Don't Let Me Go (14 page)

‘I know that, but as I’m sure she’s calling to find out how you took the suggestion of a puppy, it can wait.’

Remembering the puppy, Charlotte started to smile. ‘I wonder what she’ll call it,’ she said, glad of the change of subject. ‘I think we should let her name it, don’t you?’

He gave a playful wince as he said, ‘I made that mistake with Rick many moons ago. He wanted to call his new dog Gordon after Speed Gordon, as the character was known here – you’d know him better as Flash Gordon. I guess one of the movies had just come out, or perhaps it was on TV, I only remember that it was all the rage at the time. Fortunately we persuaded him to choose Rosie in the end. It seemed to work better than Gordon for a female golden retriever.’

Charlotte gave a splutter of laughter. ‘In Chloe’s case I can see her going either for Diesel to honour Danni’s horse, or maybe she’ll choose Wick, after her Uncle Wick. It’ll probably depend who’s around when she first sees the dog. If you give it to her she might end up wanting to call it Bob.’

‘Let’s hope not,’ he murmured as he checked who was calling him now. Letting it go through to messages again, he said, ‘Speaking of my son, have you been in touch with him this morning? I texted him earlier to ask him to ring, but I haven’t heard back from him yet.’

‘I believe he had an early meeting today, so maybe he’s still in it.’

He nodded thoughtfully. Then, bringing his eyes back to hers, ‘I’m going to be blunt again, if you don’t mind,’ he told her.

‘Carry on,’ she smiled, glancing at the tourists as they wandered past on their way out. They were still staring, and as she caught the look the woman was blazing her way her heart gave a thump of alarm. She felt convinced they were English and had recognised her.

Thank goodness Chloe wasn’t there.

‘I’ve noticed that you and Rick are becoming quite close,’ Bob was saying. ‘Not that I have any objection in principle, but if it’s anything . . . I mean, if you think it might develop into something serious between you . . .’

Letting go of the unease the woman had left her with and almost wanting to smile at Bob’s remark, Charlotte said, ‘I promise you, ours is totally a brother–sister thing – friends too, because he kind of feels like the best friend I never had.’

Bob’s colour deepened slightly as he took out his wallet. ‘That’s good,’ he mumbled, ‘because I wouldn’t want you getting hurt, and I’m very much afraid it’s about to happen to poor Katie.’

Charlotte swallowed her reply, deciding it would be wiser not to venture an opinion on that.

‘Has he said anything to you about it?’ he asked.

‘Not really,’ she lied.

He sighed gloomily and shook his head. ‘I swear I don’t know what goes on with him,’ he said. ‘I felt sure he’d put an offer on the house in Opito Bay. Still, what is it they say about taking horses to water?’

Feeling for him as they got up and walked back into the restaurant, Charlotte linked his arm as she said, ‘We were supposed to be having cake.’

He looked at her in amazement. ‘So we were,’ he cried, ‘and now here we are, all out of time. Can I take a rain check?’

‘Of course. Whenever suits you. You know where to find me.’

Smiling, he gave her a hug, paid the bill and walked her to her car. ‘Are you still doing the shoot with your mother at the end of the week?’ he asked, as he held open the door for her to get in.

‘Absolutely,’ she confirmed.

‘Good. It turned out well the last time, and it’s great that you have something you can work on together, I mean that’s apart from all the issues.’

In total agreement with that, Charlotte went up on tiptoe to kiss both his cheeks. ‘Have a good time drilling and tugging,’ she teased.

Smiling, he said, ‘I will. And if you happen to hear from that son of mine before I do, tell him I’m getting tired of waiting for his call.’

It was just after eleven when Katie’s mobile rang, and seeing it was Rick her insides gave a twisting lurch of relief, quickly followed by dread. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to say to him, but guessed that would largely depend on what he said to her.

‘Hi,’ she said quietly into the phone. If she was nice to him, friendly and calm, the worst might not happen. ‘Gemma said you were in a meeting when I rang . . .’

‘It’s finished now,’ he said, ‘but I’m afraid I can’t stay long. I’m on my way downtown to an edit. Are you OK?’

Would he be rushing if he was speaking to Charlotte? ‘Actually, I’m not sure,’ she replied. ‘I mean, well, I need you to tell me what’s going on, and please don’t say nothing, because I know you were with Charlotte on Saturday night.’

