We watched the livestream in silence, all of us staring at the screen of Jem’s laptop as my beautiful, loving daughter said those awful things.
She looked so young, sitting there in her funny witch costume. Young and scared. But there was a glint in her eye too and on the piece of paper she was holding, I could see her fingers were crossed. I knew she didn’t mean the horrible things she was saying, but it was nice to see I was right. Jem crossing her fingers showed me she wasn’t telling the truth. My heart ached for her. She was so bold. So clever.
As Rory turned the recording off, I stood up. ‘I need to call the police.’
I fumbled for my phone with shaking hands and dialled 999, and launched into an explanation of why I needed help.
‘How old is Jemima?’ the operator asked as I paused for breath.
‘She’s 14.’
‘And how long has she been missing?’
‘She was meant to meet a friend.’ I checked my watch. ‘About two hours ago. She didn’t turn up. But I know where she is.’
‘Where is she?’
‘With a man, Rory Baxter.’
‘Is he a friend of hers?’
‘No, he’s a friend of mine,’ I said. ‘At least, he was.’ I could hear the words I was saying and I knew it sounded ridiculous. ‘He’s kidnapped her to scare me.’ My voice wobbled.
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Because he’s filming her and putting it on social media.’
‘Are you watching this recording now?’
‘We did. I can send you the link.’ I looked at Callum and he nodded.
The police officer sounded a bit confused. ‘Is Jemima in distress in the video?’
‘No but she’s saying things she doesn’t mean. He’s forcing her to do it.’
‘And why would he do that?’
I took a deep breath. ‘Because I’m Alistair Robertson’s wife, and Rory Baxter’s daughter was one of my husband’s victims. I think he’s taken Jem in revenge.’
There was a pause at the other end of the phone and then the operator said: ‘I’ll have a car there as soon as possible.’
‘Please hurry,’ I whispered. ‘I’m scared.’
Mandy came over and took the phone from me gently. ‘They’ll find her,’ she said.
I nodded, unable to speak. I was worried that I would open my mouth and simply howl. Slightly awkwardly, Mandy gave me a hug. ‘She doesn’t mean the things she’s saying. You know that.’
‘I do. But it’s horrible to hear it.’
Mandy nodded. ‘Shall I get you a drink?’ she said. ‘A brandy or something? Might calm your nerves?’
I shook my head. I didn’t think I’d be able to drink anything. I paced backwards and forwards, hating that I felt so helpless.
Callum and Cassie were both still staring at the laptop screen.
‘Is there anything else?’ I asked. ‘Has he posted anything else?’
‘He hasn’t,’ said Callum. ‘But you have to see this.’
Mandy and I went over to where they were sitting and peered at the screen. Beneath the livestream recording, which was now frozen on a still of Jem’s frightened face, comments were being added all the time. The number of views was clicking up again and again, 1000, 2000, more. And the comments were appearing too fast to read them properly.
‘What are they saying?’ I asked, so horrified by the reaction that I began to shake even more violently than before. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Everyone’s gone mental,’ Cassie said, sounding triumphant. ‘They’re all posting about you.’ She enlarged the feed and started reading: ‘“Tess helped me with my application for disability benefits for my son. She is not responsible for anything her husband did.” There’s loads more, here.’ She scrolled through. ‘You did a school appeal. And raised money for charity. And helped someone get their money back for a dodgy car they bought …’ She looked up at me. ‘Everyone loves you.’
I wiped away a tear. ‘No one’s saying that Rory’s right? That I’m to blame?’
‘A few people,’ Callum admitted. ‘But no one who knows you.’
There was a loud knocking on the front door, and I jumped. ‘The police?’ I said, rushing to answer. But it was Eva.
‘What’s happening?’ she said. ‘What’s going on? Why is Jem on the internet?’
I was so pleased to see her, I hugged her tightly as I tried to explain.
‘The police said they were on their way, but I’ve not heard anything.’
‘And you don’t know where she is?’
‘I don’t know where Rory lives,’ I said in despair. ‘He never said.’
Mandy was bent over her phone. ‘I messaged Lorna but she doesn’t know either.’
‘Can you find her on her phone?’ said Eva. ‘I thought they tracked our every move?’
‘We could but she’s turned it off,’ Cassie said. ‘Or probably Rory’s turned it off.’
My phone rang and I snatched it up. ‘Hello?’
‘Ms Blyth? DS Lambert, Police Scotland.’
‘Have you found her? Have you got Jem?’
‘Not as yet,’ the police officer said gently. ‘But I wanted to assure you we are working on it.’
‘What do you mean working on it? Just go to Rory’s house.’
‘At present we’re unable to locate an address for Rory Baxter.’
I didn’t understand this. What was happening?
‘He wasn’t at his last registered address. But we’re confident we’ll track him down very soon,’ DS Lambert went on. ‘I will be in touch.’
He rang off and I let out a screech of frustration and fear. ‘He doesn’t know where she is,’ I wailed. ‘He doesn’t know anything.’
‘I think I know,’ Mandy said. She had sat down in front of the laptop and was playing the video again, stopping it and going back and playing the same bit over and over. I looked at her. ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What do you know?’
‘I know where this is,’ she said. She turned the screen round so I could see. ‘This tree outside Rory’s window. I know where it is.’
‘Ohmygod,’ I breathed. ‘Where is it?’
‘It’s near the swimming pool. My sister and I walked past it the other day. Do you see there’s a trainer that someone’s thrown up into the branches? We were laughing about it and saying why would anyone do that and my sister said it was a gang thing, because she’d seen it online, and I said did she really think there were gangs in North Berwick …’ She trailed off. ‘I can take you there.’
I had already picked up my keys. ‘Let’s go.’
We all piled into Mandy’s car, Eva squashed in the back with Callum and Cassie.
‘Put your foot down,’ I said.