Eye Spy (10 page)

“OK, Mrs B, I've got the little blighters!” said the security man, grabbing my arm with one huge hand, and Donna's with the other. “Read 'em the riot act, shall I, and see ‘em off the premises?”

“We should call the police!” said Mrs B. “They're trespassing!”

“Look a bit young to be industrial spies,” said the security man, grinning. “But if that's what you want…”

“Hang on a minute!” I protested. “We're not intruders. We walked in through Reception like all those reporters. We just want to see Diane Fairchild.”

“Yes,” Donna broke in. “She knows us. We're family.” She practically spat out the last word.

Just then the door marked ‘MANAGING DIRECTOR' opened and Diane herself appeared, looking angry. “What's all this noise?” she demanded. Then she saw us and her expression changed

“Don't worry, Miss Fairchild, it's all under control,” said the guard, squeezing my arm even tighter, but Donna wasn't going to be fobbed off.

“You have to speak to us,” she said. “If you don't, we'll make trouble for you, Annie!”

Mrs B looked outraged. “How dare you threaten Miss Fairchild…” she began, but Diane didn't let her finish.

“It's all right, Olive. I'll deal with this. Scott, let them go. You two – in here!”

She swept us both into her office, and closed the door firmly behind us. Then she sat down in the leather-covered swivel chair behind her huge desk and stared hard at us. She was frowning, and for once she looked unsure of herself. Finally she said, “Ian was the only person who ever called me ‘Annie'.” For a moment her eyes seemed to stare through us at a past that only she could see. Then she shrugged as if she was putting aside her memories, and turned her attention back to us. “So now you've discovered who I am,” she said.

“Yes, Mother!” said Donna.

She flinched. “Look, I don't want to criticise your father, but it wasn't my idea to tell you I'd died. If it had been up to me, you would have been told the truth. You still didn't know, did you, when we met at the school?”

I shook my head.

“So how did you find out?”

I glanced at Donna. Her eyes were all glittery, and she was breathing fast. She was a ticking time bomb. I launched into an explanation, praying she wouldn't interrupt me.

“When we suggested to Dad that he should show his new design to Holtech, he went ballistic. There had to be a reason. People had been saying things about you that didn't make sense, and Nan refused to discuss you. We decided to look for some answers. That was when we found Dad's letters to you, and your reply…” My voice tailed off.

“And now you've found out the truth, you think I'm some sort of monster, is that it?”

“How could you!” Donna yelled, so suddenly I jumped. “How could you abandon two newborn babies?”

Diane's gaze wavered for a moment. You could tell Donna's accusations were getting to her, but she didn't lose her temper. Instead she said coolly, “If you've read my letter to Ian, you know the reasons. Back then I wouldn't have been a good mother.”

Donna placed her hands on the table and leant forward, glaring at Diane. “So how come you're pregnant now? Are you going to give this one away too?”

Diane flinched. “This time it's different. This time I can afford a nanny, so I won't have to give up work, and Lionel's very supportive. Nobody's going to lose out this time.”

Least of all you
, I thought. I could see why Donna was so upset, but I couldn't help feeling we were all better off without Diane. All she cared about was Holtech and her career. I began to feel sorry for the new baby, when it was born.

“Look,” I said, trying to calm things down. “Never mind what happened all those years ago. All we want now is for you to have a look at Dad's robot. It's his best invention yet, and I know it's a winner. We aren't going to make a fuss about anything else,
are
we, Donna?”

Donna didn't say anything; she just went on glaring at Diane, who shrugged. “I've already told you I'll consider it, but it doesn't sound as if Ian is ready to deal with Holtech yet.”

Just then, the door opened and a man came in. It was the same man who'd come to the school with Diane, and again I got the feeling I knew him from somewhere. He was wearing a worried frown.

“Is anything the matter, darling? I heard there'd been some trouble.”

I realised this must be the new husband. “Nothing I can't handle,” Diane said, but she looked relieved at the interruption.

“The design team are waiting in the Boardroom,” he said. “Are you sure you feel up to it?”

