10

Tuesday. Nine in the morning. Adam looked at his watch, again. There was still no sign of Sam or any word from her or reply to his numerous texts and calls. Of course there was a chance she was somewhere with no mobile phone coverage, but she’d have to be up in the highlands of Scotland or in a faraday cage for that to happen in the UK these days.

He no longer had a choice. DI Chandler knew Sam was missing, but was refusing to let Adam have anything more to do with the case. Jumping in his car, Adam drove to the police station in the center of Headley Cross. He went up to the desk. “Can I speak with DS Painter, please?”

Within a couple of minutes, David appeared. “Hi, Adam, what’s up?”

“I need to report a missing person—the friend I mentioned on the phone yesterday. I know you’re narc, but this is complicated and I know I can trust you.”

“Come on through and I’ll take some details.”

Adam followed him into an interview room and sat down.

David sat by the desk and pulled out some paper. “OK. What’s her name?”

“Samantha West.”

“From church? We picked her up for obstruction last week.”

“Yeah. Otherwise known as Sam Reece, CEO of Wyatt Finance Inc.” Adam took a deep breath. “She’s my wife.”

David’s face dropped a mile. “I’m sorry? Did you say Sam is your wife?”

Adam worried his bottom lip. “Yeah. We split up after our daughter died ten years ago. Actually, if I’m being honest here, I walked out on Sam, but we’re not divorced. But that’s beside the point. The more I looked into the case, the worse it got, and the more involved Sam appeared to be. Yesterday, I went to her office to find it trashed and her missing.”

“Did you contact DI Chandler?”

“Yes, I got the uniformed boys involved too, but they seemed to think she did a runner with the money and wouldn’t listen to my concerns.”

“Then let’s get the DI down here, before we go any further.” David picked up the phone and spoke rapidly. “He’ll be right down.”

Adam pulled out his phone and texted Sam again. “Just wish she’d pick up. Even if all she says is get lost. Last time we spoke, we had a fight.”

“What about?”

He shrugged. “It’s not important…”

DI Chandler came in and sat down. “Mr. West.”

Adam nodded. “DI Chandler.”

David looked at him. “You’ve reported Sam missing and the last time you saw her, you fought. I’d say it’s important.”

“I wasn’t the last to see her, but fine. She accused me of having an affair. Not that we’ve been together since we split. In fact, the first time I saw her in the last ten years was when I took this case. And if I’d known it was her, I wouldn’t have done.” He sucked in a deep breath, and lowered his voice. “I left with Freddie and Jason Bryant about three on Friday afternoon, or thereabouts. We went to my office, which my PA can confirm. The Bryants have been helping do the leg work on this case.”

“I’ve read their notes and spoken to them,” DI Chandler said.

“I then left to go on the church retreat. Actually, Jason drove. They picked me up on Friday about five-thirtyish. I got home late on Sunday evening and went to Sam’s office for a meeting yesterday, to find her car parked outside her office, but no one has seen her since Friday, and her office has been trashed, files missing or deleted.”

David looked up from his notes. “I still have to ask if you have an alibi for the weekend.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Is half the church enough of an alibi for you? The only time I was alone the whole weekend was when I went to bed. Once I realized the files were missing I rang you both yesterday.”

“Who was the last to see her?”

“Peter Carter—”

“The guy we arrested for drunk in charge when we arrested Sam?” David asked.

Adam nodded.

“Actually,” DI Chandler said. “He goes by several names. Peter Carter-Higgins. Peter Higgins. Joseph Brown. Paul Clements, the list goes on. And he has a record.”

“What?” Adam said, his stomach pitting.

DI Chandler opened the file in his hand. “Assault, battery, kidnap, rape, extortion, fraud, as well as DUI, DIC and embezzlement.”

Adam swallowed the rising nausea. “And he’s got Sam because she knows he’s behind this.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” DI Chandler said. “All the evidence points to her.”

“I know, but I know Sam.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He unhooked the frog USB pen drive. “This is the missing data from their computers. I backed everything up on Friday afternoon before I left.”

“Thank you.”

David looked at Adam. “Leave this with us. If you hear anything or think of somewhere she’d have gone, give me a call.”

Adam nodded and left, praying hard all the way to Sam’s house. He’d looked up her address in the church member’s directory earlier. The key was, as always, under the flower pot. He’d told her years ago that wasn’t safe but was thankful she’d chosen to ignore him. He let himself in.

The place was a mess.

