The Search For Summer: The Holds End Series, #3

By Chantelle Atkins

When Bill's desire for the truth pushed Charlie into an impossible decision, he lashed out in horrifying fashion, stealing baby Gabriel and leaving Bill for dead.
Panic-stricken Charlie is now on the run with his three-day-old son. His hiding place reveals a mystery that will drive him further across the country.
Summer was involved with the set-up that pushed Charlie over the edge and she was there when he stole the baby…but where is she now?
As his band The Rebel Anthem attract a manager and a possible record deal, Bill has a lot on his mind. He cannot accept that Summer would run away and fears his own behaviour may have played a part in her disappearance.
In this dramatic climax to the YA trilogy, previous actions and decisions have consequences for all, while Bill and his friends must find Summer and baby Gabriel and finally bring a killer to justice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chantelle Atkins
• Release date: Mar 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393224396

Chantelle Atkins

Chantelle Atkins was born and raised in Dorset, England and still resides there now with her husband, four children, and multiple pets. She is addicted to reading, writing, and music and writes for both the young adult and adult genres. Her fiction is described as gritty, edgy and compelling. Her debut Young Adult novel The Mess Of Me deals with eating disorders, self-harm, fractured families and first love. Her second novel, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side follows the musical journey of a young boy attempting to escape his brutal home life and has now been developed into a 6 book series. She is also the author of This Is Nowhere and award-winning dystopian, The Tree Of Rebels, plus a collection of short stories related to her novels called Bird People and Other Stories. The award-winning Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature was released through Pict Publishing in October 2018. Emily's Baby  is her latest release and is the second in a YA trilogy.

Book preview

1

With the bloodied tea towel pressed to her face, Emily tried to focus on the phone in her hands. Her mind was foggy yet screaming with terror. Her fingers had no strength and seemed reluctant to hold the phone. Twice it slipped from her hand and hit the floor so hard she was sure it had smashed. Twice, she crouched, picked it up and started again - sliding to unlock the screen, pressing a thumb to contacts to bring up Mum, or Dad or Pete. Anyone.

Her entire body was shaking violently. She was going to vomit. She pressed the tea towel against her mouth and held back screams and bile. Her father was listed after Bill, who she had already sent flying over to Charlie’s, although surely there was no way Charlie would risk going there? But where else would he go? Where would he take her baby?

She pressed call and held the phone to her ear so tightly her fingers ached. She waited for the ringing to be answered - each second impossibly long. He’d be at work, with the phone in his pocket on silent. Emily couldn’t risk waiting any longer. There were still no sirens outside. She was still alone, and Charlie had taken the baby.

She scrolled down to Mum and hit call, then lifted the phone to the side of her throbbing, bleeding face and waited again. It was agonising. The ringing went on and on until it was cut short by the recorded voice telling her the person she was trying to get hold of was not available right now, so please leave a message after the tone. She dissolved into tears, her head bowing down to touch her knees, her eyes squeezed shut.

‘Mum!’ she barked into the phone. ‘Mum please! Charlie has Gabe! He took Gabe! He’s dangerous Mum! Mum please...please come!’

*

Pete sighed and scanned the kitchen floor of the community centre and the debris scattered across it. Somehow, he had ended up with a broom in his hands and a mess to clear up.

‘I only popped in to get the jacket I left here,’ he complained to Steve Bennet, who was pushing a stack of plastic chairs past the kitchen door.

Steve responded with a laugh. ‘You know what it’s like here, Pete! Need every bit of help we can get.’

‘I’ve got to get back in a minute though,’ Pete slid the broom swiftly across the floor, gathering the mess and herding it towards the corner. ‘I’ll do this, and the hall then scarper, all right? I’m meant to be keeping an eye on Bill.’

Steve appeared at the door, hands on hips and slightly breathless. ‘How is he?’

Pete shrugged as he swept. ‘Seems okay. You know Bill.’

‘He’ll be a star one day, you know.’

Pete paused before nodding reluctantly. ‘I know.’

