Miss No One Mark Ayre (children's books read aloud TXT) 📖

not to mention the other. Ignoring his burst of frustration, she carried on.

“We followed your progress on a screen earlier,” said Abbie. “Saw you stop in the abandoned lot and wait. That’s when you met the second car, and the woman got into your boot, right?”

While Ndidi tried to overcome his anger and decide whether to answer, Abbie made the final turn. She slowed as she drove towards the entrance to the flat's grounds, prolonging their alone time.

“That’s right,” said Ndidi.

“But you have no idea who the woman was or where she came from?”

Ndidi’s head snapped towards Abbie. “How could I have?”

Again ignoring Ndidi’s ire, Abbie said, “I want to make it clear, we uncovered Orion’s plan before it was complete. With a single phone call, we could have prevented it. No woman would have got into your boot, and Orion, in his fury, would probably have murdered your daughter without delay.” Abbie raised a hand to Ndidi’s horror-stricken face. “I say that not to upset you, but so you understand we’re on your side. We let Orion’s plan go ahead, despite how dangerous that is, because saving Isabella is our priority, as it is yours."

Abbie pulled into the car park and slid into a space. She turned off the engine and twisted to face Ndidi.

“I still don’t get it,” said Ndidi. “What was this plan? Who was this woman?”

“Your superiors didn’t mention anything when they visited?”

“No. I could tell they were keeping something from me, but they weren’t there as colleagues. They were the police. I was the frightened father. That’s how it should be.”

“Quite right,” said Abbie. “Well, I was sure I knew who the woman was but received confirmation only when we arrived at your house, a few minutes after you returned tonight. Like I said earlier, we opened the boot, verified my suspicions, and stole away your stowaway.”

“Who was she?”

Ndidi was losing his cool. His hands were stiff but shaking his lap. It looked as if, if he tried to curl his fingers, they’d snap.

“I told you already I compiled a file on the Becker’s. It’s comprehensive, and I’ve read through it plenty of times, hence my surprise that I didn’t realise the truth sooner. The file covers everything from where Orion and his siblings were born to the graveyard where Margaret, her husband, and her youngest son are buried. It certainly has the name of the prison in which Rachel Becker is serving a life sentence.”

Looking up at the flats, Abbie let out a low whistle.

"Sorry, I've made a mess of my tenses. I should say I know the name of the prison where Rachel Becker was serving a life sentence. Until tonight. Until you helped her escape."

Thirty-One

As it earlier had for Abbie, everything clicked into place in an instant for Ndidi, the moment he knew he was dealing with a prison break.

Breaking out of prison is incredibly difficult, but with hours of planning and almost unlimited cash reserves, Orion was assured of finding a way to release his sister from her cell eventually. He may have spent every day since learning in which prison Rachel would serve her sentence devising his plan, but he never would have lost faith. He knew he’d get there in the end, as he knew, despite how difficult it would be, breaking Rachel out of prison would be the easy bit.

The justice system, the prison system, the police. They all hate prison breaks. It looks far worse having someone running around committing crimes if that person has already been convicted and should be behind bars. Orion would have known the alert would be raised the moment someone noticed Rachel’s escape. Police would be mobilised. In almost no time, they would form a net around the prison's local area, making escape nearly impossible.

The heist would slow this down. Orion’s diversion ensured the local policing area was not best placed to react to the prison breach. Compound this with the fact that no one noticed Rachel’s escape until ten minutes after she had jumped into the getaway vehicle, and the elder Becker had bought himself a little time.

But not enough.

Rachel, and the getaway driver with whom she escaped, could not hope to outrun the police for even a few hours. So what was the alternative?

Enter Orion’s genius idea.

“They had just enough time to reach me,” Ndidi muttered as Abbie all but pulled him from the car. “Then, the getaway driver sped off, and I was left with a convict in my boot.”

“Right,” said Abbie, directing Orion towards the flats. “The getaway driver will soon be caught, but he won’t say anything. Meanwhile, you drive the convict home. There’s almost no chance the police will pull you over. Even if they do, they won’t search your boot. You become the perfect mode of escape.”

“I can’t believe it,” Ndidi said. “She’s a killer, you said?”

“She’s a vile human being, just like her brother,” said Abbie. “But you can’t think of her as a convicted murderer now. You can’t think of her as a monster or a criminal or anything like that.”

They had stopped by the building’s front doors. Ndidi turned to Abbie.

“So what should I think of her as?”

“Leverage.”

By the time Abbie and Ndidi reached Christine’s door, the Detective was out of his daze. Once more, his eyes burned with anger and determination. This look was only shaken by Christine’s appearance.

“This is one of your allies?” he asked, talking to Abbie but looking at Christine. “I should have known Miss Lakes would be involved. I’d have guessed if you mentioned you had a cop on your side. If you can call her that.”

“You can call me that,” said Christine through gritted teeth. “In fact, I think you’ll find it’s Detective, not Miss Lakes. You can call me that until I decide you can call me Christine. If I ever make that decision.”

Ndidi showed no signs of backing down. He glared at the junior Detective from the hall.

“I’m trying to help you,” Christine continued. “And