The line crackled, snatching parts of his reply. ‘. . . not a good time . . . this conversation. I’ll be home at the weekend . . .’

‘Did you spend the night with her?’ she asked, closing her eyes and fists as though to fend off the reply.

‘. . . at the bach, but . . . not what you’re thinking.’

‘So what should I be thinking?’

When he didn’t answer right away she felt her world collapsing around her. Then she realised they might have been cut off.

‘Are you still there?’ she said.

‘. . . I swear the last thing I want is to hurt you . . .’

‘So you get it on with your own sister . . .’

‘She’s not my sister and . . . Katie . . . everything wrong. There’s nothing going on . . .’

‘Then tell me you’re not about to finish with me. Tell me we’re still getting married and that you want to find a house with me.’

There was no reply again, and unable to stand it she cried, ‘You don’t even have the courage to admit you don’t love me any more. Maybe you never did. Maybe you’re someone who just plays with people, who doesn’t care about their feelings . . .’

‘Of course I care . . . Listen, Katie, I need to see you. I’ll be able to explain everything then . . .’

‘I don’t want to hear your explanations. I just want you to tell me we’re still getting married.’

Agonising seconds passed.

‘Rick, please,’ she begged. ‘Everything was all right between us until she came along . . .’

‘No, Katie, it wasn’t. She’s just . . . to see that I can’t go on lying to you, or to myself. I’m sorry, I really am . . .’

Panicked and desperate, she leapt to her feet. She couldn’t let him do this, she just couldn’t. ‘I take it you know the truth about her,’ she cried frantically, ‘who she really is and what she’s done?’

‘Katie, calm down . . .’

‘You might think you want to be with her, but I’m telling you she’s not who she says she is. Neither of them are . . .’

‘Katie, listen to me,’ he broke in forcefully. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying . . .’

‘I know exactly what I’m saying. Her name isn’t Charlotte Nicholls, it’s Alexandra Lake. She was a social worker in England and . . .’

‘Katie . . .’

‘You have to listen to what I’m telling you, Rick. She stole that child. Do you hear me? Chloe isn’t hers. She stole her and brought her here. Your parents are harbouring a criminal . . .’ She stopped, having no idea what she thought he might say to that, but all that came from the other end was silence.
She shouldn’t have said it. She’d gone too far.
But how could she pretend not to know now that she did? ‘Are you still there?’ she asked huskily.

‘Yes, I’m here,’ he replied. His tone was flat, hardly like him at all.

In the end, he said, ‘I don’t know how you’ve come to the conclusions you have, but they’re wrong, Katie. OK? They’re completely wrong.’

‘What, like I was wrong about you wanting to end our relationship?’

‘That’s another matter altogether.’

‘To you it might be, but to me it’s all that matters, and if you think I’m just going to stand back and let you run off with someone who’s not even who she says she is, who’s actually
stolen a child
, then you need to think again,’ and before he could say any more she ended the call.

Seconds later she was at the computer, shaking badly as she returned to the websites she’d found earlier. Her mobile rang, followed by her landline, but she ignored them both. She hated herself now for the way she’d begged him, and for how worthless he’d made her feel, but how much more was she going to hate herself if she called the number she was staring at on the screen?

It would be the early hours of the morning in England, but she was barely registering that. All she could make herself think about was whether she had the courage to go through with this. It was no way to get him back, but it was a way to make Charlotte Nicholls go.

What was the point of that if she, Katie, was going to be left with nothing anyway?

It took only moments for the familiar double ring of a British phone to come down the line, followed by a voice at the other end saying, ‘Dean Valley Police, how can I help you?’

Reading from the screen in front of her Katie said hoarsely, ‘Can I speak to Detective Chief Inspector Terence Gould please. I have some information I need to pass on to him.’ She could always hang up before she was connected and no one would ever have any idea she’d rung.

Chapter Eight

BOB WAS DRIVING
along Kapiro Road on his way back from the settlement when his mobile reconnected with the server and immediately rang. Seeing it was Rick he clicked on the hands-free ready to lay into him, but before he could utter a word Rick was saying, ‘Dad! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to get hold of you . . .’

‘I should think so,’ Bob retorted. ‘It’s hours since I left a message . . .’

‘And I’ve been trying you all afternoon. But listen, are you driving? If you are, pull over now.’

