Suffer the Children Read online

  SUFFER THE CHILDREN

  A Welsh detective tackles a kidnapping and a tricky cold case

  CHERYL REES-PRICE

  Published by

  THE BOOK FOLKS

  London, 2020

  © Cheryl Rees-Price

  Polite note to the reader

  This book is written in British English except where fidelity to other languages or accents is appropriate.

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  We hope you enjoy the book.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  List of Characters

  Other books in this series

  Other titles of interest

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  Prologue

  My dearest family,

  Before I begin, I want you to know that I love you with every fibre in my body. You’re my whole life, but it’s a life I have stolen. I know that I don’t deserve to have your love and trust. I can’t change what I’ve done or even begin to excuse my actions but at the very least I owe you some sort of explanation, and the truth, before it’s too late and your lives are ripped apart in the most unimaginable way. Soon you won’t be able to bear to hear my name spoken let alone my words.

  It’s difficult to know where to start. I’m not the person you think I am. You’ve been living with a stranger. Imagine the worst thing that you could do, and it wouldn’t come close. I took an innocent life and destroyed a family. It wasn’t some dreadful accident. My actions were avoidable and deliberate. When I look back it seems like some horrible nightmare, another person, another life. I guess I was another person – no, that’s not true. I am that person. I’ve just stolen another life, and lived a lie for so long it became my reality. I cannot ask for your forgiveness, but I hope that the people whose lives I destroyed may one day have some peace with the truth.

  Every day I expect a knock on the door. In my imagination, it is always two men dressed in suits with a look of contempt on their faces as they say, “we know what you did”. My blood turns to ice at the thought. The guilt and anxiety eats me away from the inside, twists my stomach and claws at my skin. I smile and continue with my life, and all the while you don’t notice that you are living with a monster.

  Chapter One

  Natalie didn’t want to move away from the warmth of Ryan’s body, but her legs were cramping from lying on the edge of the sofa. Her knees stuck out over the edge and the only thing hiding their nakedness from the other occupants of the room was a thin blanket which barely covered their bodies. Natalie’s eyes stung, and pain shot through her temples as she looked around the room. Her eyes rested on Claire who was curled up like a cat in the armchair, a coat covering her body and dirty feet sticking out from underneath. On the other armchair Dan laid with his legs stretched out, head back, and mouth open, emitting snores. Her eyes travelled down to the floor where Jamie lay in a heap, his coat used as a pillow.

  Natalie groaned as she slowly straightened her legs and swung them off the sofa. As she sat up, her head screamed in protest. Next to her Ryan stirred and pulled at the blanket. She stood up and scrabbled around for her clothes which she found heaped with her dirty trainers.

  I’ll drop Ella off at nursery, chuck this lot out and go back to bed, she thought as she pulled on her underwear. Her jeans felt damp and cold as she pulled them over her legs, and she noticed mud caked into the fabric but couldn’t be bothered to go upstairs to fetch a fresh pair. Instead she pulled on her T-shirt and jumper and stepped over Jamie before padding barefoot towards the kitchen. She pushed open the kitchen door and two dogs jumped at her legs, their claws scraping at her as they furiously wagged their tails.

  ‘Get down,’ she commanded. She sidestepped a puddle of dog pee and opened the back door.

  ‘Out!’ The dogs scuttled outside, and she shut the door before the three mewling cats had a chance to enter. ‘You can wait.’

  She glared at the cats before flicking the switch on the kettle and digging around in the pile of used dishes in the sink for a mug. She pulled one out and tipped the remains of dirty dish water into the sink before rinsing it under the tap. As the water fell on her hands she noticed the mud caked under her fingernails. An image of digging in the dirt with her bare hands flashed across her mind; she let it retreat into the fog of her hangover and piled coffee granules into the mug. She filled the mug from the kettle, not bothering to wait for it to come to the boil. The bitter liquid took away the stale taste in her mouth. As she headed towards the sitting room to find her tobacco, she noticed the front door was open.

  ‘No wonder it’s fucking freezing in here.’ She closed the door and secured the handle with her free hand.

  Ryan groaned as she pushed aside the empty cans and mugs on the table. She found her tobacco, plucked a paper from the packet, added a filter, and started to roll.

  ‘Make us a coffee,’ Ryan said as he sat up on the sofa and ran his hands over his face.

  ‘Make it yourself,’ Natalie replied as she licked the edge of the paper. ‘I’ve gotta get Ella to nursery.’

  She popped the cigarette in her mouth, lit up and drew in a lungful of smoke. Her head buzzed from the nicotine rush.

  ‘What time is it?’ Claire unfurled in the armchair.

  ‘Dunno.’ Natalie picked up her mobile phone from the table and hit the screen. ‘Fuck, it’s nearly eleven. It’s too late to take Ella to nursery now.’

  ‘Should’ve set your alarm, dozy bitch,’ Ryan said.

