Chapter 15

Ian’s words, that Susie had been kidnapped, punched the breath from Raymond’s lungs. “What?” he shouted. “What do you mean, Susie kidnapped? How could this happen?”

“It’s awful. Georgina and I were just getting Susie ready for bed when a man burst in—kicked the door open.”

“What?”

“He was masked, so we couldn’t see his face. But he had a pistol. He shouted at us to back away from Susie. Your mother grabbed her, tried to shield her, but he hit her in the head. When she fell, he picked up Susie like a sack of spuds. She bit, scratched, kicked—fought like a wildcat—but he shoved a cloth into her mouth to muffle her. Even then, she kept struggling, but she was no match for a grown man.

“He yelled—” Raymond’s father faltered, then forced himself to continue. ‘I’m getting even with that bitch Scowan! She took my kids away—now I’m taking hers!’

Raymond felt his wife stiffen beside him. His father went on. “Then he threw down a note, grabbed your mother’s phone and bolted. Luckily, my phone was in my jacket pocket in the wardrobe. He didn’t think to check there, so I was able to call you.”

Raymond’s hands clenched into fists. “Have you called the police?”

“Of course. They’re on their way. But I knew you’d want to know right away.”

Raymond had put the call on speaker, so Isobel had heard everything. Now they sat in stunned silence, their dreamlike evening shattered.

“We can’t do anything from here. We’re coming back immediately,” Raymond said, forcing his mind into action. “I know it’s easy to say, and I’m sure you’re both in shock, but try to stay calm. You’ve always been the hero in an emergency, Dad. We’ll be there as fast as we can. Isobel will keep you updated on our way.”

“Okay, but don’t drive like a maniac,” his father warned. “We don’t need you two dead on arrival.”

When the call ended, Raymond slammed his fist onto the bed. “Shit! Who the hell would do this?”

Isobel was already shoving clothes back into their suitcases. “Someone who obviously has it in for me,” she said, her voice shaking. “Oh, Susie ... this is gut-wrenching. Ray, we need help—beyond what the police can do. We need to pray.”

They sat on the couch, gripping each other’s hands, and prayed fervently for Susie’s safety. Then they dashed for the car.

Isobel placed a steadying hand on Raymond’s knee as he drove. “We need to stay calm, Ray. If we don’t, we’re in danger of crashing—and we need clear heads to figure this out.”

“You’re right,” Raymond said through gritted teeth. “Raymond nodded grimly. “I’ll keep it together. But it’s not easy. Our daughter ... oh God...” He forced himself to ease off the accelerator, settling at just 20 km over the speed limit. If the police stopped him, he figured they’d understand. Despite her calm words, Isobel’s grip on her seatbelt was so tight her knuckles turned white.

Then a thought struck Raymond—more a hope than a thought. “If Susie was wearing her watch when he grabbed her...”

“Does it have a tracker?”

“Yes! And it’s possible the bastard doesn’t know that. She loves that thing—she even wears it to bed.”

“Let’s hope and pray, then.”

Less than an hour later, Raymond and Isobel pulled up outside their home. Two police cars were parked outside. They ran inside, where Sergeant Jakes, a familiar face from court, greeted them.

“So sorry this has happened,” he said, shaking their hands. “We’ll pull out all stops to get this scum—” He cleared his throat. “You didn’t hear me say that. Our photographer has taken the note for fingerprinting, and we’ve started a door-to-door canvass. But given it was dark, it’s a long shot.”

Georgina Penny sat on the couch, a bruised lump on her temple.

“Did he hurt Susie?” Raymond asked.

Georgina’s lips trembled. “Aside from manhandling her, I don’t think so. But she was terrified. She screamed for you before he gagged her. He told her if she didn’t stop, he’d hit her like he hit me.”

“Oh, Mum! Are you okay?”

“Shaken, not stirred,” she said with a lopsided grin.

Raymond chuckled weakly, touched by her resilience. “You need a hospital.”