Steve grinned playfully, swung around, and went back to pushing the stack of chairs to their required position. Pete rolled his eyes when his phone started to ring. Family, no doubt. He wondered when he would ever get peace from them.

He pulled out his phone. Emily. ‘Hi, Em.’

The noise he got in return would haunt him for the rest of his life. She was sobbing so desperately, so deeply, that he could feel her terror and pain pulsing through the phone. Instantly, his blood ran cold, and he dropped the broom.

‘Emily? What?’

He could hear her trying to gain control, taking deep breaths, trying to form words that would struggle through the hysterical sobs.

‘He’s taken Gabe! Charlie!’

‘What?’

Pete was already running. He passed Steve, almost crashing into him as he rushed towards the double doors. Emily was breaking down again, dissolving into breathless gasps as he dashed outside.

‘Charlie! Pete, please! Please get my baby!’

He spun in a circle, for a moment, utterly lost. What should he do? Where should he go? And then he realised, of course - Charlie’s house, and he ran.

‘I’m heading to Charlie’s now!’ he shouted back at her, breaking into a run. ‘Have you called the police?’

‘Yes! Yes! They’re not here yet! No one is here!’

‘When did this happen?’

‘I don’t know! I don’t know...he knocked me out...I was out!’

‘Don’t worry, I’m nearly there. Keep calling Mum and Dad, okay?’

‘Okay!’

Pete ended the call, and charged across Jule road and into Charlie’s close, with his phone still clutched in his hand. His eyes moved quickly from side to side, noting the lack of vehicles outside the McDonnal’s house. The front door looked like it was slightly open though, which was strange.

Pete slowed to a fast walk, looking down at his phone and bringing up Bill’s number. He pressed call and held the phone to his ear. It would be sensible to go in together, he thought. If Charlie were there with the baby, things could get out of hand. One of them might have to grab Gabriel and run for it.

As the phone rang unanswered in his ear, Pete realised he could also hear it somewhere else. He walked slowly up to the front door, moving the phone away from his ear as Bill’s tone rang out from inside the house. What the hell? He reached out, phone now at his side, as he palmed the door and moved it gently back.

What greeted his eyes was like a scene from a horror movie. The amount of blood would keep him awake for months to come. His brother was sitting in the hallway, slumped against the wall, his phone ringing urgently within his pocket. His eyes were open. His mouth hung down. His hands sat limply in his lap as if he had tried to cup and catch the blood as it flowed.

2

Emily’s hands were sticky with sweat. She had moved from the kitchen to the lounge, where she stood at the window, holding back the curtains to stare out. Every time she heard a siren she hoped and prayed it was coming for her, to help her find her baby, but each and every time, it wailed away again into the distance, and her hope faded with it. He would be long gone by now. He wouldn’t slip up. Not Charlie. He would know exactly what to do, where to go. He wouldn’t even break a sweat, she knew.

She left another desperate message for her father and checked the time on her phone. She knew that Charlie had arrived around four fifteen. He must have knocked her out maybe ten minutes after arriving, which meant she had been unconscious for around fifteen minutes, maybe longer, as she hadn’t thought to check her phone on waking. It had been an hour now. How far could a car get in an hour? Where the hell were the police? Were they already on his tail?

She found Summer’s number and pressed call, but the phone went straight to voicemail. Emily did not have the energy to leave one more distressed plea for help, so she ended the call and brought up the number for the police.

She was about to hit call when she heard the footsteps on the stairs. Oh, thank God. Someone was coming. There was an urgent hammering at the door, and she launched herself up and towards it, sobbing fresh tears as she fumbled with the lock.

Two policewomen spilled into the flat, one very fresh-faced with a blonde bun, and the other in her forties with a brown ponytail.

‘Thank God,’ Emily breathed, clutching at the door frame as her knees weakened. The older police officer took her arm gently and led her back to the sofa.

‘We’re doing everything we can,’ she told Emily. ‘We’re circulating the description of the car, so he’s not going to get very far at all.’

