Dear Darling (12 page)

Was I really empathising with her?

By the time we had the kids situated for dinner, Eli still hadn’t called or sent a text, and I was getting worried. His interview should have been over hours ago, and unless it was bad news, I know he’d have called to let me know. I hoped he wasn’t pining somewhere by himself. There would be other opportunities in the future.

I’d just sat to feed Bethany when the door flew open and I heard someone stumble in the hallway.

“Hi, honey. I’m home,” Eli slurred. He was drunk, which was something I had never seen before. I heard a loud clang, a thud, and then nothing at all. Making sure Beth was safely strapped into her highchair, I went in search of Eli. He was on the floor with the umbrella stand on top of him. He looked up at me and smiled. Shaking my head, I grabbed hold of his hands and pulled him up, tossing his arm around me to steady him as I got him to the armchair.

“You’ve been drinking,” I said, accusingly.

“I have,” he slurred.

“Why have you been drinking? Is everything okay? How did the interview go?” I kneeled to take off his shoes, throwing them behind the chair.

“I loves you soooo much, Shaff.”

“I love you, too. Now, did you get the job or not, Eli? Tell me.” He smiled the biggest smile I’d seen since the day Beth was born, and I knew right then that he’d got it.

“I’m Professor Vale,” he said in a posh cockney accent. Flinging my arms around my husband, I kissed him deeply as he fell back on the chair.

“I’m so proud of you,” I said in between kisses. His head fell back, his eyes lowered, and before I knew it, he was snoring his head off. Rolling my eyes, I made sure he was comfortable and went back to feeding Beth.

“What was all the noi—” Aaron said, coming down the stairs. Putting my finger to my lips to quiet him, I pointed to the chair. “I take it he didn’t get it?”

“The opposite, he went to celebrate.”

“That’s my boy!” he said, giving my unconscious husband a pat on the shoulder before leaving to find Jodie. Eli truly loved what he did and now he was going to be teaching others who loved it.

Sam just came home. He is so grown up; I can’t believe he is leaving to go to university soon. Please make sure that he still goes. I don’t want him to give up his dream just because he doesn’t want to leave you alone. George will take care of him, so don’t worry about him going. I know he will do well. He takes after his dad. He may not be into space like you, but he is intelligent and will go far. I wish I could be here to see him graduate.

Eli had been living in London for the last twelve weeks and it had been hard being away from him. He would travel home on the train for the weekends, but it wasn’t the same. Waiting for the sale of our house was almost excruciating, but we finally signed the papers and were able to purchase a house in Canterbury, Kent, close to Aaron and Jodie.

It was a large detached house with a spacious garden in an ideal location and I had a small support network nearby. My parents were upset that we moved so far away from them. They loved being close to me and the children, and I would miss having an on-call babysitter, but Eli needed this job and the pay was fantastic.

It had only been a few days, and there were still boxes stacked on top of boxes, and no one could find anything. I swore I’d never move again. I hadn’t realised how much we’d accumulated in such a short span of time.

“Where are my golf clubs?” Eli shouted from the hall.

“They’re in the garage, I think,” I called, questioning myself on where they were. He’d taken up golf with some of his work colleagues, I didn’t understand why anyone would want to knock a ball around a field for fun, but it relaxed him and he always came home happy. I was glad he had a hobby, I needed to find myself something now.

“Found them,” he said, walking into the kitchen with the golf bag swinging round his shoulder. “I’ll be back around five. What have you and the kids got planned today?”

“We’re going to see Auntie Jodie, aren’t we Bethy?” She clapped her hands together giggling and ran off to find her brother. She was about to start pre-school soon and even though I would miss her dearly, I was ready for the break. We’d managed to get Sam into the same primary school as George, and he was due to start next week.

“Have fun, love you.” He kissed me deeply.

“I love you. Have fun.”

An hour later, I’d managed to get the kids ready and in the car. Nobody told me that when I had kids leaving the house at the spur of the moment would be a thing of the past. It was like a controlled army drill, I had to double check I had everything before I left. We made our way to Jodie’s house, which was a ten-minute drive away. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I knew something was wrong.

The door was open, which was something Jodie never would have allowed.

“Kids, I need you to stay here for just a second. Mum will be right back, okay?” Sam nodded.