“Stop fussing, Lionel!” she said impatiently. She turned to us. “I'm afraid if Ian won't co-operate, there's nothing I can do to help him. See if you can make him change his mind. Now, I really must go.” She rose from her chair and walked towards the door, which Lionel was holding open for her. “Lionel will show you the way out,” she said over her shoulder as she disappeared out of the room.

Lionel's gaze flickered over us briefly. I could tell that although he was looking at us, he didn't really
see
us; his mind was somewhere else. It was plain he didn't have any idea who we really were. Diane obviously hadn't told him about her secret past.

“Right, then,” Lionel said. “Follow me!” and he walked out into the corridor.

I don't know what made me do it, but before we followed him, I picked up one of Diane's business cards from a small rack on the desk and put it in my pocket. Then we were walking back down the corridor, across the lecture hall and through Reception, where Mrs B glowered at us as we passed her desk.

The automatic doors opened to reveal steel-grey skies and a steady downpour. “Dear me, rain again. You'd better hurry or you'll get soaked,” Lionel said. He gave a brief, dismissive wave, and then turned on his heel. As the doors closed behind us, he was already striding back the way he'd come.

As we hurried down the slip road and off the industrial estate, Donna's anger finally surfaced. “She's a selfish cow!” she burst out, as Holtech disappeared from view. “I'm glad she left! Who'd want a mother like that?” When I didn't immediately agree with her, she stopped dead in her tracks and glared at me. “Don't tell me you've fallen under her spell too, like that grovelling husband of hers!”

“Don't be stupid, Donna. It's just…” I struggled to put my thoughts into words. “I'm glad she left. She wasn't right for Dad. She would have made him miserable. But that doesn't make her a monster.”

It was the wrong thing to say. “Don't you think he's miserable now?” she yelled, her face all shiny with raindrops and tears. “He's been miserable ever since she left! And what about us? Didn't we deserve a mother? Don't you dare take her side!”

“Donna…” I began, but she was in full flow now, and nothing would stop her.

“Any normal person would despise her for what she did to us, but oh no, not you! You're unnatural! Well, if you think she's so wonderful,
you
can be friends with her. I don't want anything to do with either of you!” And she ran off down the road, splashing through the puddles, oblivious to everything but her fury and unhappiness.

I didn't try and stop her, because I still had a stitch from running after her earlier, and anyway, I knew it wouldn't do any good. I carried on walking as quickly as the pain in my side allowed, back towards Lea Green. I'd almost reached there when a battered old Fiat turned left out of the school gates and pulled up just short of where I was standing. A face peered out of the window, and Miss Wren's voice called out, “Alex, are you all right?”

She looked hard at me and answered her own question. “No, of course you're not. Come in out of the rain.” She opened the door for me to get in, then she drove on a little way until we were well clear of the school. She drew in to the side of the road and switched off the engine.

I waited for her to give me the usual lecture on bunking off, but instead she said, “Did you find Donna?”

I nodded.

“And then you both went to Holtech.” It was a statement, not a question.

I stared at her. “How did you know?”

“Someone from Holtech rang the school to say two students in Lea Green uniforms had barged into a press conference.”

I silently cursed Olive Bluerinse. Without her, we could have made some excuse for disappearing. Now Bull would throw the book at us.

Miss Wren must have guessed what I was thinking. “I'll do a deal with you, Alex,” she said. “You tell me why you went to Holtech, and what happened when you got there, and I'll mark you down as present in my lesson, so Mr Bull won't find out it was you and Donna. But I want the truth, mind.”

As I sat there in the warm car, with my soaking clothes gently steaming away and the pain in my side gradually subsiding, I realised what a relief it would be to confide the whole story to someone else. I'd fallen out with Donna, Dad was still unapproachable most of the time, and Nan had promised Dad not to discuss the matter with us. Who else was there? Anyway, if I wanted to avoid a deeply unpleasant session with the Pitbull, it seemed I didn't have much choice.

I told her everything: Dad's robot, Eye Spy, how her conversation with Mr Cohen had led to my family research, how badly Dad had reacted to our interference, and how Donna had decided to confront Diane Fairchild with the truth. When I'd got it all off my chest, I discovered I was just as angry as Donna, but not for the same reason.