‘What if he hurts my baby?’ Emily sat with her hands pressed to her mouth, shaking her head. ‘He flipped. I was so scared. And Lewis! Lewis Matthews! He killed him! Charlie killed that boy!’

‘We’re going to need to take a full statement from you,’ the officer with the brown ponytail told her. ‘When are your parents home?’

‘I can’t get hold of either of them!’

The woman looked at her colleague. ‘Get on the phone, get officers down to their places of work looking for them. I need them back here asap.’

‘Have you sent someone to the house?’ Emily begged. ‘Have you checked his house?’

‘They should be there by now,’ the woman replied, standing up then as her radio buzzed at her. ‘Hang on, love. We’ll find them.’

Emily sat and watched helplessly. Each police officer was on their radio, one shouting orders for officers to locate her parents and bring them to the flat, and the other listening earnestly to a voice relaying information that seemed to alarm her increasingly. Emily felt her stomach clench. Maybe they had found them already. At the house. Maybe he had done what she’d heard men do before. Kill the children to spite the mother. She could see him doing that. She had to remember he was a killer. She had seen him brag about it with her own eyes.

Finally, the brown-haired officer put her radio away and crouched down in front of Emily.

‘They’re not at the house,’ she said. ‘But I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. It’s not your baby, it’s your brother, Bill?’

Emily’s eyes widened. Just then the front door swung open and her mother rushed in, breathless and panicked.

‘I just got your messages! What the hell is going on?’

Emily dissolved, clinging to her mother with all her might. ‘Charlie took Gabriel! And something has happened to Bill!’

*

Andy Robinson got out of his car with his phone pressed to his ear. His face was a mask of confusion. He had missed multiple calls from all three of his children and it would appear the police were waiting for him at his house. There were two cars parked in the close and PC Collins and another officer were striding purposefully towards him as he slammed his car door.

‘Andy?’ Collins called out, as he finally heard the first message his daughter had left on his phone. His face crumpled at the sound of her agony. He shook his head at the officers as they gathered around him. Their faces were sombre and serious. He felt terror hammering at his chest.

‘What’s going on?’ he asked them.

‘We need you to come with us,’ said PC Collins, stepping forward to slip his arm around Andy’s shoulders. ‘To the hospital, Andy.’

He felt cold with fear. His eyes stared. He shook his head again and looked down at his phone as if hoping for answers there.

‘My little girl?’

‘She’s fine,’ Collins replied, ushering him towards the patrol car. ‘Listen to me Andy. Viv is with Emily at the flat. It’s Bill who’s in the hospital.’

‘Bill?’

Oh God, not again. He slapped a hand to his head and let them ease him into the back seat of the car. He looked down at the phone again, utterly dazed. Collins slipped in beside him and the officer in front started the car.

‘What about the baby? Emily said Charlie took the baby!’

‘He did, Andy,’ Collins replied with regret. ‘We’re still trying to work out exactly what’s happened, but so far it’s like this. You’re okay? Listening?’

Andy sat back, head facing forwards, hands limp on his thighs. ‘I’m listening.’

It was like a dream, he thought. Slow and surreal, everything out of focus and fogged. None of it could be real.

‘It seems like Bill and his friends cooked up a plan to catch Charlie out.’

‘What? Why?’

‘We’re not really sure why yet because we haven’t got hold of Summer, but we have hauled Logan in, and according to him, Charlie told Bill that it was him who stabbed Lewis Matthews, not his father, Keiron.’

‘Well when the bloodyhell did this happen?’

Collins shook his head. ‘We have no idea right now. But the upshot is, they managed to get the confession on film. Summer showed it to Emily and not long after that, Emily confronted Charlie, who then assaulted her and stole the baby.’

Andy felt his stomach roll over. He felt sick. ‘Oh my God!’

‘When Emily came around, she called Bill who ran straight over to Charlie’s where there was an altercation.’

‘Altercation? He hurt Bill?’

Collins nodded. ‘I don’t know much more. Pete found him. Emily got through to him at the hall and he rushed over and found Bill. We’ll know more in a minute.’

