Paparazzi by Jo Fenton (best free e reader .txt) 📕

“Nah, you’d better not. Keep an eye out for Becky and that lot though.”

“They know what they’re doing, mate. It’ll be fine.” Gaz sounds as though he might be reassuring himself as much as his friend, but Troy buys it.

“Cheers.”

We hear the car door shut a few seconds later, and Troy’s heavy boots on the tarmac. The sound of the back door into the warehouse brings on another wave of sickness for me. I frown and grit my teeth. This is not the time for memories.

“Hello, Troy.” Penny’s voice comes through clearly on the receiver.

“Where’s my Emma?”

“Nigel’s got her safe, just a little way from here.”

Panic seizes me for a moment, and I glance round swiftly. We’re on a residential road, on a drive concealed by bushes. The owner of the house and drive is Wendy’s youngest son, and I’ve already messaged him with a warning not to come out and ask questions. He knows me of old, and can be trusted to do as he’s asked. This is as safe a location as it could be in the circumstances.

Will reaches over and opens the glove box. He extracts a woolly hat and a false beard. half a minute later, he looks totally different.

“I’m just going to wander out on the road and have a recce. I won’t do anything else, I promise,” he whispers.

Meanwhile, the conversation in the warehouse is continuing.

“Why would you do this?” Troy sounds horrified; shocked and sick that the sweet, pretty photographer has been involved in abducting his daughter. “Did you kill Linda?”

“Of course I did. Got in a few kicks first, too. And I killed your stupid parents. Did you know they told me off for walking past your house when we were growing up?”

“How did you know me then? I didn’t think we’d met until you started photographing me and the band a few months back.”

“Same school, Troy. I was two years below you. I loved you then, you know. I’d have done anything for you. But you were too stupid to see it. Then when you went to college, I’d skive school and come to see you. You never even noticed me.”

“I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I waited for you to see me. Then you met that bloody bitch and married her. I tried to get over you, but something changed inside me. When I started working at the paper, and got to see you doing gigs, it felt like a second chance. But you still ignored me.”

“There were a lot of photographers. How was I to know you were any different? I didn’t recognise you from school.”

There’s a click and a crackle. “You’d better bring her in here, Nigel.” A moment’s silence follows.

Will returns to the car and pulls off the beard and hat. “No sign of any man with a little kid in a car. They must be waiting somewhere else.”

“Okay. I’m going to get closer to the warehouse. I’ll do up my coat, and no one will pay any attention to me.” I have a dark blue parka that looks the same as hundreds of thousands up and down the country. Completely undistinctive, but with usefully big pockets. “Joanna, you’d better take this.” I hand her the receiver. “If things get really sticky, call Finn. Do not come and rescue anyone yourselves. Penny is clearly an obsessed lunatic. That makes her dangerous. She’s just admitted to killing three people who got in her way.”

It’s early twilight, so I can still see my way clearly, but it’s harder to see distinct features of other pedestrians. There are a few people around – innocent commuters or residents taking a shortcut through the area, or walking to the shops. I walk through the alleyway that leads to the industrial street housing the warehouse. My legs are shaking and I have to take some deep breaths to ease the palpitations in my chest. I pause at the end of the alleyway.

The warehouse is actually the building on my right, separated from me by a fence and a lot of greenery, but there’s no way in from here. I will need to walk across in front of it, in full view, or dodge between the fence and corrugated metal wall, fighting my way through the undergrowth. That seems to be the best option. I feel in my coat pocket for the sharp scissors that I brought with me. Going into a situation completely unarmed is always foolish, but this time my armoury will have a practical benefit too. I creep round to my right, and immediately dive into the gap. There’s space to squeeze through for about fifteen feet. The twilight is definitely helpful now, as no one would think to look for me here. A cut here, and a snip there, allows me to get to the end of the building, parallel to the alley. Then a slight gap opens up. I know there’s a back door just along from here. It was my undoing last time I was here. Hopefully, this time it will be my saviour.

I try the doorknob, but to no avail. From my other pocket, I extract a wire, and cautiously and silently insert it into the lock. The lock clicks, and I tentatively open the door. It leads me into an empty corridor, but I can hear voices emerging from an area beyond an internal door. My palms are sweaty as I edge closer.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I am finally here, in front of him, and he’s in my power. I have his child. She’s on the way here with my accomplice.

How much can I make him suffer? Should I make him suffer any further? I want him to be mine. Even now, after all this, I am still in love with him. My heart beats faster because he’s near, and my edges soften a little as I see his distress. I am weakening.

But memories flood in. The