hangers, neat stacks of vests and underwear, shoes, games, toys. Everything that should have been in there except Charlie.
Kate left the wardrobe hanging open and hurried from the room. ‘Charlie? Where are you?’ She no longer needed to keep her voice down. ‘Charlie? Hayley? Come on, guys!’ She ran back into the living room, then the kitchen, then back to the bathroom. The thought striking her that they might have gone into her own bedroom for some reason, she checked there too. Every room in the flat. Empty. Nobody home.
Don’t panic. Stay calm. Think about it rationally.
Where could they be? Maybe Hayley had taken him out somewhere. Perhaps he’d been acting up, or couldn’t sleep. Surely she wouldn’t have taken him with her to a pub? Or what if something was wrong? What if he’d tripped and fallen over or knocked into something because of his sight, and been somehow injured and Hayley couldn’t reach her on her mobile, and she’d needed to get him to the hospital? Now you’re catastrophizing , Kate thought. But she couldn’t help it. She was the mother of a sick child.
She ran outside, turned and skirted the plain red brick wall of the building, turned again and gazed breathlessly up and down the little lane at the back that served as a parking area for herself and the residents of neighbouring flats. Hayley drove an old nineties’ Fiat Punto with faded red paintwork, the plastic trim missing from the front left wheel and scuff marks along the wing from a low-speed argument with a wall. The car was there, its one naked wheel and scrape damage distinctive and unmistakeable in the glow of the nearby streetlight. Kate stared at it for a second as she deliberated about what that meant.
Okay, so Hayley hadn’t gone off in the car. But she might have taken Charlie somewhere on foot. And the car’s presence still didn’t preclude the possibility, no matter how remote and unlikely and irrational and unthinkable, that they’d been taken off in an ambulance …
Panicked at the idea, Kate ran back inside her flat. What should she do now? Call the police? Call the hospital? No, call Hayley’s mobile. That was the logical next step. She dashed into the living room and snatched up her landline phone, called up the menu of pre-entered numbers, scrolled down the alphabetical list until she found HAYLEY MOB and hit the dial button and pressed the handset hard to her ear, tense and waiting.
After a pause, the dial tone started up. Then Hayley’s mobile began to ring. Just three feet away from where Kate was standing, in the living room.
Kate stared bewildered in the direction of the ringtone, then rushed over to find Hayley’s bag lying on the floor, out of sight down the side of the sofa. She dropped to her knees and felt inside the bag, found Hayley’s Nokia among the other items such as her purse and keys, and fished it out. It was still ringing. Kate ended the call on her own phone, and the Nokia went silent. She replaced it inside the bag.
Okay, so Hayley had gone off without her bag, without her phone and without any money. But that still didn’t mean …
She was still wildly trying to figure out what it did or didn’t mean when the landline phone started ringing in her hand. She fumbled it to her ear and answered, in a voice that was tight and quavering with nerves. ‘Hayley? That you? Where are you?’
But it wasn’t Hayley.
‘Hello, Helen ,’ said the familiar voice on the other end of the line.
Nine
‘Expecting to hear from me, were you?’ Geoffrey’s voice said in her ear. She could hear the smile on his lips.
She gripped the phone tightly. ‘What do you want?’
‘The same thing as you,’ he said. ‘To meet up again. We need to straighten things out, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I want my stuff back.’
‘Of course you do. Why don’t you come and get it?’
Kate swallowed. ‘I – I have things to do. It’s late,’ she said. Glanced involuntarily in the direction of
Kate left the wardrobe hanging open and hurried from the room. ‘Charlie? Where are you?’ She no longer needed to keep her voice down. ‘Charlie? Hayley? Come on, guys!’ She ran back into the living room, then the kitchen, then back to the bathroom. The thought striking her that they might have gone into her own bedroom for some reason, she checked there too. Every room in the flat. Empty. Nobody home.
Don’t panic. Stay calm. Think about it rationally.
Where could they be? Maybe Hayley had taken him out somewhere. Perhaps he’d been acting up, or couldn’t sleep. Surely she wouldn’t have taken him with her to a pub? Or what if something was wrong? What if he’d tripped and fallen over or knocked into something because of his sight, and been somehow injured and Hayley couldn’t reach her on her mobile, and she’d needed to get him to the hospital? Now you’re catastrophizing , Kate thought. But she couldn’t help it. She was the mother of a sick child.
She ran outside, turned and skirted the plain red brick wall of the building, turned again and gazed breathlessly up and down the little lane at the back that served as a parking area for herself and the residents of neighbouring flats. Hayley drove an old nineties’ Fiat Punto with faded red paintwork, the plastic trim missing from the front left wheel and scuff marks along the wing from a low-speed argument with a wall. The car was there, its one naked wheel and scrape damage distinctive and unmistakeable in the glow of the nearby streetlight. Kate stared at it for a second as she deliberated about what that meant.
Okay, so Hayley hadn’t gone off in the car. But she might have taken Charlie somewhere on foot. And the car’s presence still didn’t preclude the possibility, no matter how remote and unlikely and irrational and unthinkable, that they’d been taken off in an ambulance …
Panicked at the idea, Kate ran back inside her flat. What should she do now? Call the police? Call the hospital? No, call Hayley’s mobile. That was the logical next step. She dashed into the living room and snatched up her landline phone, called up the menu of pre-entered numbers, scrolled down the alphabetical list until she found HAYLEY MOB and hit the dial button and pressed the handset hard to her ear, tense and waiting.
After a pause, the dial tone started up. Then Hayley’s mobile began to ring. Just three feet away from where Kate was standing, in the living room.
Kate stared bewildered in the direction of the ringtone, then rushed over to find Hayley’s bag lying on the floor, out of sight down the side of the sofa. She dropped to her knees and felt inside the bag, found Hayley’s Nokia among the other items such as her purse and keys, and fished it out. It was still ringing. Kate ended the call on her own phone, and the Nokia went silent. She replaced it inside the bag.
Okay, so Hayley had gone off without her bag, without her phone and without any money. But that still didn’t mean …
She was still wildly trying to figure out what it did or didn’t mean when the landline phone started ringing in her hand. She fumbled it to her ear and answered, in a voice that was tight and quavering with nerves. ‘Hayley? That you? Where are you?’
But it wasn’t Hayley.
‘Hello, Helen ,’ said the familiar voice on the other end of the line.
Nine
‘Expecting to hear from me, were you?’ Geoffrey’s voice said in her ear. She could hear the smile on his lips.
She gripped the phone tightly. ‘What do you want?’
‘The same thing as you,’ he said. ‘To meet up again. We need to straighten things out, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I want my stuff back.’
‘Of course you do. Why don’t you come and get it?’
Kate swallowed. ‘I – I have things to do. It’s late,’ she said. Glanced involuntarily in the direction of
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