BooksBarbecue
Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he snapped. ‘And sit down. We can’t both walk around the office.’

‘Thank you, Vaughn. If you think I’m up to it, if you still have faith in my abilities, then I’m happy to stay in charge, so thank you.’ Sasha realized she was unable to stop all the words pouring from her mouth. ‘That’s good. Yes. Thank you.’

‘And for God’s sake stop fishing for reassurance.’

‘Sorry.’

Vaughn sighed. ‘Look, Sasha, you’re a decent detective, nobody’s going to tell me otherwise.’

‘I’ll be honest with you.’ She grimaced. ‘That sounds an awful lot like a backhanded compliment.’

Like anyone else who cared deeply about her job, Sasha was the first person to rebuke herself when she made a mess of things, and this morning’s fiasco – and that wasn’t too strong a word for it – had shaken her confidence. The appeal to find Sammi Manning was entirely lost in the frenzied coverage of Michelle’s outburst. A young girl’s life was at stake and the thought that she could have put her in further danger made Sasha feel sick.

The DCI nodded at the phone. ‘I’m sick of taking angry calls from the Super and the Chief Super and they’re sick of taking calls from the Chief Constable’s office. So give me something, anything, to show you’re making progress on this thing.’

‘Michelle is being blackmailed,’ Sasha said quickly. ‘She’s the missing girl’s biological mother. She had a fling with Alan Manning and Sammi was conceived. She gave the baby to him and his wife to bring up as their own. Straight after the conference, Michelle received another blackmail demand.’

‘And you think it’s connected to the abduction?’

She opened the folder and placed copies of the news articles about the Bad Place on his desk, and a photocopy of the blackmail note.

5K. THE USUAL PLACE

‘The odd thing is, Sammi was snatched a street away from where Michelle was meeting the other people who were abducted with her all those years ago. The kids from the Bad Place.’

‘Don’t call it that.’ Vaughn dropped unhappily into his chair. ‘It was called Baden Place.’

‘Yes, Baden Place, of course. They have a kind of reunion every year.’

Vaughn picked up the note. ‘So this could be from the same person who’s taken Sammi Manning?’

‘It’s possible.’ She placed her elbows on the edge of his desk and watched him read it. ‘The blackmailer may have decided that they’re not getting enough bang for their buck and decided instead to abduct her daughter. But there’s no reference to Sammi, and a sheet of notepaper shoved under a windscreen wiper is pretty low-tech in this day and age.’

‘Five grand doesn’t seem like much of a ransom demand.’