  ‘Yeah, well she’s usually screaming the place down by eight. How was I supposed to know she’d sleep in,’ Natalie said. She took a drag of the roll-up, the thought of looking after Ella all day set a dark cloud over her mood. ‘Maybe I could take her in for the afternoon, I’ll say I had an appointment this morning.’ The thought cheered her as she headed upstairs.

  The door to Ella’s room was open, and as Natalie approached, she could see that the cot bars had been pulled down. She was sure she’d put the bar up when she’d put her to bed.

  ‘Ella?’ Natalie approached the empty cot. Little bugger has learned to pull down the bar and climb out, she thought.

  ‘Ella!’ Natalie got down on her hands and knees and searched under the cot. Huffing she got to her feet and searched the bedroom, then the bathroom, and into her own room.

  ‘Ella, where are you? Come on, we have to go to nursery.’ Anxiety prickled at her skin as she ran downstairs into the sitting room. ‘She’s gone, Ella’s not here.’

  ‘Huh.’ Ryan sat on the sofa wearing only his jeans, ash from his cigarette falling on his bare chest.

  ‘She’s not in her cot. She’s not upstairs.’ Panic raised Natalie’s voice.


  ‘I’ll go and look.’ Claire rose from the chair and headed out of the room.

  ‘Well, don’t just fucking sit there,’ Natalie shrieked at Ryan.

  Dan and Jamie stared at her with bleary eyes, not appearing to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

  ‘The front door was open. Shit, she could’ve gone outside.’

  Natalie hurried to the door, pulled it open and stepped outside. She ignored the cold wet stone on her bare feet as she ran through the open gate and onto the pavement. Her heart thudded in her chest as she looked in both directions.

  ‘Ella!’ she screamed as she ran along the pavement, her eyes darting into the front gardens of the neighbouring houses.

  She rounded the bend and looked up the road that led out of the estate and onto the main road. Someone would’ve seen her and brought her home if she’d come this way, she thought. She turned and ran back towards the house but stopped short as she passed the alleyway than ran between two houses and led into the woods that backed on to the estate. Images of Ella wandering lost among the trees and heading for the river flashed across her mind. A cold fear coiled around her chest, she sucked in the air but there didn’t seem to be any oxygen. Her vision blurred, and her head spun, she could feel the darkness threatening to take over. She forced down the panic and took off down the gravel path, the small stones stabbed her feet, but the pain helped her to keep a grip on reality.

  She entered the woods and looked around. The trees were bare from the winter but still dense enough in parts to block out some of the light. Narrow pathways led off in various directions, cut away by years of children’s play and ramblers. She ran deeper into the woods calling out, but all was silent. I need help, she thought. She turned and ran back to the house. Her next-door neighbour, George, was stood at his gate.

  ‘Everything alright, love?’

  ‘No.’ Natalie bent double as pain tore through her side. ‘Ella is missing,’ she said.

  ‘I’m sure she can’t be far. Do you want me to help?’

  Natalie shook her head and went back into her house. She could hear the others calling out as they searched the house.

  ‘She’s not here,’ Ryan called out as he appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘I’ve checked all the wardrobes and cupboards.’

  ‘I’m calling the police.’

  Natalie felt in her pocket for her phone, nausea constricted her stomach and she felt bile rise in her throat.

  ‘No, wait.’ Ryan thudded down the stairs. ‘Don’t call the cops yet. Your sister has probably got her.’

  ‘What? Why would Nia take Ella without telling me?’

  ‘Because she’s a spiteful bitch. Yeah, I bet she came around this morning, saw that you’d been having a good time and was jealous, so she took Ella to freak you out.’

  ‘I don’t know, she’s not that much of a bitch.’ Whilst the thought of her sister taking Ella angered her, it also gave her a spark of hope.

  ‘Yeah, she is.’ Claire joined them. ‘She’s always calling you a crap mother.’

  ‘Stuck-up cow,’ Ryan said. ‘Look, you know I can’t be here if the police come. Call your sister while I get my shit together and if she hasn’t got her then call the cops when I’m outta here.’

  Natalie dialled Nia’s number and waited; it went to voicemail. She left a message trying to keep her voice from quivering. Ryan had grabbed a holdall and was chucking things into it.

  ‘You lot better go.’ Natalie turned to Claire, Jamie, and Dan who were standing in the sitting room looking awkward.

  ‘Okay, gives us a call when she turns up.’ Jamie grabbed his tobacco from the table and followed Dan out the front door.

  ‘I’ll clear some of this stuff,’ Claire said and started gathering the empty cans. ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ She held up an old cracked teapot.

  ‘I dunno, chuck it in the kitchen somewhere. Just leave the rest.’

  ‘Okay.’ Claire shuffled to the kitchen.

  Natalie felt a sudden urge to pee. She ran upstairs to the bathroom and shut the door. Her hands shook as she tried to undo her jeans. She could hear Ryan in the bedroom next door rummaging around.

  ‘I’ll call you later,’ Claire shouted but Natalie didn’t bother to respond. She was washing her hands when the phone trilled.

  ‘What do you mean, “have I got Ella”?’ Nia demanded.

  Natalie felt her hope evaporate and an icy chill ran down her spine. ‘She’s not here.’