Either she was a rotten housekeeper, which he knew she wasn’t, or someone else had been here. He pulled out his phone. “David, I’m at Sam’s. Someone’s been in here as well. It’s twenty-seven Hurricane Way.”

“I’m on my way. Don’t touch anything.”

“OK.”

He slowly walked around the house. On the dresser in the bedroom, lay the chain she’d worn on Friday. Her wedding ring circled it.

Adam picked it up and put it into his pocket, before heading back down to the lounge.

Photos were scattered across the floor.

The wedding album was on the table, his head methodically cut out of every single picture.

****

Daylight streamed through the windows. Sam looked at Peter. “You’re back.”

He nodded. “It took longer than I hoped, but everything’s done now. How are you feeling? I’ll make us some lunch if you want it.”

“Lunch?”

“It’s Tuesday. You slept the whole time I was gone. Are you thirsty?”

She nodded, pulling on her restraints. “And my arms hurt.”

Peter untied her. “Sorry, but like I said, I didn’t want you wandering off again. Do you feel better?”

Sam took the bottle of water he offered and drained half of it. “Yes.” She rubbed her wrists, deciding it would be best to go along with whatever he said and wanted. She knew the truth, but she also knew he was capable of anything. Her head ached and she felt the same way she did the one time she’d experimented with drugs at university. Like she had a hangover or something.

“Now, can I trust you not to run, or do I have to tie you up again?”

“You can trust me,” she said. She slowly sat up and, taking the hand he offered, walked with Peter downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Your phone has done nothing but beep and ring,” he told her. “That bloke just doesn’t know when to give up.”

“Then let me answer it.”

“And tell him what?”

Sam sat down and looked at him. “That I’m with you now. He’ll do what I want, back off and leave us alone.”

“You mean that?” He knelt beside her. “You want to be with me?”

Sam nodded. It was best, for now, to just go along with whatever he said and wanted.

Peter beamed and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her.

Nausea flooded Sam at his touch, but she kissed him back. Now that really was like kissing her brother. There was nothing there, no spark, no desire, not like there had been with Adam.

She had to be with him—he was her soul mate, but how did she get away from Peter or get a message to Adam?

“Maybe I should just go and kill him.” Peter whispered.

Sam pulled back. “Don’t do that, because then the police will be after you. Just let me text him.”

“Fine, but I read it before you send it.”

“OK.”

Peter took her phone from his pocket and gave it to her.

Sam read all the messages, trying to work out what to say. “Did you do what you needed to when you were out?”

“I did. We’re rich. We can go anywhere we want and start a new life. So, I’ve booked us seats on a plane to Switzerland.”

The last piece of the puzzle dropped into place. All the missing money had ended up in Swiss bank accounts. Sam looked up. “Switzerland? I don’t have my passport.”

“I got your passport and the flights are booked for tomorrow. We fly from the local airport and change planes in Paris.”

“Sounds good.” She looked at the phone. So where did he get her passport from? It was in her bedroom at home.

He leaned over and kissed her. “So, it’s just you and me from now on.”

Sam nodded.

He went back to chopping. “Hurry up with that text.”

Inspiration struck and she typed quickly. “Done.” She handed him the phone.

Peter read it and looked at her. “That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Sam grinned. “He’ll get the message and will reply to say he’s got it, and then he’ll leave us alone.”

“He’d better.”

“He will.” At least she prayed he would. She shivered as Peter hit send, then slid the phone back into his pocket.

****

Adam stood in Sam’s flat, with David and his partner Sara, as they searched and took notes.

The feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad had happened to Sam had grown and grown until it was now as big as the proverbial elephant in the room and threatening to overwhelm him. He’d prayed over and over that Sam would be kept safe and found, and knew no matter what it felt like, that his prayers weren’t falling on deaf ears.

“Are you sure she had a passport?” David asked.

“She had all her papers,” Adam said. “Her birth certificate, passport, and so on. I left them all with her because I had no need of them. I only took my own. And her passport wasn’t with the rest of them. Besides she told me she worked for a charity up until a couple of years ago and was in Africa on and off. She’d have had to renew her passport five years ago in order to do that.”

His phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s from Sam.”

“Read it aloud,” David said.

“Pointless text,” Adam read. “With Peter, so please leave me alone. He can give me the moon and all the chocolate I want. So long and ty for all the wolves and honey.”

David raised an eyebrow. “Is she drunk?”

“She doesn’t drink,” Adam said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s like she’s trying to tell me something, but I have no idea what.”

David’s phone rang and he left the room to answer it.

