No Child of Mine (14 page)

Unsurprisingly, the traffic along the seafront was at a standstill, so setting up her Bluetooth to start tackling her personal calls she was about to contact Jason when he rang.

‘Hi,’ she said cheerily. ‘Please don’t tell me there are any technical problems, not at this late stage.’

‘OK, I won’t, because there aren’t,’ he responded. ‘Everything else we need is being delivered first thing, so we should be able to start rigging by ten.’

Feeling a bloom of pleasure opening inside her, she said, ‘Brilliant. You’re a genius. Are you home already?’

‘Just got here, and I have some news I thought you’d want to hear. I spoke to Heather Hancock from the
Gazette
earlier, and she’s going to come to the opening tomorrow.’

Amazed, and thrilled – then worried – Alex said dubiously, ‘That’s fantastic – I hope. I mean, it’ll be great to get a mention in the local paper, or even on their website, provided it’s good, of course.’

‘How can it not be when everyone who’s seen a rehearsal has said how hilarious it is? You’ve done a fantastic job with Hailey and the script, and with the staging, and the cast are naturals.’

Feeling that this might be true, Alex said, ‘They’d love to hear you say that, and actually they are pretty good for a bunch of amateurs. No, they’re better than good – they’re great. Anyway, the point is, it should be a fun evening, if nothing else, lots of laughs and a wild old party after. Is your mum coming, by the way?’

‘Absolutely, and Janice and Rick,’ he added, referring to his sister and brother-in-law. ‘They’re bringing a load of mates, remember, and the guys from rugger have all got tickets. They’re really looking forward to it.’

‘The booze-up after, more like,’ she teased. ‘Now please tell me that Heather Hancock isn’t bringing her best mate Gina, because I’ll go ...’

‘It’s OK, Gina definitely won’t be there,’ he assured her. ‘My sister offered to bring the kids, but Gina’s doing something else with them tomorrow night, so we’re in the clear.’

Managing not to express her relief too energetically, since it was so great it would have sounded offensive, she said, ‘Are you still taking them to your mum’s on Sunday?’

‘Yeah, it’s all fixed. We’ll go in the morning, in time for lunch, and stay over so she can make a really big fuss of them.’

Since she could hardly begrudge his mother time with her own grandchildren (only her son), Alex said, ‘I’m sure they’ll love it, I just wish I could be there too.’ There was no point in telling him how much she’d prefer it if he was coming with her to Gabby’s on Sunday; he couldn’t make it, but would if he could, so she needed to accept it and move on. ‘I should ring off now,’ she said, as she finally
turned on to North Hill. ‘I might be back a bit later than I expected. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way, but you should go on and eat if you’re hungry.’

A few minutes later she was on the wrong side of North Hill (the one without sea views), turning left into the drive of number forty-two. Though it wasn’t a large house compared to the massive, double-fronted B & B on one side and the purpose-built holiday flats on the other, it still managed to exude a certain Victorian grandeur, she thought, as she came to a stop in front of a double garage that had clearly been added on in more recent times. At first glance the place didn’t appear neglected: the paintwork was fresh enough and the tall sash windows were clean. However, the branches of a giant maple towering up from the back of the house almost smothered the roof and upper storey, which surely had to make the place quite gloomy inside.

Buffeted about by a brisk wind, she ran to the front porch and finding a button next to the door she gave it a push. Satisfied by the chimes that rang inside she listened for any sounds of someone responding, but as the seconds ticked up to a minute nothing happened.

She peered through the letter box. There were no lights on that she could see, but it wasn’t dark out, only stormy, and besides if there was anyone at home, they could easily be in a room at the back of the house. Or out in the garden.

She rang the bell again and turned to look down the drive to where the open gate was trapped by a tangle of overgrown bushes and the traffic beyond was speeding imperviously by. She couldn’t imagine there being much of a community around here, not with most of the properties being run as businesses and staffed by itinerant foreigners. The nearest shops were over the other side of the hill, close to the seafront, and the only park she could think of in walking distance was Nibletts, which was more of an old-age pensioners’ garden than a children’s playground. She wondered where Ottilie went to nursery – since she hadn’t managed to find one yet with Ottilie’s name on its register she was becoming concerned that the child might not attend one at all. That certainly wouldn’t be good.

