Extract

REWIND 2 – extract

But it wasn’t like that at all. And there was no puzzlement either as to whether anything had happened or not. It wasn’t like before when he had put the shopping in the car, locked the car and then be taken from behind. This time, Tammy hadn’t quite made the big Merc four by four and there was the shopping all strewn around the floor, plus her smashed, destroyed mobile phone. He knew it was hers because of the weird pink skin she had fitted to it. That was Tammy all over. Pink and girlie. Some of the bag contents had spilled out. Expensive trainers, expensive jeans, other bits and pieces. Jo’s bracelet. That was what made Ben shiver down the core of his spine. If there had been no sign of the shopping, then the motive could have been robbery. But all of this stuff was there. It had been left. To Ben, a high ranking police officer, this was a scene of crime. He took a few seconds to take it in. He looked further afield. In his mind, a wider search than the immediate area around the four by four. There was no sign of Tammy. He spotted skid marks. Those tyres had been wide, he could tell that. Then he spotted drips, little splashes on the floor. For some reason Ben didn’t like those drips. He’d seen something like this before during a case in work. A case of sexual abuse. Then it had been semen stains that he had had to get samples of.

Ben was going through all sorts of horrors in his mind. The thing was that nothing that was going through his mind would be able to match the reality. He would never have been thinking that his beautiful daughter had been abused, multiple times. His mind was coming to the conclusion that the substance spilled and splashed over the floor was human semen. In fact he knew it was. He had seen it before. The white splashes that faded to transparent on the outside of the splash. He had seen it before and he didn’t need scenes of crime here to tell him what it was. What did startle him was the amount of these splashes. The amount of semen that was present. That feeling in Ben’s stomach was taking on a more severe turn. He walked around the Merc, then back to the rear of it. Those skid marks. Another vehicle had been here. In his mind whatever had happened to Tammy had happened in this very spot. And now she wasn’t here anymore. Whoever had done this thing to her, whatever this thing was, had done it, and then taken her. His mind was coming up with horrors about what could have happened. But once again, his mind wouldn’t be able to match the reality of what had happened. Or what would happen in the future.

He would never know how long he stayed in that car park with these things churning around in his mind. It was another of those cases where time was kind of suspended in animation. He would have to go back to Jo, and to Leah and Leanne. At least there was no mistake. Something had happened it was just a question of what. This was a man who was used to seeing the worst in people. This was a man who had seen and investigated horrific crimes. Crimes that defied human belief. And crimes that had given him this sickly feeling in his stomach. The same sickly feeling that he was feeling now. He made his way back to the elevator. He need to speak to Jo. That was what he needed to do.

Jo knew, the minute, the second, the micro second that their eyes met that something was wrong. Leah and Leanne were oblivious - they were deep in conversation about something that would be completely alien to parents, or older people in general. But the instant that Jo’s eyes met Ben’s there was that knowledge. That terrible knowledge that something was wrong. Ben ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly moved his head side to side to the negative. Jo mouthed the words, “Where’s Tammy?” She didn’t ask the question out loud. She didn’t want to alert the younger siblings. She just mouthed the words. Ben didn’t answer, he just shook his head again. And there was this time, like a split second in time where the colour just drained from Jo. She had got her colour back. With all that had gone on, she had got over it and got her glow back. Got her mojo back. But in that split, split second, the colour was gone again and there was the haunted look that had taken over her before. It was back. Ben made it to Jo’s side. “Something has happened. I don’t know what. I have no idea. I want you to take the girls and make your way home on public transport. I’ll go collect the car and meet you back there.” Jo was hanging onto Ben’s every word just trying to work out what had happened. Or try to gleam anything from what he was saying that would give a hint as to what had happened to Tammy. Obviously she didn’t know about semen stains, strewn shopping and absolutely no sign of Tammy, yet. But she had to know what was going on and she had to do what Ben said. She just nodded.

“Come on girls. We’re going home on the bus.” Leah and Leanne just stopped talking and looked at their mother as though she had just landed from another planet. “On the bus? We never go on busses!” That was Leah - and there was this silence between them all. As though the girls wanted an explanation. “Where’s Tammy? That was Leanne. “What’s going on?” Leah again. “No questions now girls we’ve gotta get home as soon as we can. Dad’s going to follow is in a bit. “Where’s Tammy.” Leanne was insistent. Jo had to think quickly. She had to think on her feet. With everything else that was starting to churn around her mind she had to put Leanne off the scent that there could be anything at all wrong with her older sister. “She’s had to go somewhere. She’ll meet us back at home later.” Already the deceit and the lies had started. That was a lie that Jo would never be able to straighten out. She didn’t know it then, but it was a fact. They collected their bags and headed to the bus station outside of the Mall. Ben just stood there. It was like he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know which way to turn. He watched the family minus Tammy head to the bus station and he had this terrible, terrible feeling in his stomach. He had the knowledge - he knew that his eldest daughter had at the very least been fucked. He couldn’t think what else had happened to her. There was a point in his though process - a point where there was a connection made between this and what had happened to him and Jo all that time ago. There was nothing concrete - no one little thing that made that connection. It was just his forensic, detective mind. It was there and he had to deal with it.

The knowledge that his eldest had been sexually abused was enough for Ben to contend with. He had to decide how much to share with Jo. Or if he was going to share at all. How could he tell Jo what he feared had happened to Tammy. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.