  ‘She must be, have you looked everywhere? She’s probably hiding.’

  ‘She’s not hiding!’ Natalie shrieked.

  ‘Okay, calm down. Look, children don’t just disappear. Check everywhere again. If you can’t find her then call the police. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

  Natalie wanted to tell Nia about the open door but was afraid of her sister’s reaction. Tears spilt from her eyes. ‘Okay.’ She sniffed and hung up. Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, she stepped out of the bathroom.

  ‘Well?’ Ryan stood at the top of the stairs, the holdall clutched in his hands.

  ‘She hasn’t got her.’

  ‘Right, well I’m outta here. Text me to let me know what’s going on.’

  He headed down the stairs, wriggled his feet into a pair of trainers and left without a goodbye.

  Natalie sank to the floor. The house felt unnaturally silent and she felt alone and abandoned. With trembling hands, she dialled the police.

  Chapter Two

  There was a cheerful atmosphere in the Bryn Mawr police station. DI Winter Meadows was handing out cream cakes from a large white cardboard box as DC Edris set down a tray of tea and coffee.

  ‘What’s with the cakes?’ DS Blackwell grunted as he plucked a juicy doughnut from the box.

  ‘Well we couldn’t let Valentine’s first official day as part of the team go unmarked,’ Meadows said with a smile.

  ‘No one brought in cakes on my first day, I just got on with it.’ Blackwell huffed and bit into the doughnut; a dollop of jam oozed out over his fingers.

  ‘I doubt it was a happy occasion for anyone,’ Edris said.

  ‘Fuck off, golden boy,’ Blackwell snarled and sauntered back to his desk.

  Meadows groaned inwardly. He thought after their last case together, where Blackwell had showed a softer side to his nature, things would be different. But Blackwell was back to his old self, barking and snarling at everyone.

  ‘I hope he’s not going to be like this all the time,’ Val whispered.

  Meadows gave her an apologetic smile. DC Reena Valentine was the newest member of the team. She had worked with them on their last case and had just been moved from uniform. She was a pretty dark-haired girl with a cheerful disposition that Meadows hoped wouldn’t be extinguished by Blackwell’s moody demeanour.

  ‘He’s just a big grumpy teddy bear,’ DS Rowena Paskin said and smiled as she plucked a chocolate éclair out of the box.

  Meadows glanced across at Blackwell. More like a bulldog. He fought the urge to laugh.

  ‘Well, welcome to the team, Valentine. I’m sure you and Blackwell are going to get along fine.’ Meadows looked at Blackwell.

  Someone has to work with him.

  ‘Yeah, as long as you remember who is boss, I’m happy to let you learn from my experience,’ Blackwell said.

  ‘I’m sure we’re going to have a wonderful time,’ Valentine said with a wink.

  Blackwell snorted and turned his attention to his computer.

  ‘Any problems let me know,’ Edris said.

  The door opened and Sergeant Dyfan Folland entered the room. The expression on his face brought silence to the office and the cheery atmosphere evaporated.

  ‘A child has gone missing from her home on the Coopers Wood estate. Eighteen-month-old Ella Beynon.’

  Folland approached Meadows and handed him the details.

  ‘Her mother Natalie called it in half hour ago. Hanes is over there. I’ve s
ent DS Brianna Lloyd, she’s the best FLO we have. I’ve also sent as many uniforms as I can spare to start house to house. I thought it best until we know what we’re dealing with.’

  It was the kind of case that every officer dreaded. Meadows felt the adrenalin kick his brain into action, and scenarios began running through his head. The atmosphere in the room was tense as his team looked at him for instructions.

  Meadows grabbed his jacket.

  ‘Okay, Edris with me, let’s go and see the mother. Valentine, can you get maps of the area printed and contact search and rescue, put them on standby. Blackwell, check to see if any known paedophiles have moved into the area.’

  ‘On it,’ Blackwell said.

  Meadows noticed the look of horror on Valentine’s face.

  ‘It’s just a precaution. Hopefully the little one has just wandered off or there’s an absent father who has taken custody issues into his own hands. Paskin, see what you can find out about the family. I’ll brief you all as soon as I know more. You better call Lester,’ he called over his shoulder as he hurried out of the office with Edris at his side.

  ‘I haven’t worked a missing child case before,’ Edris said as soon as they got into the car.

  ‘I have, in London. It didn’t end well. It’s not something I’d like to experience again.’ Meadows felt a pain catch at the back of his throat. The memory of not being able to save the child brought back the guilt and hopelessness of the case. ‘It never leaves you. Let’s hope we can get this little one home safe.’

  He turned the car out of the station.

  ‘Missing from her home, Folland said. Doesn’t sound like a kidnapping,’ Edris said. ‘Probably just hiding in the house.’

  ‘That would be the best outcome, but no doubt Hanes has already checked.’

  They drove through the centre of Bryn Mawr where shoppers, wrapped up against the cold, dotted the pavement.

  ‘I don’t know why anyone would want to shop here,’ Edris said as he looked out of the window.