The Truth Healer: A Riveting Spiritual Psychic Thriller Read online

  ‘So did you find out anything else that could help?’

  ‘Yes, I spoke to Brian, our technical manager, and he said he didn’t find them a friendly pair. He always tried to make small talk with them, but they just gave yes or no answers and tended to keep themselves to themselves. Anyway, I also did some further digging, and found out where they live from their files, and guess what?’

  ‘What?’ Lucy asked, hoping for a jewel in Brenda’s inspiring crown of research.

  ‘A friend of mine owns the building they are renting rooms in.’

  ‘Really?!…that’s great!…so do you think she will be able to tell you anything about them?’

  ‘Well yes, I have already rung her. She said they have had a few fellow Hungarian friends come and stay a few times. Just for a couple of days here and there. She had chatted to them a few times and they had divulged more to her than me, but then I suppose she is their landlord after all and not their boss.’

  ‘So what did they say to her?’

  ‘She said that they have friends in France that they visit sometimes, and when she mentioned how much she liked France, one of them said they knew people in Arrineux. At this point the other friend seemed to nudge his friend and end the conversation. She didn’t think anything of it at the time, other than that they were probably a bit private, but now I was asking her, she supposed they weren’t the most engaging of her tenants.’

  ‘So has she ever heard or seen them do anything suspicious at all?’

  ‘No, not really, but one day she visited the flat, as she was due to have a painter come in and decorate the hallway, and she found an envelope addressed to Sandor Halasz and Marton Kovac with ‘Urgent Message Flat 6’ written on it. They were not in and she was worried it was something urgent they needed to know, so she opened it.’

  ‘What was in it?’ Lucy asked, her heart now beating faster.

  ‘It was a strange message in Hungarian, but Julie being the nosy friend she is, translated it on her phone. It said ‘All arrangements made. On board 8pm - gate of car park H. Then the letter J at the end of it.’

  ‘So why would they leave a note and not text each other?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘Well I suppose texts can be traced.’

  ‘So what did she do next?’

  ‘Well, she got frightened as it seemed quite cryptic and she suspected it might be to do with drugs or something, so she put it back in the envelope and left it where it was.’

  ‘Did she say when this was?’

  ‘She couldn’t remember, but she said it was about two years ago.’

  ‘So why didn’t she chuck them out if she thought they dealt in drugs?’

  ‘She was too scared, and she thought there may have been a chance she had got the wrong end of the stick. It could have been harmless, and seeing as they hadn’t caused her any problems she decided to brush it under the carpet.’

  ‘Do you realise this could be major evidence Brenda!?’

  ‘I know Lucy, it’s a shame she didn’t keep the note.’

  ‘But at least we have something firm to go on. ..And how about Lindsey?…did you have any luck phoning her?’

  ‘Ah yes, I was going to come onto this. I did get through to her, but she denied there had been any romance between her and any of the workers. I explained to her why I was asking, but she still refused to confirm anything.

  ‘Oh that’s disappointing.’

  ‘Well, it was at first, but the following day she rang me back. She finally admitted that she was seeing one of the men….Marton….and that he did come and sit with her in the office some nights when I wasn’t at work. She was very remorseful about lying, and was actually very derogatory about him. She said he seemed to suddenly lose interest in her, and had said some disgusting things to her. He was the reason she eventually left.’

  ‘He is sounding nastier by the minute. At least she came forward in the end.’

  ‘Yes, she was very brave doing so, as she said he had threatened her.’

  ‘Threatened her about what?’

  ‘That if she told anyone about their relationship, there would be severe consequences for her.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘He said that he was due to marry into a wealthy family back in his hometown, and if his friend found out about it here, it may leak back to his future wife’s family.’

  ‘That’s terrible… poor Lindsey must have been petrified.’

  ‘She was…and still is by the sounds of it.’

  ‘I don’t suppose she had any inkling that he might have had something to do with Rosie going missing?’ Lucy asked hopefully.