Since this was part of what she was here to find out, she gave the bell another prod and stepped back to look at the upstairs windows. There was no sign of anyone, and since there were no other cars in the driveway, and the side gate turned out to be locked, she guessed she’d have to accept that she wasn’t going to get any answers today. So, taking out an official slip she rested it on top of her satchel and scribbled a note asking Mr and Mrs Wade to call her at the office or on her mobile number as soon as possible.

After posting it through the door she ran back to her car and hearing her personal mobile ringing, she quickly grabbed it from the passenger seat as she sank down behind the wheel.

‘Hi Gabby, everything OK?’ she asked, tugging loose her seat belt and starting the engine.

‘Not really,’ Gabby wailed. ‘Martin and the kids have all gone down with some bug. They’re in a terrible state, I hardly know what to do with them.’

Realising exactly where this was going, Alex felt so crushed that it was a moment before she could say, ‘Do you know how they got it?’

‘Probably from school, you know how these things go round like wildfire. Anyway, I’m sure they’ll all be fine again in a couple of days, but it’s going to mean that I can’t make it tomorrow, I’m afraid. And I don’t think the barbecue on Sunday’s likely to happen now either. Poor Martin, he can hardly stand up he’s so weak.’

Since her brother-in-law was a GP there wasn’t much point in asking if they’d called the doctor, so all Alex could say was, ‘Well, please wish them well from me, and I’ll miss you tomorrow. I guess Aunt Sheila won’t be coming either.’

‘She’s as upset about it as I am,’ Gabby assured her, ‘but there’s always next weekend, isn’t there? I know it’s not the same as opening night, and there probably won’t be a party ... Oh hang on, we’re going to a wedding next Saturday. The daughter of one of Aunt Sheila’s friends is getting married, Kathy Austin. I don’t know if you’ve ever met her.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Alex replied, feeling ludicrously dismal
as she pulled out of the Wades’ drive to rejoin the traffic. What difference did it make whether they were there or not? She was going to be so rushed off her feet she probably wouldn’t even notice, and anyway, she’d hardly have time to talk to them. And what if it turned out to be a disaster? She was going to feel pretty thankful then that they weren’t around to witness her humiliation, or try to make things better afterwards by insisting that everyone thought it was brilliant when they patently hadn’t.

Instead of driving along feeling sorry for herself, she decided, she was going to shed her disappointment like a skin right now, along with her concerns about a little girl she hadn’t even met – and all the other kids who made up the tragic circus of her caseload – and float merrily off into the weekend with no more thoughts about anything apart from the play, the party after and the fact that Jason was going to be there for her, even if nobody else was.

Erica was sitting on the bed watching Ottilie at her play desk, trying to fit the large, irregular pieces of a wooden jigsaw together. The ringing on the doorbell a few minutes ago had distracted her, but only to make her turn to her mother to see if she was going to answer. When Erica didn’t move Ottilie had gone back to her puzzle and hadn’t looked away from it since.

Brian had called to warn her that a social worker had been in touch again. ‘If they call the house, or come round, you know it wouldn’t be wise to speak to anyone without me there,’ he’d added, the mildness of his tone belying how terrified he must have been.

Terror for Erica was the void that was swallowing her up from within, pulling at her skin, her bones, crushing her heart, her very soul, sucking the blood from her veins. She could see hands growing from trees outside, waving, clawing the windows, smashing the glass to get in. Faces were in the sky, floating about her feet, emerging from the walls, their voices screaming in her head.
You killed your boy, you killed him. Kill her too. Do it now, before he comes home
.

Save her. She’s not you. Let her go
.

Coward! Slut! Wicked, evil child. Open your legs; bend at the waist; do as you’re fucking well told
.

She’s not you
.

Kill her
.

She tried to focus her gaze on Ottilie’s bent head, the wispy dark curls, and the tilt of concentration. A terrible rush of anger was swelling up inside her. She clutched her head, scratched at her face. ‘Stop,’ she screeched at the voices. ‘Stop, stop!’

