When Phoebe looked into the face of the next soldier, all she saw was herself reflected back. It wasn’t until the soldier spoke that Phoebe realised it was a she. ‘Go into the kitchen with your mum and dad, love. And don’t worry, everything’s gonna be okay.’
Phoebe glanced out through the kicked-in front door. The yard was full of military machinery. There was some kind of truck blocking in the Zafira, and a jeep on the road with a soldier manning the kind of massive machine gun she’d only ever seen in films before. There was another vehicle too. It looked like her old school minibus, all done up in army colours.
The entire family was rounded up in the kitchen. They stood next to each other in front of the huge hole Scott had knocked in the wall, feet crunching in the brick dust and plaster, the closest they’d been to each other all morning. There were soldiers standing either side of Scott, ready to restrain him if he kicked off again. ‘What the hell’s this about?’ he demanded, spitting the words angrily at the intruders.
‘Don’t be alarmed.’
‘Don’t be alarmed? Fuck’s sake, you break into my house carrying guns and wearing fucking facemasks and suits, and you tell me not to be alarmed?’
‘Please…’ Michelle said, clinging onto George with one hand and trying to hold onto Phoebe with the other. ‘What’s happening…?’
‘If you’d like to come with us,’ another soldier said, standing to one side, opening a clear passage through the ranks. Jesus, Michelle thought, how many of them are here?
‘I’m not going anywhere until you fuckers tell me what’s going on,’ Scott said, standing his ground. His resistance didn’t last long. With a nod from the commanding officer, two soldiers hauled him outside. He protested at first, struggling to get free, but there was no point.
The others were ushered out. Michelle walked across their suddenly chaotic yard, looking around in disbelief. High overhead, three helicopters circled Thussock like birds of prey, and in the fields on the other side of the road she saw a long line of similarly suited figures moving across the land. They looked like they were combing it, hunting for something. It reminded her of the people they’d seen from the hills when they’d first arrived in Thussock. And every soldier she could see – every last one of them – was armed.
They were loaded into a van. She sat down with Tammy and Phoebe, George perched on her lap. Scott was a few seats ahead, still seething. He made fleeting eye contact with the others, but that was the limit of their communication.
The back of the van was more secure than she’d expected: a metal division between those in the front and their passengers behind, just a small rectangular hole cut into it at driver’s eye level. It was stiflingly hot and claustrophobic. Dogs die in hot cars, was all she kept thinking.
Scott pressed his face against the glass and watched the soldiers crawling over his property. They were everywhere now – visible in all the windows, checking the garage and outbuildings, disappearing around the side of the house and rummaging through the garden, sticking their noses into places he hadn’t even looked yet. What the hell were they after? After what he’d already seen this morning, he didn’t want to know.
The back of the van was slammed shut and they began to move. Michelle looked over at Scott, hoping for some reassurance but getting none.
Minutes later and they neared the bus shelter, travelling as part of a convoy with other vehicles. Scott was less concerned with all the military might now, more worried about how the girls would react if they saw their father’s butchered body lying on the verge. He didn’t know what to do. Did he try and distract them, or not bother and just let Tammy and Phoebe see Jeremy lying there in his blood-soaked, naked glory. He cursed himself. Should have thought about this. He was sitting on the wrong side of the van. If he’d sat where Michelle was he’d have been able to block their view. As it was, he had no chance.
Except it didn’t matter.
Jeremy’s body had gone, a grubby crimson-brown stain on the grass the only indication he’d ever been there. There were more soldiers here, a crowd of them gathered around the back of a military ambulance.
Fortunately there was enough of a distraction on the other side of the road to keep Michelle and the girls looking elsewhere. The van lurched to a halt opposite the cottage where the twins lived. More soldiers surged towards the house, a replay of the procedure they’d followed at the family’s home. When they hammered on the front door it was opened almost immediately, no need to force entry. Scott watched as the twin who answered instantly crumbled with fear. She disappeared from view momentarily, pushed back into the house, followed by ten hazmat-suited soldiers, only to reappear a short time later, hand in hand with her sister, walking together like frightened little kids. The back of the van opened and the two of them climbed inside.
The routine was repeated again a few minutes later. Scott didn’t recognise the older man and woman being bundled into the van this time, but Michelle clearly did. He acknowledged both her and the twins. ‘What’s going on Dr Kerr?’ one of the twins asked, sobbing with fear, barely able to speak.
‘I wish I could tell you, Jeannie. Anyone else have any idea?’
‘They took us from our house, same as you,’ Michelle said.
‘It’s Mrs Griffiths, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘We met at the surgery last week.’
‘Yes. These are my daughters, Tammy and Phoebe. That’s my husband Scott in front of you.’
Scott looked over his shoulder and Dr Kerr nodded.
A couple more stops and the van had almost reached capacity. As they drove further into Thussock, the doctor tapped Scott’s arm. ‘Any ideas?’
‘Not a clue. You’re a GP, right?’
‘Your GP, I believe. Your wife came into the surgery to register the family. It’s not usually like this round here.’
‘I’ve only got your word for that.’
‘We’ve never had anything like these deaths before… all of this must be something to do with the murders.’
‘I’m not so sure they were murders,’ he said.
‘Well they’re not suicides,’ the doctor replied, ‘I can tell you that much. I saw a couple of the bodies myself.’
‘Me too. Listen, can I talk to you in confidence?’
Dr Kerr looked concerned. He patted his wife’s hand and smiled at her. ‘Give me a minute, love,’ he said and he changed seats, shuffling up next to Scott. ‘What is it?’
Scott checked Michelle and the girls were out of earshot. He leant closer to the doctor and kept his voice low. ‘We had an… incident at the house this morning.’
‘What kind of incident?’
‘My wife’s ex-husband turned up… he practically forced himself onto her.’
Dr Kerr was confused, his weather-beaten brow furrowed. ‘Sorry to hear it, but what’s that got to do with anything?’
‘They don’t know this yet,’ he warned, ‘so keep it to yourself, right?’ The doctor nodded, and Scott continued. ‘We had a fight and I left her ex lying in the yard while I went to sort out the wife and kids. Things were crazy, you can imagine. Little while later, one of the girls notices he’d gone…’ Scott paused, unsure. Had he really seen what he thought he’d seen earlier or just dreamt it? Was he as mad as he now sounded? ‘I went out in the car to look for him.’