  ‘No, she said she didn’t know anything about that….but I think she would be too scared to say if she did.’

  ‘So how about the cctv…..did the clown show up on it?’

  ‘Nothing clear no, but when I looked closely, there was a slither of what looked like his red hair, but it might not have been him. I also checked for any other black spots, and the footage does not pick up all along the outside of the arcade nearest the wall, and some pathways to the exits. The cameras have only ever covered the main rides in case of accidents and insurance.’

  ‘Ok, well this does give us additional credibility to our findings…. Brenda you have been amazing. I was so lost as to what to do and I can’t believe you have found out all of this information. You have motivated me no end. I’m going to get on my laptop and start delving further. I’ll call you tomorrow.’

  ‘Ok dear, speak to you then.’ Brenda replied, satisfied, but frightened, as to where this information was going to lead them.

  Chapter 14

  When Chloe arrived home from Headquarters, she sat thinking about the next stage of her mission. She felt a lot more uneasy about it, as it would mean stepping over the line from a place of relative safety into one of potential danger, not only for herself but for Lucy as well. Chloe knew Lucy was already starting to look into the fact that Rosie could have been taken to France. She just now had to push her to continue her search for Rosie and point her in the direction of Arrineux.

  She was racking her brain to find a way to get Lucy to seriously look at child trafficking in Europe, and more importantly find a link between that and the campsite. Another random e-mail would make no sense to Lucy and it couldn‘t easily be disguised as junk mail.

  ‘Think, think, think’, she willed herself on in frustration. She sat painstakingly clicking on various child trafficking articles all morning, but nothing concrete was presenting itself to her. Nothing that would be convincing enough to entice Lucy to travel to France.

  ‘The campsite…what was the name of it again?’ She looked around for her notepad. ‘Ah here it is.’ She slowly typed in the name Beaux Arbres campsite, Arrineux. After a few seconds, the campsite was mentioned, not only on it’s own official website, but amongst many travel forums as well.

  She started to read some of the reviews and they were mainly all positive, until she came across a review which mentioned ‘it had been practically empty, but that it is not surprising following the incident.’

  What incident? She scrolled down her screen desperate to see if she could find out anything more about an ‘incident’ at the campsite, until she came across the name Beaux Arbres being mentioned in a National Geographic article. As she clicked on it, she couldn’t believe what she was reading.

  A young Swedish girl, aged 7, had gone missing from this very campsite five years previously! ‘No surely not, it couldn’t have happened again at the same campsite.’ Chloe couldn’t believe the audacity of the abductors. They had to be from the same trafficking group to use the same campsite.

  As she read through the article, it described how the young girl named Annaz Gerber, had never been found. Those poor parents, she thought. At least Lucy and Tom would eventually find out what happened to Rosie…surely The Truth Circle would have to step in to help this Swedish family…they had to.

  She looked to see what issue the article came
from and it was a back issue from over a year ago, which meant the little girl was actually abducted six years ago this year. It had the title ‘Child Trafficking in Europe’ splashed across it’s front cover. She could post the magazine through Lucy’s letterbox. It didn’t matter if she questioned why she had been sent it. As long as she got to read the article, and besides, she may just think Tom had ordered it. Chloe could make sure she posted it when Tom wasn’t at home.

  This was it! This surely would lead Lucy to at least look at booking to go to France and hopefully visit the campsite. It was a start anyhow. Lucy was already making tracks herself, so this would be the nudge she needed.

  Chloe anxiously looked to see if she could order a back copy and to her delight she could. She ordered it for next day delivery, and now just had to wait patiently for it to arrive. Unfortunately, she didn’t do patient very well, so she instead started thinking ahead to her next stage.

  She paced around the lounge, trying to think about how she would be able to monitor Lucy’s movements once she had read the article. It was all well and good getting her to look at it, but it was no use to Chloe if she had no idea of what Lucy was planning to do next. How would she know if she would go, or when she would go?

