As Andy arrived to collect Rebecca he was thinking about how the last week had completely changed things between him and Maddy. He was secretly pleased that she’d turned to him when she needed support, but he also felt a twinge of guilt for thinking that way. The circumstances that had brought them closer were horrendous for Maddy.
He parked a short way down the street, which was busy today with more parked cars than usual. He noticed, fleetingly, that there was a silver car outside Maddy’s house that he hadn’t seen before, but he didn’t pay it too much attention. One of the neighbours probably had visitors.
Andy strode up the drive and rang the doorbell, his mood upbeat. He always looked forward to seeing his daughter, but now he had the added pleasure of having a few moments with the new, more receptive Maddy before he set off back home.
There was no reply. Perhaps Maddy was in the bathroom or something, and he knew Rebecca was forbidden from answering the door, especially in light of what had happened. He rang the bell again, and knocked briskly on the door. Then he waited.
*
They had just sat down in the lounge, Aaron next to Maddy on the sofa and Rebecca on the armchair across from them, when they heard the knock at the door.
‘Who’s that?’ asked Aaron, his eyes wide and flitting about the room, like someone demented, before they settled on Maddy. ‘Have you rung the fuckin’ cops?’ he asked, pushing his face forward, his eyes now fixed on her in a reproachful glare.
Maddy pulled back from him. She noticed Rebecca flinch, then she seemed to close in on herself, her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped round them. Maddy wanted to go and comfort her, but she couldn’t. She was now pinned against the back of the sofa with Aaron’s angry body pressed up against her, his face only centimetres away.
‘It – it’ll be Andy,’ she said, ‘come to collect Becky.’
‘Tosser!’ Aaron grumbled, then his gaze shifted again. He looked over to the window where the curtains were still open, and grabbed hold of Maddy’s arm as he spoke. ‘Quick, get behind there!’ he ordered, indicating the narrow stretch of wall next to the window. ‘Both of you!’
Rebecca jumped from the armchair and ran to her mother, and Maddy drew her close. She could feel her daughter’s trembling body, mirroring her own shaking limbs, as she guided Rebecca slowly across the room. Aaron joined them, taking the space nearest the window so he could peep out of a gap where the curtain almost met the wall.
His head switched from the window to Maddy and Rebecca then back again. ‘Don’t either of you say a fuckin’ word!’ he ordered.
Then he pulled something out from inside his hoody. Maddy saw the glint of steel and a rush of fear swept through her. Before she could do anything, he grabbed her, one arm pinning her to him, with his hand over her mouth, and the other hand holding the knife close to her throat.
Rebecca let out a whimper and Aaron aimed the knife at her before swiftly directing it back to Maddy’s throat.
‘Keep your fuckin’ mouth shut, kid!’ he hissed. ‘Or your mum gets it.’
*
Andy was beginning to feel uneasy. He’d knocked loudly on the door several times as well as ringing the doorbell, but there was no reply. Maddy’s car was on the drive so he assumed she was in. And she wouldn’t have gone for a walk with Rebecca when she knew he was due to arrive.
With the familiarity of someone who’d once been a large part of Maddy’s life, he walked across to the living-room window. There was no sign of Maddy or Rebecca. How strange! He thought he sensed movement behind the opened curtain but perhaps it was just his imagination.
Andy was just about to go and try the door again when he spotted something. Two full glasses of wine and an opened bottle on the coffee table. He drew in a sharp breath, alarmed. Instinct told him Maddy wasn’t with Clare or any of her other friends. If so, they’d have been sitting in the lounge. Besides, Maddy normally waited until after he’d collected Rebecca before socialising.
No, it was definitely Aaron. But why would Maddy be sharing a bottle of wine with him in light of what she now knew?
Unless… Surely, she hadn’t let him back into her life? But the man was on the run from the police. No, Maddy wouldn’t do that. Which meant that she had probably been coerced. Shit!
He had to get to her, to make sure that Maddy and his daughter were all right. What if that madman had done something to them? Andy quickly reached inside his jacket, grabbed his phone and dialled Maddy’s number. No reply. He dialled the landline and heard it from outside, its ominous ringtone piercing the still air of early evening.
‘Maddy!’ he shouted. ‘Are you there? Rebecca, sweetheart. Are you all right?’
Then he heard Rebecca scream, ‘Daddy!’