I looked accusingly at Miss Wren, who'd listened to the whole story without interrupting. “You and Mr Cohen and Mr Bull all knew who our mother was, yet we didn't know ourselves. It makes us look really stupid!” Then an even more embarrassing possibility hit me. “And what about the other kids? Did they know too? They must have been really killing themselves with laughter behind our backs.”

Miss Wren looked quite concerned then. “No, Alex, I'm sure they don't know the truth. Mr Bull and Mr Cohen only know because they've both been at the school such a long time, but I'm sure none of the newer teachers do, and I only found out myself by accident.”

I hoped I could believe her, but I was beginning to have trouble believing what anyone said to me after the events of the last few days.

“I wish I'd never discovered the truth!” I said at last. “I wish we could just go back to the way things were before. Everything's such a mess now!”

“How's Donna taking it?” Miss Wren asked. “And where is she?”

“Donna was really upset when we left Holtech. We had an argument, and she ran off. Perhaps she went home. I don't know.”

Miss Wren started the engine. “We'd better go and check. I want to make sure she's safe.”

By now it was lunch hour, and we passed a few kids standing outside the chip shop on the corner. The rain had eased off at last, and there was even some blue sky as we pulled up outside our house. I unlocked the door and called out, “Donna!” But it wasn't Donna who came out of the kitchen at the sound of my voice. It was Dad.

Dad stared at Miss Wren. He looked surprised.

“Lucy! What are you doing here?”

My mouth dropped open in astonishment. Why was Dad calling Miss Wren by her first name? As far as I knew, the only time they'd ever met was at the parents' evening.

“There've been some developments,” she said. “You and I need to have a talk, Ian. But first of all: is Donna here?”

“No. I'm on my own. What is all this?” He looked mystified.

“Alex, why don't you go and change into some dry clothes while I have a word with your father.” She pushed me gently towards the stairs, then gestured to Dad to follow her into the sitting room. The door swung shut behind them. Wondering what on earth was going on, I did as she told me.

By the time I'd changed and towelled down my wet hair, I'd begun to figure it out. Miss Wren was the reason Dad had wanted a clean shirt on Saturday night and then come home so late. Was she also the reason he'd cheered up a bit lately? He'd never shown much interest in women before, but that didn't mean anything. After all, I didn't really know what he got up to when he wasn't at home.

I knocked on the sitting room door before I went in, just to let them know I was coming, but I needn't have bothered. They weren't even sitting next to each other, and they seemed to be having a serious discussion.

“…I did warn you!” Miss Wren was saying.

“I know. So did Mum, but I kept putting it off and putting it off.” Dad sounded tired and worried. Nervously, I sat down next to Miss Wren and waited for him to tell me off for reading his letters, for bunking off school and, most of all, for daring to confront Diane Fairchild. Instead, he looked me straight in the eye and said, “Alex, I owe you and Donna an apology.”

I couldn't believe it. Dad never apologised for anything. What had got into him?

“It was wrong of me to pretend that Annie was dead. I should have been honest with you from the start, I realise that now. I suppose once she became a local celebrity, it was only a matter of time before you two found out the truth. But you see…” He paused, searching for words. “…I never could forgive her for walking out on me – on us – and if I pretended she was dead, then I didn't have to admit it to anybody, least of all to myself. I suppose I've been a fool.”

“It's all right, Dad,” I said awkwardly. “I understand.”

“No, it's not all right. I've been a terrible father. I see that now.” He leant his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

There was a strained silence, then Miss Wren glanced at her watch. “It's time I got back for the afternoon session,” she said, getting up. “I'll come back after school to see if Donna's returned.” She went over to Dad and put her hand on his shoulder. “Will you be OK, Ian?” He clasped her hand briefly and nodded. Then she went quickly out of the house.

Dad and I didn't know what to say to each other after Miss Wren had gone. He was obviously worried about what might have happened to Donna. I was angry with her rather than worried about her, and I wanted to tell her about Dad's unlikely friendship with Miss Wren. Why did she have to choose this particular moment to disappear?

At half past three, Nan arrived home. She already knew Donna was missing, because Miss Wren had told her when she got back to school. “Why don't you ring her friends, Alex?” she suggested. “She could have met up with them after school.” So I rang all the numbers we had for her friends, starting with Emerald, but nobody had seen her. That was when I started to worry too.