Andy was dimly aware of the siren wailing. They were speeding through the estate and towards the hospital.

‘Bill,’ he said, staring out of the window.

*

‘So, Summer had the only copy?’

Emily nodded and rubbed at her temples with her fists. ‘Yes, yes, I told you. She had it still in the camera.’

‘She didn’t mention making any copies at all?’ the policewoman enquired, writing notes constantly as they went over it again and again.

Emily sat beside her mother on a hard, plastic chair in the hospital waiting room, one of Gabe’s muslin cloths clutched in her hand. Her mother kept an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her back slowly.

‘She didn’t say. She just showed it to me. You have to ask Logan! And Adam!’

The policewoman checked her notes. ‘They don’t know either, Emily. And when we call Summer, her phone goes to voicemail.’

‘You have to find her! She was on her way to the station to show you the tape!’

The woman frowned and consulted her notes again. ‘We’ve sent officers to the caravan park. Maybe she went home first.’

Emily shook her head. ‘No, she wouldn’t do that. She said she was going straight to you guys.’

‘She should have done that in the first place!’ Andy cried, throwing up his hands as the enormity of it all hit him yet again. Emily looked up and could see his every thought, as always, etched upon his face. Torment, anger, fear and confusion, as he paced the small room they had been urged into. He stopped at the closed door on each loop to stare aggressively through the glass window. ‘What the hell is taking so long?’

‘I understand this is a difficult time for you...’ Officer Collins was with them. He was the only one who could handle her father, Emily mused, watching them. She glanced at her mother, stiff and blank, her eyes wide and unblinking. She wanted to tell her she knew exactly how she was feeling. She was terrified for her son too. She closed her hands over her mother’s and they both squeezed at the same time.

‘I can’t get my head around any of this. Why didn’t they tell us?’ The anger was rising in her father again, though Emily knew he would crash back down to tears of despair right after. ‘I mean, Jesus Christ, haven’t we all been through enough? Wait til I get my hands on them! Ludicrous! Bloody idiots the lot of them!’

‘Andy...’ Viv lifted her head slightly. ‘Shouting won’t solve anything.’

He spun to face her. ‘But why didn’t they go straight to us? Or the police? They had evidence on camera for crying out loud! Why didn’t they do the sensible thing?’

‘Summer and Bill wanted me to know first,’ Emily spoke up. Her tears were now dry on her face. She had cried them all and felt numb inside. It had been two hours. Two hours and twelve minutes. They should have found him by now. They should have traced the car, tracked it down, stopped it.

‘Ridiculous!’ her father barked, spittle flying from his lips as he ended up next to the door again and peered out. ‘So, you could get arsey with Charlie and send him packing! Yeah, really clever!’

‘Don’t you dare blame her!’ Viv shouted then, trembling beside her. Emily shook her head at her. She glanced at her father and saw his face soften.

‘I’m not, am I? For God’s sake,’ he lowered his face into his hands. ‘It’s just...honestly Em, why didn’t you just leave it? Just say nothing and call the cops? What did you think would happen if you confronted him like that?’

‘I loved him.’

‘You what? What does that mean?’ 

‘I loved him Dad and I wanted him to explain it to me.’

Andy shook his head in utter despair. ‘No, love. You can’t love someone like that. He could have killed you! You find out the father of your child is a killer and you sit on your own and confront him?’ He blew out his breath, placed his hands on his hips and stared at the floor. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t just call the police there and then.’

‘Don’t you think I wish that now?’ She pulled away from her mother and stood up to face him. ‘Don’t you think I wish I could turn back the clock and do it differently? I didn’t think he’d take my baby, did I?’ The last few words climbed into a scream and suddenly her mother was there again, pulling her into her chest.

‘That’s enough,’ she said over her head. ‘You’re making things worse, can’t you see? What’s done is done! We just have to concentrate on Bill and on getting Gabe back!’ 

‘Nothing?’ Andy turned his anger on the police officers next. ‘No word? You’ve not seen his car? Nothing? All these bloody cameras everywhere these days and not a thing?’

