Behind Closed Doors (Detective Inspector Louisa Smith) by Haynes Elizabeth

Author:Haynes, Elizabeth [Haynes, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780751549614
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2015-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

SAM – Saturday 2 November 2013, 13:55

‘I don’t know where to start,’ Scarlett said. ‘This isn’t official, is it?’

‘It should be,’ Sam said. ‘But, if you just want to talk for now, that’s fine too. It’s up to you. You might not want to say all this a second time.’

‘Or even a first time.’

‘I’d like to take notes, if you don’t mind?’

Scarlett didn’t answer, but she didn’t object either. They were alone in the kitchen in the VVS. Caro had gone straight back to work after dropping Scarlett off, and Orla had gone to the office to make some calls about emergency accommodation.

‘You and that Lou Smith asked me about Nico,’ she said.

‘That’s right. You called him an arsehole.’

Scarlett laughed, briefly. ‘I think he had something to do with it,’ she said.

‘What – your abduction?’

‘Yes. I was so innocent – you wouldn’t believe it now, would you? He was older than me. He said he was sixteen but he could have been any age. I was just so miserable; he cheered me up and I fell for him. He told me he could help me escape, from my family. I would have done it, too. He said I should meet him on the last night of the holiday. I was going to go, but that day I realised I couldn’t leave Juliette behind. She was – well, you know. She was finding things tough. I needed to watch out for her, and I couldn’t go and leave her. And she wouldn’t have come with me. So I went to meet him… Nico. I was going to tell him I couldn’t go with him after all. Then a van came along the road and stopped next to where I was waiting. This man got out and he started talking to me in Greek; I didn’t understand what he was saying. He just kept yammering at me, and then he pushed me into the back of the van. One of them got in with me, and when I started screaming and kicking this man in the back put his hand over my mouth…’

Scarlett stopped, then, reached for her tea mug. Sam noticed her hand was unsteady.

‘I’m sorry,’ Scarlett said. ‘It was so long ago but at the same time, you know, it’s like it just happened.’

‘Take your time,’ Sam said.

‘I thought it was Nico, at first. I thought it was part of his plan. That’s why I didn’t scream harder, or fight more. I thought they were taking me to him. When I realised they weren’t, I was a long way away. They took me on this fucking endless road trip north, in the back of this van. There were other girls too. The other two were older than me. They didn’t speak English.’

‘Did you ever find out their names?’

‘Krystyna and Ysabella. I think. Before them, there were two other ones but they both died.’

‘They died?’

‘One of them hit her head, and the other one – Yelena – she got shot in a car park.

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