Miss Wren returned at half past four. “Any news, Ian?” she asked Dad as soon as she stepped into the hall. Dad shook his head. He kept running his hands through his hair, which looked even more of a mess than usual.

“I keep thinking about her, wandering around somewhere, upset and confused, and I feel so guilty. If anything happens to her…” His voice broke.

Miss Wren gave him a quick hug. “Don't worry, Ian. She'll turn up, I know she will. Would you like me to make some discreet enquiries at Holtech? See if anyone's seen her hanging around there?”

“Thanks, Lucy,” said Dad, and you could hear the relief in his voice. “I really couldn't face That Woman at the moment.”

When Miss Wren (I still couldn't think of her as Lucy) had gone, Nan said to Dad, “I didn't know you were friendly with any of the teachers, Ian.”

“I needed some help writing the program for Hamish,” he said. “An IT teacher seemed the obvious place to start.”

By now I was no longer interested in Dad's love life. I was as worried as he was about Donna, and getting her safely back home was the only thing that mattered.

At five o'clock Miss Wren returned to report that nobody had seen Donna at Holtech. She was beginning to look as worried as Dad. By now it was almost dark, and the rain, which had been falling on and off all day, had turned into a steady downpour. The wind had got up too and was getting stronger by the minute, blowing flurries of rain against the windows. Dad shook his head. “Just listen to that!” he said. “We've got to find Donna before it turns into a gale. I'm going into town to look for her.”

“We can use my car,” Lucy said. Assuming I was going with them, I went for my coat, but Nan shook her head. “Not you Alex. You stay here in case Donna rings or comes home. I don't want you disappearing too.” The three of them left hurriedly, throwing their coats on as they went.

After they'd left, I couldn't sit still. I roamed restlessly from room to room. The wind whistled down the chimney in the sitting room, and through the window I could just make out the tree in the garden of the house opposite, which was bent almost horizontal by the force of the wind. When, after about twenty minutes, the phone started ringing, I prayed,
Let it be Donna, please let it be Donna!
I grabbed the receiver and shouted, “Hallo?”

“'Hello,” said a wheezy voice. “Is that Alex?”

It was Kath. Talk about bad timing. Why did she have to ring now, when finding Donna was far more important than finding Kiki?

“What do you want?” I asked impatiently.

“Oi!” she said, reproving me. “Where's your manners gone? Ain't you got no respect for your elders?”

I sighed. “Sorry. Things are a bit difficult at the moment. Could you ring back later?”

She snorted. “A bit difficult? I'll say! I just been hearing the whole sorry tale from your sister.”

I gasped. “You've seen Donna? Where is she?”

“Never mind Donna. She's fine. Don't you want to know where that missing dog is?”

I decided the quickest way to find out where Donna was would be to humour Kath.

“OK. Tell me about Kiki.”

“Kiki? Is that her name? Pretty little thing, ain't she?”

“You've seen her?”

“Oh, yes. You see, she's been with me all along.”

It didn't make any sense. “She wasn't with you either time we met in the mall,” I said.

She laughed. “We fooled you, didn't we, me and Rocky? I was afraid you'd guess.”

I was so worried about Donna that it was really difficult keeping my temper. “Guess what?” I said. I couldn't keep the frustration out of my voice. Donna was missing, and all Kath could do was play games.

She seemed to sense my mood, and her manner changed. “All right, ducky. Here's what happened, and you gotta believe me 'cos this is God's own truth!”

The way she told it, it had all been an accident. The day Kiki went missing, Kath was pushing her old pram along the promenade, up the path to the mall and out the other side into the market square. She was wrapped in her own thoughts, not paying much attention to what was going on around her. She went to the churchyard, because there was a nice comfortable seat there where she could sit undisturbed for as long as she wanted. However, when she got there and sat down, she realised she had two dogs with her, not one.

“I reckon Kiki must have taken a shine to Rocky and just tagged along when we was walking up to the mall. Once we was inside, she wouldn't hear anyone calling her. She wasn't wearing a collar, and by the time they'd been chasing each other round that muddy graveyard for a bit, Kiki was so dirty, I thought she was a stray.”

“But Kath,” I said. “If you thought Kiki was a stray, why didn't you take her to the dogs' home?”