Collins came to his side to rub his shoulder reassuringly. ‘There are officers all over the place, Andy. It’s on the local news and might even make the national. Missing babies are very big news and we’re going to want the public to help any way they can.’

‘But this is insane! Someone must have seen him by now! Someone must have seen something! A car and a baby can’t just vanish!’

3

‘This is torture,’ Andy dragged his hands slowly down his face. They were alone in the family room. He glanced to his left at Pete who was sitting beside him, arms crossed firmly over his chest. His head was low, his chin tucked down, his jaw tight. Andy dropped his hands and sat forward. His legs felt restless, unable to sit still. This was insane. He didn’t think he would be able to stand it another minute. He glanced to the right where Emily was leaning into Viv. Their heads were pressed together as Emily sobbed quietly.

‘Shall I go out there?’ Pete cleared his throat and looked at his dad. ‘Ask for news?’

Andy exhaled slowly. He wanted to say yes but something stopped him. What if it was bad news? What if that was the reason they had been left alone for so long now? Bill hadn’t made it. They were gearing up to tell them. Imagine that being your job, he thought then, staring blankly back at Pete’s waiting face. Walking into a room and telling someone their kid has died. He shuddered and felt cold all over. In his mind’s eye he pictured the scene helplessly, unable to stop himself from seeing him laid out on the bed. Sheets tucked over him. Machines all turned off. Blood soaked bandages.

He leapt to his feet and thumped one hand against the other. ‘No, I’ll go. This is bloody ridiculous this is! There must be news on one of them!’

He spun to face the door just as a black and white figure approached and opened it. Andy stood back, fearing the worst and there was a collective gasp of horror and wonder from behind him. It was Collins.

‘No news on Bill,’ he said instantly, sensing their terror. ‘I’m just about to go and ask,’ he held up a hand, attempting to calm Andy before he exploded. ‘But I just heard some news about Charlie.’

Another gasp. Emily was on her feet, hands pressed against her face. ‘Have they found Gabe?’

Collins held up both hands now. His young face was drawn and serious. ‘No, but they have found the car.’ 

‘The car?’ Andy frowned. ‘Just the car?’

Collins nodded. ‘The car was located parked down a country road just on the other side of Dorchester. Very rural. Middle of nowhere. Police helicopter spotted it. But,’ he looked regretfully at Emily, ‘no sign of Charlie or the baby. There are cars heading there now. Multiple forces on the ground. If they are travelling on foot in the area, they will be picked up very soon.’

‘What else is there?’ asked Emily, her face white. ‘You said the middle of nowhere.’

‘It’s nowhere near the coast, or any major rivers or anything like that, if that’s what you’re thinking. Nowhere near major roads or bridges either. Just literally villages and farms and land. Lots and lots of land.’

‘Why the hell would he drive there?’ Andy demanded.

Collins looked unsure. ‘We have no idea. They’re running backgrounds checks on all his nearest and dearest. So far, we haven’t found any relatives out that way or anywhere near. There are officers with his aunt and cousins and so on. We’re not leaving any stone unturned, Andy, believe me. But so far it looks like this,’ Collins took a deep breath before continuing, ‘Charlie took the baby at roughly four fifteen, although we can’t be exactly sure. We assume he then drove straight to his house, where he was tackled by Bill. It’s pure luck that Pete thought to run over there. The car was next spotted going through Poole and then we lose track until the helicopter spotted it on the other side of Dorchester.’

‘Someone met him there,’ Pete said. ‘He must have arranged something. He can’t just have vanished.’

‘Did he run out of petrol?’ Emily asked, in hope.

‘Nope,’ Collins shook his head. ‘Half a tank left. No punctures or anything else obviously wrong with the car. We’ve got dogs out there, but they’ve not picked up a scent yet so yes, Pete, you’re thinking along the same lines we are. Someone picked him up.’

‘Where there are no cameras...’ Viv sucked in breath and closed her eyes, before reaching out and gripping Emily’s shoulder just as she crumpled again.