I got out and locked the doors behind me. My heart pounded hard and fast as I pushed open the door. My breath caught in my chest at the sight of the hall. The table had been knocked over and coats were strewn all over the floor. My nerves kicked in, and I didn’t know if I should go back out and call the police or check to see if Jodie and the kids were okay. It was fight or flight, and my instinct to protect my family beat the nerves. I walked down the hall, careful to sidestep the clutter, and into the living room. Again, it was in disarray. There were cushions everywhere, papers pulled from draws, and smashed glass all over the floor. It was deathly silent, only the sound of my own heart beating could be heard. A small groan broke the silence, I turned quickly to see what it was. My entire body gave way at the sight of my sister-in-law, my best friend, my family. She moved towards the door without noticing me, and stumbled, falling to her knees. She had blood splattered on her forehead and her face was dazed and confused.

“Jodie, oh my god, what happened?” I ran to her as quickly as my shaky legs could take me and kneeled to hold her in my arms.

“She took them,” she cried, shaking her head and clasping her hands over her ears as she gasped for air. Pulling out my phone with clammy hands, I dialled the police and ambulance.

“Calm down, Jodie, tell me what happened. Please, Jode, what happened?” Her tears continued to fall, and what little colour was left in her face drained away.

“She took them, she took them,” Jodie kept repeating constantly.

“Who took what, Jodes. I don’t know what you’re saying, babe. Please, tell me.” My hands shook uncontrollably as I waited for the line to pick up.

“She took the babies.” My heart stopped beating. Everything went in slow motion. Running up the stairs as quick as I could, but feeling like my feet weren’t on the ground, I searched everywhere. Nothing! The kids were gone.

Why hadn’t I understood what she was saying earlier?

Why hadn’t I thought about them?

Who took them?

My mind was a whirlwind of emotions as the line finally clicked and a woman was asking what my emergency was. I didn’t even know what to say, so I rattled off Jodie’s address and asked them to send help before hanging up.

Tears flooded my eyes, my chest tightened, restricting my breathing. Holding my hand against my heart, I tried to take deep breaths, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t catch my breath. Remembering what Jodie did for me when I had my panic attack, I took deep, steady breaths. I needed to remain strong, I needed to do this for Jodie, I had to help her like she helped me.

I ran back down the stairs and found Jodie still huddled against the wall, rocking back and forth, mumbling incoherent words. I could hear the sound of sirens in the distance.

Running quickly outside to check that my children were still safe in the car, thankful that I’d had been astute enough to lock the doors, the windows cracked for air. I could hear Bethany crying from her car seat, the mother in me wanted to go and hug her tightly, but I knew Jodie needed me more right now. I didn’t want to get them out, I still didn’t know if there was danger surrounding us, plus, the police would be here any second.

“Jode, who took them?” I asked, grabbing hold of her face in between my hands and forcing her to look up at me. Her mind had gone, she looked straight through me, fear, horror, panic in her eyes. I pulled my phone from my pocket again and dialled Aaron’s number. It rang, and rang, and rang, and I could hear the sirens getting closer. There was no answer, so I dialled Eli’s phone. I knew he would be on the golf course by now, and his phone was likely to be on silent, but I hoped that he’d forgotten, just this once I wished that he’d gone against his routine. He hadn’t.

The paramedics arrived, swiftly followed by the police. Unlocking the car, I pulled Bethany out of her car seat and held her tightly.

“Come here, Sam,” I called for my son, my voice breaking. He opened his straps and crawled over the seats, hugging me.

“Where’s George?” he asked, and the dam broke. I bit back tears and found I couldn’t speak. If I did, I would fall apart, so I hugged them tighter. Squeezing them as hard as I could.

“Miss?”

“Mrs Vale. Saffron,” I said, barely getting the words out.

“Saffron, can you tell me what happened? We can’t seem to get much from your friend at the moment.”

“Her name is Jodie, she’s my sister-in-law. We were meant to be going shopping,” I said as Bethany clawed at my face to get my attention. “I arrived and the door was ajar, so I went in to investigate. The door is never open because of the children.” I broke down thinking about the children. “George and Alisha, where are they?” The policewoman looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

“Jodie mentioned a woman. She said that ‘she took them’ do you know who would take the children?” I honestly didn’t know who would do such a thing. As far as I knew, Jodie had no enemies.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know.”