  ‘Hi Tatiana, it’s me.’ Chloe said, phoning Tatiana.

  ‘Hi Chloe, how are you getting on?’

  ‘Ok I think, but I have a dilemma.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Well I have found a way to get Lucy to looking into child trafficking further. Unbelievably I have found an article showing that a young Swedish girl went missing from Beaux Arbres campsite six years ago. She has never been found.’

  ‘That is great you have found a link. Unfortunately, it is not so unbelievable when there is a potential child trafficking ring involved.’

  ‘Yes I suppose so. What I don’t understand though, is that if this was the case, surely The Met Police would have investigated this already?’

  ‘Chloe, there are hundreds of children on Interpol’s missing list. As far as the UK police are aware, this Swedish girl went missing from France. There have never been any sightings of Rosie linked to this campsite, so there would be no reason to assume Rosie would have been taken there. Also you say she has never been found, so searching the campsite has never helped the Swedish police. You have to remember that The Truth Circle is privy to information that The Met Police have not been. That is why we are sending you there to discover information they were unable to.’

  ‘Ok…I understand.’

  ‘So what was your dilemma you phoned about?’ Tatiana asked.

  ‘Oh yes…I just need to know how I am going to monitor what Lucy’s next movements are. I think I will need to put some sort of listening device in her house…..what do you suggest?’

  ‘I was wondering when you would ask me that.’

  ‘So what should I do?’

  ‘The other Truth Healers have planted small cameras in the homes of the people they are helping, to monitor them.’

  ‘So I have to break in to their house?!’ Chloe asked, with dread of her confirmation.

  ‘Yes I’m afraid so…….but remember you are doing it for The Parker’s own good and I am sure you will come up with an ingenious idea on how to do it. I will ask Diana to accompany you for back up.’

  ‘It’s not only the breaking in that worries me, but I’m useless with technology’ Chloe, sensing failure already.

  ‘It is easy…come by the office, and I will give you the equipment and let you know how to use it.’

  ‘Ok.’ Chloe replied reluctantly. ‘I will come over now as I want to put the camera in the house before I post a magazine I have ordered for tomorrow.’

  ‘Ok, see you soon.’

  Chloe drove to Headquarters to collect the camera from Tatiana, which actually turned out to be pretty idiot proof to her relief. She also picked up her new support buddy, Diana.

  ‘Here, I’ll hold the camera.’ Diana offered, sitting alongside Chloe in the passenger seat.

  ‘Thank you…I am so glad you are coming with me. I can’t believe I am actually going to be doing this.’

  ‘That’s ok…I was very nervous the first time I had to do it, but it is surprising at how accustomed you become to it, the more times you do it.’

  ‘It’s just the thought of breaking in to somebody’s house. If Josh, my boyfriend, knew I was breaking and entering, he would be horrified! Imagine if I got caught and arrested!’

  ‘Well, he never will do, and you won’t get caught. I will be on look out for you. Just keep checking your phone, in case I need to alert you.’ Diana assured her, resting a comforting hand on Chloe’s arm.

  Chloe started to feel sick as she approached Lucy’s road, and didn’t know if she could actually bring herself to do this. She pulled up opposite her house, turned the engine off and hoped she would see Lucy inside so she had an excuse not go in.

  As she glanced through her window from the safety of her car, she could just see Lucy walking through to her kitchen from the lounge.

  ‘Phew!..she is in, I can’t go in just yet!’ Chloe declared.

  ‘No, not yet, but you will as soon as she goes out. You are not getting out of it that quick!’ Diana admonished her, smirking.

  Chloe was just relieved she had time to pull herself together and be an innocent bystander for a while longer. She would soon become a person who had committed a crime, so she wanted to enjoy her unblemished criminal record for as long as possible.

  She waited outside the house for thirty-five minutes, until finally she saw Lucy leave the house with Sam. She knew her husband Tom would not be back until the evening as he was at work, so the house was now empty.