Experiencing a beat of alarm, Bob swerved to the roadside, saying, ‘Is it Anna? Please tell me . . .’

‘No, it’s not Anna. She’s fine, as far as I know. It’s Katie and the conversation I had with her earlier. Dad, she knows about Charlotte and Chloe.’

Bob went very still. His brain leapt into overdrive. ‘How?’ he asked grimly. ‘And please don’t tell me you told her.’

‘Of course I didn’t. What the hell do you take me for?’

‘I guess we’ll get on to that another time. For now, I need you to tell me exactly what she knows.’

‘I’m afraid I have to say everything, because she accused Charlotte of stealing Chloe.’

‘Oh Christ,’ Bob muttered, feeling a horrible darkness coming over him.

‘She also knows Charlotte’s real name.’

‘Charlotte
is
her real name,’ Bob snapped.

‘Not legally.’

‘Yes, legally. Anyway, it’s not the name that has to worry us. Has Katie told anyone else, do you know?’

‘I’ve no idea. After she told me she put the phone down and I haven’t been able to get her to answer it since.’

‘Great,’ Bob muttered. ‘Have you spoken to Charlotte about this? And the answer to that better be no.’

‘Of course it’s a no. I knew I had to speak to you first, but you weren’t answering your bloody phone.’

‘I’m a dentist on Mondays,’ Bob reminded him sharply. ‘How long ago did you have this conversation with Katie?’

‘Late morning, around eleven.’

Bob glanced at the time and groaned in dismay. It was after five now – Katie could have told anyone in the past six hours. ‘OK, I want to hear everything that was said,’ he barked, ‘starting with how it even came up.’

After running through it, as accurately as he could remember, Rick said, ‘I tried her again, only minutes ago, and she’s still not answering. I’ve got no idea where she is, whether she’s at home, or if she’s gone to a friend’s, but I think someone should go round to her flat to check if she’s there.’

‘You’re right,’ Bob retorted. ‘First though, have you tried Sarah? There’s a chance she could be there.’

‘She isn’t and Sarah hasn’t heard from her all day.’

Still thinking fast, Bob said, ‘Well at least we know she hasn’t told her. If she had Sarah would have been on the phone to Anna by now. So now the question is whether it should be me or Anna who goes round to the salon. Actually, not Anna. She doesn’t need to know about this until she has to, and we’re going to hope it never comes to that.’

‘Then get Shelley to go. She knows everything, and she’s always had a good relationship with Katie.’

‘Mm,’ Bob responded thoughtfully. ‘You could be right. Do you know where your sister is today?’

‘Not a clue, but at this time I’d say she’s overseeing the kids’ homework.’

‘Of course. I’m about to pass the house, so I’ll call in and get back to you when I have some news.’

‘OK, I’ll keep my mobile with me.’

‘Before you go, we’ll talk another time about why you’ve decided to break up with Katie, because it’s obviously played a big part in this.’

After cutting the call off, he made a quick connection to the lodge.

‘Hi darling,’ Anna said, as she answered. ‘Are you on your way back now?’

‘Almost there,’ he told her, ‘but I’m popping into Shelley’s for a few minutes.’ Realising he’d probably have to stay with the kids while Shelley went into town, he added, ‘Actually, it could be longer than that, there’s some business to do with her trust we need to go over and I’m not sure how long it’ll take.’

‘OK, no problem. Call me when you’re on your way and I’ll make sure there’s a beer waiting. Incidentally, Charlotte was very nice to me on the phone when I spoke to her earlier.’

Thankful Charlotte had no idea what was going on – yet – he said, ‘Why the surprise? She doesn’t always bite your head off.’

‘No, but she doesn’t always have coffee with you in the mornings either, so I’m guessing you had a little chat with her?’

‘Well, we definitely didn’t sit there in silence,’ he admitted. ‘What the . . . ?’ he spluttered as Danni and her friend leapt their horses over a fence into the road.

‘What is it?’ Anna asked.

‘My granddaughter’s novel way of getting a horse out of a paddock,’ he responded irritably. ‘Anyway, I’ll see you as soon as I get there, and don’t forget that beer.’

Ten minutes later, after reading Danni the riot act for her reckless behaviour, then watching her and Melly gallop off in the direction of only they knew where, but at least it was his land, he was standing in Shelley’s kitchen listening as she spoke to Katie on the phone.