No Going Back by Casey Kelleher (bill gates books recommendations TXT) 📕

‘What was the information you were going to offer Pete Baker?’ Lucy said, eyeing Jay-Jay and praying her hunch about the attacker was right. That Jay-Jay knew much more than he was letting on.

Jay-Jay raised his head. Trusting Lucy now. Believing that if he told her everything he knew, if he was finally honest with her, then she might just help him out of this mess that he’d found himself caught up in. She was the only chance he had at making any of this right.

‘I was going to tell him that I knew who attacked Shelby Cooke,’ Jay-Jay said finally. ‘It was the same person who came out of the fire exit holding what looked like a rolled-up blanket. Only now I know that she wasn’t a nurse and it wasn’t a rolled-up blanket she was carrying. It was Riley Cooke.’

46

‘Janey?’ Lucy asked as a voice at the other end of the phone answered after just one ring, guessing that the family hadn’t moved from the phone, eager to hear of any news about Riley and the ransom. ‘It’s DC Murphy,’ she said, holding on to the dashboard as she spoke, as Holder flew around a bend onto Wandsworth High Street. The sirens were blaring loudly and the blue lights flashing across the dark night sky, so that the other vehicles knew to move out of their way, and fast.

‘Have you got him? Have you got our Riley back?’ Janey asked with bated breath.

‘No. Not yet. I’m so sorry,’ Lucy said honestly, recognising the hope and anticipation in the woman’s tone and wishing that she had better news.

She heard the loud cry then, away from the phone, and somewhere way off in the background, Lucy could hear Pete Baker soothing his wife before he took the phone from her.

‘Lucy?’ Pete said, coming to the phone, having only just arrived back home.

The police had no evidence against him that he’d committed a crime and given the circumstances, they’d decided to let him go, pending further enquiries. Only Lucy hadn’t had a chance to speak to Pete before he’d left the station.

‘We made an arrest, Pete. A couple actually. And I’m sorry to tell you that your son-in-law is currently at St George’s Hospital. There was an incident and, unfortunately, he’s suffered a bad break to his wrist. He’s going to need surgery. He’s got a mild concussion too.’

‘Ashley? What happened to him?’

‘He attacked Jay-Jay Andrews. Only by the time we found them both, Jay-Jay Andrews was fighting back. We don’t have all the facts right now, but I’m guessing from what I do know, that Ashley asked for the ransom money. I think he had good intentions in doing so. He believed that it would get Riley back. He believed he knew Riley’s kidnappers.’

‘He thought that the Boland brothers took him, didn’t he? Only it was this Jay-Jay, wasn’t it? The same man that attacked my daughter?’ Pete said, wondering how they could have Jay-Jay Andrews in custody but still have no news on Riley’s whereabouts.

‘We have arrested Jay-Jay Andrews and he’s currently in our custody, yes. But, Mr Baker, we don’t believe he is involved in Riley’s abduction or that he attacked Shelby either. We do have a new lead, and we are heading to the suspect’s home right now. So, I thought I’d give you a call, so you could let Shelby know the situation. I wanted to keep you all in the loop. I think we are close,’ Lucy said, knowing how important it was to Shelby to know that they were doing everything in their power to get her son back to her.

Lucy had told her that she’d personally see to it, that she’d inform her of every new development. ‘I also told the doctor at St George’s that I would inform Shelby of Ashley’s hospital admittance. She’s listed as his next of kin.’

‘Shelby?’ Pete called, and Lucy heard him marching up the stairs towards his daughter’s bedroom. ‘DC Murphy is on the… Shelby?’ The phone went quiet for a few seconds.

‘Pete? Is everything okay?’ Lucy said as Holder made a sharp left onto the Griffin Estate, pulling up outside the two tower blocks and cutting the engine.

‘She’s not here. She’s not in her room. She must have gone out.’

‘Do you know where she might have gone, Pete?’ Lucy said, a bad feeling growing in her stomach. Shelby would have been waiting for their call too, surely. So, where was she?

‘We need to move,’ Holder said, opening Lucy’s door and waiting as she ended the call.

‘Okay. Pete. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to call you back. If you find Shelby, keep her with you. I will hopefully have some news for you all soon.’

Hanging up the phone, Lucy got out of the car and stared up at the bright, twinkling lights of the two towers. She shivered, hoping the information that Jay-Jay Andrews had given her was correct. And that the person who had Riley was here, at the Griffin Estate. The baby’s life depended on it.

47

Glancing behind her as she made her way along the pathway that led to the Griffin Estate, Shelby Cooke shuddered. She was paranoid that someone might be following her again, though she knew that she was just being stupid. There was no one there. This time, she’d stuck to the main road; deciding against taking the shortcut over the common like the previous night, she’d stayed on the pathway where it was lit up by streetlamps.

She was glad to be out of the house, away from her parents. Because as much as she loved them both dearly and knew that they meant well, they were driving her crazy with all their constant fussing over her. She just needed some space and fresh air. Now that she was here, though, staring up at the two towers that loomed above her, Shelby