Ottilie dropped to the floor, curling tightly into a ball with her bear.

Erica reached down and hauled her back to her feet. ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ she spat in her face. ‘You have to go. Go on, go,’ and shoving her towards the door she snatched up the jigsaw and hurled it against the wall.

Ottilie ran to the stairs. Her tiny legs were shaking so hard that she fell, tumbling over and over, bumping against the banister, scraping on the carpet until she reached the bottom in a crumpled, helpless little heap behind the front door.

Outside the wind was blowing savagely around the house as Brian Wade pulled into the drive and got out of his car. At the top of the stairs Erica looked down at her daughter, aghast at the snakes crawling, writhing, slithering open-mouthed towards her.

Chapter Six

ALEX WAS UP
, and at her computer, by six on the morning of opening night. No matter how crazy the day was going to be, and she was expecting it to get pretty manic, she simply had to finish off her outstanding assessments before Monday. She might also try giving the Wades another call, to show she meant business, but when she got round to it there was no answer again, and apparently they didn’t have voicemail.

By the time Jason left at eight thirty she was about done with her paperwork, so standing up for a luxurious stretch she watched him from the landing window, running through the rain down into the village where he was about to start rigging the hall. Her heart gave a flutter of love and nerves. The way he’d embraced her theatre projects since they’d been together, taking them as seriously as she did and doing whatever he could to help, made her feel so close to him, and incredibly lucky to have met him. She sometimes wondered if she let him know often enough how she felt about him, and was suddenly sure that she didn’t. This was something she was going to put right later, after the opening-night party, she decided, and seeing him turn at the bottom of the hill to look up and wave, as though sensing her watching him, she felt her heart fill up all over again.

He really was so wonderfully special.

Deciding to give the Wades another try she picked up her work mobile and redialled, but still no reply. So, scrolling through to Lizzie Walsh’s number, she pressed to connect to her colleague instead. Their looming visit to the Princes on Tuesday wasn’t really something she wanted to
discuss today, but her diary for Monday was so full that there might not be another opportunity for them to speak before it was time to go.

‘Hey, Alex, everything OK?’ Lizzie asked sleepily. ‘What time is it?’

‘Almost nine,’ Alex replied with a smile. ‘Don’t tell me you were out on a bender last night?’ Since Lizzie was probably closer to fifty than forty and had five children, two dogs and a mother-in-law, but no husband, living with her, Alex didn’t imagine pub-crawling or clubbing was really her thing.

‘What do you think?’ Lizzie chuckled. ‘A girl’s got to do something to obliterate the torments of the day. So what can I do for you? Oh, this is going to be about our fun day out on Tuesday, yes?’

‘It is,’ Alex confirmed. ‘I hope you got my text expressing my undying gratitude for agreeing to come with me.’

‘Well someone has to take care of you, and I’s a bit of a rougher diamond than you is, girl, so a bit more cut out for it. So sweet little Polly’s gone and got herself another STD, and the doctor’s earned himself a few bruises for reporting it.’

‘That’s about the size of it, though I’m not sure the police have been able to prove that yet. Anyway, all we have to do is get a sense of what’s going on in the house, if she’s having sex willingly, or being forced into it.’

Lizzie laughed. ‘That girl’s been putting it out since she was twelve, and from what I hear she’s on the game these days.’

‘And she’s only fourteen – what is the world coming to?’

Lizzie chuckled again.

‘Well, if she is on the game and sharing out her nasty little disease,’ Alex continued, ‘then lucky her, she’ll have to come with us.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Lizzie responded. ‘You going to take the lead, right, I’ll be there as backup. They less likely to mess with me, but you never know, that mother of theirs sure ain’t someone you want to get on the wrong side of. Have you ever met her?’

‘No, and I was really hoping to keep it that way, given
everything I’ve heard about her and what a charming son she’s produced. I’m still trying to find out if they’ve made any charges stick for attacking the doctor. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything?’

‘Not a word, but I’ll see what I can come up with between now and then. So what time, and where shall we meet? I suggest we only take one car.’

‘Absolutely, so let’s hook up at the Minster layby opposite Tesco, yes? Say about ten?’ Alex suggested.