  ‘Ok, I suppose this is my opportunity to act now.’ Chloe announced reluctantly. She leant down to retrieve the camera equipment, and slowly opened her car door.

  ‘Good luck, and remember I will be looking out for you.’

  Chloe took a deep breath and looked around to see if anyone was watching her, before slowly making her way over to the house. The front door was well and truly locked, and far too visible to try and break into, so she made her way around the back. She knocked into a bin which seemed to echo with deafening loudness, in her desperate attempt to be as quiet as possible.

  She tried the side door and it failed to open. ‘Damn!…this is going to be impossible’ she grumbled, feeling the urge to turn back. She didn’t want to climb in a window as she was worried she’d get stuck just as they returned.

  She pulled back a long overhanging branch as she wandered around the back, and noticed there was evidence that Sam had been playing in the garden as there were balls left out. An empty drink carton also lay discarded on the garden table, along with a book on football. ‘Please let them have left the back door unlocked’ she prayed.

  As she lowered the handle, to her utter joy, the door opened. ‘Yes! …thank you, thank you Lord.’ She stepped inside hesitatingly, but the force of guilt and shame of intruding in someone else’s home almost prevented her from moving forwards. She had to remind herself over and over that a child’s life actually depended on her doing this, which eventually gave her the incentive to continue.

  As she crept in on tip toes, trying to make the minimal amount of noise on the kitchen tiles, she couldn’t help but notice what a beautiful country kitchen Lucy had.

  There were traces of Sam’s toys on the kitchen table and drawings adhered to the fridge with magnets. As Chloe took a closer look, she could see a drawing by Rosie of her and her family. A lump formed in her throat as she stared at the happy faces she had drawn in felt tip pen with the names mummy, daddy, Sam and me hand scrawled on it.

  In the background she could hear a clock ticking and as she caught sight of the time, she was alarmed to see if it was 4.15pm already. She couldn’t be sure when Lucy and Sam would be back, or even if Tom would come home early from work, so she had to get on with planting the camera.

  She made her way into the lo
unge and urgently scanned the room for somewhere to place the camera. There was a taupe chenille sofa adorned with aqua cushions positioned on one side of the room. Chloe really needed to make sure the camera was facing this, as Lucy would probably look at her laptop whilst sitting on it.

  On the other side, stood a regal limestone fireplace with a mantel clock and scented candles on top. There were some shelves filled with books and ornaments to the left of it, and to the right of it was a jewel stemmed lamp on an oak chest of drawers.

  Chloe thought about putting the camera amongst either of these, but she was worried Lucy would find it when dusting. She needed somewhere Lucy wouldn’t touch. She looked down to inside the fireplace and there were some fake logs in it that didn’t look like they had been dusted for a while, so she quickly placed the camera amongst the logs, facing slightly upwards.

  She did a quick check on her tablet to check it was working and the view was ok, and the picture was perfect as it took in the sofa, and to the left, the doorway to the hallway was visible. Just as she was putting her tablet away in her satchel, her phone rang. It was Diana.

  ‘Hello, what’s wrong?’ Chloe asked, slightly panicked.

  ‘Quick, you need to get out of there, Lucy and Sam are coming back!’

  ‘Oh shit really!!…ok leaving now!’.

  Just as she was about to run back through to the kitchen, she heard the disturbing sound of a key in the front door. ‘Oh no!’ she gasped. She quickly hid behind the front lounge door. As she did, she caught a glimpse of Sam entering, followed by Lucy.

  ‘I am going back outside again mum to play footie.’ Sam announced, heading straight along the hallway, through the kitchen and out in to the garden.

  ‘Ok, not for long though, as you’ve got to wash and change before you go to Freddie’s for the evening.’ Lucy called out, hanging up her coat.

  Chloe’s heart was pounding, as she watched Lucy walk through to the kitchen. This was her worse nightmare scenario! As she strained to see Lucy through the hinge of the back lounge door, she could just see her making her way out into the garden to watch Sam.