“Does she have a husband?” I nodded. “Do you have a contact number for him? We need to speak to him as soon as possible.” She took out her notepad, and I read out Aaron’s number from my phone. I hoped they could track him down. Looking over her shoulder, I could see the paramedic bringing a clearly despondent looking Jodie out of the house. I placed the children back in their car seats, asking the police officer to watch them, and went to check on my sister-in-law.

“Jodie,” I called over the paramedic’s shoulder.

“She’s in shock,” one paramedic said as they sat Jodie on the stretcher and wheeled her into the ambulance. I crawled inside after her.

“Jodie, look at me. It’s Saffy. Please look at me.” She looked straight through me.

“She took them. She took them. She took them. Saffy, she took them.” She looked at me. Her eyes wide as she came back to me. “Saff, where has she taken them?” she cried as she tried to stand. The paramedic sat her back down.

“Mrs Vale, you’ve had a severe shock and a nasty cut to your head. You need to stay seated and let us look at you.” She wouldn’t listen, though. Shrugging her arm out of their grasp, she stood, and managed not to fall as she jumped out of the ambulance. When she regained her footing, she ran to the house with me close on her heels. I followed her as she ran up the stairs, heading to the children’s bedroom. Pushing the door open, I watched as my sister-in-law collapsed on George’s bed, hugging his favourite teddy bear. The tears streamed down like a tidal wave, as she pulled her legs up, curling herself into a ball. I sat on the bed next to her and stroked her hair away, trying to soothe her.

“Jodie.” She didn’t look at me. “Who took the children?” She paused for a second, the air thick.

“Janet.” I gasped as she said the name of my mother-in-law. Shaking my head, my lips trembled, my eyebrows raised.

“Why would she take them?” I didn’t understand why she would suddenly come here. Aaron and Jodie had lived in this house for over ten years, why now? The door creaked and the police lady who’d questioned me earlier stood in the doorway.

“She wanted to see Aaron, he wasn’t here so she trashed the house and attacked me. She hit me over the head, and I fell.” She sniffed, her voice trembling. “When I came round, George.” She sobbed. “George, he was crying. She dragged him out of the house, but I couldn’t get up. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do.” The panic in her voice as she spoke grew.

“Jodie! Jodie!” Aaron burst through the door, almost taking it off the hinge. Pushing me out of the way, he picked her up off the bed, holding her tightly. “What happened? Where are the kids? What the hell is going on?” He looked between me, the police lady and a hysterical Jodie.

“Aaron,” I said, trying to remain calm. “It was Janet. She took the kids.” I would never forget the look of disdain on his face for as long as I lived. He dropped Jodie and ran out of the room.

“Aaron, come back,” Jodie screamed. I grabbed hold of her, pulling her into me tightly.

“Let him go. He will find the kids, I promise.” I rocked her back and forth in my arms.

“Miss, do you have any pictures of the children we could borrow, and a description of the woman who took them?” The policewoman gently touched my arm as I held Jodie tightly.

I guided Jodie downstairs and sat her in the chair as she clutched George’s teddy against her face.

I gathered pictures of the children and gave the police officer the best description of Janet that I could. I’d only seen her once, but I couldn’t forget those eyes. Once the police had everything they needed, I took a seat in front of Jodie’s chair and called the golf club, asking them to get someone to find Eli and tell him he was needed here immediately.

Time passed slowly as officers moved in and out of the house. The paramedics came back inside, and after some encouragement from me, Jodie let them bandage her forehead. “Saffron, Jodie,” Eli cried, bursting through the door. I didn’t even think. I stood and launched myself into my husband’s arms. “What’s going on? I left my phone in my bag when they told me there was an emergency here.” He looked at Jodie, who was back to huddling on the chair crying, and then scanned the room. “Where’s Aaron? Has something happened to Aaron?” The look of sheer horror on his face caused my heart to shatter. I didn’t think there was anything left to break, it was already broken into a million pieces by then.

“Aaron is fine,” I said, grasping his face in between my hands. “It’s the children.” I should’ve elaborated, because the fear in his eyes and the way his body shook, scared me.