Adam turned his attention back to his phone.

“We’re still assuming she isn’t with him voluntarily?” Sara said.

Adam nodded. “The bloke’s a creep. According to the HR woman, Esther Parks, Sam doesn’t even like the guy. Though Miss Parks could be jealous, since Peter Carter, or whatever his real name is, dumped her in favor of pursuing Sam. Why would Sam go with him if she knew he was involved? Besides the fact he’d gotten her arrested.”

David came back in. “That was DI Chandler. First, someone matching Sam’s description was seen at the train station on Friday. She bought two train tickets, both for sleeper trains. One to Scotland and one to Devon. He’s trying to track her there now. And secondly, there’s been another transfer at Wyatt Finance. All the money’s gone. Every single account has been drained. They are trying to trace it.”

“All of it?”

David nodded.

Adam slid his hand into his pocket, running his fingers over Sam’s wedding ring. What was he missing here? She didn’t know anyone in either Scotland or Devon, so why run to either of those places?

Sara tapped her fingers on the table. “OK, let’s look at this logically.” She looked at David. “So, we both work for the same company, only I get a huge promotion instead of you. You’re more than slightly peeved at this and want revenge. On top of which you have a massive crush on me and I won’t even give you the time of day. Never mind the job as my right hand man.”

“Don’t let Eden hear about your crush on me,” David laughed. “She’ll have my guts for garters.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Thanks, I really needed that image.”

Sara laughed. “Anyway, I have a huge fight at work with the bloke I used to be married to. You think this is great and take advantage of how down and rotten I feel. You want me to yourself. What would you do?”

David furrowed his brow. “I’d play on your emotions,” he said. “I’d point out that the company only got into trouble—real trouble—after this bloke you were married to came on the scene. And that all the evidence now points to you, and he probably framed you.”

“Makes sense,” Adam said. “She didn’t know about the third account syphoning off the money until I showed her.”

“So he tells her it’s you to get her to go with him. Says she’ll be safer with him and they can start a new life together.”

“While all the time it’s him implicating her,” Adam said. “He’ll hand her over to the cops. He’s got his revenge and all the money because none of it can be traced back to him.”

David grinned. “You should be a cop.”

“But we still don’t know where she is. And if she got the train by herself, and he and his car are missing, he must have tracked her some other way.” He looked down at the phone, praying for help. There had to be a clue here somewhere.

Pointless text. With Peter, so please leave me alone. He can give me the moon and all the chocolate I want. So long and ty for all the wolves and honey.

The penny dropped. “Wolf Point.”

“What?”

“The text is in code. Pointless text and wolves are Wolf Point. Moon and honey refer to our honeymoon—we spent it in her aunt’s cottage, in the Wolf Point in Cornwall.”

“So where does the chocolate come into it?”

“She only eats Swiss choc—” He looked up. “Switzerland. One of the accounts, the only one I managed to trace the misappropriated funds to, was a Swiss one.”

“OK,” David said. “Then this is what we’ll do. Sara, I need you to ring all the ports and airports and issue photos of Sam West and Peter Carter, along with all his aliases and both Sam’s names.”

“He won’t be that stupid,” Adam protested. “To leave the country under his own name.”

“That may be, but I still want the port authority and customs to have the photos. Adam, you and I are going to Wolf Point in your car. Sara will stay here and work with DI Chandler to trace the money, but first you’re going to have to trust me.”

Adam looked at him. “Oh?”

David nodded. “I’m going to arrest you for your part in this case.”

“What?” Adam exploded, uncontrolled rage and concern filling him and spilling out. “We don’t have time for this…”

David held up a hand. “We will all go back to the nick. Sara will stay there, and then along with DI Chandler issue a press release disclosing details of your arrest and Sam’s involvement.”

“OK, I think.”

David nodded. “Give me ten minutes to bring the DI up to speed and contact the local cops at Wolf Point. While I’m doing that, I want you to text Sam back. Let her know we’re coming, but word it carefully, in case she’s not the only one reading them. Then we go back to the nick and get you charged. Now if that’s not acceptable, then I throw you in a cell and go down to the coast alone. It’s up to you.”

Adam nodded. He wasn’t happy, but if it was the only way he was going to be able to go, then fine. “OK—but it’s a five hour drive and even if we leave now we won’t be there until after dark. Every moment we waste...”

“Just trust me,” David replied. “And pray.”

“I already am.” Adam looked at his phone. He knew exactly what to send. And he’d do it in two messages. One for Peter and one aimed directly at Sam.