Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

earby when the young girls have vanished. Nobody has found any trace of a struggle, heard any argument, or screams, or noticed anything unusual about the girls’ behaviour before they vanished.”

“They simply disappeared off the face of the earth?” Oliver asked, his brows lifted in astonishment. He shook his head, totally disbelieving of it. “There has to be something.”

“I know,” Sir Hugo replied with a knowing nod. “It is up to you to find it. I don’t care whether it is a broken twig out of place on a tree, or a tiny scrap of an apron string. Find it. I want whoever is snatching girls off the streets found, and quickly.”

“The four – five – who have vanished are all from the same village? Do they have any family link?” Oliver demanded.

“As far as I am aware there is no family link. Two are from different villages in Derbyshire. Two others are from the same village in Leicestershire - Brecester. The boy is from the Leicestershire/Derbyshire border; a place called Umperley, I believe,” Sir Hugo replied having read the place name from Weeks’ letter.

“Do we have descriptions?” Angus asked with a heavy scowl.

“Yes, but weeks will give you more information on all of that,” Sir Hugo replied. He took to pacing before the fireplace, anxiety evident in the stiff set of his shoulders and heavy tread on the floor.

“Do you think this may be murder?” Justin asked as he studied his boss’s unusually tense features.

“As good as,” Sir Hugo replied briskly. He shook his head and sighed. “I have a daughter not much younger than the oldest victim. It strikes home.”

“How old are they?” Justin asked. “The victims, I mean.”

He knew Sir Hugo had six children in all, and thought they were all in their teens or early twenties now.

“The oldest is four and twenty, the youngest eleven,” Sir Hugo reported. “The victims, that is.”

“That’s a huge age gap,” Oliver murmured thoughtfully. “I wonder why the ages are so random?”

“When you are rested, I want you all off to Leicestershire. Go and see Weeks. He will give you more information on who has vanished, when, what they were doing when they were snatched, and give you more details of what his men have done so far. As far as I know, his men have not got anything much to go on, so it would be best for you to start afresh. Do whatever you need to do. Just get this kidnapper caught. I want to know where those young people are and get them returned to their families as quickly as possible,” Sir Hugo ordered briskly. His face turned dour. “Dead or alive.”

“Yes sir,” Jasper replied as he rose out of his seat.

Sir Hugo suddenly stopped pacing and looked at his men. “I don’t want to interrupt your rest period, but the faster you can get moving on this the better. If this is kidnap and not murder, we don’t want this kidnapper moving his victims too far away from home.”

“When did the first victim get taken?” Angus asked as he watched Jasper, Oliver, and Niall prepare themselves to leave.

“That’s just it,” Sir Hugo replied darkly. “They have all been taken over the last ten days. I don’t want many more disappearing, understand?”

Aaron ran a hand down his face and looked at his boss. “Are we all to go?”

“Everyone. I want every man available on this case,” Sir Hugo replied sternly.

“I thought we were the only ones available,” Oliver replied dryly.

“You are. So, get going,” Sir Hugo said with a small smile.

Angus rolled his eyes and followed his colleagues toward the door.

“I want reports as soon as you get there. Keep me updated on this one. I will have men on standby in Derbyshire if you need them. They are busy with the burglary case going on in the big houses up there and are about to catch their culprit. It might take them a few days to get to you if you need them, so you are mostly on your own in this. I would send them, but there isn’t the time to waste.”

Minutes later, Sir Hugo stood in the yard at the back of the house, and watched his men mount their horses. He was a little surprised that they didn’t argue about leaving but was pleased they understood the urgency of the case.

“Do you think you should get Barnaby to oversee this?” Simon Andrews, his right-hand man, murmured when he came to stand at his elbow.

Sir Hugo shook his head. “They don’t need it. They know what they are doing. Look how swiftly they caught those muggers. There is a credible leader in Justin. I don’t doubt he will take the lead on this. Besides, Barnaby is up to his knees with the new baby and the burglary case. He doesn’t have the time spare to help with this investigation.”

“You think it is a local, don’t you?” Simon murmured.

“Local to Leicestershire or Derbyshire, most probably. However, you know from Sayers just how wide some networks can go. We can’t become complacent and rule anything out until we have more facts. These young girls could have been snatched for slave labour, depravation, have been targeted by a killer, or are being held captive for a ransom for some strange reason.”

“Are they from wealthy families?” Simon murmured as he watched the last of the men ride out of the compound.