Just Keep Breathing by GS Rhodes (any book recommendations txt) 📗

He stood up abruptly, his chair falling onto the floor behind him. DS Sanchez jumped, so did Norman Kaye.

“Interview terminated,” DI Kidd barked, punching the stop button on the tape recorder. He turned to DS Sanchez. “We need to go and we need to go now.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

They didn’t waste any time, leaving the on-duty PCs to deal with Norman Kaye. They would keep him, in case they were wrong, but DI Kidd was pretty certain at this point that he wasn’t wrong.

He explained his theory to Zoe as she floored it to get them over to the property quicker. They’d been played. He could see it now. And he wanted answers.

They got out of the car, DS Sanchez immediately heading towards the Kayes’ house but Kidd shook his head.

“What?”

He pointed to the house next door, the one that had been in plain sight the entire time, the seemingly empty house that had probably had Sarah in it the whole time they were searching for her. He looked down the street, seeing a clear route past Fairfield Park, towards the centre of town. He’d been stupid, so blind.

They started towards the house, Kidd trying to keep his cool when he felt like he was about to explode. He sort of knew what to expect, he just hoped against hope that he wasn’t too late to save Caleb. He didn’t want to have another dead teenager on his hands just because he hadn’t been looking in the right places.

It had been right in front of him, but he hadn’t looked past the evidence they’d collected, hadn’t looked into what people had been telling him, the things he’d seen. Stupid.

“Stop it,” Zoe said as they stepped up to the front door.

“What?”

“You’re beating yourself up,” she said. “We’re here, don’t freak out on me now.”

Zoe was right. Kidd pushed it out of his head, trying to focus on what was happening in the moment, needing to be present right now so nothing went wrong. He knew the cavalry was incoming, that they would follow them here, but he was determined to get Caleb out of there before the blue lights arrived. Their perp was cunning enough to do this in the first place. If they saw something wasn’t going their way there was no telling what they’d would do.

Kidd pushed down on the door handle, hearing the locks turn inside, as they slid out of place and the door opened.

The house was deadly silent.

If they were here, they’d know about it, there was no way to hide it.

Night had fallen, there were no lights on, just the moonlight shining in on a clear night. If they were hiding in the dark, they’d be able to catch them out. The chance of a surprise attack was enough to keep Kidd on edge.

“Watch your back,” he whispered to Sanchez, who nodded in return. He could just about make out her silhouette as his eyes adjusted.

They walked through the hallway and towards the stairs. The second Kidd put his boot on it, the floorboard underneath creaked.

Jesus Christ, he thought. He wasn’t built for this kind of sneaking around.

Carefully, he made his way up the stairs, trying his hardest not to draw attention, but it was a heavy footfall on bare wood. Anyone upstairs would hear him.

And they did.

There was a whimper. It started quietly at first but only proceeded to get louder. Without thinking, Kidd took the last couple of steps two at a time, dashing across the landing to a door that was closed, locked. He jiggled the handle but it wouldn’t budge, not even a little bit. DS Sanchez appeared behind him.

“What are you—?”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. DI Kidd had already taken a step back and kicked the door off its hinges, the wood cracking around the lock as it swung in.

It was the stench that hit him first. Piss. Shit. Sweat. The three mixing in the air to create such a noxious gas it about knocked him off his feet. But he stepped inside.

Across the room, huddled in the dark, was Caleb. His hands and feet were tied, a gag placed across his mouth, and he was sluggish in his movements. The whimpering seemed like it might have been involuntary. Maybe he’d heard them coming and started making noise, somewhere in his subconscious he was fighting for survival.

“He’s been drugged,” Kidd growled. “He’s barely conscious.”

He ripped the restraints from his wrists and ankles, a little more careful with the one that was around his face. Caleb took a deep, heaving breath as the one around his mouth came off. It was soaking wet with his saliva, his face was damp, his eyes flickering like he was about to fall asleep.

Kidd cradled him and slapped at his face. “Caleb, Caleb, you’ve got to wake up, okay?” he said. “Stay awake for me. Where is she? Where’s your mum?”

“She’s…she’s here,” he managed to slur through dry lips

“Kidd!” DS Sanchez shouted as a scream came from the door. Alexandra Kaye barrelled towards him with a plank of wood in her hands. She swung it hard, cracking it across Kidd’s upper arm and almost knocking him sideways. He stumbled, leaning on the wall for support. He saw that she was heading for Caleb, but DS Sanchez reacted quicker than he did.

As Alexandra swung the piece of wood back, Zoe grabbed it and yanked it from her hands, pulling her off balance as she stumbled towards her. Zoe brought an elbow to her face, knocking her to the floor. Without a second’s hesitation, she cuffed her, just as the blue lights appeared outside.

◆◆◆

The response team was pretty swift once they got inside the house. They grabbed Alexandra Kaye and dragged her outside, kicking and screaming, protesting her innocence, but it was all stacked against her. Anyone could see that.

An ambulance came to collect Caleb. He was in a pretty bad way. He’d been