for ages and I just hadn’t seen it. Then one day it hit me how much I felt . . .’ She paused. ‘We met when we were younger than you are. Sometimes it’s hard to know what you want. Jam and I split up for nearly a year once, while we were at uni.’
My mouth gaped. ‘You and Jam broke up?’
Lauren nodded. ‘I thought we were too young to settle down, that we should go out and live a bit.’ She gave me a wry smile. ‘I went to a lot of parties. Jam did too. But after a bit, I realised that it didn’t matter how young we were, or what we had or hadn’t done. All that counted was how much we loved each other.’
‘Wow.’ I couldn’t believe it. Ever since I could remember, it had been Jam and Lauren. Together. I realised, with a jolt, that I couldn’t conceive of a world in which they weren’t a couple.
‘I’m just saying, don’t worry about feeling confused.’ Lauren lowered her voice further. ‘You’ll work out how you feel about Wolf in time. But he obviously adores you.’
Did she really think so?
At that moment Wolf emerged from the bathroom, a hammer in his hand. He turned to face us, beaming with pride. ‘Found this under the sink,’ he said. ‘It could really be useful.’
I nodded. ‘That’s great.’
‘When do you think Jam should be here?’ Lauren asked.
‘A couple of hours, max,’ I said. ‘Hey, Wolf, are you hungry? There are sandwiches.’
‘I’m starving.’ Wolf came over, still clutching the hammer. We hid it under the mattress. Wolf seemed much more positive than before. He was confident that between us, the hammer and the plank of wood Lauren had ripped off one of the other boxes earlier, we’d stand a good chance against whoever next came into the bunker.
We sat in a row on the mattress and ate. Lauren said the pains she’d had earlier had passed. Her face did look less drawn.
‘We’re armed and we’re fed,’ Wolf said. ‘We’re going to get out of here.’
‘We should wait upstairs for Jam to get here,’ I said. ‘He won’t know that code you used. We’ll have to tell him so he can open the padlock again.’
‘We just have to hope there’s no-one outside when he gets here,’ Lauren said.
‘Maybe we can escape before Jam arrives,’ I suggested.
But there was no way out. The basement room and the hut above were completely sealed.
‘All the air in here must be controlled via that panel on the wall outside the hut door,’ Wolf said. He sounded calm and confident. I could see Lauren liked him.
I was starting to realise just how much I liked him myself.
Wolf and I agreed to take it in turns to wait upstairs for Jam to arrive. Wolf insisted on taking the first shift. I went up to relieve him later.
‘Hi,’ Wolf said as I reached the top of the stairs. I could barely make him out in the shadows by the door. ‘How’s Lauren?’
‘She’s fine, no more pains,’ I said. ‘And Jam should be here soon.’ I let my eyes adjust to the gloom, then walked over to where Wolf was standing. ‘Lauren likes you.’
‘Well, she’s pretty cool herself.’ I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I could hear in his voice that Wolf was smiling.
My heart skipped a beat. I stopped thinking about the danger we were in, and Lauren downstairs. I walked right over to Wolf. I touched his arm.
‘Thanks for being here,’ I said softly.
Wolf lowered his head. His eyes glistened in the dim light. ‘I’d do anything for you, Madison.’
I lifted my face and he leaned closer until our lips touched in a soft, sweet kiss. Slowly, we drew apart. Neither of us spoke for a moment.
‘You better get downstairs,’ I said. ‘Check on Lauren for me.’
‘Of course.’ But Wolf didn’t move. Instead, he leaned closer again.
I closed my eyes, ready to give myself up to another kiss.
Bang. With a loud thud, something heavy landed against the door.
Wolf and I sprang apart, both turning instinctively towards the noise.
‘Jam?’ I hissed.
Silence. The door creaked. A crack of light appeared.
Wolf drew the hammer from his pocket. He held it high over his head. I braced myself as the door opened more fully.
A body was pushed through. With a moan it, landed on the concrete floor. The door slammed shut.
Darkness filled the room again. Wolf and I looked down at the figure on the ground. It was Jam. His wrists and ankles were bound with rope and a large scarf had been wound round his face. I dropped to my knees and pulled the scarf away.
‘Who’s there?’ Jam’s voice was a low groan. ‘Is that you, Mo? Where’s Lauren?’
‘No,’ I said, my whole body filling with despair.
‘Oh, God,’ Wolf said behind me.
I shook Jam’s shoulder, but his eyes flickered shut.
‘It’s Mo, I’m here,’ I said.
But it was no good. Jam was unconscious.