“Ah, well,” she said. “Rocky seemed very taken with Kiki, which was strange, because he don't normally pay much attention to other dogs. I thought, it's boring for him hanging around with me all day, I'll give him a treat, let him have a playmate. I'd do anything for my Rocky, I would…” Her voice trembled a little.

I was still confused. “So where was Kiki the first time we saw you in the mall?” I asked.

“I been naughty, I admit it. Alex, you gotta promise me that if I tell you the truth you won't report me to the RSPCA. If they took Rocky away from me, I don't know what I'd do.”

She and Dad would make a good pair, I thought. Both of them were obsessed with secrecy. “OK,” I promised. “If you give me Kiki, I won't tell anyone anything.”

“You're a good boy!” she said. “The thing is, Alex, poor little Kiki's led a sheltered life. She ain't used to trotting round all day in the cold and wet, and sometimes she yaps like you wouldn't believe. People were getting cross when I couldn't shut her up. Once or twice I left both dogs with a mate of mine, but I couldn't do that very often. That Saturday, the day we first met, I cadged a sleeping pill off one of the other dossers and I gave her half of it in her food. I reckoned half a pill wouldn't do her no harm. After she fell asleep, I tucked her up in the pram like a baby, with a couple of bags on top so you couldn't see her unless you looked real close. But she took so long waking up from her sleep that I thought I'd killed her. I didn't dare risk it a second time. I know I shouldn't of done it, but I only did it the once, Alex.”

No wonder she'd looked worried when Rocky stood up on his hind legs and tried to sniff inside the pram. I thought of all the time we'd wasted on Atlanta and Sergei, when Kiki had been right under our noses that day in the mall. Sherlock Holmes would have been ashamed of us.

I wondered why Kath had suddenly decided to own up. “Why did you wait so long to tell us?” I asked her.

“Can't afford to keep her anymore,” she sighed. “Rocky eats whatever he can scrounge, but not Kiki – she's picky about her food. You'll be doing me a favour if you take her off my hands.”

She hadn't said anything about the reward, so I decided not to mention it. “OK, I'll come and pick up Kiki, but you've got to tell me where Donna is. Everybody's out looking for her.”

Suddenly there was a lot of noise from Kath's end of the line and I heard her say to someone “All right, all right!” I panicked. I couldn't let her ring off before she'd answered my question. “Kath, are you there?” I shouted. At last she came back on the line. “Sorry, I gotta go. Meet me by the pier soon as you can.” The line went dead.

I punched the wall in frustration. It seemed that the only way to find Donna was to go and meet Kath. As I picked up the phone again to ring Nan and Dad and tell them to meet me at the pier, I noticed that, in the rush to get going, Nan had left her mobile on the table. All I could do was leave a note for Dad and Nan on the kitchen table saying where I'd gone, in case they returned before I did. Then I put on my sodden jacket and set off for the seafront.

An icy wind was gusting in off the sea, making it hard to stay upright, let alone run. Dad was right. The last time there had been a wind like that, it had turned into a gale overnight, and we'd woken up the next day to find fences down and broken roof tiles and dustbin lids lying in the road. It was the sort of night when nobody in their right mind would go out if they didn't have urgent business.

The promenade, when I reached it, was deserted. There was a high tide, and huge waves were crashing against the base of the sea wall. Showers of spray came over the railings on my right and hit me in the face. Now I was angry with Donna as well as with Kath. Why did she have to choose a night like this to go missing?

When I reached the square in front of the pier-head I paused, searching for a figure that might be Kath. Many of the street lamps in the square had been vandalised, and it was difficult to see anything clearly in the murky light. She had to be there somewhere. I began to run towards the pier, splashing through giant puddles as I went. Maybe she'd taken shelter in the old observatory. As I drew level with the Portakabin where we'd heard the dog on Sunday, I saw a light shining inside. A second later the door swung open and a tall figure came out, almost cannoning into me. I turned to run off, but he was quicker. He grabbed my arm and swung me round to face him. I saw recognition in his eyes. “You!” he roared. “I want word with you!”

Before I could squirm out of his grasp, he'd pulled me into the Portakabin and slammed the door shut.