‘Bastard planned it?’ Andy shouted. ‘But how could he? He didn’t have enough time! He didn’t know Emily had seen the tape! He didn’t know there was a tape!’

‘He must have phoned someone,’ Collins went on. ‘And we’ll be checking the phone records too. But this is what we think. During the drive from Emily’s to the estate Charlie called someone who arranged to meet him and pick him up. So, at the moment, the difficulty is that we have no idea what car they are in, or who they are with.’

‘What about his phone?’ Pete demanded. ‘Charlie’s phone? Can’t you trace that?’

‘Not yet,’ was the reluctant reply. ‘It might be turned off or he might have got rid of it.’

The door opened behind Collins, bumping into him roughly and pushing him forwards. He caught his balance and spun around to face a flushed faced doctor with dark blonde hair tied up in a messy bun.

‘Oh sorry!’ she exclaimed. ‘But we’ve got news on Bill!’

She closed the door behind her, and an expectant hush seized the room.

‘It’s okay,’ she told them. ‘He’s doing well. We’ve managed to stop the bleeding.’

Andy dropped his head backwards before sagging dramatically against Pete, who patted his shoulder clumsily.

‘Can we see him?’ Viv edged closer to the doctor, fingernails hooked between her teeth.

‘Just one or two of you I’m afraid,’ the doctor replied. ‘He’s still unconscious but I can take you to him now. He’s lost a lot of blood so he’s very weak. We’ve got him on a saline drip to replace the fluids.’

‘Where did the knife get him?’ Andy asked, his lips trembling now behind his hands.

‘Aside from the skin and muscle damage, the only other area affected was his right lung.’

‘Oh God,’ Andy moaned. ‘Not again!’

‘Yes,’ the doctor smiled patiently, ‘it’s the same lung that was damaged last time. In many ways though, this is a preferable place to get stabbed. The damage would have been far more serious had the stomach or the heart been punctured.’

‘Will his lung be okay?’ Emily asked breathlessly, tears running down her face.

‘Yes,’ the doctor nodded brightly. ‘We’ve reinflated it. It’s no more serious than last time. Like I said, as horrible as it sounds, a collapsed lung is probably the best outcome you can wish for if someone is stabbed. Do you want to come and see him now?’

Andy nodded, removed himself from Pete and followed the doctor out of the door. Viv eased Emily onto Pete and did the same. Together, they followed the doctor down the corridor towards a room at the far end. There was a window at the end of the corridor and the sun blazed through it, making all three of them lower their eyes. As they reached the door, Andy took Viv’s hand and held it.

‘Okay,’ the doctor said, letting them in. ‘As you can see, he looks pretty terrible with all the tubes and machines, but I can say with confidence that we are out of the woods. He’s stable. We’ve replaced the blood he lost, and no major organs were damaged other than the lung.’ She smiled appreciatively at their shocked faces.

‘It’s like last time,’ Andy whispered, one hand fluttering to his mouth. He pressed it to his lips and swallowed tightly behind it. ‘It’s like that, all over again.’

He felt Viv squeeze his hand before easing her fingers free. She walked slowly over to the bed, sobbing quietly, and pulled up a chair. Andy watched as she picked up Bill’s limp hand and held it between both of hers.

‘I’ll give you a bit of time,’ the doctor said to him gently. ‘He won’t wake up for a few hours though.’

Andy turned and offered her his hand. ‘Thank you, love, thank you for everything you’ve done for him.’

She shook his hand, grinned, and slapped his shoulder. ‘You’re very welcome. I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

The door swished shut behind her and Andy traipsed slowly to the other side of the bed. He lowered himself to the chair and felt dazed, as if in a dream. The sense of deja vu was staggering and disorientating. He picked up Bill’s other hand and kissed it.

‘Just like last time,’ he uttered. ‘Probably same bloody room.’

‘He looks tiny,’ Viv murmured. ‘He looks so young.’

‘Helpless,’ Andy agreed, before covering his eyes with one hand. ‘Stupid