“Raymond, I once took a tumble off a galloping horse onto a gravel road. I’m not letting a masked thug put me in hospital. Not while my granddaughter is missing.”

“What does the note say?” Isobel cut in.

Jakes took out his phone. “I snapped a photo. I’ll send it to you.”

A moment later, the text appeared on Isobel’s screen:

I have your daughter, you bitch.
You took away my children—now I’m taking yours. You’ll never see her again.
She’s already in the hands of a ‘guardian,’ who will take her to her new family. By the time you read this, she’ll be gone.
Even if you track me down, you’ll never find her. Now you’ll know what it feels like to lose your child forever. And I’ll take great pleasure in your suffering.”

Raymond’s blood boiled. “That sick bastard!” He turned to Jakes. “We have to throw everything at this. If she’s smuggled out of the country...” His voice broke.

Isobel wrapped her arms around him and guided him to the couch. “We will get her back, Ray.”

Then Raymond remembered—David’s wedding video. He rang his friend, who promised to bring a copy immediately.

Taking a shaky breath, Isobel said, “There were a couple of people at the wedding I didn’t recognise. Maybe we can spot someone suspicious.”

Raymond rushed to his office, Isobel and the sergeant close behind. Hands trembling, he opened the tracking software.

“I think we’ve got something,” he breathed a moment later. On the screen was a flashing light, superimposed on a map of the city and highlighting an address on the opposite side of town.

Jakes leaned in. “That’s promising. We’ll send in the armed offenders squad immediately. Obviously, we’ll have to move very quietly, to avoid alerting the ‘guardian’. Leave it us, Mr Penny. Once we have your daughter in safe hands, the bastard’s lost all his leverage.”

“Can I come with you,” Raymond pleaded. “Susie will have been terrified out of her wits, and if I’m not there as soon as she’s found ... well, the kindest policeman, or woman, is not going to be a substitute for her dad.”

“This is highly irregular. But I’m a father myself and I do understand. So yes, but not a peep out of you until after we have retrieved Susie, and you don’t tell anyone about your part in the operation.”

Raymond solemnly promised, and after a quick kiss with Isobel was ushered into the police car.

Shortly after the group left, David, still in his suit from the reception, arrived with a laptop and the raw footage. As he scrolled through, Isobel suddenly pointed. “Stop! Zoom in on that man at the back.”

The resolution of the video was a bit limited because of poorer light at that end of the building, but Isobel, squinting at the screen, announced, “I have a feeling that the guy with a muffler round his neck could be the one we want. He seems vaguely familiar. I’ll go into my office in the morning to see what I can unearth. If it’s who I suspect it is, I would not be surprised at him pulling a stunt like this.”

Elsewhere, Raymond was taken first to the central police station, where all those involved in the operation transferred to unmarked electric vehicles. Each then took a separate route to the location highlighted on the computer. Raymond was on the edge of his seat the whole journey, almost out of his mind with worry, but doing his best to comfort himself with the thought that nothing more could be done than was being done.

The three police vehicles stopped some distance from the house, and black clad figures emerged and quietly surrounded the house. One of the figures came quickly up to Sergeant Jakes. “Sarge,” he whispered. “We found this on the footpath outside.” And he held up a watch.

“Is this Susie’s,” the sergeant asked Raymond.

“Yes, but why is it on the footpath?” he asked, horrified.

“Several possibilities, I would think. Maybe this fell off Susie’s wrist without anyone noticing; or perhaps she was somehow conscious enough to take it off, hoping it would be found. But there’s a more worrying possibility.”

“What?”

“If it fell off, then it’s possible your daughter is in that house. But if the ‘guardian’ found the watch on her he could have deliberately thrown it on the ground to have us believe she’s in there, before transferring her to another vehicle and taking her to a new location. Let us sincerely hope the watch fell off accidentally, or that your daughter managed to drop it. Now, please go back in the car, Mr Penny. You have to let us do the work.”